A-Z of Christianity -J-

JESUS! :)

I am sure you can imagine how hard it was finding a topic for 'J', especially at this time of year!

The whole Bible, even the Old Testament, is about this God-man. 100% God, 100% Man. One of the three members of the Holy Trinity of God, Spirit and Himself.

John tells us that Jesus was there at the very start:-

John 1:1-5

The Word Became Flesh. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (If you are wondering if Jesus is who John was talking about when referring to the 'Word' then read verses 14-18 of the same chapter!)

Jesus describes Himself as God or fails to correct those who told Him He was on many occassions (John 8:58 springs to mind).

Jesus was on a mission from the very second He entered earth on the original Christmas Day, He came to save us. Luke sums this up perfectly - For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)

Throughout the Old Testament God was faithful to a people who fell very far short of that faithfulness of themselves and at points could only be described as wicked, evil and conceited.

God, being just but loving, had only two choices. Destroy or Repair.

Today let's be thankful that Jesus came to repair and wipe us clean of all sin, taking the hit for us and enabling us to know God and be with Him when our time on earth has passed.

John puts it famously - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Max Lucado wonderfully summaries this with:-

GOD LOVED

GOD GAVE

WE BELIEVE

WE LIVE

Merry Christmas everyone :) x





A Child is Born!

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Today myself, my sister and one of the young ladies from Talbot Green went to Pontypridd to deliver leaflets telling people what Christmas is really about.

These leaflets are called tracts and the ones we had were like booklets and had information relating to each letter of Jesus' Name. I often find tracts quite overwhelming and feel a powerful, true message is a better said without it being in people's faces. I think the key to bringing people to Jesus is first meeting them at their level (no better demonstrated than by Jesus Himself).

It is pretty scary doing this as you don't know what reaction you will get. In some countries you would pay with your life and I'm glad Britain isn't that bad but you read horrible stuff in the News everyday and that tends to be the thing that comes to mind.

When we got to Pontypridd, it was raining and cold and didn't look good.

The answer to both these problems is to give it to God and watch God's Will be done. As it turns off the quite heavy rain stopped for 40 mins and no incident of any note whatsoever happened, we didn't even get any rude comments!

As if to show it was Him, the rain started again as soon as we reached my car!

What I really enjoyed about doing this in Pontypridd today, and in Talbot Green two weeks ago, is the feeling that this is what Christmas is truly about. Christmas was when God came down to show us that He loved us. He was living in utter perfection in Heaven. He didn't need to come down! But He wanted too. Not only that, He went and paid the price for every stupid and hurtful thing we have ever done as well.

Tomorrow I will recieve a lot of wonderful gifts (and on Boxing Day, too!! :D) but the gift I will be most thankful for is the gift that God gave us in Jesus, the Salvation of our lives forever.

Christmas is about telling others this Good News, imagine the Shepherds, the Kings and everyone who saw that star or Baby Jesus telling everyone!

Maybe one or two or four hundred others are in the same place tomorrow as a result of today and two weeks ago :D

A to Z of Christianity : 'H'

HEROD

The famous story goes of the women who, when hearing about special Christian Christmas stamps, stated that Christians try and get in on everything!

There have always been people who have tried to strip Christmas of it's true meaning and cause. From the supporters of calling it 'Happy Holidays' even right back to the first Christmas.

Judea was ruled by the Romans and their client king was the evil Herod the Great, a man whose greatness is rather muted by the fact he was a mass murderer who even murdered his own family.

On hearing that a 'King of the Jews' was to be born, Herod attempted to nip what he saw as a threat to himself in the bud by ordering the execution of all boys under the age of two - The Massacre of the Innocents.

Today we have organisations who try and make it as if they are acting for those who don't believe in Christmas when they really appear to be acting against those who do. Does the word Christmas actually harm anyone? Does anyone actually have an issue apart from insecure Atheists worried that their militant campaigns against faith are failing with the amount of Christians holding steady, improving even against levels before.

Don't let anyone or anything stop you celebrating the Reason for the Season this Christmas! JESUS :)

A-Z of Christianity 'G'

Being Christmas, it is the time of year where the Christmas tunes come out. I am a big fan of Christmas music and to much people's disdain could listen to it at anytime of the year. Whilst playing on the Xbox with my brother the other day we had some music shuffling on iTunes and my brother gave me a massive look when Cliff Richard's 'Mistletoe and Wine' came on.

I quite like the song although it isn't my favourite ever Christmas song ('Merry Christmas Everybody' by Slade) but contains the following lyrics:-

Its a time for giving, a time for getting,
A time for forgiving and for forgetting.
Christmas is love, Christmas is peace,
A time for hating and fighting to cease.

This is what Christmas is all about and also the main message of Christianity - God's GRACE!

Our relationships with God are strained because of sin. Imagine the problems adultery gives a married couple then times them by a trillion (because we have sinned an awful lot!) and you have the issue between us and God. Our sin keeps us apart from God and from knowing Him. God has every right to punish us but decided to give us a chance, and that chance was Christ.

