Show Issue- Ads tt0U"7n- Gi'°ccrWiU ArrltC on WAneS pece it£r D V Vol 80 UuUil J pi - Number 52 Gunnison Utah 84634 Remember to put Christ in your Holiday Celebration by Jim Olsen Publisher Lon vnt to a Hallmark Card and Gift Shop to look for a nativity set She has decided to collect them for decorahng our home dur- ff16 cover a great number of other Christmas gift items Christmas bears Star Trek omaments 2002 Olympic ornaments stuffed Santa Qaus dolls fancy Santa little Qaus bears of all different shapes and sizes They had angels ke section rou1 j°? decoration No nativity She did sn0wflakes dis- - snowmen Christmas trees and rein- - cards Look as she might deer But nothing depicting she couldn't even find a the reason for the holiday CHRISTMAS card depict- we are about to celebrate ing the nativity scene No her Joseph and Mary No baby She broadened search to include the Jesus She sought the assistance Christmas cards Santa reindeer sleighs funny of the sales clerk "Don't cards money cards sappy you have anything depict- cards and sentimental ingChrist?" The clerk looked "That's probably bom in the Spring odd" she said "I can't find In order for shepherds to be a thing with Jesus either" doing what they were do- I wonder if we haven't ing when the angels her- gone full circle with Christ- - aided the good news Win- mas After all most Latter- - ter is the wrong season day Saints will tell you that The worship of Christmas Christ was born in April in the winter was an effort Historians and theologians of early Christians to also admit that Christ was gather in cultures who wor- shiped the Winter Solstice It was fairly common for missionaries to incorporate some of the practices of "pagans" in an effort to convert them Christmas was thus eventually moved to winter to help with this celebration Today in an effort to be "politically correct" we encourage Christians to accept Santa Claus Frosty the Snowman Rudolph the ljt fp i s' v' d Reindeer and the such as a part of their celebration Christ is no longer the central theme of the holiday One popular Christmas song says "Christmas is sharing Christmas is caring Christmas is sitting by the yule fire" Songs such as "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" are requested on the radio The most popular Christmas song "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" has no mention of what Christmas is all about Even one of the best movies of all time "It's a Wonderful Life" only uses the Christmas season as a backdrop to show that we should be grateful for friends and family and the miracle of life Christmas is more than that Much more Christmas is about the birth of Christ Christmas is about the death of Christ His mission was to teach us all about love service family caring and sharing Giving and receiving are part of his message The miracle of life is part of his message It is impossible to separate the message of charity and love from Christ himself However in the politically correct world we have developed we have come full circle We are using a religious holiday to convert the pagans Only this time the pagans happen to be Chris- tians As you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this week with your family find time to seek Christ During all the fun and frolic make time to find Christ You won't find Him in the supermarkets or gifts shops of today Seek Him with your heart The Bible is a pretty good place to start hihe- L$ f OR COPY fau the ujfir and dove o f Ofn upon you tothe this holy eaootv and1 heponf the Safina au umi hmuiiscm ? |