Letters to Santa Might Break Your Heart

A microscope. A new puppy. A mother. And absolutely, positively NO CLOTHES.

From the humorous to the heart-wrenching, children’s wish lists to Santa reveal that children aren’t as toy-centric as parents think — and that they’re not as polite as perhaps they should be.

Carole Slotterback, a psychology professor at the University of Scranton, analyzed nearly 1,200 letters sent between 1998 and 2003 to the central post office in Scranton, a struggling former coal city in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The missives were scrawled or painstakingly handwritten on every type of paper and in every shade of ink. Many were decorated with drawings, stickers or glitter; some children gave Santa not only their addresses but their phone numbers, parents’ cell phone numbers and their school pictures — just to make sure the Big Guy knew how to find them on Christmas.

Slotterback, who describes her findings in the book “The Psychology of Santa,” said the letters “touched me in so many different ways.”

“Some are just absolutely a stitch, and others are some of the saddest things I’ve ever read,” she said.
And then there was the one written in careful cursive on bright pink paper, in which Santa was asked for perhaps the greatest gift of all: a mom.

(Perhaps the above story will remind all of us not to focus on the toys we give our kids but love and faith. Read all of the above story Expert: Santa letters not all about toys.)

 

Happy Hanukkah and Information

Here is a video teaching I did yesterday. Below the video is part of the written copy.

Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 that the Jewish feasts and celebrations were actually a shadow of the things to come through Jesus Christ. And though as Christians we may not commemorate these holidays in the traditional biblical sense, as we discover the significance of each, we will certainly gain a greater knowledge of God’s Word, an improved understanding of the Bible, and a deeper relationship with the Lord.

The Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah, is a Jewish holiday. It is also known as the Festival of Lights.

The story of Hanukkah is recorded in the First Book of Maccabees,. It is not talked about in the new Testament right? Nope it is talked about lets look at Book of John, chapter 10, verse 22.

Prior to the year 165 BC, the Jewish people who dwelled in Judea where living under the rule of the Greek kings of Damascus. During this time the king in power   took control of the Temple in Jerusalem and forced the Jewish people to abandon their worship of God, their holy customs and reading of the Torah, and he made them bow down to the Greek gods. According to the records, this King  defiled the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and spilling its blood on the holy scrolls of Scripture.

As a result of the severe persecution and pagan oppression, a group of four Jewish brothers, led by Judah Maccabee, decided to raise up an army of religious freedom fighters. These men of fierce faith and loyalty to God became known as the Maccabees. The small band of warriors fought for three years with “strength from heaven” until achieving a miraculous victory and deliverance from  this evil king.

After regaining the Temple, it was cleansed by the Maccabees, cleared of all Greek idolatry, and  rededicated. The rededication of the Temple to the Lord took place in the year 165 BC, on the 25th day of the Hebrew month.

Christmas from Yesterday

Two growing boys, posed by a glittering Christmas tree, showing off their bounty from Santa Claus.

For nearly 20 years in the late 1890s and early 1900s, professional photographer Julius Leschinsky of Grand Island took his cameras home to capture yuletide images of his sons and their Christmas tree.

The photos, among 28,000 glass- plate negatives in a collection owned by the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, provide a fascinating glimpse of the Christmases of yesteryear, from the intricate ornaments that decorate the tree to the toys beneath it.

Leschinsky emigrated to Nebraska from Germany in 1880, when he was 20 years old.

(It is nice to read about how things use to be including the holidays. Read more of the above story One family’s photo tradition.)

Can Atheists Have Christmas

Here is a sermon I did a few days ago.

Having a Joyful Holiday

Here is a video sermon I did yesterday on how to have a joyful holiday. The writen transcript is below the video.

 

  

I have some ideas and thoughts which I might share but best place to find out about having a joyful holiday is God’s word the Bible. Philip 4:10-14

A.   Make it about God, Jesus and faith. We get in trouble when we take  our focus off of Jesus. Heb. 12:2 tells us to fix our eyes on him. Those of us who are followers of Jesus know what Christmas is about honoring the fact that God sent his son Jesus to be  with us. Spend time reading the true Christmas story from the Bible.  Go to candle light service. Attend a Christmas Eve, and or Christmas Day service.

B.   Content: Today I think one of the reasons people get burned out during   after Christmas is they try to buy the love of others if it be children or grandchildren . They spend money they don’t have  and get things they can’t afford. Cut back this year. I don’t have a problem  with buying a few things. However  I think we are spoiling our children here in America. Explain to your children and grandchildren that you think you need to cut back this year. Also get creative give  gifts  you make or things like  a card which says they get to spend the whole day with you.

 You and your family help those who are less blessed than you. This can be in a dollar amount and or volunteering.  It might be taking your children to a soup kitchen to serve, to a nursing home, ringing bells for the salvation army. You will not only bless others but God will bless you.

GodLess Thanksgiving 11-26-09.avi

Here is a video  which  talks about what really took place the first Thanksgiving. Below is the written copy of the video.

 

 

Thursday, November 26,  (Thanksgiving 2009)

 

Putting the Thanks Back into Thanksgiving

By Chuck Colson

One of the most popular movies of 1989 was Dead Poets Society, about a group of classmates in a boys’ school who formed a secret society to celebrate American poets. Well, Christians might do well to adapt their example and form a Dead Pilgrims Society.

Why? Because today’s kids are being fed a half-baked version of Thanksgiving lore, complete with glazed facts, mashed multiculturalism, and a generous helping of censorship.

Several children’s books about the Pilgrims are on bookstore shelves. But in a cold November blast of secularism, much of the spiritual component has been blown away.

As a result, our children are consuming a dumbed-down version of Christian history. They’re taught that the Pilgrims risked their lives traversing the ocean for economic gain, not religious freedom. And that first Thanksgiving feast? It’s described as nothing more than a three-day binge with the Indians.

Take, for example, a book called The First Thanksgiving by Jean Craighead George. As this book tells it, the Pilgrims left Europe “to seek their fortune in the New World.” That would have come as news to the Pilgrims themselves. Pilgrim leader William Bradford wrote in his diary that the voyage was motivated by “a great hope . . . for advancing the kingdom of Christ.”

And when it comes to Thanksgiving itself, in this book the religious dimension finds no place at the table. The author states flat-out, “This was not a day of Pilgrim thanksgiving” — thanksgiving to God, that is. Instead, she writes, “This was pure celebration.”

Odd. That’s not the way the Pilgrims themselves remembered it. Listen again to the account by William Bradford, who was actually there: “The Lord sent them such seasonable showers,” Bradford writes, that “through His blessing [there was] a fruitful and liberal harvest. . . . For which mercy . . . they set apart a day of thanksgiving.”

Thanks Chuck.

Some today in the culture, the government schools want to remove anything  that speaks kindly of God from our history books. The truth is Thanksgiving is not only an American holiday in November  but it  was created as a day to honor the Lord no matter what those who want to rewrite our history say. Have a blessed  Thanksgiving  and let it truly be a day in your home to Thank the one who truly all blessings come from.

Hindu sacrifice Is Wrong

The world’s biggest animal sacrifice began in Nepal today with the killing of the first of more than 250,000 animals as part of a Hindu festival in the village of Bariyapur, near the border with India. ( Hindu sacrifice of 250,000 animals begins)

 

The event, which happens every five years, began with the decapitation of thousands of buffalo, killed in honour of Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power.

With up to a million worshippers on the roads near the festival grounds, this year’s fair seems more popular than ever, despite vocal protests from animals rights groups who have called for it to be banned. “It is the traditional way, ” explained 45-year old Manoj Shah, a Nepali driver who has been attending the event since he was six, “If we want anything, and we come here with an offering to the goddess, within five years all our dreams will be fulfilled.”

( I am sorry about those souls who believe their dreams will come to pass  because they killed  an animal  are in spiritual blindness. The  only way to have purpose and see your dreams happen is to put your faith in Jesus. The Bible says in Psalm 37:4 –

 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.)

Thanksgiving For

So what should we be Thankful to God for  this Thanksgiving and everyday. Watch a video sermon I did last Sunday.

Do All Faiths Lead Down the Same Road?

Do all faiths lead down the same road? 

Are all world views the same?

Are there things which will always be right and other things which will always be wrong? Watch the short video below to see.

 

A Night With Cal Thomas

 

One week ago tonight  myself and many others  in my city had the joy of hearing a great column writer (Cal Thomas) speak. Cal said many great things.

One of the things Cal said those of us who are people of faith need to build relationships with others. Cal has done that with many different people in the media that he is friends with. Cal has made many friends with those who don’t hold the same  political  views as his. 

Cal looks at things from the right. He first is a follower of Jesus, then he is a  conservative. 

I hope you are reading Cal Thomas in your newspaper. By the way if your paper picks up the Cal Thomas column get  a  subscription to it and  tell the editor why you are taking it.  If your paper doesn’t pick up the Cal Thomas column you can read it at calthomas.com/.

Cal also does a radio commentary Monday through Friday. It can be heard  right here.