Essentia Health purchased by Muslims! No Nativity scenes allowed!!!

Essentia Health purchased by Muslims! No Nativity scenes allowed!!!

That’s what I learned yesterday when I came to work. A friend that I have known for 30 years made that announcement to me, as I entered the lobby of St Marys Hospital - Superior. "Look around, where is the nativity scene?" You don't see His name anywhere. Is it true they sold out to the Muslims?

I was embarrassed. Not for my employer or the hospital we stood in, but for my friend and others who believe what seems to me to be foolish rumors. I told her so.

No. Outright point blank no. Essentia Health hasn't been sold, not to anyone. I am not familiar with the Christmas decorations in St Mary’s Hospital in Superior, yet I know that St Marys' Duluth has a nativity scene which stretches out perhaps 20 feet. It is on display as I write this, the day after my friend spoke with me.

Why is it that everything Anti - Christian needs to be Islamic in nature or origin today? I don't know a lot of Muslim folks, the ones I do I think very highly of. They are wonderful loving folks who work hard, study their scriptures {oftentimes more than I study mine} and live outstanding moral lives. Granted, if you are a conservative evangelical christian, you believe their traditions are wrong. My friends and I have acknowledged the differences in our beliefs. We pray for each other, that God leads us through the day. I believe our prayers are answered.

Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the Gates of Hell SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT! {my emphasis} It seems to me that so many Christians need to live in an alarmist state to be happy. It appears that the eleventh gift of the Holy Spirit is rumor mongering, the tenth being condemnation. In today’s world we cannot imagine the atrocities early Christians were forced to endure. A father walking with his family could be forced to carry a roman soldiers armor and arms a mile, with no recourse except for the fact that Jesus said “Carry it two miles.” I remember Proctor and Gamble being boycotted for their corporate star symbols, the fear was that it was satanic. Yet Paul stated that if we had clear conscious, we could eat meat purchased market place, even knowing that it was offered to idols. Abstain only if it may offend your neighbor. Be upset because your employer deducted your bible study time from your paycheck, or lose your life for not bowing to worship the Emperor who was paying your salary.

Dow we lose the right to have concerns for the course of our society? Absolutely not. But instead of spreading and believing wild stories, lets consider using scriptural examples to guide our lives. Chronicles 7:14 says “Humble YOURSELVES, Pray, seek my face, cease YOUR wicked ways, Then I will heal your land.” Galatians 5:22 states: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control ... Against such things there is no law! Allow the work of the Holy Spirit to be seen in your lives, worry less about losing your rights. Even those impressed into service by soldiers were told to willing serve more than expected. Matthew 5:41. Should I do less?


Many times in my life I have struggled with keeping the rules. In this sense, if I have to, why don't others? Believe me, I can make the arguments well. But that is not how Christ wants me to respond. Jesus was talking with the disciple who said he would follow Him anywhere. Peter didn’t like hearing what Jesus was saying and almost immediately asked, “What about him? Inferring the apostle John. The response was “You let me worry about him, you take care of your self”

Let the Lord worry about what religions are where, we need to worry about how we walk with him. If indeed this is a personal belief, it should be replicated personally in our lives. Jesus said “Tarry ye here in Jerusalem until you receive the Holy Spirit ... you shall be my WITNESSES” The Greek word for witness is martus, for which we get the word Martyr. The implication is a lifestyle apparent in a culture where death was possible for your beliefs, not the ability to see who could speak the loudest.

I don’t so much need to defend God with my words, as I need to display His love in my actions.

Nuff said.