The Christmas Story

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at The Christmas Story.

"Luke 2: 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

A couple of years ago I rember talking to a good friend at a church service the Sunday after Christmas. I'd asked him if he'd had a good Christmas. He answered, "Yes, but I get extremely sad when people try to destroy The Christmas Story. It is such a beautiful story so why do people want to analyse and disect it so much?"

He'd obviously dwelt upon this point over the festive period and had somewhat dampened his spirits. I can understand his sorrow. Whether it be aetheists or historians, there seems to be a body of people that are bent on discrediting The Story. We can be told that Jesus wasn't born on the 25th December and this date has been hijacked from a pagan festival. It is said that it actually took The 3 Wise Men two years to find the baby Jesus so was unlikely to be found in the stable at that point.

Despite attempts to place doubt on The Christmas Story, whatever so called facts emerge, we are still left with the one undisputable fact, that Christ was born. What ever date he was born, he did arrive, and he came as our saviour. From my understanding, this has never been disproved.

Astrologers have declared that at the time of Jesus's birth, certain stars and heavenly bodies had moved into alignment such that a bright star appeared. Facts like this are giving credence to The Christmas Story rather than discrediting it and it also shows that God is in control as the prophocies of scripture unfold.

I wonder, as various people try to place falsehood on the birth of Christ whether these same people still join in the festivities. Do aetheists eat turkey and brussel sprouts, drink wine and offer presents? If so, isn't this a bit hypocritical?

Fortunately we know differently. Jesus came to this earth, born of a virgin and laid in a manger, in a stable. He came to be our king and to save us from our sins, to give us hope and a new life.

How fantastic is that?

Manger Trail

Welcome to Christian Charity World in this Season of Advent

Luke 2: 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

I know I’m not the first to feel that the true meaning of Christmas gets left out of many people’s celebrations. How many people do we know that quite happily eat, drink and be merry without giving a thought to the birth of a baby in a stable some 2011 years ago and laying its head down in a manger. Sometimes it is nice to remind others exactly what they are celebrating.

Certainly when we watch our little one’s portray the nativity scene this gives us a good nudge in the right direction, but last weekend I was extremely fortunate to be involved in our town’s Manger Trail. For those who are unaware of the nature of a Manger Trail, it takes children (and adults if they so wish) through various scenes of the nativity as they search for the baby Jesus. Within these scenes actors act out the various roles and try to make it interactive for the children. Our town’s Manger Trail started with an actress dressed up as a Christmas decoration acting very confused as to why she came out every year. She then took the group of children on a journey via scenes of wise men, King Herod, shepherds, Roman centurion, innkeeper and finally the stable where baby Jesus was found before heading off for donkey rides. In the process the children had to find the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and answer silly riddles from King Herod helping the children to take in the story whilst having fun at the same time.

A project such as this takes a lot of organising and being as this is the first time that a Manger Trail had been produced in the town the organizers were really unsure as to how successful this would be. Indeed, they were only aware of one other having been held in the country, so felt they were nervous trailblazers. Fortunately within the town there is a very strong Churches Together movement and it was marvellous how a combined effort spectacularly brought things together.

However, people were still wary of how many visitors would come through the doors. As the opening time drew closer the nerves set in. Yet as the doors were unlocked it was truly amazing how many children with their parents came flooding in. It was constant from start to end.

There was no entrance fee, just a suggested donation. The whole idea was to spread the Christmas message to as many children as possible, not to make it a money spinning venture. This wasn’t a professional production, just Christians working voluntarily together to help others understand the true meaning of Christmas. Everybody that took part were enthused by the experience and not one bad word was uttered.

It just goes to show that when God’s work is done with Him in mind and faith to shore it all up, God will come good every time.

How fantastic is that? 

Terry Norrington

http://www.cryinthedark.com/

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So Are We A Church?

Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

When teaching on the subject of self growth and positive thinking many Life Coaches advocate the idea of only mixing with positive thinking people. They encourage you to socialise with the successful and avoid those who express any negative views or thoughts. Looking from the human perspective it does make sense. Being immersed in an environment where success is the only way to think will undoubtedly rub off in the end. One would no doubt start thinking in a successful and positive way.

So am I advocating that we should only mix with successful, positive thinking people?

No, not at all. I was thinking more about associating with Christians. Should we only mix with like minded people; those who follow Christ and and those have similar views on life as ourselves?

Well I answer this very ambiguously by saying Yes and No. I'll explain the "no" bit first of all. Our saviour Jesus Christ didn't continuously surround himself with believers. He mixed with sinners. He had a message to preach, souls to save. By surrounding himself with the people who got the message, those who knew and believed in all he said meant that he would not be spreading the word. He needed to address the non believers, the sinners in order to help save more souls.

