Christmas Story Fallacies, Part 3

Sorry it has taken so long to get to part 3 - it has been a busy few weeks - that business can be the source of another post.

So since it is Christmas Eve, this is the last one I will get to, so let's make it a doozy.

Fallacy #3: The modern day nativity scene

Where to begin.

Our modern day nativity's usually look something like this: A stable scene with baby Jesus in a wooden trough filled with hay. The star is above the barn, and the shepherds are present along with the wise men and their gifts. And of course Mary and Joseph are there next to Jesus.

Now we have already dealt with the wise men situation - they are not present when Jesus is a baby. They were added due to flannelgraph and marketing conspiracies (okay, I'm just kidding but who really knows).

This is what the Bible text says, "And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7 (NASB)

As I researched some information about Christ's birth, where He was born, and what the manger looked like, the only thing I think I know for sure is that our present nativity scenes are not accurate. What is accurate - it is hard to say for sure.

Let's make these observations:

• Mangers during this time were probably not made of wood, but carved out of stone.
• The Bible never mentions a barn/stable.
• The Bible never mentions an innkeeper - I have heard before that this innkeeper had a stable out back for the animals of the people staying in the inn, and so he put up Mary and Joseph there.

Some Biblical scholars say that the word "inn" actually is referring to a guest room in a house. So with this thinking, Mary would have had the baby in a home in the main gathering area because there was no room in the guest room for them. And since there were mangers in these main gathering rooms (because the livestock stayed in the house at night), she placed the baby in a manger.

That thinking basically takes our little "Western minded nativity" (like the picture I included) and throws it right out the barn window.

Others I have read would say that this manger would have been in a tower in the city. This tower would be used by shepherds to watch their flock. In the bottom level of the tower was a place where sheep would give birth. When these sheep gave birth, the priestly shepherds would wrap them in swaddling cloths and lie them in a manger. The reason for this was to keep them from having defect since these sheep born in Bethlehem were used for the sacrifice in the temple in Jerusalem about 5 miles away. So when the angels told the shepherds where to find the baby, they knew right where to go.

I am not positive about either of these examples, but I am pretty confident our modern nativities are Biblically inaccurate in a few ways. Now, my purpose in these fallacies is not to be the religious Christmas grinch, but rather to remind us to examine the Biblical text and understand that an undertanding of the culture and lifestyle of the time will give us a different view than trying to impose our culture and lifestyle on the Bible.

These fallacies do not take away from this most important truth: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbled Himself and took on human flesh. He became a human and was born as a baby. He did this so that He could pay the price for sin that no other human could pay. He grew to be a man and died on the cross to pay for our (mine and your) sin because He loved us. He rose from the grave on the 3rd day, defeating death. He made it possible through His death and resurrection for every human being to be reconciled to God through faith in His finished work. He was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved..." Acts 16:31 (NASB).

Christmas Story Fallacies, Part 2

I mentioned at the end of Part 1, that the next thing I would deal with would concern the nativity and the wise men.

Fallacy #2: The wise men visited BABY Jesus.

There is no doubt that these wise men or magi from the east did visit Jesus. But based on the nativities we see, these wise men visited Jesus when He was a baby. Many of them imply that the wise men were there with the shepherds when Jesus was born. This is not what the Bible tells us.

Back to Matthew 2:1, "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea...behold magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem..." (NASB).

In Matthew 2:11 we read that the magi entered the house. This was not where Jesus was born. It is obvious that since His birth, Joseph and Mary had found a place to live in Bethlehem. In addition in the Matthew 2 passage, Jesus is referred to as the Child. This Greek word for child is different from the Greek word that would have been used for a newborn infant.

So how old was Jesus when the wise men visited? We can't say for sure, but he wasn't a baby and he was under the age of 2. How do we know that? Well, later in Matthew 2 we read about Herod's plot to kill Jesus. In order to make sure he killed him, Herod ordered that all the children 2 years old and under be killed (v.16). Where did Herod get this number? In v.7, we read that Herod met with the magi to find out when they saw the star? It seems that Herod was using this as a time when Christ would have been born. So from that information, Herod decided to kill all boys 2 and under. I would think that Herod would have added a little bit of time to make sure that he killed Jesus. I mean what if they were off a day or two and Jesus was 2 years and 2 days; Herod wouldn't have wanted to miss killing this one called the king of the Jews. (v.2).

So I would say that at this time Jesus was probably between 1.5-2 years old. Somewhere in there. Also, consider that the magi traveled from the east; not a short journey.

So why do all the nativities include wise men? I don't know. Maybe some of you know why. I haven't researched that. Maybe they want to sell more pieces. Maybe someone got confused early on and it just stuck. Maybe they were trying to put all of the visitors to Jesus together. Maybe it was a flannelgraph conspiracy (I don't hate flannelgraph, I just think it is interesting how much flannelgraphs can shape the minds of young children and confuse them if they are not accurate). But none the less, the nativities of the wise men visiting baby Jesus with the shepherds are not Biblically accurate.

