What an Epiphany!

Special Days

TODAY IS EPIPHANY ON THE CHURCH CALENDAR!

I was saved in a church that was founded during the Jesus Movement in the ‘70s. I went there for 22 years and was a pastor for fifteen. We were a biblically-based, solid, Evangelical church that desired to teach people to live for Christ authentically.

But, I never heard about the liturgical calendar.

The church calendar helps Christian believers to acknowledge Christ throughout the year, marking off specific seasons and days to celebrate. Apart from Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas, I didn’t know any of the other special days until I came to pastor Community Church of the Hills.

Once there, I discovered the rich tradition of the other special “Holy days” of the year.

“Epiphany” is celebrated each January 6, but churches commemorated it yesterday since it was the closest Sunday to the actual date.

Epiphany celebrates the visit of the wise men to Jesus and marks the end of the twelve days of Christmas.

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That Obnoxious Holiday Greeting

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I WAS OFFENDED! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was this allowed in Johnson City, Texas?
Apparently so. As far as I knew there was no law against it.

I walked up to the counter of HealthMart, our local pharmacy, and there was the most offensive, agitating, insensitive sign I ever saw. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but still, I was shocked. I called Phil the manager over to ask him about that, that…sign: “How come it says ‘Happy Holidays’? This is Johnson City. We are a Christmas town!”

He’s a very friendly guy and listened attentively as I voiced my complaint.

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Thanking the Universe…and Plants, too!

Pastor's P.O.V., Special Days

THE WORST THANKSGIVING SERVICE I ever saw advertised was from a church in Dripping Springs that had a special “Thanking the Earth” ceremony. And the silliest bumper sticker ever stuck to a Hyundai said this: “Did you thank a green plant today?” How far away from God these people are to thank the creation and not the Creator.

The Babylon Bee reported that local atheist Hal Woodring is preparing his heart to humbly show gratitude to the cold, mechanical processes that randomly led to mankind’s existence and his own fleeting life this Thanksgiving, sources confirmed Friday. Woodring plans to bow his head silently before partaking in his family’s extravagant Thanksgiving feast Thursday evening to give thanks to the meaningless, cold, inconsequential universe for preserving him and allowing him to partake in its bounty. His family members report that he does this every Thanksgiving, pausing to thank the meaningless, vast, and ancient universe that doesn’t care at all whether they live or die.

That was satire, but it wasn’t far from the truth.

Religion News Service reported that atheists and the non-religious have a Thanksgiving called “secular grace” which invokes no deity and has no spirituality, yet it still fulfills a need. “Unitarian-Universalists and adherents of other nontheistic faiths have said godless blessings for years, and Robert Ingersoll, ‘the Great Agnostic,’ gave a Thanksgiving sermon in 1897 in which he thanked scientists, artists, statesmen, mothers, fathers, poets and just about everybody except God. Secular grace typically recognizes the animals who gave their lives for the feast, the people who prepared the meal and even the elements of nature that contributed to it — earth, water, fire and air.”

This type of “gratitude” reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said: “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.…”

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Fathers, Tell ‘Em About Jesus!

Pastor's P.O.V., Special Days, ,

HEY, FATHERS! DO YOUR KIDS KNOW THE LORD?

Do you have the assurance that they will stand for Jesus in this crazy world that calls evil good, and good evil; that puts darkness for light, and light for darkness?

More importantly, do you have the assurance that they will go to Heaven and not to Hell, should they—God forbid—die prematurely?

Many parents expect their church to do the work of training up their children in the way they should go, and that it’s the pastor’s responsibility to make sure that every kid knows and obeys Christ.

Not true!

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