The following article comes from the desk of David Bobbitt, one of the men of the Madisonville church of Christ.

​During the reign of Hezekiah, the bronze snake that Moses had made in the desert to save the Israelite people from the bite of poisonous serpents was destroyed.  For generations the Israelites had carried it with them, calling it Nehushtan and venerating it as a holy object.  According to 2 Kings 18:3, they had even burned incense to it!  Recognizing that it had taken the people’s focus away from the Lord, Hezekiah destroyed it along with all the other idols and high places where the Israelites worshiped.

Man’s capacity for doing evil seems boundless and Americans have followed in the ways of ancient Israel by creating mythical beings to be venerated by children.  The Bible commands us to teach our children the ways of the Lord, not foist upon them stories of beings, who like God, give them good things.  Whether it be Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, or any other such mythical being, are these not idols who usurp the praise and devotion rightly belonging to God?

The History of Santa Claus is revealing.  The modern-day version of Santa Claus appears to be a combination of Saint Nicholas, England’s Father Christmas, and the Norse god Odin, who gained access to homes to leave gifts by going down the chimney.  Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century bishop of Myra, which today is part of Turkey.  He was known for his generosity toward the poor and downtrodden.  He is said to have given three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian dowries to prevent them from falling into prostitution.  He was the patron saint of children, whose feast day was celebrated on December 6th. Puritans and other Protestants initially rejected the celebration of Christmas, on the grounds that it was inconsistent with Bible teachings, but eventually, accommodations were made.  Protestants coopted the holiday by giving gifts to children on December 24th and 25th instead of December 6th to avoid any association with the Saint Nicholas celebration and its ties to the veneration of saints, which they considered to be idolatry.

In America, once Protestants secularized the celebration of Christmas, the holiday devolved into a riotous affair featuring drunken mobs roaming the streets damaging property and threatening the upper-classes.  Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, and other Protestants continued to regard December 25th as an ordinary day without religious significance throughout the first half of the 19th century.  Nonetheless, by the 1850’s many Protestant churches had invited Christmas back into their assemblies.  They discovered that by embracing a secularize form of the holiday, which included Santa Claus, a decorated tree, and gift giving, Bible class attendance was greatly improved.

Although it may not be a sin to celebrate Christmas in the privacy of one’s home, three things ought to become apparent.  First, Santa Claus has no place in the church whatsoever because God should receive thanks for all good things that we receive, not some mythical being.  Second, like the Israelites of old who worshiped Nehushtan, we risk committing idolatry by replacing God with some mythical being with gift-giving powers.  Finally, we jeopardize the souls of our own children with our lies and deceptions.  One study found that one in sixteen children suffered long-term negative effects once learning the truth about Santa Claus. Some children went so far as to reject the religious beliefs of their parents once they discovered that they had been lied to.  They reasoned that if their parents had lied about the existence of Santa Claus, they might also have lied about the existence of God.  Philosopher David Kyle Johnson wrote, “It's a lie, it degrades your parental trustworthiness, it encourages incredulity, it does not encourage imagination, and it's equivalent to bribing your kids for good behavior.”

Yet even today some Christians can be heard telling their children or grandchildren that if they are not good, Santa Claus won’t come to see them!  Shouldn’t we rather be concerned about them pleasing God?  A poem about Saint Nicholas ends with these words: “Saint Nicholas, my dear good friend! To serve you ever was my end, if you will, now, me something give, I’ll serve you ever while I live.” Ironically, Jesus refers to the bronze serpent made by Moses in John 3:14-15, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”  God has given us the greatest gift possible, eternal life through the blood his son Jesus.  We should thankfully obey him and serve him only.  Acknowledge the Lord, and him alone, as the only giver of good gifts.

