Right in the centre - The message

Details

Published on Friday, December 25, 2015

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

This is my twenty-seventh Christmas column. Been a lot of water under the bridge in all those years.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, when the world seems to pause for a bit to reflect on what really matters. And this year, the world appears to be as close to war and turmoil as it has in a long time. The Christmas message of “Peace on Earth and good will to men” is very much needed today.

So much of our world is swept up in politics. We had municipal elections a little over a year ago, a federal election in October and a Manitoba election is coming in April. Then we have the American election, which seems to go continuously on a four year cycle. 

I read an interesting column by Ann Coulter this week, in which she says the Republican candidates, other than Donald Trump should all quit. Trump currently has a huge lead in the polls and some of the candidates are ranking down around one per cent in the polls. Coulter proposes that Trump is doing so well because people are tired of being told what to think and when to think it. The column is available on-line and whether you agree with her, or Trump, isn’t the point. The point is Trump gives the impression he won’t be bullied and he proposes solutions that make sense to many of the American people. 

When reading columns that react to Coulter or Trump or any other politician for the matter, make sure that what people may claim some famous person has said is actually what was said. I have seen hundreds of instances where words have been twisted to defend a position and that is very disappointing. Get used to it, I guess. What politicians said in the federal election has been twisted, what is said in the American election is being twisted and for sure, the Manitoba election will have its share of truth twisting.

The Christmas message has certainly been subject to some twisting. It’s no wonder Christianity has had a bad name at times. Some Christians have given the faith a black eye. Then, those opposed to Christianity have done their fair share of twisting as well.

The simple Christian message is this: God is God. God made the earth and everything in it. Man became sinful and that created a gap between man and God. God sent his son Jesus to be a sacrifice for our sins. All I have to do is accept that fact and I go to heaven. If I reject it until I die, then I go to Hell. It’s way too simple a message for many folks but no matter how a person twists the message or tries to explain it away, nothing changes.

A person can study church history, praise the good leaders, condemn the bad ones and realize some were both good and bad in their lifetime, but it doesn’t change the message: Christ is my Saviour and the choice to believe that or not is my choice. That’s the way God made us.

May God bless you and yours this season.