Does It Really Matter?

A couple of years ago, I was talking with my sister and remembered I needed to call my mom because it was her birthday. She said, "Today is really not her birthday." Well, I knew she was off her rocker because mom's birthday is on the 17th. "No", she said, "Mom received her birth certificate when she was retiring and it had the 18th on it". I called mom and sure enough, that was the truth. Imagine my surprise. But you know, I still call her on the 17th.

There are some that would argue against Jesus being born simply because we can't prove the exact day he was born. My comeback is "Does it really matter"? Like my mom, the date could be messed up, but the fact is she was born and so it only matters that He was born!

Christians today are becoming so marginalized that the true message of Christmas is being lost. But the message is not lost yet. God sent His Son to earth in the form of a baby and conceived him in the womb of a woman who had not yet known a man (a miracle). This baby grew up to become a man who had been sinless. This baby, now grown, went to the most horrible death of the cross to pay the debt of sin you and I could not possibly pay for ourselves. Then He rose again and proved that life could and would be eternal if we believed in Him.

The real meaning of Christmas is that God loves you so much that He offered you His son. All you have to do is accept this love. If you would like to know this love and peace it offers then say this little prayer :

God, I know that I have done a lot of things wrong in and with my life. I ask you to forgive me. I believe you sent your son for me and I accept the gift of life. Help me to turn from my old life and follow after you. Amen!

Merry Christmas to All of You!!!

Looking INWARD

This week has been a very reflective week for me. I have been thinking on Sunday and the time we will spend in worship. What do I hope to get out of it. A fuzzy feeling or something more?

The world around me, the everyday stuff, is quite frankly going down the toilet! I have wondered why I am so content on the way things are. Of doing the same old thing day in and day out? Why doesn't a sense of urgency register in me that folks are dying eternally. Why don't I see that I am so much like the "prodigal son" wasting away in some ditch. Hasn't God proved his faithfulness? How many more times do I need to see it? What is it with the "Church" today? Why are so many becoming apostate?

The Christmas season is at hand. I love this time of year not for what it brings, but for what has already been given. You have the opportunity to receive the Savior which is celebrated this time of year. You choose to believe or not. You choose to follow or not. You choose to serve or not. Serving not only Him, but serving those around you because of Him.

Much has been said about businesses not saying Merry Christmas in the stores or in their advertising. This is really not new! I remember as a child noticing signs in store windows saying "Merry Xmas". Can a business really take the Christ out of Christmas? Are we upset because this is the only witness for Christ that many of us will ever do? I believe it is testimony of what we haven't done. Why are fighting this battle now? Because we have been falling away for so long? I believe so. We have had it comfortable here in the U. S. We haven't really been challenged. We haven't really been tested. We are now! So, where do you stand?