Published on 12/6/2006

Commentary

This morning's Time magazine online news is reporting that cell phones and brain cancer are apparently not linked. A massive study involving nearly every private cell phone user in Denmark surveyed 420,000 participants, averaging 8.5 years of cell phone use. Brain cancer did not increase with the use of mobile phones. Oddly, male cell phone users were less likely to develop lung cancer. Those conducting the study attribute this finding to the fact that wealthier men are more likely to use cell phones and less likely to smoke.

Technology news is not so positive in a second story being reported today. The New York Times tells us that spam is on the rise, with little we can do to stem the tide. For years we've been sheltered from mass e-mails sent illegally to our computers. But new spamming techniques have been developed, including the use of pictures with embedded messages. Spam filters don't easily find the offenders, leaving them in your in-box.

You and I can expect more spam, and more online ads as well. The Times is reporting that traditional media will likely not increase their advertising revenues in the coming year. But website ads are predicted to grow at double-digit rates.

Technological changes now affect every way we communicate, from mobile phones to high-definition televisions. How different our society looks from the culture of our grandparents. For instance, think about the way Christmas was celebrated even a generation or two ago. I remember decorating a tree, but little else in the way of lights and ornaments. Toys seldom required batteries, much less microprocessors. My parents remembered Christmas gifts ordered from the Sears catalog or made by hand.

Even more change is obvious when we compare today's holidays to the first Christmas--a feed trough for a throne, peasants for parents, field hands for worshipers. But one thing hasn't changed: the reason for the season. The angel told Joseph that Mary "will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

"Jesus" is the Greek version of "Yeshua" or "Joshua," meaning "the Lord saves." Jesus was born on Christmas to save us from our sins, our spiritual failures which would have kept us from God's perfect heaven and consigned us to eternity in hell. When last did you sin against God? Did you seek the gift of his grace and mercy? In a changing world, it is an unchanging fact that we all need "Jesus." Are you grateful this morning for his grace? Have you told him so?