Posted on 12/21/2015 9:34:48 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
....The legend behind Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, the fourth-century bishop of Myra. His hat was the bishop’s mitre.
Nicholas was born in modern day Turkey to a rather wealthy family. Losing his parents at a young age, Nicholas dedicated both his fortune and his life to the Christian church. Very quickly he was appointed the bishop of Myra, on the southern coast of modern day Turkey.
(Excerpt) Read more at ligonier.org ...
Yes, Virginia, there was a Santa Claus. He was real but he lived in what is now Turkey, not the North Pole.
You can even visit his tomb in Turkey.
I have two challenges:
To Christians who observe Christmas: I challenge you to observe this holiday exactly as the authors of the Gospels documented it, no more, no less.
To secular liberal who observe Christmas: I challenge you to be honest to your secular beliefs and to your rejection that there is a God and that humans need “salvation.” If you are secular, what the hell are you doing (so to speak) by observing the birth of the Savior? Are you nuts? Stop it immediately. Go worship Gaia on the solistice if you must have a party. Do you realize how hypocritical you are being when you put up a tree?
BTW: you know that every human is going to spend eternity somewhere. What secular power or means do secularists hope to transcend the finality of death? If they say that they expect to live beyond death, then by what secular theory and where are the examples and proof?
Merry Christmas!
-JT
My observations of my public school students this year: Muslim children celebrate Santa Claus.
I will observe it exactly as the Gospel writers would have, if they had had Fraser firs, LED lights, Christmas carols, church organs, midnight services, Charles Dickens, Charles Wesley, Thomas Nast, Clement Clarke Moore, Hadden Sundblom, Red Ryder rifles with compasses their stocks, egg nog, and rum.
Quote-
To Christians who observe Christmas: I challenge you to observe this holiday exactly as the authors of the Gospels documented it, no more, no less.
According to the Calendar in His Word and in His Sky, His birth was commemorated on August 16th, in 2015.
That was the 1st day of the Father’s 6th month.
A day 2000 years ago where the sun clothed the woman and the moon was under her feet (Revelation 12:1)
Today that sign in the Heavens on His birth has moved to the first day of His 7th month, the Feast of Trumpets- that was September 26 in 2014.( a review of a calendar would show judaism was close)
In 2015, because there is an extra month in His lunar-solar calendar (to have His Sun and Moon catch up to each other in His Calendar), that sign (Revelation 12:1) was seen on October 14th. That day represented the first day of His 8th month.
Those 1st days would be called day of the new moon (new Moon Day) in His Word. And quite a story unfolds.
Not sure folks would like that it is found to be nowhere near December 25. That tradition of man blinds believers to Truth that would reflect the Word Made Flesh..
Quite a study that has zero to do with St. Nicholas or Rome’s calendar. And everything to do with His Word and His Creation that points to Him!
December 25 this year will be the 13th day of the Father’s 10th month. It will be a day that commemorates the 5th Day of His Work Week, when He created the creatures of the waters and the winged birds of the heavens. A work day. Not holy. But certainly prophetic.
Amen! Keep it real!
You forgot this thing which tells time
+1
Don’t shoot your eye out.
Head to Finnish Lapland, the home of Santa Claus, the Sami people and...Lordi
"O Morning Star, splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness: Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
The very same Flash Performances which were put on by the Seventy-two Disco Disciples, the Cheering Cherubim and their back-up band the Cha-Cha Chachamim, the Twelve Apostles, their lovely wives the Twelve Epistles:
The famous Hallelujah Food Court Flash Mob. Classic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
Wonderful - Ode to Joy, from Sabadell, Spain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87qT5BOl2XU
Air Force Band doing Christmas at the Earth & Space Museum. They're good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu53onuBOXw
USAF again, from 2014, very nice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vniBBT7nRJg
This one looked like it had some shoppers singing, and it also had a Mary, Joseph, and Jesus baby (live), pretty cool IMHO!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vniBBT7nRJg
150 Students from Thomas Aquinas College at a mall in Ventura, CA):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vniBBT7nRJg
Another amazing one: a song called "Wana Baraka" in Swahili, as spoken in Kenya, as sung in Spain, in praise of Jesus. Name of the group: "Coro de Gospel Good News". Wow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsPDY606Joo
Special thanks to FReepers SES1066 and Seattle Conservative.
And Merry Christmas to you, the Buckwheat!
I think that it is also valuable to remember that to people living in the northern hemisphere Christmas comes precisely when it is most needed and represents both the Son and the saint properly if not "correctly".
The solstice represents the promise of longer days and new crops just as Christ's birth was the promise of salvation, the following equinox represents the fact that winter has passed and life continues - hence Christmas represents the promise at the darkest & dreariest time while Easter really does highlight rebirth.
I'd be more than happy to see more emphasis on religious roots of both days; I don't need magic bunny rabbits & bogus sale prices on stuff I'd never buy otherwise, but I/We do need some cheer and hope in the dead of winter.
Quote-But, given that the dominant calendar throughout recent centuries is far more attuned to human activity...
That is what makes Daniel 7:25 prophecy so relevant.
Something out of the 4th Kingdom/beast would change times and laws in Daniel 7.
many scholars list those 4 as follows-
1.Babylon
2.Medes/Persia
3.Greece
4.Rome
The world setting its work and worship schedule today on a Roman calendar , named after a Pope (Pope Gregory), would have perked up the ears of the very first protestant reformers.
They were unafraid to call the Roman Catholic papacy, the seat of antichrist. And called popes, antichrist.
That was before Rome had the Pope Gregory calendar. They would have called it antichrist’s calendar, if one is to accept their premise.
The world setting its work and worship schedule on antichrist calendar?
That would scream Daniel 7 and Revelation 13.
And not by the tip of the sword, but willingly.. And not after the church is gone from here but while the church is still here and maybe because it is.
I don’t expect people to see it unless they first stop being conformed to the world, just as paul warned in Romans. So subtle but that is exactly how the enemy works.
How does Satan deceive the whole world? One way is to tell them what ‘day’ it is, and have all the powers and principalities in the world accept it.
He led me away from accepting the babel powers and principalities word for anything.. All for His Glory!
Truly eye opening...and a minority for sure!
Merry Christmas all, and thanks for the topic SoFloFreeper.
“I will observe it exactly as the Gospel writers would have, if they had had Fraser firs, LED lights, Christmas carols, church organs, midnight services, Charles Dickens, Charles Wesley, Thomas Nast, Clement Clarke Moore, Hadden Sundblom, Red Ryder rifles with compasses their stocks, egg nog, and rum.”
Applause.
Why do some people seem to think that God is a miser?
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