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"Helping Others Communicate"

CROSS(ING) PURPOSES

12/29/2018

 
A recent news story included the following disappointing statement: "The annual reenactment of George Washington's daring 1776 crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas Day has once again been left high and dry as organizers announced Monday that the river crossing portion of the reenactment will not take place due to high river conditions following recent rainfall."

Apparently, this is the second year in a row that the famous historical event has been nixed.  This year, the water was too high.  Conversely, last year, the water was too low. (Apparently, the river’s water level needs to be at least  nine feet above sea level to use the usual Durham style boats; and water levels were not up to snuff.) 

Either way, what it amounts to is this:  for the second year in a row, those who honor George Washington by imitating his famous deed of crossing the Delaware just couldn’t pull it off!
  
Now, do not get me wrong.  I understand that this is merely a reenactment.  As such, there is no need to push forward in unsafe conditions where people’s lives may be put at risk.  As they say, better to be safe than sorry.

And to be sure, the reenactment of Washington’s crossing is quite an undertaking.  The annual event, replete with speeches and similar fanfare, draws hundreds and even thousands of people to the banks of the Delaware River in Washington Crossing, Pa., and Titusville, N.J. 

Of course, it was here that the famed original crossing took place by Washington and his troops on the night of December 25-26, 1776.  That bitterly cold night, boats ferried some 2,400 soldiers, 200 horses, and 18 cannons across the river. Washington then forced marched his troops several miles downriver before surprising and attacking Hessian mercenaries hired by the British in the streets of Trenton.


Picture

The crossing was immortalized in an 1851 painting by Emanuel Leutze titled “Washington Crossing the Delaware”, that hangs today in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. This painting (first row, center above) is how most people view the event in their mind. 

Other depictions exist.  There is an 1871 painting by George Caleb Bingham titled “Washington Crossing the Delaware”.  But this painting (second row above on the left) likely does not do as much justice to what Washington and his men faced that night. An 1819 depiction of the crossing by Thomas Sully probably comes closer to the reality they face.  This last one (second row above on the right) shows the treacherous snow and ice enveloping not just the river itself, but the entire valley.

Having personally visited both the site and the museum attached to it, I well remember how difficult and treacherous the original crossing was described as being.  To say the least, it took daring, bravery, and courage.  It also took plenty of what people used to call “pluck” (great determination).  Many of Washington’s men had no food, no winter clothing, and no shoes.  They literally wrapped their feet and themselves in rags and doggedly plodded forward into a bitterly cold and completely uncertain night.

Having crossed the river, they then marched through snow and ice for several miles before attacking the enemy.  The motto for the night was “Victory or Death!”  The result was the former! Only three Americans were killed and six wounded, while 22 Hessians were killed with 98 wounded. The Americans captured 1,000 prisoners and seized muskets, powder, and artillery.  Not to mention, food, clothing, supplies, and warmth and shelter!

We are told that the victory had a marked effect on the revolution’s cause – especially on the morale of the troops! Soldiers, many of whom had been considering not re-enlisting, celebrated the victory.   Washington's own role as leader was secured.  And most important of all, both Congress and a fledgling nation gained renewed enthusiasm for the war, complete with fresh political fury and funding.

At this point, my regular readers may be asking:  “So, what’s your point?”  Only that one has to be impressed at the mettle of these brave men!  What they did was hard enough in peace time.  But to do what they did and then go on to fight and defeat an enemy is more than merely impressive! It is heroic! And yet, a little over two centuries later, with no real cold weather about, our imitation of their deeds is hampered and/or cancelled by mere water levels.

I am reminded that some two thousand years ago, there was another individual who undertook a brave series of steps at Christmas.  Jesus Christ took a bold step from Heaven down to earth.  And in so doing, He began a journey that would take Him into the greatest battle ever fought at Calvary.  Here, He would be cursed, mocked, spit upon, slapped, beaten, whipped, and even crucified!  And yet, He would persevere and ultimately come out victorious in that greatest of all battles!

Some two thousand years later, however, it seems as if we who are pledged to bear His name and imitate His great commitment, find ourselves so easily distracted, discouraged, and/or dissuaded.  If our Lord and Savior was faithful to His calling, then surely we can be faithful to emulate Him and fulfill the calling we have been given in His name!  Especially at Christmas time!

And so, my friend, take heart.  Boldly step forth and, in what Thomas
à Kempis called "the imitation of Christ", go where God has called you to go, do what God has called you to do, and meet whomever God has called you to meet. 

Along the way, if you encounter obstacles, do not shrink from them, no matter how daunting they may be.  Rather, knowing God has clearly called and equipped you, take heart, rise above and cross over any such barriers, knowing that God does not necessarily call the equipped so much as He equips the called!   

