Yes Virginia there is a Santa Clause

In 1897, Francis P. Church wrote a now-famous editorial in which he told little Virginia O'Hanlon that indeed there was a Santa Claus. Church wrote in the Sun:

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist…No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever."

St. Nicholas:
About AD 260 there was born a certain man named Nicholas who became well known for his generosity and his love of children. Raised in the city of Patara on the coast of what is now Turkey, Nicholas traveled to Palestine as a young man. He later became bishop of the nearby town of Myra. When Emperor Diocletian focused on persecuting Christians, Nicholas was tortured and imprisoned for his faith in Christ. According to tradition, Nicholas was released by Emperor Constantine and later attended the First Council of Nicea in AD 325.

Stories of Nicholas' generosity and kindness continued to spread long after his death. During the Middle Ages, Nicholas became patron saint of charitable fraternities and children, and legends sprouted about his feats of good will. After the Reformation, the legend of St. Nicholas died out everywhere except in Holland. When the Dutch Reformed Christians immigrated to the United States, they brought the traditions of "Sinterklaas" with them. St. Nicholas still rides into Dutch towns every November, dressed in his bishop's garb.

Later in Germany, St. Nicholas would traditionally arrive on his Feast Day, December 6^th. A man dressed as St. Nick would go door to door loaded with a giant sack. He gave presents to those children who had been good during the year, but a lump of coal was the lot of bad children.

The visual image and personality of St. Nicholas changed during the years. His red outfit was derived from the red colors bishops wore, but he was often portrayed as tall and thin. The modern version of St. Nick as a plump cheery man originated in a series of Thomas Nast engravings in Harper'' Weekly during and after the American Civil War.

Living Forever
This is a season during which we remember that God sent His Son to earth to be born as a little human baby. The Creator of the universe was made subject to all the troubles and difficulties of this life and ultimately died for our sins. Because God gave us His Son, we all have access to eternal life with Him. There is no greater gift.

While Santa is often seen as a diversion that takes the focus off of Jesus (and rightly so) the real St. Nicholas was no distraction. He was a man who served Jesus with his whole life.

Mr. Church was correct in his letter to little Virginia, though perhaps not in the way he intended. The original St. Nicholas, the man who loved children and cared for the poor, that man was real. That Nicholas does live and lives forever - for he was a follower of Jesus Christ.

From Koinonia House

Quote for the day (15)

If faith never encounters doubt, if truth never struggles with error, if good never battles with evil, how can faith know its own power? In my own pilgrimage, if I have to choose between a faith that has stared doubt in the eye and made it blink, or a naïve faith that has never known the firing line of doubt, I will choose the former every time.



Gary E Parker

Great Christian Music - I Stand Amazed in the Presence

In the early 1900s, Charles H. Gabriel was the king of gospel music. Gabriel wrote the words and music for a number of hymns used by popular evangelists of his day such as Billy Sunday and his song leader, Homer Rodeheaver.
Gabriel’s hymns reflect a change in the style of gospel music. In the 1800s, hymns were deeply theological and often meditative. But with the revivals of Moody and Sunday, Christians learned to love songs that were fun to sing, highly energetic and easy to remember. Perhaps Gabriel’s most popular hymn is “O That Will Be Glory for Me,” with its rousing chorus. He also wrote “Send the Light,” a stirring missionary call with a tune that drives the singer halfway across the ocean.
These songs, like “I Stand Amazed in the Presence,” focus on a simple emotion and celebrate it. In this case, it is raw amazement at the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice. We love this song because we can identify with it. How can we help but “stand amazed” in His presence? How marvelous! How wonderful!

Scriptures: Matthew 26:43; Luke 22:41; Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 3:18-19
Themes: Love of Christ, Passion, Gethsemane, Praise

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

How marvelous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed, “Not My will, but Thine”;
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary
And suffered and died alone.

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
‘Twill be my joy thru the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (1856 – 1932)

Information taken from; The Complete Book of Hymns by William J Petersen and Ardythe Petersen.

Here is a version by Irish born contemporary worship leader Robin Mark.

Quote for the day (14)

Now, with God's help, I shall become myself.










Soren Kierkegaard (1813 -1855)

Stay (I'm leaving now.....but I don't want to go....)

Earlier this year one of my close and dear friends, Craig, asked me to go with him to minister to a couple who are close friends of his. The wife had been diagnosed with cancer and it was in an advanced stage and there was nothing that any of the doctors could do. Craig and his wife had been ministering to this couple, since sometime in the previous year and asking their friends to lift them and the couple in prayer.

So after a few false starts we eventually got around to visiting Mike and Karen at their small home in Table View. Karen had just been discharged from the hospice as she just wanted to spend as much time with her family as possible. The doctors had estimated that she had month or possibly two left to live. Karen was 37 at the time and her and Mike had a son and daughter aged 5 and 7.

