One of the few absolutes that I want to accomplish is for my children to know Christ and see the Gospel transform them before I take my last breath (Ephesians 5:15-6:4). While, by God’s grace, my oldest is on her way, the two younger ones are in that stage where they are like sponge. They absorb and replay everything they see and hear from mom and dad. (Sometimes not a good thing.) As the Christmas season has approached, our 4-yr old has been asking questions about many of the secular things of Christmas that she sees and hears.

While she will be the first to tell you that Christmas is about Jesus and His birth, I began to realize that it was more of “what she should do because mom and dad said so.” As I was listening to one of my newfound favorite pastors, the Lord placed something on my heart that would drive home the meaning of this season.

As Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, many Christians will allow their love of culture to supersede the Savior they claim to worship. I can hear it now, “We’d go to church, but we have our traditions…” Perhaps Burk Parsons said it best in a Tweet earlier this week when he said:

If we skip congregational worship on Christmas day, we understand neither what worship is about nor what Christmas is about. – Burk Parsons

Think about that statement for a moment. I remember the last time Christmas fell on a Sunday and we blew off service without batting an eye to open our gifts. I look back in disgust and disbelief in that ignorance. It’s not the act of going to church, it’s the purpose. This time of year is to remember that our Savior came into our world fully God, fully man (Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-14).

So here we are. Another year that Christmas falls on a Sunday and another opportunity to make the right decision. This year, not only will our family be in service, but God has shown me a way to drive home the message of Christ’s importance in our lives. As we wake, our 4-yr old will no doubted be ecstatic to tear into her gifts under the tree. However, she will have to wait until we return from service, worshiping the King of Kings before she can open them.

Will this overshadow the “magic” of Christmas morning as culture teaches?
I hope so.

Will this quell the excitement as she tears down the stairs that morning?
Absolutely.

Will it get her attention?
You bet. And it will divert to the cause of the disruption, Christ. Just as our conversion disrupts our sinful lives at conversion, so too will this disrupt what the world tells us is important at this time of year.

Why would I be such a cruel parent to do such a thing? Because as a Christian father and the responsible party for my family, I must take every opportunity to direct focus to Christ at every turn. This one was easy. It was like God throwing me a lob ball and me swinging with an oversized, fat bat. Christmas won’t fall on Sunday again until 2016 and we’re not guaranteed our next breath and only here for a short time (James 4:14), so why hesitate?

JS

Just as holiday traditions of trees, lights and grandmother’s nutrolls, out roll the nuts from Christian circles seething at the use of ‘Xmas’.  Facebook is already crawling with statuses decrying the use of ‘Xmas’.  They proudly scream on their walls, “Let’s not take Christ out of Christmas!”  Before you throw your hat in the ring and become a glaring example of Matthew 23:23, please take a moment to read some thoughts on this subject.

First, we need to realize that although this is a man-centered, depraved world we live in, there’s not a demon around every corner or tear behind every tissue.  Christians, either out of boredom or self-righteousness declare war on secular society every year over the use of ‘Xmas’.  Some become so worked up about it, that an unbeliever would be so turned off by their misplaced hatefulness that they’d check out physically or mentally before that person could say anything about the Gospel.

I need to say something and I want to be absolutely clear about it…

THE USE/ORIGINS OF ‘XMAS’ NO MORE TAKES CHRIST OUT OF ‘CHRISTMAS’ THAN DOES ‘ILY’ TAKE LOVE OUT OF ‘I LOVE YOU’

There I feel better.  Read on, you will too.

Throughout Christian history, symbolism has been around every corner.  Our faith has many symbols that serve as reminders from the cross to the fish, they are in abundance.  The use of ‘Xmas’, rightly understood, is no different.

Though details are sparse and scarce at best, at one point in time the letter ‘X’ was used to symbolize ‘Christ’.  Perhaps this could be a result of the first letter in Greek for the word ‘Christ’ is ‘chi’ and looks like ‘X’.  In any case, ‘Xmas’ emerged in the 15th century as a widely accepted use for ‘Christmas’.  The use was amplified as the printing press was invented in 1436 by Johannes Gutenberg and movable type came to life.  Due to the complexity and effort required to move the typesetting, it was expensive and time consuming.  Therefore, abbreviations were common for both brevity and cost efficiency.

If you’ve been in ministry for any amount of time or know someone who is, he/she will affirm that finances are often tight around the church.  Back in the 15th-16th century, this was no different.  Churches routinely used abbreviations to save money when printing religious publications.  ‘X’ was used regularly to stand for ‘Christ’.  Not only was ‘Xmas’ a widely accepted use of ‘Christmas’ but ‘Christian’ or ‘Christianity’ were also abbreviated ‘Xian’ and ‘Xianity’ respectively.  Webster’s Dictionary even confirms the use of ‘Xmas’ by the middle of the 16th century.

So now you know.  And now that you know, you can turn your attention towards being a more efficient Xian by focusing on something that actually matters, like the Gospel of Jesus Christ and an enjoyable Xmas season!

JS

Well, now that all the plastic Easter grass has settled and the rabbit is gone, I guess it’s as good as time as any to see the fallout from this year’s services.  One would think that an event, like that of a Savior rising from the dead would be enough to create all the reason needed to celebrate.  But, as usual, man-centered selfish desires trump Biblical truths.  The sad part, is that some of the worst offenders are those in buildings on nice lawns (some call them churches).

According to the following tragedies called “Easter Services”, Christ’s substitutionary atonement (2 Corinthians 5:21) wasn’t enough material to fill a church service.  A Savior who conquered death and the grave (1 Corinthians 15:3-11) wasn’t exciting and that same being ascending to heaven (Luke 24:50-51), well just didn’t have the appeal of someone like, oh I don’t know, the Jonas Brothers.

Our first stop is Sacramento, CA.  That’s where churches were “augmented”…

These enhancements range from technology-driven children’s worship services to theme-oriented Sunday school rooms with video games. The churches seek to give children an experience they’ll remember, one they want them to repeat.

Really? An “experience they’ll remember…”?!  HELLO!  How about that “little” thing that was done on the cross.  Hey pastor, will that Xbox or PS3 give that kid eternal life?  No? Hmm, maybe you should have taught them about the resurrection instead. Just saying… Oh silly me, what was I thinking? A kid that can storm through levels of Halo 3 or Call of Duty could never understand a story about a Savior who came and took God’s wrath on their behalf.

Here’s a list I ran across that should be a red flag of churches with misplaced priorities and a lack of understanding of the true beauty of Resurrection Sunday.  Hopefully you weren’t there…

• A Church Marketing Director
• A Pastor who says, “We want to be relevant”
• A children’s pastor, named Tiffany, who says, “This isn’t what people think of when they think of traditional Sunday school… We want to make church exciting for them.”
• An Easter egg hunt
• wii games
• Basketball
• Air Hockey
• More video games
• A ski lift
• A pirate ship

Why you ask? I’ll answer when you can explain how any of these activities have anything to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Bottom line is that if a church service is unaffected by the death, burial and resurrection, as this list of entertainment is, well, is it really a legit service at all at any time?  Let alone on Resurrection Sunday!  Think about it, as that article pointed out, if we didn’t have the resurrection, would that affect this church service described above?  That is a litmus test for any church.

Next stop, Texas.  Well, holding true to form, they say everything is bigger in Texas.  I guess their thirst for material things and manipulation with trickery of the lost are bigger as well.  Would you believe me if I told you that a church spent millions to get people into their Easter service?  See the clip below, it shows 5 points as to why this bait-and-switch them that has become common in so many churches is completely wrong.  It’s not too hard to find a church giving away crazy prizes so they can get you in appealing to your worldly desires and then throw Jesus at you.  God help us.

If you cannot see the video above, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0od0ui_zts.

JS

Well Resurrection Day is upon us.  Yes, I refuse to use the term ‘Easter’ (see why here).  But, you bet your bottom dollar I’ll be celebrating the resurrection of the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)!  What better way than to take an image of the Savior with you wherever you go?  Use the links below do download these FREE wallpapers I whipped up real quick for your Blackberry or iPhone.

The images below are already sized for three of the most common resolutions 320×240 for Blackberry Curve, 480×360 for Blackberry Tour/Bold, and yes for all you Apple fanboys 320×480 for the iPhone.

If I get enough comments, maybe I’ll put up a mobile phone wallpapers page with similar images.  Drop me a comment and let me know! >

Simply RIGHT-CLICK the image and “Save As…” to your computer.
Then, upload to your phone!  It’s that easy!!!

* – images that were originally from C28.com.  You can see all their awesome wallpapers here.

JS