The Gift Of The Good Son

My Mother once said to me that I was her last chance at having a good son. I can’t tell you how many times I fell short of that wish of hers. I was 12 years old and my two older brothers were in prison, one for stealing cars and the other for a purse snatching he did not do but was found with the contents of the purse near him in a car, he was doing time for another man because he was not a snitch. I was being accused of a crime my mother and I both knew I did not do, we also knew that I was willing to go to juvenile hall before I would tell the police who did do it. As we drove home from the station the only sound in the car was her quiet sobbing, it was the longest ride of my life and I sat there just staring out the window. No way was I even going to look at her, not because I was ashamed, because I wasn’t. I was mad; the police were going to take away my freedom because I chose not to be a snitch. But I could not look at her because if I did then I knew I would start to cry too and that was just not going to happen, then I would be ashamed. When we drove into the carport she put her hand on mine and looked me in the eye and said, "Cy please don’t turn out like your brothers, you're my last chance at a good son". Not long after that I did my best to make good on my promise to change. I joined the local Pop Warner football team and found a whole new bunch of friends. I did better in school and began to do what I could around the house to help her out. But never was I able to live up to that promise. Imagine the love of a mother for her son and the helplessness to save him, and imagine the love of the son and his helplessness to be true to a promise he made to a mother he loves. In 2004 Jesus found me broken, lost and alone. I was a heroin addict, homeless and have been living on the streets for many years. I was so dirty and unkept that people actually walked around me so that they would not have to look at me or get near me. But God did not ignore me or avoid me but He searched me out and embraced me when I was at my worst Today my two older brothers and I are all good sons to my mom. We love her and see her often. Our love for her is stronger than ever and I believe it is because even though we all have caused her so much hurt she always loved us. We all love God and we all have been changed by His love. Now imagine the love of a Father for a Son He does have the power to save but instead gives Him up as a sacrifice for those who like me have turned their back on their God and broken many promises to Him. And imagine the Son who can at any moment end an ordeal that has caused Him great humiliation, enormous shame and unimaginable pain but chooses instead to endure for the sake of even just one bad son. This is the true meaning of Christmas! That God would give His one and only Son to die for you and that the Son would give His life that you may live with the Father forever, regardless of who you are today or have been in all of your yesterdays. We teach our kids to believe in Santa and get upset when they stop believing thinking that it’s all over, our kids are all grown up and now Christmas has lost all of its magic. But I declare to you that it is not until we begin to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas that the magic begins! This day is a day of faith, a day of thanksgiving and a day of reflection upon a child in a manger that came to bring to life the hope of a hopeless mother for her sons, to answer the cry of a dying man as he lie in his own blood and filth and reaches towards Heaven and asks for redemption! This is the day that the heavens were opened wide and God's Love poured down upon a merciless generation and Mercy was spread throughout the world to every nation and for all time! My friends, God loves you! He has proven His love for you with the only way that can be declared as proof; He gave to you a Good Son! Merry Christmas

Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning - Ben Stein

I Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late ! ! The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary. My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?' In light of recent events.... Terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing yet? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not, then just discard it.... No one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein