WALKING

TOWARD CHRIST

AT CHRISTMAS

By: Mark B. Nemzek

7/17/96
c1996
Extended through 2014

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Table of Contents

Contents
MY EARLIEST YEARS............................................................................................................................4
GIFT OF LIFE.............................................................................................................................................5
SILENCE.....................................................................................................................................................6
MEANING AT CHRISTMAS....................................................................................................................7
CHRISTMAS LOVE...................................................................................................................................8
MY RATIONALIST PHASE....................................................................................................................9
A NEW LIFE AT CHRISTMAS..............................................................................................................10
CHRISTMAS RECOLLECTIONS..........................................................................................................11
A CHRIST BLESSING............................................................................................................................12
TO CARE..................................................................................................................................................13
MY REBIRTH INTO CHRISTIANITY...............................................................................................14
A SECOND LOOK..................................................................................................................................15
CHRISTMAS TIME.................................................................................................................................16
A CHRISTMAS REFLECTION..............................................................................................................17
AT CHRISTMAS A SOUL SEARCHER...............................................................................................18
A REALIZATION OF MY CHRISTIANITY.....................................................................................19
WORDS FOR CHRISTMAS..................................................................................................................20
THINGS AT CHRISTMAS......................................................................................................................21
GLITTER
AND THE CHRISTMAS ALTERNATIVE...............................................................22
WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS LORD?.........................................................................23
A CHRISTMAS THANKSGIVING........................................................................................................24
CHRISTS PRESENCE AT CHRISTMAS............................................................................................25
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF MY CHRISTIANITY.................................................................26
A SAMARITAN'S CHRISTMAS............................................................................................................27
CHRISTMAS ON ETERNITY'S EDGE............................................................................................28
A SECULAR CHRISTMAS OR HIS ALTERNATIVE.........................................................................30
WALKING IN CHRISTS LOVE..........................................................................................................31
CHRISTMAS PEACE FOR A GENERATION.....................................................................................32
THE CHRISTMAS GIFT AFTER SALVATION....................................................................................33
"EPHPHATHA AT CHRISTMAS".........................................................................................................34
AN EAR FOR WISDOM AND A HEART FOR UNDERSTANDING..............................................35
A VACATION TO REMEMBER.............................................................................................................36
TOWARD JOY THROUGH TRIALS..................................................................................................37
MOVING TOWARD JOY IN THE MORNING.....................................................................................38
OUR CHRISTMAS DEADLINE............................................................................................................39
OUR CHRISTMAS CHOICE.................................................................................................................40
AN EXTRAORDINARY CHRISTMAS FOR AN ORDINARY CHRISTIAN..........................................................41
A DISCIPLE AT CHRISTMAS.......................................................................................................................42
CHRISTMAS, A GIFT OF FORGIVENESS........................................................................................43

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UEXPECTED JOYS AND TRIALS......................................................................................................44

CHRISTMAS: A GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP.......................................................................................................45
A PRAYER AT CHRISTMAS.........................................................................................................................46
CHRISTMAS; REMEMBERING THE GOD TOUCHED MOMENTS................................................................47
CHRISTMAS THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE.................................................................................................48
CHRISTMAS: AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE.................................................................................................49
PERFECT LOVE AT CHRISTMAS.................................................................................................................50
TRIALS, CHALLENGES, AND LOVE..............................................................................................51
THE LORDS TOUCH AT CHRISTMAS........................................................................................................52
GOD WITH US AT CHRISTMAS...............................................................................................................53
READY FOR CHRISTMAS............................................................................................................................54
CHRISTMAS THROUGH FORTY YEARS......................................................................................................55
CHRISTMAS IN DAILY LIFE.........................................................................................................................56
CHRIST; HIS QUIET SHARED PRESENCE.................................................................................................57

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My Earliest Years
During 1974 I decided to write creatively for Christmas. It was a pact I made
with myself, or so I thought. Between the beginning of 1972 and the end of
1977 I was not Christian. Though my parents had brought me up as a
believer, by my late teens I had drifted away. During these early years I was
involved in New Age before it became known as such. My gods included
those of (Hindu) Transcendental Meditation, Buddhism, Rosicrucians and
various occult samplings. My involvement with Eastern Mysticism was
sufficient for me to recognize the existence of other reigning spirits in these
religions!
Little did I realize (or want to) that I was dabbling with gods that Jesus Christ
would call demons. I was one of those lost in the pagan religions! Even so, I
was writing at Christmas time. Unknown to myself, the Lord had different
plans for me.
During this time I never mention other gods in my Christmas writings, yet I do
not recognize Jesus Christ as God. This was a time period when I was trying
to be inclusive of all religious expressions. It never occurred to me that being
tolerant and inclusive watered down the Truth of Christ.
When writing Gift Of Life in 1974 I was attempting to bring relevance and
external meaning to life through relationships. I had experienced failure in
my own personal life. I had been married for just one and one half years and
was now divorced from a person I thought I was to be with for life. However,
the most important relationship, the one with God, was missing.
During 1975 I was beginning to move from the Eastern Mysteries to
Humanistic Psychology and Rationalism. In Silence the beginning and end
of life are acknowledged. Congruence in living is sought after. Eternity is
ignored because both the beginning and end seem final. At the end of this
message a blessing from some god is given.
In 1976 I graduated from college with a BA. By years end I was immersed in
Humanism. Meaning At Christmas is my attempt to state that reality is
derived from human choice. We each decide to be self centered or more
evenly balanced between society and self. It is the power of Choice that
comes close to Godliness in this writing.
When writing Christmas Love I move past the philosophical ideals and begin
to touch on love. I married Ingrid in 1977 and being in love was a condition I
was very much experiencing. Jesus was acknowledged as the essence of love
but not the author of love.
In these writings we see a young man who actually believed he was wise. It
would never have occurred to me at the time that if I had died then I would
have been hell bound. I had been mistaking personal arrogance for wisdom.

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But God was not done with me. His grace had only just begun working a
miracle in my life!

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GIFT OF LIFE
I'm deeply grateful of life,
when life achieves relevance for me.
I'm deeply humbled by life,
when this relevance manifests itself,
through another person.

At these times, the rewards,

of giving and receiving melt away,
to give and receive is to be humble,
to be humble is to accept the gift of
life.

Today, social mores press us,

to be individual, without need of
others.
Surely, if we're individual, totally,
we need not others to tell us to be so.

This all happens when a thing, place or

person touches you,
inoculating you for a moment, with
infinity.
You and that which touches you,
realize the relevance of living.

Sometimes we're pressed to be

dependent,
on others' words and ways.
Surely, if we're totally dependent,
we need not be told to be so.

That moment of interdependence,

with you, and that, sometimes fades,
and just the precious memory of not
controlling, nor being controlled lives
on.

Occasionally, an individual learns

of the beauty in accepting another
totally,
and the dependent one learns,
of accepting himself totally.

If we choose to see this,

not as a sentimentalist's dream,
but as a viable alternative to chaotic
living,
that moment extends infinitely.

Sometimes in life, if we're fortunate

enough to listen, look, smell and feel,
the secret beauty of life emerges,
in a dance of eternity.

To discover the reality of yourself,

through another person and yourself,
is a beautiful relevance in living,
that with both persons willing,
is not a finite experience.

Integration of dance blossoms,

when individual leaves his ego,
and dependent one leaves his
servitude,
humble respect to each other abounds.

Some would call this,

the touch of God,
upon the face of man.

And so, not being total in ourselves,

on occasion, life gives us the
opportunity,
if we're willing to perceive with
humility,
the sacred relevance of living.

God's spirit be with you,

Mark B. Nemzek
c 1974

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SILENCE
We began of silence,
we knew no better.
We will end in silence,
We know no better.
In between that silence,
we live our lives.
We manage our growth struggles,
with silence seldom sought,
except in sleep.
Daily we produce actions,
to keep us in the living.
Daily we prod our bodies,
one more time, let's do it again.
To measure those myriad actions,
we have learned to think and feel.
This is a special private process,
until our hearts scream to share.
We have learned to voice,
our thoughts and our feelings.
Sometimes we choose to speak the
truth,
we have also learned,
to misconstrue and deal.
Through all of this, our world has
become,
a sanctity of confusion.
We try to separate a deal from the
truth,
seldom piercing this living illusion.

Still, many of us,

match up our words with our deeds.
We mesh our feelings with our
thoughts,
in a process of integrating,
ourselves as persons.
Know us by our smile when we are
happy.
Know us by our tears when we are sad.
Know us by our search,
for a balance-point in life.
Know us by our occasional need for
quiet.
Know yourselves, sisters and brothers,
take care of your moments,
of quiet and solitude.
These moments closely replicate,
both your beginning,
and your ending,
in silence.

May this Christmas

bring you,
the silence,
of your God
in you.
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1975

MEANING AT CHRISTMAS
We make our own meaning in life,
or we don't.
We make our own choices in life,
or we choose not to.
When you or I choose yes or no,
we decide life's significance.
When we make no choice,
ambiguity befuddles us.
When we choose meaning in life,
every person and event becomes important,
If we choose no meaning,
it makes no difference.
When I choose just me, not us,
others become so hard to live with.
When I choose just others, not me,
my significance matters not.
When I choose me and us,
I allow meaning for you and me.
I acknowledge your right to choose,
and I realize mine.
If I choose me and society,
all of you, and all of me,
it will not be an easy path,
this choice to face reality.
I choose to let you know my yes or no,
and listen to your choice.
Fellow chooser, acknowledged or not,
May this Christmas find you,
with peace, joy and appreciation in living.
And may your awareness of your choice,
deepen with your increasing life.
The Christ Spirit be with you,
If you so choose.
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1976

CHRISTMAS LOVE
Love is a rarity among emotions.
It's given, with deep regard for the other,
without asking,
without condition of payment.
Just as love is rare,
its substitutes are abundant.
Material giving, emotionalized sex,
and conditionalized care.
Sometimes we give gifts,
to say we care.
This becomes easier to do,
when love isn't there.
At times, when we feel empty,
we try to bridge the gap with sexual expression,
in hope, that our loneliness will lessen.
It seldom does.
Conditional caring is an art form
we are perfecting:
I love you when...
I'd love you if...
If you're a good child, we'll...
And I'll love you, if you'll love me.
We make love into a packaged contract,
and feel slightly pale at its shallowness.
On occasion we experience love.
It's not owed to us when we receive it,
nor owed to others when we give it.
The receiver and the giver become living persons.
We give and receive this love,
in recognition of being human, together.
The Christ spirit love is this care.
May it touch you,
in your experiences this Christmas Season.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek

c 1977

My Rationalist Phase
This four year period finds me moving toward the western philosophies. I left
the Eastern Mysteries and moved toward humanistic psychology and
rationalism. By this time I was even going to a Christian church but I was a
universalist. I was certain that all paths could lead to God. After all, why
would a loving God be so narrow minded as to provide only one path to
himself?
My dad died during this time period. I missed him deeply, but not enough to
ask God's help, much less His forgiveness. My god was the mind, though I
was beginning to be aware of the hole in my heart. It seemed to me that
reason should be the cure to all internal and external problems.
During 1978 my oldest daughter, Anika, was born. She was, and remains,
most precious to me. A New Life At Christmas was inspired by her birth.
Lip service was paid to Christianity, but the real answers were human
designed. The Humanists and Planned Parenthood would have applauded me
then.
In 1979 my dad died. I loved him so very much. All the human potential
movement couldnt revive him. During Christmas Recollections I grieve
quietly with little to console me.
During 1980 I am beginning to seriously look at Jesus Christ. If I didnt quite
see him as God, he was at least the beginning point of sanity. I was being
reasonable in A Christ Blessing and gave Jesus the highest status among
humanity. This was a time when I was still far too reasonable to allow him the
status of divinity in my life. My self wasnt quite willing to acknowledge the
deity of another.
By 1981 To Care for each other became an important theme. It seemed
that the world was on a crazy course, and if we didnt learn to care for one
another we would destroy ourselves. At the time this kind of caring seemed
to me to be within the grasp of human reason.

A NEW LIFE AT CHRISTMAS

Birth is the celebration
of a new life,
among Christians,
as Christmas nears.
It is the celebration,
of the birth of Christ,
an individual, considered by many,
to be closest to God.
Its more than this,
as we celebrate new life,
among ourselves today,
it is our children brought to life,
this year and in recent years.
Yet, in this world now,
we dare not be joyful,
of all new human birth.
For unplanned human growth,
has become our world's greatest
problem.
Our social systems,
have not respected our earth's
resources,
during our growth.
So we celebrate new life today,
in a guarded way.
We wonder a little,
will these children of ours,
have as bountiful a life,
as we have had.
We of humanity,
still feel joy, for new birth.
Though we can't escape responsibility,
for bringing about new life.

We can't afford to lose,

our youthful idealism,
to create a better world,
or our children we joyfully,
welcome now,
will suffer in future years.
Still our current institutions,
which we have built,
greet the constructive ideals,
and solutions of youth,
with doubt, fear,
and ego-constricting anxiety.
Youthful creativity becomes
smothered.
There are those of us,
who refuse to have our lives
squelched,
who wish and work for a more,
humanitarian world.
And in a guarded way,
we greet new life,
with the respect due it,
a reverence for the hidden potentials,
new infants may add to our humanity.
Humans, at Christmas and all seasons,
please welcome new life wisely.

May the spirit of life be with you,

Mark B. Nemzek
c 1978

CHRISTMAS RECOLLECTIONS
I seek a special inspiration
in message form,
For this last Christmas
of the seventies,
and find none.
It seems a time
for the re-collection of myself.
Potentially, there was a good career,
With will to learn and drive to master,
I excelled, only to find
my potentials largely unused.
Now, shifting careers,
Hoping to engage more of myself
in a meaningful contribution.
In my perpetual seeking
further meaning in life,
My father died
and I've grieved deeply.
Through his death
the discovery - birth
of friendship occurred.
Later still,
I was more able to console,
another, who suffered from death,
in the family.
Now the cooling season comes,
I have no well of inspiration to share.
I share instead
some daily concerns,
and the re - collection of myself,
from a year filled with change.
Sharing this,
as the last crisp Christmas
of the seventies, dawns upon us all.

Mark B Nemzek

c 1979

A CHRIST BLESSING
We are flowing with qualities,
the ability to sense,
to feel emotion, to think,
to make decisions and to act.
For all of our qualities,
I wonder where is that precious gift,
that gem of wisdom?
Wisdom is the balance quality of living.
In our endeavors, it is the encouragement
towards what benefits ourselves and others.
A star of wisdom was born 2000 years ago.
Today, for all our various qualities,
Do we retain that balance?
Perhaps we could be more aware,
that wisdom is not;
liberal or conservative,
emotional or rational,
decisive or contemplative,
spiritual or material,
or any split set of qualities.
Perhaps we could be more aware,
that wisdom isn't always popular with everyone.
Indeed, a wise person may be:
conservative and liberal,
rational and emotional,
contemplative and decisive,
material and spiritual,
at different times, in different situations.
Wisdom is the synthesis of all human qualities,
balancing the individual,
toward the well-being of humanity.
As Christmas nears may we be filled with,
a deeper wisdom to cope with care,
for our complex world and our fellow humans.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek

c1980

TO CARE
Through our living moments
we experience many drives.
It seems that most of us seldom
examine the relevance of these
motives,
with respect to our mortality.
Sometime in prehistory,
we learned to value competition and
power.
These values ensured us our survival
over the beasts.
But we didn't give up a useful learning,
when its usefulness was past.
We used these learnings against
ourselves;
we beat others out as we strive for
dominance.
We act as if these values are really
important,
with regard to the meaning of living.
It is true that many
have learned to value achievement
and to pursue excellence for its own
sake.
Within this motive or drive
we leave ourselves an opening
to the possibility of cooperation with
others.
We give others the option of
achievement.
A few humans throughout time
have come to value caring.

They have cared not only for

themselves and their loved ones, but
for all humans, and human events in
general.They have learned that by
caring
the world grows to include others.
By caring, one examines
the power/competitive drives
and sees the harm generated.
By caring, one may achieve
and encourage others to do so.
By caring, one learns to reflect,
and to encourage growth in self and
others.
With care, we learn that humans
truly succeed when we all achieve,
and we all fall somewhat short
when we don't.
As a race we seem to mature slowly.
We are quick to look out for ourselves,
and slow to be concerned
about events beyond our backyards.
Perhaps this Christmas
and throughout the year,
we will begin to care more
beyond ourselves, business, state and
nation,
to include more of humanity.

Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c1981

My Rebirth Into Christianity

During this four year period I began my walk as a baby Christian. When my
mother died in 1982 I was brought to my knees in both a figurative and literal
manner. Yet, at first, I wasnt able to witness publicly. Bringing Christ into my
Christmas writings was very tentative.
During this time I began to read the Holy Scripture with great regularity. I
also began giving prayer time to the Lord in my mornings. This was still a
time of withholding my full self from God. My transformation was a gradual
process.
If you didnt know me well in 1982, you would never have known I was
mourning my mothers death in A Second Look. Yet, this was the year my
mother died. Ingrid and I were at her bedside when she died. My heart was
thoroughly broken that year when I asked Jesus to be my savior and certainly
my strength. If you look closely you will see I mention death having an
impact on relationships.` Even by the end of that year I wasnt able to thank
God for my losses.
The year 1983 brought Christmas Time. In a philosophical manner Jesus is
brought into my writings. There was no watershed event that year, only time
of struggle; juggling family, work and school. Yet from that point on I
welcomed God in my Christmas writings. It took me a long time, but I had
begun to learn that Jesus had to be central in human life.
1984 brought A Christmas Reflection. My daughter, Anika, was in first
grade and she felt life was unfair. I thought it unfortunate that she would
need a quote from Jesus Christ to bring resolution to her problems. It didnt
occur to me at the time that perhaps this was one of the greatest quotes
Christ ever proclaimed. One early spring evening I asked for Gods presence
to be made known to me, and the Holy Spirit permeated my whole being. It
was also this year that I was awakened with a vision in which I was told in no
uncertain terms that I was to have a son. We had no plans to have more
children.
In 1985 we have At Christmas, A Soul Searcher. As I was nearing
completion of my five and one half year MBA program (I havent claimed to
be a speedy learner!) I was questioning God about my career options. I
realize this may seem trite to some of my readers, yet in fact that is what I
was doing! I was given the avocation of being a Soul Searcher. The
meaning of this is still being worked out in my life. Also nine months after the
Christmas of 84 Andrew David was born into our family. 1984 and 1985 were
watershed years!

A SECOND LOOK
Frequently we look at one another
And see our own expectations.
We form opinions about others
and resist their attempts to change,
because seemingly this would mean
we were wrong about them.
At times we feel negative about others.
We then disregard
the positive they have done.
At other times we experience others
as being very good.
With them we often forget
the imperfections they too have.
Let it not take a crisis or death,
for recognition to occur.
Now while we are alive, let's gaze at both
those we like and dislike.
We must strive to see beyond
who we think they should be,
and see the fallible,
fully human, creatures they are.
Now as the cool of winter sets in,
let's look at one another
and rediscover our mutual human warmth.
We will not always love each other completely.
Yet we can strive to appreciate one another
as fellow humans trying to cope,
as best we can.
As Christmas nears,
perhaps we should pause just a moment,
take a second look
and see.....and really see.....
the glimmer of humanity.
Merry Christmas
Mark B. Nemzek

c1982

CHRISTMAS TIME
During this last ten year span
each Christmas has brought with it,
a message from me to you.
Each message was a reflection
of the changing times.
Birth has occurred as has death.
Friendships have blossomed,
some have moved on and away.
War and peace and again war
have occurred with regularity.
Individually we have treated one another,
with kindness and harshness,
with respect and sometimes disregard.
All things occur to us
only to pass into time.
Leaving us with a richer imprint
in our experiential memories.
Two thousand years ago in a world of ignorance,
Christ was born, learned, taught and died.
In his physical body,
He too became a passed event in time.
Yet his message of love and peace
persists within our current of time.
Take a moment and reflect,
on the time you have passed through...
Or perhaps it is yourself
through which time has passed.
May this moment of reflection of our past,
yield for each of us,
more love, wisdom and peace
in our relationships with one another,
and our God.
Merry Christmas
Mark B. Nemzek
c1983

A CHRISTMAS REFLECTION
My little one looks up at me and says: When we girls build sand castles,
they are demolished before the next recess. But the boys castles remain
standing.
I am saddened at this inequity. Beginning so young, in first grade.
Are men maimed in their genes?
Or has society so thoroughly indoctrinated us into believing
that strength should be used to exploit those less strong?
And, if either is so, should women entering business, government and
professional
careers be so eager to emulate mens collective failures?
Christ once taught us that doing good to those above us was no virtue.
That was merely survival. Virtue lies only where an individual has a real
choice.
Virtue is to have much and choose to share with those having less.
It is to have power and exercise it with caution and compassion.
It is virtue to be strength itself, and of choice,
yield with love to those of less stature.
This virtue is not only for moms and dads, to be practiced in the family.
If society is to succeed in meaning and quality,
those in power, in government, business and high social positions
must practice this virtue by choice.
To those in power: the elected official, the administrator, the officer,
the stockholder, the executive, the manager and even the supervisor;
I encourage you to remember His message from so long ago:
What you do unto the least of my fellow humans, you do unto Me.
As this Christmas season nears, I struggle for an answer
to tell my daughter. Indeed it seems discouraging to tell her,
that even after two thousand years of Christianity,
in her heart she may still have to say to them,
I forgive you, for you know not what you do.
You see, a little part of her optimism about life
and of other people was destroyed when that little act of
cruelty was done to her sand castles.
May each of us this Christmas and during the coming year,
try a little more to: Share where we could as easily grab,
Love where it would be easier to despise,
and listen where and when we could command.
Merry Christmas
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1984

AT CHRISTMAS A SOUL SEARCHER

While wondering where my next step would lead,
He said to me; "Whatever your occupation,
your avocation will be that of a soul searcher."
Could this mean searching for my own soul?
Or could it be for the souls of others?
In our material quest it is easy to forget
about even having a soul.
And then I look into the eyes of my infant son.
A perfect peace bonds us.
His soul is here!
At times we all have problems
for which there is no material cure.
Our hearts touch for fleeting moments
as we realize our souls.
At other times friends and family
transcend the surface qualities of life.
We then discover an essence
that will be treasured forever.
For most of us much time is spent
searching and not finding......
We are not even sure
what we are looking for.
As Christmas draws near,
take a moment of time.
Search, in silence, for your soul
and for that of another.
Be able to say,
"I am here for you."
That would be a fitting gift for that little babe
who was born, lived and died for us
so long ago.
May the Spirit of Jesus Christ protect you and
keep you.....in your search.....
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1985

A Realization Of My Christianity
During the five years of 1986 through 1990, my wife and I experienced much
growth in the Christian life. A priest and nun, dear friends, nourished and
mentored us during our formative years as young Christians.
We also attended Marriage Encounter, which encourages the strengthening
of marital relationships. We began attending Camps Farthest Out, which
are Christian family camps open to all denominations. These experiences
were catalysts for our growth as Christians. In 1989 we also became
members of Vision of Glory Lutheran Church. These have been nourishing
and challenging experiences for our whole family.
At the end of 1986, I wrote Words for Christmas and Things at Christmas.
In Words all of the best we can ever be or achieve comes from being rooted
in Christ. Back in 1980 the wisdom offered was mans best attempt. By
1986, wisdom is God breathed, and it is only the beginning of the spiritual
walk. Things is a brief biography of myself and a meditation regarding
situations we pass through as we fulfill our roles as children of God.
Glitter and the Christmas Alternative was written in 1987. The values of
the modern secular world and real Christianity are contrasted. During 1978 I
held guarded human fears about bringing children into the world. By 1987 I
had come to realize that all the fears amounted to nothing when I allowed
myself to be firmly rooted in Christ. The catch was (and is for all of us) that I
had to leave the worlds way and turn toward Jesus.
In 1988 and 1989 I asked God questions, and through prayerful quiet times I
listened to what seemed to be His inspired responses. This is a good exercise
for each one of us to practice on occasion. We need to ask God what is really
on His heart. Then we need to listen through prayer, scripture reading, the
words of holy people and the Holy Spirit speaking directly to us. What Do
You Want for Christmas Lord? is listening to the heart of Jesus Christ. It is a
heart cry for a lost and dying world. In A Christmas Thanksgiving I ask Our
Lord to guide me in being thankful. He does! As usual His response is
unquestionably unique and perfect. In 1989 Lauren Elise is born in joy, with
the presence of the Holy Spirit as partner in the birthing room. Joy and
thanksgiving flooded our hearts.
In 1990 I wrote on experiencing Christs presence at Christmas throughout
all of lifes situations. This is a critical understanding for Christians to come
to. He really is here beside us, through our griefs and joys, every moment!

WORDS FOR CHRISTMAS

The poet looked up and said,
Why, I would rather give words...
that search your soul and mind;
Words of... tranquillity and love,
of peace and joy, of serenity and wisdom,
and even words which cause you some discomfort,
with our material world.
Certainly they would be words which fire
your spirit with the love of God.
The philosopher questioned,
How will I know tranquillity, peace,
serenity, wisdom, love or joy?
Why should I have discomfort with the modern world?
And will my spirit ever know the love of God?
The reflective one responded,
You will know wisdom,
when the needs of others exceed your own.
You will know love,
when another is uncaring toward you,
and yet you continue to care deeply for that person.
You will know joy,
when your heart sings with the beauty of existence
even amidst our worlds turmoil.
You will come to know the love of God,
when that is your most sincere desire.
And with that love... tranquillity, peace and serenity
will come to reside within your soul.
And then you too may become impatient,
with the misunderstandings of the modern world.
The thoughtful one questioned.
Wouldnt we all be better off
if we knew these things
within our hearts , minds and souls?
His poet friend remarked,
None of this is new.
Yet it seems hard for humans to capture...
these qualities of the spirit.
Even so, Jesus, the one whose birth we celebrate
continues to offer, the love of God, for those who ask.
May his love, joy, wisdom and peace reside within you
this Christmas and during the coming seasons......

Mark B. Nemzek
c 1986

THINGS AT CHRISTMAS
Like most of us, he was born and raised in this country.
His parents gave him everything they could.
He matured and learned to appreciate the better things in life.
At first it was toys and games and being better than others in
sports and academics.
As he aged those better things became: position, social status,
nicer vehicles and homes and of course a group of friends pushing him
and themselves along that same material course of life.
Along the way he learned that issues were more important than
people.
At least this seemed correct because when friends talked of others,
the conversations frequently degenerated into gossip.
At least discussion of issues seemed to harm no-one.
While still a fairly young man his father, mother and two friends died.
He found that no material acquisition or social position or love of the
world, could fill the hole left in his heart by the death of his loved ones.
He reached back to his childhood roots and asked for the rebirth of his
simple trust and hope in God. By remembering Jesus and in opening
his heart he received that promised strength to cope with our world.
For him, the worlds material goods and ways became less like ends in
themselves and more like tools to be used to reach others.
He did not let disgust with materialism become a value in and of
itself.
Rather he became motivated to care---reaching out to others---and the
materialist concerns became less important.
He asked for and received the Holy Spirit in his heart.
Who he was, what he did, and how much he had, was no longer so very
important. With his renewed Way, what became important was how
much he loved God and how he reached out and cared for others.
As Christmas draws near, may the same Holy Spirit touch each of us.
Then we too will realize that what we do for the least of our brothers
and sisters, we do for that little babe born so long ago.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1986

GLITTER

AND THE CHRISTMAS ALTERNATIVE

Contemporary indicators point toward

the path of success, the road to self
fulfillment, a life of acquisitions even
including the right friends.
Fascinating how this was largely true
even two thousand years ago.
Popular wisdom, the kind so easy to
digest, is settling us in trends toward:
goals with a results only emphasis,
the impersonalization of professions,
the disregard of the spiritual human,
bringing us ever nearer to...
the ends which justify the means.
It seems as if the powerful have
practiced this from the beginning.
Modern social values entice us to
believe that right and wrong are
relative, definitely situational. It is the
regrettable but preferred alternative to
terminate a human being in the womb.
Poor timing, finances, careers, birth
defects, inconvenience and rarely the
life of the mother are cited reasons.
Yet a social howl of protest is uttered
for the dog or cat which dies for
research purposes. This same ethic
has suggested to us that freedom of
religion, particularly Christian, really
means freedom from religion.
Our morality of convenience has us
promising to give more tomorrow if we
can first have more today. Indeed, our
new values seem rooted in the secular
ethic. Personal responsibility and
accountability can nearly be erased
due to some problem in society.
The prince of lies has been working
diligently. And this too has been
happening for thousands of years.

With all this battering, a core of faith

still burns brightly in many.A certain
path has been available to us for
nearly two millennia.. Truth, life,
wisdom and love are knowable
because he was born, learned, healed,
taught and finally died for us. His path
is simple, though seldom easy.
His truth is known as we leave our selfcentered ways. It is received when we
ask and as we willingly give up, our
attachments to our acquisitions.
His life becomes ours when we desire
it with our whole selves. Then the
process of living his way justifies all
our goals. Only then will helping and
caring for one another at our weakest
and most discouraging moments,
exceed our desire for personal
achievement, personal success or
personal fulfillment.
His wisdom becomes ours when we
willingly open our hearts and minds to
his Fathers Way. Then we come to
realize that all humans; before birth,
throughout life, even up to the eldest
most fragile breath we take, are
precious in His Holy Spirit.
His love for us is His most fulfilling gift
and is always present. We accept it
when we ask His pardon. We reflect
and magnify his love when we give it
to others when they need it.
His path is simple yet seldom easy,
His birth a light to mark the Way,
The Christ Childs path
is ours today.
Merry Christmas
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1987

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS LORD?

Jesus,
what do you want for Christmas?

But Lord! Arent there many good

reasons for not having children?

My little one, you are indeed

coming close to me, as you
remember the reason for this
special holiday.
Let me give you peace and love.

Dear child, so often you pray Our

Fathers prayer that I taught you so
many years ago.
You say, Thy will be done.
Yet you have gone astray into so
many self-willed directions.
Let my direction guide you.

Dear children,
there are reasons to kill my little
ones,
but there are no good reasons.
Just before I walked the earth in
physical form, my own mother was
put to the test as was my earthly
father.
She was unwed and pregnant with
me.
Her society would have shamed
her had they known, and could
have killed her. Yet for love and
trust in God they brought this child
to life.
And I was born!
Give me your love!

What is your will

for Christmas my Lord?

Dear Jesus,
what do you want for Christmas?

My dearest child,
Love one another in fullness,
especially my littlest ones.
They are so fragile
with lifes beginnings.
These, the infants and the yet to be
born, are so precious in my sight.
The worldly solutions, which result
in each self-willed harm or death to
them,
bring heaven to its knees in tears.
The shed tears are mostly for the
would-be parents, who have turned
so far from my Fathers path. Give
me your trust!

My child, you keep asking.

Bring me your sorrows, sins and
tears of the past. Give them to me
for I have paid dearly for them.
Bring me your hearts filled with
humility,
so that you may become opened to
My Fathers Way.
And then my children, you will be
able to rejoice in the new life
of my Holy Spirit!
You see ......... this is the
time .........
of Joy and Love and Peace,
for all who are in My Good Will.

But Lord, what is in your will

for Christmas?

Merry Christmas
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1988

A CHRISTMAS THANKSGIVING
Lord will you guide me toward what I need to be thankful
for?
Be thankful for the life I have given you,
for the people you meet, for those you work with,
for the ones you have fun with, for your adversaries
and those you share love most easily with,
your parents, brothers and sisters,
your spouse and children and your friends.
With each of these you are granted opportunities
to learn more of me and be thankful.
What qualities should I be thankful for?
Be thankful for the gifts of love, joy, hope, wisdom and
faith,
of mercy, healing, service and giving. Indeed, each of
these
and those others of equal virtue are measured out to
you,
awaiting your full appreciation.
Lord, what are the things I should be distant from?
Do not be thankful to me for anything that separates us.
Hatred, fear, anger jealousy, doubt, depression and
despair are no gifts of mine. Qualities such as self-made,
self-gain, self-centered, and self-possessed are your own
contributions which separate and isolate you. All of
these traits and the craving for wealth, power, status
and the worlds material goods create barriers between
us. None of them are gifts from me to you.
Thank you Father for giving us your son Jesus. His life,
death and resurrection have become the gift of eternal
life for all who ask him into their hearts as Savior, Lord
and Reconciler.
Especially at Christmas we give you thanks for the birth
of your son, our Lord. He remains the Jewel of Light
amidst our worlds dark night. He is the single and
absolute Truth within the maze of human values. He is
the only Way through all the worlds choice deceptions.
May this Christmas Season find the Spirit of Jesus Christ
residing within you and may a beginning sense of
eternal Thanksgiving be alive.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1989

CHRISTS PRESENCE AT CHRISTMAS

When I look back over the year it
seems that you were always there
when we needed you.
At the years beginning we prayed
without ceasing for our baby Laurens
strength to appear. Your love
supported her, yet somehow we were
to continue asking.
Early in the year our church struggled
with building and missions concerns,
and you were there.
In March our daughter came home
briefly and announced her
engagement.
The joy of the Lord was upon us as you
held them together in your hands.
In June you removed from me the
sadness of my fathers passing on so
many years ago. In its place you
planted peace.
Then a young man named Peter died
suddenly. His family, friends and
workmates struggled with the loss of a
beautiful heart you had implanted in
this man to briefly touch those he left
behind.
A friends mother had a heart attack.
With hundreds of miles of separation
she feared she would not see her
mother alive again. Yet you gave her
consolation and peace.
And it was you who again filled us with
awe, joy and love without limit at
Camp Farthest Out.

Our daughter and new sons marriage

personified the union of how two shall
become one. Your blessing hand was
touching all present.You chose us to
house briefly two young missionary
women. And didnt our home glow
with your presence?
Grandparents from Sweden arrived
and your love and strength began to
blossom in little Lauren. Her joy
infected both them and ourselves.
A friends infant daughter experienced
months of serious hospitalization. You
lent her family your own strong arm to
cling to when their own strength
faltered.
Our memories are still afire with the
path of love and unity your Holy Spirit
wove within our hearts at the couples
retreat.
Dear Lord, you have given me so much
in my family and loving spouse, in our
friends and our shared needs. What
would you have us remember this
Christmas?
My children....
While so many of you are
concentrating on presents at
Christmas, the real meaning has often
been lost. It is always there for each
to rediscover....
It is my presence at Christmas, and
indeed in all other moments....until the
end of time.
Thank you Jesus for your presence this
Christmas. May your love be felt by
all.
Merry Christmas
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1990

Social Consequences Of My Christianity

At a certain point in our walk with Christ we begin to mature. We never
forget the first days, months and years of dwelling in the joy and radiance of
Jesus Christ, yet each one of us begins to sense the tug or call of Jesus upon
our lives. Our Lord calls us into the discernment of good and evil. He calls us
to love the sinner while hating the sin, and He calls us to reach out to the lost
among our brothers and sisters. We must share the message of His
salvation. Then, too, Jesus taps each of one us into a special calling using the
unique gifts He has given us.
1991 brought A Samaritans Christmas home to me. I was beginning to see
the squeamishness and inconsistencies in my own character. How could I
expect virtue of others when I wouldnt fully obey and minister to the
transient in my path. During this year, I realized that the transient in my path
can be any inconvenience and unpleasantness placed before me each day.
God wants me to deal with each aspect of life He places before me. He wants
me to be filled with the Holy Spirit and deal with the situations just as His own
Son would deal with them. This is true for all of us.
By 1992, it became apparent that living Christmas on Eternitys Edge was
at odds with living the worlds way. When I examined many of the situations
around me, I saw that followers totally committed to Jesus Christ acted
differently from the pagan the nominal Christian. In each of these life
situations the Christian who followed the heart of Christ, moved in a way
uniquely different from others. They werent overly concerned about others
reactions. They just did what they knew Christ called them to do in that
particular moment. What they did wasnt always popular with those around
them! Some were persecuted!
It became plain to me in 1993 that we could all live A Secular Christmas or
His Alternative. There is much less gray in the world when we begin to live
our lives with the moral absolutes God has given us in Holy Scripture. That
gray has seeped in because over the last forty years the Christian Church has
tried to compromise with secular humanism. The abomination which causes
desolation in each of us, as temples of the Holy Spirit, is the situational ethic
used as a replacement for Gods absolute law written in Scripture and upon
our hearts. During 1992 and 93 I was mourning the loss of Gods direction in
our society.
Each one of us needs to come to grips with the reality of Christianity. The
Christian life is not one of platitudes! Before His resurrection glory, Jesus
suffered. He made it abundantly clear that the same would be true for us!

A SAMARITAN'S CHRISTMAS
It was lunch and I decided a walk
would be refreshing. Yes some quiet
moments, between the morning bustle
and the afternoon shuffle, would be
wonderful. It was a glorious autumn
day and nothing would interrupt these
tranquil moments.
But there, right across the sidewalk,
strewn in raglike fashion, lay
someone's body. It looked no bigger
than a youth. Yet as I passed I noted
the timeless age imprint of a
transients face.
I paused, wondering if I should do
anything. Just then, another person
came along, bent down and shook the
man, to see if he was alive. The body
moved. The other quickly went on his
way.
Walking back I also shook him and
asked if he was OK. Silly question. The
alcohol aroma gave away the source of
his problems. Yet something told me
he needed food and drink.
Back to the convenience store I went.
A sandwich, apple and pop were brown
bagged for me. After praying, I walked
back half hoping the sidewalk stranger
would be gone. The doubts set in.
After all, who was I? I certainly did not
see myself as a Good Samaritan. He
was no beautiful person. My clothing
would get dirty. Would I have to touch
him? My own petty meanness amazed
me!
He was still there and I froze in my
indecisiveness. What would my fellow
walkers think? So, instead of
immediately helping him, I sat and
watched for thirty minutes as forty to
fifty people walked by. Four or five did
pause to shake him and then they too
kept going.

My lunch hour was up. If I were

determined to help it had to be now.
Just then he stumbled swayingly to his
feet. I approached him and grabbed
his jacket to prevent his fall to the
pavement. While pressing the lunch
bag into his hands I heard him mumble
something. It may have been
"Thanks."
For a moment he tried to focus on me.
With eyes expressing a haunting and
beaten look he pleaded with me to
stay and visit for awhile. I apologized
and told him I was already late for
work.
While walking back I was convicted of
my shortcomings in thought, word and
deed. How could I ever face my God's
glory when I could not even lovingly
minister to one of the least of His
children?
Even as the pangs of disheartenment
were beginning to bite at me, I became
aware that Jesus was still there beside
me, quietly loving me, ever beckoning,
gently encouraging and ever so
caringly directing me along His Path.
He was so forgiving and so loving. My
spirits were lifted. He would give me
more chances.
What more can be added to this
incident? It still confronts me clear
through to my soul. I wonder about
the next time. Will I be willing to
minister to another's deepest need?
Will I then be willing to give even the
time of day to the poor, the sick or
imprisoned, to those of different race
or belief, or those with less status than
myself? When it happens again, what
will I do to the transient lying across
my path?
This Christmas wouldn't we all do well
to ask our Lord for the gift of the
Samaritan's heart? Then we too would
become more able to give as He gave!

Merry Christmas,

Mark B. Nemzek
c 1991

CHRISTMAS ON ETERNITY'S EDGE

No poem this year! Yet here is a
message from this end of a trying year.
There was too much activity and too
many valleys, too little human caring
expressed, too few the times of true
human touch and too few the times of
silence taken with my God.
Recently, a close friend's son died
suddenly. Our pastor spoke of these
situations being among the stop signs of
life. We are each given the time to
reevaluate and reflect on our own life's
true meaning. Will each of our lives be
with or without Jesus Christ? We need
to become more fully aware that we
stand on the verge of eternity.
We stand with our lives but a breath
away from the hereafter. Will we be in
the loving embrace of the only Savior
who died that we might share in His
eternity? Or will we have chosen to
follow one of the thousands of seemingly
good paths that lead to eternal
separation from God?
Yes, death of someone close is a
reminder, yet no parents I know wish for
their children to lead the way into
eternity. Something deep inside of me
desires to console my friend during her
mourning.
My dad once said, "It is not that
Christianity doesn't work, it's just that it
has never been lived by a great number
of people at any one time." What does it
mean to live one's faith? Is it to be a
follower of Jesus Christ?
They are the ones who believe Jesus
was serious when He said that the Holy
Spirit would dwell within each one who
opened his heart to Him. They say that
each person can have a living
experiential relationship with God. Are
these the ones who are in the world but
not of the world?

There is something different about

them. They seem to see something the
rest of us are missing. Sometimes
others also want to see, but the world
calls them back. There they stand at
eternity's edge with so much certainty
and clarity of vision. Are these the ones
my dad once wondered about?
There is a young woman who got
pregnant in a situation beyond her
control. She knows that her "rights"
mean the most innocent of our society
now often bear the suffering. But, she
knows that she will let the little one be
born. Every time she asks Jesus about
the baby she senses that the life of all
the little ones are precious to Him. She
rests in eternity's moment.
There is the couple who no longer get
along. One night they remember to
bring their problems to God. His bond of
love overshadows them and they know
reconciliation. This couple forms a
ministry to subject broken marriages to
God. Their moment in eternity has been
filled.
An employee is criticized, by her
friends and employer for acting too
Christian and too caring for others. In
her heart she knows that if it is wrong
for a doctor to walk past the wounded,
it is equally wrong for her to walk by
someone dying a spiritual death and not
offer that person the Salvation of Jesus
Christ. For her the eternal moment is at
hand.
There is the young family which makes
their daily decisions based on their own
needs and the needs of others. This
family has never owned the newest car,
a new home or even new appliances.
They see clearly that every decision
serving only their own desires is equally
a decision to serve others less. Joy and
serenity are theirs. The Lord's eternal
moment dwells in them.

And there are the living saints who

without reservation live their lives for
Christ. They feed the hungry, give
clothing and shelter to the poor, visit
and console those in prison and in
hospitals. They share the Word of God in
all their life situations. All too often they
receive scoffing and persecution from
others because of their love for Jesus
Christ. His eternity is fulfilled in them.
Wherever they are found, these
followers of Jesus seem to go against the
grain. They rub the world the wrong
way. They are loving of people, yet they
will not compromise with evil. They
seem to see beyond the veil of the
present. It is as if they live every
moment on eternity's edge.

Once I was a Christian, who believed

with only my head. With time I was
given the grace to choose to become a
follower of Jesus Christ. I discovered His
promised relationship to be real. His
Holy Spirit finds a dwelling place within
my heart. Even though my journey
through life is far from perfect, I know
the joy of eternal salvation is present for
me. Even so my heart is burdened
when I see others refuse to accept the
greatest gift God offers.
My friends, we live on the verge of
eternity! We need the water of life. Let
us go to Jesus Christ. This Christmas let
us accept the gift only He can offer. His
is the gift of salvation and eternal life.

May His Holy Spirit

reign in our lives
this Christmas!

Mark B. Nemzek
c 1992

A SECULAR CHRISTMAS OR HIS ALTERNATIVE

A youth is shot and killed while in high
school. Another is molested, kidnapped
and then killed by the molester. Men,
women, and children are daily assaulted,
raped and even murdered. Their families
mourn.

The unborn child! Somewhere in the

euphoria of proving that women were equal
to men, and in the pleasure of having more
and better things with dual family incomes,
our children were lost. We gave them to
the hired hand to be raised.

Dwelling in this decaying culture, I cried to

God, "Why Lord why?" The events of a
mere forty years were placed before me.
These events seemed to point at me and
say, "See what you have fostered, see what
you have done." I realized that by two
generations ago our moorings were already
loosened. We had won the last world war
and begun to believe in our sole material
ability to conquer all. Yet we still paid
lipservice to our God.

Within the last fifteen years we began to

listen to the homosexual cause. We began
to express acceptance toward all religions
as long as they were inoffensive. We
began to welcome new age deities with
their emphasis on the essential godhood of
humanity. And we allowed our government
to muzzle our own Christian Faith. During
these years our Christian denominations
began absorbing the dogma of humanism.
We began to love the pursuit of material
wealth within our churches. We
rationalized Christ's warnings away. The
opiate of the majority was succumbed to.

Then we allowed our courts to rip prayer

out of our schools. Afterwards the WORD
of God was removed from our schools.
The replacements were human values
which shifted with the prevailing winds.
We left the Truth and began using human
wisdom. We experimented with our
children.
The humanist, atheist and social engineer
were overjoyed but they did not stop. They
kept picking away at the moral foundations
of our society. Our Christian church was
mostly silent.
It was during this decade that we rid
ourselves of most of our sexual mores. We
made divorce the ideal solution to many
marital problems. We began our love affair
with the acquisition of material things. We
moved away from individual responsibility
and toward emphasizing individual rights.
We were becoming liberated!
It sounded so good when the social
engineers sold us these concepts. We failed
to see the individual moving away from the
need to contribute to society. We failed to
see that the birthing of the special interest
group began the rights emphasis. It almost
always took from society seldom
contributing toward it.

We borrowed from humanism while trying

to look Christian. We accepted the
message that all faiths are equally valid in
coming to God. After all, we were told, a
loving God would condemn none. Along
our way we forgot about the justice of God,
it just wasn't in vogue.
One consolation remains standing for those
who have suffered from the world's error.
Each of us can repent, ask for and receive
forgiveness and receive the Savior as our
Lord. We can yet open our hearts to Jesus,
for He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
There is no other way to our Father God.
We have His Word on this. He still offers
each of us the gift of discernment this
Christmas. Will we receive it?....Will we
receive His Son with open hearts?
This Christmas let us remember we have a
God of infinite justice. Yet He remains a
God who loves us so much that he gave his
only Son Jesus Christ to pay our price...
This Christmas
could we not offer
our hearts to Him?
May you have a Holy Christmas.

One generation ago our courts stated that

abortion was an alternative to the
sacredness of human life. A movement
gathered momentum at the expense of the
innocent...

