THE MOST
Kyle Reardon
PERFECT GIFT
Every Christmas I am reminded again and again by cartoon shows, story books, and the cast of “Full House” that this holiday is not about the presents; it’s about family and the joy of giving. Then I go to church and I learn that we need to put aside the simplicity of eggnog, turkey, and Christmas trees and remember that this day is not just about the traditions many of us love. It’s not about Mariah Carey’s fantastic Christmas album, or even Bing Crosby’s for that matter. No, I am reminded, “Jesus is the reason for the Season.” I am told the story of his birth, and we all enjoy celebrating the coming of God into the world as a child. But here’s the thing: we celebrate and remind ourselves and each other that Jesus’ birth is what we should focus on, the idea of the most perfect gift was given to people who did not deserve it; we focus on how Jesus, not the commercial world of gifts and presents is what drives the joy in the season. In fact, we celebrate it so much that the baby Jesus himself becomes what part of him stands against. Baby Jesus becomes a product, something you buy in the store to bring home then pack away in January. Now this is a literal observation⎯yes, you can buy little baby Jesus figures and all⎯but it is also the idea that the greatest gift in the history of mankind has become something that companies know they can turn a profit off of. Cards, pictures, mugs, figures,
nativity scenes—there is so much Christianity to buy! Is this a bad thing? Is it so wrong to celebrate the birth of Christ with ornaments and such? No, not at all—the danger is in the attitude toward such things. We cannot allow companies to package and sell our Lord. We cannot let people create images of one of the greatest moments in human history simply because they know we’ll snatch it up like starved dogs. We, as people, must recognize what we are truly encouraging. We cannot preach the perfect gift of Christ to our neighbors, and then hand them a toy of God and expect it to carry the same weight. We cannot look to trinkets, ornaments, and cards to hold the beauty of God as an infant. Destroy them all? No, but know that it is a terribly humble representation of one of the most beautiful gifts ever given. Offer instead the attitude and knowledge of what has been given. Talk to people instead of handing them trinkets; care for people instead of reminding them that you might care if they ask for it; and love people instead of showing them that, well, someone probably cares with a little plastic statue of a Wise Man. Resist those who push Jesus as a product, and embrace the knowledge of what really happened, and what we can only do our best to represent.
IT’S HERE, SPREAD THE CHEER Christin Davis
The pumpkin with triangle eyes and buckteeth is gone, the leftover turkey is just about cleared from the fridge, and that means one thing—the finest time of the year is upon us. As soon as lights line the edges of houses, I can’t help but feel an extra morsel of joy deep within—it’s Christmas time! The candy canes, the bows, the parking lots full of trees to decorate, Louis Armstrong on the radio, the smell of cinnamon in my house all make each day in December that much better. I like the abundance of holiday paraphernalia in stores and on street corners; they’re indicators that Jesus’ story is out there, and where it’s not, these props provide countless conversation starters. It’s interesting how the spirit of the holidays affects society. There seems to be more joy at this time of year—maybe happiness really is contagious—as strangers greet strangers, old friends reconnect, and a helping hand is often easier to find. I even find myself wanting to be of service more during the
LISTED Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Random House Publishing
Before Dr. Dre there was Dr. Suess and the master of rhyme is at his best in this iconic Christmas classic. I suggest playing your favorite Hip Hop instrumental and reading it aloud while acting all “hard” in front of a mirror.
Songs for a Cause Various Artists
13 Christmas tracks from 13 chart topping artists (including Kelly Clarkson and Alicia Keys) ringing up at $5.99 makes this CD the perfect gift. Plus $2.00 from every CD sold goes to support the efforts of The Salvation Army. Available only at Target.
A Christmas Story
holidays. And why not? This is the time of year our church needs more help than ever with food and toy distributions, visitations, and kettle ringing. So if you have that jolly-filled urge to help others, do it! Santa won’t mind the help. Ask your corps officer or youth director how you can help. Assemble and distribute food boxes and Christmas toys. Visit rest homes with a stack of paper snowflakes for the rooms. Sit by the angel tree in the mall and collect toy donations. Ring a bell at a red kettle. Count kettle donations. Give out candy canes at the corps’ door and invite people inside. Organize a children’s Christmas play/performance. Decorate your corps. Open an online kettle and send it to all your friends. Go caroling at a shelter.
HIT THE LINKS popularfront.com/snowdays
What’s better than sitting around the fireplace roasting chestnuts while cutting out paper snowflakes? How about making paper snowflakes online? Now you can! Try it. It’s fun.
isitchristmas.com Is it Christmas yet? Find out the truth here.
sendables.jibjab.com Tired of boring Christmas cards? Send a personalized video with an uploaded picture of your friend’s face. You can put their head on a dancing elf body, something they’ve desired since birth.
thehungersite.com Give two gifts at a time this year! Thehungersite.com store is free trade, which means that none of the products are made using slave labor. When you buy a gift for someone here, you are also helping the maker of the gift.
onlineredkettle.org Ringing a bell outdoors isn’t the only way to raise money for those in need. Stop by the online red kettle and help reach our national goal of $1,000,000 to help others. Get friends and family to donate too.
