A-Z of Christianity 'G'

Being Christmas, it is the time of year where the Christmas tunes come out. I am a big fan of Christmas music and to much people's disdain could listen to it at anytime of the year. Whilst playing on the Xbox with my brother the other day we had some music shuffling on iTunes and my brother gave me a massive look when Cliff Richard's 'Mistletoe and Wine' came on.

I quite like the song although it isn't my favourite ever Christmas song ('Merry Christmas Everybody' by Slade) but contains the following lyrics:-

Its a time for giving, a time for getting,
A time for forgiving and for forgetting.
Christmas is love, Christmas is peace,
A time for hating and fighting to cease.

This is what Christmas is all about and also the main message of Christianity - God's GRACE!

Our relationships with God are strained because of sin. Imagine the problems adultery gives a married couple then times them by a trillion (because we have sinned an awful lot!) and you have the issue between us and God. Our sin keeps us apart from God and from knowing Him. God has every right to punish us but decided to give us a chance, and that chance was Christ.

The coming of Christ was the beginning of God's GIFT to us unfolding in Salvation from the weight of our sin by Jesus taking the punishment for us. Dying through crucifixion was not fun, it was probably the most painful death ever invented and Jesus knew that as He carried his cross, carried it for us.

Unlike the trust and forgiveness issues a married couple would naturally have in adultery situations, when we ask for forgiveness God is so mighty, loving and Graceful and Christ's sacrifice is so great that we are forgiven straight away.

By the time I was 17 I was losing my passion and excitement for Christmas but coming to know God and thus coming to know the wonderful meaning and incredible news behind it means I will never come close to losing it again! I simply love Christmas, it is wonderful to give and receive gifts, to share fun and memories with close ones and to eat lots of food. But none of that means anything to me without knowing that Christ gave His life in the most horrible way so that I, that we, could be clean before God and know Him once again.

So this Christmas remember how God gave, how God forgives, how God loved and how God decided to end the war between us and sin. Listen to a bit of Cliff if it helps!!

What Christmas is really about!

Christmas might be at the end of the year when the nights are dark, the X Factor winner is announced, there are parties for this, that and everything under the sun. Christmas actually celebrates a beginning as well as an end.

The first Christmas was the fulfilment of a promise made to Israel by God that a Messiah would come to save them.

But it was also the beginning of a perfect life of healing, wisdom, love and ultimate self sacrifice.

Christmas - A Saviour has come!

Easter - 'It is Finished'

Let us not forget that this Christmas!

Picture of the Day Christmas Special!

This a picture of me and my family at the restaurant we went too on Christmas Eve. We had a fantastic Christmas in Hungerford, where my Uncle & Auntie live.

A few thank you's:-

Thank you for Grandad for paying for a lovely meal!

Thank you to my parents Santa for all the fab presents!

Thank you to my Uncle & Auntie for having us!

Thank you to my brother Joel & my cousin Andrew for all the fun we had, I will fondly remember the MarioKart marathon!

Thank you to God for giving us your Son and Salvation through Him meaning we have a reason to truly celebrate! He is the Reason for the Season!

Hope you all had a wonderful CHRISTmas!

Christmas Night

Tonight I participated in a Christmas carol service at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel. Our Church was tasked with singing 13 Christmas carols and performing several other items in front of the people at a Christmas Fayre the Hotel was holding. It was a lovely night and everyone sung really well and the items were fantastic.

One of the items was a reading of a short story by Max Lucado called 'Christmas Night' and I loved it so much I wanted to share it with you all :)

It’s Christmas night. The house is quiet. Even the crackle is gone from the fireplace. Warm coals issue a lighthouse glow in the darkened den. Stockings hang empty on the mantle. The tree stands naked in the corner. Christmas cards, tinsel, and memories remind Christmas night of Christmas day.


It’s Christmas night. What a day it has been! Spiced tea. Santa Claus. Cranberry sauce. “Thank you, so much.” “You shouldn’t have!” “Grandma is on the phone.” Knee-deep wrapping paper. “It just fits.” Flashing cameras. It’s Christmas night. The girls are in bed. Jenna dreams of her talking Big Bird and clutches her new purse. Andrea sleeps in her new Santa pajamas.


It’s Christmas night. The tree that only yesterday grew from soil made of gifts, again grows from the Christmas tree stand. Presents are now possessions. Wrapping paper is bagged and in the dumpsite. The dishes are washed and leftover turkey awaits next week’s sandwiches.


It’s Christmas night. The last of the carolers appeared on the ten o’clock news. The last of the apple pie was eaten by my brother-in-law. And the last of the Christmas albums have been stored away having dutifully performed their annual rendition of chestnuts, white Christmases, and red-nosed reindeer.


It’s Christmas night. The midnight hour has chimed and I should be asleep, but I’m awake. I’m kept awake by one stunning thought. The world was different this week. It was temporarily transformed. The magical dust of Christmas glittered on the cheeks of humanity ever so briefly, reminding us of what is worth having and what we were intended to be. We forgot our compulsion with winning, wooing, and warring. We put away our ladders and ledgers, we hung up our stop watches and weapons. We stepped off our racetracks and roller coasters and looked outward toward the star of Bethlehem.


It’s the season to be jolly because, more than at any other time, we think of him. More than in any other season, his name is on our lips. And the result? For a few precious hours our heavenly yearnings intermesh and we become a chorus. A ragtag chorus of longshoremen, Boston lawyers, illegal immigrants, housewives, and a thousand other peculiar persons who are banking that Bethlehem’s mystery is in reality, a reality. “Come and behold him” we sing, stirring even the sleepiest of shepherds and pointing them toward the Christ-child.
For a few precious hours, he is beheld. Christ the Lord. Those who pass the year without seeing him, suddenly see him. People who have been accustomed to using his name in vain, pause to use it in praise. Eyes, now free of the blinders of self, marvel at his majesty. All of a sudden he’s everywhere. In the grin of the policeman as he drives his paddy wagon full of presents to the orphanage.
In the twinkle in the eyes of the Taiwanese waiter as he tells of his upcoming Christmas trip to see his children. In the emotion of the father who is too thankful to finish the dinner table prayer. He’s in the tears of the mother as she welcomes home her son from overseas. He’s in the heart of the man who spent Christmas morning on skid row giving away cold baloney sandwiches and warm wishes. And he’s in the solemn silence of the crowd of shopping mall shoppers as the elementary school chorus sings “Away in a Manger.” Emmanuel. He is with us. God came near.


It’s Christmas night. In a few hours the cleanup will begin — lights will come down, trees will be thrown out. Size 36 will be exchanged for size 40, eggnog will be on sale for half-price. Soon life will be normal again. December’s generosity will become January’s payments and the magic will begin to fade. But for the moment, the magic is still in the air. Maybe that’s why I’m still awake. I want to savor the spirit just a bit more. I want to pray that those who beheld him today will look for him next August. And I can’t help but linger on one fanciful thought: if he can do so much with such timid prayers lamely offered in December, how much more could he do if we thought of him every day?


Max Lucado