During your Christmas celebrations, remember our brothers and sisters in Iran. It seems like they are making a dent and are about to be dented themselves. This just in from Crosswalk:
Pre-Christmas Rise of Threats and Intimidation Against Iranian Christians
Reports show a sharp increase of activities against Christians in Iran in the weeks leading up to Christmas, including the interrogations of house church members and activists at local state security offices, ASSIST News Service reports.
A number of Christians in Tehran and six other cities have been ordered to show up at the state security centers after the Islamic police were instructed by a senior general to "be on guard to find out the reasons behind this massive and country-wide distribution of the Bible. It is obvious that this illegal act could not have been done without the help and cooperation of Christian businessmen, and we are looking for proof of their involvement."
Iran's top Islamic leaders say they will continue to follow the Supreme Leader's direct orders to prevent the spread of house churches in the country.
Here in this country Christians feel persecuted because the clerk at Walmart wishes us a happy holiday rather than a Merry Christmas. In light of what our Iranian brothers and sisters are going through, our complaints about greetings and about replacing the word Christ with an "X" in the word Christmas seem microscopic by comparison. "Pathetically petty" does not seem too strong to me, especially when contrasted against the vision of ordinary people being dragged out of their homes by Iranian secret police, or the mullahs' "Islamic police."
In fact, before complaining about "X" replacing Christ in Christmas, I encourage you to read this article:
The origins of Xmas
from the Christian Resource Institute.
Even if people are trying to replace Christ with an X because they don't like him their plot has been foiled by the historical context, wouldn't you say?
The best way to keep Christ in Christmas is to keep him in our hearts and remember those who are less fortunate, as our imaginary pal Ebenezer Scrooge found out in Charles Dickens' work "A Christmas Carol."
God bless your day.
