The 2,000 year old rumor that is still being spread around the world

We all know how rumors are spread. One person hears or sees something and tells someone else. That person tells another person who tells another, who tells another, who tells another, and so on. Rumors can travel like wildfire through neighborhoods, cities, towns, countries, across oceans, and nowadays, over the Internet. Long before you or I was born a rumor got started that is still being spread around the world more than 2,000 years later.

The rumor is that shepherds were in a field one night watching their sheep when suddenly an angel appeared to them saying: "Today, in the town of David, a savior has been born to you; He is Christ, the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find the baby wrapped in clothes lying in a manger (Luke 2:11 NIV)." After the initial shock of this unexpected heavenly visitation, one of the shepherds said: "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing [check out this rumor] that has happened, which the Lord has told us about (Luke 2:15 NIV)." So, off they went to Bethlehem leaving their sheep behind.

When they arrived days later, they found the mother Mary, father Joseph and the promised baby just as the angel had said. Now these shepherds had a choice, they could have just observed the happenings at the stable, hung around worshiping and getting their praise on and then returned home to the fields. After all, they had busy jobs with a flock of hungry, needy sheep to feed and care for. Instead of going home and keeping what they had witnessed to themselves, these transformed shepherds set out across the land to "spread the word [rumor] concerning what had been told to them about this child. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them (Luke 2:17 NIV)."

Today, by the power of the Holy Spirit, this rumored birth of Christ Jesus, the savior for all humankind, which the shepherds spread thousands of years ago, is still being spread around the world on every known continent by Christians everywhere. Perhaps you too are a believer today because somebody told somebody who told somebody, who told somebody, and that somebody told you about the Good News that a Savior called Christ Jesus was born into the world to save us from ours sins. The question now is, "Who have you told?"

To learn more about Jesus the Christ, go to peacewithgod.net

A Christmas miracle: When death took a detour

Miracle - A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.— Webster's dictionary

I believe in miracles. I have enough faith to expect them to happen in my life in when I pray. Even though we don't hear enough about divine miracles nowadays, they do still happen. I know because I was the recipient of a divine miracle on Christmas Day 2002. The following is a true account of that miracle and the events as they occurred that day.

To give you a little background, by December of that year, I had been caring for my 83 year old mother throughout her 22 year battle with primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS had long ago taken away her ability to walk, but by 2002, Mom had also lost her ability to speak, feed herself, chew or swallow. At the same time, she started having seizures, which gradually became more persistent, unrelenting, and life-threatening. As a result, Mom was hospitalized and given high doses of phenobarbital to quell the seizures. We left the hospital 12 days later, just three days before Christmas.

Even though mother couldn't speak, her eyes told me that she was glad to be back home. We both were. After I made her comfortable in bed and checked her feeding tube, I took a break to rest. When I returned to check on her, I noticed that Mom was staring hard at the window at the foot of her bed. She appeared not to even notice that I had entered the room. This was not like her.

I stood by her bedside calling her name, but she paid me no notice. Instead, she was focused hard at the foot of her bed like she saw something something in her room that my eyes couldn't see. The look on her face more radiant than I'd ever seen her. She was literally glowing, smiling even. I stood there waiting for her to finally notice me. I said nothing about what I had witnessed. As I readied the IV pole for her feeding, she looked directly at me, and with a trembling hand waved me off. I knew what she was asking, so I said, "Mom I can't not feed you that's between you and Jesus."

The next morning, the home care nurse came by for a routine check of Mom's vital signs. 

After the nurse left, I bathed, dressed, and transferred mother to her wheelchair. She was happy to be out of bed. The long hospital stay had been tough on her, but I told her that we were not going to let MS get the better of us; that we were in this fight together to the end.
I combed her hair before leaving her in the care of the aide while I went to the store. When I returned, the aide said Mom had called my name and then went to sleep. After letting the aide out, I went to check on Mom. When I couldn't wake her, I realized that she was not asleep; she had slipped quietly into a coma. It was Christmas Eve.

