The Christmas Trade

I was sitting in my front room earlier and I fell asleep. When I woke up, the channel on my TV was set on the Seasonal Favorites music channel. The song that was playing was “Have a holly, jolly Christmas.” And my feeling was how disgustingly blasphemous this song was to the real meaning of Christmas. I had tolerated this channel because it had a number of sacred carols too.

But then it hit me. Of course people aren’t going to give up the sacred beauty of Christmas unless an enticing alternative is given to them by satan’s world – happy, non-religious songs, presents, sports and santa.

And this enticement starts with children – presents, santa and candy.

And really, Easter was stolen in the same way – by a bunny and candy.

And we could continue on with how other religious holidays (holy days) were traded in for secular fiction, traditions and “goodies” (which really turn out to be physiological “badies”) – Halloween and Valentine’s Day.

What this boils down to is: the culture has increasingly traded in love for sensationalism.

So that all inspired me to write a poem that spelled out some of the worse trades ever.

They traded Christmas for happy songs and presents
They traded Easter for a bunny and candy
They traded sex with love for porn
They traded marriage for “the grass is greener”
They traded eternity for impulse
They traded peace for hyperness
They traded real life for fiction
They traded health for junk food
They traded personal achievement for sports
They traded God for self-sovereignty and intimidation by others
… and the Bible says, <em>“They traded God’s truth for a lie, and they worshipped and served the creation instead of the creator”</em> Romans 1:25.

Too bad that many don’t realize that when we abandon the smoke screens and do it God’s way, He rewards us with peace, love, confidence, security, joy, clarity and a great eternity. Against these things “the world’s” ways can’t compete 🙂

Byline: Dennis Marcellino’s books, music and DVDs can be seen at <a href=”http://www.LighthouseBooksAndMusic.com&#8221; title=”www.LighthouseBooksAndMusic.com”>www.LighthouseBooksAndMusic.com</a>

A conflict between a mainstream myth and a musical/philosophical expression by a cultural icon

On the TV show “The Voice” a singer was going to sing John Lennon’s “Imagine”. He said that he was a huge fan of John Lennon. His coach, Shakira, said, “Well I’m sure that he’s proudly looking down on you now.” Then the singer started singing “Imagine” with the opening line “Imagine there’s no heaven.” So then where was John Lennon looking down on him from?

It takes more to get into Heaven than the mainstream myth realizes. See my 2 minute YouTube video about that at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXMzJZ-0zOs. 

Why do young people look up to cultural icons with reverence instead of the only perfect role model – Jesus? Especially since those icons are usually leading dysfunctional, destructive lifestyles. Have you heard of “The 27 Club”? Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse, and many more, all died at the age of 27 … and mainly from overdoses.

I think that the reason why young people look up to them is because they appear to be free in that they can express themselves without intimidation from the world. But they are confusing musical talent with true freedom. And their freedom is often found in a bottle or with drugs.

I too looked up to them when I was young, and to the point of leaving my career in engineering to become a member of some very famous bands (Sly & The Family Stone, The Elvin Bishop Group, Rubicon, and The Tokens – famous for The Lion Sleeps Tonight). But the freedom wasn’t there, like I thought it would be. Hence I ended up trying 20 different approaches to truth and lifestyle before finally finding it 30 years ago in Christianity.

I now try to spread that insight through a presentation which can be seen at http://www.SpreadingGod.com/evangelism.html. (You can be a part of helping to spread that by showing that web page to your pastor or school. For example, how many people realize that science is on the side of God and the Bible and not modern science theories, many of which are science fiction?)

I think that young people go through a period of rejecting the status quo in search of freedom and self-gratification. But in the process of running from, do they ever find a place to run to … or do they get caught up in addiction because they didn’t find the place to run to? (I have a cure for that too: http://www.AddictionFreeForever.com) The paradox here is that the most free that a person can be is in submitting themselves to God’s holy rules, which He then in turn responds by filling our hearts with peace, love and harmony with our being.

The problem now though is that the spirit of rebellion of the ‘60s has become mainstream. And now kids are looked at as “different” if they don’t go along with the immorality of today. Whereas the opposite was the case when I was growing up in the ‘50s if kids were immoral or atheistic.

