Is Christmas Still Relevant?

December 3, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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gift_1.jpgWhy 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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Voyage of the Dawn Treader

December 2, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Our family went to a preview of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader last night. We’ve been excited about the movie for quite some time and so it was wonderful to finally see the latest in the series.

It’s a fantastic adventure and seeing it in Digital 3-D was quite incredible.

The movie is brilliant on so many levels. While it can be thoroughly enjoyed as simply a fantasy adventure movie, there’s a lot more to this great portrayal of the story by CS Lewis. It’s visually stunning, there are moments of great humour and it’s full of deep theological themes.

Some of the scenes may be a little scary for very young children but it’s a wonderful journey of good overcoming evil.

Watch the trailer video above then book your tickets to see the movie.



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Wet?

December 2, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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An interesting time at the movies last night. We went to see a preview of Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3-D at Warwick Grand Cinemas.

We were the second family in line so once we got inside we pretty much had our choice of seats anywhere in the cinema. We chose the perfect viewing area and started to sit down before realising the seats were soaking wet. We moved to the row in front. There were about ten or so wet seats in a row so we assumed they must have just been cleaned. Pretty poor effort on the part of the cinema to leave a row of soaking wet seats without warning anyone.

There were four seats at either end of the row that were dry so they filled up but after that pretty much anyone who walked into the cinema spotted almost an entire row of prime viewing and headed straight for it only to be told by all those around that the seats were wet. Most of the time it was met with, “The seats are wet?” to which all around would say, “Yes, they’re wet”.

It was great pre-show entertainment as group after group made a beeline for the wet row.

The most interesting situation was when a middle aged guy turned up with his family, was told about the situation, but wasn’t prepared to believe anyone else so he just pushed past the people at the end of the row to touch every remaining seat.

Sure enough they were all soaking wet so he put his tail between his legs and headed out again looking somewhat foolish in front of what was by then a packed cinema. I know that there are times that we need to test what other people are telling us but surely when a cinema is filling up and the best seats are still vacant, there’s got to be a reason. Let’s hope he learned something about trusting what other people tell him.



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How can you find reliable parenting advice?

December 1, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man. – Francis Xavier

It’s the very early years of life that will have the most influence on who a child will become. That can be a frightening revelation. When our children are “brand new” we’re just “brand new parents”. At the time we most need to be getting it right, we’re just feeling our way into this strange new experience of parenthood.

How do you know how to be a good parent? What parenting advice can you trust? Why does it always look so much simpler on television?

Thankfully help is at hand. Every fortnight as part of my morning radio program I speak to David and Charissa Scotford on a range of parenting issues. I’m always impressed by their down to earth, common sense solutions to parenting problems.

They’ve just launched their new website, 4 The Family. If you’re a new parent or even quite a few years into the process, you’ll find some really helpful hints and resources at the site.

Whether you are expecting your first child or have several children at different stages, 4 The Family is a website filled with Resources to help you.

You will find materials grouped according to the main stages of parenting. Some of them overlap and you’ll be able to see a complete list of everything that’s available in our Online Store.

We also have several Resources you can download for FREE.

While they’d be the first to admit that they’re not perfect parents, or that perfect parents even exist, the Scotfords are people who ‘practice what they preach’ and the results are obvious in their own family. I’ve spent extended periods of time with David, Charissa and their four children and I can assure you that the principles they talk about work.

If what you need to know isn’t on the site, they’re always happy to be contacted with questions.

Do your kids, your marriage and your family a favour and check out 4 The Family.



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Do you need a goat?

December 1, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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You might not have a lot of use for a goat but for a rural family in a developing country the simple gift of a goat could be just what they need to break free from poverty.

So where do you buy a goat and how do you get it to someone who needs it? Compassion Australia’s Gifts of Compassion is open and ready for business. Their gifts help people who are battling desperate poverty. They can take your money and turn it into a very real solution to poverty.

You can buy everything from mosquito nets to a mechanic workshop with lots more in between including chickens, cows, sewing machines and a kit to help new mums.

I know that it’s wonderful to recieve gifts at Christmas but most of us already have more than enough ‘stuff’, so why not do something different this year and let your friends and family know that you’d like them to choose something from Gifts of Compassion for your Christmas gift this year?

Go on … you’ve thought about it before but unless you let your loved ones know now it’ll never happen.



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