Why Jesus is Not the Reason for the Season

We’ve seen the saying “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” on wallhangings, yard decorations, Christmas cards, and tshirts. It is a well-meaning Christian’s way of trying to remind us that this time of year is not about presents, egg nog, big screen tvs, or Santa Claus. But the fact is, the cliché just isn’t true.

The real reason for the season? You. The first Christmas when baby Jesus lay in the manger, and every Christmas since, has been for you—Even if no one else in the world existed. You are God’s reason. Love is God’s motivation. Jesus was God’s perfect and only means to a glorious end.

Okay, well maybe it is just semantics but hear me out. This may take a few minutes so grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable. You want, you NEED to hear this.

It has been described as the greatest love story ever told. One you’ve heard in bestselling novels, watched on the movie screen, imagined in your daydreams as a teenager.

A boy and girl love each other deeply, but the girl wants to know what is out there, so she ventures out to discover herself, claim her independence, and make a life of her own.  And the boy lets her go but he loves her still, unconditionally, unrelentingly,  waiting for her to notice that his love is what is missing from her perfect or not so perfect new life.   And at the end of the story, at the perfect time, he makes a grand gesture of his love and she realizes that the only life she wants to live is one with him by her side.

The reason this touches our hearts is because somewhere deep inside we know this is our story. We are the girl and God is the boy. Throughout all of history, humankind has sought to discover herself, prove she can make it on her own. And God has let us venture out in the spirit of free will; love is not true love if it is forced.  Every person to ever live has done this including me and including you. But he loves you still, unconditionally, unrelentingly, waiting for you to notice that His love is what is missing from your perfect or not so perfect life.

Rather than running through an airport to stop your flight, rather than standing on a lunch table to serenade you, rather than driving across the country to stop your wedding to Mr. Wrong, God sent Jesus as his grand gesture of His love.

He didn’t come to prove He was the greater than any other god. If no one believed God was glorious, he would be glorious still. God does not need our approval or our praise to be Him. He is. He was. He always will be, in spite of us humans. Instead, he came because he loves you and wants you to know the joy and peace and love that he designed you to feel.

He didn’t come in full strength and stature with an army behind him ready to kill all the bad guys. Instead, he came as a fragile, innocent baby, born to a poor teenage girl in the presence of farm animals.

His life was not easy. Not the life of a king. Not the life of a god. Not the life of one whose birth would alter history’s keeping of time.  He lived in hiding the first part of his life because of King Herod’s decree to murder all the boys his age, in an attempt to stifle the prophecy of a newborn king,

Prior to his 30^th birthday, he was a lowly carpenter without riches, without fame. He bore witness to the pain of those all around him. After three years of ministry, he himself endured heartache, grief, disappointment, loneliness, humiliation, false accusations, betrayal, suffering, torture, and even separation from God, his father as evidenced when he cries out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!” Why did he do all this? Because of His great love for you.

Satan himself bombarded him with the greatest temptation known to man. Yet he stood firm. Why? Because of His great love for you.

Yes, 33 years after that first Christmas morning, he was mutilated and tortured before being killed on the cross. The son of God, who could have called on heaven’s entire army of angels to come down and save him, didn’t. He could have simply ascended into heaven and out of the reach of those who beat him and spit on him and mocked him.  He didn’t. Why? Because of His great love for you.

His love is unlike any we experience on earth. It is unceasing. His unconditional love does not require you to be perfect, sinless, clean, lovely, or beautiful. He knows you. He sees you. He has seen every moment of your entire life and he loves you anyway.

His blood needed to be spilled to atone for our Sin. Your Sin. He gave himself as a sacrifice so that in this life we could be in a relationship with him, and receive his comfort, his encouragement, his wisdom, his joy.  He rose from the dead so that after your inevitable death on earth, you could be raised to a new eternal life in heaven with him.

Whether you have never known the love of God or whether you have lost sight of it, I pray that you will choose to see through the wrapping paper and tinsel this Christmas, to see the real reason for this season. You… and the incredible love that God has for you.

Watch this video and listen to a beautiful song about the reason for Christmas:

"How Many Kings?" by DownHere

Things Christians Should Learn from the Phil Robertson Fallout

Things Christians Should Learn from the Phil Robertson fallout:

1.     When truth needs to be said, it needs to be said tactfully. Phil’s comments did point to scripture, but his expanded comments about anatomy appalled even me. It mistakenly assumed that homosexuality is only about the physical and nothing about the emotional. No wonder so many were offended!

If you agree with Phil that homosexuality is a sin, then you should shy away from generalized comments and approach individual cases with sensitivity, God’s truth, and compassion. Many people who live a homosexual lifestyle, evenly openly and proudly, have faced a lot of cruelty, mockery, and guilt. Some have committed suicide because the pain is too much to handle. For those (including many Christians) who have homosexual feelings, face a daily battle and we need more bible-believing Christians to love them, encourage them, and remind them of God’s power, hope, and grace. Looking at either group with disgust will never help anything.

2.     Don’t fall into the trap. Several times a year, a famous person who is outspoken about their Christian faith gets baited with the question about homosexuality or same-sex marriage from a liberal media source.  Why? Because it will enrage someone and sell more magazines. Non-famous Christians get these questions posed to them in an attempt to discredit them or to incite an argument. If the Holy Spirit has led you to give your answer, then answer with God’s truth (and nothing more or less).  All Christians are told to share God’s word with the unbelieving world on a one on one level. Only some Christians (pastors, writers, speakers) are given the proper wisdom and gifts to speak that same truth to a group of strangers. If you have a close friend who is struggling with homosexuality, then God may be trying to use you to share His love, or His grace, or His guidance with them.

3.     Stop comparing homosexuality to other sin. Yes, the bible groups this sin in with others in the passage to which Phil referred. (1 Corinthians 6:8-10; see also 1 Timothy 1:9-11). However, in this passage Paul was speaking to the bible-believing church in Corinth. They already knew the theological concept that all sin is created equal, because it is part of the sin condition that all humans inherited from their ancestors Adam and Eve which causes us to think things and do actions that separate us from God. From an eternal perspective, a glutton, a liar, an alcoholic, a murderer, a lustful man, a disobedient teen and yes, a homosexual are all at risk of not inheriting the kingdom of God (i.e. going to heaven) unless they believe in Jesus’s redeeming death and resurrection and surrender their life to his grace.  However, to someone who doesn’t know this theology or believe this theology, they only see the worldly consequences of these behaviors. Yes, murder is bad. Lies are sometimes bad. Gluttony is part of our culture and only bad when we step on the scale. Disobedience in the teen years is a healthy way of differentiating us from our parents. Lust is an outrageously successful business in the form of Victoria Secret, strip clubs and pornography.  It is horribly wrong to compare homosexuality to murderers or bestiality in the eyes of an unbeliever, so just don’t do it. And if you get backed into a corner, read the passage straight from the bible.

4.     Stop being surprised that people are offended by the bible. Remember that we are witnessing the greatest battle of all time. Satan and God are fighting a fierce fight for the souls of people around us. Many people are unknowingly being used by Satan as pawns for his tactics. Many Christians do really dumb things that actually aid their enemy. Being aware of this fact allows us to see the bigger picture so that we may actually help the Lord to save his people. Any time the word of God is spoken outside of the church, attacks will happen. Any time a celebrity starts speaking out on his faith, attacks will happen. I am guessing that simply by writing this post, I will lose several Facebook friends. There will always be consequences to speaking about God in a world run by unbelievers. Some we must accept. Others we must fight, which leads me to…

5.     Choose your battle.  I do believe that it is wrong that Christians cannot share their opinions without being silenced. When was the last time the ACLU fought for a Christian’s right to do anything? People may bash or mock Jesus Christ or his followers all they like and that is considered freedom of speech. Yet sharing our beliefs is considered hate speech. Now that is intolerance.

6.     A last warning. We are 6 days away from celebrating the birth of our savior who makes so much of the junk we face personally and socially irrelevant. This is the one time a year where even unbelievers can look at our Lord with reverence. The one time when you hear things like “God bless you” without dirty looks. The one time you hear Christian songs played on secular radio. Do not let a controversy such as this overshadow Christmas! Who needs to hear the story of Christmas in your life today?

Advent Readings, Activities and Crafts

It is December 1st and we are beginning our Advent celebration in our house. My children love when we do activities that teach about the bible. Unfortunately, it is rare that I have time to plan them and then do them with the kids. At Christmastime, there are so many ready made crafts and activities that it makes it easy. Let me share with you our favorite place for kids activities so they remember the reason we celebrate. Truth in the Tinsel has an ebook, a website, and a Facebook page that gives 24 activities the kids will love! For women, Good Morning Girls has an advent study that you can follow on their blog and Facebook page. Please share how you and yours plan to prepare for the coming of the Lord!