Battle over coastal Xmas display goes to LA court By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Damon Vix didn’t have to go to court to push Christmas out of the city of Santa Monica. He just joined the festivities.

The atheist’s anti-God message alongside a life-sized nativity display in a park overlooking the beach ignited a debate that burned brighter than any Christmas candle.

Santa Monica officials snuffed the city’s holiday tradition this year rather than referee the religious rumble, prompting churches that have set up a 14-scene Christian diorama for decades to sue over freedom of speech violations. Their attorney will ask a federal judge Monday to resurrect the depiction of Jesus’ birth, while the city aims to eject the case.

“It’s a sad, sad commentary on the attitudes of the day that a nearly 60-year-old Christmas tradition is now having to hunt for a home, something like our savior had to hunt for a place to be born because the world was not interested,” said Hunter Jameson, head of the nonprofit Santa Monica Nativity Scene Committee that is suing.

Missing from the courtroom drama will be Vix and his fellow atheists, who are not parties to the case. Their role outside court highlights a tactical shift as atheists evolve into a vocal minority eager to get their non-beliefs into the public square as never before.

National atheist groups earlier this year took out full-page newspaper ads and hundreds of TV spots in response to the Catholic bishops’ activism around women’s health care issues and are gearing up to battle for their own space alongside public Christmas displays in small towns across America this season.

“In recent years, the tactic of many in the atheist community has been, if you can’t beat them, join them,” said Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center and director of the Newseum’s Religious Freedom Education Project in Washington. “If these church groups insist that these public spaces are going to be dominated by a Christian message, we’ll just get in the game — and that changes everything.”

In the past, atheists primarily fought to uphold the separation of church and state through the courts. The change underscores the conviction held by many nonbelievers that their views are gaining a foothold, especially among young adults.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released a study last month that found 20 percent of Americans say they have no religious affiliation, an increase from 15 percent in the last five years. Atheists took heart from the report, although Pew researchers stressed that the category also encompassed majorities of people who said they believed in God but had no ties with organized religion and people who consider themselves “spiritual” but not “religious.”

“We’re at the bottom of the totem pole socially, but we have muscle and we’re flexing it,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation. “Ignore our numbers at your peril.”

The trouble in Santa Monica began three years ago, when Vix applied for and was granted a booth in Palisades Park alongside the story of Jesus Christ’s birth, from Mary’s visit from the Angel Gabriel to the traditional crèche.

Vix hung a simple sign that quoted Thomas Jefferson: “Religions are all alike — founded on fables and mythologies.” The other side read “Happy Solstice.” He repeated the display the following year but then upped the stakes significantly.

In 2011, Vix recruited 10 others to inundate the city with applications for tongue-in-cheek displays such as a homage to the “Pastafarian religion,” which would include an artistic representation of the great Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The secular coalition won 18 of 21 spaces. The two others went to the traditional Christmas displays and one to a Hanukkah display.

The atheists used half their spaces, displaying signs such as one that showed pictures of Poseidon, Jesus, Santa Claus and the devil and said: “37 million Americans know myths when they see them. What myths do you see?”

Most of the signs were vandalized and in the ensuing uproar, the city effectively ended a tradition that began in 1953 and earned Santa Monica one of its nicknames, the City of the Christmas Story.

The Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee argues in its lawsuit that atheists have the right to protest, but that freedom doesn’t trump the Christians’ right to free speech.

“If they want to hold an opposing viewpoint about the celebration of Christmas, they’re free to do that — but they can’t interfere with our right to engage in religious speech in a traditional public forum,” said William Becker, attorney for the committee. “Our goal is to preserve the tradition in Santa Monica and to keep Christmas alive.”

The city doesn’t prohibit churches from caroling in the park, handing out literature or even staging a play about the birth of Jesus and churches can always set up a nativity on private land, Deputy City Attorney Jeanette Schachtner said in an email.

The decision to ban the displays also saves the city, which had administered the cumbersome lottery process used to award booths, both time and money while preserving the park’s aesthetics, she said.

For his part, Vix is surprised — and slightly amused — at the legal battle spawned by his solitary act but doesn’t plan anything further.

