How is that Possible

Do You Believe in Miracles... YES!

Understanding the un-understandable

By Pastor Adam Fox

My two favorite movies are polar opposites but describe me well. The first is Dead Poets Society staring the effervescent Robin Williams. 

It is a movie that challenge the human to be the best and most that they are capable of. It is filled with poetry from some of the best, and the brilliant comedy of Robin Williams. 

( Bet ya didn't know Pastor Adam liked poetry?)

https://youtu.be/u_N6ezGK8XE

I would encourage you to copy the link above and watch that final scene of the movie. 

It will always be in my top three. 

The other movie, is kinda the opposite. It personifies patriotism and teamwork, and overcoming the odds. It is Miracle. The story of the 1980 US Olympic Men's Hockey team. 

"Hockey? Blahh. " You may be thinking.

But oh no my friends. This is worth the watch. 

Kurt Russell portrays determined head coach Herb Brooks as he takes an unusual group of collegiates who have to learn to work together, to put team before self, to take on the super power of  the USSR Hockey team. 

For them to medal, let alone win would need to be a miracle. 

This was a true story and real event, but is still a movie. Hollywood has a habit of glamorizing true stories and twisting truths.

But the question is then, Do Miracles still happen?

The short answer is yes, but. 

As a Christian, it is easy for me to see things in the world and say" Miracle!" Where others would just say science or nature. 

Do you give credit to the hospital staff and medicine for the healing of someone very sick, or do you give glory to God? We would blinded if we do not give credit to both. But we cannot forget God. Miracles happen every day. 

Look at some examples from the world of medicine.

Cancer gets treated and many people recover from it.

People that should not survive an illness, recover. 

Medicine can not explain it. It just happens. It is a God moment. 

Look at the Older Testament for more examples. 

Abraham is walking miracle in himself. The father of many nations, but for years he was childless. But he believed and trusted. And God provided in the correct time. 

And when God told Abraham to sacrifice this child, his only child. Abraham understood that the God who created everything, including his son Issac, had the power to provide and give.
 

Or look at Moses. 

He lead the nation of Israel out of Captivity by demonstrating some of Gods power in the form of the 10 plagues. Miracle number 1.

Then when the Egyptian Army tried to mow them all down in the desert by the Red Sea. God parted the Sea and gave them a path to cross to safety. Miracle 2.

If they happen so frequently, and noticeably - why do we not want to give credit to God for these miracles. For God stepping in and doing the impossible. 

It requires us as humans to acknowledge that there is a God and that He is in control of everything at all times. 

And that is difficult for some of us. We want to know everything. Not just that a Hot Dog is delicious, but where it is made, what is inside it, how they make it, down to what specific animals they use. 

This past week, I have been studying the a miracle of Jesus in the feed of the 5000. This amazing story which can be found in  Mark 6, shows Jesus making something out of very little. 

With over 5000 men, plus unknown amounts of women and children, from the surrounding towns there to listen to him talk and heal. Jesus challenges His disciples to feed the crowd. 

A disciple remarks it would take 8 months of waged to give the bare minimum to the people. 

That is one expensive meal.

But one little boy offers his lunch. 5 small barley loves and two tiny fish, sardine size. 

Not a feast, but a sufficient meal for a person. Jesus takes it, give thanks to God the Father for it, and divides it up.

Only there is always more. And more. Each person gets all they want and there is still more left!

Miracle!

I believe we are still living in a society where God does miracles, but we are too blind to see them. 

Granted, Jesus is not here turning water to wine, or healing a leper in the middle of town. But He does still do miracles today. Then why do we find it so difficult to understand and believe?
That is the answer itself, we struggle to believe. 
Miracles by definition are an unwelcome event that is not explainable by any law, that requires belief. 

So, where does that leave us?
Do we ignore science and natural order completely? No.
Do we ignore God and believe in only the tangible? No.
For me, I believe in God. I am a Christian that trusts Him and His plan for my life. But that does not mean I am against science or the learned things. God created those as well. 
Trust in God.
Believe in God.
Pray to God.
And God will answer. 
I had a professor that exhibited His faith in God by praying. He prayed regularly for miracles for his parishioners. He taught us to pray for miracles. Pray for the everyday things. Pray for your hearts content. Just keep praying. 
Nothing is impossible for our God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21

Amen and Amen. 
Miracles are still happening all around us. From the common tiny miracles, to the grand and eye-catching. We need to keep praying and believing that our God is in control and listens to our prayers. 


Cheers and Excelsior!

Pastor Adam

Yipee-ki-yea and Merry Christmas ya Filthy Animals

Christmas movies, the real reason of the Season?

Or is it???

By Rev Adam Fox

Christmas is a very busy time of the year. It is shopping galore balanced with working like crazy for said shopping money. With family and festivities and winter weather all bunched up in a few weeks. It is a very magical time of the year, but it is also stressful. Perhaps that is why it is acceptable to have so many delicious foods and drinks. Thank you egg nog.

Outside of food, one way to battle the stresses of December, is with movies. 

There are so very many Christmas movies. It is a very easy movie to do, and every sitcom to movie franchise has done one. Even Star Wars. Some traditional classics like Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, Scrooge to name a few. Of course the Muppet Christmas Carol and who can forget classics like Elf or A Christmas Story or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation or even Home Alone. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? (Yes. It forever will be)

Is there a movie or tv show that warms your heart more than any Peppermint Mocha ever will? 
For me? The competition is great, but the best Christmas Movie is National Lampoons. Nothing beats The Griswald's and the craziness that is there family. Toss in a boss who is cheap, a cousin who is very hillbilly, and dream of a pool. And you got a great movie. 

Do you need to see Tim Allen in order to do so?

Movies are wonderful and to me, they can make any day feel better. Even if I have to drive through Chicago snow, to a shopping mall to get a gift. Movies make Christmas better. 

But are they the ultimate of the Christmas season?

No they are not. Movies are great. Music is festive. Trees and decorations and creative light shows are nice. Shopping, well, it is always great. But none of them are the point. The point is Jesus, God the Son stepping down from Heaven to be born of a Virgin girl to forgive sin. 

Snow can be nice - I guess - Music is nice too. Presents are pretty grand. But those things are just the footnote to the real point of the season, and that is Jesus being born. 

I had the opportunity to teach the other day on the Innkeeper. And while I have heard his line of Scripture from Luke 2 many times, a thought occurred. He missed it too. 

The man had a business and was buy during a busy season in Bethlehem due to the census. There were many travelers, and few rooms. He had a business to run and many people to take care of. But when Joseph and his pregnant fiance came to find a place to stay - he turn them away. There was a no vacancy. 
This man missed the point too. The human mother of God, carrying God the Son came to his doorstep and he did not notice. Work will always be demanding. Family and friends will always want to be together. Music and Movies run non-stop all this month. Christmas events and parties are there too. But those should be secondary compared to celebrating the fact that Jesus came to Earth. The Messiah, the one who saves. He chose to come to Earth taking this human form in order to be the perfect sacrifice for my sin. For your sin. For the WORLDS sin. 

Christmas is great and memorable. But we need to remember, we celebrate because Jesus came to Earth to save sin.  Let's not be like the innkeeper, and miss the point. 

Merry Christmas!

Cheers and Excelsior!
Pastor Adam

Can I get a Hero

Say it ain't so Joe? Say it ain't so?

Identifying a REAL hero

By Rev Adam Fox

It is not a secret, I love the Chicago White Sox and I tend to idolize certain people. So it is no secret that of all the Sox achievements and great players, one of the best was Joe Jackson. Shoeless Joe was the best player in the league for a decade, and led the Sox to the 1919 World Series, until he was accused, along with 7 other players, for taking a bribe and throwing the series. 

The national heart ache of such a baseball hero doing such a bad thing. The hurt. The outrage. The over-reaction.

It was just one turn in an endless cycle of heroes rising and falling for various reasons. 

We all have heroes from literature, film, television, sports, politics, and so forth. When I was a little fox, I used to love watching Pee Wee's Play House hosted by the wacky Pee Wee Hermon.

