I would like to address a concern that tears at the very fabric of my Soul. Christmas. I do not like people saying that to wish someone a Merry Christmas is not politically correct. By the same token, I do not like the fact that Christmas has been commercialized like it has. Call it Winterfest or December Fest or anything you want and let the Walmarts of the world make all the money they want but at the same time take God out of schools, government and our life. This is disaster in these days. I fear it is coming. After you read my article you may want to click on the link at the bottom of the page. Stan Freberg was a comedian in radio before there were disc jockeys. Once radio started pushing records he started making them. One 45 RPM record he made while I was still in high school would not be played by many radio stations because the sponsors were offended by it. I have clipped some excerpts from the presentation. If you are interested you can find it on CD entitled, “The Very Best of Stan Freberg. The whole presentation runs about six minutes. What I am uploading takes a little over a minute but it will help you see why those sponsors did not like it even though people were crazy about it. If you would like to purchase you can go to HTTP://www.OLDIES.COM. Because of it’s length it may take a few minutes to upload to your computer. I think you will enjoy it.

Christmas is almost here but there are those who are embarrassed to say, “Merry Christmas.” There are others who claim they are offended by worshipping Christ or God at all. After all, the other religions don’t have their worship rituals. Actually, they do. If they worship Mohammad or Buddha, I am not offended. It causes me to wonder why God makes these people so nervous. I can’t in all honesty say that we have not brought a lot of it on ourselves. Christmas is commercialized to the point that many people who are quick to call themselves Christians have become more caught up in giving and receiving presents than in the true meaning of the day.

Madeleine Murray O’Hare decided some time back that she was offended by prayers in the school. Then someone said you should not read the bible in school and now there is talk about taking Christmas carols and pageants out of school.

We as Christians have sat quietly and watched with only some grumping and griping. I must admit my first thought was fine. Take it out of school. It is nothing more than empty words if you are not truly talking to God and listening when he answers. We have also been guilty of another shortcoming. We have allowed our faiths in Jesus drive us apart from one another. You know, Jesus once said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Maybe as Christians we need to show each other a little tolerance. Have you ever wondered why there are so many denominations all of whom claim to be ‘The church of God?’

While we separate ourselves from one another how can we withstand the bombardment of those who wish to believe in nothing?

I received an email from a friend which is said to be written by Ben Stein. He is not just a quirky actor/comedian. He is a very intelligent attorney. Oh yes, and he is Jewish. I don’t care. Here is a little of what he wrote about Christmas.

“I am a Jew and every single on of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas Trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are. Christmas trees!”

He goes on to say the following:
“It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.”

Mr. Stein goes on to say that he is not bothered or offended a manger scene on display at a key intersection near his home in Malibu. He feels it is fine with him just as is the Menorah which sets a few yards away.

He makes a wonderful point. As he put it, and I quote:

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.”

There are those who ask if there were a God how could he let catastrophic events like hurricane Katrina happen When Anne Graham, Billy Graham’s daughter was asked she had this to say.

“I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives and being the gentleman he is, I believe he has calmly backed out.”
I think it started with Madeleine Murray O’Hare just as Ben Stein does. I believe that Dr. Benjamin Spock added to the chaos that we find ourselves tolerating when he said we should not spank our children when they misbehave because we might hurt the psychologically. Did you know his son committed suicide?

The bottom line is simple. Why can we not become as brothers and sisters? All of us! I believe what I believe. I will give you the right to believe what you believe without hating you in any way. If we all did this there would be no terrorists. There would be no crime and there would be a much happier life for all of us.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son. I share my faith with Mr. Stein. He may not know Jesus but he knows the father. His writing proves. Jesus once said, “I am the word of God.” He also was quick to say, “The word is written on the heart of many without their even knowing it.” I believe in him enough to trust his words. Love thy neighbor as thyself.

He did warn of the things which we are now experiencing. He said there would be a falling away from the truth. He told us we would be hated for his name sake. Did he cause it? I don’t think so. Much of it is our own doing. Much of it is others desire to hate. Satan can be a sneaky devil. It does make me want to search my soul and be a better follower. Keep in mind that Jesus was not born on December 25th... The early Christians found it easy to worship on the sly because the other option was the people in charge at that time would crucify them if they worshipped on his true birthday. This has been going on for more than two-thousand years. Isn’t it ironic that after all this time we have not really changed much in status?

Let us all put our differences aside and proudly proclaim, “Merry CHRISTmas, with the emphasis on Christ. It’s his birthday. Let’s give him the best present of them all. Let us give him our hearts and souls.

God Bless you one and all!