So what do you do with the wise men in your nativity? That is for you to decide. My wife sets them up on the other side of the room as if they are traveling for their visit. Maybe you have other suggestions.

Christmas Story Fallacies, Part 1

Recently at our training for our Birthday Parties for Jesus coming up this month we were reminded that we must be careful to look at God's Word for truth and not necessarily what someone else tells us.

Taking that thought, I want to expose some common misconceptions concerning the Christmas story. When we look at God's Word we will see that what we have often been told is not actually exactly what is the truth. So I may try to devote several posts to this topic over the next few days.

Fallacy #1: There were ONLY 3 wise men

Well, we probably have all seen or heard that there were 3 wise men that visited Jesus. Not necessarily. I mean there could have been 3; in fact there probably were 3, but not necessarily just 3.

We find the account of the wise men visiting Jesus only the gospel of Matthew. Matthew 2:1 says, "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying," (NASB)

Notice that the text does not say 3 wise men. So where do we get 3? Well, it is true that 3 gifts are mentioned. Matthew 2:11 - "...and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh." (NASB). So usually when pictures or flannelgraphs are made, there is a different person holding each gift. So 3 gifts and therefore 3 wise men.

So while I can't dogmatically say there weren't only 3 wise men or magi; we also can't dogmatically say that there were. But that is what we are often led to believe. Even the song that starts, "We 3 kings of Orient are" implies 3 wise men. Most all of the nativities that are made include 3 wise men.

I'll end there and let you know that the next fallacy will also include the wise men and the common nativity scenes seen each Christmas.

The most important question...what does God's Word say!

NOT SO FAST!!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't like how our culture seems to be "skipping" Thanksgiving again. Obviously we won't actually be skipping Thanksgiving, but for the past 3 weeks as I walk into stores I see lots of Christmas stuff everywhere. Christmas music playing on the radio, Christmas this and Christmas that.

Now, don't get me wrong...I really enjoy Christmas. I enjoy so many things about Christmas, but I don't like that Thanksgiving is being skipped over. I am sure this week we will hear a lot about how to prepare a Turkey and what football games are coming up and plenty of other stuff that our world has made Thanksgiving, but for us as believers Thanksgiving should be a great celebration of a much different focus.

Thanksgiving is not about having a few days off of school and a lot of food. Its roots are found in a feast that the Pilgrims and Native Americans gathered for in the fall of 1621, not quite a year after the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, MA after a long and difficult journey across the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower. These Pilgrims came seeking religious freedom. Although they were English colonists, they had moved to Holland looking for religious freedom before they decided God's will was for them to move to America. Although Thanksgiving wasn't an official holiday at this feast, we trace the roots of this holiday to this early gathering. Their purpose was to thank the Lord for His provision and direction and for the freedom they now did have to worship the Lord.

I recently was listening to the daily broadcast of Family Life and heard that Barbara Rainey had written a book that has recently been released in an audio book format that reminds us of the story of the early Pilgrims. I would encourage you to go their audio website and listen to this production.

We too should be continually thanking the Lord for all of His provisions - not just materially by the way. I often think that our mind would be changed so much concerning what we are thankful for if we heard the thanksgivings offered by our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world who do not have many if any material possessions. And yet they have so much to be thankful to the Lord for.

So this Thanksgiving, and every day really, have an attitude of thankfulness to the Lord and focus on thanking Him simply for who He is. If everything was taken from us and all was wiped away, we could still be thankful for who God is and as believers for who we are in Christ.

Catching Up...

Okay, it has been a while - almost two months. It's not that things haven't been going on, I just haven't taken the time to blog about them.

So I thought I would catch you up on what has taken place since the end of September; not only in CBC life but making some comments about the life of our nation as well.

October was a busy, busy month. After a trip to MS to celebrate the 50th anniversary of FOA, we got back to IL and got to it. The fall is a very busy time for school events and sports - I went to football games, band performances, swim meets and volleyball games. We have lots of active kids in our group. They all did great at what they were doing. Here are a few pics from those different things:

Johnny in position on the football field

Jake jamming on the sax

Rachel ready to go on the clarinet - she is in the back in this pic

Jess (drum major) leading the Star Spangled Banner
Becca is out there too somewhere!

In case you didn't believe me - a little closer up

Amanda swimming - she did great - my first ever swim meet

Jenn serving it up

Katie (right side #11) going for the spike

So I had a great time at a lot of different activities. We also had the Awana Ministry Conference in October and a Trek activity that we planned for mini golf and go karts but due to the cold weather ended up being indoor mini golf and flashlight tag. None the less, really fun!!

November was also pretty busy. We started the month off on the 1st with a Fall Workday - we went to different folks homes from the church and helped with yardwork. Here are a few pics from that day:

Raking at Mr. Scharbert's farm

Hauling off branches

Bryan rocking with the rake!

