Thoughts on democracy

“We the People”

These words, “We the People,” begin the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. When they were first penned at the end of an arduous and costly Revolutionary War, at a very contentious Constitutional Convention, they were words that officially began the new government of the United States made up of just 13 colonies. In a world where the governments were often defined by one word such as king, queen, emperor, czar, etc., this new country would begin with “we the people, by the people, for the people.” A democracy was born.

“To Establish Justice”

In a very unjust world, where people often existed to serve the monarch, in this new country, the government would exist to serve the people by establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, securing the blessings of liberty for the people and their posterity and to defend those people from common enemies. These words in the Preamble lay out the simple, yet almost divine purpose for these United States. Justice, peace, liberty, defense — words that have always defined the purpose of American democracy.

But just like a monarchy is only as good as the king (why so many eventually fail), so a democracy is only as good as the people (why in some parts of the world democracy never seems to take root).

In my way of thinking, a democracy has no specific morality or values other than its process of electing its leaders. Even the ideas of liberty, justice and peace have to be defined by the people who choose to live by these values. In other words, I think democracy has worked so well in America because of the core values, ideals, and yes, deep faith in God of the average American. If the church wants to influence America — be salt and light as Jesus commanded — then we must influence the core values, ideals, and yes, deep faith of the average American. Justice is a core value of Christianity. Peace is a core value of Christianity. Liberty, freedom, is a core value of Christianity.

Michael Novak put it this way, democracy is a three-legged stool — political freedom, economic freedom and moral responsibility. If one is lost, then the stool falls over. For me, the only sure assurance of moral responsibility is through the faith reflected in Christianity. The best way I can affirm the country I love is to vote and preach a good sermon on Sunday. Because “We the People” is only as good as the people we are. America has worked because of the moral values that guide us, moral values with a foundation in biblical faith, a faith that begins and ends in Jesus.

Thoughts on how Christianity changes the world

Jesus, Politics, and 24-Hour News: I was talking to David, our Teaching Pastor, this week about this special series, a subject that can be sometimes polarizing and argumentative. Any time pastors preach on this kind of topic, there can be some fear and trepidation. We can be misunderstood or disagreed with, especially when politics is such a volatile subject. But the conversation had a comforting tone because a preacher’s goal is to preach “what the Bible says,” to offer the “teachings of Jesus!” In other words, my opinion, and I always have one, takes a back seat to the teachings of Jesus. So, I learn from what the Lord says, just as those who might listen to me do. Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and your neighbor as yourself.” He told us to make disciples of all the world, teaching all He taught. He told us to be salt and light in the world. This is the task of the Church. The question is, “How?” And even more, how to engage this world — the political and the not political — and be faithful to Jesus.

The message of Jesus attracted the common person — Jew, Greek, Roman, religious and nonreligious. They all were attracted to Him and His message. They came to him by the thousands. It was those in power — Jew, Greek, Roman, religious and nonreligious — who typically opposed His message and eventually Him. It was King Herod who refused to intervene, the powerful High Priest Caiaphas who orchestrated his trial and charges. It was the Roman governor who washed his hands and passed the sentence of crucifixion. It was a Roman centurion who oversaw the driving of the nails. Yet, these are simply names in ancient history. King Herod died an awful death, and someone else took over his throne. Pontius Pilate soon returned to Rome in disgrace, and the authority of the high priests ended in just a few years when both Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by Titus and his Roman legions after a Jewish rebellion. Most people know little about any of them, and if they know anything, it’s because of their connection with Jesus — Jesus who changed and is still changing the world, Jesus who changed thousands of lives and eventually billions, Jesus whose opinion we seek today while relegating the opinions of kings and Roman governors to ancient history.

As we think about 24-hour news and politics this season, just how does Christianity change the world?

Thoughts on thinking outside of the box

Typically the journey for many of us is building a comfortable box that works for us. When we are kids, parents put us in a box that we struggle to get out of, to find our own way. When we get on our own, we spend a great deal of energy to get our own box in place that helps us feel secure. This often becomes so set in stone that life changes little for us as we divide our lives by things we think we can do from those we think we can’t, the way we live our lives from the ways we don’t. Patterns, habits, security and comfortable become the box that we live in, even if it is not what we really want. We react instead of decide, exist instead of persist, maintain instead of follow. It is very human, but we are called to the divine. Jesus is the one we follow.

Some opportunities that might be outside our box but could be inside God’s call to more:

• Our church has many opportunities this year under a new movement we are calling The Journey.  Pick up the information we have at all our exits in church, or check it out online.

We also have three mission trips coming up:

• Rwanda, Africa, June 19-28 — I am a part of this trip as we explore our ZOE Ministry Giving Hope connection. We will visit the homes of the 1,000 orphans we support and get ready to adopt another 1,000. Maybe God is calling you to Africa.
• Haiti, May 2-10 — This trip is aimed at disaster recovery and our second trip to help those dealing with ongoing issues related to the earthquake. This trip is led by Chuck Newman, a member of our church family. Maybe this is for you.
• Joplin, Missouri, September 22-29 — This trip is aimed at ongoing recovery from last year’s devastating tornadoes. It is led by Donnie Sherwood and is a great way to make an ongoing difference. What an opportunity to respond as Christ’s feet and hands.

If you want to know more or are interested in signing up for one of the trips, go to the church website. Deadlines are approaching.

Thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions

“Now faith, hope and love remain – these three things – and the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13

Every January our culture has a conversation about New Year’s resolutions . . . should we or shouldn’t we? Should we make promises to ourselves, to others, even to God? Often the reason we don’t is the lack of confidence we have in ourselves that we will be able to keep the resolution and then disappoint ourselves, other people and maybe even God. So, sometimes we just don’t do anything.

I believe God created the world, created us and has given us an amazing gift in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus talked about life a great deal, both everlasting life and abundant life. Everlasting life is a gift we receive through faith in Jesus Christ. Abundant life is a life we live, a life created as we partner with Christ, learning day by day how to live in abundance, “faith, hope and love!” By God’s grace we have the power, the presence of His Holy Spirit and the biblical truth that is given to us by God so that the future can be changed by making promises and commitments to it. I am going to go to church this year! I am going to stop this certain destructive behavior! I am going to forgive this person in my life! I am going to begin a regimen of self-care, body, soul and mind! You get the idea.

Thoughts on the invitation of Christmas

In the story of Christmas, we have what is called by many “The Incarnation.” The son of God is born through a miracle of the Holy Spirit and a young woman named Mary. This child named Jesus was born “to save his people from their sins.” This is a promise made by God long before. One of the most interesting things about it is the invitation to other participants who did not really have to be there for the Incarnation to take place — wise men who discovered in reading prophetic words that a Messiah would come to Bethlehem one day and had been searching and waiting for generations and then the shepherds who were shocked out of their sandals by angels who invited them to the most important moment in history. Their invitation is our invitation, whether we discover Christ is Lord by the words of angels or prophetic words such as the Bible records. It only matters that we accept the invitation and show up at Christmas. Philippians 2:9-11 says, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow . . . and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” Christmas is made real only on the knees of those who bow before this Lord.

There is a true story told of a man named Tim Smith. But you might not know the entire story. Tim was raised by a man named Horace Smith. When Tim Smith was 11 he found a box under his mother’s bed with his birth certificate in it, a certificate signed by Tug McGraw. He knew the name immediately because he had Tug’s baseball card taped to his bedroom wall, for Tug was a famous baseball pitcher. He discovered that this man was his real father. A quick look in a box slid under a bed changed Tim Smith’s life as well as his name. Today he is Tim McGraw, married to Faith Hill, and is one of the most popular country singers in America and played a lead role in the movie The Blind Side. What a shame if he just slid the box back under the bed without looking inside.

I hope you will take a deep look inside of Christmas. When I do, it changes how I experience this life-changing season. It is not a season we pull out from under the bed after Thanksgiving and then slide back on New Year’s Day; it’s a joyful reminder of what it means to bow before God who sent us such an “Amazing Grace” Savior. Christmas is a special holiday, all the pieces from the secular to the sacred, the tree to the candlelight services. But Christmas is also as simple as a knee bent on a stable floor before a small child who would one day save us all from our sins.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas,

Few words say more than these two, as they speak of joy in the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, good tidings of great joy the angel’s sang. As I often say, we are drawn to the Christmas story because of its simple beauty and its powerful hope.

Christmas is special for many reasons. I think of the many Christmas’ my parents gave me as a child, from Santa’s gifts under the tree that I know they sacrificed to give their four children to the many candlelight services we attended as a family where we celebrated Christ’s birth. I enjoy the decorations, music and trappings of the season. O Come, All Ye Faithful is my favorite carol, and Rhonda and I both enjoy a glass of eggnog, something we only share at Christmas time. For me, all the symbols and events of the season are experienced through the filter of my faith in Christ, and I love sharing the Christmas “good news” in sermons and messages.

This last year has been eventful for the Ramsdell family. Our oldest daughter married Jason, and together they now have five children. They seem very happy, and we are happy for them. We celebrated Thanksgiving at their home in Lumberton, Texas, the first time this holiday was not at our home or my parents’ home. Kelly, our youngest daughter, along with her husband Chad and their two children, lived with us for a couple of months as he prepared for his third deployment, this time to Afghanistan. He is in Kandahar today, and Kelly will live with her sister as they help one another during this next year (Kelly needs support while Chad is gone, and Julie needs a nanny). It seems to be working. Our son Michael, who is married to Gladys, has our youngest grandchild, Henry, and recently was advanced in the company he works for, Caris Diagnostics. He loves computers, and this is what he gets to do. Our children are all doing well as are our eight grandchildren; we are deeply proud of who they are. Faith is the center of all our family.

Our church family has had an equally wonderful year. You are an amazing church family. I am proud of you and honored to be a small part of what God is doing in and through First Church. The God Is Big Enough campaign has taken off around the world, not only in the good news the wristband has given people in so many different situations, but also helping us define who we are as a church. God Is Big Enough continues to create a great United Methodist Church that is making a tremendous impact on its community, on the United Methodist Church and in the world. I appreciate all you do and pray God blesses your family as he has mine.

As a small Christmas gift, I have put together a few of the personal “quotes” I have written the last few years, ideas that have influenced me and I hope will bless you a little. I call them Simple Ideas from Simple Ramsdell (click on this link to read). I have learned it is the concepts I can grasp quickly and consistently that create the most positive change. Maybe an idea or two here can bless you a little as well.

Merry Christmas and a God Is Big Enough New Year,
Pastor Mike Ramsdell

Thoughts on defining what Christmas is

Christmas ? the season is upon us, and it is moving fast. It always does, especially with the countdowns we hear on the news most nights and the tasks we have to get done. It’s like getting on a bullet train that will come to a screeching halt on Christmas Day. One writer put it this way about the day after Christmas, “Nothing is more over than Christmas when it’s over!” I’m not sure Christmas should have a start and end date, though maybe a beginning one.

I think we often enter this season with anticipation or anxiety — anticipation of the holiday giving us a wonderful time, a promise that it may not be able to keep, or anxiety at all the money we have to spend, presents we have to buy and added events we have to attend — events added to an already full life and money spent when we might be maxed out already. Most of us try our best to tie the secular and the sacred together in a meaningful way. We enjoy a tree and lights, so up they go. We know it’s about the birth of Christ, so we make sure we put Christmas Eve Candlelight on the calendar. (It’s on mine.)

So, the question is, “What about the Christmas season can we take into the new year that will build and expand our lives?” I think the answer is relationships — relationships that have grown in family, friendships, marriage, church and with Jesus Christ himself. Separate the living part of the season from that which is not. If the lights don’t work on one side of the tree (like our tree), that is not a problem. But if we don’t find time to hold the hand of a loved one and don’t find time to connect to Jesus, that is a problem. The tree goes up into the attic, but our relationships will define what 2012 will be and also what it won’t be.

• The eyes of a child experiencing the firsts of Christmas
• Sitting next to someone in church who you love holding hands with
• Sharing a tradition you love with someone else
• Kneeling at the foot of God (Christmas is God’s footprint on earth.)
• Finding a place to serve or give to another
• Making a friend
• Forgiveness, gratitude, hope, faith

If we are not intentional about what matters to us and God, then when Christmas ends, it ends. If we are intentional about our relationship with God and others, then Christmas is the beginning of the brightness of the good life in Jesus Christ.

Thoughts on Christmas

I am anticipating a great Christmas season with one of the best parts sharing it with my church family. We have just begun the Advent season with an important emphasis, The Gift of Christmas! When we think of Christmas, we most often think of Jesus’ birth as a gift of God, as well as the season being one of giving. But there is an undercurrent to what the Nativity really means that is often missed, this place where we can meet God in a vital and life-changing way. This is where we will focus all the way through Christmas. My hope is that we will walk through this season together learning better how to center our lives around The Gift of Christmas. There are many services you can attend. We have all our usual special services on Sunday morning, but don’t forget our Saturday 6:00 p.m. worship time or our new Sunday worship time at 5:00 p.m. Celebrate Recovery worship is on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. You can also worship online at www.firstmethodistmansfield.tv, live streaming or later in our archives.

Some opportunities I would like to lift up:

• In each weekend worship opportunity, we will celebrate The Gift of Christmas! 
• On Sunday, December 4, at 7:00 p.m., we will have our annual Remembrance Service. If you have lost a loved one, this is a time to remember with others, not only our shared loss but the hope we have in Christ.
• Join us on Sunday, December 11, at 3:00 or 6:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary for First Family Christmas, an inspiring and amazing musical presentation. It is a great time to bring the family together to focus on Christmas as we move from the secular to the sacred. Our First Family Christmas will certainly be a high point of our season.

We’ve also set our Christmas worship schedule:

Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship
Friday, December 23

• 6:30 p.m. — Contemporary with a living Nativity in which all children are invited to participate.
• 8:00 p.m. — Traditional with choir and orchestra

Saturday, December 24

• 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. — Contemporary with a living Nativity in which all children are invited to participate.
• 8:00 p.m. — Traditional with choir and orchestra (This will also be streamed live.)
• 10:00 p.m. — Traditional with handbells
• 11:30 p.m. — This service is 30 minutes and includes carols, candlelight and communion.

Christmas Sunday, December 25
We will celebrate with three Sunday morning services, 8:15, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary, as well as Sunday night at 5:00 p.m. in the Chapel (9:30 and 11:00 a.m. will also be streamed live).

“For today in the city of David there has been for you, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

May I be one of the first to wish you a Merry Christmas!

Thoughts on God’s gift to us

Sunday I quoted from a Western movie called Open Range. Know that I am a sucker for westerns. Also recognize that all the words in them are not necessarily inspired, but I think these words might be because they represent so much the sentiment and truth of Christianity. The doctor’s spinster sister says these words to a damaged cowboy as she offers him a small locket for luck. He at first wants to reject the gift thinking he is not good enough, but the “good enough” is her opinion of him and has little to do with the disabled opinion he has of himself. Read the words:

“It’s not your choosing if it’s a gift!”

I think these words in Ephesians say much the same thing, only they are speaking of salvation.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

People often think they have to talk God into helping or saving them. Others think they have to pay some kind of price for God’s mercy. Still more simply think they are not of enough value to experience God’s love and blessings.

“Indeed rarely will anyone die for a righteous person; though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves His love for us, in that while we still were sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8)

The giver of the gift decides the value of the one who receives the gift, not the one who receives. This is a core idea of the Christian faith. God has decided, acted and proven that each of us is of immense value to Him ? a value qualified by the cross of His only Son, the perfect, sinless, complete offering of Jesus Christ. God has chosen to give us this gift. We just receive, say thank you and respond.

In the movie, this broken cowboy and former gunfighter becomes a better man begun by such a simple, undeserved, but accepted gift.

God wants to save us!
God wants to help us!
God wants to bless us!

We don’t have to pay for it, deserve it or talk him into it, just accept with a simple act of faith in God, God who has revealed Himself in the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. As we approach Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, think on these things!

I hope you will be able to join us for a special weekend of worship, Celebrate Recovery tonight, then Saturday worship at 6:00 p.m., a reception for the ZOE mission at 7:30 p.m., and then all our Sunday services, including our new 5:00 p.m. worship. We will celebrate what God has done in and through us through ZOE Ministry in Rwanda and Zimbabwe. You will be inspired as we begin Thanksgiving week with such big-deal moments. I think we need to hear Vincent’s (a 15 year old from Rwanda) story. And he needs a place to tell it, God at work.