Interesting Markian scriptures

Mark 10:34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." 
Notice the 4 specific things that Jesus prophesied about himself - mock, scourge, spit and kill. 
If you read the passion narrative in each of the gospels, you will see that this step by step prophetic word closely follows what actually happened during the trials of the high priest, Pilate and Herod. They mocked him by insinuating that he was the "Son of God," and a King. They scourged him and put the crown of thorns on His head. The soldiers spat on Him and mocked Him. Finally he was crucified.
It seems like Jesus saw the story unfolding before Him before it even happened. It was a prophetic story with the outline and sequence all laid out. I imagine, God sees the whole of eternity at one time and then picks out the story to give to the prophet - in this case, Jesus who prophesied His own death and resurrection. Why didn't the disciples get it? Why didn't they understand what was going to happen. Couldn't they foresee the story before it happened? Why didn't they understand? My guess is, the story was not understood because it was not meant to warn them right then and there, but to serve as a reminder after the fact, that Jesus was really the King, the Son, the Prophet, the Priest and the Lord God. 
Sometimes prophetic purpose isn't immediately understood; only in hindsight can we really see the purpose of the prophetic word.
Many prophetic words can only be understood when the word is completed because our minds are somewhat darkened by God himself. If the disciples had really understood the prophetic word, they may have tried to prevent the will of God by not hindering Jesus to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. This would have been a tragedy. The disciples might have risen up in action to prevent the crucifixion of Jesus, thus thwarting the ultimate will of God. This is why, even though many times the enemy tried to kill Jesus, by throwing Him off a mountain or by pushing Him off of a cliff or even hiding himself from the crowds so that he wasn't prematurely killed by the Romans. In addition He didn't want Jesus to die under Herod's malevolent hand, like John the Baptist. 
All in all, this scripture in Mark, reminds us that God knows the plan, the future and even the intimate details; however, it is not for us to manipulate God's will or plan, only to trust and obey, even if things seem to be outside our understanding, we must still trust that God has a plan and that all things work out for our good.
The flip side to this, the book of Job reminds us that even when God's plan seems to be counter to our own plans or our thinking, that God is the God of the whole universe. Even though we are limited in our understanding, we can't just blame God for bad circumstances. God's will be done - and He will accomplish His perfect will even when it contradicts our thinking and our plans. He knows the plans He has for us, not for evil but for good.
Mark's style of writing is full of dramatic imagery, action and emotion. This scripture is atypical of his writing style - he uses very succint and dramatic words to describe the actions of our Saviour. In this scripture, it is obvious that the essence of this scripture is to get the right words and the right flavour of the prophetic. It's obvious that Mark does not use unnecessary language to describe the action or sequence of events. We know that we get to the very heart of what Jesus was saying and we can trust that Mark recorded what Jesus actually said.
This scripture excites me because of the culmination of the final events and magnificent finality of the the events and also because we now understand how much Jesus is on the inside of the story, communicating with the Father. Jesus is not a casual observer, with events unfolding without His foreknowledge, but He is an active participant, willingly allowing the Godhead to take the story to it's final conclusion. Jesus is not being carried along by unknown events, unable to change the story, He is letting the Godhead unfold the events one step at a time and with logical clarity of mind and purpose. Events and actions were not happening, to Him; they were guided by Him. He was the director and the actor; the protagonist and the antagonist. Satan thought he was killing Jesus for his own purpose; however Jesus fooled him by willingly offering up Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. The Godhead used the actors in the stage to complete His good work and we, who are reading the story understand things in the story that the disciples did not get. We almost want to insert ourselves into the story in order to warn the disciples of the story behind the story, the resurrection story.
Each step of this drama was written long before time began. God's story of redemption was already written when Eve bruised the serpents head, and now it culminates in the final victory over death, when Jesus was crucified and resurrected.
All of this in one little scripture in the book of Mark.
Amazing, eh! 

The Kingdom of God

I did a cursory study of the Kingdom of God (heaven), in the New Testament and I found many metaphors, symbols and similes. Just in Matthew alone it is called a: mystery, sower who sowed, grain of mustard seed, leaven, treasure, net, separated from the world, for the righteous, treasure, good seed, merchant seeking beautiful pearls, dragnet (not the movie), householder, for little children, hard for the rich to enter, like a landowner who went out, taken from you, like a king, like ten virgins who with lamps, like a man traveling, present with power, at hand (or near depending on the version you are reading).

