Several years ago, Joe Garman, the President of American Rehabilitation Ministries, sent out a Christmas letter called “I Believe”

            He wrote, “I believe that Bethlehem’s star outshines man’s satellites; I believe that Christmas began in the heart of God but it is only complete when it reaches the heart of man; I believe that if Christ were taken out of Christmas, December would be the bleakest, most colorless month of the year; I believe that it is Christ in the heart that puts Christmas in the air; I believe that Joseph’s dreams still outwit Herod’s hate; I believe that our journey to the manger is more important than a trip to the moon; I believe that the angels did sing, because in Mary’s arms was cradled The King; I believe that the best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family, all wrapped up in each other; I believe that the hinge of history was on the door of a stable in Bethlehem; I believe tha the Wise Men’s gifts have not suffered from inflation; I believe that there’s a song in the air because there was a star in the sky; I believe that the Light of the world is still as clear and bright as when He entered our world that first Christmas night.”

            Well we made it.  Tonight is Christmas Eve and in a few hours Christmas Day will be upon us.  After all of the holiday running and rushing.  After all of the activities and decorations, we made it. 

            And we pause here on a cold night in December because a miracle has taken place.  A miracle that forever changed the world.  A baby was born.  Not just any baby, but the Son of God stepped into this world and lit up the darkness.

            In John 8:12, “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

            Jesus, the Light of the World.  Jesus the opposite of that which is dark.  Jesus the one who lights the path of those who choose to follow Him. 

            Just a couple of days ago we started gaining a few more minutes of light each day.  We passed through that time of year where the daytime and light was at it’s shortest and now each and every day, from now until June 21^st there will be more light. 

            The same is true with Jesus.  Each and every year we celebrate His birth.  Each and every year that one more person starts to follow Him there is more light.  And the world is a much brighter place. 

            Not only did Jesus say I am the light of the world and I offer to those who follow me the light of life, but he also said to His followers in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

            As we stop, and remember the light that came into this world that pierced the darkness, we also need to remember that as followers of the Light of the World we too are to light the way so that others may be able to see the Savior. 

            The children’s song says, “this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.  This little light of mine.  I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

            This Christmas, give thanks to those who lit the way for you and use your light to light the way so that others may receive the greatest Christmas gift of all.  Hold your light high and point the way to Jesus. 

Here is another great review of two holiday stories.  A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life.

check it out:  http://www.americanvision.org/article/the-black–white-dark-night/

Love is in the air.  At least around here.  I don’t know if it is Christmas and that aspect of Peace on Earth Good Will Toward Men that makes one feel more loving or a combination of many other things.

Finally, last week the much waited for (at least by some of us) movie, Fireproof hit Riverton.  www.fireproofmymarriage.com  if you have not seen the movie yet and are married try to find it right away.  You will not regret it.  The Kendrick brothers from Albany, GA have done it again with this their latest film.  Hollywood may not like the types of movies these men are putting out but they are bathed in prayer and it shows.  They have a knack for doing what others would try as cliche and make it come across as meaningful and powerful.  I never cease to finish one of their movies without tears running down my face.

After the movie I had to start the Love Dare.  The Love Dare is a 40 day Dare for you to work on your relationship with your spouse.  I picked up the Love Dare at Walmart in September when my wife was at a ladies retreat.  It is hard to keep secrets in my house so I thought sometime over the fall I would get it out and start secretly.  After seeing the movie I knew it was something I had to do whether my wife knew I had the book or not.  I have to admit maybe the stresses of Christmas weren’t the best time to dig right into this Love Dare.  But God has a way of slapping us upside the head when we need it and a gentle way of getting us to look at our own sins.  Stop reading this right now and get a copy of the Love Dare either online or run to the nearest Walmart and get it for only $10.

And my commercial for love and marriage doesn’t stop here.  I just read an article that explains in a great way why “It’s a Wonderful Life” is one of the greatest movies of all time.  Check out this link quickly as I think these articles change.  The name of this article is

The Romantic Allure of Total Commitment in It’s a Wonderful Life

by Marc T. Newman, Ph.D.

http://www.movieministry.com/articles.php

Ok, I have said before that nothing ceases to amaze me anymore.  I have heard it all and seen it all.  Stories that would have shocked me in the past don’t shock me now.  But I was wrong.  I have heard a lot of strange things but this one takes the cake.

