Merry Christ-Mas

I am one of those who wishes everyone a merry Christmas. I tend to pronounce it Christ-Mas, not Chris-Mas. My goal is not to offend. I smile and say thank you if someone wishes me a Happy Chanukah, and I would do the same if someone wished me a happy Kwanzaa or asked me to have a great Winter Solstice. They have their beliefs and I have mine. Mine are just different. I feel that mine are of greater import due to the significance of who Jesus Christ was and what He stood for.

This is for all who want to tell me about the pagan origins of Christmas; save your breath. I know Christmas tradition is steeped in Paganism. That is not a news flash to anyone who is slightly educated. It was discovered when conquering people if they could keep some of their rituals they tended to be less likely to revolt. Constantine knew this. He took Pagan celebrations and gave them Christian identities and names.

I also hear that Jesus was not born on the 25th of December. That news is pretty stale, also. It is the date that is used to represent the day he was born. It is not the only commemoration of something that occurred in history celebrated on the wrong day. The United States declared independence on July 2nd of 1776 and the declaration of independence was signed on August 2nd of 1776. It is rumored that the last signature was not added until 1777, yet we celebrate July 4th, 1776 as Independence Day. As good a day as any.

I still feel some hesitation in celebrating Christmas, because of all of the Pagan customs it contains. Trust me, Saint Nick and presents to each other are about as far from the true meaning of Christ's birth as we can get. Then you add mistletoe and we get further and further away from Christianity. Therefore I use December 25th as a day to enjoy the company of loved ones as we celebrate the birth of Christ, not as His actual birthday. The birth of Jesus is such an amazing event for what Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection represent.

Christ's Birth

So what is the significance of Christ's birth. For starters, it showed that God cares about us. He is not some absentee God who created us then left us alone. Instead, He loves us very much. He cared enough about us to send His only begotten son to Earth. He was born to live, suffer and die as a human. He knew the outcome, yet came to fulfill what was written in the Old Testament.

Christ's Life

Christ life was used to prosthelytize about the importance of doing the will of God and believing in Christ. We receive the message of salvation thanks to the life of Christ. Jesus says it best in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Without Christ we do not receive the message of salvation. He let us know that we are not worthy of forgiveness, and that there is nothing we can do to earn it. 

Christ's Death

Jesus was born to die on a cross for our sins. His death was the sacrifice that took the weight of all of our sins, period. The crucifixion of Christ is how grace came into our life. Grace is unmerited favor. It is the death of a perfect man as a sacrifice to wash away the sins in our life. He atoned for our sins and gave us the ability to live for eternity in Heaven.

Christ's Resurrection 

Christ's resurrection is significant for several reasons. First, it shows that Christ is the Son of God. Only God has power over the grave. We also have reason to believe all that Christ said, since He was risen. In 1 Corinthians 15:17 Paul says that if Christ was not resurrected, our faith is in vain and we are still accountable for our sins. Since Christ was resurrected, we now have faith and know that our sins are forgiven.

In closing, the birth of Jesus is important. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have everlasting life," John 3:16. That is a pretty good reason to celebrate!  Jesus birth did not happened on December 25th, but we remember it on that day. It is a day to remember Jesus, and to share our faith with the family and friends we are around during the holidays.

God Bless you, have a very Merry Christ-Mas!!!!

What Independence Day Means to Me (Mine is January 31st, and again on Easter)

The 4th of July is called Independence Day. It is the day that the United States declared that it would no longer be dependent on Great Britain. The United States, in the Declaration of Independence, told Great Britain that they would no longer be under their control. Most people, when they hear Independence Day automatically think of July 4th. I do not.

There is another date that comes to my mind when I hear the words Independence Day. The date that comes to my mind is January 31st, 2009. You see, when I hear independence my mind as one who is in recovery instantly defines that word. I think of no longer being dependent upon something to be able to function or exist. When I think of independence I think of recovery.

