AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 25, 1999 OPINION The Christmas Story And it came to pass m those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be deliv ered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, 10, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them; Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multi tude of heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them con cerning the child. All they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The ever lasting Father, The Prince of Peace Saturday, December 25 Merrj Christmas! Lancaster County Tobacco Show, Farm and Home Center, Lan Risky Business-Solutions, Finan cial Management Seminar, Fogelsville, 9 a.m. Solanco Young Farmer Program, Money Management In The Ag Enterprise, Solanco High Crop Insurance: Making It Work For You!, Lebanon County 1 9jun. Adams County Holstein Associa tion Annual Meeting, York Springs Fire Hall, York Springs, 7 p.m. Bucks-Montgomery Dairy Day, Family Heritage Restaurant, 9:30 a.m.-2:45 p.m. Vegetable Growers’ Study Circle, Kutztown Produce Auction, 7 % * Farm Calendar * Crop Insurance: Making It Work For You!, York County 4-H Center, 9 a.m. Franklin County Dairy Day, Kauffman’s Community Cen ter, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dairy Farm Management Basics, Two-Day Session, Lancaster Farm and Home Center, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., also Jan. 14. Berks County Dairy Day, Berks County Ag Center, Leesport. Schuylkill County Dairy Day, Penn State Schuylkill Campus, Pennsylvania Farm Show, Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, thru Jan. 13. Beyond Cheddar 2000 at the Pa. Farm Show, Family Living Farmers’ Market Association Leadership and Communica tion Skills Workshop, NYS Dept, of Agricultural Markets, Albany, N.Y., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Morrison’s Cove Produce Auction To Apply For Federal Crop Disaster Program The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has $1 2 bil lion for the Crop Disaster Program (CDP) for farmers who suffered losses to 1999 crops due to natural disasters. Drought farmers are eligible for compen sation for 1999 crop losses directly attributed to adverse weather conditions. The pay ment formulas provide greater benefits to farmers who bought insurance on their eligible crops in 1999. Farmers did not have to take out crop insurance m 1999 in order to receive payments. However, as a condition of receiving benefits under this program, farmers who did not insure 1999 crops are required to purchase crop insurance in 2000 and 2001 for all insurable crops they grow. Payments to farmers will be prorated after all applications are reviewed in order to stay within the pro gram’s budget Sign up began Dec. 13,1999 and ends February 25, 2000 Farmers should con tact their local USDA Service Center or Farm Service Agency office for more information Holy Bible Under the federal Crop Disaster Program (CDP), farm ers will be compensated if their losses exceed 35 percent of his toric yields. Farmers with eligi ble losses of insured crops will be compensated at 65 percent of crop insurance market price elections. Farmers with eligible losses to insurable crops will be compensated at 65 percent of the five year average National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) price. Yields will be based on the higher of the five year NASS county average yield or the crop insurance APH yield or non-insured crop disaster assistance approved yield. Payments are limited to $BO,OOO per person. No one with an annual gross income of $2.5 mil lion or more is eligible for CDP payments. To Apply For State Disaster Grants The Commonwealth of meeting, Martinsburg. FSA Production Workshop, Leba non Valley Ag Center, 10 a.m.-3:30p.m., also Jan. 13,25, Mexico Vegetable Growers meet- Crop Insurance: Making It Work For You!, Cochranvilie Fire Hall. 9 a.m.-3 o.m. To Understand Crop Disaster Payments Pennsylvania has created an emergency drought relief pro gram in the form of crop loss assistance grants for farmers who suffered crop loss due to the 1999 drought The $6O million state program is in addition to any crop loss assistance under the federal Crop Disaster Program (CDP) There is also $5.6 million available to assist farmers in meeting the require ment to purchase federal crop insurance for 2000 and 2001. Pennsylvania farmers who meet eligibility criteria of the USDA CDP are also eligible for the Pennsylvania program. To be considered, farmers must apply at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office and meet the eligibility criteria for the 1999 CDP. In addition, farmers must sign a Pennsylvania THE DANGEROUS INFANT December 26, 1999 Background Scripture: Matthew 2. Devotional Reading: Psalms 98. It is difficult to imagine that an infant can be dangerous. Tradi