Thoughts on Christmas, #5, Let's Redeem Christmas

Something To Think About, Christmas, #5 Where will you be for Christmas?

In a letter I recently wrote to some fellow pastors I, tongue in cheek, suggested that, in light of our current celebration of the holiday, perhaps Christmas should be renamed "Santa-mas, Gift-mas, or Party-mas."  If I had been sincere, I would be four-hundred years too late.  Early Seventeenth Century Puritans called the celebration "Foolstide,"  and forbade its celebration.  Hugh Latimer is reported to have said,  "Men dishonor Christ more in the 12 days of Christmas than in all the twelve months besides." I'm gray-haired enough that I could assume the curmudgeon role and start a campaign to persuade Christians to cease and desist all Christmas celebrations.  If I did so, I'd be put in the rogues gallery along side Ebeneezer Scrooge and The Grinch. I think the Apostle Paul gives us better advice about Christmas, though.  Well, he really doesn't say anything about Christmas, but he does say that we ought to make the most of every opportunity" (Ephesians 5:16).  The opportunities that Christmas presents are many and obvious.  In my humble opinion, Christmas is a time ripe for redeeming to the Glory of God. It is the day we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. It commemorates an integral part of God's plan for complete victory over all the evils that plague us and this world we live in.  Romans 8, Revelation 11:15, andIsaiah 65:25 are all made possible by the Babe in the manger, pictured millions of times in art, music, Christmas cards, and cretches. Be looking for ways to redeem Christmas, so you can point folk to the Christ, Whose birth we remember, and Whose life, death, and resurrection change lives. Look below for information on two ways we can help you do that. It's Something To Think About. We would love for you to make the Live Nativity a part of your Christmas Season.  It is a very family friendly activity. Click the picture for more information.   November 17-24, CBC will be a drop-off point for Operation Christmas Child  shoe box-gifts.  covingtonbiblechurch.com

Thoughts on Christmas, #4, Where Will You Be This Christmas?

Something To Think About, Christmas, #4 Where will you be for Christmas?

For all of my life Christmas has involved traveling. I grew up in a post-WW2, Baby-boom families.  Dad, a Southern boy, had gone North shortly after the war to seek his fortune and raise a family.  In the process he separated himself and that young family from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We often traveled South for a quick trip around Christmas.  On a few occasions some of our relatives would brave a trip to the frigid North to celebrate with us.  Sometimes we'd visit someone else from the diaspora, or they us.  I'd say well more than half the time Christmas involved somebody spending all day, or night, in a car or on a train.  When my boys were growing up we were always a day's travel from at least one set of their grandparents, and now my sons and their families are of at the fringe of what sane people drive.  Of course grandparents at Christmas aren't always in their right mind.  :) Over the years gasoline has been one of the major Christmas related investments in my family. Numerous times, though, when we would be on our way home from a yule odyssey my wife would comment about a particular family member.  "I never feel like I can get close . . ."  Packing presents in the trunk, keeping the snow boots from smashing the pumpkin pie, staying up all night to get there Christmas morning, those things are all doable, but bridging the gap that existed between my wife and this loved-one, even though they were both in the same room, just never got done. Most of what I've had to say, this week, about Christmas has gone in the opposite direction of the way our culture tends to celebrate the holiday.  Here is an area where, at least in part, the popular view of Christmas is right.   Christmas is about family. This Christmas make the most of family.  Don't let the busy-ness of the season keep you from reaching out to those you love, and who love you.  Gasoline and plane tickets can help bridge the miles, but it takes an act of the will to open your heart to those around you.  It's worth the effort. It's Something To Think About. We would love for you to make the Live Nativity a part of your Christmas Season.  It is a very family friendly activity.   Click the picture for more information.  covingtonbiblechurch.com

Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer & She's Not Alone:

Three sources of information are coming together in my thinking in an unusual way--some of you would say, "weird!"
I noticed some time ago when Jesus came to Martha and Mary's house (Luke 10:38-42), that Martha was "distracted," and "bothered." Both of those are passives. She was being acted on by forces outside of herself. As a result we see her action, "all her preparations," and she "worried." Mary on the other hand, "has chosen the good part."
I was reading this morning about choices that American consumers have made in regard to Christmas shopping. BIGresearch put it this way: ". . . the economy will affect [shopper's] holiday plans," consumers are "adjusting," and even, "the economy is forcing" Americans to travel less. Those quotes came from a year ago. I see no reason to think there will be significant change this year. Like Martha, many Americans, as they begin their Christmas preparations are reacting--to that extent, they aren't choosing.
Finally, the lyrics to a well loved Christmas song brought it all together. "Grandma got over by a reindeer." (I'll let you do your own websearch for that one.) I'm afraid Granny isn't the only one who is a Christmas casualty. Just notice how often statements about Christmas preparations begin with the words, "I have to."
Sunday we'll look into this some more at CBC.
I hope yours will be a Mary Christmas.

It's STTA.