Tuesday, December 25, 2007

A Pagan Christmas? What?!?!

The following is from John Piper, a guy who is way smarter than I am.

Should Christians celebrate Christmas?

I sympathize with those who want to be rigorously and distinctly Christian, who want to be disentangled from the world and any pagan roots that might lie beneath our celebration of Christmas, but I don't go that route on this matter because I think there comes a point where the roots are so far gone that the present meaning doesn't carry the pagan connotation anymore. I'm more concerned about a new paganism that gets layered on top of Christian holidays.

Here's the example I use: All language has roots somewhere. Most of our days of the week—if not all—grew out of pagan names too. So should we stop using the word "Sunday" because it may have related to the worship of the sun once upon a time? In modern English "Sunday" doesn't carry that connotation, and that's the very nature of language. In a sense, holidays are like chronological language.

Christmas now means that we mark, in Christian ways, the birth of Jesus Christ. I think the birth, death and resurrection of Christ are the most important events in human history. Not to mark them in some way, by way of special celebration, would be folly it seems to me.

I remember I lived next door to somebody back in seminary who didn't celebrate birthdays for their kid. The idea was, partly, that all days were special for their kid. But if all days are special then it probably means that there are no special days. Yet some things are so good and precious—like anniversaries, birthdays, and even deaths—that they are worthy of being marked. How much more the birth and death of Jesus Christ!

It's really worth the risk, even if the date of December 25 was chosen because of its proximity to some kind of pagan festival. Let's just take it, sanctify it, and make the most of it, because Christ is worthy of being celebrated in his birth.

There is no point in choosing any other date. It won't work.

© Desiring God www.desiringgod.org

While I do (and probably always will) celebrate Christmas, wouldn't it also be a good idea to have the spirit of Christmas all year long? Shouldn't we be constantly aware of the Gospel and what it means in our lives? I'm thinking that instead of holding out for December 25 to buy gifts for all your friends, what would it hurt to do it just whenever? If you're out, and see something that a family member or friend might like, why not just get it for them right then? Do you really have to wait for a birthday or Christmas?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

It's Been Far Too Long!

We're coming to the end of the year.
How do we look back and how do we look forward?

It's been an interesting year. My first blog was "The New Face of SIX33" and followed the "I'm Done" sermon (www.ibchighland.org/six33 - go to "Downloads").
God has really been working in my life in some very cool ways recently.
I've always held that Scripture is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God, but lately, God has been bringing me back to that over and over.

There are two verses that I just can't get away from.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teachign, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."
2 Peter 1:3 says "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence."

These two verses are such an encouragement to me. While I have never changed in my view of Scripture, lately, my passion to know and be saturated in Scripture has been renewed and refreshed.

Right now, I'm in the middle of a 30 day journey through the Book of James. I'm reading the entire book every day for the month of December. (I've challenged some of my students to join me on this journey). It's been so incredible to come to God's Word every day and even though I'm reading the same words as I read yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, etc. I see something new every day.

'For the word of God is living and active..." (Hebrews 4:12) This verse, along with the first two I listed, has been shown to be so true this month.

In today's society the whole concept of "truth" has been so watered down it's not even funny. There are even churches out there who don't seem to hold to God's Word as Truth. I just don't understand how you can claim to be a Christian and not hold to the inerrancy of Scripture.

So - saturate yourself with Scripture. Let your delight truly be "in the law of the Lord" (You HAVE to read Psalm 1).

Oh - and when you have time, check out the Pyromaniacs blog. It's deep, but really good! www.teampyro.blogspot.com