A Christmas Motif

Please take note of my new Christmas motif designed especially just to make you feel "Christmasy."  Enjoy the look and feel and remember to meditate on the mystery of God "in-fleshing" Himself in the babe in the manger. 

Humanity is freed from the tendency to create expressions of God, (otherwise known as idols) for we now know what God "looks" like in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  To see the image of God, go to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and read about this Jesus I speak of.  The words of the writers will paint a clear picture of His character and nature for you.  He is "God with us."  He is the exact representation of God and "the Word made flesh."  We need never look any further than Jesus.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Wonderful Gift of God-given Friendships!

My family and I arrived safely in Southern California on Sunday, December 18th to the warmth of the home of Jerry and Cathy McLaughlin and the cold of watching an Anaheim Mighty Ducks live hockey game.  Jerry is my wife's brother and he and Cathy have a beautiful family with 5 children, a big British bulldog named Sergeant and a home full of love.  We are looking forward to spending our first Christmas in 17 years with Peggy's family and hangin' out with some of my family and friends in Southern California.

As I told you in the last post, leaving Mazatlan was bittersweet due to the many friendships we made during our time in paradise.  In the picture collage seen here you can get a little glimpse of many of the precious people that jumped into our hearts and made "Maz" one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

At the center of God's purpose and plan for all of our lives is the idea that we were made to be relational creatures.  Hard-wired into human nature is the need to connect, relate, fellowship and enjoy the company of other human beings.  When God said of Adam that it was "not good for man to dwell alone," He was not just talking about our need for a marriage partner.  We were created for friendship, brotherhood, family and community.  It is a wonderful truth that the community of the twice-born, otherwise known as the church, is called all of these things at one time or another.  We are not a corporation, social or service club, but the "Body of Christ!"

In Mazatlan, a number of the friends we made were not necessarily followers of Christ, but they were all beautiful people made in the image and likeness of God who were meant by their Creator to be redeemed from sin and brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ and His family.  All of these people enriched us and blessed us in a number of ways.  Our family experienced God's love poured through human instruments of His grace.  We deserved none of this, but rather were recipients of people doing what they were created to do, which is love their fellow man. 

To all of you in Mazatlan, I can only say a great big THANK YOU FROM THE RECESSES OF OUR HEARTS!  Similar to the way that the wonderful people of Grace Harvest Church have poured love into my family for years, you too have blessed us.  You have reminded me that in spite of all of the evil and hurtful things that people do to each other everyday on this planet, the gift of friendship flourishes where people will nurture it. 

Rogelio, Marianne, Haley and Mario, thank you for taking us into your lives and sharing your rich deposit of kindness and love.  You gave and gave and gave to us until it was almost embarrassing!  People like you will never truly lack because you have learned that in giving, you receive so much more!  We look forward to maintaining a friendship with you for many years to come.  PS -  Rogelio, kayaking, bon-fire building, Pancho's and basketball were all great fun for me.  Even Sam's Club was cool.  THANKS!

James, Robin and family, thanks for taking time with us and giving so much of yourselves to us.  We felt at ease with you as we partook of the same spirit of friendship which will make you flourish in your outreach to Mazatlan.  Keep doing what you are doing and they will come, grow, and multiply!  Thanksgiving, El Quelite, Para-sailing and El Olivo's was great because you took the time to invest into our lives.

Javier, thanks for running the best Internet Cafe in town and for your warmth, professionalism, servant's heart and spiritual hunger.  Our discussion on the last day was excellent as you shared your journey and I shared mine.  Keep seeking and remember Jesus' words, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me."  Jesus Christ is the "Light of the world" and my prayer is that He would Illuminate a way for you to see.

Mary, keep making the best burgers and sandwiches in Mazatlan and keep up your spiritual quest.  You have a great heart that God wants to fill with His love and healing.  Peggy and I enjoyed getting to know you.  We will miss you much!

Carlos and Raul, thank you for blessing our family as we para-sailed, boogie-boarded and enjoyed great fellowship and the testimonies of God's amazing grace.  Though our time with you was short, it was impacting to me as I was reminded of the creativity of God as He pursues us and wears us down with His love.

