Various

We have been packing up boxes in preparation to move to our new place. We have had volunteers of help from church--so gracious--and last week they helped move a bunch of furniture over. The new place has a large fenced-in garden that will be my mom's delight, but also a place for my sister and me to invest in and learn from...and perhaps I'll get to grow some butternut squash or something equally delightful. I have never done much gardening at all, but I think I will enjoy it once I get into the swing of things.

We know some people who are putting together a movie about Christian manhood, vengeance, and other themes. They hope to raise enough money to help with all the technical details before January 1. What is this movie? Jimmy Valiant: Scions of Danger. If you can spare even a dollar to give them, I'm sure they would appreciate it. Click here if you want to pledge your support.

Winter time is here, but in Texas there is hardly ever any snow. Soon "Christmas" will be here. Yet in our house there will be no gifts to wrap, no tree to decorate. Why? Well, for one, Jesus was not likely born in the winter. Then, the Bible says specifically to remember His death, though we are to remember His miraculous birth, as well. But most of all, I think my concern is the pagan origins of the holiday. Can something pagan be sanctified by Christians? Perhaps, but not if all the same elements are left in, such as Christmas trees and Santa Claus. The ties to the original meanings are too strong. Yet I struggle, because I like the look of twinkling lights and decorated trees, and in and of themselves I don't believe they are wrong. But on the same day as a pagan holiday first took place, and syncretized with Christian beliefs (first by Catholics, I think)....Can God be pleased with this? One may say the heart is the most important, and it is, but God always had His special ways of doing things, and was angry if it was not done in just the right way, and if holy was mixed with profane.

Anyway, for us, this holiday has always been off limits, and I think that is how it will stay for me. Let us rejoice daily that Jesus came, was born sinless, and died the spotless Lamb of God for sinful wretches!

In a similar vein, I have been thinking about books and movies such as The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings. There are supposed to be Christian elements to them, and I can see them at least in TCON and have enjoyed the movies in part, but there are also pagan elements mixed in (such as fawns and other half-man half-animal beings). Is God pleased with this, even if I seem to get something good out of it? I have justified it, but seeing the correlation to Christmas has jarred my thoughts here....Does that mean I'll never, ever watch the movies? Not necessarily. I'm still mulling that one over.