Appreciate your comments brother. I have said for years that if you want to celebrate Christmas or other holidays....do so just between you and the Lord. That leaves others and there opinions out of the conversation, with judgment
Not sure what hoops Substack makes commenters jump through. Sorry about that. It may be a setting I’m not aware of. I don’t know what it means to be coded, but I’m definitely not being harassed, threatened, or untrusting of folks who want to comment :) Merry Christmas! Have a blessed day.
Well, I played down Christmas for a long time. Even before that, when I was in high school, a teacher asked us to get up and tell what Easter meant to us. Well, I decided to repeat what our preacher always said: Easter is just colored eggs, the easter bunny and that's all. By the end of the day, my friends were coming up to me saying," Are you really an atheist?" It had backfired!
About 20 years ago, while reading Timothy, I saw how Paul was upset about men who preached for fame and fortune and jealousy. Then he said, "But at least the gospel is being preached, and I thank God for that." I began thinking that, for some people, the only time they even think about Jesus is at Easter or Christmas. Even atheists are forced to say the word Christ every time they say Christmas.
So, for a few years, I invited my neighbors (some I didn't even know their names until then) to come to my house for a Christmas coffee once a week during December. They loved the idea and all came. I'd serve flavored coffee and cookies. Then, while everyone was seated and eating, I said, "Did you ever wonder about..." and I would mention someone in the "Christmas story". "Did you ever think about how we know if there were only 3 wisemen?" or etc. Each week was a different person in the "Christmas story," always bringing up something that most people don't know is in the Bible.
That way, I got them to thinking in a fun way that there must be other things in the Bible they had misread. It was always a happy time and successful. I would encourage you to give it a try among some guys.
Appreciate your comments brother. I have said for years that if you want to celebrate Christmas or other holidays....do so just between you and the Lord. That leaves others and there opinions out of the conversation, with judgment
Wow, Wes! Are you being harrassed or threatened? Just wondering why we have to be coded before you will trust us enough to say something.
Not sure what hoops Substack makes commenters jump through. Sorry about that. It may be a setting I’m not aware of. I don’t know what it means to be coded, but I’m definitely not being harassed, threatened, or untrusting of folks who want to comment :) Merry Christmas! Have a blessed day.
Well, I played down Christmas for a long time. Even before that, when I was in high school, a teacher asked us to get up and tell what Easter meant to us. Well, I decided to repeat what our preacher always said: Easter is just colored eggs, the easter bunny and that's all. By the end of the day, my friends were coming up to me saying," Are you really an atheist?" It had backfired!
About 20 years ago, while reading Timothy, I saw how Paul was upset about men who preached for fame and fortune and jealousy. Then he said, "But at least the gospel is being preached, and I thank God for that." I began thinking that, for some people, the only time they even think about Jesus is at Easter or Christmas. Even atheists are forced to say the word Christ every time they say Christmas.
So, for a few years, I invited my neighbors (some I didn't even know their names until then) to come to my house for a Christmas coffee once a week during December. They loved the idea and all came. I'd serve flavored coffee and cookies. Then, while everyone was seated and eating, I said, "Did you ever wonder about..." and I would mention someone in the "Christmas story". "Did you ever think about how we know if there were only 3 wisemen?" or etc. Each week was a different person in the "Christmas story," always bringing up something that most people don't know is in the Bible.
That way, I got them to thinking in a fun way that there must be other things in the Bible they had misread. It was always a happy time and successful. I would encourage you to give it a try among some guys.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing!