Church Christmas Program

[BrotherLarry]

We are busily rehearsing the annual Christmas program at church. This year, I was asked to portray a wise man - which isn't surprising, considering that I am a young, well-built, handsome, intelligent certified equine gnathologist, soon to be a PhD in Creation Science.


I have been practicing my lines:


"Behold, the Christ Child doth lie yonder in the manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes! Let us even now worship and adore Him!" After I say that, I kneel in front of Him and raise my arms in adoration while another wise man gently touches the baby's cheek. Mary then accepts the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, as another wise man falls to his knees to worship Jesus, the Christ child. It is a touching scene and crucial to the entire program.


I asked the director if, when I rise from my worship, I could say something like, "The journey has been long but well worth it! I feel like singing!"


Then I would burst into song, like "Jingle Bells" or "We Need a Little Christmas Now," to lighten the mood. So far it has met with great opposition. I am going to present them with my own song; I wrote it in the wee hours of this morning. I share the words now with you:


I Knelt Right in Front of the Boy
by BrotherLarry

Well, the camel was none too comfy as I made my way tonight
I was with two other wise men, as a star was shining bright.
Lots of people were on the road with us, most were very tired;
The mood was surprisingly mellow, we were very much inspired.

News of the birth of a Savior had spread across the land
People seemed to believe it, convinced by an angel band.
All the hotels were booked solid; glad we made a reservation;
Guess we were truly wise men, headed for the celebration.

I didn't know what to bring the Babe, perhaps a ball or bat?
I thought I'd play upon my drum, but someone beat me to that.
I finally decided on money, neatly arranged in a shofar
And then I realized, not much really rhymes with a shofar.

When we got to the stable and I saw the child,
I was filled with tremendous glad joy
I brought him my shofar and touched his sweet cheeks
Then I knelt right in front of the boy.

My head first bobbed up then my head it went down
While Mary and Joseph did stare
I knew it looked silly, I knew it looked strange,
But somehow I just didn't care.

I felt overcome by the sight of the lad, with Mary so lovely
And God as His Dad;
And we must not forget dear St. Joseph was there
Feeling awkward - so much so, you could feel it in the air.

And when I had finished with my special gift,
I soon felt myself being given a lift
They escorted me o'er and dropped me on my ass
I saw the little drummer boy who smirked as he passed

Back at the hotel I fell asleep and I dreamed
Of the events of the evening as the star brightly beamed
I will never be able to relive the great joy
I felt when I knelt right in front of the Boy.

[Basilissa]

Re: Church Christmas Program

This is a truly, deeply moving song, Brother Larry. I was wondering, though, ummm.... While you () certainly deserve to have all these additional lines, ummm.... The play is not about the wise men, it is about Jesus, you know. Your character is obviously pivotal, but not that pivotal, if you know what I mean.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Church Christmas Program

I felt overcome by the sight of the lad, with Mary so lovely
And God as His Dad;
And we must not forget dear St. Joseph was there
Feeling awkward - so much so, you could feel it in the air.

I noticed you employed some poetic licence in the 3rd line, so it would scan better I guess. And I remembered how the pagans are trying to hijack Christmas and wondered if Joseph was ever a "saint" at all? Was he a Christian? He gets very little coverage at, in The New Testament, and where he does it's as an argument that Jesus was not God.

MATTHEW 13 .KJV . look up .. cf Luke 4 & John 6
55-57a Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him.

There was a Joseph who did follow Jesus and it's spelled out in his case. John 19:38 .so the upshot is that I'm not making any Santa Claus outfits this year. Which brings me to your pageant. Now there is some surplus fabric, all good quality, and I'm happy to donate it. We were trying to avoid the "traditional" red & white so as not to pander to secular interests and have some lovely zingy hues both iridescent and holographic (great under laser displays or just standing in the general vicinity) a few combinations of which are attached below.

click for slightly larger graphics

GREENsanta1 . GREENsanta2


GREENsanta3 . BLACKsanta1


DARKcombo1 . DARKcombo2


REDsanta1 . GREENspk1


DARKspk1

If you were interested in any of the patterns just let me know. Some involved more fabric than others. If for instance you wanted to recite in one of the holographic ("spk" graphics) styles I'd need to pop over to the warehouse in the next day or two. Plenty of the red and green satin and the "BLACKsanta" velvet (both 100% silk) but the iridescent zigzag costumes were far less complicated so not a great deal of that.

[Johny Joe Hold]

Re: Church Christmas Program

I wanted to remind people of the Christmas Eve events at Landover Baptist Church. Pastor Zeke will give several sermons so just pick one and hope you can squeeze in. Big crowds.

Christmas Eve at many churches feature the congregation's children. We don't do that at Landover Baptist. The Church's thinking is that this is a big audience and we should not miss the opportunity to warn those in the pews about sin.

It will be a beautiful service. Baby Jesus was born to take care of the sins of humans. Expect Pastor Zeke to be in fine form scaring all of us with the fiery consequences of this sin.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Church Christmas Program

Does sin exist in other cultures but under a different name? Miss Shah for instance would not see the need for Christ's Gruesome Death because she talks about karma and reincarnation.

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book . . . This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

. .

Clearly the reincarnation system doesn't work. If it did, things would be getting better and better. Instead, as the reference I've cited demonstrates, things are getting worse and worse. How should the sin concept be explained to a Jain or a Zen? Is it acceptable to bring along someone from a different culture to hear Pastor's message?

[Romeo Rovagnati]

Re: Church Christmas Program

Does sin exist in other cultures but under a different name? Miss Shah for instance would not see the need for Christ's Gruesome Death because she talks about karma and reincarnation.

Clearly the reincarnation system doesn't work. If it did, things would be getting better and better. Instead, as the reference I've cited demonstrates, things are getting worse and worse. How should the sin concept be explained to a Jain or a Zen? Is it acceptable to bring along someone from a different culture to hear Pastor's message?

I've just finished hosting the Christmas Mass, therefore i can answer your question: Buddha's worshippers do not care about sin, they care about stopping "desire", and by desire i mean all of it. To explain it better, I'll pretend for a moment to "believe that all these doctrines are true": first thing to do is focusing only on the ones who might be "true". While Vajrayana Schools may look like Catholicism, the oldest school is actually Theravada, therefore, if Buddhism were to be true, only the latter would be worth following. And the teachings of Theravada clearly states to only follow the Pali Canon texts because they are the only teachings Mr. Gautama left in this world. It would make sense because Mahayana and the already mentioned Vajrayana are both influenced by Greek Paganism that was brought in the Indian Territories by the heirs of Alexander the Great. But anyway, according to these teachings, not only you are not allowed to never eat meat, never use violence and never worship any god (including Jesus), you are not even allowed to have any desire at all. You have to eliminate desire and detach yourself from any material stuff in order achieve Nirvana (which is translated in Western Languages to "Extintion") by constantly meditating, and if you didn't meditate enough you will start again in another life, while not believing in the soul at all.


In short, Buddhism is the quickest way to get headeaches and autism. No surprise that most God-haters in the West are allowed to become Buddhists, but when you are so desperate to have new followers you're willing to accept anyone. If there is a thing that proves that the man Buddhists worship was a fraud is the fact that he failed to detatch himself from a desire: the one of removing desire. He still had that desire even at the moment of his "Nirvana".


I know that this is mostly Buddhism, but Jains are like this with even more extreme doctrines that forces them to get beaten by everyone while wearing face masks even when there is no Pandemic.

[Dennis Lukes]

Re: Church Christmas Program

How should the sin concept be explained to a Jain or a Zen?

Sin is the path to the Dark Side.

[Johny Joe Hold]

Re: Church Christmas Program

How should the sin concept be explained to a Jain or a Zen? Is it acceptable to bring along someone from a different culture to hear Pastor's message?

It's not only acceptable, but also imperative. If you want these people to avoid a fiery hell, force them to hear Pastor Zeke. They will learn to tithe. They will learn how much Jesus hates homerism. You can do them a great favor.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Church Christmas Program

you are not even allowed to have any desire at all. You have to eliminate desire and detach yourself from any material stuff in order achieve Nirvana (which is translated in Western Languages to "Extintion") by constantly meditating, and if you didn't meditate enough you will start again in another life

John 8:58 – 9:2 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Is that how you interpret God's message here?

No surprise that most God-haters in the West are allowed to become Buddhists, but when you are so desperate to have new followers you're willing to accept anyone.

What about God-haters who become Catholics? Do not cardinals desire to become popes? Did not Siddhartha desire achieving Nirvana? Bergoglio rabbits on about little things, poverty, humility and so on. How many palaces has he sold?

How many palaces did Jesus have available to sell?

Where did those palaces come from?

[Johny Joe Hold]

Re: Church Christmas Program

I'd have to say Christmas Eve was one of Pastor Zeke's finest sermons. I really like it when he goes graphic describing what hell is like for sinners. Lots of crying.

It's almost like Jesus is whispering in Pastor Zeke's ear, "Bring it, Brother."

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Church Christmas Program

+1

I'm not here to offer opinions, The Bible being fully sufficient. And this was an important reminder of what we know about the world to come. Not everyone in it will be of equal standing. Modernists overlook many elements thought important by God, the immense suffering of those disregarding their need for redemption being the first thing to go out the window. Some people will enjoy where they are and appreciate their opportunity to Praise Him Forever, while others nevertheless acknowledging His power and majesty will be doing so from a position of anguish and pain.

WHO WILL PARTICIPATE IN THIS ACTIVITY?

Revelation 5:13a And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I

WHAT WILL THEY BE SAYING?

Revelation 5:13b saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb

HOW LONG WILL THEY BE SAYING IT FOR?

Revelation 5:13c. for ever and ever.

For those rejecting God's offer of Redemption, although acknowledging Him as supreme, all activities will be from a position of utter humiliation, burning¹ in molten brimstone² with wailing³ tooth gnashing⁴ torment⁵ and misery⁶ over and over again. I often take notes and was encouraged this Christmas to remember what Christ came to rescue us from, as explained in The Bible, and to read the complete chapters later. To deny that torture could be perpetual is to deny the words of Jesus or in many cases I suppose to deny that Jesus or The Bible offer anything real in the first place. So why bother being a "Church" at all? I look forward to Pastor explaining their error, which I can only assume is deliberate since to become an Episcopalian or Lutheran minister there's a training course isn't there? Where they get to read The Bible? They must know what it says. And to claim it's not written by God is to claim there isn't any God to write or inspire⁷ anything. Is there something else He's provided to explain the world, the catastrophe of sin and the need for Redemption which they have access to – but we don't?



1. Revelation 21:8
2. temperature range of molten brimstone approx. 240˚F to 830˚F
3. Matthew 13:49-50
4. Luke 13:27-28
5. Revelation 14:11
6. Romans 3:13-16
7. II Timothy 3:16