Tag Archives: Christmas

I want to be offended! (revised)

21 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by in Bulletin Article, Communication

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Years ago, there was a television commercial role play by the actor Robert Conrad, wherein he challenged the television commercial observer to knock the battery off his should (“Come on, I dare you?”). That was yesterday. Today, we say the same, but only so we can be offended!

Not long ago, a family put up a Christmas display, and shortly after they did so, another family complained that it offended their religious sensibilities.

Some have chosen to look at our easily offended society, especially the young people, and call them “snow-flakes.” I suppose the name snow-flake represent a quick meltdown when warmth is applied.

Though I am sympathetic to the strong response to and against the easily offended community, I would like to offer two words of exhortation. First, with regard to the signage in the front yard that speaks to “Jesus, the reason for the Season.” Those who know Scripture, know the Lord put no (absolutely zero) emphasis on the date of the Jesus’s birth. Much attention is given to His birth, but no emphasis is given to the date. Moreover, there is nothing in Scripture that speaks to gift-giving on account of Jesus’ birth. Both of these are traditions of man, and of no real consequence. Those who want to observe it, let them observe Christmas as a day they think is best. If opportunity allows me to teach, then I will.

A second word of exhortation is related to the words of the apostle Paul. The Good News Bible reads this way: “Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have. Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone” (Colossians 4:5-6).

From these words of the Holy Spirit, we are exhorted to be thoughtful in the choice of words used, but those words used should be used in a positive direction. The positive direction I have in mind is not associated with how the world operates, but how the Lord operates. Those who love the Lord always seek to tell the truth in things that pertain to God (cf. Galatians 4:16).

It is not my intention to ever offend a single person. I am not naïve, however. Some people just want to be offended in order to bring attention to themselves. If there is nothing you do or say that is offensive, then these same people will make something up; they did that with Jesus, Stephen, Paul and they will do that with us also. That is the nature of those who think along these lines. When you speak the truth of God, then be sure that some will be offended – they just want to be! RT

PEACE ON EARTH….

24 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by in Bulletin Article, Jesus

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For generations, people have lived with the idea when man’s Savior came to this earth, peace would dwell amongst all men. Yet, as we look at society, we readily see this is not the case. What then are we to understand when one reads a passage like this: “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:12-14, KJV).

This is complicated all the more when we note the words of the Lord to His disciples, sending them out in what is called the “limited commission”, that is, when the disciples were sent to the house of Israel only to preach the Lord’s coming to their community. He told them, in essence, “I want you to understand that you are being sent out as sheep among wolves…“And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:21-22).

One can clearly see the “peace” of Luke 2, is not peace at all in Matthew 10, but as it reads in, there is much resistance. What the angels meant was not peace between people, family members, communities or nations; what the Lord meant when He sent the angel to declare was something far more important. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us”  (Romans 5:1-5).

The Lord’s peace, then, is in relation to Him who is Lord over all. It is wisdom of God that each who loves the Lord to understand this and to adopt the Lord’s way of thinking in regard to life lived. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:34-37).

I can’t imagine a single person who desires conflict in life; the apostle Paul exhorted us to live peaceably with all as much as is possible (Rom. 12:18), but some can do as much as still have conflict. The Lord did; we also will. Nevertheless, let us not forget the “peace” of the Lord that surpasses all understanding is in relation to a relationship with the Lord Jesus; let us think the way He thought, walking the way He walked, and being willing to give up life for His cause, rather than our own.

This holiday season, have you lost sight of this important point?

A New Christmas

24 Wednesday Dec 2014

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There are over one thousand one hundred verses in the Gospel of Luke. Of that number, only seven pertain to the birth of Jesus. In the same chapter, no less, there are more verse pertaining to the interaction between the angels and the shepherds (thirteen) than to the birth of our Lord into this world. Is there any significance to this? Whatever it might be, the Holy Spirit said nothing concerning it’s significance.

That there is significance can’t be minimized, for without the baby Jesus coming into the world, our Savior (Luke 2:11) there would not be! The importance of this, however, is less on His birth, and more on His mission. Paul said that Jesus came into the world to save sinner “of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15)!  His significance is obvious to all who reflect on God’s saving mission through His Son.

