Cornerstone Arts :: Newsletters :: The Battle for Christmas

Greetings for the last time from Seoul, Korea! Next week I leave for Beijing, China to speak to some pastors about a production for next year. In the meanwhile, I'm celebrating Jesus' birth daily…. literally…. as we run the production every night in our final night before OPENING NIGHT tomorrow night!

Production Update

The sets are going up, the lighting rigs and trusses are mounted and the curtains have been hung. We have successfully transformed Yoido, the world's largest church, into the world's largest theatre! Promotions are everywhere, and tickets are gone! We're expecting 10,000 people tomorrow night and for the next three nights.

In the midst of it all, I keep the actor's focus on the fact that we're not here to do a professional show, although it looks like one. No, we're here for three reasons:

Most of the sets are in place, and we are in final rehearsals as we open "Two from Galilee" Wednesday, December 21. A peak from backstage.

The Battle For Christmas

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year! It allows all of us to outwardly display the love for God that's in our hearts, and we do it through Nativity sets on our front lawns, Christian Christmas cards and singing well-loved Christmas carols about Jesus' birth! During this time, people are warm-hearted. They're more open to giving and receiving that they are at any other time. They're the most open to receive spiritually.

There is a battle that we're in the middle of: many retailers and the media are trying to take Christ out of Christmas. I'm proud of the efforts that are being made by everyone to say "Christmas" and not "Holiday", and to get retailers to do the same. However, it's easy to lose sight of what this season is all about. We're so upset with who is and isn't saying what about Christmas season, that it's US who are "missing the point".

Remember that Love and Faith are the two most important ingredients as you reach out to loved ones. Luke 2:13-14 says "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to all men." Notice the angels were praising God for a particular reason. They were praising God because peace was being declared between God and man, between heaven and earth. Hold on!

Sharing a laugh in the office of my hosts for this production, Dr. and Mrs. Yonggi Cho. Behind us is a picture of one of his many crusades around the world. May the Lord continue to use me to impact the world in the same way

They were making this declaration at Bethlehem when Jesus was only a newborn baby at that time. How could peace be declared between God and man before Jesus had faced one test, before He had gone through even one temptation, before any battles for men had been fought, before one person was ever healed under His ministry? How could God send the angels to say such things when the battle for man's redemption was still 33 years away? By faith!

As Romans 4:17 tells us, "God calls those things that aren't as though they were". He had already set His faith on man's redemption. So, as far as He was concerned, It was done! He began treating men like they'd never sinned. He reached out to them in His great love. He totally offered Himself to man as though Jesus had already gone to the cross. Because of God's faith and love, everything turned out perfectly. Jesus won every battle and took man away from Satan's authority and dominion.

Now, with all that said, I want you to ponder this: If God acted as though the work of the cross was already completed before Jesus ever went to the cross, how do you think He is acting now? He is acting as though we were already in Heaven. He is saying that we've been raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. As far as our heavenly Father is concerned, you and I are already there!

The trusses go up, and with it, the show. Here, I stop and mug for the camera as we set up. As if though I don't have better things to do!

We need to start living that way! We need to start enjoying the Spirit of Christmas, and living out our faith more now than at any other time. Christmas has been given to us as believers. Let's enjoy it! Let's show the world the JOY there is in celebrating Christ's birth. Let's live as if the battle over Christmas was already won. Yes, we must still be vigilant to support Christian causes and Christmas events, but not lose focus that OUR main job this Christmas is to enjoy CHRIST.

Let's begin to look at one another in Christ Jesus and treat one another like we were already in Heaven. After all, we all look a whole lot better in Jesus than any other way. This can be the greatest Christmas any of us ever had, if we'll really make Christmas wonderful for our loved ones instead of focusing so much on the battle, that Jesus is left neglected at this very important time of year. After all, we're celebrating Jesus' birth and not our own.

II Corinthians 10:3 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we don't war in the same way. The weapons of our warfare are not man-made, but they are powerful through God for pulling down spiritual strongholds, casting down arguments and everything that (tries to) exalt itself above the knowledge, or focus on God, and bringing every thought under the obedience of Christ."

Korean lunch with some of my actors, and Dr. Moon, the musical director for the production.

In a nutshell, that's the battle this Christmas. Are we going to get so distraught over what the world is trying to do, that we let Jesus' celebration suffer because we're so busy being upset with the media that we don't give the Lord the praises due Him?

Please take some time and read the Christmas story found in Luke chapter 2. Read it once for yourself and once to your family. Let it come alive in your heart, and not just be some dry tradition or worse, some Christmas fable. Make giving a priority and give, give, give! Don't just give things that can be bought. Give joy and peace and love. And go out of your way to give them! If there is a separation with a friend or relative, regardless of who's at fault, forgive them and take the season to make things right.

Finally, take on the spirit of joy! And spread it around everywhere you go. AS you do these things, you'll begin to realize that your needs are being met, not just financially, but emotionally as well, even though that's not your primary goal. That's the way to win any battle this Christmas!

Kihpuhn Singtahng!

That's Korean for "Season's Greetings". I'm kidding! It means very literally, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" I'll be spending Christmas in China, so that should be interesting. The Chinese don't celebrate Christmas, so for them it'll just be "business as usual", but I pray that the Lord will use THIS Christmas for me to make the right connections to impact China with God's miraculous and glorious gift that's ours this Christmas… the GIFT of Jesus Christ! After all, I must do my part in the Battle for Christmas. May this Christmas be a tremendous blessing for you and for your family. God bless you.

Dear Friends & Family,

Production Update

The Battle For Christmas

Kihpuhn Singtahng!