It hit me the first thing this morning. I could have been dressing to go to the hospital or to a funeral home.

Last night [Tuesday] after our song service, my daughter Laura Lynn drove her Geo Prizm home. The rain was cold, and Interstate 65 was wet.

Laura just graduated from Freed-Hardeman University as an art major. She had taken three years of Koine Greek and had distinguished herself as an honors college graduate.

Unfortunately, someone had broken off her side mirror. Some car or truck had brushed by too closely on the narrow streets of Henderson. It left her a blind spot.

As she journeyed home, a car entering the interstate from an on-ramp moved too rapidly and uncautiously into her blind side. She overcompensated her swerve away from the intruder and, hitting her brakes, threw her Geo into a spin.

What happened next was a blur for her, but the driver of a large white truck saw her face as his vehicle collided with her.

The collision sent Laura down an embankment and into the fence at the bottom. Fortunately, the grass and soil were thoroughly soaked and provided a softer landing.

The old car, which is paid for, is completely totaled with damage to the undercarriage and wheels as well as the front fender. Laura, however, came out without a scrape or a bruise. She says her neck hurts a little.

I could have spent the day at the hospital or the funeral home. God was gracious. He walked with her through the shadow of death and brought her home safely.

I am reminded of the brevity and the precious nature of life. Our children are a wonderful gift. Whether we have them short or long, let us treasure each day with them.

by Mitchell Skelton

I love Christmas. There is no one facet of Christmas that makes the season so charming to me. I think it is the combination of all the different aspects. I enjoy the family gatherings, the food, giving gifts, the eyes of little children as they set their gaze upon Santa Clause, and, of course, there is the receiving of gifts. Christmas became much sweeter to me when I became a father. Nothing thrills me more than to watch my children as they unwrap that one special gift; the one Santa always puts way behind the tree so that you inevitably open it last.

One thing that has always puzzled me about Christmas is the zealot-like effort that some men put forth to show that Jesus really wasn't born on December 25th. The reality that Jesus was or was not born on this specific day really does not matter in the big scheme of things. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to celebrate the birth of Christ and yet nowhere in the Bible are we told to ignore his birth either.

Like it or not, the majority of people in the world still celebrate December 25th as the birthday of Jesus Christ. Rather than ignore his birth or, worse yet, try to discredit the holiday and those who observe it, I believe we should embrace this holiday as an evangelistic opportunity.

One of the first examples of evangelism was Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip found the eunuch, a religious man, reading prophesies about Christ from Isaiah 53. The Bible tells us; "Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus" (Acts 8:35). Philip did not assume that the eunuch was naive or unlearned in the Scripture, yet he knew there was more he needed to know. The eunuch needed to hear the good news about Jesus. The eunuch had an obvious interest in God and a desire to know about the prophesied Messiah. Philip capitalized on this man's desire to learn about Christ and the eunuch, after being baptized, "went on his way rejoicing." We, too, should learn from Philip's example. Wherever we find a seeker of Christ, there is where we should start teaching them the good news. With so many seekers of Christ focusing on his birth during this Christmas season we would be careless, even negligent, if we did not start from "that very passage of Scripture" and tell them the good news about Jesus.

The birth of Jesus was good news for all people. "But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people" (Luke 2:10). Jesus' birth was good news because it brought light into the darkness of the world. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). Jesus' birth was necessary for our atonement. For Jesus to take away our sins he had to become human. "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people" (Heb. 2:14—17).

The birth of Jesus was a demonstration of God's grace. The birth of Jesus was God's declaration to mankind that he takes sin seriously. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:5—6). Jesus came to give us the gift of grace. "But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!" (Rom. 5:15—17).

The news of a gracious Savior requires man to act. The shepherds' example in the birth narrative of Jesus shows us the urgency of seeking Christ. Upon hearing the news of the birth of a Savior the Bible says, "They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby" (Luke 2:16). In Matthew's account of Jesus' birth, we find the story of the Magi or Wise Men who sought out the newborn King of the Jews. What we know to be true of these men is still true today; wise men still seek Him! "Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD" (Ps. 107:43).

This Christmas season, do the right thing concerning true seekers of Christ. Take them from where they are and teach them the good news!

by A. A. Neale

"Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!" (Job 23:3, NJKV).

Dear Friend Job,

You certainly had a rough time of it, my old man. And who can blame you for the bitterness you felt, since you couldn't see anything that was going on in the background?

As early as you appeared in the Sacred History, you didn't have much advantage either. You didn't see the great acts of God in behalf of his people. Much less did you have the view of God in the flesh.

Where to find God? That appears to be our dilemma, doesn't it, my fine patriarch? But it turns out that question is barking up the wrong tree. For God is there, ever present, every watching over his own.

Though that kind of language can certainly be justified, and especially in your case, turns out that God has already found us. And, without making a game of it, God lets himself be found by his creatures.

• After a fright from the angel of the Lord, shepherds found Jesus lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes (Luke 2:12, 16).

