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Special Focus:
Reason for the Season?

A new year can be a source of hope or a source of despair. How are you feeling about 1998? What lies ahead? Check out our special focus on the holidays for insights about this and any new year.


New Year's:

Starting Over
James Nuechterlein
Starting over--the idea appeals to all of us, and not only in our jobs. This explains the otherwise (to me) inexplicable appeal of the New Year's holiday. New year, new possibility. This time I'll get it right.

Time and Busyness
Kerby Anderson
It has, perhaps, always been true that "time is money." But for the current generation, this maxim has a new twist. In the frenetic 90s, time has become even more scarce than money and therefore more valuable.

How Much Time Is Left
John H. Stoll
Regardless of whether a person is a Christian or not, it seems as if the question of how much time is left in the world is on the mind. To the Christian the question is, when will Christ return to take Christians home to heaven?

Disillusionment in the 1990's
Kerby Anderson
The changing social and economic conditions of the 1990s are turning this into the decade of disillusionment. Millions of baby boomers who grew up in a world that fed and nurtured their expectations are facing a world much different than the one in which they were raised.

Christmas:

Is Christmas Necessary?
Jerry Solomon
What do you think of when you hear the word "Christmas"? Frantic shopping? Family traditions? A commemoration of the birth of Jesus? Or a combination of all these responses and more?

The Necessity for Christianity
Paul Johnson
The truth is that all of us are Jekyll and Hyde creatures, part saint, part beast. The great strength of Christianity is that, while insisting that man is made in the image of God, it accepts that there is a radical flaw in the reproduction.

The Theology Behind Christmas Music
Robert A. Pyne
Most radio stations play some type of Christmas music during the holiday season, but many of the songs have become so familiar to us that we no longer consider their content.

Mere Christianity
Edward H. Pauley
As any reputable historian can attest, movements and institutions have a way of changing over time, sometimes within one generation, so that they are almost unrecognizable to later observers. Historic, orthodox Christianity, on the other hand, has maintained an identity and continuity at its core for nearly two thousand years. Why is this so?

Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving Quiz
Kerby Anderson
This nation was founded by Christians, and Thanksgiving is a time when we can reflect upon this rich, Christian heritage. But many of us are often ignorant of our country's origins. This Thanksgiving quiz tests your knowledge about this nation's biblical foundations.

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789
This historic proclamation was issued by George Washington during his first year as President. It sets aside Thursday, November 26 as "A Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer."

Washington's Original Thanksgiving Proclamation
An actual copy of The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789 containing the proclamation issued by George Washington setting aside Thursday, November 26 as "A Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer."

Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863
This historic proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln. It sets aside the last Thursday of November as "a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father Who dwelleth in the heavens.."

A Theology of the Grace of God
John H. Stoll
In order for us to properly develop according to God's word, we must begin with the "bottom line" of, who God is and His relationship with us. Therefore, a need to understand a theology of God's grace.

Worship
Jerry Solomon
As is true with many terms used among Christians, the word "worship" can become a cliché devoid of significant content if we don't stop to consider its meaning.



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