Some may recognize this phrase from the story of the prodigal son from the Gospel of Luke in the Bible. The young man in the story asked for his inheritance in advance and took off to the big city where he soon began to have a good time with lots of friends. But when the money ran out, so did his friends and he ended up working for food on a pig farm. We Iowans should be able to relate to that.

     The main point of this parable that Jesus told was, of course, a message of forgiveness. The young man eventually “came to himself”, realized his mistakes, returned to his father and repented of his sin and was welcomed home. And though I simply love that primary point of the parable and preach that theme throughout the year at my church, there’s also some very practical lessons concerning our finances in the parable too. 

     So what can we learn to help us in 2012? I find several things. First, don’t insist on having it all now. The young man in the story couldn’t stand to have something that...

 

I’ll give America one thing, that being, that we celebrate Christmas like nobody in history. Our entire society, except for a few scrooges, enjoys the season of gift giving and decorations, a joyful atmosphere and some Christmas cheer, time with family and friends and hopefully an appreciation of the Christmas account.

Now before I get emails from the scoffers, yes, I realize that December 25th is most likely not the exact day that Jesus was born and yes, I realize that not everyone that enjoys Christmas practices the Christian faith but we don’t have to know the date that Christ was born to know Christ was born. And I’m simply not bothered at all that everyone celebrates this religious holiday in one way or another, no more than I’m bothered that people come to church on Easter that don’t go the rest of the year. In fact, I look at Christmas as the world’s largest evangelistic activity. For it puts the birth of Christ on the calendar for us to enjoy, Christian or not.

But under all the tinsel and bows, sometimes even behind the parties and get-togethers, there are some very important and wonderful things about the Christmas account. And if you’re willing to read on, this Bible believing pastor would love to share a few with you.

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