Articles by Lou Seckler at Heartlight

Christ and Christmas

Sun, 12 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0600

Recent polls find that only one-third of Americans consider Christ's birth the most important aspect of Christmas. By 44% to 33%, more people cited the opportunity for "family time" as the main reason Christmas is important to them. Even when considering only respondents who said they were Christians (88% of Americans), the birth of Christ drew the top vote from only 37%.

There is a movement in some evangelical circles advocating that for Christmas to be genuine, it must promote the inclusion of Christ. And according to the above survey, we can see from where their concern arises. The survey would appear to say that Christ has been kept out of Christmas! But with all due respect to my evangelical friends, I want to reassure them that regardless of how much people may try, they are not going to remove Christ from Christmas.

Since Christ is in all aspects of our lives, why should he be absent during the most festive time of the year? The gospels show our Lord at weddings (John 2) and dining with friends and disciples (Matthew 9), not to mention his participation in the great Jewish festivals that had great social importance to God's people.

If Christmas is a time of sharing, then our Lord is present. In his earthly ministry, Jesus did not have anything, yet he gave everything. He never handled money, yet he made us all rich. He never owned a home or even had a bed, but he has provided for us to have shelter and food. He never wrote a book, yet he shared beautiful stories (We call them parables.) which were written down by his disciples -- and are now available to us in hundreds of languages and dialects.

If Christmas is a time of giving, then our Lord is present. He gave more than anyone on the face of this earth. You cannot out-give Him. He not only gave to those in need -- by healing, feeding and blessing -- he gave of himself through his sacrifice on the Cross. He gave while he was living and he keeps giving while he is in heaven, at the right side of the Father.

If Thanksgiving is a time for the counting of our blessings, then Christmas is a time when we must acknowledge the source of those blessings: Jesus Christ. The Author of our salvation is also the Giver of our blessings. Paul learned how to give from our Lord, as he taught him: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35)

Taking Christ out of any part of our lives would be insane; it would be foolish -- it would be impossible. Christ is in Christmas, just as he is in every celebration and every crisis throughout the year. You can ignore him, you can mock him -- or you can adore him.

"Oh come, let us adore him!"

For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them. (Matthew 18:20)

Lou Seckler works with Harvest Ministries in Abilene, Texas

Ten Steps to Help You with the Blues

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0600

An estimated 19 million American adults are living with major depression. You can find all sorts of support groups, information, and resources online. These are ten suggestions for those who are facing the more routine kind of depression we all have from time to time.

Experts say it is perfectly normal to get depressed once in a while. But if the problem lingers and does not seem to go away, then seeing a doctor is in order.
For the temporary depression I would like to suggest 10 steps that may give you the encouragement you need:

Accept the fact you are God's creation -- Many persons would like to be different and spend time and money in the process. Although it is good to take good care of your appearance, when it becomes an obsession, you get depressed wondering why you can't look like somebody else.

Accept God's forgiveness -- One of the main ways to beat depression is to have peace of mind. As you find sins in your life you must confess them. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us." (1 John 1:9) When you don't believe God can forgive you -- depression sets in.

Look at yourself through God's eyes -- Thank Him for His presence in your life and believe what His Word tells you about His love for you.

Remember Paul's words of encouragement -- "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13) God's power is working in you and through you even when you don't see it or feel it.

Try visualizing how God is perfecting you -- Resist the temptation to think about yourself as a failure. We all have failed in one way or another. Think of yourself as someone growing in Christ. Remember the bumper sticker: "Be patient with me, God isn't finished with me yet."

Write down your goals and dreams -- Ask God to help you with your goals. If you want to lose weight, to kick a bad habit, or become something that you are not, then write down your goals; with God's help, you will be determined to achieve them. This will bring you satisfaction.

Always be positive -- With Christ you should not anticipate anything but ultimate success. Avoid those who are always complaining, irritated, or criticizing. They may be contagious. "Think about such things," says Paul to the Philippians, exhorting you to think positively. (Philippians 4:8)

Anticipate the abundant life God has in store for you -- God has a plan for you. You cannot read Romans 12 and not believe this truth. The plan is flexible and it is up to you to fill in the blanks. God will help you build you life!

"Seek first the Kingdom of God" -- Matthew 6:33 makes it clear that you cannot sell out to greed or selfishness. Kingdom business should come first; God has promised to provide for your needs. Do not do it backwards. If you run after things you will never have enough. Seek God and you will have everything.

Surrender your life to God and serve people -- To a depressed lady, a friend suggested that she should give away her orchids to a nursing home nearby. When she died, the local paper said: "Orchid lady dies leaving hundreds of friends."

Always be thankful -- A spirit of thanksgiving is present one day in November. Why not prolong that feeling throughout the year? You have heard it said that happiness is a choice. Why not make that your choice?

Follow these 10 steps. You cannot be assured you will never get depressed. However, do not allow depression to be the lord of your life anymore. If you want more information, read the booklet titled "The Plan for Depression" offered by Hope for Life.

Lou Seckler works with Harvest Ministries in Abilene, Texas

Biting our Tongue?

Thu, 28 Oct 2004 00:00:00 -0500

A King ordered his servant to buy the best food he could find so he could treat his guests. The servant bought a huge supply of tongues. Dish after dish was served, everyone containing tongues.

The king was very upset and scolded the servant saying: "I gave you direct instructions to buy the best food and all you bring is tongues?" To which the servant replies: "Sir, I have obeyed your orders. Is there anything better than tongue? Is not the tongue the bond of civil society, the organ of truth and reason, and the instrument of praise and adoration to God?"

The next day the King ordered his servant to buy the worst food he could find. The servant comes back with more tongues. "What is this, more tongues?" asks the King with indignation. The servant boldly explains: "Sir, the tongue is also the worst thing there is. It is the cause of strife and war, the inventor of lawsuits, and the source of division. It is the organ of errors, of lies, of slander and blasphemies."

Recently stiff fines and loss of points have been issued to racing car champions like Dale Earnhardt, Jr., for using profanity during interviews. These fines should remind athletes they are role models for impressionable children who watch them and that they should watch their language. Would it not be apropos to issue similar fines to some radio, TV, and movie personalities whose mouths are like open sewers?

The Scriptures teach that some are double-tongued -- they use their speech to worship God and outside of worship they curse their fellowmen. The same tongue that blesses God also curses human beings who are made in His likeness. James exhorts: "My brothers, this should not be." (James 3:10)

Is your tongue under Jesus' control? Jesus told us, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34)

Lou Seckler works with Harvest Ministries in Abilene, Texas

God's Word is Not Dead

Sun, 27 Jun 2004 00:00:00 -0500

In the late 1970's, German philosopher and writer Friedrich Nietzsche made a now-infamous statement about the death of God, causing quite a stir in the religious community. Nietzsche went on to explain that God was dead in th hearts of men -- because Rationalism and Science had killed him

Although we don't consider God dead and outdated, few will read his Word regularly to find out what he has to say to us today!

We are the only species in the whole of creation that can talk to God. We do it by praying. But we are remiss when we don't care what he has to say to us, not reading his Word regularly. If his Word is not relevant to our daily lives today, it is just as if God did not exist.

The Psalmist often stated his love and respect for the Word of God. It was also evident to the Psalmist how much he depended on the Word of God for his daily walk. Here's a case in point: Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. (Psalm 119:97)

God's Word was of vital importance in the life of our Lord Jesus. Some of his most well-known statements are directly related to his total dependence on God's precious words.

For example, when he said: "Men cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) Here, he speaks about how difficult life would be for the believer who is disconnected from his main source of spiritual guidance, and from reading the Scriptures to find God's will for daily living. Craving only material blessings, the believer will surely starve.

The most common excuse we make for not reading our Bibles is lack of time. Modern life -- with all its diverse interests vying for our attentions -- often leaves the reading of God's Word limited to something we do only when we find ourselves in a serious crisis. As the saying goes, "the Bible is not a spare tire, but the steering wheel." God's Word is not just for emergencies, but for every situation and every day!

We read the newspapers or we watch the news on television to see what people are doing, but what we need to do is read our Bibles to see what we should be doing. Somebody once said that a major sand storm would happen if all the Christians in the world were to open up all of their dusty Bibles at the same time. I'd love to see it, wouldn't you!

While other books may be for information, the Bible is for transformation. One old preacher put it this way: "I know that the Bible is inspired because it inspires me."

Take time out to read God's Word daily. Search the Word of God for the direction you need for a more joyful life and you will find it there. May the reading of the Bible inspire you to a God-directed life. As long as there are believers who read the Bible, God is alive in the hearts of people -- alive in our hearts.

For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

Lou Seckler works with Harvest Ministries in Abilene, Texas

How You Can Minister to Christ

Sat, 27 Mar 2004 00:00:00 -0600

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them ... (Matthew 9:36)

On my first visit to a prison in northern Portugal, in the mid-1970's, I was taken by the way the inmates welcomed us ... There were hugs and big smiles and it seemed like they jumped up and down with joy every time we came.

At first, I thought that the warm welcome the inmates gave to my companions and me was because I was the voice of a Bible study radio broadcast, and they wanted to meet the man behind the voice.

Later, I found out that once those men were locked up, they were abandoned. Neither their relatives nor their friends came to see them. Let's face it: who would want to have a convict for a friend, or for a cousin, or even for a brother?

During one of my first visits to the French Robertson Unit here in Abilene, one inmate's first words to me were: "Welcome to the Cemetery of the Living." Later on, that same man confided to me I was his only visitor in ten years. He had not had a single person come to visit him in an entire decade.

Another inmate there -- a man from Matanzas, Cuba -- gave me his home address in his country. The first chance I had to visit Cuba, I went to see his family. There I learned that they had had no communication with him for the past twenty years. The man's mother had died, and he was unaware of it.

When Paul admonished the Colossians about being supportive, (Colossians 3:13) he did not say that the Christian should bear with his or her brothers and sisters only when the circumstances were right! No, we are told to be supportive all of the time, even when it is uncomfortable or risky to do so. To shoot a wounded comrade would be bizarre behavior for a solider. Yet this is what we do every time we turn our back to a hurting brother.

And when we visit the sick and the prisoners, they are not the only ones who receive a blessing. It blesses us just as well. These people are very close to the heart of God. According to Matthew 25:45, as we minister to them, so we are ministering to Jesus Christ himself. What a thought! We can minister to Christ.

Lou Seckler works with Harvest Ministries in Abilene, Texas

A Heart-Stopping Experience

Tue, 04 Nov 2003 00:00:00 -0600

Let me tell you about my first experience driving into Mexico.

It was the summer of 1973, at the very beginning of my work with Herald of Truth. When we arrived in the town of Sabinas, about 100 miles south of Del Rio, Texas, we began looking around for the church of Christ. We saw the building, located on the other side of the railroad tracks.

As I was driving over the tracks, my car, which had a full load of passengers, got hung up on one of the rails and the engine died. When I looked to the left, a feeling of terror overtook me; a train was coming!

"Quick!" I shouted, "Everybody out of the car!"

Suddenly, the thought of total loss hit me like a ton of bricks. On the way in that day, I hadn't purchased insurance at the border, because it was a Sunday morning, and the agency was closed. I thought all was lost when, out of the blue, two Mexican men showed up, lifting the front of my car, freeing it from the rails. The empty car coasted backwards as the train went by. Other than the huge scare (and one small dent in my car), we came out injury-free that day.

The lessons I have learned from that experience are powerful. First, turn your anxieties over to the Lord. Second, even in the worst of circumstances, when you are involved in Kingdom business, He will care about you.

When we read Jesus' sermon from the mountain in Matthew 6, we find the Lord's three admonitions against worrying. But we seldom take them to heart. Then again, we have studied the Sermon of the Mount so many times that it begins to resemble a textbook more than the words of God.

From Matthew 6:32, we must conclude that worry and anxiety are problems of faith : "the pagans worry because they do not know God." Those who have faith in God should not worry! We must realize that worry and anxiety is disobedience to God's will. The same God who commands: "Do not kill" also urges us: "Do not worry."

As your faith grows, so does your trust in God. But it is only when you decide to bank on that trust that you start making inroads into spiritual growth. So, what should keep us from worrying and developing a peptic ulcer? Two things: God controls everything in the world and nothing that happens escapes God's control.

Since that first experience in Mexico, I buy insurance several weeks before crossing the border. I also check twice before crossing railroad tracks. But above all, I give my anxieties to God. Live carefree before God; He is most careful with you. (1 Peter 5:7 The Message)

Lou Seckler works with Harvest Ministries in Abilene, Texas