Why I Don't Tell My Children About Santa, Hmmm !

It's not that I have something against the friendly, old guy with the red suit and reindeer. I like his belly laugh and think it's cute that he has a perpetual twinkle in his eyes. Even so, my husband and I have decided to ban Santa from the Christmas activities at our house. 

Before I get to the whys of our decision not to include Santa at Christmas, let me get this off my chest. Santa is not a doctrinal issue. Santa isn't even an issue that defines good parents or good Christians. Lots of people I know who love the Lord and love their kids tell their children about Santa. And to my knowledge no one has been scarred for life by the fairy tale of Santa and his eight tiny reindeer. 

I'd just like to start a conversation about the reasons why I've decided the story of Santa is best untold to the little ears on my watch. Here are the reasons we've opted not to tell our children about Santa. 

• We want them to understand what happened in the manger as clearly as possible.  

Noel Piper wrote a great blog about her own decision not to tell her children about Santa. Her logic helped me crystallize my own reasons for leaving Santa out of our Christmas conversations. She writes: 

"We want our children to understand God as fully as they are able at whatever age they are. So we try to avoid anything that would delay or distort that understanding. It seems to us that celebrating with a mixture of Santa andmanger will postpone a child's clear understanding of what the real truth of God is. It's very difficult for a young child to pick through a marble cake of part-truth and part imagination to find the crumbs of reality." 

• Santa has some God-like characteristics.

"He sees you when you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake." In other words, Santa is omnipresent and omniscient—he sees everything and knows everything. In reality, these are characteristics reserved only for God. 

When pressed about our reasons for not teaching our kids about Santa, my wise husband usually says something like this: 

"We don't think they can understand the difference when we say, there is an Easter bunny who brings you presents if you're good, but he's not real. There is a tooth fairy who knows when you are sleeping and brings you money if you lose a tooth, but she's not real. There is a Santa who brings you gifts if you are good, but he's not real. And there is a Jesus who is always watching you and wants to give you good things, but He is real." 

It just seems plain ole' confusing to ascribe attributes of God to fictional characters and then have to explain the difference between those characters and a living God some day. 

• Santa is soft on sin.  

No one actually gets a lump of coal for Christmas. It doesn't matter how bad my children behave, there will always be gifts under the tree. I think it might be confusing to them to hear that Santa is keeping a list of their rights and wrongs, but there won't really be any consequences for their sin. Also, that long list of naughties and niceties doesn't really speak much to the gift of grace. Especially since Santa always checks the list twice. 

• We want our kids to know where presents come from.  

Our gifts are already under the tree. Our kids know that we bought them, we wrapped them, and we can't wait to give them to them! They understand that those gifts cost money out of our pockets. It's not that I want to hold over their heads the financial sacrifices that come with giving gifts to them, but I do want them to be grateful, both to us as their parents, and to God who provides us with jobs so we can have money to buy gifts. Santa has a whole city full of elves making gifts all year long. Those gifts don't cost anybody anything. I think that makes them easier to disregard and be ungrateful for. 

• Because of the baby in the manger.  

The most important reason we have opted not to include Santa in our Christmas is because it isn't about him. It's about Immanuel—God with us! I know there are many other good things that creep into our holiday celebrations such as time with family, good food, and gifts, but I don't want anything to distract my kids from the wonder of the King who came to earth to die for their sins. It's not worth taking the risk of allowing a fella as jovial and generous as Santa to do just that. 

What about you? What will you do to keep your family focused on Jesus this Christmas?

Source:charismamag.com

ECHOING IN ETERNITY

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10

In the film, Gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius, leading his troops into battle, declared, "What we do in life echoes in eternity."

That is a true statement. What we do in life echoes in eternity. We act as though everything that can be done must be done during our life on earth, and we must do all that we can with our time, abilities, and resources.

There is a great element of truth to that, because we certainly don't want to waste our lives.

And when life is cut short or hindered by a disability or an illness, when a child—or a young man or a young woman dies, it is a big loss.

Each life should be lived to the full to the glory of God. But there are people who live wicked lives, who do nothing with what God has given them and opposed God in every way—even doing damage with their lives.

Those who live godless and selfish lives are considered blessed in our present society.

The end now justifies the means. They say to themselves, 'let's eat and drink, tomorrow we die."

Why do we think that way? Because we think all that will happen will happen in this life, and then it is over.

But that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that life goes on, and God will judge our every action.

We must remember that death is not the end of life but a continuation of it in eternity.

We will appear before the judgment seat of God, and each of us will be rewarded according to our works.

Whatever sacrifices you are making for God's kingdom will be made up to you.

God will not be your debtor. I am completely confident that on that final day, you will recognize that it was worth it all.

Prayer: Lord, help me to live for eternity.

Scriptural Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:1-11

Prayer for new week

There shall be no more afflictions, there shall be no tragedy. You shall not die young; the God of Heaven will give you long life, prosperity, and good days to enjoy His blessings in your life in Jesus mighty name. 

Receive supernatural favour to accomplish what you've started.  May you and your household experience angelic visitation in Jesus name, 

Happy New Week from us ASB-World.