I really didn't know what else to do except put her to bed and hope that she would pull through as she had done in the past. Even though things were not looking good at that point, I made a decision not to take her back to the hospital. Going back to the hospital was not an option for us. It was Mom's wish and mine that when death came he would find her at home.  I called my sister and waited for her to come. During the long hours I was alone, I held Mom's hand and talked to her. I believed that even in her comatose state, she could still hear me.

Later that evening, my sister joined me in a bedside vigil for our mother. Together we stood watch as imminent death was poised to take our mother from us. I don't remember why, but for some reason, I needed something from the drugstore. My sister volunteered to go. It was after midnight when she left for the 24-hour pharmacy a few blocks away. It seemed like she was gone for a longer than usual time. I wondered if she was somewhere crying? I went over to the window and looked out. It was snowing. It was then that I realized it was Christmas Day.

I returned to mother's bedside and reached for her hand. I was surprised by how cold it had become. I started rubbing her arms, her legs, her feet. I was startled by how ice cold they had become like the life blood had drained from them. I searched my Mom's face to see if she was still breathing— she was, but just barely. Her breathing had become shallow and there was a faint rattling noise when she exhaled. Hurrying to the other side of the bed, I checked the 1,000 ml drainage bag hanging hung there. It should have been full to capacity since Mom was still taking in fluids through her feeding tube. But it was bone dry, except for a reddish-brown stain at the bottom. My immediate thought was that her kidneys had shut down. For the first time throughout this ordeal, I allowed myself the thought that Mom was slipping away—that she was in fact dying. Instinctively in desperation, I cried aloud—

"Mom, it's Christmas Day. Please don't die on Christmas."

At that moment, a sudden urge hit me to use the bathroom. When I returned moments later, I grasped Mom's hand again, and immediately noticed something was different. Her hand was warm. Surprised by this, I began feeling for her arms, legs, feet, forehead—her entire body was feverishly hot. I hurried to the other side of the bed to check her drainage bag. When only moments before it had been empty, it was now filled to overflowing with pale, yellow urine. At that moment, I realized what God had done—stopping death in it's tracks.

God heard my cry and ordered death to stand down. I can only imagine my Mom engaged in a negotiation with the Angel outside the gates of Heaven, holding up one finger and pleading—

"Please God, can I go back for just one more day for my daughter."

Mom didn't die on Christmas Day. She died the day after on December 26 sometime around 2:00 pm. My sister and I were together when Mom breathed her last. This miracle was nothing compared to what Jesus Christ did lover 2,0000 years ago when He died for the sins of the whole world to reconcile us to God. And because of Christ, life doesn't end at death. Whosoever believes in Christ has eternal life. I can't wait to see mother again to find out what really happened on that fateful Christmas Day.

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. John 3:16 CEV

Happy Holidays: Where are the shepherds when we need them

In 2009, President and Mrs. Obama broke tradition by announcing that their White House holiday card would expressly omit any mention of Christmas or of Jesus' birth. The words "Merry Christmas"were replaced by "Happy Holidays" on cards sent from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A growing trend to omit any mention of Christmas from the holiday's celebration has been steadily creeping into the culture of America. Public displays of nativity scenes have come under attack by anti-Christmas groups, and in a few cases, the courts have declared them to be illegal in public places in some communities.

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Nowadays Christmas is marked by tree trimming and gift giving with little mention of Jesus Christ, whose birth it celebrates. And like the Presidential holiday card, some of us send out greeting cards full of holiday cheer, but no mention of the real joy that came into the world with Christ's birth.

The proclamation of Jesus' birth must not end with the shepherds. Those who follow the Christ of Christmas must proclaim this gospel message until the day Christ returns. Christians have an obligation to declare the real reason for the season, which is that Christ came into the world to save sinners. The shepherds left their sheep, and probably lost their jobs to spread the good news of Christ's coming. These words—

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, still have power to change lives in any season. This is the true message of Christmas that a lost world needs to hear.

Stand up for Christmas. If someone says, Happy Holidays it's their right, but it's also your right to respond, Have a blessed Christmas or Merry Christmas. This Christmas, before opening your gifts, read the biblical account of Christ's birth in the Gospels. And may this Christmas be as the angels proclaimed that day long ago in Bethleham—

Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.