The TRUE Meaning of CHRISTmas

A poem:

the Truth is

The truth is, verily,

That the Truth

Is the true meaning of Christmas.

That may sound redundant

But

Our heads are wrapped like a sister’s gift

To her fellow daughter

Who wants to make it hard for her,

So

She wraps this gift inside a box,

Inside another box,

Inside a bag,

Inside a very large box,

With duct tape,

Packing tape

And three layers of paper with ribbons and ten bows

Superglued on top.

We just cannot hear, so I must be redundant.

The Truth is the true meaning of Christmas,

The truth of Christmas cannot be seen heard or recognized

With all of that wrapping paper.

And amid all of this wrapping paper mess

That everyone knows means Christmas,

I want to unwrap that and shed a little Light on the subject.

I have this crazy idea that maybe Christmas isn’t about present and gifts,

Nor consumerism

Not even family and human love at all.

Layer 1: it’s all about the Son—

Not the light in the sky, but the Light of the world.

Although,

A great star in the sky does play a role in this thing,

Not a story but a truth,

The Truth to be exact.

This star shone like none before and it lit the way,

Not on Christmas day,

But it lit the way to the Light of the world

To the Truth.

All of us are on a search for the true meaning of life,

The Truth.

In some form or fashion

We search high & low

We search far & wide

We search our hearts

We search our minds

We search at Universities,

Or online, or from friends,

Or sometimes only in our heads—

That faint whisper we try to hush up all the time,

That’s our search engine.

The truth is,

The search was over,

The wise men found it.

The Truth, that is,

He was two years old they say,

His mother was so proud

And his Father looked so humble.

But the Truth,

Well He looked happy as could be,

He received His gifts like any other two year old would accept

the most lavish and rich gifts

he would never use,

with a passive two-year olds appreciation.

However, there was some glimmer of knowledge

In His eyes as He handled each gift.

As if He knew that He was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords

Eyeing that gold placed at His feet.

As if He knew that He alone was the High Priest

Whose sacrifice would atone,

Once for all

As He smelled the Frankincense

and cast it aside being too strong for His two-year old nose.

As if He knew that He woud die the most terrible death ever recorded in HIStory—

ever,

as He played with that myrrh.

This is where the light shone,

on that Christmas babe

defined as King, High Priest, and Sacrifice.

The Truth is in the Light.

Now having been done with Layer 1

Of this intricately wrapped “Christmas” mania,

Let us cast aside this useless search for meaning

Sometimes found in consumerism

And reside in the search for Truth.

On to layer 2, it’s about the Way.

As long as we are talking about casting aside layer 2

(also known as, Christmas is a time to be with family, it’s about tradition—nothing more),

Let’s talk about Luke 2.

Luke 2—the traditional story—

Always starts out with a journey.

This journey is very difficult

Because it involves two people and a donkey

one of these is very very pregnant—

and I am not referring to the donkey.

It was long and treacherous

And it was not easy.

The way was hard

And it led them to an even harder location.

A lowly stable was the only place for them

After all that way

But, the way the Way emerged

Reminds us that the greatest miracles happen to

the lowliest people

in the lowliest places

in the lowliest ways.

Not only that,

But the way that Mary reacted to the whole ordeal:

First with obedience

Surrendering herself as a bondslave to the Lord.

Then with such joyous worship

That she put the angels to shame with her song.

Last, she pondered all these things in her heart

A reaction worth both veneration and emulation.

Not only her, but Joseph too.

Obey was the only thing he could do,

After such a vision—

Such a dream.

The way Joseph fits is absolutely awe-inspiring.

Not His true father

So that He could feel the way we feel now—

Grafted in; adopted.

He gets the inheritance,

David’s throne forever

Just as we do in His Kingdom.

Then there’s the way of the shepherds,

Not to mention the Magi.

Worship was all they could do

Along with the angels.

Everyone sang glory to God in the highest

In their hearts that night

As we should too.

Family’s important but not as much as this,

The way we should worship and react

To this great gift.

But all of the ways just reflect the true Way,

That baby Boy that came

That beautiful Christmas day.

The last layer we must unwrap

Is a delicate subject

Because everyone says

the true meaning of Christmas is love

And I agree

But it doesn’t just end at love between you and me.

It goes so much farther,

So much deeper than that.

It goes to a love that’s eternal, unconditional, and sacrificial.

You see,

The Truth is,

Christmas is about life,

A life—

The Life.

This Life took It’s first Breath on Christmas day

Which started the countdown of His Life going away.

You see,

The Life came down for one purpose alone—

To die on a tree,

The costliest sacrifice ever made.

This is the love I am talking about.

Love is laying One’s life down for His friends.

That’s what He did so that we could have life.

His Life He gave us,

And willingly at that.

That is the true meaning of Christmas

Because the Truth is

The meaning of Christmas

And the Truth is Jesus.

Everything reflects Him:

The tree points to Heaven

With the star on top,

Lighting the way to the Light of the World

Reflected in the lights on the tree.