Mark B. Nemzek

c 1993

Walking In Christs Love

The inconsistencies and evils encountered in life can discourage us. This is
not supposed to be the case. When I let Jesus Christ be my rock, I am able to
walk in His perfect love, even when the world around me seems to be
foundering.
During 1994, I recognized there was, and could be Christmas Peace For a
Generation. Though Christ brings one to see the extreme contrasts between
His Way and the worlds, He never leaves you without His love, peace, joy
and assurance that He is with you always. He helped me see this in 1994.
During C.F.O. (Camps Farthest Out), I experienced an oasis - like time of
peace. It became my Christmas focus, because it served as a reminder that
whenever these camps concentrated their theme on Jesus Christ, we would
be led into a different world of love, peace and joy, even if it were only for a
week. That camp served as a reminder that we are to retain His love, peace
and joy in our hearts when we leave the camp to face the turmoils of the
world.
In 1995, Christ helped me appreciate The Christmas Gift After Salvation.
Actually there are many gifts He places in our lives. Our spouses, children,
family, friends and church family are treasures he gives to assist us through
life. So often we begin to take these people for granted. During this year He
helped me know that He expected more than that from me. The life of each
person He places in my path is precious and he wants me to treat them in
that manner.
Ephphatha took on a different meaning in 1996. This word that Jesus used
in healing a deaf man isnt to be taken lightly. The woundedness in each of
us, that needs healing by God, takes on many forms.
In 1997 the Lord helped me grow with; An Ear for Wisdom and A Heart for
Understanding. He helped me see more clearly what I thought I already
knew. Color is not to be a barrier and is not to keep one in bondage. God
does miracles in color!
We had planned for two years to have, A Vacation to Remember, in 1998.
We hadnt been to Sweden, as a family, since 1976. Little did I know that
God would bring two men from two separate continents to a third continent.
Little did I know that He would use the plane as a place of ministry.
My walk toward Christ at Christmas has become a walk with Him throughout
the year. Sure, I still frequently fail, yet He loves me through it and I have
come to love Him with a dearness that is hard to define. It is my hope that I
will be able to share more of this walk in the coming years. If this is to be His
blessing, it will be so!

CHRISTMAS PEACE FOR A GENERATION

Twenty years ago I made the decision to
write Christmas messages. This was a
unique decision, at the time, because I had
drifted away from the Catholic training of
my childhood and had not replaced it with
anything similar to Christianity.
Today I look back and thank God. He took
my walk of treason and washed it away in
1982. He shook me, none too gently, and
said, "Now grow up and face what I have
for you."
He gave me a wonderful spouse of
seventeen years. He thrust the lives of five
children into our safekeeping. We've
experienced the joy and challenge of
children. Our love for them is hard to
express with mere words. When God gives
us children he allows us to participate in
something similar to the responsibility and
love he demonstrates toward each one of
us.
During the last twelve years the Lord has
blessed my life in so many ways. This
summer's CFO camp at Koronis is one
vibrant example I would like to share.
Chairing a nondenominational Christian
family camp is a challenge. This year
looked like it would be no exception. Three
leaders of important functions would not be
able to attend. There was confusion about
the blessing services. The Sunday night,
before camp started, I was weary and it all
seemed impossible. Prayer is central to
CFO and it looked as if there wouldn't even
be time for it. In that moment of
discouragement I asked for God's blessing
and help!
God responded in a manner that is almost
indescribable. Five of the six nights were
filled with healing prayer!

Our first speaker was a surgeon. He

described what it was like to be a physician
who believes in healing prayer. The
prejudice he has borne for more than fifty
years has been phenomenal. Despite the
medical establishment's resistance, this
man and his wife have loved Christ and
have persevered in ministering to people's
bodies, minds and spirits. That first
evening he called all who needed healing
to come forward.Our second speaker was a
former minister who is now in a marriage
counseling ministry with his wife. He
described what it was like to lose his
church and have a young son die in the
same year. The following seven years were
spent in the valley wondering if God had
forgotten him. He affirmed that being
Christian means we will suffer, but that
God will walk with us. He called all those
who needed inner healing to come forward
and receive prayer.
This same speaker spoke of the heartfelt
cry for Jesus. The heartfelt cry is not quiet!
He thundered the name 'JESUS' twice to
emphasize what he meant. The resulting
silence was deafening.
Two days later a camper came to me and
shared that when the speaker spoke the
name 'Jesus' it was for my little girl, Lauren.
He said he had never, in his life, been
pushed to go and tell another about this
kind of message. He didn't know what it
meant...but he knew he had to tell me.
Our little Lauren has C.P., and I knew it
meant God hadn't forgotten about her.
Both of us were nearly in tears with the joy
of God's presence.
An atmosphere of peaceful prayer
completed the days. The inspired words of
both speakers kept coming. The creatives
and the songs of worship and praise
seemed to wrap the week in holiness.
God's presence was felt in the prayer
groups. The potential problems seemed to
melt into the glory of our risen Savior. For
one week a taste of heaven on earth was
had by those with open hearts.
When our God reaches down and touches
the hearts and minds of his followers, a
miracle of peace blossoms.
May this same joy and peace of our Lord
Jesus Christ bless you this Christmas and

may this blessing continue in the coming

years.
Merry Christmas,

Mark B. Nemzek
c 1994

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT AFTER SALVATION

Each one of us must come to grips
with what is most important in our
lives. Is it God? After God are
family and friends most important?
Do those closest to me know how
much I love them?
After nearly twenty years of
marriage and family life, I was
awakened in the middle of the
night by a noise. Most of my family
seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
The cat hadnt caused anything to
fall in the bathroom! Perhaps I had
been dreaming
Then there came a second loud
thump like someone falling.
Startled, I raced into the kitchen
only to discover my wife collapsed
on the floor. She was very weak
and could barely speak.
I cradled her in my lap while my
eldest called 911. All I could sense
was that one of Gods most
precious gifts to me, seemed to be
slipping away even as I held her.
I prayed that my Lord Jesus would
return her to me. The full
realization of just what a precious
gift she is flitted past as she lay
there in my arms, seemingly
suspended between life and death.
At that moment, I realized that she
hadnt merely been a part of my
life. During our time together she
had become one of my inner most
circle.

The yield of that evening was a

minor illness. A virus combined
with fever and lack of fluids caused
the major effects. Yet that night
shook me. Sometimes God allows
us to experience a reality check.
That was such a night for me!
It made me ask:
Have I always treated her as a
most precious person in my life?
Have I always treated this child of
God with honor?
Have I always treated her as well
as I treat myself?
Have I always given Gods special
gift to me the respect she
deserves?
To my own chagrin, I realized I
couldnt say YES to these
questions.
Dear precious persons in my life,
dear gifts of God, my aim is to
appreciate you in a better manner.
I mean to love you as our Lord has
ordained me to. When I fail, please
know that I am a faulty vessel.
During this Christmas, those of us
working outside the home must
remember that no task, project,
venture or great plan is as
important as the precious gifts our
Lord has placed beside us. Our
loved ones need our special
attention and our love.
This Christmas, I am thankful for
Gods gift of salvation through His
son Jesus Christ. I am also thankful
to Him that my family is with me
today.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek

c 1995

"EPHPHATHA AT CHRISTMAS"

The day after Easter I sensed God giving

me the word "Ephphatha," for my little girl,
Lauren, who has C.P. Ephphatha, a Greek
word, can mean; to be opened, to be
liberated, or to be freed from whatever
separates us from His eternal love and life.
That night I told her "Ephphatha" was from
Jesus. When she heard that word her face
blossomed in joy. She tried to say it and
came out with 'Ethatha.' Many nights I
whispered "Ephphatha" to her and she
would smile and try to repeat it.
When we went to communion on the first
Sunday of May, our new pastor blessed my
little girl. He asked her what her name was,
and did a double take when she said
"Ethatha." I told him what her name was as
he blessed her.
In early August, a CFO Camp speaker spoke
of being open to the words of God coming
to us. That night I felt led to search out
Paul's words in 1st Cor. 3: "Don't you know
that you yourselves are God's temple and
that God's Spirit lives in you?" I slept with
these words and with the thought that it
would be wonderful to hear from God more
often.
Upon awakening, the next morning, all my
past fears and hurts seemed to be exposed
and I thought, "But Lord, I have given her
"Ephphatha!" He replied, "She is my little
flower!" Waves of confusion and hurt
swirled around inside me. He continued,
"When I told you "Ephphatha," it was for
you!" Then as He quietly retreated into His
Silence, I heard Him whisper, "Ephphatha!"
Now as Christmas nears, I tremble when I
ponder what it means to have the
command, "Ephphatha," given to me. I
know my Lord wants me to put aside my
fears and hurts from the past. He desires
to bring renewal with His Holy Spirit causing
me to grow from the inside out. He would
have me accept His direction for my life

Jesus used the word as a command for

deafness to be healed. His statement
brought a miraculous power of physical
healing. It can also bring spiritual healing
from bondage which distorts our
relationship with God and one another.
I can hear God saying, "I have millions of
'healthy' children who refuse to open
themselves to me the way Lauren has.
Their handicap is far more destructive
because they remain blinded to My Real
Presence in their lives this day!"
He calls to a brother in bondage to a
sensual lifestyle; a life that promises
pleasure and happiness but yields only
internal death. He says, "Ephphatha! Be
freed from such turmoil," and "Ephphatha!
Be opened to My Resurrection Life which
has triumphed over all repented sin."
He beckons to a sister, consumed by the
Eastern mysteries, believing them to be a
path to the light of the universe. To her he
says, "You unknowingly follow Lucifer, the
fallen light, who turned away from his
Creator." He says, "Ephphatha! Be opened
to the walk I have for you. Ephphatha! Be
opened to my Resurrection morning."
He invites and commands each one of us to
become new creations in His Son, Jesus
Christ. While we are yet caught in our sin,
Jesus calls out to us: "Be Opened!"
"Ephphatha
you."
"Ephphatha
"Ephphatha
"Ephphatha
you."

to my coming into the world for

to my dying for you."
to my Risen Life for you."
to my Holy Spirit indwelling

"Indeed..........EPHPHATHA!"
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1996

AN EAR FOR WISDOM AND A HEART FOR UNDERSTANDING

Since January, I had been hoping that the bank
operations conversion dates would be changed.
As the deadline drew nearer, other dates
changed, but the operations conversion date
stood firm. My family would miss most of our
annual CFO camp outing.
A week before the July conversion, I met and
trained a new operations technician named
Anthony. On Wednesday, while preparing for
lunch, I noticed Anthony briefly bow his head in
prayer. On conversion Saturday, we had a brief
discussion about our beliefs. He told me about
his walk with the Lord. When I asked him if I
could go to his church the next day, he seemed
hesitant at first. Then he said, Sure!
I wondered if he was hesitating, because he is a
Christian who happens to be black, and I am a
Christian who happens to be white.
I was the only white person in Anthonys church.
They asked visitors to stand and share concerns
on their hearts. I said that my brother would be
having major surgery in two weeks and he
needed prayer for healing. They welcomed me
with genuine friendship.
The sermon was on persecution, sin, and
standing firm in the Lord when times are hard.
It was about how Jesus would always stand with
us, and take the adverse circumstances of life
and work them to our good if we remain faithful.
Dear Lord, it was so refreshing to hear your
presence being preached about during the trials
of life.
After service, I went to Sunday school with my
friend. I was so well received that it seemed as
if I had always been a part of their little study
group. I had found a home, so far from home.
You gave me that pearl of great price, which is
priced beyond measure. You gave me yourself
through the love of fellow brothers and sisters.
Thank you Lord. Thank you for showing me
that even when my family misses CFO, your love
is not missing!

This reminded me of a very special childhood

experience.When I was about five or six, my
family was renting a decrepit plantation house
near Lafayette, Louisiana. My memories are
foggy from those early years of childhood. But
one set of memories remains implanted in my
heart.
My brother, Al, and I used to run down the dirt
road to play at a sharecroppers home. We
never saw him because he was out working
during the day. His wife, we called her Miss
Mary, was always home with her several
children. She always welcomed us to play with
her little ones. Al and I were too young to know
about the color division line. We never realized
it was unusual for white kids to be playing with
black kids in the Deep South in the late fifties.
Not only did Miss Mary let us play, but if it were
near the noon hour, she always had us stay to
eat black eyed peas, rice, and corn bread. At
the time, I did not realize that by feeding us, it
meant she had less food for her own children.
She just let the love of God shine through her
heart. She always gave of what little she had
and gave with such abundant love. She just
realized that we are all Gods children and if God
loves each of us, so would she. No differences
were a good enough excuse to not love and
give. It was that simple! It remains that simple!
Lord, please bless Miss Mary, Anthony, and all
those who put you first. Help us all to come into
communion through your son, Jesus Christ. Only
then will all our differences be experienced as
distinct, yet wonderful, flavors of your love.
Thank you for showing me that when my ear is
given to your wisdom, and my heart given to
your understanding, your love will prevail.
May your love be expressed through our hearts,
and lips, and hands this Christ-mas season.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1997

A VACATION TO REMEMBER
My daughter, Anika, graduated from college in
June and then married her fianc, Jeff, in August.
It was such a busy time. Then in September,
Ingrid, the younger children, and I went to
Sweden to visit her family. She had asked me to
bring something for family devotions. I brought
The Owners Manual by Don Bierle of Faith
Studies International.
The Lord always holds surprises for the faithful.
I expected short family devotions, but He had
other plans. Ingrids youngest brother, Mats,
had come home from Australia to be with his
parents for awhile. We made time to get to
know one another. At one point, early on, we
drifted into matters of faith. Quickly, he asked
to join us in our devotions and study using The
Owners Manual. Not only did he join, but
Ingrids parents, Stig and Gun, also expressed an
interest to participate.
Over those three weeks Mats and I met several
times just to discuss many life issues. It was so
refreshing to meet a western man so hungry and
thirsty for God. You must understand, much of
my life is spent in the corporate world where, for
the most part, discussing anything of eternal
value is discouraged.
For some reason, my Lord Jesus Christ had
moved two men from different parts of the world
to a third location, so that His name could be
glorified. Sharing with my friend, Mats, was one
of the most fulfilling things I have ever done.
The movement of God in our world is so quiet,
so subtle, and yet ever so powerful. I still stand
amazed at how Gods Spirit works.
The glow of an awesome vacation had not faded
when we settled into the 747 for the trip home.
The best I could do for seating was a three and
one combination. So I sat behind Ingrid, Andy,
and Lauren. It wasnt so bad, the couple next to
me seemed nice enough. But the cabin
attendants soon removed them and seated a
German speaking man next to me. They wanted
someone who could speak English near the exits
so they moved him. That meant Id be able to
settle back and read a book! Well, that is what I
had thought anyway!
But this man wanted to talk, even though he
only had a 20% mastery of our language. Yet,
should I complain, my German is limited to
about ten words, if that! Inside I sighed and
thought, Lord you dont really want me to do
something here, do you? The silence was

expectant. Inwardly I slumped as I silently

sighed OK. So now I had eight hours to
converse with a man with whom I was not likely
to even get to first base.

He told me his name was Conny or Conrad.