tionally, infants are the epitome of innocence. But there are some children who are marked for en mity before they enter this world, even before they have an oppor tunity to evoke someone’s dis pleasure or opposition. Jesus of Nazareth was one such infant, in fact, he was the most marked in fant ever to enter this world for he was regarded as dangerous. Actually, King Herod was right, Jesus is dangerous as infant, grown man or resurrected Lord. Of course, Herod was thinking about the stability of his kingdom. Herod was not bom a prince of the Jews; by bribery he gained the support of Anthony soon after the victory of Anthony and Octavian at Philippi. He was declared King of the Jews by the Emperor August in 40 BC. A true Jewish messiah (Herod was not really Jewish but Idumaean) would be very threatening to his hold over the Jewish people. Killing this child would make his reign more secure. Spiritual Power In reality, Jesus was never intended to be a threat to Herod in that way. The kingdom that Jesus would claim was not a kingdom of flesh and blood but of the spirit The same is true today: political and temporal authority are threat ened by Jesus Christ, not because he is likely to claim earthly power, but it is his spiritual power that makes him so dangerous. In the long run, spiritual power under mines and supersedes every other kind. If you are going to fear something, make certain that it is spiritual instead of temporal. The danger of this babe in swaddling clothes in an animal’s feed trough is also symbolized by the wise men who come seeking him, for these men represent a threat to our sense of ownership of the Christ Of course they were not Christians (for Christians had not yet been invented) and neither were they Jews. What little we may deduce from what Matthew wntes of them is that they were from somewhere east of Palestine. Department of Agriculture (PDA) Drought Relief Program Application and Waiver of Confidentiality form available at the local FSA office PDA will calculate a state crop assistance grant from the USDA applica tion information The amount of the state grant, if any, will not exceed 75 percent of the amount you receive under the federal program Upon completion of the one page PDA form, the FSA office will send the information to PDA. The Pennsylvania pro gram will follow the same sign up period as the federal CDP, Dec. 13, 1999 to February 25, 2000. For additional information contact your local FSA office or PDA at 717-787-4737. Feather Prof.’s Footnote: “Focus: If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” Scholars tend to believe that they represented a learned class in Per sia. Their religion or religions would be foreign and distasteful to the Jews. Astrologers Furthermore, the men were as trologers: ‘Tor we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.” It would surprise many Christians to leant that as trology and Christianity enjoyed a mutual relationship for many cen turies. Many o£ the fine cathedrals of Europe abound in astrological symbols and art. It is only in mod em times that many Christians have assumed that astrology was a rival religion and a threat to the gospel. This is not the time and place to go into a protracted dis cussion of that issue, but it does il lustrate for us Jesus Christ is dan gerous to our sense of ownership of the kingdom of God. The fences we build to keep the truth in and the strangers out are a sham and pretense. We cannot, must not tell God where and how he can operate in his world. The gospel is not our private possession. When we assume ownership of the gos pel we are on the ragged edge of blasphemy. When Herod realized that the wise men (notice Matthew doesn’t say there are three of them) had tricked him, he has killed all the male children of Bethlehem up to two years old. The Baby Jesus was unwittingly dangerous for inno cent children. That, too, is true to day. As an adult Jesus was forth right about the danger “... they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake” (Lk. 21:12). “If they perse cuted me, they will persecute you ...” (Ja. 15:20). In fact, Jesus sees grace in this tragedy: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of God” (Mt. 5:10). This is a sobering note in the midst of the joy of Christmas. But without this note of warning, with out this acknowledgement of the danger this infant represents, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ would be just another fairytale, pleasant to hear but irrelevant to the place and time in which we live. Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building 1 E. Main St. Ephrata, PA 17522 -by Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Sleinman Enterprise William J Burgess General Manager Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor Copyright 1999 by Lancaster Farming
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