Festive thought of the evening!

Being as its Christmas, I’ll hit you with a double whammy thought of the evening.

1) I have invented a sort of game to play when in public, or at home or wherever you feel like. It’s called ‘name that smell’. To play this game, there must be a peculiar odour in your vicinity. There must be one or more players. When your nose is awakened to the odour, you exclaim ‘ looks like its time for another exciting round of name that smell!’. And then you try and guess what the smell is. It could be anything from varnished wood to fermented sprouts. The winner is the person who guesses the smell. There is no prize. Perhaps the winner should award themselves with air freshener.

2) Now for a more christmassy point! When I was little, on christmas eve, my mother and father used to read ’twas the night before christmas to me and my sister before we went to bed. We used to insist on reading the story before going to bed. We always used to find the mouse and the ladybird and stuff. awww. Here is Michael Buble’s take on that beloved children’s story!

 

 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas traditions

Ah! Christmas week is upon us!
On this Monday of Christmas week Nintendo gave to me… 10 gba downloads to my ds for free! Zelda minish cap and warioware inc are among the downloads! So happy! Glad I bought the console before the price drop!

This afternoon, I went for a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. I was shocked to see that the sales have already begun! Believe me, there are some real bargains to be had!

Today, we took my future brother in law to the airport. He will return later in the week. As we dined together this afternoon, I got to thinking about the holiday traditions that we have. There are the obvious ones like trees, Christmas crackers, decorations and carol services, and then there are other things!

We enjoy Christmas food. We usually go for a hotpot at a local restaurant a few times in December and we frequent Starbucks during the ‘red cup’ period. We eat fancy foods like game, and feast on veg-a-plenty!

We burn the advent candle each day. We open the advent calendars. We do concerts and go to extra church services. We meet friends. We have a laugh.

We watch Christmas films as they appear on tv. (the latest of these being Elf) We listen to Christmas music obsessively for one month! As a family, we usually go to the theatre just before Christmas. That happened tonight – we saw Alan bennett’s stage adaptation of wind in the willows. It was good! It sure beats a pantomime!

On December 23rd, me and my sister developed a tradition of sorts. Every year for the past few years, at around 23:30, the Christmas episode of ‘Father Ted’ has been broadcast on tv. We have watched this each time it’s been on. Now, we consider the priests in the lingerie section as part of the Christmas countdown.

On christmas eve, we usually go to midnight mass together and then return home for a glühwein/ glass of port/ glass of whiskey before going to bed and waking up on Christmas day.

It’s funny thinking about traditions that we have and how they develop. But we also need to look past the traditions and remember just what we are celebrating…

To quote a picture I once saw: JESUS IS THE RIZZLE FOR THE SIZZLE

Making music

2 weeks to Christmas. Captain America gave me a chocolate present. The calendar, that is…

Earlier on this week I was at worship band practice. This is not out of the norm for me. There I was, and donning a top hat (because, quite frankly, why not?) giving THE LORD some praise! We ran through the sunday setlist.
We also practiced some carols with a choir of volunteers. It seemed a smaller choir than last year, but they were still willing to sing it out. It was a fairly good practice.

After the choir had practised with us, we took a short break. A young gentleman approached me and told me that my dancing in worship really blessed him. I found this heartily encouraging. I do it for God, but sometimes I am very aware of the eyes of the congregation looking at me and it puts me off a little. That encouragement got me back to body popping; I roboted in worship this morning to hillsong’s you deserve.

I love to worship. I see singing and writing and playing music as a release for me. Whether its singing with the gospel choir or playing the baritone, music helps me relax.

This evening, I was jamming on my guitar. I had written a piece of music earlier this week in a bit of spare time. The lyrics I had didn’t really fit the tune and the overall composition sounded like it needed an extra something. Tonight, I picked up my guitar and played a chord sequence from that piece of music. Then I just played with the notes. What started off rocky became a sort of country/ rock tune and I got this really nice solo lined up. It had fast movements, tap strumming, the bending of notes – it was pretty good. Well, I thought it was pretty good; I’m not particularly skilled at making guitar solos. I should’ve recorded it. It was my first solo to span all the strings – it was a milestone of sorts.

I’m looking forward to the holidays, when I can relax a bit more with my music and my guitar. I thank God for music.

The chord of the week is a classic Em.
The chord progression of the month is also a classic – G D Em C.

Pondering over gingerbread latte

Today I went out to Starbucks and enjoyed the umpteenth gingerbread latte of the season. It is my winter usual; my winter tipple. I was sitting in there pondering on things.

The first thing that I pondered was this: why was there a spanner in the bathroom next to my toothbrush? For what purpose was it there? The mystery spanner baffled me as I brushed my teeth this morning. It baffled me again thinking of it in the coffee house. To be quite honest, it’s baffling me right now. One eyebrow is raised.

The second thing that I pondered on was this: why do we call letters that are sent to many people at Christmas ’round robins’? Why not ‘parallelogram pigeons’ or ‘circular chaffinches’? And forget about the square seagulls. FORGET ABOUT IT! It is birdy favouritism through and through.

Then I thought to world travel. I am blessed to have traveled to so many amazing places! God has created so many beautiful things and places on this earth, and it’s nice to discover them first hand; to gaze upon foreign shores and to soak oneself in an alternate culture. Thank you God! Today, I had the pleasure of playing ‘need for speed: the run’ .It is a drive from one side of America to the other, going through places I have visited. Seeing these places in their rendered glory, it makes me want to revisit these places. I am grateful to God that He has blessed me with world travel and so many wonderful places to visit!

Yesterday I saw a reindeer. Correction, I saw 2. They were really cute. I thank God for the animals; how wonderful and intricately designed they are. I also thank Him for my family and friends. And that He sent His son for me, despite all that I’ve done. Thank you Jesus for saving me.

Today’s date is 10th of December, 2011. It is fifteen days to Christmas. The advent candle is sufficiently melted, and a small chocolate snowman awaited me in the torso of captain America this morning. Cold winds chill the land. Winter holidays start next week. The weeks are getting busier as choir performances and band rehearsals become more frequent. Holiday work is being set and although things are getting busier, the country is winding down for Christmas. I think back to last year. Things seemed much easier then. Perhaps I was young and foolish. I thank God that He’s got me through another year.

Carol service

The day before last, I attended a carol service. It was at a CU team-up with another CU and it was held at a church i’d never been to before. Inside, the church was rustic and had a certain oldy-worldy charm (apart from the massive grey computer monitors screwed up under the balcony). Outside, the weather did its worst. Hail lashed down at fierce angles and strong winds blew around. When the hail let up, a torrent of rain pounded the dark roads. I had a thick coat on, but somehow it managed to rain into my pockets. Apparently, this week sees the UK’s worst storms in a while. I braved the elements and ventured forth into the church. I was with some friends from CU, so that was good. It was good in the hood.

The musical items were mainly the gospel choir (the rival gospel choir to the one i’m in) and a brass band. I love brass instruments. Brass bands feel particularly christmassy. I remember all the times i’ve played in them and marched and blasted out a bassline. Ahh… lower brass…. Baritone horns FTW

For some reason, when talking to my friends, the topic of dubstep came up. I think I was saying it was nice to see an alternative music source in church (ie brass band) and then the conversation went from there. I suggested hornstep- a brass band dubstep. I don’t even like dubstep, so I have no idea why I suggested it. Then we discussed dubsteppin’ christmas carols. Hark the herald angels sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing singsing singsing singsing singsing singsingsingsingsingsingsingsing ssssssss WUB WUB WUB (and so on and so forth). I’m thankful that the music at the service was not dubstep.

The music was lovely. The service’s music was as to be expected – traditional christmas carols. There were also readings from the bible and a short talk by a local pastor in the middle. It was a very nice service. It felt cosy and welcoming. Even though the clouds appeared to be exploding outside, we were warm and cosy in there.

I looked at the order of service – on the back page it said UPCOMING EVENTS in large letters. Then there was a squiggly line. Then it said ‘joy to the world, the Lord is come’ and listed the song lyrics. I thought that this was funny. “oh whats coming up? oh yeah its the birth of Jesus! Hey world, have some Joy!!!” :3 well, I found it funny anyway.

In the talk, the pastor used an illustration of a guy missing a the point of christmas. Apparently, theres some guy in the UK who celebrates christmas every day (by writing himself cards and buying himself presents and watching the queen’s speech over and over and over…) True, this guy has missed the point. Jesus is the point of Christmas. The pastor made a good point. He said “many people think that Jesus dying on the cross to save us from our sins was the only sacrifice He did. It wasn’t. It was a sacrifice for Him to leave heaven and come to earth too”. In the words of one of my friends “tru dat.” Jesus could’ve stayed in heaven – paradise with His Father! But He loved us so much that He came to save us; to restore our relationship with Him and the Holy Spirit and God the Father! There were a few bible readings in the service too. I thought that they were nice, so i’ll share them with you. (I’ll post them one after another so its a bit like a narrative).

John 1:1-14

New International Version (NIV)

John 1

The Word Became Flesh

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Matthew 1:18-25

New International Version (NIV)

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Luke 2:1-21

New International Version (NIV)

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Mark 15:33-39

New International Version (NIV)

The Death of Jesus

³³ At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[a]35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,^[b] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Mark 16:2-7

New International Version (NIV)

² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Usually, carol services focus on the birth of Jesus, but this one went above and beyond- here we see the birth of Jesus and then His death on a cross for us. And then we see His resurrection. Reading these things, you might feel like its just a story or you might feel theres something more to it. Like the centurion, you might think ‘surely, this IS the son of God’. I implore you, follow this train of thought. Because He is the son of God and He came to earth for YOU and me and EVERYONE. Jesus is the greatest gift we’ll ever receive. This Christmas, will YOU see the heart of it, or will you just be caught up in the commercialism and the wrapping?

In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas

22 and counting…

Its been cold this week. Winter rears its head and its icy teeth clamp down on the country; the freezing breath of the wind penetrates through the thickest jumper. Its been hail stoning this week. Its been down to 2 degrees. What is the rationalisation of this? Its Christmas.

So, today I had a gander at the Christmas offers in the shops. I saw the hideously overpriced 3ds games in a game store (you can get the same ones in asda for like a tenner less), I saw the hustle and bustle of people buzzing around like worker bees, I saw the festive decor and at one point, my eyes were met by two large plastic eyes on a singing christmas tree. The same tree, I might add, that I passed a few weeks ago and saw a child crying out of fear.

I’ve already bought most of/ probably all of my christmas presents this year. Most of them are already wrapped. So why was I there? Was it because bleach season 5 had gone down to 12 quid? Nope, but that was a happy finding! Was it that I needed to buy some christmas presents? Nope. So what was it? I guess i’d say its the ambience; the thrill of the chase; the commercial christmas preparation.

y’know goodwill to men and all that.  But, in reality, its elbow to the face when sales are clearance. I don’t elbow people in the face, but I must admit, I do like a good bargain. And i’m a sucker for a good advert. But talking about the whole rat-race elbow in face mentality, let me whisk you back in time to christmas 2009. It was christmas week. Shops were hectic. Supermarkets – doubly so. I was on the mission for sprouts. I had no luck finding loose sprouts. Bagged sprouts were nowhere in sight. I love a good sprout, but it didn’t look like it was going to be my day… and then I gazed upon a stalk of sprouts. A forlorn, lonely stalk of sprouts with small/medium sprouts on them. A feeling of happiness came across me as I sauntered along to acquire them. Suddenly, a crazed pensioner appeared! (cue the pokemon wild encounter music! do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do dun dun dundundun dun dun dun dundundun dun… etc,etc). This was no ordinary pensioner. What she lacked in hight, she made up for in aggression  lemmetellya! There was a crazed look in her eye. I wanted the sprouts. She wanted the sprouts. I made a dash. I had a family relying on me to buy sprouts. I get to the sprout counter or whatever you call it and my hand reached out for it. The angry oap shunts me on the way and then tries to steal the sprouts. I wasn’t having none of it! I thrust my hand towards them sprouts like my life depended on it. The pensioner’s trolley half-pinned me to the counter as she battled furiously for the last sprout. I’d like to be over dramatic here and say that I sustained actual bodily harm from this sprout conflict, but that would be a lie. So if you’d like to believe that, then do. But its not true. I grabbed that sprout stalk. I grabbed it good. Holding it like a trophy and making my way back to my own shopping trolley, I said a rather loud ‘how rude are some people’/ words to that effect and glared back at the warzone. Forget all that ‘if you love something let it go’ nonsense. If you love something, fight for it! I had sprouts. They were delicious. Nom nom nom.

 

I suddenly forget what I was originally talking about. *glances back at title*… Oh yeah. The commercialisation of Christmas. Let me share this useful tidbit of information with you. Today, I had a chocolate from my captain america advent calendar. It was shaped like a gingerbread man. Yesterday’s chocolate looked oddly like one of those ‘punching nun’ puppets and whatever I ate on the 1st could’ve been anything. Whilst I enjoy a good advent calendar choccie, it occurs to me that it is just rampant commercialism. Yes, we’re counting down to the birth of our Lord and Saviour, but what does captain america or hello kitty or cars 2 or chocolate have to do with it? Another such example is coca cola. Did you know that they were the ones that dressed jolly ol’ saint Nick in red? ‘Its just not Christmas until you see the coca cola holidays are coming advert’ but why is that? Why? (btw, I do love coke, its up there in the pantheon of immortal beverages in my mind) (not that beverages are immortal… they are inanimate.) In the UK at least, and I suspect its the same in most parts of the world, Christmas is highly commercialised. We got cards, crackers, presents, trees, turkey, 3 bird roasts, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, paper hats, coca cola, christmas pudding, VH1 christmas karaoke… But we miss the point entirely. All those things are nice and lovely and tasty, but they are not what christmas is about. I’m not saying that they are wrong, i’m just saying that they are not the ‘fundamentals of Christmas’ that we have been brainwashed into thinking they are. You can’t have Christmas without its reason – Christ.

You might be thinking ‘This guy! He just did a funny quip about sprouts, rambled on about commercialism and now theres sommat about Jesus. Whats with all the commotion?’ Let me explain it to you. You see, theres this thing that happened a long long time ago. It was called creation. No bangs or anything, just God. God was all like ‘let there be light’ and stuff and in 6 days He made the universe and everything. On the 7th day He rested. In this creation period, man and woman were created. They knew their maker. Adam even walked in the cool of the day with God. Adam and Eve had the chance to have a perfect relationship with God. They also had the gift of free will. They disobeyed God, who had made them and given them everything they needed for free. Then they did some bad stuff. Murderers, adulterers and thieves appear. At one point, the earth is so sinful that God floods the world, saving only a handful of people to restart the human race. But God has promised never to flood the earth like that again. Over time, people turned their back on the God who created them, who gave them everything they’d ever need and who loved them. God gave them chances to repent and come back to Him – God provided methods of getting a good relationship with Him back. Some people came back to Him. Others chose to live for the world and drifted away from His arms of love. Lets fast forward some years. God raises up kings on earth. He sends judges to the people. He raises up prophets who spread the word of God. Some people accept these things; others turn away. God reaches out to help people from being slaves to the world. God reaches out to have a relationship with those He created. God offers an alternate way to live. People harden their hearts. It looks like it could be the end. Theres a period of heavenly silence. But wait, whats this? Prophecies of a saviour? God born in human form? A saviour who would get rid of the sacrificial system of repentance to God by being the ultimate sacrifice? A saviour is coming to take away the sins of the earth. We never have to be apart from God again! The saviour will make it easy to be in relationship with God. He will pay the price for all our shortcomings. He will make things right. Years pass… And then it happens! Roughly 2011 years ago. Jesus is born in a stable. Even from birth on the earth, the world tried to reject Him – there wasn’t even a proper place for Him to be born. Jesus grows up. He gets baptised. He goes into the wilderness and suffers temptations. And then He returns and gathers His disciples. He teaches them things whilst performing many miracles and proclaiming the kingdom of His father in heaven. But still, some people don’t accept it. And so, as prophesied, they plot to kill Him. 30 coins to crucify the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. They torture Him. They beat Him beyond recognition. They mock Him and nail Him to a cross. He suffers torture in the physical and torture in the spiritual. The sins of the world past present and future are nailed to Him at that point. The sky goes black. The devil thinks hes won. A final gasp! It is finished. The cross is pulled down and Jesus is put in a guarded tomb. But the prophecies haven’t been fully fulfilled yet. 3 days later, He raises from the dead. He overcomes death and has paid the ultimate price for everyone. Nothing separates us from God now. Nothing. We can ALWAYS turn to Him. Jesus is risen. Some people don’t believe it but He appears to people. He talks to His disciples and gives them (and us) the great commission. Then He ascends into heaven. A little bit later, the Holy Spirit is sent to earth and thats when things get doubly awesome. Suddenly, we can have the power of God running through us! In His name we can do miracles. Fast forward to now. You have a choice to make. You’ve just read a very brief summary of the bible (excl. revelation). Jesus came to earth and conquered death for YOU. Jesus loves you. Always has, always will. He reaches out to you. What will your response be?