If there is one thing we hate to do, it is to confess wrongdoing. No one wants to be mistaken on any point. As you read this article, chances are you believe you are doing what is right in your life. By no means do you see yourself as perfect, but by no means do you see yourself as flawed, either. We often straddle the fence between these two extremes with false humility and defensiveness. We use this wishy-washy perspective as an excuse to dodge correction and instruction that would make us better. After all, if we feel we are right, then who has the authority to tell us we can do better? It is no wonder our society often rejects the message of the gospel which forcefully points out our sins and failures before God. We can scarcely read the Bible without confronting the reality that we are wrong, mistaken, and deeply flawed. That is why rather than outrunning our sins we should instead confront them through confession.
 
David’s words in Psalm 32 demonstrate the blessings we will find in confession. In that psalm, we also find the curses that come with denial of wrongdoing before God. The king does not specify the sin with which he struggled, but it is evident he tries to hide it. He opens the psalm with two statements of blessing:
 
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:1-2).
 
In these words we find the sobering reflections of a man overtaken by sin but who eventually confesses it before God. There is no hint of excuses or blame-shifting in these words. Instead, David tells us that we are blessed when God forgives our sins and no longer counts them against us. How can we experience these blessings if we are so busy trying to outrun our evil deeds, words, and thoughts? To ask it is to answer it, friends. That is why David writes of his failure to avoid confession:
 
“When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer” (Psalm 32:3-4).
 
David, the strong and mighty warrior-king, becomes a shriveled-up weakling when he conceals his sin from God. Guilt and shame press in on him, and it makes his life unbearable. While the so-called enlightened people in our day see guilt and shame as what others impose onto us, the Bible sees these feelings as how we acknowledge our wrongdoing and seek to make it right. People certainly do use guilt and shame as tools against us, but that problem does not make the feelings themselves the issue. These feelings are meant to produce repentance. Because he feels guilt and shame, David finally confesses his wrongdoings to God:
 
“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
 
Forgiveness becomes David’s when he admits he is wrong. His confession becomes the avenue through which his sin can be put away. God is faithful and just to forgive the sins we voluntarily confess and put away. Why would we want to shy away from such a blessing? We will only hurt ourselves when we avoid confession. As this psalm teaches, the Lord is eager to forgive, but He cannot and will not forgive the proud and unrepentant. Later, David will write a warning to his readers so that they will not be stubborn in times of confession:
 
“Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you” (Psalm 32:9).
 
When we know we have done wrong, the temptation is to sweep the matter under the rug and hope no one finds out. If someone does find out and confronts us, the temptation is to harden our hearts and reject the correction. We must all resist these temptations and confess our evils before God, and in some cases, confess them before others. The Lord knows we are flesh and that sin is a reality in this world. He is not a harsh, overbearing Master who browbeats us for our flaws but is instead a gracious and forgiving One who wants to help us grow stronger. When we run away from Him and refuse to confess, then we run away from the only hope we have. We also reject the only strength we will have to overcome our weaknesses. David learned that confession is the path to God’s forgiveness. The question is whether we will learn the same lesson and come clean before God. Let us all reflect on this psalm and what it calls us to do.

We have all been there before. We sit down after a long day of work to watch television, and, six hours later, we glance at the clock and wonder, “why did I bother watching TV for that long?” Perhaps we choose to browse the internet before dinner. Fast forward three hours and dinner is cold. Again, we wonder, “why did I bother sitting at the computer for that long?” Maybe we decide to be more productive and do some yardwork. After hours of raking leaves, pulling weeds, and trimming tree limbs, we bask in what we have accomplished. A week later, however, we see that everything we did was undone by nature. As with the previous two situations, we wonder, “why did I bother doing all that work just for it to go back to be the same way it was before?”
           
            These are all neutral examples, but what if we apply the same attitude to a situation that is far more serious? It seems that modern Christians are tempted to adopt the “why bother” attitude concerning the Lord and His work. Consider these statements: “I stopped mentioning religion to my family years ago since they’ll never listen anyway” and “the church will never grow with all these false teachers around.” Maybe some truth undergirds these statements. Yet, regardless of their truth value, Christians are more likely to give up on the work altogether and let others do it for them. Such should never be.
 
