Wisconsin Lawmakers to Vote on Calling Holiday Evergreen 'Christmas Tree'

MADISON, Wis. — The 35-foot tall balsam fir standing proudly in the rotunda of the Wisconsin Capitol is a familiar annual December display, but it'd be a mistake to call it a "Christmas tree," much to the dismay of one Badger State lawmaker now leading a legislative fight to change the name of the evergreen.

The General Assembly is expected to vote Tuesday on the bill proposed by Rep. Marlin Schneider, a Democrat, who wants the tree to be known officially as the State of Wisconsin Christmas Tree.

The tree "celebrates one holiday and that holiday is Christmas," Schneider told FOX News. "It was called a Christmas tree from 1916 until 1985 when political correctness took over, and then we decided it would become a holiday tree. But what it really is, is a Christmas tree, and there's nothing really wrong with that," Schneider said.

Not everyone shares the Christmas spirit, however.

Read more of this story on FOX News.

City changes 'Christmas' festival to 'holiday' festival

The Alliance Defense Fund suggests that a Michigan city has taken political correctness -- not to mention ignorance of the Constitution -- to new heights by renaming a popular festival based on a classic Christmas book.

In Mount Pleasant, Michigan, "Christmas" is evidently a bad word. City officials, influenced by a school district policy that bans the word, have changed the name of the local "Dickens Christmas Festival" to "Dickens Holiday Festival." The festival is based on the popular Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol.

Read more of this story on OneNewsNow.

"Acting?"

Heard Around Deep Creek...
It's bad to act like a fool. It's worse if you're not acting.

NOTE: From the weekly newsletter of Brian Mimbs, Pastor of Chapel Hill Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida. Brian is also a member of the Board of Directors of James Croft Evangelistic Association.

Holy X-Ray, Do You See Jesus?

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- A man who recently had a chest X-ray done swore he could clearly see the image of Jesus on the photograph.

Read more of this story and view a video on WESH.

Schedule Conflicts

458 To Go

Number of JOY Boxes collected as of Monday, December 10, 2007	9
Number of JOY Boxes still needed by Monday, December 17, 2007	458

Evolution, Intelligent Design Debate Hits Florida Schools

Florida’s proposed new standards requiring the teaching of evolution in science classes have many parents and educators demanding that other alternate concepts and theories, such as intelligent design, be taught alongside.

While students in Florida public schools for years have been learning many of the concepts that make up the theory of evolution – such as mutation and natural selection – the state Board of Education will decide in February whether to mandate a more explicit and in-depth teaching of evolution.

Advocates of the new science standards, which were proposed in October, say that the teaching of evolution and other topics required by the guidelines would improve Florida's poor performance in science.

Read more of this story on The Christian Post.

Wii Little Man

New Bible Society website to tell real Christmas story

A website telling the real story of Christmas has been launched by Bible Society, in the wake of research published last week that says only one in eight adults knows the story of Jesus' birth.

The study by the public theology think tank Theos found that only 12 per cent of adults, and just seven per cent of those aged 18 to 24, were able to correctly answer questions about the Bible's account of the Christmas story.

Now Bible Society has launched www.therealstory.org.uk to help people engage with the nativity story.

Read more of this story on Christian Today.

First Nativity display installed at Washington state Capitol

OLYMPIA, Wash. - For the first time a Nativity display has been installed for Christmas at the Washington state Capitol after a yearlong campaign for a creche by a real estate agent.

"I would like people to remember the true meaning of Christmas," said Ron Wesselius, who was helped by the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious liberty group founded by evangelicals. "The state ended up doing what was constitutionally right."

The display was set up Monday near the State Reception Room on the third floor.

Read more of this story on OneNewsNow.

Belly Buttons Explained

A child's explanation?

Q: How do babies get their belly buttons?

A: When God finishes making little babies, He lines them all up in a row. Then he walks along in front of them. He pokes each one in the tummy with His finger and says, “You’re done…you’re done…you’re done…”

Job Evaluation

Pastor-Turned-Atheist Forces Police Chaplains to Remove Crosses

Chaplains working in the city police department in Spokane, Wash., will have to remove all crosses from their badges to settle a lawsuit filed by a Christian pastor turned atheist.

Ray Ideus, a former Lutheran pastor of 30 years, claimed in his suit that the Christian-Latin cross included on the badges worn by chaplains in the Spokane Police Department is an “impermissible incorporation of a particular religious symbol in a government insignia.”

“It's very important that they'll have to take that cross off. It's not a Christian police department,” said Ideus, 75, according to the Associated Press.