During the drive to Mike and Karen, Craig and myself just kinda prayed and chatted to each other. We just prayed that His Holy Spirit would guide us and give us wisdom and compassion. Karen and Mike had been attending a church which had really been praying hard for them and this church really believed that Karen was going to be healed. Mike and Karen had been clinging to that hope for a few months now. His Holy Spirit inside me just told me to gently tell Karen that she would not be healed. SAY WHAT!!! How could I go tell anyone this and rob them of all hope. It just did not seem to make sense to me at all. The feeling persisted, strangely it was not an unpleasant feeling, it was the voice of truth sitting deep within my soul. I still could not see myself telling Karen that she would not be healed.

When we arrived Mike met us and offered us some coffee. He told us that Karen was really not well at all. She was exhausted and was sleeping. “Phew,” I thought to myself, “We could pray for Mike and the kids anoint the home, grab a quick cup of coffee and then buzz off. Shouldn’t take more than half an hour.” This was going to be nice and quick and easy. So we told Mike the ‘game’ plan. He switched the kettle on and Craig and myself prayed in all the rooms of the house, strangely instead of rushing to be finished we slowed down and we just felt ourselves being gently led through the whole situation. Each prayer seemed to go a little deeper, become a little bit more passionate as we literally felt our hearts soften to breaking point for this family. We asked the children if they wanted prayer and they said yes and we prayed simple direct prayers over them and anointed their foreheads with oil. It was a very special moment.I felt my heart breaking inside but His Holy Spirit kept me composed and in control of my emotions. I could feel and see that Craig was going through the same experience.

Then God woke Karen up! We checked with her if she felt like any company. She said she was okay and told us all to come into the bedroom. We spoke a little bit, Mike had made her some tea and then we prayed for her. In my prayer I told her that she must prepare herself because God might not heal her. We prayed for the Father’s will to be done in her life. She just nodded when I told her this through my prayer. It was a really hard thing to say and do.

When we were finished praying, Craig and Mike went out of the room and I stayed and chatted to Karen for about half an hour. I just spoke about simple things, my family, my dog, my love for Jesus and His love for me, my friends, my faith. After awhile I apologized to Karen ‘cause I thought I was babbling on a bit. But she said it was fine and she enjoyed the conversation. She then asked a rhetorical question, one I will always remember. She said, “Why did it have to come to this before she turned back to God? Why had she turned away all those years before?” There was not really an answer to this but I knew without a doubt that Christ was truly carrying her now. It just felt as if the air around me was thick and heavy with His compassionate love.

I left Karen to rest for awhile and went to get that cup of coffee. Then suddenly within me a prayer started developing. A prayer that Karen would pray and minister to her husband. Absurd!! It’s not gonna happen!! But I prayed inside and yearned for it to happen.Then Karen called us all to come to the bedroom. She told us that she wanted to pray for her husband. Mike sat down on the bed and Karen took hold of his hands and Craig and myself gently laid hands on both of them. Karen prayed for her husband with such love and passion, it was mind blowing, heart breaking and gut wrenching stuff. I cannot really express here the feelings and emotions that stirred Karen’s absolutely scorching prayer for her dearly beloved husband. Somehow His Holy Spirit just kept me together.

Shortly after that we all hugged each other and said goodbye. On the way back home Craig and myself just contemplated what had happened and we thanked God for guiding us and thanked Him that He had given us this opportunity to be used.

PS. Karen passed on about three weeks after this. I couldn’t make it to the funeral. If this was a piece of paper you were reading you would see that it would be stained with my tears. It took me a long time to get around to writing this and then it took me a good few days just to write it.

I have been tagged

I have been tagged by Scott McQueen from Just A Thought on the 1 November and I'm only getting around to it now. So Scott humble apologies for my tardiness and thanks for the tag. Mmmm I'm pretty new at this so lettuce C........7 things huh....

1. I accepted Jesus as my Saviour when I was forty.
2. I used to be a Jehovah's Witness in the 80's
3. I have been divorced twice.
4. I work for the City of Cape Town's Health Directorate as a finance officer, my big boss(Helen Zille) is the worlds best mayor.
5. I have a step-son(Adam 25), step-daughter(Lisa 32), son(Matthew 11) and a grandson(Aronne 7 months)
6. I am married to Allie who puts up with all my nonsense and is the love of my life.
7. I really wanna do something BIG for God(always wanted to write a book, now want to do it for His glory) but I'm coming to realise that He is directing my footsteps and making me more and more aware of His gentle whisper.

Phew didit! Now 'cause I've been so slow I will have to think about who I can tag. That will be for another post methinks.

Quote for the day (13)

How to promote the absence of God.

Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on(and the TV). Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them carefully. But you'd be safer to stick to the papers. You'll find the advertisements helpful; especially those with a sexy or snobbish appeal.

C S Lewis (1898 - 1963)