The Winter Family Weekend, December 23-27 in Cincinnati, is just a little over a week away. It is one of the largest single event gatherings in the United Church of God. The Great Wolf Lodge, where many of the events are to be held, including Sabbath services, was sold out early. We are looking forward to friends and acquaintances coming from all over the country for this event. The theme this year is "Be Prepared for Every Good Work" (2 Timothy 2:21).

There are activities and events for all members of the family, young and old. The featured speaker for the Sabbath sermon will be elder Scott McKeon from Phoenix, Arizona.

A detailed informational brochure can be downloaded here at http://wfw.ucg.org/sites/default/files/WFW%20Brochure%202016.pdf

The Winter Family Weekend site is http://wfw.ucg.org/.

Major Subscriber Letter in the Mail

A major subscriber letter to 188,000 Beyond Today readers is being responded to heavily with our offer of the study aid, Christ's Reign on Earth, What it Will Be Like. Returns are coming in very well, as we hope to introduce our readers to a personal invitation to learn more about the gospel message. We send out six subscriber development letters each year. Four are to coworkers and donors, and two are to the entire BT subscriber list.

Video Recording Studio Restricted Fund Established

During its meetings on December 7, the Council of Elders approved the creation of a restricted fund for the construction and equipping of a new Video Recording Studio. Peter Eddington, operation manager for Media and Communications Services, and I brought the idea forward for Council consideration. After much discussion, the Council of Elders approved the fund. You can watch a video recording of the presentation and get more details at coe.ucg.org/content/beyond-today-studio-proposal-and-resolution.

Yesterday, a letter was sent to be printed and mailed to the entire membership of the United Church of God in the U.S., describing the needs we have for producing Beyond Today television programs as well as BT daily messages, sermons, podcasts, online streaming and much more. We need to upgrade our current facilities in order to produce superior products. The letter describes this in greater detail.

Please continue to pray for the resources to become available to accomplish God's will, and we hope that the Video Recording Studio Restricted Fund will help greatly in this regard!

By the way, this was a Beyond Today recording week here at the home office. Four programs were produced: "The Four Horsemen of Revelation" (a remake in HD) by Darris McNeely, "Who Are the Two Witnesses?" by Steve Myers (a remake in HD), "Who Really Killed Jesus Christ?" by Gary Petty (a remake in HD), and "Hard Questions: Are Christians Guilty of Idolatry?" a totally new one by Gary Petty.

Last night, Gary Petty gave the BT Wednesday night Bible Study on the book of Hosea, "Hosea: A Tragic But Hopeful Love Story." I watched it at home on our new Roku television. I have really appreciated using the new Roku streaming capability. You can watch the Bible Studies live, you can see archived BT programs, as well as the BT dailies. You can "binge watch" the dailies easily, if you wish. We are advertising for more subscribers and now have more than 30,000 Roku subscribers, plus others streaming through Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung smart TVs, and other devices.

'Tis the Season to Be Tactful

The annual $3 trillion (that's trillion, not billion) retail onslaught around the Xmas holiday is now in full swing in America. In addition to often going into debt and spending an astonishing amount of money on the consumer side, companies hire more than three-quarters of a million people just for holiday sales. The economic and social impact is enormous.

Of course, we in the United Church of God don't take part in these festivities for very good biblical reasons. As a result, we often stand out. Unlike many of our neighbors, we don't lavishly decorate our homes with bright lights, reindeer, Santa Claus and the rest. We don't wear garish holiday clothing and are certainly not in the "Christmas spirit."

As a result, people who we meet or talk to during this season may be puzzled. It's such a joyous season--at least on the superficial side--it leads to curiosity. We may be asked: "Don't you celebrate Christmas?" When we answer in the negative, the second question is often a perplexed, "Why not?"

Here we have a unique opportunity, particularly if we handle it right. When someone asks you this question, how do you respond?

The apostle Peter tells us we need to be prepared in advance for this type of opportunity: always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15, emphasis added throughout).

There are some important keys here. When we follow them, we can potentially accomplish much in advancing the Work of God, even during this season of pagan festivities in which we are outnumbered.

