Christmas is such a special time of year, isn’t it?
While most of the world associates Christmas with the thrill of giving and receiving gifts, eating wonderful foods that we only indulge in once a year, and creating special memories with our loved ones, Christians go just a little deeper into the real reason for the season!
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born to take away our sin so that we can spend eternity in heaven! That’s a gift above and beyond anything we can think or imagine to give one another!
That precious gift to us from our Heavenly Father is why we celebrate Christmas!
This year, I encourage you to take every opportunity to tell someone about this wonderful Savior of ours, Jesus! Smile and warmly tell everyone you see ‘Merry Christmas!’ Let Christ shine through you. Show the world the JOY of Christmas!
You are probably already planning what to get your loved ones and friends. How many of us really remember the gifts we get at Christmas?
I’m glad gift-giving is easy for Lori and me because we have decided to give gifts that really say, “I love you.” Lori loves to create beautiful gift baskets with all of Seychelle’s wonderful products, and our friends and family love getting them! It’s the perfect way to say “I love you” and mean it!
Let’s make this a Christmas to remember by focusing our giving on important things, and not on frivolous things that will soon be forgotten!
Lori and I along with the entire Morningside Family want you to know how much we truly do love and appreciate you! Your support encourages and sustains us! God Bless you! We hope you are surrounded by loved ones and joy this whole holiday season!
We thank God for you each and every day!
Security experts are raising the alarm over an Al-Qaeda plot to blow up at least five passenger airliners on Christmas in a 9/11 style coordinated attack.
The threat is so serious in the minds of British officials that they had considered a total ban on all carry on luggage as a way to thwart the plot.
“We’ve been told that five planes are being targeted in a high profile hit before Christmas. They’ve been waiting for the big one,” an airport security source told the London Express. “We have many scares but this one nearly got hand baggage pulled from all airlines. The threat is still alive and real.”
The source says the plot is aimed at European airports because U.S. security measures have increased significantly compared to their counterparts around the world.
The plot reportedly would include radicalized Britons who have returned to the country from being a part of the battles in Syria and the middle east. Some have received terrorist training in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Crime profiling shows that white, middle class women, who are better than averagely educated, are susceptible to the terrorist narrative,” terrorism expert Dr. Sally Leivesley told the Express. “They see themselves at the forefront of attempts to change the world and are represent a very dangerous tool for the terrorists. These sleepers will have been from ordinary and not very religious families and not only is the threat from them here but also when they return battle hardened from Syria and Iraq.”
Religious freedom attorneys have filed a lawsuit in California aimed at protecting the religious freedom of a first grade student who was harassed by his school for handing out candy canes last Christmas with a message of Jesus.
Isaiah Martinez was told by his teacher “Jesus is not allowed in school” and prohibited from handing out the candy canes.
Advocates for Faith & Freedom filed suit in U.S. District Court to prohibit the West Covina Unified School District from stopping Isaiah’s distribution of the candy canes this year.
“The school has neglected to correct its actions, and after exhausting all options to avoid a lawsuit we were left with no choice but to file a complaint in federal court. We are asking the court to protect Isaiah’s rights and the rights of others like him from having their religious speech censored. Students do not shed their First Amendment rights just because they enter into a classroom,” attorney Robert Tyler said.
There has been no official statement from the school, however attorney James Long with the AFF says the school has made it clear they want only “religious neutrality.”
A first grade student at Helen Hunt-Jackson Elementary School in Temecula, California was told by her teacher that she can’t say the name of Jesus in her classroom.
Brynn Williams’ teacher interrupted her during a one-minute speech on her family’s Christmas traditions, telling the 6-year-old that she can’t “talk about the Bible in school.”
Brynn had brought the Star of Bethlehem that her family places at the top of their Christmas tree for her report. Her family told Fox News that she had written and practiced her one-minute presentation to say her family’s tradition was to remember the birth of Jesus at Christmas.
“Our Christmas tradition is to put a star on top of our tree,” Brynn said in her report. “The star is named the Star of Bethlehem. The three kings followed the star to find baby Jesus, the Savior of the world.”
The teacher then stopped her saying “Stop right there! Go take your seat!” Brynn was the only student not allowed to complete her assigned report.
Brynn’s parents say the little girl was upset because she believed she had done something wrong and was in trouble. The school’s principle told the parents that she could not do the report because she might offend another student by saying the name of Jesus.
The school district gave Fox News the following statement:
“The Temecula Valley Unified School District respects all students’ rights under the Constitution and takes very seriously any allegation of discrimination. Due to the fact that District officials are currently investigating the allegations, it would be inappropriate to provide further comment at this time.”
Pope Francis used his first Christmas address to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square to call for a better world.
The Pope spoke to an estimated 70,000 people calling for peace in parts of the world ravaged by conflict including Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria, Iraq and the Central African Republic. The Pope prayed that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, would “bless the land where You chose to come into the world and grant a favorable outcome to the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.”
The Pope said that true peace only comes through daily commitment to caring for those around you and for showing Jesus in life, word and deed.
The Pope reminded everyone that the choice is before you to follow darkness or follow light.
“In our personal history too, there are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows. If we love God and our brothers and sisters, we walk in the light; but if our heart is closed, if we are dominated by pride, deceit, self-seeking, then darkness falls within us and around us,” the Pope said.
However, the Pope added if you had previously chosen darkness, it was never too late to turn to the light.
“Do not be afraid! Our Father is patient, he loves us, he gives us Jesus to guide us on the way which leads to the promised land. Jesus is the light who brightens the darkness. He is our peace,” the Pope declared.
A Newton, Massachusetts family whose Christmas display included a nativity scene received a scathing, anonymous letter from a neighbor demanding the display be taken down.
The letter, signed “your neighbors”, said that the family should keep their decorations inside because “not everybody in the neighborhood is Christian.” The letter went on to call the display “cheap, tacky and kitschy.”
The letter took issue with the Baby Jesus and other Christian symbols being shown in public.
The Hunter family has set up a Christmas display outside their home for 37 years.
“It’s Christmas,” Kristen Hunter told Fox News. “You can’t take the Christ out of Christmas!”
While the letter was allegedly from the Hunter’s “neighbors”, hundreds of neighbors came to their home to rally by singing Christmas carols on the front lawn.
The Nativity
In those days the government decided that they should count everyone that lived in that area of the world. So Joseph had to take Mary to his town, Bethlehem to register.
It took Mary and Joseph a long time to get to Bethlehem. They didn’t have cars back then, so it probably took them a lot longer to get there. This was very tiring for Mary because she was soon going to have a baby.
When they reached the town, all the hotels were full and there was nowhere that they could stay. Finally, someone felt bad for them, and offered them a place to stay.
The Bible doesn’t say for sure where they stayed but most people think that they stayed in a small barn where animals were kept. In any case, doesn’t it seem strange that Jesus, the King of the Jews wasn’t born in a fancy palace or even a hospital? Continue reading →
The Wise Men
During the time when Jesus was born there was a very mean king who ruled the land, his name was King Herod. Remember his name, because we will talk about him later.
Soon after Jesus was born, wise men were traveling on their camels; one night they noticed a very strange star in the sky. They knew that this star meant that the King of the Jews, the One who would save the world had been born.
When the mean King… (what was his name again?) Herod heard this he got very worried.
He called a meeting with all the other important people in the area and asked them where this special baby had been born. The people replied, “In Bethlehem, because they heard that one day a special person would come from there and take care of all the people.” Continue reading →
