Crossing the Jordan

We began our fourth day in Israel by traveling to the ancient city of Bet-Shean. Here is one of the most incredible examples of Greco-Roman excavation anywhere in the world. The amazing thing about the ruins here is that there have been cities on this site dating back into pre-historic times. As an example, there is a large tel at the edge of the city upon which ancient Egyptians built a temple. So beneath that site, dating back to 1800 B.C., there are approximately 20 different civilizations stacked on top of one another. There was a lot of history here long before the ancient Egyptians.

As in other ancient cities, the site itself has strategic military and economic significance as it is situated along mountain passes and valleys that connect three continents. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Israelites, Greeks and Romans all considered this a major vantage point. It was here that the Philistines won a decisive battle against King Saul and hung he and his sons bodies on the city gates.

Another thing that makes this an amazing visit is that so much work has been done here in uncovering the ruins. Almost the entire Roman city has been excavated so that visitors can walk through Roman streets with the columns standing on either side. The bath houses have been reconstructed so that you can see how the steam was released through floor and flowed into spas and pools and steam rooms. Although this city is not mentioned in the New Testament, surely Jesus and the disciples knew of it and may have even visited here as it was a principle Roman city. After the Jewish revolt in 66 A.D. the Roman citizens in this city murdered all of their Jewish neighbors. So much of what is remembered about Bet-Shean has to do with war and bloodshed.

From here we crossed the river over into Jordan. After a brief stop through passport control we changed guides and buses and made our way up to Mount Nebo. This was the place where Moses looked out over the promised land but could go no further. The view from the top of this mountain, also known in the Bible as Pisgah, is spectacular. On a clear night you can see the lights of Jericho, Jerusalem and even Bethlehem from here. The early Christian community was prominent in this area and the modern city of Madaba at the base of Nebo still has a high concentration of Arab believers. Many Western Christians don't realize that there is a large population of Christian Arabs in the Middle East. Sadly, the Christian population here is being pushed out. Our guide is from a prominent Arab Christian family that has lived in this area for generations. "Christianity started here in Jordan with the baptism of Jesus and now we are being sent away just like the early Christians who were sent to the lions" he tells me. Christianity has been in this land since the time of Christ. It only stands to reason that many of the descendents of the early church believers are still here. Recently the remains of a first century church were discovered in the Jordanian town of Malraq. It was a small square building with fish mosaics my guide tells me, reminding me that in the early church, the believers were still so horrified by the cross that the main symbol was the icthus, or fish. The significance of this word is that in the Greek language the letters are the first letters for Jesus Christ God's Son Savior. You find the symbol of the fish in many of the ancient ruins in this part of the world, indicating how important this confession was to early believers.

The ancient church at Nebo displays another significant symbol. On the outside of the church stands a winding snake in the shape of the cross. It signifies the words of Jesus from John 3:14, "Just as the snake was raised in the wilderness so the Son of Man must be lifted up..." Jesus was referring to the passage in Numbers 24 when Moses lifted up the bronze snake as God had instructed him so that the rebellious Israelites could be spared the venum of poisonous snakes in the wilderness. Jesus is the new and better Moses. How great that this church that was built on the site of Moses looking to the promised land would choose this as it's symbol! The church stands as a testiment all through time that unless Jesus be lifted up and we look to Him for salvation, the poison of our sin cannot be healed.

 

Prayer from Nebo:

Lord God, how grateful we are that you came to us and died on the cross and were lifted up like the bronze snake in the wilderness. You drank the cup of poison so that we could drink from the fountain of life. You were lifted up so that we would not be cast down. You are Jesus Christ God's Son Savior and that confession has been apart of your church down through the centuries and is still be lifted up to this day. We pray for your church in the Middle East and Asia and Africa and the outermost parts of the earth.

 

Posted with Blogsy

The One Who Calms The Storm

Upon leaving Carmel our group ventured down the valley to Megiddo.  This is perhaps the most amazing example of an archeological "tel" one will ever see.  Situated strategically along the mountain passes that empty into the Jezreel valley, Megiddo had great military and economic significance for ancient empires that emerged along the fertile cresent.  It had military significance because the valley was an excellent site for a battleground where all the various world powers merged.  It had economic significance as it served as a gateway into the valley through the mountain pass that connected Africa, Asia and Europe.  So great was the strategic significance of this ancient city that archeologists have uncovered 25 layers of civilizations one on top of the other that has today resulted in what looks like a small mountain overlooking the valley below.  This was a major city during the time of King Solomon and looking out among the ruins of his horse stables gives you a good idea of his wealth and power.

From here we traveled across the valley and up into Nazareth.  And when I say up I mean way up.   Anyone who thinks of Jesus as being a desert dweller in his youth only has to spend a day in Nazareth, his boyhood hometown, to see that he would have been more at home in the hills of eastern Oklahma than he would have been in the more arid western part of the state. Our group had a touching worship service in the ancient synagogue which is the traditional site of where Jesus preached his first message after beginning his public ministry.   It was here that Jesus read from Isaiah 61 and proclaimed that the words of the prophet have now been fulfilled:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me because the Lord has annointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor"

The crowd did not readily accept the message of Jesus and tried to kill him by throwing him over a cliff.  Our group traveled up to a cliff drop off to get an idea of what that might have looked like.  As I look over the cliff I think of the extent to which people go to reject Christ.  Truly the prophecy of Simeon in Luke 2 was fulfilled here,  "The child will cause the rising and falling of many in Israel"

From the beginning Jesus has caused division, controversy and struggle both relationally and interpersonally.  It's really not that shocking to think that people would respond this way to his teaching- the claims of Jesus are not minor claims.  "The one thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important" C.S. Lewis has famously said.  The fact that people wanted to kill him is the most compelling evidence we have that he did not see himself as simply a reigous teacher but as God Himself.  Jesus' claims about himself were audacious and "in your face".  Before he is the Prince of Peace he is the "one who pierces your soul". 

On Thursday morning January 3 we woke up to another beautiful morning in our hotel overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  I told our group we call it a "sea' because that's what King James called it, but it would be a large lake in Oklahoma.  As many times as I've been to Israel I never get over the beauty of this body of water nestled within Galillean hills.  The centuries have changed many kingdoms and cultures, but these hills and this body of water look the same.  God blessed us with calm waters and sunny skies as we shared a devotion in the middle of the "sea."  We spent time in worship and prayer  and read the passage in Matthew 8 where Jesus calmed the storm.  Many in our group have been through some intense storms recently and this was a time of many tears and great rejoicing that He is the One Who Calms The Storm. 

The rest of the day we enjoyed touring around the lake to biblical sites like Capernaum and Caesaria Phillipi.  We saw an excellent example of a first century synaguague near the remains of the house of Peter in Capernaum and up in Phillipi we saw the ruins of the temple to the pagan god Pan.  This was the place that Jesus asked the disciples "Who do you say that I am?"  He taught them his strongest lessons about the meaning of His deity and the purposes of His church in this place.  You don't realize until you stand here near these pagan ruins that Jesus was actually putting that religous site into a context.  The importance of having clarity of the nature of Christ is as significant today as it was back in that pagan society.  

We ended our day with baptism on the Jordan river and a trip to the site of the Mount of the Beattitudes.  In case you are wondering if the Jordan was cold for the baptism I would just make the point that the river is runoff from snowmelt flowing from Mount Hermon and this is January.  This was not a baptism for whimps.  He calms the sea and turns water into wine but doesn't promise to turn frigid Jordan water into luke warm baptismal water.  Surely it is easier to identify with his death this way!

Prayer from Capernium:

Lord God, we thank you that you are the God Who Calms The Storm.  We know that although it might seem to us that you are sleeping in the boat, that you have numbered our days and that nothing in this life passes your notice.  We know that in heaven there are no questions, only solutions.  We trust you even when we don't understand you.  Even the knowledge of your soverignty calms our storm.  We ask for your peace.  But even as we acknowledge that you are the Prince of Peace we also know that you are the one who has  caused many to rise and fall.  We not only accept the easy truth, but embrace the hard truth of who you are and the often difficult path we often follow as we walk in your ways.  Like the disicples in Philippi we confess that you and the Father are One, that you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. The One Who Calms The Storm.

