Now, we are entering the Christmas season.

You do remember Christmas, do you not? It is when we remember that the greatest gift ever given was from God to man. 

John 3:16 sums it up beautifully: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." 

The Christmas gifts we give are reminders of what was given to us — not a contest to see who gets the most out of someone else.

This holiday season, drastic  decisions need to be made.

We have allowed so many people to be "offended" by Christmas' very name, but we who are followers of Christ should be offended by those who wish to remove Jesus from our lives. 

Why not let the voice of many rise up and be accounted for in honor of our Father? 

I find it offensive that we have sin shoved down our throat by those who claim we should be more tolerant.  

Try that with a member of ISIL.

I am offended when others use vulgar language in public, and I have not been afraid to address that at times to the individuals. 

We talk about God's mercy and grace, wonderful virtues of our heavenly Father, yet we also forget that He is a jealous God.

When He has had enough, He will respond. 

I do not want to be one who sits idly by while all others fall for this garbage.

Our greatest decision that can be made this year can be summed up in the Bible, when Joshua demanded that God's people make a decision concerning whom they would serve and worship. 

"But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 

Christian friend, make up your minds. Either be totally for Him, or quit pretending. 

My friend, if you do not know Jesus as your Savior, seek Him while He may be found. He still cares so much that this world is still going on, just so that you may come to God and have your sins forgiven.

Some will not like what I have to say. That is quite all right. I only have one to please, and it is not any man on this earth, nor my wife and children. 

We choose to serve the Lord, and have been so awesomely blessed because of it. 

Stand firm and be blessed.

The Rev. Richard Helms serves at Miracle Acres Ministries, 3187 E. James Lee Blvd., in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HELMS: Be 'all in' for God, or quit pretending

As an investor, you'll eventually need to make all sorts of decisions — and some will be difficult.

But there's one choice you can make that can be relatively easy: reinvesting stock dividends. It's simple to reinvest dividends — you just need to sign up for a dividend reinvestment plan. Once you do, you won't receive dividends directly as cash; instead, your dividends will be directly reinvested in the underlying equity.

Be aware, though, that you may incur a fee when reinvesting dividends.

By doing some research, you can find companies that have not only consistently paid dividends year after year but also increased those dividend payments regularly. (Keep in mind that companies are not obligated to pay dividends, and can reduce or discontinue them at any time.)

By reinvesting dividends, you may be able to realize some key benefits. First, you'll be building your share ownership, which can help you build wealth. No matter what the market is doing, adding shares can be beneficial — but may be especially valuable when the market is down. When share prices are low, reinvesting dividends — which don't typically fluctuate with share price — can help boost your investment reach further, simply because each reinvested dividend can buy more shares than at the previous higher share price.

Consider this: It took investors 25 years to recover from the Crash of 1929 if they did not reinvest their dividends — but it only took them 15 years to recover from the crash if they did reinvest dividends, according to Ned Davis Research. And we've seen the same phenomenon in more recent years, too.

Since 1987, according to Ned Davis Research, we've had three major market corrections: Black Monday in 1987; the bursting of the dot-com bubble from 2000 to 2002; and the bursting of the subprime and credit bubbles in 2008.

The S&P 500 rose following those market corrections. Investors who stayed invested during those corrections had the opportunity to participate in rising markets. Those investors participating in a dividend reinvestment plan may have been able to buy more shares at a lower price.

Of course, past performance doesn't guarantee future results, and the value of your stock shares can fluctuate, including the loss of principal.

While reinvesting your dividends clearly can be beneficial, you do have to be aware that, even if you aren't receiving the dividends as cash, you will be taxed on them.

But the dividend tax rate remains quite favorable — if you're in the 25 percent, 28 percent, 33 percent or 35 percent brackets, your dividends will be taxed at 15 percent.

If your taxable income is more than $400,000 (or $450,000 for couples), your dividend tax rate is 20 percent. If your adjusted gross income is $250,000 or more (for married couples filing jointly) or $200,000 or more (if you're single), you'll also have to pay a 3.8 percent Medicare tax on your dividends.

While taxes are a consideration when investing, they should never be the driving factor.

Consider also that investing in dividend-paying stocks does carry some risk — specifically, the value of your investment may fluctuate, causing you to lose some, or all, of your principal. But you may be able to reduce the impact of this possible volatility by sticking with quality stocks as part of a diversified portfolio.

As we've seen, reinvesting dividends can help you build your investment portfolio — so consider putting this technique to work in your investment strategy.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SHANKLIN: Reinvesting dividends can be a smart move

Do you have camellia plants with flower buds that fail to open?

Here are possible causes:

●Stress — drought stress could inhibit buds from opening.

●Too many buds on a plant results in the plant lacking reserves for each bud to open.

●Warm fall weather may inhibit early-blooming varieties from flowering properly.

●Freeze damage — Most camellia japonica cultivars produce flower buds and bloom during the winter. As the flower buds swell, and particularly as they open, flower buds become more susceptible to freeze injury.

Freeze-injured flower buds fail to open.

Also, those plants located in colder areas of the landscape will be more susceptible to cold injury.

Camellia sasanqua cultivars are less likely to experience cold injury to their flower buds because they bloom mostly during fall and early winter, when we are less likely to experience freezing temperatures.

●Specific variety. Thirty-plus years ago, people planted any camellia they could find because there was a more limited selection.

Although camellias have been part of our southern landscapes for many years, they are native to parts of Asia. Over the years, there have been more introductions of cultivars. Some are not well adapted to our colder winters.

You’d be wise to select cultivars known to do well in our area.

Some camellia cultivars are not well adapted to the Gulf Coast and thus won't flower well, even though they may grow well here. This is why some varieties are favored in Seattle, some do better in England and others perform well here.

For more information on camellias, contact the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Office — 3098 Airport Road, Crestview — or visit http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep002 to access the publication, “Camellias at a Glance.”

Larry Williams is an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Williams: 5 reasons camellias may fail to bloom