Merry Day After Christmas!

What's that?  Did I just hear a thousand splutters at reading the title of this post (okay, okay, after not posting for a little over 11 months, it's probably closer to 2 or 3 splutters, if that)?  Certainly, there must be some kind of mistake here.  After all, what kind of Christian wishes people a Merry DAY AFTER Christmas rather than a Merry Christmas?  I mean (and here I am speaking for my imaginary reader of this post rather than for myself), isn't Christmas the holy, special, and/or important day?  Thus, at the risk of alienating readers that still might be lurking, I present a few reasons why today shouldn't be any less merrier than yesterday:
1) Everybody, sing along:
This is the day this is the day...
That the Lord has made that the Lord has made...
We will rejoice we wil rejoice...
And be glad in it.   and be glad in it.
(Together) This is the day that the Lord has made....

Huh, wuzzat?  You say that's a verse in the bible?  Well, just who do those biblical writers think they are- taking a perfectly good song and trying to turn it into one of them there psalm thingies?  But anyway, this is the day that Lord hath made.  That's not to say that yesterday wasn't also the day that the Lord haddeth madeth, but that today is no less a day that He hath made than yesterday.  And therefore we should equally be glad and rejoice in it.  In a similar vein, we Christians are commanded to "rejoice evermore" and to "pray without ceasing" (as far as I know, neither of these phrases are featured in any current Christian songs, so I suppose I have no objections to the biblical writers using them), which would seem to include days other than just those that are holy, special, or otherwise important.
2) But, I can imagine some people complaining, how can I rejoice when I didn't receive [insert desired item(s) here] for Christmas?  To which I respond, I didn't receive even one gift due to financial difficulties (a situation for which a remedy might be found in the near future, but that's neither here nor there at the moment).  Let me restate that: I didn't receive any material presents, yet I did get (or at least continued to get) some far better ones.  Such as the gift of another day of life, without which any material gift that I might have received would be worthless to me.  Furthermore, I remained in God's grace, a gift to cherish long after I would any material gift.
3) Then there's that whole question about whether Jesus was really born on December 25.  Not that I'm going to go all legalistic over those who celebrate Christmas.  However, there is no biblical mandate to treat it as a more holy, special, or otherwise important day than any other.

So have yourself a Merry Little Day After Christmas [*spoiler alert*]... and a Happy New Year!

Deof Movestofca's Grand Web Tour #2: 20 links in 27 days

Note: the following first appeared on the "¤ Deof Movestofca's Web Tour ¤" static page, but were moved here to keep it from getting overloaded with links.

 N.B.:The author of the "Pastoral Musings" blog has written that he is moving to new hosting, so any links to that blog might not work at the moment.  I believe only the first link in the list is affected by this.  (Also, for those who are fastidious about such things, it might add a day or so to the "27" mentioned in the title).

A New Genre? In which it is éxplainéd that thosé who intérprét padding in resumés as lying don't undérstand thé resumé litérary génré (I figured if I was going to break out the character map anyway for "resumé", I might as well make the most of having to do so).  My recommendation for similarly-styled satire is James Thurber's essay "The Macbeth Murder Mystery".

U.S. lacks Christian heritage, billboard claims  Whéré I argué that ultimatély it doésnt mattér (in térms of whéthér thé Biblé is trué or not) whéthér the founding fathérs wéré Christians or not (I figured I'd add a few more "é"'s just for the fun of it).

Do All Religions Lead to God? 7 reasons why the parable of the six blind men and the elephant doesn't prove religious pluralism.

all in a good brew  In which I try, in my response, to link bad arguments against coffee (I would say "bad coffee", but in my opinion, that's redundant) and religion and somehow manage to wrongly wind up with what appears to be a female avatar.

from possibility to certainty in just 6 short pages an examination of the "argument" that Jesus and/or his parents were once Pharisees based on the flimsiest of evidence.  IOW, typical skepticism masquerading as scholarship (the book he quotes, not the post itself).

Of Xmas and Other X-things One would think that somewhere in this post there would be some mention of the X-Men.  But no, she has to discuss the Greek letter chi and chiasm.  Blatant bait and switch, if you ask me.

Basketball and Babylon An examination of the "court narratives" in Genesis (Joseph), Esther, Nehemiah, and Daniel, plus a suggestion from yours truly that their might be an "anti-court narrative" with Satan in Job (the Book of, that is, not the man himself).

Does Grace Produce Disobedience? An open letter to "Mr. Grace-Loving Antinomian".

Bad Art and the Tortured Beauty of the Cross "Bad art encourages escapism among Christians. Good art, epitomized by the Psalms, helps us long for the new creation even as we learn to love all God's creatures."  I couldn't have said it any better, although I would (and did) recommend Chris Koelle's digital graphic novel of The Book of Revelation as an example of good art.

Productive for the Glory of God, Good of Neighbors In which I argue that while scripture does mandate that workers should be productive, it also requires that those for whom they are productive should adequately recompense such productivity.

All (Animal) Guts, No Glory Why you shouldn't send a court magician to do a prophet's job

Hoarders Matthew 6: 19-21 seems like the perfect verse for this post.

Why Is Tebow Hated So Much? To paraphrase Alfred E. Newman, "What, me worry about what the world thinks about me?".

Alzheimer’s, Pat Robertson, and Human Nature Anti-biblical teaching is anti-biblical teaching regardless of how well-meaning it is or who's teaching it.

Who Will Be Greatest?  I couldn't leave a reply on the page because the comments seem to have been disabled for it.  However, it does make some of the same points I was trying to do in my "Ministry success: it's not about "our" success, it's about God's (Pen & Parchment, Parts 1 + 2)" post.

Snoopy & Theology I could be wrong about this, but I believe Charles M. Shulz wrote this strip (if you were thinking of George P. Shultz, has it ever occurred to you that you might be wrong?)

What Religion Should You Be? Even they agree I should follow Christianity.

Skye Jethani: The Wrong War on Christmas Response: "I think we, as Christians, would do better to focus on what Christmas means to us and stop worrying about what it means to non-Christians."  (Original post: Are Christians Fighting the Wrong “War on Christmas”?)

How Churches Can Save the U.S. Post Office Thinking outside the (mail)box.

5 Issues Your Members Will Talk About in 2012 A good example of how preaching can inform church members on political issues without endorsing a particular position or candidate.

Woot!! My blog inerrantly made #1 on a search on Google.com

ministry success "deof movestofca" - Google Search

1. Grooving With A Pict

deofmovestofca/blogspot.com/

You +1'd this publicly. Undo

1 minute ago – Deof Movestofca: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Third Star to the Right: A ... Ministry success: it's not about "our" success, it's about God's (Pen ...

Okay,so the keywords I was searching for were "ministry success deof movestofca". But, hey, it's a start. Actually I was looking for the following...:

5. Ministry | Clay Jones http://www.clayjones.net/category/ministry-2

Jun 1, 2011 – Last week I talked about the folly of basing your ministry success on the ... Deof Movestofca on If You're Sick, Maybe It's Because You've ...

You +1'd this publicly. Undo

... because it sounded similar in topic to this post (my name shows up there because of a comment I made on one of his pages- see "How sin sunk us into sickness" for details), which I had replied to but then my browser froze (Bad browser... baaaaaaad browser) before I could post a link to it on this blog. making me have to go find it all over again:

2. What Defines Ministry Success? | Parchment and Pen

www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/.../what-defines-ministry-success/

6 days ago – If you do, you are extraordinary. You have a successful ministry beyond your imagination. ..... Again, just a guess? ;). Deof Movestofca says: ...

What does this all mean?  How should I know?  Just remember I did warn waaaaaaaay back in my original post on this blog (Let's get this party started...) that my choice of theme song "should serve as fair warning of the weirdness to come to one and all."

It's already 4:47* AM and I haven't wished y'all a happy Christmas!

Just where are my manners?  I must rectify this immediately, if not sooner.

HAPPY

HAPPY

JOYFUL
JOYFUL

CHRISTMAS!

Wishing you and yours the Happiest of Christmases... Christmasi... Christmice....  Oh, well, y'all know what I mean (I hope)!

*Official posting time was recorded as 4:49, but what do they know?

Shedding a little light with Christmas music...

The Best Christmas Songs Tell the Truth – The Gospel Coalition Blog

Perhaps this Christmas, many of us are experiencing a darkness all our own. Perhaps it is a prolonged struggle with some besetting sin. Perhaps it is the pain of a strained or severed relationship. Perhaps it is the cold reality of unemployment or cancer or death. In these circumstances, if all we had were the cheery, nostalgic Christmas songs, we might be tempted to despise the holiday. Each time we heard those lyrics describing some serene Christmas setting, sheltered from the pains of life, we would be acutely aware that this song does not match our experience.

While it is true that many people are facing such circumstances, not everyone is- and there may be some for whom serenity is just as true a reflection of their (at least current) condition as darkness is/was:

You wouldn't happen to know any songs that address the pain felt by someone whose grandmother got run over by a reindeer, would you? Just checking....
On a more serious note, I don't see how serenity is (or, at least, can be) a less "truer" reflection of life than darkness. That by no means denies the existence of darkness, but rather, it rests in the assurance that the darkness can be overcome.

Saying "bah, humbug" to those who claim there's a "war on Christmas"

Scrooge, Overjoyed – The Gospel Coalition Blog

Yet we want to play the Christmas police and protect the "real meaning of the season." Why do we expect a world that lives in darkness to understand Christmas in a way that only believers can? Are we Pharisees who want people to say the right words with the wrong hearts? Do we replace love for disgust, joy for disdain, peace for confusion, patience with intolerance, kindness for selfishness, faithfulness for ignorance, gentleness for harshness, and self control for selfish ambition?

 As long as Christ remains in Christmas for us as Christians, no one can completely take Him out of it.

Maybe I'm just picking at nits here, but I've never been convinced one should accept A Christmas Carol as a Christian story. However transformed- or repentant even- Scrooge may have been, I've yet to see any indication that he was actually redeemed, unless this somehow got lost in the screen adaptation of the story (which, I'll admit, I've never read). But I digress.
It's time to stop blaming culture for something it cannot do, that is, take Christ out of Christmas. However successful the world may believe it is at doing that, He is still there for us as long as we believe He is. However commercialized the season may become for some people, this should have no effect on what Christmas means to us. However much the world may reject, scorn, and mock God should have no effect on our beliefs unless we allow it. Instead of looking to the world for validation of our beliefs, we should be looking to God.

The return of "Happy/Merry/Feliz/Joyous/Blessed [insert holiday of choice here]!"

Things That Drive Me Crazy About Christmas | SBC Voices

So this time of year is full of joy and slight annoyances. I wanted to share my list of humbugs with you as we are all joyus [sic] and grouchy.

A Christmas Rant by Dan Barnes « Εις Δοξαν [Links to the above; the last sentence in my response below only appears here.]

Dan has done some of the work for those who would like to air a few grievances Frank Costanza style about many who like to combat those who perpetuate the so-called "War on Christmas."

 See also: Happy/Merry/Feliz/Joyous/Blessed [insert holiday of choice here]!

Just wondering if you've seen In Defense of "Happy Holidays" | 9Marks, which is very similar to this post?  I've never quite understood the purpose of the campaign to get stores to get their employees to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays".  Let's suppose, for the sake of argument and against all common sense, that they are wildly successful in their efforts and stores switch to saying "Merry Christmas" en masse.  Does anyone really expect that people are going to start thinking, "Wow, all these employees keep saying 'Merry Christmas' to me, therefore Christianity must be true.  I'd never have seen the light if they had told me 'Happy Holidays' instead.  I better go repent right now. <sigh>  I just wish I could thank each and every Christian that fought the war for Christmas because without them, I would have never seen the errors of my ways."?
As for "justification" of the war, I think what it basically comes down to is that some Christians feel that culture needs to reflect their beliefs in order for them to feel that their beliefs are validated.

A Social Network Christmas

The Christmas Story Retold | The Prodigal Thought

Usually these kinds of things are quite cheesy. But I thought this re-telling of the Christmas story, via Facebook, was quite well done.

Not much to add, except watch for the spoiler alert after my response and see if you can spot the minor edit below (just pretend it's Waldo):

While I would admit that something like "The Digital Story of the Nativity" is a little cheesy (e.g., the three wise men discussing what gifts to bring), I don’t think it’s entirely bad, either (then again, I also happen to like "Bethlehemian Rhapsody" and "Hotel Can’t Afford Ya", so some might find my tastes a bit skewed). However, I clearly prefer "A Social Network Christmas", as it seems a bit more reverent and somber both in music and tone, thereby probably capturing the emotions of those who were involved better. Also, there seems to be a better synchronization between the music and what’s being typed.
Um, did I just review a couple of youtube videos? (Which might help explain why I prefer to write under an pseudonym).

SPOILER ALERT!!!!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

(I don't want to hear anyone claiming they weren't warned!)

