THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS

Growing up -- many years ago -- Christmas was my favorite time of the year.

But looking back on those years now, I realize I was cheated out of the real joy of the Christmas season.

Those years were spent attending the Church of Christ, and hearing the teaching that we really didn't know whether Jesus Christ was born in December or not, and that although it was okay to enjoy the season as one of merriment and gift giving, there should be no religious significance placed on it.

In fact, to connect the birth of Jesus Christ to the Christmas season bordered on sin.

Christmas cards were exchanged among church members, but we were carefull to select cards that contained a generic holiday message without mentioning Jesus.

Much like we see in the news media and department stores, schools and malls today. Can't offend someone you know.

But I am offended -- offended big time because I have been deprived all these years of the knowledge that Jesus is the only reason for the Christmas season.

For whatever reason, this is the time of year we have chosen to celebrate His birth. And without that birth there could have been no death on Calvary -- and look where that would have left me today.

I really can't blame anyone but myself though.

If I had taken the time to turn to God's word and seen what the Lord said I would have known better.

In Luke 2:11 we hear the Angel of the Lord saying these words:

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savoir, who is Christ the Lord."

Did you get that?

Born a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Not the baby Jesus who would grow up and be a Savior but the Savior himself.

That babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in that manger in Bethlehem, was just as much my Savior as that Jesus Christ who hung on Calvary's cross, dying for my sins.

This is why Christmas is a time of joy because it celebrates a holy event -- the day God became man.

And I resent any company, any newspaper, any television station or network, any court and any school system who tries to negate that joy in the event someone might deem it offensive.

May the sheer enormity of the fact that this Baby Jesus is a Savior, engulf you throughout this Christmas season.

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

One thing I would really like to know...

Why do sports figures - especially managers and coaches who have compiled a long and successful career -- come to the Dallas area and go completely crazy?

Case in point No. 1.

Bill Parcel is hired to coach the Cowboys, bringing in a legacy of championship teams and Super Bowl trophies he has won. His first year he takes a team nobody in this world believes will have a winning season and gets into the playoffs with them.

Now this year, with all the fans expecting an even better performance, the Cowboys are the laughing stock of pro football.

The starting quarterback is 41 year old Vinny Testaverde who has a tremendous completion record when he is throwing to guys in the other color uniform -- and this is happening quite frequently.

The Cowboys are now out of it with no chance to have a winning season and Parcel is still doggedly holding onto Testaverde as his No. 1 quarterback.

Sitting on the bench is Drew Henson, whom the Cowboys mortgaged the farm to sign. He has started one game, was pulled at halftime and the Cowboys will go into summer camp next year without even the foggiest idea as to whether he will ever be able to be the quarterback.

Parcel says it could ruin his career to put him in the lineup and see his confidence destroyed.

Back when Troy Aikman was a rookie his confidence really took a beating -- the Cowboys won one game and lost 15.

Aikman retired as one of the best in the game.



Case in Point No. 2

John Hart comes to Texas with a reputation of being an outstanding general manager who has build several successful major league baseball teams.

Despite the Chan Ho Park disaster the Texas Rangers build a promising young team and last season were in the middle of a pennant chase until the last hand full of games.

The Rangers need a right fielder -- hurt Brad Fullmer who played that position last year had a very anemic batting average and a slim home run total.

At first base is Mark Texiera, who can play any position including right field. Waiting in the wings is Adrain Gonzales a promising first baseman who in a brief trial last year hit major league pitching better and with more power than he did AAA pitching.

So why not move Tex to right and bring up Gonzales?

Too simple -- instead lets spend $5 million on Richard Hidalgo whose record indicates he is Juan Gonzales incarnate.

The Rangers still need a DH and who is Hart going after but John Valentin who hit a whopping .216 last season and was cut by the Chicago Whtie Sox.

Duh!

Since you have already blown 5 mil on Hidalgo how about making him the DH and making the above mentioned moves with Tex and Adrian?

Maybe we can workout a package deal -- make up a package of Hart and Parcel and ship them to the University of Texas in exchange for Mack Brown and two assistants?

THE TWO FACES OF TARGET

Like many people and corporations Target stores have an image which they want portrayed to the public...And a more accurate image which can be seen in the mirror.

In Target's case that reflection is kind of slimey.

Target, as everyone by now knows, has banned Salvation Army kettles on its property during this Christmas season...spinning the ban that it is a violation of company policy to allow any part of its property for solicitaion purposes.

But...

Go the Target website (www.target.com) and you will see the merchandiser soliciting a $5 donation from its customers on behalf of St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital. The plan is that you purchase a "special" $30 gift card and the recipient will get $25 credit in shopping at Target.

The other $5 goes to the hospital and is matched by an equal amount from Target.

This still leaves the greedy merchandisers with a windfall profit of $20 per card.

How two faced can you get?

I agree with Jerry Falwell -- there is a concerted effort to get Christ out of Christmas underway in America today.

