MY DECLARATION:

I believe the Bible is the Word of God.

I believe the Bible should be Obeyed.

I believe every man should be Born Again.

I believe there is only one way to be Saved and that 

through the person of Jesus Christ.

I believe there is a literal Lake of Fire.

I believe those not Saved by the blood of Jesus Christ will spend eternity in this lake of fire.

I believe Jesus saved the church for a Purpose.

I believe that purpose is Discipleship.

AND – if I really believe this, I Must forsake my life to follow Jesus, to teach as He taught, to love as He loved, and to live in Complete Surrender to His Will.

I believe…

            Do you???

Who is (was) this character known as Santa Claus?

            Doing some research on the subject on the subject I have found a wealth of information to compile.  The man, St. Nicholas, is believed to have been born around 280A.D. in the present day Turkey.  He lost his parents while a young man and it is reported that he used his inheritance to help the poor and sick.

            He was a devout Christian and later served as bishop of Myra.  There are many legends surrounding Nicholas of Myra.  He is reported to have helped 3 girls whose father could not afford a wedding dowry by sneaking into their house at night on three different occasions and leaving a bag of money to help with their dowry.

            He is reported to have resurrected 3 men who were killed be a butcher and were reserved to be disposed of in meat pies.  One legend states he saved 3 falsely accused men who were scheduled to be executed.  Another story is during a severe famine a ship was anchored in a port at Myra and Nicholas asked the sailors to unload wheat destined for the Emperor in Constantinople for the hungry of the city of Myra.  The sailors disliked the request but upon Nicholas assuring them that no loss would come to the cargo, they unloaded enough for 2 years food.  Upon arrival at the Emperor’s palace and unloading the wheat they discovered the exact amount of wheat that they had started with.

            Nicholas is reported to have died around December 6, 343A.D.  The Catholic church gave him sainthood and people honored him on December 6^th by giving presents in his memory to children. 

            At the time of the Reformation (circa 1500) the Protestant church turned away from honoring saints (catholic).  The Dutch people in Holland continued to honor Nicholas of Myra.  The Dutch people brought the celebration to America with them in the late 1700’s.  His Dutch name was Sinter Klaus.  By the late 1800’s his name was Santa Claus and a poet painted a picture of him in a red suit with white trim.  St Nicholas had become the Santa Claus we know today.

            So this person that we know as Santa Claus has been altered from 400A.D. till the present day.  From a cloak to a red suit and from helping those in need to giving to everybody.  From filling shoes that children would leave outside (Holland) to filling houses with gifts today.  His legendary status keeps growing and he has now come along side Jesus and gets more attention that does the Savior and Lord.  Nicholas’ celebration was moved from Dec. 6^th to Christmas Day.  Nicholas gets more attention than does Jesus on the day we celebrate His birth and first coming to earth as Savior and Lord. 

            I wonder…  Would Nicholas (a strong Christian) enjoy what has become of his legacy? 

Many years ago the man of God would speak the Word of God to the people of God and allow the Spirit of God to work the Grace of God in the lives of God's people.

Today, people want to seal the deal within an hour on Sunday morning so they will not be bothered for the rest of the week.

Pastors of old preached then spent the rest of the week making house calls encouraging the convicted to get right with God.

The invention of the Altar Call may not have been such a good thing.

My daughter came into my bedroom late.  I was already in bed, just not yet asleep.  She was frantically concerned about one of her friends.  They had been texting all evening and he had said some things that led her to believe he was going to end his life.

She wanted me to go with her to find him.  She knew he was on top of one of the grain dryers by the baseball field less than two blocks from our house.  Well, she was ready before I was and left to go find him.  When I arrived, after my eyes acclimated to the darkness, I saw my daughter, who is deathly afraid of heights, had already ascended to the first level of the dryer.

A little background, my daughter has never done heights.  She can hardly ride and escalator, go up stairs or ride an elevator.  When she is off the first floor she will not walk where she can see the bottom floor.  But, because of her compassion for this friend of hers, she overcame her fear to do what she could to help him.  This is amazing, and part of the story that he will never know!

I took her place so she could keep him occupied on his cell phone.  As I searched for him, she talked to him, keeping him calm.  I could not find her friend and went to the ground, thinking he may have given bad directions.  Her young eyes spotted him at the very apex of the grain dryer.  She kept her eyes of him all the while texting him.  He kept responding.

When 911 was called she assisted the police officers and the ambulance drivers.  She was commended by the officers as a "true friend", and that she is!

Her relationship with Jesus has led her to be compassionate.  Her compassion led her into action.  Her actions may have saved the physical life of this friend of hers.

I am in awe of my daughter,  Her caring compassion for others is dunamic.  She faced her fears so that she could be there to help her friend to face his.  She truly was the hands and feet of Jesus last night; as well as His eyes and ears to see and hear a plea for help.

I do not know where she learned this.  I would like to think her mom and I molded it in her, but I truly believe the Holy Spirit said, "she is ready...  she has lived long in God's love" and gave her the chance to save a physical life.  Now she is not satisfied.  She has been trying to share Jesus with this friend for 2 years.  Tonight she will have the opportunity.  In a hospital setting.  With the angels of God all around and the Holy Spirit by her side she will share Jesus with him.  She preached last night with her life, tonight she can lift up Jesus with ther voice.  I pray the angels of heaven will rejoice as my daughter's love for people shines Jesus' love to a sinners heart and I pray he will become a follower of Jesus Christ!