Merry Christmas Prevails In Chicago!

This has been a pretty good Christmas season for me. My wonderful wife has completed all the shopping and the wrapping. If it were not for her contribution to this season there would be no Christmas at our house!

Another thing that I have noticed this year is that there has been a marked increase of people using the greeting "Merry Christmas" as opposed to "Happy Holidays". I have been pleasantly surprised by the volume of folks who use the greeting with real intention and enthusiasm. I think the liberal and politically correct crowd have lost some ground in this area.

However, there was one man in Chicago who was boarding an American Airline flight at LaGuardia Airport who took real offense to hearing Merry Christmas. It seems that as the man entered the airport he was greeted by an AA employee and a cheerful "Merry Christmas" and became so incensed that he shouted at the employee and admonished her to not use that expression with anyone else because not everyone celebrates Christmas. You can read about the story here.

It turns out that as the man boarded the plane he was once again exposed to  the same greeting from the flight attendant. Again, he shouted and caused a commotion on the plane. He failed to cool his jets, no pun intended, and the airline removed him from the plane to the cheers of fellow passengers!

First, I want to commend American Airlines for allowing their employees to address this particular holiday correctly. Second, I would like to congratulate the passengers on the jet for their support of Christmas and their rejection of the rowdy passenger's inappropriate behavior. Third, I would encourage travelers to reward American Airlines for their stance by purchasing tickets on their planes!

But let us consider the more serious story that underlies this bizarre incident in Chicago. When I read this story I was reminded of a verse in the Bible that aptly describes what really happened in the LaGuardia airport. Here it is...

Romans 1:28 Since they didn't think it was worthwhile to acknowledge God, God abandoned them to a defective mind to do inappropriate things.

There you have it, when you don't think it is worthwhile to acknowledge God He will abandon you to do inappropriate things!

It was inappropriate to throw such a tantrum over a greeting that most accurately captures the meaning of this season. Whether you like it or not Jesus Christ is the true reason for this season. He is the central character of all history. He is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. He is Counselor, Wonderful, Redeemer, Savior, Creator, God Himself and the soon returning Victor over evil and the world!

Failure to acknowledge Him is a mistake with eternal consequences. He came to live a sinless life and die a criminals death. He rose again from the dead and all who put their trust in His redemptive work to be payment for their sins will receive forgiveness and life eternal. 

Have you made this important decision? I encourage you to trust Christ as your Savior today! You can find out how by clicking here!

Oh, I almost forgot, Merry Christmas!

Jesus Was A Listener, He'll Listen To You!

Christ Community Church - Brookside Campus

I have been a Baptist most of my life. I pastored four different Southern Baptist churches and for the most part my theological perspective is Baptist.
However, life is full of change and my wife and I have been blessed to find the Evangelical Free denomination and we recently joined the church in the picture. This church, Christ Community, is located at 67th and Wornall in Kansas City, Missouri. If you are looking for a church with spectacular preaching and amazing music then I encourage you to check them out. We gather this Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
The preaching is usually based on series which take you through a Bible book and we have been studying through the Gospel of John. The recurring theme of John's account of Jesus life is "Jesus the listener". I think this is an aspect of Jesus personality that I had missed for years. Jesus listened to nearly everyone he met. He wasn't pushy with His opinions and was always attentive to "honest inquiry".
Jesus listened to the deeply rreligious but spiritually lost when He had a conversation with Nicodemus in chapter three. He listened to the cast away woman at the well, in chapter four. He listened to the indifferent in chapter five when He dealt with the lame man by the pool of Siloam. He listened with a tender heart to the grieving Martha at a cemetary in chapter 11. He listened to he relativist, Pontius Pilate, in chapter 18. When Jesus listened to people He gained a deeper glimpse into the condition of their heart and He always offered them a solution which was Himself!
I think this sermon series has really spoken to my need to become a better listener. It's hard to minister to folks when all you do is talk. I hope to become a listener like Jesus.
I also came to a conclusion about this blog. I would really like to engage some of you who read these posts by attempting to answer any questions you might have concerning the Bible, Jesus, Heaven, Salvation or any topic at all. My email address is freegracegospel@gmail.com.
Do you have a question?  I would love to chat and potentially give you an answer that might satisfy your curiosity.
I have noticed that a few of my readers are frequent visitors and I am so glad that you return to check out new posts. Thanks for listening to me and I hope to get a chance to listen to you!

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