Daddy why do we have Christmas?
Well son it's like this. Every year you have a birthday and you receive presents. We give you presents because you are very special to us and we want to celebrate the day you were born. Well, Christmas marks the birthday of another child who is very special to all of us so we give each other presents to celebrate His birthday.
And what is the child's name daddy?
His name is Jesus Christ son He was born 2000 years ago, and that's why we call it Christmas.
Monday, 24 December 2007
Sunday, 23 December 2007
Me and Jack
This actually happened to me on Tuesday 11th of December 07
Some background: My Ex wife Carol lives in the next road to me, almost 150 yards away! She has a son named Jack. Now Jack and I are great friends even though he's only 5 and I'm a bit older. He goes to school now and often calls in on me on his way home, usually with his little friend Johnny.
Well the day before (Monday) he had had a bit of a bad tummy so his mom kept him off school. About 3 in the afternoon my phone went and it was Jack inviting me round to his house for tea. He often invites me round and I always go because time with Jack is precious.
I set off and he was waiting for me in the walk way between our roads. He very clearly explained that he was off school because he had a bad tummy. I should think everyone in the street heard him.
We went into the house and immediately Jack suggested that we play ball. He's a great one for football and we have spent many a happy hour in the walkway playing football together. As always, he starts gentle and ends up throwing the ball at 200 miles per hour, usually managing to hit things like the TV or glass candle holders etc. which brings a sharp response from Carol about such things.
So, we are playing ball and as usual he has me scrabbling on the floor, under the table and chairs etc. I'm blessed that at my tender time of life I can still do all this stuff, though not as gracefully as Jack.
After half an hour or so of us getting more and more boisterous, Carol finally pipes up, "Jack, go easy on Colin." To which Jack replies without any hesitation, "But mommy, I'm exercising him!"
Oh the mind of a child, which reminds me of another child...
Do have a brilliant and God filled Christmas.
Every blessing,
Thoroughly exercised Colin.
Some background: My Ex wife Carol lives in the next road to me, almost 150 yards away! She has a son named Jack. Now Jack and I are great friends even though he's only 5 and I'm a bit older. He goes to school now and often calls in on me on his way home, usually with his little friend Johnny.
Well the day before (Monday) he had had a bit of a bad tummy so his mom kept him off school. About 3 in the afternoon my phone went and it was Jack inviting me round to his house for tea. He often invites me round and I always go because time with Jack is precious.
I set off and he was waiting for me in the walk way between our roads. He very clearly explained that he was off school because he had a bad tummy. I should think everyone in the street heard him.
We went into the house and immediately Jack suggested that we play ball. He's a great one for football and we have spent many a happy hour in the walkway playing football together. As always, he starts gentle and ends up throwing the ball at 200 miles per hour, usually managing to hit things like the TV or glass candle holders etc. which brings a sharp response from Carol about such things.
So, we are playing ball and as usual he has me scrabbling on the floor, under the table and chairs etc. I'm blessed that at my tender time of life I can still do all this stuff, though not as gracefully as Jack.
After half an hour or so of us getting more and more boisterous, Carol finally pipes up, "Jack, go easy on Colin." To which Jack replies without any hesitation, "But mommy, I'm exercising him!"
Oh the mind of a child, which reminds me of another child...
Do have a brilliant and God filled Christmas.
Every blessing,
Thoroughly exercised Colin.
Friday, 21 December 2007
It's Christmas Time Again.
Yes, it's that time of year we call Christmas, and as usual, the world is going loopy whilst the atheists/secularists shout and scream about all the religion. Also as usual, the government wants to capitulate and take Christ out of Christmas for 'fear' of offending somebody somewhere. Funny isn't it that no one ever thinks twice about offending Christians.
So, they want to take all the nativity scenes down, and call it winter season or just season. Some shops won't allow their staff to say, "Happy Christmas." They won't get any of my money this year.
Problem is, if you take Christ out of Christmas, there's nothing to celebrate, and what else is Christmas about if not celebration? What will they celebrate in His place? How about shoppingmas, or profitmas; or maybe merrymas or presentmas? No, if you take Christ out of Christmas you are left with mas, and what is mas? Millions of Ants Shopping!
God is for life, not just for Christmas, and, Jesus is the reason for the season.
So, they want to take all the nativity scenes down, and call it winter season or just season. Some shops won't allow their staff to say, "Happy Christmas." They won't get any of my money this year.
Problem is, if you take Christ out of Christmas, there's nothing to celebrate, and what else is Christmas about if not celebration? What will they celebrate in His place? How about shoppingmas, or profitmas; or maybe merrymas or presentmas? No, if you take Christ out of Christmas you are left with mas, and what is mas? Millions of Ants Shopping!
God is for life, not just for Christmas, and, Jesus is the reason for the season.
Saturday, 1 December 2007
What's in a name?
The recent activity in Sudan has had the sane world reeling in incredulity. An English woman out there teaching allowed the kids in the class to name a teddy after the Islamic prophet. Someone snitched and she was arrested and jailed. On hearing the jail sentence there was a demonstration calling for her execution. One can only ask, what kind of people are these? The answer is, devoted. They are devoted to their religion. Whatever your opinion of their religion, you have to agree that they are devoted to it.
Contrast that with Christianity. Surely the most maligned, defamed and blasphemed name ever is Jesus Christ. Imagine the ridicule if someone like me were to go to a police station and complain that the name of our prophet had been blasphemed on the TV, or in the movies. I'd be laughed at. After all, the name of my Saviour, the Son of God, Jesus Christ is blasphemed openly every day and no one cares. Well, Christians don't take to the streets crying for blood do they? We don't protest or threaten violence...We don't have to because the Bible says, "At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow." and, "Vengeance is mine," says the Lord, "I will repay." Blasphemers beware.