 It was everything a kid needed. But one day, my parents sat me and my brother down and explained that we could not watch that show anymore because Pee Wee did something wrong and disgusting. I was crushed. 

Only later, when I was older did I learn what he actually did and was disgusted and appalled, a childhood hero down the toilet. But when I was little, I bounced to the next kid oriented show - Hello Ninja Turtles!

In early October, little by little, one by one did more and more accusations come up against Hollywood big wig Harvey Weinstein. 

(There actually are pictures of him, I just choose not to show that jerks face.)

But scores of women have made claims that Weinstein assaulted them sexually. This ripple of sexual assault has snowballed into more women sharing personal stories of people in power abusing that authority and power into sexual assault.

 This led to the #metoo campaign to give all victims a voice. If this was it, it would be horrible enough, but as the kids say - hold my avocado. 

In the recent weeks there has been leveled accusations against former Presidents, congress and political men, actors and directors, sports stars, comedians, television media... and while I am not here to prove or defend the charges. It is not my place to justify these claims or to verify them. That is what the court system is for. I am not here to make this a political debate either. 
Should we disregard all the claims and accusations because they are against someone we enjoy, or voted for, or root for? Yes and no. We always need to respect and love the other person as we are loved and respected. Even if we think they are wrong. Respect, but hold judgement. Let it work it's way out, the truth always finds a way out eventually. And let God be the final judge, not us. 
However,  I am here to ask the question no one is asking. 

Who should we as believers have as heroes in the first place?

It is easy to be an American Christian  and look at our favorite movies and fall in love with an actor or sports star for what they do on our television. I am guilty of placing other humans and fictionals at hero level. Mitch Trubisky can throw one heck of a spiral, Hero. Peter Parker is selfless and is Spiderman. Hero. Rainn Wilson made Dwight Schrute come alive. Hero.

But reality is not just in 30 minutes a week. There is more than just the glimpses of life we see on our screen. Football players are more than just amazing athletes. Comic fictions are not real. Actors have beliefs and choices that may not match what you expected. 

But are these people who we as Christians - men and women who have chosen to believe and repent and follow the risen Lord - should be following and claiming as our heroes?

NO!

The Hero we need AND the Hero we deserve is obvious! It is the Messiah, JESUS!!!!

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:17

Jesus is Hero worthy. He came to save me, to save us. Flawed and broken, and as we are. Look at Philippians 2, Jesus loved you and I so much, in that He stepped down from Heaven, and took the form of a servant, and became obedient in humility - even to death. For me. For you. 

Look to the saints of old, men and women from the Scriptures as inspirations. Hebrews 11 is called the Heroes of Faith chapter. A list of the Heroes of old. More and more examples. Men and Women who chose to follow Christ and believe in the coming Savior. 

Friends. What I am saying is not easy. It means we need to be more careful in who we idolize, in who we think is awesome and why.
Does that mean burn down Hollywood and Washington DC? No. 

What I am saying is we need to be more selective of who we idolize and what about them makes them our heroes. Is it there ability to hit a ball? Look good in a swimsuit? Read from a piece of paper? Make people laugh? Even lead our country? Or is it because they motivate you to be a better person, and sharpen you into a better believer in God?

"Iron sharpens iron,
    and one man sharpens another."

Friends, there are lot of people that we can believe in. But the thing about us humans, we are all sinful and in selfish and in need of a savior. Placing one of us above ourselves, in the place of God is dangerous and will end up in peril.  Or as the saying goes, the harder you pull on supermans cape, be ready for what you find out. 

My hero is God. And I am thankful for the Godly men and women who sharpen me and grow me and I the same to them. Are they heroes? No. Just other men and women who want to be more like our Lord. 

Happy thanksgiving!

Cheers and Excelsior!

Pastor Adam

Finding the acorn of truth in the forest of the Mouse

Do You Trust Me?