No where on the Target website will you find the word Christmas -- neither does it appear in any of their print ads or television commercials.

Rev. Falwell had an excellent two part newsletter this effort to deChristianize Christmas. If you nave not read it email me and I will send you a copy.

I don't condemn St. Jude's, just Target for lying and being two faced and generally being part of the movement to do away with Christmas.

My suggestion is to eliminate the middle man.

If you are buying a gift certificate for someone, get it at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club or some store that is not so sleazy as Target, then send a $$5.00 donation direct to either the Salvation Army or St. Judes.

Or better yet -- a donation to each of them.

LET HIM GO

In a casual conversation this morning a friend of mine remarked...

"I have Jesus hidden in my heart and He is always with me.

To which I replied...

"Let Him out."

If we belong to Jesus He is with us always -- no need whatsoever to keep Him locked away in our hearts.

But plenty of reason to let Him out and share Him with everyone with whom we come in contact.

ACTIVIST JUDGES

Do judges legislate instead of judge?

That is a deep and pondering question of today and I don't know why it should be. Look at the records of any court today and you will learn that judges are legislating their opinions into law.

The latest obscene account was in Washington state where the state supreme court ruled that Carmen Dixon, a 47 year old mother of a problem teenage girl, violated her minor daughter's Constitutional rights by eavesdropping on one of her telephone conversations.

Mrs. Dixon, of Port Friday WA, answered her phone one day and it was her daughter's boyfriend. The daughter took the cordless phone upstairs to talk to him and Mrs Dixon activated the speaker phone button on the base so she could listen.

The young punk confessed to the daughter that he had just been part of a mugging and purse snatching from an elderly woman and realized the police were after him.

Mrs. Dixon turned him in and he was tried and convicted.

The conviction was upheld on the appeals level but then reversed by the state supreme court.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer bannered the story on the front page:
SEATTLE -- In a victory for rebellious teenagers, the state Supreme Court has ruled that a mother violated Washington's privacy act by eavesdropping on her daughter's phone conversation.

When I was growing up my right to privacy hinged exclusively on the whim of my parents.

As far as privacy on the phone -- well we had one telephone in the entire house, it was located in the living room and for a good part of my growing up years it was on what was called a party line -- a telephone line shared by up to three other families.

Today's Washington state supreme court would have had a field day into the invasion of my right to privacy.

TARGET - BAH! HUMBUG!

The closest I have come to a Target store this Christmas season is to drive by the front entrance of a couple of them.

And that is as close as I care to come.

No Salvation Army kettles at the front door to a Target store, thanks to the company's sudden decision to enforce a no solicitation policy that has existed for years.

Does Target have the right to do this?

Absolutely!

But by the same token I have the right not to buy any thing from Target and I am now exercising that right.

Evidently a lot of Americans are doing the same thing.

Google provides interested people with news updates on any subject they want. I have one currently on any news items mentioning the Salvation Army and Target in the same article.

There are a bunch of them each day for cities all over the country where citizens have gotten together in a organized boycott of Target stores.

It is going to be interesting to see how this affects Target's bottom line this Christmas shopping season.

As for me, that bottom line will not have any contribution from me -- after all if I did go into one of their stores they would solicit money from me -- a direct violatioin of their non solicitation policy.

Besides -- I can't think of a single piece of merchandise that Target offers for sale that I cannot find at Wal-Mart a lot cheaper.

It's just that at any Wal-Mart I have to face that Salvation Army bell ringer.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF PRAYER

The Best Prayer I Have Heard In A Long Time --

Heavenly Father,

Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.

Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

WHEN THINGS ARE MISSING

Mark Jennings wasn't a close friend -- but he was a friend.

He was the type of guy you enjoyed talking to. He was a Christian and it showed.

Sometime back our church had a telephone campaign where for a four week period we called families in our area and invited them to church on a special Sunday.

Aside from the callers we asked some members to come one night a week and pray for those who were calling.

Mark came not for one night a week but every night and he did so for all four weeks of the campaign, getting there early and not leaving until the last phone call was finished.

Mark Jennings was a big man -- weighing about 500 pounds -- and it was hard for him to get around so he was limited in what he could do.

On Wednesday nights Mark would park just outside the kitchen door at church and come in through the patio door. He had to stop in the middle of the kitchen to catch his breath enough to walk out into the dining room.

We used this time to talk -- about anything and everything -- sometimes about the wood carvings he made and how he was trying to sell some of them on eBay. And sometimes we simply talked about the Men's Breakfast or some other event that was upcoming at church.

This past Wednesday night Mark did not show up.

Thanksgiving night he died from a massive heart attack in his father's home and was buried this past Tuesday in Lawton OK.

For a moment I missed Mark, then stopped and realized where he was.

He certainly wasn't missing me.

I keep hearing the rumor that the chicken fried steak they serve in heaven contains 0 calories, 0 cholesterol and o triglycirides.

And I'll bet Mark ate a platter full of them.