Opus 2025-600: Give Me Gas

Why are internal combustion engines so necessary to our society, our culture and our mental health?  Today is a good example.  I am able to go out and get in my car and drive 40 minutes to see my grandchildren.  If I had to hook up old Bessie to the carriage, it would probably take me all day to get there.  Now in modern times, with all the innovations of technology, I can drive down in about 40 minutes.  That is what I call a blessing.

If you want to go back to total organic and total green, that’s fine with me.  In a free country, you should be able to do that without trying to force me into the same handicap.  So turn in your car.  Buy a horse and buggy.  Learn to hook up all those straps.  Get some curry brushes, shovel and whatever else it takes to muck out the stalls and enjoy.

I for one am blessed by modern technology.

Merry Christmas

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-599: Annual Lock Down

It is so satisfying.  It’s an unusual year.  I drove to my children’s house to spend Christmas morning with my grandchildren.  They were sick last night so we didn’t get together.  I’m assuming we’re gonna have dinner together today but I’m going to be there while they open their gifts.  What a privilege.

What’s really satisfying about the trip is to see how the town is totally shut down.  Well maybe not totally, gas stations are still open.  It looked like McDonald’s has a sign on.  But for the most part, businesses have said this is a special day.  They may not know why it’s special.  They may hate the reason for the season, so to speak.  But they still shut down.  I would like to think it’s out of sensitivity for their employees, but it’s probably more a matter of knowing that they’re not going to do a lot of business on this day combined with the fact that people might notice that they’re open when they don’t need to be.

Anyway, it was a very pleasant drive and with the rewared of seeing my grandchildren.

Merry Christmas

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-591: The Cost of Christmas

I keep hearing about how people can’t afford to pay their rent or to put food on the table and so forth.  Even people who should know better are complaining about how tight things are.  I feel their pain.  Most of the things I buy in the grocery store have gone up in price.  So far though, I can still afford what I want and need.

I was looking over the Costco ads for their great bargains this week and toward the end of it, they had various offerings in the area of meats that would be appropriate for a Christmas feast.  I think the lowest price I saw was $17.95 a pound.  It went up from there.  Not exactly a cheap dinner.

I must say I have in the past had some of their better cuts when my son was doing the shopping.  Prepared properly, which to me is burnt to crisp, they were really delicious.  And since my son was paying, it was worth every penny of it.  If I had been paying, we would have been satisfied with cheese sandwiches.

And that’s the point really.  When we have family over for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, is the point to have family over and to celebrate together?  Is the point to show off how much we can spend on food?  Is the point to exercise or gluttony?  Obviously those are not fair questions because you already know the answers, at least the ones you would give in public.

If I were putting on a dinner for Christmas and felt like finances were tight, I would have no problem in making a big pan of chili with hamburger and frozen vegetables.  Add to that crackers from the discount store and if I was really feeling frisky maybe some cheese.  If the right people were there with the right attitude, it would be a glorious celebration of the incarnation.

Think values not value.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-666: A Winter Question

Why did God make snow white?

No, I don’t mean the fairytale princess or the caricature created by Disney.  My question has to do with the color of snow.

Was God making a racist statement?

In case you’re new to people who write with an IQ of higher than 40 that was a rhetorical question.  Since God created all races, it’s kind of hard to believe that He would be racist.  Since Jesus most likely was Semitic and had a certain look about him, it’s doubtful that Norwegians are any higher on the racial hierarchy than people of the Middle East.  While it’s true that we don’t know for sure what the coloring was of people in those days we can look at modern distribution of population and be pretty sure that Jesus did not have blonde hair and blue eyes.

But back to our question…  Why is snow white?

Well, let’s look at the physics of the matter.  White is a reflection of all the colors of the spectrum.  Black is an absorption of all the colors of the spectrum.  So when you look at the color white, you are actually looking at all races mixed together.  Or you could say all race is rejected depending on how you want to look at it.

Why did God design the universe so snow needed to be reflective?  I’m guessing it has to do with the absorption of energy and the generation of heat.  Winter is a time of cooling.  It’s a time of the Earth renewing itself.  In order to do that there are certain temperatures that seem to be better.  If snow were black, it would absorb all the heat of the sun and melt very quickly.  Black cars are hotter in the summer than white cars.  I don’t know what that would do to runoff or to the temperature of the Earth around us.  Instead of being reflected in light, the sun‘s energy would be absorbed and warm the Earth.  Talk about climate change!

I don’t know if there are emotional contents to the color of snow.  Do all people tend to be more optimistic and up in a light atmosphere?  I believe I’ve heard that some cultures wear white to funerals as an expression of morning.  It’s possible that different colors affect different people or peoples in ways that others might not understand.  The fact that snow is winter and winter is depressing to many people might say to me that the reflection of white light is encouraging rather than depressing.

If that’s racist, then deal with it.  Just as snow is omnipresent once you get away from the tropics, so racism is a part of every culture if you define it correctly, or incorrectly as the case may be.

So go ahead and dream of a white Christmas.  Like all dreams it has elements of reality, but people forget what it’s really like driving through the slush, shoveling the sidewalks, coming in covered with cold, wet, white stuff, and all the other mysterious non-joys of winter time.  In case you have never lived in snow country let me advise you not to go out to pick up the newspaper in your stocking feet.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-563: A Song of Desperation

I’m sitting in my room with the lights out, gazing out into the pre-dawn greatest.  I have read in  Psalms.  I have read in Proverbs.  I’ve spent time contemplating things of God; now I am just enjoying quiet Christmas music in the background as I look out the window.  I noticed that a song has come on my stereo, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas…”  It’s a song I really enjoy because I know what Christmas is about.

What if you don’t know what Christmas is all about?  What kind of song does this become?  It becomes a song of wishful thinking, daydreaming about the good old days, and the vain hope that tomorrow will be better.  As I found myself listening to the words instead of just the Christmas emotion that they generate, I noticed that there was nothing in the song about a baby being born in a manger.  There was nothing about God becoming man.  There was nothing about the hope that is in us.  The closest I could come was that line which says “If the fates allow.”  That’s not much to hope on.

Since I know about the incarnation and how the virgin birth was the beginning of the path to the cross and that that led to the resurrection, I can find great joy in this song.  It’s not because of this song itself.  The song is really just the song of desperation when you think about it, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t rejoice in the creativity of the writer because we know why we can have a merry little Christmas.

I hope for you that the cross means as much to you as the manger and that the empty tune is less significant than the creche.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-446: The Day After

For most people in the world today is the day after Christmas.  In the past that has meant that I have to put away my Christmas music for the year and wait until next Thanksgiving to enjoy it again.  It’s one of those unspoken laws of our family.  Actually, it’s spoken about very clearly.

This year is different.  As I think I shared, our grandchildren are up north with the other grandparents.  Our plan is to celebrate the Incarnation when they get back, which will be pretty much on New Year’s.  It was a loss, not having them with us, but to any cloud there is often silver lining.  The silver lining here is that I am continuing to pretend that I am in the Christmas season.  The reason for that is because I am still in the Christmas season.  The big benefit of that is that I can continue to play my Christmas music and no one can say a thing.  Also, most of the people who would say a thing are up north.

So go back to your old programming.  Look forward to New Year’s.  I’m still waiting for Christmas.  Oh, the blessings of life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-444: Firsts: Half Full or Half Empty

This year is a genuine first for our family.  We been married almost 50 years and this is the first time that everyone in our immediate family has not been together.  We were flying across the country or flying the kids.  We have driven from Texas to the East Coast.  We have always made it happen.  Two things make this Christmas different.

The first is the product of blessings.  This is the first time that our grandchildren have been able to travel to spend Christmas with the other grandparents.  The first blessing is the son-in-law that made the children possible.  The second is the grandchildren themselves.  And the third is an awareness that we have them so much the time and the other grandparents never get to see them and it worked out that they could travel up and spend a few days with them.  They even got snow.  Although we miss them, I consider that a genuine blessing.  I’m quite willing to share.

The other is not so much a blessing.  My wife is going through a physical difficulty which puts her in no mood to celebrate.  That puts a real damper on festivities.

While these are firsts, the basic foundation of the day continues to radiate joy, peace, and the assurance of eternal life.  Wherever our family is, no matter how healthy we are, this is still the day that we celebrate the incarnation.  This is the day where we take a special focus on the fact that God became man.  I make it a habit of being thankful for this every day, but there’s something special about this season, and this day that makes it stand out.

What a blessing.

I hope that God is real to you today, and I hope that you, unlike us, are able to be together with your loved ones and celebrate in good health.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-414: Traditions

What is it that makes a piece of music a tradition?  What transforms an attempt at expressing yourself, poetically and musically, into a traditional Christmas Carol?  I think there are probably a number of different factors.

First of all, time.  When I say “traditional”, I am using the actual meaning of the word, not just a marketing technique.  I think of the way the word classical has become totally meaningless, as in classical rock, or classical rap.  Something doesn’t become classical or traditional in just a few years.  It takes time.  Of course the time is in addition to all the other qualities that make it significant.

You need quality.  This is partly individual preference and partly objective.  I have heard ‘Christmas” music that obviously has first rate musicians involved and was still worthless in my world-view.  It might be powerful to someone else.  I am open to that concept but there are certain songs that appeal across whatever cultural lines you want to draw.  As I write I have an album called “Christmas Jazz” playing in the background.  I am a low level fan of Jazz.  It can be interesting but it is not what I would pick if I had one style to take on a long trip.  At the same time, I recognize all of the songs because they are traditional, not just filler to complete the disc.  When they are playing “Silent Night” I know it is “Silent Night.”  If it was “Grandma God Run-Over by a Raindeer” I would ask, “What was that.”

You need exposure.  It’s no accident that many of the songs that we consider to be traditional Christmas music come from an era when the country watched the same movies and TV programs.  We sang hymns that went across denominational and cultural lines.  There is a chance that the song “White Christmas” might have become a classic and a part of our traditional Christmas season without the input of Bing Crosby and the movie industry.  It is possible, but it would have been a much tougher row to hoe.  I have Christmas albums from individuals and groups that I enjoy, and they have songs which have become a part of my Christmas tradition but I have a feeling that most of the people have never heard them.  It is a lack of exposure.  Maybe time will make a difference.

I think message is also important.  As I build a Christmas play list I find that much of the secular category gets left out or has limited listings.  It is fun music.  It brings atmosphere.  What it is missing is something worth saying.  I can tap my foot to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” but I don’t know that I want to hear it more than once a season.  

And there is the ultimate trump, personal preference.  “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and “Ava Maria” are shunned anywhere they are found.  Personal preference is the ultimate test.  That is why I embrace the modern technology that makes it possible to assemble my own program.  

What a time to be alive.


homo unius libri

Opus 2024-410: The Recycling of Joy

I believe that today marks the official beginning of our anticipation of Christmas.  This is the first Sunday of Advent.  It tends to sneak up on us, but it is finally here.  I started with the Christmas music after dinner on Thanksgiving.  I will play it until midnight on Christmas day.

Do you need something to do over the next few weeks?  Drive to an area where a lot of shopping is going on.  Make sure you take a big dose of patience before you leave.  Park as far away from the stores as you can.  The exercise will do you good.  Walk slowly toward the crowds.  You don’t actually need to shop.  All you can expect to do is share the joy.  Look for opportunities to say, “Merry Christmas!” in response to half-hearted expressions of “Happy Holidays.”

You might prepare a few snappy, thought provoking comebacks.  You might ask, “What holiday is that?” or “What season is it?”  Always accompany your question with a big smile.  Hold doors open for people.  Pick up packages they drop.  Pray for the miserable heathen that you see swamping the marketplace.  Pray that the other bits of salt and light in the mix will have a chance to remind people of what we are celebrating.

(Gal 4:4 KJV)  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

(Joh 1:14 KJV)  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

I could go on but that will whet your appetite for all the glory that is involved in the incarnation.

Merry Christmas!  Inspiring Incarnation!

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-329: SUV Nativity

At Christmas time we have numerous Nativity sets spaced around our home.  Children are always encouraged to play with them and our grandchildren take advantage of that.  It leads to a healthy amount of mix and match, but it is good education.

Then comes the time to pick them up.  We noticed that one stable was bare and no matter how hard we looked we could not find the correct inhabitants.  Finally, in desperation, we asked our grandson if he knew where they were.  No problem.  He knew exactly where they had been stashed.  

It turned out that he had managed to get the entire cast into the back of one of his “goes”.  It was a jeep type vehicle with a back that opened.  There they were, on their way to Bethlehem.  I don’t remember reading about a Jeep in the Bible accounts but there is no mention of a donkey or camels either.  Use your imagination.  Think like a three year old.

Until January 6, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-325: Christmas, Phase II

As I settled into my chair Monday morning, I uttered a “Merry Christmas, Lord,” through the pre-dawn darkness.  Ignoring how silly that sounded, it felt right, my mind went on a Squirrel.  It occurred to me we don’t know the actual date Jesus was born but God the Father does.  And He ain’t telling.  Think about all the mundane details God could give us about history and life but He keeps it to Himself.  That’s fine by me.  I already know more than I can deal with.

Maybe that knowledge is why He created us in His image and gave us free will.  I imagine it spices up His days watching our antics and, in a sense, never knowing what we will do next.  I say, “in as sense” because I don’t understand the point of view of omnipotence and omniscience.  Those are the joys the season brings to mind.  God not only intervened in history, He invented it and maintains it.

Keep in mind that according to the church calendar, Christmas is not over.  It is just beginning.  I believe it goes to January 6 when Epiphany begins.  You can take down the lights, put away the music and clean up the gift wrappings but don’t abandon the awareness that God is with us, Emmanuel.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-319: Emmanuel Blessings

We look to the past with fond memories.  How many times have you heard the observation that the days when your family had scant resources and was scrambling to put things like Christmas together were times remembered with fondness.  The conclusion is that you were happier during the times of scarcity.

I suggest you take that and apply it today.  Take some time to contemplate on the blessings you have today and imagine yourself looking back on them at some later date.  Think about the people around you who look at your situation and can only wish.

Enjoy the moment.  Relish the ways in which God is enriching you.  None of your kids can make it home for Christmas?  Reach out to someone in your church who is also childless for the holidays.  One of my warm memories this year was the lady who invited me over for Thanksgiving because she wasn’t sure I had any place to go.  My wife doesn’t go to church with me so she thought I was alone.  Now that I think of it, this might be a good time to cheer her up by reminding her of that blessing.  Reach out and look for people to touch and the gaps in your day will be filled.

Look to next year.  Work on creating a home environment that the kids will want to come to next year.  You don’t do that by gripes and groans but by whispers of Emmanuel and mention of how you have been blessed this year.  Make them want to be a part.

Our attitude can transform or smother.  It is cold and rainy as I write.  I could focus on the cold and wet, I could.  If I had to go out and dig ditches today I might do that.  But I can focus on the fact that I am retired, inside, warm and dry.  I can focus on the life renewing change of seasons and moisture.  I can enjoy the pitter patter of raindrops.  Two views of the same world.

Two wishes for you.  May God bless you.  May you recognize the blessings when they come.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-317: Dark Thoughts: A Place to Start

What a glorious time of year this is.  It is a perfect fit for reflection, meditation and contemplating today and tomorrow.  Don’t waste it.

I was in a discussion of Christmas and how we respond to it with a group of older men who claim Jesus as Lord.  In spite of that the general tone was not bright and shiny.  How typical this is when the holidays come around.  People expect some magic elixir that will transform their situation.  I will admit that I am blessed with family in the area who see each other regularly and enjoy each other.  That is a blessing that I thank God for on a regular basis.

But the blessing starts closer to home.  I can’t wait for Thanksgiving dinner to be over so I can put on the Christmas music.  I admit, much of that is based on memories of Christmas.  I remember Christmas programs and the joys associated with them.  I remember the years I would load up my dad’s truck with friends and we would go around singing carols to everyone we could think of.  I remember glorious times.  So Christmas music starts with the anticipation of memories.  

