Santa Claus

[endure4salvation]

Well, I hate to admit it, but a lot of Handmaid's comments are correct. While I am not quite so intense, I won't be telling my children about Satan Claus.

I don't want to take the chance of telling my child to believe in Jesus whom he/she can't see and also Santa also whom he/she can't see and then upon finding out that Santa is not real, the same rejection of Jesus.

Plus, it is lying to the kids.

[Guest Handmaid]

That's good ENDURE.......satan claus. That's real good.

It is strong....but we are living in PERLIOUS times here...we must OPEN our eyes to all truth and be bold to speak it.

The LIGHT is getting Lighter......and we are sooooooooo blessed to have the truth of these last purifications revealed to us.

Nothing ...IMPURE ......we are being purified from ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.

DYING IS HARD......but JESUS and HEAVEN WITH HIM WILL BE WORTH IT.

[Ericka]

My mom has always taught us that our best presents come on Christmas Eve. But never did she tell us it was Santa. She taught us that our most expensive, best presents come from Jesus. Therefore on Christmas Eve she'd put out our biggest presents and the tag would say "From Jesus"

I think this is a good way to teach children, so that they know that our best gifts (which of course are actually salvation) come from Jesus. And Jesus is the only way we can have anything with meaning.

Just my two cents

[artsylady]

I still go into SHOCK when I hear believers talking about Santa.

Shock? Really? It's about fantasy and make believe. As a child, my parents told me about Santa. When I found out that he wasn't real, did I think they LIED to me? Heck no! Not at all. It was a disappointment for about 10 minutes. And I'll always cherish the memories of waking up Christmas morning and wondering if Santa had been there. I remember one year my parents talked about hearing sounds on the rooftop. It was sooo exciting. It was about anticipation. I think it's as innocent or as evil as you want it to be. If you find it to be terribly evil then stay far away, but don't go into shock when you find out other Christians don't see terrible evil in it that you might see. There are lots of things that pull us away from the real meaning of Christmas. How about all those presents? The huge meals? All those secular songs about chesnuts on an open fire? We'd never think of doing away with all that other stuff.

Rearrange the letters......satan.

lol. No offence, really, but I really did laugh out loud. I think that's pushing it a bit far. The word scramble reminds me of the backward masking trend from the 80's.

I think the verses regarding trees talk about

worshipping

them as the ancient pagans did. I don't know anyone who's ever done this.

[artsylady]

Handmaid:

I guess you're new here. Forgot to properly welcome you.

Sorry, I don't know how to do those fancy welcome things with flashing and all that.

WELCOME

[Guest charlie]

I'm with you on this one artsy lady.

[Guest Handmaid]

Deut. 7: 25-26 The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the LORD your God. 26. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

God and Idols

Jer. 10 :1 Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. 2 This is what the LORD says:

"Do not learn the ways of the nations

or be terrified by signs in the sky,

though the nations are terrified by them.

3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless;

they cut a tree out of the forest,

and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

4 They adorn it with silver and gold;

they fasten it with hammer and nails

so it will not totter.

MY PEOPLE PERISH FOR A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

[The Journey]

The Bible says to bear up those who are weaker in their faith and I certainly won't condemn or belittle someone who disagrees with me, but MHO is that there is nothing wrong with ole St. Nick!

Ron,

Often Romans 14 is used in controversial questions such as Santa, dancing, girls wearing pants, etc

But the question I always ask is, "Who is the strong and weak brother?"

Those with the conviction that Santa is bad or that dancing is wrong is almost always the "stronger" brother or sister attempting to force their conviction on the "weaker" believer who feels that the behavior in question is ok.

The only case where I think this verse applies is a new believer who may have ben saved out of a life style of say sex, drugs, rock&roll. The new believer may feel that say drinking is a sin. That is a weaker brother and I would never flaunt my freedom in Christ and possibly destroy that new faith. But this doesn't apply to someone who has peculiar convictions and want to force them on the rest of the Church.

- Steve

[Faith1]

My mom has always taught us that our best presents come on Christmas Eve. But never did she tell us it was Santa. She taught us that our most expensive, best presents come from Jesus. Therefore on Christmas Eve she'd put out our biggest presents and the tag would say "From Jesus"

I think this is a good way to teach children, so that they know that our best gifts (which of course are actually salvation) come from Jesus. And Jesus is the only way we can have anything with meaning.

Just my two cents

Ericka - That is really nice that your tags said 'from Jesus'

--------------------------------------------------

He All,

I am only giving my personal opinion on the whole Santa deal K...if anyone chooses to go with the flow of Santa then that's great for you, I strongly believe in freedom to choose and share opinions.

BTW I was bought up believing their was a Santa and I had some real fun Christmases it just kinda all changed for me when I came to Christ I saw some things a whole lot differently is all. Yet I still listen to secular music with some questionable lyrics (but not all) so am I being hypocritical? nah I dont think so, just the Lord has'nt touched on that in my conscience yet and I dont even know if He will...I'm still in the process of learning wonderful things everyday....

Enjoy your holidays when they come whatever it is you do Amen!

F1

[RGR]

I still go into SHOCK when I hear believers talking about Santa. Rearrange the letters......satan. Yes, the antichrist spirit....sent to take away any glory from Chrsit in this made up holiday event.

I've already went into this so many times that I feel like a broken record. Please, please, please!!!! Please do your research before you state something! If Santa=Satan, then we have some Satanic cities such as Santa Anna and Santa Barbara. That should leave it to be quite obvious that Santa is the Spanish word for "saint" and not some re-hash of Satan. If you re-spell "dog" it becomes "god," but I'm not falling down to worship at the sight of every dog I see!

Is Frosty the Snowman Santa's false prophet? Sheesh! It's one thing to say that you disagree but quite another to start bantying about terms. As my wife said when I told her about the previous thread, the legends attributed to Santa Claus would NOT be the legacy of the AntiChrist. BTW, Santa Claus is based upon a real CHRISTIAN person who done great deeds!

Brother Steve makes a good point-please don't attempt to force your views upon people. When I say I respect your beliefs I simply mean that if you were to come into my house, I would turn off the Christmas music so as not to offend you. That would be my reasonable Christian service. However, I would also have to warn you that no more than 10 feet away from the computer is a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with gorgeous ornaments on it! Frank Sinatra is also hanging on that tree!

Now, from a Christian perspective of a differing opinion-

The tree-well, what did Jesus die upon? We also generally see evergreen trees used-aren't we always alive in Christ no matter what the season? If you're using one of those pretty little white trees, well aren't our robes made white as snow?

The lights? Well, Jesus was the Light of the world. We could also say that this represents the beautiful star of Bethlehem (BTW, one of the most beautiful songs around!).

The garland and ornaments as well do not celebrate some pagan deity. We are allowed to have festive colored things, even though some Christians think that the Christian life is all "gloom, despair, and agony on me... and excessive misery" (you can tell I love Hee-Haw). Sorry, Jesus came that I might have life and HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY.

Now, with all due Christian love, please quit wagging your finger and condemning people and toting them off to Hell simply because you disagree on a certain point. BTW, your reference about cutting down the tree from the OT is so tired you might want to put it to bed-that was talking about an idol and not what could even be conceivably linked to a Christmas tree! It is attitudes like yours that do more to drive people AWAY from Christ!!!!!