Planned Parenthood is now offering gift certificates for Christmas.  (You can check the story out here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,462127,00.html ).  These gift certificates are good for any of Planned Parenthood’s services including abortion.  This has to be the worst Christmas present ever.  Imagine the message you would be sending to loved ones with a gift like this:  here let me help you murder your unborn child.  Wouldn’t this tecnically make the giver of the gift an accessory to murder?  Or have we slid down that slippy slope so far that we don’t think in these terms anymore.

I can see it now, next year for Christmas both Washington and Oregon will offer gift certificates for physician assisted suicide. (Now we have two states where this is legal — don’t break your leg while visiting)  What kind of message would that send?  We don’t want you anymore.  It’s time for you to go.

I thought I was beyond the callousedness of our world today but this new “gift” from Planned Parenthood hits a new low.  At a time of year when we celebrate the birth of Christ and the value of human life and the promise of eternal life because of Jesus some are peddling the gift of death.  What a sad commentary on America at the end of 2008.

Your view of the world, i.e. Worldview affects the living out of your life.  One of the ministries that affects my thinking and helps me to grapple with worldview issues is American Vision.  http://www.americanvision.org   This ministry offers a lot of good insight and resources to Christians to help them discern how to live out our faith in the world today.

Today’s email from AV was entitled, The World is not controlled by the Devil.  Read the entire article here:  http://www.americanvision.org/blog/?p=280

If we view the world as evil then we will not engage the culture.  We will not be good stewards as Christ commands.  We will not seek to make change or reach those outside of Christ.  We will not have hope that things will get better.  No if we view the world as evil we will expect things to get worse.  We will expect darkness to reign.  We will expect that we can’t make a difference.  We will simply wait for a future “rapture” to get us out of here.

This world is still God’s creation, that which He first called “good”.  We have been given dominion over the earth to be good stewards to use and explore and create and build and put to good use.  Why do we live today as if Christ is not on the throne now and we await a coming king to come and fix it all or first destroy it all then fix it all.  We were left here as followers of Christ to be salt and light in the world.  And instead of the world being more seasoned and light filled we are content to let it become dark and stale.

What will the King say about our stewardship when He returns?

Back during the Monica Lewinsky Scandal of the 1990’s Bill Bennett wrote a book entitled, “The Death of Outrage” concerning the fact that no one seemed to be that upset at a President’s inappropriate behavior in the Oval Office.

Imagine with me if you will a transition of power in a country of the world.  You hear on the news of protests in the streets.  You hear of rallies for the new leader and with virtually no bloodshed a new goverment is born.  Now imagine that the first act of this new leader is to order the death of thousands of innocent citizens.  I wonder if there would be any outrage.  I wonder if we would feel any pain or remorse for those who had just been sentenced to death.

This scenario happens around the world all the time.  In many nations there are coups and takeovers.  Leaders rise and leaders fall.  And when a new government comes into power there is often an attempt to get rid of the opposition.  But you and I don’t expect that in our nation.  We don’t expect bloodshed with the transition of power in America.  Whether you are far left or far right or somewhere in the middle we expect peaceful transitions of power in America, or do we?

World Magazine reports in their Nov.1/8 issue, “First, the Illinois senator (Barack Obama) has indicated he will appoint justices in the mold of Ginsbug, who support abortion until the last term of pregnancy.  Second, Obama has pledged that his first act as president will be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which would enshrine elective abortion in law and undo every state restriction of abortion.  If conservatives challenge FOCA in federal court and lose, the effect would be that of an Uber-Roe, brushing aside even that right of states to regulate abortion.”

As you can see, the scenario I pictured earlier is not fiction but set to be fact in a few months.  Obama has pledged that his first act as President is to sign a death sentence for thousands of U.S. Citizens.  And this is not all, news reports as of yesterday state that President Elect Obama is set to overturn by Executive Order the Mexico City policy and allow U.S. Taxpayer dollars to fund abortions in other countries.  We are not content to merely kill our own citizens but we will fund the killing of citizens in other countries.  I guess this is change.  But I have to wonder as Bennett did over a decade ago, Where’s the Outrage?

I know for many Christians the election of 2008 was disappointing.  Not just for the final results but all throughout the political process of the last two years Christians have been dis-illusioned.  Where are the candidates who stand up and for Biblical morality?  Where are those who would follow Scripture above opinion polls and public sentiment?

Some have banked on a polical party.  Some have banked on a particular candidate.  Some have hoped and prayed one way or the other, but at the end of the day we often find ourselves putting our faith in a system that should not be the obeject of our faith.