The word recovery was never part of my vocabulary. Not unless I was in a serious car accident or had overdosed, which I did frequently. It was not part of my language because I was what most would consider a lost cause, a lifer. I had been smoking cigarettes, using drugs/alcohol for over 25 years when 2009 rolled around. I was not really expected to change my ways. Most people had given up on me.

It was the same as pretty much every other year when 2009 started, yet at the same time it was really different. I had stopped shooting up in 2001, and had traded out my addiction to drugs for an addiction to alcohol. I could justify that. It was legal, and at least I wasn't doing drugs. Soon my drinking spiraled out of control and by 2009 I would wake up some nights with shakes and have to drink to make the shakes subside so that I could go back to sleep.

My addiction in 2009 was just as bad if not worse than it had ever been. It may have been legal, but I blacked out most nights and frequently drove home when I had no business walking. I am still amazed that I never killed anyone. In all, I have totaled 4 vehicles. The worst accident I had I flew a Firebird 97 feet and got 32 into the air before crashing into trees.  Plus, I was still smoking cigarettes, getting into fights, sleeping around, cussing and I was a very outspoken Agnostic.

There were some differences, though. I was a father, which had only happened two years earlier. My father was gone, having committed suicide in February of 2008. I was also fighting with my son's mother over visitation, which was rough. Finally, I had started going to church in Fall of 2008. That was different for me as church was also not in my vocabulary.

I would still adamantly tell you that I was Agnostic, but I was going to church because a couple that were the only friends I thought I had were going there and they had a recovery meeting that I could go to and be honest without seeing clients from the facility that I worked at. I was not going weekly, but I would go there once or twice a month. Then something happened, my Independence Day.

I had left a bar and was on my way home when a police car pulled behind me and began to follow me. He followed me through multiple turns and I began to make deals with God about me not getting pulled over and the things that I would do if He made me getting home safely a reality. Needless to say, He did and I have had to keep my part of the bargain. You can read about that experience here http://spiritualspackle.blogspot.com/2012/03/impact-that-im-not-who-i-was-by-brandon.html

There is a piece of the Declaration of Independence that also applies here. The founder's of our country said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." This really applies to all of us who are consumed with life controlling issues.

In my addiction, I had no true life or liberty. I was running from pain and depression, but the truth is without facing them I would never be happy. Freedom is now what you have to do, but what you don't have to do. I had to do drugs, had to drink, had to fight,  had to sleep around to feel better about myself and not feel physically ill.

That is just not a good direction for life, but I did not know any better. I did not know any better because I had lived my life with hope in nothing and no one but myself. Well, myself and my addictions. I would have told you that I was Agnostic but that wasn't really true. I had made addiction my god. It was the focus of my every waking thought. If I was not using, I was making plans to and looking forward to it all day.

There is no independence in that life, only dependence. Over the course of my addiction, I tried everything secular that I could find to no avail. Whether it was rehab, prison, 12 step meetings, counseling or medication I always relapsed sooner than later. The longest I went without use was a 3 month stint. That is including the first 30 days that I spent in a residential drug rehabilitation center.

The outcome was always the same, me using. Then one night I was desperate and I prayed to God to help me overcome my addictions. He has kept his part, and I have not smoked a cigarette, drank, used drugs, slept around or gotten into a fight since then. Phillipians 4:13 is right when it says "I can do all things through He who strengthens me." I am living proof.

I hope that you enjoy a great 4th,filled with baseball games, fireworks and BBQ to bless your day. But while you are enjoying your day I also hope you remember that as a Christian you have true independence. Thanks to the sacrifice of Christ you have freedom from sin and by proxy from death, since the wage of sin is death. This above all we must give thanks for.

So although July 4th is the national date that Americans celebrate their country's Independence on, we are not of this world. I appreciate the sacrifices that our troops made back then just as I appreciate the sacrifices that they make today. More than all of those, I appreciate the sacrifice that Christ made 2,000 years ago that bought me independence from death and the promise of everlasting life. I also am forever grateful for the Holy Spirit that has filled, guided and enabled me to stay abstinent since February 1st of 2009.