Ridgell's Originals

OK.  Let me just get this out of the way.  I am a talker.  I am verbal and I am not shy. But those qualities also make it harder for me to be a good listener. 

So one of my resolutions is to be a better listener this year.  After all, James 1:19 says to be quick to listen, so it is a spiritual discipline. 

I have recently been in four conversations that helped me see why I am a better disciple of Jesus when I really listen.

I occasionally stopped talking long enough to listen to everyone talking around our table at Christmas.  Listening to my Mom and to Marsha.  Hearing my kids and grandkids.  Love expressed.  Joy, faith, encouragement.  I was literally watching one generation lead the next generation to deeper, richer faith in Jesus.  It was a moment of great inspiration and conviction about what God is doing in the lives of my family.

I spent four hours in conversation (yes I spoke a lot but I also listened intently) with our small group talking about what it means to be church.  Six people with great love and passion about living out our faith.  We have done life together for a long time so they all  have great credibility with me.  Every one of them said something that made me understand more about what it is to live as church.  Lots of things said about Jesus, family, faith, love, church, and what that looks like.  I learned. 

I sat at lunch with a close friend and listened as he talked about life with his wife who suffers from Alzhiemers.  I don't think he will ever know how much my faith grows by hearing him.  And yes, he asks and listens to the things going on in my life.  But I hear so much love, faith, and real life from him.  I need his voice in my life.

And I had a short conversation with a couple facing a serious diagnosis of fast growing cancer.  I heard their words of confidence and faith.  I went over to encourage them and I left thinking about how glad I am that this world is not my home and that God has something better than here waiting for me.  I am stronger because of their faith. 

It is really hard for a talker to be a good listener.  But this year I am going to try harder. 

Maybe if I really listen I can even do better when I do speak or give spiritual counsel. 

But most of all, when I really listen, I become a better follower of Jesus. 

So thanks to my friends and family who spoke into my life these past few days. 

I heard, and you blessed me.

Here are a few ways to celebrate Christmas this year.

Talk about Jesus.  Tell your family what he means to you.  Get them to share what he has done for them this past year.

Do something to serve your neighbors. 

Eat together.  Have people over.  Go out to eat.  Party lots.  The Bible has lots to say about the fellowship of eating together.

Worship with your family and your people.  Go to a Christmas Eve service.  Have home church.  Do something that draws your family together around the manger that becomes a cross.

Celebrate a baptism.  Call a new convert and tell them that celebrating the birth of Jesus reminded you to celebrate their new birth. 

Tell the people you have been talking to about Jesus that this is a good time to be born again. 

Give gifts. 

Give something that matters to someone less fortunate than yourself.  Share a meal with them.  Take them shopping.  Be there.

Give your time.  Talk, really talk, to the people that matter.

Find the lonely person and include them.  The college kid stuck at school.  The single parent who doesn't have the kids.  The old people whose kids aren't coming in.

Tell the story of Jesus.  Even better if you tell it to someone who doesn't know it.

I love Christmas.  Love, family, food, giving, and Jesus.  I wish I could do Christmas all the time.

And I do.  I'm a Christian. We do this stuff all the time.

Thanks God.

Many churches are in the midst of Advent during the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.  Some churches formally announce Advent and some just preach on the themes of Advent:  joy, peace, hope, love.  

There were Bible professors that I learned a lot from, and there were professors that I liked.  Tony Ash was the rare teacher that both taught me a lot and that I really liked.  Everybody has great Tony stories, but here are two of my favorites.

I was in his office one day when the phone rang.  He told me it was his wife calling to thank him for the flowers.  He then told me to answer the phone.  I did and identified myself.  Barbara never missed a beat.  She just told me to tell Tony thanks for the flowers and hung up.  I thought that was pretty cool.  They were well suited.

I played a lot of basketball with Tony.  He told me one day that my jump shot was like a frog.  Great jumping ability but I had to squat too low to get it started.  So for the next forty or so years every time Tony saw me -- even if I was in the audience listening to him preach -- he would ask if my jump shot still looked like a frog. Kinda cool ... and kinda embarrassing.  But always said in a way that made me feel good.

So here a few things I learned from Tony.  Take care of your body.  Love your wife.  Read C.S. Lewis.  Read Scripture out loud.  Really good Bible students can be pretty cool.  Don't quit.  Don't give up.  Preaching is fun.  Never get old.

He was a good man who loved talking about Jesus.  He was always good to me.  He made a difference. 

Well done Tony.  Well done.

For those that do not know, I did resign as an elder at Southern Hills.  This is the letter I submitted for the congregation.