 I believe, based on this specious reading of scripture that you would concur with me that, the kingdom of God or heaven, as it is varously translated, is not something easily grasped or understood. Even the disciples were told that that it was given to them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, but to the unlearned and wicked, Jesus would teach in parables. Why would he do such a thing? Why wouldn't he just tell them that He was doing something different, like replacing the Law with a new Law of the Spirit. Why didn't he just make it plain to them, as in the plain truth of the kingdom. Why teach through metaphors and symbolism?

In my work with companies, a lot of what we do is to help develop a new thinking paradigm -which is called the "Thinking Way," or a developing a Learning organization. The way we do this is by helping develop the skills of individuals to identify opportunities for improvement through rigorous attention to everyday identification of problems/opportunities. We call this developing a Learning culture. Now culture is not something you can see or feel, but you know it when you see it. It is developed, by people, through daily repetition and re-inforcement.

I believe this is what Jesus was doing with the disciples. He was teaching them a new culture, a new pardigm. Instead of just giving them the answer, He was teaching them to see what the Kingdom of heaven was like so they could see it themselves and would be able to teach it to others. All of the questions they asked Jesus, like why don't you just tell us plainly- Are you the Christ? - were attempts by Jesus to teach them a new way of thinking. He wanted them to live and breath the kingdom - not just head knowledge but actual living of the Kingdom.

He could have given them a prescriptive version of the Old Testament ten commandments and thereby get acceptance of a new updated collection of laws. Or he can try to get their heart involved by getting deeper into their souls by the ongoing questioning, reinforcing by miracles and signs, and the deeper teaching about what the kingdom of heaven was like. The Old Testament was like a slogan you see in many organization that read something like this - Vision - we will be the best company in our city. It's a nice sloga, but what does it really mean, how do you actually become the best company? Will slogans change people's hearts and minds so they start to live the slogan, or is there a better way?

I believe the better way to teach new thinking, is like Jesus did. He did it through actions, questioning, coaching, and metaphor. This is the way to get into the behaviours and thinking of people. Doing it explicitly by telling people what to do is not effective for long term change. This is what Jesus was all about - changing the world through the kingdom of God and doing that through people.

When thinking about all the metaphors for the kingdom and the frustrations of the apostles, think about what it takes to develop culture and you'll see that Jesus was all about changing culture and thinking of the whole nation of Israel and eventually the world.

Nest time you read the Sermon on the mount, read it with the kingdom in mind. Jesus was inaugurating a new kingdom and it was a kingdom based on His kingship and His mercy to us. If we simply read the scriptures and say we are in the kingdom because of our good deeds and perfection, we are missing the point. Jesus is the only perfect and sinless one, our role is to proclaim His perfection, His holiness and His righteousness - not ours since ours is as filthy rags.

The Jesus culture is a new life being lived by millions of Christians based on the new way of thinking - a culture of CI- or continuous improvement- always striving to do His will on a daily basis- as it says in scripture we strive for holiness and perfection - we're not there yet - but He is.

Ring the Bells

here is a powerful tradition in Christian churches to be a witness to the world through a variety of symbolic and iconic techniques. One of these is the ringing of bells.

When I was growing up in Galt Ontario, every Sunday morning, no matter where you were in the city, you could hear the bells ringing, telling the faithful (and the unfaithful) to remember God and the Lord Jesus. And yes, to come to church.


This strategy mirrors the Islamic tradition of calling the faithful to prayer 5 times a day through the use of a Muzzein or Adnan which is a faithful person, of inscrutable character (sometimes a blind person, who cannot be blamed for staring into people's homes) who goes through the town proclaiming a "call to prayer to the town or city. Not to be outdone, many Mulslim countries are using technology to call the faithful by using radio, television and the internet to call out to the masses- 5 times a day.

In Muslim countries, this is not seen as an inconvenience but a part of their cultural and religious heritage. As I said in the beginning, my culture and religious upbringing, included a call to prayer, and church and holiness, was through the ringing of bells on a Sunday morning and at other times as well.

