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Holidays

pumanator

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I would wish everyone a merry Christmas but I am looking at this in a different light since the passing of my mom.

The holiday has many positives and negatives that ppl take up sides on...they both have merit.

What is the focus? We all know the right and wrong answers but there are those that rest in the gray areas as to if it is sin to you, then it is sin.

I love to give, I like to receive if it brings pleasure to those that are giving. I love to be around family and I dread to be around family (can I get an amen). I love the lights but deplore the commercialism/materialism. I absolutely love to listen to and play all the Christmas music (no down side on this one I can see). I love the food and loathe the guilt of the added weight I don't need. I love to see ppl helping others at this time of year wishing it would last the whole year. Churches are full...are they hearing the Gospel or just being entertained. I enjoy the feelings while the rollacoaster is on top but feel washed in sadness in the trough...and that brings us to the crux.

Expectations: If Christmas as a kid was wonderful we may have unreal expectation. If it was bad we dread the season. If we have lost loved ones, especially around the holidays it can be a very sad time. We can feel alone in a sea of ppl and the depression can lead to further isolation and we all know the terrible stats about what happens to ppl at this time of year.

So whats the answer? Of course the point of the holiday was for the church to refocus ppl from the raucous winter solstice celebration to that of the saviors birth...which had limited success and I am not so sure the ramifications for the church was worth it as the Bible simply is silent as to when He was born but there is a great deal of speculation which has lead to theological arguments (oh, "merry" X-mas :mad: . So the focus on Christ is good but was never mandated by the Lord.

And we have come full circle. We are here and it is what it is. So what to do. See the holidays for what they are. Enjoy them. Love others in His name (cover a multitude of sin). Tell others the reason for the season and don't get too hung up on the theological issues. Be aware of you own expectations and emotions leaving them at His feet.

This is way long...sorry. Now I think I have found something that is timeless and is no new great revelation.

I was given a divine appointment where I was in an odd place and the right time to encourage someone who was feeling defeated about their witness. I (haha-the Lords words not mine) quoted scripture and told anecdotes and left her encouraged to solder on...strange thing was, I had showed up feeling defeated myself and leaving with the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders.

The point is, we who are suffering can find some relief simply by focusing on Him and others. JOY-Jesus 1st, Others 2nd and You/me/us last. There can nothing more difficult than to drop the focus on what is crushing me and be redirected and join God in what he is doing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS:hug:
MAY HE WHO LOVES YOU WITH ALL HE HAD TO GIVE BE WITH YOU AND COMFORT YOU DURING THE CELEBRATION OF HIS BIRTH!
 

pumanator

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I thought what my brother had to say on the topic was also relevant...he is a pastor in the mid west.

Brother of mine,

Have you been using telepathy to tap into my Christmas sermon of yesterday? Greg, even if there is something not theologically perfect (has there been ANYONE yet who fits that description?!)--and I'm not saying I think there is anything out of line--I don't think I care at this point. Dude, for my money, you nailed it. You spoke my heart. I've been readingStories Behind The Great Traditions of Christmas as my December daily devotional (Ace Collins; Zondervan Publishers [yeah, I know, sometimes pretty theologically-loose]), and it seems to be a pretty even-handed, well-researched work. He doesn't shy from naming or suggesting all of the meanings people have attached to the traditions and stuff that has become "Christmas", nor does he shy from mentioning many of their pagan and/or pre-Christian roots. He gives the reader the opportunity to consider, then decide for themselves.

Anyway, you hit on the gist--we could draw swords and duel to the death over the spiritual nature of a good deal of it (as I have seen some of the Calvary guys do), or we could go seeker/emergent and just gaily (no pun intended--it's barely the only time of year one can still use that word without its current unfair connotation) embrace and Christianize it all. Though some will call it compromise, I will choose the middle path (well done, Grasshopper), and disengage from all the unnecessary stupidity, and kneel at the manger trough before my Savior-King. And if I happen to string too many Christmas lights on my house, dress up as Charles Dickens for a Christmas gathering, sing The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) along side Silent Night, wish someone "Merry Christmas" when I should have said "Happy Holidays" (or vice versa), or ring bells for the "social gospel" Salvation Army, and someone gets offended, I pray that they will pray that the Lord will consider the source and have mercy on me at the judgment seat.

Don't try to milk out of Christmas what it does not promise and cannot give--euphoria. But then, I say, enjoy it for all its worth, and then a little bit more. As the reformed Scrooge said, "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year..." Laugh, cry, sing, share, give, receive, give more than you receive, walk in the snow (if you've got it), hug your wife and kids, annoy a clerk with a salutation of "Merry Christmas"--not to state your conservative Christian cultural protest, but because you genuinely mean it, eat fudge, and defy nature by returning a curse with a blessing, a frown with a smile.

And for what it's worth--you expressed yourself outstandingly. I am going to print this one and post it--with you permission, of course--in the church. And the little play on "joy"--priceless, a keeper whether it was original or not. Exactly what I needed to hear today.

Brian
 
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