Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry CHRIST-mas!!!

What is Christmas to you and do you celebrate it? I am not celebrating it in the traditional "secular" way. We both know that Christmas is about acknowledging the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus. 

How can I, as a Christian, not recognize the day? December 25th may not be the actual date of His birth, but it is the only nationally recognized day set aside for that purpose. How we choose to recognize the day is what makes us different from the rest of the world. 

Recall in Job 3, Job's children all celebrated their birthdays. The Bible says that Jobs seven sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them (Job 1:4). 

I believe that the reason that Job prayed for them is because he either suspected or knew that they were not honoring God in their celebrations. 

I am convinced that the dissatisfaction is in what they did during the celebrations and NOT the celebrations themselves. Remember, we are to do all things as if for the Lord - not for ourselves.

The original celebration of "Christ-mas" was a day set apart due to the actions of those that came to worship the baby Jesus. The emphasis being on the "worship" which in most churches today is actually a celebration. 

Traditionally from day one, worship was also coupled with gift giving. The big problem today is that people have forgotten or have never known the true meaning of it and have turned it into the thing that we detest! 

I believe that we as Christians adopted the December 25th date as a way to combat the pagan winter solstice celebration. Yet, we have now become like them and now glorify Santa Clause or St. Nicholas. 

Did you know that St. Nicholas is an actual saint? See even that man was associated with Christianity.


Anyway, what I wanted to say was the the traditions need to be sorted out properly. I choose to not put up a tree but have no problems hanging lights and exchanging gifts. 

I believe the lights represent the stars in the heavens on the night of the celebration of Jesus' birth and the gifts tokens of worship to God, honor and respect to the King, and the suffering of the Messiah. 

The gifts as described in the Bible are Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. 

Gold was the usual offering presented to kings by their subjects, or those wanting to pay respect. 

Frankincense is highly fragrant when burned, and was, therefore, used in worship. 

Myrrh was used chiefly in embalming the dead, because it had the property of preserving them from putrefaction. (John 19:39). Myrrh then is brought as a gift to acknowledge the human suffering that Jesus partook of when He came into our world.

So while the world celebrates the season with gifts and jovial activity and good cheer, we as Christian are to be of good faith, joy, and hope. 

We can and should celebrate the birth of our our King, our Lord Jesus, and our Messiah on His day. To do any less would seem to take away from our fidelity in Him.

Is there power in the words???

When it is said that, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. " - Proverbs 18:21, what is it really saying and what does it mean?

Who Are They Anyway?

Alright, so why is it that whenever a group of us are having a discussion somebody brings in the “They” crowd? “They” are always usually interjected into the conversation in a hushed voice, as if we don’t want “Them” to hear us talking about “Them”. We always listen to what “They” have to say about something and sometimes even make decisions based on “Their” opinion but why? What do “They” know that we don’t know? By the way, does anybody even know who “They” are anyway?

See, I believe that “They” are actually agents of “The Man”. “The Man” of course being the overseer of a totally anonymous, invisible, secret conglomerate of society’s so-called conspiracy entities known as “The Establishment” who have an agenda to continually suppress “The Little Guy”. On a more global level, President Bush stumbled upon a sect of “The Establishment” known as “The Axis of Evil” a small collective of the “Evil Empire” permeating the terrorist world. He even managed to associate Saddam Hussein as one of “Their” prime operatives. (You go Bush -daddy!!!)

While I do suppose that “They” are contributors to disrupting most of the world’s progress by recycling axioms usually preceded by the words, “Well, you know what they say…” The fact is that we don’t actually know if what they say is really what “They” said. How are we to know that they even know what “They’re” talking about. As one author puts it, “Everyone knows that boys are better than girls at math, that spicy foods upset the stomach while milk is soothing, and that lemmings drown themselves en masse. Likewise, we all believe that strange things happen during a full moon, that people become more conservative as they get older, and that stomach cramps will sink a swimmer who goes in the water too soon after eating”(You Know What They Say - The Truth About Popular Beliefs. New York: HarperCollins, 1990). The only trouble with all this is that who is going to prove whether it’s correct or not? Rarely, in fact, do we bother to question what "They" say let alone check to see if “They” are right or not.

In the writing of this blog, I discovered that “They” actually have a website named, what else - they.com. Read this with caution as I’m sure that “They” have a way of tracking your access back to your computer and planting a virus in your favorite solitaire game or erasing your critically important jpeg file of your dog’s first birthday party or something. Because, you know what “They” say - nothing is safe on the internet these days. Somebody’s always watching.

Who’s that!!!!

What's Love Got to Do With It?

Somebody please help me out here. When in a relationship, Love is a primary binding factor - but is anything else really needed besides Love? What about trust? What IS trust? I don't think it's so much a factor of whether or not a person can trust me but if they trust themselves. According to the Bible, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." This meaning that we are only as we see ourselves. If we are not trustworthy, we tend to not trust in others. Trust is an unspoken bond. You make it when you accept responsibility for another's emotions and they entrust with you with securing their heart. What we do with that trust dictates the degree of commitment we make to a person.

So, Love = Trust + Commitment? Is that the correct equation or should it be more like; Love = Trust + Faith? Where do things like financial responsibility, quality time, and good common sense fall into the mix? Is it possible to Love logically or is this a game for the Emotions only? Wouldn't a logically thinking man find a more practical way to handle the problems of Love? I mean, he’d probably factor in the other things that emotions leave out thus creating and environment where Peace of Mind can foster Confidence which could be translated as Trust: Trust being equivalent to Security. Security promotes Respect which is reciprocated by “Love”.

I’m just a man of logic… Fortunately for me, I also incorporate emotions. I find it utterly unwise to undertake an endeavor like Love without at least attempting to factor in the unexpected. In today’s modern-age, it has become a requirement to establish where people are starting from in order to map out a course of success in a relationship. Baggage is allowed on this ride (max of 2 please), as long as you keep them stored in the baggage car along with everyone else’s and avoid riffling through other people’s baggage stored there. However clearly label your baggage so as to not accidentally take someone else’s at your final destination.

So, is the most successful relationship built on the old principle of Love alone or on a new paradigm?

WhaTs LoVe Got To Do WiTh It?

Who gives to this feeling, who needs to the find its meaning
When time is too much to give, when short is life to live
Where truth turns to lies, where the weary spirit cries
Why wasn't it given back, why is there so much lack
How hard it is to see, how easy it is to simply be
In Love..... So
Whats Love Got To Do with It

- Anonymous ;-)