Warner Home Video(1983)
The only Christmas movie that dares to tackle the tough issues like: gun control, explicit language, child disciplinary methods, secret decoder rings, bunny costumes, and tacky furniture. A must see!
POTLUCK
is a product of The Salvation Army Western Territory Youth Department. For more info please contact: PTLK@usw.salvationarmy.org.
DON’T GO GREEN THIS CHRISTMAS ROB BIRKS You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch.
I grew up with the 1966 animated for TV version, narrated by Boris Karloff. You may be more familiar with the 2000 theatrical release, narrated by Anthony Hopkins and starring Jim Carrey in the title role. Dr. Seuss first introduced his holiday hoodlum in the 1957 book “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” The publishers of Potluck wouldn’t let me re-print the whole story here (something about a copyright), but if you’re not familiar with the story, (WARNING: Spoiler Alert!) suffice it to say that the Whos in Whoville almost had Christmas stolen one year by a greedy green grouch, (almost, but not quite). Yet on that Christmas morning in Whoville, with all their gifts gone, the Whos are still happy, they’re still singing. In the end, the Grinch realizes he hadn’t stolen the spirit of Christmas by stealing the stuff of Christmas. Here’s the thing: This Christmas, it’s not the 1957 Grinch, or the 1966 Grinch, or the 2000 Grinch that you and I need to worry about. It’s the 2008 Grinch (who, incidentally looks less like Jim Carrey and more like you and me) that would rob us of the redemptive power of Christmas, and leave us with nothing but rooms full of wrapping paper, empty wallets and purses, eggnog latte hangovers, and unfulfilled wish lists. Potluck read-
ers: Rebel. Don’t get your Grinch on this year. Ask for nothing (and be content with it). Spend less. Give more. Don’t steal Christmas, or let it be stolen. Instead, rediscover, recapture, and reclaim Christmas. If the words of Dr. Seuss don’t do it for you, how about Dr. Luke, who many Bible scholars believe wrote his gospel account and the book of Acts? In Acts 20, Paul is saying goodbye to the Ephesian Church, and the words of Jesus are on his mind. I’ve never, as you so well know, had any taste for wealth or fashion. With these bare hands I took care of my own basic needs and those who worked with me. In everything I’ve done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You’ll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting’ (Acts 20:33-35, MSG).
TEXTest:
1. Confess our greed to God. 2. Refuse to “go green” this Christmas. 3.Cultivate a healthy distaste for wealth or fashion and a heart that looks after the weak and exploited. 4. Be creative in giving to OTHERS. (I’ll Fight Day is a great way to die to our Grinchy ways-www.illfightday.com).
LABEL ME S2S PROJECT #386
Task: Offer yourself to people in your corps that may need help addressing Christmas envelopes or Christmas gifts.
Why: Each year many people struggle to fill out mailing labels or gift labels due to arthritis or weak hands. Helping those in need will share Christmas joy and allow people to send out those very informative newsletters.
How: Post a sign at the corps and/or share with the home league offering your service. Set up a date on a Sunday, buy some lunch, hang out and help out.
Tip: Set up a database in Excel or Word and print out labels. Labels can be purchased at any office supply store and they are cheap. Once you have the database in place, you can offer to print those out anytime if they wish to send something else.
Jim Sparks
PICTURE THIS
Excited about a new pink blouse she had just selected, this little girl held the shirt up and exclaimed, “Look what I picked out!” Having grown up in a family where money is tight, she hasn’t often bought new clothes. Recently, however, this girl was one of the kids that participated in a Sears shopping spree to buy clothes, shoes and winter coats. With the help of The Salvation Army, countless underprivileged children like her are being helped in desperate times of need. During this Christmas season, get involved with the work that your corps does in the community. Don’t just participate, be a leader and get your friends out there with you! It will be a learning experience you won’t forget.
Nikole Lim
LEXICON GONE WILD
Major Ivan Wild
The true meaning of Christmas...literally! Crises maesse: aka Christ’s mass, aka Christmas. The phrase crises maesse first appeared in writing in 1038 AD, using the Greek word Christos (English: Christ) and the Latin word missa (English: mass) to refer to the celebration or the service of Christ’s birth. However, in ancient manuscript records from as early as 345 AD, Christians were celebrating the birth of Jesus as part of Epiphany on January 6th—the day of the Maggi’s visit with Jesus. The word missa is where we get “mass” from. Meaning “dismissal,” it was used in the early church at the conclusion of a worship service—Ite missa est, “go, it is the dismissal”—kind of like the sound of the bell at the end of class. Pope Gregory the Great in the 600s AD established the word “mass” to designate the “Eucharist,” known as fractio panis or breaking of bread— communion. In time, the term “mass” represented a liturgical service (an order of service with set readings, prayers, hymns, the breaking of bread and drinking of wine/grape juice). Many churches have different types of “mass”—Easter mass, Thanksgiving mass, Sunday mass, Good Friday mass. Christmas is Christ’s Mass, an observance of Christ.