A New Year And A Good Start In The Holy Land

For the next 10 days Teri and I are leading a tour of Israel for several members of our church and other friends.  I will try to document the trip via this blog for anyone who is interested in following our progress.

After a long flight from NYC our group landed in Israel around noon on Tuesday, January 1.  We were blessed with a beutiful day to start 2013 as we traveled along the Mediterranean Sea from Tel Aviv to Netanya.  The significance of this particular part of Israel is that the ancient city of Joppa is where the prophet Jonah ran from the Lord and eymbarked from there to escape only to find that Jehovah God could find him anywhere- even out at sea.  Jonah left from Joppa to escape the will of the Lord.  As I look out at sea here I think of the extent to which the human heart will go to run from God.  A good reminder on the first day of the new year that we are to discipline ourselves daily to walk with Him.

Our group enjoyed a fantastic meal at our hotel before much needed rest.  We woke up greatly refreshed on Wednesday and spent the morning in Caesaria, the ancent ruins of the great Roman city biult by Herod the Great.  It was here that Paul made his defense before Felix and Agrippa in Acts 24-26.  This is one of the most amazing escavations of Roman ruins found anywhere.

The theater, ampitheater and hippodrome are all overlooking the beautiful man made port that jets out into the Mediterranean.  This entire city is an incredible testimony to the splender of the Roman empire and King Herod's reputation as a great builder.  The aquaduct that still stands is over 2,000 years old and the port Herod built with underwater concrete can still be seen from the shore. What a ,n amazing empire existed here for hundreds of years around the time of Christ. 

As I look out at these beautiful ruins, my spirit is impressed that kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but the name of the Lord will stand forever.  In one of the great ironies of ancient history, the power and might of the ancient Roman empire that at one time attempted to stamp out Christianity, would eventually succumb to the beliefs of the followers of that humble carpenter from Nazereth. 

From here we made our way to the top of Mount  Carmel where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal.  The day was beautiful and clear so that we could easily see across the Jezreel valley.  I am struck that it was from this place that God demonstrated His power to all of Israel by consuming the altar (1 Kings 18).  One can see why Elijah picked this spot to make his stand.  It almost seems as if you can see all across Israel from here.  From this vantage point one looks out over the tel Meggido all the way across to Nazareth to Tabor to Gilboah.  It was no doubt a spectacular panaramic view that added splendor to the words of the prophet as he chastised God's people for their idolotrous hearts.

This morning I reminded our group of those words,

"How long will you limp along between two opinions?" Eljah said.

What challenging words for modern people!  How often we start off with good intentions and yet quickly our hearts are drawn to those things we think will give us life.  We depend on so many other things besides the Lord God to give us significance; whether it be our jobs, our relationships, our pleasures.  In truth, we are not unlike the Israelites calling on the false prophets of Baal.  It occurs to me that through His grace and by His gospel we need our own Carmel experience from time to time. 

A prayer from Carmel for 2013:

Lord God, as we come into a new year, may our hearts be steadfast toward your ways.  May we not limp along between two opinions like the Israelite swayed by prophets of Baal.  May we see through the folly of putting other things on the alter of our hearts.  May we see that all of our idols  whether they are made of wood, metal, plastic or people will only consume us and drive us far from your work.  We give you praise for your steadfast love and mercy that shows up like a consuming fire.        

Hobby Lobby And The America We Are Becoming

I know that most people are ambivalent to the Hobby Lobby case that has made headlines lately.  I don't see political commentary or much headline news on the story.

I don't see a lot of anger being expressed either in popular media or the blogosphere.  Most people I suppose think of it as a story far from them.  After all, what does a large successful American corporation suing the federal government over a mandate to provide an abortion pill have to do with them?.  I suppose most people think it's not about them.  Maybe they see it as political or legal maneuvering from big time lawyers.

They should think again.   They should be worried.  VERY worried.

First of all, what we have seen play out in the courts these past few weeks has everything to do with you because it has to do with your personal and religious freedom.  Hobby Lobby is not some impersonal corporate conglomerate.  It is a family owned business.  And as a good friend and pastor to many in this family I know them up close and personal.  These are not corporate tycoons.  These are not people who fly corporate jets and flaunt their wealth.  They are by all appearances an average American family with traditional American values.  They are about the least materialistic family you would ever meet.  They give most of their money away, pay their taxes, love their family, serve their church. They are patriotic, humble and outstanding role models and servants to their community.  They quietly support a multitude of charitable causes around the world.  

The Hobby Lobby success story is one of those feel good rags to riches stories of hard work, strong values and American enterprise that makes us proud to be Americans.  Their story is our story.  It is a story that says that anyone in this country can be successful if they work hard and do things the right way.  It is one of those stories that informs the American consciousness.  Hobby Lobby is us.  The Green family is a beautiful example of what it means to be American.

And that is why what is being done to them by the United States Government is so disgusting, frustrating and egregious.

The Federal courts have now ruled that Hobby Lobby and subsequently the Green family will not be provided relief from the federal mandate written into the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) that could potentially fine the company 1.3 million dollars A DAY for non compliance.  The company is refusing to provide a pill they believe causes abortions within their private health care.  The company pays for their employees health care and has always met the healthcare needs of their female employees (including contraception) and did so long before Obamacare came along.

The reason this has everything to do with you and you should be worried is because this morning you woke up in an America whose government says it doesn't care about your sense of religious freedom if you happen to be a successful business owner.  The inconceivable punishment put on this company makes it frustrating.  But what makes it egregious and disgusting to me is that it is a direct violation to our long established and even sacred rights as citizens (read the first amendment).  In these initial rulings the government has made the unbelievable case that because Hobby Lobby is a "secular" business they are not under the same protections.

David Green put it like this:

“Our family is now being forced to choose between following the laws of the land that we love or maintaining the religious beliefs that have made our business successful and supported our family and thousands of our employees and their families,  We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate.”

These first few court battles are not the end of the story.  Hobby Lobby will now begin the process of fighting it out in lower courts and may one day get a full hearing in the Supreme Court.  It will be an expensive, exhausting and senseless battle that should never have to be fought by such wonderful people.   The Greens are fighting it out in the courts for the freedom that is precious to all of us.  It is the freedom that is not just guaranteed in our first amendment, it is a freedom of consciousness that has been given us by our creator.  And that is why it has everything to do with you.

Mayans, Zombies, World Calamity and What It Says About Us

Now that we are done with the Mayan calendar obsession, I thought it would be good to reflect on what all this paranoia about the world ending says about us.  After all, this is not an isolated event.  Have you noticed that a year rarely goes by without some group somewhere or some self proclaimed prophet predicting that on such and such date all heck will break lose and the world will end?  And have you noticed how eagerly popular culture laps it up?

American culture apparently is fixated on the idea of global extinction.  If it's not preachers talking about Armageddon, it's scientists talking about global warming, politicians warning of a debt bomb or economists about the fiscal cliff.  Scores of movies have come out in recent years pointing to certain global destruction whether it be meteorite, pandemic or nuclear holocaust.  Not that any of those things aren't important to talk about, it's just the over- hyping of them that interests me.

The idea of world calamity has become such a fascination there is now an entire sub-group in American culture called "Doomsday Preppers."    

Many of the most popular shows on television have apocalyptic themes.  Shows like "Walking Dead", "Fringe" and "Revolution" are just a few examples of how American culture can't get enough of the idea of world wide destruction.  

What does all of this say about us? 

Perhaps the answer is less sociological and more theological.  Could it be the reason we look around our world and say "some day all this will burn like straw" is because that in a very real sense that truth has been in-scripted onto the human heart?   

Here's what I mean, the Bible teaches that the human heart has an ontological sense about it.  Consider this verse in Romans 1:20:

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

The Bible teaches that there are certain things about God's creative work that the human heart understands instinctively.  It only stands to reason then that the contrast of this is that we can look around our world and see that something is eroding and deconstructing what God has perfectly made.  Just as we have an innate sense that God's hand is in all of creation, we can also see that something has gone wrong and that some kind of curse has been unleashed on the universe.

