A Precedent for the New Year (Luke 2:13-20)

Introduction

We stand on the threshold of a new year. Most people generally look at the new year as a fresh beginning, as an opportunity to kind of start over, to overcome a habit, or do a better job of something they see as important and that needs improvement. It may be parenting, being a better spouse, losing weight (which, by the way, is the number one resolution according to polls taken). It may be developing different priorities, using our time better, or a whole host of things that people would like to change.

So, we usually hear a lot about New Year's resolutions, resolutions which are usually broken in a matter of weeks. Many people are very pessimistic about the whole issue of making resolutions, and rightly so, because so many good intentions are followed by a history of past failures.

But the new year is a time to reflect and think about what the past year has brought and what the new year could bring. It is a time to stop and analyze, to take stock of our priorities, values, pursuits, and goals. We need to ask questions like "Who am I, what am I doing with my life? What should I be doing as a Christian with my life and the stewardship God has given me?" After all, according to the Word of God, all of life is a stewardship--a stewardship of our time, talents, treasures, and God's truth. In other words, since God's plan and our stewardships revolve around and through the life of His Son, Jesus Christ, we need to each ask "How well am I responding to the Savior and the spiritual life that He has given me?"

പഴങ്കഥകള്‍ പറയുന്ന മനുഷ്യന്‍

മാത്യു ചെമ്പുകണ്ടത്തില്‍

  ഞാന്‍ ഒരിക്കല്‍പോലും ചിന്തിക്കാന്‍ സാധ്യതയില്ലാതിരുന്ന ഒരു കാര്യം അയാളെന്നോടു പറഞ്ഞു. അന്ന് അയാളുടെ ഉദ്ദേശശുദ്ധിയെ ഞാന്‍ സംശയിച്ചു. അയാള്‍ എന്തിന് അക്കാര്യം എന്നോടു പറഞ്ഞു? കുറേനാള്‍ ഈ ചിന്ത എന്നെ അസ്വസ്ഥനാക്കിയിരുന്നു. അയാള്‍ പറഞ്ഞ കാര്യങ്ങളെല്ലാം ചിലപ്പോള്‍ അനുവാദമില്ലാതെ വരുന്ന അതിഥിയെപ്പോലെ ഓര്‍മയിലെത്തും. ജോലിയും കുടുംബകാര്യങ്ങളുമായി പലതും ചിന്തിക്കാനുള്ളപ്പോള്‍ ഇനി ഇതൂകൂടി ചിന്തിച്ച് തല പുകയ്‌ക്കേണ്‍ട കയറ്റേണ്‍ട കാര്യമില്ല എന്നുറച്ച് അയാള്‍ പറഞ്ഞ കാര്യങ്ങളെല്ലാം മറക്കാന്‍ ഞാന്‍ മനഃപൂര്‍വ്വം ശ്രമിച്ചുകൊണ്‍ടിരുന്നു.

Comparing origin stories: Genesis 1 & 2 vs. the theory of Evolution

How Christians and Jews view the creation story of Genesis 1.1 to 2.3:

Religious conservatives -- both Jewish and Christian -- generally believe that the Bible is inerrant, and that God directly inspired its authors. Thus, they believe that the creation story in Genesis must have been absolutely true, in its original or autograph copies: God formed the world, its life forms, and the rest of the universe in one continual act of creation. Conservatives have developed conflicting theories concerning the number of years in the past that creation happened; they range from 3615 BCE  to the interval measured by scientists: 4.5 billion years. They also differ in their estimate of the time interval taken for the creation sequence to be finished; these range from six 24-hour days to billions of years. In those verses where Genesis conflicts with the theory of evolution, religious conservatives assume that the scientists must be wrong. Given sufficient time, they expect the scientists to see the light and discover the truth.
Religious liberals, Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, secularists, etc. generally reject the inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible. Most believe that the first creation story in Genesis is actually a re-written version of a Babylonian creation myth, which was composed many centuries before Genesis was first written down. They believe that the Theory of Evolution gives an accurate overall description of the development of species of life on Earth. Most also believe that the universe is on the order of 13 billion years of age, and that the earth coalesced about 4.5 billion years ago.

