Many people set goals for the New Year. As believers we should prayerfully set spiritual goals. To have powerful and effective goals one should know the heart and mind of the Lord. Before his ascension back to heaven, Jesus revealed his purpose and power for his followers – the church. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Jesus taught that it is imperative that every believer be a witness. He sent the Holy Spirit to fill and empower every believer. Ask yourself this New Year, “Am I a witness? What kind of witness am I?” Let’s consider how we can be a more effective witness.

Joshua waited with anticipation for his father to escort him downstairs to the birthday party planned in his honor. The big white house was full of happy guests and friends invited by his father. Laughter filled the house and the joyful noise of the celebration drifted upstairs to his room where Joshua waited to be escorted downstairs to the party at the appointed time.

Finally, with delight, he descended the long spiral staircase with his father. Then together they entered the vast living room. His beaming expression soon turned to one of shock, confusion, and dismay. All of the guests seemed to ignore his presence. His father tried to get their attention with his booming voice. But very few would listen or even look his way.

Caleb Quaye discovered what’s in a name. David Letterman called Eric Clapton, famed rock musician, as being the greatest guitarist who ever lived. Eric Clapton replied, “I’m not the greatest. Caleb Quaye is the best guitarist in the world.” English rocker Caleb Quaye found that success and fame were unreal and transient. In his book A Voice Louder Than Rock and Roll, Quaye reveals what it was like to produce music and play guitar for great names like Elton John, The Who, the Beatles, and many others. Quaye became a world famous guitarist. But one day he found himself in front of a mirror after a life of drugs, girls, fame, and fortune.

The Lionel train raced around the track puffing smoke with its bright headlight beaming through the darkness. I can still smell the smoke belching from the engine’s smoke stack some 40 years later. What is the greatest or most memorable gift you remember receiving for Christmas? Perhaps it was a care package or letter from home while serving in the Armed Forces at a lonely outpost far from home.

Christmas is giving. The very spirit of Christmas is giving. It’s not in material or monetary gifts but it is about the love that motivates the giver.

Who would steal the Christ child from a church’s crèche and for what reason? I was perplexed as I looked at our church’s empty manger that memorable Christmas. Recently I was walking by a church near where we live and noticed that their nativity scene was fenced in with chicken wire. No doubt it was there to discourage thieves and pranksters. Things have not really changed over the centuries. In many different ways the enemy of our soul still endeavors to steal or fence-in the Christ of Christmas from society and our souls.

How are you welcoming Christmas this year? Some people would identify with the movie “The Grinch who Stole Christmas”, others perhaps with Ebenezer Scrooge of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. Storekeepers anticipate the money Christmas generates. Party givers look forward to the merriment of the season. Many enjoy the music. Children revel in the sense of mystery and magic. Believers rejoice in the miracle and mercy of Christmas. Magnitudes of art, music, literature, movies, and kind, noble deeds have been inspired by Christmas. Yet, secular humanists and many others do not always welcome Christmas.

Victories don’t come without a battle. What battles are you fighting this New Year? Perhaps it’s the “battle of the bulge”. You’ve vowed to lose weight and live healthier – but it’s a battle. Some continue to battle life controlling or negative habits or sin in their lives. Many people battle increasing debt or mounting stress at work or at home. If you have battles to fight this New Year I have good news for you. You have an ally. There is one who has never lost a battle and he desires to stand with you if you will look to him. He is the Lord God – the Lord mighty in battle.

It is the most life altering walk of history. Hollywood has its “Walk of the Stars” – the walk of the rich and the famous. The one who walked the road of the “Via Dolorosa” (The Way of Suffering) walked a lonely road. Over 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ walked the gauntlet of reproach, rejection, and suffering, carrying his cross up Golgotha’s hill to be crucified outside the city of Jerusalem.

Because Christ’s Passion was accomplished in a specific geographic and historic place, thousands of pilgrims have journeyed to the Holy Land to follow the steps of the Savior that he walked that day up the “Via Dolorosa”.

“Everyone loves Thanksgiving except the turkey,” reads the marquis at a local real estate business. The first Thanksgiving in America was a simple but joyful celebration. After the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the first winter the colony was decimated by exposure, sickness, and starvation. In the spring some friendly Native Americans taught them how to plant crops in the New World. In the fall they had an abundant harvest and decided to have a feast of thanksgiving to God. They invited their friends to celebrate with them. Tradition says that turkey was part of the thanksgiving feast.

The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon showed the world how much some people hate freedom. Some don’t like free trade, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom to petition the government or freedom of religion. They believe an elite group should dictate to the masses how life should be lived.

Someone once said, “War is hell.” Yes, war is spawned and instigated in hell. God’s love is giving mankind freedom to choose evil or good, righteousness or unrighteousness, heaven or hell. God’s love in allowing humankind to choose it’s own course (including partnering with evil unto the most hideous consequences) is neither indifferently passive nor aggressively active when horrible things happen. God has always been and is and always will be redemptive. He provided the way for reconciliation – the Cross of His Son Jesus Christ.

Marsha confessed that she was not in the Christmas Spirit. Perhaps it was the empty nest syndrome and the fact that none of her children could make it home for Christmas. James was far from home and lonely on a tour of duty in Iraq. How could he experience the spirit of Christmas in a strange and stressful country?

What about you, are you in the Christmas Spirit? I have good news for you. Regardless of where you are and how stressful your circumstances, you can experience the Spirit of Christmas. The same spirit that brought Mary joy, wonder, and the miracle of the Christ is available to bless your life today with the Spirit of Christmas.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Sadly, the traditional observance of Memorial Day has diminished over the years. Many Americans have forgotten the meaning Memorial Day. At many cemeteries the graves of the fallen are ignored and neglected. May we honor and remember those who gave their life to combat the enemies of the freedoms we so enjoy and value in America.

As I visit some of the Civil War battle sites and read about the staggering numbers of casualties in the various battles waged by those who cherished liberty, I stand astonished by the vast numbers and sacrifices made by so many. Inspired by the poem “In Flanders Field”, Moina Michael wrote:

As a child, my friends and I would play army and other war games. Perhaps we thought that there was glory in fighting and dying. The Roman poet, Horace, expressed it this way, “Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori (Sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country).” I think Horace was wrong. I’ve stood by the graves of too many friends and family members. The dying, grief, and suffering was not glorious. I think it was General Douglas McArthur who said, “War is hell!”

The pilgrim fathers of America came to a bountiful land. The first winter was harsh and they were ill prepared to survive in the wilderness. Over half of them perished from the cold, hunger, or disease. With the help of some kind Native American Indians, they were taught to grow corn and squash and to hunt for wild game to make provision through the year. The next fall they celebrated with a feast to show their gratitude to their new friends and to offer thanks to God for their bountiful harvest.

Our founding fathers openly recognized God.

Christmas is about giving. God gave His greatest gift – the gift of His only begotten son. “That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

The wise men from the east followed his star to Bethlehem. When they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, they fell down and worshipped him. Then they brought their treasures and opened them. The wise men presented unto the Lord gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11) The gold was fit for a king, the frankincense for our high priest of the new covenant, and the myrrh speaks of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross.

Bethany, IL is a small but lovely community with rolling hills. There’s a spacious hilltop cemetery just across the street from the church our son pastors. Every Memorial Day at the statute of a Civil War soldier the American Legion hosts a ceremony honoring veterans. My grandson Elijah was quite impressed with the whole ceremony. “I like the part where we salute the flag and the honor guard shoots at the soldier statute. But they haven’t hit it yet,” he said. I still chuckle when I see that Civil War soldier statute.

I’m looking forward with great anticipation to see the new movie “The Passion of the Christ”. It has already generated controversy in some circles and brought attacks against Mel Gibson, the director. “The Passion of the Christ” depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion. Gibson, an award winning actor and director, said that the idea to make the movie had been germinating for over 10 years.

Although he had been a successful actor and director for several years, Gibson said that his life had become unhinged, “I got to a bad place, a really desperate place”. Gibson had drifted away from his early Roman Catholic faith. A midlife crisis led him to reconsider his faith. He meditated on the Stations of the Cross, which Catholics use to mark the hours of Christ’s passion. “I got on me knees,” Gibson said, “I realized that His wounds could heal my wounds.”

They traveled from afar. It was a long journey in search of the King of Kings. All they knew was that the prophets and the stars pointed to a great king soon to be born. They followed a mysterious, magnificent star that seemed to be guiding them to where the new king should be born.

We do not know much about these wise men, magi from the east, who followed the star over mountains, deserts, and valleys in search of the Christ child – the anointed one. They had seen His star in the east and eventually it came to rest over an obscure, dusty Bethlehem. Unknown to them at the time, it was a fulfillment of a centuries old prophecy. “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” (Micah 5:2)

They are God’s special people. I constantly see that amazing affirmation. As I conducted the church service at Warren G. Murray Children’s Center, I was once again reminded of that fact. I came to the part of the service when I give opportunity for any one who may want to sing a song. A young man indicated that he had a song. From past experience, I asked, “Is this a church song?” “Yes,” he replied. The young man took the microphone and began to sing, “Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow.”

One of my favorite activities during Christmas is viewing the lights of Christmas. Some light displays are gaudy and some are godly. Some are comical and some are colorful. Some are commercial and some celebrate Christmas. Some are illustrious and inspiring. Some are brilliant and some are blinking. Some are radiant and some reflect. Some are hilarious and some shine on holiness.

God lit up the darkness of creation with the light of the sun, moon, and stars. He spoke of deliverance to Moses form a burning bush. God directed the wise men to the Christ of Christmas by a guiding star. After all “God is light”. He dwells in unapproachable light. “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

On Valentine’s Day we think of our sweethearts and give expressions of love such as candy, cards, and flowers. A favorite icon is Cupid’s heart with an arrow through it. But what kind of heart does God, the greatest lover, look for? What kind of heart pleases God?

The life of David is a great character study of a heart that pleases God. David was called “a man after God’s own heart”. When he was anointed to be the new king of Israel, Samuel wondered if David was really the one that God had chosen.

Valentine’s Day, February 14th, gives us another opportunity to express the very heart of ministry. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind . . . and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). When we consider Christ’s love for the church, God’s Word gives us this illustration of love. “Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Marriage is to be an illustration of God’s love.

What has been your most cherished gift? One father fondly remembers the carefully wrapped Christmas present given to him by his little girl. “Daddy, this is from me”, she excitedly said. As he opened it, he was surprised to find that the box was empty. “Honey, you’re not supposed to give someone an empty box as a gift.”

“But, Daddy,” the little girl cried, “It’s not empty, I put all my hugs, kisses, and love for you in it!”

You would expect a conquering king in ancient times to lead a procession on a prancing white steed. How incongruous that the Jews long awaited Messiah came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the colt of an ass. In what is called “the triumphal entry” that is exactly what Jesus did. (Matthew 21) Those who knew the scriptures would know that the donkey that Jesus rode fulfilled ancient prophecy. Matthew pointed this fact out, “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, ‘Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass and a colt the foal of an ass’” (Matthew 21:1-5). Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey was a direct fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 and Isaiah 62:11.

The New Year will bring new victories. There is no doubt about it. But every victory has a battle. We have an adversary and a devourer of the souls of men. (I Peter 5:8) We are commanded to stand firm against the devil and stand strong in the faith.

Jehoshaphat was one of the godliest kings of Judah. A vast army of enemy nations was marching against him with one intent in mind – to destroy him and his witness of the One and Only God. When Jehoshaphat cried out to the Lord and God sent His Word, “Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours but God’s . . . Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory” (II Chronicles 20:15-17 NLT).