Most Popular Christmas Films Leave Christ Out

No matter what they have to say here below, let’s all remember the real reason for Christmas is Jesus Christ.  If it wasn’t for God sending His only Son here to earth, to save die on the cross for a world of sin, we would all be forever lost, and doomed to hell.  Christmas is just the beginning of the gift God gave us, and he finished it with Christ dying on the cross, and rising on the third day, as He said He would.  Afterward, ascending to the Heavenly Father, to be our advocate, so we could forever have a mediator to speak on our behalf.  Let’s not forget to thank God for His wonderful gift this Christmas.  I know I am forever thankful!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

 

Some people feel Christmas just isn’t Christmas without Christ, but apparently not many. If one were to rank the importance of Christ in Christmas based on popular Christmas films, sadly it would rank very low as the top 10 grossing Christmas films reveal.

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  “The Santa Clause 3″

It may be hard to find a movie depicting the true meaning of Christmas as romance and Santa Claus have dominated the big screens for the past decade.

According to a list of the “10 Highest Grossing Christmas Movies of All-Time,” compiled by Yahoo! News, none of the films has a Christ-centered theme.

These highly profitable films are listed below:

10. Christmas With the Kranks (2004)

9. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

8. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)

7. Four Christmases (2008)

6. A Christmas Carol (2009)

5. The Santa Clause 2 (2006)

4. The Santa Clause (1994)

3. Elf (2003)

2. The Polar Express (2004)

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Hollywood isn’t the only one dismissing the “Christ” in Christmas but many television networks have adopted a similar model.

ABC’s popular “25 Days of Christmas” series lacks any Christ-centered Christmas films along with the Hallmark Channel’s new Christmas movies.

It seems that many are capitalizing on including “Christmas” in their titles while excluding Jesus

http://www.christianpost.com/news/are-there-any-christmas-movies-about-christ-left-64299/

Would You Attend a Same-Sex Wedding?

Would you attend a same-sex wedding ceremony? That question was posed recently to Houston pastor Joel Osteen, and Osteen said that he would attend, if the wedding involved friends. This came just after Osteen indicated that he could not perform a same-sex marriage ceremony, since he believes that homosexuality is a sin.

I recently wrote about this exchange, suggesting that Osteen’s position is morally and theologically incoherent. As I said:

This is beyond mere incoherence. It is moral and theological nonsense.  More than that, it is a massive statement of ministerial malpractice. . . .  You cannot celebrate what  you say you know to be sin. You cannot honestly say that same-sex  marriage defies the law of God, and then join in the celebration of that  ceremony.

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In recent days, Uri Scaramanga of “Out of Ur” and Leadership magazine posed the question to readers, using my comments as a point of reference. The question: “Is Al Mohler right? Is attending a same-sex marriage ceremony the same  as performing one? Is it ministerial malpractice? What would you do?”

The responses to that question are revealing. I did not, however, argue that attending a same-sex marriage ceremony is the same as performing one. I did say — and I repeat — that it is incoherent and inconsistent to refuse to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony, and then to attend one.

The reason for this is deeply rooted in the nature and history of the wedding ceremony. The presence of witnesses at a marriage ceremony affirms the righteous nature of the union. The ceremony then becomes an occasion of shared joy and celebration.

The traditional Christian ceremony, as reflected in The Book of Common Prayer, asks if anyone present knows of any reason why the couple should not be joined in holy matrimony. That is not intended as a hypothetical question. It is intended to ensure that no one present knows of any reason that the union should not be solemnized, recognized, and celebrated.

To put the matter straightforwardly, any Christian who knows that same-sex marriage violates God’s Law and purpose for marriage knows — and cannot act as if he or she does not know — that a same-sex couple should not be joined in holy matrimony. To remain silent at that point is to abdicate theological and biblical responsibility. Even if the question is not formally asked in the ceremony, the issue remains. We cannot celebrate what we know to be wrong.

Given time, no church, no family, and no individual Christian will escape this question. This will lead, unquestionably, to hard decisions and awkward situations. The time to think about this question is now.

I will pose the question just as it is posed at “Out of Ur” by Uri Scaramanga: What would you do?

http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/10/18/would-you-attend-a-same-sex-wedding/

Be Jesus-Full

I have been and always will be doggedly suspicious of pastors who rarely (or never) mention Jesus.
John Piper says, “What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ.”
We ministers of the gospel — and Christians at large — can fumble this commission in three main ways:
1. We speak in vague spiritual generalities. Love. Hope. Peace. Joy. Harmony. Blessings. All disembodied from the specific atoning work of the incarnate Jesus and exalted Lord. It all sounds nice. It’s all very inspirational. And it’s rubbish. He himself is our peace. He himself is love. He himself is life. He does not make life better. He is life. Any pastor who talks about the virtues of faith, hope, and love, with Jesus as some implied tangential source, is not feeding his flock well.
2. We speak Christ as moral exemplar. We tell people to be nice because Jesus was nice. We tell them to be sweet because Jesus was sweet, good because Jesus was good, hard-working because Jesus was hard-working, loving because Jesus was loving. This is all well and good, but you could substitute “Mother Theresa” or even “Oprah” for “Jesus” and essentially have the same message.
3. We avoid the real problem — sin — and therefore either ignore the real solution — the cross — or confuse its meaning. In many churches, not only is sin never mentioned — because it hurts people’s feelings or what-have-you — the cross is rarely mentioned. And when the cross is mentioned, because we don’t want to talk about sin, it becomes instead the great affirmation of our special-ness, rather than the great punishment for our unholiness. The cross becomes not the intersection of God‘s justice and mercy but the symbol of God’s positive feelings about our undeniable lovability.
In all of these instances, and others, people are inspired and enthused, but they are moved about God’s recognition of their own awesomeness, not about the glories of Christ. The capacity is enlarged with our growing self-esteem.
Even angels long to gaze into the life-giving riches of the gospel of grace. We prefer to drink deeply from the well into which we’re gazing — our navels.
Pastors, inspiration sells. But only Jesus transforms.

http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/2011/12/be-jesus-full.html

The Daily Spurgeon: Keep Preaching the Blood

The Daily Spurgeon: Keep Preaching the Blood.

Seeing the Hand of God in It

“Lord, open his eyes so he may see.”                                 2Ki 6:17 NIV

The Bible records: “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh, my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those are who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (vv.15-17 NIV). By God’s power, the servant saw angels. And God can help you to see His hand at work in what you’re going through today. He never promises to remove us from our struggles, but He promises to change the way we look at them. After listing many of his problems, Paul writes: “In all these things we have complete victory through God” (Ro 8:35-37 GNT). We’d prefer another preposition. We’d opt for “apart from all these things,” but Paul says, “In all these things.” The solution is not to avoid trouble, but to change the way we see it. God asks, “Who gives a person sight?” Then answers, “It is I, the Lord” (See Ex 4:11). God let Elisha’s servant see an army of angels, Jacob see a ladder that went into heaven, and Saul of Tarsus see Jesus on the road toDamascus. The blind man said to Jesus, “I want to see” (Mk 10:51 NIV), and he walked away with clear vision. Today ask God to let you see His hand in it.

http://theencouragingword.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/seeing-the-hand-of-god-in-it/

What Friends Do · Max Lucado

What Friends Do · Max Lucado.

Risky Business

Risky Business.

Advent Reflection on Waiting with Joy by Mark D. Roberts

Zephaniah 3:14-20

On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be,     “Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid! For the LORD your God is living among you.     He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness.     With his love, he will calm all your fears.     He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

Zephaniah 3:16-17

Today is the third Saturday in Advent, a season of preparation for celebrating the birth of the Savior. The main mood of Advent is one of serious hope. It’s a time more of quiet longing than loud celebration. But many Christians let the third Sunday of Advent be a time of joy. Even as we remember how the Jews waited for the coming of the Messiah, and even as we wait for his second coming, we remember and wait with joy, because we know how the story ends. Christ was born! Christ is coming again! There will be a time when God will wipe away every tear, when the lion will lie down with the lamb, when implements of war will be turned into tools for harvesting. Thus we rejoice even as we wait with hope.

The prophet Zephaniah brought a word of hope to Israel. The day would come when God would live among his people. He would be their savior and delight in them. The Lord himself would rejoice over his people with joyful songs. What a great vision of the future! Wouldn’t you love to see God singing with joy over his people…over you?!

As you celebrate Advent today, allow yourself to reflect on the vision of Zephaniah. Consider what it would be like to hear God rejoicing over you with joyful songs. Think of what it would be like to live in the light of this vision.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Do you think of God as taking delight in you with gladness? Why or why not? What would it be like to hear God sing a joyful song over you? How might it transform your life?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, sometimes it is hard to wait for you. Waiting can be serious stuff, especially when we are in the midst of loss or pain or confusion. We yearn for you to heal us, to restore our relationships, and to finish your good work in us. Moreover, we ache for you to mend this broken world. Our hearts desire the new creation, when children will no longer die from hunger, when people will no longer kill each other, when oppression will be shattered by your justice.

Yet even in our aching for your new work yet to come, we wait with joy. Our hope will be fulfilled because our hope is in you. The new creation is coming. Christ will return to reign. Your kingdom will one day be fully here. And in that day, you will rejoice over us, and we will get to experience it. What a wonder that will be!

So, dear Lord, in this serious season of Advent, we pause to rejoice in you, because you are our God, our King, our Savior, the Lover of our Souls. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/advent-reflection-waiting-joy

Tozer Devotional-The Ark Analogy

The Ark Analogy

Third, the church is depicted as an ark on the flood waters. As the ark of Noah floated on the waters and contained all who would be salvaged, so the church of Jesus Christ is an ark on the flood waters and contains all who will be salvaged. Remember that! All in the ark are saved, and all outside the ark perish. All around us is a perishing world, and we float on top of it in a little ark called the church. All that are not in the church–the ark–will perish. You say, “Now hold on a minute. Do you mean to say that if you don’t join the Avenue Road Church, you will be lost?” No, but what I do say is that the church is the ark containing the ransomed, and inside the ark is life. Outside the living church of Christ are the lost. Inside are the saved. You are not saved by joining a church, which is a mistake local churches make. The animals all came into Noah’s ark by the door. Christ is the door to the church, and whoever will be saved must come in by the door. There is no other ark on the flood. Suppose someone said, “Well, hold on a minute. Don’t be so narrow-minded. Let’s be tolerant. We do not want to get in Noah’s ark; we want an ark of our own.” Well, there weren’t any other arks on the flood. It was either get into Noah’s ark or perish. A few got into Noah’s ark, and God preserved the race. In the church of Christ, God is salvaging a small number from the flood. A fatal error is the independent life–to say that you are a Christian, but you don’t associate with any churches. You are a Christian, but you don’t feel the necessity to join a church. It is true that there are hypocrites in the church–not in the true church, but in the local assembly. Even Jesus had His Judas. The local assembly and the true church of Christ are sometimes not synonymous.

http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=393

The+Offering+of+the+Natural

The+Offering+of+the+Natural.