The Ups & Downs of Life

Posted on January 8, 2024 by russellmckinney

For five springs, I served as an assistant coach on our middle school’s 7th-8th grade baseball teams. It was my oldest son, Ryan, who first got me involved with the gig. When he was a 6th grader, he volunteered to be one of the team’s managers until he could play the next year. From there it was just a hop, skip, and a jump to me becoming an assistant coach not only during Ryan’s 6th-8th grade years but also for the teams my youngest son, Royce, played on during his 7th and 8th grade years.

There were two games, played on consecutive days, that fascinated me during my first season as assistant coach. We lost the first game 11-2 and set baseball back at least a century with our poor play. But then the very next day we won the second game 10-0. In that game, we hit well, fielded well, and pitched well. It was hard to believe that the same team could play such vastly different games. That was my introduction to the reality that middle school baseball teams provide plenty of ups and downs.

Forrest Gump’s mother, played by Sally Field, is famous for saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.” Well, with all due respect to Sally Field, I might say that life is like a 7th-8th grade baseball team. Some days everything goes your way in that you hit what you swing at, catch what comes at you, and throw strike after strike. Other days, however, you look completely overmatched by striking out, making errors, and falling way behind in the score.

In Philippians 4:11-12, the apostle Paul instructs the Christian on how to handle life’s ups and downs. He says:

…I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (N.K.J.V.)

Those words “whatever state” cover anything and everything that life can throw at you. Did you win 10-0? Be content. Did you lose 11-2? Be content. (You don’t have to be happy about losing, but you should be content with what a sovereign God has allowed to come your way.)

I’ve always thought the key word in Philippians 4:11 is “learned.” Paul says, “…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” The point is, living with such contentment doesn’t come naturally to us. Even the great apostle had to learn how to do it, and the same can be said of us.

But what are we trying to learn? The lesson is two-fold. First, we should learn that when we are riding one of life’s ups, we mustn’t get greedy and demand more. For example, winning by a score of 10-0 shouldn’t cause us to want to win by 15-0 or 20-0. Second, we should learn that when we are riding one of life’s downs, we mustn’t get mad at God and start railing against Him. Losing 11-2 isn’t fun, but at least God gave us the health and the opportunity to be able to run onto the field and play the game. The truth is, blessings are all around us if we will just acknowledge them.

Do you know what our head coach said to me after we had won that second game 10-0? He said, “When you win, don’t get too high. And when you lose, don’t get too low.” That was good advice then for baseball, and it’s good advice now for life.

I don’t know what “state” you are in today, but strive to be content in it. If you are being abased, don’t let yourself get too low. Understand that God is still on the throne and He isn’t finished with you yet. On the other hand, if you are abounding, don’t let yourself get too high. Remember that nothing will bring you down quicker than pride (Proverbs 16:18).

You say, “I just don’t think I can ever learn such contentment. It’s beyond my ability.” Okay, fine, I believe you. But let me share with you the thought that is found right on the heels of our Philippians 4:11-12 passage. In the very next verse, Philippians 4:13, Paul says confidently:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (N.K.J.V.)

Does that mean, Christian, that Jesus will give you the strength it takes to learn to be content in regards to life’s highs? Yes, it does. And does it mean that He will do the same for you in regards to life’s lows? Yes, it does. You see, the contented balance that you need is found in Jesus. He is the One who taught it to Paul, and He will teach it to you too if you will let Him.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Balance, Complaining, Contentment, Desires, Disappointment, Gambling, God's Provision, God's Sovereignty, Humility, Personal, Thankfulness, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

God’s Provision

Posted on January 5, 2024 by russellmckinney

I’ve never been a wealthy man, but there have been times when I was financially better off than usual. One such time was when I served as the pastor of a certain church. That church paid me a larger salary than I had ever made up until that point.

During those days, God also opened the door for Tonya and I to sell the house we had lived in for about ten years. It was a nice house, but we had decided we wanted something different. Ideally, we hoped to scale down to a smaller house and have a smaller mortgage payment.

So, after the sale was complete, we rented another house on a monthly basis and excitedly began looking around for our next home. Our excitement soon waned, however, when we couldn’t find what we wanted. The houses that would have allowed us to scale down were all too overpriced, too in need of repair, too poor in location, or too something.

The only house we liked was one that would be a step up for us. It was a beautiful house in an older, well-established neighborhood, a place perfect for raising our two young boys. But the problem was, our mortgage payment on the house would be even more than our previous one had been.

Finally, after weeks of waiting, looking, praying, and asking God to show us His will, we knew that He wanted us to buy the expensive house. Even though we remained apprehensive about the mortgage, God assured us that He would take care of us. And why wouldn’t we trust Him? After all, He already had me in a church where I was making a good salary to go along with Tonya’s teacher’s salary.

Well, things progressed along as expected for almost two years, but then God got weird on me by instructing me to resign as the pastor of that church, step out in faith, and start a new church. The idea of starting a new church was very appealing, but it was also frightening. Not the least of my concerns was, how will we make our mortgage payments if I take such a major cut in salary?

In the end, however, I submitted to God’s will and started the new church. I didn’t know where we would get the money to cover our bills, but I knew that God was able. I had preached so many sermons about God’s provision, and now it was time for me to put that preaching to the test in my own life.

It was during those days that God used nature to give me two object lessons. The first one was a squirrel. One afternoon as I was watching the little thing search for nuts in my yard, God spoke to me and said, “If I can make sure that squirrel has nuts for the winter, I can make sure that your bills get paid.”

The second object lesson came a few days later. I was sitting at my desk in my study when a small bird landed in the bush just outside my window. As I watched that bird for a moment, God said to me, “Just as I take care of that bird, I will take care of you.”

As God spoke to me about those two creatures, I was reminded that Jesus loved to use nature as a means of illustrating His teachings. Furthermore, I understood that those promises to me concerning those two creatures lined up perfectly with similar teachings He had given some 2,000 years earlier about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:25-34). Obviously, Jesus has been a nature lover for a long time.

And so, how did things turn out for me and my little family? All told, I spent eight-and-a-half years serving as the pastor of that new church, and we never once failed to make a payment or pay a bill. Even more than that, we were able to afford “extras” such as vacations, nice Christmas gifts, baseball camps, etc.

Were we able to do all that because my salary at the new church ended up being more than expected? No, that salary never did amount to much. So, how did we do it? I would have to write an entire book to explain it, but we watched in amazement as time and time again God met the need.

You’ve noticed God’s incredible imagination and creativity in the natural world, haven’t you? Well, trust me when I say that you can apply that same imagination and creativity to the financial realm as well. I’m telling you, He just never runs out of new and interesting ways to get the bills paid for those who will put their complete trust in Him and let Him work.

Before I go, though, I do need to share with you a couple of important truths on this whole topic. Truth #1: Never try to make God cover the bill for something that isn’t His will. You see, Tonya and I made it because that house and that church were God’s will. As I once heard a preacher say, “When it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill.” I guess the flip side of that is, “When it’s your will, it’s your bill.”

Truth #2: Be warned that there will be times when God bleeds the situation right down to the last possible moment before He meets your need. Think about Moses and the Israelites standing on the shore of the Red Sea. It wasn’t until Pharaoh’s army was right on top of them that God parted the waters. As I once heard another guy say, “God is never late, but He does miss numerous opportunities to be early!”

Through it all, though, those opening words of the famous 23rd Psalm still ring out loud and clear: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Those words mean that when you play the role of sheep and let the Lord play the role of shepherd, you will have everything you need. That includes the money you need to pay your bills.

Even now, despite the fact that Tonya and I are past that rough financial stretch of our lives, I watch the squirrels and the birds around our house and am reminded of God’s provision. And, yes, it’s the same house we once wondered if we could afford. Even more importantly, it’s the same God who is still meeting our needs. So, in light of all this, let me encourage you to get in God’s will today and trust Him to meet your needs. Just as He provides for the squirrels and birds, He will provide for you. He doesn’t promise to meet all your greeds, but He really does promise to meet all your needs.

Posted in Adversity, Encouragement, Faith, God's Guidance, God's Provision, God's Will, Money, Needs, Personal, Problems, Trials, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reunions

Posted on January 3, 2024 by russellmckinney

When I was elected President of my high school’s senior class in 1984, I thought it was an honor. What I didn’t realize was the title carried with it the lifetime task of organizing a class reunion every ten years or so. Now that I know that, I secretly suspect that all those people who voted for me in 1984 understood about such reunions and voted me in as punishment for the wrongs I had perpetrated against them. But then again, surely, I wasn’t that bad!

As part of working on our reunions over the years, I’ve noticed something interesting. Some of my classmates who didn’t excel at all in high school have gone on to live accomplished, productive lives. They have solid marriages, great kids, good-paying jobs, and beautiful homes. In short, it’s obvious that these people didn’t just get older. They got better as well.    

Spiritually speaking, I wish this same thing could be said of every Christian. The ranks of Christianity are filled with far too many people who believed in Christ as Savior when they were young, went all out for Him for a while, but then crashed and burned somewhere along the way. They used to faithfully attend church, but now they stay home. They used to study the Bible, but now they spend their free time staring at a computer screen, a smart phone, or a television. They used to pray fervent prayers, but now their prayers are paltry and scarce. They used to witness, but now they rarely speak of Jesus. They’re not becoming better Christians, just older ones.

I wonder, Christian, what reunion are you up to with Christ? Has it been five years since your salvation experience? Has it been seven, ten, sixteen, twenty, or twenty-five? Has it been more? Well, whatever reunion you are on, does it find you better than your last reunion? Are you growing? Are you learning? Are you maturing? Are you a deeper Christian this year than you were last year? If not, you need to take a hard look in the mirror and figure out what happened. Don’t be like the old artist who stood staring at a painting he had done when he was young. A friend said to him, “With all the experience you’ve gained over the years, I suppose that you now feel a degree of shame over this early piece.” The artist replied, “Yes, I do feel shame, but it is the shame of having never fulfilled the promise I showed with that piece.”

Christian, I don’t know what promise you once showed in your walk with Christ, and I don’t know where you are in that walk right now. What I do know is that reunions keep rolling around and each one brings with it a fresh chance to show improvement. If you didn’t impress at your spiritual two-year reunion, you can start doing the things necessary to dazzle at your three-year one. If you’ve already bombed out on your thirteenth, you can change your ways and set your sights on your fourteenth. You get the idea. If you are alive and kicking, you have the opportunity to better your walk with Christ. So, get to work at becoming more like Him. Remember that discipleship is a marathon rather than a sprint, and there is still time for you to join the race.

Posted in Aging, Backsliding, Bible Study, Change, Church Attendance, Commitment, Discipleship, God's Work, New Year, Obedience, Personal, Personal Holiness, Prayer, Repentance, Salvation, Sanctification, Service, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Are You Getting Better?

Posted on January 1, 2024 by russellmckinney

When my youngest son, Royce, played 5th/6th grade football, his team’s line coach was a guy named Stacy Peterson. Even though I’d gone to high school with Stacy and had loosely known him for years, we’d always run in different circles and had never done any one-on-on talking. So, I was glad to get to know him better over the course of that season. Trust me, the guy knew a thing or two about being a lineman. That didn’t surprise me, of course. After all, he did play college ball.

As I think back to that season, the thing that stood out to me the most about Stacy was a certain coaching philosophy he employed. It went as follows: If you aren’t getting better by doing a drill, shut it down and do another drill that allows you to get better. For example, let’s say that our linemen were sleepwalking their way through a drill involving the blocking sleds. After a rebuke or two, Stacy would finally say something like, “Okay, we’re not getting better here. Let’s set up some cones and work on our footwork.” If all else failed and he was out of options for alternative drills, he’d say, “Well, if we can’t get better by doing drills, we can at least get in better shape by running. Start running and I’ll tell you when to stop.”

The point is that Stacy was all about making practice time efficient and productive. His time was too valuable for anything less. If a ten-minute span went by in which our players weren’t a little better at football than they had been ten minutes earlier, he saw that as ten minutes wasted.

I’ve been a pastor for many years now and can speak with some expertise when I say that a lot of Christians sleepwalk their way through serving Christ and, consequently, never get much better at it. They aren’t any more involved with church than they were five years ago. They don’t know much more Bible than they did ten years ago. They spend the same amount of time in prayer, if not less, as they did two years ago. They aren’t giving an increased amount of money to church or parachurch ministries. They witness to the same number of people they always have: none. You get the idea. These Christians are doing their “drilling” for Jesus, but somehow all of it isn’t making them better at serving Him.

So tell me, Christian, where are you right now in your service to Christ? Are you on fire for Him? Is your service to Him growing? Are you excited about what He is doing through you to affect the lives of others? Or is your service stagnated and stationary? Have you plateaued? Even worse, are you backslidden?

If you have to admit that you aren’t currently getting better at serving Christ, let me encourage you to apply Stacy’s coaching philosophy to your life. Step out in faith and try something new for Jesus. Volunteer to teach a Sunday School class. Take up the challenge of reading the Bible through in a year. Get a notebook and start a prayer journal in which you write down not only your daily prayer requests but also how you see God answering them. Muster up the courage to witness to a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, or a family member. Increase your giving to your local church or make a one-time gift to a Christian organization that can surely use it. Even if you can’t give financially, give of your time or your other resources. Find a way. Make it happen. Whatever you do, don’t keep halfheartedly doing your same old “drills” over and over again, expecting different results.

In 1 Corinthians 15:58, the apostle Paul encourages Christians to always be “abounding in the work of the Lord.” That word “abounding” stands out to me in that verse. There is such a vibrancy to that word, such a vitality. It calls to my mind Olympic athletes bounding down a track-and-field event, muscles rippling and functioning in perfect harmony to power the athletes along.

But how does an athlete reach such an impressive state of performance? I’ll tell you: With each training drill and exercise, he gets better. Every day, every week, every month, every year, he just keeps getting better until he finally reaches that idealized state the world sees on television. You see, Christian, Stacy’s philosophy will work in terms of spiritual drills just as well as it worked in terms of football ones. We simply have to make the commitment to keep constantly getting better. And what I’m asking today is, How are you doing on that?

Posted in Backsliding, Bible Study, Change, Commitment, Discipleship, Doing Good, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Giving, God's Word, God's Work, Ministry, Missions, Money, New Year, Personal, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Sanctification, Service, Sports, The Bible, Witnessing, Youth | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Christian & His New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on December 29, 2023 by russellmckinney

A boy was running along a beach gathering up the best seashells he could find. As he bent down to pick up a certain shell, he caught sight of the biggest, most beautiful shell he had ever seen. It was just ahead of him as he made his way up the shoreline. The boy thought to himself, “I won’t go and get that one right now. I’ll just keep making my way to it, picking up shells as I go.”

So, he continued along with his collecting, making steady progress toward that big, beautiful shell. But what happened just as he got to the shell? A huge wave came crashing into the shore and took the shell back out to sea.

Each New Year’s Day most of us make certain resolutions. Truth be told, though, those resolutions typically don’t get kept. And when the next New Year’s Day comes crashing upon the shores of our lives and recedes back out into time, it takes with it all of those big, beautiful resolutions that were still lying there.

That brings us to the link between New Year’s Day and Christianity. For the Christian, New Year’s resolutions often take on a spiritual connotation. For example, the Christian might commit to read the Bible more, pray more, give more, or attend church more. While such resolutions are fine in and of themselves, there is one thing that every Christian needs to understand: If a resolution becomes a “vow” to God, that puts it into a much more serious category. Consider the words of Ecclesiastes 5:4-5:

When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed – better not to vow than to vow and not pay. (N.K.J.V.)

Christian, keep this passage in mind this New Year if you plan to make any spiritual resolutions that might be considered vows to God. I’m not telling you not to make such resolutions, but I am pointing out that God’s word does have something to say on this subject. Because of that, if you are going to go down that road, be sure that you are honestly prepared to travel it to its end.

Posted in Bible Study, Church Attendance, Commitment, Faithfulness, New Year, Personal Holiness, Prayer | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Hacked Computers, Armageddon, & Horses

Posted on December 27, 2023 by russellmckinney

Every so often we hear about some lethal computer virus that has been created, a virus that has the potential to render any computer that it gets into useless. Such reports always make me ask, “Who are these teams of evil geeks who create these doomsday viruses? Haven’t they got anything better to do? Are they trying to take us all back to the stone age? Is it anarchy they want? Is it chaos? Is it the thrill of having the power to mess with peoples’ lives?” Seriously, their motivation escapes me.

I’m just spitballing a little today, but I have to admit that hacked computers take my mind to the book of The Revelation. As best we can understand right now, the “mark of the beast” the Antichrist will use to control all buying and selling worldwide in the coming tribulation period (Revelation 13:16-18) will involve some type of computer technology. Currently, our best guess is that it will be some version of the bar-code scanning technology used in the checkout lines of stores today.

The chronological order of The Revelation indicates that this “mark of the beast” will be implemented at the midway point of the seven-year tribulation period. Along these same lines, a few chapters earlier in chapter 9, we find what seems to be even more description of modern technology being used in the first half of the tribulation period. In that chapter, the apostle John talks about an army of 200 million “horsemen” who will reek havoc upon the world in those days (9:16). Many commentators take this army to be the allied army of “the kings from the east” who are mentioned in Revelation 16:12. If this interpretation is correct we’re talking about an alliance between the leaders of China, Japan, India, etc. Such an alliance could easily put together an army of 200 million soldiers.

Getting back to the point, though, when John describes the “horses” the members of this army ride, he makes it clear that they aren’t regular horses. Their heads are “like the heads of lions” (9:17), and out of their “mouths” come fire, smoke, and brimstone (9:17). Even their “tails” have “heads” that do harm (9:19). Let’s just admit that our generation finds it hard to read such a description and not think of modern tanks. You see, the wonders of our modern technology (at least in regards to warfare) certainly seem to be on display during the first half of the seven-year tribulation period.

Ah, but could it be that something strange happens during the period’s last three-and-a-half years? As evidence of that, I’ll point out that John again uses the word “horses” — it’s the same Greek word, hippos, he uses in chapter 16 — in relation to the battle of Armageddon that brings an end to the seven years. That battle, of course, is won by Jesus as He returns to walk the earth again, slays all the soldiers gathered together for the battle, and then reigns for 1,000 years upon the earth. Interestingly, however, when John talks about horses at the battle of Armageddon, he clearly has literal ones in mind. I say that because in Revelation 19:17-18 he describes how thousands, perhaps millions, of scavenging birds will feast upon the corpses and carcasses of all the dead soldiers and all the dead horses in the aftermath of the battle.

Do you understand what I’m getting at? A vulture can’t feast on a tank! Therefore, John must be talking about literal horses being used during the battle of Armageddon. And my simple question is, In a world where the weapons of modern warfare have become so technological (tanks, airplanes, helicopters, jeeps, Hummers, ATVs, etc.), why would men be riding out on thousands of horses to do battle? Could it be that somehow, during the last half of the tribulation period, all the technology crashes? Could it be that everything computerized becomes inoperable?

Think about it, would it really be that hard to bring it all down? To find your answer, go ask someone who’s had their email account hacked, their bank account gutted, their home computer hit with a virus, or their whole identity stolen online. Then do your homework regarding electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weaponry. Finally, finish off your search by reading up on solar flares, which are massive bursts of electromagnetic radiation that come from the sun. (And as your learn about solar flares, keep in mind that Revelation 16:8-9 describes a great intensifying of the sun’s heat being a part of the judgments that will take place just before the end of the tribulation period.)

Like I said, I’m spitballing today, but I just can’t read the apostle John’s description of the battle of Armageddon and not wonder why all those horses will be in use at such a futuristic battle. As I pointed out, John certainly knew how to write about horses that aren’t literal (9:17-19), but that’s not how he described the horses that will be employed in the battle of Armageddon. And so we are left to wonder. Hackers? EMPs? Solar flares? Something else? I don’t pretend to know that answer, but I’ve at least got enough sense to ask the question.

Posted in Christ's Second Coming, Current Events, Personal, Prophecy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on December 22, 2023 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 , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Christmas Trees, Santa, Bing Crosby, & Charlie Brown

Posted on December 20, 2023 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.

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Constantine & Christmas

Posted on December 18, 2023 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 , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Winter Solstice & Saturnalia

Posted on December 16, 2023 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.

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