Likewise we are called to witness. We are called to spread "The Gospel", the good news. This isn't going to happen if we preach to the converted. We need to engage those who don't believe, those who don't understand if we are going to fulfill our calling.

Now to answer the "yes" part of me sitting on the fence. I think it is very important that we also mix with fellow Christians and that word "fellow" means we create fellowship. If we go back to our group of success thinking people we recognise that their way of thinking rubs off on each other; they encourage each other. Likewise, being amongst other Christians our positive thoughts on life, our faith and testimonies encourages each other as we continue to experience our Christian adventures, journey on our Christian path through life. When we pray together our prayers can be so much more effective if we pray as a group.

And people coming together in the name of Christ is a church. A church isn't about the bricks and mortar that makes up the building; it's about the people. In countries where Christians are persecuted people come together in the name of Christ in secret, behind closed doors. This constitutes a church every much as the ones that we attend on Sunday mornings. I attend a wonderful bible study group that totals just seven people but we have some lively and encouraging discussions mixed with prayer and worship and I see this group as part of my church also.

So as Christians we have the opportunity of weaving a wonderful tapestry as we envelope ourselves with the good and the bad, the wealthy and the needy.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

http://www.christian-charity-world.com/

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http://www.cryinthedark.org/

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Welcome to Thoughts at Christian Charity World.

Matthew 6:25-27 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Hands up all those who have complete, utter and absolute faith in God?

Can we really say that in our most dire and stress ladened moments that we don't worry or panic because we put all our trust in The Lord?

I've heard it said recently that worrying is not scriptural. I also read that to worry or be anxious is a sin. And yet it is very human to worry. Particularly in this economically burdensome times it is extremely difficult not to fret over where the next penny is coming from, how to keep the family clothed and fed. Yet the scriptures have many wonderful verses to dwell on in times of trouble. When the chips are down we can turn to the bible for help and inspiration.

From the moment I rediscovered my Christian adventure, it took another eight years before I actually understood what faith is truly about. It was my first real involvement with a Christian charity that opened my eyes to the meaning of faith, a trust in God and the power of prayer. Seeing how this charity had started with nothing; no money, no assets, just an amazing faith in God to help build a wonderful orphanage in Romania, is an incredible testimony to a belief that God will provide. And now seeing the fantastic work of many Christian charities as they do God's work with limited resources yet achieving such amazing results, strengthens my faith in God.

Let me give you some thoughtful Christian quotes about worry:

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.- Corrie Ten Boom

Knowing that God is faithful, it really helps me to not be captivated by worry. But knowing that He will do what He has said, He will cause it to happen, whatever He has promised, and then it causes me to be less involved in worrying about a situation.- Josh McDowell

Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God, and yet it is a sin that Christians commit perhaps more frequently than any other.- John MacArthur

　

When we worry we ultimately concentrate on the problem. What we need to do is focus on the solution. If we pray to God we can then let go of the problem and allow God to come up with the answers. We can rest knowing that God will look after us if we positively believe he will.

　

How many times have we prayed to God for an answer when all else fails?

　

God ends up being the last port of call when really he should be the first. Our strength in a crisis doesn't come from our own making, it comes from God, and we should do well to remember that and give thanks and praise to him for it.

　

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

http://www.cryinthedark.org/

http://www.christian-charity-world.com/

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Delight in Doing The Lord's Work

(Psalms 40:8) I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."

I recently attended the 50th birthday party of an old school friend (kind of gives away my age). It was a great evening and naturally at the end of the evening he gave a little speech. In this speech he imagined himself having a conversation with a stranger in a cafe. It went something like this.

Stranger: How many children do you have?

Friend: I have six.

Stranger: Wow, and where do you live?

Friend: Oh I live in a good part of town. I live in a five bedroom house and we overlook the neighbours swimming pool.

Stranger: And you have cars?

Friend: Yes my family have two cars.

Stranger: And your children, which school do they go to?

Friend: They go to a private school.

Stranger: Fantastic, and where do you go on holiday?

Friend: The last few holidays have been spent on the beach in Thailand.

Stranger: I'm so in awe of you. You must be extremely rich?

Friend: No my family and I haven't got a penny to our name.

When you look at the detail, my old school friend's lifestyle isn't quite as it seems. Yes having been married 18 years he and his wife have been blessed with six wonderful children.

The house they live in is owned by one of the organisations that he works for.

He does have two cars but he confesses that to call one of them "a car" is flattering said vehicle. The other acts purely as a family run-around.

