Santa: A Man After God's Heart

So my guess is that if you're reading this blog you're probably old enough to read this next sentence without it traumatising you too much or ruining your holiday...

Santa isn't real.

That's it, I've said it - I'm sorry but someone needed to say it. Sorry.

I can remember very clearly the day my mum sat me down and told me the shocking piece of news I've just dumped on you. I had had my suspicions for a while but this was all the confirmation I needed. Outwardly as she told me I was picture of confidence and coming-of-age maturity, I wore an expression that said 'duh of course mum, I'm not an idiot!' but inwardly I wept knowing that my boyhood was over and adulthood beckoned... ok so maybe not but it was a memorable occasion nonetheless.

If you've ever felt like me or if you're simply finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that Santa isn't real you may be relieved to also read what I'm about to say:
Santa is real, they lied to me about the lie. That's right you read correctly, Santa is real and he can teach us a lot about how to live as a Christian.

Santa (who went by the name Nicholas) was born in the 3rd Century into a rich family in the small village of Patara, Turkey. He was a young boy when tragically both of his parents died of a disease leaving him as an orphan but give his familiy's wealth he had a huge amount of inheritance money, he was set up for life.

His parents had raised him in the Christian faith and given him enough reason to trust and follow Jesus that even though he suffered great loss, he did not lose his sight of his saviour. He maintained his Christian faith and became a wonderful example of the joy and privilege of being raised in a Christian home and trusting God through difficulty. Nicholas took seriously Jesus' words to the rich young ruler in Luke's gospel 'go sell everything you have and follow me.' He used his inheritance money to help those in need, especially children in poverty. He became known as someone who frequently gave gifts to children, often at night and often by putting the presents inside large socks or stockings, hence the tradition. One of the most famous stories of Nicholas's kindness was to three sisters he knew. The girls grew up in a poor family and in that part of the world a dowry (like a gift enabling you to marry) was needed to pay for the girls to be legible for marriage. They couldn't afford this sum of money however and were forced with no other option than to enter a life of forced prostitution to pay for their wedding dowry. Nicholas stepped in to help the family and paid for all three of the girls' dowries thus freeing them and saving them from a horrible life of sexual slavery.

Nicholas travelled and eventually got voted in as a the Bishop of Myra (a place that the apostle Paul visited in Acts 27) where he served as a church leader until the day he died in December 343AD. While he lived he is also known to have been a great defender of the truth and travelled to the legendary Council of Nicea in 325AD which was a council of church leaders that met to discuss and defend the Bible's claims about who Jesus is.

As an individual he took on legendary status and after his death was made a 'saint' by the Catholic church (even though we're all saints already if we are followers of Jesus, but that's besides the point!) and the town of Myra began celebrating his life each year with a festival that involved the giving of gifts to those in need.

Throughout his life then he displayed a believe in Jesus that expressed itself through caring for the poor and through defending truth. He expressed God's heart to the world by the way he lived and by the way he spoke. We would do well to imitate him in the same way. Love Jesus, follow him and lead others into knowing him and doing the same.

This Christmas you can be like Santa, the original Santa, by doing the same as he did. Give to those in need, care for those in need and love Jesus making it your life's aim to lead other people to know and love him as well.

For more information on the history of Christmas and how we got from Nicholas in Myra to the Santa of the Coke cans, check out this link:

Salvation... take it or leave it

Salvation.... We hear many Christian words like “Salvation”, “Fellowship” and “Transgressions” a lot in our church goings and weekly routines but what does the word Salvation actually mean?

When we look in the dictionary it says “the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction etc...” However the theology version says this “deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption”. So what does this actually mean?

It means that we have a Saviour who has already paid the ultimate price for us, the undeserved price of his life for our lives. A man who came to save us from ourselves and our own sin...

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” 2 Corinthians 5:21

How INCREDIBLE is that? God sent his only Son to live in a fallen world full of evil and destruction to take on the sins of all mankind.

He came and was sinless, blameless and led a righteous life. But his penalty for that was death, death on a cross because of the sins we have done and will no doubt do.

John 3:16 “For God SO loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This verse makes me realise just how undeserving of God’s Grace I really am, but that’s just what it is, Grace!

It’s like what Andrew Wilson always says “we get what we don’t deserve”. It’s a gift freely given to us, a gift of eternal life through him who died for us! Since we were babies, we grow up knowing what is right and what is wrong. Our hearts ache, our conscience tells us we are wrong when we do something, but it’s what we do when we do something wrong that we know where our hearts are.
So how can we inherit this Salvation? John 3 says “whoever believes in him”. It’s taking that first step of faith, its making the decision knowing that you sin but want to be forgiven and want to be made righteous. It’s believing that a man named Jesus came down to die for your sins, to take away all the bad in you and be made righteous. Receiving salvation is knowing that we are saved, knowing that we believe in a God who created this world, can move mountains, stop stormy seas, heal the sick and provide for the poor. It’s forgetting all the questions and the doubts but knowing the truth and choosing to believe it. We have already been saved; Jesus did that on the cross for us. Now it’s our turn to receive our salvation and enter into his Kingdom and have eternal life with a God that loves us.

“Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” John 3:21.

My Soul Waits

My Soul waits:

So what is it that our souls are thirsty for? Where do we go in times of trouble and hurt? How can God protect me from my enemies? I am hoping that all of these questions can be answered by this Psalm! Sometimes when things start to go wrong or we go through a time of doubt and struggle, we ask ourselves these questions! When we are feeling down and cast out we seek for something, so what is it...

Psalm 62 says this: 1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
3 How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.[b]
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honour depend on God[c];
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
9 Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.
11 One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”

This was written when David (not yet King) was running from Saul as he was trying to kill David. He wrote this psalm during his time in the cave. As you can imagine David was crying out to God for protection and refuge, and in this cave he found refuge.

I know that for me this is so true. There are times when I really struggle and I worry about things that I shouldn’t worry about but it feels like I am running away from the enemy and my soul is searching. Its times like this that we need to find our cave and take shelter.

In this psalm David is waiting for God, verse 1 says “My soul finds rest in God alone”.

We should give everything to him, every worry on concern or fear that we have. For only when we say it out loud and give it to God will we find rest. Verse 2 says “He is my fortress, I shall never be shaken”... What TRUTH is that!! WE go to god (in the cave); we find protection in him “under the shelter of his wings”. In times when enemies are around us, when people are attacking us, when we feel a spiritual attack we must remember that “WE SHALL NEVER BE SHAKEN”... Its like the Matt Redman song, We shall, we shall not be shaken!! If we stand firm in Christ, if we search for him and long for him, if our soul is hurting.... we call upon an awesome God who finds us, takes us into his fortress and protects us. He gives our soul rest.

God loves it when we rest in him and spend time in his presence!