Tuesday's Trap - Santa Part II

Most, if not all of us grew up believing that Santa was a real person who brought presents to good little boys and girls. Amazing that I believed that... being that I was not the best of little boys....but still got presents, and some pretty damn nice ones too. Why is it that we need to tell our kids or anyone elses for that matter that Santa Claus is real. We make him out to be the focus of Christmas rather than focus on the real meaning of Christmas - Jesus Christ. If most kids were asked the meaning of Christmas I think they would answer it is about getting presents from Santa. Christ would be a distant second. Let's look at it this way....Santa is giving me all these presents, and really I was not that well behaved this year anyway. Jesus is seen as more of a secondary church answer for why Christians celebrate the season.

Another reason I don't like the promoting of Santa is kids are being lied to (pure and simple) that first of all Santa exists. If kids look to their parents for truth and yet are being fed this, maybe you lied to them about more than just Santa. Look at it this way If you once believed in a man who knew what you were doing, who had amazing abilities, and who gave you nice things, and he turned out to be a fake, why should you believe in another man who knows what you are doing, has amazing abilities, gives you nice things--Jesus Christ? If you get burned once, why get burned the second time? Wouldn't it be better to be honest with our children right from the start, and teach them the difference between truth and make-believe?

Maybe believing in Santa is just an escape for having to believe in Jesus. Some extreme Christians believe we should burn a likeness of Santa in church every Christmas. I am not at all saying we do this. Obviously Nicolas was a man of God in his day, and he would probably be extremely embarrassed at how he is portrayed today to the point of being the meaning of Christmas over Christ. The gift of giving is something we can all do. It's better to remember the real Nicholas, who can serve as an example of how to really keep Christmas. In society today, we give to those who have at Christmas, and maybe remember those who don't have by donating a can of soup, while giving family members a new PlayStation, or Ipod or computer or toy or _______ fill in the blank.

Christmas has obviously gotten away for what it was intended to be, but it does not mean I can't change myself where I think I should or where God thinks I should. Maybe Christmas, at least when it comes to giving should focus more on Matt. 25 - to feed the hungry, help the sick, clothe the naked, invite the stranger, give to those in need instead of want, etc. This is just my opinion of how Christmas has evolved. You may have a totally different one than mine. Would love to hear it. Talk to you again about a similar matter at Easter....but first let me tell you what I want for Christmas! Merry Christmas...I'll be back in the new year....

Sunday's Santa Part I

Most who know me know I really don't care for the mention of Santa Claus at Christmas. Especially when it is used by Christians, I mean others don't know any better. Here is a brief history of how Santa Claus began. I will reserve comment for later this week on my own personal feelings toward Santa and Christmas.

For 22 years Nicholas watched over his church. He loved having children sit on his lap while he told them stories about Jesus. One of his other joys was gift giving. Once a man in his church went bankrupt. In order to pay his bills the man was going to sell his three beautiful daughters into slavery, a common practice in those days. When Nicholas heard about it he collected an offering and in the dead of night tossed the bag of gold into an open window in the man’s house. In other cases, if the windows or doors were locked, he would drop the gift down the chimney, which often had stockings hanging nearby to dry from washing.

Nicholas died in AD 342 on Dec. 6. By then he was well known in the area. Many Christians began to follow his example in Christ and give gifts to the poor. It became popular to hold a feast and worship service in his memory on Dec. 6. People would even dress up like him, hold children on their laps, and give them gifts.

Nicholas soon became a patron saint, like a sports hero. In Holland the Dutch pronounced his name as Saint Nicklaus. As they came to America and spoke quickly, to the untrained ear it sounded like they were saying "Santa Claus." The Germans, because of the Lutheran Reformation, focused their attention on the Christ child. In German the baby Jesus is called the "Krist Kindle." Again spoken quickly this would sound like "Kris Kringle," which later was applied to the Santa Claus legend because Christmas was celebrated near the time of St. Nicholas’ day.

The Puritans, however, made it illegal to mention any saint’s name. During the 1600s it was forbidden to light a candle, exchange a gift, or sing carols. Still, people will celebrate what they want. If we don’t teach them how to sing and feast and pretend to the glory of God, then the world will teach them how to do it without glorifying God. That’s what happened to St. Nicholas.

In 1820 a dentist named Clement Moore wrote a poem for his sick child to cheer him up. Called "Twas the night before Christmas," the poem told children that St. Nicholas lived at the North Pole, drove a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, and had a tummy that shook like a bowl full of jelly. (Actually he was probably thin from fasting.) Forty years later Thomas Nast drew a cartoon picture showing St. Nicholas with a long white beard (probably true), rosy cheeks (probably not), dressed in red (true), and with a sack of toys on his back (probably not, since the people needed money and food more).

Just a little history on how Santa came to be....more later...

Friday's Facebook

I read this post on a friends facebook wall. As I was reading I thought how true it is, at least for me. I often think about the shrinking church (hey I am one of them) and wonder why people are not going anymore. I guess everyone has their reasons, I am sure I have mine. More important question, is the relationship with God. Is it there? Anyway, here is the post I read....

Think about what you are reading ok. because it's the truth.

Why do we ((sleep)) in [[church]],
But stay ((awake)) through a [[2 hour movie]]?
Why is it so ((hard)) to talk about [[God]],
but so ((easy)) to [[Gossip]]?
Why are we so ((bored)) when we look at a [[Christian magazine]],
but find it ((easy)) to read [[Playboy]]?
Why is it so easy to ((ignore)) a [[Godly]] Facebook Wall Post,
Yet we ((repost)) the [[nasty]] ones?
Why are ((churches)) getting [[smaller]],
But ((bars and clubs)) are [[growing]]?
Think about it, are you going to repost this?
Are you going to ignore it, cause you think you'll get laughed at?
Would You Have Opened This if it Said.... Read This In Gods Name.

80 % of you wont repost this.

Jesus Christ said:
"If you deny me in front of your friends I will deny you in front of my father

Monday's Message

On Thursday Steve was transferred to St. Boniface hospital in Winnipeg where they did an angiogram and found out he had an "ischemic" event. I was told that when this happens blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium) is obstructed by a partial or complete blockage of a coronary artery (it is good to have a couple of nurses in the extended family. He had (I think) 4 blocked artery's 3 partially blocked and 1 completely blocked. They put a shunt or stint in the blocked one and cleared the others out. Once that all took place he was feeling much better. He was transferred to Portage la Prairie on Friday and released on Saturday, and except for some dizziness and tiredness he is back to normal. We got to visit on Saturday evening for a few hours and stayed at his place that night. Had a really good talk about how God worked in all of this, not only in what we can see, but what we can't see (future results). On Saturday Steve went up to Elkhorn to get his van and stuff and he met two of the people who were there that day, one of them (Carl) was the one who dragged him back over to the hotel from the parking lot after having the attack. He was amazed to see Steve there, especially after seeing him just four days ago passed out and turning blue.

On another thought, can Winnipeg come too soon. Nope. My bags are packed. At least in my head ;)