Christmas Chaos

The word "Christ" and its compounds, including "Christmas", have been abbreviated in English for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern "Xmas" was commonly used. "Christ" was often written as "XP" or "Xt"; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as AD 1021. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ and ρ used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for "Christ"), and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ. The labarum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters rendered as ☧, is a symbol often used to represent Christ in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian Churches.

The labarum, often called the Chi-Rho, is a Christian symbol representing Christ.

The occasionally held belief that the "X" represents the cross on which Christ was crucified also has no basis in fact. St Andrew's Cross is X-shaped, but Christ's cross was probably shaped like a T or a †.

Indeed, X-as-chi was associated with Christ long before X-as-cross could be, since the cross as a Christian symbol developed later. (The Greek letter Chi Χ stood for "Christ" in the ancient Greek acrostic ΙΧΘΥΣ ichthys.) While some see the spelling of Christmas as Xmas a threat, others see it as a way to honor the martyrs. The use of X as an abbreviation for "cross" in modern abbreviated writing (e.g. "King's X" for "King's Cross") may have reinforced this assumption.

In ancient Christian art, χ and χρ are abbreviations for Christ's name.^[9] In many manuscripts of the New Testament and icons, X is an abbreviation for Christos, as is XC (the first and last letters in Greek, using the lunate sigma); compare IC for Jesus in Greek.

(The above was taken directly from Wikipedia, and can be viewed in it's fullness here)

This is not a plea that we should all love and enjoy seeing XMAS instead of Christmas on signs or in print. Because, yes, we live in a culture where "XMAS" is thought of as "taking Christ out of Christmas."
If you are like me, you were told that from a Christian who was told that by a Christian.
But the reality is--that is simply not true.

This post is simply meant to spark a thought in your mind about how to react towards people who don't believe the same thing as you.

I know plenty of well meaning and good hearted Christians who get all up in arms when they see an "X" in place of Christmas or hear "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Christmas.
I quickly think of the story of Uzzah. (2 Samuel 6:4-7)
God gave instruction for no one to touch the Ark, the priest of Israel are following it back to Jerusalem pulled by ox and it hits a pothole and the Ark starts to fall off the cart, Uzzah reaches up to catch it and is struck dead by God.
??????

Can you hear that conversation in Heaven?
Uzzah---Um, God? Hey, I was just trying to help....did you see what was about to happen?
God--- I did. But Uzzah, I don't need your help. I can take care of it.
Uzzah---Good point, God. So it would have been better for me to not catch the Ark and let it crash, huh.
God---Yep.
Uzzah---I don't know what I was thinking, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

You get the point.

This Christmas lets have a little less chaos by not trying to "help" God out by defending things that really don't matter.
I've discovered the world already knows what we stand against; we typically shout those out pretty loud.
Let's show them the things we are for.

Merry Christmas!

FRIENDS

What did you think of when you read the title?
The T.V. show?
Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant's hit song of the 80's?
Facebook?
Or that person in your life who sticks closer than a brother?

Friends.
One of the many things I'm thankful for this holiday season.
The Bible talks much about the subject of friendship, so it seems this would be an area of life to spend some time making sure some extra attention is given.

While I don't want to blog about the issues of what to look for in a friend or what not to look for in a friend, I would like to share something that I have discovered to help in knowing what to expect from a friend and how to make the journey of friendship less bumpy. I want to show you three people from the Bible that can give us some insight on the subject of friends.

I believe that healthy friendships will consist of a mixture of these three types of relationships.
"The Paul."
"The Barnabas."
and "The Timothy."

The Paul is someone who has "been there and done that" and had some success in it. Usually this person is older than you, but not always. The Paul is someone you greatly respect and allow them to speak truthfully and honestly into your life. The Paul is just ahead of the race, leading the way.

The Barnabas is an encourager. The very name means exactly that: one who encourages. Life brings disappointments. Do you have someone who inspires you with courage? Someone who spurs your spirit and builds your confidence? I dare to say most friendships we have typically fit into this category, but it's important to make sure you have the Paul's and the Timothy's.
The Barnabas is in the race right beside you.

The Timothy. Think of what I wrote concerning The Paul.....are you that to someone? The Timothy is usually the person younger than you (but not always) where you have the ability to ask them hard questions. Where you can speak into their lives. The Timothy is running the race and he's following your lead.

I count my life truly blessed to have many friends that fit these various characteristics. Anything outside these are nice acquaintances. Enjoyable, nice but typically just surface relationships.

If you have some friends that fit into these characteristics, take this simple Holiday Friend Challenge:
Write a card or letter (facebook, IM, text, email doesn't count) and tell them why you're so thankful for having them in your life.

John 15:14 (The Message Bible) I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.