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...on this site!
Ha, got ya!

I have a new and improving blogger site.

georgesaylor.blogspot.com

Please go there, subscribe and follow my blog!
All these old posts have been imported, so everything you need is there!

Thanks,
George

I just read a review of All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin. I may be picking this one up at it has some very interesting insights. These are from a discussion board of other church leaders. This is what they said...

• “Either you’re going to tell stories that spread, or you will become irrelevant.”
  
• “Stories are shortcuts we use because we’re too overwhelmed by data to discover all the details.” [Think about the parables of Jesus.]
• “People pick and choose. Everyone will not listen to everything.” [So don't try to be everything for everyone.]
• “You can no longer force people to pay attention.” [Why do we even have bulletin announcements?]
• “The best marketing techniques are the simple stories that are the most likely to break through, the most likely to be understood and the most likely to spread.” [People don't talk about Connections, they talk to me about the people who have been changed at Connections.]
• “When we encounter something for the first time, we compare it to the status quo. If it’s now new, we ignore it.” [New is better. Different is better.]
• “If a consumer figures something out or discovers it on her own, she’s a thousand times more likely to believe it than if it’s just something you claim.” [This resonates with my own experience, and is why I continually resist neat and tidy "pre-packaged" Christian growth/ discipleship programs. This is counter to the discipleship strategy of almost every church.]
• “If you want to grow, make something worth talking about. Not the hype, not the ads, but the thing. If your idea is good, it’ll spread.” [If it requires an announcement from the platform and a bulletin insert to succeed, then it's probably not "worth talking about" and it probably won't grow.]
• “Your goal should not be to create a story that is quick, involves no risks and is without controversy. Boredom will not help you grow.” [One "secular" article on public speaking gave this recommendation that has really stuck with me: if you have to choose between information and entertainment, pick entertainment. But if you can communicate your information in an entertaining way, even better!]
• “It’s hard to be remarkable when you and your organization insist on not changing the status quo.”

Interesting things to ponder as we move into our second year and feel a growing confidence in the mission of our church. More and more people want to "promote" Connections. The question isn't that we need to do it (we do need to share the story of Jesus with the world),

the question is how we do it.

Sometimes my wife's blog is just too good not to pass along. Like today...

Sometimes my wife's blog is just too good not to pass along. Like today...

Go, Go Google Gadgets

Once again it's confession time, time to let the real me show.
Here it is ... I confess that I am a GEEK. I love my computer. I get excited when Picasa/Google introduces cool new updates. I'm a freak for anything that claims to help organize my day (Google calendar being my favorite!). And more recently, I go goo-goo for iGoogle gadgets.

My latest iGoogle gadget find is "verse-a-week memorization". It picks a verse for the week. On Monday you get to see all the words. On Tuesday they cover up a few. On Wednesday they block out a few more. And, well you get the picture. By Sunday the whole verse is hidden and you should know the verse by heart. Clever. Effective. It worked for me.

With Yana's surgery, Gram in the hospital and me sick with a cold I have had a less than pleasant week that just ended with Justin throwing up on me during church (yeah, it was as disgusting as it sounds). Here's where the truth of God's word meets with reality of my life through the technology of Google gadgets. The verse-a-week for this past week was Philippians 4:6,7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

God knew just how to speak to my heart. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Everyday as I opened my computer I was greeted with this word of assurance "don't be anxious" "the peace of God will gaurd your heart". Thank you.

You can see the original post at http://robinsaylor.blogspot.com/2009/01/go-go-google-gadgets.html

Why Students Need a Soul Revolution

I'm so excited about this Soul Revolution series and how God is changing me. He's drawing me closer, and pushing me to grow in some great ways.

As I've been preparing for our "REORIENT" service tomorrow, I'm particularly struck by the relevance of this series, and this message, for our students.

There are certain stages of life where we are in phases of radical re-orientation. In many ways, and for many young people, life up through age 18 is a pretty steady course. Yes, you have the ups and downs of growing up and maturing and hitting puberty and stuff like that. Perhaps your parents separated so you have had to deal with that radical re-orientation. But for many, their lives are very packaged and protected during that phase.

Then they hit the college or university years. They have to reorient almost everything in their lives- location, finances, relationships, life goals and dreams. They are told, "these are the best years of your life- live it up and have a blast." And that pressure only adds to the fact that they are miserable and stressed out and messed up and can’t pull it together.