Lorena and Caesar, thanks for the great dinner on our last night.  Your kindness was refreshing to us and we really enjoyed getting to know you a little bit.  May God bless your lives and lead you into His Everlasting Arms.  Stanley, thanks for the use of the phone, Internet and all of the great tips that helped us to survive.

Pastor Fred and Debbie, we absolutely loved attending La Vina, going on a tour to "The other side of Mazatlan", dinner discussions over "kingdom matters" and the pleasure of hanging out with some "MOVERS AND SHAKERS" like yourselves.  Your enthusiasm to touch people with the tangible, practical love of Jesus is an inspiration to our family.  Thank you for letting us use the car and get around Mazatlan a little.  We look forward to possibly seeing you up our way in "06", God willing.

To all of the Rico's staff I say thanks for making our time fun!  All of you are getting practice in doing what it takes to go far in life.  Thanks you for the laughs, great coffee, pictures, hand-shakes, goofing off and Spanish language help.  Our family will miss you all very much.  We hope to return in the future and see some of you still at Rico's.  I know many of you are going to go on and make great things of your lives. 

Enrique, Jenny and family, thanks for your open-hearted friendship and passion for God and righteousness.  Enrique, though we did not talk much, when we did I thoroughly enjoyed your sense of conviction and persuasiveness.  Jenny, my wife really appreciated your kindness to her and the way you made her feel welcome in your home.  God bless both of you.

To Oly, Marge, Ellen, Randy, Juan, Bruce and Anne-Marie, Frankie and all of the other people who made this trip so memorable I express my heart-felt thanks to My Father in heaven on your behalf.  Mazatlan is a beautiful place, but the people mentioned above are what made this time one of the most memorable of my life.  Thank you!

Lastly, I would like to say thanks to Larry and Shirley, Dave and Ginger, Keith and Donna and the congregation at GRACE HARVEST CHURCH.  You all made this time possible as you released my family and I to go and rest awhile.  You have been our family these last 17 years and have been an amazing instrument of God's love and grace to all of the Sherman family.  Without you none of this would have been possible!  THANK YOU! 

"PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW!"

I have always hated goodbyes!  You see, I went to four different high-schools in three different States, left all of my family to move to Washington State and have made friends all over the world.  The good side of this is simply the fact that I am very rich in relationships.  The bad side is that I am always saying, "See ya later."  We are down to our last two days in Mexico and I am dealing with the dual feelings of being sad to go and excited about seeing family and friends in California and then back home in Washington State.  "Parting is such sweet sorrow!"

Our family has made some new friends that I hope we will be able to keep for life.  We have come to love the City of Mazatlan and hope to return in two years for our 20th Anniversary.  We now have some wonderful people we can "hang with" which will make the adventure so much the better.  In the days ahead, I will take some time to introduce you to some of the people and places we have loved in Mazatlan and hopefully not bore you to death.

I remember Rick Warren, the author of "THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE" telling a story from his own life of his father´s long goodbye in death and the passion he graduated to heaven with.  Rick shared how his father´s consuming goal in life was always to, "Take just one more person to heaven with him."  I hope the love of God and the Good News of Jesus has shown forth from our lives in such a way while here in Mexico as to help to populate heaven.  I hope one day I will be able to look back on our time in Mazatlan and see that it wasn't´t just about R&R and ministry goal setting, but that Jesus touched some lives through the family that stayed at Residential Burgos in Casa #3.

I am also looking forward to the day when I will never have to say goodbye again in The New Heavens and The New Earth.  There, I will join with my eternal family in the longest party ever in Jesus´house.  I long for my Master´s appearing and the completion of this part of  "The Mystery of the Ages," when faith will become sight and spirit and matter will be one and the same.  I can imagine abolishing goodbyes and never having to attend another funeral.  Until then, I will continue to look for "A city whose builder and maker is God" and try to accept the idea that goodbyes create longing and are temporary.  Truly, "Parting is such sweet sorrow."

