Celebrating Christmas

Here is my annual take on the Celebration of Christmas.

Some Christians believe that any association with Christmas is wrong.
I want to share some thoughts this morning about Christians and Christmas that I’ve wanted to share all my life.
Why do people, especially Christians, oppose Christmas when you would think we are the ones who would celebrate it most of all?Usually the objections sound like this:

1. THE WHOLE CHRISTMAS SEASON SMACKS WITH PAGANISM- we do not know the date or year Jesus was born. Most Christians celebrate December 25 but the Eastern Orthodox celebrates Christmas January 6 and the Armenian Church celebrates Christmas January 19th. Even in Christendom there is not agreement of the day Jesus was born. How did December 25th get chosen? Well in the early days of the church the pagans had winter solstice. It was a season of partying, drunkenness, and orgies. The Bishops in the 4th century wanted to change that so December 25th was the height of the solstice so they bishops converted it and made it a Christ Mass. That is why the church began in celebrate December 25th as the Birth of Christ.It is a fact that many of the trappings of Christmas like Trees, wreaths, and gifts actually have their origin in pagan customs. That is why some people say we shouldn’t celebrate Christmas because it smacks of paganism. The reality is those things have long been forgotten and they carry no significance for people today. Now if you are going to be consistent about that logic I should preach “Ladies, don’t wear earrings.” Because pagans wore them on their ears to ward off false Gods and if you wear them you believe in idols too. Meat sacrificed to idols- some still believed in idols and wouldn’t eat the meat. Paul said if you don’t believe in idols and don’t think about it go ahead and eat the meat there is nothing wrong with it. I don’t think about false gods when I put up a tree or wrap gifts and if you don’t go ahead and celebrate.It is true much of the origin of Christmas came out of Paganism. Let me remind you, when God looked down to choose a day for his son to be born there were not any clean days to choose. Their whole world was pagan that is why we needed Jesus. They were all dirty days.
2. NO COMMAND IN THE BIBLE TO CELEBRATE JESUS BIRTH- True. Just because something is not expressly commanded in the bible doesn’t mean it is forbidden. Why is this argument never made about thanksgiving or Mother’s Day? There is no command in the bible to take a day out of the year and honor our mothers. Did you know that God never commanded the feast of Purim that is celebrated in Esther 9 when the people defeated the evil Mordecai? But the Jews still celebrated it and so did Jesus. God never commanded the feast of dedications in John 10. Started during the Maccabes. Jesus in John 10 is in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Dedication. The idea that you can’t have a celebration because God didn’t command it doesn’t carry weight in the bible.
3. THINK ABOUT JESUS’ BIRTH MORE THAN JUST ONCE A DAY- DUH!!! When God commanded Passover he didn’t say think about it once a year and the rest of the year forget about it. God wants us to think about what he has done all year long, but he realizes there is value in taking a specific time of year and rekindle in your heart the joy of what God has done for you in a specific deed and that is why God gave us the specific feast and that is why we celebrate holidays.
4. CHRISTMAS HAS BEEN DISTORTED BY MATERIALISM AND SECULARISM- Of course it has. Why should we be surprised that Satan would try to pervert a celebration as significant as Christmas?  Realize that only valuable things ever get counterfeited. Has anyone ever come up to you and said; “You want to see my stash of brown paper bags?” We don’t counterfeit paper bags. But, have you ever seen a counterfeit diamond? Have you ever seen a counterfeit Christian? We only counterfeit the things that are valuable. So why should we be surprised that something as powerful and wonderful as the birth of Christ would get counterfeited by the devil?

It seems that the churches responsibility is to keep Christmas a converted holiday. Refuse all efforts to squeeze Christ out of Christmas. Bottom line is Romans 14:5-6a; “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers everyday alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.”  So my word to you is, if you are going to celebrate Christmas keep Christ in it.

No Other gods

When one wants to build a life of Character where do you start? God says it starts with putting him first. When building a house the foundation is more important than the roof, on a tree the roots are more important than the leaves. When you are building a life of character you must make God first in your life.

I notice in the Ten Commandments one of them is not, "You must believe in God." Every man has and believes in a god. A god is anything that has first place in your life. In my heart and in yours there is a throne and something is on that throne. The question Rick Atchley asks is the god on  your throne the real God or an impostor?

The God of the Bible says he will only accept first place in your life. As we look at the Ten Commandments understand that 2-9 are built on the fact that the first one is true. If God is not sovereign there is no basis for the commandments at all.

I believe the Ten Commandments are absolutes that we can hang our hat on. God does not change, he will always be faithful to his word and we can trust Him. Adultery, stealing, lying, murder, etc. will always be wrong because God does not change.