Luke 2

New International Version (NIV)

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Jesus Presented in the Temple

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”^[b]), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”^[c]25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss^[d] your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.^[e] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

New International Version (NIV)Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

So lets put the Christ back in Christ-mas. Its not about commercialism; its about a God who loves you so much that He gave Himself for you, so that in Him you might have life to the full. Santa isnt real but Jesus is, and He wants to know you personally. 

Joy!

I was pretty joyful when I was shown these puddings at the cheesecake factory! But the cheesecake joy is not at all as much as the joy I've found in knowing Jesus!

Today I was reading my Bible in One Year passages. Yesterday marked the beginning of the readings from the gospel of Luke. That means i’ll be reading the Christmas story again. No, not the commercial ‘SOFA SALE ON NOW’ adverts, coca cola’s ‘HOLIDAYS ARE COMING’ campaigns and endless things about Santa. Nope. I’ll be reading the REAL Christmas story. The reason we have Christmas at all – the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And since today was remembrance Sunday and it is almost over (respect to the country’s unsung heroes and their families!), that means that the countdown to Christmas has officially begun. Thats right: IT IS NOW SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE TO PLAY CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!!! IN PUBLIC! We are now on points 9 or 10 of the countdown !!! CHRISTMAS IS GETTING CLOSER!

If you don’t like this concept… deal with it!

So anyway, back to the bible (because that is ALWAYS a good thing to come back to and read. Fact!), I came across this passage:

Luke 1:39-56

New International Version (NIV)

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song

⁴⁶ And Mary said:   “My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

We enter the point in history here where the angel Gabriel has visited Mary and Jesus is in the womb. Mary’s relative Elizabeth is pregnant with John (who would grow up to be John the Baptist). Mary goes to visit Elizabeth. And here we are!

Mary hurries along to see Elizabeth. On arrival she greets Elizabeth, like ya do. And then, something amazing happens!

Elizabeth simply hears Mary’s greeting and John leaps for joy in her womb and she is instantly filled with the Holy Spirit. This is amazing in 3 ways:

1. How often do babies jump for joy in the womb? like, never!
2. Just being near Jesus, even though He had not been born as a human yet caused the also as-of-then-unborn John to jump for joy! Pretty cool, huh?
3. Even though Jesus hadn’t been born yet, when Elizabeth was in His presence, the Holy Spirit filled her! Note here that it would be many years later that Jesus would send the Holy Spirit to live among us. We see a taste of the power of Jesus here – His Spirit brings forth blessings even from being a baby! Isn’t that amazing!

Elizabeth blesses Mary! John jumps for joy! Its a joyful moment! Its a wonderful moment! Its a holy moment!

(We don’t know where Zechariah is at this point. Perhaps he’d gone out to the temple or something. We do know he was still mute though! read the first part of Luke 1 if you want to know why Zechariah is mute!)

And after this moment, the heading in the bible is ‘Mary’s song’. So, I guess she sang her heart out here!  (Although under this, it says Mary said… . Perhaps she just said it excitedly?) If she did sing,  I bet it was a pretty tune! Lets have a look at this song!

My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”

She praises God. She worships Him! She knows that she is blessed and she is thankful for this! She knows that she will go down in history and instead of grabbing the glory for herself, she lifts up the situation to God. She praises His holy name and sings of His great works and mighty deeds! God is worthy of praise!

When Mary receives God’s blessing, she bursts into song. Praise erupts from within her! She finds unending joy in God and she can’t contain her happiness!

If you wanna hear a different but also great song about the joy that you only find in God, then check this out!

Joy – Phil Wickham

Mary finds joy in knowing God. She is so joyful that she sings! She can’t keep herself from singing! You can know a joy like this too! To quote a t-shirt I nearly bought once ‘JESUS CAN MAKE YOU DANCE, SUCKA!’  

That pre-emptive festive feeling!

a tasty chocolate treat as part of a ho-ho-(w)holesome diet!

Its bearing down on us. And fast. Dare I mention it already? Oh… umm…. I THINK I DARE! I DARE SAY Christmas is creeping in! SHOCK HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They’ve already started playing christmas songs on the music channels on TV. The adverts are now christmas themed. Restaurants are putting out ‘book now for christmas’ signs. Yep, its coming…

I know what you’re (probably) thinking… ‘Why are you talking about this? Its not even been halloween yet!’ No it hasn’t. Prepare for a small rant about halloween. People see it as a ‘holiday’. WHY? It is not a holy day (where the word holiday derives from) and you don’t get the day off. Also, it encourages children to engage in semi- criminal activities which are seen as ‘socially acceptable’ for the day. Any other day it would be a crime. (I will elaborate on this later in the month). I personally don’t like halloween. You probably guessed that. I don’t celebrate it. I don’t see why other people do. To paraphrase Nicki Minaj in that song ‘Where them girls at?’: “I don’t endorse that. p-p-p-pause that. a-a-a-abort that.” Its true, I don’t endorse halloween.

I bet you’re also thinking ‘it hasn’t even been bonfire night yet!’ I do like bonfire night. With the fireworks and big fires and tasty treats and whatnot. When I was in primary school, we used to each get a baked potato with butter free from the canteen staff on bonfire night (day). It was delicious. I looked forward to that potato every year. Don’t judge me! As I neared the end of my primary school career, the baked potato was reduced to half a baked potato. Perhaps it was a sort of potato prophecy about the recession that would be to come. Perhaps there wasn’t much money in the school budget for taters. Or perhaps, the canteen staff secretly gorged themselves on spuds and then realised there weren’t enough left for the kids. ahh… Memories. To quote a line from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney “ah the days of my youth like the scent of fresh lemon”. What the what does that even mean? How can you smell a period of time?

So, regardless of the waffle up there ^ I am in fact going to talk about the fact that christmas is coming. Today, I went to Starbucks. For those who know me, this is not out of character at all. I got an email saying that they were giving away free iTunes downloads starting today. I wanted the freebie. As I was purchasing a mocha ( AKA ‘the ususal’), I noticed a sign. It read “The red cups are coming, 17th October.” Is it sad that I was excited inside? I don’t care. I was! To me it meant that the countdown to christmas had officially begun. To me it meant 2 days to sweet sweet Gingerbread Latte goodness (AKA ‘the winter usual’). Theres something about a Starbucks gingerbread latte. It is divine. Heavenly. Its like theres a party in my mouth and everyones invited. As a drink, I love it.

tru dat.

Last year, I took one of these gingerbread lattes into a study session. A good friend o’ mine wrote this on it ^. haha. Starbucks also do this chocolate log cake thing thats really nice with the drink too. On the left in this picture, you can see the wrapper from that. :3 Yum yum. Schmecker Lecker.

So yeah, the red cups are part of my countdown to christmas. Do you want the full countdown? Ok. Here goes.

The stickandgooniverse Countdown to Christmas

1. Christmas themed Sofa adverts on TV. Some appearances of christmas music in public places. “book now for christmas” signs on restaurants.
2. The supermarkets stock up on mince pies which go out of date in october. Despite this, you still feel the urge to buy them. (At this point, I like to pre-emptively purchase and wrap my Christmas presents for other people. People will say I’m mad, but who’s laughing come Christmas eve and they haven’t got everything sorted? ME THATS WHO! MUAHAHAHAH!)
3. The introduction of the Starbucks red cup adverts.
4. The Starbucks Christmas drinks appear in stores.
5. Halloween/ bonfire night pass and it becomes ‘acceptable’ to play christmas music in stores. Band starts practicing christmas carols for the carol service in December. (this can fluctuate from starting practice in sept, to starting practice in dec.)
6. Holiday sweaters appear in the shops.
7. Now feeling it is the right time to obsessively play / listen to christmas music.
8. Rum truffles appear in the shops, along with candy canes and those chocolate coins.
9. the nationwide desire to have a white christmas. Instead, we make do with drizzle and ice. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of an ice cream van can be heard… Who on earth buys ice cream in december?
10. Christmas themed films appear in the cinemas
11. Advent begins
12. European Christmas Markets travel into the country
13. The coca cola advert. Holidays are coming!
14. Term ends
15. Lying around in a holiday sweater and mittens drinking gingerbread lattes and eating roast chestnuts whilst watching ‘Wallace and Gromit’ or something like that.
16. Hitting the shops like nobody’s business. Not necessarily buying anything. Perhaps pre-ordering a turkey.
17. Carol Concerts
18. Family gatherings
19. Christmas Eve Midnight mass…
20. CHRISTMAS DAY!

I love Christmas. Not only is it a great time to hang out with loved ones and have a slap up feast whilst pulling crackers and wearing silly paper hats, It also reminds us of when Jesus came to earth in the form of a baby. And He is the greatest gift of all.