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This is the season to reach out and help others in need. Here’s the heartwarming story of a ‘Secret Santa’ who paid down the layaway bills for a number of families at Kmart in Plainfield, Michigan.

Here’s the details supplied by NBC affiliate Wood TV8 :

“This lady came up randomly and said, ‘Can I, you know, pay off some people’s layaway?’” said Dannell Goddard. Goddard works at Kmart in the layaway department. She told 24 Hour News 8 that when she first heard the request, she was a bit confused.

“I was like, ‘Well, are you trying to pick them up? ‘Cause you can’t pick them up if you don’t have an ID,” Goddard said. “And [the mystery woman] replied, ‘Nope, I just want to help people.’”

The woman looked through several of the about 800 layaway contract tickets at the store. She randomly picked and paid the bill on three of them. She paid about $500 between all three of them and left a $10 balance on each of the accounts.

The woman’s only requirement was that there were toys in the layaway orders.

Response: What a great idea and a great way to say Merry Christmas. Hopefully more folks will follow suit and provide lots of different families with similar Christmas blessings. The great part is that it can be anonymous and it doesn’t necessarily take all that much money to help out. One could choose to help out one family or many.              *Top

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(Image by william couch via Flickr)

Campus Crusade for Christ announced on Tuesday that it is dropping its old name and adopting a new one – “Cru”.

The organization says that it is dropping ‘crusade’ from their name since it has become controversial:

“It acts as a barrier to the very people that we want to connect with. It’s also a hindrance to many Christians who would like to partner with us but find the word Crusade offensive. We are changing the name for the sake of more effective ministry.”

The ministry spent over 2 years coming up with a new name that would not be offensive or a hindrance to reaching out to people with the Gospel.

However, the organization becomes quite defensive when it is questioned on why they are also dropping ‘Christ’ from their name. Steve Douglass, president of CCC responded with this:

“Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name.”

“Our mission and DNA remain the same.” That mission, he explained, is “to give every person on the planet the opportunity to say yes to Jesus.”

“It is all about fulfilling The Great Commission.”

Response: Can’t help feeling that it is not progress for this group to drop ‘Christ’ from their name. ‘Cru’ is a cute  nickname but it doesn’t identify who they really are. I guess now they want to be secret agents?

Is ‘Christ’ now a name to be hidden? I thought it was the name above all other names. Is Christ now ‘He who should not be named’? –has it really come to that on college campuses?

I can understand dropping ‘Crusade’ from their name since it is no longer ‘politically correct’, points to supposed Christian atrocities in the past, and offends Muslims in particular.

But dropping Christ from their name is going to offend thousands of conservative Christians who have provided this organization with $millions in donations over the years. This change could cause many to reconsider their support in the future. Very unfortunate indeed.            *Top

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                                  (Christian Population via Wikipedia)

NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)– Translators of U.S.-based Wycliffe Associates have launched two Bible translation projects in countries where evangelism, or even reading a Bible, is forbidden.

Over the weekend, Wycliffe’s Chief Executive Officer Bruce Smith announced that his organization is launching two projects that are among the most difficult in Wycliffe’s history. At least one was reportedly in a Muslim country dominated country where Christianity is illegal and Christians face a great deal of persecution:

“The Gospel cannot be openly preached in these countries and the Bible can’t be read in public.”

“It’s not easy…We have to be careful . I find myself continually pleading with God for guidance in our efforts, and for protection for Bible translators, trainers, their families, and their support teams.”

“It may take up to 15 years before the Bible becomes available in the native language.”

Since the Bible has been translated into all of the major languages. Bible translators must now go to remote and politically unstable or dangerous areas to find people groups where the Bible has not yet been translated into the native languages or to countries where the Bible itself is illegal.

One prime example is Muslim dominated Saudi Arabia where it is illegal to have Bibles or for Christians to even pray or worship.

In order to properly understand a language and culture, Bible translators find it necessary to move into the country where they have a project and experience the people and culture themselves. This does put them and their families in considerable danger particularly where Christianity is outlawed.  Fortunately, modern technology including satellites and the Internet has made communications far better than it use to be and far less folks now have to move into indigenous cultures to complete the work locally.

Response: Over the weekend, we saw the failure of one ‘Christian’ group predicting the end of the world. One of the reasons that I immediately rejected their expectation was because the Christian Gospel had not as yet reached every people and nation in the world to date (Matthew 24:14). This is what the Wycliffe folks are working towards –an essential translation of the Bible into every language of the world.