Contrast that with Christianity. Surely the most maligned, defamed and blasphemed name ever is Jesus Christ. Imagine the ridicule if someone like me were to go to a police station and complain that the name of our prophet had been blasphemed on the TV, or in the movies. I'd be laughed at. After all, the name of my Saviour, the Son of God, Jesus Christ is blasphemed openly every day and no one cares. Well, Christians don't take to the streets crying for blood do they? We don't protest or threaten violence...We don't have to because the Bible says, "At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow." and, "Vengeance is mine," says the Lord, "I will repay." Blasphemers beware.
One of the big questions
There are some questions that Christians are asked with monotonous regularity. One of them is: "Why does God allow tragedies?" There is, of course, no one answer that fits all, but let's take one case in point and see where it leads us.
A few years ago there was a terribly tragedy, Tsunamis hit several coast lines and many hundreds of thousands of people were killed. We were all glued to the news at the time sympathising with the victims and their families. Everyone was moved deeply at the immensity of the disaster. God's heart is always the first to break at such things, but he still gets the blame.
So why does He allow it? It's like this: God sees the bigger picture, we don't. To stop the waves He would have had to stop the earthquake, because the quake caused the waves. To stop the earthquake He would have had to stop the movement of the tectonic plates, because earthquakes are caused by the plates grinding against each other under tremendous pressure. To stop the plates moving He would have had to stop the volcanic action beneath the earth's crust which forms the plates and pushes them apart. To stop the volcanic action He would have had to get rid of the heat that melts the rocks before they are squirted up and onto the sea floor. To get rid of the heat He would have to cool the earth's core so that it did not produce heat. This effectively kills the planet which effectively kills every thing on it, which means all of us. Now aren't you glad He didn't intervene.
Our earth is like a machine, tinker with one part of it and the consequences will almost always be catastrophic.
A few years ago there was a terribly tragedy, Tsunamis hit several coast lines and many hundreds of thousands of people were killed. We were all glued to the news at the time sympathising with the victims and their families. Everyone was moved deeply at the immensity of the disaster. God's heart is always the first to break at such things, but he still gets the blame.
So why does He allow it? It's like this: God sees the bigger picture, we don't. To stop the waves He would have had to stop the earthquake, because the quake caused the waves. To stop the earthquake He would have had to stop the movement of the tectonic plates, because earthquakes are caused by the plates grinding against each other under tremendous pressure. To stop the plates moving He would have had to stop the volcanic action beneath the earth's crust which forms the plates and pushes them apart. To stop the volcanic action He would have had to get rid of the heat that melts the rocks before they are squirted up and onto the sea floor. To get rid of the heat He would have to cool the earth's core so that it did not produce heat. This effectively kills the planet which effectively kills every thing on it, which means all of us. Now aren't you glad He didn't intervene.
Our earth is like a machine, tinker with one part of it and the consequences will almost always be catastrophic.
Monday, 24 September 2007
Who is writing the songs?
Had this thought the other day. Who is writing the songs? What I mean is this...Great men come, and great men go. Some have been immortalised in song, but not many. Who writes songs for Adolph? Who writes songs for Stalin? These men lived within the last 100 years and though not forgotten, they are fading away with the years...No songs, at least, no new songs.
Contrast that with Jesus Christ: Lived some 2000 years ago, and every day, hundreds if not thousands of songs are being written for Him or about Him. Just about every language you can name has songs to Him. What does that say about a humble carpenter who died in His early thirties? What an impact He has had on this world, and is still having. Unlike those who are fading away with time, Jesus Christ's influence is increasing. He is still inspiring human kind to write songs about Him, but then, what else would you expect from the Son of God.
Contrast that with Jesus Christ: Lived some 2000 years ago, and every day, hundreds if not thousands of songs are being written for Him or about Him. Just about every language you can name has songs to Him. What does that say about a humble carpenter who died in His early thirties? What an impact He has had on this world, and is still having. Unlike those who are fading away with time, Jesus Christ's influence is increasing. He is still inspiring human kind to write songs about Him, but then, what else would you expect from the Son of God.
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Down the Tubes.
I'm an English man living in England and more than a little concerned at the rate my society is degrading. Things that were truly horrific when I was a child, are now common place and being used as entertainment in TV, computer games and the movies.
Our government and the opposition both verbally agree that the family is the unit on which our society is built, yet they pass laws that directly undermine that unit. How does it help to say the family is important and then pass a law that gives exactly the same rights to common law couples? How does that help the family unit? Or is it that our perception of family has been eroded too? Surely, a family consists of a mum and a dad who have the same surname and have taken vows to be faithful to each other. A couple who have made a life long commitment. How can that extend to a common law couple...Different names, no vows and no commitment.
We are going down the tubes fast. When will we wake up and do something about it?
Our government and the opposition both verbally agree that the family is the unit on which our society is built, yet they pass laws that directly undermine that unit. How does it help to say the family is important and then pass a law that gives exactly the same rights to common law couples? How does that help the family unit? Or is it that our perception of family has been eroded too? Surely, a family consists of a mum and a dad who have the same surname and have taken vows to be faithful to each other. A couple who have made a life long commitment. How can that extend to a common law couple...Different names, no vows and no commitment.
We are going down the tubes fast. When will we wake up and do something about it?
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