The evergreen represents His everlasting love

shown to us through His life

and the resiliency that they and He has through hard winters and long journeys.

The snow—His cleansing power

Through His blood we are made white as snow.

The gifts represent

The greatest gift of all—

That is, Jesus

To us here on Earth.

The wrapping paper pictures God wrapped in flesh

Coming down out of Heaven.

They illustrate the free gift of salvation

Available through His life—

It’s grace:

Unmerited favor,

Nothing we can earn

and nothing we can do.

The music is only a small sliver of the way we should celebrate—

As the angels and the shepherds and the Magi did.

So, the Truth is.

I got back last night from my trip to Ogden, Utah. The primary religion there and in all of Utah is Mormonism. Mormonism is a cult. They believe that the Bible is God's revelation for the Old World and is not sufficient by itself. So Joseph Smith interpreted a new book which was shown to him by the angel Moroni, called the Book of Mormon. This book according to Mormons is God's revelation about the New World. They do not believe that Jesus is not fully God but is actually the son of God. They believe that through their good works they can make it to the highest level of Heaven where they become gods and rule their own planet with their eternal family.
There is so much pressure for Mormons to be absolutely perfect. We talked to some Mormon teens and some of them had been in programs to get rid of their drug addictions. One of the girls said she had tried to commit suicide.
John 8:32 says, "And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." These people need to hear the truth of the gospel. They are so blinded and so deceived by this cult. For example, we spoke with a Mormon man who told us that no where in the Bible did it say one is saved by grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." Also, Titus 3:5 says, "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit." However, They believe salvation is by works.
Mormons claim to be Christians, but when we visited the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City, we saw the blatant pagan aspects. There were stars, moons, and suns decorating the outer walls. The angel Moroni was at the top, not Jesus, and there were golden bulls in the decor.
They do not believe that Jesus alone is the way of salvation. Their prophet says that you must believe in Joseph Smith in order to be saved, but Acts 4:12 says, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven by which we must be saved."
In Utah, we went door to door, hung posters, and walked around down town talking to people. I am glad to report that the many were invited to hear God's Word and the gospel was proclaimed to Mormons and non-Mormons. Please pray for the Kolkow family as they transition their church into Ogden. Pray for those who heard the gospel of Jesus Christ not Joseph Smith.
Isaiah 64:6 says, "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away." We, who are filthy, have been loved by a holy God. How much more should we love the lost, even if they are stooped in a pagan religion!So next time Mormons come to your door, make sure you share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them because it may be the only time they hear it. Soli Deo Gloria! (To God alone be the Glory!)

Lessons from My Daily Quiet Time

In Matthew 21:23-27, the chief priests and elders challenged Jesus and His authority, hoping to trap Him. Jesus answered them with a trap of His own and exposed their lack of authority to examine or judge Him. Before I go blasting the chief priests and elders by saying, "Well, they did not have any right to ask Jesus where His power came from. Wasn't it obvious enough," I must first examine my own life. I need to realize that when I do not agree with the way that God does things or with His will or with where He has placed me, I am also being like the priests. I have no right or authority whatsoever to judge God and what He does. He created me. He saved me, and only He has the right to judge others because only He is the greatest! When I judge Him, I am saying that I am better than Him and am therefore committing idolatry. I am putting myself in place of or above God, the One who knows each star by name and measures the universe with the span of His hand. I deserve eternal damnation for this but, oh, the grace that is lavished upon me! What grace that I have been covered with the righteousness of Jesus, and my sins are forgotten! So, we must fight our flesh and fight the urge to challenge God by complaining about where we are or what we are given.

Listen!

Since Adam and Eve first brought sin,
Man has passed down the nature deep within.
It spreads from us to all our kin;
Our own victory we cannot win.

Because of this, Jesus was sent.
The future of people would be bent.
The Father, His Son, would torment;
On the cross three hours were spent.

God pured our His almighty wrath.
All of this was done on my behalf.
He was sacrificed like a calf;
He satisfied all the wrath, not just half.

From he grave Jesus was risen.
Chains are gone; I am not in prison.
His righteousness, I am given.
All the people everywhere, listen!

Will you?

Did you know that there are 11,627 people groups in the world; of which 6,750 are classified as unreached. This means that they have no access to a Christian or even a Bible. They live and die without ever hearing the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. They enter eternal condemnation without hearing that Jesus came, lived, died, and rose so that they could have new life in Him. Jesus purchased with His blood children from all 11,627 people groups, and He deserves praise from every one of them. Our job, as the church, is to make the gospel known to them. Matthew 28:19 says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." The verse is a command to the church to take the gospel to all the nations, or people groups. The command is not to the International Mission Board but to the local church. As long as Jesus has not come back our task is not done yet, and if we are not intentionally going after unreached people groups we are disobeying Matthew 28:19. The gospel will be proclaimed and Christ will receive the glory and praise he deserves. The question is: will we get in on it?