Christian Ornaments

In upgrading from my old computer system to this one, I fell behind in reading the blogs I regularly track, but yesterday I played catch up and discovered a delightful treat at the December 3^rd posting on Moogie’s World ( http://www.moogiesworld.com/index.php ) under the heading Christmas Lights.

I turned my speaker volume all the way up and gleefully clapped my hands as I played this video clip four times back to back. Then when Ginny got home from work, she played it twice.

Great fun.

I’m delighted!

It’s a clip of Christmas lights flashing in time to a happy tune and it just blew me away… Then I watched the evening news on tv.

Two nearby towns are involved in a squabble and someone is initiating lawsuits over whether or not to display a Manger Scene, a Menorah, and a Holiday Tree in a public park.

This sort of things appears to have become a national issue while at the same time here in Jacksonville vandals have attacked and destroyed various Christmas displays in private yards.

Now it seems that some people in my community are up in arms over these Christmas trappings. They seem to regard holiday decorations not as emblems of seasonal fun but as essential symbols of faith.

But if, as the Bible says, God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth, then what exactly marks that?

What did Jesus say would indicate whether or not we are His followers?

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye decorate trees in your homes and put Ten Commandment plaques in your courthouses, if ye sport fish outlines on thy bumpers and wear crosses around thy necks, if ye place manger scenes in your parks and sleighs on your roofs, if ye erect crosses on your watertowers and play Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer on your radios, if ye…

Maybe I’m not quoting this Scripture exactly word for word; let me look it up in my concordance… Ah, yes, here it is in John’s Gospel, Chapter 13, Verse 35; That’s where Jesus said there is only one mark, one symbol, one single indicator which designates whether or not we are His people:

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”. (John 13:35).

Anything less is just flimsy tinsel.