The private education for the children comes courtesy of part time work he does for the school.

And the holiday? Well that is the give-away. He has spent the last eleven years in Thailand doing mission work. You see for the past twenty five years he and his wife have been doing God's work. His mission work has taken him to many countries visiting the poor, the sick and the vulnerable and he has spread the Word of the Lord where-ever he's gone.

He counts his blessings. He can see that the Lord has provided him with a wonderful life but he has willingly given his life to doing God's work. His faithfullness has been rewarded.

My old school friend may not have "net worth" but he has much more than that. He has the love of God, the love of a wonderful family and the love of some great friends.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

http://www.christian-charity-world.com/

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http://www.cryinthedark.org/

Reasons to be Cheerful

Romans 1 verse 7. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have a wonderful new patio thanks very much to one of my neighbours who gave freely of his time to help me lay the slabs. If I'm honest about it, he laid the slabs whilst I looked on and tried to learn. The time it took would have cost me hundreds of pounds but as a neighbour he just said "I'm sure there'll be opportunities to return the favour". As friends and neighbour this is what we do. We help each other out and then we return the favour.

When we're subject to such neighbourliness we often feel the need to return that favour as soon as possible. That feeling of being in debt to somebody, albeit not financially, makes us restless until that debt is settled. We seek the opportunities to help our neighbours just to ease our minds.

Are we indebted to God?

Have we the same desire to settle any debts with God?

God has bestowed upon us so much in the way of blessings. He floods us with his grace and mercy despite our many sins. I may not be the richest person in my community but there are a heck of a lot more poorer people in the world than I. I have always been fed and watered and have a loving family and this is just the start of the blessings that God has given to me. He's even given me a brand new patio.

How conscious am I of what I owe to God?

How conscious am I of the debt I have to God?

How conscious am I of the debt that I owe to Jesus Christ?

In hindsight, not enough. I'm conscious of what I owe to my neighbour but I forget what I owe to The Lord. I can be conscious of what I owe to the bank in the way of mortgage payment but I forget about my monthly, weekly, daily repayments to God.

Through Moses, God rescued his chosen people from their sufferings in Egypt, but these same people soon forgot about God's grace and mercy. They fell into the ways of sin deviating greatly from the life that God longed for them to follow.

So how can I/we settle that debt with God?

God will continue to poor his blessings upon us. To show our gratitude we must try to live a holy life. By that I mean a life that is good, righteous and free from sin and in God's name. And we do this because we desire to please God. It may be a tall order I know. Only Jesus Christ led a sin free life. But if we truly want to please God we will endeavour to live a life as close to that of Jesus as possible. And when we do stray away from the straight and narrow, we know that if in our hearts we are extremely sorry then God will forgive us and continue to envelop us with his grace.

How fantastic is that?

A Wish or A Prayer

A good Christian friend of mine was recently challenged to explain the difference between a wish and a prayer. Hazel Butler is an accomplished writer and so consequently chose to answer in the written word in the form of a poem. To me these are beautiful words and Hazel has allowed me to share them here.

                                                            Wishing
I plunge my knife in virgin cake,
My eyes screwed tight, my wish to make;
Or pull the greasy chicken bone
My wish to others never known.
As coins I throw in wishing well
My hearts desires I throw as well.

And now it's time for Christmas lists
To Santa - That's if he exists!
So many hopes, desires, dreams;
The list is enless, yet it seems
That with the passing of the years
They fall on ever deafening ears.

                                                           Praying
My new found love - With Him I walk
Our hearts entwined, we laugh and talk.
I tell Him of the day that's gone
Of how my love for Him just shone
Because I knew how much He cared;
Oh! How I relished all we shared!
Of all we did and said and thought;
Of how His loving ways I'd caught;
How all my plans had Him in mind
And all my thoughts were re-defined
To how to please Him - Make Him smile
As we drew closer mile by mile.
His hope, ambitions, now made mine.
Our plans and wishes intertwine.
For now I clearly understood
His greatest longing was my good.

So prayer is love's communication -
Silence, worship, supplication.
Opening my inmost heart,
Allowing Him to have, not part,
But all my thinking, hearing, seeing,
Every part of all my being.
So I'll grow much more like Him
Not shooting prayers at every whim,
But resting in a love so vast
That it is safe for me to cast
My every need, concern and care
Into His hands - He's always there.
This mighty friend, who's endless power
Created sun and earth and flower,
Reveal Himself in many ways
But most of all within the maze
Of complex lives like yours and mine,
He reaches down with love divine
And then, in answer to my prayer,
Transforms with love the mess that's there

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

http://www.cryinthedark.org/

http://www.christian-charity-world.com/