BANGOR, Maine — The Rev. Jerry Mick urged worshippers to show gratitude for Christ’s sacrifices for them on the eve of the celebration of his birth.
“My fellow Christians, let me challenge you on this Christmas Eve. Are you grateful for what Jesus Christ has done for you?” the senior pastor of Bangor Baptist Church said Saturday afternoon.
The service was one of two held Saturday afternoon in the church on outer Broadway. Mick estimated that 550 people attended. He anticipated close to the same number of worshippers would attend the 5 p.m. service.
Most churches, regardless of their denomination, scheduled a service on Christmas Eve. Church attendance increases during the Christmas and Easter seasons, the two most important Christian holidays of the year.
Mick did not choose a traditional Christmas Bible story for his short Christmas Eve devotional. Instead, he chose Luke 7:11-19, which tells the story of Christ healing 10 lepers. Just one of the lepers returned to show his gratitude for having been cured.
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice, glorified God,” verses 15 and 16 say, “and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.”
The pastor urged members of his flock to make a list of the things for which they are grateful, make an effort to show their gratitude and “make a lot of noise” when they express their gratefulness.
“You and I should get into the habit of saying ‘thank you’ to God,” Mick said. “Make your ‘thank you’ big. Let God know that we are thankful by our actions. Christmas is all about God coming to live among us.”
As he spoke, girls dressed in red velvet dresses trimmed in lace and boys outfitted in green vests, white shirts and red bow ties squirmed in their parents’ laps, most likely eager for Christmas morning and the culmination of the secular side of the season.
Adam Bond of Greenbush might have been the youngest worshipper at the service. Born on Nov. 7, he will be 8 weeks old on Monday. He spent nearly the entire service in the arms of his father, Jason Bond.
The infant’s mother, Melonie Bond, was making sure his older brothers, Andrew Bond, 3, and Allen Bond, 6, were behaving and focusing on baby Jesus instead of Santa Claus.
When asked what she was grateful for this Christmas, Melonie Bond pointed to her brood and replied, “This right here.”
I don’t need to Google Ravi Zacharias as I’ve listened to him spew his message more than once. I listen to a lot of Christian talk radio and every time I hear him speak I just shake my head. He is amusing, I will admit that but then again I listen to Christian talk radio to be amused.
I need to purchase you a beverage of your choice some time.
Well said :-)
Thank you. That would be a single-malt neat, a Sapphire & tonic, or a Manhattan up. If we are doing beer, a Guinness, a Stella, or a Sam Adams. I’m flexible.
BTW, I watched one video from Ravi Zacharias. Hard to judge on one video but in the one I saw he mentioned a prophesy in the bible and then found in history an example that matched. This is a dangerous technique – predicting an event in very general terms and then finding in the 2000+ years some event that matched the prophesy, thus “confirming” the prophesy. Not really the “scientific method.” This technique often is used by the clairvoyants addressing an audience – “I’m hearing a call from the other side – someone who passed recently and is looking for their [niece, sister, aunt, cousin].” Invariably, someone will raise a hand and then by watching the body language, the clairvoyant can manipulate the story to match the victim’s personal experience. Such a load of manure. Countless scientifically rigorous tests have been done where the “victim” sits either poker-faced stone cold or deliberately reacts opposite to the line of questioning. The results, as you can imagine, are very predictable – equal or less than random guessing.
Well, I appreciate the drink offer. Next time I am up in Bangor, I will consider it!
I thought that was a trick used by the Jews all through the bible. Joseph predicted the pharaoh’s dream, droughts already occurred through Egypt and Daniel predicted the king’s dreams before he was thrown in the lion’s den etc. It only seems to follow suit they continue this practice.
I agree with you that people indeed can be innocent victim’s of others’ beliefs. But, my argument is directed at adults, who presumably has seen through the illusion to some extent. The place where many get stuck is right where they become aware of the hypocrisy and stay stuck as a victim when Jesus pointed the way out of victim-hood by relying on the one true God instead of what men say, including myself.
The problem with relying on humanistic goals of morality and ethics or good manners is that they always, without exception, no exception whatsoever, how can I further emphasize that anything man-made will eventually, and utterly fail?
You are correct – some people will stay “stuck” when the cold water bath called reality hits them in the face. The recent priest sex abuse scandal, to me, was a news item that should have been reported decades before but was not. Yet, those who blindly drank the Kool-Aid were either “stunned” or simply refused to believe the truth despite a ton of evidence clearly showing the abuse occurred. That, followed with the exposure of systematic coverups running all the way to the Vatican, must have tried the faith of the laity.