Learning about Trust from Mickey Mouse

By Rev. Adam Fox

It is hard to avoid Mickey Mouse and Disney. They are everywhere! Including possibly buying 21st Century Fox. But Disney is still Disney, and they produce amazing cartoon movies. But this got me tho thinking, what is the best Disney cartoon Princess movie. Ariel? Belle? Lion King? To me, my favorite Disney movie in the Golden age was... Aladdin!

It was in my opinion, the best of the best. It had adventure, love, comedy, magic, everything any boy-teen-adult would need. What kid didn't want to ride a magic carpet, have a friendly monkey and a Genie! (Bless your soul Robin Williams)

Outside of the amazing music, one of the coolest scenes was when Al asks Jasmine to trust him and come with him on his magic carpet ride. "A whole new world..."

That is a loaded question. Do you trust? Do you trust others? What about God, how much do you trust Him? Trust is defined as "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something."

Trusting is hard for some people. Sure, they trust the chair that they sit in to hold them. But on a larger scale, they have a hard time trusting in sentiment, in God, in their fellow man. I have a friend, but am going to give he/she a fake name ... Batman. 

He - Batman - struggled in this area. I do not know if his history or what made him struggle in this area, but he did. And Batman is no different then the rest of us. Call me jaded, but when an election occurs, I do not trust or believe in the freshly elected candidate that they will accomplish a majority of their promises made. 

Trusting is hard. Trusting in the goodness of man, in people doing the right thing, in our leaders leading as civil servants, trusting in our celebrity heroes, trusting that the work we do actually matters. 

Trusting is hard. And then there is trusting God - which is even harder. 

As believers, we are called to trust the Lord, the triune God who loves us and created us. But it doesn't mean that it is easy. 

But if we are charged to trust the Lord, why is it so difficult? 

My friend Batman has struggled with this. He knows God loves him, and has a perfect plan for him. But never understood why his day is filled with so much disappointment and struggle and fear. How much easier if God would have written that He promised to never put us in a place of danger. But that is not what the Bible says. Instead the Bible tells us to trust the Lord at all times. 

In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me? Psalm 56:4

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

The Scripture is filled with a calling for us as believers to trust the Lord. Trust God completely. 

It does not mean that if we are 100% trusting in God and His will for our lives that we will be completely problem and struggle free. 

WE still live in a fallen sinful world. Satan is going to do everything he can to drown us with fear, to keep us chained and bitter and untrusting towards everything and everyone - especially God. 

Let me remind you of my friend Batman. If you have noticed, I have only used past tense to talk about him. That is because over the last few weeks, Batman has surrender his fear to God and Trust him. Every day I talk with Batsy, and even though Batman is scared and afraid of things. He still trusts that God will provide and will protect Him. Trust is like a new born pet. It is small at first, but grows and matures over time. 

For my friend Batman, He is like that small doge or cat, his trust in the Lord is growing every day. While there is still fear in work, in family, in America, in World Powers, in finances, in so much. God is bigger than our fears. We need to trust the Lord more so. 

Look at what the prophet Jeremiah says, when we trust we are like a tree. Trees grow and enjoy water and sunshine. Trees do not fear the winter or the frost or fire, the tree keeps growing and does not stop producing. 

In-spite of bad circumstances, the tree grows. 

We need to be that tree. Produce fruit, even under the worst of circumstances. 

So where does that leave us? How do we learn to trust? What is the quickest and easiest answer? Bad news my friends, there is not an easy fix. 

Learning to trust someone, or something, and especially God is not a miracle pill. It is possible, but it takes strength and a lot of patience. 

David understood that trusting in God was most important to him. David, the man who had such a difficult life, filled with family drama, fighting, escaping, murder attempts, and so much more said in a psalm

In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me? Psalm 56:4

As believers, I and we need to trust God. We cannot let men, rumors, fear of any kind trap us from being the light of God everywhere. It will not be easy. But I am greatly encouraged when David says, "what can man do to me?"

Let us learn from the example of Batman or me. Trusting in the unknown and unseen is difficult and challenging, but it is worth it. To become the men and women of God, or as Jeremiah says a tree that is planted by the river and does not change due to circumstances. 

