Christmas 2012, December 25, Jesus Christ message, Tolkien CS Lewis, Where there is darkness light, Jesus Christ transformed the Earth

“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”…First Corinthians 1:25

In pondering what to write for Christmas Day my thoughts were dispersed, distracted and delayed. But that often happens.

I believe that in many ways we have become distracted and have missed the point.

In recent discussions with a wise lady, who happens to be Roman Catholic, we both shared observations about the human side of Barack Obama, what has formed his thought processes and the fact that he is a prisoner to his influences.

This does not apply only to Obama but to many on the left, to many people who believe that the problem with gun attacks is guns. Many of these people have no grounding in religion, a moral compass and right from wrong. They are driven by knee jerk feelings and political ideologies.

I have become less of a fan of organized religion and more a proponent of what Christ actually said and did. I am not against organized religion but I believe that we have lost our way with it and have let too many layers of interpretation and discussion and intermediaries come between us and the essence of Christ’s simple message.

The impact we have on others combined with the “smallness” of the world is powerful. Each life touches the lives of others and can ultimately be world changing. A good Christmas example of this is the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, one of my favorites. Another example of how small the world is, “6 degrees of separation” and one person changing the lives of others is this. One of my friends knew Tolkien and CS Lewis. Small world. But the bigger story is the impact of the life of Tolkien on CS Lewis and the world.

From The Blaze December 12, 2012.

“In “The Christian World of the Hobbit,” a new literary analysis of the popular writer, author Devin Brownexamines the intense religious nature of Tolkien’s written works. In a recent interview with CBN.com, Brown provided some fascinating tidbits of information. Among them, a fact that many Tolkien fans might not be aware of: “The Hobbit” author was responsible for bringing C.S. Lewis to the Christian faith.

Here’s what Brown had to say about Tolkien’s religious views and his assistance in helping Lewis find Christ:

[Tolkien] was Roman Catholic. His mom converted; she had been an Anglican. His dad died. So, he went with her in the Catholic faith and was very devout, very pious. That said, when he helped bring Lewis to Christianity—he didn’t bring him to Catholicism, he brought him to Christianity. Certainly, his commitment to Christ was first and his denomination second. But, yeah, he was very pious, went to church not just every Sunday, but often every day. He was one of those kind of people, that I don’t know that very many of them exist anymore.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/did-you-know-about-these-christian-themes-in-j-r-r-tolkiens-the-hobbit/

What the nonbelievers fail to realize and we fail to present is not only the message of love, peace and tranquility of Jesus Christ but the impact on the Earth that he had.

Here are some simple, self evident, truths for all to ponder.

Jesus was born in the Middle East of medium skin color, right in the middle, not black, not white.

Christianity transformed the Roman Empire.

Christianity tamed the vikings.

Christianity was a dominant force in stopping Nazi Germany.

There is clearly good and evil in this world.

“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.”…Saint Francis