Raleigh "English" Bicycle

Raleigh Bicycle Company

I'm not sure of the exact year, but guessing Christmas 1962 or 63, Dad and Mom bought me a Raleigh "English" Bicycle for Christmas.

It looked just about like the above picture except it was brown. It had a 3 speed Sturmey-Archer coaster hub

The bike revolutionized transportation for me: No more walking! I installed a simple speedometer / odometer and a rear generator driven red light.

No one wore helmets back then.

I used it for a good three or four years until I started driving in 1966.

Merry Christmas

Some 2000 years ago,  The God became a Man as Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem.

Emmanuel.  "God with us".  God in human form.

He came...

To seek and to save that which was lost  (Luke 19:10)

To give His life a ransom for many  (Matthew 20:28)

That the world through Him might be saved  (John 3:17)

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"  

2 Corinthians 9:15

Merry Christmas!

Comments:

• Antique Christmas card from my S-I-L's collection
  
• We worshiped last night at the famous First Baptist Church in downtown Minneapolis (we worked until 4:15, then went to the 5:00 pm service, and then went to my daughter's condo in D/T Minneapolis for dinner
  
• Kids coming at 9. I need to plow my neighbor's driveway before my kids' cars are in mine!
  
  

Pondering the Incarnation

Nicene Creed

Excerpt (seems a shame to just provide an except! Please read the whole!):

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary ...

Comment: Wiki Nicene Creed

Athanasian Creed

The Whole:

1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;
   
2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
   
3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
   
4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
   
5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
   
6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
   
7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
   
8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.
   
9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
   
10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.
    
11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.
    
12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
    
13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.
    
14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.
    
15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
    
16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
    
17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;
    
18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.
    
19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;
    
20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.
    
21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.
    
22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.
    
23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
    
24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
    
25. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.
    
26. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.
    
27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
    
28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
    
29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    
30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
    
31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.
    
32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
    
33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
    
34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.
    
35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.
    
36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
    
37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;
    
38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;
    
39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;
    
40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
    
41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;
    
42. and shall give account of their own works.
    
43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
    
44. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.
    
    

Comment: Wiki Athanasian Creed

Christologia, John Owen: The Nature of the Person of Christ, and the Hypostatical Union of his Natures Declared.

Excerpt:

That which followeth hereon, is the union of the two natures in the same person, or the hypostatical union. This is included and asserted in a multitude of divine testimonies. Isa. vii. 14, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel,” as Matt. i. 23. He who was conceived and born of the virgin was Emmanuel, or God with us; that is, God manifest in the flesh, by the union of his two natures in the same person. Isa. ix. 6, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” That the same person should be “the mighty God” and a “child born,” is neither conceivable nor possible, nor can be true, but by the union of the divine and human natures in the same person. So he said of himself, “Before Abraham was, I am,” John viii. 58. That he, the same person who then spake unto the Jews, and as a man was little more than thirty years of age, should also be before Abraham, undeniably confirms the union of another nature, in the same person with that wherein he spoke those words, and without which they could not be true. He had not only another nature which did exist before Abraham, but the same individual person who then spoke in the human nature did then exist. See to the same purpose, John i. 14; Acts xx. 28; Rom. ix. 5; Col. ii. 9; 1 John iii. 16. This union the ancient church affirmed to be made ἀτρέπτως, “without any change” in the person of the Son of God, which the divine nature is not subject unto; — ἀδιαιρέτως, with a distinction of natures, but “without any division” of them by separate subsistences; — ἀσυγχύτως, “without mixture” or confusion; — ἀχωρίστως, “without 227separation” or distance; and οὐσιωδῶς, “substantially,” because it was of two substances or essences in the same person, in opposition unto all accidental union, as the “fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily.”

Creed of Chalcedon / Council of Chalcedon

We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten God (μονογενῆ Θεὸν), the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

Final comments: Pastor Morrell cited the Creed of Chalcedon in his Sunday morning message this past week (an exposition of John 1:1-14). Isn't this a lot more exciting than NORAD tracking Santa!

Christmas as an Alternative Religion

In defense of Santa and the cult of Christmas

Excerpt:

Christmas has become a kind of alternative religion, offering watered-down versions of profound theological doctrines. Its miracles are found on 34th Street, not in Bethlehem. The visitation of Gabriel has become the visitation of Clarence, assuring us that it is a wonderful life. The modern cult of Christmas offers a domesticated form of transcendence. Naughty or nice instead of good or evil. A jolly old elf rather than an illegitimate child, destined for an early death.

...

Admittedly, it is not credible to assert that all religions - from Buddhism to Aztec human sacrifice to Quakerism to Wahhabi Islam - are equally true. Religious differences are not trivial. But most faiths share a similar striving. Across the world and across history, human beings have been hounded by an instinct to seek meaning beyond the material - a desire for forgiveness, acceptance, holy awe and ethical behavior. This search takes many forms and faiths, from animism to Zoroastrianism. If the instinct is not merely a cruel evolutionary joke, the practice of religion has produced varied insights and wisdom. As a Christian, I believe that the claims of Christianity are true - but this does not mean other faiths are devoid of all truth.

C.S. Lewis put it this way: "If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all those religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more liberal view."

So I choose to take a more liberal view of the Christmas cult. Its tacky materialism can be unattractive. But the desire for Christmas miracles and visiting angels - for Tiny Tim not to die and for hooves on the rooftop and for George Bailey to be the richest man in town; for just one night of calm and hope - are not things to be lightly dismissed.

"If I find in myself," says Lewis, "a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." In this argument, the sentimental desires of Christmas are hints and rumors and reminders of a birth that somehow represents their culmination. Put another way: The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.

Comments: HT: Denny Burk. Not meant to be "bah humbuggy". Kathee was at Target last weekend to pick up some extra Christmas cards. She could not find ONE with a Christ centered theme. My Sister in Law (Kathy P) collects antique Christmas cards ... the above is from her collection.

Suppose the "Christmas story" is true

Cal Thomas: What If It's True?

Excerpts:

Suppose what some call the "Christmas story" is true -- all of it, from the angels, to the shepherds, to the virgin birth, to God taking on human flesh. By this, I don't mean to suggest it is true only for those who believe it to be true, but what if it is objectively true, no matter what the deniers say? What difference would it make? Should it make any difference?

...

I suspect even those who don't believe the story secretly wish it were true. Who, or what else, offers the hope, cleansing and purpose for this life -- as well as eternal life -- like that presented by this child-man-God? In an age when love means lust and is too often conditional, this story offers a love that is personal, redemptive and unconditional. Christmas is the great story of God becoming human in order that humans might dwell with Him. It is about the helper helping those who cannot help themselves no matter how hard they try.

It is a gift better than anything the fictional Santa Claus could give. And it is a gift that keeps on giving into eternity, never losing its value, unlike stock portfolios.

Come on, what have you got to lose -- only everything -- by considering this greatest of all stories? Maybe you believed the story as a child, but with maturity came skepticism and later unbelief. Try reading it again as an adult. It truly is the ultimate gift and it has your (and my) name on it. It fits all who try it on and has the additional benefit of having been paid for by someone else. This gift never wears out. Once accepted, it so satisfies that people rarely return it. For what could it be exchanged?

Can anyone name a better gift that has produced more positive and welcome results around the world for more than 2,000 years?

Comment: Excellent read

Mary - what a remarkable woman!

Christmas Meditation

Comment: A very good read from Dr Bauder

"You just don't think enough about My mother"

What Jesus did not say about His Mother

Excerpt:

The New Testament is primarily about Jesus, not about Mary. She has played her role -- pivotal, yet taking up less space in the inspired text than the patriarchs, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, or even Job. As a devoted Son, in His dying moments Jesus assures Mary's continued care (John 19:25-27). Then she basically vanishes from the text, apart from one last appearance in Acts 1:14, where she has finally taken her place on a level plane with every other Christian, in prayer and worship of her risen Son.

So what would Mary say to us today, were she to speak? Would she bid our attention on her, summon the spotlight from her Son to herself to any degree, try to increase her place in the Christian's worshipful consciousness?

Or would she not rather reiterate what she had already said - "Whatever He tells you, do" (John 2:5)?

To ask the question is to answer it. We best honor Mary not by idolatrously focusing on her person, but by embracing her example of humble, devoted, Biblically-informed, self-disregarding, God-centered faith.

Comment: I'm gagging over all of the "Happy Holidays" ... and Santa fascination of the season. Kathee just finished reading the nativity narratives in Matthew and Luke.

"Chrismukkah": Dumbing down the Christian holidays

Jewish-Christian families face December with secular spirit

Excerpts:

Ron Gompertz, who launched the "Chrismukkah" greeting cards years ago, mashing up Christmas and Hanukkah for Jewish-Christian families, once defended his idea to InterfaithFamily.com, a web site that stresses Jewish choices for inter-married families.

...

were fully aware that strictly theologically speaking, Chrismukkah was nonsense.

...

Take your favorite secular parts from Christmas and Hanukkah -- the food, the lights, the snowmen, the songs -- then mush them all together, being careful to leave the religious parts alone.

Comment: What would a Muslim-Christian Christmas look like? ChristRamadan?

God's Christmas Card

On a day some 2000 years ago, God entered time and space.

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel" Isaiah 7:14

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" Isaiah 9: 6

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" John 1:1, 14

The following from a Christmas card expounds on John 3:16:

For God (the greatest Person)
So loved (the greatest degree)
The world (the greatest company)

That He gave (the greatest act)
His only begotten Son (the greatest gift)
That whosoever (the greatest opportunity)
Believeth (the greatest simplicity)
in Him (the greatest attraction)

Should not perish (the greatest promise)
But have (the greatest difference)
Everlasting life (the greatest possession)

JP: Image from an antique Christmas card in my Sister-in-law's collection.

It is a cold (minus 4) white Christmas in Minnesota. We are awaiting (expected at 9) the arrival of our children.

More:

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)

A quote that captures the importance of this truth.

• If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator;
  
• If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist;
  
• If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist;
  
• If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer;
  
• But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.

HT: Frank Sansone

Christmas photos

Roger's breakfast frittate

Emily

Blue

Christmas roast

Grandma's gifts

Someone did not want to have their picture taken

The shepherds' Christmas

Luke 2:8-20

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

The shepherds:

1. Heard the glorious message fearfully: "they were greatly afraid" (vs 9)
   
2. Sought the Incarnate God hastily: "they came with haste and found ... the Babe lying in a manger" (vs 16)
   
3. Heralded the evangel extensively: "they made widely known the saying which was told them" (vs 17)
   
4. Worshiped the Savior continually: "the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen" (vs 20)
   

---

Merry Christmas

Dear friends,

We rejoice in God's graciousness to us. We are worshiping our Savior with our brothers and sisters at Fourth Baptist church. Kathee will be making lasagna on Christmas Eve to enjoy after the vespers service at Fourth Baptist. Christmas Day our family will celebrate Christmas with us at our home in Plymouth.

True meaning and purpose in life only comes through knowing and living for the Savior. We trust that the great gift that the shepherds found that first Christmas morning will be discovered by you as well.

Here is that gift: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

Christmas carolers

We we blessed to have 4th Baptist Christmas carolers visit us last night. I tried to sing along but my voice is pathetic in contrast with the skills of these my Sisters and Brothers.