It….

I don't remember the first time I ever heard the story of Christmas, the story of the birth of Jesus, nor when Gods' plan of salvation was first explained to me. In my memory, this is something that has just always been. And there are times when I wish that I did not know the story. You see, with knowing something for a long period of time, there comes a certain level of "callousness" that comes with knowledge.

That is one reason why I love Christmas. You see, even though I get just as caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping and decorating, at some point IT happens. One year IT was while I was up late playing Santa, putting packages under the tree for the kids. Another year IT was while I was driving home on Christmas eve and the roads were empty. What is the IT I am referring to? IT is when that quiet moment hits, when, for just a moment, the Christmas story hits me, and the wonder of it all shines again, when I am amazed at what a wonderful gift that God has given me. And for those few minutes, the callousness of my heart is stripped away. I may not remember the first time I was told the Christmas story, but during this time, I briefly feel the wonder and amazement of Gods' gift to me.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. ([And] this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 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.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen [it], they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard [it] wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered [them] in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

This, this is Christ, the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing: Haste, haste to bring Him laud, The Babe, the Son of Mary!

- From Luke Chapter 2, Matthew Chapter 1 (KJV) and the Chorus from "What Child is this?"

Perhaps you may believe that this sounds a bit cliché, but this year, remember that Jesus really is the reason for the season.  At some point during this busy time you will have a few moments of quiet.  At that time, sit back and ponder. Allow IT to happen to you, and remember the joy you had when you first heard the message.

Merry Christmas.

Rumors, Gossip and your Testamony

It's that time of year again, when people start forwarding all sorts of emails with cute Christmas stories. Add these to the collection of emails I get from people telling me how this senator is corrupt, a representative is doing something underhanded, or that evils of some of the actions our current president is involved in, I find that I spend a lot of time reading emails, most of which are junk. Below part of a message I put together some time ago addressing this topic, and how forwarding unverified email just ruins your credibility. I thought I would share this today…

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Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
    -Exodus 23:1 (KJV)

When I first became a Christian, many of my friends started forwarding me things they thought were "cute" or "interesting" little Christian stories. As time went on, I started discovering that many of the stories being sent to me were fake. One example went like this:

I am sure that all of you heard about the sandstorm in Iraq Tuesday and Wednesday (the worst in 100 years some say) and the drenching rain that followed the next day. Our troops were bogged down and couldn't move effectively.

The media was already wondering if the troops were in a "quagmire" and dire predictions of gloom and doom came from the left wing media. What they didn't report was that yesterday, after the weather had cleared, the Marine group that was mired the worst looked out at the plain they were just about to cross. What did they see? Hundreds if not thousands of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines had been uncovered by the wind and then washed off by the rain. If they had proceeded as planned, many lives would have undoubtedly been lost.

As it was, they simply drove around them and let the demolition teams destroy them.

Praises be to His mighty name! Thank you God, for protecting our young men and women!

Cute story, except that it is a total lie, and only 15 minutes of searching uncovered this hoax (Urban Legends Reference Pages: Glurge Gallery (Sandstorm)).

Another email still roaming around warns people that they should check their computer for the file JDBGMGR.EXE. If this file is on their computer, it should be delete immediately as it is a virus. Unfortunately, this is not a virus. If you were a programmer who deleted this file, you could no longer debug javascripts. How open is the friend that deleted this program (based on your advice) going to be to the gospel after you have wrecked their computer? Why should they believe you?

Do we bring honor to our Lord when we circulate these little lies? Is this how to reach a spiritually lost and dying world? Spreading these lies ruins our testimony. Why should someone believe us about our walk with God when we are also willing to send them bogus stories of how someone drilled into hell? They question if we really know what we are talking about. God doesn't need us to fabricate something in order to make Him look good. When we pass these "lies" around, (and in the past I have been guilty of this also), do we not become guilty of telling lies, spreading false teachings, and even helping to create a false "god" of our own?

Before you forward that next message about how a little girl needs prayers for her brother, or that some organization will give you money if you forward this email", Or some cute (but totally untrue) story of how God did some action, take 15 minutes to see if what you are about to send is right. The testimony you save might just be your own.

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
    -John 8:32 (KJV)

The Vomit of your sins…

Yesterday at work a students came in seeking assistance with formatting on a Microsoft Word Document. As we were working on the document, the student noticed that I had the following proverb written on the white board behind my desk:

As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
-Proverbs 26:11 (KJV)

Now where I work, I can't really get into deep discussions about the Bible, and sharing my faith is somewhat frowned upon, so while I had the text of the proverb upon the board, I did not identify that this was from the Bible.

As we worked upon her document, the student was more and more enamored by these words of wisdom. They held an even deeper emphasis for her as she is a veterinarian student.

I don't know how many of you have ever had a dog, but for those that do, I'm sure that you have enjoyed those times when you pet is sick. One of my favorite times (please read this knowing I am dripping with sarcasm) is when I awake in the middle of the night to the sound of a dog at the foot of the bed preparing to throw up.

When a dog throws up, for some reason they will turn around and try to eat what their stomach has just rejected. What is even worse is that our other dogs will run up to check out the "treat" just deposited on the floor, even attempting to partake of the just spewed "gastric delicacies".

I hope that by now your stomach is feeling just a little queasy about this topic. You see, our sins have the same appeal to God as dog vomit does to us. Both are disgusting. I have no comprehension of why a dog would want to eat its puke. When I am sick, I have no desire to follow in the wisdom of the dog. And fortunately, none of my friends will rush over to fight over my "expelled" food. The thought of it should turn your stomach.

Now let's put this in the view of the Lord. Just as I have no use for dog vomit, God has no use for sin, yet how many of us will continually return to sin, something that we know is wrong, something that sickens our Lord. And how many times have we lead others into sin?

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.
- Numbers 32:23 (KJV)

If we do not turn from our sins, our sins will eventually catch up with us and expose us. In John Wesley's Explanatory notes, he puts it like this:

Sin will certainly find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us therefore to find our sins out, that we may repent of them and forsake them, lest our sins find us out, to our confusion and destruction.

Christians must repent of their sins. Christians must confess their sins to God and seek his pardon. In some cases it may be that a Christian must seek out and confess their sins to others also. But if we do not, our sins will hunt us down and destroy us.

Drugs will destroy our bodies. Alcohol can do the same thing (why do you think they call it being intoxicated? If you are drunk, you have in effect poisoned your body). Pornography (Adultery/fornication) will lead to the destruction of the enjoyment of marriage, and can lead to illness (AIDS, Syphilis, gonorrhea). The list goes on…

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The above was part of message that I had put together some time ago. I ran across it while digging through a backup of my old laptop files. Shortly we will be coming upon a new year. Many people will make Resolutions to change their life in some way, or set some goal to achieve, but before the end of the month most will have already broken those resolutions. Now would be the time to reflect back on the past year. Take inventory of those things you know are displeasing to God, and seek his forgiveness. That is what Christmas is all about. Jesus came to pay the debts we could never repay. Now is the time to turn from the folly of you old ways. Now is the time to stop returning to the vomit of your past sins.

Current and Starting weight: 261 (I am maintaining my weight through the holidays, then plan to take part in a fast. I will give further details on that come 01/03/10)