Pastor Hurst

THE LAST NOEL

As I stared at this space wondering what to write, "he First Noel" began playing on Pandora on my computer. There truly was that first Christmas. Listening, I am hearing about the announcement made to those poor shepherds, "Born is the King!," about a star lit night, about the wise men who had been following the star soon coming to the King. What a time it must have been-that first Noel-from the time Jesus entered this world as an infant in a stable, to the soon to follow announcement that brought the humble shepherds to gaze upon Him, to the later day when the wise men finally arrived with their gifts. There was the very first Christmas, the First Noel. But, what struck me as the word "First" grabbed the reigns of my mind was the simple thought that, as certainly as there was a First Noel, there will be a Last Noel. It is impossible that any of us should have been at the First Noel. But, could it be that we will be living to celebrate the Last Noel? Could this be our Last Noel? I'm not asking in the morbid reality sense of could it be the Last Noel because we may die next year. I am asking could it be the Last Noel because this coming year the King could appear the second time. Perhaps, even when He returns we will continue to celebrate His birthday, still have Christmas. If so, this could still be the Last Noel as we know it. It could be the last dominated by commercial infringement, the last where every attempt is made to edit out the Christ, the last celebrated with riotous drinking and surfeiting, the last marred by later credit card bills. As we with wonder celebrate the First Noel, may we also contemplate the possibility that this could be the Last Noel. We may have not been on earth at the King's first coming. But, we just well may be at His second. The Last Noel.

TRAIL MAGIC, I MEAN, BLESSINGS

Currently, I am reading about a thru-hiker of the Appalachian Trial. He had lost his wife to cancer. To try to recover and to hear from God, he quit his job to trek this 2,184 mile trial. In the book he is about half way. One of the delights among the multitude of difficulties this hiker writes of is "trail magic." Trail magic happens at place the trail crosses a road, comes close to a town, nears a private property boundary, skirts a parking area. The strenuous activity of thru-hiking depletes the body of calories and liquid. Packs must be kept light. Little food can be carried. Kind-hearted strangers, civic and church groups, or even former hikers will come to one of these places that touch the trail and distribute or leave food and drink and other refreshments. Some set up a grill and cook hamburgers. Others place cans of pop in the cold, rushing water of the streams. No hiker knows just when and where the trail magic is for sure going to happen. There are possible sites of consistent bestowing. But, for the most part these provisions of refreshment and renewal come as a welcome surprise. Trail magic is one of the most anticipated joys of the trail. Every believer is on a longer trail than the Appalachian. There is that narrow path to heaven the truly born again is traversing. Each believer that makes heaven will be a thru-hiker. Although Christians don't believe in "magic", each traveler discovers that God provides trail blessings (shall we say). When a traveler is weary, depleted, drained, suddenly there is a trail blessing to renew, refresh, reinvigorate. Appalachian thru-hikers never know when they start in the morning around what bend, over which hill, under what bridge, they will be blessed with trail magic. Neither does the believer. But, God is faithful. What you need to make it, He'll place on the trail.

HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOU ARE DECEIVED

Believers are warned strongly against being deceived. To be deceived is to believe something is true when, in fact, it is false. We can be deceived by other people or Satan, or we can deceive ourselves. The thing about being deceived is that one doesn't know he is being deceived. If he did, it wouldn't be deception. Someone emailed me an excellent question this week: "How does one know that he is deceived?" One can honestly believe his hair is all in place and that he looks great. He is deceived. Others can see that a piece of his hair is sticking up crazily and bouncing around at odd angles. But, there is a way that he can discover that he is deceived about his hair. He can look in a mirror. Suddenly, he is aware that he has been walking around thinking his hair was perfecto but all the while it was mussed. God's Word is that mirror. If a deceived person will hear and read the Word of God, the Word will be a mirror showing him where he is, not where he thought he was. The caveat here, James tell us, is that he not only hears the Word, but does it. If he doesn't act on what he has heard, the revelation that he is being deceived is fleeting. The deception closes back upon him. He may have been deceived by others or Satan, but by not acting on the Word, he walks away deceiving himself: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." (Jas 1:22-24). There is another way for one to know he is deceived. Suppose the man with the bad hair day isn't around a mirror. He is walking around thinking every hair is in place. Good friends will tell him. "Hey, your hair is messed up." At his trust in their word, the deception is gone. He can get his hair right. Godly people who know the Word can tell us we are deceived. If they do, we should take their word for it. Is your hair all in place? Or do you have a strand sticking out catching everybody's attention? No? Are you sure?