Peter says to provide this defense "with meekness and fear." The Greek words used here refer to the qualities of humility, gentleness and respect.

People in the world observe Christmas for a variety of reasons: family traditions, a flawed understanding of biblical teachings, a belief and experience that the holiday is a happy time of reunions, and many others. To openly attack these reasons out of context can have a lasting and unnecessary negative impact. If we embrace Peter's advice, we can have a much better outcome.

How do we answer questions like this? I'm sure many have their own stories, but I'd like to relate one experience I had. Perhaps you'll find some insight you can apply from it.

A number of years ago I was attending my noon Rotary Club meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, in early January.

Members of this club knew that I was a minister of Jesus Christ, and they knew that I was involved in international service through LifeNets. In what was a humbling experience for me, the local club had even earlier named me as their Rotarian of the Year for LifeNets service projects, mainly in Africa.

As this particular meeting progressed, it became apparent that our scheduled speaker wasn't going to show up. So rather than to cut short the meeting, the club president decided to go around the room and have everyone comment about how they spent their Christmas two weeks previously.

So here I was. I don't keep Christmas. What was I going to say?

So, following Peter's advice, when my turn came I related how I regarded family gatherings as very important. Some had previously commented that the getting together with kin was the highlight of the holiday. I first established some common ground upon which we could all agree.

But then I told them that I didn't keep Christmas. Seeing their surprised faces, I explained why. I went on to comment for about ten minutes. I was surprised myself that it flowed so easily!

I told my fellow Rotarians that Christmas was not biblical. There is no record of it being celebrated by the early Church and that December 25 this a most unlikely date for the biblical birth account of Jesus Christ. I related how Christmas was not a holiday or holy day that was in the Bible. But, historically it is clear that December 25th was the date for the pagan celebration of Saturnalia in the Roman world. Centuries after Christ's life on earth, Christianity embraced this pagan holiday and repackaged it as Christmas. I told my friends that in good conscience as a disciple of Jesus Christ I could not observe this holiday once I really understood the origins, even though most everyone around me was keeping it. I also commented about how the commercialism of the 'getting' aspect of Christmas further cheapened any regard for our Savior.

As I spoke, I noted that the body language of my fellow members indicated interest. They weren't offended. There wasn't a single "Bah humbug" reaction. In fact, after the meeting a few members followed me out to the parking lot, asking additional questions and noted how they agreed with me! I received e-mails afterwards, thanking me for my explanation, which they found enlightening.

The lesson that I re-learned in that meeting was that in many instances it is better to be a light bringer than a flame thrower. I spoke naturally and was not defensive. We don't have to strike at, or poke at people who do what they do mostly because of ignorance of the truth.

I was reminded of David's words: "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalms 27:1-2).

The second aspect of Peter's advice is that of personal example and integrity. In the instance of the Rotary Club, the members knew well of my vocation as a pastor. I had actually been asked to speak previously about what LifeNets did to help child victims of Chernobyl and what LifeNets was doing to relieve suffering in Africa. As a result, this very Rotary Club became a direct supporter of LifeNets. Those previous actions had set the stage. I had a good reputation. What I stood for was well known in a right way.

This relates directly to Jesus' command that we all are to be lights to this darkened world (Matthew 5:14-16). Well before I was called upon to present my belief about why I didn't keep Christmas, I had established a good reputation with these members.

What's my point? To truly fulfill what Peter directed, we have to be at it all year long. As Paul told us: "Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17, New Living Translation).

As Peter also noted, we are to prepare our minds for action (1 Peter 1:13). Our behavior and conduct needs to be honorable, even holy (1 Peter 1:16).

There will, of course, be times when the Church will cry aloud and show the people their sins (Isaiah 58:1). We certainly do that in the pages of Beyond Today and during our personal appearance campaigns. But in many cases when we're in a public setting--or one-on-one with a friend--the timing, place, context and circumstance of our answers are very important.

So, in this $3 trillion time of retail excess, let us--where appropriate--be tactful and respectful. During this time, let us remember the words of Paul: "Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone" (Colossians 4:5-6, NLT).

I look forward to seeing many of you soon at the Winter Family Weekend in Cincinnati!