The results of this group and others over the last 20 years have been incredible to say the least several thousand translations have been completed in that time.  There are an estimated 6,905 spoken languages in the world and about a third still do not have Scripture in their language. However at the current pace Bible groups believe that the task could be completed in 15 to 20 years at the most. What incredible times we are living in.            *Top

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A South African pastor stunned his congregation and provoked outrage and controversy when he recently began his sermon with the statement that:

“Jesus Christ was HIV-positive”

The news of his claim quickly spread around the country and enraged many Christians since he seemed to be dragging Jesus down. Other pastors like Mike Bele responded with pointed criticism:

“The subject of my Jesus being HIV-positive is a scathing matter.”

I believe no anointed leader with a sound mind about the scriptures and the role of Christ in our lives would deliberately drag the name of Christ to the ground.”

However Pastor Skosana of Hope for Life Ministry insists that he was not intending on bringing Jesus down but his message was about bringing redemption and giving hope to the millions of  South Africans that suffer from HIV:

“Wherever you open the scriptures Jesus puts himself in the shoes of people who experience brokenness. Isaiah 53, for example, clearly paints a picture of Jesus who takes upon himself the infirmities and the brokenness of humanity.

Of course, there’s no scientific evidence that Jesus had the HI virus in his bloodstream. The best gift we can give to people who are HIV-positive is to help de-stigmatise Aids and create an environment where they know God is not against them, he’s not ashamed of them.”

The pastor concluded his sermon with this: 

“The message to the church is that it is not enough for us to give people food privately and give them groceries, we must create an environment that’s empowering because most people who are HIV-positive will not necessarily die of Aids-related sickness but more of a broken heart, out of rejection.”

In spite of all of the criticism the pastor also has a few that actually supported him and got what he was saying.  Reverend Siyabulela Gidi, the director of South African Council of Churches in the Western Cape responded positively:

“What Pastor Skosana is clearly saying is that Christ at this point in time would be on the side of the people who are HIV-positive – people who are being sidelined by the very church that is attacking him.

Pastor Skosana has fortunately got the country talking, he’s got the world talking and that is what theology is all about.”

Also aids activists have come out in favor of Pastor Skosana’s message: 

“It takes away the stigma that HIV is a sin and that it’s God’s punishment,’ said Vuyiseka Dubula, general secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign, a South African Aids activist group.

‘To associate Jesus with HIV is powerful, particularly for those who go to church”

Response: Millions are dying of aids every year in Africa and millions of children are left as orphans. It is a real problem.

Personally when I first read the pastor’s claim I was outraged until I saw the real message that he was trying to communicate- That Jesus is there with them in their infirmities and reaching out to all those who suffer even from diseases that the church condemns. 

There is no doubt in my mind that if Jesus was walking the streets of South Africa today he would be reaching out to those suffering from AIDS just like he did to the lepers of his own day. The church should be doing likewise.            *Top of the Blog

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(-Picture via Wikipedia)

by Holly McCarthy, Guest Writer

As the world continues to grow and evolve, we see the church working hard at changing at the same pace and attempting to remain relevant in a society that continues to trend toward a more secular viewpoint in many areas of life.  Many things that would have been completely unacceptable and out of the ordinary a couple of decades ago are now commonplace. 

As we struggle to come to terms with all of the changes that have transpired, one can only wonder: What does it mean to be a Christian in this day and age?

Tolerance

More than anything else, Jesus would have wanted us to be tolerant of those around us and to listen to what they have to say.  Let us not forget the types of people he associated with; Jesus was considered an outcast and a rebel during his time.  His revolutionary spirit helped transformed the world and brought forth a new covenant with God.  Tolerance must be practiced by Christians and hypocrisy and judgment must be avoided.

Compassion

Take a look around the communities that we live in here in the United States.  In many large cities, people are going hungry and living without shelter.  Every day is a struggle for these individuals.  While it may be easy to look the other way and blame these people for their predicaments, Christ would have us show compassion and do our best to help these people in any way possible.  Perhaps giving money directly to these people isn’t the best solution, but volunteering and donating to help the plight of these forgotten souls is a good start.

Love for our Fellows

In the end, it really is all about unconditional love for our fellows.  Family, friends, community, and those who need a helping hand—showing love in a variety of ways can help ignite a spark that will keep the fires of God’s love burning strong in this uncertain world we live in.  Work hard each day at spreading Christ’s love through actions and works and watch as people come together in new and unprecedented ways.

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of Bible schools. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com            *Top

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