Bless his heart, he seemed to take special
delight when I managed to utter a German word
or two. Have you ever held a conversation using
a dictionary for every third word? Thats the
way it was.
As Conny talked, he drank. He told me that he
had a twenty-year-old daughter. It was evident
that he loved her dearly. He was on disability
pension for a work related incident, and he was
on the way to Winnipeg to visit a friend. He was
going to fish and commune with nature and
managed to say that nature was his god. I
struggled with the dictionary to write out, in
German, that my God created nature!
Well, he blew up and exclaimed that my God
was asleep when the German authorities had
taken his little girl away from him. His wife had
died fifteen years ago and the social system had
deemed him an unfit dad. He had not been
allowed to see his little girl since then. The
anger, horror, fear and wounded rage was
palpable. He blamed God. No amount of reason
could persuade him that our God is good. When
he finally settled down and passed from fitful
rest to drunken slumber, I was able to write to
him the letter that our Lord wanted him to see.
I wrote him of the terrors Jesus had to pass
through to save a ravaged humanity and of how

God the Father loved us so much that he allowed

His Son to bear our iniquity. I wrote of how we
all frequently continue to spite him. I described
how Jesus had borne the pain of Connys
daughter being taken away because the Holy
Spirit had been there with them when it
happened. I wrote of how God loved him so
much that He had thrown him the lifeline of
eternal life. God had given Conny his Son, Jesus
Christ, as his personal savior.
When my new friend woke up, I put the letter in
his breast pocket and asked him to have a good
friend translate it for him when he got to
Winnipeg.
Well, Mats, and Conny, and all of my friends, the
Lord is with you. He was there, on the ground,
pulling us from separate continents to meet, and
He was there, suspended over the ocean, at
40,000 feet. He was there on the days we met
and He is with each of us today. So we all have
this little reminder; God is well and He is here
with us now!
May our Lords infinite love bless you this
Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1998

TOWARD JOY THROUGH TRIALS

1999 has been a hard year. One of my dear friends Louise Dee passed into eternity.
She was, along with her husband John, my co-mentor in Christ. Yes, I do know she is
with our Lord, and that part of me knows a certain joy. Yet there remains a hole in my
life due to missing relationship. Sometimes, MOVING TOWARD JOY IN THE
MORNING, can be a very difficult thing to do. Yet time passes and we move step by
step ever closer toward the eternal junction.
If 1999 was hard, 2000 proved to be an equally good trial. As one gets older we need
to expect that more friends and family will die. But to say we need to expect
something to happen, a rational thought at best, and to experience the events
themselves are two very different things. I wrote; OUR CHRISTMAS DEADLINE, with
perhaps a better understanding of my finite time spent here on earth. A friend and a
grandparent died and eternity seems closer. In this writing I try to bring home how we
are to deal with our own personal deadline with our Maker.
During 2001 in OUR CHRISTMAS CHOICE I write about the contrast of walking in
communion with God Vs the horror of Sept 11, 2001. My generation has seldom seen
the sharp contrast between good and evil. Our culture had become so callused to the
notion of good and evil that as a nation we were shocked to see evil. Even with the
overriding horror of that incident I remember the quiet beauty of walking with God on
another occasion.
2002 helped crystallize an understanding that Christians, like everyone else, go
through situations that can cause joy, sorrow, and even pain. We are not exempt
running the gamut of emotions when friends become followers of Christ, a loved one
dies, or suffering physical agony when the accidents of life occur. The difference for
the Christian is not exemption from the stuff of life it is living in relationship with the
Holy Spirit. Knowing I am walking with God makes a difference.
In 2003 I was given the opportunity to help a young man as he chose to give his life to
our Lord. Then I assisted in helping him become more mature in his walk with Jesus.
It was a year that brought opportunities to be a disciple through helping others
become disciples.
2004 was the 30th anniversary year of writing these Christmas messages. It was a
time spent in learning just how important reconciliation, forgiveness and love are to
the Christian life. It seems even fair to say that love and forgiveness must become
realities in a Christians life. If those qualities are not active in a Christians life then it
would seem that the faith remains only an intellectual exercise.

MOVING TOWARD JOY IN THE MORNING

This last April a close friend passed into the
eternal realm. I haven't felt the keen blade of
grief quite so strongly since both of my parents
passed away over seventeen years ago. But
Louise was my son Andys godmother. She and
her husband, John, were my spiritual mentors.
She was my elder sister in Christ.
Many years ago I was led to write a memorial
prayer for a close friend who had died. Over the
years it became a ministry of comfort for others.
Little did I realize that those memorial words,
penned so many years before, would perfectly fit
my dear friend Louise. Little did I realize that
the words were not only to minister to others in
their time of mourning, but they would be for me
in my own time of trial. With this in mind and
heart, I share this little prayer with you.
Dear Jesus, ... it is hard to understand Louises
death. My friends are hurting. How are we to
find comfort?
My little one, you are seeing her death as an
ending. You dont understand for her it is a
beginning of eternal life near Me. Your fears are
linked so tightly to your bodies. She has shed
her bondage and even now.... shimmering in a
cloak of faith and hope, she approaches my
Eternal Presence on wings of love and serenity.
My dear child, what you are really asking is;
How will John and Christie be comforted? They
are my children too, as are all of you. Pray that
my Holy Spirit grant you all a deeper faith.
Become quiet and sense my Presence. Ask me
for comfort and it is yours. Ask me for strength
and it is yours. Ask me for peace and it will be
within you. Ask me for love and my loving arms
will support you. Open your heart, let your selfstrength go. Walk with me... and you will come
to our Fathers Eternity.
As you come that far with me, the joyous
presence of Louise will touch you. I assure you,
she lives on and loves you, now, more than she
ever could before.
Her love and joy are now everlasting and
touching all of you. Quiet yourselves now my
children. Come into my presence and as you do,
you will sense her nearness too, and her love for
you! Be Comforted! Amen!

Part of the process of healing means we must be

reconciled to the fact that God will sometimes
say "No" to us and our prayer for healing. Our
faith is not to be in any earthly healing or
manifestation; it is to be in God and in His Will.
This is an essential, yet hard, learning.
Another part of healing is to recognize that
mourning and joy are closely tied experiences.
Both cut into the deepest nature of our souls.
On one side we contemplate the utter terror of
the lonely night. On the other side we bathe in
the gentle warm glow of a crystal clear morning
shimmering in Gods glory. We are not meant to
stay in mourning. We are to move toward joy.
Yet, there is a day in each of our lives when we
have to bear the loss of someone we treasure
deeply. During these times we wonder if there
could ever be joy in the morning. The pain of
missing just seems to be too great. The pearl
lies in the knowing that she or he is now bathed
in the beauty and sheer awesome splendor of
our Almighty God. We come to realize that our
missing pain is comforted in knowing where
she really is. This knowledge, this hope, begins
to ripen into the fruit of joy in our mourning.
This poignant mourning joy takes time.
It takes time to move from mourning tears to
bittersweet mourning joy. We need to allow Jesus
Christ to mend our emotional wounds, anger,
discouragement, bitterness, and our broken
hearts. We have to bring it all to Him.
True joy returns only after we have trusted God
enough to throw ourselves upon His mercy, love,
wisdom, and will. We need to realize that our
broken hearts take ever so much tender
nourishment and that only Jesus has the
capacity to make us joy filled again. Only in His
tender, creative hands are our souls restored.
Only then comes the day when the mourning joy
becomes joy in the morning.
May Gods infinite love, expressed fully in His
Son Jesus Christ, flow into you through the
gentle touch of His Holy Spirit this Christmas and
in the days to come.
And may you have His Joy in the Morning.
Mark B. Nemzek
c 1999

OUR CHRISTMAS DEADLINE

Our lives are scripts being written in time. The
tools are not paper, pen, ink, or PC. No, they are
the stuff were made of; flesh, blood, spirit, and all
the gifts and talents our Creator has packed into
each one of us. Our lives are the scripts that
follow and precede us into eternity. The scripts
we become include all of our thoughts, feelings,
words, deeds and misdeeds; indeed all of our
experiences of commission and omission are
included.
Each one of us can choose to write our own script
as if we were independent entities. Or we can
choose to produce our script, in communion with
our Creator, as we were designed to. The choice
resides in each one of us. These choices have
eternal consequences and our Lord will honor our
decisions. If I choose to script it out on my own
terms I need to realize that such self-centered
scripting reigns for eternity. If I choose to script
my life within the renewal terms of our Creator;
that too will be forever.
When Louise, my friend and co-mentor in Christ,
died last year I felt a great sense of loss. Now
recently Tony, a friend and next door neighbor,
died in late September at the age of forty-two. I
was shaken again. Then my father-in-law Stig
died on October 18th. He was eighty-one. Too
many close people have been dying. Suddenly I
have come to realize that each one of us is on a
deadline. Unlike our normal everyday, worldly
deadlines we dont know when the time for our
life script will be up. Our time could end before
we leave the womb, at the age of forty-two, or
even at eighty-one; we just dont know. One thing
is for sure; He who created us has the prerogative
to do the review.
The ending of our earthly life script could be near
or it could be several years. Perhaps its the
millennium perhaps its just that I am getting
older, but I sense the urgency to share the truth
Ive garnered within my few years.
Faith in Jesus Christ and in all His promises is not
merely another religion. Most faiths depend on
people to believe in the teachings and practices of
that faith. The heart of Christianity depends on
Jesus himself. Without the person of Jesus Christ,
there is no valid Christianity.
Yes I have faith, but it is not merely built on
feelings and subjective experiences. There is
solid evidence for the basis of Christianity. There
are over 24,000 manuscripts extending back to
the first century. Even with all the scribes copying
each others works, they are 99.5% error free.
The fingerprints of God cover Jesus Christ like no
other figure in history. Jesus fulfilled over forty-

eight prophecies of the Old Testament written

hundreds of years before his birth.

The chance of one man being the fulfillment of so

many prophecies is one in ten to the 153rd power.
There is no chance that He was coincidence. We
must to let Him answer our needs.
When we claim that Jesus is merely one way,
among the many paths, to God; Jesus answers,
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
(NIV)
When we try to take alternate paths into the
hereafter, Jesus reminds us; "Enter through the
narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the
road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But small is the gate and narrow the
road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matt
7:13-14
When we want to make it to heaven just knowing
about Him and not being in relationship with Him,
Jesus declares, "I tell you the truth, no one can
see the kingdom of God unless he is born
again." "I tell you the truth, no one can enter
the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and
the Spirit. John 3:3, 5
Sometimes we believe our sin is too great for God
to do anything about. Jesus replies, "What do
you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and
one of them wanders away, will he not leave the
ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one
that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the

truth, he is happier about that one sheep than

about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In
the same way your Father in heaven is not willing
that any of these little ones should be lost. Matt
18:12-14
When we want to make life too complicated Jesus
simplifies it by giving us a simple rule: Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength. 'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor
as yourself.' There is no commandment greater
than these." Mark 12:30-31
We are all on a deadline with a final destiny. I do
not know when my life torch will be required of
me, but when it is, I do not want it to be said that
I was too embarrassed to mention the saving
message of Jesus Christ. After all, He is the Son of
God!
However long we live, time is short! Jesus Christ
offers salvation from our self-oriented corruption
and eternal life to all who will repent and believe
in Him in thought, word, and deed. As we
consider this Christmas deadline, I pray that each
one of us will give our lives to the Lord or ask for a
renewal of our love for Him and a rededication to
serving Him.
Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas.
Mark B. Nemzekc 2000

OUR CHRISTMAS CHOICE

Every day we make decisions. Within each
decision is buried two choices. We can
choose to walk with God and face the light
or we can choose to walk in our own
counsel and face ultimate uncertainty.
Each choice that honors God builds our
relationship with him. Each self-directed
choice increases the gap between God
and us.
In recent months two days in my life
clearly express the contrast between
these two choices.
On Friday August 3rd I was facilitating a
creative writing session at a CFO Christian
family camp. Something remarkable
happened during that morning exercise.
We had the human agenda, creative
writing, for that period, but God had
something different planned. A friend,
and fellow camper, became ill. Instead of
just excusing herself, she was led to tell
me twice of her illness. I finally realized
the need to ask if someone was led to
pray for her. During her writing period
another camper had been moved to write
about starting a healing prayer ministry
for others in need. She led prayer for the
first camper and then the group began to
intercede for others.

Our President spoke of us being forced to

confront the face of evil. Yet the
admission of evil forces us to admit Gods
existence. Even though, as a society, we
have been turning away from God for over
forty years, we knew he was speaking the
truth.
Some still attempt to argue with our
President. They dont want to face the fact
of good and evil and that they too are
accountable to God. Facing this means we
have to admit our own shortcomings; both
individual and collective. It means we
have to face our own self-centeredness
and realize that we have much to repent
of. It means we have to realize weve
turned away from God, and that we now
have an opportunity to return to Him.
Usually the daily decisions we make lie
somewhere between the extremes of
loving or despising God and humanity. We
dont go all out to harm others and
frequently we dont put God or others first
in our choices. We need to ask; Does God
settle for this mediocrity?

This process, of honoring God and the

other, could have been stopped at any
point. But God worked little miracle
transformations in each person present
because each one walked in faith for those
few minutes. For that short period we
walked in that special quality called, faith
like a child. It left us wondering if this
was the norm that God had always
intended for us, if we would only listen.

The Bible says it well in Deut 30: 15-18,

See, I set before you today life and
prosperity, death and destruction. For I
command you today to love the LORD
your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep
his commands, decrees and laws; then
you will live and increase, and the LORD
your God will bless you in the land you are
entering to possess. But if your heart
turns away and you are not obedient, and
if you are drawn away to bow down to
other gods and worship them, I declare to
you this day that you will certainly be
destroyed(NIV)

September 11th marks a day where the

decisions that were made dishonored both
God and humanity. In just a few moments
terrorists killed themselves and thousands
of innocent men, women, and children.
Those choices caused thousands of
children to lose their parents, husbands
and wives to be separated by death and
friendships to be broken apart.

The choices made on these two unique

days, and in all the other more ordinary
decisions, reflect on our relationship with
God. Ultimately, we choose to live with or
without God. Its that simple. Jesus said
in John 14:6,
"I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except
through me.

On 9/11 many gave their lives that others

might live. On the cross, with a deep and
infinite love that embraces all of human
history, Jesus gave his life that we all
might have eternal life.
Whether our lives are long or short, when
compared to the magnitude of eternity,

our lives are but fleeting wisps of smoke.

This Christmas, while we yet have breath,
choose life.
Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas.
Mark B. Nemzekc 2001

An Extraordinary Christmas for an Ordinary Christian

This year my heart has known the overflow of
joy for one friend, the agony of a suffering loss
for another, and a personal brush with physical
pain.
Last year I sent a draft of my Christmas Writing
to an Internet friend. A little later that day we
chatted on the phone and I discovered she had
a brother, who professed his Christianity
strongly. Sometimes his Christian expression
caused her discomfort because she was not a
believer.
During the discussion we came to an
understanding that her brothers motives were
well intentioned. It seemed that his concern
was a fear centered on the possibility of them
not being together in eternity. I asked her if
she would grant him grace in this matter, since
it seemed obvious that he loved her deeply.
His concern for her was linked to eternal issues
and he wasnt able to communicate with her
without causing an uncomfortable situation.
I mentioned that Christians frequently have
this concern for their loved ones. We have a
hard time with the possibility that those we
love wont be with us for eternity. Sometimes
we do things intending to encourage our
dearest friends and it offends them instead.
My friend and I agreed that Christians arent
perfect. We also agreed to stay in touch.
Over the next several months we e-mailed
each other on issues of faith and eternity. One
morning in April, I opened an e-mail to discover
that my Internet friend had given her life to
Christ. When I read that little note, it was as if
all of eternity had paused for a moment in an
expression of extreme and elegant rejoicing.
That moment of joy remains treasured in my
heart.
During the summer of 2001 Javan Ommani, a
man from Kenya, came and spoke at our CFO
camp. His 17 year old daughter was battling
ovarian cancer. Many of us prayed for him and
his family then and have continued in prayer
for them. This September we received an
email announcing that Javans daughter had
passed into eternity.
My friends in Kenya know their daughter is in
heaven with God. Yet there are times when the
certainty for eternity does little to quell the

aching heart. The death of ones child is no

respecter of belief.

Mothers and fathers never want their children

to die before they do. It is too much like to a
sword piercing a parents heart. Knowing the
Peace of Christ certainly brings grieving into
perspective, but the sting of missing is not lost.
More recently, in late October, while paying
special attention to a sheet-rocking detail, I
blithely ignored the effects of gravity. In the
blink of an eye, I plunged six feet onto a cold
concrete floor. The reality of a broken wrist,
hurt ribs, a sore thigh and knee, and forced
relaxation has challenged my patience past
breaking point on several occasions.
As an ordinary Christian Ive come to realize
that, just like every other person on the face of
this earth, we all walk through situations which
cause us joy, suffering, and pain. All people,
regardless of faith, must face the
circumstances of life. The difference between
Christians and others lies not in the
circumstances faced.
For the Christian, the difference lies in his
relationship with God. It is internal in that he
has the promise of the Holy Spirit residing
within him. It is external in that by knowing
Gods abiding presence he is free to respond to

all situations in light of eternal assurances.

Sometimes he responds no differently than
anyone else. The challenge for all Christians,
when confronted with the hard situations, is to
respond with the abiding peace and love of
God in their actions.
As we walk through pain, suffering, or joy we
are consoled by what our Holy Scripture says in
1 Cor 15:54-57:
When the perishable has been clothed with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O
death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin
is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NIV)
May this consolation come to nourish the
hearts of all of us ordinary people during this
extraordinary Christmas Season.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c 2002

A Disciple at Christmas
We seldom take the time to examine the
difference between being a believer and
being a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is as if
being a believer means to have accepted
the salvation message of Jesus Christ, and
then somehow relegate it into some small
portion of the mind or heart. Then, on
Sundays, we take a peek to ensure it is
there, but otherwise we dont let the
salvation reality bother us too much.
On the other hand, a disciple of Christ will
not stop following. When you decide to
follow Jesus he never gives you the option
to follow when you feel like it. No, he
desires our full commitment to follow him
at all times with our whole heart, mind,
soul, and strength. Being a disciple is an
every day of the year proposition. All I can
say with certainty is that when we choose
to be his disciple, even though our failures
are frequent, Jesus always compensates
with his overflowing blessings. Allow me
to offer some examples.
Last January, Jeff, a church leader, asked
me if I would be willing to work with a man
of atheist inclinations who had many
questions about Christ and Christianity. It
was now clear why the burden to study
apologetics had been placed in my heart.
I said yes, to Jeff and waited to meet
Dave.
On a Sunday evening, in early February,
Dave and I met for nearly four hours. It
seemed like he explored every question
that I had ever studied. That night was
exhilarating. The next day I mentioned to
Jeff that it was like being a midwife
watching the Holy Spirit wrestle Dave into
a new life. That Tuesday Jeff called me
back and exclaimed that Dave had asked
Christ to be his Lord and Savior. My wife,
Ingrid, and I continue to meet with Dave in
a small group setting. We are exploring
ways to know Jesus Christ better. It has
been a wonder filled time.
The second incident happened on a
Saturday in June after my son, Andy, and I
had returned home from the barbershop.
We had been discussing concerns with

respect to works and grace because he

was going to speak on these topics at a
youth group.
It was a lively discussion, and as I was
pulling into the garage I mentioned that
God frequently puts appointments into our
lives at unexpected times and our part is
simply to be ready to give witness to his
Word. We had no sooner parked the car
than two well dressed young women
walked up our drive and asked to discuss
faith issues.

These young Jehovahs Witnesses

certainly had no intention of becoming
Christians. Ingrid, who had been in the
background, saw the impasse more clearly
than I did. She walked over and asked if
they believed in the Trinity. She also said
that other doctrines are false and would
not lead to heaven.
The young ladies appeared seriously
agitated. Though unplanned, the bad
cop, good cop scenario seemed as it it
were designed for just that moment,
because I was then able to clearly discuss
several issues with them. When they left
they were not converted, but they knew
the difference between those with
apostolic beliefs and those who follow
more recent teachings. Seeds were
planted.
The third incident occurred in late July
when Ingrid and I were discussing the
issue of personal care assistance for
Lauren. We had suddenly realized that
with Anika and Jeff moving to Montana and
Andy beginning college in September, we
would have no one to watch over Lauren.
While Ingrid was able to pray about the
situation, I was still undecided as to how
to pray.

That afternoon I took Lauren shopping

with me as I have done dozens of times.
As our groceries were being checked, the
clerk began talking to me about caring for
her cousin who has Downs syndrome.
She loved working with him and hoped to
train and work with the handicapped. She
was hoping to work with someone like
Lauren.
That she would do this, just hours after my
spouse and I had declared a need, seemed
a special God moment. I gave her a
deposit slip with our phone number on it
and asked her to call my wife. God
answering an unvoiced prayer in a grocery
store really got my attention!
Each of these incidents represents the cry
of Jesus for us to be in living relationship
with him. He does not want mere belief;
he wants us to be his disciples. In Rev
3:20; he says, Here I am! I stand at the
door and knock. If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat
with him, and he with me. (NIV)
Clearly he beckons. Let us go and open
the door this Christmas!
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
c 2003

CHRISTMAS, A GIFT OF FORGIVENESS

Thirty years ago, at the youthful age of
twenty-one, I began writing these
Christmas messages. At the time I was
neither Christian nor married. Ingrid and I
had just met in the early months of 1974
and were married in 1977. Though I had
been raised in a Christian home I had
drifted from my Christian roots and
sampled several of the eastern and
western religions. Forgiveness was not a
major agenda item in my life.
It is fascinating that I wrote Christmas
messages for eight years before I became
a follower of Christ. Looking back I can
see that our Lord used these writings as a
life reminder during my wandering days.
His plan was placed in my life even when I
was facing away from him. He knew there
would be much for me to repent of and
much that I would need forgiveness for.
The Christmas Messages were one of
the tools he used to help me repent,
accept his forgiveness and face him again.
They were instrumental in helping me
accept his love for me. They were also a
catalyst in assisting me to accept his
wisdom and direction for my lifes path.
This thirty year walk has shown me that
we can not walk in forgiveness if we do
not walk with the abundance of Jesus love
planted deeply within our hearts, minds
and spirits. His truth, wrapped within the
context of love, is the only thing that
allows us to receive his forgiveness and
then extend it to others.
Think about it for a moment. If I do not
have the grace of God continually pouring
his love, peace and joy into me, how will I
ever be able to extend forgiveness to
others when they have hurt me?
Forgiveness is not merely an act of will,
though it often begins there. It is a
process that allows the harmed one to
willingly extend peace, love and joy to the
transgressor. Anything short of this is
simply some kind of conditional truce. It
involves the peace of man instead of the
Peace of God.

Since I am offering a differing version of

forgiveness from the one many are
familiar with, allow me to give an
example. When I have been hurt, I am
living with a negative in my life. If it has
happened often enough, my life is in
deficit or debt. If the deficit becomes
deep enough, bitterness, anger and
depression take root. When my cup of life
is filled with woundedness, hurts and
other negatives, how will I offer
forgiveness to anyone, including myself?

Jesus tells us that what we are filled with is

what we are likely to respond with. Matt
12:34-36
For out of the overflow of the heart the
mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings
good things out of the good stored up in
him, and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored up in him. NIV
To extend genuine forgiveness to another,
something must first fill my lifes cup with
that which is beautiful in the eyes of God.
If and when I accept Gods forgiveness, his
nature fills my vacuum with an overflow of
peace, love and joy. The grace of God
washes away all the old poisons and clears
the way for me to walk in forgiveness and
love.
Occasionally, we have assisted friends in
the process of reconciliation. Usually they
are Christians who are not walking in
genuine forgiveness for one another.
One wants to forgive, but only after many
conditions have been met. Another wants
to forgive, but when occasional failures
occur, distrust and bitterness are allowed
to rebound. Others want reconciliation,
but only if there is some proof of
reformation on the transgressors part.

The common practice of conditional

reconciliation usually results in failure.
Often we are unwilling to consistently let
the love of Jesus Christ overwhelm our
own past bitterness allowing his genuine
forgiveness to flow through our lives
toward our loved ones. Weeks, sometimes
months, of reconciliation efforts seem to
fail. These human solutions leave the love
of Jesus Christ underutilized in all of our
lives. Yet, given the chance, I know our
Lord will work miracles.
Thirty years have shown me just how
often we all walk with different levels of
unforgiveness in our hearts. Twenty-two
years of living with the Lord have shown
me that there is a better Way.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life
and his grace may be sewn into our lives.
When we allow it, his forgiveness, peace,
love and joy can become our overflow.
May this be so as we treasure our families
this Christmas!
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
C 2004

UEXPECTED JOYS AND TRIALS

2005 was a year when I concentrated on the gift of friendship. Friends can come on many
levels and one of the most blessed friendship of a husband and wife. Ingrid and I have been
married for 28 years and we continue to build our loving partnership. In this writing I also
comment on the joys of other friendships. There have been a handful of men in recent
years that have added richness to my growth.
2006 was a year when I paused to reflect on prayer. There are many reasons to pray and to
pray to Jesus Christ and his Father is appropriate. However, in this writing I also move from
the reasons to pray toward the purpose of life through prayer. Being in communion with
God is like being in relationship with a friend. One cannot have a relationship without
communicating and in similar fashion we cannot commune with God without prayer.
2007 was literally life changing. In March I went through a triple bypass. Yes, that is where
the doctors open your chest, take veins from your body, and stitch those veins into arteries
to carry blood to your heart. As important as that was to my physical survival, it was the
special little miracle moments where God showed me how He interacts with us daily, with
us frequently being unaware He is there.
2008 was as traumatic as 2007. In late June Ingrid went home for her moms funeral. The
day after she got back I had a stroke. Though neither is desirable Id say a stroke is scarier
than heart surgery. Heart surgery is fairly straight forward and known. When you have a
stroke and have five different medical professionals give you five differing opinions about
your brains well being you are confronted with the stark uncertainty of life. Still, the Lord
was incredibly merciful and Im able to write these words today.
2009 seemed like a year of reprieve. It was frightfully busy at work and filled with
challenge at home. Our granddaughter Ashly came to begin her stay with us. She was
hoping to be with us in her eleventh and twelfth grades. Even with all this I made time to
dwell on the majesty of God.
2010 was as busy at work as the previous year. Even so family was special. We watched a
new love blossom between our son Andy and Carrie. That and experiencing a year of
growth with our granddaughter brought me to a place of contemplating on how love could
cast out fear.

Christmas: A Gift of Friendship

During my lifetime, I have met many people,
had many contacts, many associates, known a
number of friends, and had the privilege of
having a few dear friends. A friend is someone
you are fond of; a dear friend is one whom you
miss when they leave, and your soul dances
when they return. You are thankful to God for
their presence in your life.
A man is blessed when he marries a dear
friend. A soul mate to share experiences with
is especially appreciated when the trials
become too hard to endure alone. My wife and
friend of nearly twenty-nine years has been
such a one to me. This summer, when she
visited her ailing mother in Sweden, I realized
how much I missed her.
Some might say I missed her because of the
myriad tasks she does. While I agree that it is
easier sharing home tasks with another, the
missing element in my life ran much deeper
than that. It was more akin to a part of me no
longer being present. This is a special gift that
secretly arrives only after couples have walked
through many trials, joys and years while
nourishing their bond of love.
With these thoughts in mind and with great
fondness, I consider the lives of two men who
have chosen to infuse their time, wisdom and
friendship into my life. Both of these men love
our Lord, and both of them have had their lives
interrupted by the recent loss of their spouses.
Both treasured their wives deeply, and both
know that they will some day be reunited with
them at heavens door. While knowing the
hope of eternity is now a reality for their
treasured ones, they now walk lifes journey
experiencing what it is like to be half of a
whole.
This year my two friends will journey through
their first Christmas with the love of their
families surrounding them but without their
loving wives. Many of us have friends in
similar circumstances. We need to express our
love and appreciation to them especially
during this season.
Late last year, after sending out my Christmas
message another friendship was born. One

man took my writing to heart and responded in

an unusual manner.
We had never even met; we had only
participated in teleconferences up to that time.
Yet he felt the need to respond as a man who
had just found his missing brother.
Little did I know that only three months later
we would be working in the same group.
Together we explored the nuances of
friendship while working through challenging
tasks. As the days turned to weeks, and as we
persevered through one trial after another, a
bond of brother-hood formed.
Facing work challenges with a friend at your
side is invigorating! A person who brings
cheerfulness, kindness, consideration, joy and
thoughtfulness into your life is not one you
dismiss lightly, unless you are a fool. I hope
that I have been able to give my new friend a
fraction of the joy he has given me. All those
who have been blessed by friends like him
understand what I mean.
My hope is that each one of us will remember
that the special people God has placed in our
lives are there for a purpose. Our Creator
knows our needs for fellowship, friendship and
life partners. He knows because he created
us. These dear friends, whom God plants in
the critical moments of lifes journey, are to be
treasured as image bearers of the Lord.
Jesus shares some special words about
friendship in John 15:11-15:

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you

and that your joy may be complete. My
command is this: Love each other as I have
loved you. Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends. You are
my friends if you do what I command. NIV
What Jesus says gives me pause for reflection.
Friendship, when found in a spouse or others,
is something that is never to be taken lightly.
It is a gift from God. Indeed, it is like the
breath of God born into in your life.
May our Lords gift of friendship be yours this
Christmas and in the coming days!

Merry Christmas,

Mark B. Nemzek
2005

A Prayer at Christmas

Why would a man or woman pray?

Thirty-two years ago, I began writing these
Christmas messages. It seems I chose to
write them at Christmas time, yet I did not
become a follower of Jesus Christ until
twenty-four years ago. Why did I write
during those eight years of unbelief? It
was the silent work of God in my heart.
Why would a man or woman pray?
The fingerprints of God are all over Jesus
Christ. Over two hundred prophesies,
written hundreds of years before Christ,
were fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.
There is not a chance this was chance.
Why would a man or woman pray?
Jesus taught that we are to love one
another even to the point of giving our
lives for the other. Muhammad taught
that others could be maimed or killed if
they would not convert. If both faiths are
talking about the same God, that God is a
god of contradiction. Prayer and
thoughtful consideration reveal they are
not the same.
Why would a man or woman pray?
Two strangers, living hundreds of miles
apart, talk on the phone. They both
realize a desire in their hearts to meet
before the next year when they will attend
a common function. Neither one has the
personal resources to make that happen.
They compare notes and discover that
they both have airline tickets to a third
city. Their planes are scheduled to land
within two hours of each other. They
meet!
Why would a man or woman pray?
When you comprehend that a simple,
elegant yet extraordinary code containing
the equivalent of more than a thousand
books worth of information, the most
intimate details of your own personal
design, is written in your genes; you pray.

Why would a man or woman pray?

When you realize that there are more than
forty variables in the universe that must
be arranged in perfect harmony for life to
exist, you pray. If any of those variables
were off a fraction, life as we know it
would not exist.
Why would a man or woman pray?
Prayer includes both talking and listening
to God. If I want to have a good
relationship with my spouse (or anyone
else) I need to communicate. It is no
different with God. If I claim to love God
but will not communicate with Him, I am
worse than a fool.
Now, after 53 years I contemplate the
nature of things. As already mentioned
there is good reason to believe and pray.
Yet many do not believe, and even among
the believers many lack a certainty toward
prayer. It seems that many do not even
sense the reality of spiritual life. Often,
when spirituality is acknowledged, great
perversions struggle to dominate the
dimensions of the soul.
Often non-believers discern few
differences between themselves and us.
We Christians have relaxed our vigilance.
We have often failed to live out the love
that Jesus exhorted us toward. Without
loving prayer immersed in all of our
activities, we fail God by not being His salt
and light in a lost world.
The best gift a disciple can give to Jesus is
to love Him and love ones neighbor.
If we prayed to discern Jesus will for our
daily lives, and then in prayerful attitude,
acted as He directed, we would be His
light bearers. The Christmas miracle
would come to pass!
My prayer is that the wisdom, peace, love
and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ be yours in
the coming days.

Merry Christmas,

Mark B. Nemzek
2006

Christmas; Remembering the God Touched Moments

Occasionally, we have an experience that
Andy was present during my pre-operation
causes us to pause and take stock of life.
preparation at 5:30 Tuesday morning. This
March 23rd was such a day. First, I had a stress
was a precious time for me, as I hadnt been
echo test which indicated the need for an
expecting him. He and Ingrid were there when
angiogram. That, in turn, indicated the need
I became aware late that afternoon. Ingrid
for a triple bypass. My doctors completed the
helped me get through Wednesday, by far the
day by telling me I would not be leaving the
toughest day. Her presence was a balm.
hospital until after the surgery. In a few short
Family is to be treasured.
hours, all my priorities in life were rearranged!
Two days after surgery I found out my PA was a
I was feeling a bit grumpy with God, and then
strong Christian. While sharing this with my
He revealed what I needed to know. I could
pastor that evening the full impact of having a
have a pity party for myself or I could choose
man of God, holding my heart in his hands
to express concern and kindness toward
during my most dire moments, became real.
everyone walking through the door. In
The miracle wed prayed for, prior to surgery,
choosing the latter, I realized it was a God
had been realized. God provided for me
touched moment, even though my life was
during the most vital moments by giving me
turned upside down. Many such moments lay
His man to hold my heart when it was most
ahead.
needed. The man standing in the gap for me
was a man who loves Jesus Christ with all his
For the next eight days, I was granted an
heart!
increased awareness of Gods weaving the
tapestry of life. Every nurse and nursing
I was deeply touched by the many calls from
assistant became a special person to me.
my children, brothers, sisters and friends. My
Through Gods grace I was able to treat them
manager and other friends visited me often.
with concern, gentleness, kindness, and
My brother Al, his wife Pam, and a number of
humor. Even so, I only obeyed Jesus
friends were even present with Ingrid during
commandment when he says to love your
my surgery. Especially touching were the calls
neighbor as yourself. The result was
and visits from my pastor as well as several
awesome. They showered me with grace and
other church friends. During my stay I realized
blessings that were largely undeserved.
that many people were praying for me. I
believe it was through this prayer covering
William, a Physician Assistant, discussed the
that I gained a deeper appreciation for
details of the surgery with me. The PAs are
Romans 8: 28; And we know that in all things
the special folks who hold your heart in their
God works for the good of those who love him,
hands while the chief surgeon knits it together
who have been called according to his
again. The team was to use a certain
purpose. NIV
procedure on me that he had helped develop.
I asked if he would be there for me. He said,
It seems as if a mighty surgery has been done
yes and then bumped the scheduled PA so
not only to my heart but also to my soul!
he could be there.
God Touched Moments:
The night before surgery, my pastor, a friend,
Every moment we live and breathe, we
and the hospital chaplain came and prayed
experience the miracle of God sustaining the
with me. They could not have all come at that
universe. Often, we take it for granted. Much
moment without the One above orchestrating
of the time we dont even recognize the
it. A little while later Ingrid, Andy, and Lauren
unusual events as Gods touch. Yet, when I
came in. To our amazement, Lauren, who is
look at the series of occurrences that
disabled and seldom speaks in sentences,
happened when I went through surgery, I
uttered a prayer: Jesus please bless daddy
realize Gods handiwork. Each moment
hes sick please make him better soon!
bolstered my faith. Each moment was a little
Ingrid, Andy, and I looked at each other in awe.
miracle beyond the sustenance of the
We immediately sensed the presence and
universe, and that realization brought greater
peace of our Lord.
healing to my body and soul.

I look for these special moments more

frequently now, and I thank God that he gives
Jesus Christ to us in these ordinary yet unusual
ways. His Holy Spirit fully affects our lives,
when we let Him. My hope and prayer this
Christmas is that each one of us will slow down

and listen. Even now, He reaches out.

touching the tapestry of our lives.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
2007

Christmas Thanksgiving and Praise

Last year my Christmas message

described the triple by-pass event I
experienced earlier in the year. It would
be great to write a heartwarming message
on how smoothly life has flowed since
then. Yet if I have cause for thanksgiving
and praise, it would not be because of
lifes smooth flow! On June 27th, the day
after Ingrid returned home from attending
her mothers funeral in Sweden, I had a
stroke.
This was a hard experience for both of us.
For Ingrid, because she was still working
through her grieving from losing her mom,
not to mention jet lag. For me, because I
was hospitalized again. Even mild strokes
are hard things to go through. All the
ordinary things you assume in life are
changed.
When your leg feels like a separate
appendage, fear, anger, and confusion
reign. When balance and motor
coordination seem to disappear and every
time you try to take a step you are forced
to hug the wall on the left, life is not fun.
At one point, I felt so desperate that in my
spirit I reached out and grasped the hand
of God as a lifeline. His hand seemed the
only stability during those days of trial in
the hospital.
When I was able to return home I had to
learn to walk again which is quite a
challenging experience. We often go
through life with little thought about
walking, talking, seeing, hearing or
touching because these activities seem so
normal and effortless. Yet, when you have
a stroke you find out that much of what
appeared ordinary is not ordinary at all.
Many active and passive activities need a
new orientation, and many sensations are
so internally experienced that words often
fail to describe them.

Yet, imbedded within these challenging

times were sewn pearls of joy. In June we
visited our daughter Anika in Montana and
had a chance to enjoy one another as well
as partake in the grandeur of mountain
life. Then, in August, our daughter Ursula,
her husband Joe and their tribe visited us
while on furlough from their missionary
work in Sweden. At the same time, our
son Chris, his wife Valerie and their
children visited us. Andy, who recently
purchased a home only 3.5 miles from us,
helped homestead the crowd. Anika also
joined us and we had a few days of total
joyous pandemonium.
After living through the trials and the joys
it seems a clich to say that life is short,
or dont take anyone for granted.
Shortly after the stroke, when I was again
able to appreciate life, those common
messages became more real.
Each one of us, whether we live to be one
or eighty-one, has but a brief journey on
this earth. When I began writing these
Christmas messages I felt like I would live
forever. Now, it feels like my youth was
just yesterday. Life seems short, and
fragile, and precious. Handle with care!
During the last two years I have come to
realize just how fearfully and wonderfully
we are made. Our creator went to great
extremes to place our souls into this
substance we call life. When we failed,
His Son Jesus was born on Christmas Day
and he died for us that we might have
eternal life. He gives us life, family,
friends, and eternity. We have much to
praise and thank Him for this Christmas
season.
May His wisdom, peace, love, joy and
many blessings be upon you this
Christmas.
Merry Christmas,

Mark B. Nemzek
2008

Christmas: An Eternal Perspective

During 2007 and 2008 I

experienced two of those life
reminders that bring mortality into
perspective. A triple bypass in 07
and a stroke in 08 give me a
special appreciation for life.
Indeed, in 2009, without the
medical crises, the year has almost
seemed like smooth sailing, though
it hasnt been without its
challenging joys. We have
welcomed one of our teenage
grandchildren into our homelife for
awhile. In addition, the experience
of bank merger related activities at
work have made for a full year.
Yet, as Christmas draws near, a
different sort of message keeps
nibbling at the edges of my heart
and mind. I keep wondering what
Christmas is like from Gods
perspective.
Imagine going back to the place,
before the magnificent grandeur of
our universe. Actually, going
back, and place, dont even
have meaning yet. Time does not
exist and neither does the
universe. Only God is. All that is
yet to be created, all the matter, all
the creatures, and all the beings;
both male and female, are yet to
germinate from His mind and
heart. Let us consider visiting Him
before He began it all.
He is unimaginably complex. He is
plural in person yet one in being.
We call it three in one; three
persons in one being. He is Love
because He is three and He knows
communion because He is one.
Only one presence exists; He is I
AM.

As He ponders that which is to

come He realizes I will create. I
am, I Love, I Know, and I choose to
create.
He understands that these beings
to be made would be less than
mirrors of Himself, yet they will
contain elements of His own
nature. He thinks: I will make
them like me in ability to love, to
know, and to be in communion with
me and with one another.

. They must be able to choose to

love and be in communion with me
and one another or choose
otherwise. I can see that the
choose otherwise part is their
stumbling block. When they
choose other ways they break
communion with me. That breaks
my heart! They do not realize that
by choosing other ways they break
communion, break love, and
become separated from me. They
will not comprehend that
separation from Me, the only
source of life, can only mean death.
Yet being the creator I realize there
is a solution.
For a moment in eternity my Son
will become one of them. That
which is infinite will embody the
finite. I will become one with them
even as I am one. I love them so
much that through my own being I
will reweave the broken fabric of
the universe. I will make it possible
for each one of them to live again.
I will absorb their bad choices, their
sin, and even absorb death, sins
consequence. I will die for them,
though it is unthinkable to break

love, to break the communion of

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Though the cost is excruciating and
eternal, I will bear it for love of
them.
Then He did as He planned; He
created the whole universe to be
background and support system for
us, His chosen.
Last year I mentioned something
which bears repeating. I am
realizing just how fearfully and
wonderfully we are made. Our
Creator went to great extremes to
place our souls into these bodies
we call life. When we failed, His
Son Jesus Christ was born on
Christmas Day, and he died for us
that we might have eternal life. He
gives us life, family, friends, and
eternity. We have much to praise
and thank Him for this season.
May His wisdom, peace, love, joy
and many blessings be upon you
this Christmas.
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
2009

Perfect Love at Christmas

The notion that perfect love casts out fear
has been of interest to me. The natural
man in me thinks, Why fear? Why not
hatred, or bitterness, or anger? With that
in mind I reflected about the year and
some thoughts crystallized.
During the year Ingrid and I observed a
relationship blossom between our son
Andy and a lovely young woman named
Carrie. This budding relationship was
remarkable to watch because it seemed so
different from the norms of today. In
contrast to everything being so me
centered these two seemed to run
counter culture; they didnt seem to need
to concentrate on what they individually
would gain. Instead each concentrated on
the needs and concerns of the other.
When Andy proposed to Carrie in late
October we were overjoyed. We had
watched love overcome all the concerns
that tend to weigh on individual hearts.
This happened as the souls of both
seemed focused on loving the other and
birthing a togetherness in their lives was
one of the primary results.
Does love cast out fear?
Recently, we watched a movie in which a
young couple struggled with cancer in one
of their children. Initially they kept
distancing themselves; perhaps they
didnt want to burden others with the fear
that their daughter might die. Even so an
older couple, who had suffered a deep loss
of their own, began reaching out to this
couple and their sick child.
They literally galvanized the community
into pouring out love for this family.
Somehow the older couple had realized an
essential truth. Loving others is life
saving. When you love others, as they
travel through lifes trials and joys, love
wins out. I realized that Christmas in
November carried an important message
for all of us. When we make ourselves
vulnerable to others by loving them, we

may get hurt, but we will have been true

to our purpose in life.to love others!

Love does cast out fear.

During this year Ive seen many people
confront circumstances and some of the
situations were serious. In every situation
where genuine love was offered, at the
very least, some of the sting of life was
removed. In other situations hearts were
softened, and the spring of hope was
reborn.

Holy Nature residing within our hearts we

would be able to know firsthand that..
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in
God, and God in him. In this way, love is
made complete among us so that we will
have confidence on the day of judgment,
because in this world we are like him.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love
drives out fear, because fear has to do
with punishment 1 John 4:16-18; NIV

Our culture is frantically trying to reimage

the Christmas season. Yet this is the
precise time when we need to embrace
the reality of Christmas. We celebrate
Christmas because God gave us his Son,
Jesus Christ as a baby in Bethlehem; a
person just like you or me. Later in his life
he would become a teacher and a healer
of all the pain filled lives. After that he
would confront fear, and because he loved
us he would choose to die for us. His love
overcame fear and all the world of
darkness.

Originally, it seemed that love casting out

fear was unusual. Now I understand that
any expression of genuine love is the hand
of God working in us and through us.
Where God is, fear will be cast out.

Then He gave us the Holy Spirit; the

precious gift of indwelling Life. With His

Merry Christmas,
Mark 2010

As we enter into this Christmas season let

us nourish love for one another. When we
love we bring light and truth into the
hearts of those we touch.
May the light of Jesus Christ burn brightly
in our hearts and minds this Christmas.

Trials, Challenges, and Love

2011 was a time of joy, a time of surprise, and a time of mourning. The joy was was
for our son Andy and his new bride Carrie. The surprise came from experiencing
prison ministry. The mourning was due to a good friend in church who died and
went to be with our Lord. Love was our sustaining force.
2012 was a time of continued challenges. The work team I led was dissolved, my
sister-in-law fought bone cancer, and my daughter, Ursula, was embattled with lung
tissue cancer. Love and much prayer sustained us. After multiple surgeries, the
miracle of cancer free greeted our daughter Ursula. Though unmentioned in the
writing, we also experienced providential timing when God introduced us to Terri a
PCA who would love our disabled daughter Lauren.
2013 mirrored the challenges of 2012 except my sister-in-law, Mary Jo lost her fight
with cancer and went to be with our Lord Jesus in February of 2013. The joy part of
that was that she had accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior a couple of months before
her passing. My brother had bypass surgery in August and Ingrid had Mitral valve
heart surgery in October. While she was in the hospital I met a man named Larry
who was to lose his wife due to complications in surgery. It seems that the more we
love our Lord the more gripping become our trials to faith. Only love for Jesus and
his love for us holds us through.
2014 was a recap of writing 40 of these Christmas letters. A number of the major
events of my life are mentioned and how they impacted me. The two most major
events were meeting Ingrid in 1974 and becoming a follower of Jesus Christ (again)
in 1982. With Jesus and a wonderful helpmate one can face life more confidently.
2015 was the year our granddaughter Emma was born. It also was the year our
Supreme Court rejected the Christian norms of the culture and gave gays the right
to marriage. A major part of this letter mentions how prison ministry has become a
part of my life and how often it seems that prisoners are more hungry for God than
folks on the outside.
2016 shares how loving God and trusting Him to let His life be lived in and through
you is the essence of full living. The joys of our Sweden trip the trials of Lauren
breaking her ankles and the associated rehab are reviewed in the context of
allowing God to live through our lives. Ingrid and I struggle yet thrive with the help
of Gods mercy, grace, and life!

The Lords Touch at Christmas

Three seemingly different events stand
out this year. These events have a special
touch of Gods creativity woven into them.
Our son, Andy, and his beloved, Carrie,
were married this spring. It is always
wonderful to be a part of a wedding
ceremony, where two loving parties are
joined together in marriage. However,
something extraordinary happens when
the Holy Spirit visits a wedding with His
presence. Tugging at the edges of my
awareness was a sense that something
special was happening in both the earthly
and heavenly realms that day. It certainly
was a blessing to be a part of it.
The Workhouse ministry was a totally
different opportunity. It is a mission work
in my own back yard.
This spring I joined two men, from my
church, in their prison ministry at a
minimum security workhouse. During
orientation I distinctly remember the
bleakness of the setting. When the third
prison door clicked shut, I knew I was
locked in. There is a final sense of being
caged and a heavy impression of being
lost to the outside world.
At the first meeting I saw thirty to forty
hard core men give their full attention to
the gospel of Jesus Christ. I wondered why
men who had spurned the Lords message
in the outside world could be so attentive
when inside prison.
Every month I saw the same
attentiveness, the same hunger for the
Word of God. It seemed that most of the
men thirsted for spiritual life. Over time I
realized that these imprisoned men had
been stripped of all the trappings of
society.
They had little of the constant sensory
input we are plagued with, and they had
much time to contemplate the desolation
of their plight. Each one was able to
appreciate the need for supernatural help.
It had become easier for them to hunger
for God because the outside distractions
were not there.

This whole situation made me think about

Jesus words in Luke 4: 18-19; where He
says:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because

he has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and recovery of
sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed, to proclaim the year of the
Lord's favor." NIV

His wife, Gloria, said something that has

lodged in my heart. About six months
before his death, George began to repeat
an urgent message: Time is short!
There is an urgency to life and we who are
saved need to be witnesses for Jesus
Christ and the salvation he brings.

Proclaiming freedom for the prisoners has

sometimes perplexed me. We dont read
about Jesus setting prisoners free.
However, the prisoners hunger for the
Word helped me realize that they yearn for
something deeper than physical freedom.
They need the spiritual freedom of
salvation, and prison is the catalyst for
their spiritual hunger. Jesus words bring
transforming life to them in a way that we
on the outside rarely appreciate.

At Andys and Carries wedding we sensed

the special presence of God. In the prison
ministry I became aware that men,
deprived of the niceties of life, hunger for
God. In the death of a friend, there was
the realization that time is short! The
thread of Gods love knitted these three
events into the fabric of my life.

The third significant event was the sudden

and unexpected death of a friend from
church.
George was a kind, humorous, and gentle
man. My own experience and all the
eulogies given at the funeral were witness
that Georges nature was that of a man
who lavishly loved God and all the people
around him.

This Christmas let us absorb Jesus words

in John 14:6 where He said;"I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me. Then,
with His indwelling presence, let us answer
His call to reach out and touch another
person with His words of life!
Merry Christmas
Mark Nemzek
c 2011

God With Us at Christmas

One of the common errors of being
Christian is to think, If I become a good
follower of Christ, everything will be fine.
Then we take the liberty to define fine in
our own terms; like good health,
prosperity, or smooth sailing. Yet, when
we open the Bible we seldom encounter
these notions. In fact, when we open the
New Testament we find that being a
disciple means to count the cost, to
expect trials, and to expect adversity. We
experience the same trials and joys as
everyone else. However, through our
trials we are to understand that our Lord is
with us, he does not leave us alone...
This has been a year of testing. With my
sister in law fighting bone cancer, my work
team being laid off, and my daughter
fighting cancer through three major
surgeries, Ingrid and I have been in
constant prayer.
Mary Jo, my older brother Mikes wife, has
been fighting bone cancer for nearly two
years. The radiation and chemo
treatments have taxed her deeply. Their
love for one another is frequently the best
sustenance they have. The struggles they
have experienced seem so unfair. We
pray for them daily.
During the last year most of my work
team experienced job displacements. This
is a kind word for being laid off. My last
team member has recently been
transferred to another manager. These
are good men and women who are
excellent professionals and friends of
mine. Our best efforts could not spare
them from the job losses. My prayers
have been constantly with them.
There is also our daughter Ursulas
experience with cancer and the surgeries
required to remove it. She informed us in
the early months of the year that lung
scans done in Sweden had been checked
by researchers in the U.S., and that the
tissue in her lung was likely precancerous
and needed to come out.

On May 10th Ursula had a wedge shaped

portion of her lower right lung removed in
a Grand Rapids, Michigan hospital.
Unfortunately, her lab results indicated the
tissue was cancerous. More of the lung
would have to come out. Further tests
noted a large mass on her right ovary.
The doctors were quite concerned that she
might have ovarian cancer, and that the
lung cancer was an extension of that. Our
prayers surrounded her.
She had the ovarian surgery in the later
part of June. The surgeons removed the
mass, the right ovary, and a couple of
lymph nodes. Two days later the lab
results indicated all tissue samples were
benign. While we all were thanking the
Lord for the good report, we remembered
she had one more surgery to go; to
remove the cancerous lung tissue.
On July 3rd the surgeons removed the
lower lobe of Ursulas right lung. We
arrived in town for that surgery because
we wanted to be close to her. Three days
later the doctors came back with the lab
results. The lung and inflamed lymph
nodes which they removed were cancer
free. The doctors were perplexed, but the
family was ecstatic for the healing that
had come to pass. We were giving thanks
to our Lord.
Sometimes I wonder about the speed of
miracles. Some come fast, some slow.
Sometimes brief prayer is required and
then sometimes it takes incredible
amounts of time and prayer before
changes are noticed. Honestly, I know I
always want it now! Most of the time it
doesnt happen that way. Then I
remember that God does not promise to
be our cosmic vending machine; popping
out solutions at our individual discretion.
His promise is to be with us in our tears
and our rejoicing. Matt 1:23 says: "The
virgin will be with child and will give birth
to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"which means, "God with us." (Isa 7:14
NIV)

As we face our challenges of the coming

year, lets take Gods Christmas promise
to heart God is With Us!

Merry Christmas
Mark Nemzek
2012

Ready for Christmas

Typically, being ready for Christmas,
means that weve bought the gifts for
family and friends, that weve purchased
cards for everyone, and remembered
everything we need to remember, so that
the business of Christmas is done in time.
It is a light, superficial way of looking at
this special Holiday, and I believe that
frequently we are so busy that we dont
get past the business of Christmas. This
year three events have caused me to
reconsider being ready for Christmas.
In late February, my sister-in-law, Mary Jo,
died from her battle with cancer. She was
a good, strong woman who served as a
nurse her whole adult life. She and my
brother, Mike, remained a constant and
very special part of my childhood
memories. Throughout my life she was
special, and I always anticipated the next
visit with joyful expectations. Then she
passed into eternity.
I took time to visit my brother Mike, to be
with him, while he mourned the passing of
his sweetheart of forty-eight plus years. I
miss Mary Jo and hope our Creator blesses
and treasures her with the glorious love
that only He can give.
When summer arrived, Ingrid found out
that she needed mitral valve heart
surgery. It was scheduled for the 22nd of
October.
All went well, until three hours after
surgery when evidence indicated serious
internal bleeding. The surgeons took her
back into surgery to discover the cause.

The reality of human frailty hit me, and I

felt vulnerable and helpless. At the heart
level, I sensed that my love of more than
36 years could be taken from me. My
spirit seemed to be in a place similar to
Abrahams when he was confronted with
losing his son Isaac and then is given a
reprieve. It is in the in-between-time
where it is you, God, and your beloved
where you find out how much you
love/trust God, love the other, and
confront your own frailty. My own frailty
became clearer to me in that pivotal time.
Only three days after Ingrids surgery I
met Larry in the hospital cafeteria. In a
brief period we traded life stories; and we
became brothers in spirit. His wife of 48
years had just gone through an extreme
heart related surgery.
Two weeks later he found himself writing a
sweet memorial that ended with:
Oh God .....Thank you for 48 years..
..But GOD I MISS HER!
As I read his memorial I wept for my new
friend.
Events like these cause a person to fully
appreciate the preciousness of the other.
We can get a glimpse of God's love for us
when such things happen.
When we allow the Lord to direct our ways
we become more fully aware that we need
to deeply treasure those God has placed
near us. When God allows us to live
another day he grants us a reprieve. That
Reprieve is granted in hope that we learn
to ask the question. "Have I loved as well
as God would have me love today?"
Am I ready for Christmas? The real
Christmas? Because, on that day I will get
to personaly meet our Lord Jesus Christ!
Merry Christmas,
Mark B. Nemzek
2013

Christmas Through Forty Years

Forty years ago all of life still seemed in
front of me. I would have been hard
pressed to believe that in the next forty
years our Lords blessings would overflow!
At 21, I met Ingrid, my dearest partner,
whom I married three years later. During
this time I was busy exploring the eastern
religions and western philosophies. Ingrid
was patient with me. When dad died in
79 and mom in 82 I realized all the
spiritual quests and philosophical inquiries
couldnt mend a grieving heart. I asked
Jesus to forgive, heal, and fill me. He did!
Our oldest children, Chris and Ursula, were
joined by Anika, Andy, and Lauren
between 1978 and 1989. Our family life
was full. Somehow I managed to pick up
an MBA, while raising family and working
fulltime. Jesus was working in us and
through us during those years. We
participated in Marriage Encounter and
joined CFO (Camps Farthest Out) a nondenominational Christian Family camp.
We also became members of Vision of
Glory, a church which believes in the living
presence of God.
By the early 90s it became apparent to
me that the true Christian walk was
different from the secular worldly walk. It
became even clearer that to commune
with God was something the secular
person couldnt begin to comprehend. In
1993 I lamented that God had been taken
out of our country, that moral laws were
being replaced by secular ones, and that
Christians were only being tolerated by
the prevailing culture. Sadly, that trend is
even more established today.
During the 1990s my job was taking me
to many cities and during those travels
came the opportunity to witness and pray
with people. I dont believe I have the gift
of evangelism, but I was able to touch
individuals with the love of Jesus in many
different and wonderful ways. By the
early 2000s I was able to mentor a man
as he struggled to find his way to the Lord.
One of the most wonderful experiences
Ive ever had was on the night he gave his

life to Jesus. I remember saying to Ingrid,

Tonight was like being a midwife
watching in amazement as the Holy Spirit
brought new life into someone separated
from God.
In the early 2000s dear friends and
relatives passed on and the horrors of 9/11
shook our country. When Ingrids dad died
in 2000 we learned to console one another
more effectively. We both clung to Jesus
more fervently. During the 90s and early
2000s we also became more accepting of
our daughter Laurens disabilities. When it
became obvious that she had problems,
we wanted to address the issues. When
fixing her was not possible we came to
realize that our primary call was to love
her. That love will last into eternity.
All the growth in the first 20 years of
walking with Jesus seemed to be in
preparation for the harder challenges.
Family deaths, heart surgeries, job
restructurings, weddings, grandchild
parenting, and prison ministry all
combined to make the last ten years
challenging, yet filled with growth.
My heart surgery in 2007 and stroke in
2008 caused me to realize my mortality in
a big way. In addition, Ingrids mom died
in 2008. These two years were especially
challenging for her. In 2009 our
granddaughter came to live with us for
two years. After raising five children, we
found out that we still had a lot to learn
about parenting!
In 2011 we joyfully celebrated Andy and
Carries wedding. That same year, after
joining prison ministry, I discovered that
some men in prison thirst for God more
than the folks on the outside do. That
year ended with yet another friend
passing into eternity.
In 2012 and 2013 my daughter Ursula
survived a bout with cancer and my sisterin-law died from it. My brother Mike and
Ingrid experienced heart surgeries, and we
were blessed with a personal care
attendant who loves our daughter, Lauren.

Forty years of life challenges later we

know Jesus holds us in His strength. As we
prepare for a homecoming Christmas with
family, we pray for His wisdom, peace,
love, & joy to sustain you this Christmas
season and in the coming days.

Merry Christmas
Mark Nemzek
2014

Christmas in Daily Life

The year has been full.
During the early months, a young
colleague asked if we could explore the
validity of Christianity. His own position
was closer to atheism or agnosticism. We
had weekly lunches for over two months,
and though he hadnt realized the error of
his ways, we parted with a clear
understanding that good Christians could
be solid thinkers.
Our son, Andy, and daughter in law,
Carrie, gave birth to their daughter, Emma
Lee, in the waning days of April. This is
really special because, though she is our
8th grandchild, she is our first local
grandbaby. Ingrid is relishing every
moment when she cares for our little
Emma.
In April I was offered a new work
opportunity. This promotion was filled with
challenges and some unexpected curves.
New jobs can be daunting in the beginning
months. This one certainly was.
During this same early summer period I
was able to come along side a friend who
was grieving the loss of her dad. There is
something special in praying with a friend
when a crucial need is just to have
someone understand the heartache.
Then in late June our US Supreme Court
issued yet another decision which attacks
the moral fabric of our nation. Our
leaders decisions do affect us. Yet, even
when our leaders have allowed secularism
to corrupt their judgment we must live our
individual lives with God directing our
hearts, minds, and lives.
Early July found us visiting Anika and John
in the Rockies of Montana. We spent each
day prepping for the big hike. Our
daughter, Anika, is gifted with many
talents. An accomplished mountain hiker
is one of them! Each hiking experience
offered us the opportunity to bathe in the
beauty of the Rocky Mountains. Between
treasuring our visits with Anika and John
and with new found friends, leaving the
Rocky Mountains was hard. Many

treasured moments that were physically

left behind remain nourished in our hearts.

One of the more amazing anchor points

has been our Lord giving me the
opportunity to continue ministering to
men in prison. Those who know me well
know that I am an introvert. In group
settings I am usually found on the
periphery. Yet, on the rare occasions when
asked about the state of our world, of
humankind, or about God; I will join the
conversation. In fact, Ive been known to
say, The only thing I could sell would be
Gods salvation. And that is never for
sale! Still, He encourages us to talk
about His gift of Life.

long those on the outside to express the

same hunger for God.

Prison is one of the few places where

constant hunger for God and His plan for
salvation still thrives. That hunger is
flourishing in the hearts and minds of the
incarcerated men. It is as if I have been
designed to feed men who are hungry for
more of Gods Word. Prison time can be a
place where the guys drop all their
facades to concentrate on Jesus and His
desire for our lives. The introvert in me
flees when the mens attentiveness
encourages me to freely talk about Gods
love for us and His plan for our lives. I for

This year, like others, has given us many

vignettes, opportunities to experience the
joys and sorrows of life and share the Love
of Jesus Christ during all circumstances.
Our nation is crumbling morally and
culturally, yet God remains a constant for
each one of us. His Love expressed
through His Son Jesus Christ is always
present for us to receive. His gift to usis
Jesus. He is the Christ in Christmas!

At home I stand amazed at the life partner

our Lord has permitted me to treasure for
these thirty eight plus years. Ingrid and I
have been blessed to be able to discover
and explore the realm of one another and
one anothering. She is my love and joy
in this transient passage of life. Our
daughter, Lauren, has been a catalyst for
catching the meaning of becoming more
other centered. She blesses us by giving
us the opportunity to live life as ministry.

Merry Christmas
Mark Nemzek
2015

Christ; His Quiet Shared Presence

Knowing communion with God has been
my heartfelt desire for a long time. This
Lenten season proved to be no exception.
While presenting two Lenten messages I
was reminded that life struggles dont
automatically bring communion with God.
God seemed to be blessing us during our
trip to Sweden in early June. It was a
special joy for Ingrid and me. We, along
with our daughter Anika, celebrated
granddaughter Ellies high school
graduation and enjoyed a vibrant visit with
Ursula, her husband Joe, and two of our
grandchildren. Our Lords sweet presence
filled the time.
This spring we started reading The Rest
of the Gospel by David Gregory. It
reminded us that either lifes
circumstances or Gods presence can be
our focal point while experiencing lifes
joys and trials. The author used Pauls
comments in : 1 Corinthians 6; 19-20: to
remind us that God resides in us.
Do you not know that your bodies are
temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you,
whom you have received from God? You
are not your own; you were bought at a
price. Therefore honor God with your
bodies.
This was an easy reminder during the joy
filled Sweden trip. I wondered if it would
be as easy when trials happened?
We planned a family reunion for Ingrids
70th in mid August. The much anticipate
d joyful celebration was interrupted on
August 14th. In the blink of an eye, our
daughter Lauren, missed a step, fell, broke
three bones in her right ankle, dislocated
the bone and tore two ligaments in her left
ankle. A long recovery period would be
required!
That first night my cry to Jesus was for
Him to show me His Way through this. My
angry, broken heart challenged Him to
show me how anything good could come
of this miserable situation.
He presented a picture of a path leading
to a fork in the road. Down one side was

anger, bitterness, discouragement, and

wallowing in self pity; all controlled by
focusing on my lifes current circumstance

The other path approached life by yielding

to Gods perception filled with peace, joy,
love, and wisdom, regardless of the
circumstances.
He showed me that every decision in life
confronts this fork in the road. It is the
Deuteronomy 30 exhortation in todays
terms. Every decision in life is one of life
or death. He exhorts us to choose life.
Lauren reached the completion of her 4th
full month of casts and boots with the
hope that the last boot would come off in
mid December. During so many of the
hard days she mournfully kept asking, Is
it over? When we left the doctors office,
that cold December day, I looked her in
the eyes and exclaimed, It is OVER! She
paused, and then suddenly she punched
the air with her right arm and exclaimed,
Yayyyy!
Throughout this four month trial, weve
called on our Lord many times and have
often survived the fatigue of each day by
leaning on His strength. Wed get to the
end of our rope only to yield it to Him
with the quiet realization that His supply
would be enough to step into the next day.

He gives us the continual reminder in His

prayer for us in John 17; 20-23:
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray
also for those who will believe in me
through their message, that all of them
may be one, Father, just as you are in me
and I am in you. May they also be in us so
that the world may believe that you have
sent me. I have given them the glory that
you gave me, that they may be one as we
are one I in them and you in meso that
they may be brought to complete unity.
Each day Ingrid and I come to more fully
appreciate His prayer for us. Only living in
His strength and love and then allowing
His wisdom and life to flow through our
decisions and actions in life is communion
possible for us.
His offer of life is present for everyone!
Blessings and.
Merry Christmas
Mark Nemzek
2016