Jeff Adams

New Year’s Eve has come once again. I have seen many of them, and they continue to fascinate me. What is it that causes many of us to stop, reflect, meditate and make promises to do better?

Hamilton Wright Mabie (1879-1914), an American essayist and associate editor of the Christian Union magazine, wrote,

New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.

Is this true of you? Does tonight’s coming of darkness bring new thoughts? Why? What are these new thoughts.

T.S. Elliot offered,

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language

And next year’s words await another voice.

And to make an end is to make a beginning.

This morning I read the final chapter of John’s Gospel where Jesus lovingly restores Peter after his three denials on the night Jesus was delivered up to be crucified. Much has been written about the three times Jesus asks for the affirmation of Peter’s love and entrusts him with the mission of  feeding his sheep.

It’s right after this, and right after Jesus has told Peter he will suffer a martyr’s death, that Peter inquires what will happen to John.  Though restored, Peter clearly has some areas of immaturity left.

Jesus sharply and directly corrects Peter’s focus by asking why that should concern him. Instead, Jesus simply tells Peter to follow him.

The end of the year and the end of the Gospel – this story was a good challenge to me today to set aside areas of immaturity and imperfection to focus simply on following Jesus and all that means. That really would take care of most concerns of life, wouldn’t it? Just follow Jesus. Most everything else will fall into place according to God’s plan.

If you really want to get specific, what areas of immaturity and imperfection need to be addressed? What would it look like to do a better job of following Jesus this next year?

Benjamin Franklin said, Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.

Happy New Year!

Many of you responded to my prayer request for “Ken” a few days ago who had been in a terrible car wreck. I don’t think it is a stretch to say his recovery has been miraculous. At least those who know him, saw him at the scene of the wreck and/or the ER certainly think it was miraculous.

In the country and culture where Ken lives, it is customary for friends and family to come and visit someone who has been through some terrible tragedy like this. This experience has emboldened Ken to share his faith with all who have come to visit. He says that his miraculous survival is due to the thousands of Jesus followers who prayed for him all around the world. I rejoice that Ken has the confidence to share his faith so naturally and courageously, but I remind you that to do so in his cultural context is very dangerous. I suppose Ken thinks that if God can bring him back from the “almost dead,” he is certainly able to protect him as he gives open testimony of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Continue to pray that God will use this amazing situation to bring many to faith.

Also, pray for Ken to have the resources to replace the destroyed taxi that is his source of income and his glasses that are special due to a serious eye condition. Thanks again to those of you who jumped in and joined us in prayer for Ken.

Umberto Boccioni's Futuristic painting "The Street Enters the House," 1911

Did you know that this is the 100^th anniversary of futurism?  No? Futurism is the name of a brief movement started by an article published February 20^th, 1909 in the Parisian newspaper La Figaro by Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. The article was entitled Le Futurisme and the intent was to reject the past and make culture more modern. The movement grew to include not only literature, but painting, sculpture, photography and architecture.

Today there is such a thing as retro-futurism, looking at how the future was perceived in the past. I’m thinking of this because the last week of the year is that time when the newspapers, television channels and websites roll out their top predictions for the future. It’s fun to go back and see how those predictions pan out. A few are eerily accurate, while most are far off target.

A website called 2Spare has assembled here what they consider the top 87 bad predictions about the future. One of my favorites is this quote from US President Grover Cleveland in 1905 saying, Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. Or, how about this one from Charles H. Duell (though disputed by researchers), an official at the US patent office in 1899? Everything that can be invented has been invented.

In the January 2^nd edition of 1909, the Scientific American stated, That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced.  Before you think you’re pretty smart and expect to see fleets of electric cars on the highways in the next few years, consider this story that ran in the June 27, 1909 Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California), commenting on new battery technology. The commercial value of the gasoline motor will then disappear. Vehicles charged with the new battery will be about as noiseless as it will be practicable to make any rapidly moving thing.

