For most people in Western cultures Christmas is about giving gifts. Whatever your economic level, you want to give gifts—whether home-made or purchased, even at great expense. For many, this is all Christmas is about, with a sprinkling of parties, decorations (some to exceptional heights), & very special treats, like Christmas cookies. Not that this is all that bad. It certainly is not! For all the giving (read buying), decorating, and celebrating fills the air with a sense of good will, of caring for our fellow human being, and of fostering peace on earth, good will toward men.”

Now that we live in a postChristian culture, and have since the early 1980s, it strikes me as somewhat miraculous that we celebrate the entrance of the God of the universe onto our insignificant meager planet. Of course, His story, that of the First Christmas & beyond, has been relegated to the traditionalists, conservatives, and religious types of Christendom decayed.

So what is the place of the genuine Christian during this secular holiday season? Is it to withdraw into our ancient celebrations of joy around the birth of the world’s Saviour? Is it to ignore the world’s celebration altogether? Or, maybe, to enter into it with moderation? Maybe it should be celebrated only in the confines of our own families, and church?

For our part, my wife and I intend to celebrate Christmas, the historical birth of the Christ-child, who would one day save our world, as well as the cultural Christmas celebrated by those around us, until the cows come home. Actually, we don’t own any cows; but you get the point! If we can inspire anyone in this economically doomed, war-torn, pain wracked, broken world to celebrate Christ in the midst of their pain, sorrow, and fear, then we will have opened a window for the Spirit of God to enter in to bring healing, peace, love, and His deep regeneration for a new life within.

The Wassail is boiling on the wood stove. Come on over! You are welcome here…, as it is in heaven.

May God grant you the restoration to life you long for this Christmas,

Gary