Santa Claus - Convenient Replacement for Jesus Christ

Here's my Christmas post that comes to you 5 days late - or 360 days early - depends how you look at it. Before the next Christmas, let's settle a few things...

1. Where is Santa Claus the rest of the year? 
2. Who IS Santa?
3. Is Santa correctly spelled as S-a-t-a-n?

These questions beg being answered. So let me give my two cents here!

1. Where is Santa Claus the rest of the year?
   
   He is hidden from view except during the Christmas season. He is a spirit, a movement. A counterfeit for Jesus Christ. While it may or may not be a sin to accept goodies from him (ask Jesus about it), keep in mind that he is not the Provider. All he can do is get a human to don his attire and spring sweets and toys from his bag and give a few light moments to his audience. He cannot save a dying man or restore marriages or finances. He certainly cannot give you a glimpse of what to expect the other side of life - more life...or agony...or cessation of existence (also called Nirvana). So if you do not see him the rest of the year, do not be surprised. He did not say in the Bible, that "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Jesus did. So expect only Jesus to be with you 24 x 7 x 52.
   
   
2. Who IS Santa?
   
   Legend has it that he was a European saint called Nicolas. Saint Nicolas became Santa Claus over time. He loved kids and would give gifts to children. I just hope he taught those kids about the giver of every good gift and every perfect gift - the Father of lights, God Himself. But it's amazing how this concept was preserved for so many centuries. I think there is a malevolent spiritual force behind the Santa Claus movement. If the saint is in Heaven, he must be feeling sorry he ever gave gifts to kid (thank God there is no sorry feeling in Heaven - but only clear knowledge of one's works)!
   
   
3. Is Santa correctly spelled as S-a-t-a-n?
   
   Not the original one. But Satan has definitely hijacked Christmas and taken focus away from Jesus Christ to someone who looks like a poor caricature of Jesus. Jesus does not dance and roar with laughter - at least not on Earth. But Santa Claus makes all the right marketing moves. Santa is for the Happy Holidays culture. Jesus is for the Merry Christmas culture. 

So what should you do?

Get the real deal. What's more important - getting a big bar of chocolate or a close friend in who will stand by you in life'a thick and thin? You decide. You decide if you want to follow the one who put on a red robe - or the one who created a red robe for himself, shedding blood and being covered with it until every sin of yours was paid for in full. If you feel Jesus deserves your attention more than Santa, head over to this post and do yourself a favour.

Getting People Saved Through Altar Calls

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 

- Romans 10:13,14 (ESV)

• Does your church believe in giving altar calls? 
• Does your pastor ask unsaved people to repeat the sinner's prayer after him?
• What background does he give before asking them to pray the sinner's prayer?
• Does he talk about heaven and hell or does he just say something that gives a peaceful feeling that "Thank God, God loves me"?

Well, not everyone who prays the sinner's prayer might be saved. God knows if they really meant it, or whether they know the basis of such a prayer. The Bible says, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." It does not say that all those who pray the sinner's prayer shall be saved. It says that you must do at least 4 main things to get saved from hell:

1. Repent of your sins
2. Believe that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son and he incarnated as a human being
3. He died (to bear the penalty of your sins and pay the price for your forgiveness)
4. He rose back to life (to give you eternal life in heaven)

The Bible expresses and/or implies these points. But besides these, there are some finer nuances as well, like believing that you cannot save yourself, accepting him as your exclusive Saviour, etc.

I read an amazing article this morning on How to Botch an Altar Call. It is up on the Way of the Master site - a website of Living Waters ministry by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. If you are a Christian, you must read that article without fail. It not just has satire in it, but it also educates you on what all must go into an altar call for it to be effective. 

And as for leading people to Christ through prayer, the Sinner's Prayer on this blog should be adequate. If not, please let me know in the comments below how I can improve it. But first, head over to learn how to botch an altar call!

Magnetic Power of a god called Television

Since the last few days, we do not have cable TV at home, because the service provider has stopped broadcasting to our building. They used our electricity for free for 20 years. Now when we are asking them to pay up, they cut off our cable TV connection. What peace rules our home these days!

Generally speaking, I only look at TV - others watch it :) But have you observed that the moment you turn on the television, all of a sudden, everyone's attention shifts to that magnetic box? People are glued to their seats and watch with rapt attention as if swami-ji (colloquial for a religious guru) is delivering an important spiritual discourse! I have even caught people (and myself too, I must confess) staring at the TV even when there is a blackout - an interruption in the broadcast - or when the channels are not loading and the screen is blue. Such is the magnetic power of television - if you give it power.

When that happens, it might just be that the TV has become your idol - your god that is not a god. TV is just one example. Some other things that could have become your god, are mobile phones, tabs, computers, cars, bikes, food, work (Oh yes), tobacco, cigarettes, alcohol, the ideal body figure or target weight... Here are some indicators to help you decide if something is on its way to becoming your idol/god:

• Do you look at it (e.g. a mobile screen) more than you look at your spouse, or baby's frolicking face?
• If a Bible were lying next to it, what would you pick up - that thing or the Bible?
• Do you feel compelled to use that thing more, even though you know you used it enough and any more is just a waste of time?
• Do you constantly think about it when not at work?
• Do you feel lukewarm towards the things of God?

If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, it is likely that you are giving the TV or whatever it is, the status of a god or idol. Television, food, gadgets...these are just tools. They are just a means to achieving an end, not an end in themselves. And they can benefit you only if consumed in line with the Word of God, not instead of the Word of God. Maybe I am preaching this to myself too as I write. Let us all recognize that the world as such has nothing to offer to us. Like an uncle of mine once said, "The world is bankrupt." Better to realize now and give it only so much attention as it deserves, and not a bit more. Let us give God the place He deserves in our lives and show tools the place they have in our lives.

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." 

- Matthew 6:24 (NASB)

Why Your Mind Deserves to Be Renewed

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - Romans 12:2

When we are born again, our spirit receives an overhaul just like a car does. It’s the same body, but the engine is cleansed thoroughly by the blood of Jesus Christ and we are created anew. And all things of the spirit are from God. When it comes to the body, every cell in the body (except brain cells and some other cells), is replaced by a new cell at least once in 7 years. So, every 7 years, even unsaved people have new bodies. Then what is it that does not change upon salvation? It’s our soul – or mind. That is why the Bible asks us to proactively renew our mind. And what will we renew it to? To the Word of God – the Bible. That is the equivalent of regular maintenance of your car – servicing, refuelling, keeping it running to prevent it from getting rusty or cold.

So let us give our car the maintenance it needs and deserves. Our mind needs and deserves good maintenance because the one who lives in us is perfect. If a guest visited your home, you would treat him like a king. But what if a king made your home his abode? Will you treat him like you treat your family members (!!)? Or will you treat him like who he is and also begin treating your family members like they are kings too? Truly I say to you – if you are born again, then your family is a partaker of the promises of Acts 16:31 and the subsequent verses, and also other verses with promises. So you and they are kings.

Let's treat our minds with the tonic of God’s Word – the Bible. I know it's easy to teach or preach but challenging to live it out. God will help us. As we live out the command of God, we will have truly honoured the one who lives in us – Jesus the Christ – King of kings and Lord of lords. Say Amen to that!