• Oriental wise men were led by a star, not by a King, to find the young Child and worship him (Matt. 2:1-2, 8, 10-11).

• After a panic, Jesus' parents find him chatting in the temple with the scholars (Luke 2:46).

• In two similar moments, Andrew runs to a brother and Philip, to a friend, to say, "We have found the Messiah!" (John 1:41, 45).

• The disciples find Jesus, having risen early to find a secluded spot to pray, only to get themselves rustled into a preaching trip (Mark 1:35-38).

• Bread-seeking multitudes find more than they were looking for, they found the Lord, for all the good it did them (John 6:25).

Jesus will even talk of the nature of the kingdom of Heaven as a man finding a treasure in a field or an extremely expensive pearl on the market (Matt. 13:44, 46).

You, Job, who searched so much for God, might consider it unfair that Isaiah can be so bold to say, as Paul will later quote him, "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me" (Romans 10:20).

When Jesus was on earth, it might have been easier to find God, if people had realized, with Nathanel, who he actually was. Which makes me think how much easier it is for me today, Job, to find God, more so that even in Jesus' day, or yours.

Or is it?

It's hard to find God past the Christmas tinsel or the court battles to "put Christ back in Christmas," whatever that's supposed to mean.

It's hard to find God in that contemporary music they call Christian, but tastes commercial and sappy as secular pop stars (not to mention the instruments).

It's hard to find God in the fast action of mega-churches or in the shallow sermons of pastors and preachers.

It's hard to find God even in the stars anymore, what with all the pollution, street lights, and scientific searches for ETs.

So maybe you and I aren't so far apart after all, Job. Our boils just take a different shape, maybe. So scoot over, make room, and we'll scrape them with a piece of broken pot.

And while we scrape, let me pull out a battered old piece of leather with a few leaves in between to read and pass the time.

Since we have no stars zipping across the sky. No brilliantly lit angel to send us scurrying. No Transfiguration to leave us ga-ga. No quiet miracles to cause a ruckus in the crowds.

Just you and me, Job. And an old book.

Where do you want to start?

"Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6).

by J. Randal Matheny

I confess: I'm the world's worst at buying gifts. OK, so I'm not attentive enough, too selfish to notice others, stick me with the label you will, and I'll own up to it.

They say the best gift is one that fits the receiver's interests, needs, and preferences.

That's the way that God gives -- at least, at the core. But once you think again, God's a lousy giver, too. He doesn't often give what we want, certainly doesn't give according to our preferences, nor what we often perceive our needs to be.

Whether it be the gift of salvation in his Son, or the gift of discipline and trials, we often exclude these things from our long list registered at the corner church.

God gives what he wants most to give. Summed up, he gives himself, his own heart, his own presence. And what we most need, but seldom recognize.

This Christmas, I, the world's worst giver, am going to try to be a "lousy" giver like God. And give more of myself and him to family, friends, neighbors, and strangers.

And not only on Christmas, but every day.

"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15, ESV).

By Roger E, Dickson

On the first day of the week, Sunday, Christians bring their worshipful spirits together in order to praise God as an assembled group. They come together to remember Jesus and the grace of God that was poured out for them when Jesus died on the cross (Titus 2:11).

An important part of this Sunday assembly is the communion of Christians with one another and with Jesus around the Lord's table. Early Christians came together on the first day of each week in order to partake of the Supper (Acts 20:7), and Christians today also participate in this memorial feast which was instituted by Jesus. Matthew 26:26,28 states: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.'" Concerning the bread of the Supper, Jesus revealed that Chris-tians must remember Him when they eat of the bread. "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor. 11:24).

Concerning the fruit of the vine, Jesus said that it represented the blood of the new covenant that Christians have made with Him. He said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor. 11:25). The bread that Jesus used when the Supper was instituted was unleavened, that is, without yeast. It was unleavened because Jesus and His disciples were at the time eating the unleavened bread of the Passover Feast of the Jews (Exo. 34:25; Lev. 7:17). The fruit of the vine was juice from vines, specifically the juice from grape vines (Mark 14:24,25). The New Testament does not say that either the bread or fruit of the vine turn into the literal body and blood of Jesus. Neither does it say that Jesus' body and blood are present in the elements.

The bread and fruit of the vine represent Jesus' body and blood. Jesus used these two physical things — bread and fruit of the vine — to represent two spiritual truths of Christianity. These truths are that He gave His fleshly body and poured out His blood for our salvation. When we partake of the Supper, therefore, we remember Jesus. We proclaim that He died for us. In doing this, we examine ourselves. The Bible says, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes" (1 Cor. 11:26). Christians must search their hearts at the time they eat and drink of the Supper. "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup" (1 Cor. 11:28).

Remember the Unity of the Church Another important remembrance involved in partaking of the Supper is to consider the oneness of the body of Christ. The Bible says, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread" (1 Cor. 10:17). When we partake of the bread, therefore, we must remember the unity of the church. We are one church, one spiritual family, because we have obeyed the one Gospel by immersion into the body of Christ. The Bible says, "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…" (1 Cor. 12:12,13).