Now before I continue I want to say that Christains ought to be involved in the political process.  Christains ought to have a voice in the shaping of our nation, but that is not where we place our faith.  No matter who serves us from President down to local city councils, we are still required to pray for those in office and to ask God to use them.

Perhaps we have viewed voting as our greatest weapon and have forgotten those spiritual weapons that Paul speaks so highly of in Eph. 6.  We need to remember that we can influence the world through our prayers.  We can trust in a God who is over the affairs of man both here in America and abroad and we need not fear what may take place in the future.  God is still on His throne.  He is still in charge and we need to act that way.

Pray for our new President elect that God would use him in mighty ways and that he would seek the face of God.  If millions of Americans prayed this way every day, don’t you think that God would act?  Neither one of our Presidential Candidates was very vocal about their personal religous faith so I would think the above prayer would apply to whichever man would have won.

So pray for our leaders.  Pray that their hearts would be drawn toward God.  And then pray that God would use you in mighty ways in the place He has placed you.  After all, with Christ, you are the light of the world.

What does commitment look like in the 21st century?  We live in a world today where commitment doesn’t seem to matter.  Marriages end quickly.  People have time and the freedom to pick and choose everything.  From shopping to internet to churches the choices are endless.  So why commit?  Why make a stand?  Why settle for one person or one church or one product or one this or one that when we can have it all?  Or at least it seems that way.

Commitment to Christ in the 1st century seemed to be something worth living and dying for.  Commitment to Christ in the 21st century tends to be wrapped up in a consumer mindset that says I’ll be a part as long as my needs are being met.  Commitment to Christ in the 1st century seemed to be something people were willing to go to jail for.  Commitment to Christ in the 21st century seems to mean that many times I am not willing to get up to worship or I am too busy to be in a group that will hold me accountable to pray for the lost and read my Bible and pray.

Does our faith have the same zeal as those early disciples?  Or have we become complacent and fully adopted the “whatever” attitude of the day?  Well I’m bored…..so It’s time to move to something else…. I’ll finish this post later… then again maybe not????

Where have all the Christian heroes gone?  Where are the people of faith who would risk fame and spotlight because of Christ?  It is interesting to me that the Olympics are in China this year.  And that one missionary to China was a great Olympic athlete and a great Christian witness.

Those of you who have seen the movie, “Chariots of Fire” may be familiar with Eric Liddell; for those who haven’t here is what Wikipedia says about him, “During the summer of 1924, the Olympics were hosted by the city of Paris. Liddell was a committed Christian and refused to run on Sunday (the Sabbath), with the consequence that he was forced to withdraw from the 100 metres race, his best event. The schedule had been published several months earlier, and his decision was made well before the Games began. Liddell spent the intervening months training for the 400 metres, an event in which he had previously excelled. Even so, his success in the 400m was largely unexpected. The day of 400 metres race came, and as Liddell went to the starting blocks, an American masseur slipped a piece of paper in his hand with a quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30, “Those who honor me I will honor.” Liddell ran with that piece of paper in his hand. He not only won the race, but broke the existing world record with a time of 47.6 seconds. A few days earlier Liddell had competed in the 200 metre finals, for which he received the bronze medal behind Americans Jackson Scholz and Charles Paddock, beating Harold Abrahams, who finished in sixth place. (This was the second and last race in which these two runners met.)

Because of his birth and death in the country some of China’s Olympic literature lists the Scotsman as China’s first Olympic champion.”

Again I ask, where have all the Christian heroes gone?  I doubt any athletes today would refuse to participate in the Olympic games on Sunday and yet many athletes are Christians.  Eric Liddell didn’t condemn others who chose to participate in the games on a Sunday but he stuck to his conviction that it was wrong for him to do so.  Where are the men and women of God today who would stand up with similar convictions?

I know I said last week that at 39 I was getting old in longing for the “good old days”.  I realize that America may never return to the days when the sidewalks are rolled up on Sundays and the businesses are closed.  But perhaps we need to do a better job of instilling a passion for worship in our Children and make them excited for Sunday morning again.

For most Sunday is just another day.  Even in our community we have baseball games and swim meets on Sunday mornings.  And a host of other activities and events one can choose to be involved in.  For me and my household I will repeat the story of Eric Liddell who stood up to say “NO”, and I will urge in my children a wonder and excitement for Sunday morning worship.  This is my time to worship with my family, the family of God, and nothing will make me AWOL from spending time with God’s people.