God is God, he is involved in our lives, he has led us out of bondage and he demands total allegiance to Him. He does not demand this because he is insecure but because he understands that if we put our allegiance in anything else we will be disappointed. No other god can deliver us like the Lord can.

God knows that if we do not put Him on the throne of our heart we will put something. It was true when the Children of Israel left Egypt and it is true now. The only difference is the names change. We don't worship Diana but we worship sex for example.

We struggle with the same things that caused the Israelites to be unfaithful. I think one way we can read the Ten Commandments is as an application of the first one. We are not to have any other gods before us so when God say honor the Sabbath God is saying don't let work be our god. When he says don't kill he is saying don't let your enemy be your god. Many of us struggle with people and they can control us. When he says don't commit adultery he is saying don't let sex be your god. Don't build your life on the foundation that if I could get more sex I'll be happy. That is building on sand. Don't covet or steal. Don't let things be your god.

Until you get the first there is not point in going  to the other nine. So how can I put God first?

We need to change our focus- Rick Atchley "Most of the atheist are not atheist because they deny God but because they have lost interest in him." We all have "gone through the motions" before. We go to church but are not really there.

When you have spare time where do your thoughts go? Do you think about God? Thoughts are the indicator of the purpose of our life.

Income- another way to see if God is first is what we do with our money. If you were going to do a biography of my life your research would not be complete until you saw how I handled my money. Show me what you did with  your money and I will show you what you did with your life.

"For where your treasure is there your heart will be...“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:21, 24).

It is a great test. What do you do with your money?

Relationships- 1 John 4:20-21 "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister."

Relationships tell a lot about where you have put God. If you violate a human being you violate the first commandment. Invest in two kinds of relationships. Pick people who will bring you closer to God and those you can help get closer to God.

Time- when you write my biography you will want to see my check stubs but also my day planner. What did I clear time for? Can you tell you put God first by the way you spent your time.

Some say I do that on Sunday. How would your spouse react if you told her you would be faithful to them one day a week. The marriage would not last. Your spouse would not accept it and neither will God.
We all know how hectic our life is so we have to make time for God. I make time for the people I believe are important. We have to make times to be with God and be protective of them. It has to be reaffirmed every day. Every night when we go to sleep we have to ask did I make Jesus the Lord of my life today?

If we are going to build a life of Character we have to start with who is on the Throne of our heart. Who will we put first? Is God, God and is Christ Lord?

Faithfulness

Faithfulness is this confidence in God. This absolute trust in who God is and in what God does and it empowers us to just keep going. But let me give you one that may be easier to remember, "Faithfulness is love hanging on." It is love saying, "I will not quit. There may be misunderstandings, there may be disappointments, there may be discouragements, but I will not quit." It is love hanging on.  If a husband says, "I really love my wife," & then he goes out & has an affair, you may call him a liar. You may call him a cheat. But most of all, you will say, "He is unfaithful." Because that is what he has been. And no matter how strong his arguments may be, no matter how loudly he proclaims his love for his wife, you will not believe him because his unfaithfulness negates his proclamation of love. And if someone says, "I really love the Lord," or "I really love the church," & then is unfaithful, then it’s hard to believe that he really does love the Lord. Because, you see, faithfulness & love always go hand in hand. Faithfulness is love hanging  on.

 

You may get discouraged. You may be disappointed. But faithfulness says, "Even though there is discouragement & disappointment, I will not let go, I will not quit. I will keep on attending & giving & serving, because God has called me to be faithful." 

 

The bible commands Christians to be faithful, Proverbs 3:3 says, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.”

 

Faithfulness means we follow through. It implies loyalty to those we love. It is a commitment to being trustworthy. It suggests dependability, reliability, and staying power. The conviction that allows you to keep plugging along when nothing really makes sense. Just keep walking, listening, and following the spirit of God as God infuses in your Love, joy, peace, patience, Kindness, Gentleness, and keeps you growing. Faithfulness is mostly seen in our marriages. We stand before people, preacher, and hopefully God and say I will love you no matter what, until death do us part. 

 

 

I don’t think she is a Christian I cannot help but think of Dana Reeves. The wife of Christopher Reeves who fell off a horse and lived for 16 years after breaking two vertebras in his neck and demonstrated by her life she was in this no matter how long it took. Compare that to a  "YO YO" who says on Television that it is okay to divorce your wife if she has Alzheimer’s because it is like she died. That is one of the most embarrassing things ever said by a Christian and it is said on National TV. I know in context more was said than just that one line but that one line has come to represent a Christian position that is ridiculous. 21 years ago this January I stood in a Church in Knoxville, TN and I said to the woman I love I will be with you no matter what and thank goodness she said the same. Her job has been harder than mine.

