Logic Demands That We Believe in the Virgin Birth

Posted on December 16, 2009 by russellmckinney

“Why We Should Believe in the Virgin Birth” series: (post #3)

We’ve been in a series of posts on the question of why we should believe in the virgin birth. With the two previous posts, we learned that we should believe in the virgin birth because scripture and Bible prophecy demand it. Now, with this third and last post, we’re going to see that logic also demands it.

Can you name the problem with any man fathering a child? It’s the fact that a sinner can only produce another sinner. This has been the tragic, vicious cycle that mankind has been in since the moment Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and became a sinner.

When Adam impregnated Eve that first time, perhaps he hoped that the baby would not bear the marks of his sin. Sadly, though, it surely wasn’t too long into Cain’s life before Adam realized that his race was ruined. Cain came complete with the inborn nature of a sinner, and that meant that he, like his mother and father, was marked for death. As the Bible says, sin brings death, and the moment Cain was conceived, the clock began ticking on his mortality.

But it wasn’t just Cain who was born to die. All of Adam’s other sons and daughters shared in that same fate, because they were all products of their daddy’s sin-tainted seed. Then, of course, as Adam’s sons grew up one by one, they themselves took wives and fathered children, who were in turn born as sinners as well.

And so it went, on and on, down through the ages because it is an unchangeable fact that a sinner can only father another sinner. Romans 5:12 puts it this way:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all have sinned — (N.K.J.V.)

Now, it is with this in mind that I want you to put yourself in the place of God. You’ve got to get a Savior into this world, a Savior who will die for all the sins of the world. Obviously, if that Savior is going to die for those sins, He Himself must be completely without sin. But how could any baby be born into the human race without passing through and coming under Adam’s taint of sin? How could a sinless child be conceived in a mother’s womb when every potential father on planet Earth was a sinner? I’ll tell you how: the virgin birth. The man in the male-female/biological relationship would have to bypassed altogether.

And that’s just what God did. Luke 1:35 lets us see as far as we can see into the mystery of the virgin birth. That verse says:

And the angel (Gabriel) answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (N.K.J.V.)

You see, there had to be something miraculous and supernatural about Christ’s birth. He simply couldn’t be the seed of Joseph and yet still be sinless and perfect. As fine a man as Joseph was, he was defective material. He was a sinner, a sinner who could only father another sinner. That’s why Christ’s birth had to be different. Really, when you come at it from a doctrinal standpoint, the virgin birth was perfectly logical. That’s why we say that logic demands that we believe in the virgin birth.

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Bible Prophecy Demands That We Believe in the Virgin Birth

Posted on December 16, 2009 by russellmckinney

“Why We Should Believe in the Virgin Birth” series: (post #2)

This is the second post in a three-part series on why we should believe in Christ’s virgin birth. With the first post, I explained that we should believe in the virgin birth because scripture demands it. With this one, I want to show that we should believe in it because Bible prophecy demands it.

In Matthew 1:22-23, Matthew weaves an Old Testament prophecy into his God-inspired writing. He writes:

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’ (N.K.J.V.)

This prophecy was given by the prophet Isaiah some 700 years before Jesus was born. We find the story in Isaiah chapter 7. The Lord instructed Ahaz, the king of Judah (Israel’s southern kingdom), to ask for a sign as proof that the allied forces of Syria and Israel (Israel’s northern kingdom) would not invade and conquer Judah. God said the requested sign could be anything on earth or in the heavens. But Ahaz refused to name a sign. His problem was that he had pretty much already set his heart on getting his help from another group of people, the Assyrians.

The Lord was displeased with Ahaz’s refusal and went ahead and named a sign anyway. God said, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” That is the part of the prophecy that Matthew quotes in his gospel. For the rest of the prophecy, God went on to say other things about the child. First, the child would eat curds and honey. Second, before the child would be old enough to know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the kings of Syria and Israel would meet their doom and the king of Assyria would invade the land of Judah.

There is much debate as to how God’s sign was literally fulfilled in the days of King Ahaz. It seems clear, though, that if the sign was only fulfilled in Christ’s birth, that wouldn’t have been any kind of a sign to Ahaz. After all, Ahaz lived centuries before Jesus was born. Therefore, the sign surely had some kind of partial fulfillment in Ahaz’s time. For example, maybe a virgin, a girl with which Ahaz was associated, got married shortly after God gave this sign, and maybe the newly married virgin got pregnant by her husband and gave birth to a son in less than a year. Some even contend that the woman was Isaiah’s second wife, his first wife having died.

Frankly, we just don’t know the exact details of how God’s sign played out to King Ahaz. What we do know is how the sign was ultimately and perfectly fulfilled. Matthew leaves no doubt about that. That final fulfillment came when Jesus was born to the virgin Mary. And here again we see, in the precise wording of the Biblical text, that Mary was a virgin when she bore Jesus. The Hebrew word used to define the young mother in the Isaiah passage is almah, which comes from the root word alam, a word that means “to hide or conceal.” This proves that the word specifically refers to a virgin. As one writer has said: “The name was given to a virgin because she is said to be hidden or concealed in the family of the parents.” So, based upon Matthew’s use of the prophetic passage from Isaiah, we can say assuredly that Bible prophecy demands the virgin birth.

Before we move on, though, let me tell you about one other prophecy the virgin birth fulfilled. This one goes all the way back to the garden of Eden. According to Genesis 3:15, after Adam and Eve had sinned in the garden, God said to Satan (who was inside the serpent at the time), “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He (her Seed) shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

What jumps out at us from this prophecy is the strange idea of a woman having reproductive seed. That just simply isn’t the way the human reproductive system works. So why did God prophesy to Satan about the Seed of the woman?

He did it as a way of telling Satan about the virgin birth. Thousands of years from that fateful day, Jesus (the One who would strike a blow to Satan’s head) would be conceived in the womb of a virgin. Putting it another way, He wouldn’t be the product of the seed of a man. Instead, He would be history’s only seed of a woman. For this reason, Genesis 3:15 has been called “the first gospel.” And that prophecy, along with the one from Isaiah chapter 7, is undeniable proof that we should believe in the virgin birth because Bible prophecy demands it.

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Scripture Demands That We Believe in the Virgin Birth

Posted on December 14, 2009 by russellmckinney

“Why We Should Believe in the Virgin Birth” series: (post #1)

In the December 25th devotion from his classic devotional My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes:

Jesus Christ was born into this world; not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of – He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate – God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors.

I want you to take careful notice of that last line: “His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors.” What was that most humble of doors? It was the womb of a young Jewish virgin.

I dare say that we cannot fully wrap our minds around this fundamental truth. Jesus (the Son of God, God the Son) laid aside His power and glory, left heaven, invaded time and history, and in some miraculous way that we cannot fathom became a human fetus in the belly of young Jewish girl who was not officially married and had never had sexual relations. Is it any wonder that liberals and skeptics have a hard time swallowing that? They say, “The idea of the virgin birth is nothing but a fairy tale for adults!” Or, they say, “That whole story is just Christianity’s way of mimicking the traditions of the pagan religions in which the mythic gods and heroes supposedly sprang from supernatural sources.”

Sadly, such criticisms have collected their toll of doubt on some professing Christians. Even among certain preachers of our day, there are some who say, “It doesn’t really matter whether or not you believe that Jesus was born to a virgin. The important thing is just to believe in Him. At best, the virgin birth is a minor issue and a secondary doctrine.”

But is this attitude an acceptable one? Absolutely not! Not only is Christ’s virgin birth a major issue, it is also a foundational doctrine. As evidence of this, I’m going to devote three posts to a series I’m calling “Why We Should Believe in the Virgin Birth.”

So, with this first post, I want to say that we should believe in the virgin birth because scripture demands it. Yes, the Bible really does teach that Mary was a virgin when she conceived baby Jesus in her womb. Allow me to offer four easy-to-understand references.

First, in Matthew 1:18, the Bible says:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Second, in Matthew 1: 22-25, we read:

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Third, Luke 1:26-27 says:

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Fourth, Luke 1:34 says of Mary after Gabriel had told her that she was going to conceive a son:

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

In these passages that use the word “virgin,” the Greek word that gets translated as “virgin” is parthenos. It is the same Greek word that was used in the naming of the famous Parthenon, which was the Greek temple dedicated to the virgin goddess Athena. You see, the Bible really does teach that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived in her womb.

Of course, I hope that my quoting of these passages from Matthew and Luke is enough evidence for you to agree that scripture demands that we believe in the virgin birth. Sadly, however, it isn’t enough evidence for some people. Consider the following true story as proof of that.

Harry Rimmer, who was a well-known Presbyterian minister of his day, once found himself in a sad situation as he served as a member of the ordination council that was examining a young man for ordination into the ministry. Rimmer was astonished to hear the young man boldly state, “I do not believe in the virgin birth.” Even more astonishingly, when some of the other ministers began to sternly question the young man about his unorthodox viewpoint on the matter, an older minister from the council spoke in the young man’s defense by saying, “I don’t want this council to make a big point of this because I don’t accept the virgin birth either.”

It was at this juncture that the council turned their questioning from the young candidate to the older minister. They asked him, “Why don’t you believe in the virgin birth?” But the older minister was ready with a quick reply. He said, “Because it is only found on two pages of the New Testament. Matthew and Luke are the only ones who ever mention it. In all of the writings of Paul, he never introduces the question of the virgin birth.”

Upon hearing that answer, Dr. Rimmer became so incensed that he finally had to speak up in the meeting. He stood up and said to the older minister, “Tell us then, what do you teach and preach?” Calmly, the minister responded, “The Sermon on the Mount. That is enough for anyone.” As soon as those words had fallen from the minister’s lips, however,  Dr. Rimmer said, “It’s not enough for me. I don’t believe in the Sermon on the Mount.”

Now it was the older minister’s turn to be shocked. He looked at Dr. Rimmer and asked, “Why not?” To that, Dr. Rimmer used the older minister’s faulty reasoning against him by saying, “Because The Sermon on the Mount only occurs on two pages of the New Testament, and Matthew and Luke are the only Gospels who mention it.”

Do you see how absurd the older minister’s argument was? While it’s true that the gospels of Mark and John never mention the virgin birth of Christ, the plain fact is that neither of those gospels specifically mentions Jesus being born at all! Mark’s gospel leads off with the account of the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry, and Jesus first enters into Mark’s storyline as a grown man who travels from Nazareth to Galilee to be baptized by John. And as for John’s gospel, the closest he gets to describing Christ’s virgin birth is to say of Jesus: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14, N.K.J.V.) Can we assume, then, that because these two gospels make no mention of Christ’s actual birth that Jesus wasn’t born? Of course not!

