The Spirit of Christ(mas)

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Romans 12:9-16.

I have often wondered why Christmas is often times very frustrating and disappointing to me, and the Lord has shown me in His Word 'why'. Did you read the statement from Paul? This is the spirit of christmas, but the spirit of 'Christ in us the Hope of Glory' should be the mark of every believer day in and day out. Note: I intentionally wrote Christmas with a lower case 'c' to emphasize my point.

Perhaps the reason that the world looks forward to Christmas every year is because there is such an enormous emptiness in their lives. And Christmas seems to fill that void, therefore putting a sort of euphorian touch on the end of every year. (you will not find the word eupohorian in Webster's...only in Williford's) It is interesting to note that the word euphoria comes from the Greek word euphoros meaning 'healthy'. With that in mind, people seek just a bit of good emotional health, for just a moment, in an otherwise very unsettling way of life. Thus euphoiran...

God's Word encourages us " in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."

2 Tiomothy 4:1-2.

"Preach the Gospel all of the time. If necessary, use words." -- Emerson

Live in harmony with one another.

If I were to describe the Spirit of Christmas in our day and age, I would think of this phrase live in harmony with one another. And you might ask, why? Why would you choose this? Well, have you been shopping since Thanksgiving? People are nuts and there is not a sense of harmony or oneness. There is no sense of peace that Christ represents. All that I see is a world so desperately in need of the Prince of Peace and this is so, so frustrating. The Christmas season of 2007 is not what I remember as a child growing up in Lubbock, Texas. Our world has become so frantic. The search for harmony is so 'other world'. Christians ought to 'stretch' themselves every day and demonstrate what our world so desperately is in need of and searching for Christ.

The Question is two-fold:

1. What is the Christmas season?

2. What, then, is the Christmas season, really?

What it is has happened over a long period of time. But what Christmas really is has been lost in the culture of our time. Therefore, the only hope is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And we should be sharing the Reason for the Season to a desperate people in search of happiness, but in the wrong places and things. He did not show up on His day of birth and leave us alone 33 years later. He is with us with you, if you know Him.

Celebrate Christmas? I would hope not. Celebrate Christ for sure!!

Blessings to all, and to all....

"Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."

--- Isaac Watts

Trial by Fire...Forgotten Truth

"taken for granted": accepted as real or true without proof

Americans have become soft. And when I say this, I am necessarily referring to many things. But for today, I am speaking of moral compass. For the most part the majority of Americans do not search for truth, but rather accept what is seen on television, viewed on computer screens and heard from Hollywood Icons, etc. Half truths are now 'taken for granted' as being real truth without proof.

What most have seemingly lost are the facts of history, whatever they may be. But the one fact that has been taken from the course of education is the rule of law. The democratic experiment that began on the North American Continent more than 200 years ago depended upon many things. And perhaps the most significant principle is that Law rules the State. But from the 1940's this principle has eroded and the rule of State is quickly absorbing the rule of Law.

Our social order is falling into chaos because the populace is becoming dependent upon the State for existence. And this depends upon thte rule of State rather than the rule of Law. HOWEVER, the law does fall under the proper maintenance of the State which must yield authority to God.

Look for the moment at 1Peter 2:13-17, "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." (ESV) "God has ordained the state as a delegated authority; it is not autonomous. The state is to be an agent of justice, to restrain evil by punishing the wrongdoer, and to protect the good in society." (Chrisitian Manifesto; Francis A. Schaeffer, p.91)

What we have witnessed from the 1960's until this moment is a decay of the Western culture.

Leaders of political and religious America (conservatism) have cut the ropes of integrity from the moorings of responsibility and have drifted into the swift currernts of moral collapse. There are some definite signs of the desire of returning to those moorings in search of new ropes that will secure them to sound morality.

But there is so much doubt and frailty among the constituency that the path to change will be difficult...not impossible, but very, very difficult. The house is divided against itself and Jesus Christ has said that with problems like that, division rules and collapse is near at hand.

In June of 1858, Abraham Lincoln addressed the Republican State Convention of Illinois and began with these words, "If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do and how to do it." This is a well known phrase that has its foundations in Lincoln's rich faith in God and trust in the Bible.

Lincoln's 'Trial by Fire' came when he wrote (in 1861) and later delivered (in 1862) the "Emmancipation Proclamation" speech. In that speech Mr. Lincoln stated, "I made a solemn vow before God, that if General Lee was driven back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves." (Abraham Lincoln, Elton Trueblood, p.24) His moral struggle until the delivery of the speech was a difficult one because of the division of the Union that was obviously at stake, in part, because of slavery.

For the eighty years that followed the United States struggled to free itself from the horrors of the Civil War while being involved with military and political conflicts that ravaged the Nation around the world. The Nation that was born on the Atlantic Ocean had spread itself to the Pacific Ocean. Many trials were endured by the pioneers who crossed mountains and plains to find 'home'. Wars were fought with countless Indians who fought for their own survival under the press of the 'Blue Eyes' coming on the 'Iron Horse'. Our military and economic power provided opportunity to defend our shores in Europe and the thousands of islands in the Pacific without shedding blood on and destroying our homeland. We had survived the 'Trials by Fire'.

Today, that truth seems to have been forgotten by those that claim leadership at almost every level of our culture. We no longer "dance with the girl we brought." Those principles of Judeo-Christian heritage have not only been forgotten, but have been substituted with Secular Humanism.

This is enough for now. But life as I see it is hard and becoming more difficult for all of us. No, the end is not so near as some might believe, but the road back is one of rediscovery of our roots.......