My CHRISTmas Wish...

"...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:1b-6 NIV I'm opinionated. I know it. Most of my friends & family know it well also. Here goes... CHRISTmas has become so overly commercialized that for all practical purposes, it has completely changed what people see as CHRISTmas. While there is nothing wrong with gathering with loved ones & exchanging gifts, it is my opinion that we've bought Satan's lie. We see the holidays as a time to celebrate, a time to party, a time for gluttony & drunkenness--a time for Santa and his elves and sleighs & reindeer--a time for anything & everything except what it originally celebrated--the birth of Christ. As Christians, we are expected to be tolerant of everything, everybody, & every behavior. However, no one is asked to be tolerant of us, of our beliefs, of our morals and especially of our Bible-based opinions about wrong & right. Granted, it is not our place to police the world. It is not our place to judge the world. However, it is our place to tell the world of a loving GOD Who sent His One & Only Son into this cruel world to serve as a sacrifice, an atonement for the sins of mankind. At CHRISTmas, we celebrate the beginning of that earthly, solitary, sinless life that was GOD Incarnate, Jesus Christ. How about we all put our judgements, our prejudices, our cultures aside and learn to love one another, to accept one another--regardless of race, regardless of nationality, regardless of religious background, regardless of denomination. Unity is what it's about. Our country is made of of the melding together of the multitudes of the world. We have much to be proud of. At the same time, we have much to be ashamed of. We are still a nation divided. After many years of racial unrest, for the most part we still segregate ourselves along ethnic lines. Even in our Houses of Worship, we separate ourselves as predominately caucasian churches, predominately black churches, predominately hispanic churches, predominately asian churches--I think you get the idea. On top of that, we separate ourselves by denomination--there are Baptist churches, Methodist Churches, Pentecostal churches, Catholic churches, etc., etc., etc. I fully believe each church exists to reach a certain segment of society that only that body can minister to. There is nothing wrong there. What is wrong is that churches act as if they are in competition with one another. They point their boney finger of righteous indignation towards one another & speak ill of pastors, churches, denominations or complete races of people. Somehow, I can't see this as the spotless church, the bride that awaits the Return of Christ. Let's learn to love and accept one another, faults and all, and come together in a spirit of unity for the cause of Christ. We are not fighting one another. Together, we should be standing against the god of this world and sharing the message of hope and love with a world bound for Hell. This is the cause for which Jesus was born, for which He died. It'd be nice to honor the season of His birth by living in a spirit of love--the love that compelled GOD to give the greatest gift of all. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 GOD has a plan, a purpose for every life He creates. We squander His precious gifts and spend our time on earth quarreling and fighting amongst ourselves when we are called to be a people of peace--especially during this season of peace. While it'd be nice to make it a year-round thing, the CHRISTmas season is a good place to start. Let us truly love one another without regard to our differences. This is my CHRISTmas Wish. Something to think about.. Blessings! Tony