"XMAS"...Who Cares?

Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and
bestowed on Him the name which is above
every name, so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven
and on earth and under the earth
and that EVERY tongue will confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11

About a year after our marriage, Brian and I took a trip to his hometown of Albuquerque. We had only had a day or so at wedding time for me to visit with his family and I wanted to get to know them better. Among the family members was Grandma Lanoue, Brian's grandmother. I immediately found her to be a very interesting lady. Being a history buff, I talked to her about changes in our country she had seen in her lifetime. She spoke of horses and buggies, remembering the first airplane. It amazed her that man had gone from those humble flight beginnings to walking on the moon. She spoke of medical miracles that had occurred. She had seen presidents come and go and spoke of four wars she had lived to see. She had also seen changes in the social and moral conditions in the country and the decline in those areas. Changes in women were appalling to her and she would give examples that I won't go into. I have thought since those conversations and her passing away that today, she would really be shocked just as I am at declines I have witnessed in our country just in my own lifetime.

It took all I could do to even type the above title just now. On Facebook, I've been seeing the best of Christians downplaying the Christmas issue that has been flying through the air waves these days. Leaving the word “Christ” out of Christmas doesn't seem to be worth consideration. I've seen cute things like: “We need not think about a word or symbol...we need to think about feeding the poor, clothing the naked, etc.” Some of that will happen especially among believers. After some people have put their five dollars in the Salvation Army Kettle, then what? I'm not putting down folks who do a lot of philanthropic work. God bless them...we've got to have them and Christians should be at the forefront of such activity.

The thing that really bothers me is in these many years I've lived, I've seen the erosion of spiritual values in our country that are unbelievable. In many cases, that erosion has happened from the top...many pastors have lost their zeal and yes, guts to preach the Word of God even with raised voice. My public grade school was as close to attending a Christian school as anything I have ever known of since. We pledged to the flag and Bible and then recited in Lord's Prayer in most classrooms. If someone didn't like it, too bad, but I never heard of anyone protesting and doubt if the principal cared if they did. We had government leaders who, if not Christians, conducted themselves as if they were. Why did they do that? Because of the pressure REAL Christians brought to bear on our society. You might not like the pretense of such people...today, I'll take the pretense. Now, we have more corruption in Washington, DC than can be imagined. We have a Muslim president. For the first time in a presidency, the presidents wife doesn't have Christmas trees in the White House...they are holiday trees, breaking all tradition for more years than we can remember. Should all those things bother me...YES. There's little I can do about it, but I am to pray and so live my life that I will shine Jesus' light before others.

I'm not mad at anyone in particular, but in a situation. I am pretty disappointed in whatever Christianity we have left in our country. I realize our country is full of Godly people who won't be heard by anyone. I'm not willing to give up on us or our country for Christ, but change is not going to happen if we don't remain involved in the things of God. We fold if an atheist protests or if a person of the Islamic faith complains. What is wrong with us?

It's so odd to me that what I'm saying will be criticized, especially by CHRISTians or should I say Xians. Would that symbol (Xians) come as a great shock for us to see. That's the goal of atheists, satanists, Muslims and secularists in our country. We are slowly but surely being labeled and some trying times are coming.

As I looked at the beginning verses of this blog, I am reminded that the day will come when EVERY knee will bow at the name of Jesus. We usually think of Hitler, Lenin, murderers, etc. and think of the timing of such kneeling as being far into the future. Perhaps for some, it will be so. However, I remind us that we are a part of “EVERY knee” even if we are Christians. Not just at Christmas or Easter or any other special holiday, but it's just as appropriate for you and me to “bow the knee” now to Jesus' Lordship. I can't even imagine the influence that we could have for God in our day if such were to be done in mass.

It's not about a red cup coffee cup...it's not about the sale of “Xmas trees” or upcoming “Xmas sales.” This season isn't about “holiday shopping” or public schools' “winter breaks.” I hope we will get back to Christmas trees and Christmas sales if you know what I mean in word usage. We've moved way too far from precious traditions because of political correctness. This season has got to be about who we are in Christ and Who He is. His name is too precious to be discarded. This precious season isn't about an “X”...it's about Jesus.

Dear Father, forgive my lack of courage in standing for You when I should have and didn't. In our day, may we Christians have an awareness of Satan's ploys and our need to stand firm for Your principles. Help us all to be willing to stand for something or we will find ourselves falling for anything no matter the season of the year. In Jesus' precious name....Amen