As the writer of the New Testament Book of Hebrews puts it (chapter 13, verses 20-21):   20Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Amen indeed!

ARTICLE SOURCE: 
Published by reporter Lukas Mikelionis on December 26, 2018 on Fox News.  The Associated Press also contributed to this report.

Cf.:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/christmas-day-re-enactment-of-george-washington-crossing-delaware-river-nixed-for-second-year-in-a-row.

PAINTING SOURCES: 


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware_(1851_painting)#/media/File:Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware_by_Emanuel_Leutze,_MMA-NYC,_1851.jpg.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware_1856-71_George_Caleb_Bingham.jpg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington%27s_crossing_of_the_Delaware_River#/media/File:1819_Passage_OfThe_Delaware_byThomasSully_MFABoston.jpeg.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:


https://biblehub.com/niv/hebrews/13.htm.

LAVISHED WITH LOVE!

12/25/2018

 
Most people know what they do of the birth of Jesus Christ through the twin accounts written in the New Testament Gospels of Luke and Matthew.  In chapter 2 of his Gospel, Luke tells us of the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, where Jesus is born before being visited by the shepherds at the direction of the heavenly host.
 
Matthew chapter 2 then tells of the visit of the star-following wise men bearing their gifts before Mary and Joseph depart for the safety of a sojourn in Egypt prior to eventually returning to Nazareth where Jesus will then grow to adulthood.

But there is another, less well-known Biblical account of Christ’s coming into this world.  We find it in the opening chapter of the New Testament Gospel of John.  It differs from the aforementioned accounts in that Luke and Matthew may be said to provide us with the physical details of Christ’s birth whereas John addresses the metaphysical aspects.  His account is as follows…

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) 16Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Focus again on verses 12 and 13:

12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Later on, John further underscores the significance of these words in the opening verse of the third chapter of his First New Testament Letter when he writes:  “Behold what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

The dictionary defines “lavish” as:  “to give, heap, or bestow something freely and in great abundance to someone or something”.  Indeed, there may well be no more wonderful statement to summarize what Christmas is all about than this! 

In sending His one and only Son into this world, very God of the universe has “lavished” His love upon us!  He did this because He has deemed to make us His very own children! And that is why the message of Christmas is and always will be one of “good tidings of great joy … to all people”!

SOURCES: 

https://biblehub.com/kjv/luke/2.htm;
https://biblehub.com/kjv/matthew/2.htm;
https://biblehub.com/kjv/john/1.htm;
https://www.biblehub.com/1_john/3-1.htm.

DUMBSTRUCK!

12/20/2018

 
An old legend comes down to us about a wise and good king who ruled long ago in the ancient Middle East. The king loved his people. He wanted to know all about them – about how they lived, about their struggles, and about all their hardships.

Often he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar, and went to the homes of the poor. No one whom he visited thought that he was their ruler. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he left.

Later he visited the poor man again and disclosed his identity by saying, "I am your king!" The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor, but he didn't. Instead he said, "You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!"

This ancient folktale reminds us what the current season is all about. For it was at the very first Christmas that the King of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to us.  And in the process, He gave us the greatest gift that could ever be given – He gave Himself to you and me.

In in his Second New Testament Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 9, verse 15) the Apostle Paul discusses Christ’s coming into this world.  As he does, he calls Jesus Christ God’s "unspeakable gift" to us.  The Koine (or common) Greek word Paul uses here in the original language of the New Testament is "anekdiḗgētos", meaning "not able to be fully declared". 

It occurs nowhere else and is used of no other person or event in the entire Bible!  That is to say that God’s gift to us in Christ is so unique as to be beyond all words!  God’s magnanimous gift of Himself to at Christmas is so astounding as to leave us speechless! 

Like the shepherds of old, we find that we stand in awe!  Like Peter tells us in his First New Testament Letter (chapter 1, verse 8), we find ourselves full of "unspeakable joy"!  And like Zechariah in the face of the angel’s announcement in Luke’s New Testament Gospel (chapter 1:5-25), we are completely dumbstruck as we witness the unfolding of God’s miraculous grace!

And yet, once we recover, we immediately join in with all of these, with Paul himself, and boldly proclaim with joy: "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!"

STORY SOURCE:  Available widely online in various forms.  See, for instance:
http://www.gospelweb.net/Christmas/StoryOfThePersianKing.htm.

BIBLE SOURCES: https://www.biblehub.com/1_peter/1-8.htm;
https://biblehub.com/bsb/luke/1.htm;
https://www.biblehub.com/2_corinthians/9-15.htm;
and
https://biblehub.com/greek/411.htm.

BACK ON DUTY!

12/18/2018

 
My last few blog posts have focused on items related to World War Two.  I thought I would share one last such thought today.
 
One of my favorite movies is Midway, the star-studded 1976 drama that portrays the pivotal battle of Midway Island fought in the middle of the Pacific Ocean from June 4-6, 1942.  To the producers’ credit, the film presents the battle in a fairly balanced manner, showing the event as it unfolded from the perspective of both the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States forces. 

In the process, it shows the strengths and weaknesses of each side, as well as the costly mistakes each party brought to the fray.  Above all, perhaps, it is a lesson in how even the seemingly smallest of matters can have a huge impact on the outcome of significant historical events.

In a classic scene in the movie, the battle is brewing and the Japanese Commander in charge of the air attack, Vice-Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, is somewhat apprehensive because two of his key staff members are ill and unable to perform their duties.  It unfolds this way…

Nagumo: “Where's Commander Genda?”
Captain Aoki:  “He's in sick bay, Admiral. Influenza.”
Nagumo: “When does the doctor think he can resume his duties?”
Captain Aoki:  “In three or four days.”
Nagumo: “I don't like beginning this operation without my best air commander.”
Captain Aoki:  “We have another sick bay casualty: Commander Fuchida has appendicitis.”
Nagumo:  “Fuchida too?  We'll need a replacement.”
Captain Aoki:  “Genda suggests a veteran torpedo pilot: Lieutenant Tomonaga.”
Nagumo:  “If Genda says so, I want to see Tomonaga right away.”
Captain Aoki:  “Yes, Sir.”
Nagumo:  “Fuchida, the man who led my first strike on Pearl Harbor, out.  Genda, who planned it, both ill. Very bad luck, Sir, very bad luck.”


Sometime later, as the battle is unfolding, Staff Officer Minoru Genda makes his way to the bridge of the Carrier Akagi and reports to Admiral Nagumo.  A second conversation unfolds…

Genda: “Admiral.”
Nagumo:  “Genda!”
Genda: “My apologies. I've been away from my duties much too long.”
Nagumo:  “Genda, how are you?”
Genda: “I'm well enough to take charge of air operations.”
Nagumo:  “And so you shall, my friend. Prepare an air search plan right away.”
Genda: “For what area?”

Nagumo:  “Where I would deploy my carriers if I were an American commander. There, northeast of Midway.”

And thus, the battle is joined.

Nonetheless, it is arguable that the expertise of men like Genda and Fuchida was missed at just the time it was needed.  Battle, like life itself, is a very fluid thing.  And the proficiency of gifted individuals doing their jobs in just the right way at just the right time often has a significant impact on the outcome.  As does the lack thereof!

I say all that to say why it is that I as a Pastor do not like to be sick – especially on the Lord’s Day!  At the risk of sounding pompous, I am confident enough to believe that God had both called me and gifted me to serve Him in my capacity as a communicator of the Gospel.

And when I am unable to fulfill my responsibilities, as I have been over the last few days to due to a bout with the flu, it is very frustrating!  (Hence, the recent gap in my blog posts.)  And in the words of Captain Genda, I feel as though I have been away from my duties much too long! 

That being said, I am glad to report that I am now beginning to feel much better and will no doubt soon return to my responsibilities. And like the aforementioned Captain, I will add that, hopefully, I am well now enough to resume my duties!

Thanks to all those who offered prayers for my speedy recovery. I have felt them.  The good Lord willing, I will be back on station right soon!

SOURCES: 
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/m/midway-script-transcript-charlton-heston.html.

SEE ALSO: 
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074899/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_(1976_film) as well as Professor Gordon Prang's masterful work, Miracle at Midway (New York: Penguin Books, 1983).

NOTE ALSO:  The movie is being re-made and scheduled to be released in 2019. Cf.:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_(1976_film).

NOW WE KNOW…

12/10/2018

 
In my last blog, posted on Pearl Harbor Day, I pointed out the importance of remembering the men and women who sacrificed so much for our freedom.
 
Little did I know what would appear in the news the very next day.  It seems as if several families may now get the closing they have sought for nearly eight decades.  Advances in modern forensic science, particularly in DNA reclamation and analysis, have now made it possible to identify some of the service personnel who lost their lives that fateful day.

In an article posted on Fox News, writer Perry Chiaramonte tells us that nearly 2,400 members of the U.S. military were killed in the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.  And out of that number, 429 Sailors and Marines were killed on the Battleship USS Oklahoma.  It famously capsized after it was struck by several torpedoes during the infamous December 7th, 1941 attack.

It seems that only 35 were identified in the years immediately after the attack.  The ship itself was raised in 1942 and remains of the rest were exhumed and found to be unidentifiable. Thereafter, they were interred in graves marked as “Unknown” at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

He goes on  to explain that In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency started exhuming nearly 400 sets of such remains after a determination had been made that  forensic science and genealogical research from families had advanced to the point that identifications were now possible.

As of December of this year, 186 Sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma who were previously marked as “Unknown” have now been successfully identified!

I praise the Lord that this has now unfolded.  If at all possible, not one single one of these individuals deserves to go unidentified. Hollywood CGI notwithstanding, one cannot begin to imagine what all they went through!  I am confident that each and every individual who perished that fateful day did his (or her) best in their moment of destiny! 

They fought hard; they gave all they had; and they died gloriously in defense of this great nation!  And they now deserve the recognition they have been deprived of for so long! 

At the same time, I am reminded in this that there are a great many more untold deeds of bravery and valor!  The men and women who died at Pearl Harbor are not alone.  All throughout history, innumerable individuals have given their all for a greater cause and the good of their fellow man, only to have their deeds and their names go unrecorded by posterity.

For this reason, I cannot wait till that day in Heaven when the books are finally opened and the deeds of all such heroes are finally made known.  No doubt, on that day, we will finally be able to say: “Now we know!” 

STORY SOURCE:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/pearl-harbor-sailors-finally-laid-to-rest-77-years-later-thanks-to-dna-testing.
SEE ALSO:  Revelation 20:11-15.

WORTH REMEMBERING

12/7/2018

 
I am writing this on December 7, 2018, the 77th anniversary of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asserted at the time would a be a date that would live in infamy.  As I have shared on previous blogs that fell on this calendar date, I hope I will always be mindful of the great sacrifice laid down by so many that eventful day on behalf of this great nation in which we live.
 
TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Channel has spent the day showing several wonderful period films relating to this significant historical event.  In the months and years immediately after its occurrence, Hollywood did her part to help mobilize America for defense by producing quite a few wonderful, if now all but forgotten, classic films.

Today’s line-up has included December 7th: The Movie (a 1943 documentary style film designed to educate the public on the events leading up to the attack), Air Force ( another 1943 movie chronicling the crew of a B-17 bomber named the “Mary Ann” as she arrived from the U.S. mainland just as the attack was occurring, as well as her additional action in the war), and the 1944 classic, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (about Colonel Doolittle’s heroic retaliatory  bombing raid on Japan just a little over four months after Pearl Harbor).

I highly recommend these films, as they were all made during the war itself.  For this reason, they give the viewer a little of the sense of uncertainly that still pervaded the American psyche at the time.  After all, victory in World War Two would not come for another year or two; and the outcome was in no way certain at the time.

Many in the modern era are more familiar with the story of what happened on December 7, 1941 due to its retelling in the 2001 epic war film, Pearl Harbor, starring Bren Affleck and Josh Hartnett and a whole host of a-list actors.  This film portrays the days leading up to Pearl Harbor, the attack itself, the immediate aftermath, and the response of America in her first few months into World War Two, culminating in the bombing of Japan by Doolittle’s Raiders.

As I have shared before in earlier posts, Japan attempted a sweeping conquest of the Pacific, with well-coordinated and near simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S. held Hawaiian and Philippine Islands, as well as Guam and Wake Island, along with portions of the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

However, Japanese forces failed in at least two major objectives in the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. While America suffered terrible losses in life and among her battleships, the failure of Japan to finish off the numerous fuel reserves stored nearby and, even more consequential, to catch the United States’ aircraft carriers at anchor in Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941 were blunders that would soon prove catastrophic. 

What is more, of the twenty-one ships damaged or lost in the attack, all but three were eventually repaired and returned to service by U.S. forces.  Thus, what may have seemed like a decisive pre-emptive strike by Japan soon turned into a Pyrrhic victory at best!

Accordingly, six months after Pearl Harbor, on May 4-8, 1942, America essentially fought Japan to a draw in the first ever battle between aircraft carriers, each sinking one carrier of the other’s fleet.  One month later, on June 4-6, 1942, in the Battle of Midway, America won a decisive victory, sinking four Japanese carriers against only one carrier lost.  Even more significantly, the Japanese had 248 aircraft destroyed and over 3,000 killed, many of whom were their most seasoned pilots.

From that day forward, barely seven months after Pearl Harbor, Japan was on the defensive as America began an island-hopping campaign across the Pacific that eventually reclaimed all the territory Japan had conquered and ultimately led to the defeat of Japan and the occupation of her home islands.