The coming of Christ was the beginning of God's GIFT to us unfolding in Salvation from the weight of our sin by Jesus taking the punishment for us. Dying through crucifixion was not fun, it was probably the most painful death ever invented and Jesus knew that as He carried his cross, carried it for us.

Unlike the trust and forgiveness issues a married couple would naturally have in adultery situations, when we ask for forgiveness God is so mighty, loving and Graceful and Christ's sacrifice is so great that we are forgiven straight away.

By the time I was 17 I was losing my passion and excitement for Christmas but coming to know God and thus coming to know the wonderful meaning and incredible news behind it means I will never come close to losing it again! I simply love Christmas, it is wonderful to give and receive gifts, to share fun and memories with close ones and to eat lots of food. But none of that means anything to me without knowing that Christ gave His life in the most horrible way so that I, that we, could be clean before God and know Him once again.

So this Christmas remember how God gave, how God forgives, how God loved and how God decided to end the war between us and sin. Listen to a bit of Cliff if it helps!!

I posted this last year...

but it is so good I'm posting it again!

It’s Christmas night. The house is quiet. Even the crackle is gone from the fireplace. Warm coals issue a lighthouse glow in the darkened den. Stockings hang empty on the mantle. The tree stands naked in the corner. Christmas cards, tinsel, and memories remind Christmas night of Christmas day.


It’s Christmas night. What a day it has been! Spiced tea. Santa Claus. Cranberry sauce. “Thank you, so much.” “You shouldn’t have!” “Grandma is on the phone.” Knee-deep wrapping paper. “It just fits.” Flashing cameras. It’s Christmas night. The girls are in bed. Jenna dreams of her talking Big Bird and clutches her new purse. Andrea sleeps in her new Santa pajamas.


It’s Christmas night. The tree that only yesterday grew from soil made of gifts, again grows from the Christmas tree stand. Presents are now possessions. Wrapping paper is bagged and in the dumpsite. The dishes are washed and leftover turkey awaits next week’s sandwiches.


It’s Christmas night. The last of the carolers appeared on the ten o’clock news. The last of the apple pie was eaten by my brother-in-law. And the last of the Christmas albums have been stored away having dutifully performed their annual rendition of chestnuts, white Christmases, and red-nosed reindeer.


It’s Christmas night. The midnight hour has chimed and I should be asleep, but I’m awake. I’m kept awake by one stunning thought. The world was different this week. It was temporarily transformed. The magical dust of Christmas glittered on the cheeks of humanity ever so briefly, reminding us of what is worth having and what we were intended to be. We forgot our compulsion with winning, wooing, and warring. We put away our ladders and ledgers, we hung up our stop watches and weapons. We stepped off our racetracks and roller coasters and looked outward toward the star of Bethlehem.


It’s the season to be jolly because, more than at any other time, we think of him. More than in any other season, his name is on our lips. And the result? For a few precious hours our heavenly yearnings intermesh and we become a chorus. A ragtag chorus of longshoremen, Boston lawyers, illegal immigrants, housewives, and a thousand other peculiar persons who are banking that Bethlehem’s mystery is in reality, a reality. “Come and behold him” we sing, stirring even the sleepiest of shepherds and pointing them toward the Christ-child.
For a few precious hours, he is beheld. Christ the Lord. Those who pass the year without seeing him, suddenly see him. People who have been accustomed to using his name in vain, pause to use it in praise. Eyes, now free of the blinders of self, marvel at his majesty. All of a sudden he’s everywhere. In the grin of the policeman as he drives his paddy wagon full of presents to the orphanage.
In the twinkle in the eyes of the Taiwanese waiter as he tells of his upcoming Christmas trip to see his children. In the emotion of the father who is too thankful to finish the dinner table prayer. He’s in the tears of the mother as she welcomes home her son from overseas. He’s in the heart of the man who spent Christmas morning on skid row giving away cold baloney sandwiches and warm wishes. And he’s in the solemn silence of the crowd of shopping mall shoppers as the elementary school chorus sings “Away in a Manger.” Emmanuel. He is with us. God came near.


It’s Christmas night. In a few hours the cleanup will begin — lights will come down, trees will be thrown out. Size 36 will be exchanged for size 40, eggnog will be on sale for half-price. Soon life will be normal again. December’s generosity will become January’s payments and the magic will begin to fade. But for the moment, the magic is still in the air. Maybe that’s why I’m still awake. I want to savor the spirit just a bit more. I want to pray that those who beheld him today will look for him next August. And I can’t help but linger on one fanciful thought: if he can do so much with such timid prayers lamely offered in December, how much more could he do if we thought of him every day?


Max Lucado

What Christmas is really about!

Christmas might be at the end of the year when the nights are dark, the X Factor winner is announced, there are parties for this, that and everything under the sun. Christmas actually celebrates a beginning as well as an end.

The first Christmas was the fulfilment of a promise made to Israel by God that a Messiah would come to save them.

But it was also the beginning of a perfect life of healing, wisdom, love and ultimate self sacrifice.

Christmas - A Saviour has come!

Easter - 'It is Finished'

Let us not forget that this Christmas!