It's a party!

It’s party time!
Blog #1

Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way…Have you ever stopped  to think about how many Christmas songs there are that really have nothing to do with Christmas.  We have songs about snowmen, red nose reindeer, and Santa. Maybe we’re just too busy “rocking around the Christmas tree” to notice who Christmas is really about.  If you look up the word Christmas in the dictionary it says, “When the Christian church commemorates the birth of Jesus.”

Wow!  As we begin this Christmas season we CHRISTIANS should feel a real burden to keep the main thing, the main thing.  In Luke 2:6-15 it shows us what an awesome event Jesus’ birth really was.  Just think about all God was doing at the time of Jesus’ birth.  Ok, I’ll go into detail.  It is hard for our culture to understand fully, because we have grown up with Christmas tradition.  However, from Nehemiah to the beginning of New Testaments times, no biblical prophet spoke or wrote. It is called the 400 silent years, because for 400 years God didn’t speak to the nation of Israel. Now all of a sudden God make a statement.  This movement by God was huge!  But because we’ve seen or heard the nativity story so much we’ve become inoculated to the real importance of this baby being our Messiah, the Savior of the world.   

However, God has challenged me to see the birth of Christ, the Anointed One not as just a tradition but a celebration.  It’s like this, a tradition is something old, nostalgic, trying to remember something that was once exciting, but a celebration is reliving the excitement again and again, it’s new, fresh and energetic!  Don’t make the birth of Jesus…a tradition, it must be a celebration.  Praise God, “it’s party time.”  Jesus is born…I’m celebrating what God did, how God gave, and all the promises He was allowing me to receive.  Jesus being born…changed my life, not Santa, Frosty, or Rudolph.  Now, relax…I’m not against any of the Fab 3, but as Christians we must keep the main thing, the main thing.

Christmas should be more than just going to church on Christmas morning; it’s about God who became flesh so that He could be a perfect sacrifice.  This little baby in a manger is more than a cute song to sing. It was the fulfillment of many Old Testament scriptures, and the start of a personal relationship with God.  The birth of the Christ Child changed everything! 

The reason this is going on inside of me, is that we are having Halle Kate’s Birthday party in January and my wife has been planning for months thinking about; a theme, gifts, invitations, guests, and what preparations need to be made as far as decorations, balloons, and so on. It’s kind of been insane, I’ve been thinking, “Babe, she is only two” (don’t tell her I said that),  but Halle’s birthday has to be special, perfect, and memorable. Listen, if my daughter’s is going to have this much attention on her day , how much more should the Savior of the world have.  It’s party time!  His birthday is significant on so many levels.  So let me just write a few.  
o His birth shows man how much God loves us.
o His birth teaches us that God has a perfect time for everything.
o The birth of Christ was foretold all throughout the Old Testament, giving us a type and shadow of God’s plan of redemption.
o It was the beginning of a new relationship with God
This season don’t fall into everything that Christmas is not, but stand with me as we celebrate a party worthy for a king.  Have a great Christmas!
Peace and Love,
Steven