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My Top 10 Lessons I’ve Learned… Part 2

Here are the next three lessons I’ve learned this year.

Lesson #5: God’s Love is Unconditional

This is something I’ve known, but this year experinced in a deeper way than before. With a son, whom I love so deeply for no reason other than he’s worth loving, I’m starting to get a glimpse into what God feels for us. This in reality is really changing me this year.

Lesson #4: God sees Us as Holy

This has been an amazing learning, that once you come to know Christ God sees you as holy. You are not a sinner, but saint in God’s eyes. Go and check it out yourself. Read the Bible and discover that what defines us isn’t sin but Jesus Christ within us. So this year I’m focusing on reminding people who they are in Christ, not what they need to do. My theological hunch is that the more we focus on who we actually are, the easier it will be to actually live that out.

Lesson #3: Grace is Costly

Grace is freely given, but that grace costs. I’ve learned this year that grace is hard to give, it isn’t cheap. We love to give grace to people who deserve it, but God gives it to us, those of us who don’t deserve it. And we should do the same. To give grace to those who hurt us, who know better, who won’t accept any responsibility for their actions. We don’t do this because it’s easy, but because it’s godly. This doesn’t mean excusing the hurt that was caused, but recognizing the depth of the hurt and still choosing to show grace. This is the high road, and high roads are hard. But that’s also where you’ll find God and Jesus walking with you.

For me these were three amazing lessons to learn. The first two were great to learn, the last one no one wants to have to learn. But each made me a better person I believe.

What have you learned over the past year that’s made you a better person?

Would you share it with us?

by Andrew Mills

My Top 10 Lessons I’ve Learned…Part 1

Here are my top ten lessons I’ve learned this year. To hear the expanded explanation download my sermon from Sunday here.

Here are a few of the first fun ones, and the list gets more serious as it goes.

Lesson #10: God Loves Top 10 Lists

This is pretty self-explanatory. Just go check out the original top ten list…the 10 Commandments. Looks like God invented it, not David Letterman.

Lesson #9: Laughter is Good For the Soul

Proverbs talks about how laughter feeds the soul. This is true, so go and watch something funny. Get together with friends and laugh. You’ll feel better. And now you know that laughter is a spiritual thing, and a Godly thing.

Lesson #8: God Loves Coffee

Now this is hard to prove biblically because the Bible really never mentions coffee. But I think if you’ll notice how many great God conversations happen over coffee you’ll need to agree that God must love it then. I’m pretty sure the logic is infallible, much like God.

Lesson #7: We can Find God in Creation

This year I learned how close you can feel to God when you recognize him in creation. Whether that’s being in awe of mountains, feeling the tranquility of a quiet lake, or the beauty of a sunset we can see God revealed in creation. This year more than most I’ve found myself feeling close to him simply in awe of his handiwork.

Lesson #6: We can Find God in Others

Since we’re all made in the image of God we have the potential to reveal God. This is really what my posts entitled “Where I Saw Jesus This Week…” are about. They’re about finding God in the everyday, and that’s become clear to me this year. God is not distant but waiting to be discovered in our midst.

Tomorrow I’ll post the next 3. But for now – which lessons resonate with you?

Which ones has God taught you as well this year?

by Andrew Mills

2011 Recap

Well 2012 is here. This was my first year trying blogging and I think its gone pretty well. And WordPress (the site that hosts this blog) has given me some stats over the past few months of blogging.

  • Evidently I’ve blogged 38 different posts
  • The site has been visited about 2900 times. Which means that more than my mom is reading them.
  • That most people reading are from Canada, followed by the U.S., U.K, and Asia after that. I had no idea I could even find that out.
  • That my most popular posts have been about my son Hudson. For a 2-year-old he is pretty popular.
It has been really great blogging and I’m going to keep it up in this year. But if you have any suggestions or ideas of what you’d like to see blogged on, or explored comment or send me a message.
And in case you missed it last week here is my sermon from Christmas day entitled “Following Jesus”. It was a great day where we ate cake in church, sang carols, and talked about Jesus. So if you’d like to hear it I’d suggest eating cake while you listen.

So thanks for reading and being a part of what’s happening. Happy New Year!

by Andrew Mills

Making a Top Ten List…

This upcoming Sunday is the first day of the new year. It’s a time to look forward to what’s coming and to reflect on what’s happened.

If we don’t reflect we run the risk of not realizing how we’ve grown, how we’ve changed, and how God’s spoken to us. There is an old spiritual technique called the Ignatian Examen. But in a simplified version you simply look back over a period of time and ask yourself these questions:

  • When did I feel closest to God? When did I feel farthest from him?
  • When did I feel full of generosity and grace? When didn’t I feel generous and gracious?
  • Where did I notice God in the past year? When did I fail to notice him?
I’d invite you to simply do that. Take some time and reflect on what God taught you this year. I’ve done that and have come up with a Top 10 list of lessons I’ve learned about God this year. And I’ll share them with you all next week.
But what about you? What has God taught you this year? What’s your top ten list?
I’ll share my list, but I’d love to hear a few of them off of your list!
Because maybe what God has taught you, you can teach me…
by Andrew Mills

The Christmas Story

Merry Christmas!

Take a moment if you can and maybe read the story here. Read it to your family, friends, or on your own. But read it and be reminded of why we have Christmas:

Mary, a virgin, was living in Galilee of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter. An angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus.

At first Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel’s words. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, “How will this be?” The angel explained that the child would be God’s own Son and, therefore, “nothing is impossible with God.” Humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior.

Mary must have reflected with awe on the words found in Isaiah 7:14 foretelling this event, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced and ashamed. He knew that the child was not his own, and Mary’s apparent unfaithfulness  would shape his community’s opinion of him and her. So Joseph decided to quietly break off the engagement seeking to spare Mary as much shame as possible. Joseph was a righteous man and sought to act with grace even in difficulty.

But God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to confirm Mary’s miraculous story and reassure him that his marriage to her was God’s will. The angel explained God’s amazing plan that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit. That the child was the Messiah, and was to be named Jesus meaning God with us. When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife, in spite of the public humiliation he would face.

Joseph too must have wondered in awe as he remembered the words found in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. The Inn was full so she gave birth to Jesus in a manager, on their own, on the outskirts of town. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger.

Out in the fields, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were tending their flocks of sheep by night. The angel announced that the Savior had been born in the town of David. Suddenly a great host of heavenly beings appeared with the angels and began singing praises to God. As the angelic beings departed, the shepherds decided to travel to Bethlehem and see the Christ-child.

There they found Mary, Joseph and the baby, in the stable. They praised God for the miracle of the birth of the Messiah. They went on their way still praising and glorifying God. But Mary kept quiet, treasuring their words and pondering them in her heart.

After Jesus’ birth, Herod was king of Judea. At this time wise men from the east saw a star, they came in search, knowing the star signified the birth of the king of the Jews. The wise men came to the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem and asked where the Christ was to be born. The rulers explained, “In Bethlehem in Judea,” referring to Micah 5:2. Herod secretly met with the Magi and asked them to report back after they had found the child. Herod told the Magi that he too wanted to go and worship the babe. But secretly Herod was plotting to kill the child.

So the wise men continued to follow the star in search of the new born king and found Jesus with his mother in Bethlehem. They bowed and worshipped him, offering treasures of gold, incense, and myrrh. When they left, they did not return to Herod. They had been warned in a dream of his plot to destroy the child.

This is the story of Christmas. Merry Christmas, enjoy the day, and Jesus’ presence!!

by Andrew Mills

Christmas Eve and Traditions…

There sometimes seems to be a negativity towards tradition. That tradition is old, irrelevant, and outdated. This is surely the case sometimes, but I don’t think it is the case during this time of Christmas.

Tonight I’ll be running my first Christmas Eve service at 7:00 at the church. And I am so looking forward to it. I love the carols, lighting the candles, hearing the story, and the tradition of it. The tradition surrounding the Christmas Eve service doesn’t make it feel old and irrelevant to me but deep and rooted. I feel a part of something centuries old and meaningful. And tonight is extra meaningful for me because of tradition.

For all my life I would go to a Christmas Eve service and hear my dad and mom lead it together. And they used the same structure for almost 25 years.There were always new pieces but there were familiar parts and traditions within it. And tonight I get to carry that tradition on. After my dad passing, this is what I missed around this season. But tonight Krista and I get to carry on the tradition leading our first Christmas Eve service, and even using his service.

Those are the best traditions. The ones that have deep meaning, that make you feel a part of something, that generate beautiful memories, and are things you look forward to. And isn’t that what Christmas is about? Having beautiful traditions that create memories, meaning, depth, and hope?

