Message of the Month (Angelic guest contributor) –
“The Meaning of the ‘Holiday'”

Bible Insight: “Joseph—Quiet Father, Quiet Servant of God”

“Joseph [Mary’s] husband was a righteous man.”

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.'”

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” (Matthew 1:19, 20, 24 New Int’l Version)

This is one of three scriptures in the Nativity (Christmas) Story when Joseph obeyed the will of God—all without saying a single word.

I voted once at a nearby church and while there I looked over its literature rack. One pamphlet caught my eye: “Spirituality for Extroverts.”

Now, I spent some years in churches that were very much for extroverts. Their spirituality and worship were loud, expressive, and demonstrative. I found that my generally more reserved ways could be looked down on as, well, somewhat low in spirituality. I also found that many Christians expected you to be very much an extrovert when it came to evangelism.

So I wondered if there might also be a booklet, “Spirituality for Introverts”! Alas, a call to this church revealed that no such booklet existed. Why not? I determined that this particular Christian tradition was known for its quiet, subdued worship. If anything, that booklet was needed there to encourage the more exuberant ones that they could be accepted as “spiritual” too!

Joseph “wrote the book” on godly, quiet spirituality. In every account of his obedience, he obeyed God without saying so much as a word.

Now, I’m sure there were times when Joseph did speak. My point is, the Christmas story shows him to be a deeply righteous, devout and obedient man and to be all those things without words. Some today are like Joseph.

Let this be a lesson to all and an encouragement to those who need it!

“Prophets are Good for Business”
(Applying Biblical Principles to Work Situations)

Keep Thanksgiving
Free of Commercialism

Sabbath-keeping (Part 5)

Thanksgiving was likely first observed in America in 1621 by Pilgrims and Native Americans. In our new nation President George Washington, at the request of Congress, designated the last Thursday of November as “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

While definitely a day with religious overtones, it has been widely observed as a time for gratitude by people of many faiths or no faith.

When I think of religious roots to Thanksgiving, I think of “Sukkot”, the biblical Feast of Booths or the Festival of Ingathering, when the Hebrews would set aside seven days after the harvest of grain and grapes to celebrate the generosity of God (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). Both the first day and the day after the feast (day eight) were Sabbath days—days without work, days reflecting the idea that both work and rest are good for humankind, given and protected by the command of God (Leviticus 23:33-35).

Thanksgiving has been kept amazingly free of secular commercialism. In 1939, President Roosevelt moved the observance up a week from its traditional day as the last Thursday of November, thinking the economy would benefit from more shopping days before Christmas. Not only was there a big uproar, there was no proof that the change brought any seasonal financial benefit.

Sadly today more and more retail stores are encroaching upon Thanksgiving by backing up the mad-rush shopping of “Black Friday” into Thanksgiving Thursday. Major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us are trying to one-up competitors by opening earlier on Thanksgiving than before, and others like Macy’s, Penney’s and Staples are opening on Thanksgiving for the first time. “Now Thanksgiving is slowly becoming just another shopping day,” the Associated Press reported.

This commercializing of the day also means more people will have to work in lieu of time spent with family and the celebration meal. While this may be voluntary for many, I know it is not optional for some retail workers.

I’m generally not a fan of boycotts, but I’d sure support a refusal to either work or shop on Thanksgiving unless really necessary. I’d like to see proof that this commercial desecration of Thanksgiving Day actually proves to be a net financial gain to merchants. Even if it does, profits should not be our god.

There is wisdom and merit in the traditional American heritage of this day and in the ancient Festival of Ingathering. Unencumbered by the usual daily demands, we can rest and enjoy company we love. We can prepare and celebrate a feast of thankfulness and make a generous gift to feed others in need. We can bow our heads in deep gratitude for our precious American liberties.

And (with thoughts taken from Acts 14:17) in prayer and song we can honor God, who has shown his kindness to us by giving rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, providing us with plenty of food and filling our hearts with joy.

(From the November 28, 2013 Seal Beach Sun newspaper, with slight edits)

Don’s Upcoming Ministries

December 10 (6:30 p.m.) and December 13 (9:30 a.m.)
– Speak to women’s Bible study groups at Grace
Community Church of Seal Beach
Topic: Acts 11 (Let Gentiles into the Church?)

Christmas Eve Services at Grace Community Church
(5:00, 6:30, 8:00) – Sing “O Holy Night” (duet)

Religious Liberty Vigilance – “The 12 Rules of Christmas”

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

– 1st Amendment (Our “First Freedom” in the Bill of Rights)

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must…undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” – Thomas Paine

Seems that every Christmas there are issues over manger displays on public property and over what can be done or said in public schools. I’m indebted here to The Rutherford Institute, whose attorneys have compiled “The Twelve Rules of Christmas” (used by permission). These points help to clear up misunderstandings over what can or cannot be done in celebrating this holiday:

1. Public school students’ written or spoken personal expressions concerning the religious significance of Christmas (e.g., T-shirts with the slogan, “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season”) may not be censored by school officials absent evidence that the speech would cause a substantial disruption.
2. So long as teachers are generally permitted to wear clothing or jewelry or have personal items expressing their views about the holidays, Christian teachers may not be prohibited from similarly expressing their views by wearing Christmas-related clothing or jewelry or carrying Christmas-related personal items.
3. Public schools may teach students about the Christmas holiday, including its religious significance, so long as it is taught objectively for secular purposes such as its historical or cultural importance, and not for the purpose of promoting Christianity.
4. Public school teachers may send Christmas cards to the families of their students so long as they do so on their own time, outside of school hours.
5. Public schools may include Christmas music, including those with religious themes, in their choral programs if the songs are included for a secular purpose such as their musical quality or cultural value or if the songs are part of an overall performance including other holiday songs relating to Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or other similar holidays.
6. Public schools may not require students to sing Christmas songs whose messages conflict with the students’ own religious or nonreligious beliefs.
7. Public school students may not be prohibited from distributing literature to fellow students concerning the Christmas holiday or invitations to church Christmas events on the same terms that they would be allowed to distribute other literature that is not related to schoolwork.
8. Private citizens or groups may display crèches or other Christmas symbols in public parks subject to the same reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that would apply to other similar displays.
9. Government entities may erect and maintain celebrations of the Christmas holiday, such as Christmas trees and Christmas light displays, and may include crèches in their displays at least so long as the purpose for including the crèche is not to promote its religious content and it is placed in context with other symbols of the Holiday season as part of an effort to celebrate the public Christmas holiday through its traditional symbols.
10. Neither public nor private employers may prevent employees from decorating their offices for Christmas, playing Christmas music, or wearing clothing related to Christmas merely because of their religious content so long as these activities are not used to harass or intimidate others.
11. Public or private employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs require that they not work on Christmas must be reasonably accommodated by their employers unless granting the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer.
12. Government recognition of Christmas as a public holiday and granting government employees a paid holiday for Christmas does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

I wish all of my readers a most joyous Christmas!

– Don Shoemaker

“Shadow” – one of the Shoemaker pets says, “Merry Christmas from the Shoemaker household.”