Who Was St. Nicholas?
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“With what little we know about St. Nicholas, it is safe to say he would not be pleased to know he had eclipsed Christ in the hearts of many as the central figure of Christmas.” - Kevin DeYoung
Nebraska principal bans all things Christmas, says candy canes symbolize Jesus -- board overrules
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“A school district in Nebraska has clarified that a principal’s recent directives to teachers effectively banning all Christmas and other religious holiday symbols violate school board policy.” - CPost
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Christmas consumerism: A symbol of materialism or generosity?
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“But amid the opportunities for creative service and extravagant generosity, competing temptations of materialism abound, threatening to twist our Christmas merriment into a pursuit of self-indulgence or self-gratification.” - Acton
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Merry Christmas from SharperIron
The Nativity (also known as The Holy Night or La Notte, or as Adoration of the Shepherds) is a painting finished around 1529–1530 by the Italian painter Antonio da Correggio. It is housed in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. Wikipedia
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The Origins of a Great Christmas Hymn: Come, O Come, Emmanuel
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“The text has its origins in the ‘O Antiphons’—a series of refrains sung on each day from December 17-23 during the evening Vespers service. Each one focuses on a different name of Christ in anticipation of the Incarnation.” Ref21
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The Worst Gift to Give a Middle-School Student
Reposted with permission from The Cripplegate.
by Jesse Johnson
What is the worst Christmas gift you can give your middle-school student? I don’t mean that spiritually—as in unbelief—or theologically—as in The Jesus Calling Student Edition. I mean it seriously. What is the worst gift that you can give your middle-school student?
This Christmas thousands of middle school students are going to get a gift under their tree or in their stocking, and it is going to wreck their lives.
The worst gift you can give your middle-school student is …
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Pew: Americans Say Religious Aspects of Christmas Are Declining in Public Life
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Shrinking majority believe biblical account of birth of Jesus depicts actual events - Pew
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What Child Is This?
Jesus’ birth was the beginning of the end for Satan and his kingdom of darkness. That old serpent, the devil, tried his best to stop Christ from coming into the world. He knew if he failed, his fate would be sealed. Over and over again, Satan tried.
In the wicked man Haman, he came near to pulling off a mass genocide of Israelites – cutting off Christ before He could come. Through Herod, he slaughtered untold numbers of young children in the region around Bethlehem (Mt 2:16-18).
The Apostle John summed up the matter in his vision of the dragon and the woman (Rev 12:4b-5a). Satan tried to stop His own Creator, God’s unique and one and only Son, from coming into the world. He failed. Instead, Jesus completed His work, then “was caught up to God and to his throne.”
Why did Christ come? He came to save us from ourselves.
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