Why we don't do Father Christmas

A family Christmas tradition we have started is a trip to Doddington Hall where we will take a look around the Elizabethan house's traditional decorations, order a coffee and cake from the delicious cafe, pick out a bauble from the Bauble Barn, and bring home a Christmas tree grown on the estate.

This year, Doddington have also got Father Christmas waiting to meet children in the house's Great Hall. Almost everyone we met asked Rebekah, our two-year-old, if she had come to see Santa.

We were aware of the pressure with Santa - he is synonymous with Christmas in the UK now. So we are starting to think about whether we should introduce Rebekah to him or not...

Born To Give Them Second Birth

It's fun to look at pictures of babies and imagine what some of them are born to be or do.  You can never tell and are often surprised to see what those famous in the world today once looked like.  For example, below we have the babies who would go on to be a Hollywood superstar, the President of the United States of America and a England striker.  You'd never have guessed, hey?

Tom Cruise, Barack Obama and Wayne Rooney as babies.

You might say that they were born to fulfil their respective potentials.  Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of a baby but it's not often that it's thought what that baby was really born for, the reason that the baby Jesus arrived on earth.

#TweetChristmas

I'm part of the team that is responsible for the digital goings on at my church TCM Baptist Church.  This includes a Twitter account and I'm playing with a new initiative over Christmas to live tweet the nativity.  Using the hashtag #TweetChristmas, the TCM account will be tweeting verses through the Christmas story over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Videos at Christmas

  I've seen some really amazing videos around Christmas this year, from A Social Media Christmas to Jesus/Santa comparisons to beatboxing priests but I think this video might be the sweetest and best made video I have seen so far.

Jesus Ripped Up Santa's List

  We all know about Santa's list that he made, checked twice and used to find out who is naughty or nice.  It makes sense, huh?  If you're a good little boy or girl, you get lots of lovely presents but if you're naughty, you get just a lump of coal and a ruined Christmas.  No one wants to be on that list but if you think about how you live in relation to others, to God, which do you think you'd end up on?

  As this really useful post teaches, we all deserve to be on the naughty list, to get that lump of coal and the consequences that come with it.  But the little baby that is the reason we have Christmas in the first place, has taken that list and ripped it to pieces.

The Inevitable Ghost of Christmas Past

With Max Gradel in such good form for his new club (something like five goals in seven) it wass kind of inevitable that he would come to haunt us his former club to score the first of four great Boxing Day goals.

Gallagher scores his third penalty of the
season. (lcfc.com)

After another bad away loss, Foxes fans were hoping that Sven's unbeaten form at home would produce a much needed win against a team that had been beaten twice already this season.  Not quite the performance many were hoping for, however, but a point against a top-two side is nothing to be scoffed at.

Positives

- an awesome goal from King shows some more of what class he has as a footballer

- the unbeaten home record stays in tact after a spirited comeback in the last thirty minutes

- Vassell seems to be getting quicker and more skillful as the games go on

- Gally has found  a great penalty scoring form which gives confidence each time we are awarded one

Negatives

- sloppy goals again from two of the three attacks Leeds had during the match leave us with the worst defence in the league

- over the frozen festive period, Leicester have failed to take some winnable points to make their way up the table and now are looking over their shoulders at teams with games in hand

- with Vitor injured and Davies on his way to the Premier League, the defence is soon to change again, which needs to be sorted

- Leicester didn't seem to turn up until around the 60th minute...this needs to be sorted also

All in all, not a disaster but improvements need to be made, big time.  The January transfer window will bring many a change which will make or break the promotion hopes of this season.  I shall leave you with a picture of myself in my new Leicester top!

Who Is Better Than Santa?

Santa is said to live at the North Pole,
Jesus is everywhere (Colossians 1:17)

Santa is said to ride in a sleigh,

Jesus walks on water (Matthew 14:25).

Santa comes but once a year,

Jesus is an ever present help (Psalm 46:1).

Santa fills your stockings with goodies,

Jesus supplies all your needs (Philippians 4:19).

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited,

Jesus stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your heart when invited (Revelation 3:20).

You have to wait in line to see a Santa,

Jesus is as close as the mention of his name .

Santa is shown with a belly like a bowl full of jelly,

Jesus has a heart full of love (1 John 3:16).

All any Santa can offer is 'Ho, ho, ho',

Jesus offers health, help and hope (John 6:37-40).

Santa says 'you'd better not cry',

Jesus says 'cast all your cares on me for I care for you' (Psalm 55:22).

Santa's little helpers make toys,

Jesus makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle,

Jesus gives you joy that is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Children think that Santa puts gifts under the tree,

Jesus became our gift and died on a tree (1 Peter 2:24).

From a leaflet from Victory Tracts and written by a 13 year old American girl.  In addition to the post on Santa from last week.

Offensive Christmas Trees

According to reserachers at a Canadian university, Christmas trees lower positive feelings and self-assurance in non-Christians and the trees should be removed from public places in favour of 'multiculturalism and an inclusive society'.

  Apparently (according to Dr. Wikipedia), the tree comes from a German Christian who chopped down a tree of Thor to disprove the beliefs of a tribe who worshipped the Norse god.  I heard that another German once fell under a tree in the forest and, looking up through the branches, saw the stars in the sky, prompting lights on the trees.

  

  If anything, it seems to me that Christmas trees are another example of the holiday turning into a traditional, past-time; having loose Christian roots and now becoming a symbol of the mostly secular Christmas we have today.  It is sad that the closest to Christianity most trees get is a star on top of the tree.

  To me it looks like another part of Christianity being taken out of our culture, adding to the removal of the name 'Christmas' at this time of year and the banning of annual nativity plays.  Do Christmas trees really offend non-Christians?  Surely the removal of Christmas in culture would go against the multiculturalism the Canadian researchers strive for?

The Big Santa Dilemma

  Is it right to lie to your children that Santa Claus is real?  Surely it is better to be honest with your kids and avoid disappointment.  In the end, surely it just avoids the real point of the holiday?

I read an interesting article by a minister at my church about this problem, reflecting on an article by another pastor called Mark Driscoll.  Here it is, have a read.

  " I’m not meaning to have a ‘Driscoll-fest’ this week, but I’ve happened upon another really helpful piece from him: What We Tell Our Kids About Santa.  This is a subject that has plagued me for the last couple of Christmases.  Do we embrace the Santa myth and enjoy watching our kids believe that he delivers their presents down the chimney, having flown in from the North Pole by reindeer, and that he watches them all year round to see if they’ve been good?  Or do we reject the myth, tell them that it’s not true and that we shouldn’t believe in it at all, thereby taking the fun out of Santa and probably causing a lot of heartache for their friends!?

  Driscoll’s helpful article gives us another option: redeeming Santa.  This way we’re being honest with our children about the origins of the Santa story, that Saint Nicholas was a real man who faithfully served Jesus by giving gifts to the poor.  It also allows us to embrace the fun of Santa by dressing up and even visiting Santa with our children, all the while being thankful to God for a man who inspired generations of families to be generous at Christmas and to live humble, obedient lives for Jesus.

“Saint Nick was a wonderful man who loved and served Jesus faithfully. So, we gladly include him in our Christmas traditions to remind us of what it looks like for someone to live a life of devotion to Jesus as God. Our kids thank us for being both honest and fun, which we think is what Jesus wants.”  Mark Driscoll "

I, personally, don't think I'd like to live the Santa Claus lie with my (future) children, even though it will be hard to let it take control of me.  This seems a much nicer way of dealing with things, keeping an honest relationship going.

What do you think?