You could ask why they remain “stuck.” I think it is the early-on indoctrination, the threat of eternal damnation for any transgression, and the refusal to even consider the viewpoints of someone outside of the church. This “blind faith” has set the hook and they are hooked good and proper. I find none of this very surprising. The victims actually “buy in” to the idea that they deserve what they get. The Magdalene laundries in Ireland is a classic case of brainwashing. Many of those girls who were put into this slavery truly believed they deserved to be punished. Appalling behavior by the church, just appalling and shameless.
As far as the humanistic approach to morality, ethics, manners, and such. I have to disagree this approach eventually fails. I know many people who understand and expect certain behavior from gentlemen and gentlewomen. I doubt the failure rate is any worse than those who attended church. A man’s word and his handshake is gold. His failure to keep his word causes him to be ostracized in business and society. In the church the equivalent is threat of damnation.
The only reason you believe the humanistic approach will fail is because you were taught and you believe the whole religious infallibility line. For those of us not raised in your world and instead were raised in the old-school English class system of manners, ethics, and gentlemanly behavior, we see no need for your approach. The difference is that while I believe your system works (ethics, etc.), and that my system works, and that other systems work in other cultures, you seem to feel yours is the only REAL working system which sounds a tad narcissistic to me. From my viewpoint, the world does not revolve around your religion or that of anyone else. Perhaps, you feel otherwise.
Now I owe you two beverages of your choice.
I regret that you misunderstand me so perfectly and completely. My only real point is, is that everything we humans create will fade away and become useless in the end, or even before. You incorrectly attach labels and notions of religion to me that I simply did not even hint at. I’m not sure how you missed so much with your obviously well educated mind. But that just illustrates my point further, in that you will only see what you want to. This is true of all of us, but I’m different from you in that I am better able to admit it, and ask for a higher source for guidance. I cannot claim to know the only real system. Well, I do , but I’m not the best to explain it. Paul’s letters are a pretty good start. If there are certain laws that, more or less, unalterably guide the physical universe, then why is it so hard to recognize the same is true in the spiritual. Fear explains much of it.
Yes, we clearly are on different wavelengths. I will leave it at that. I hope you had as nice a Christmas as did I.
Cheers!
Remember, it’s all based on faith. It’s all conjecture. It’s all based on word of mouth. Stories. Told and written down by MEN, years after the death of the man called Christ or Jesus.
“There is no death & they’re are no dead.” Our spirits, the very essence of who we are, is made of energy. Energy cannot be destroyed. water becomes ice in solid form but cannot disappear. Expect something beautiful after this life because life continues. Look forward to meeting your departed love ones for they will be there to greet you when the time comes. I think as all of us, you have many life lessons to learn so you will be here for a while. Be positive!
If you are not aware of ME churches who preach hate towards gays I think you have been living under a rock.
I know churches do such things. why they don’t lose their non profit tax exempt status when they become involved in politics, I don’t understand.
It does not happen very often but I found one case where in 2000 the Federal courts upheld a 1992 IRS decision to revoke a Florida church’s tax-exempt status after the church placed campaign ads in newspapers against Bill Clinton.
My guess is the IRS definition for tax-exempt status is pretty well-defined and there needs to be a clear violation of the definition by the church organization in order for the IRS to take action. In the case of the Catholic & Mormon churches in the 2009 People’s Veto of Marriage Equality, the churches made donations to NOM, an intermediate party who, on the surface, promotes “the sanctity of marriage” (but only for straight people). This allows the churches to be “once removed” from the actual action of placing anti-Marriage Equality ads. The churches made their usual condemnations of Marriage Equality but the anti-Marriage Equality ads were produced and paid for by NOM. Apparently, this action was enough of an “arm’s length” separation that the churches did not risk losing their IRS exemption.
The action by the Florida church, no matter how intolerant, despicable, and un-Christianlike, probably was not a criminal action per se, but they did lose their coveted tax exempt status from IRS which would cause them a great deal of financial hardship.
And, in reality, the Florida church should have lost its tax-exempt status. It was dabbling in politics in the secular world. In the First Amendment it is quite clear the separation of church and state. That is a two-way street. Churches are given the tax-exempt status not because the government is favoring or pandering to religion, but as an acknowledgement that these institutions are not a part of the secular world (and thus cannot be taxed). They are separate entities. If a church wishes to join the secular world by campaigning in the political world, then it loses this “free agent” status and thus is subject to taxes just as are the rest of us in the secular world. “You want to play, you have to pay.”
