Activated Magazine Online www.activated.org

December 2008

If Christmas Hadn't Come

Christina Andreassen

At last! The dishes were all washed, dried, and stacked in the cupboard, and I put the leftover food in the fridge as the last of our visitors' cars pulled away from our volunteer center and made their way down the street. It was after eleven.

Wearily I trudged down the hallway to my room, where I yanked out the pins that had been holding back my hair and collapsed onto the bed, my mind too tired to remember what came next.

"Long day?" my roommate asked from across the room. Apparently she wasn't as worn out as I was. I managed a faint smile, which she returned. I knew she understood. Christmas is always like this at our center. As Westerners living in a Buddhist country where Christmas is still somewhat of a curiosity, we are always in high demand to demonstrate the proper fashion in which to celebrate the holiday. It is a good opportunity to share God's love, but one that also means weeks of planning and decorating, endless streams of visitors, Christmas performances with the children, carol singing, Nativity-storytelling, organizing gift distributions for needy children ... and the list goes on and on. I usually enjoyed the activity and excitement, but too many late nights and being stretched thin day after day had taken a toll.

"I wish Christmas didn't have to come," I moaned as I rolled out of bed and began flipping through clothes in my closet, trying to find something to wear for yet another show that we were booked for the following day.

My roommate's eyebrows rose at my outburst, but she waited a moment or two before answering. "Now that's something to think about," she replied thoughtfully. "What if Christmas had never come?"

I shrugged it off, my mind a blur. It wasn't until later, alone in the Christmas tree-lit living room, that the thought sunk in.

What if Christmas had never come? No star, no shepherds, no stable. No angelic visitations and no extraordinary happenings. An ordinary Nazarene girl would have lived out her obscure life. The shepherds would have passed the night like any other, keeping watch over their flocks, with no reason to hope for a better life, no Savior, no personal experience with a God who loved them. Those wise men in the East would have continued their exploration of the night sky, marveling at the wonders of creation but never knowing the Creator.

The years would pass, the ages would roll on by, the Ebenezer Scrooges would continue to grouch their way through life, and the Bob Cratchits would continue to eke out a living. No hope, no joy. Two thousand times, December 25th would come and go like any other day--no family reunions, no gift giving, no quiet reflection. No one would miss Christmas, because no one would realize what they were missing.

And then there would be the end, that mysterious, dreaded moment that comes in every life. No atonement, no assurance of forgiveness. No babe in a manger would mean no cross on a hillside and no empty tomb. Life would be a hollow existence, day-to-day drudgery, with no constant companion to give it meaning and no Savior from death.

What if Christmas had never come?

Suddenly I found myself smiling. Christmas had come! The lit-up Christmas tree before me came to life. The star at the top shined like a beacon of hope. Lovingly wrapped presents peeked out from behind the tinsel. The tiny figurines in the nearby manger scene echoed the angels' proclamation: "Joy to the world!" It was all a celebration of the most wonderful gift possible--God's love in the form of a Savior. How could I have dreaded that?

I headed back to my room with renewed energy and joy in my step. Tomorrow was another day to celebrate Christmas and help others do the same. I could hardly wait.

Christina Andreassen is a member of the Family International in Thailand.

Once Upon a Christmas

Victoria Olivetta

Christmas was God's big splash, the greatest miracle ever--His love in the form of His only Son, Jesus, sent down to our earthly plane to lead us back to Him. And Christmas is still a time for miracles. Like ripples traveling out from that splash, little Christmas miracles remind us of God's unfailing love.

One Christmas my husband Daniel and I planned to take Christmas presents to the children of many of the poorest families in Goiánia, Brazil, where we were living at the time. The previous year, a friend who owns a toy shop had given us hundreds of toys to distribute, but this year he was only able to contribute five large plastic trucks.

What good could five toy trucks accomplish? We mulled this over for days, until one night the answer came to Daniel in a dream. "I know what we can do with those trucks," he told me the next morning. "Pedro recently had heart surgery." (Pedro was a vendor at the central market, who donated fruit and vegetables to our volunteer work whenever he could.) "He and his wife, Maria, used their entire savings to pay his hospital bills, so they probably weren't able to buy Christmas presents for their children this year. They have five boys."

The trucks were so big that they filled a large plastic sack. Daniel slung it over his shoulder and set out for the bus stop and the other side of the city, where Pedro and his family lived.

Pedro and Maria's children were playing in the street as Daniel, who is graying and happens to have a beard, approached, the bag still over his shoulder. One of the boys saw him coming and ran inside yelling, "Mommy! Daddy! Santa is here!"