Byline: Dennis Marcellino’s books and music can be seen at http://www.LighthouseBooksAndMusic.com

Everyone’s Choice

I was emailed this recently:

“I would rather live my life as if there is a God,

and die to find out there isn’t,

than live my life as if there isn’t,

and die to find out there is.”

But there IS a lot of PROOF that there is a God, which can be seen at www.ConclusiveProofOfGod.com. You can get to know God better by:

(1) Reading the book He inSpired – the Bible (… and proof that God wrote the Bible through His Spirit is also offered at that website)

(2)   Listening attentively to His “still, small voice” in your heart

(3)   Observing what He causes to automatically happen in your body and heart (the specifics of which He designed. I’m not speaking about things that are triggered within us due to bad programming, traumas, or wrong thinking. Although, He designed the responses that would happen within us as a result of those also.)

(4)   Observing what He causes to happen in nature (which He also designed)

A Christmas message: The Ultimate Gift

It’s good to remember (and even dwell on) what Christmas is really about. That is (in objective terms), Christmas is to celebrate the fact that the creator of the universe and us cared about us so much (despite our sins and how many ignore Him) that He entered this planet and endured what He did just to make a way for us to eventually go to a better place (Heaven and the New Earth).

If you really dwell on the reality of what I just said … a dwelling that has unbelievably diminished over the years in the “mainstream”, being lost at Christmas time among presents and mistletoe and songs about snow and reindeer and things that have nothing to do with Christmas … it will hit you as to how totally awesome and personally relevant the reality of Christmas is.

Also, dwelling on the personal inevitableness of death is helpful in getting us to focus on God and merge with reality. And if you dwell on it, you will experience the fact that you are at the mercy of God. Then you can be open to the good news that He’s made a way for you to come out for the better. And celebrating that is what Christmas has always been about (until modern times).

Don’t gamble with your eternity or let the noise and parade of ultimately meaningless things in this world keep you from seeing the greatness of our creator and His plan and how we can be a part of it. When you realize it and it’s proven* to you, then you’ll really have something great to celebrate at Christmas … the thing that for centuries past, people have been celebrating. (* The Science of Logic says that what I’m saying here is either true or it isn’t. The PROOF that it is can be found at www.ConclusiveProofOfGod.com)

10 Reasons To Celebrate Christmas

(1) The invisible made itself visible in human form.

(2) Jesus left us with teachings of the greatest wisdom ever.

(3) Jesus left supernatural proofs of His deity.

(4) Jesus’ work and sufferings made a way for us to go to a perfect Heaven.

(5) Jesus, along with the co-workers He inspired, who were eyewitnesses of His works, started churches to hand all of the above down to us.

(6) Jesus revealed many mysteries not previously known.

(7) Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the meanings of His teachings and to guide and empower us towards perfection.

(8) Jesus loves and cares about us so much that He endured/endures how harshly many in this world responded/responds to His total, unwavering honesty and goodness and His work to get His messages out … and now He stands knocking at the door of every heart offering a great relationship and future.

(9) Jesus is the greatest of all leaders who have ever been because He sets and holds to such a high standard of good, has the power to back it up, and is someone we can follow and join in with His great plan (among all the lesser leaders and possibilities on Earth.)

(10) Because of Him there are many ongoing churches and organizations to plug into for holy fellowship (among lesser options on Earth).

Why EVERYONE should be concerned

An entry thought on a personal level for a non-believer in the Bible or a marginal believer is: sin MUST BE PUNISHED. That feeling is built into most people and laws … but by the standards that are foundational to our feelings and laws. But sin must also be punished by our Creator’s standards (which are much stricter and are spelled out in the Bible) BECAUSE He made this to be a perfect, loving place. That was His only intention. But fear not, because He knew that ALL people would sin. And because He loves us and wants us in the next perfect place (this one having been a failure in terms of perfection and love), He made a way for us to be there. And that way is: placing His representations on Earth (Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible) at the top of our priority list and ongoing focus. But, even if we do that, the Bible says that there will be rewards and losses in Heaven for EVERYTHING we’ve done on Earth.

Now the science of logic says that what I just said is either true or it isn’t. The proof that it is true can be found in my new book, THE PROOF that God exists and the Bible is true. You can see it and what’s in it at www.ConclusiveProofOfGod.com.

Don’t gamble with your eternity.