Furthermore, since the church does not own the word, “marriage,” as it also is used by the State to describe the secular marriage contract between two people, it has no say in what the State defines as a legal, secular marriage. If the church does not agree, then it is not compelled to perform such marriages nor even recognize the marriage within the walls of its church. However, the State recognizes the marriage and for the purposes of legal issues, insurances, benefits, and so forth, this is sufficient legally for most couples. A good analogy is that a straight couple can be married by a Justice of the Peace (or Notary in Maine), and as far as all other 49 States and international countries are concerned, that couple is legally married. I have heard the Catholic church (and perhaps others) do not consider the couple married until they go through a church ceremony. That is fine and up to the church and the couple. But, where the line is crossed is when the church starts to define marriage for the State. The church does not have a dog in this fight.
It is hard for me to be brief on anything, I have concluded.
If you are so against “indoctrination” then you must be appalled at our colleges these days. Students there also are not taught to think – they are indoctrinated by liberal professors whose agendas most definitely are often anti-American.
You have a point – however, Jesus Christ’s teachings are not the problem. Granted, they have been abused both by secular AND religious groups. If one followed the teachings of Jesus along with the “golden rule” and the 10 commandments, this world would be a much better place.
I have to agree with you. The problem seems to be the interpretation of the teachings of Jesus by the various churches and the idea that the churches wish to force their particular interpretation into our secular world. The secular world doesn’t give a hoot either way except that it does not want a particular religious interpretation forced upon it. Seems reasonable to me.
What I find amazing is that often those raised from birth in the entrenched thinking of a particular church often seem disturbed and troubled, and perhaps, even threatened or fearful, by the idea that those of us who were not, can live a perfectly normal life, be happy and contented, being very comfortable in our own skin, and do not have this threat of “eternal damnation” hanging over our heads.
I recall one life-long friend, when her Catholic church (a member since birth), disagreed with same-sex marriage. She looked at me pensively – “Chuck, don’t you want your marriage blessed by the Holy Mother Mary something-or-other?” To her, this “blessing” of my same-sex marriage was critical and very important. I, on the other hand, had no idea what she was talking about. It is her inability to recognize that other religions (and no-religion) actually exist and perhaps do not really care one way or another about her religious beliefs that troubles me. I think it is fair to compare this type of brainwashing right up there at the level used in North Korea.
Here is the simple fact – for many of us, just following the golden rule, the gist of the 10 Commandments (thou shalt not kill, etc.), and having a solid ethical background, all of which is secular, is more than enough for us and for society. I appreciate people are trying to “save” me, but really I am fine. Really.
Yeah, “saving” you may be the thing that hurts you, your freedom and independence. Saving someone by someones means and desires could be oppression to someone else. As mentioned in Moses’ law, or Exodus twice, do not opress anyone.
As mentioned in our original doctrine, the Declaration of Independence, we are all endowed by our creator to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and the 14th amendment states that no one can take life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or the 5th amendment.
Yeah, leave them alone so you do not unreasonably seize someone, or treat them cruelly.
Fathers, or parents do that, ready to receive you with more love than you, or a child, could ever imagine.
Great reason to string up some lights so we can see. I wonder if it helps with winter depression too. For that matter , I think lights should be hung at least until after Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Obviously, your comment didn’t get removed and sparked a lively conversation. Seems like you and Chuck have made a fast friendship. That’s great, we all need friends.
I am puzzled by one thing…. I am reading your comments and it seems that you think me teaching my child to live in a way in which she followed what Christ called the second greatest commandment , “Love thy neighbor as thyself” (translated by many as “treat others the way you want to be treated”) is wrong.
You seem, in many of your comments (both here and in other places on the BDN site) to be in favor of children being protected. On that we agree wholeheartedly. I agree with you that people should not preach hate. I agree that we all have free will and you should be allowed that choice on your own.
I vehemently disagree that teaching my child the way that my husband and I believe is the best for her is abusive. I take great exception to you saying these things here where those teens could read how you believe their parents are abusing them for having them participate in Christmas Eve service… which, I am sure most of them saw as quite an honor. No, I do not attend the church discussed in the article BTW.
I am not going to tell you how to believe. That would be rude. However, can you afford me the same respect and not assume that I am damaging my child by teaching her that she is a special wonderfully made person who has a God who loves her and took the time out of his obviously busy schedule just to create her with her individual talents, features, and attributes?