The day we celebrate as Christmas Day, December 25, came about by converted Christians in the Roman Empire looking for a way to celebrate Roman festivals but not worship Roman gods. There was a winter solar festival called “geol” in December and this is most likely the way the 25th became the day for “Christ mass.” The old English word for geol is “yule,” as in Yule Tide Greetings. The infusion of Christmas trees, Santa Claus/Saint Nickolas, Christmas carols and Christmas cards became popularized in the 1800s. Old traditions throughout Europe have become many of our rituals and trimmings of Christmas. Things to consider: There are many prophecies in the OT predicting the birth of Jesus and two of the four gospels (Mathew and Luke) describe the birth of Jesus. His birth is the great truth of God coming in the flesh: “His name shall be called Emmanuel⎯God With us.” The story of the birth of Jesus is not complete without the story of his resurrection. All four Gospels record the death and resurrection of Jesus; the NT tells us to remember his death and resurrection. We are to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Billions can be born and die, but only one can be born of a virgin, die and raise himself from the dead—JESUS.
WORLD WATCH Need knows no region.
Christmas is a time of red kettles, turkeys and, most importantly, presents. We’re all wondering what our parents are going to get us this Christmas, and we’ll probably hold it over their heads until at least March if we don’t get the iPod touch or Wii we so desperately need. Wait, what? Are we still following Jesus? The Jesus who didn’t have a place to lay his head? The Jesus who told the rich man to sell all he had and give it to the poor? The holiday Christians use to celebrate the birth of that same man has become a tool for businesses to make tons of money. It is the major spending time of the year. What if, instead of exchanging gifts we can live without, we spent all of it on people less fortunate than us? Even the “poor” in America are rich compared to villagers in Malawi, Africa. Just $5 will buy a pair of glasses for a child in a developing country (iefusa.org). For a family in India, an $11 chicken will provide 200-300 eggs a year (gfa.org/donation). A goat for $75 will give dairy, cheese, yogurt, and extra income to families in Haiti and Kenya (donate.worldvision.org). A hospital in Zambia provides sanitary healthcare and health programs to the surrounding communities (sawso. org). At your own corps, families who can’t afford the best Christmas turkey or the nicest clothes will be helped (see your corps officer). A hundred years ago, Americans like you and me knew little about people overseas. Today, we have the opportunity to see how people in other countries live, and we have the blessing to be a part of their lives, showing them a bit of God’s love and generosity. And isn’t Christmas all about spreading God’s love?
Emily Ward
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O Holy Night
Jingle Bells
Dominick the Donkey
A Chipmunk Christmas
Christmas Shoes
Nothing says Christmas like Italian donkeys! Look this one up on iTunes, and I defy you to ever pry its sinister chorus loose from your cerebrium.
Another pick featuring animals. Not only irritating, but even as a child I found the concept of a grown man living with three singing chipmunks disturbing.
A song created to both induce tears and drive up shoe sales tops our list. Not only is this tune theologically unsound, it does nothing to squash the idea that women are obsessed with shoes.
Jim Sparks
This cult classic by Potluck writer and Saytunes recording sensation Jim Sparks is the unholiest rendition of a beloved Christmas classic. Listen at your own risk for free at Saytunes.com.
The Singing Dogs
This is a one-joke song that goes on for five verses. The Humane Society was formed to prevent stuff like this from happening. Just one more reason to spay and neuter your pets.
The Hit Co.
The Chipmunks
Newsong
CHRISTMAS LISTS Ethan Bradley Pop punk band Simple Plan’s song “My Christmas List” describes every “kid’s” unquenchable thirst for all the junk at Christmas: “Santa is coming tonight and I wanna car and I wanna life and I wanna first class trip to Hawaii. I wanna lifetime supply of slurpees and Eskimo pies, I wanna DVD a big screen TV. Just bring me things that I don’t need. Cause now it’s Christmas and I want everything, I just can’t wait.
Christmas so don’t stop spending, I wanna a million gifts that’s right. Don’t forget my Christmas list tonight.” What’s my Christmas list? As I reflect, ponder, and peer inwardly some deep thoughts emerge: I want fruits. Not fruitcakes, Fruit of the Loom, nor Froot Loops, but…fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). My top two: JOY: I want to receive an unshakeable happy feeling, not temporary or based on circumstances, but from the Lord. Its gotta be real bubbling from
within, not a plastered on smile. PATIENCE: I am impatient with strangers at the store, in traffic, with co-workers, and short with those closest to me, even myself. I need to give grace, extend mercy, and learn to suffer long. Sure the first class trip to Hawaii might be nice. I wouldn’t turn it down. But what I really need this holiday lasts forever. How ‘bout you? What are your top two?