With such little attention given to the events surrounding the birth of our Lord, and comparing that attention with the attention the Holy Spirit gives to the last week of our Lord’s life on earth, especially the last remaining hours, perhaps there ought to be a new sort of “Christmas.” This type of “Christmas” would put no emphasis on the material gifts given to loved ones and friends, but would place a significant weight and importance on the singular spiritual gift that has no price a created being can pay. A gift that, in truth, cost more than anyone can possibly imagine.

Jesus, born into this world of sin, lived in accordance with the Father’s will perfectly, having no sin to taint against Him spiritually, died an innocent man at the hands of cruel sinners, was raised on the third day, sitting on the right hand of the Father. Now that’s a Christmas worth celebrating!

The Gift(s)

18 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Holidays, Jesus, Salvation

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Mary and Joseph’s troubles had only begun. The joy of a newborn is magnified when one (Mary) learns from the Lord’s angel (Gabriel) that the child she would carry would be the Lord’s anointed. In accordance with Jewish law/tradition, Mary and Joseph circumcise their Son on day eight after his birth. Rather ordinary; the ordinary then turns to marvel when a very old man, Simeon, speaks praise to the Lord and then speaks plainly to both (Mary especially) that their newborn child will bring much joy and anguish to the nation of Israel. In fact, the message and life of the child (then adult) will pierce the heart of his mother (Luke 2:25-35).

This is the part of the “Christmas” story that is often forgotten. So often it is that we hear the joy of the message that God’s Son was brought into the world with that joy expressed in gifts given. But in this joyous occasion it is the forgotten message that He is God’s gift to man. Why would God give a gift to humanity?

The experience of Mary and Joseph illustrate why God gave His unique (one of a kind) Son to man. They learned from the Lord that Herod, a raging and jealous king, was seeking to destroy the child recently born. This insecure man was a servant of Satan. “Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days” (Revelation 12:4-6, NET).

God’s gift to man is not understood; what is learned is rejected exactly because of the efforts of the “dragon” one reads in Revelation. He is the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), and he seeks to destroy as many as he can.

Though Christmas is not a Bible holiday, it is a time when the Lord’s saints can do much good in helping others learn the true significance of why Jesus came into this world. Whatever gifts are given, it is God’s gift that is truly the most important.

A Few Thoughts from Matthew 2

05 Monday Dec 2011

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Political turmoil was a norm in the days of the Lord; there might have been some stability, but when a political leader like Herod is able to kill who he wants and when he wants to, to say there in NOT turmoil is to be mistaken. Can you imagine living (always) in fear of someone behind you? This is how Herod lived, and when he heard of the Scriptures attesting to a new born king, that was enough to get him into action! R.C. Foster said that Herod died in March of 4 B.C., and if he saw to it that the males were killed at two years of age and younger, we get a time frame in which our Lord was born (D.A. Carson notes that some have attempted to take the years of our Lord’s birth to 2 B.C.). However, with that, we still don’t know exactly when it was – so how in the world can anyone assert that is was December 25th?! It may have been, but not a single one of knows this to be the case.

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If the Lord was 33 years of age when He was crucified, at what year would His passing have been?

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In 2:6 we read that in Bethlehem the Messiah would be born; this is how the religious leaders interpreted the Scripture in their day and this is what they told the king as well. “As shown by the rendering of the Targum Jonathan, the prediction of Micah v.2 was at that time universally understood as pointing to Bethlehem, as the birthplace of the Messiah” (Edersheim, Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 8, p. 206, 1904 edition). The significance of this remark by Edersheim will be seen when we take note how Orthodox Judaism now looks at the passage. This passage does not place the birth of the Messiah in the city (town, village) of Bethlehem, but only from the house of David who, himself, was born in Bethlehem. “… it is from this family that the Messianic king will emerge … Scripture does not mean that the Messiah’s birthplace will be the city of Bethlehem [as Christian writers propose] but that the Messianic king will be a descendent of the House of David which originated in Bethlehem” (Commentary on Micah 5:1, ArtScroll Tanach Series, Volume 2, p. 37).