So Santa spent the afternoon with Pedro and Maria and their boys. When he got home that night, Daniel's face still shone with joy as he described the children's happiness. "Pedro and Maria had felt terrible that they didn't have money for presents for their children, but God took care of that! Five boys, five colorful trucks!"

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Brandy's Christmas

Darryl Terhune

Twenty years ago on Christmas Eve, I got off work, went home, and packed my car for the long drive to my parents' house, where I would spend Christmas with my family. Brandy, my blonde cocker spaniel, jumped into the front seat. As we were about to drive off, Helen, my elderly upstairs neighbor, stopped us. "Wait! I've got something for you." Surprised and a little embarrassed, I apologized that I didn't have a gift for her. "I didn't go out to buy something for you, either," she said, "but I saw this and thought you might enjoy it." And she handed me a small package.

It was almost midnight by the time Brandy and I arrived at my parents' house, but my parents had waited up, and mother had fixed me something to eat. The three of us were talking at the kitchen table, when Brandy came in from the living room with a Christmas gift that she'd found under the tree. She had it in her mouth, and was shaking it from side to side. I started to take it away from her, but my mother said, "Let her have it. It's hers--from Dad and me." Brandy tore it open, and inside was a red rubber ball that quickly became her favorite toy.

The next morning, when we exchanged the rest of our Christmas gifts, my sister had gotten me a small ceramic cocker spaniel, which she said reminded her of Brandy. When I finally got around to opening the present from Helen, it turned out to be a small framed picture and quote to hang on my wall or put on my desk. The picture was of a little blonde cocker spaniel, down on her haunches, stalking a red ball, and the quote was a verse from the Bible: Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.--Psalm 37:4.

Now you might think the connection between those three gifts was just an elaborate coincidence, but I believe God engineered it. It was like He was saying, "If I knew what Brandy would like, and if I cared enough to give it to her, don't you know how much more I care for you? I know your heart's desires too. This is just a little example of what I want to do for you. When your desire is to please Me, My desire is to please you."

Darryl Terhune is an Activated reader in the U.S.

Personally Speaking

Christmas itself can be likened to a Christmas gift, where the giver is God, the gift is Jesus, and the recipient is both the whole world and each of us personally. The analogy is based on what is probably the best known and most important verse in the Bible, John 3:16. I'd heard the analogy many times over the years and even used it myself, but the following email to the editor from Paloma Sridhar in Bangalore, India, added a surprising twist:

One day I set out to teach John 3:16 to my youngest sister, Rosie, six, but instead came to a milestone realization myself. Our conversation went something like this:

"Did you know, Rosie, that it only takes one verse from the Bible to explain to people how they can be sure they'll go to Heaven when they die?"

"Which one?" Rosie asked.

"John 3:16. It goes like this--'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.'"

"I know that one!" Rosie proudly exclaimed.

"You do? Can you say it for me?"

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only forgotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16."

"Very good! But God doesn't have an only forgotten..."

I stopped myself mid-sentence. How easy it is to get so caught up in the rush of daily living that we don't give Jesus so much as a passing thought!

How true--and how sad, especially on His birthday! Just think how you would feel if on your birthday everyone partied and gave one another gifts, but left you sitting alone in a corner unnoticed. This Christmas, let's all remember to thank God for His incomparable gift to the world, Jesus.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Activated.

Keith Phillips

For Activated

All That Glitters

Abi F. May

If there's any time of year when consumerism goes into overdrive, it's Christmas.

When the very first Christmas card was printed in December 1843 at the request of Sir Henry Cole, an Englishman living during the reign of Queen Victoria, who would have ever imagined that 165 years later an estimated 5 billion Christmas cards would be sent each year worldwide?

It's not only greeting card sales that have increased exponentially. The billions spent on Christmas shopping makes it the top profit-making period in the year for many retailers. In fact, "Christmas" seems to start earlier each year, reflecting the ever-increasing drive for profits. In some countries it's now not uncommon to find Christmas items on sale in September.

Are we laying up our treasures on earth or in Heaven?

There is no shortage of ideas for presents for our children, parents, sweethearts, spouses, friends, colleagues ... and ourselves, of course. We are barraged by advertisements. Corporations carefully time the release of their newest gadgets, limiting supply to ensure high demand.

Some people argue that consumerism, which is prevalent throughout the year but reaches its zenith at Christmas, is necessary for the economy. If we didn't keep buying so much, factories would close and jobs would be lost. Others argue that it's only reasonable to take advantage of the wide array of items that have been designed to improve our standard of living.

On the other hand, while consumerism may be a fixture of modern life, it shouldn't rule our desires and attitudes or overly influence the way we spend our time and money--or holidays. "Things" shouldn't become so important that they distract or take away from the things that give true meaning to life.

"One's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." [1] "Do not love the world or anything in the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the [person] who does the will of God lives forever." [2] "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in Heaven." [3] "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [the necessities of life] shall be added to you." [4]

To many of us, what we buy, where we shop, how often we shop, how much we have to spend, and how our buying affects others' perception of us means a great deal--in many cases probably too much.

According to British psychologist Oliver James, "We have become addicted to having rather than being and confusing our needs with our wants. Studies show that if you place high value on those things, you are more likely to suffer depression, anxiety, addictions, and personality disorders. We cannot carry on consuming in this manner and feel confident our great-grandchildren have any future." [5]

The issue is not whether we have one car or three, or whether or not we own the latest 3G mobile phone, laptop computer, or iPod. Nor is it whether we shop at a designer store or hunt for used bargains on eBay. What matters is not the content of our closet or garage, but the content of our lives. Are we laying up our treasures on earth or in Heaven?

In this season of glittering enticements, let's keep our priorities straight and remember that the most worthwhile gifts we can share with others are our love, time, and concern.

Abi F. May is a member of the Family International in England.

Footnotes

1. Luke 12:15 2. 1 John 2:15,17 NIV 3. Matthew 6:19-20 4. Matthew 6:33 5. James, Oliver (2007). Affluenza. Vermillion.

What Christmas Is

Ian Bach

A mother's love for her baby boy

A sacrifice to bring others joy

A father's care for one not his own

A message sent from a royal throne

A seeming wrong that was turned to right

An angel's song in the dark of night

A prophet's vision at last fulfilled

A miracle because God had willed

A gift of love from a caring heart

A bringing together what was apart

A reaching out to comprehend

How another felt by a sincere friend

A seeking soul that journeyed far

To find a dream, to follow a star

A bridegroom claiming a bride as his

All these things are what Christmas is.

Our Jesus

Martin McTeg

My wife has a fondness for miniature Nativities, or manger scenes, as they are sometimes called. Twenty-five years ago she made small Nativity figurines as gifts for her family. She sculpted them from clay, painted them at the kitchen table, and then baked them in the oven. Her sister still displays her set every Christmas.

When we lived in other countries as Christian volunteers, my wife began collecting small Nativities made in those places. She has a Russian Nativity and one from the Holy Land, carved from wood from an olive tree. She has a snow globe Nativity that also plays "Away in a Manger," and some others.

Last year we saw a private collection of about 100 Nativities from around the world. Among them, we saw the Holy Family depicted as African tribespeople, as Orientals, in Indian garb, and as Latin American farmers. We saw a finely detailed Nativity once used in a grand cathedral in Europe. We saw a Nativity made by Eskimos, in which Mary and Joseph were wearing parkas and snow boots, and one made in a South Pacific island, where the figures were dressed as the island people dress and arranged in a hut made from coconut palm fronds.

Jesus relates to everybody of every race and in every land

The people who made those Nativities in so many different countries all had something in common. It was their nativity and their Jesus. It wasn't some other nation's Jesus or another race's Jesus; it was their Jesus. So they portrayed Him and those at His birth like themselves, wearing their type of clothes and living as they did.

In the early 1800s, before slavery was outlawed in the U.S., a skeptic once asked a slave, "How can you believe in Jesus and pray to the same God that your slave masters pray to?" And the slave wisely answered, "He's not just their Jesus. He's my Jesus too!" That slave had found Jesus and learned to draw the strength and comfort that he needed from Him.

This is still true today. Jesus relates to everybody of every race and in every land: rich and poor, rural people and city folk, the highly educated and the illiterate, the strong and the weak. He loves us all, and each of us can claim Him as our own and find in Him forgiveness of sins, salvation, and supply of our deepest needs. He's my Jesus, and He's your Jesus too.

Martin McTeg is a member of the Family International in the U.S.

Joy To The World--In Double Measure

Marian Merour

"Joy to the World" is one of the best known and most loved English-language Christmas carols, but there's more to its message than most people realize.

The first verse captures the overwhelming joy and excitement at the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, 2,000 years ago.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

But now take a close look at the second verse.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ...

The Jesus that was born in a Bethlehem manger didn't reign over all the earth, or even part of it. To the contrary, He was rejected, betrayed, ridiculed, and crucified. "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." [1] All of the prophecies in the Bible about the Messiah ruling the world in love--"He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth," [2] for example--refer to Jesus' second coming.

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy.

These lines echo another Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah: "For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." [3]

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found.

That prophecy about the mountains and trees rejoicing goes on to say, "Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." [4] Thorns and thistles were part of the curse God put on the earth after the fall of man, [5] and they continue to this day, so clearly these lines are also about Jesus' return.

Another prophecy, this one from the final chapter of the New Testament, which is about Heaven, says: "There shall be no more curse [of sin], but the throne of God and of the Lamb [Jesus] shall be in it [the Heavenly City, New Jerusalem], and His servants shall serve Him." [6]

He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Although His blessings are plentiful and wonderful now, when He comes back to live among us as "King of kings and Lord of Lords," [7] we will experience His blessings in an even more tangible way. Now He lives in us, but then He will live among us, for all the nations to see and everyone to know. "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord." [8] "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." "The God of Heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed." [9] "You [Jesus] shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth."[10]

When Jesus came the first time, He showed us what God was like, taught us how to live, and paid for our salvation with His own blood. That certainly gives us reason to rejoice. But we can be joyful in double measure, in advance, for His promised return, when He will lift the curse, restore peace and harmony to this world, and rule it in love. He didn't bring joy to the world once, but He keeps giving and giving and giving, now and forever!

Footnotes

1. John 1:10-11 2. Psalm 96:13 3. Isaiah 55:12 4. Isaiah 55:12 5. Genesis 3:17-18 6. Revelation 22:3 7. 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14 8. Jeremiah 31:34 9. Daniel 2:44 10. Psalm 67:4

The True Christmas

Virginia Brandt Berg

Some people cannot understand how God could have come down and been wrapped in human flesh, but He came. That isn't strange to me. In fact it is quite easy for me to believe, because I see Jesus born in human hearts every day. He comes and lives in hearts and transforms lives, and to me that's a great miracle--that He can be born in your heart and my heart and live there in our hearts, identifying Himself with us that way.

God's Word says that Jesus shall be called "wonderful." "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." [1]

Wonderful His name because He was wonderful in His life, going about everywhere doing good and healing all that were oppressed. [2]] Wonderful in His death; because He died for you and me, we can have eternal life. [3] Wonderful in His resurrection; because He rose from the dead, we will also be resurrected. [4] And wonderful now in His life after death, because He lives to intercede for us. [5]

But it is not enough that Christ, the King of kings, was born in Bethlehem beneath the star that heralded His coming; He must be born within your heart before He finds His throne. Won't you let Him come into your heart?

Perhaps you've seen the famous painting by William Holman Hunt in which Jesus is seen standing before a closed door, with a lantern in hand. It is said that some time after Hunt had finished what was to become his most famous work, someone came to him and told him that he'd made a mistake: There was no doorknob. "I didn't make a mistake," Hunt answered. "The door must be opened from the inside. The doorknob is on the inside."

Jesus, the Savior, can never enter a door unless it is opened from the inside. God's Word says, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." [6] Receive Him this Christmas! He will transform your life. Welcome Him into your heart!

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 9:6 2. Acts 10:38 3. Romans 6:23; 1 Peter 2:24 4. 1 Corinthians 15:20-21 5. Hebrews 7:25 6. John 1:12

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Occasion to Love

Maria Fontaine

Christmas is not only a time to enjoy the blessings of friends, family, and loved ones. It's also the greatest opportunity of the year to tell others how they can experience the wonderful love that comes through knowing Jesus. It's a chance to give the very best gifts this Christmas, not only to the ones we know best and hold dear, but also to neighbors and strangers who share our world.

There are those around you whose hearts are weary or sorrowful, who yearn for love, acceptance, and peace of mind, who are beset by problems too big for them and cry out for a Savior. Jesus loves them and wants to take them in His arms, wipe away their tears, and fill their hearts with peace and reassurance. But He who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving must have your help. You are His eyes to see their need and love them, His ears to hear their cry and His heart to respond, His voice to comfort them, His arms to embrace them.

Reach out to others with deeds of love and words of hope.

You can make a difference this Christmas! Even the humblest attempt to share the little you may have will shine as a bright light in someone's life. Your little "candle" can be seen and reflected in the lives of others as a ray of hope and faith to penetrate discouragement and fear.

Reach out to others with deeds of love and words of hope. Show them by your example how Jesus came to love them. Celebrate with them the birthday of a living Savior, born into our world that He might die in order to rise again to rescue us from the burden of sin and death and fear and loneliness.

Let's not stop with Christmas. Let's keep sharing and giving and loving just as much throughout the year to come. Let's make each day a celebration of Jesus' birth, His death, and His resurrection that promises new life for all.