Until next time my friends

Cheers and Excelsior!

Pastor Adam

You're Welcome Internet!

Pride goes before the Rock Bottom

By Rev Adam Fox

It is no secret, but I spent and still do to some extent, many a day following the WWE. While it is not the same today as it was in the 90s, it is still fun to watch. Yes, I know it is fake - I think of it as a Male Soap Opera. But I still love it. 

The Heels and the Faces. The Jobbers. The insults. Gold, pure gold.

Over the time of the WWE and the other initials like WWF, WCW, OVW, ... there have been many wrestlers I loved. Making a top 5 is tough, but here it goes. 

Eddie Guerrero

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Mick Foley

CM Punk

Owen Hart

Christ Jericho

The Undertaker

Daniel Bryan

There are many great wrestlers. Some who have passed on, Owen and Eddie. But there is one name that is not on my list, but is taking America by storm all over again. The Rock.

Who is The Rock? Let me remind you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBBeeca5o4U

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was a wrestler, from a wrestling family. He was the best of the best for a decade. But that was not enough. Hollywood came calling. Movies. TV. Commercials. And maybe even the Presidency.

But looking at the Rock, he always portrayed a brash, arrogant, and over-confident character. It is what made us like him, and despise him. 

But is he the best role model for us as Christians?

A quick word study of Greek words for Pride, Arrogance, and Haughty are used 200 times in the NIV Bible.  200 times. That seems quite a lot, almost like God is trying to warn us about the attitude of pride and our nature to be arrogant people. 

I am guilty of it just as much as anyone. 

Pride is a sin that is like a flowering weed. It is difficult to detect unless you are looking for it, and kept unchecked - it will run wild. 

Pride and arrogance are something that I struggle with. I remember 8 years ago talking with a Pastor about the Youth Ministry that I ran and enjoyed doing. I actually remember telling him that "Without me, there would be no Youth Group". It makes me shudder thinking about how foolish that thought was. 

The Bible is clear about how we should act.

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, andcoming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11

Paul is clear in his writing to the church in Philippi, that we need to have the attitude and spirit of humility. The two areas that humility comes to play is our need of a Savior and our attitude toward others. 

Pride is telling ourselves we do not need anyone, even God. And that is not true. Humility is understanding that we are not fine and need help, need a Savior. It is the ultimate act of humility. Accepting the help of Jesus Christ who came to Earth to save us fro the penalty of our sins. Our arrogance is thinking we do not need that help. And that is a dangerous attitude my friends. 
The Sin of Pride is what stops so many from even thinking they need help. From thinking that they are sinners, that there wrong is so terrible and in needing of this person to come in and save them. After all, we do not need help ever! (Sarcastic font)

The other area is how we treat and think about other Believers. The fact is God loves all of us, equally. I know it is hard to wrap our Modern American brain around that fact but it is true. Black, white, Asian, men, women, rich, poor, smart, dumb, saved from a horrid past, saved from a Christian family. All of us. 

Knowing that fact, why do I  or why does anyone think differently? Why do we struggle with the fact that we are a better Christian than all of us?
If we think of ourselves as above others, we are not different than King Saul. Saul was Israel's first King and outside of him being super tall and being head and shoulders over everyone, he was not a great king. 

Saul was clueless as to the weed of pride growing in his heart. He assumed he was better than David, better than Jonathan, better than Samuel, the army, everyone. We can tell that by how he acted and treated others. 
We cannot be like Saul. We cannot be blind to our own pride and assuming our fellow believers are not good as us.
It is pride. It is Arrogance. And it is dangerous. 

Jesus had zero pride in Him, and we need to be thankful for that. Would he have come down from Heaven to save the hot mess that I am if he did? 

While being overtly confident and prideful may make for great TV shows, that is really the only area it should exist. Definitely not in the church or in me. 

I am calling each one of us out. Take some time, study yourself - all of yourself. And let's kill the sin of pride. It will not have a place any longer. 

Take that Pride! Cause that's the Bottom Line!

Cheers and Excelsior!

Pastor Adam