The Puritan John Brown wrote, “Many Christians are like children; they would
sow and reap the same day.” It is easy to become tired of sowing and be anxious
for the harvest.
Billy Bray was a Cornish miner who
accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour in 1823 at the age of 29. He lived a life
of drunkenness and debauchery before his salvation, but he became such an
outgoing witness and testimony for God that he became known as “God’s glad man.”
One time he was digging potatoes from
his garden and felt the devil oppressing him. It seemed to him that the devil
said, “Billy Bray, God doesn’t love you. If He did, He wouldn’t give you such
puny potatoes and so few.”
A co-worker asked a friend why he got donuts if he is trying to diet. He
said, “Well, I came around the corner where the donut shop was. I told
God, if He wanted me to buy some donuts to have a parking spot in the
front. On the eighth time around, there it was!”
In 1988, Anissa Ayala was sixteen years-old and diagnosed with a rare form
of Leukemia. The doctors said that if she did not receive a bone marrow
transplant after chemotherapy and radiation treatment she would die.
Neither her parents nor her brother was a match, and they could not find a
donor elsewhere. Her parents, both in their forties, conceived another child
and hoped that its bone marrow would be compatible with Anissa’s.
In
a survey, nearly a third of those questioned stated, that of all the
persons mentioned in the Christmas story, they identified the most with
the shepherds. The shepherds were average, ordinary people and were invited to see the birth of the King of kings!
One lady waited until the last minute to send Christmas
cards. She knew she had forty-nine folks on her list. So she rushed into a store
and bought a package of fifty cards without really looking at them. Still in a big hurry, she addressed the forty-nine and signed them without reading the message inside.
On
Christmas Day when things had quieted down somewhat, she happened to
come across the one leftover card and finally read the message she had
sent to forty-nine of her friends. Much to her dismay, it said:
A little boy ran to the kitchen with a big box
in his hand and breathlessly told his mother, “We’d better tell Santa Claus to
forget about the train set I ordered. I just found one on the top shelf of Dad’s
closet.”
If I decorate my
house perfectly with plaid bows, strands
of twinkling lights, and shiny balls; but
do not have love, I’m just another decorator.
If I slave away in the
kitchen,
baking dozens of
Christmas cookies, preparing
gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime; but do not have love, I’m just
another cook.
If I work at a soup
kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity;
but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
The following memo was sent by a school administrator:
Dear Staff,
Please remember that we live in a multicultural community, and it is not acceptable to continue to act and speak as if everyone celebrates Christmas as the birth of Christ. The use of the word Christmas and references to nativity or the birth of Christ is offensive to some members of our diverse community. Please remember to use neutral language in any of your decor, announcements, bulletin boards, and invitations. Use neutral language, such as “winter holiday,” “winter programs,” etc.
