At Christmas, it's always hard for Christian parents to decide how they will handle the "Santa Claus" story and still honor Christ.  After reading this article by Pastor Mark Driscoll, I thought I would share it because it's exactly how Natalie and I have handled it in our home with Dwight.  I hope you will decide, as a parent, to redeem Santa this year too!

What We Tell Our Kids about Santa

by: Pastor Mark Driscoll on Dec 22, 2011 in Current Events, Parenting

'Tis the season … for parents to decide if they will tell their kids the truth about Santa Claus.

When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: 1) we can reject it, 2) we can receive it, or 3) we can redeem it.

Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don't feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.

Redeeming Santa

So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.

We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave us can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children.

While Being Truthful

What we are concerned about, though, is lying to our children. We teach them that they can always trust us because we will tell them the truth and not lie to them. Conversely, we ask that they be honest with us and never lie. Since we also teach our children that Jesus is a real person who did perform real miracles, our fear is that if we teach them fanciful, make-believe stories as truth, it could erode confidence in our truthfulness where it really matters.

So, we distinguish between lies, secrets, surprises, and pretend for our kids. We ask them not to tell lies or keep secrets, but do teach them that some surprises (like gift-giving) and pretending (like dressing up) can be fun and should be encouraged. We tell them the truth and encourage them to have fun watching Christmas shows on television and even sitting on Santa's lap for a holiday photo if they so desire. For parents of younger children wanting them to learn the real story of Santa Claus the Veggie Tales movie Saint Nicholas is a good choice.

This post is excerpted from an article originally published in the Washington Post’s On Faith blog.  For more on the historical Saint Nicholas, read yesterday’s post “Who Was Saint Nicholas?”

Bridges of Hope Fellowship Year End Update

Dear Partners and Co-laborers in the Harvest,

This year has been exciting at Bridges of Hope Fellowship!  Not without its ups and downs, of course.  In an effort to share God’s abundant blessings, I am going to highlight the events of the year, as to save on time.

·         Over 65 professions of faith (salvations)

·         Over half of those professions being followed up with baptism

·         Revamped our Student Ministry with us averaging 23 teens every Wednesday night

·         Conducted 4 different mission trips, in state and out of state

·         Conducted lots of Servant Evangelism throughout our city

·         Partnered to help plant several new church plants this year

·         Was blessed with a new $3000 portable baptistry, trimmed in oak and stained to match our worship center furniture.

·         Was blessed with a new pulpit that was built by one of our members

·         Celebrated 5 years of ministry in October

·         Added new staff members: Rick Dixon as our Student Pastor, and Kathy Austin as our Ministry Assistant

These are just the highlights of how God has blessed us at Bridges of Hope this year.  Praise God for His bountiful blessings as we build bridges of HOPE to people and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Christ!  The neat part…God used you to help make it all possible.  Through your financial gifts, prayers, and volunteerism, many lives have been changed for the kingdom and the glory of God.  THANK YOU!

As you pray about making your year-end gifts, I would ask that you keep us in mind to continue to help us change the lives of those around the world.  You gifts of any size, make it possible for us to have the impact that we are having in Warren County, Tennessee and around the globe.  You can give your gifts online at www.GetHope.info or by mailing them to: BOHF, 4023 Smithville Hwy., McMinnville, TN, 37110.  Your prayers and gifts are greatly appreciated and needed.

We are looking forward to seeing God move in BIGGER and GREATER ways in 2012 as we prepare to take our congregation…BEYOND THE WALLS!  We are trusting God for greater influence around the world as we take the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the unchurched and unreached people of the world.  We need your help to accomplish this!  We are also working now on planting a new church in McMinnville in 2012: COWBOY CHURCH OF WARREN COUNTY.  All I can say is, get ready for the great things that God is about to do in and through the people at Bridges of Hope.

May you and your family be blessed during the Christmas season with the peace that only Christ brings.  May you experience the blessings of family, friends, and church family as you worship the Christ Child together.  From all of us at Bridges of Hope Fellowship…MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Passionately Serving,

Pastor DeWayne Howard

Bridges of Hope Fellowship
McMinnville, Tennessee
www.GetHope.info

BIG Sunday...Again!

All of us at some point or another have had those days where we had lots of BIG things happen all at once.  It was a great feeling of encouragement and just the boost we needed to propel us forward to the future.

Every once in a while, God gives us a Sunday at Bridges of Hope Fellowship where lots of BIG things are happening in the lives of our people and the life of our church.  I am so thankful for these times that God chooses to pour out His abundant blessings on us.  Some of these BIG things are simply answers to our prayers of persistence and perseverance, while others are simply the awesome favor of our great God.

This Sunday at Bridges of Hope Fellowship is one of those BIG days.  God is answering prayers that we have prayed for some 5 years now.  You don't want to miss the awesome things that are happening this Sunday.  It's going to change the whole landscape of our church in 2012.  There will be some BIG announcements and some BIG blessings to experience.

Also, this Sunday, I'll be continuing on in our new series: "Preparing for Christmas."  Last week, we talked about - Preparing for the Miraculous.  I truly believe that God has more in store for our lives than merely living to survive and get by.  In fact, God desires that we will live in the realm of the miraculous each and every day of our lives.  If you missed it, you can watch or listen to it at www.sermon.net/pastord

This Sunday, we'll be talking about - Preparing to Be God's Instrument.  God wants to use special instruments to accomplish the miraculous in the lives of men.  He wants to use you and me!  I am so excited as we look at the example of how God used Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be an instrument to change the world.  Hope you will join us and see how God can use YOU this Christmas!

We have two opportunities for you to worship with us this Sunday.  If you are an early bird or work 3rd shift, you'll love the 8:30 a.m. service.  If you like to sleep in a little or just need time to wake up, then check out the 10:30 a.m. service.  (Childcare and Children's Worship is ONLY available at the 10:30 a.m. service.)

I am so looking forward to BIG Sunday!  Join me and let's worship together as we prepare for Christmas.  For directions or more information, visit www.GetHope.info