My challenge to you is this: start a tradition. Start something that will give meaning to this time of the year each year. Start something that will give depth and create great memories. Start something you can pass onto your kids, grandkids, or family. Maybe its going to a Christmas Eve service, sharing stories, creating something as a family, or any other number of things. But this is the year to start a good tradition.

But for me I won’t be starting a new tradition…but carrying on an old one.

Leading a Christmas Eve service just like my dad would…

by Andrew Mills

Shine Like Stars…

Wouldn’t it have been cool to see the star in the sky that drew the Magi to Jesus? This great light that literally seemed to beckon these people to come and find this new-born boy in a manger. A star that drew people to discover new life, hope, and meaning.

But what if that’s still a possibility? What if it still happens? What if stars are still drawing people to God right now even as you read this?

And no they aren’t up in the sky – but they are all around us. They’re in the people we know and see.

Paul writes in Philippians 2:15 that people can shine like stars. That people, when they chase after God, are connected to him, hold onto the truth of him, and let Jesus guide their lives, become living stars.

Isn’t that a beautiful thought?

That your life and the way you live could become a living star for people around you guiding them to find Jesus. That your life can be a bright light, a star in the night, a break in the darkness. That you, this Christmas season, can be the star that guides people home to Jesus to discover new life, love, and hope.

You can shine like a star.

by Andrew Mills

Messy Spirituality

After an amazing children’s program on Sunday I thought I’d share something I’ve learned from my child.

My personal style or aesthetic is clean, simple, and modern. This is just me. I love working with clean lines and in clean spaces. My son has not inherited this trait. This is him after being home in a spotless house for under five minutes.

How is it that something that was so clean becomes so messy so quick? But this is my life…messy. So I do what any good parent does. I wade into the mess, into the toys, and sit and play with my son.

And God isn’t any different with any of us.

He enters into our mess, plays with us, and helps us clean it up.

So today if your life is feeling a bit messy and you’re stressed about Christmas or any number of other things; if your life is simply not feeling put together – just know this: God is with you, present in our messy lives.

He’s there. Just like how I sat and was with Hudson, God’s wherever you are today. He is with you.

My style may be to prefer clean spaces but that’s not God’s style.

God’s style is to simply be wherever you are…and isn’t that what we need anyway?

by Andrew Mills

Monday Morning Pick Me Up

So today I came to work tired, and a bit drained. We had 3 Christmas dinners yesterday, and then we stayed up late talking and hanging out with my mom. All good things, but this morning I’m dragging a bit.

So Dave – the awesome youth pastor at our church- notices this and writes this blog post: http://gpacrew.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/why-i-love-working-for-my-boss/

It made me laugh out loud multiple times, and made my Monday morning a little bit brighter.

So if you have some time read his funny top ten list, and then why not do the same for someone else? Write about their quirks, who they are, and why they matter. Send it to them in a blog post, an email, or post it on their Facebook wall.

Why not brighten someone’s Monday during this Christmas season. Isn’t that what Christmas is about anyway – spreading love, joy, and happiness? While it might take a little time – trust me it’ll be worth the effort.

I know this because it changed my Monday.

So why not go and change someone else’s…

by Andrew Mills

Where I Saw Jesus This Week…

I’m not great with grammar. I write to quickly, and I write like I talk. With odd sentences, spaces, and pauses.

But there is one person in my office who helps me with this. She has a great red pen that she uses to mark up all that I write and create. She makes sure my ideas come out clearly.

This post is about her, because this week I saw Jesus in her. Genesis 2 says that we are made in God’s image which means we each have the potential to reveal God to others. This week she did that for me. She was so caring noticing and coming up with ways to care for people. She was very giving of her time. And even though we are both kind of quite, she often makes me laugh and smile. This reminds me of Jesus, and it should.

Jesus notices people. Jesus cares for people. Jesus gives, and often being with Jesus leaves us smiling and laughing.

So my friend and co-worker reflects Jesus to me in a natural and easy way. What about you?

Who in your life consistenly reminds you of Jesus? Who helps you to see and find Jesus? Think of someone and then let them know. Let them know that you see God in them. So Florence this post is for you!

But who in your life reminds you of Jesus?

Share with us here, but more importantly share that with them…today…

P.S. Please also excuse all grammar and spelling mistakes. I had to do this post on my own as a little surprise!

by Andrew Mills