Sometimes the best ways are the old ways what say you?
|
Archive for December 10, 2008
We may not be getting ready for bread lines or seeing hobos selling apples for five cents on the corner, but all this talk of another Great Depression should have us looking back in history for lessons that we can take with us into the future of this wild and woolly economic mess.
In North Carolina the Christmas song “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was temporarily banned from being sung by children at a Christmas concert. Why? Apparently a parent complained that the song contained the words “Christmas” and “Santa,” words which she believes carry religious overtones and finds offensive.
Apparently Santa and Rudolph are the new symbols of the Christmas Story. No longer are Shepherds, sheep and angels symbols of the Story of Christmas. I am not surprised that this has happened for even in the church house the Christmas tree is of more improtance than the Christmas Star, that Star being the Lord Jesus Christ who came to earth, born of a virgin, to save us from sin and death. No longer is the Heralding angels announcing the birth of a King the focal point for they have been replaced with advertisements and parades heralding the arrival of Santa Clause.
If this is not a commentary on the state of our culture than I do not know what is. Perhaps it is time the church stop celebrating Christmas and start celebrating the life of Christ. What say you?
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
Can you imagine a world where Oren’s gift suggestions are actually put into practice? Wouldn’t it be a much nicer world in which to raise your children? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that everyone was playing by the same rules? Alas this is far from reality, the world has long ago forsaken the ways designed for civilized living. Apart from a full-fledged revival of biblical proportions I fear that perhaps the good old days are just that. Yet I have hope that there remains those who desire to be a light in the darkness, to be an agent of change and a beacon of hope where there is only hopelessness. So as the world spins out of control I pray this Christmas season that once again God would send peace on Earth and goodwill to all men.
The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America
The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America
George Whitefield: God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century
Thoughts and views as seen from the resident raptor. Reflecting on life and the world as I see it.
