Keith’s Blog

I have a simple point to make.  Christmas is not about Ramadan, Kwanzaa, or Hanukkah.  It’s not about a festive spirit, family, food or Santa Claus.  I wrote a Christmas poem a few years back entitled “X Marks the Spot.”  It was about taking the name of Christ out of Christmas and it was written in the early 1990s.  While watching cartoons with my girls I realized that we have gone far beyond just taking the name of Jesus out of Christmas.  We have crowded Him out all together!  Nearly every Nickelodeon and Disney cartoon has sought to educate our young viewers that Christmas is more than a Christian Holiday.  Bah Humbug!

Tolerance became the watchword at the turn of the 21st century and the “kickin” thing to do.  Rightly so, our society must tolerate diversity.  That is the strength of our nation and one of the bedrocks on which our nation was founded, apparently, the only virtue that many media types want to discuss.  You won’t hear Katie Couric, Tom Brokaw, or Peter Jennings hailing the virtues of the prayer life of George Washington or how Abe Lincoln sought God for guidance in the Civil war.  Now I am rambling, back to my point–CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A TOLERABLE RELIGION!!  Well, maybe you could say the religion of Christianity is tolerable, but that is where we have drifted astray.  As many of us have discovered on our own personal journey, Christianity is more than a religion, it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the one person that loves us more than we will ever fathom in this life.

Yes, Satan almost succeeded in taking the name of Christ out of Christmas.  If you find our adversary in academia, he can even give you a theological reason for taking the name of Christ out of Christmas.  Many of you have heard the following argument: 

“X is the Greek letter that represents Jesus Christ and therefore it is an honor to represent the Christ child with an X.”  Hogwash!!!  How many of you take a copy of the Greek manuscript along with you to Church or Sunday School?  As many of you do, I read from a translation that communicates the language that is spoken today.  Christianity is not supposed to be a secret society that only a few intellectuals benefit from.  It is for the masses, for the smart, the not so smart, the rich, the poor, the black, the white, the yellow, the brown and any other hue of skin pigmentation found in our world today. Christianity is for Africans, Americans, Arabs, Jews and every other nationality that can be listed.

My question is simple.  Why are so many ethnic groups attaching their unrelated celebrations or festivals to the Holiday that honors the Incarnation of God Himself?  Why have we allowed Christmas to become just one of the rituals among rituals that mark the end of the old year and the beginning of a New Year?  

       Our adversary was unsuccessful in taking the name of Christ out of Christmas with the rise of the commercialism of the twentieth century.  It seems apparent that he is succeeding after just a few years in the twenty-first century at taking the presence of Christ out of Christmas. Satan is using an emphasis on tolerance and diversity to take not the name, but the presence of Christ out of Christmas.  How would you like it if on your birthday you were told that it was not fair for you to celebrate because someone else might get his or her feelings hurt?  I believe that if the trend of tolerance of other gods continues we will soon be a polytheistic society.  We would do well to read the books of Kings and Chronicles and learn from the history of the nations of Israel and Judah.  Polytheism, or the worshiping of several gods led to their ultimate destruction. 

Conclusion: I want to encourage you to do as I will be doing and let Jesus Christ be the pivotal center piece of the Christmas holidays. 

Two women who were having lunch in an elegant hotel were approached by a mutual friend who asked the occasion for the meal. One lady replied, “We are celebrating the birth of my baby boy.” “But where is he?” inquired the friend. “Oh,” said the mother, “you didn’t think I’d bring him, did you?” What a picture of the way the world treats Jesus at Christmas.

In everything give thanks…1 Thessalonians 5:18

That verse can sometimes be one of the toughest verses in the Bible. Is it really possible to give thanks in everything that happens to us? Thanksgiving is a time that I begin to look back, look around and start looking forward. I recently heard someone say that we have the Thanksgiving Holiday backwards. Instead of griping and complaining 364 days of the year and giving thanks one day a year, maybe we should turn it around. How about giving thanks 364 days a year, then setting one day aside to gripe and complain?

This will probably be a tough winter financially for many people. I want to remind you that money does not mean happiness. I will probably post an old devotional I did a few years back on the simplicity of Christmas. We don’t need the commercialism to hold on to the character of Christmas. I am working on a sermon series called The Heart of Christmas. The series will start this Sunday, November 30. I will be talking about The House of Bread and how God provides.

Sometimes life is hard, but God is constant and strong. Your life may have drastically changed since the last Christmas season, but I can promise you that God does not change. His love for you is unconditional. His care for you is unwavering. And His grace to you is unlimited. So go and thank Him even if things aren’t what you want them to be. And remember that God inhabits our praise and our Thanksgiving.

PASSION

God recently showed me once again how passion can energize a family, a company, a sports team and even a church. As my youngest daughter plays her first game today on the 8^th grade basketball team I shared with her again how important passion is in any sport. After coaching her and many other girls for several years I decided it was time to retire. I may be like Brett Favre and retire several times before I decide to “really” retire.  Our church has come to a place that it is time to move forward-full steam ahead. God has placed some very key people on our “bus” and we are finding what we are passionate about. Talking with a group of friends in our church this week I shared that I feel like I am back in a youth group. We spent the afternoon this past Sunday playing paintball. Since I am allergic to pain I spent the afternoon laughing at the people playing paintball. I feel a renewed passion in our church and the flame of God’s Holy Spirit is burning strong. My prayer is that we stay out of His way and allow Him to work however He sees fit.

I want us all to extend a very warm welcome to Sarah and Aaron Myers as they get on our bus. As she begins her ministry as our children’s minister we are reminded that God answers prayers in ways that only He gets to show off. Aaron has already completed revamped our web site and added some really cool stuff. Many of you that are on staff or in leadership will find surprises just for you. I see in this God called couple a passion for serving our Lord with their unique gifts. Their passion makes my passion burn more strongly!

Wayne Gretzky impacted the sport of hockey in such a way that his Jersey Number 99 was permanently retired by the National Hockey League.  Known as “The Great One,” it has been predicted that hockey will never again see a player who played the sport with as much passion as Wayne. During his long and illustrious career in hockey Wayne Gretsky accomplished a lot. But when you look at Wayne as a hockey player, Time Magazine called him “A Most Unlikely One.” As a player Wayne was not that fast and had a shot that was strangely weak. On his team he was always the last in strength training and his physique was anything but impressive.  If you looked at the outside of Wayne Gretsky, he was the most unlikely one to have accomplished what he did during his lifetime. When Time Magazine ran this by Wayne his face lit up and he said “Maybe it wasn’t talent the Lord gave me.  Maybe it was passion.” When someone lives a focused life….of passion, it’s amazing what can be accomplished for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  

I also want to thank all of the veterans for allowing God to use your passion for the safety, hope and freedom of the United States of America to continue to keep us free and strong. You are all heroes! Your service and sacrifice does not go unnoticed and we are indebted to you for what we enjoy in the USA.