The Wal-Mart Employee Tragedy

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The Wal-Mart Employee Tragedy


A commentary by Melvin Rhodes


The trampled Wal-Mart employee incident says a great deal about the age in which we live! Clearly, money is still the nation's number one god. As long as it is, we will continue to experience mounting economic and social problems!



The trampled Wal-Mart employee incident says a great deal about the age in which we live!



The morning after Thanksgiving has been known for many years as "Black Friday"—the busiest shopping day of the year. Stores in the United States traditionally try to entice customers to their retail outlets on this day with bargains that are usually not repeated.



Every year the store openings get earlier. Shoppers line up well before dawn, ready to rush in as soon as the doors open to be among the first to get limited sales items.



Perhaps it was inevitable that in the midst of such frenzy a tragedy would occur. And it did—on November 28, 2008 at a Wal-Mart store in the state of New York.



When the doors opened, crowds surged in and trampled to death a 34-year-old store employee who was 6'5" tall and weighed 270 pounds.



In effect, the young man died so that those who arrived first could save a few dollars on the latest electronic gadget! To put it bluntly, a human life was worth less than things!



This has long been a materialistic age, especially in the western world and most especially in the United States, where many stores open 24 hours a day and seven days a week in intense competition to get business. Employees have had their family lives almost destroyed as they work long hours for minimal wages, neglecting spouses and children at home.



There is no thought for a day of rest, giving people an opportunity to worship the God who has given them everything. Ironically, the only time most stores think about religion is when they can make money on it during the annual holiday season which began the day after Thanksgiving!



It is perhaps appropriate that amidst all this greed, our economy seems to be collapsing. Every day the news gets worse. The stock market has been in turmoil for months, affecting the retirement funds of millions. House prices keep falling; unemployment is increasing; and business is down. These worrisome events are now worldwide problems, as nations economically implode.



Tens of millions of people who have neglected God for years in a mad pursuit for wealth are now losing everything.



Perhaps this is what Jesus Christ had in mind when He said: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21 [19] Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

[20] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

[21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.





See All...).



No society can prosper indefinitely if it is built on wrong values; and greed is most assuredly wrong. When a lawyer asked Jesus what was most important in life, His response was quite simple: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39 [37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

[38] This is the first and great commandment.

[39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.





See All...).



In other words, true and lasting happiness is built on a solid foundation of putting God first in our lives and through our relationships with people, beginning with family.



When people care more about people than they do about material goods, tragedies like the one at Wal-Mart will not happen. Even Black Friday would be a thing of the past!



Some stores this year tried to beat the rush by beginning sales a day earlier, on Thanksgiving Day itself. A day set aside by the Pilgrims almost four centuries ago as an annual day giving thanks to the Almighty for His blessings seems set to become yet another sales day as gratitude has been replaced by greed.



Clearly, money is still the nation's number one god. As long as it is, we will continue to experience mounting economic and social problems!



Long ago the apostle Paul warned: "You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them!" (2 Timothy 3:1-5 [1] This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

[2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

[3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

[4] Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

[5] Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.





See All..., New Revised Standard Version).

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Thanksgiving vs. Christmas

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/  or call 1-888-886-8632.

Thanksgiving vs. Christmas

 by Dennis Luker


America just largely ignored its most biblical holiday: Thanksgiving.



Christmas shopping ad campaigns like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Green Tuesday—even Black Friday Month—dominated advertising and even news coverage at the end of November. But so little attention was given to Thanksgiving.



Some Christians denounce the commercializing of the religious meaning of Christmas, but sadly, they miss many vital points of truth. However, our premise with The Good News magazine is that you don’t have to miss those points!



Three reasons why Thanksgiving is more biblical than Christmas:

1. Jesus Christ did give thanks to God the Father.



When He fed the 4,000 and the 5,000 hungry men plus women and children, Jesus gave thanks and blessed the food (Matthew 15:30-39 [30] And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:

[31] Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

[32] Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

[33] And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?

[34] And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

[35] And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

[36] And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

[37] And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

[38] And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.

[39] And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.





See All...; John 6:1-14 [1] After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

[2] And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

[3] And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

[4] And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

[5] When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

[6] And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

[7] Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

[8] One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

[9] There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

[10] And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

[11] And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

[12] When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

[13] Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

[14] Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.





See All...). At the end of His ministry He specifically thanked God for the unleavened bread and wine of the Passover ceremony that commemorated the sacrifice of His own life for our sins (Luke 22:14-23 [14] And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

[15] And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

[16] For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

[17] And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:

[18] For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

[19] And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

[20] Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

[21] But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.

[22] And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!

[23] And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing.





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The principle of thanking God for all our physical and spiritual blessings and for life itself is woven throughout the Bible. As national holidays America’s and Canada’s Thanksgiving Days are based on honoring the blessings that God has given their people. ( Is Thanksgiving Rooted in a Biblical Festival? )



2. Jesus Christ did not command that His birthday be observed.



Part of developing Christianity decided to observe Christ’s day of birth, but "Christ-mass," as it came to be called, was not widely observed until A.D. 354! However, Jesus, His disciples and the apostles did not observe His birthday.



Instead of His day of birth, Christ commanded His followers to observe the day of His death—the Passover (1 Corinthians 11:26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.



See All...). Unfortunately, Christianity long ago rejected the Passover and substituted Easter—a day named after and honoring the pagan fertility goddess Ishtar. This is something that Jesus doesn’t approve of! ( Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth )



3. Jesus Christ was not born on December 25.



Despite the popular idea, the shepherds did not stay out at night with their flocks in mid-winter. It got too cold for that during winter near Bethlehem! Also, the Christmas-observing part of Christianity had no clear idea when He was born, so they suggested dates from all over the calendar during the early centuries after Christ.



However, had they more carefully read the details in the Bible, those early church leaders could have found that although the exact day of His birth is not revealed, Jesus of Nazareth was born in the autumn—not in the winter. ( Biblical Evidence Shows Jesus Wasn't Born on December 25 )



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