Spirituality

Is Christmas Still Relevant?

Why do we still celebrate Christmas? Is it still relevant in the 21st century? Does Christmas hold any real significance for people today?

While you look forward to unwrapping your gifts this Christmas I wanted to take a few moments to unwrap the real Christmas story and ask what it’s really all about.

We all enjoy giving and receiving gifts on Christmas Day but it’s important that we take time to remember what Christmas really signifies.

It’s more than just the gifts and the jolly man in the red suit. It’s more than a ‘feeling’ or ‘spirit’ that makes us feel warm inside. It’s more than time with family enjoying good food and good times.

December 25th

While it’s generally accepted that the 25th of December isn’t the actual date that Jesus was born, it’s the day that has been chosen for celebrating Jesus’ birthday. That means Christmas is really a big birthday party.

So why should we be invited to the birthday party? Jesus was born around 2000 years ago. Why do we still celebrate his birth?

Who Was Jesus?

Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God. In fact, and this is where it gets tricky, according to the Bible, Jesus is actually God in human form so this is no ordinary birthday.

Here’s a little bit of the Christmas story from the Bible. This account is from a book of the Bible written by a guy named Luke.

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no vacancy for them.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.’
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Aha! So that’s where the manger and the shepherds come in.

God With Us

That’s pretty much the story of Christmas. God living among the people he created. It’s an amazing thought but it’s even more amazing when you thread the whole story of Jesus’ life together. After all, usually when we celebrate someone’s birthday we don’t just remember the day they were born, we celebrate who that person has become and what they’ve brought to the world.

If we’re still celebrating the life of someone born around 2000 years ago, we’ve got to assume that they lived a remarkable life. If you want to find out more about the remarkable life of Jesus, I’d encourage you to grab a Bible in an easy to read translation and then read one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) to find out about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection.

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Christian Carnival at Beyond Belief

Sep 19th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

1 comment

Would you like the opportunity to have your blog promoted? Have you published a post that you’d like read by a wider audience?

I’m having some friends drop in to my faith blog, Beyond Belief, this week for the next Christian Carnival. They’ll be visiting from all over the world and you’re invited to join us.

The weekly Christian Carnival is an opportunity for Christian blog writers to share their best posts from the previous week. The topic of the post doesn’t necessarily have to focus on Christianity but it must reflect a Christian worldview, and the writer must be Christian to qualify. You may wish to consider that the readership of the Christian Carnival will be more varied than your usual readership, and you might do better contributing a post with broad appeal.

I’ve already received a number of contributions and I’m looking forward to offering readers of Beyond Belief some great links when the carnival is published.

If you’re a Christian and you’ve never contributed before, or if it’s been a while since you have, how about having a look through your posts for this week and choosing something to contribute. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a post that outlines your point of view or is designed to get others thinking. Being part of the carnival could be a great way to gain a little extra traffic at your blog.

The easiest way to get involved is to submit your article through the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Otherwise, you can email the submission address.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday evening at midnight, Eastern (US) Standard Time. That means it’s midday Wednesday here in Perth, Western Australia.

I’ll let you now when the carnival is published at Beyond Belief.

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Christian Carnival 334

Jul 1st, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

8 comments

Welcome to the 334th edition of the Christian Carnival. There is some great reading here and I’m sure you’ll enjoy working your way through the list of posts.

As always it’s a real honour to be able to present such a diverse range of great posts.

Please take the time to read through each post … it’s worth it. You might also like to link to this week’s carnival so that your blog readers can enjoy the variety of styles and thought. Another way to spread the word about the Christian Carnival is to click any of the buttons below this post to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.

Let’s get started!

Have any major figures in business or the media gone to a Christian College? Phil Lopez answers that question with his post Famous Christian College Alumni at Christian Colleges and Universities.

Meghan Macy has a lovely devotional post titled He rejected spiritual wisdom. It’s well worth heading over to 1:41 Ministries to read what she’s written.

Robert Fenn writes that while it may sound strange, a Christian entrepreneur needs wisdom first and not money. Read the post A Christian Entrepreneur Should Pray For Wisdom and Not Money at Christian Entrepreneur.

It’s sad but true that many people feel most alone when they go to church. Quite a few are made more aware of their singleness at church and feel so alone there. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they feel unloved but it’s something that we all need to understand. Susan L. Prince tells her story with the post Acutely Aware of My Singleness…at Church? over at Sisters’ Weblog: It Bloggles the Mind!.

The title that Henry (Honzo) Imler chose for his post had me intrigued from the start. Guilty fabergé eggs is a great read at The PoMo Xian.

Those of us who choose Christian schooling for our children know that the extra cost can sometimes be a strain.Jim Huinink has written the post Deciding If You Can Afford Christian School Tuition for Christian Personal Finance. His conlusions may surprise you.

“The framed envelope hanging on our kitchen wall is nondescript reminder of God’s goodness.” What’s the story behind the envelope? Joe Plemon explains in the post The Envelope Story: A Reminder of Hope posted at Personal Finance By The Book.

Should we take out insurance? Does rellying on insurance send the message that we’re not rellying on God? Does the Bible advocate having insurance? FMF presents The Seven Pillars of Financial Success, Pillar 6: Get Insured at Free Money Finance.

