True meaning of Christmas

Luke 2:10-12 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Charlie Brown Christmas cartoon, became a legacy of true meaning of Christmas, by quoting this verse from the Bible, there is no doubt about the beliefs of the author and he used the mass media to witness to all who listen...

Merry Christmas everyone!

One Christ, One Church...

The denominational conflict in Christianity always bothered me, I usually don't like to argue about it, because no argument can make another person believe...
The recent "encounter" with Orthodox Church made me think more about the famous "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." People apply this verse in every conversation to shut you up, but if something is so contrary to the Scripture, that you see "men gather grapes of thorns" is it not our call to discern the truth from error? (Matt. 7:1-16)

"Veneration of Saints" and "Holy Tradition" man-made or commanded by God?
Where does it say to pray to the dead saints, to make statues and images of them? We are to imitate them in their faith, which is shown in their obedience to God. How is the veneration equals to the imitation?
And were not all believers in Christ Jesus called Saints in the early church?
Jesus is our intercessor and He taught to pray to the Heavenly Father, not to saints...

I agree with the comment "not Orthodoxy matters, but Christ alone!"
We are called to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, since through faith in Christ we are saved not through faith in the church...

God's purposes...

"Those become vain in their imaginations concerning God, who will not learn of Christ. Those who know not his glory and grace, know not the Father that sent him. The time of our departure out of the world, depends upon God. Our enemies cannot hasten it any sooner, nor can our friends delay it any longer, than the time appointed of the Father. Every true believer can look up and say with pleasure, My times are in thy hand, and better there than in my own. To all God's purposes there is a time."
I read this commentary to John 8:21-29 and I couldn't stop thinking about my own struggle with His purposes in my life...
Can I say with pleasure 'My times are in Thy hand'? If not, is my life more dear to me than He is? And if I can say it with pleasure, does it mean I must be looking forward to die?

"Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor..."

There was an interesting comment regarding this verse among my e-mail 'devotional' friends, somebody argued "Should we give everything to the poor? Yes, but we should also not forget our rich neighbor with swimming pool and SUV, who is spiritually poor..."

I had not the guts to reply, because I didn't want to come across judgmental, but I have to get it out of my 'system': Do we really give everything to the poor? Do we at least give something?
- Is writing a cheque to a charitable organization an easy way out? Maybe, but it might be the beginning of sacrificial giving.
- Is giving up some of our time to help packing "Starter-Kits" for the needy or serving meals to the homeless, soothing to our conciseness and makes us feel good about ourselves? Yes, but it also helps those who need it and by doing so we actually do 'love with actions and not just with words".

From a letter to a friend...

"... I longed so very much for a real friendship with no pretense, no masks and games... and I know it's hard to find even among Christians, because 'Ms Spirituality' becomes the new role and religiosity the new stage (don't wanna play that role either, but was guilty of it many times)... it seems like Jesus is truly your only constant friend, who never leaves you, no matter what... and gives you chances after chances, not counting... that's what I hang on to, and glad to hear that you do to, by working things out with Him...
'He is the author and the finisher of our faith' - I don't make any illusions anymore, that I can do it on my own... "

... just the beginning

This is just the beginning of my quest to find a way of sharing my thoughts... after trying to launch my own website and not finding the time to maintain it, while getting lost in all the options: how to build your site or to add a blog and getting frustrated with the server downtime... I have to admit, that I'm very impatient in learning all this web stuff, so I finally decided to start fresh from scratch... I'm on the way to share with you my most precious insights to life ;-)
Not that I figured it all out and you need to know it, more for the sake of sharing and opening up for your comments, which are always welcome!