There was a lady who was preparing her Christmas cookies. There was a knock at the door. She went to find a man, his clothes poor, obviously looking for some Christmas odd jobs. He asked her if there was anything he could do. She said, "Can you paint?" "Yes," he said. "I’m a rather good painter."
"Well," she said, "there are two gallons of green paint there and a brush, and there’s a porch out back that needs to be painted. Please do a good job. I’ll pay you what the job is worth." He said, "Fine. I’ll be done quickly."
She went back to her cookie making and didn’t think much more about it until there was a knock at the door. She went, and it was obvious that he had been painting: he had paint all over his clothes. She said, "Did you finish the job?" He said, "Yes."
She said, "Did you do a good job?"
He said, "Yes. But lady, there’s one thing I’d like to point out to you. That’s not a Porsche back there. That’s a Mercedes."
(Bruce Thielemann, Today, Tape No. 75. From a sermon by C. Philip Green)
In the third century St. Cyprian wrote to a friend named Donatus, "This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see. Brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds, under all roofs misery and selfishness. It is really a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world.
Yet in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians...and I am one of them.
(SOURCE: Gordon McDonald," Forging a Real World Faith)"
Three small boys were in a Christmas play at school. They represented the three wise men and they were to give their gifts to baby Jesus. The first boy stepped forward, held out the gift in his hands and said, “Gold.” The second boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said, “Myrrh.” The third boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said, “Frank sent this.” David Owens
The View from the Front Porch: A Codependent’s Journey
Twinkling lights, Christmas carols, the laughter of our family and friends, worshipping and celebrating the birth of Christ with my church family—the beauty and wonder of Christmas. What a blessing that we can still go to the House of God to worship Him!
In 2010, more than seventy Christians were arrested in Iran during Christmas, and this year they expect no better. “The Christmas holiday season has rarely been a happy one for Christians in the Middle East . . . Experts on the region say the Christmas season is a particularly dangerous period for the Christian minority, when numerous acts of violence and vandalism take place” (Luiza Oleszczuk, “Persecution of Iraqi Christians Likely to Intensify Amid Christmas Season”). Concerning the attacks in 2010, Martha, an Iraqi mother wrote to Open Doors, a persecution watchdog group," 'I am reading the Bible in a different way than I ever read it before. Now I can understand Paul when he said, “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace” (Acts 20:23-24). (Nathan, Black, “Churches Under Threat in Iraq Cancel Christmas”). In many countries, people jeopardize their lives and the lives of their children to celebrate Christmas—to worship the Christ of Christmas. Parents face the choice of being faithful to Christ or keeping their children physically safe. Open Doors cites that thirty million children are being persecuted and need our prayers and help.
Many Americans, perhaps most Americans, will never consider putting the gifts away long enough to attend a worship service during the Christmas season. I fear that we are growing too self-satisfied and complacent, that we take our freedoms for granted. As the song says, bad things can happen “while we are sleeping,” because Satan’s army is vigilant. If we fought for our religious freedoms as hard as the emissaries of darkness fight to take them away, we would still be a godly nation. Will we ever have to fear for our lives to celebrate Christmas? Perhaps. In November of last year, the military required that a large cross, prominently displayed outside a chapel on an “isolated military base in northern Afghanistan” be taken down. One soldier said, “We are here away from our families, and the chapel is the one place that feels like home. . . With the cross on the outside, it is a constant reminder for all of us that Jesus is here for us” (Tim Mak, PilotOnline.com). This year an atheist group has posted a huge sign in Times Square that has Santa on top and Christ on the bottom and says that we should keep the "Merry" and get rid of the "myth." What a hate statement! How offensive to Christians everywhere! How far away are we from being forbidden to openly practice a religion that is not government sanctioned, as Christians are in China?
I am nothing without Jesus Christ. No gifts—no songs—not even my family gatherings—have any meaning without Jesus Christ—so it would make sense for me to put Him first. It makes the gifts sweeter, the songs more meaningful, my family gatherings more special when I worship Him. I challenge you, wherever you are, to worship Christ this Christmas. You may worship him in Afghanistan, in jail, or at a wayside table—but if you have an opportunity, worship Him with your church family in His House. He is the essence of Christmas—He is the essence of life. Pat James