It shows when we get up on a Sunday Morning and the day is wonderful and we ask what do we want to do today. Mow lawn, go to the lake, anything but spend an hour or more in church. It shows in who we serve when we are asked to go to the closet and get a few things and some food in the cupboard to donate. It shows up in little things like if you miss a week do you go back and make up what you would have given that week. It shows up in the little things. It reminds me of people who are compelled to stay the course no matter what the course is.

 

 

"How do we develop faithfulness?" In order to answer this you need to realize that an apple tree doesn’t stand out in the middle of an orchard saying, "Now how do I develop apples?" An apple tree produces apples because that’s what apple trees do. And when we are Spirit-led Christians, when we are a branch attached to the vine who is Jesus Christ, then we produce fruit because it’s the natural thing to do. We don’t have to sit around & think about it & analyze it. But we do have to be careful that our branch is never detached from the vine, or that some disease will destroy our fruitfulness.

So there are certain things that we need to be careful about:

We need to realize that temptations will come. Just as surely as Jesus was tempted to be unfaithful, we will be tempted to be unfaithful - in our marriage, in our relationship with the Lord, & in the church. That’s what Satan does. He will tempt us to be unfaithful.

We need to seek the Holy Spirit’s reinforcement & develop regular, positive, spiritual habits. This world is not a Christian world. This nation is not a Christian nation. And we’re being pressured on every side to develop negative habits, tempting us to be unfaithful in church attendance, to be unfaithful in prayer, & in studying the Word of God. But if we’ll say, "Get thee behind me, Satan," & be determined to serve God faithfully, then people will be able to count on us. We’ll be consistent, & trustworthy, & reliable. We’ll develop these habits so they come automatically. And when Satan tempts us, we will not be severely tempted because we’ve developed the habits of faithfulness, & we will not quit.

We need to get back up when we fall or are knocked down.

Simon Peter is one of my heroes in the scriptures, but not because he always did right. Sometimes he made glaring mistakes, even denying the Lord, & he wept bitterly because of what he had done. But every time he fell down, he got back up again. So when it came time to choose someone to preach the very first gospel sermon on the Day of Pentecost, guess who was chosen? The Holy Spirit said, "Simon Peter, you do it. You’ve had the experience of being down & getting back up again. You’ve made some mistakes, & these people need to know that. They need to hear how vulnerable you’ve been, but despite all that, God is able to do His work through you."

The same is true of Saul of Tarsus who became the Apostle Paul. He experienced all kinds of persecution, all kinds of discouragement, all kinds of temptations. Yet he didn’t give up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Curse of Low Expectations

Over the last few years I have made a decision about Churches. Our Expectations of the people that sit in the pew is too low. In most churches, membership requires little more than a public declaration of faith and a quick trip through the baptistery. After meeting these requirements, members hear vague notions about being involved in stewardship, discipleship, and service.

But usually, there are no consequences for members who rarely attend or participate in anything. The Rotary will kick you out if you don’t attend meetings or pay your dues, but many churches won’t even communicate specific expectations, much less establish consequences if those expectations are not met.

Perhaps we are cheating church members.

We assume that most church members won’t evangelize, so we’re happy to stick with the very few who understand the mandate.

We assume that most church members will not get involved in a demanding Bible study, so we water down our teaching to appeal to the masses.

We assume that many church members will never tithe or give of their time in service to the community for the glory of our King, so we budget accordingly.

At best, we hope that people will act on our suggestions.

Our churches don’t know what they’re missing:

The thrill of leading someone to Christ.

The excitement of discovering God within the pages of his Word.

The satisfaction of making an impact in the community in the name of Christ.

The joy of giving cheerfully to the local church.

The higher the demands, the higher the payoff.

As Christians, we tell a Story much more engaging than any TV show. We live in a fallen world where the stakes are much higher than any board game. Our expectations should be high because of the transformational power of the gospel.

Perhaps we should stop designing worship services, discipleship programs, and youth events for the “average Christian” (aka – the Christian we don’t expect anything out of). Instead, let’s refocus on our church covenants and clearly communicate the expectations for being a disciple in the kingdom of God.

We receive little because we expect little. And church leaders, church members, and especially a lost world – we all miss out because of our low expectations.

Here we go Again!

I am trying this for a second time. I was not very good at updating my last blog so I am starting all over. The thoughts will be random and strange at times. Thinks for stopping by.