The memories are augmented by the theology of Christmas:  Emmanuel, God with us.  Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.  That is what makes the season so special.  I can’t think about Christmas without considering this,

(Php 2:5-8 KJV)  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Okay, the price of Christmas trees has gone through the roof and they don’t live as long as they used to.  Materialism is rampant.  Your kid did not get the lead in the Christmas program.  There was no Christmas program.  And yet,

(Joh 1:14 KJV)  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Christmas merry.  It starts in your heart.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-315: Dark Thoughts: Censored Carols

I was sitting in the dark listening to the music of Christmas.  I was skipping secular songs and ones that I didn’t know the words.  I like them but I wanted the inspiration so I was focusing on the real Christmas carols.  Joy to the World came up and I was immersing myself in the message.  I kept waiting for one particular verse and it never showed up.  I knew there were four verses but they only sang three.  What did they leave out?

The verse about sin.

“No more let sin and sorrow grow”

It seems that even classic Christmas carols must be edited to stifle the message of Christmas.  Our world loves to be reminded of Joy to the World.  It is not so anxious to be reminded that the problem that Christmas was addressing was sin.  

Yes, there was a baby in a manger and a young mother.  Yes, there are shepherds and wise men.  Yes, the angels had a great message.  No, that was not the complete story.  There is a reason God had to break into history.  There is a reason the Eternal Son became man.  There was a reason for the virgin birth.

We needed a savior.  That is what the name Jesus means.

Sing all the verses this year.  If you can’t get it on your recordings then do it in your heart.  Take the time to get out a hymnal and look at the actual words.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-310: Who Celebrates

Why has Christmas spread through the entire world and invaded many cultures when Easter seems to be isolated to Christians?  Or at least Easter was Christian until the modern commercial pollution set in.  

The difference goes back to the original announcement.

(Luk 2:10 KJV)  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

Some people would like to limit this to the people of Israel but that little word “all” makes that very difficult.  

The offering of a Savior, God becoming man, the incarnation, these were gifts of God offered to all mankind.  This is a reminder that the God of Israel is also the God of the entire world even though they do not acknowledge it.

Easter is when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  You can get into a big debate on the word “Easter” and whether or not it has pagan roots.  I have read both sides.  The point is, when Christians talk about Easter they are talking about Jesus rising from the dead.  This is a message that only applies to people who believe He was the Son of God and died for our sins.  I am under the impression that Jewish and Hindu homes will have a Christmas tree.  I have a friend who is Buddhist and I believe he celebrates Christmas.  None of them sing “Up from the Grave He Arose”.  

So all are welcome to celebrate Christmas.  Maybe someday you will be able to celebrate Easter also.  Although there is nothing to celebrate unless you put your faith in Jesus for your own resurrection, the hope of Christmas is extended to everyone.

Merry Christmas.  Glorious incarnation.  Someday, happy Resurrection Day.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-302: Price Tags for Eternity

What seems like a cute little Christmas song, “Little Drummer Boy” carries a bit of insight,

“I have no gift to bring that’s fit to give our king”

How true of all our lives.  God still glories in our gifts like a grandparent accepting the artwork of a three year old.  Recently my grandson proudly brought me a bit of his work.  As artwork it was nothing to write home about.  As an expression of love it was awesome.  

I think that is how God responds to our works of love.  There is nothing we can do that compares in absolute value to a sneeze of the Almighty.  What even God cannot force is a freewill offering given from our hearts.

Let one of your gifts this Christmas be a work of love for the Father.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-300: Take a Moment

On the first Sunday of Advent I was listening to “It Came upon a Midnight Clear” and reveling in its message.  The third verse caught my attention.  The words were painting the burdens of life and how we keep moving forward.  I could identify with that from the years of earning a living and raising children.  Then there came the line,

“Oh, rest beside the weary road And hear the angels sing.”

