It's beginning to NOT look like Christmas...

Are you scratching your head in shock, like I am, at the awful tragedy that unfolded on the innocent young children today in Sandy Creek, CT? Or the mall shooting in Portland just a couple days ago? Or the Black Friday mobs which resulted in injuries and the shootings in the parking lots around Thanksgiving?

How about the insanity of the marketing to get just the right present or to be flashy enough for the company Christmas party? Overindulging in goodies and imbibing strong drink, forgetting the pain hidden inside for a while? Is that what the season represents?

What happened to Christmas? What happened to celebrating Jesus' birth on this planet? Or thinking about peace on earth and good will toward men?

I feel a disconnectedness with the whole thing this year, to be honest. Not about the Christ part. But getting excited about the celebrating part. Even decorating has been mostly a chore for me.

"Where's your Christmas spirit?" you say.

It kind of went away with the daily reports of disasters everywhere. The Phillipines being hit by the huge typhoons and hundreds upon hundreds losing their homes. Earthquakes occurring everywhere. The North Korean Christians that are starving in their prison cells, while their government shoots off missiles. These are brothers and sisters I cannot forget.

You could probably call me a Scrooge, but I think Christmas has fundamentally changed since we took God out of our schools, since it has been proclaimed that we are no longer a Christian nation.

I celebrate Christmas because He came. His first advent is an undisputed fact, no matter what men try to tell us in the history books. Those little children in Connecticut never had a chance to grow up and find out for themselves what those books said.

All I know is that the world in which I grew up and celebrated Christmas is no more. There are very few constants, like death and taxes. The one thing that's constant, in which I rely is my Savior. He promised that He would never change, and that He would be faithful to be all I need Him to be, even when everything around me crumbles.

Let's face it: this is an excruciatingly sad day for many people. Their Christmas, no, their very lives are completely shattered. We need to pray for them and for this country.

Let us hang on to the ONE thing that remains the same yesterday, today and forever: THE SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. He alone is the light in this darkened world.

If you're not sure if you know Him, TODAY you can receive Him by believing that He came into this world to pay for your sin debt and mine (indeed all the world's) when He died upon the cross, bearing our sins. As the events of this world get scarier and more uncertain,(because God will eventually judge His enemy the devil and his evil works and the unbelievers), there is no better time than NOW to put your trust in Christ (John 3:16-17). In spite of the terrible tragedy that occurred today, you can be sure that Christmas is meaningful in that Christ came down having YOU in His mind when He went to that cross.