We are now in the middle of the Christmas season, my favorite holiday time of the year. For this is the time when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!

Did you know that there are over 600 Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah? These include prophecies of His birth, His ministry, His death, and His resurrection. Unfortunately, churches all over the world no longer teach from the Old Testament, having determined it to be outdated, irrelevant, and full of children’s stories and fairy tales. But, if not for the Old Testament and its prophecies, we would not have a full understanding of the teachings of the New Testament, especially the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and we would not understand that most of the Old Testament prophecies have been fulfilled. Consider this – the book of Genesis states that the Messiah would be the Son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And, the book of Jeremiah states that the Messiah would be of the House of David. These prophecies came true with the birth of Jesus Christ, which proves the Old Testament is still very relevant.

One of my favorite Old Testament prophecies can be found in Isaiah 9:6-7 –

“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 Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Remember, if it weren’t for what Jesus did for us on the cross, when He died for our sins, we would have no reason to celebrate His birth. For God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us so they we can have eternal life with Him.

On behalf of the Texas Division Commander and his staff, I pray each of you and your families have a very Merry Christmas and a great start to the new year!

For Christ Always,

James Bozeman
Camp Chaplain