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Why did Jesus Come—Part II

Posted by boyd berends

Some time ago I submitted an article entitled “Why did Jesus Come?”

Since that time I have suffered a stroke and will get to examine all over again some of what I asked?

Previously I asked did Jesus have to suffer as He did? It was always my understanding that Jesus’ death was the act that saved us, or made us right with God. Having come very close to death, I now realize that one does not have to suffer to die. When I watched the “Passion” I asked myself why the suffering Jesus’ bore. Was there a reason?

When I read Isaiah 53 I read that He (Jesus) was to suffer for our sickness, griefs and our sorrows.  Then in Luke I read where Jesus the physician came to heal the sick and then He suffered so that we could be healed. I read where He (Jesus) defeated all the works of the devil, and I sure think sickness is a work of the devil.

Twelve years or so ago, I was told that I had cancer. Now when you are told that you have the BIG C, a lot of thoughts run through your mind, like where do I go first? I went to the Lord and I quickly became convinced that I was to do nothing but trust in His Word.

After really being tested, two or three years later I was told that the tumor had died. Then I was told I had heart problems. Before we could deal woth that problem I went on a scheduled mission trip. I had the opprtunity to teach about healing and to ask the natives to pray for my healing. They did, and I thought I was healed. Then later I saw myself in a vision being wheeled into the operating room and knew that I was to go through with the bypass surgery. I returned to the states and had a quadrupple heart surgery. This took place on Thursday afternoon. I went home the following Sunday, climbed 28 steps and then went to work on Monday. The miracle was in the restoration this time.

Now once again I am faced with a choice to make. Do I believe the Book and what it says, or do I throw in the towel?

In Romans four, I read that Abraham did not waver over the promises and it was counted to him as rightousness. I have to ask myself if I am being tested, and if I pass the test, will it be counted as rightousness for me?

This is a good question for me, but I must always keep in mind that even if I am restored, all healing is but temporary. We will all die, the difference is that for me I know it.

Church Pushes To Shed Some Of Season’s Trappings by Cassondra Kirby (Knight Ridder)

Posted by Ed and Lois

LEXINGTON, KY. - A Kentucky church is approaching Christmas a little differently this year: It’s skipping it.

Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington isn’t suggesting bailing out on the celebration altogether, just the bad parts:

We want to encourage people not to get so caught up in the trappings of the season that they miss the heart of what Christmas is about,” said Fred Turner, a minister at the church. “We are not calling for people not to buy presents or put up trees, but we are trying to turn the focus on the things that matter.”
He said the church got the idea from John Grisham’s book Skipping Christmas, which has been made into a movie, Christmas With the Kranks. The story is about Luther Krank (Tim Allen), who is sick of the high costs of Christmas and persuades his wife to skip the holiday and spend the money on a cruise. When his Peace Corps-bound daughter decides to come home for Christmas, he goes into a frenzy of preparations.

The nondenominational church began weekly discussions earlier this month. The sessions focus on helping the community find simplicity, joy, rest, belonging and Jesus, while skipping the loneliness, obligations and rush that come with the holiday. The last session will be on Christmas Eve.

“We really think this is important because the heart of Christmas needs to be getting back to who Jesus is and why he cares,” Turner said.

Why December 25 by Richard Ostling (AP)

Posted by Ed and Lois

In simultaneous pre-Christmas cover stories, Time and Newsweek magazines sifted with skepticism the narratives of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke, the only accounts we have since no other chroniclers recorded this obscure peasant’s nativity.

It’s far less important than those historical debates, but there’s also a small disagreement about why the church later chose Dec. 25 for Christmas. Two main theories compete

One notes that in A.D. 274, the Roman Emperor Aurelian inaugurated Dec. 25 as the pagan “Birth of the Unconquered Sun” celebration, at the calendar point when daylight began to lengthen. Supposedly, Christians then borrowed the date and devised Christmas to compete with paganism.

William Tighe, a church history specialist at Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College, champions the exact opposite theory.
Tighe acknowledged that the first hard evidence of Christmas occurring on Dec. 25 isn’t found until A.D. 336 and the date only became a fixed festival in Constantinople in 379.

However, the definitive “Handbook of Biblical Chronology” by professor Jack Finegan (Hendrickson, 1998 revised edition) cites an important reference in the “Chronicle” written by Hippolytus of Rome three decades before Aurelian launched his festival. Hippolytus said Jesus’ birth “took place eight days before the kalends of January,” that is, Dec. 25.
Tighe said there’s evidence that as early as the second and third centuries, Christians sought to fix the birth date to help determine the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the liturgical calendar——long before Christmas also became a festival.

Full Post http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/12/23/special_reports/religion/21_50_1412_22_04.txt

Birth Of Christ Has Ring Of Truth by Alex McFarland

Posted by Ed and Lois

THE Christmas season is accompanied by many things: mistletoe, evergreen trees and Santa Claus. And while most Americans accept the store-bought image of Christmas, there remains an ongoing debate on one of the season’s most sacred symbols—the nativity.

It is hypothesized that Christian doctrines developed through a repackaging of existing legends. The recent Newsweek feature article asserts that the New Testament writers were “confronted with a literary problem that had to be solved,’ and thus created the story of Christ’s birth. The apostle Paul is also frequently cited as a likely reviser and partial “founder’ of Christianity, allegedly having meshed prevalent paganism with teachings about Jesus. The implication is that the core beliefs of classical orthodoxy are inventions of men rather than revelation from God.

But consider the facts revealed upon closer examination: The New Testament deals with actual persons and historical events open to investigation. The mystery religions dealt with mythical figures, having no historical ties whatsoever. In contrast, Jesus’ birth is tied to such things as real people (Herod of Judea), real places (Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth), actual events (“a census by Caesar Augustus’), and is corroborated by verifiable details (“when Quirinius was governor of Syria’).

Full Post http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206%7E11851%7E2611337,00.html

Maker Of Red Ryder BB Gun Shuns Publicity by Melissa Nelson

Posted by Ed and Lois

The Red Ryder BB gun is “the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts,” according to young Ralphie Parker, who pines for one in the movie A Christmas Story. But Daisy Outdoor Products, which makes the Red Ryder, is shying away from any publicity that represents the gun as a toy.

The gun, named for the comic strip cowboy Red Ryder, remained a favorite among children for decades and was the inspiration for 1983’s A Christmas Story, about a young boy in the 1940s who longs for “an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, Range Model air rifle with a compass on the stock and this thing which tells time.”

In the movie, little Ralphie dubs the gun “the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts” but is admonished by numerous adults (his mother, his teacher, even a department store Santa) that “you’ll shoot your eye out!”

Toy consultant Chris Byrne isn’t surprised that Daisy doesn’t boast about the gun’s popularity.

“They are a classic American brand, but anytime you talk about selling guns to kids in today’s society, they are pariah,” he said.

Full Post http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2004-12-22-red-ryder_x.htm