“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV).

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2 ESV).

In this election year there’s a lot of debate and dissension in our country. How do we find unity when we seem so far apart in our thinking?

What’s really at work here is deeper than politics and party platforms. There’s a battle simmering in our culture about the nature of reality, about what is really true and right. There’s a war of worldviews in America.

The dictionary defines worldview as:

world·view  (wûrldvyoo) n. 1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. 2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.

The Bible says that this war is really not against “flesh and blood.” In other words, it’s not against other people. It’s really against the evil one and the darkness of this world that deceives and darkens our thinking. This demonic and worldly deception is continually warring against our minds. Even Christians, who should have “transformed” minds and “renewed” ways of thinking are often caught up in the clutches of these worldly schemes.

The Barna Group took a national survey to see how a Christian or biblical worldview would affect their thinking on certain public issues. For the purposes of the survey, a biblical worldview was defined as follows:

• Believing that absolute moral truth exists;

• The Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches;

• Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic;

• A person cannot earn his or her way into heaven by trying to be good or do good works;

• Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and

• God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.

In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview. Overall, the research revealed that among those who identified themselves as born again Christians, only one out of five persons had a truly biblical worldview.

Not surprisingly, the Barna research found that adults without a biblical worldview had vastly different views of immoral and unethical behavior than those with such a view. For instance, those without a biblical worldview were:

• Around 100 times more likely to support abortion.

• Around 80 times more likely to say exposure to pornography is morally acceptable.

• 31 times more likely to believe living together before marriage is morally acceptable.

• 15 times more likely to believe homosexuality is normal and acceptable.

• 18 times more likely to endorse drunkenness.

• 12 times more likely to accept profanity.

• 11 times more likely to say adultery is okay.

• 8 times more likely to gamble by purchasing lottery tickets.

George Barna commented on the results of this survey, saying, “The primary reason that people do not act like Jesus is because they do not think like Jesus. Behavior stems from what we think—our attitudes, beliefs, values and opinions.”

As Christians, we should try to be good citizens and to be actively involved in the civic affairs of our country, but the real battle is the one for our hearts and minds. This battle is won one heart at a time. This war is waged by putting on the “whole armor of God,” so that our worldview comes into alignment with God’s as revealed in Scripture. Then, being salt and light, we can prayerfully and powerfully call others to the peace found only in the gospel.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV).

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4 KJV).

My wife is a very curious woman. She loves surprises, but she works like Sherlock Holmes trying to uncover the mystery before hand. This makes surprising her at birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas a real challenge.

Did I mention that I love a good challenge?

Some years ago I used the nested box trick to keep her guessing. I had bought her a pair of amethyst earrings and had them wrapped at the jewelers in a tiny gold box. After sneaking the gift in the house, I rushed up the stairs and selected a series of ever-larger boxes that she had laid out in the guest room (She used this room to wrap packages for Christmas every year).

I placed the tiny gold box inside a slightly larger box and wrapped it. Then, I placed that box into one larger and so on until I had a gift box the size of a microwave. To keep her from getting suspicious when she shook the box (She liked to sneak and shake the boxes under the tree to guess what was in them), I filled each box with newspaper and added a five pound weight from my barbell set for good measure.

“Good gracious! What in the world is in this box?” She asked after admitting her failed attempts at shaking and guessing.

“You haven’t been sneaking and shaking boxes again?” I accused.

“Well, yes… I um… had to vacuum and I tried moving that big red box and it’s really heavy. What in the world is in there?”

“Your Christmas present.” I answered.

“Well, I can’t imagine what it is.” She continued with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Exactly.” I said with a confident shake of my head.

By the way, I’m not the first to come up with this whole gift within a gift idea at Christmas. In fact, the very first Christmas, God gave us such a gift.

When you read John 3:16 in the original Greek, you will notice a clause followed by two dependent clauses. I love studying God’s Word, not only does every word have meaning, but even the grammatical structure of its sentences reveal truth.

A simple expression of the structure of this verse looks something like this:

•         For God so loved the world,
•                 that he gave his only begotten Son,
•                         that whosoever believeth in him
•                                 should not perish,
•                                 but have everlasting life.

Look closely at this diagram. Can you see the nested gift boxes from God?

The outer box that contains everything is God’s LOVE. God’s love is the motivating cause that produced the effect of the next, which is the gift of God’s Son, who is the LORD. Inside the gift of the Lord Jesus is the gift of LIFE. This gift is available to “whosoever” believes in Jesus.

God has given us a gift within a gift within a gift. But there’s one more surprise inside God’s gift of life… LIGHT! Whenever the life of Jesus is received, the Light of the World shines forth.

LOVE – LORD – LIFE – LIGHT – That’s the nested gifts that God offers us this Christmas!

