Merry Christmas!

Jesus, born in the lowliest of places and in the lowliest of forms (a man!), came to save our souls from the just punishment and wrath of God!

Praise His Name!

Seek to bless Him who gave us the greatest gift of all – eternal life!

-Mark (grateful for the life and death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!)

Are Christians being Santa-tized?

It’s Christmas time and that can only mean one thing: Jesus’ birthday, right? Well, to some, it’s Santa Claus time but what does Santa teach us and are the messages biblical? Should Christians embrace Santa?

First of all, Santa is a lie. I work with abused kids and neglected kids. They have been lied to their whole lives and now parents are encouraged to lie to them one more time about ole Saint Nick? What are we thinking? Encourage parents to lie to their abused kids one more time and cause more distrust between parent and child. I don’t think so! Some argue it’s a good lie but is there really such a thing in God’s eyes?

Second, does Santa know if you have been naughty or nice? Is he all knowing like God? I don’t think so. Jesus knew if people were naughty or nice because He was the Son of God. Santa is not the son of God. Santa is not divine. Santa is portrayed as a man with special abilities like knowing if we’ve been good or bad, but he’s not god. Strange stuff!

Third, are we teaching kids to be works-oriented and to earn their gifts? When we talk about salvation as a free gift yet encourage kids to be nice to earn their Christmas gifts, we are undermining the very idea that a gift is not earned or deserved just like eternal life is not earned or deserved. Salvation is a free gift and it’s given to us while we are yet naughty (not nice). Romans 5:8 reminds us that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” so that means we were still naughty!

When something is sanitized, it is cleansed and purified. Unfortunately the opposite is true when something is Santa-tized: it is polluted and corrupted and made unclear. That’s how I feel about the lie of ole Saint Nick. It’s a lie plain as day and yet we embrace it and justify it as mere fun – a good lie.

I wonder how the Lord feels about lying. Oh, I don’t have to wonder. I already know as it is one of His 10 Commandments – “thou shalt not bear false witness.” He is not pleased with any lying and that includes Santa-tizing! I hope you will consider this commandment you are tempted to talk about Santa. Sounds harsh to some but it’s important to be obedient to the Lord.

Celebrate Jesus this Christmas…not Santa!

-Mark (celebrating the pure birth of our Savior and not anything else this advent season)

Merry Christ-mas!

Let’s not forget “Christ” in this holiday!

It’s His birthday we are celebrating because He came to save us from our sins! Hallelujah! Peace between God and man!

-Mark (wishing you a very merry Christmas holiday!)

A Christmas Paradigm Shift

You know why most of us like Christmas? I think part of the reason is because the season gives us a reason to splurge on ourselves! We give with the expectation of receiving in return.

Think about it: what do children do? Make a list of things THEY want and give it to Santa. You know what this does? It breeds disappointment with high expectations when the child does NOT get what is on the list. 

So how can Christians like you and I be counter-cultural and biblical since the Bible teaches self-denial NOT self-esteem or self-fulfillment apart from Christ?

My wife and I didn’t do the list thing this year. Instead, we made a list of people we could give TO. We also listed things from our home we could sacrificially give away to needy families we know. Not our worse things, but some of our better and best things that we are still using!

We want our children to be givers not consumers. Self-less rather than selfish. Don’t you want your children to be like Jesus Who gave without an expectation of return? I do. Otherwise, I’m just bringing up children who are going to be consumed by consumerism and just like this world rather than like Jesus Christ.

Was Jesus a consumer or a giver? Can you imagine Jesus making a Christmas list of His wants to mail to Santa? Ridiculous thought yet we are to be LIKE HIM.

Make your children’s expectations low this year by teaching them to be like King Solomon when he prayed in I Kings 3 for wisdom – not for himself – but so that he could serve the Lord by serving His children better!!! This prayer was inspired by God, the great Giver of all good gifts according to James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.“ – The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Jas 1:17). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Let’s give this Christmas with no expectation of receiving! Let’s be like our Father of lights and be a light that realizes it’s much better to give than to receive! Let’s glorify the Lord and not get caught up in a secular season that has made it all about SELF rather than about Jesus HIMSELF.

-Mark (wanting to shift our thinking from self to Christ, especially during Christmas!)

P.S. We say, “Jesus is the reason for the season” but we sing about Santa, reindeer, mistletoe, snow, and all the stuff we get in this life that is temporary. Let’s set our minds on things above (Col.3:1-3), especially now during Christmas!

A great question by a THANKFUL 8 year old before Thanksgiving…

I just want to thank you all for your prayer support this past year. We have needed it and the hurting souls we care for in biblical counseling sessions need it, too.

I love November primarily for the reason of Thanksgiving. It gives me an excuse to “boast about the Lord” and to share the Gospel.

After hearing a Christmas song on the radio in early November, my 7 year old daughter asked me, “Why don’t they play Thanksgiving songs on the radio, Daddy, like they do Christmas songs?”

I paused to think before responding with this, “We do sing thankful songs in church on Sundays to God all of the time, but the radio doesn’t play those songs.” What else could I say? My daughter knows very little about the fallen world of unbelief that exists outside our home. She thinks everyone should be thankful to God…and she’s right.

Wouldn’t it be nice to hear Thanksgiving songs on the radio each year in October and November? Let’s start a new tradition.

-Mark (thankful for my children who provoke me to greater thoughts about my loving Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ)