Forthright Magazine http://www.forthright.net Straight to the Cross Got Twitter? Facebook? Yahoo? Google? Forthright Press is wired for you. http://forthrightpress.com/#SignUpFree COLUMN: HANDS-ON FAITH Pursuing God's Purposes ... Experiencing God's Grace by Barry Newton Pouring out their hearts before God that they might fulfill their mission, the young Jerusalem congregation had prayed: "grant your servants to speak your message with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal … through the name of your holy servant Jesus." (Acts 4:29,30) They wanted the name of Jesus to be exalted. Their lives were consumed with the desire for Jesus' story to impact the life stories of those around them. Even in the face of officials issuing powerful threats, this young church's attention was riveted upon sharing Jesus. What happens when the heart and soul of a congregation is galvanized upon fulfilling its divine purpose of being their Lord's yeast in the community? The next couple of paragraphs from Acts are no accident. Not only did they speak "the word of God boldly"(4:31), and the apostles proclaimed the resurrection of Christ "with great power"(4:33), but this family of believers were united "in heart and mind" and "shared everything they had"(4:32). Indeed, the Christian community life they experienced can be summed up with “abundant grace was upon them all"(4:33). Individualism wanes while a thriving knit community arises whenever God's people share a common ground more important to them than their personal competing self- interests. -- Read this article online, write your reaction, and read others' comments as well. Click here: http://tinyurl.com/d7q246 COLUMN: REALITY CHECK A Real Reason for Humbug! by Stan Mitchell "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21, ESV). History suggests that Christmas was originally held as an early church counter to a pagan holiday. Church leaders found that new converts to Christianity who seemed to be adapting to their new lifestyle tended to backslide around Winter Solstice, when their old friends invited them to participate in the drunken revelry of the ancient ways. Such symbols as the Yule log and Christmas tree are echoes of this pagan background. So the church offered an alternative that became "Christ Mass." Many sincere believers in Christ haunted perhaps by a spirit of Ebenezer you-know-who in Dickens' novel refuse to celebrate this event at all because of its pagan background. Perhaps we should worry more about the other pagan elements of Christmas, greed and avarice, drunken excess, and rampant materialism, all of which render today's Christmas more pagan than any unrestrained dance that might have taken place among ancient Germanic tribes! Over time its original intent has been diluted. The Bible nowhere gives an actual date for the birth of Jesus. Interestingly, it does give the time of year for his death - in the spring time, the Friday of Passover. And a time for his resurrection - the Sunday following. Everyone loves a baby, but the birth of Jesus Christ was less about sentiment, and more about sin. Ours. Do you celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25? Fair enough. But a Jesus who saves us from sin - now there's a real reason to celebrate! ---- Read this article online, write your reaction, and read others' comments as well. Click here: http://tinyurl.com/dyj85c You can help get the word out. Here's how: http://www.forthright.net/editorial/lend_a_hand.html