Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Naughty or Nice? Someone is Coming to Town?

I was telling my mother in an email this morning that I gave gifts to my children (and to my husband and sister) this year for the Feast of Trumpets, one of the great feasts of God. It was the first year I'd done this particular thing. Somewhere along in the lesson I taught that day, I asked my older son whether he liked getting gifts. Of course, the answer was yes. Who doesn't like to get gifts? I then explained to him that after the seventh trumpet sounds and the saints rise to meet Christ, that those saints who earned rewards (gifts) will then receive them at that time (some will have rewards and some not--I Cor. 3:4-15; Rev. 22:12).

I then went on to tell my mother that they're free to give gifts to our children for the Feast of Trumpets next year, since we do not do Christmas (she was not asking us to celebrate Christmas, and we've not celebrated it for years now, but rather I got on the subject a different way).

And then I said, "So, if the boys are well-behaved and deserving of rewards, they'll get gifts from us next year on Trumpets, too (I think "Santa" stole the idea of naughty and nice from the truth and added it to his holiday)."

Did you notice the last part? Does that bring to mind an old song commonly sung among children during this time of year? I'll copy and paste it from a lyrics site:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

Hmmmm....this "Santa" fellow, whom we all know really does not exist, supposedly rides in some sort of chariot (sleigh) pulled by reindeer and takes gifts to good children who deserve them. He does this on the night before Christmas (formed by two words: Christ and mass [meaning "death"]--so in other words Christmas means "Christ death." Odd how so many think they're celebrating a birth...).

There is no Santa Claus who sees children when they're sleeping and knows whether they've been "good" or "bad" and goes to give gifts to them out of his chariot's (sleigh and reindeer) cargo.

BUT, there is a real Christ, and the bible says that there are good children of God the Father who will receive rewards. He can see us and knows whether we've been "good" or "bad."

He's the one REALLY coming to town. He's coming in "chariots of fire" (much more advanced vehicle than what the mythological "Santa" has--Isaiah 66:15) and will have rewards stored inside.

The biblical holy day that foreshadows this great event is the Feast of Trumpets. "Christmas" is not found anywhere in the bible and is a name the Catholic church gave to the heathen holiday "Day of Sol Invictus" (day of the invincible sun). Before and when Christ returns, which will fulfill the Feast of Trumpets, this is what will happen to the Catholic church and its leader:

Therefore shall her (Catholic church) plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her (Revelation 18:8).

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev. 19:20).

So, the next time you hear that old song, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," remember that he's a fraud but that there is someone REAL soon coming to visit to punish the "naughty" and reward the "nice":

And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth (Revelation 11:18).

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