-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! At times during these seasons, we Christians may feel much like General George Washington did during the early years of the Revolutionary War. The so-called Christmas Campaign successes of 1776 at Trenton and Princeton were presaged by Washington's writings of December 18: "If every nerve is not straind to recruit the New Army with all possible Expedition I think the game is pretty near up....No Man I believe ever had a greater choice of difficulties & less the means of extricating himself than I have--However under a full perswation of the justice of our Cause I cannot but think the prospect will brighten." But these surprising victories were followed a year later by the Revolutionary Army's retreat to Valley Forge, the trail marked by bloody footprints in the snow. Washington's discouragement was evident in his writing of "A character to lose-- an estate to forfeit-- the inestimable blessing of liberty at stake-- and a life devoted, must be my excuse," and about how "it was much easier to draw up remonstrances in a comfortable room by a good fire-side, than to occupy a cold bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow, without clothes or blankets." We in this country were given a great gift, at great cost, in the principles of liberty and self-government handed down to us from our Founding Fathers. But we may already have squandered this heritage beyond recovery. The choices soon to be before us may be limited to these -- dying on our feet, living on our knees ... or praying on our knees. Religious liberty, after all, was the true cornerstone of our Revolution. We Christians believe that Christmas was a necessity because our hearts are deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, and unfathomably so. Christmas addresses the duality of our human nature. We are so depraved, God had to mount a personal rescue mission on our behalf; we are so valuable, He considered sacrificing Himself worth the exchange. Only a Gift would suffice to redeem such creatures into freedom.... Our particular individual sins, which Jesus was born to die for, are revealed best in the recesses of an illuminated heart. Our corporate sins in this nation have been many and grievous these recent years, and especially so against our fellow countrymen these past months. We have not even contemplated repentance -- much less reckoning out the restitution that must be repaid to set things right again. If we cannot join together to freely acknowledge and worship the True Source of forgiveness and redemption, then our corporate repentance and reconciliation to the Truth must remain impossible. As Chuck Colson summed up the situation in Lexington (and by extension, in so many other locations throughout our country): "Well, the cr�che follies will likely continue until people wake up to the fact that the tyrants of today are more dangerous than the tyrants of 1775. At least then they wore red coats, and you could see them coming." Or, as William Penn noted, "Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants." We either kneel before the Baby Jesus as our one true King, or we will bow to another master. The Wise Men followed the Holy Star to lay gifts, symbolic of His life, before the Baby Jesus: gold, because He was a king; frankincense, as he was a divine king; myrrh, to foreshadow that His suffering and death would be our preservation. The miracle is that so much of Christmas has endured into our time, celebrated still in its full glory and significance, despite its central paradoxes, so strange to our ears, of the Gift beyond reciprocation: God born in Man, Eternity captured in Time, and Light piercing the Darkness, to reveal a Truth at the heart of the Universe. And the choice set before people has always been this simple -- choose life or death; worship God or humankind; live free or chafe in chains. We have only to follow the Star and accept the Gift. To mark Christmas 2000, the Christian patriarchs and spiritual leaders in the Holy Land have crafted a joint message that is as applicable to our land as theirs, that "our people will not enjoy many of the customary Christmas celebrations in this land this year. ...We have heard and accepted the Gospel of the peace of Christ and we are his witnesses and ambassadors who are entrusted with the message of reconciliation. ...[T]his very hope may become an in-breaking of light and a resurgence of faith. ...[So that] we, not unlike the shepherds, can go forth into the darkest of nights, glorifying and praising God who came to save human kind and to fill the earth with justice and peace." "A Merry Christmas to you all! Long live the true King!" Publisher's note about our Christmas message: We know that some of our readers are of faiths other than Christianity. We hope this message will serve to enlighten your understanding of our faith, and we wish God's blessing and peace upon you and your families, in whatever setting you may worship. -- PUBLIUS -- *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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