Have you ever wondered what people really mean when they talk about ‘fellowship’? That’s what Crystal Rodli has written about in We Only Need To Have One Thing In Common posted at In A Clay Pot.

Paul Manata presents a very detailed review of Michael Sudduth’s recent book, The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology. The book has been recommended by Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, and Paul Helm. Read the post The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology at Triablogue.

John Fraiser presents Which Would You Rather Do Without: Science or Theology? posted at Chaos & Old Night.

It’s a question that just won’t go away and one with which we all need to wrestle. Anthony Delgado asks Did Creation Take Place in 7 Literal Days? at eInquisitive.

Kids can ask some pretty tough questions. How do we answer? Annette presents Question asked tonight posted at Fish and Cans.

In the US the Supreme Court has allowed public colleges and universities to ban religious groups from campus if they require a statement of faith for membership and leadership. How should we respond? Jeremy Pierce presents Free to Ban Religious Groups at Parableman.

Sarah has written a thought provoking post about being a writer and expressing values that may not match your own. I encourage you to read From Head to Hand: Being a Christian Writer at This is what Sed said.

Sadly, there are people who believe that a life of faith doesn’t stand up to intellectual investigation. Russ White believes that the Christian life begins with thinking. Taking Every Thought Captive at Thinking in Christ draws out that theme.

Somebody once said that you are what people think of you, that perceptions are reality. Ridge Burns thinks that is true, but he also thinks that perceptions can get us in trouble. Find out more by reading Perspectives posted at Ridge’s Blog.

A biologist says that science proves human free will is an illusion. Really? Where is the real illusion?Tom Gilson presents the post Free Will: Where’s the Real Illusion? at Thinking Christian.

Andrew has been thinking about Our Needs. He’s posted his thoughts at Rely on God in Your Personal Development.

We need to be so careful in the way we handle the scriptures and today Barry Wallace presents what he thinks is a helpful word of caution in the post Arguments from Silence at who am i?.

Chad Parker brings the carnival to a fitting close as he presents a great reminder of the benefits of the spiritual discipline of Fasting at Catholic Quarter.

If you’re a Christian and you missed out this week, how about choosing something to contribute for next week’s edition? It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a post that outlines your point of view or is designed to get others thinking. Being part of the carnival could be a great way to gain a little extra traffic at your blog.

The easiest way to get involved is to submit your article through the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Otherwise, you can email the submission address.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to spread the word. Feel free to click any of the buttons below to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.

If you enjoyed this post please use the buttons above to share.

Christian Carnival Here Next Week

Jun 24th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

Comments are off for this post

Would you like the opportunity to have your blog promoted? Have you published a post that you’d like read by a wider audience?

I’m having some friends drop in next week. They’ll be visiting from all over the world and you’re invited to join us. The next Christian Carnival is being hosted here at RodneyOlsen.net.

I’ve already received a number of contributions and I’m looking forward to offering readers of this blog some great links when the carnival is published.

The easiest way to get involved is to submit your article through the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Otherwise, you can email the submission address.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday evening at midnight, Eastern (US) Standard Time. That means it’s midday Wednesday here in Perth, Western Australia.

If you enjoyed this post please use the buttons above to share.

Privilege and Responsibility

Jun 11th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

1 comment

Tomorrow my beautiful daughter turns 14.

Emily has brought me more happiness than I could have ever imagined possible, but not everyone gets to celebrate such milestones. It is only becuase she was born in a developed country like Australia that she has had the opportunity to grow up in the amazing young lady she is today. I don’t take that for granted and I can’t help but feel deeply for millions of parents around the world who battle to simply keep their children alive.

Tomorrow we’ll celebrate fourteen healthy years for our eldest child. In many countries it’s a major achievement for any child to just make it to the age of five.

Every day, over 24,000 children under the age of five die from mostly preventable and treatable causes, such as diarrhoea, malaria, measles, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS. They don’t die for a lack of knowledge or science-we know how to prevent thousands of these children from dying each day-we simply need to put our knowledge into action. It’s not up to philanthropists, non-government organisations, religions, governments or individuals alone: this will take all of our efforts, working together.

One of the things that I hope Emily has learned is that with privilege comes responsibility. We live in an amazing country and although we are far from being rich by Australian standards, when we look around the world and then at our circumstances we see how good things are for our family. That means we have a responsibility to help others in more difficult circumstances.

Our finances are pretty tight at the moment but we still have a very good roof over our heads, food in our tummies and a whole lot more. Millions around the world don’t have any of that.

Of the approximately 2.2 billion children living in the world today, more than half are living in poverty. That means they lack opportunity and options, and face challenges that can rob them of even basic rights: safety, good health, education and enough food to develop properly. Today’s children embody tomorrow’s world, and uneducated, malnourished, poor children are likely to become tomorrow’s uneducated, malnourished, poor adults.

One of the ways we help others is through Compassion Child Sponsorship.

I know that most of us don’t have too much to spare at the moment, but please consider helping others who have nothing. I’ve been to developing countries and seen the work Compassion does first hand. Believe me, they do amazing work. The money does get through and it makes a world of difference.

I’m so thankful that I have two healthy children. I want to ensure that other parents know what that’s like too so I’ll continue to support Compassion.

Please think about how you can change the life of a child and their family through Compassion Child Sponsorship.