Giving Up Christmas

Check out all of the other stories from the event after you've read :-) @  www.givingupchristmas.org

With all respect to the other Holiday festivities that I'll be participating in this year and all of the family gatherings... TODAY, I had the coolest Christmas experience that I think I've ever had in a while, and will probably not be topped at all this year.  

This morning, Buckhead Church threw its singles Christmas party... that's right, it was in the morning... and the program for this event was a well guarded secret.  The party itself was pretty cool, we paid $5 to attend this event where we were fed Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits and coffee and participated in tables of 8 in a trivia game in which we could win money.... my team did very well (we had a lot of peeps that were very "up" on Christmas so we won a lot of money... AND had the opportunity to get in front of 1,000 people and sing karaoke... a lot of fun too for extroverts like myself). 

Here's the cool catch... each of us were given out money to give Christmas out to someone in need.  Hence, we were given the privilege of "Giving Up Christmas"

My table, table 53 (the number, by the way, of Herbie the Love Bug from the Disney movies), decided to split up our winnings.  We gave out a portion of our money to a group that was sponsoring a child at the Safe Way house, and the rest of it we decided to use to go out and give coffee, fruit, and pastries (donuts and muffins) to the homeless.  Our journey started at Disco Kroger, near Buckhead Church, then to the Caribou Coffee to get coffee for 30, then downtown to Centennial Park to take our traveling crew through the park to find folks that need a smile, a cup of warmth, and something to put in their stomach.  

This task was a little more difficult because the park was crowded with fans going to the Georgia Dome to cheer on the Gators or the Crimson Tide in today's SEC Championship Game (which I am watching now).  

Near the first folks we served were another group of folks (not sure what church they were from) that were preaching in the street (some very loudly) at the passing football fans and handing out those infamous "Chick tracts."  In fact, after I poured coffee out to one grateful gentleman, I instinctively took one of these tracts from a 8-10 year old kid that was out there to help with this effort (I'm thinking there was about 10 or so folks out here in this crusade) and put it in my pocket.  In case you don't know, "chick tracts" are these scary cartoon tracts that usually have the "turn or burn" warning associated with them.  Sometimes, I think they probably do more harm than good... even though I'm sure that somewhere, someone may have come to Christ through one of them... but the truth is that it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance, and I'm not sure how much kindness is in those booklets.  Just my $0.02.  

But, okay... that was then... this is now.  We proceeded from the preachers' corner into the park and found people in need, and gave what we could.  After a little bit, we realized how much time it was going to take to give out all of the coffee we bought (and one of our team members had a deadline), so someone (not me) on our team had the idea to drop the rest of our stuff at the Atlanta Union Mission nearby...

As we turned the corner, we saw a line of men waiting to get into the mission (either for the night or for a meal) and one of the girls on our team announced that we are bringing coffee and caused a stir.  The guys on staff at the mission quickly got things in order and assisted us in setting up a table that we could serve the men in line and wish them a Merry Christmas.  One of the girls on the team commented that she was concerned that we wouldn't have enough, but there was enough and more... God provided and we were able to provide coffee for most all of the men in line and had more than enough fruit and pastries.  That may have been the coolest moment that I've had in recent memory, not only in the rush that we got from serving... but also the God-moments that allowed us to be at the Mission at the right time where God could use to bless and courage those guys looking for shelter.  

I have to tell you... and I know that the staff at Buckhead Church don't want us propping up the name of "Buckhead Church"...  but I have to tell you that I feel so lucky to be part of a church that would not only think up of something like this, but would actually DO it :-).  You made MY Christmas, and I hope that things like this truly become part of the culture of the church as a whole (not just one organization, even though I love what you guys at Northpoint and Buckhead are cooking up)... that we would be known as those people who do good, love others, and live out the heart of our Savior Jesus Christ.  To Joel, Jarrett, Kerri, Brittany, Jaime, Annette, Misty, etc.... YOU guys ROCK.  Keep it up.  

By the way, guess who else rocks?  Chick-Fil-A!  Somehow, Dan Cathy heard about what we were doing today and donated our breakfast so that we could give out all of the funds collected and matched for this event to make someones Christmas rock.  Yes, enough chicken biscuits and fruit bowls to feed over 1,000 people.  Cheers to all of you... not that you wouldn't have influenced this much more, but I'm happy that I'm Eatin' mor Chikin! 

And all of you that are giving up Christmas today... You guys rock too!  I've loved reading about your stories on the blog (see link above).  It's so cool to see what God's going through this around the city! 

Chris <><