Hmmm...yard waste with blue jeans and shoes...very interesting

Our workday group at the Jess' home

The following weekend we took our Sr. Highers to play paintball. This is the first time that we had done this and it was a really fun experience getting to shoot people with paintballs. It was a cold day, but we still had a lot of fun. I don't have any pictures of that - I was too focused on shooting kids!

Sprinkle in a couple of Sr. High afterglows and Worldview Nights for the whole church and that kind of sums up what we have been doing. It has been a great couple of months.

On the national scene, obviously a lot has happened. The economy is sputtering, many people have lost jobs and money, we have had an election for president as well as many other positions in our local, state, and national government, and there is a lot of uncertainty of the future. Let me simply encourage you as believers to be in prayer for our nation and our leaders, and don't lose sight of the FACT that God is Sovereign and in control of what is taking place. As believers our ultimate hope and trust is in Him, not in mankind and not in our economy. I would encourage you to be faithful to Him who called you!

Hopefully it won't be so long until the next post, but until then keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ and grow in your relationship with Him through His Word!

Sr. High Mini Golf and Go Karts

A week and a half ago, we took our Sr. High group to the Aurora Sports Zone for our monthly activity. After chowing down on some pizza and pop and hopping on the bus, we arrived at the Sports Zone ready to go.

The weather was perfect - which meant many other people wanted to play mini golf and ride go karts. But even though it was crowded and we had to wait a long time in line for go karts, we still had a great time- and of course waiting around simply meant more opportunities to talk, which most of our group would rather do than anything else.

Here are some pictures from the night:

Our fearless leaders

Kathleen taking a different approach to the hole

Ryan talking to his pink ball - it wasn't listening

Interesting stance Ben!

The following pictures are of people picking their ball
up after hitting it off the "course".

In the grass...

in the bushes...

even in the water!

Embarassing enough to try and keep your picture from being taken

Like I said - we had a lot of time to kill in line for go karts

So overall, we had a great trip and a great time. As you saw, there were no professional golfers on hand, but lots of fun - that's for sure!!

Youth Room Renovations

Sorry for taking so long to put up a new post. Things have been very busy lately and one reason is because we have been trying to finish up renovations with the youth room. We are almost completely finished now. We just need to touch up a few things and over the next few months we will do a little here and there to finish it up. So here are some recent photos from the youth room renovation:

Scraping up the old tile

Tile Scraping group with their "weapons"

Starting painting - Green wall

Painting the rest of the walls - Brown Bread

We were going for the splotchy look - not really

Arielle and Andrew painting

Liz painting the trim

Rachel rolling the wall

Rachel trying to roll Becca's face

Walls are finished - some of the tile down

Walls and tile finished

Another angle

So, a lot of work has been done and finished and there is still some to do. Thanks to everyone who has helped with the work. Thanks to Mrs. Sheehan for helping with all the color schemes. Thanks to Dave and Jim who laid the tile and put in the base boards - and Dave did a lot of other stuff too.

Now we get to enjoy it!!

Six Flags Great America

On Saturday, July 26th we took our Sr. High group to Great America. This year we had the
largest group we have ever taken - 26 people (leaders and kids). We also must have gone on the busiest day of the year because I don't think I have ever seen so many people in one place in my life.

After waiting in line for almost an hour just to park (and talking to each other from car to car while we waited), we ate lunch at our cars and

ventured into the park where we found more lines to stand in as we waited to get on different rides. The lines were so long that I think we only rode 6-7 rides all day. We were there for 6 hours.

Even though the lines were long we still had a great day. One thing about long lines is you have plenty of time to talk to each other - and our group never is at a loss for words - kind of like their youth pastor. For a few people this was their first time on the big roller coasters and so of course we used peer pressure to help them overcome their fears. After rides like Batman, Raging Bull (one of the best rides there in my opinion), the Eagle, the Demon, and the Viper you either get over your fear or you get sick to your stomach. Thankfully we didn't have the latter.

Unfortunately we didn't get to ride what I think is the greatest ride at Great America - the Giant Drop. The wait was 1 and half hours. So we opted out, especially since only about 6-7 were going to ride it.

After the day at the park we stopped at McD's on the way home for dinner and then drove home while receiving prank calls from some crazy girls (I won't mention any names). Overall, a long and tiring day of waiting in lines, but a fun day of being together. Next year - we will pick a rainy day. :) Here are some pics of the day.

Our group

Eating lunch in the car

Batman: Those are some our group's feet in the front

Coming down the roaring rapids

More roaring rapids

They survived; although much more wet than when they started.

Ben was also a little wet and not too thrilled about it

What a nice looking group of young people

The O's: 2 of our fearless leaders

The Raging Bull

The Viper: Some of our group is on this one, but I don't know where