When Robin opened the gigantic box on Christmas Eve and dug through box after box until she discovered the shiny earrings in the tiny golden box, she was overjoyed. That was a memorable Christmas for both of us. I love surprising my wife and she loves being surprised.

I think God must love surprising us too.

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11 ESV).

“Unto you.” What unusual language. This is the message that the heavenly host declared to the shepherds watching their flocks at night.

“Unto who?” The shepherds may have asked.

Instead, they said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made know to us” (Luke 2:15 ESV).

This child was born as a gift unto us, unto the whole world. Have you ever really looked to “see this thing that has happened?” Because this is a very special gift. It is a gift that we must individually decide to receive. And it is a gift that once received, calls us to be those who give in the same way. There are at least three words that help us understand this gift:

• A Sacrificial Gift. Jesus, the Son of God, gave up His heavenly status and stooped down to become a man. Born not in a king’s palace, but in a stable. Not in a bed, but in a lowly manger filled with hay. Jesus left heaven’s glory and took on man’s garbage, becoming a sin sacrifice for us.

• A Relational Gift. God didn’t send money. He didn’t send a Christmas card. He sent His only begotten Son. Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s word that spoke of the Messiah to come whose name would be “Immanuel,” God with us. Jesus came to be with us.

• An Incarnational Gift. Jesus is God in the flesh. This is what made the angels sing. Their King had become a man. They came as heavenly heralds proclaiming His entrance into this world.

Have you received this gift that was given “unto you?” Having received it, are you giving gifts this Christmas that carry the same three attributes?

Are you giving sacrificially to your church and to those in need?

Are you giving your presence, instead of more presents, spending quality time with people who need a friend?

And are you telling them about Jesus? Are you acting as His body in this world, proclaiming that the real meaning of Christmas is that the Savior, Christ the Lord has been born unto us?

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:1-2 ESV).

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world” (C.S. Lewis).

I don’t mean to sound like a “Scrooge,” but I say, “Bah, humbug!” to overspending this Christmas.

Have you noticed that the more you spend, the less you are actually satisfied? There seems to be a crazy countering equation at work here. Once basic needs are met, spending on ourselves has ever diminishing results. Like a drug addict, our self consumption requires more and more spending to get the same effect.

How do we break this addiction? Simple. Or should I say, “Simplify.” Start simplifying your life. Live beneath your means. Don’t go into debt. Give your presence this Christmas, instead of more presents. Be with friends and family. Sing Christmas carols. Eat good food and tell the story of Immanuel, God with us.

So, what do you do with the money you don’t spend? Invest it in the Kingdom. That’s the only way to experience real satisfaction. Stop being a consumer, a taker, and start being a giver. Stop buying worldly things that will never satisfy, and start investing in eternal things.

Start a new family tradition this Christmas. Spend less and give more. Satisfaction guaranteed.

“Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…'” (Acts 2:38 NIV84).

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV84).

This coming Sunday we’re finishing our sermon series called “Faith Foundations” with a message about baptism. When I’m preparing for a message everything that happens that week tends to be seen through the lens of my study. This week has been no different.

Studying the doctrine of baptism, I’ve been thinking about how it symbolizes what Christ did for us and how it marks the beginning of a fresh start, a new life following Him. I’ve also been researching what the Bible says about the mode of baptism, so the practices of sprinkling versus immersion must be considered.

Speaking of new starts and immersion, we’ve decided to deep fry a turkey for Thanksgiving this year. The passing of my wife’s parents in recent years has left us struggling with how to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We always drove to their home in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia every year. Arriving on Wednesday evening, we would stay through Saturday and each day had its own unique tradition of large meals and family fun.

But now our children and grandchildren look to us for what to do at Thanksgiving. That’s where the deep-fried turkey comes in. We’ve never done it before and it seemed like a good idea for a new tradition. So, I bought a 30 quart turkey fryer that uses a propane burner. I’ve studied the process carefully and interviewed several “turkey fryer aficionados.” These turkey chefs are passionate promoters of the fried bird, yet they all offered surprising warnings of what not to do.

“Don’t cook it on your deck. I got a buddy who burned his deck down cookin his turkey!”

“Make sure the bird isn’t frozen. If that turkey isn’t thawed, it’ll explode out of that hot oil like a guided missile across your yard!”

“Lower the turkey into the oil slowly, don’t just drop it in there. And for goodness sakes, make sure you have enough oil. It’ll take at least three gallons to completely immerse the whole bird. You don’t want a partially cooked turkey!”

Awesome. Apparently, this can be a dangerous yet delicious method of cooking, which makes it all the more attractive for the men in my family.

So, later today we’ll be immersing a completely thawed, season injected, 18 pound turkey into over three gallons of boiling peanut oil, cooked over an open, propane driven flame. I hope this new tradition doesn’t turn out to be a “baptism by fire.”

Pray for us. We will let you know how our attempt at a new tradition turns out.