Read more of this story on The Christian Post.

Elim Baptist, Ft. White, FL Scheduled

I will be preaching in supply for Pastor Andy Thomas at Elim Baptist Church on Sunday, December 23, 2007 at 11am and 6pm. The church is located at 6855 SW Elim Church Road near Ft. White, Florida.

A Meeting With The Board

After a long, dry sermon, the minister announced that he wished to meet with the church board after the service. The first man to arrive was a stranger.

“You misunderstood my announcement. This is a meeting of the board,” said the minister.

“I know,” said the man. “If there is anyone here more bored than I am, I’d like to meet him.”

Blue Christmas

Our Daily Bread

READ: Isaiah 53:1-6

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. —Isaiah 53:4

About this cover

A growing number of churches are holding annual Blue Christmas services for those faced with grief and loss. The holiday season’s emphasis on happiness and good cheer often makes people who are dealing with heartbreak feel even worse.

An Associated Press article quoted a pastor who described the Blue Christmas service as “an opportunity for people to come and be in the presence of God and acknowledge their grief and despair and loneliness and give it to God.” One participant added, “And it’s a good place to have a cry and no one will mind.”

During the Christmas season, we often read Isaiah’s prophecies of the coming Messiah who would be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14) and called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6). But perhaps we should also include the words of Isaiah 53: “He is . . . a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. . . . Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows . . . . And by His stripes we are healed” (vv.3-5). The psalmist reminds us that “[The Lord] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Ps. 147:3).

If you’re hurting this Christmas, remember: Jesus came to save us, to help us, and to heal us. —David C. McCasland

Whenever darkness grips your soul
And you are tempted to despair,
Remember Christ’s unfailing love,
And trust His faithful, tender care. —Sper

Jesus provides an oasis of grace in the desert of grief.

For similar resources, search these topics:

Christian Life > Personal Crisis > Sorrow/Grief

Here Comes Christian Family Tube

ORLANDO, Dec. 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- Where can you find a Christian internet social networking community that features uplifting and inspirational videos, audios, games, and ministry websites - all for free? The answer is ChristianFamilyTube.com, the premier Christian ChristianFamilyTube.com is quickly becoming the Christian parent's go-to "safe place" on the Internet for themselves and their families. Here they can gather around the computer to talk, build websites, play games, and share their videos with friends, families and other Christians.

Read more of this story on Christian Newswire.

460 To Go

Number of JOY Boxes collected as of Saturday, December 8, 2007	7
Number of JOY Boxes still needed by Monday, December 17, 2007	460

Are We Selling Out?

Our Daily Bread

READ: Hebrews 12:12-17

Looking carefully . . . lest there be any . . . profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. —Hebrews 12:15-16

About this cover

Have we “sold out” the way Esau did? (Heb. 12:16). Has the lure of wealth, power, prestige, position, security, style, or the approval and praise of others led us to barter away God’s riches for a single meal?

Esau sought to change his father’s mind and gain the inheritance he had forfeited by his duplicity, but he could not set right the damage he had done. He had to live with his decision. Neither can we turn back the clock and undo the wrong we have done to ourselves and to others.

Although the past is irrevocable, there can be a new day before us, filled with new chances, new opportunities, and new expectations. God will not redo the past, but when we repent He can and will forgive us and set us on a new path.

The Lord can give us opportunities to show how we have truly repented of the decisions of the past and how much we long to serve Him in the decisions to come. He will never mention the deeds by which we’ve shamed others and ourselves; they are forgiven and forgotten forever.

God will give us a place to begin again—to love, to serve, to touch others profoundly and eternally for His sake. This demonstrates the greatness of our heavenly Father’s forgiving love to us.
—David H. Roper

Dear Lord, be merciful to me;
My sin has grieved Your heart;
And grant to me Your strength anew
To make a fresh, new start. —D. De Haan

God’s forgiveness is the door to a new beginning.

For similar resources, search these topics:

Basics Of Faith > Sin > Repentance

First Christmas Cards to Incorporate Christ and Your Family Photo

PHILADELPHIA -- TrueChristmasCards.com,LLC, announces the launch of the first-ever, complete line of Christmas cards which uniquely combine a true Christmas message celebrating the birth of Christ along with a beautiful religious image and your favorite family photo.

"Every year I struggle with Christmas cards," says founder Beth Racine, who had always wished for a beautiful card with a true Christmas message that would also incorporate the photo of her children that she likes to include each year.

Read more of this story on USA Religious News.