What good advice.  Take a moment.  Take several moments.  Take many moments.  Use the incarnation and the miracle of God becoming man as an excuse.  Start to build a habit.  There is renewal and refreshment in pausing to hear the angels sing.  

This is a good time of year to work on new habits and shuffling priorities.  Don’t waste it.  Yes, we might feel like we are those

“Who toil along the climbing way With painful step and slow,”

But God offers those moments of refocusing that make all the difference in the journey.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-294: A Simple Message

Simple songs with a simple message and eternal consequences.

I was listening to Bing Crosby sing, “Do You Hear What I Hear?”  It goes through a progression from seeing, then hearing, knowing and eventually saying.  It never mentions the name of Jesus.  It seems to be expected that you know what the star means, what the song says and who the Child is.  Don’t assume that is true in today’s world.

There is no deep theology in this song.  It is simply a message of sharing.  Sharing the hope.  Sharing the joy.  Jesus put it a bit differently.  He started with,

(Joh 9:5 KJV)  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

He is the light but the implication is that He would be leaving.  So we see His words in Matthew,

(Mat 5:14 KJV)  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

This is the context of also saying we are the salt of the earth.  What it means is we are a presence which cannot be denied.  We are the seasoning in the stew of life.  Like the song, this does not involve deep theology.  It means living a life that reflects the light and holiness of God.  When the Holy Spirit has used your witness and other ingredients, He will lead people to start asking questions and then you can share what you know.

Embrace the hope, joy and peace of the incarnate Savior.  Let it radiate from your face and your actions.  Maybe this can be the year that revival breaks out because of Christmas carols.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-290: Still Basically Illiterate

Don’t get distracted by the title.

I am listening to a musical rendition of “Go Tell It on the Mountain”.  It forces me to fill in the words, many of which I know but don’t think much about.  Most of us could supply the “Go tell it on the mountain” part and then we start to hum as our attention wanders.

I am suggesting that the next line is what really applies to us.  It would be easy to think about proclaiming something from a mountain top.  There are many great things that need to be said.  Don’t miss two points.

First, it goes on to say, “over the hills and everywhere”.  When you are sharing about Jesus, whether it is simply the meaning of Christmas or the salvation message, it is to be taken everywhere.  It is not limited to mountain top guru wisdom.  It is to be street level.  That is what “everywhere” means.

Second, what are we declaring?  “That Jesus Christ is born”.  That is what the original Christ Mass was commemorating.  The church calendar included all doctrine and truth, or at least that was the intent in a world that was largely illiterate.  Today people can pronounce the simple words, but they are still basically illiterate when it comes to the deeper concepts.

So take Merry Christmas everywhere you go.  Declare the fullness of time.  Share that the “word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

It is time to reclaim Christmas and the music of Christmas is a good place to start.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-289: Raiders of the Lost Hark

Hark!

Listen up!  Attention please!  Alert!

I am sure you have sung “Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing:”  Most people who sing it never stop to look at the words closely.  They think there is a comma after “Hark” but it is really an explanation point.  It is not a word to take up a gap in the beat.  It is a declaration that you are supposed to sit up and take notice.

Of course if the sky were full of real angels we would probably harken, unless we had our ear buds on and were beboping down the sidewalk to some tunes.  The shepherds in the field the first Christmas didn’t have that kind of distraction.  They paid attention.

The first three lines of the Christmas carol are happy thoughts.  Anyone can sing them if they don’t think too much but the fourth line is the first message that demands to be canceled.

“God and sinners reconciled”

Why is that a problem?  Well, just who are these sinners they are talking about?  Modern thinkers have established that man is born pure and would be quite satisfactory if it were not for the oppression heaped on them by things like European cultural assumptions.  The man in the street needs to be sheltered from such heinous statements.  How dare Christians imply that someone might be a sinner?

Actually, it isn’t Christians who imply it.  It is God who declares it.

(Rom 3:23 KJV)  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Don’t look at me.  Look at God.  And while you are looking you might want to listen.  If there are no sinners then there was no reason for the Angels to be singing because no one needed to be reconciled to God.

But they did and we do.

That is why you hear these songss less and less, even in church.

Merry Christmas.

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