“That was such a unique and blatant example of the violation of the First Amendment that I felt I had to act,” said the 44-year-old set builder. “If I had another goal, it would be to remove the `under God’ phrase from the Pledge of Allegiance — but that’s a little too big for me to take on for right now.”

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and religion, but also states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” That has been interpreted by courts as providing for separation of church and state, barring government bodies from promoting, endorsing or funding religion or religious institutions.

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CDA2KIIUG0%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011&page=1

Yearning for His Coming: Advent Is Soon Upon Us By Eric Metaxas , Christian Post Guest Columnist

You’ve no doubt heard of “Black Friday,” the day after  Thanksgiving that features, along with countless sales, the more-than-occasional  trampling of shoppers by their frenzied peers.

In many ways, “Black Friday” has become a bigger deal than Thanksgiving. So  much so that many major retailers have announced that they are opening their  doors on Thursday.

The hope is that the possibility of buying something you don’t really need  for a little less than you would pay a few weeks later will help people work off  the turkey and pumpkin pie and get down to some serious Christmas shopping.

The problem is that it isn’t Christmas yet-at least not for Christians.

The weeks leading up to Christmas day are properly called Advent in Western  Christianity, from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming.”[i]

Adventus was the Latin translation of the Greek word parousia, which the New  Testament most often used to refer to Jesus’ second coming. In antiquity,  parousia was usually associated with the arrival of royalty: the leaders of a  city went outside the city gates to meet the Emperor and escort him back into  the city.

Thus, for the Christian, Advent is about preparing to greet our King. And it  is a time for both looking back to Jesus’ first coming and looking forward to  His second coming in glory.

Like Lent, Advent is a penitential season, a time for reflection and  repentance. If we’re honest with ourselves, what Titus 2 calls “our blessed  hope-the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus  Christ,”-should provoke both joy and a bit of dread. It’s a time for asking  ourselves whether we truly are “a people that are [Christ's] very own, eager to  do what is good.”

If this doesn’t put you in the mood for shopping, well, congratulations! You  are starting to “get” Advent.

The other emotion associated with Advent is yearning. Specifically, yearning  for God to fulfill His promises to His people and to set right what has gone  terribly wrong.

This yearning permeates perhaps the greatest of all Advent hymns, “O Come, O  Come Emmanuel.” It’s a paraphrase of parts of the liturgy dating back to at  least the Middle Ages. Each verse invokes biblical titles for Christ-Emmanuel,  Root of Jesse, Day Spring, etc.-and then rehearses why His people yearn for His  presence among them.

Another Advent hymn, “Creator of the Stars of Night,” which dates from the  seventh century, captures the season’s emphasis on both Christ’s first and  second comings. After expressing the yearning at the heart of the season, it  proclaims “Thou, grieving that the ancient curse, should doom to death a  universe, hast found the medicine, full of grace, to save and heal a ruined  race.”

It then goes on to say, “At whose dread Name, majestic now, all knees must  bend, all hearts must bow; and things celestial Thee shall own, and things  terrestrial Lord alone.”

There’s a lot going on in these hymns, which is why my colleague John  Stonestreet has produced a marvelous DVD and CD teaching series on the hymns of  Advent. It’s called “He Has Come,” and contains John’s “Two-Minute Warning”  videos, study guide by T. M. Moore, “BreakPoint” commentaries by Chuck Colson on  Advent, and a bonus CD with some of the great Advent hymns. We have it for you  at BreakPoint.org. I hope you get a copy for you and your family.

This year, Advent begins on Sunday, December 2nd. Embrace the season! But  whatever you do, do not let the culture define this most Christian of times for you.  That would be a truly black Friday.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/yearning-for-his-coming-advent-is-soon-upon-us-85076/#S1xpUUdKM7s7tWDs.99

Hey, You in the Corner

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

I’ve always been intrigued by the nursery rhyme about Little Jack Horner. At first blush it seems rather cute and innocent. But on further reflection, there is something seriously wrong. The closing line describes the self-congratulating boy with his plum-covered thumb held high saying, “What a good boy am I!” But if he is all that good, what is he doing in a corner? As I recall, it’s bad boys who get sent to sit in a corner. And all the pictures that I remember have him sitting there with a whole pie on his lap. I have never known a mother to give her kid a whole pie! It’s conceivable that he stole it from the kitchen. And if you don’t like my take on the story, then I need to ask you: What is he doing with his fingers in the food breaking every social standard of good eating habits? Then to top it off, he finds a plum in the pie (what did he expect from a Christmas plum pie?) and lifts it high, giving himself the credit for finding the plum. The least he could have done was to shout the praises of his mom for buying the plums and then baking them into the pie!