Lucy and The Lion!

We found a theater in Mazatlan that had "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" in English and went together as a family on opening night to see this classic tale.  All of us in the Sherman family really enjoyed the picture and felt that the director did about as good a job as could have been done by a Hollywood film studio.

Lucy stole the show!  All of the other characters were well casted, but Georgie Henley, the 10 year old girl who plays Lucy, was an absolute feast to the senses with her wide-eyed sense of wonder, innocence and child-like faith.  Peter, Susan, Edmund, Mr. Tumnus, the White Witch and Aslan were all a hit, but Lucy was the show-stopper.

The White Witch played by Tilda Swinton had "ice in her veins" and was the embodiment of seductive cruelty.  She, like many other tyrants throughout history, sees people, creatures and the environment as all existing as a means to an end.  Aslan's world is utilitarian to her as she consumes everyone and everything around her to strengthen her hold on power.

Aslan's voice is done by Liam Neeson and provides an excellent combination of gentleness, wisdom and power.  The one criticism of Aslan that I have is that we don't see or hear enough from Him.  There is some very important dialogue cut out of the picture which diminishes Aslan's presence as the awe-inspiring character He is in the books.  The director comes close, but falls a little short on this account.

The special effects are great and do a good job of making the creatures of myth and magic come to life in a believable way.  However, with all of the advancements in CGI which currently exist, it is almost impossible to create a CGI character that is flawless.  Aslan for instance is close, but I still had the feeling that He was digital lion. 

The one missing element that may be impossible to remedy in any future Narnia films is the wonderful witty narration of Lewis himself.  Throughout the books he inserts little quips and quotes that are key to making the Narnia series what it is.  Without a narrator reading directly from the books, I'm not even sure it would be possible to capture this effect.  Of course doing this would probably slow the story down a bit and quite possibly lose some of the younger viewing audience.

The positive element in all of this is the simple joy of being able to go back and read the books and know that there will always be certain little treasures hidden within the pages of these classic stories.  The film adaptation is very good and well worth seeing in the theater, but the books will always be just a little better.  Even so, "Aslan is on the move!"

The Kingdom of Narnia is at hand!

Yes, it is our intention to go and see "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" while down here in Mexico.  We are hoping to find a theater that will air it in English as most children's movies are dubbed in Spanish here in Mazatlan.  I have read a number of reviews and find that they are all across the spectrum when it comes to being favorable or not. 

One of the greatest dangers in this time of computer generated graphics is to cut out dialogue and replace it with "action" in order to make the picture more exciting to younger audiences.  A Christianity Today critique I read said this very thing.  If you are a C.S. Lewis fan as I am, you know how tragic that would be.  The witty dialogue of the beasts, children and Aslan is one of the greatest aspects of the entire Narnia series as the life of the Kingdom of God is foreshadowed simply and profoundly.  I am trying to not set my expectations so high as to make them unattainable. 

Nevertheless, I am encouraged that one of the most influential thinkers of the 20Th Century is going to have his post-mortem shot at impacting an entirely new generation with the beauty, wonder, power and grace of Aslan and Narnia.  Repent!  The Kingdom of Narnia is at hand!

Christianity Today Review of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

World Magazine Review of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

It´s almost NARNIA time!

Is the time finally at hand when Christian thought and worldview are starting to get a greater hearing within American culture?  For all of the things which we could lament surrounding us in pop culture, I am starting to notice a trend toward movies with a Christian world and life-view on the increase.  The first installment of the C.S. Lewis series, "The Chronicles of Narnia" will be hitting theaters on December the 9th and they promise to be true to the books and values of Lewis and his family.  God´s voice is getting a hearing in spite of the fact that others are trying so hard to squeeze Him out, or at least marginalize His people.  Let us as the redeemed community be as loud to applaud Disney for making this movie as we have been to yell when they blow it!  Go see "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" and travel to the wonderful land where Aslan rules!

CLICK ON TO THE WORDS, "CHRONICLES OF NARNIA" TO LINK TO THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE!