The Meaning of Christmas

Christmas has nothing to do with giving people plenty of material possessions as "gifts". These gifts are self-centered and meaningless unless the true meaning of Christmas is told and celebrated. Material possessions are of this world and will be destroyed with this world. Giving "gifts" is not uniquely Christian, and other religions give gifts, heck, Wiccan's give each other gifts. In this time that can easily become nothing more than material and self obsession amidst retail insanity , let's remember the true meaning of Christmas.

LOVE - that's the true meaning of Christmas. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

Philippians chapter 2, verses 6-11, as paraphrased in The Message, records, "Jesus had equal status with God but didn't think so much of Himself that He had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, He stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death - and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. Because of that obedience, God lifted Him high and honored Him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth - even those long ago dead and buried - will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that He is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father."

The true meaning of Christmas is God's becoming a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. Why did God do such a thing? Because He loves us! Why was Christmas necessary? Because we needed a Savior! Why does God love us so much? Because He is love (1 John 4:8)! Why do we celebrate Christmas each year? Out of gratitude for what God did for us, we remember His birth by giving each other gifts, worshipping Him, and being especially conscious of the poor and less fortunate.


The true meaning of Christmas is LOVE. God loved us so much that He wanted to provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him. He gave His only Son to take our punishment for our sins, He paid the price in full! We are free from condemnation when we accept that free gift of LOVE. "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans 5:8).

(Thanks to GotQuestions.org)

A message to the doubter...

There has been one TV preacher that I have learned from and respect, and believe me that is rare. The Holy Spirit has obviously come out of this man and here is one of his best teachings...


CLAIMS THAT JESUS MADE

Regardless of the source, the only Jesus in history will be found
making one or more of the following claims.

a)Jesus spoke that He would be killed but would rise on the
third day. (Mark 10:33-34; Matthew 20:19)

b)He spoke that He had been sent to save the world and
salvation came only from believing in Him. (John 3:16-18)

c)Something was wrong with the whole world that could only
be set right by his death being a "ransom". (Matthew 20:28)

d)He spoke of God as His Father and that men should honor
the Son as they honored the Father. (John 5:23)

e)He spoke that those who believed in Him would have
everlasting life. (John 14:6)

f)He claimed to be the Son of God. (John 9:35-37)

g)He spoke that no man could come to the Father except
through Him. (John 14:6)

h)He spoke in His teachings of heaven and eternity from
the inside. "I saw Satan cast down." (Luke 10:18)
And, "Before Abraham, I was." (John 8:58)
And, "There is joy in heaven by the angels when a
sinner repents." (Luke 15:10)

i)He spoke that He was to be the judge of all things
including man. (John 5:22)

j)Jesus thought of Himself as perfect by presuming himself
adequate to forgive sin (Matthew 9:6) and be the redeemer and
Savior of mankind (Matthew 16:16-17).
It doesn't matter whether he was perfect,  he thought he was
and it is not man's nature to accept someone who thinks of
himself as perfect.  Mankind certainly does not make saints of
people who think they're perfect.

So from the claims that Jesus made one can only conclude that:

a) Jesus was a liar and a fraud or
b) He was who and what He claimed to be.
c) A GOOD AND WISE TEACHER

Some say that Jesus was a "good and wise teacher". One can be wise
and be a liar which only makes him a "good" liar. One can be good
and lie without the realization that he is lying in which case he
cannot be wise.

Therefore, one cannot call Jesus both "good and wise" without
accepting that He was what He said He was.

CAN JESUS BE "JUST" A PROPHET

The claims that Jesus made suggest that He considered Himself more
than a prophet. A mere prophet from God would never make the
statement that he "should be afforded the same honor as the one (God)
who had sent him" and mere prophets do not claim that they can forgive
sin. Therefore, if one is to afford Jesus the status of being one
of "God's prophets" then all the other claims that Jesus made should
be accepted as well.

THE RESURRECTION IS THE KEY

One of the qualifications of a prophet is his predictions must be
verifiable by witnesses. We tend to focus on the "long term"
prophecies of the Prophets of old as these are the ones most
relevant to us.
Short term prophecies, those that can be verified during the "time"
of the prophet, are important because they serve to identify him
immediately as a prophet and thus give credibility to his longer
term predictions.

The following verse in the Gospel of Mark obviously qualifies
as a "short term" prediction or prophecy from Jesus. One that could
be verifiable in His "time".

(Mark 9:31) For he taught his disciples, and said unto them,
"The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall
kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day."

The portion of this prediction of significant importance is Jesus'
claim that after being killed He would "rise on the third day".
It's obvious that a miracle from God must occur for this prediction
to come to fruition.

Thus, the Resurrection is the key to determining whether the claims of
Jesus were just a bunch of lies or if He was who He said He was.

THE FACTS

To argue His resurrection one must begin with some general assumable
facts. i.e. we can't argue a resurrection took place unless
we first assume "a life and a death were present" prior to the
resurrection. The following not only are recorded in the scriptures
but are easily backed up by the writings of historians of the period.
(i.e. Josepheus).

1)Jesus lived.
2)He was crucified and considered dead.
3)He was buried in a known accessible tomb.
4)The tomb was found to be empty on the third day.
5)It was preached (by the disciples) that He had was raised up
and had ascended to Heaven.
6)The Jewish leaders who instigated the crucifixion would
be most interested in disproving the resurrection even more
than we would today.
7)The early Church leaders (the disciples) were persecuted for
preaching the resurrection message.
8)The tomb was found empty.

COMMON ARGUMENTS AGAINST RESURRECTION

1)The disciples stole the body of Jesus.
2)The Romans stole the body.
3)The Jewish leaders stole the body.
4)The women went to the wrong tomb.
5)He (Jesus) wasn't really dead when he was placed in
the tomb and He resuscitated
6)Everyone was hallucinating.
7)The disciples made the whole thing up and were lying
when they preached the resurrection.
8)It's all true. The disciples are telling exactly what
they saw and experienced.

a)Had the Romans or the Jews stolen the body (arguments 2 & 3),
they could easily have disproved the Resurrection and expose Jesus
as a fraud by simply producing the body if they were in possession of it.

b)Had the women gone to the wrong tomb (argument 4) they would have
simply kept looking until they found the right one.

c)No one ever survived a Roman crucifixion (argument 5).
Further, John reports (John 19:34) that Jesus was pierced with a
Roman spear as a final gesture to assure His death.

d)Hallucinations are temporary and do not change reality.
If it had just been hallucinations, there would have been a body in
the tomb. (argument 6).

e)The only arguments remaining center on the disciples.
Specifically, the disciples were either telling the truth when they
preached the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus or they were
preaching lies.

A LOOK AT THE DISCIPLES

Prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus the disciples were
disorganized in their understanding of the teachings of Jesus.
Peter was unstable in his faith as evidenced by his three denials
of Jesus. (Matthew 26:70-75). John was harsh and selfish to an extent
that Jesus actually referred to John and James as "the sons of thunder"
(Mark 3:17). Thomas was always filled with doubt.

Cowards, fearing for their own lives, all the disciples with
the exception of John, deserted Jesus when He was arrested and carried
away to be crucified. It appears that John was the only disciple that
was present at the crucifixion.

The disciples underwent cataclysmic changes after the Resurrection. They
show consistency in their understanding and preaching of what Jesus had
taught them. Peter became the epitome of stability within the Church.
John's ways were transformed from selfishness to loving and Thomas became
a full believer never to doubt again. Thomas preached in India which was
probably the most difficult "assignment" of all. Their cowardice was
transformed to that of courage as they preached throughout the "then known"
world.

THE FINAL ARGUMENT

Finally, to answer the question, "Were the disciples preaching lies or
were they telling what they knew to be the truth concerning the death and
Resurrection of Jesus".

The disciples were scattered throughout different countries as they
preached the Gospel. They preached alone not knowing if they would ever
see their fellow disciples again.

All the disciples, with the exception of John, were tortured, persecuted
and eventually put to death for preaching the resurrection. (The following
compilation is taken from Fox's Book of Martyrs by John Fox)

1)Peter was crucified in Rome.
2)Andrew was crucified in Edessa.
3)James was killed by the sword in Jerusalem.
4)Philip was crucified in Heliopolis, Phyrgia.
5)Bartholomew was beaten and crucified in India.
6)Thomas was speared by idolatrous priests in Parthia, India.
7)Matthew was axed to death in Nadabah, Ethiopia.
8)James (the son of Alphaeus) was clubbed to death in Jerusalem at the
age of 94.
9)Thaddaeus was crucified in Edessa.
10)Simon "Zeolotes" was crucified in Brittainnia.
11)Stephen was stoned to death and was the first to be martyred.
12)Paul (an apostle) was beheaded in Rome.
13)Matthias (an apostle) was stoned and beheaded in Jerusalem.
14)Mark (an apostle) was dragged to death in Alexandria.
15)Luke (an apostle) was hanged by priests in Greece.

Any of the disciples could have saved his own life by simply admitting
that he was preaching lies. Most likely none of the other disciples would
have ever known of such an admission since they were separated from the
others. Each of the disciples died alone.

Yet, not a single disciple retracted his story! They preached the death
and Resurrection of Jesus Christ even unto their own deaths. They preached
what they knew had happened. They were witnesses to the events that Jesus
had predicted. Jesus came out of the tomb as He said He would and since He
did then Jesus has to be everything He claimed He was.

They found the casket of Jesus! 45 pilthy comebacks

They found the casket of Jesus

45 Pithy Comebacks

1. Explain to me why a poor family from Bethlehem would be buried in a middle class grave in Jerusalem.
   
   
2. Mary, Jesus and Joseph were the most popular names in Israel at this time. That is why the Jewish archaeologists who first discovered these caskets in 1980 NEVER claimed these belonged to the family of Jesus. The odds are too preposterous.
   
   
3. Israeli archaeologist Joel Rosenberg believes this new film is nonsense.
   
   
4. So does Jewish archaeologist Amos Kloner.
   
   
5. There is no credible evidence that Jesus was ever married. The only possible reference to Jesus being married is in a 14^th century manuscript (Acts of Phillip) that nobody deems credible.
   
   
6. There is no evidence that Jesus had children.
   
   
7. They claim they have proof that Jesus had a baby. We can’t even determine the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby. (Jay Leno)
   
   
8. As there is no credible evidence that Jesus was married with children, this discovery does not prove that Jesus was married; it proves that these caskets don’t belong to Jesus. If Jesus was not married to Mary, this whole theory collapses.
   
   
9. If Jesus had a wife and children, wouldn’t Jesus have told John to only take care of His mother when He was on the cross?
   
   
10. Jesus son of Joseph is hardly legible.
    
    
11. Professor Stephen Pfann in Jerusalem believes the name “Jesus” should actually be interpreted “Hanun.”
    
    
12. For such an esteemed Rabbi, the family sure did a sloppy job of inscribing His name on the casket.
    
    
13. Jesus is never referred to as “The son of Joseph” in early Christian witness. That is the inscription on the casket.
    
    
14. If you were going to hide a casket, would you put it in Jerusalem and label it “Jesus”?
    
    
15. Why did they only test the DNA of the Jesus and Miriamne casket and not the caskets of the others? Because if they discovered that the DNA didn’t match, their story would crumble.
    
    
16. The scientist who did the limited DNA testing said, “Don’t be deceived by the media. This type of DNA testing cannot test every relationship.”
    
    
17. There is no DNA baseline available to prove this was the burial box of Jesus.
    
    
18. Miriamne e Mara is not legible, they are speculating.
    
    
19. Miriamne e Mara is almost certainly interpreted wrong. “Mara” is probably a contraction of Martha and is probably a second name.
    
    
20. Miriamne is NOT Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene is not written on the casket.
    
    
21. Is the Yose (Joseph) married to Maria? Who knows?
    
    
22. Is Jesus married to Miriamne? Who knows?
    
    
23. The name Miriamne is not found in any credible text. Not one. The only time that we can find the name Miriamne is in reference to Herod’s wife, Miriamne.
    
    
24. Matya (they claim that is Matthew) is found on one of the caskets. If this is Matthew, why would Jesus’ disciple be buried with him?
    
    
25. There is no evidence that Jesus had a brother named Matthew.
    
    
26. Defenders claim that if Joseph and Mary had more children than what the Bible lists, “The name Matthew is consistent with the type of name that Mary and Joseph might have named one of their children.” That is not a credible argument.
    
    
27. They simply left Matthew out of the picture to make the statistical analysis look better.
    
    
28. They are doing their statistics backwards. They start with the presupposition that this is Jesus tomb and then try to determine the odds. You can’t do that.
    
    
29. If we found a gravesite today with the names John and David, John’s son (the equivalent to Jesus and Joseph) could we conclude which John this was? How many John’s have had a wife named Mary and a child name David in the last two centuries? Then if you knew that David was unmarried and from Los Angeles, but the tomb was found in New York, would you feel confident you had identified the right David?
    
    
30. Joseph’s tomb is missing. Why?
    
    
31. Jesus’ half-brother Jude is missing. Why?
    
    
32. Jesus’ half brother Simon is missing. Why?
    
    
33. Jesus sisters may be missing. Why?
    
    
34. If Jesus was buried and didn’t rise from the dead, why did Jesus’ half brother, James, die preaching that Jesus rose from the dead?
    
    
35. Ditto for Jude.
    
    
36. How could the family have kept this a secret from the early church?
    
    
37. Wouldn’t the Romans been able to find this casket and end the dispute?
    
    
38. Wouldn’t the Jews happily dug up this casket to put an end to this new Jewish cult named Christianity?
    
    
39. Trying to resolve whose caskets these are is like trying to figure who put the first dagger in Julius Caesar.
    
    
40. While science and CSI techniques can be helpful, we don’t have a time machine to take us back to the first century.
    
    
41. Eisegesis is when you form a conclusion and then go find the evidence for your theory. That is what they have done here.
    
    
42. There are a thousand scenarios to explain this. To assign ownership to Jesus is simply not reasonable.
    
    
43. We have films and eyewitnesses of the JFK assassination and we still can’t figure out who killed him.
    
    
44. If this were a civil case, it would be laughed out of court.
    
    
45. Wow! You trust this film more than the Bible? Now that’s faith. The Bible is a more reliable source of information than this circus of evidence.
    
    
    Technorati: christian humor,wise sayings,christian wisdom
    

Christian Wisdom PART 1

If you stop believing what your professor told you had to be true and if you start thinking for yourself you may come to some conclusions you hadn't expected. You may find the Bible makes more sense than you thought or were told to think. Allow yourself to be ruined, ruined with regard to what you always thought could be true. Can you believe what you don't understand? You and I believe everyday what we don't understand unless it comes to the issue of salvation.
- - - Dr. Woodrow Kroll

There is simply no historic foundation for the position that the Framers intended to build the 'wall of separation' that was constitutionalized in Everson. The 'wall of separation between church and state' is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned.
- - - Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, William Rehnquist

In 1796 the US Supreme Court issued this ruling, "By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion, and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed on equal footing." Some 57 years later, after Congress was petitioned to separate Christian principles from government, in 1853 the House Judiciary Committee issued their formal report, including these words: "In this age there is no substitute for Christianity. This was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to be the religion of their dependents. The great vital, conservative elements in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ."
- - - Dr. Gerald Beavan


"It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."
-- President Abraham Lincoln

Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment;trust in money and you may have it taken from you; but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.
- D.L. Moody

Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best of minds. Men and women live on the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter and with their hand on the doorlatch they die outside.
-GK Chesterton

*******

I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God."

That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice. Either this Man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse .... You can shut Him up for fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.
-- From Case for Christianity, by C.S. Lewis

"Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3)."
- - - The Laws and Statutes of Harvard College in 1643

"All scholars shall live religious, godly, and blameless lives according to the rules of God's Word, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures, the fountain of light and truth; and constantly attend upon all the duties of religion, both in public and secret."
- - - Two central requirements in Yale College 1745 charter

************

"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book."
-- President Abraham Lincoln

"For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world."
--John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
- President George Washington

"The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."
- Napoleon

"That Book accounts for the supremacy of England."
- Queen Victoria

"If there is anything in my thought or style to commend , the credit is due my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures. If we abide by the principals taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."
- Daniel Webster (Founding Father)

"The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed."
- Patrick Henry (original member of the Continental Congress)

"The Bible is the anchor of our liberties."
- President U.S. Grant

"It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principals of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom."
- Horace Greeley (Editor)

"That Book is the rock on which our Republic rests."
- President Andrew Jackson

"In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength."
- -Gen. Robert E. Lee

"Bible reading is an education in itself."
- Lord Tennyson (Poet)

"So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have formany years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year."
- President John Quincy Adams

"The existence of the Bible, as a Book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity."
- -Immanuel Kant (Philosopher)

"The New Testament is the very best Book that ever or ever will be known in the world."
- -Charles Dickens (Author)

"All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths contained in the Sacred Scriptures."
- Sir William Herschel (Astronomer)

"There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history."
- Sir Isaac Newton (Scientist)

"Let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences progress in even greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires; beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the Gospels, it will not go."
- Goethe (Author)

"I have known ninety-five of the world's great men in my time, and of these eight-seven were followers of the Bible. The Bible is stamped with a Specialty of Origin, and an immeasurable distance separates it from all competitors."
- W.E. Gladstone (Prime Minister)

"Whatever merit there is in anything that I have written is simply due to the fact that when I was a chile my mother daily read me a part of the Bible and daily made me learn a part of it by heart."
- John Ruskin (art critic and social commentator)

"The Bible has been the Magna Charta of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with it."
- Thomas Huxley (Author & Scientist)

"The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever growing influence of the Bible."
- -W.H. Seward (Secretary of State)

"America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness, which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scriptures. Part of the destiny of Americans lies in their daily perusal of this great book of revelations. That if they would see America free and pure they will make their own spirits free and pure by this baptism of the Holy Spirit."
--President Woodrow Wilson

For Christians, the life and death of Jesus are the ultimate expressions of love, and the supreme demonstrations of God's mercy, faithfulness, and redemption. Since Christ's miraculous Resurrection on Easter, more than 2,000 years ago, Christians have expressed joy and gratitude for this wondrous sacrifice and for God's promise of freedom for the oppressed, healing for the brokenhearted, and salvation.
--President George W. Bush

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."
--Patrick Henry (original member of the Continental Congress)

******

Four important things to KNOW:

1) For ALL (Americans, Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhist, Asians, Presbyterians, Europeans, Baptist, Brazilians, Mormons, Methodist, French, etc.) have sinned & fall short of the glory of God.

2) For the wages of above (see #1) are DEATH (Hell, eternal separation from God, & damnation) but the Gift (free & at no charge to you) of God (Creator, Jehovah, & Trinity) is Eternal Life (Heaven) through (in union with) Jesus Christ (God, Lord, 2nd Person of The Trinity, Messiah, Prince of Peace & Savior of the World).

3) For God so greatly loved & dearly prized the world (Americans, Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhist, Asians, Presbyterians, Europeans, Baptist, Brazilians, Mormons, Methodist, French, etc.) that He even gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, that whosoever (anyone, anywhere, anytime - while still living) believes (trust in, relies on, clings to, depends completely on) Him shall have eternal (everlasting) life (heaven).

4) Jesus said: "I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, & THE LIFE. No one (male/female - American, Muslim, Jew, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, Asian, Presbyterian, European, Baptist, Brazilian, Mormons, Methodist, French, etc. ) comes (arrives) to the Father (with GOD in Heaven) EXCEPT BY (through) ME (no other name).

This wonderful loving GOD gives you the choice - - -
(Rev. 3:20)

Jesus said, "Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction (Hell, damnation, eternal punishment), and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life (Heaven, eternal happiness, forever with God), and only a few find it.
--Matthew 7:13-14

THANK YOU PROFESSOR HOWDY FOR THE QUOTES!

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