But before we are too hard on Jack, let’s take a good look at ourselves. Compared to a lot of people, we feel pretty good about ourselves. It’s easy to feel self-congratulatory about a lot of things. But in reality the applause is undeserved. Scripture affirms what we already know. When we are honest with ourselves, we have to agree with what God says when He claims that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We are not intrinsically good. Oh, we may do good things now and then, but at the core we are fallen and sinful. We are born with the curse of sin, and we can’t help ourselves. Which is why, when we finally do something good, we become proud and turn the good deed into an occasion to celebrate ourselves.

From God’s point of view, we are in the corner for a reason. And in spite of our self-congratulatory ways, we find ourselves with far too much pie on our lap and with our fingers in the food too often!

Most serious, however, is our tendency to take the credit for our abilities and accomplishments when the credit belongs to God. Let’s face it—and I want to be gentle here—we would be nothing if God had not given us our brains, the opportunities to succeed, the cleverness to stay ahead of the curve in the marketplace, and, for some, the physical features to turn a head now and then! All that we are and have comes from Him. As James reminds us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). But there we are, forgetting all of this and with raised hand showing off all that God has provided for us, taking the credit for it as we boldly proclaim, “What a good boy am I!”

It’s a serious thing to rob God of the glory that is due His name (Isaiah 48:11). So let’s determine that we will tactfully give God the credit for all that we are and are able to do. If He’s been good to you (and He has), get out of the corner and let your world know who it was that put the plum on your thumb!

YOUR JOURNEY…

• In what ways can you identify with Little Jack Horner? Is there an act of sin, or even a pattern of sin, that you have felt proud of?
• To get the full context of Paul’s advice to glorify God in everything we do, read 1 Corinthians 10:23-31. Is there a personal conviction you need to set aside in order to be a help and encouragement to a fellow believer?
• Think about the things God has given you—your brain, your talents, your family—and take the time to praise Him specifically for each of those things. Then take it one step further and ask Him to help you use those things for His glory and not your own.

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/hey-you-in-the-corner/

1965: ‘If I Were the Devil’ (Warning for a Nation) – Paul Harvey

This speech was broadcast by legendary ABC Radio commentator Paul Harvey on  April 3, 1965:

If I were the Devil . . . I mean, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I would of course, want to engulf the whole earth in darkness. I would have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree, so I should set about however necessary to take over the United States. I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.” “Do as you please.”   To the young, I would whisper, “The Bible is a myth.” I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is “square”.  In the ears of the young marrieds, I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you. I would caution them not to be extreme in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct. And the old, I would teach to pray. I would teach them to say after me: “Our Father, which art in Washington” . . .

If I were the devil, I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull an uninteresting. I’d threaten T.V. with dirtier movies and vice versa. And then, if I were the devil, I’d get organized. I’d infiltrate unions and urge more loafing and less work, because idle hands usually work for me. I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. And I’d tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine yound intellects but neglect to discipline emotions . . . let those run wild. I would designate an athiest to front for me before the highest courts in the land and I would get preachers to say “she’s right.” With flattery and promises of power, I could get the courts to rule what I construe as against God and in favor of pornography, and  thus, I would evict God from the courthouse, and then from the school house, and then from the houses of Congress and then, in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and I would deify science because that way men would become smart enough to create super weapons but not wise enough to control them.

If I were Satan, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg, and the symbol of Christmas, a bottle. If  I were the devil, I would take from those who have and I would give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And then, my police state would force everybody back to work. Then, I could separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal mines, and objectors in slave camps. In other words, if I were Satan, I’d just keep on doing what he’s doing.

Paul Harvey, Good Day.

http://www.americandecency.org/full_article.php?article_no=1570

Object Lesson: You are a Thank You Card by Kristin Charles

The following object lesson can be used in a children’s church setting, an elementary chapel, an Awana message, or a Sunday School.  It is designed for students from kindergarten through sixth grade.  The premise of the message is that we should live our lives as “Thank You Cards” written to God.

How many of you have ever written a thank you note before?  How many of you had your parents make you write that thank you note?  (Good for them!)

Do you remember what kind of things you were thankful for?  Was it crazy socks you got from your birthday party or a ten dollar bill you got from your Great Aunt Wilma for Christmas or a book from your teacher?  Did you ever write a thank you note for something special that you did with someone, like go out for pizza or ice skating or to an amusement park?

Does anyone know what you say in a thank you note, besides thank you?  Invite responses. Usually, most thank you notes sound like this:

Dear Heather,

Thank you for taking me camping with your family.  I had so much fun!  It’s hard for me to decide what my favorite part of the weekend was.  It could have been eating s’mores or swimming in the lake or giggling over your dad’s snoring.  Wasn’t it funny when that raccoon scared us or when the tent fell on our heads?  I laughed so hard.  Thanks for taking me.  I can’t wait till we go again!

Your friend, Me

So besides just saying thank you, you tell the person why you loved something and what it meant to you.  If you got a gift, you may say how you’re going to use it.

Okay, next question.  How many of you have ever gotten a thank you note?  How did that thank you note make you feel?  I don’t know about you, but I love thank you notes!  It’s kind of cool to know that someone notices a gift that you got them.

Or maybe, someone says thank you for just being you.  It might be something as simple as a note on a napkin that says, “Thank you for making me smile!”  If I got that note on a napkin – even if there was ketchup or hot fudge on it or something out of your nose (don’t get any ideas now!), I think I would keep that napkin forever.  That thank you napkin would make me happy every time I saw it.

Now let’s turn this talk over to God.  What can we be thankful to God for today?  Let’s think about all that God has done for us.  In Psalm 126:3, it says, “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.”  Let’s shout out some of those great things He has done.  I’ll begin.  I thank God for __________, ___________, and _____________.  Invite student responses for as long as you can.  Let this time be an anthem of thanks.  Continue to supply your own thanks also.

As we just heard, God has done great things for us and we can be filled with joy!  God has been so good to us.  Most of all, He has given us our Savior Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins.  He has given us incredible life in Him and because of Him.  But He has also given us so much more.  He’s given us ice cream, tree frogs, patience, and thumbs. Have you ever tried to do anything without your thumbs?  Try it today.  It’s nearly impossible!  He’s given us our legs to run, a painted sky, and the ability to forgive others.  Substitute your own random thanks. Don’t you kind of wish we could write Him a thank you note for all He has done?  Here’s the thing.

We can.

Hold up a card and envelope. Now it’s not the kind of thank you note that gets stuffed in an envelope, licked, stamped, and addressed.  It’s not the kind where you even need to take out a pen.  It is the kind of thank you note that looks just like you though.  And you, and you, and you, and you, and all of us and me.

We can be a thank you note.

Why should we obey God’s word?  Why should we do what He says?  Why should we love Him?  It’s not just to keep us out of trouble.  It’s not just because it’s what is best for us.  It’s not just because our parents have said so. It’s certainly not so that everyone can see how good we are.

We obey God so that our lives can be a thank you note back to Him.  It’s our way of saying thanks.  What would our lives look like as thank you notes?  If we are saying thanks, can we at the same time be complaining?  If we are really saying thanks for all that He has done, will we always want more stuff or will we be content?  If we are living lives of thanks, can we keep hurting others, whom He has made?

If we are really thankful for what He has done, how does that make us different?  Invite responses. How can we be a thank you note to God this week?  In your life, what needs to change?  If I am to be a thank you note this week, I’ll be honest with you.  I’m going to need to work on _____________.

Think about what you need to work on this week.  What sin in your life do you need to get rid of?  In the quietness of prayer, let’s go to God and ask for forgiveness.  Let’s also ask the Holy Spirit to help us to change us from the inside out.

How cool would it be to bombard heaven with our thank you notes this week; the thank you notes of us.  Let’s do just that!  I think I’m already seeing God smile now.  Ready.  Set.  Go!

