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?