YOU ARE TOO KIND

During Pastor Appreciation last Sunday all I could think of was "You are too kind." I guess I've picked that expression up from British works. Reflecting over this past Sunday's Pastor Appreciation, I continue to think of this congregation, "You're too kind." The Hurst family was overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouring of love and kindness in the words, cards, expressions, gifts, and hugs from the folk of Union Pentecostal Church last Sunday. Nothing was a token expression. Everything was an heartfelt abundant expression. I know great pastors that do not receive such kindness from their churches. This affirms what I already know; all you did on Pastor Appreciation Sunday says far more about what kind of church you all are than it does about what kind of pastor you have. Some were concerned all the lauded love would give me a big head. Well, first of all, being a Hurst male, I have always literally, physically, had a big head. It runs in the family. Secondly, thinking of all you did does not result in my having a big head, but in my seeing your big hearts. I want to thank the Board and all the organizers and planners. Thanks to all the cooks, decorators, and those that set up and cleaned up. Thanks to the trio for the special song. Thanks to those who made the media presentation. Thanks for every spoken personal word, every card, every note, every gift, every expression. We love you guys. You are too kind!

Ministry, Work, and Glow In The Dark

"Ministry, Work, and Glow In The Dark Just this week someone asked me ""What exactly is ministry?"" Well, one thing I'm sure it's not, though many assume it is, is an opportunity in the spotlight for a person to showcase and demonstrate his talent and ability and receive attention and applause from people. If I had to give an off the cuff definition of ministry, I would say that it is work that accomplishes something that needs to be done. If work is what ministry is, then there was a lot of ministry going on last week at UPC during Glow In The Dark. People worked for weeks in preparation, but last week it was almost around the clock work. All those people doing all that work was motivated by the desire to change someone's eternity. So many did so much, it is hard to mention it all but... Thanks to Sis. Ruth for a year's worth of work on and planning for Glow In The Dark. Thanks to the cast. Thanks to those who spent hours cooking. Thanks to the prop makers, decorators, voice providers, sound & tech operators. Thanks to the game operators and servers. Thanks to the transporters. Thanks to those who set up and tore down the stage and helped clean. Thanks to those who provided candy and cash for the outreach. Thanks for all those who supported Glow in the Dark with their attendance. Thanks to a church which sees the importance of reaching out beyond the four walls. A testimony says thank you best of all. ""As we prayed before Glow in the Dark began, tears rolled down my cheeks. If it wasn't for outreach, I have no idea where I would be. It's what got me where I am today. Now, I'm helping others get to where I am in outreach. Makes me joyous! I'm so glad that I [got] to take part in it this year! And I'm thankful for a church who ministers to people at a young age, no matter where they come from!""

A DEBT WE CAN'T PAY BUT CAN TRY

Abe Lincoln got himself up to the ears in debt, and Mr. Lincoln was a tall man. He had entered a business venture with a friend. Soon, through faults of both partners the business went under and the creditors came calling. Mr. Lincoln was honest and up-front. He went to his creditors and, in his words, he told them, "if they would let me alone I would give them all I could earn over my living, as fast as I could earn it." It took Mr. Lincoln seventeen years to make the final payment on what he called the "national debt." (National Debt-let's not even go there.) However, we have a debt, that no matter how hard we work at it, we will never get paid. But, we keep trying out of gratitude. Our debt is a debt of love. We owe everything we have and are to the love of God. We owe Him the price of His life. We pay our debt by giving to others as God gave to us. Now, we probably won't be called upon to put our head on the chopping block for a brother, though, perhaps, we should be willing to; so we should be more than willing to give something a whole lot less sacrificial--our goods; "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?," (1John 3:17). If we can see a fellow Christian in need and do not respond with our material possessions, we are making no effort to pay on our debt of love. We have an opportunity to show our gratitude of our debt having been paid. Always in our annual Thanksgiving Service we give in a special offering to show our gratitude of all God has given us. This year at the Thanksgiving Service we will with the offering help pay the freight on a container of goods and/or help with items to be sent to the orphanage in Haiti. For a Thanksgiving/Christmas project, we will be collecting items to fill the container for Haiti. What an opportunity to pay on our debt of love.