"One Small Child"

is a Christmas song don't hear as often as many others, but the words have a depth that I really like:

One small child in a land of a thousand
One small dream of a Savior tonight
One small hand reaching out to the starlight
One small Savior of love
One small Savior of love

One king bringing his gold and his riches
One king ruling an army of might
One king kneeling with incense and candlelight
One king bringing us life
One king bringing us life

See the shepherds kneeling before Him
See the king's on bended knee
See the mother praising the Father
See His tiny eylids fall

One small child in a land of a thousand
One small dream of a Savior tonight
One small hand reaching out to the starlight
One small Savior of life
One small Savior of life

Wayne Says Relax

Below are some notes from a talk I heard Wayne Jacobsen give years ago. This is just the skeleton, missing some of the explanations, but pretty good stuff. Lately I notice a tendency for living out sin management Christianity (trying harder and harder and harder to sin less, to the point it starts to become lifeless and ridiculous) and performance-based Christianity, which is really like living by law (we've become more like the Jews than the Gentiles as they are referred to in the book of Galatians, for example).

Anyway, here's the notes I took from Wayne years ago. It addresses both issues (sin management and performance-based Christianity):

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Attributes God is Producing in Us

1) Living by love, not by principles.

2) Living in growing trust, no in anxiety/performance.

• "What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know God and how He works . . . ." Luke 12:27ff (The Message)

3) Living in God's purpose instead of the tyranny of our own agenda.

• 1 Peter 4:1-2 (especially as phrased in The Message)

4) Living in the moment, not in the future.

• All our anxieties are about the imagined future. God is not in that; He's in the present.
• Best way God can get us where He wants us in six months is not to tell us.

5) Living in His power, not our efforts.

• 1 Corinthians 12, Philippians 3
• Waking up every morning and asking God "what are we doing today?"

6) Living in community, not in independence

• We've been raising Christians in "orphanages" more than in "families." Those raised in such a way don't know they matter in the world.

7) Living generously and graciously in the world.

• John 16:8 - It is the "Counselor's" job (not mine) to convict the world of guilt.
• The way that Jesus lived, people enjoyed being around Him.
• If evangelism has become an obligation to you, then stop!