Saint Nicholas - a brief history

St. Nicholas was born in 280 AD, in Patara, a city of Lycia, in Asia Minor. He became the gift giver of Myra. His gifts were given late at night, so that the gift giver's identity would remain a secret. St Nicholas was eventually named the patron saint of children, sailors, Russia and Greece.

St. Nicholas was a Christian priest, who later became a bishop. He was a rich person, and traveled the country helping people, giving gifts of money and other presents. St. Nicholas did not like to be seen when he gave away presents, so the children of the day were told to go to sleep quickly or he would not come! Nothing has changed and Santa Claus will not arrive this Christmas unless the children go to sleep early. 

പ്രാര്‍ത്ഥനയാല്‍ ദൈവത്തെ സ്പര്‍ശിക്കാം

വേദപുസ്തകം പറയുന്നു. "എന്നാല്‍ സകലമനുഷ്യര്‍ക്കും നാം സര്‍വ്വ ഭക്തിയോടും ഘനത്തോടും കൂടെ സാവധാനതയും സ്വസ്ഥതയുമുള്ള ജീവനം കഴിക്കേണ്ടതിനു വിശേഷാല്‍ രാജാക്കന്‍മാര്‍ക്കും സകല അധികാരസ്ഥന്‍മാര്‍ക്കും വേണ്ടി യാചനയും പ്രാര്‍ത്ഥനയും പക്ഷവാദവും സ്തോത്രവും ചെയ്യേണം എന്നു ഞാന്‍ സകലത്തിനും മുമ്പെ പ്രബോധിപ്പിക്കുന്നു".(1 തിമോ. 2:1-2)

Who is jesus????

Jesus is Alpha and Omega

In chemistry,
- He changed water into wine.

In Biology,
- He was born without normal conception.

In physics,
- He rejected the law of gravity when he ascended to heaven.

In economics,
- He rejected the law of diminishing return by feeding 5000
men with two (2) fish and five (5) loaves of bread, "An Act
fits well with the Malthusian idea that the more people
increases, more resources per capita are reduced. "

Daniel

Daniel (Hebrew: דָּנִיֵּאל, Modern Daniyyel Tiberian Dāniyyêl, meaning "God is my Judge") is the protagonist in the Book of Daniel of the Hebrew Bible. In the narrative, when Daniel was a young man, he was taken into Babylonian captivity where he was educated in Chaldean thought. However, he never converted to Neo-Babylonian ways. By Divine Wisdom from his God, YHVH, he interpreted dreams and visions of kings, thus becoming a prominent figure in the court of Babylon. Eventually, he had apocalyptic visions of his own that have been interpreted as the Four monarchies. Some of the most famous tales of Daniel are: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, The writing on the wall and Daniel in the lions' den.

Induction into Babylon

Daniel refusing to eat at the King's table, early 1900s Bible illustration

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim (BC 606), Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among the young Jewish nobility carried off to Babylon. The four were chosen for their intellect and beauty to be trained as advisors to the Babylonian court,(Daniel 1) Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar, i.e., prince of Bel, or Bel protect the king!(not to be confused with the neo-Babylonian king, Belshazzar). Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were given the Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, respectively.^[2]

10 Fascinating Facts About Christmas

Today is Christmas day – the day on which the birth of Christ is celebrated (and has been for millennia). All around the world people will be sitting down to special meals, giving gifts, singing, drinking and attending religious services. In honor of this great holiday (my favorite, in fact), we have a list of Christmas facts. I would like to personally wish everyone reading a joyous Christmas.

10

The Date

In the early Church, Christmas was not celebrated as a major feast. The first evidence of the Church attempting to put a date on the day of Christ’s birth comes from 200 AD, when theologians in Alexandria decided it was the 20th of May. By the 380s, the Church in Rome was attempting to unite the various regions in using December 25th as the universal feast day, and eventually that is the day that stuck. As so often was the case in the early Church, the influence of the pagan feasts of Rome is seen, because December 25 was the festival for the birth of the sun. St Cyprian makes mention of this: “O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born . . . Christ should be born.”

The History of Christmas

In the Western world, the birthday of Jesus Christ has been celebrated on December 25^th since AD 354, replacing an earlier date of January 6^th. The Christians had by then appropriated many pagan festivals and traditions of the season, that were practiced in many parts of the Middle East and Europe, as a means of stamping them out.

There were mid-winter festivals in ancient Babylon and Egypt, and Germanic fertility festivals also took place at this time. The birth of the ancient sun-god Attis in Phrygia was celebrated on December 25^th, as was the birth of the Persian sun-god, Mithras. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of peace and plenty, that ran from the 17^th to 24^th of December. Public gathering places were decorated with flowers, gifts and candles were exchanged and the population, slaves and masters alike, celebrated the occasion with great enthusiasm.

In Scandinavia, a period of festivities known as Yule contributed another impetus to celebration, as opposed to spirituality. As Winter ended the growing season, the opportunity of enjoying the Summer's bounty encouraged much feasting and merriment.

The Celtic culture of the British Isles revered all green plants, but particularly mistletoe and holly. These were important symbols of fertility and were used for decorating their homes and altars.

 New Christmas customs appeared in the Middle Ages. The most prominent contribution was the carol, which by the 14th century had become associated with the religious observance of the birth of Christ.

In Italy, a tradition developed for re-enacting the birth of Christ and the construction of scenes of the nativity. This is said to have been introduced by Saint Francis as part of his efforts to bring spiritual knowledge to the laity.

Saints Days have also contributed to our Christmas celebrations. A prominent figure in today's Christmas is Saint Nicholas who for centuries has been honored on December 6th. He was one of the forerunners of Santa Claus.

Another popular ritual was the burning of the Yule Log, which is strongly embedded in the pagan worship of vegetation and fire, as well as being associated with magical and spiritual powers.

Celebrating Christmas has been controversial since its inception. Since numerous festivities found their roots in pagan practices, they were greatly frowned upon by conservatives within the Church. The feasting, gift-giving and frequent excesses presented a drastic contrast with the simplicity of the Nativity, and many people throughout the centuries and into the present, condemn such practices as being contrary to the true spirit of Christmas.

The earliest English reference to December 25^th as Christmas Day did not come until 1043.

ക്രിസ്റ്റ്യന്‍ ഫോബിയ ബാധിച്ച പാക്കിസ്ഥാന്‍

 യേശുക്രിസ്തുവിനെ ഇത്രമേല്‍ ഭയപ്പെടുന്ന ഒരു രാഷ്ട്രം ഭൂമുഖത്ത് ഉണ്‍ടെങ്കില്‍ അത് പാക്കിസ്ഥാനേ ഉണ്‍ടാവുകയുള്ളൂ. ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളേ കൂട്ടക്കൊല ചെയ്യാനും അകാരണമായി പീഡിപ്പിക്കാനും അന്യായമായി തുറുങ്കിലടയ്ക്കാനും മത -രാഷ്ട്രീയ -ജുഡീഷ്യറി കൂട്ടുകെട്ട് എല്ലാ വഴികളും ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നതിനാല്‍ ഈ രാജ്യത്തേ ക്രൈസ്തവര്‍ ദിനംതോറും പ്രാണഭയത്തിലാണ് കഴിയുന്നത്. എന്നാല്‍, ക്രൈസ്തവരോട് ഈ രാജ്യം വച്ചുപുലര്‍ത്തുന്ന വിദേഷം വര്‍ദ്ധിച്ചു വര്‍ദ്ധിച്ച് യേശുക്രിസ്തു എന്ന പേരുപോലും അധികാരകേന്ദ്രങ്ങളില്‍ ഇപ്പോള്‍ ഭയം ജനിപ്പിക്കുന്നു. അതിന്റെ തെളിവാണ് ഈയടുത്ത് പാക്കിസ്ഥാന്‍ ‘യേശുക്രിസ്തു’ എന്ന പദമുള്ള മൊബൈല്‍ ഫോണ്‍ ടെക്സ്റ്റ് മെസേജുകള്‍ നിരോധിച്ചതിനു പിന്നിലുള്ളത്.

Is God Real? Does Science Answer "Is There a God?"

Introduction

Does God Exist?

The reality of God's existence is the most important question, since it has eternal consequences. The evidence for God's existence comes primarily from the design of the universe. It is virtually impossible that all the physical laws would just happen to be tightly constrained by chance in order for stars and galaxies to exist.

Rich Deem