Sometimes I have to say that I am embarrassed by people who call themselves Christians. There are 'Christians' who try to argue people into believing that the claims Jesus made from himself are true. Now there is nothing wrong with their points. It is often the spirit in which the arguments are presented that bothers me. I found this quote today. I think it says it best:

"Of course as Christians we must not minimize the need to give honest answers to honest questions. We should have an intellectual apologetic. The Bible commands it and Christ and Paul exemplify it. In the synagogue, in the marketplace, in homes and in almost every conceivable kind of situation, Jesus and Paul discussed Christianity. It is likewise the Christian's task to be able to give an honest answer to an honest question and then to give it.
Yet, without true Christians loving one another, Christ says the world cannot be expected to listen, even when we give proper answers. Let us be careful, indeed, to spend a lifetime studying to give honest answers. For years the orthodox, evangelical church has done this very poorly. So it is well to spend time learning to answer the questions of men who are about us. But after we have doen our best communicate to a lost world, still we must never forget that the final apologetic which Jesus gives is the observable love of true Christians for true Christians....
The observable and practical love among true Christians that the world has a right to be able to observe in our day certainly should cut without reservation across such lines as language, nationalities, national frontiers, younger and older, colors of skin, levels of education and economics, accent, line of birth, the class system of any particular locality, dress, short or long hair among whites and African and non-African hairdos among blacks, the wearing of shoes and the non-wearing of shoes, cultural differentiations and the more traditional and less traditional forms of worship.
If the world does not see this, it will not believe that Christ was sent by the Father. People will not believe only on the basis of the proper answers. The two should not be placed in antithesis. The world must have the proper answer to their honest questions, but at the same time, there must be a oneness in love between all true Christians. This is what is needed if men are to know that Jesus was sent by the Father and that Christianity is true. (Francis Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the 20th Century, p. 139-140).

All of this by Dr. Schaeffer can be summarized by this sentence: "The world doesn't care how much you know until the world knows how much you care!"

Some food for thought.

2007 (c) Ronald Friesen

Where I grew up there was no tradition about watching TV all day on New Year's Day. If we did watch any TV at all it was to watch the Tournament of Roses parade. Sitting in wet, dark, damp, chilly western Canada, we got our vicarious experience of nice weather watching these huge flowered floats (How many times did the commentator reminds us that all the ingredients were real!! Enough already!! We got it!!) stream down Colorado Boulevard.

When it I was about 12 years old, my father decided that our New Year's Day would be spent helping a neighbor replace his burned down house. For about 8 hours I worked beside my dad. Now my dad was a hard man but I never heard him curse. I have to say I never heard swear words growing up in my family. The widower whose house we were rebuilding had a very limited vocabulary. Like most of us in that rural neighborhood, English was a second language. Apparently, our neighbor learned English from some rather interesting people. So all day I was subjected to every second word beginning with the letter, "F", and it wasn't 'fun' or 'family'. When things were not 'f'd' they were 'd'd - and not 'd' as 'don't ' and 'did' and 'do'. By now you have the picture. Beside a blue haze of profanity, the weather cooperated. We did get the framing up and by the time we left, we had framed the house. In those days, you didn't buy your door jams or window frames from Home Depot, you built your own. I learned a lot about construction that day.

However, I learned more than how to frame a house. I learned that a good neighbor goes and gives his time for a neighbor who needs help. I learned that you don't make a determination about who you help based on their character as expressed by their language. I learned that loving your neighbor is a matter of practice not a matter of principle. I learned that the Golden rule isn't some words in the Good Book but something lived out in daily life.

In the New Year, I want to continue to live out the legacy that my father left me - practice the Golden Rule.

2006 (c) Ronald Friesen

Be thankful!

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.

Author Unknown

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

This Christmas morning I went to my first Christ Mass at a Catholic Church. I heard a story that illustrates the Danger and Hope of Christmas.

In the 1950s, there was a Catholic school that was preparing for its annual Christmas pageant. It was the tradition that the sixth grade class were the presenters. The practice schedule was knocked out of of sorts when the weather turned bad; several days of school were lost due to weather closures. Sister Mary Louisa was usually in charge with the event. The sixth graders asked Sister if they could take over the the Christmas pageant. She said, "No!" These were persistent sixth graders. They continued to plead, finally, they took their case to the principal. The principal listened as they presented their case. He relented and gave the students their wish.

The day came for the presentation. The school auditorium was filled. It seemed the whole town had been alerted that the sixth graders had taken on the story of Christmas by themselves. The Priest was there, the Bishop's secretary, the deacons, parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, the Town Mayor, and the student body with their families.

The curtain opened. To the horror of all, there was no manger scene, no obvious Joseph, no Mary, no shepherds, no angels. The set was a hospital waiting room. A large, hand-painted sign said, "Maternity." There were double doors to the left - labeled "Labor" and "Delivery". There was a stunned faces in the auditorium. What kind of Christmas pageant was this??

St. Joseph was walking around the stage, he was carrying on a monologue about Mary and her pregnancy, when the double doors flew open and a young nurse, came running in. "Joseph, Joseph, you have yourself a God! You have a God!"

Those sixth graders captured the meaning of Christmas!

John the Evangelist wrote this about the Christmas story: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

There is hope here - God has come an entered the human estate. God shared the human condition.

But danger lurks here. This is no ordinary baby in the manger. He grows up to be the Christ of Easter. He becomes the One who tastes death and then beats it! This Baby is the God-Man who shows us the freedom of life. He is the one who shows us a new way.

2006 (c) Ronald Friesen