The idea of Christ followers living lives as “Thank You Notes” was first generated by Dr. Kara Powell.  I loved the illustration so much that I expanded it into this lesson.

http://ministry-to-children.com/thank-you-object-lesson/

Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town

One afternoon I stopped by the bank to make a few deposits. I was in a rush and needed to get in and out as soon as possible. I had places to go and things I had to do. I picked the worst possible time of day and the worst day of the week to do my banking. But I had been out of town and needed to catch up on errands before the weekend began.

There was only one teller working and the line was about fifteen people deep. After waiting patiently, I got close to the front of the line. Looking back at the dozen or so people who had entered the line after me, I was relieved that the wait was almost over. Unfortunately, the elderly woman who was making a deposit was requiring a lot more assistance than the others who had gone before her.

She must have been 85 years old. She held a cane in one hand and wore a thick pair of glasses that were visible only after she peeled away her sunglasses. They were the kind of sunglasses that fit over her regular glasses and were big enough to block harmful rays from even the nastiest of solar eclipses. They were the kind that retirees used to wear to watch shuttle launches in south Florida. The kind people older people wear when they are consumed by practicality and no longer care as much about fashion.

When she was finally finished with her transaction, she started to make small talk with the teller behind the counter. She did not seem to notice that there were so many people in line behind her. The teller smiled and nodded at everything she said. The old lady told her she reminded her of her daughter. Then she asked the teller whether she had children. She just kept making conversation while the young woman behind the counter provided her with full and undivided attention. She seemed to feel sorry for her. It was as if she appreciated sitting where she was rather than occupying the elderly woman’s shoes.

But there was a younger man in the line who did not feel the same sympathy for the old woman. He glared impatiently at the teller as if to say that she should tell the elderly woman she was holding up the line. He even held out one of his hands and waved at the teller. He was signaling that he had been waiting long enough and that it was time his needs were met. But the teller kept nodding politely and giving the elderly woman her undivided attention.

Someone should have said something to the younger man who was so impatient. He should have understood why the elderly woman was clinging on to the conversation with the young teller. It was probably more than a reminder of her children. More likely, it was a reminder that she had not seen them or talked to them in quite some time.

As soon as she finished talking to the teller, the elderly woman walked out of the bank and headed across the parking lot towards her car. She was walking slowly and labored with every step as she leaned upon her cane for support. She had no one to help her. No husband. No son. No daughter. There was nothing to lean on but a cane.

The younger man who had been so impatient with her needed to hear my pastor talk about the time our church went caroling at the old folks’ home about a year and a half ago. He needed to hear the stories of the elderly people whose lives had been enriched by hearing songs sung to them by people who had never met them before. He needed to hear that elderly people are a treasure and not an inconvenience.

Of course, my pastor was not there to tell him. But I was in the bank that day. In case you haven’t figured it out, the impatient man in the line was me.

I should have dropped what I was doing and given the woman a hand as she made her way across the parking lot. I should have made plans to go back to the retirement home to spend a few hours of visitation. Like you, I probably won’t make it back until Christmas. I have places to go and things I have to do.

Mike Adams

Mike Adams is a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and author of Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts “Womyn” On Campus.

http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2012/04/27/elderly_woman_behind_the_counter_in_a_small_town/page/full/

Who Gets The Credit?

I’ve always been puzzled by the nursery rhyme “Little Jack Horner”: Little Jack Horner sat in the corner, eating a Christmas pie; he put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum, and said, “What a good boy am I!”

It seems rather odd that Jack is sitting in the corner with his plum- covered thumb held high, and saying, “What a good boy am I!” It’s usually bad boys who are sent to the corner for punishment. It seems he’s trying to draw unwarranted attention to himself and is wanting credit for the pie.

We naturally want to draw attention to ourselves, to show off our accomplishments and abilities. Sometimes we think that life is all about us. But living like that is self-delusion at its worst. In reality, our sinfulness has put us “in the corner,” from God’s point of view. Thankfully, Paul’s testimony gives us the right perspective. In spite of his impressive credentials, he gladly surrendered to the supremacy of Jesus: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:7). Paul admitted that in order to “gain Christ” (v.8), he had to lay all of his trophies down.

So, give Jesus Christ the braggin’ rights of your life. Or, as Paul put it, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31)—not in yourself!

Lord, You are the One who is high and lofty. I give myself today to the purpose of pointing others to You, for who You are and what You do. You deserve all praise.