At the end of WW1 and WW2 the bells rang throughout all of Britain. At many events of any significance in a countries history, bells proclaim times of solemn remembrance and of vital victory- reminding the people to bow and pray- to stand up and shout- to think and ponder- and to attend a special event. We can't lose this part of our religious and cultural heritage.

Many people will say that churches should just forget about this part of it's activities - it bothers people trying to sleep in on a Sunday. They will say that most people in North America rarely enter a church except for weddings and funerals. Why would we want to bother them and their right to privacy - their right to peace and tranquility - their right not to be bothered by those religious nuts who trumpet their message on street corners. People don't want to be bothered by the noise on a quiet Sunday morning or evening if such is the case.

The historical case is obvious, bells were used to remind disparate groups of rural people in long ago villages and communites. We have so many other ways to call people to prayer and church attendance, today. We use technology, why would we resort to an old fashioned bell to announce special events and a call to the faithful.

The point is, the church is a vital part of the fabric of North America. We are letting accommodation get in the way of vitality; the church has a "cause celebre" a famous right to bother our society by announcing Christ's triumphal return after his resurrection. We have the most famous cause to celebrate of any community, in any country, of any religion, in the world.

We have reason to celebrate and announce the call to prayer and the call to attend church and the call to community to think about Christ.

If you think community prayer is not important read the following story about a call to prayer in a U.S. community:

"And so has the state of South Dakota. In 2004, Republican Governor Mike Rounds proclaimed a state-wide day of prayer to ask for rain for the drought-plagued state. So the people of South Dakota prayed on May 23. And lo, it started to rain. And rain. And rain. For fourteen straight days, it rained. It rained so much that the parched ground couldn’t handle all the water. Some areas of the state flooded and Governor Rounds had to call in FEMA to assess the damage.

So a call to prayer, using whatever means necessary, using the Bells of churches to remind the faithful and the unfaithful or our Christian faith and our Christian obligation, is not only necessary but our rights as citizens to proclaim our faith.

If somebody says we don't want to bother people by ringing bells on Sunday, remind them it is better to ring a bell now, than to neglect the trumpets of Christ, later.It is time for churches to ring the bells, ring the bells loudly and ring the bells often.

If the Muslims can call their people to prayer five times a day, we should be able to call Christians to prayer at least once a week, on Sunday, the day of our Lord's resurrection.Ring the Bells, tell your pastor or minister, that to ring the bell is to announce Christ's triumph over sin and death, and why should the devil have all the good music.

Musings on Christian faith: Avodah - A Powerful Hebrew word that has the stra...

Musings on Christian faith:
Avodah - A Powerful Hebrew word that has the stra...: "Avodah - A Powerful Hebrew word that has the strange mixture of worship/work/service. In some verses the word, Avodah means work, as ..."

Avodah - A Powerful Hebrew word that has the strange mixture of worship/work/service. In some verses the word, Avodah means work, as in to work in the field and to do common labor: Exodus 34:21 – “Moses renewing the covenant with God says, “Six days you shall work (adovah),” Psalm 104:23- “Then man goes out to his work (avodah), to his labor until evening.” In other verses, Adovah means worship, as in to worship You, O God. Joshua 24:15 – “but as for me and my household, we will serve (avodah) the Lord.” Exodus 8:1 – ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship (avodah) me. Taken together, Avodah suggests that our work can be a form of worship where we honor You, Lord God, and serve neighbor. “What a powerful image to think that that the word for working in the fields is the same that was used for worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Israelites understood that work could be a way to honor God and neighbor, to serve God and neighbor, and yes, to worship God and serve neighbor. Avodah. ” ~Avodah Institute Taken together we begin to see what God is describing is our relationship with Him. In the Hebrew language, it is not always clear what is exactly meant in the English, so many lexicons and translations have tried to find the closest word based on the context of the verse. That's why there are some discrepancies between the various translations of the bible.  Some would argue that because of these differences, we can't really know what the original writers meant when they wrote the bible. This is far from the truth, as scholarship of biblical texts is actually getting closer to the original text as more and older documents are found that help the translators to know the true meaning of the bible texts.  To me, this scholarship, the textual, and scholarly review of texts is, in itself an act of worship. I used to think that if someone studied the bible and then wrote out their sermons, that they weren't really inspired the same way my first pastor was when he would speak out the bible and preach without any notes. I was, at one time anti-scholarship because I believed that these scholars weren't as inspired as someone who used to just stand up and preach without preparation. Certainly now, I can tell you the most inspired sermons I've heard are written in books and educational materials and scholarly tomes that attempt to describe our faith and beliefs by studying the ancient scriptures and writing about our faith in Christ as saviour and God as the Creator of the universe. By the way the best sermon I ever read was a very thick book called "God" by Andrus Brakkel, a Dutch pastor in the 17th century. To me this is worship of the highest degree. This is high worship. This is what the Hebrew means by the connection between work/worship/service. This is a tremendous connection and it gives rise to the thinking that there are many forms of worship and many different expressions. That's why giving, and writing, and singing, and playing an instrument and silence and painting, and eating, and parenting and lighting a candle, and marriage and baptism and communion can all be acts of worship. It's all about the atitude of the heart. An act of worship has more to do with the direction or meaning of the heart than the actual act of worship itself.  If you lived as an ancient Hebrew, you would get this connection because everything you do would be a testament, a recognition of God's grace. That's why even today, the Jews will say a prayer before they get up out of bed. Even the act of washing ones hands after going to the bathroom is an act of worship that recognizes God's sovereignty in giving you life and giving you water and sanctifying you for one more day. The gift of life that God gives each and every day is a testimony to God's mercy and the things we do to thank him for it, take many forms. Try saying thank you more often, to God for every good and perfect gift comes down from your Father in heaven.  We can worship Him every hour upon hour upon minute upon every day and with everything we do, We Worship Him.

World news today

Okay, here it is. It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine. Yes those are the words to a song. And yes the world is coming to end, soon if you believe what you read on some "end times" sites. Just so you know, I jest. As far as I know the world will end when God says it will end, no sooner, and no later.

By the way I'm talking about earthquakes and tsunamis, and oil spills and hurricanes and earthquakes and storms and accidents and trees falling and Large Hadron Colliders in France/Switzerland.

The large hadron Collider is a physicists dream. It is a multi- billion dollar building that is miles or kilometres in circumference and it is supposed to measure the output and direction of sub-atomic particles when they are smashed together inside this huge machine.

Did you know there was actually a woman who committed suicide because she believed, that when the Larger Hadron Collider was turned on, when the atomic particles smashed into each other, that it would cause a massive shift in the universe and we would be summarily obliterated off the planet and the universe would cease to exist.

This woman was a Christian, and she felt that the Large hadon Collider was going against God's will for mankind and they shouldn't tamper with creation by smashing atoms together. Co-incidentally, the physicists were looking for something called the Higgs-Boson particle also known as the "God" particle and they felt they would find it by smashing atoms together in the Large hadron Collider. At a cost of several hundred billion dollars to look for this particle, they were looking for God?

I can tell you His address and His phone number and even His character. He lives in Heaven, His number is 7729- look on your phone - it means pray. His character can be seen in Jesus Christ. And yes He's got the whole world in His hands - yest there's another song in that one too.

By the way while we're on the subject of the end of the world, I don't think the earthquake in Japan signals anything in the cosmos or here on earth. It was a terrible day for Japan and we need to pray God's mercy on those in that area. The Fukujima nuclear plant is running out of time, and the people in that area need our prayers. If you know any names, then remember them before your Father in heaven. If not, just pray for God's wisdom on the engineers. You can't pay them too much these days.

If you read in Matthew 24, you'll find signs of the impending end. If you read revelation, you get the end of the story. All the way through you'll read about God's love for mankind. This is the foundation for our faith. If you're preaching fear and destruction, how does that give anybody hope or faith? We need to tell people about God's love and care for everybody and He doesn't want any suffering or torment for humanity. God is Love and he loves the people of Japan and China and Burma and Black's and whites and natives and gays and straight, the rich and the poor and the lofty and the lowly. God is not going around killing people to make some point about the end of the world as we know it. God loves the world - And I feel fine.

Events in History

May you live in interesting times. This originally was a Chinese curse that was thought to be heaped upon their enemies. We use it today as co-equal with "May all your dreams come true," or "May you get what you wish for." The usage of these terms and quotes is always about the perspective we might have when things happen to us or around us or to our friends and relatives.

