Christmas Eve Eve

I think the amaryllis has topped out at its maximum height, a grand 10" tall. Yesterday I noticed a hint of color showing through the bud and today it shows signs of opening. The goal is to have an amaryllis in bloom for Christmas but I think we're going to be a day or two late. We'll see. And I don't know what the final color will be. Oh, the suspense!

Between the writer's strike and truly hokey Christmas specials (e.g. tonight's "Elmo's Christmas Countdown" on ABC) we're left with little else but sports. Life is tough, eh?

I must have been home sick that day, 'cause I don't understand the weather this time of year. Yesterday was the shortest day of the year and today the sun begins moving back toward the northern hemisphere. If from this point forward the sun is getting closer to our latitudes how come the weather is getting colder? I understand fronts moving through and all, but if you look at average temperatures, January and February are colder than December. How come? If the sun is closer shouldn't those months be warmer?
Same thing for the hottest months, August and September, which come after the summer solstice. Somebody out there knows the answer. Clue us in!

Back to the Door, Pt. 2
OK, if God intended the local church to be focused on believers, not as the focal point for evangelism, how are we supposed to spread the good news of God's love in Christ? Where do people go to get saved?
A: they don't go anywhere! We're supposed to go to them!
IMHO, the notable failure here is not the church turning into an organism focused on evangelism - e.g. the seeker church/seeker service. Those who began that movement did so out of a very appropriate burden for the unsaved. It came as a response to the prior failure, a much more serious lapse, of the people of the church to spread the gospel as they go from the church into the world.
That is the NT pattern - believers talking to those in their circle of influence as they meet them in the marketplace of life. Consider: Christ sent the 70 out. Cornelius brought his household together to hear the gospel from Peter. Stephen climbed up into the chariot of the Ethiopian. Believers went from the Ephesian church into the surrounding towns, presumably on business, and led others to Christ with the result that churches were established in those cities.
Somehow, a long time ago, Christians got the notion that evangelism was the proper work of professionals who either went out as evangelists or served as pastors. Pastors certainly should present the gospel; Paul told Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist." But the Master's Plan was always that his people go into their world as salt and light, bearing witness to their own new life in Christ. "Once I was blind, now I can see."
Is the worship service geared to the unbeliever a bad thing? Uhm, first, it's an oxymoron. Unbelievers don't, can't worship a God from whom they are separated by sin. But that aside, if the choice is between no evangelism (because Christians aren't doing their duty in the world) or a church service geared to unbelievers, presenting the biblical gospel clearly and accurately - then better we should find that way to spread the gospel.
But there's a third option: let's get back to what God intended for his people. Let's hold ourselves accountable to see the people in our sphere of influence, our life's circle, as a mission field assigned to us by a sovereign God. You and I should be intentional and conscientious about living and speaking the gospel.
IMHO, FWIW.
Part 3 tomorrow night. Yep, there's one more thing we gotta cover.

Pam has to work tomorrow. And it's my mom's birthday. Happy 64th, mom! LU!