Daily Thought Pad: Nativity - The Reason for the Season

“The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world.” -Stuart Briscoe

By Marion Algier – The War on Christmas verses the Spirit of Christmas Series at AskMarion – 10

Christians have allowed the true meaning of Christmas to be lost and co-opted. One of the greatest things you can do each year is to take part in or attend a Christmas or Live Nativity Pageant that focuses on the true story of Christmas and then to make that meaning the focus of your holiday. Gifts, decorations, parties, caroling and all the rest are great as long as we take time to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We have allowed ourselves as a society to forget “the reason for the season”, this season and holiday as well as many others and thereby lose the significance and the value of what should be special moments and meaningful celebrations in our lives.

Some of my greatest memories of Christmas involve going to mass on Christmas Eve as a child with my family and then participating in the Glory of Christmas (and Easter) for over 10-years as a family, with my husband and daughter, at the Crystal Cathedral… which after 30-years is now dark.

Unfortunately the Crystal Cathedral Ministries only ever filmed this program once, early on: Experience the Miracle, the Glory of Christmas in the Crystal Cathedral, 1993 and restricted photos and filming of any kind, so we are blessed to have the photos above of our experience, and below are a few homemade videos I found. What a blessing it was being part of that program and watching our daughter flying for Him as one of the angels. but one of the best parts was standing out back after each performance to greet; seeing how these performances touched peoples’ hearts.

Video: What Can I Give Him? sung by 10 year old Isabelle Plazola

Video: Flying Angels at Crystal Cathedral Glory of Christmas

Some holidays like Christmas actually become part of the fabric of a nation, which was true of Christmas in America until we allowed political correctness to wag the dog… let the 15% tell 85% what they can and cannot do. And as Ben Stein has written more than once… he, a Jew, looks forward to the bejeweled trees, Christmas carols and an overall kinder season.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin (who founded the American Alliance of Christians and Jews) said on Glenn Beck’s Post-Thanksgiving Review Program: “Although I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas I respect the traditions and the holiday and I like the holiday for two good reasons: It helps the economy and it makes people better…” (95% of the money spent at Christmastime is for others… rather than for ourselves).

Lapin has spoken against the secularization of Christmas, saying that “We see obsequious regard for faiths like Judaism and even Islam, while Christianity is treated with contempt”. He is opposed to replacing the “Merry Christmas” greeting with “Happy Holidays”, saying instead “Let us all go out of our way to wish our many wonderful Christian friends a very Merry Christmas… Nationwide, Christmas Nativity scenes are banned from city halls and shopping malls but Chanukah menorahs are permitted. There is without a doubt a war on Christmas as well as on patriotism.

Merry Christmas! : Celebrating America’s Greatest Holiday

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!” …Hamilton Wright Mabie

Atheists intimidate Santa Monica into eliminating Nativity… And So the War on Christmas and Freedom of Religion Continues

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Damon Vix didn’t have to go to court to push Christmas out of the city of Santa Monica. He just joined the festivities.

The atheist’s anti-God message alongside a life-sized nativity display in a park overlooking the beach ignited a debate that burned brighter than any Christmas candle.

Santa Monica officials snuffed the city’s holiday tradition this year rather than referee the religious rumble, prompting churches that have set up a 14-scene Christian diorama for decades to sue over freedom of speech violations. Their attorney will ask a federal judge Monday to resurrect the depiction of Jesus’ birth, while the city aims to eject the case.

"It’s a sad, sad commentary on the attitudes of the day that a nearly 60-year-old Christmas tradition is now having to hunt for a home, something like our savior had to hunt for a place to be born because the world was not interested," said Hunter Jameson, head of the nonprofit Santa Monica Nativity Scene Committee that is suing. Read Full Story HERE But Christians Found ‘Creative’ Loophole in Atheist-Inspired Santa Monica Nativity Ban & Secure Permit for ‘Live’ Display

Nativity on Wheels! PA Community Battles Atheist Complaints With Display of Jesus’ Birth on Platform in Front of City Hall

The Atheists Won’: CA Judge Denies Christian Group’s Last-Ditch Attempt to Restore Nativities

Atheist-Inspired Ban on Santa Monica Nativity Displays to Be Challenged in CA Court Today

Secularists battling against nativities is nothing new, but 2012 has brought some major victories for atheists. Consider Santa Monica, California, where a 60-year nativity tradition has been banned; other communities have backed down over fears that Christian themes will be legally challenged by groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) as well.

But — believers are getting smart and fighting back with some creative methods of navigating around church versus state disagreements.

TheBlaze already told you about the Santa Monica work-around: Christians will stage a live nativity, as only unattended displays were banned from the Palisades Park. Now, a community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has found it’s own solution to a potential atheist-led lawsuit against a display in front of a local municipal building. Read Full Story and See Video HERE

Wow, these photos below, from outside the U.S. Supreme Court, bring back great memories of being part of the Glory of Christmas and Glory of Easter pageants for the Crystal Cathedral as a family.

December 5, 2012

Twitchy:

Fox News’ Shannon Bream is on the scene as faith organizations stage a live Nativity scene outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

Faith Organizations to Display Live Nativity Scene with Animals in Front of the United States Supreme Court and the United States Capitol

This scene, sponsored by Faith and Action as well as The Christian Defense Coalition is part of “The Nativity Project.” The project seeks, in part, to bring attention to the hostility with which faith in the public square is met.

On Twitter, the camel is a hit. And, yes, that's a real camel at the Supreme Ct.

Wow, these photos below, from outside the U.S. Supreme Court, bring back great memories of being part of the Glory of Christmas and Glory of Easter pageants for the Crystal Cathedral as a family.

A full on Nativity scene outside SCOTUS 2012