In conclusion, it is absurd to say of the virgin birth, “It can’t be scriptural because it is only mentioned in two of the four gospels.” How many times does God have to record something for it to be considered a legitimate doctrine or teaching? If He says something once it’s enough, and He says on multiple occasions that Jesus was born to a virgin. Therefore, to sum up the point of this first post from this series, we should believe in the virgin birth because scripture demands it.

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Some Things to Remember This Christmas

Posted on December 12, 2009 by russellmckinney

An old legend tells that Satan and his demons once threw a Christmas party for themselves. As the party was ending and the demons were heading out to resume their worldwide activity, one demon jokingly said to Satan, “Merry Christmas, your majesty.” To that, Satan replied, “Yes, help the world keep it merry because if they ever get serious about it, we’ll all be in trouble.”

This world certainly does make it hard to get serious about Christmas. How can we keep our focus on the holiday’s important things when we are bombarded at every turn with its silly things? I’ve never heard it put any better than Keith Ogden, the pastor of Hill Street Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina, put it. He called the Christmas holiday a “mixture of the reasonable with the ridiculous” and said, “Christmas today is a mixture of the sacred with the secular, the holy with the common, the holiday with the holy day, the babe in a manger with the elf in a sleigh, the shepherds in the field, watching their sheep with reindeer that know how to fly.”

And so, in these days leading up to Christmas, I think it would be good for us to identify a few things that we should remember this Christmas. These are things that will help us celebrate the birth of Christ in a manner that is pleasing to Him. There’s nothing wrong with having Christmas, but we need to have it the right way.

The first thing we should remember is: Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth. Christmas isn’t about: Santa Claus, elves, reindeer, the grinch, Christmas trees, presents, eggnog, Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby, or Mariah Carey. It’s about Jesus! You can’t even spell the word “Christmas” without starting with the name “Christ.” Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth.

I once read about a family who celebrated Christmas each year by actually throwing a birthday party for Jesus. They would go so far as to set an extra chair at the table as a reminder of Christ’s presence at the party. The mother would fix a cake, complete with candles, and the whole family would sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. One year a visitor said to the family’s five-year-old daughter, “Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?” The little girl replied, “No, but then it’s not my birthday.” We need more of that attitude today.

A second thing we should remember is: It is more blessed to give than to receive. In Acts 20:35, Paul says to the pastors of Ephesus: “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

If your whole idea of Christmas centers around you receiving, you are missing the point of the holiday. What does John 3:16 say? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You see, the baby Jesus lying in that manger on that night so long ago was a gift to the world. And God expects those of us who follow Jesus to be givers. 

A third thing we should remember is: Even in our giving, we can cross the line into sin. Colossians 3:17 says: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Did you know that Jesus wants to be the Lord of your Christmas shopping? He doesn’t want you to buy anything that is contrary to His will. Even if an item is on clearance at a 90% discount, you’d better consult the Lord before buying it. Jesus doesn’t mind you buying gifts for others, but He does want you to filter every purchase through His will.

What passes for discerning giving these days was on display at a Walmart in Long Island, New York, a few years ago. In the early morning hours of the Friday after Thanksgiving, approximately 2,000 shoppers gathered outside the doors of the mall where the Wal-Mart was located. When a thirty-four-year-old male employee opened the store’s doors, he was immediately knocked to the ground by the onrushing crowd. The force of the crowd was so great that a metal portion of the door frame was crumpled like an accordion. In all the chaos, no one cared that the employee couldn’t get up, and so they just kept stepping all over him. Even when some of the other employees tried to fight their way through the crowd to help their coworker, they were knocked down and trampled upon as well. After the stampede was over, the worker was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead around 6:00 a.m. Tell me, do you think Jesus is pleased that such crazed behavior is associated with the season of His birth?

The fourth thing we should remember is: We should always do our part to live peaceably with others. A good text here is Romans 12:18, which says: “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Isn’t it sad that Christmas oftentimes brings out the worst in people? This is especially true with families.

Family members get mad over the stupidest things at Christmastime. Wars break out over the holiday schedules of events! Dad wants the whole family to get together for a big meal on Christmas Eve, but his daughter-in-law would rather take the grandkids to a Christmas Eve candlelight service at her church. One grandma wants everybody at her place at one o’clock on Christmas day, but the other grandma wants everybody at her place at two o’clock. The wife’s family always opened their presents on Christmas Eve, and that’s how she wants to raise her kids, but her husband’s family always opened their presents on Christmas day. Two of the grandkids are in one church’s Christmas play but the other grandkid is in another church’s play, and both plays start at seven o’clock on the Sunday night before Christmas. Decisions, decisions! To further complicate matters, if your family has been touched by divorce, you can multiply every holiday event by at least two.

During all of this family turmoil you would do well to keep in mind what those angels said to those shepherds on the night of Christ’s birth: “Peace on earth, goodwill to all men.” You say, “But I wanted a pumpkin pie instead of a pecan pie.” Get over it. “But I wanted Levis instead of Wranglers.” Get over it. “But I wanted a real tree instead of an artificial one.” Get over it. It’s Christmas! We’re supposed to be celebrating the fact that God took human flesh upon Himself and was born into this world as a baby so that He could grow up and die for our sins to afford us the opportunity to spend all eternity with Him. It’s not a time for arguing and petty bickering. It’s not a time to demand your way and ignore the feelings of others. It’s a time of doing your part to live peaceably with others. Here’s a good saying that can help you this Christmas: “Blessed are the flexible for they will get along.” Please put that one to use this season, and thank me later. And in the meantime, Merry Christmas!

Posted in Children, Christ's Birth, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Complaining, Divorce, Family, Giving, Husbands, Marriage, Parenting, Wives | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is Beautiful Music Coming From You?

Posted on December 10, 2009 by russellmckinney

Old stories are just that: old stories. Some are true and some aren’t. Here’s one that comes from the late seventeenth century. I can’t testify to it’s authenticity, but it’s a good story.

As a wealthy man from London was traveling across Europe, he found an old violin in a rundown little shop in Paris. The violin’s finish was flaking. Its bridges were broken down. Its strings were gone. But something about the instrument intrigued the man, and so he bought it for a small sum.

He took the violin to his room and tinkered with it a bit before realizing that repairing it was far too great a task for him. He then began a systematic search to find someone to do the job. In Cremona, Italy, he asked a man on the street if he knew anyone who repaired violins, and the man directed him to a certain house. The wealthy man went to that house, knocked on the door, and was greeted by a servant who instructed him to leave the violin and come back in one week.

When the man returned to pick up his instrument a week later, the door was answered by someone other than the servant. This other man looked quite elegant and wore distinguished glasses, and when he brought forth the violin, it was restored completely and sparkled with beauty. It didn’t even look like the same instrument from a week earlier.

The wealthy man took his violin and tried to play it, but the sound that came from it was harsh and unpleasant. He thought, “Oh well, it was worth a try to fix it. At least it looks better now.” Then he asked the other man for the bill and was appalled at what seemed to be an outrageous price, considering that the violin’s sound still left much to be desired.

At that point the man with the glasses took the instrument back and began playing it, producing a sound that was indescribably beautiful to the ear. The owner, with his eyes bouncing, quickly changed his mind about the restoration fee and agreed to pay it. As he handed over the money, he asked the gentleman, “Who are you, sir?” The answer came back, “My name is Antonio Stradivari. If you will look closely, you’ll find that name inside your violin because I made it.”

The spiritual application of this story is two fold. First, just as Antonio Stradivari knew how to restore one of his Stradivarius violins, God knows how to restore you, His creation. Second, just as Stradivari knew exactly how to play one of his violins to produce the most beautiful music from it, God knows how to play you to produce the most beautiful music you have in you.

Posted in Change, Doing Good, God's Love, God's Omniscience, God's Sovereignty, God's Work, Grace, Individuality, Service, Spiritual Gifts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lessons Learned From The Tiger Woods Story

Posted on December 9, 2009 by russellmckinney

Things are getting kind of bizarre in the story of Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer. News broke early Tuesday that an ambulance had been dispatched to his Florida mansion sometime around 2:30 a.m. in response to a 911 call. The ambulance picked up Barbro Holmberg, Woods’ mother-in-law. She was rushed to a local hospital and listed as an “advanced life support” patient. Such a listing simply means that paramedics went beyond basic CPR methods in helping her. She was admitted for “stomach pain,” evidently responded well to treatment, and was released Tuesday afternoon to return to Woods’ home. 

This was just the latest chapter in a sad series of events that have played out over the past couple of weeks. The timeline runs like this:

-At 2:25 a.m. of November 27th, Woods crashes his vehicle into a fire hydrant and his neighbor’s tree. He is taken to a local hospital and treated for minor facial lacerations. He is quickly released and returns home. (Woods refuses to talk to Florida State Troopers for the next three days, and is finally cited for careless driving and fined $164.) 

-Shortly after the accident, the tabloids and internet become abuzz with rumors of Woods’ marital infidelity. (As of now, it’s impossible to sort out fact from lies, but the current number of alleged mistresses stands anywhere from seven to ten.) 

-On November 29th, Woods releases a statement on his website in which he says the accident was his fault and asks for privacy while his family works through a difficult time.

-On November 30th, it is announced that Woods will not be participating in his next scheduled golf tournament. The given reason for his withdrawal is injuries from the accident.

-On December 2nd, Woods releases a new statement in which he says, “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.”

-A few days later, several media outlets begin reporting that Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, has moved out of the house. (I haven’t heard whether or not she took the couple’s two-year old daughter and infant son with her.) 

-Then comes Tuesday’s story about the mother-in-law being rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night.

As for Woods, he still hasn’t been seen publicly since his accident. Whatever the exact details of everything are, it now seems fairly obvious that it’s a sad situation. The entire family needs our prayers. I have been praying for them, and I hope you will as well.

With that said, I’d like to offer some Biblical lessons here. I don’t do this to kick Tiger Woods while he is down. As I said, I’m praying sincere prayers for him and his family. I offer these merely as a way to view the story through the lens of God’s written word.

Lesson #1: A son needs his daddy. Tiger’s father, Earl, died on May 3rd, 2006. He was a military man who stood for honesty, integrity, and responsibility. Up until his death, he was the driving influence in Tiger’s life. He was the one who molded young Tiger into a golf prodigy. Later on he wrote two books about his no-nonsense parenting style. Tiger has often mentioned how much he misses his dad. In 1st Thessalonians 2:11, the Bible teaches that a father should exhort, comfort, and charge his children. Proverbs 1:8 speaks of a father instructing his son. Would Tiger be in the mess he’s in now if his dad was still alive? No one can say for sure, but many would answer, “No.”

Lesson #2: Every husband must work at remaining sexually satisfied with his wife. Affairs typically occur when husbands aren’t sexually satisfied with their wives alone. The lust for more sex or “different” sex is a powerful, primal thing. That’s why Proverbs 5:18-19 warns: “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love.”

Lesson #3: The sin of adultery is a fire that burns the one who commits it. Proverbs 6:27-28 says: “Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared?” 1st Corinthians 6:18 says: “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”

Lesson #4: No matter how much success, fame, and wealth a man has, his world can still come tumbling down if he doesn’t practice self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” A city without walls is wide open to be attacked and destroyed. So is a life lived without self-control.

Lesson #5: If you want to fall, be full of pride. Tiger Woods is well known for being supremely confident in his abilities, even to the point of being egotistical. Proverbs 16:18 says: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Surely one of Woods’ motivations for committing adultery was that his ego told him he could get away with it.

Lesson #6: All the self-will one can muster will eventually lose out to the power of the flesh (that inborn sinful nature of individuals). Woods’ strong will on the golf course is a major part of what makes him so good. But no man is so strong-willed that he can keep his inner nature of sin at bay for long. In Romans 7:18-19, the apostle Paul writes: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”

Lesson #7: Your sins WILL eventually be discovered. Numbers 32:23 says: “…be sure your sin will find you out.” Isaiah 29:15 says: “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark. They say, ‘Who sees us?” and ‘Who knows us?'”    

Lesson #8: Wealth doesn’t equate to contentment. Even though Woods has earned multiplied millions through his golfing and endorsements, there was obviously still something that prevented him from being content with his family life. 1st Timothy 6:6-8 says: “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

Lesson #9: When you raise a child to worship the idol of sports, you shouldn’t be surprised when that child grows up to be lacking in morality and character. As I mentioned earlier, Earl Woods was an uncommonly influential father. No one can deny that he raised a champion golfer. But all those championships came at a high price. As far back as Tiger can remember, Earl led him to obsess over the sport of golf and devote himself fanactically to mastering it. Earl never taught Tiger how to keep golf in proper perspective and allow his spiritual side to develop. That inevitably caused some chinks in Tiger’s character and morality. In Matthew 16:26, Jesus asks the profound question, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  

Lesson #10: Buddhism simply cannot offer the help people need. By Woods’ own admission, he is something of a nominal Buddhist through his mother, who is from Thailand. He especially values the Buddhist practice of meditation. In a March, 2008 interview with Reuters, Woods said of Buddhism, “In the Buddhist religion, you have to work for it yourself internally in order to achieve anything in life…and in Buddhism to set up the next life. But in Buddhism it’s all about what you do and internal work.” Sadly, this religion and philosophy fly right in the face of Christ’s words from John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” They also go against Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God., not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

So, let me close by saying that Tiger Woods is just like anybody else on planet Earth in that he needs to place his faith (belief) in Jesus as his personal Savior. That will bring him forgiveness of sin (Colossians 1:14), spiritual life (John 5:40), salvation (Acts 16:30-31), and the empowerment to resist temptation and sin (Philippians 4:13). Certainly Tiger’s life has taken a tragic turn for the worse, but if that turn leads him to the open arms of Jesus, the best will be yet to come for him. That’s my prayer, for not only Tiger but his entire family.

Posted in Adultery, Adversity, Belief, Character, Choices, Contentment, Desires, Faith, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, Husbands, Marriage, Money, Parenting, Priorities, Seeking Forgiveness, Sex, Sin, Sports, Temptation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What Should a Christian Do About Christmas Trees & Santa Claus?

Posted on December 8, 2009 by russellmckinney

“The Origins of the Christmas Holiday” series (post #4)

This will be the last post in our series on the origins of our Christmastime traditions. With this one, however, I don’t want to deal with the origins of any more traditions. Instead, I want to focus upon rightly applying what we’ve learned.

There are some who staunchly believe that Christians should have nothing to do with the Christmas holiday. They say, “The holiday has its roots in paganism, and Christians should avoid it altogether.” This was the mindset of the early Puritans, Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians, and Calvinists who played such major roles in the settling of America.

If you ever meet someone who does oppose the holiday, that person will probably refer you to Jeremiah 10:2-5, which says:

Thus says the Lord: Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good. (N.K.J.V.)

Some people read that passage and say, “You see? Right there the Bible tells us that we shouldn’t have Christmas trees.” But are these people right? That’s what we need to figure out.

Several years ago, I came face to face with this issue in my life. I had learned the information that I’ve passed along in this series, and I had to discern how to apply it to my family life. Since the whole subject was pretty overwhelming to me, all I knew to do was pray about it. I poured out my heart to God and said, “Lord, You show me what You want me to do about the Christmas holiday, and I’ll do it.”

I prayed that and I meant it! I was open to never again having a Christmas tree. I was open to never again having Santa Claus mentioned around my house. I was open to ending the practice of buying presents and getting presents.

You say, “Oh, Russell, that kind of thinking is just going to a wrong extreme.” Well, maybe it is, but tell me, have you ever seriously prayed about the issue of the pagan taint that Christmas has upon it? I dare say that most people go their entire lives and never commit the matter to prayer. Say what you will, but I did that.

And what answer did God bring me back to time and time again? Well, if you go into my house at Christmastime, you will find a Christmas tree sitting in my living room. It is beautifully decorated and, depending on what day you go, it might even have a few presents under it. You’ll also find Christmas cards and stockings prominently displayed. You get the idea. God gave me a peace about our Christmas traditions, and He taught me that it all comes under the heading of Christian liberty.

