Recently, we have witnessed many famous people (political or otherwise) that have gone down the wrong road, have done things no one appreciates, made mistakes no one else wants to make for themselves. In many cases they have disgraced themselves and never once have they endeavored to acknowledge their failing or asked for forgiveness. Arrogance in the face of everyone! “Just leave it alone and in time it will fade,” is the usual advice. How inaccurate that is. Everyone remembers President Nixon and Watergate, right?

“And he called the multitude, and said unto them, ‘Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man’” (Matthew 15:10-11).

“Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:12-14).

So now we understand what has happened to this wonderful country of ours! The “blind are leading the blind” and all of them are in the proverbial ditch!

Well, the problem is this: We all have walked around the basics of the issues for so long that we have created a ditch so deep that we can’t reach the hands of the blind. So the blind continue to holler out orders, when they are no longer able to see what is happening around them. The others are wondering around the top of the ditch, yet they have no answers either, nor are they seeking to find a way to get their blind leaders out of the ditch.

Their comical answer is always, “Well…they fell in there! You want me to go in there and pull them out? Why Me?! They are the leaders. Let them get their own selves out!” And then they walk away grumbling the state of affairs (ignorance by choice).

If the actions and words of these people are defiling them, why do they keep doing so? It could be they never learned from their parents what is right and what is wrong, or…even worse, they have chosen to do whatever they want to do and they DO NOT CARE what is right and what is wrong. The latter seems to be the course of today’s people, wouldn’t you agree? Especially for the famous of this country (not forgetting Miley Cyrus or Lady Gaga and so many others just to name a few). The filth and arrogance is palpable!

The learned Pharasees and Sadducess and others were doing the exact same thing. “Don’t do as I do, do as I say.” So as we see the: “It’s all about ME” thing has been going on for some time now, yet it is more flagrant today than ever before! So now we are able to better understand what the Bible means, when talking about the end of days. (That everything will be like Noah’s time.) Now ask yourself this important question and considering there were a few billion less people on earth at that time, how many were saved from the great flood? Oops! That sort of smarts doesn’t it?  I’m so sorry! I must say, I believe it is more like Sodom and Gomorrah nowadays than like Noah’s.

Go ahead and call me an alarmist, call me narrow-minded, hostile or angry, a hater, whatever! Each and every one of us will soon be standing before God Almighty and will be accountable to Him. On that note, how many more Christmases are you expecting to take place? Let’s pretend here for a moment, mostly because we like to pretend this time of the year. Okay, if this is our last Christmas, where will you be this time of the year…next year?

Again, will you be in a position to even think of past Christmases or will they be some long past event? Will you think back about all the food you are enjoying now, but no longer have? Will there even be a future for you? Maybe it would be wise to read what Revelation in the Bible has to say about the times during the Tribulation (should this be our last Christmas, that is). Don’t want to think on that? Don’t want to bum out this Christmas?

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).

Oops again. The Word of God, just keeps throwing those zingers out, right?! “Well, we will just enjoy Christmas and we’ll worry about that sometime later.” You might say, “Since no one knows when the Lord will return, what if it’s on Christmas day?

I have described past Christmases in my other articles, and not everyone has had the same experience. Those past Christmases were exclusive, and yet considering the number of people involved, not exclusive to just me! I would be sure many other people have had celebrations more elaborate than mine, yet how many have taken place that upholds the Word of God? How many are remembered with fondness, with love and harmony? I would gladly give up every single Christmas of my life for the chance to be with the Lord and celebrate HIM every single moment of eternity!

Considering that the baby Jesus in the manger was holding the universe in those small hands, I see a baby with greater plans than I could ever imagine as an adult. That is all the more reason to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ…that was God lying in a manger! HE was born to die for each of us, to cleanse us of our SIN and make us acceptable in heaven with HIM!

The last time, angels came out of the proverbial woodwork, to announce the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ…whom we must also acknowledge as GOD! The next time HE arrives it will be with honor and the glory of a TRUE KING and GOD. HIS TRUE POWER will be recognized by all across the world and in the time it takes for a human eye to twinkle, millions of people will be changed and then will suddenly disappear. (Literally snatched up to be with HIM in the clouds.) So then the question must be, “Where will you be in all of that?” Think on this for a bit. If it is still a decision you must make, before the Rapture or your death.

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

Jesus Christ…who IS GOD…loves all of us. But to have all the promises HE has made you must come to HIM…and ONLY HIM. There is NO OTHER WAY. If you get LEFT BEHIND, I can’t say it enough: “I’m SO SORRY FOR YOU.” Just know this…it was YOUR choice.

It’s sort of unusual. Someone famous passes away and for about a day, it’s front page news! People will talk about that person; where they knew them from and how much they enjoyed, (or otherwise) that person. Come the next day, it’s a whole new game! For those that really knew that person, it’s heartbreaking, and for those who knew “of them” they are sad for a day. Day after day, life goes on and no man is found sitting still and doing nothing, because time waits for no man, right?

Have you ever gone on the net and searched for the statistics of how many people die each and every day, all around the world? You would be amazed, to say the least! Now take a moment and search for how many babies are born each and every day around the world. Again, you will be amazed. And it would appear that life simply rolls along, some coming into the world and some leaving the world.

Try going to the obituaries of some obscure town, one you have never been to, pick out a name. Do you feel anything, good, bad or indifferent? What you are missing is that someone is hurting today, because a loved one passed on. Someone is making funeral arrangements for that person, crying real tears, someone’s heart is breaking. What is truly sad, we only think of the famous who have passed away, and we forget those that are not famous and so, we miss the real tragedy. Yes, I know, if we felt sad for everyone that was passing away, we would never have time to be happy. I get it! Ya know what would be even worse?  To pass away and have no one there because no one cared, no one cried.  As December 2013 begins, who in their right mind would want to contemplate these things, I mean we’re looking at Christmas, right?

Well, statistics for the United States show that a great many of the people that pass away, do so around these holidays; Thanksgiving and Christmas. Does this make you want to understand, why? It is true, people pass away every single day of the year, so why is it so important or even news worthy to take note during this time of the year? Maybe it’s because we look at this time of the year as more family oriented and we reflect on the holidays in our youth. If nothing else, it makes real, our mortality! During the festive time of the year we look back to our youth, and at the same time we remember those who are no longer here with us, how many passed away this time of the year.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-9, tells us there is a time and a season for all things, even to be born and a time to die. Sad as it  may be, this is life! It includes death, as well as birth! Here we are getting ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We see the baby Jesus in the manger, yet we forget that this same baby, who is God, grew up, became a man and then died for you and me on a Roman Cross. One thing I have never understood is this: Why is it that we pay so much attention to Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ and yet we play down Easter, when this same Jesus Christ was crucified for you and me? Somewhere in my head, I feel it ought to be the other way around!

Polls and statistics will bear me out, that we like the birth more than we like the death of anyone! We as a society like to celebrate the youth of our peoples and we abhor the “Golden Years” or the passing away of anyone.

We work so very hard all year long, we save and put money away to spend at Christmas, we like to say, “For the kids” but we all know that is not entirely true. We must think of the cost of the festive meals, beginning with Thanksgiving and then we must look forward to Christmas, which is even more expensive. We have all the visions in our head about a “White Christmas,” the music, the shopping, the carols, the wrapping of gifts, the Christmas tree.

And then the big day comes and the flurry of excitment of opening the gifts, eating the Christmas meal…and then it’s all over! Christmas passes on like every other day and we feel like we can take a big breath and sigh. Then we are back to talking about it, for a day or two, then we’re right back to where we were this time of the year, last year. Ready to do it all over again, at the end of this year! And looking forward to what happens this time, again next year! WHAT?

Is any of this making any sense to you, or is it just me? We have enjoyed many past Christmas holidays in years past and the last Christmas was probably better than those days, so we want to make sure that this next Christmas will be even better. Better than what? Do you ever get the idea that we are making ourselves sick over Christmas, beginning with Thanksgiving, Black Friday, the sales (really?), the running here and there and we just have to get this or that, the crowds, all the fuss and fighting, the traffic, burglaries and other crime that happens this time of year. I’m already worn out just thinking about it! And we haven’t even begun, well…except for those that started six months ago, you know who you are (chuckle, chuckle).

Oddly enough, I remember the farm my grandparents had on Orcus Island. They had cherry trees that lined both sides of that little dirt road to their house, from the Old Olga Road. The trees were so big their branches overlapped the trees on the other side and created a sort of a tunnel. Can you imagine this, with fresh snow everywhere? For me THAT was Christmas, twinkling new snow on the ground everywhere, the crisp cold air, the pine scent from the pine forest all around. A small farm with a big old style house and a chicken coop in front and a big red barn out back, with a wood shed full of logs and kindling.

Then I smell that old potato soup on a wood burning stove inside a warm home calling to me. I run out of the cold, kicking off my boots and hanging up my coat, walking in and there is my entire family sitting around a big table. Suddenly…I belong, I am happy, I am safe, I am home! And to think, it’s still Christmas time! No pain, no strain, no muss or fuss! We bow our heads and thank the Lord for this time together, for this food we are about to enjoy together, we kneel before the Lord, thanking HIM for giving us this time together! THAT my friends…is Christmas!

So here I am, sitting here writing this about all who used to be around that table, those who are gone, passed away and all I have now are the memories. Still as yet, I enjoy those times over and over again. I still wonder what that has to do with all the stores, the sales, Black Friday, running all over the place with so little time left, all the hurrying, all the buying, all the stress and strain. I truly believe we have forgotten Ecclesiastes 3:1-9, there is a time for all things and we have forgotten what is real and what is not, we have before and we are now, forgetting what Christmas is truly all about.

Jesus Christ is all about bringing us together, as one family under HIM. HE provides the atmosphere, the joy and the contentment, the giggles and the happiness, essentially HE is the reason for all the festivities! Is it or is it not the celebration of HIS birthday? If indeed you agree, that it is HIS Birthday, shouldn’t we be celebrating it…according to what HE wants it to be? It is then evident, we all have missed the point!

We are way too busy making the retailers rich and ourselves poorer, when the real Christmas has nothing to do with that. We are missing the point, because we are too busy thinking of ourselves, than to be praising HIM for this time of year and for our current condition in life. As we spend all this time rushing around, doing this and doing that, preparing for Christmas, way too many are looking at an empty chair, an empty crib, clothes that will never be worn again, toys that will never be played with again. Even worse, a single solitary wedding band, sits alone on someones dresser, never to be worn again. I am going to say it again, people…we are missing the point! Life must still go on!

Christmas and Thanksgiving were never meant to be playing out the way it is today! These days are meant to be lived and enjoyed with family, with singing and Praise of the Lord, because there will be times when they won’t be happy. There will be times of sorrow, pain and crying, feelings of loss every time the holidays come around. There are those left alone in nursing homes with nothing but memories to sustain them. Hospitals full of children that may not get home for Christmas and even some that will not see another Christmas.

Statistics show this time of year there are more heart attacks than any other time of the year.  But how many are thinking of these people? People just like you who want to live and feel loved and cared for just like you! How many will eat this Christmas alone, remembering how things used to be, but no one is left? I truly believe that those who are alone are the people we should be caring for this time of the year and every other day in the year.

John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”