December 2003 | Volume 2 Number 3 | ARCHIVES | HOME

MIA’s ‘Dinner-Concert’ a Winner

By Cathy Josue 

Dec 5 – Mission in Action Dinner Fellowship set out another milestones to CTFCM Youth Ministry. It was indeed a night of great music, inspirational songs and good food as well as enjoying the warm presence of the Lord. During the event, CTF Music Ministry also launched their first produced album entitled “The Hope of Your Glory”.

    The event was made possible to show appreciation and thanksgiving to our sponsors for their cooperation and support in the project of Mission in Action (MIA).

    It was really a glorious encounter with the Lord. Praise be to God!

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Media Ministry Seminar Teaches Writers Write Effectively

By: Whit Criswell

In a world driven by speed, technology and knowledge, we need to simplify. Advertisers have found one of the top five reasons we buy things is because it is simple. There have been a lot of books written lately that in their titles include that idea: "52 Ways to Simplify Your Life." "90 Devotions to Simplify Your Life." "201 Great Questions to Simplify Your Life." "365 Ways to Simplify Your Life."

If Jesus Christ had written a book about how to simplify your life, what would it say? Actually, He did write a book about this topic. It is called the Bible. Let's look at four things Jesus said, but first I want to ask a question: Do you want to reorganize your life - or do you want revolutionize your life? If you want to do the latter, then Jesus has the answer. He starts from the inside out.

SIMPLIFY THE WAY YOU SPEAK. "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No'" (Matthew 5:37). Be a person of integrity and honesty. Lies entangle your life. Be honest. Even in the way you speak to God. "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:6). Just talk to God like you would anybody else. Be honest. Be real. Say what you are really thinking. He already knows what you are thinking.

SIMPLIFY THE WAY YOU ACT WITH OTHER PEOPLE. "Do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12). If you really want to stand out, step down and become a servant. Think about doing for others, not what they can do for you.

SIMPLIFY THE WAY YOU LIVE. "Hurry-itis" is rampant. Things get so busy. We don't know where to turn next. We live in a very complicated world. "I couldn't answer your page about the message on my answering machine, mentioning the call on my cell phone concerning your e-mail that I haven't returned!" Have you ever been in a room when the cell phone goes off, and 15 people look to see if it is theirs? Maybe you are discovering "time-saving devices" can become "time-slaving devices"? It is important to be connected, but it is also important to have some breathing space. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 37:7). In the three years Jesus was turning the world upside down, in all His "to do" lists He made time to get alone with God to get some room to breathe and become refreshed. Suggestion: Take a few moments every day to think about what really is important and do this while visiting God - just you and God in a quiet place. Put God on your calendar.

SIMPLIFY THE WAY YOU BELIEVE. We make this so difficult. People wanted to do this to Jesus too. "And he called a little child to Him and said, 'I tell you the truth, you must change and become like little children. Otherwise, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven...'" (Matthew 18:1-4). This means you believe in the person who says it. It is all right to doubt. You don't have to commit intellectual suicide, but let your doubts lead to searching for the truth. Like children that depend on their parents, we should take our faith and say, "God I need you, I depend on You."

"Himig Pasko"

“Malamig ang simoy ng hangin,

Kay saya ng bawat damdamin

Ang tibok ng puso sa dibdib

Para bang hulog na ng langit.” 

    Kapag naririnig natin ang mga linyang ito, isa lang ang aking masasabi. “Pasko na!” oo, talaga naming himig pasko’y umiiral na. Sa mga patalastas lamang sa TV, sa mga awitin sa radio, sa mga buhay-buhay at maging sa mga kalsada, ano ang iyong makikita? Christmas lanterns, Christmas lights at iba pang dekorasyon, puto bumbong at bibingka, ilan lamang ito sa mga bagay na nagbibigay buhay…nagbibigay kulay at nagsasabing ang pasko ay sumapit.

    Para sa mga iba, ang pasko ay pabigat lamang, isa lamang pakakagastusan at pagdadalamhati. Maaring sa mga oras na ito, naikukumpara nila ang kanilang pamilya sa iba. Ang iba ay buo samantalang sila ay hindi kumpleto o wala man lang mapagsasaluhang masarap na noche Buena. Sa mga taong nasa ganitong sitwasyon, sa ganito ang iniisip, dapat nating tandaan na ang Panginoon Hesus ay sinugo ng Diyos upang ang lahat ng nabibigatan ay magkakaroon ng kapahingahan at ang lahat ng bihag ay napapalaya upang maaari nating buksan ang ating mata, at may ngiti sa labi natin siyang sasalubungin sa araw ng kapaskuhan. Datapwat, sa araw ng pasko, isa lamang ang dapat nating mmaramdaman, isa lamang ang dapat maghari na emosyon sa ating puso—pagmamahal. Dahil sa pagmamahal, ibinigay ng Diyos ng nag-iisa Niyang bugtong na anak para sa atin. Ito ang diwa ng Pasko.

     We live in a love-crazy world. Just flip the radio dial and you’ll hear songs about love—endless love, forbidden love, and other “love tunes” people love to sing along with. A glimpse at a recent pop/rock top ten that 8 out of 10 songs were about , you guessed it, L-O-V-E. Some of the lyrics are silly. Sadly, some are perverted in their graphic detail. Today’s love songs may be about commitment, but only to one’s personal desire. No wonder so many people are confused about the “L-word” really means. But one thing is sure: You won’t get an accurate idea about what love means by listening to the local rock station.

    To get a true picture of love, we need to look at what God says about it. Jesus indicated that love and obedience go hand-in-hand. He made it clear that if we don’t seek to obey God, we don’t love Him. Without obedience, our relationship to Him falls short (John 14:21). Immediately following this, He gave us the comforting news that when we love Him, the Father also loves us!

    When it comes to loveing God, no syrupy, sentimental love songs can express what it takes. To love God is to obey Him.

    Have you been saying you love God, yet you really don’t think it’s any big deal whether or not you obey His guidelines for living? Look again at Jesus’ words in John 14—they suggest that you’d better change your tune.

It’s Christmas, Remember?

The History of Christmas

Christmas probably receives the most attention in the modern annual calendar for Christians and the world alike. An outsider visiting our culture would probably assume that this holy day represented the most important and central truth of our religion. But Christmas celebrations got off to a rocky start among the early Christians for they did not celebrate it at all.

When Christmas started

The early Christians were more interested in the resurrection than the birth of Jesus. So Easter was their central holy day. Christmas was not yet celebrated by the very first Christians. However over the next hundred or so years in the Eastern part of the Roman empire (Turkey, Syria, Palestine, etc) a new Christian feast emerged, Epiphany, which was celebrated on January 6. This feast celebrated more than Jesus’ birth, and included also His circumcision, the visit of the Magi, his baptism and his first miracle at Cana. Epiphany wrapped all these events into one celebration of "appearance" or "manifestation." That is, Jesus was made manifest—shown forth—at his birth, baptism, to the gentiles when the Magi worshipped, to Simeon and Anna in the Temple, and to his disciples when he performs the water-to-wine miracle. What we call an "epiphany" is a sudden illuminating insight or instantaneous grasping of the meaning of something. The pre-Christmas feast of Epiphany was about grasping the total significance of who Jesus was and what his incarnation meant. The later Christmas day narrowed the focus primarily to His birth

Somewhere in the early 300’s in Rome Christmas emerged as a separate feast from Epiphany. The first actual mention of "December 25" as Christmas was in 354 in Rome though that probably reflects practice as early as 336. Historically Epiphany spread from the East to Rome and the rest of the West while Christmas spread from Rome to the East resulting eventually in a separation of the two days into Christmas and Epiphany, and the "twelve days of Christmas" between.

Why December 25?

It is unlikely Jesus was actually born in December. The "shepherds in the fields" probably indicates another season. So why did Christians select December 25 as the day they would celebrate His birth? There are two theories. Basically they are (1) the Christians calculated the date through complex figuring, or (2) the Christians simply adapted a pagan feast day. The calculation theory comes up with December 25 by assuming Jesus died on March 25, then by a complex set of calculations it is figured that Jesus was also conceived on March 25, and thus born nine months later on December 25. The second far more common (and believable) theory is that the Roman Christians simply set their feast to remember Christ’s birth on a day where it would compete (and defeat) a pagan feast.

In 272 the Emperor Aurelian had established the feast, the "Commemoration of Emesa" dedicated to the Syrian sun god. It was on this day—the winter solstice—that the sun was at its lowest point on the horizon from which it would be "reborn" to again return throughout Spring. (The Julian calendar by this time was four days off from the actual winter solstice.) This theory says the Christians simply decided to "overprint" the pagan feast of the return of the sun. Perhaps they even used this competing feast for evangelistic purposes claiming the Lord Jesus and the True Sun who was truly resurrected and will some day truly return. Whatever actually happened, Christmas won the competition. The pagan feast disappeared and we continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25 to this day.

The development of a Christmas season.

What started as a single day, (January 6, Epiphany) then split into two days (Christmas and Epiphany) finally developed into a full-blown season. In 380 the advent of advent is recorded by law requiring attendance during the three-week advent season from December 17 through January 6. The season between would come to include special days to remember and celebrate God’s work. Christians, adopting the Jewish notion of the day starting the evening before, brought them Christmas eve. Christmas day was then followed by the "first Sunday after Christmas" then New Year’s day (which eventually would come to have its own vigil or "watch-night" service complete with Charles Wesley’s "covenant renewal service") ending up with Epiphany recalling Christ’s presentation at the temple, the Magi, baptism and miracle at Cana. The season would come to be typified by celebration, rejoicing, gift-giving elaborate crèches, musicals, processions, children’s programs and cantatas, pageants and plays. It’s ironic isn’t it? Christmas started out pagan and became Christian only to become a Christian feast turning pagan again.

 To Think About…

1. What is something new you discovered from this reading about Christmas?

2. If the Christians did indeed adopt December 25 to compete with a pagan feast was that wrong or OK?

3. Can you think of other secular or national holidays the church observes today?

4. How do Christians go about "sanctifying" secular, national or pagan feast days?

5. What are the "competing myths" of a totally secular Christmas today?

If Christmas was not celebrated by any of the apostles or early church does that make it still acceptable to us today, or are we obligated to set aside only those days which the apostles and early church observed? Do you lean to being a "strict constructionist" in worship traditions, or are you more "progressive" in your interpretation of church tradition?

6. Forgetting the matter of pagan dates, how do you lean on the question of pagan elements like Christmas trees as part of a Christian Christmas celebration?

7. Does it matter that December 25 is not the likely actual date of Christ’s birth?

LITERATURE

Birthday Celebrants for December

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