Who are you, where are you, what are you going to do with your life? You are disoriented and you need to figure some things out that are going to re-orient your life and get you to a place where you can hold some ideas and believes that are going to make sense, be truthful, and help you navigate life.

The student years are perhaps the most challenging years of dis-orientation. (Why else would they have so many freshmen orientation courses?) But the real goal should not be to orient our lives to the university, but to God. And when we are oriented to God, he will navigate our way through our studies, relationships, career plans, etc.

So students, get on board with the Soul Revolution Train!

Dis-oriented and Re-oriented

Just a few thoughts as I'm preparing my message for Sunday...

When we talk about our orientation in life we are talking about our integrated set of ideas and beliefs.

When we talk about re-orientation, we are talking about doing something that is very difficult.


We are talking about stepping out of ourselves, examining our ideas and beliefs which guide and ground our lives, and making fundamental changes. To literally say- "This idea, this belief, this conviction which has guided me, perhaps for a life time, perhaps in very powerful ways, needs changed, or even removed. It is wrong, it is misleading, it is even a lie, in opposition to the truth."

Misguided and misleading orientations need removed and replaced. But the truth is we all need to be engaged in this process as a spiritual discipline. I need to re-orient my life around God, and all that is true.

For example. Perhaps your whole life has been oriented around the conviction that a good education leads to a good job which leads to good money which leads to comfort which removes stress and worry, which leads to happiness, and leads to retirement, which leads to a condo in Arizona, which leads to ultimate joy, which leads to death. None of that is necessarily wrong or misleading.

But what if on that path you get a great education, but your education is void of a moral framework. SO you take a job that pays you vast amounts of money. But in that work, since you are guided simply but the highest return, you legitimize all sorts of lying, cheating, and basically stepping on or over other people. You need to re-orient your life.

Or say along that line you discover more money actually leads to more stress, because just following the stats, you are becoming one of those unhappy, medicated and messed up successful people. You need to re-orient your life.

Reorienting our lives to point us toward God is not always easy, and is often difficult. But it is always best, and ultimately leads to the best way of living. Re-orienting our lives toward God gets our nose up and out of the daily grind, and points us towards a better horizon.

Is your live oriented towards God? Are you on course? Or are you deep in uncharted territory?

The Importance of Prayer

OK, this one is a bit personal, again. (So much for my blog being a more academic exploration of church planting.)

Yesterday our niece, Yana, had her third open heart surgery. She's only 2 1/2. The surgery went well. I opened my email this morning eagerly waiting another good report (the first 24 hours post surgery are very critical).

While we are still waiting the report on Yana, I found out this morning that my Grandmother has been admitted to the hospital. She's in pretty critial condition.

I'm finding it a bit hard to focus on anything but prayer right now. It feels like half my heart is in Edmonton, and the other half in Florida, and I'm stuck here in between.

I have no profound insight right now. I have some hope. I have a lot concern. I don't really know what to ask for beyond the most basic prayer- Father, bring them both through this.

For now that will be enough. And if you believe in prayer, ask God to put His hand on a two beautiful girls; one at the start of life, the other who has lived a wonderful and full life. Both of whom mean a lot to me.

Soul Revolution: RENEW

...Over and over again the people of God were called to remember who God is, what God had done for them, and what God promised to do for them. It was a way or remembering God’s faithfulness in the past to build faith for what He do in the future. On these occasions the people would renew their vows to God. Abraham renewed the covenant with God when his son was born after 20 years of waiting, at 100 years of age. Moses renewed the covenant before the people took possession of the Promised Land. Joshua renewed the covenant when it was time for him to pass on the torch of leadership to the next generation. Over and over again we see this as a essential part of worshiping God and being his people. It wasn’t that God forget, it is that we do. We need these occasions.

At one point in the history of God’s people they had forgotten the covenant for so long that the book of Deuteronomy, ironically the covenant renewal document Moses wrote, had actually been lost! A young king named Josiah took the throne and when, in a building project, the scroll of the law was discovered, he said this…

1 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD -to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. 2 kings 23:1-3

Listen to the message at connectionschurch.ca or read the manuscript at cccsermons.blogspot.com

Wii are family!

Sorry, I couldn't resist making that the title. I have to give a big thanks to my gram, and to my friend James.
Gram gave us money to get something special for the kids.
James called on Saturday morning to tell me the store where he works had one Wii come in.

By lunch the kids were hooked and the rest is history.

So when did my family go from a bunch of little kids learning to walk and read, to 1 girl that has her own blog and website, 2 girls hooked on email and chat rooms, and all 3 kids better at Wii and DS than their dad?

Time marches on, and they are changing very fast. I would not have guessed that we'd be here this fast. But I guess that because I hadn't really thought about it.

But I'm very confident that Robin and I, and the kids, can navigate this pretty well. We'll have to monitor time and create the boundaries and blocks, but I'm encouraged by their ability to discern already. Well, not Justin so much- he still operates on primal instincts.

I'm not concerned because as fun as these things are, and as much time as they can consume without proper monitoring, by kids are still kids at heart. And I hope they are for a long time.

I know this doesn't have much to do with church. I'm just feeling rather fatherly tonight.

January Series: Soul Revolution

What is the human soul? What do people mean when they say they want to be “spiritual?”
This January we are going to revolutionize what it means to be spiritual.
Join us as we get in touch with our soul and the One who meets us there.

This Sunday at Connections Community Church,
9:30am Cafe
10am Experience
SilverCity Movie Theatre, Masonville Mall

Bible Reading in 2009

Over the years I've used may different bible reading tools and plans. All of them have had two things in common:

1. The got me reading the bible in a structured fashion;
2. They were hard-copy.

More and more I find I've transitioned to the electronic age. I don;t need to print things out to really read them. And while most time online is spent scanning, I can actually focus on things that matter.

So, this leads me to my bible reading plan for 2009- online! I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes. I've picked an ambitious one- through the whole bible in a year. Even at a quick reading pace it will require about 15 minutes each day.

Here my KEY IDEA to make this happen:

I've set the plan as my homepage so each day it will be the first thing I see.

So I'll be waking up, brewing some coffee, starting my computer, and sitting down to read before anything else.

If you are interested in such a plan you can check it out yourself.
http://www.youversion.com/one-year-bible#

We're a Year!

A year ago this past Sunday Connections Community Church did not meet. We were holding our preview services in the fall of 2007 but had not officially launched.

We "launched" on the first Sunday of 2008. And we haven't missed a Sunday since.
As I look back I'm struck by the feeling most of us get as we travel down memory lane: in some ways it feel like ages ago. But in other ways it feels just like yesterday. (for time-bound creatures, we humans have such a funny way of experiencing the past)

Here are some of the highlights, simply off the top of my head:

Our first series was "Resolutions Worth Keeping." We talked about four occasions in the bible when some made a resolution, which is defined, "to be fixed in purpose." We took from these stories four resolutions for our church, all based on the desire to "seek first God's kingdom." (Matthew 6:33)

• To grow our worship service;
• To increase our volunteer based to 100 people;
• To launch our Connection Groups ministry in the fall with 200 participants;
• To see 52 people give their lives to Jesus- one for every week of the year.

I've prayed for, wrestled with, and thought about those goals all year long. Were they audacious enough? We they too small? Were they tangible enough that we could gauge our progress? Were they my hopes, or God's plans? Well, here's where we sit a year later:

• We grew to see over 200 people coming to worship with us Sunday mornings this fall. But we haven't felt the need to offer a second service.
• We increased our volunteer base to nearly 125 people. So more than half of the folks that worship at Connections also volunteers at Connections.
• We launched our Connection Groups with more than 100 people registered.
• We've seen many people tell us they have committed or re-committed their lives to Jesus, but this one is hard to gauge. It's very personal, plus, we don't want to "force" or manipulate people or decisions. Yet we want to be very intentional. So, by way of our communication cards or other direct communication, I've had 12 people tell me they made a first time commitment or re-commitment to Jesus.

In February we had what I thought was our most fun series of the year- "How to Look Good Naked." I've been tempted to try to turn this series into a book. I really think God was up to something in those messages.

In March we began a series that took us through Easter, "Vantage Point." We looked at the different points-of-view that many had about Jesus during his life, and today. (I also went on a ski trip in March and made a video sermon that was pretty fun, and went over fairly well.)

We called April our "Volunteer Appreciation Month" and gave out t-shirts to all our peeps. We moved into our Signs of Belonging series, which talked about what it looks like to be a part of a church, and part of the body of Christ.

• Soaring in Worship- making worship a priority, corporately and in all our lives.
• Studying God's Word- setting aside time 5 days a week to read the bible and pray.
• Stewarding God's Gifts- out time, our talents and our treasure (yes, money). Joining a Connection Group is a great way to help us in this area.
• Serving God's People- signing up for a ministry team, or helping us create new teams for our church and community.
• Sharing God's Love- picking 2 people we can intentionally pray for and invite into our lives.

We threw in there our "Connections Gives Back" mini-series where we highlighted the work of the International Justice Mission and our own crew of people who were going to bike across the US and Canada in "Sea-2-Sea: Ending the Cycle of Poverty." John Vandersteen, Mike Talsma and Thea Hiemstra together raised over $20,000 and joined more than 200 people, together raising over 2.1 million dollars. This was an AWESOME cause for our church to feel a part. I pray things like this will become the norm for Connections and our people. We also welcomed back Kat Zietsma who had been serving in mission to India and New Zealand.

When we hit the summer season we launched into a study of the book of Philippians that we called "Breakout." As a preacher/teacher I love series like this because it frees me to simply go where the bible text leads. I didn't have to think to far ahead. I was able to just come to each passage and say, "God- teach me." This is going to become my routine for the foreseeable future- each summer we'll work through a whole book or section of the bible- just taking the whole thing apart piece by piece.

In August we ran a series called "Into the Wild." I was blown away by the feedback I got from this series. We had four people commit/recommit their lives to Jesus. Plus, the band did the coolest cover of Hard Sun ever!

In the Fall we kicked things off with "Wiii Church." This is when we really seemed to get into the zone at Connections. Numbers came up, folks were getting involved, the family ministry was flourishing with Sarah DeVries at the helm, I put a renewed focus on our Media ministry, and we formally launched our Connection Group ministry.

More than 100 signed up as we started a semester approach to home-groups based on three guiding values: Common Purpose, Common Place, Common Possessions. Our purpose is Connections, our place is as neighbors in homes, and our life is to be shared together, even through caring for the material and physical needs of one another, in addiction to emotional and spiritual support. I could write for days about this, but suffice to say- we got off to a great start!

We also had our first Communion and Baptism service. No promises on what this will look like in the future, but for now, it's enough to see folks stepping forward and making this public profession of faith in Jesus and participation in His church.

All through October we sported some cool t-shirts as we went on the faith journey from: Petri(fied) to Justi(fied) to Sancti(fied) to Glori(fied). I thought it was super cool, maybe more than anyone else. Thanks for indulging my goofy ideas.

Our Game of Life series saw some great feedback and response. I got to make everyone uncomfortable as I talked about sex. Then I got to be uncomfortable as I talked about money. I already have plans to do a Game of Life series, Part 2 (there are just so many great games out there can we can use to dive into some great topics. Spoiler alert- Taboo is gonna make you all squirm!)

Finally, we ended 2008 with "The Advent Conspiracy." Worship Fully- Spend Less- Give More- Love All. Whatever our particular needs were, we hoped and prayed and planned for a great celebration of the incarnation of God, the birth of the Christ, Jesus.

Like Gerry Garcia once sang, "What a strange trip it's been."
Actually, it's been wonderful. I am humbled and awed
by all that God has done,
by all our volunteers have done,
by the incredible things we've pulled off,
by the worship the Music Teams draws us into,
by the love and care of our Family Ministry,
by the hospitality of our First Impression Team,
by the creativity of our Media gurus,
by the faith of our Prayer Ministry,
by all of our Connection Group facilitators and hosts,
by the reports of love and support our folks extend to one-another and neighbors,
by the work of people like Mike Talsma, without whom Connections would fall apart. (I could name others, but Mike does so much behind the scenes, I thought you needed to know.)

And more, I'm blown away to genuinely feel that we've only just begun. To feel that we've just taken our second step as a church plant. The first step was just getting started. The second step was getting this year under our belt.

I so excited to experience all the God has in store for us in 2009. If God could a simple idea (share God's love with people) and an equally simple plan (meet in a theatre to worship) and take us this far in one year, imagine what He can do with us now!

In January we'll be spelling the Soul Revolution that gonna change lives!

Intervention

Everyone who reads my blog has probably suspected that underneath my "tough-guy" facade is an emotional sap. Actually, my facade probably hasn't convinced anyone.

Anyways, my wife pointed me to this blog entry from a favorite of hers.
I read it.
I cried a little bit.
I was even drinking a cup of green tea while I read it, which just added to the fact that I'm a big wuss (Really, what kind of guy drinks green tea? You better be a Samurai if you're a man drinking green tea.).

My point, I think, is that we are all emotional creatures. For some reason I think guys find it easier to express emotion while reading a book or watching a movie. To be honest, I get weepy watching movies all the time. I even got a little teary at the end of "Iron-Man," no joke.

At the end of a year I find myself reflecting on the past. Some memories make me laugh, others excited, but a lot of them make me "emotional." Those memories, hard or painful ones, seem to surface quickly, powerfully.

I bring this up because this week I'm preparing for our upcoming series, "Soul REvolution." Some of my most important preparation isn't coming from books or study, but from prayer, fasting and reflection. If I'm going to preach/teach on the soul, I better look deeply into mine. It's an emotional journey.

What are you doing to prepare your soul for 2009?
And if you want to read a great story, do check this out...
http://thepioneerwoman.com/2008/12/intervention.html

Re-Position Yourself

This morning we looked at the story of Simeon and Anna in Luke 2:21-38.
Of the many beautiful facets of this story to explore I focused on this angle: Both of them had positioned themselves to encounter God. They went out of their way to be where God was going to show up.

As we move into 2009 I think it's a good question to ask ourselves: how will you position yourself to encounter God this year?
Have you been wanting to get more involved in worship?
Re-position yourself.
Have you wanted to know the bible better?
Re-position yourself.
Have you wanted closer friendships with some other folks from Connections?
Re-position yourself.

Do you want closer relationships with your family? With your neighbors? Have you been thinking about volunteering at church? Have you been thinking about volunteering with another community service or outreach? Have you wanted to take better care of your health this year? Have you wanted to get control over your finances...

Re-position yourself.

All of these, and many more, are ways we can grow in our relationship with God and re-position ourselves to encounter Him more this year.

Robin and I have been working on how we will re-position ourselves financially this year in order to give more, save more and spend less.

What are you going to do to re-position yourself in 2009? Let me know.

PS. I just did a Google image search to find a graphic to go with this post and found out TD Jakes has a book called "Reposition Yourself." Looks like once again I'm not original.

Merry Christmas From the Saylors

This week we did a lot of shoveling... sand.
Every time the kids went outside we had to really cover them up... with sunblock.
I really had to bundle up at night... by putting a shirt on.

OK, you get the point- we've had an amazing week in Naples Florida. Southwest Florida has been the hottest part of North America the entire time we've been here. We had one day that dipped down into the 70's (F). (I've been saying all week- I'm with the hottest woman in the hottest city!) We've basically spend everyday jumping between the beach and the pool. The kids play, Robin and I read, I go on a jog. That's a full day for us!

I really can't think of a better way for us to end a busy, amazing, adventure-filled year. This is just what our family needed.

Tomorrow (Christmas day) we jump on a plane and head back to London. And as wonderful as this has been, I'm now eager to get home and get to work on plans for 2009. I'm so excited to see what God does and how it unfolds at Connections Community Church.

I hope to see you all on Sunday the 28th for our end of 2008 wrap-up! (You'll be able to recognize me as the guy with the surfer-tan up front!)

Blessings,
George, Robin, Eden, Karis and Justin

Hardly Working

Some people have trouble disconnecting when taking time off.
Not me.
It's already three days in and now I'm forcing myself to actually let the world know that I'm gone.
Gone to Florida.
Here to see my family.
Loving life.
This is truly our "holiday."
Our way of making Christmas holy by being with my children, my wife, my parents, my grandmother. We are so incredibly blessed as a family. We are so blessed to be able to have time at the beach together.

So far I have read "the Shack," "Chazone," swam countless hours with my kids, gone on several runs, been buried in the sand... and actually, that's about it. It's pretty amazing how the hours can melt away doing nothing by playing with kids.

Now, I'm already eager to get away from the computer and back to work playing with my kids!
Peace.

Thanks John...

I'll assume my friend John made this video out of the goodness of his heart. Anyway- I love it!

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Christmas Sweater Point System

Official Point System of Sweater Christmaweseomeness:

• 1. If your sweater has a nativity scene = +1 point
• 2. If your sweater has lights on it = +1 point
• 3. If your light is for Rudolph’s nose = -1 point
• 4. If your light is for the star of Bethlehem over your nativity scene = +4 points
• 5. If your sweater has actual bells and whistles from the Polar Express tied on by pieces of yarn = +2 points
• 6. If you can hear the bells = +2 points
• 7. If every time one of the bells rings, you get excited because an angel just got its wings = + 1 point
• 8. If your sweater has Luke 2 written out on it (the entire chapter) = +3 points
• 9. If it is KJV = +2 points
• 10. If it is actually a puff paint sweatshirt, which is really just a Christmas sweater wannabe = -3 points
• 11. If your sweater was knitted from the wool of a Bethlehemian sheep = +5 points
• 12. If you have snowmen/women on your sweater = +1 point for each snowperson
• 13. If any of your snowmen are inspired by Calvin and Hobbes = +4 points
• 14. If it is a maternity sweater that reads, “Mary is My Homegirl” = +10 points
• 15. If your sweater has stockings with your kids’ names on it = +1 point for each child
• 16. If the stockings are your kids’ used socks = -2 points for each sock
• 17. If it has a 3-D hologram of baby Jesus on it = +3 points
• 18. If it has real candy canes on it =+5 points…

How did you score?

• 0-3 points= Sorry to break the news, but you might be a cotton-headed ninny-muggins.
• 4-6 points= You’re rockin’ a mighty fine piece of holiday merriment. Just don’t wear your sweater and your light up reindeer antlers at the same time. That would be tacky.
• 6-9 points= “Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.” –Job 40:10
• 10-12 points= Bill Cosby called. He wants his sweater back.
• 13+ points= You have surpassed the 12 days of Christmas. You are the embodiment of Christmawesomeness. There are probably three men coming from afar to shower you with gifts as you read this.

God With Us

Here's a little teaser for what's coming this Sunday, December 14.

The Advent Conspiracy: Most Dangerous Baby

WARNING- SPOILER ALERT:

I'll probably preach this sermon soon. It's just that awesome, and too awesome not to share directly from the source.

The Most Dangerous Baby

How an infant in a cow shed overturns the brute force of Caesar.

by N. T. Wright | posted 12/09/1996 12:00AM

By the time Jesus was born, Augustus had already been monarch for a quarter of a century. King of kings, he ruled from Gibraltar to Jerusalem and from Britain to the Black Sea. He had done what no one had done for two hundred years before him: he had brought peace to the wider, Roman world—peace at a price. A price paid in cash by subjects in far-off lands.

Augustus "gave peace, as long as it was consistent with the interests of the Empire and the myth of his own glory," wrote Arnaldo Momigliano. There you have it in a nutshell: the whole ambiguous structure of human empire, a kingdom of absolute power, bringing glory to the man at the top, and peace to those on whom his favor rested.

Yes, says Luke, and watch what happens now. This man, this king, this absolute monarch, lifts his little finger in Rome, and fifteen hundred miles away, in an obscure province, a young couple undertakes a hazardous journey, resulting in the birth of a child in a little town that just happens to be the one mentioned in the ancient Hebrew prophecy about the coming of the Messiah. And it is at this birth that the angels sing of glory and peace. Which is the reality, and which the parody?

Here we have to pause, because the passage from Micah 5, which Luke intends to awaken in our minds, is so well known and so little attended to: "But you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, little among the clans of Judah—from you shall come forth the one who is to rule in Israel" (Micah 5:2). The passage is regularly cut off a verse or two early when read in public. Verse 4 launches a project that ought to make Augustus anxious: "He [the coming King] shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of YHWH, in the majesty of the name of YHWH his God; and they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth." But the next verse goes on: "And he shall be the man of peace."

How is this peace to be secured? This coming King, born in Bethlehem of Judea, will rescue his people from the hand of the foreign emperors. In Micah's day, this was Assyria; but Luke's readers would have transferred the meaning to Rome, and Luke would have hoped that subsequent generations would be equally adept at contemporary applications. Herod was worried by what the wise men told him. If someone had told Augustus what the angels had said to the shepherds, he would have been worried, too.

Suddenly, Luke's scene ceases to be a romantic pastoral idyll, with the rustic shepherds paying homage to the infant King. It becomes a clear statement of two kingdoms destined to compete, kingdoms that offer radically different definitions of what peace and power and glory are all about.

Here is the old king in Rome, turning 60 in the year Jesus was born: he represents perhaps the best that pagan kingdoms can do. At least he knows that peace and stability are good things; unfortunately, he has had to kill a lot of people to bring them about, and to kill a lot more, on a regular basis, to preserve them. Unfortunately, too, his real interest is in his own glory. Already, before his death, many of his subjects have begun to regard him as divine.

Here, by contrast, is the young King in Bethlehem, born with a price on his head. He represents the dangerous alternative, the possibility of a different empire, a different power, a different glory, a different peace. The two stand over against one another.

Augustus's empire is like a well-lit room at night: the lamps are arranged beautifully, they shed pretty patterns, but they have not conquered the darkness outside. Jesus' kingdom is like the morning star rising, signaling that it is time to blow out the candles, to throw open the curtains, and to welcome the new day that is dawning. Glory to God in the highest—and peace among those with whom he is pleased!

You see the two empires squared off against each other toward the end of John's gospel, when Pilate confronts Jesus with two questions: Don't you know that I have the power to have you killed? And, what is truth? That is the language of kingdom, power, and glory that the world knows. Notice how the two halves support each other. In order to be able to say, "Support my kingdom or I'll kill you," the pagan empire needs to say that there's no such thing as truth. And if someone not only tells the truth but lives the truth, the pagan empire has no alternative but to kill him.

Jesus responds by quietly reminding Pilate that all power comes from on high, and by getting on with the job of being the truth—living out truly the love of God for the salvation of the world. Luke's message of the baby in the manger stands over against even the best pagan empires, inviting us to contemplate the radical and total redefinition of truth, of peace, and above all, of kingdom, power, and glory.

Jesus had come as the Bethlehem Jesus, the Prince of Peace; and Jerusalem had refused his way of peace, opting instead for the way of the sword, which, as Jesus said to Peter, could have only one result. Jesus as an adult acted out the message the angels had sung at his birth; but, when he came to his own, his own received him not.

Once again, then, there went out a decree from Caesar, which had a profound effect fifteen hundred miles away: rebel kings get crucified. If you let this man go, said the chief priests to Pilate, you are not Caesar's friend. This, then, was what it would look like when the ancient promises were fulfilled, when the glory of the Lord would be revealed for all flesh to see together: a young Jew, riding over the Mount of Olives in tears, driving the traders out of the temple, and dying at the behest of Caesar's kingdom. And once again, Luke intends us to realize, the angels are singing that God is glorified and that the way of peace has been achieved after all. This is the ultimate redefinition of the kingdom and the power and the glory. Caesar's plans for his own glory are turned by God into the establishment of the true kingdom.

If Jesus is the true King of all the world, whose kingdom redefines power and glory so that they are now seen in the manger, on the cross, and in the garden, then to pray "Thy kingdom come" from the Lord's Prayer is to ask that this kingdom, this power, and this glory may be seen in all the world. It is not enough, though it is the essential starting point, that we submit in our own lives to God's alternative kingdom-vision; we must pray and work for the vision to come in reality, with the rulers of this world being confronted with the claims of their rightful King.

We cannot, then, pray the Lord's Prayer and acquiesce in the power and glory of Caesar's kingdom. If the church is not prepared to subvert the kingdoms of the world with the kingdom of God, the only honest thing would be to give up praying the Lord's Prayer altogether.

N. T. Wright is dean of Lichfield and a canon theologian of Coventry Cathedral, England. This article was excerpted from his forthcoming book, The Lord and His Prayer (Eerdmans, 1997), used by permission of the publisher.

Parents Night of Freedom

Connectors,

We have 4 more openings for the Parents Night of Freedom!
This Friday (tomorrow night), December 12, from 6-8pm an evening of fun for your grade-school age children (JK-5th).
All we ask is for a donation to the North West London Resource Centre Food Bank.
(Anything non-perishable that you like to eat.)

If interested email Sarah DeVries (sarahdevries@rogers.com) to find our the location and other details.

Merry Christmas,
George
ps. anyone living in the Oxford/Richmond area- Jennica Blydorp needs a ride to worship on Sunday's. If you live in or drive by that area and can pick her up, let us know and we'll give you her contact information. We really need to get a ride for her this Sunday- she's teaching the Connection Kids class!