In fact the Bible teaches that as a result of the fall, all of creation is in a constant state of "groaning" (Romans 8:22, 2 Corinthians 5:2).  The word to groan in this context is a word that describes a deep emotional sense of dissatisfaction.  To groan is to say to ourselves that life is not holding up and that something has gone terribly wrong.  A part of the reason we are fascinated with world destruction is because we know in our hearts that the world is indeed deconstructing.

So in other words, the human heart wants something more, and incidentally, that sense is the best evidence I know outside of biblical revelation of the existence of God.   I remind you again of one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes:

“The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”

So the next time you find yourself in a conversation with your friends about some version of the apocalypse, be encouraged to talk about the "reason for the hope you have."  (1 Peter 3:15)  Point others to the biblical version of last things and that Christianity teaches that although life is falling apart, the end of the story is that through Christ it will all be put back together again.  Tell them there is a perfectly logical explanation to why our hearts are fascinated with end times.  That one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth and every tear will be dried and every tragedy will become untrue, that the curse will be reversed and all of us spiritual zombies will stop groaning.

Looking Through A Dark Glass

Yesterday we were confronted with the horrible news that twenty young children in Newtown Connecticut were brutally killed in a place where they should have been safe.  Children sitting in an elementary school classroom is as innocent and important a space we have in our American consciousness.  It is a sacred space.  It is a space for learning, nurturing and growing.  And yesterday evil and violence visited that space and as Americans our collective hearts were horrified, angered and deeply saddened at the result.

In this kind of horrible tragedy it is natural for people to ask the question, "Why does such evil happen in our world?"

When people are seeking ultimate answers to difficult questions it is a temptation to give answers that seem reasonable and comforting.  But in truth there is no answer to that question this side of eternity.  Every answer we might formulate will be incomplete.  Any person who pretends to have all the answers is simply not being helpful.   There are questions in this life that are so complex they cannot possibly answered in this life.

Paul the apostle made this observation in 1 Corinthians 13:12:

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

So it is helpful at a time like this to hold on to the knowledge that it is only within the scope of eternity, looking back on this wisp of smoke that is our brief time on this earth, that complex questions have solid answers.  C.S. Lewis once said that he believes the first thing we will say as we enter eternity are the words, "Aha... now I understand."

Here are some of the common answers people give in response to tragedy that are incomplete and not helpful:

1.  There can't be a God if this kind of evil happens in our world.

This is an unreasonable and unhelpful response because if all we were left with in finding meaning in this life was to deny the existence of a creator and see ourselves strictly from the standpoint of biological scientific method and highly evolved protoplasm, then what would explain our sense of disgust in the presence of evil?  Why would our hearts crave answers to ultimate questions?  Darwinian science provides no solace and comfort when our hearts are shocked and angered by violent injustice.

2.  There is a God but he is helpless in the face of evil and human suffering.  

This too is an incomplete answer because it does not match up with our understanding of God.  None of us wants to believe in a God who is not all powerful and all knowing.  Such a God would not provide a sense of justice and meaning in this world.

3.  There is an all powerful God but he is not trustworthy

There are many people who question God in the face of suffering and come to the conclusion that God is either all loving and not all powerful or He is all powerful and not all loving.  He can't be both at the same time, because a loving God would not allow evil and since there is obviously evil and suffering in this world it only stands to reason that God is one or the other but not both.  So the only conclusion we can come to in the face of suffering is that either God is loving and powerless or all powerful and not trustworthy.  But this too is an incomplete answer because if He were not all powerful He would not be God and if were not all loving our hearts would have no place for love.  Because we know and long for love and joy in this life it can only mean that that impulse was placed there by a God who was loving.

It seems to me that the most helpful though incomplete answer to this question is to say that we know from scripture that God is both all loving and all powerful and that all the suffering that comes into this life is the result of the fall.  When we see evil and suffering we are reminded that something is terribly wrong and the fact that our hearts long for a solution is in itself evidence of His existence.   Our world is horribly broken and the only answer is the redemptive work that God has set in motion through Christ and will be culminated one day in eternity.  Tim Keller put it like this:

God did not create a world with death and evil in it. It is the result of humankind turning away from him. We were put into this world to live wholly for him, and when instead we began to live for ourselves everything in our created reality began to fall apart, physically, socially and spiritually. Everything became subject to decay.  But God did not abandon us. Only Christianity of all the world’s major religions teaches that God came to Earth in Jesus Christ and became subject to suffering and death himself, dying on the cross to take the punishment our sins deserved, so that someday he can return to Earth to end all suffering without ending us.  Do you see what this means? We don’t know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, or why it is so random, but now at least we know what the reason isn’t, what it can’t be.  It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he doesn’t care. He is so committed to our ultimate happiness that he was willing to plunge into the greatest depths of suffering himself.

A grieving mother once asked the famous 19th century English pastor Charles Spurgeon "Where was God when my only son was tragically and violently killed?"  Spurgeon softly comforted her with these words,

"He was in the same place as when His only son was tragically and violently killed; He was on His throne."

This is not a complete answer, but it is a part of the answer that we desperately need. We need to know that God loves us and that He has provided a solution for what is so terribly wrong in our world.  We need to know that in spite of what seems so senseless and unanswerable, that God is still in control. And although we don't get it now, there will come a time when we will fully know even as we are fully known.

Yes to Christmas!

This time of year I get lots of questions about what I think of celebrating the Christmas holiday, advent etc... "After all," the thinking goes, "Christmas was not in the Bible and most of the traditions come from ancient pagan culture so why should we Christians celebrate it?"  

My answer is that I believe the advent season, though laced with semblance's of paganism in some of our modern traditions, is still a wondrous gift and the season is a terrific way to point people to the beauty of the incarnation.  Though many of the traditions do not have their roots in the sacred text, there is still plenty of biblical narrative in our celebrations.  After all, there is not another season of the year in which you can go to practically any department store in the city and hear actual scripture in songs of praise over the sound system.   And as D. Eric Williams points out, the fact that Christianity won out over paganism and embraced some of it's traditions in order to teach the meaning of the advent is in itself a great reason for celebration:

The Christian holiday of Christmas is a celebration that replaced a variety of pagan festivals and in fact adopted many of the practices of those pagan holidays. Evergreen wreaths and trees, gift giving, feasting and the burning of the Yule log: all of these have roots in non-Christians festivals which took place around the end of December. But that's okay. These familiar Christmas traditions actually serve to remind us of what Christmas is all about.  

You see, the coming of the Christ - the coming of God as a human - was a declaration of war. It was an invasion by the Kinsman Redeemer in order to conquer Satan and restore Mankind to his rightful place in the cosmos. The war was finished about thirty-three years after Jesus was born when He died on the cross and then rose again. His blood paid the price to redeem us from the clutches of Satan and His resurrection restored Humankind to the position of vice-regent in this universe. Now, all those who are found in Jesus, are seated in the heavens in Him (Ephesians 1:3, 2:6), and we have been given the responsibility to labor in this life to manifest the already existing kingdom of God in Christ (Matthew 11:28-30, Philippiams 2:12-13, 3:12-16 and many more). Remember, we do not earn our salvation through our effort to manifest the rule of Christ; there is nothing we can do to contribute to the grace of God in salvation. However, we do have the responsibility to live up to our high calling in Christ. He has conquered and so we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), children of the most high God (Ephesians 5:1).  

Therefore, we should view the divergent cultural aspects of the Christmas celebration as evidence that Christ's invasion was successful. Satan has been stripped of the spoils of war and they are now used to glorify the Messianic King. Just as the plunder of pagan Jericho was used to beautify the tabernacle, likewise the heathen customs of the winter festivals are now the property of the King of Kings. No longer is the furniture of creation soiled by the ungodly; now it is used to remind us that our Great Kinsman Redeemer has driven the enemy from the field of battle.   

So, as you trim your tree, hang your wreath or fasten a sprig of mistletoe to the lintel, take a moment to consider the reasons you may do so without shame: Christ has cast down Satan, rent the curtain and entered the Holy of Holies clothed in human flesh. It is because Jesus has paid the price of redemption and ratified the eternal covenant with His blood. It is because the Everlasting Son became the Son of Man and restored Humankind to his place of grandeur. And it is because the followers of Christ in times past understood His Lordship and were willing to bring their sphere of influence under the authority of King Jesus.  This is what Christmas is all about. It is about a baby born in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago - and so much more.