Friday, December 24, 2010

Clay Pots ~ Christmas 2010


People... we say that they are priceless and valuable, we invest in them, we have profitable or unprofitable conversations with them, sometimes our relationships go bankrupt or we perceive that we received no return on our investment in them. I was reading "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. In one of the last chapters in the book, the author wrote about Christian love. His point was that we often use our love like a commodity... like money. I stopped to think about this and realized that unconsciously, at times, I did view people as a place where-in to invest my love. And if, perhaps, that investment did not produce a good return (of course, this is in my own estimation of what a good return means), then I would be tempted to remove my deposits of love and place them elsewhere where there would be a good return.

As I mulled on this for awhile, I came to the conclusion that that type of response is human reasoning and human love. It is also a lot of work with not much joy involved. Godly, gospel driven love, however, is not an investment, it is a gift. God loved me, a terrible wretched sinner, so much, that he gave his only Son to me for free. And he gave his only Son to the whole world, out of which there are some that would accept and others who would not. But I don't believe that God looked at His Son's death as an investment; it is a free gift because he loves and appreciates and yearns for all people (regardless of who they are or their backgrounds or what they have done) to be in joyful communion with him. The difference between Godly love and human love is that he does not withdraw his love from those who do not respond.

So as I prepare for Christmas just like all of you, I am struck anew this year with the incredibleness of God the Father's gift of unconditional love and grace upon me. Whether I would have responded or not responded to his loving gift of salvation through Jesus Christ made no difference to him... it is unconditional, and he would have given the gift of the baby born in a manger either way because he loved me. And this is true of all of us. Knowing this makes me feel special and privileged, but at the same time, humbled by the fact that he did this for each and every person on this planet. But what breaks my heart is that this planet is full of people who do not yet know that there is a gift of salvation waiting for them from a loving Heavenly Father. Thus his love motivates me to joyfully love my neighbor in word and deed, and not withdraw it if I don't get a good return on my investment.

May the remembrance of the Christmas story bring joy, peace, and hope to you.
Peace,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Clay Pots ~ news

The turned over ground

For our Monday night listener's club, Paco and I are attempting to structure some English lessons for beginners that will be productive, challenging, independent of other lessons, practical, entertaining, and interactive so as to open up the doors to a deeper relationship with the ones who we are working with. Not necessarily easy, but this is the niche we find ourselves in. "Why would you come up with your own lessons?", you ask. Well, because our structure on Monday nights is not a classroom setting; instead, it is built around conversation. So we are tailoring the lessons to lend to conversation and interaction. The attendees are loving it. They love to come every week and practice their English and learn more. The members of the basics group enjoy laughing with each other and learning new things each week. The more advanced groups are able to delve into some deeper conversations about life, culture, beliefs, and many other things. This has been a very encouraging time.

Another very exciting development: Pastor Mario Navarro is hosting a one hour a week Spanish radio program starting on December 13th. His program will air from 7:00-8:00 on Monday mornings on AM1460, if you would like to tune in. This will be a great time for the Word of God to go out, in Spanish, to our community. Please pray that many will tune in and that it will be successful in ministering to the spiritual needs of the Latino community. Praise God for Mario's heart and for those who have encouraged him and donated already to make this a possibility. If anyone would feel moved to donate to Mario in order to sustain this ministry long term, please contact me.

The ground for the garden plot was turned over a few weeks ago! Praise God! We are one step closer to seeing this ministry go forward. Paco and I are planning on getting together this next week and designing and printing flyers and promotional materials for the gardens so we are ready come the middle of this winter when we want to get the word out. Be in prayer that this will meet just as many spiritual needs as it does physical needs.

Christmas is right around the corner. We pray that all of us remember the meaning of the incarnation and how we can model God's love to those around us.

Peace,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp