Is Christmas Pagan? ("Pagan Influences" Series) - Classical Astronomy

Is Christmas Pagan? ("Pagan Influences" Series) - Classical Astronomy

The Birth of Jesus Christ

Matthew 1 (New King James Version)

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. 17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

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Christ Came

We celebrate Christmas with a thousand and one things this Christmas season. With glitterring tinsels and colorful blinking lights, Nativity scences in stores, homes, and churches, we're sure it's Christmas time! People milling around shopping, travelling somewhere- only God really knows the myriad reasons why people do this at Christmas time. May be, literally, a thousand and one reasons. But what about the real object of this celebration - the birth of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world? Do we really seriously consider why He came to be born in a manger? At that time, it was the least expensive birthing of a baby! Worshipped and adored by angels (Hebrews 1:1-6), yet He was born in a manger among cattle - hay for a bed! Why did He come? The angel announced to the lowly shepherds, "...I bring you good news of a great joy for all the people: for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11)." The angels sang "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased( Luke 2:13-14). " The Gospel writer records the reason why He came, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)". Jesus said, The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly (John 10:10)". With all the things that we do at Christmastime, it behooves us, if we really meant to celebrate Christ's birth, to ponder the real reason why Christ came. And to respond positively to the real message of Christmas. And we'll surely find not only seasonal and flitting enjoyment of Christmas clutter but a life-changing experience in the encounter with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Sing The Clouds Away

I was still a little boy when my father taught me to sing this song:

Sing The Clouds Away

Sing the clouds away,

Night will turn to day;

If you’ll sing and sing and sing

You’ll sing the clouds away.

Smile the clouds away,

Night will turn to day;

If you’ll smile and smile and smile

You’ll smile the clouds away.

Sing and smile and pray,

Pray and pray and pray;

Night will turn to day,

No matter what they say;

Sing and smile and pray,

That's the only way
If you’ll sing and smile and pray
You’ll drive the gloom away.

Daily "Motivation for Moms"

Daily Motivation for Moms is designed to encourage mothers to instill the values of God in their children. Readers will be inspired daily to reach deeper into the lives of their children with motivational tips like these:

• Encourage your children to focus on their inner being, which is of great price in the sight of God.
  

• Make it known to your children that you are not conformed to this world; teach them to enjoy the fact that your family is different.
• Enlighten your children to the world around them by supporting missions and teaching them that there is a world both hungry for food and hungry for God. Pray that they will have a heart for missions.

If you are interested in this daily motivation for moms, click the link above.

Hermen and Rita

Hermen and Rita

Mt. Mayapay in the background, the tallest mountain in Agusan del Norte, Philippines. Viewed from the Agusan river dike, utilized as a riverside road in Pagatpatan, Butuan City.

My Early Childhood

I am a believer in Christ Jesus as my Lord and savior. I am grateful to my parents for teaching me to love God and His word - the Holy Bible. Sunday was a especial day for us. Memories of my childhood include the hard times that we went through during World War II. I was six years old when I witnessed for the first time planes dropping bombs on our town - now Butuan City, capital city of Agusan del Norte, Philippines. nine kilometers away from our home. My parents were out in our neighbor’s rice field harvesting rice. It scared me! I grabbed my 2 year old sister, tugging her, and staggering. sauntered towards the rice field - towards my parents. My heart was beating wildly! My younger brother ran ahead of me. We found them in the woods by the side of the rice field, each one biting a piece of wood or a corn cob, my parents instructed us to do the same to preserve our hearing because of the bombing going on.

That was only the beginning of hard times. I got seriously ill with malaria and dysentery. I had to go outside the house, even when it rained, night or day to bury my bloody stool for fear of spreading the disease to the other members of the family. There was no medicine and many were sickly during the war. I had one uncle, one aunt, four cousins who died during the war due to various illnesses. My father would return to the house from the field he worked when he had the chill due to malaria. He would ask us to cover him with all the blankets available in the house for he felt so cold that he would be shivering. He would return to work when the fever subsides. At times, when the corn was about to be harvested we had to leave our home to evacuate to a safer place farther away from our place, and thus lose the season’s produce. We would move out of our house even during the night, and would light no torch for we must move out secretly.

One day, Japanese soldiers patrolling the area came to our house. My uncle was boiling sugar cane juice to make sugar. They started ladling some boiling juice from the kettle into their canteen cups. Before they left, however, one soldier overturned the kettle by kicking it, the boiling juice forming rivulets on the ground. I had a black hen that was hatching her eggs just below our sleeping room for our house was built on wooden stilts. One soldier went to the chicken coop, took my black hen, hand it to his comrade, returned to the chicken coop for the eggs. Upon discovering that they were already advanced in the hatching process threw them all down to the ground. I felt my blood surging and my ears tingling, but I was just a little boy!

One morning I got butterflies in my stomach when a Japanese soldier grabbed from my father's hand the straw hat he was weaving, threw it away and kicked my father in his shin, commanding him to go with them to help them carry farm produce they were taking to their garrison. I was setting beside my father, watching him make that hat. I was so fearful for my father, wondering if he could ever return home alive. But late in the afternoon, he returned home, the Japs gave him money and rice. Of course not all Japanese soldiers treated us roughly. Some were friendly. There was even one Sunday when three Japanese soldiers worshipped with us. Others would share with us some of their medicines. Some could speak English and engaged with my father in friendly conversation.

When war was over we were grateful to the American G Is, hailing ‘G I Joe’ for helping liberate our country from the Japs. But I was still sickly after the war that I had recurrent fever due to malaria and malnutrition. I think it was due to malnutrition that many of us during the war, specially children, had boils that continue to plague so many of us even after the war. Packets of sulfanilamide were secured to cure our wounds for all of us in the house had boils So many children in school were malarial that during recess time we were given Atabrine tablets (quinacrine hydrochloride) which we pushed into the flesh of bananas which we just swallowed so we wont taste its bitterness. Normal flow of living was disrupted by the war so much so that some of my classmates in Grade I were almost of marriageable age. One girl was glued to her seat when others had already stood and began leaving the room to go home after the class had been dismissed by our teacher. She had her cycle, revealed by the red stain on her desk! Before the school year was over she got married.

Life was still not easy after the war. So my father went to the Visayas to seek employment; landed a job in Tacloban, Leyte. Life was even harder for us in his absence, specially for me and my brother next to me for we had to go to our aunt living five kilometers away and she would make us carry home sweet potatoes, banana, or rice whatever was available on their farm. We hiked loaded up, for we would save the money she gave us for bus fare. I was nine and my brother was eight then. I remember when my father came home that he had a picture of the work force which include both American and Filipino personnel. It was captioned: ‘DI-IT ROCK QUARRY‘. But what he had brought home was just a bag of clothing and a little cash .

Our parents saw to it that we read and memorize Bible verses which we were made to recite during our evening and morning devotions. As soon as I was able to read in English, I started carrying with me to school a copy of the New Testament; for that some of my classmates called me a heretic.

Thank God for His grace! The bitterness and hatred in my heart against our country’s aggressors slowly melted away as I grow in His love and grace through the study of God’s word. Thanks be to God for the victory and the blessing that we receive from Him! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!