My favorite parts of the video:

1. 1:24 Joseph typing that he's hurting/confused at hearing about Mary's pregnancy
2. 1:57 + 1:59 "Oh, that's convenient..." and Joseph unfriended
3. 2:42 "IT'S A BOY!" typed in at same time song starts with "Rejoice...."
4. "His name shal be <close up> Jesus </video>
5.  

 BTW, there is no # 5, I just wanted to see how many people are paying attention.

God's timing of the Nativity

At Just The Right Time | The Prodigal Thought

As Paul said in the passage above, Christ came at the fulness of time. Or, to translate even more, Christ came at the right time. There was no other time in the plan of our God. Not a day earlier, not a day later. And never was it in the plans of our God to withhold His Son from the world.

Just read the thing already..  It's beautiful.  My response:

"How many, including myself, have done things (even atrocious things) in the name of Christ that he never asked of us?"
First, while this is a good question, it does seem a bit off the topic of "What if Christ had never stepped into human flesh in our human world?" since it’s possitle that we would have rationalized our atrocious actions in some other manner if He had not. If anything, human imagination seems limitless when coming up with such rationalizations. Second, and or greater significance, I think the combination of these questions obscures that whether we’ve committed atrocious acts, or even how many atrocious acts that we’ve committed, is less important than whether we’ve repented of themand thereby misinterprets Jesus’ purpose for caming, which was not to make bad men good (however much that might be the result of His coming), but to make dead men live (I believe the source for this is Paul E. Little’s Know What You Believe, but cannot find the exact page at the moment). I mean this more as a minor quibble than outright criticism and hope it’s taken that way.
"As Paul said in the passage above, Christ came at the fulness of time."
Which brings up another interesting question/realization: can God do anything except at the right time?
"Let God be Immanuel now and forever. Let God come in the fulness of time, at just the right time, as we celebrate Christmas together."
Amen.

A song fit for The King* written** by Queen

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Children of all ages,

We proudly present....

The Bethlehemian Rhapsody***

And, if you act now, you'll also get

(free of charge)
The Hotel Can't Afford Ya

*No, I don't mean Elvis, I mean THE King.
** Well, the music was written by them, at least.
*** Thanks to NT Blog for drawing my attention to the Bethlemian Rhapsody

Bad gifts for cold babies

Christmas Songs That Don’t Make Sense « A Brick in the Valley

Christmas Songs That Don’t Make Sense

It's a video (the title of this post is my diabolical, um, fiendish um, I mean, clever[?] way to try to get you to view the video because othewise it would be hard to make sense of it [i.e., the title of the post] without doing so) so there isn't anything written I could quote, so let's just move on to my reply (with a minor edit because I forgot that the plural of "reindeer" is "reindeer"):

Actually, it should be "A Christmas Song That Doesn't Make Sense", unless there's more in the series.  Like "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer".  Here's Santa with the biggest5 spy network in the world to keep track of all the kids in the world and one is supposed to believe he doesn't know what's going on in with his reindeer?  And he seems to care whether children are "good or bad", so why not his reindeer as well?  Finally, one would also think if he can get the adult reindeer to listen to him, he should be powerful to do the same with the younger reindeer as well.  But there's poor Rudolph, being laughed at, being called names, not being allowed to play reindeer games.  Why?  Why?  Why does Santa hate ampu-  I mean, red-nosed reindeer?  This song is what made me become an a-Santa-ist.
But flash-forward.  Now here's Santa needing Rudolph's help- you know, the same reindeer that when he was younger Santa apparently wouldn't lift a finger to help.  And Rudolph must have the word "CHUMP" stamped on his forehead, because here he has Santa in a prime bargaining position and what does he do?  He throws it away with a "Why sure, Santa, I'll be glad to help" when he should have been saying, "Yo, Santa, show me the Benjamins"- all for the fawning adulation of a bunch of reindeer that earlier wouldn't have given him the time of day (I realize that reindeer not wearing watches would make this nigh impossible, but you know what I mean).

WARNING: Christmas music watch is now in effect

To avoid any misunderstandings, let me state for the record that I (at least tend to) like Christmas music... just not for hours on end practically every day, especially before December 1.  So, please, someone, STOP THE INSANITY!

You may now return to your regularly scheduled blog.  Oh, except for one more thing: "These Are a Few Of My Favorite Things" is NOT a Christmas song.  It's from "The Sound of Music" and was meant to soothe some of the Von Trapp children who had been scared by some lightening (or something like that).  As much as I like that movie, the truth must be told.