During the holiday season, an atheistic organization put a sign alongside the community Christmas display in Madison, Wisconsin. It blatantly declared: “In this season of the winter solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our material world. Religion is but a myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

On the back of that sign was the warning: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. Where do you suppose such a statement as that came from? If there is no God, why are they quoting Him? Either there is a God who establishes order out of chaos, or we should let nature take its natural course, which is always chaos. I choose to believe in God but wouldn’t trust the atheists with my sign!

Tags: Christmas, Law, signs, stealing

Back in the Christmas of 1968, I was stationed in the US Army in Augsburg, Germany. It was lonely and I didn’t have any family nearby. I recall taking the Strassenbaum (streetcar) downtown and checking out the Christmas decorations. All the buildings were lit up like in America, and all the shops had a big Christmas sale going on.

I remember being surprised that they shut the downtown streets off to traffic. Couples and families got dressed up in their holiday finest and walked the streets enjoying the Christmas atmosphere. It was very similar to our country, but a lot more casual.

The biggest difference I recall was their depiction of Santa. St. Nicholas wore a long red overcoat with red pants and white fur trim. But Santa didn’t wear the typical “Santa hat”, he instead wore a big high Cardinal’s hat, bright red with white trim.

I suppose many of our western ideas of Christmas came through our ancestors who immigrated from Europe, so its not surprising to see such similarities. What is your experience with Christmas celebrations in another culture?

Tags: Christmas, Santa, tradition

One of my earliest memories of Christmas was a white wire fence my parents put around the Christmas tree. We had a real tree with large colored lights and “Roman candles” with oil in glass tubes that bubbled when it got warm. We also draped tinsel from the branches. It must have been an intriguing sight for a little guy.

I always thought my parents put up that fence to keep my little sisters out of the tree, but Mom informed me they actually bought it to keep me out of the tree! I can’t imagine that being the case, though.

Although our culture is moving away from anything traditional and ritualistic, the one time when that is not true is Christmas. People still want to embrace the old Christmas carols and dig out old ornaments. We still love to remember Christmases past.

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Tags: Christmas, tradition

The other week Anita and I went down to the Fire Barn here in Waterloo to watch our grand-kids’ reaction to their first visit with Santa Claus. Raegan, just short of two years old, was not very cooperative. She refused to sit on his lap or have her picture taken with him. She would observe from a distance, but that was the limit.

Of course, Santa was not going to harm her in any way, but she must have thought that in her mind. By the time Christmas actually gets here she will have seen Santa in many other situations and might change her mind by then. Its what we don’t understand that puts fear in our hearts.

So it is with God. When we don’t understand His ways or purposes, we tend to fear trusting Him. We try to hide from Him our real lives. That’s why its important that we understand that Jesus is the Light of the World and came to enlighten us in the ways of God. Let Him turn the light on for you this Christmas.

Tags: Christmas, fear, light, Santa

A family of four drove to the shopping mall to do some Christmas shopping. They decided to shop separately so that the presents they purchased for each other might be kept a secret. Before they split up, the father said, “Let’s synchronize our watches and agree to meet in the parking lot at five o’clock sharp.”

The four adjusted their respective watches. Then the mother turned to the father, and with hand outstretched said, “OK. Now let’s all synchronize our wallets!”

It helps to get on the same page whenever we’re working on a common goal. All the various church denominations would end all their fussing if we all synchronized our spiritual lives to God’s word.

Tags: Christmas, humor, unity

Things have changed over the years. Back in the 1950s there was an active alley-way behind every house in Butler. A man named Goofy (that was actually what everyone called him) Bowers came down the alley with a team of horses and a wagon to pick up garbage and haul it to the city dump on the edge of town. Obviously, these were before the days of plastic garbage bags, and the wagon smelled horrific.

These days we have those sanitized garbage bags, and, unfortunately, sanitation labor strikes. During one of those strikes in a major US city, bags of garbage mounted up in alleys and along curbsides during the Christmas season, sending a stench into the air which quickly became unbearable. Tempers flared and news conferences were quickly called by city officials in an attempt to squelch the tempers and reach a solution.

One fellow was an entrepreneur, however.

He boxed his garbage, wrapped it in Christmas paper, sat it on the front porch, and then chuckled as thieves quietly mounted his porch in the darkness and stole all his garbage. He got rid of the stench.

Sin is like rotting garbage: get rid of it!

Tags: Christmas, garbage, humor, sin