We are nothing without Jesus, so give Him the credit.

http://odb.org/2012/04/17/who-gets-the-credit-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+odb%2Ffeed+%28Our+Daily+Bread%29

Christian Persecution

According to CNS News, the Britain’s Government is gearing up to appear in the European Court of Human Rights to argue the case that employers can compel Christians to keep their crosses out of view while on the job. The case essentially hinges on the notion that wearing a cross or crucifix is not an expression of faith, nor is it a requirement to be a Christian, such as wearing a turban or a hijab.

Personally, I believe that if your faith requires or even moves you to wear a turban or hijab, then by all means wear that which speaks to your faith. I also happen to believe the same thing about crosses and crucifixes.

Despite the usual Christmas furor over crèches and trees; despite crosses honoring State Troopers who have fallen in the line of duty being taken down, and despite ABC’s latest offering of “Good Christian B*****s” for the moment, Christianity is still standing in the United States.

Consider the following from persecution.com:

Consider a priest in Egypt who was sentenced this month to six months in jail and whose church was torched. The reason? The building ended up being two point five meters higher than in the architectural plan. Coptic Christians in Egypt marched in protest, and were fired upon by counter protestors. More casualties were caused when soldiers ran over the some demonstrators with riot control vehicles.

In Iran, Christians are routinely arrested in their homes. Converts there must worship in private homes, since leaving Islam is against Iranian law. Christians who are arrested are interrogated, detained, and pushed to renounce their faith. Authorities seized the one woman’s deed to her home, her bank account numbers, and other belongings. Families do not know what has become of those who have been arrested.

In North Korea, some 30 thousand of the 200 thousand political prisoners there are Christian.

On Christmas Day of last year, Li Ying, who is a Christian journalist and activist was released from prison after serving 12 years of a 15 year sentence in China. Her crime? Publishing an underground Christian magazine. If 15 years sounds harsh, keep in mind the original sentence was death.

In places like Egypt, the African sub-continent, Saudi Arabia and even parts of the Philippines, Christian churches are bombed or burnt; Christians are murdered or must live as second class citizens. Their property and lives forfeit at any moment.  In some of these countries, Christian women endure sexual abuse and forced conversions to Islam.

Christians are one of the most persecuted groups in the world and yet it goes unreported day in and day out. Mainly because Christians do not have the support of the mainstream media outlets across the globe. It is not “in” right now in many circles to be a follower of Christ.

As frustrated as Christians in the United States find themselves they face nowhere near the hardships as their brothers and sisters across the globe. But if they do not stand with them and with each other, the death and persecution of even one Christian no matter how remote the corner of the globe in which it occurs diminishes us all.

Lincoln Brown

Lincoln Brown is the Program Director at KVEL Radio in Vernal, Utah. He hosts “The Lincoln Brown Show” Mondays through Fridays from 8-9 AM.

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/lincolnbrown/2012/03/17/christian_persecution/page/full/

The Spirit Of Christmas

The acts of generosity and good will that flourish in December often fade quickly, causing many to say, “I wish we could keep the Christmas spirit all year long.” Why does it seem that kindness and compassion are chained to the calendar? Is there an ever-flowing fountain of compassion deeper than warm holiday feelings that pass with the season?

In the first two chapters of Luke, it is striking that the Holy Spirit is mentioned seven times. His work is cited in the lives of the unborn John the Baptist (1:15), Mary (1:35), Elizabeth (1:41), Zacharias (1:67), and Simeon (2:25-27). Here, in what we often call “the Christmas story,” there is no mention of people having something just come to mind or of feeling strangely moved. Instead, the Holy Spirit is identified as the One who guided Simeon, filled Zacharias and Elizabeth, and created the baby in Mary’s womb.

Do we, like them, recognize the Spirit’s voice in the midst of all others? Are we alert to His promptings and eager to obey? Will we allow His warmth and love to fill our hearts and flow through our hands?

Today, the presence and power of Christ remain with us through the Holy Spirit, who is the true, eternal Spirit of Christmas—all year long.

http://odb.org/2012/02/01/the-spirit-of-christmas/

 

Let the fullness of Thy Spirit Fall upon us here this hour. How we need a new anointing Of the Holy Ghost and power. —Jarvis

Jesus went away so the Spirit could come to stay.