The other day my lovely wife Gail and I were shopping for Christmas cards to send to our family and friends who live out of this area. It was easy to rule out the Santa Claus, Frosty and Rudolph sections as well as the general cards with winter scenery. But when we found the section we were looking for, the one with cards that told of the wonderful story of redemption through His Son, we found most of the cards had inside messages that reflected the politically correct terms of “X-mas” or “Happy Holidays.” Where has the simple, honest greeting of “Merry Christmas” gone? Is the mention of Christ and His human birth so offensive for people that it is better to ignore what this celebration is all about? The greatest news to ever hit planet Earth is that God in His love for people intervened in the history of man to provide a way of salvation for a sin-cursed world. Somehow this story has been buried in the back pages of our newspapers. Are we so concerned about what others may think or have such a desire to not offend people who are clueless about God, that we offend God instead? What makes this even worse is that Christians, by and large, have accepted this as “one of those things” and it doesn’t seem to really bother us.
Is our American society paying a price for excluding God out of our public life? Are we trusting in the idolatry of worshiping the “almighty dollar” rather than trusting in the Lord? Has Christmas become more of an economic shot in the arm for retailers rather than a season of honoring God for His Gift of our Savior? Is our current mess due to our attitude of getting (greed and selfishness) rather than giving? I am sure that this must grieve our Heavenly Father so much!
Now that I am done venting my heartache for our country, I want to tell you how thankful I am to be a part of this wonderful school community that daily honors our Lord and proclaims that He is our only hope. I am grateful that our students have been taught the TRUTH and have a biblical perspective of our world. I am thankful that our parents do not have to do “damage control” from a daily dosage of secular humanism in their students’ school. I am so blessed to see our staff model our Lord and Savior to our students. I’m also touched to see and hear our students singing true Christmas carols that tell of God’s goodness. How blessed I am to know the real meaning of the words love, joy, peace, blessing and hope. I am still amazed that His love includes the very people who deny His existence and who are working hard to hide Him from public life. Our students are being filled with the true Spirit of Christmas and you can easily see it in the sparkle in their eyes. It is so evident of what our Lord means to them and it is such a source of great encouragement to all of us.
May this season of Christmas be an especially meaningful time of family love and deep reflection on God’s goodness to every one of us.
Dr. Butler
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