Merry Christmas to You!

We're having a great time visiting some of our family on this Christmas adventure. I hope you are having a wonderful day too as we celebrate a very special day.

There are so many ways people around the world celebrate Christmas. For some it is a totally secular day of gift-giving or sports or parades -- or nothing. For some it is a worship day, for others just another work day (we wouldn't want to have a day without gas stations, law enforcement, fire protection, EMT's, telephone service and so much more), and for many it is a family day. We sort of enjoy a combination of many of those, enjoying being with some of our family and having some good worship too (we do remember Whose birthday we are celebrating!).

Yes, I know that Jesus probably wasn't born on December 25 and since the Bible doesn't tell us the specific date, it's not an important issue to me. The fact remains that Jesus did come, He was born of a virgin in a stable in or near Bethlehem and God invited some shepherds to come for the party. (The wise men didn't arrive for at least a couple of years, so they don't really belong in the manger scene, but it doesn't hurt anything for them to be there). Shucks, you can put a picture of you -- or me -- in the manger scene if you want. I wasn't there then, but I'm sure there now!!

Thanks to His coming, I have had the privilege of becoming a part of His family and experiencing His wonderful grace. So we're celebrating our Lord and Saviour, even while we're enjoying being with some of our family and sharing some blessings through some little gifts. And any gift is little when compared to the wonderful gift God gave to each of us.

When we were at New Hope Church in Minneapolis ministering in the inner-city of the Phillips Neighborhood we used to have a "Birthday Party for Jesus" to help the kids understand just a bit about what we were celebrating. We included birthday cake and singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus! We probably won't do that this year. But for all of us today, I just want to say...

Merry Christmas!