But in the dark days immediately after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew that his fellow Americans were struggling with fear, doubt, and the specter of defeat.  As a leader, he understood that it was his job to find a way to inspire them.  So he set his cabinet the task of finding some way to retaliate against Japan and give the American people the all-important boost in morale that they so desperately needed.

The result was a surprise raid in April, 1942, led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle and consisting of Sixteen B-25B Mitchell medium range bombers that were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean.

The bold plan called for flying over Japan, dropping bombs on major targets, and then flying on to China before eventually landing in non-Japanese occupied territory.  Unfortunately, the U.S. Fleet was sighted and the bombers had to be launched at a far greater distance than anticipated, thus limiting fuel supply.

Many planes finished the mission with little or no fuel, with most crashing far short of their desired landing spots and into Japanese occupied territory.  After many harrowing experiences, all but three of the eighty crew members survived and eventually made it back home.

While the mission inflicted very little actual military destruction itself, the damage to the collective psyche on the Japanese due to an attack on their homeland that they had heretofore considered impregnable was considerable.

More to the point, the effect on America’s morale was tremendous. The Doolittle raid, carried out by brave men, conceived by top brass, and inspired by a true leader was of incalculable significance to the outcome of World War Two.

I conclude by sharing a link to a classic scene from the above mentioned 2001 movie, Pearl Harbor.  In this scene, Josh Hartnett portrays a pilot named "Danny" who had earlier survived Pearl Harbor and has just flown in the Doolittle Raid, and who has now crash landed in occupied China and been taken prisoner.  The Japanese are about kill his best friend “Rafe”, portrayed by Ben Affleck.  The imagery is powerful, and also deeply theological, as Danny, lashed to a wooden crossbeam, willingly sacrifices his own life in order to save that of his friend, Rafe.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TasKTohEbaI  (Beginning at 1 minute, 50 seconds of the overall 4 minute, 10 second clip).

I cannot watch this scene without being reminded, first of the sacrifice of so many one my behalf in order that I might enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!  Untold Americans in every generation have placed themselves in harm’s way in order that you and I might live and prosper in the land of the free and the home of the brave!  May we never forget their sacrifice!

In like manner, on an infamous day in history known as “Good Friday”, another Individual gave His life in order that you and I might have life, and have it to the full.  That Individual was God’s Son, Jesus Christ, Who allowed Himself to be lashed and nailed to the beam of a cross, where He willingly sacrificed His life for our freedom from sin and its consequences.  In so doing, He set us free not only for this world, but for all eternity.

On this anniversary of the “Day of Infamy”, may we ever be faithful to express our appreciation to Him as well!  For not only did He give us the principle that “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”; He also demonstrated it for us by doing this very thing!  And that, my friends, is worth remembering!

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: 
https://biblehub.com/john/15-13.htm.

MISSING PERSONS

12/3/2018

 
Dr. Tony Evans once told the story of a mother who knew of who was having a gathering to celebrate the birth of her newborn son.  She invited a bunch of friends over to celebrate his arrival. She welcomed her guests, and they all had a great time celebrating, eating, and drinking.  After a while, one of the ladies said, “Well, bring the baby out.  Let us see it.”

The mother went to get the baby from his crib – he was nowhere to be found.  She started to panic and to feel fearful.  And the, she suddenly remembered that the baby was still at her parents’ house, where she had left him earlier that morning.  She and the guests had been having so much fun that they had forgotten what the party was all about in the first place.

Dr. Evans is quite right in his concluding observation:  “During the Christmas season, many people get busy with celebration and forget that the birth of Jesus Christ is the reason for the season.” For the little baby boy in Dr. Evans’ story was in effect a “missing person” at the event intended to celebrate his very own birthday. 

In like manner, very often, in the modern celebration of Christmas, there is often yet another “Missing Person”, and that individual is the very Son of God, Jesus Christ, Himself, Whose birthday this holiday is designed to celebrate in the first place!

It is possible to see decorations, hear music, view movies, attend functions, and even repeat rituals at Christmas time and yet never even hear or see the person of Jesus Christ referenced.

While this approach to the celebration of Christmas might well be expected by the secular world, it should never be embraced by those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ.

This year, as the Christmas season unfolds, it is fitting that we who bear the name of Christian celebrate in part by undertaking the various customs and festivities that are associated with the time of year.  At the same time, let us be careful to remember why we even celebrate Christmas to begin with.   Let us be careful not to overlook Jesus Christ on His birthday!

STORY SOURCE:  Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More Than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago:  Moody Publishers, 2009), p. 60.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

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