I really enjoy the Christmas season for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that we take time to celebrate relationships in our lives. As a pastor, I have the opportunity to host and attend many parties and celebrations. Just recently, Dina and I had the privilege of taking the ECBC staff out for dinner to show them how much we love and value them. They all are a great asset to us and to the church. Then, after dinner we all went to the wildly popular movie, “The Blind Side”. I highly recommend seeing it by the way. As a pastor, I am not in the habit of recommending movies but this is an exception. Why?The Blind Side is a movie about an impoverished black teen adopted by a wealthy white family in Memphis. The adoption gives Michael Oher an opportunity to do something that most of his peers had not been able to do. He received an education, a family, and ultimately became a first round draft choice of the Baltimore Ravens. There are so many story lines and themes in the movie that I could write about but I just want to mention one.
Usually, when Hollywood tries to portray Christianity they don’t seem to have a clue. They almost always get it wrong but this movie is an exception. The Christian theme in this movie was so overwhelming that I was very surprised not to get tons of promotional material trying to get the church to promote it. What really hit me in this movie was the fact that ONE SINGLE ACT OF REACHING OUT CHANGED SOMEONE’S LIFE SO DRASTICALLY! The very wealthy, very white, very conservative, suburban family reached out beyond their comfort zone and changed a young man’s life. Why? It seems to be just because it was the right thing to do. That was it. They reached out because it was the right thing to do. Once the Tuohy family started helping out “Big Mike”, they stuck with him to the point that he became like a son to them. They went to great lengths to ensure his happiness and success. Leigh Ann Tuohy teaches us all that although we as humans are flawed, we still have the capacity to make a difference in someone’s world.
I believe everyone reading this has the ability to do something that will impact someone’s life this holiday season. I am inspired to do something that will reveal the love of Christ that has been deposited in my heart by the Holy Spirit. I am not going to be satisfied just putting some loose change in the red Salvation Army bell ringer’s bucket this year. NO, I am making a decision to do something significant this season for someone the Holy Spirit leads me to. That is really what Christmas is about for followers of Christ. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…..”---let’s love the world this year as God did when He gave us Jesus and give something that will make a difference!
We are thankful for you and believe in you greatly!
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