As my wife and I seek out light displays, we are struck by the fact that they are almost all lights and no message. Fifty years ago when my wife and I would drive around, most decorated yards had a theme of some kind relating to Christmas, whether religious or secular. We were often amused by unusual displays like Santa riding a rocket ship or cartoon characters around a decorated Christmas tree. Most people who decorate today put up light displays to make something pretty to look at, but the light displays provide only a momentary relief from the growing darkness all around us. It cannot dispel the darkness in our souls. Christmas was started on the shortest day (longest night) of the year to remind us that Christ came to dwell among us when things were at their darkest in order to bring new life into our lives. As you put up your lights this year, think about putting in a display, even a simple one, to tell people that there is more to Christmas then artificial lights. I have made a little booklet with patterns for the elements of a manger scene that can be expanded to paint on a board, cut out figures to prop up in the yard or cover over a large glass window with silhouettes cut out and covered with tissue paper so the light in the room makes the figures visible to those outside. As life becomes more difficult, people are searching for hope. Many people offer false promises of hope but they cannot deliver. Jesus offers the hope that will deliver. Advent begins the celebrations of what we believe. Follow me through the year on a journey to eternal life as we explore all the major beliefs of the Christian church.
First Sunday of Advent-Dec 3
The Lord, Our Shepherd Gathers-(Isaiah 66:18) God refers to His people as sheep who have been scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. He said He would gather His people. Even if 99 out of 100 are safe, He will seek out the one that is lost until He finds it and brings it safely home. Christmas is a time when family and friends gather to celebrate the holiday. Those who do not know Christ celebrate Christmas because it is a time to get together as a family and get gifts and everyone likes to get gifts but those who know Christ have more reason to celebrate Christmas. It is a time when we remember that people, like sheep had gone astray. Christ came to gather His people and break down the barriers that divide us and prevent us from coming into Christ’s presence. It is celebrated on the darkest day of the year to remind us that the Light has come into the midst of our darkness and we should seek opportunities to tell those who are still lost and wandering in darkness so that we can help them return to God.
Video-Intro to Advent
Christmas reminds us that Christ has come to redeem the World. Once a believer recognizes Christ as their Savior, they begin their journey to becoming a disciple. Advent begins the Christian calendar and should begin the church’s teaching that should lead them on that journey. Follow me through the seasons as we cover the major teachings of the church.
Freedom of Religion-B-V
We are in a cultural war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. While liberals try to tell you that they just want equal time to express their beliefs, it is a lie. While they tell you they want to take all religion out of the schools, that is also a lie. While their religion is not organized like Christianity or Islam, their beliefs are as much a religion as anyone else’s religion. They believe in a god, they believe that they are the god and supreme ruler of their universe. They have a belief in a reason for their existence and the existence of everything around them, they believe it all happened by accidental occurrences down through history. They have a belief in what will happen when we die, they believe we will simply cease to exist. Their “religion” is very similar to the existential religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and similar religions. They are seeking to replace your religion with theirs. In fact, the seeds of this religion began sprouting in America in the hippy years when the hippies rejected the materialist culture and adopted many Hindu and Buddhist practices. They were originally attracted to Socialism which they equated with Communism (no relation to what Russia and China claim to have which is merely Socialism in disguise). Many of our leaders today are Socialists that came out of the hippy movement and have close ties with Russia and China. They have infiltrated the schools, the media, and the government to teach their religion and force you to accept it if you resist. The California State Assembly passed a resolution directing all religious leaders to promote homosexuality and the transgender lifestyle. While it is not legally binding, it shows how far the homosexual lobby is willing to go to promote its agenda. How long will it be before they pass a law requiring it? It is obviously a trial balloon sent up to see how much opposition there is before they push for a law. There are other States waiting to see how it turns out before pushing their own attempts to stamp out all religions, except their own. They believe that they are god the all-knowing one, and know what is best for you and are seeking to make themselves the god who rules your universe as well as their own, just as Caesar and many other kings and rulers of the past have done. The Bible says that in the last days, Satan will prowl like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour, seeking to turn even the elect, and all we have to do is look around to see that he has been very successful.