Sometimes, we see things rather clearly. One hundred years ago The Summit County Journal in Logansport, Indiana did an article on what Christmas would be like in 2009. Most of the things they predicted were typically goofy and off-the-wall. The article did say that we’d do most of our shopping from home, which has very much come true. Of course, they predicted that we’d do it via telescopes and telephones. They also foresaw that we would be entertained at home instead of attending plays at local theaters. I’m sure they weren’t thinking of cable, satellite, streaming movies, DVR’s and video on demand, but at least they were headed in the right direction.

We will be hearing all the experts tick off their latest predictions for the year and years to come, but don’t get too excited. Not only are they wrong most of the time, we also should consider the things they do not see. For example, while I was growing up and being told that by this date the world would be almost uninhabitable because of the population explosion, no one seemed to see globalization coming, the Internet, AIDS, the atomic bomb or the emerging generation. All these things and more just sort of crept up on us.

What I do find amazing is a retro-futuristic view of the biblical prophets who are batting 1.000 to this point.

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

This is one of over 300 from the Old Testament concerning the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.  Every single one was fulfilled just as the prophet saw it, spoke it and wrote it.

Those of you who are my Face Book friends or follow me on Twitter know that yesterday, Christmas Eve, I put out a plea for prayer for a man I called Ken. Ken (not his real name) is a CP’r in Turk@y and also an ethnic K.  Many of you responded, and I want to give you an update that is very encouraging on this Christmas Day 2009.

Ken was hit head-on by a bus. Two friends of his lived nearby received a call telling them about the wreck and informing them that Ken was dead. When they arrived on the scene, he was lying in the street covered with blood from head to toe. He was unrecognizable to them, was not breathing and had no pulse. They put him in a ambulance and took him to the hospital. Those at the scene thought he was dead. In fact, our network contact received a phone call to that effect.

Through Face Book, Twitter and emails (my contacts and many, many others), people began to pray literally around the world. Ken’s mother said, “When the Christians prayed that we would have customers to sell my house, immediately I had customers, so maybe God will hear their prayers for Ken this time too.”

Well, your prayers were heard. Ken’s family and doctors are in shock. Arriving at the hospital, the ER personnel discovered a pulse. Ken was still alive. They simply cannot understand how Ken came back from the dead. He had every examination and x-ray one could think of, and was examined for internal bleeding.  He had huge gashes in his head and legs, which were stitched. One scar on his head will be with him for life. This morning he was released from the hospital and is talking and resting at home!

His biggest concern when he began to speak was concerning his eye-glasses that were purchased for him to have treatments so he would not go blind, and for his taxi that he was driving at the time of the accident, since that is his only source of income. But, he is alive!

Ken is able to walk and is sitting and drinking tea at home where he has entertained guests all day. They are coming to see the man that came back from the dead!

Thanks to all of you who joined in to pray. You were a part of this.  Merry Christmas!

Snow begins on the Plaza early Christmas Eve (KC Star)

It sure does LOOK like Christmas!  All week we heard about a storm headed our way, but you never really know, do you? This time they got it right. We must have been among the few brave (crazy?) churches that had Christmas Eve service yesterday.

What saved us was starting at  4:30. Even then I’m sure many people did not come who would have were it not for the weather, and that’s perfectly understandable. A nasty, sleety thing was coming down as we arrived.

As we left after the service, the ground and roads were already snow covered. I was very happy, though, that we were able to go ahead and have our service. Those of us who made it had a great time! Not long after we left it could be said that the blizzard of Christmas 09 had started. The wind blew wildly all night and the snow came down. This morning I have a snow drift against my front door and garage. Since this is Christmas day, it will be a while before I get around to doing any shoveling!

For those of you who were not with us last evening, I briefly spoke on God’s greatest gift to us – the gift of his presence. Emmanuel – God with us. Enjoy the presence of your family and friends on this special day, and enjoy the present of God’s presence. Merry Christmas, everyone!