God’s Dominion

As is normally the case at this time of year, there is a lot of “How was your Christmas?” going on.  I’ve noticed that you can tell a lot based on how people answer.  When people have asked me, the first thing I mention is the family time.  Some people also mention family & friends.  Others talk about what they did or where they went.  Then there are those who will immediately list what they got.  I hope that when somebody asks you about your Christmas, you never mention your gifts unless asked.  Christmas shouldn’t be about what you get, but about who you spend it with.  Next year I probably won’t remember what I got this year, but I’ll remember that I got to see my cousin for the first time in eight years.  Remember the good times and good family, not the good gifts.   Laterz!

I know it’s after Christmas, but I’m still going to post this.  Like everybody else, I got really busy over the past two weeks.  I apologize for the delay.  Anyway, I’m not going to talk in much detail at all about the history of Christmas traditions.  I’m getting my information from the History Channel and you can look up more information there if you’d like (there’s a lot there): http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=mini_home&mini_id=1290.  I’ll keep it short and you can look it up there if you want more detail.

Christmas is actually celebrated in December to compete with another pagan holiday.  The date was chosen so Christians would have an alternative to the winter solstice celebrations which honor the god, Oden and the roman god of agriculture, Saturn.  Nobody knows when Jesus was actually born, but some theologians believe it was actually in the spring and not in the winter.

I think most people know the history of Santa Claus.  There was actually a St. Nick who was well-known for his charity in modern-day Turkey.  Santa Claus is based on him.  The name actually comes from the Dutch “Sinter Klaas” which is a derivation of “Sint Nikolaas” (Dutch for Saint Nicholas).  The modern image of Santa Claus actually comes from the poem written by Clement Clark Moore, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”…also known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”.  The poem was actually written for his daughters and was never intended for public consumption (he actually was hesitant to publish it). 

The Christmas tree had a special meaning for many in Europe because it stayed green all year (something I’m sure those of us here in the cold-weather areas can understand!).  Christians tended to stay away from them viewing them as a pagan symbol (remember that a celebration of the god of agriculture also happened in December).  It is actually the Euopeans who made it popular in the US.  Many believe that Martin Luther (not MLK) first put lighted candles on them (not wise, but what do I know) when he saw the stars twinkling in between the trees while walking at night and the modern Christmas lights were born.

I hope you all had an excellent Christmas and I hope that you are blessed in ‘07.  Thank you for reading my blog and posting your comments (by the way, Maria, meet my cousin Wendy…Wendy, meet my friend from Boston, Maria ).  Next week I’m going to start talking about reading through the Bible together.  I know a few people are interested, so start creating your accounts in the forum.  Laterz!

RIP

In case you haven’t heard, apparently even Christmas trees are under attack.  I find it interesting that a rabbi was protesting Christmas trees at Sea-Tac Airport in Washington (the state, not D.C.).  People seem to see the Christmas tree as a religious symbol for some reason.  I’m not going to talk about where trees, lights, and other Christmas traditions come from today, but I plan to soon.  Today, I’m going to talk about what most people think the Christmas story is compared to what the Bible actually says (Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2).

Most people believe that Mary got pregnant and she and Joseph went to Bethlehem (a lot of people don’t know why).  Upon arriving there, they couldn’t find any rooms and stayed in the equivalent of a barn.  Jesus was born there and three wise men (and/or three kings) and three shephards came to visit and gave Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  King Herod found out about Jesus birth and had all babies killed (once again, many don’t know why).  Mary and Joseph took off for Egypt and hid there for a few years.

Most of that is accurate, but there are a few things in there that are incorrect or incomplete.  First of all, the genealogy listed in Matthew 1:1-17 is actually important.  Most people ignore or gloss over that.  The reason that was in here was to show that Jesus was from the line of Abraham and David as was prophesied.  It was important to show that because if that part wasn’t true, many people would argue He wasn’t the Messiah.

Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, not Joseph (Matthew 1:18).  Mary and Joseph were betrothed at the time, not married and not engaged.  Being betrothed is something in between.  They do not yet have the rights of marriage (i.e., no sex), but they need a divorce to break up.  An angel had to convince Joseph not to send Mary away because she would have been disgraced for being pregnant out of wedlock.

Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem because a census was being taken (Luke 2:2), which meant you had to go to your family’s hometown, which isn’t necessarily where you live (for example, even though I am living in Illinois, I would have had to return to Rio).  Because Joseph was in the line of David, he had to return to Bethlehem (Luke 2:4) even though they lived in Nazareth (which is why He was Jesus of Nazareth even though He was born in Bethlehem, which was also prophesied).  Because Mary was betrothed to Joseph she would go with him (Luke 2:5).

While they were there, Mary gave birth (Luke 2:6-7) .  There is some debate about where Jesus was actually born.  He was placed in a manger after he was born…but that doesn’t necessarily mean he was born in a barn (so to speak).  Some believe that they actually stayed with relatives in something more like a garage.  Although a few animals did stay there (in a pit in the middle), it wasn’t exactly a barn like we see in nativity scenes.  It wasn’t exactly set up for visitors, though (would you want to stay in a garage?), so they tried to find a room in a hotel, instead.  Either way, it wasn’t a great situation.

After Jesus was born, “some” (not necessarily three) shephards in the area were visited by angels and came to see Jesus (Luke 2:8-16).  Also, magi travelled “from the east” to visit Jesus (Matthew 2:1) (note that it doesn’t say how many).  They made the mistake of asking Herod for directions.  Herod, upon finding out that Jesus was born, he wanted the baby killed because he was prophesied to be a king (taking Herod’s family’s position) (Matthew 2:16).  The magi (“wise men” is actually a very accurate term for them) brought three gifts to Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). 

Herod had all boys two years old and younger (Matthew 2:16), which means that Jesus was probably between one and two years old when the magi came to visit (I don’t think it took him two years to figure out they weren’t coming) and Herod ordered the killings.  That means they wouldn’t have been at the traditional nativity scene.  Mary and Joseph took off to Egypt to escape the killings (Matthew 2:13-15).

I know this is a long post, but I thought it was important.  Feel free to comment here or let me know if you want me to add a section in the forums.  Next week I’ll talk a little bit about some of the Christmas traditions and where they came from (many of them are actually pagan traditions).  Laterz!

So, from what I heard, a heat wave is starting here today.  It should be in the high 30s to low 40s for the next few days.  Um, call me crazy, but shouldn’t a “heat wave” involve heat?  Granted, it’s 20 degrees warmer today than it was yesterday (a couple of days this week it didn’t get above 15 and with the windchill never got above 1).  It seems to me the only heat involved is what’s coming from my heater.  I guess technically it may be a heat wave, but I’ll call it a heat wave when it gets to 90.

At any rate, for all of you who may be wondering about my second winter in the frozen tundra (we arrived on December 21st last year), I’m loving it.  The cold doesn’t bother me (the secret is layers…remember that I lived in Boston for 6 1/2 years) and I love the snow.  I enjoy driving in it (except for all the moron drivers who drive either too fast or too slow and cause accidents).  I enjoy playing in it.  The winter here isn’t as bad as the winters in Boston.  There isn’t nearly as much wind here.  The cold isn’t so bad.  It’s the wind that kills you.  Anyway, I guess that’s all for now.  I planned on doing my Christmas writeup today, but with the nephews coming over I won’t be able to focus on it.  I’ll probably work on it tomorrow.  I want to make sure I add in all the Bible references so you can look everything up.  Laterz!