Not surprisingly, I’ve since learned that I’m not the only Christian whom God has led to this conclusion. Years ago, in Jerry Falwell’s publication The National Liberty Journal, he had a word to say about Christians and Christmas. It was so in line with how God had answered my prayers that I cut it out and kept it. Falwell wrote:

I usually get some critical mail from friends who object to trees, Santa Claus, gifts, and the entire celebration. They remind me that we do not know the exact date of the birth of Christ; that the Christmas tree and Santa have pagan origins; that commercialism dominates the scene; and that Christians should ignore the whole season. Of course, I respectfully disagree. I have never met a person who was damaged emotionally for life because of believing in Santa as a child, or believing in the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, or Mother Goose rhymes. Rather, I have met many who were sadly robbed of their childhood by strict legalistic parents who thought they were doing God a service by denying their children all harmless fun and innocent fantasy.

(By the way, Jerry Falwell was hardly classified as a liberal!)

Let me give you another quote that I like. This one comes from James Dobson’s Focus On The Family magazine. In answering a question about Santa, Dobson wrote:

…if I had to do it over, I would still let my children thrill to the excitement of Santa’s arrival down the chimney on Christmas Eve.

So, does Christmas really have its roots in paganism? Yes. There’s no denying that. In this series, I didn’t even take the time to explain the pagan origins of mistletoe, the Yule log, decking the halls with boughs of holly, the Christmas goose, and many, many other Christmas traditions. I assure you that these customs didn’t come from the Bible. But does that mean that God would have us boycott Christmas? No, it doesn’t.

Let me tell you something: Unless you move to a cave on top of a mountain, you can’t really boycott it anyway. A man says, “My family isn’t going to celebrate Christmas in any way.” Then he sends his five-year-old off to kindergarten and the boy comes home and says, “We are having a Christmas party at school on Friday and I’m supposed to bring the cupcakes.” A woman says, “I’m not even going to acknowledge that there is a Christmas. I just won’t let it into my house.” Then she goes to her mailbox and finds that her neighbor has sent her a Christmas card. Do you see what I mean?

Someone says, “But what about that passage from Jeremiah chapter 10?” I’ll tell you about it: It has absolutely nothing to do with a Christmas tree! What the passage condemns is cutting down a tree and fashioning a wooden idol out of it. If you don’t believe me, sit down and read it for yourself. The key to rightly understanding the passage is to read the entire chapter. Don’t just stop at verse 5. When you take the chapter as a whole (especially verses 11 and 14), you will see that the reference is to the making of a wooden idol. It doesn’t have one thing to do with Christmas trees or Christmas.

Listen, Jesus knows that He wasn’t born on December 25th, and He knows about Saturnalia and all the other winter-solstice festivals that other cultures once celebrated. But He also knows what it is to live in a fallen world. And, knowing that, what He asks from us each Christmas (as well as every other time of the year) is that we live all out for Him.

Parent, I firmly believe that Jesus wants you to let your kids have their fun at Christmas, but He also wants you to teach them the difference between myth and reality. What He especially wants is for you to teach them how to live for Him out there in the real world, a real world that makes a big deal out of Christmas. That’s why I would encourage you to pour out your heart to the Lord about all the issues of Christmas and let Him show you the guidelines and boundaries. He did that for me, and He will do it for you if you are sincere in wanting to know His will. To you, Christmas can simply be a wonderful time of family, tradition, and, of course, the heartfelt celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Posted in Christian Liberty, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Series: "The Origins of the Christmas Holiday" | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Christmas Trees, Santa, Bing Crosby, & Charlie Brown

Posted on December 6, 2009 by russellmckinney

“The Origins of the Christmas Holiday” series (post #3)

We’re in a series on the origins of our Christmastime traditions. With the first post, I covered the subjects of the winter solstice and Saturnalia. With the second, I explained the effect the Roman emperor Constantine had upon the winter solstice and Saturnalia celebrations. With this third post, I’ll cover the origins of three major traditions.

Tradition #1 is the name “Christmas” itself. The word comes from the Roman Catholic term “Christ’s Mass.” When you know this, it will come as no surprise that each Christmas Eve the Roman Catholics observe Mass, which is their version of the Lord’s Supper.

Tradition #2 is the Christmas tree. Long before the time of Christ, ancient Egyptians brought green palm branches into their homes on the shortest day of the year, the day of the winter solstice. To them, those green palm branches symbolized life. Centuries later the Romans decorated their homes with evergreen wreaths during the days of Saturnalia. The idea of a Christmas tree came out of these historical observances of the Egyptians and the Romans.

The first recorded reference to an actual Christmas tree comes from the 16th century. At that time the families in Strasbourg, Germany are known to have decorated fir trees with colored paper, fruits, and sweets. In 1520, Martin Luther, who was German, saw the beauty of the stars twinkling through the evergreen trees outside his home and attempted to copy this beauty by placing lit candles on his Christmas tree. His neighbors soon followed suit.

The custom of the Christmas tree eventually spread throughout Europe. Records tell us that Prince Albert of Germany married Queen Victoria of England and set up a beautifully decorated tree in England’s Windsor Castle. The tree was decorated with candies, sugared fruits, and tiny wrapped gifts.

As for the United States, the custom was brought here by German soldiers and Hessian mercenaries who were paid to fight in the Revolutionary War. In 1804, U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn, in what is now Chicago, hauled trees from the surrounding forests to their barracks at Christmastime. Once the custom had begun in America, it quickly spread.

In 1851, a man named Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds loaded with trees from the Catskills to the streets of New York and opened the nation’s first retail lot. In 1882, Edward Johnson, a partner of Thomas Edison, invented electric Christmas tree lights and hung the first string on his tree. This was safer than Martin Luther’s old idea about placing lit candles on Christmas trees. Franklin Pierce, America’s fourteenth president, was the first president to place a Christmas tree in the White House. Later on, in 1923, Calvin Coolidge began the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, which is held every year on the White House lawn.

Tradition #3 is Santa Claus. In approximately 280 A.D., a man named Nicholas was born in Turkey. He was raised in a wealthy family and received a fine education. As a young man, he became a priest and was well known for his kindness and generosity. When his parents died, he even distributed his inheritance and property to the needy. Ultimately, Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra. To this day a feast is held on December 6th, the date of his death.

It is from the life and deeds of Saint Nicholas that the basics of the legend arose. The most famous story is about him making three secret visits to the home of a poor father of three daughters. On each of the first two visits, Nicholas threw a bag of gold through the window of the home. On the third visit, he threw the bag of gold down the chimney. As the story goes, the bag landed in a stocking that had been hung by the chimney to dry. The father used those three bags of gold as dowries to get his daughters married into good families. Because of this, over the course of time, people began to thank Saint Nicholas anytime they received an unexpected gift.

According to legend, Saint Nicholas’ cape was bright red and trimmed with white fur. This was the origin of what Santa wears. The name “Santa Claus” comes from “Sinter Klaas,” the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas. The Dutch were the ones who brought the story of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) to America.

Once in America, the legend began to take on new details. In 1809, Washington Irving wrote a story about children leaving stockings out for Saint Nicholas to fill. A few years later, in 1821, Irving wrote a book entitled “The Children’s Friend,” in which he said that Santa traveled by a sleigh that was pulled by reindeer. That was different from earlier versions of Santa’s story, which said that he traveled by wagon with the assistance of a magic white horse.

One year later, in 1822, a New Yorker named Clement C. Moore wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” It began, “Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house…” That story inspired an artist named Thomas Nast to draw a cartoon of Santa for the popular magazine Harper’s Weekly. That cartoon depicted St. Nicholas as a jolly, fat man.

Actually, Santa is just one of the many areas in which America has added its own touches to Christmastime. In 1942, in the movie “Holiday Inn,” Bing Crosby first sang the song “White Christmas.” In 1946, Jimmy Stewart starred as George Bailey in “It’s A Wonderful Life.” In 1947, Twentieth Century Fox released “Miracle On 34th Street.” In 1964, Elvis Pressley recorded the song “Blue Christmas.” Also in 1964, television gave us the cartoon classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” In 1965, it gave us “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” In 1966, it was “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” In 1968, it was “The Little Drummer Boy.” In 1969, it was Frosty the Snowman. All of these elements and a vast assortment of others that we all know so well have now become a part of the far-out, odd, colossal mix that we call the Christmas holiday.

Posted in Catholicism, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Series: "The Origins of the Christmas Holiday" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Constantine & Christmas

Posted on December 4, 2009 by russellmckinney

“The Origins of the Christmas Holiday” series (post #2)

The previous post served as the beginning of my series on the origins of the traditions of our Christmas holiday. That post explained the winter solstice and the Roman holiday known as Saturnalia. Now, with this second post in the series, I need to say some things about a Roman emperor named Constantine.

Constantine became one of the emperors of the Roman empire in the year 306 A.D. Six years later, in 312 A.D., he found himself at a pivotal point in his war against his brother-in-law and co-emperor, Maxentius. According to the historian Eusebius, Constantine prayed to God and asked for divine assistance on the day before a crucial battle at Milvian Bridge.

As the story goes, Constantine then saw in the noonday sky a vision of a cross of light. The cross was superimposed upon the sun and written on the cross were the words in Latin “in this sign you will conquer.” That night Constantine had a dream that reaffirmed his vision. Supposedly, in the dream, God told him to use the sign of the cross in all of his battles. Consequently, Constantine added the sign of the cross to his flags the next day, and his army went on to win the battle at Milvian Bridge.

A short time after that, in 313 A.D., emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan. That Edict made Christianity legal throughout Constantine’s empire. This meant that Christianity went from being a despised and persecuted religion (which is where the New Testament record leaves it) to being an accepted and even highly favored part of Roman religion.

Additionally, over the next several years of his reign, Constantine took Christianity even further. Basically, with the help of the bishops of the church in Rome, he made Christianity nothing less than the state religion of the Roman empire. As evidence of this, he lavished gifts upon Christian leaders. He made Sunday a holiday so that people, especially his soldiers, could attend church. He made Christian clergy exempt from government duty. He gave churches tax-exempt status. He even personally funded the construction of several lavish church buildings. In Constantine’s view, his Rome and the Christian church should be as close as possible.

All of this, of course, ultimately helped to bring about the financial, political, and religious empire that we know today as the Roman Catholic Church. Therein lies the great debate about Constantine. Was he, as some contend, a true Christian who was used by God to greatly serve the cause of Christianity? Or was he, as others contend, a lost man who was deceived by Satan and greatly used by Satan to corrupt Christianity? The answer you get depends upon who you ask.

One of the most serious problems that people have with Constantine’s supposed salvation is in the area of how he handled Rome’s pagan festivals. Rather than outlaw those festivals, he, with the help of the bishops of the church in Rome, “Christianized” them. A prime example of this is what happened with Saturnalia and the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. Rather than forbid the observance of those days of pagan celebration, Constantine and the bishops simply changed the meaning of the days. The festival of Saturnalia, which ran from December 17th through December 24th, changed from being about the birth of the sun to being about the birth of the Son. Likewise, December 25th changed from being the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun to being the birthday of the Son of God.

Please don’t think that December 25th is our best guess for the actual date of Christ’s birth. The Bible doesn’t tell us the exact date of His birth, but we can say with virtual certainty that it wasn’t December 25th. We can say that because the Bible does tell us that those shepherds and their sheep were out in the fields that night. The month of December in Israel is usually cold and rainy. During that month shepherds normally keep their sheep penned up in sheepfolds. Also, Luke chapter two says that Joseph and Mary made their trip to Bethlehem to register for the purpose of paying taxes to the Roman government. Such registrations weren’t usually decreed during the cold winter months because travel was just too difficult. Nevertheless, despite these Biblical roadblocks, Constantine and the bishops of Rome went ahead and made December 25th the official date that was given to Christ’s birth.

So, what am I saying? I’m saying that the very idea of a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus was really just a way to claim Saturnalia and December 25th for Christianity. I’m saying that the idea of the world annually celebrating December 25th as the date of Christ’s birth came from the mind of Constantine and the bishops of Rome. I’m saying that it was Constantine and those bishops who linked the celebration of Christ’s birth up with days off from work, parties, evergreen wreaths, and the exchanging of gifts. And that’s where I’ll leave the story until my next post.

Posted in Catholicism, Christ's Birth, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Church, Series: "The Origins of the Christmas Holiday" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Winter Solstice & Saturnalia

Posted on December 3, 2009 by russellmckinney

“The Origins of the Christmas Holiday” series (post #1)

Let’s face it, Christmas is a weird holiday. What does the baby Jesus have in common with a fat man in a red suit who rides a sleigh pulled by reindeer? What does a virgin named Mary have in common with a green Grinch who lives in a cave? Why do we cut down trees, bring them into our homes, and cover them with lights and ornaments? Why do we buy presents, wrap them in beautiful paper, and give them to people? How did shepherds get linked up with a snowman named Frosty? How did a little boy with a drum end up at the manger scene? This is odd stuff.

The truth is, it takes many circumstances, cultures, and centuries to create this strange hodgepodge that we call Christmas. So, I’m going to devote my next few posts to explaining the origins of the traditions of the holiday. For this first post, I want to talk about the worship of the sun. I need to begin here because this is where our Christmas holiday really gets its start.

Historically speaking, one of the classic trademarks of mankind has been the worship of the sun. Reaching far back into man’s history, many civilizations have studied the sun and devised times of celebration based upon the sun’s alignments with the earth. To those ancient peoples, one of the most important times of the year was the winter solstice. You ask, “What is the winter solstice?” Follow with me and I’ll give you the answer.

It takes the earth 365 days to make one full orbit around the sun. This is where we get the concept of a year. But as the earth continually goes about its orbiting of the sun, the orbiting alters where the sun appears on the earth’s equator. The earth’s equator is that imaginary line that divides the planet into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere.

The day of the summer solstice is the day of the year when the sun appears farthest north from the earth’s equator. On that day, the time from what we call sunrise to what we call sunset is longer than it is on any other day of the year. That’s why we call that day the longest day of the year. The summer solstice is usually June 21.

After that day, though, the earth’s orbit causes the sun to increasingly appear farther and farther south from the equator. The day of the winter solstice, then, is that day of the year when the sun appears farthest south from the equator. On that day, the time from what we call sunrise to what we call sunset is shorter than it is on any other day of the year. That’s why we call that day the shortest day of the year. The winter solstice is December 21st or 22nd.

Ancient civilizations ingeniously figured out how to calculate when the winter solstice would take place, and they took that time of the year very seriously. To them, the sun decreasing in visibility as the days of the year moved forward spoke of the dying of the sun. They believed that at the time of the winter solstice the sun actually needed to be reborn so that it could live another year. That’s why, in their religious superstition, they organized annual festivals that were held during the days just before and after the day of the winter solstice. These festivals were celebrations dedicated to the sun god, whatever name that god went by in any given civilization.

The specifics of these festivals differed depending upon the civilization. Some civilizations threw parties during the days close to the winter solstice. Some lit candles. Some decorated their towns with bright, pretty decorations. But the basic motivation for the festivals was always the superstitious idea that the sun had grown weak to the point of death and needed to be reborn.

Well, the Roman empire eventually became the world’s dominant empire, and Rome’s version of these winter solstice celebrations was called Saturnalia. It lasted from December 17th through December 24th. December 25th, then, was celebrated with a feast to commemorate the birth (rebirth) of the sun.

That feast day was known as the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. During the days of the Saturnalia festival and the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun everyone in the Roman empire was excused from work. Mardi-Gras like celebrations took place in the streets. Bonfires were lit. Evergreen wreaths were brought into homes. Gifts were even exchanged. Authority figures received gifts such as urns, jewelry, coins, or gold, while common people received gifts such as wax candles and little clay dolls. In other words, in the Roman empire, December 17th through December 25th looked a lot like our modern-day Christmastime.

Posted in Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Series: "The Origins of the Christmas Holiday" | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment