Merry Christmas

Its a little past midnight in Kansas. It is now Christmas 2015. It is the time we celebrate the Birth of our Savior Jesus the Christ. Is today actually the birthday? Probably not. Early Christians in Europe hijacked the Pagan solstice, the shortest day of the year, and incorporated many of the symbols in to the celebration.
It doesn't matter. We could celebrate his birth on any day. It would not matter. What matters is that he did come to earth. He fulfilled the prophesies, and he paid the debt for our sins. Yesterday marked the final day of Advent. One of the traditional songs goes; Come oh blessed ransom come, only hope for sinful mortals. Come oh Savior of the world, open are to you all portals. Come your beauty let us see, anxiously we wait for thee.
Yes, we do indeed wait. He said he would return. He will return. Until that day though, it will not be all sunshine and roses. We toil, we suffer. In many places Christians endure torment for his names sake. He told us we would.He promised that if we esteem him before men, that he would esteem us before his Father, GOD, in Heaven.
So we wait. We try to do his work. We fail. We seek his forgiveness.
Over the past 2000 years, the story of Christ has spread to almost every nation tribe and tongue. Many have believed, many have rejected His grace. Many have risen up against him. The sword has been used, torture has been used, flawed logic has been used, faulty reason has been used. Every lie in the book has been told and yet his message remains as clear and strong as the morning that his followers gazed into an empty tomb and knew that he had risen.
Its Christmas. Christmas is under attack every where on the planet. Some countries have banned it, other have banned its name. In this once great nation, people, even Christians say Happy Holidays rather than risk offending others by saying Merry Christmas.
Say Merry Christmas. Esteem him before men so he can esteem you before his father in heaven.
Still we wait. He is coming. trust him, he will return. Storm clouds also are gathering. The world today is like a many playered chessboard. Christianity is under assault from the muslims. In every nation with a sizable population of islamists, and they are all islamists, there is strife. Even here in the United States we have been attacked.
islam is not the only enemy though. This new world order that pervades America today is also against the Church. Antitheism is strong in our culture. We are told to embrace homosexuality. We are told to accept the whole sale slaughter of children in the womb. we are told to accept adultery and all manner of sexual perversions. Perversions that GOD condemns. It is beyond disgusting that these perversions happen in the world. It is far worse still that we accept them with out speaking out against them.
We have had seven years of unprecedented attacks on Christianity by the unpresident and his cohort of criminals. What has happened here is nothing compared to what others in other nations have endured for his names sake.
Its Christmas. Celebrate the birth of the Savior. Celebrate it the other 364 days as well. Put it in their faces. Don't be ashamed of his name. He is not ashamed of your or mine, and we are sinners all.  He is the perfect and pure Son of GOD.
Today is not about presents. You won't top his gift. Ever.