2 Cor 5:19 might not be the obvious place to go for a Christmas Day meditation but it’s where my thoughts are this morning.
Christmas
Sinclair Ferguson on the Santa Clause Christology
At Ligonier today. (HT: Colin). CH602 alumni pay heed: facere quod in se est, Deus non denegat gratiam! Aren’t you glad you learned that? This essay is excerpted from Sinclair’s latest, In Christ Alone
The Purpose-Driven Christmas?
or whose fault is a Christless Christianity anyway? (HT: Kim Riddlebarger)
Merry Christmas from the WHI
(HT: Riddleblog and Mark Vander Pol)
The Benefits of Christ's Conception and Birth
At the RB
The Death of Santa
Originally published on the HB 22 Dec 2008. As a young boy I certainly believed in Santa. We made the annual cookie oblation and went to bed under the conditional covenant that he would not come if we did not sleep (or . . . Continue reading →
Pushing Out…Pushing In
No one understood it completely at the time, but when Mary pushed out that baby, God pushed into the world the long-expected Prophet, Priest, and King. —Kevin DeYoung
The Death of Santa
Originally published on the HB 22 Dec 2008. As a young boy I certainly believed in Santa. We made the annual cookie oblation and went to bed under the conditional covenant that he would not come if we did not sleep (or . . . Continue reading →
The Death of Santa
As a young boy I certainly believed in Santa. We made the annual cookie oblation and went to bed under the conditional covenant that he would not come if we did not sleep (or at least stay in bed). Nevertheless, I think I . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 16: Being Relevant is Harder Than It Looks
An HB Classic
This episode of the Heidelcast, from January, 2010, takes a look at Chicago radio legend Steve Dahl’s reaction to being forced to go to church for Christmas. It’s useful to hear how silly Christians appear to unbelievers when we try to be . . . Continue reading →
The Directory Of Publick Worship On Christmas
Festival days, vulgarly called holy-days, having no warrant in the Word of God, are not to be continued. —Westminster Assembly, Directory for Publick Worship (1645) (HT: Semper Reformanda)
The Serpent Strikes At The Son
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star . . . Continue reading →
Behold My Servant
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so . . . Continue reading →
Contra Natalis Solis Invictis
CHRISTMAS (from Old English Cristes maesse “Christ’s mass”).† Observance commemorating the birth of Jesus. In the Western church, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord was first celebrated on December 25 ca. A.D. 336, the date apparently chosen to counter the . . . Continue reading →
Calvin’s Response To Being Forced To Observe Christmas
Now, I see here today more people that I am accustomed to having at the sermon. Why is that? It is Christmas day. And who told you this? You poor beasts. That is a fitting euphemism for all of you who have . . . Continue reading →
Presbyterian And Reformed Ambivalence About Christmas
The Christmas season is nearing its climax. As the shopping ebbs and the work schedule slows a bit (for some anyway—remember in your prayers your local police and firefighters as this can be a difficult time for them) it gives us opportunity . . . Continue reading →
Beza On Saints’ Days, The Christian Sabbath, And Festivals
We say that it is a superstition to esteem one day more holy than another, or to think that to abstain from labour is something which, in itself, pleases God (Rom 14:5, 6; Col 2:16, 17). But, following what the Lord has . . . Continue reading →
With Presbycast On Christmas, Pictures, And Ricky Bobby
When it comes to Christmas it gets, as they say, complicated for confessional Presbyterian and Reformed Christians. On the one hand, we heartily affirm the Scriptures and the ecumenical creeds on the incarnation of our Lord. We confess that Mary was the . . . Continue reading →
Christian, Why Do You Sing A Swedenborgian, Social-Gospel, Hymn Written By A Unitarian Minister?
“It Came Upon The Midnight Clear” (now typically titled, “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”) was first published in 1834. It was written by Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810–76), an Unitarian minister with Swedenborgian convictions. C. Michael Hawn, who teaches sacred music, describes . . . Continue reading →
Things Not To Say About Jesus At Christmas (Or Any Other Time)
In the spirit of Festivus, Reformed folk have historically had a lot of problems with both the ecclesiastical calendar, including advent, and Christmas. It is not because we do not heartily affirm the incarnation of our Lord—we do!—but because neither the Scriptures . . . Continue reading →