Children. In the ancient world children were routinely left to die of exposure, particularly if they were girls. Jesus’ treatment of and teachings about children led to the forbidding of such practices, as well as orphanages. A Norwegian scholar named Bakke wrote a study of this impact, simply titled: When Children Became People: the Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity.

Education. The ancient world loved education but tended to reserve it for the elite; the notion that every child bore God’s image helped fuel the move for universal literacy. Love of learning led to monasteries. Universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard all began as Jesus-inspired efforts to love God with all ones’ mind.

 

Compassion. Jesus’ compassion for the poor and the sick led to institutions for lepers, the beginning of modern-day hospitals. That’s why even today, hospitals have names like “Good Samaritan,” “Good Shepherd,” or “Saint Anthony.” They were the world’s first voluntary, charitable institutions.

 

Humility. The ancient world did not value the virtue of humility. Jesus’ life as a foot-washing servant would eventually lead to the adoption of humility as a widely admired virtue. Historian John Dickson writes, “… it is unlikely that any of us would aspire to this virtue were it not for the historical impact of his crucifixion.”

 

Forgiveness. In the ancient world, virtue meant rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies. An alternative idea came from Galilee: what is best in life is to love your enemies, and see them reconciled to you.

 

Humanitarian Reform. Jesus consistently championed the excluded. His inclusion of women led to a community to which women flocked in disproportionate numbers. Slaves—up to a third of ancient populations—might wander into a church fellowship and have a slave-owner wash their feet rather than beat them. One ancient text instructed bishops to not interrupt worship to greet a wealthy attender, but to sit on the floor to welcome the poor.

 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.preachingtoday.com

There are many today who feel that somehow all religions are the same. In fact one Wheaton tenured professor even went so far to state that Muslims and Christians worship the same god, and I guess by inference we could say that the Quran and the Bible tell the same story about Jesus Christ?

This is not true and in fact it was Christianity that brought about the enlightenment which led to the end of many ills in the world.

See on Scoop.it – Eagle Views

By Mark Scott

These sometimes-overlooked prophets are anything but minor when it comes to the Christmas message. The Melody The Major Prophets of the Old Testament get lots of press at Christmastime. Rightly so. They carry the melody line in the Christmas story. Isaiah gave King Ahaz the gospel with these words, “Therefore the Lord […]

Source: The Gospel in Minor Key

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

(Jeremiah 33:14-16)

A few decades after Isaiah declares a virgin will give birth, through Jeremiah the Lord declares again he is going to fulfill his promise to raise up a Messiah from the House of David who will execute justice and righteousness in the land.

God is not sending a redeemer to sort through our own self-righteousness, but to be righteousness itself. Jeremiah also declared that we would all know the law for it would be written on our hearts. At Jeremiah 31:33, God again declares the Immanuel principle, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This coming Messiah would be God among us, personal to us, and righteousness for us. A new day is coming where we need not and cannot rely on ourselves, but will rely on God himself as provider of our blessings.

He is calling to us. He is coming soon.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.erickontheradio.com

Many are looking for help through these trying times. Some look to the Gov., some look to the GOP, but more ought to look to God for help. He is the one who cares enough about you to actually have done something about our situations. He sent his son to die so that we would not have to. He sent his son to pay the price we owe for our failures and sinfulness.

 

The greatest story ever told is that of  God’s son coming to earth, born of a virgin, sent as a sacrificial lamb, to redeem those who are lost. That includes you and I.

Christmas is not about decorated trees, and colored lights adorning the eaves of our homes. Christmas is not super value sales at the local superstore. Christmas is about the gift of life given to us. When God steps down from heaven to dwell among his people. Immanuel, God is with us. And if God is for us who can be against us?

 

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold!
Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven’s all gracious King!
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

 

It is up to you whether you accept this free gift of peace, joy, hope  and love this Christmas, but I pray that you do.

See on Scoop.it – Eagle Views

Well written and thoughtful piece on finding Peace on Earth and good will to all men on whom the Lord’s favor rests.

Six lesbians had filed suit against the Arkansas Health Department’s Vital Statistics Bureau after it declined to recognize both women as the parents on the birth certificates, which they sought to do in order to obtain insurance coverage for the children.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: christiannews.net

This is how societies fall, when there is no longer any restraint but all the moorings of morality are stripped off and society begins to go adrift on the sea of chaos. Two women can not birth a child. Two men can not birth a child. An infertile woman or man can not birth a child. However since being parents no longer requires one to actually have given birth to that child any combination of people can be considered parents even if they have absolutely no biological ties to the child.

To be a true parent requires one to have actually given birth to or participated in the creation of life through procreation. Today one can buy and sell babies and kids like other possessions. Now that parenting is seen as a right of possession rather than a right of procreation. Biological parents no longer have precedence over the court-ordered denial or granting of parental rights.

See on Scoop.it – Eagle Views