Merry Christmas

This time of year is often confused by most of the population of the world. They consider it a holiday mainly for children, who are asked to believe that Santa Claus will bring them gifts if they have been good all year. :-)
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/


　

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

This is not just a holiday it is actually a "Christian Holy Day". I'm not angry about all the good that happens outside of a Christian influence during this season, but I would really like for credit to be given where credit is due. God gave the world a gift through his son Jesus. We celebrate his birth on December 25, more than likely not the actual anniversary but a day that we have selected to celebrate.

Another Christian influence that goes unnoticed by most is the way we date our existence on this earth. BC = Before Christ (the anointed one)

AD =anno DominiAn abbreviation used with a date, indicating how many years have passed since the birth of Jesus Christ. The abbreviation may appear before the date (a.d. 1988), or it may appear after the date (1988 a.d.). It stands for anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning "in the year of our Lord."
 

Many know the symbol represents the medical profession. There are different theories of its origin, but the one that I believe to be true is this.

  The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
Jesus later explained (see John 3:14 & 15) that just as the Israelites were healed of their sickness by looking at the snake on the pole, all believers today can be saved from the sickness of sin by looking to Jesus’ death and resurrection. It wasn’t the snake on pole that healed the people, but their belief that God could heal them.



Goodbye, no I'm not done. This also has a Christian origin.
Word History:
No doubt more than one reader has wondered exactly how goodbye is derived from the phrase "God be with you." To understand this, it is helpful to see earlier forms of the expression, such as God be wy you, god b'w'y, godbwye, god buy' ye, and good-b'wy. The first word of the expression is now good and not God, for good replaced God by analogy with such expressions as good day, perhaps after people no longer had a clear idea of the original sense of the expression.



Now for the usual joke; since this turned out to be longer than my normal post I'm just going to say that when it comes to Jesus, there is no joke!

Much love Dennis