            Interestingly, this is not a new problem. Malachi, the fifth-century B.C. prophet, spoke to people who took the “why bother” attitude to the Lord’s work. They asked, “where is the God of justice” and said, “it is useless to serve God” (Malachi 2:17; 3:14). Why would they feel this strongly? Because, like us, their circumstances were troubling. Hostile foreigners surrounded and ruled over the Jews. Judah was in disarray due to the wars fought there. And, worst of all, the people likely felt that God’s promises had gone unfulfilled. No wonder they had these feelings. No wonder they did the bare minimum to survive (Malachi 1:7-8, 13). And no wonder Malachi was commissioned to rebuke them (Malachi 1:1).
 
            Brethren, when we adopt the “why bother” attitude to the Lord’s work, we run the same risks these people did. We will no longer give our best to God, but will merely give Him our leftovers. The Lord deserves better. We cannot allow our temporary discouragements to hinder our race for eternal reward. We must be persistent in reaching the lost. We must be consistent in our conduct and our worship. And, above all, we must do all things wholeheartedly for the Lord. He will not forget our labors, but what if we have nothing to show Him (Hebrews 6:10-12)?

The following article is from the desk of Hardie Logan, one of the men of the Madisonville church of Christ.

I would like to tell you about a friend of mine.  I'll call him Todd and though that is not his real name Todd is a spiritual man, he goes to worship every Sunday, Sunday evenings, Bible classes on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.  He is a moral man, he doesn't beat his wife or run around on her, he doesn't lie or cheat or steal.  Basically, Todd is a good man.

But Todd is a gambler.  When I told him I thought he was a gambler, Todd was hurt.  He argued with me and proceeded to tell me how he was against gambling, how he had never gambled in his life.  I believe Todd was telling me the truth, but I still contended that he was a gambler.  I told him if we could talk, I would show him that he was a gambler.  He agreed.

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God--"

I turned in my Bible to the above verse and asked Todd to read it. We had talked about this verse before. Todd would have us believe there is nothing needed to go to heaven because salvation is a gift. It is a free gift from God, and we all know you don't do anything to earn a gift. I fully agreed with Todd that it is a gift and there is nothing that one can do to earn or merit a gift and then I asked Todd to read another verse.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Todd loved these two verses. He immediately praised me for bringing out two of the best verses to prove that nothing is needed to go to heaven. There is the gift that Ephesians is talking about. The gift is Jesus Christ. But, you see, there is more in this verse than just Jesus. "whoever believes in him should not perish." I asked Todd a question, "Todd, what about the people that don't believe in Jesus, are they saved also, according to Ephesians 2:8?"

I then went further, "if we are saved by grace only, then there is a contradiction between Ephesians 2:8 and John 3:16.  John 3:16 says very plainly that “whoever believes in him should not perish.”

And there is contradiction with Ephesians 2:8 and other verses also.

Luke 13:3 "I tell you, ‘No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.’"

John 3:16 and Luke 13:3 says that we, you and I, have to do something to be saved.  Luke 13:3 says straight out that If whoever is not willing to repent, they will perish. The verse in John 3:16 plainly says the if one is not willing to believe they will perish.

According to my friend Todd’s way of teaching about salvation, John 3:16 and Luke 13:3 are direct contradictions to Ephesians 2:8, for they say that a person has to do something to have salvation, they have to believe and they have to repent.  But my questions were just beginning.

Romans 10:9 "because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Acts 10:48 "And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days."

To teach that there is nothing that a person has to do to be saved is plain and simple, to teach a doctrine that does not come from the Bible.  It would cause contradictions in the Bible and the Bible does not have contradictions.

I asked my friend Todd, "if we have been saved by grace, as stated in Ephesians 2:8, when does that happen?"  You see, salvation comes when we have done what God has commanded to do to be saved.  We must hear the Word of God, we must believe it, we must confess Jesus Christ, we must repent of sin and we must obey Him in baptism.  It seems so simple and yet people make it so hard. One thing that is easy thing to do, is gamble.