School-Education-1-AB
Christians need to be very careful about over-reacting to the crisis around us. Liberals are censoring Christians while openly promoting their own agenda. Christians and non-Christian parents concerned about sex-ed programs promoting intercourse to pre-teens and history books painting White people as slavers and Black people as victims are pushing laws to ban them. However, many are going to extremes. To block objectionable material, they are creating blanket bans which create a backlash from people who are basically neutral and deprive children of important knowledge. Some are passing laws to ban all teaching of Black history. Black history is an important part of our history. Children need to know about slavery in America and the steps we have taken to eliminate it and the discrimination that followed so they will not repeat it. Slavery has been a part of history since the earliest known written history and children need to know how bad it is and why it is wrong. It isn’t a product of White people and Black people aren’t the only victims because White people have been enslaved as much as Black people. Children need to be taught accurate Black history because Black people have made important contributions to America, as well as many other nations. Banning all teaching about sex is detrimental because it is a part of life. You can’t teach science about animals and people without acknowledging that they have sex organs for reproduction. To leave it out will lead children to seek information about it and there are a great many sources providing bad information. They need to be able to get good information. It is hard to make those distinctions when passing laws. The best solution is selecting school board members and teachers who have a good moral understanding. Parents also need to actively watch to see what the textbooks include and what teachers teach by keeping the lines of communication open between them and their child and with their teachers and feel free to express any concerns they have. Parents need to be informed and talk with their kids about sensitive subjects. If the school refuses to listen parents have the option of finding another school for their kids, voting out school board members and voting in ones who will listen to parent’s concerns, or refusing to renew school levies. Parents are not completely helpless as liberals would have you believe. We need laws to ban things that are harmful but need to be very careful about over-reacting and throwing out the good with the bad because it will create a vacuum that children will seek to fill.
Christ the King Sunday-B-November 26
Christ The King Sunday-B Though Christ the King Sunday sometimes falls on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it is proper that it be celebrated before Thanksgiving, since God has ordained that one day He will come to earth again to take his followers home and then He will hold a marriage supper to celebrate His marriage to His bride (the Church). Though many argue whether Christ will return before the tribulation, during the tribulation, or after the tribulation, God has spelled out the sequence of the last days. (The coming of Christ (Rosh Hosanna)followed by the time of tribulation, and finally the final judgment (Yom Kippur) and the end of the age, followed by the marriage Supper of the Lamb (Succoth) which we shall celebrate in heaven. Succoth, (the Feast of Booths), celebrates the completion of the final harvest, just as Thanksgiving celebrates the completion of the final harvest. One day we will sit with Jesus in the marriage feast of the Lamb (symbolized by Succoth) celebrating the completion of the harvest of believers and the marriage of the Church with Christ. That will be one great Thanksgiving feast with all the saints gathered before Christ. Succoth (the Feast of Booths) remembers the days they wandered in the wilderness and how God provided for them, just as we celebrate Thanksgiving to remind us how God preserved the early colonists through great tribulation, but one day we will celebrate in heaven how God preserved the saints through their tribulation and the fact that His harvest of souls is complete. Since God fulfilled the Passover and Pentecost exactly as He ordained them, I have no doubt that He will do the same with Rosh Hosanna. Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday of the Christian calendar and celebrates what will one day begin the last days of the human race, before Christ ushers in the new heaven and the new earth which He and His followers shall rule and from which Satan and all who follow him will be forever banished.
Thanksgiving-A-November 23
In the 1500’s, Europe had become a closed society where many were tied to the land and opportunities for bettering yourself were almost non-existent. Many came to America because it was a land of plenty and a land of opportunity where even the poorest person could become rich through hard work and determination, yet it wasn’t easy in the beginning. America was an untamed wilderness, far different from what they knew in Europe, and there were few resources to fall back on. Many of the early colonists faced starvation and without food and training in growing the strange American crops by the Indians, many more would have perished. The colonists that survived and saw the first harvest gave thanks to God for preserving them by throwing a big feast. Our harvest is later than in Israel so we celebrate Thanksgiving later but it is still a time of remembering when our ancestors had to depend on God to preserve them in the wilderness. In the prosperity today, it is hard for many to understand what it means to be completely dependent on God so Thanksgiving is a time when we remember how they had to rely on God.
Sanctity of Life-F-G
One of the original arguments for legalizing abortion was that it would reduce the number of back-alley abortions which often caused the death of the mother because they were usually performed by unlicensed doctors under often unsterile conditions. Many portray legal abortions as safe and simple procedures, yet abortions can have serious consequences. While abortion providers try to hide the fact the women die from abortions, it is widely documented. In addition, many women are sent to the hospital, some with life-threatening conditions following an abortion. Although the law requires all medical facilities to be licensed and inspected, abortion clinics claim they are not medical clinics and so not covered by the law. They usually fight attempts to license and inspect them. As a result, conditions in some clinics have been found to be unsanitary and dirty. They haven’t abolished back alley abortions, they just dressed them up and made them respectable. Although laws in some States require that abortion clinics have admittance privileges at nearby hospitals, many clinics do not and in fact fight any attempt to require admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. When States try to enforce the law, many clinics close rather than comply. When the Supreme Court said they could not determine when the baby became a person and so the courts could not enforce laws which restricted abortion, they totally ignored laws to protect the women as well. The woman carrying the baby is definitely a person and the courts should enforce laws designed to protect the mother, but they aren’t.