Kim and I have been anxiously watching the events in Australia. For the last 10 years, in Queensland and other areas, they have had a drought, so much so in fact that they have had to develop de-salination plants and charge much more for water. They cannot use rivers and streams because they have been reduced to a trickle and have been polluted by over- farming in the area. As a consequence their ground water aquifers have been sorely reduced. They cannot take more than a five minute shower, in their homes because of the lack of water. This all happened before the most recent floods that happened in the Queensland area. The ground is so flat that there is no natural valleys to fill up when it rains, the water simply flows outward across many acres and into urban areas. This caused major flooding in the area. Many people lost their homes and some people lost their lives. This is not only interesting but tragic.

Most recently, this area of Australia was hit with a cyclone, destroying many houses and doing millions of dollars of damage to the coastal areas. This too was not only interesting, but tragic.

If you lived in these areas, you might think the end of the world was coming. You could quote some of Jesus' sayings about the end of the world, and believe the end was near.

You could look at the sudden death of 100 thousand birds as evidence of the end. You could look at earthquakes in divers places and say the end is near. You could look at the hundreds of tornadoes in the midwest of the U.S. and say the end is near. You could look at the global economic tragedy and say the end is near. You could look at September 11 and say the end is near.

As a matter of fact, it all depends on your perspective. Depending on where you are and when, might give you the idea that Christ's return is imminent, that the end He foretold is near. You might be right or you might be wrong.

I can tell you one thing for sure, no matter where you are in the world, the end is coming, Christ is returning, and we should be ready, everyday, to meet our maker.

My perspective on natural disasters is this - stuff happens. If we could go back in history, we would find the natural world has always been full of these disasters and people have been affected by them. The one sure thing in every situation is this, God is with us.

There are hundreds of earthquakes every year. You just don't feel them. Somebody else might, but you don't. There are hundreds of tornadoes every year. The same thing, you don't feel them, but somebody does, somewhere. There are wars, and there have been for thousands of years, you weren't around to  see them, but somebody was. There are storms, damage, cyclones, droughts, famine, hunger, habitat loss, floods, fires, rock slides, mud slides, wars, terrors and terrorists, disease, bugs, danger. They have existed all over the world since Adam and Eve. Just because you don't see them, somebody does, and somebody is affected by them.

The best thing to do is to be prepared to help whenever you can in whatever way can as soon as you can. God is with us, so we should be with those who are suffering, wherever that is. The message of Christ is that He is with us wherever we are, when we suffer and when we laugh. That's His name and His promise. I know I repeat myself sometimes but if we are going to give hope to the world, it has to be this, that God is with us in the storm, and in the sun. God is in control in spite of all the stuff that happens. He knows what is best for the earth and He knows what is best for us. Even if we go through trauma, God has a plan and a purpose. He doesn't reveal it to us, but he definitely wants us to know, He is with us.

I always tell my kids and those around me, "We don't know the end of the story." The lesson here is from Ecclesiates 3:11 "Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." God knows the end from the beginning. In this chapter He goes on to say "I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
15 That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God requires an account of what is past.

In other words "God has a plan." He knows the end from the beginning. He holds eternity in His hands. He says all things work together for our good, even if it is suffering or pain. This may not sound like the god you've always believed in, but I am comforted by the name of Jesus who is the "God with us." That is His name and his promise. Even in our darkest moments, moments of failure and disappointment, He is still "God with us." He never leaves us or forsakes us. As David said, "Though I make my bed in Sheol (hell) You will be there with me." He is ready to forgive all who call on Him. He is there in the day and night, in the pain and sorrow, He never leaves us. He knows the end of the story, because he is "in" the story with us. He wasn't just "God with us," on the cross, two thousand years ago. He is still "God with us," today.
So then, this the "how" we endure, and the "why" we endure, and the results, we leave up to God

Evil

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. Pain, pain, go away, don't come again another day.
As someone who lives with pain, who has seen it in loved ones- both physical and emotional, I'm always reminded of the gift that God gives. Yes, pain is a gift. The reason I say this, is because of a book I came across- I think it was all about pain. It was written by a doctor that specialized in leprosy and his thesis was that without being able to feel pain, the lepers don't know when something is wrong. They can stub their toes or scratch themselves in some benign way and the don't notice it until the smell of infection reminds them that they need to get medical care for their cuts and by then it is usually too late. They lose body parts regularly because their bodies cannot feel pain.

