Ahhh, the holidays are upon us.  For my family (and I’m sure for many of yours) it means a lot of hustle and bustle.  We are pretty close with extended family and the Thanksgiving/Christmas rounds mean that we have quite a few dinners to attend.  Thankfully, the vast majority of them live in or around Boone County within a 30 mile radius.  Often times we block out a 4 day period from our schedule and just go stay with family, which means we get to bring our dog, Vader, along.  This would be an easy task if Vader were a lap dog, or as I like to call them, a barking mop.  However, Vader is a Black Lab/German Shepherd mix and will turn 1 this spring.  He is beautiful and strong, loves to chew on anything he can get his jaws on, and enjoys knocking my kids over as they run through the yard.  He is clumsy and lovable and Caleb loves to climb on him and Vader just lets him. 
 
Whenever we go stay with family, the dog usually has to stay outside or in the garage because not everyone is keen to the idea of having pets in the house.  And if I’m going to be honest, a dog the size of Vader needs the room to run and play anyways.  They only problem with that… when we go to new places, Vader likes to explore, and too often we get phone calls from disgruntled neighbors because Vader is crashing their party, chewing up their hoses, chasing their horses, etc.  Vader also likes to stand in the middle of the road and say hello (with his tail wagging) to all the kind people driving by and slowing down to a near stop, honking their horns in anger.  I’m not sure they understand each other. 
 
In an attempt to keep the peace between my parents/in-laws and their neighbors, we bought a 30 ft leash to let him play on outside while providing a place close enough for shade and shelter and even toys/bones to chew on.  One such time we had left to go to the store and run errands and returned to find that this wonderful idea wasn’t such a wonderful idea to Vader.  He had wrapped himself 3 or 4 times around the legs of the trampoline and tangled his own legs in the mess.  As I am attempting to untangle this mess, I found myself getting frustrated at Vader because he had made a mess of that which was supposed to protect him, keeping him from becoming a pancake or getting shot by an angry neighbor.  I even provided a safe area with things to chew on until his heart was content.  Then it hit me. This is me.  I was reminded of a passage of scripture.
 
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2
 
God gives us gifts in life.  Gifts that are meant for us to enjoy life, His presence and drive us to Him in gratefulness as the provider and protector.  Too often, those gifts become our focus.  They distract us from Him and we become more focused on the gift than the giver.  Think about it.  What are the things we become obsessed with?  Family, success, food, sex, money, health, you name it.  They all are gifts from God that can become objects of obsession and end up pulling us away from Him and tangling us up.  It’s hard to get mad at the dog when I see myself acting more like Vader than allowing myself to be conformed to the image of Christ.  Let’s fix our eyes on Him.

Jason 

I know that forgiveness and loving enemies is a topic I return to regularly, both as I teach/preach and as I write. Honestly,
I think that is because I am so terrible at it.

Recently, I was reading The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, Robert Mulholland and was challenged by his observation of our need to categorize others in ways that always gives us the advantage. As I chewed on this thought over and over, I began to see how this reality shapes our inability to forgive. If I am constantly putting myself in my sin at an advantage over another person and their sin I will struggle to love and forgive.

This plays out as we think things like “Yes, I gossip, but they slander and lie, at least what I say is true.” We can quickly see how in any sin we can maneuver in such a way that we aren’t as bad as “them.”

These thoughts took my mind to the apostle Paul who writes, “…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Timothy 1:15 ESV).

At times I have found myself wanting to argue with Paul, and explain why I am the worst of sinners. Interestingly enough, it is in the moments where I feel as if I am the worst of sinners that I find forgiving others to be much easier to do.

If I am the worst of sinners, then I cannot withhold forgiveness from you, because I am worse.

Any of us who are Christians and find ourselves in the midst of gossip, lust, greed, outbursts of anger, deception, division, drunkenness, sexual immorality, etc. have no excuse. We know and have accepted Jesus and His sacrifice for us. As we participate in any sin we make ourselves slaves to the sin from which Christ has freed us (Romans 6).
We would do well to heed Jesus’ advice in Revelation 2:5 and “Remember the height from which you have fallen!”
(NIV 1984). 
​
Let us constantly remember our own depravity, and in doing so find the strength and ability to forgive others of their own shortcomings.

Kevin

Since 2010 I have been addicted, and that may not be a strong enough word, to being in the woods for the fall deer hunt.  It is truly a blessing to be able to be in God’s creation that time of year.  God has even blessed me with being able to harvest several deer, including a few nice bucks.  As the time approaches for the upcoming season I am getting more and more excited.  I’ve been recapping past hunts and dreaming about those to come. 
 
One hunt in particular I can remember real well.  It was the fall of 2013, one week after the tornado went through Fountain County.  If you were here I’m sure you remember that day and the days after very well.  A lot of time was spent in cleaning up debris and helping other people put things back together.  Blood, sweat, and tears were all given during that week.  Cuts, splinters, blisters, and bruises were all outward signs of our affection for one another.
 
In his book “A Look at Life From a Deer Stand”, Steve Chapman tells the story of a buck that he harvested that had a big scar on his face.  He said it was a scar that showed his affection toward a doe that he had to fight for.  All of the bucks that I have harvested have had these same types of scars.  They all have shown outward signs of their affection toward the ones they care about.   I know that’s a little weird talking about scars on a deer’s face but we have all been there when it comes to the ones we care about.  We can probably find a scar on our own bodies that reminds us of helping or stepping up for the ones we care about. 
 
After harvesting his deer, Steve wrote a song titled “Scars of Love”.  Here are the lyrics:
 
On the faces of the soldiers who have fought for our freedom
On the arms of the brave ones who have saved us from the fires
On the knees of the mothers who have prayed for wayward children
You will find them…
 
Scars of love on the skin
Proof on the outside of what lies within
Let us all bow our heads
And thank our God above for all the scars,
Scars of love.
 
On the shoulders of the farmers who have carried our hunger
On the backs of the miners who have
warmed us with their coal
On the lips of the preachers who have never feared the truth
You will find them…
 
Scars of love on the skin
Proof on the outside of what lies within
Let us all bow our heads
And thank our God above for all the scars,
Scars of love.
 
And on the hands and the feet of the Carpenter from Galilee
Can you see…
 
Scars of love on the skin
Proof on the outside of what lies within
Let us all bow our heads
And thank our God above for all the scars,
Scars of love.
​
Jesus’ scars aren’t from a physical fight like that of a deer, but of a spiritual one to save you and me from death.  He chose to receive them when He didn’t deserve them so we wouldn’t have to be punished for our sin.  For that reason we owe him everything because of His scars of love.

​Derrick