I have finished adding the forums back.  If you check the top of the page, you’ll see the new “GD Forum” link.  I currently have a section for ideas (what topics do you want me to create there), problems (any problems in the forums), and the Bible study sections.  I currently have the New Testament there with a section for each of the 27 books.  You have to register before you can post there and I have to approve anybody registering (I don’t want just anybody posting to my forum).  The only forum you can post to without registering is the problems one in case you’re having a problem with the registration.  The “Register” link is towards the top of the forums.  Well, sign up and join in our Bible study!  Feel free to invite your friends.  I’d like to start to get a little community going there with some good discussions.  I think I’m going to add another Christmas post tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled…although, it’s been really quiet around here….you guys still out there?  Did I scare you off?   Laterz!

Well, I’m twiddling my thumbs again.  I’m waiting for a query that takes hours to run to complete while three different people tell me they’re going to find work for me…eventually.  Meanwhile, I surf the internet. 

I’ve noticed it’s getting quiet around here.  Anybody still out there?  Have I scared you all off?  I enjoy reading the comments everybody (okay, Wendy and Maria) post here.  If nothing else, it makes me feel like I have readers (if anybody else is out there, let me know in the comments please!). 

I’m planning to add the forum section tonight so that anybody who’s interested can start having Bible study.  I’ll add some other sections so that anybody who wants to have a discussion about anything else can start a discussion and we can all discuss (all three of us). 

I guess I’m going back to trying to look like I’m working.  Depending on how long it takes me to set up the forums tonight, I may add another post tonight.  Until then….Laterz!

Well, I finally got my forum installed on the server.  I haven’t enabled it yet because I need to do some configuration (including adding all the correct forums as I don’t want people randomly posting).  I will be keeping track of user accounts and posts in order to keep everything family-friendly.  It might be a couple of days because I’m currently experiencing a problem on the server that I need to fix.  Since that problem affects paying users, I have to take care of that first.  Just wanted to keep everybody posted.  Back to work for now.  (By the way, enjoying the weather Maria & Eddie?)  Laterz!

So, I’ve been noticing some rather interesting stories about Christmas this year.  Last year, Walmart made news by announcing they would no longer allow their employees to say “Merry Christmas” in favor of the more neutral “Happy Holidays”.  This year, they’ve decided to return to “Merry Christmas”. 

In other news, the city of Chicago has decided that the Christmas story shouldn’t be advertised at a Christmas celebration.  They asked the organization putting together  the annual Christmas celebration not to let New Line Cinema sponsor the celebration because they would be advertising their new movie, “The Nativity Story”, which is about the birth of Christ.  Note that this is a Christmas celebration, not a “holiday” celebration.  Am I missing something?  A movie about the birth of Christ shouldn’t be advertised at a celebration of His birth?  Right….makes perfect sense.  I don’t think they should advertise any movies about MLK in January, either.  The government seems to have a rather strange way of doing things.

This week on the radio, I heard something rather interesting.  Somebody put together a list of the most performed holiday songs.  Number 1?  “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”.  What I found interesting about this list was that only one song in the top ten mentioned Christ: “Little Drummer Boy” at number 8.  So, not only are we not allowed to advertise a movie about the birth of Christ at a Christmas celebration, but we’re not even interested in listening to music talking about Him, either. 

I’m sure that there are other stories I’ve heard about that I don’t remember because being trapped in my house all day as sapped all my brain power.  I’ll post them if I remember them (or hear more).  Anyway, next week I’ll talk a little about what the Bible actually says about the birth of Christ.  After that, I’m going to discuss where all our current traditions come from.  I’m going to warm up now.  Laterz!

So this morning I found some more strange weather.  This time in Glenview, where I work.  Apparently, the fog has frozen.  I must admit, I don’t even know how fog could freeze.  Once it’s frozen, wouldn’t it hit the ground and thus no longer be fog?  I don’t really see how ice could float like mist does.  I don’t know, maybe I’m just missing something.  On the bright side, I get to work from home today.  I just hope that either the weather clears up or they cancel my soccer game.  I really don’t want to drive to Waukegan in this just to play soccer.  Laterz!