Eeek! It's the Annual Attack of the Christmas Legalists!

Happy Holidays! Oops--I can't say that without offending an army of more-righteous-than-me saints who demand that everyone says "Merry Christmas". This seasonal indignation has been a tradition since the days when we used to hear "Satan Claus" hissed because old Nick was "replacing" the Christ of Christmas. The new bugaboo is replacing the word "Christmas" with "Holiday".

The American Family Association sent me an email about what store to boycott because they said "family tree" instead of Christmas tree (that was a stupid marketing decision, Lowes), as well as a very very important very urgent bulletin informing the public that Petsmart didn't mention "Christmas" in their flyers. And AFA also warned me about a wicked, wicked hotel chain that removed Gideon Bibles from their rooms. Look, I believe in boycotts (when a company blatantly promotes evil--see my Illustration and Application post), but I don't believe in forcing the world to act like devout Christians when they're not. Do you get angry at taxicabs that don't have Bibles? Does the world see us as uptight prunefaces with Taliban tendencies?

Thanks, Coral Ridge Ministries, but don't send me a "Merry Christmas lapel pin" designed to push back the wicked powers of the Happy-Holidays devils.

Instead of being hostile, we ought to be thankful that millions of sinners everywhere celebrate Jesus' birth! Imagine hearing Gospel-packed songs like Joy To The World on secular radio at any other time.

I always prefer to say "Merry Christmas", but if a Buddhist or a Muslim or an atheist wishes me "Happy Holidays", I say, "Thank you, you too!"

Neglected Solution For Sin

Confession time: For much of my life, including many years after my new birth in Christ, I was enslaved to a sinful habit. I hated it, but my flesh loved it. Pastoral counseling, deliverance ministry, accountability, and even fasting and prayer seemed to do little to free me. However, it may be that the fasting and prayer eventually led me on the path to the increased victory that I now enjoy.* I have found that God really corrects and perfects his children through suffering. For example, King David, a man profoundly aware of the filthiness of sin (Ps 51), saw pain, turmoil, and humiliation as coming from the Lord to chasten him (2 Sam 16:9-12). When you and I start to believe in and seek divine discipline, and when we see the connection ("maybe I'm going through this because I did that"), we have
--more incentive to do right
--deep awareness of God's holiness, and
--the fear of God that's the beginning of wisdom.
It was during the aforementioned times of fasting and prayer that I started to follow the lead of my pastor at that time. He learned to pray, with Paul, for "the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering" (Phil 3:10). It was then, as I repeatedly prayed this verse with faith, determination, and dread, that not only did I experience suffering of various kinds, but I was able to receive it as from God. "God disciplines us as sons" (Heb 12:7). "Being punished isn't enjoyable while it's happening--it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character" (Heb 12:11, LB). I have learned, with Peter and James, how to allow hard times to bring me closer to the holiness that the Lord desires (James 1:2-4; 1 Pet 1:6,7).

*The guilt of my besetting sin for so many years was like a hundred-pound weight on my back. I say I have "increased victory", but I'm certainly not perfect yet. Nevertheless, a five-pound weight is much easier to carry as I run the race (Heb 12:1). May I never accept that the smaller 'weight' is small enough, and may the Lord continue to patiently work with me.