This is quite a shocker for those of us that use pain killers to survive our daily lives. How can something like pain, be good? Could pain be God's will? What a concept.
When I watch the National Geopraphic Channel, I'm reminded of how brutal nature can be. Now some would say that animals don't feel pain or that they were created as meat or God's provision for us. This may be true, but I remember seeing my dog go to the door after I took his cat friend, Emma. The cat was dying so we had to take her to the vet to have her put down. My dog whimpered and whined at the door when I left, and when I returned without her friend. Even before I left, the dog would lie on the floor with Emma as she lay on the floor writhing in pain. The dog seemed to know and was empathizing with the cat. The dog obviously was feeling something. This is not a treatise on the ethical treatment of animals. All I'm saying is the world is not so black and white. Animals do feel something and we are given the command to rule, with God's providence and care.

Of course this means we should care for God's creation, just as we should care for people. If someone is in pain, a natural desire is to alleviate that pain, even if pain is in God's original design. Now some would argue there is pain because the devil rules the world. I'm not sure about this doctrine, only because I remember Jesus talking about destroying the works of the devil and other such scriptures; however if you want to argue for the devil's reign on the earth then count me out. I have no such compunction to justify God or promote the devil.

As far as I'm concerned the subject of pain is fraught with images of children at sick kid's hospitals all over the world, in pain and drugged to keep the pain "manageable." Nobody in their right mind would say that this is God's will or plan. Or how about the tsunamis or hurricanes that devastate cities, or earthquakes that killed 250,000 people in Haiti or the ravages of disease that followed with cholera outbreak. How could any of these things be God's will and how can we pray about these things if they are God's plan any way. When someone is in pain, we have an obligation to do something.

I think the key might be the prayer of Jabez, "that I might not cause pain." This could be a mantra or a theme for any kind of work or prayer or philosophy - that, in all we do, we do not cause pain. If I could live by that everyday, maybe I could make the world a better place.

To all my friends and family

To all my friends and family. It's great to see and hear the moral angst when talking with people about Christmas and new years. Seasons Greetings, joyeaux Noel, Best of the season, May you know the joy of the season, Happy holidays etc. When I talk to business people or people in stores by phone or e-mail, you can hear it in the tone, that some people don't know how to respond or are uncomfortable with the whole politically correct thing to say. Interestingly enough, I've had conversations and e-mails from India and China, from Hindus and muslims and atheists and they all seem quite comfortable with the whole "Merry Christmas," thing. It doesn't bother me to be open about saying Merry Christmas and the people I talk to are not offended in the least.
Back when I was working in a children's treatment centre, I was told that you don't give physical touch to the children because it might be interpreted wrongly or I might open myself up to allegations of inappropriate touching. The problem was, I felt the children needed a hug from an adult because many of them had been abused by their parents or siblings. Many did not know what appropriate touch was. They were not used to someone giving them affection or touch appropriately. I felt part of the problem was the kids needed someone to love them, and give them the things that every child needs - unconditional love. I told my superiors what was happening- every time I came to work the children would run up to me and give me a hug. It was something that started with an especially damaged kid that was abused by his father. The boy needed someone to love him unconditionally, and I was that person. He came to me and held my hand when we went for walks and when we played games or sports he would run up to me and give me a hug. I never rejected him or made fun of him and soon other children started doing the same thing. Some of them started asking me about God and asked me to take them to church and tell them about Jesus. My supervisor was not especially happy about it but I said "If someone asks me, I'm going to tell them."
It wasn't long before the whole tenor of the centre changed. Many of the staff started giving hugs to the kids because they saw the value of hugging the kids.
I think my point is this. If you are open and honest about your faith, people will respond. If you try and shove it down their throats, you are going to get resistance. I hope we will all be open with our faith  with people we know and people we casually meet at the grocery store. If that is who you are, all of the time, then saying Merry Christmas or talking about God or Jesus, won't be so difficult the next time you meet someone. You don't have to be obnoxious about it, just consistent, and loving.