JUST MOVING AWAY

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26

Everyone is immortal. Everyone lives forever. Whether you are a Christian or an agnostic or an atheist, you live forever.

Every Buddhist, every Hindu, and every Muslim lives forever. Every person lives forever. We won't stop existing. But the question is, where will we live forever?

Let's say that I bought you a one-way plane ticket and told you, "I am going to send you off on a journey next week."

You get excited and start packing your bags. But before you get excited, the thing you need to be asking me is, "What is the destination for this one-way plane fare?"

If the destination is Siberia, don't be too excited. But if the destination is Los Angeles, then get excited.

In the same way, the issue is not whether we will live forever as much as it is where we will live forever. And according to the Bible, there are only two options: heaven or hell.

When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you go to heaven. And in a sense, you don't die. Jesus said. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die".

I am not in denial. I understand that the body breaks down and sometimes shuts down quickly—unexpectedly, even. I understand that when we die, we are placed in a grave. But I know that in another sense, we don't die.

General MacArthur, in his famous televised speech in April 1951, stated, "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

Well, we could also say, "Old Christians never die; they just move away." And where do they move? They move away to heaven.

Prayer: Because of my faith in you, O Lord, I know I have passed from death to life.

Scriptural Reading: John 11:25-26

MOVE WITH COMPASSION

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart 1 wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. 2 Corinthians 2:4

Even before Titanic arrived on the big screen in 1997, people have been fascinated by its story, perhaps because there is so much to it.

Clearly, many mistakes were made that led to its sinking. Although it was called the unsinkable ship, it sank. And it sank relatively easily.
We know that 1,500 people perished in an icy grave. We know there were not enough lifeboats on board.

We know that many of them went out half-full, some with only four or five people when they had the capacity to carry at least 60.

But one of the greatest tragedies about the Titanic is the fact that while there was room in the lifeboats, no one went back to save anyone else. They had rowed out a distance from the sinking vessel because they were afraid of its suction.

Survivors said they could hear the screams of the people as the Titanic finally disappeared below the surface.

Here were people in lifeboats that had room. They could have rowed back and pulled others in. Yet they did nothing about it.

They waited for about an hour, and then they went back. By then, they were only able to save a handful of people. They waited until it was too late.

Right now, there is a lost world around us. People are going down, and we have room in our lifeboat. Do we care enough to go and pull them on board?

Do we care enough to do something for them?

Prayer: Lord, touch my heart to touch the world with the good news of Your Kingdom.

Scriptural Reading: 2 Corinthians 2:1-11

Have you wondered why someone hates you without cause?

"I always hated your guts," a woman laughingly told me after church one night. "It wasn't anything you did, I just couldn't stand who you are." She said this with a smile, and I was stunned. I hardly knew this women and had no idea that she hated me. To this day I've wondered why she felt compelled to tell me.

This reminded me of when I had a line of girls standing in front of me to ask for my forgiveness. The pastor had preached how we needed to forgive one another and encouraged the listeners to ask for forgiveness if they were offended with someone. This young lady asked me to forgive her because she was jealous of me.

Their were several girls after her to tell me the same thing. Again, I had no idea that I was inciting jealousy. I never thought of myself as outstanding or beautiful. I was just trying to make it through college working 20 to 30 hours a week.

To this day I don't know why I inspire women to hate me. Women that hate me have actually helped me work hard at being free from offense. Since so many women have asked me for forgiveness, I've never felt the urgency to do that to someone else. If I have a problem with someone, I usually take care of it by praying.

If I feel the person is causing physical harm or that the offense is serious, then I try to talk to that person privately. I would rather have innocence and a pure heart towards someone than be a stumbling block for them. I've learned that God places a premium priority on how we relate to our brothers or sisters in the faith or people who we are close to. The first act of strife between Adam and Eve affects us today. And the first murder between two brothers because of envy, competition, pride and jealousy, opened the door to more darkness in mankind.

We see the long-term affects of hate in 1 John 2:9-11:

"Whoever says he is in the light but hates his brother is in darkness even until now. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."

When you hate the people that are close to you, you open yourself to darkness and confusion. Love removes any stumbling block in you. The benefits of loving your brother or sister are:

* You walk in the light. You have nothing to hide and you have a transparent life.
* You will not stumble or make a mistake or a blunder.
* You will know where you're going.

Hating your brother or sister is too costly. Forgive your brother or sister over and over again. Learn to love them unconditionally and you'll enjoy a life full of the light of God. And another takeaway here is to never feel compelled to go ask someone for forgiveness. I don't see one Scripture in the Bible that states you have to go ask for forgiveness.

I see Scriptures about confessing your sin to one another, but not a verse that you need to go tell someone that they offended you. Colossians 3:13 states, "Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."

Did I have to forgive that woman who told me she hated me? No because I had nothing against her. I hold no grudge against that woman and I hope for the best for her. The girls that formed in the line in front of me became good friends that are still in my life today.

Leilani Haywood

Today is 12-12-14, If it had not been the Lord who was on our side

Psalm 124 .1-8

1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;

2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Happy 12-12-14 from ASB World to all our fans.