Ah Christmas...it heralds so much. The Birth of Jesus, the glorius time of hope and joy, great food, great time with friends, snowball fights, sleeping in..... ahhh!

Now having said that I fully recognise that Christmas and New Years can be a devasting time for many as well. People who have lost someone feel the absence, families that have sundered, and those who just cannot deal with the whole holiday-overwhelming bustle.

I guess thats what I want to talk with you about.

We all know people who deal with (or don't) depression centered around this time of year. And its often easy to forget that they are there in the hustle and bustle. They can easily fade into the background, washed out by all the people who are excited or socially active. That is something that we must be careful about. If we care, we need to make time for the ones who struggle.

What do we do with them though? I am not saying that you must "rescue" them. You don't have to cure them, and to be honest in many cases you couldn't. But what you can do is be there with them. Depression is a terrible load of weight, and somedays its a real help just to have someone sit there with them. Reminding them that they aren't alone.

One of the hallmarks of depression is an incredible and often insurmountable feeling of seperation from those around you. This isn't something that can be shrugged off. You wouldn't say to someone with two broken legs "Hey, just walk it off" but many people will say "Just get over it" to someone suffering from depression.

You may note that I haven't talked about people with bi-polar disorder as opposed to seasonal depression or situational depression or traumatic stress disorder related depression. Thats because there is, practically speaking, no difference. Remember I said that you aren't expected to solve their problems or cure them. Just be there with them.

It can be tough. Sitting with someone who is "dragging you down" or has trouble making conversation when you could be out with happy people or people who are excited and bouncy and festive can be very difficult and exhausting. But if you care for this person, if you want to help them then its something that you can do.

We all need to care, to help. Jesus came because we all need help. He spent 33-ish years wandering about trying to get us in a better position to accept a great offer, and He suffered immensely for it. All I am asking you do do is spend a little time this year with someone who will appreciate it.

Reach out and touch someone who needs it.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

see ya

IN response to some who read my previous blog the answer is no. I am not going to stop being a minister. This seems like a good time to explain what a minister really is. A minister is someone who serves God and cares for other people. There is not mention of pay in that description. You don't have to be paid to be a minister, you don't even have to be assosiated with just one congregation.

This leads us to an on-going problem in many congregations. There are many in the pews (or chairs) and only one or two behind the pulpit. That really isn't the way God intended it. Timothy's purpose was to train up the Christians to do the work of the Gospel. Thats what ministers really should be doing.

If your minister is doing all the visiting, the teaching, the preaching, the baptisms, the funerals and weddings, the youth and calling on visitors then both you and your minister are failing the Lord.

Imagine 1 or 2 people doing the work and 200 watching. Wouldn't more get done if the 200 were doing it too? Wouldn't the 200 learn more about the Lord if they were doing what He did? Don't athletes become stronger and more skilled by practising and playing the sports they work at? Christians do too!

People often tell me I am the only minister they know who tries to work himself out of a job. But its a foundational truth of Christianity that the people are to become better Christians by doing the work of the Lord.

Do

Its a tough word. Its an action word. it means to go through the activity so designated. Do the homework, do the dishes, do the yardwork. These things cannot be accomplished by sitting and watching. One has to get up and get into it.

SO...I will always be a minister. I will do the work of the Lord that He sets before me.

What about you?

See ya