Sound The Midnight Cry

“The True Cost of Christmas”

Well, Christmas Day is gone and everywhere one looks, there are faint reminders that it has come and gone. The Christmas songs have disappeared, and decorations are coming down.

News reports revealed that Super Saturday sales (Saturday before Christmas) reached $34.4 billion, the biggest single day in U.S. retail history.

Christmas Day may be over, but many people will be reminded of that day of the cost of Christmas when credit card bills come in January.

I’ve lived enough years recognize the true cost of Christmas has changed. There was a time when a large majority of people connected the 25^th day of December with the birth of Christ. Today, that has flipped as the majority of people today have little to no knowledge of the meaning of the day. How is that possible?

The current and upcoming generations of the West are growing up in a post-Christian culture. They are also growing up in nations where their families are often several generations removed from any resemblance of Christian belief. It is not only that they do not know anything about Christianity, but it is also that they do not know what they do not know.

The Christian Post reported the findings in a recent survey”

• 38% of Britons between the ages of 21 and 28 did not know the identity of the baby in Christmas Nativity scenes. 
• 37% could identify neither Joseph nor Mary.
• Fewer than 10% could name the gifts given to the Lord Jesus by the wise men (gold, frankincense, and myrrh)
• Some even believed that Santa Claus was somehow linked to the Christmas story.

It’s hard to fathom that one of the greatest Christian empires in the history of the world is now populated by men and women who do not even know that the Christmas story is about the birth of Jesus!

The cost of Christmas is not about gifts purchased in a store or online. The present-day cost of Christmas is the loss of an essential faith. It is also the cultural loss that robs Western civilization of one of its foundational stories and eliminates a fundamental part of Western identity. To be unaware of the beliefs that influenced prior generations for over a thousand years is to be cut off from our own history in an extraordinary way. It is to ensure that we simply cannot understand why things happened the way that they did, and to be crippled in our ability to analyze the present and plan for the future.

It is also a stark reminder that civilization is an incredibly fragile thing. To no longer believe in the historical accuracy of the Bible, or the basic fundamentals of Christianity is one thing. However, to not be able of identifying the Child in the manger as Jesus, comes at what cost?

It’s time to step back for a moment and realize that in a lifetime, everything that previous generations took for granted can be lost. The very faith that sent thousands of missionaries to endure unknown dangers in distant lands, can be erased by not understanding the true meaning of Christmas.

The true cost of Christmas is found in one bible verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

So, when you’re paying off the bills from this past December 25^th, let’s remember and not lose sight of the true cost of Christmas—God gave.

Pass the message along—all year long! 

“Do You See What I See?”

The opening lines of a famous Christmas carol asks, “Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see?”

After reading news out of the EU concerning Israel, I feel like anyone with understanding of what’s really at stake should be asking the question of others, “Do you see what I see?” What am I referring to?

Following the U.S. recognition in November of the legality of Israel's West Bank settlements, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn is advancing an initiative calling for the European Union to recognize a Palestinian state.

In a letter to the E.U.'s new foreign-affairs representative, Josep Borrell, and to the 27 E.U. foreign ministers, he argues that the only way to rescue the two-state solution is to create a "more equitable situation" policy-wise between Israel and the Palestinians. Ironically, he states that such a move would not be anti-Israel.

"In no way would it [such steps] be directed against Israel. Indeed, if we want to contribute to solving the conflict between Israel and Palestine, we must never lose sight of Israel's security conditions, as well as of justice and dignity for the Palestinian people," he wrote in the letter.

A debate on the issue is scheduled to be held at the meeting of European foreign ministers in January.

According to officials in Jerusalem, Israel's Foreign Ministry is preparing to thwart Luxembourg's new initiative. Regardless of the ultimate outcome, however, the Palestinians are encouraged by this new European direction.

The Palestinians have been demanding for years that the European Union as a body take practical steps towards the recognition of a Palestinian state. Already, more than 135 countries in the world, including Russia, China, and Arab and Muslim countries, already recognize a Palestinian state.

The Palestinians support Asselborn's initiative is an important step to undermine President Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan, soon to be release. The complex political situation in Israel is delaying Trump's Mideast peace plan, but Israeli politicians are also trying to further the process of annexing the Jordan Valley, a move backed by the Trump administration.

Jordanian King Abdullah recently sent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a communiqué saying that Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley would result in Jordan suspending its peace treaty with Israel. Israel, however, points out that the Oslo Accords did not recognize the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and did not stipulate that settlement activity should be stopped. Therefore, the fact that the PLO signed it requires them to abide by it in its entirety.

Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip as a good-faith step and received in return for its sacrifice an independent terrorist-controlled entity. Israel will note repeat the same mistake in any future agreement. 

While the world celebrates the Christmas season with the promise of “peace on earth; goodwill towards all men”—the Middle East remains a tinder box ready to explode. And while most people will be watching to what they might find under a Christmas tree, I’ll be watching to see if the EU will try to flex its political muscle against the state of Israel—the birthplace of the Prince of Peace!

 

“God Remembers!”

We are now full into the Christmas season as the colored lights, music and the hustle and bustle of the people shopping and attending events confirm that day is almost here.

During the Christmas season, much of the focus is upon the birth of Christ in a manger. Included in that story are the usual references to wise-men, shepherds and of course, Mary and Joseph.

However, there are two other key individuals I want to remember that are related to the story: Zacharias and Elizabeth—the parents of John the Baptist.

John was the forerunner for Jesus Christ—the one declaring “Prepare the way of the Lord.” He was the one that declared to the people upon seeing Jesus coming for water baptism, “Behold, the Lamb of God”.

It may seem strange to relate these three people to Christmas but let me explain why I think it makes sense.

For 400 hundred years, there had not been a prophetic voice in Israel. People had been told about one coming called Messiah, but the absence of any word caused the people to wonder if it would ever happen.

This is “why” I believe the birth of John the Baptist is related to the story of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

The Scripture tells us about John coming to “prepare the way” for Messiah. To that point, his birth is related to the Christmas story. No forerunner (which was prophesied), no Messiah. However, there’s even more to the story that is somewhat hidden. The meanings of the names of John’s parents are the key.

Zacharias means “God Remembers”, while Elizabeth means “The oath of God”. When you put their names together, you have “God remembers his oath”.

When Adam sinned, God made a promise in Genesis 3:15—the first prophecy about a coming Savior that would come to restore the broken relationship with mankind.

The advertising execs would tell us that Christmas is a time of remembering those we love and to buy gifts to express it. Christmas is that season that reminds us God loves us so much that He gave the most precious gift He could give—His only Son.

The birth of John the Baptist and his parents’ names remind us during the Christmas season that God remembers every promise made and recorded through prophets in Scripture.

And while Christmas focuses on the past prophecies of a coming Savior, there are seven times more prophecies in the Bible about Jesus Christ coming again than the first coming in the manger. This time, when Christ comes, He’s not coming as a baby into a world unaware of His presence. No, this time He’s coming in full glory to fulfill the Scriptures in establishing His kingdom on earth, to judge the wicked and reward the righteous.

So, when you see those twinkling lights and hear the songs of Christmas about the baby Jesus, it would serve us well to remember that God remembers!

“A Scourge By Another Name?”

Scourge—not a word often used in everyday English language. Honestly, I can’t ever think of a time that I’ve used it in any conversation. So, why am I bringing it up?

Two weeks ago, the Pope made a statement that nobody seemed to even notice. Why is that? Maybe because his statement was against Christian Fundamentalists which are a fair target in today’s culture.

Pope Francis stated (official transcript, lest anyone think I’m making this up):

“Beware of the fundamentalist groups: everyone has his own. In Argentina too there is a little fundamentalist corner. And let us try, with fraternity, to go forward. Fundamentalism is a scourge and all religions have some kind of fundamentalist first cousin there, which forms a group.

As one reporter noted, these remarks apply to fundamentalists from all religions.  But by mentioning Argentina, the Pope made it exceedingly clear who his real target was. There aren't any “Muslim fundamentalists” or “Hindu fundamentalists” in Argentina.  The fundamentalists that he was referring to are the Christian fundamentalists in Argentina, and in the very next sentence he denounced such people as “a scourge”.

In this use of the word, “scourge” means a cause of affliction or calamity; like a disease or plague. And what is usually done to “a plague” when one breaks out?

While the term “fundamentalist” can be applied to all religions, from the very beginning it has been a Christian term. A search online Christian fundamentalism as keeping with traditional Christian doctrines concerning biblical interpretation, the mission of Jesus Christ, and the role of the church in society, fundamentalists affirmed a core of Christian beliefs that included the historical accuracy of the Bible, the imminent and physical Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and Christ's Virgin Birth, Resurrection and the Atonement. 

So, a “Christian fundamentalist” is someone that believes the Bible is literally true, that believes that Jesus Christ died to pay the price for our sins and rose again, and that believes that Jesus is coming back to earth someday. And the Pope regards these millions of American Christians to be a plague that is infecting our planet?

At the same time that he was making this statement, he was pushing the dialog at the World Conference of Human Fraternity. While that title may sound innocent, if you will research it you will find that it’s basically the plan for uniting the various religions of the world.

One of the documents put forth at that event states the following:

“The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings. This divine wisdom is the source from which the right to freedom of belief and the freedom to be different derives. Therefore, the fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept”

In other words, God is pleased with all of the religions of the world and that they exist because it was His will for them to do so.

While this may shock some people to read this, it is not surprising to those that study the Bible in the light of End-Time prophecies. I’ve stated for years that the foundation for a one-world religion and government is being arranged, and this is simply another piece to that puzzle.

So, in the meantime, the world may look at Christians that choose to believe what the Bible says as truth and determine to follow it as a scourge; I will see them as the Family of God!