Have a good ------mas everyone

[Captain Tohmahawk]

Usually, I'll post something Christmas and Jesus. Something nice and deep that states my views and the views of a lot of other people whom come here.

But this year..... All I can really think of is the above thread title and a question.

What's missing?

Well it's the reason for this time of year. And to me, the world needs Christ more than ever. We need to realise there is something more and when we hurt and suffer, there was one whom suffered as well. He died on the Cross, so He knows our pains. Maybe he knows them better than we do.

Well, its the end of the year and all I can say is that this year sucked. I'm glad it's over. Spiritally for me it's been a dry one, empty, barren. Things have just not worked. I guess tho I can say I'm one of the ones whom can sit down this year at Christmas, lookand se I have my wife. Maybe I'm broke and not feeling good about myself, but I have a job, unlike others whom lost theirs this year. My prayer goes to you that you'll be able to find work soon.

I also can say I'm alive. It was bought home to the world evil exists and it is capable of acts beyond our imagination.

I can worship with out persecution. There are Christians being killed for their faith in Indonesia as I write this.

I have food.

I am warm.

Fact is, we all shoudl look at ourselves. No matter how "bad" it seems, we shold refocus and realise just how blessed we really are.


And I look at this and realise how pathetic the words really are because Jesus had none of those when He was born.

May the Lord find your heart this Christmas, God Bless you all.



Mark

[Jubei SaDherat Vader]

For me as well, its been a trying and tumultuous year. I watched my grandmother die, I'm watching my family now tear itself apart in the aftermath. I have disappointed those who look up to me the most, and found that even in failure, they can forgive me. I've felt so much pain, cried so many tears, but I've also found whats really important. I've found the love of friends, the love of family, and the love of that other one. I've stayed adamant to my belief and faith in God and Christ, despite occasionally stumbling. I'm making old habits die, however hard they are to kill. I'm trying to rebuild a new me...a me that my friends, family, and God can be proud of.

So yeah, this year has been rough, tough, and hard. But do I think Christ is missing from Christmas? Christ might be present in His holiday this year more than in the past 25 years combined.

[Shade Magus]

Amen to every word that was said.

[Morgan Evanar]

I won't go into religious debate. Personally, I decided long ago not to subscribe to something that has, with a bit of twisting, has gotten millions killed.

I let the trial subscription run out on all of em.

Anyway. Family and friends are the important people.

The world has had a bit of a rough year, and hopefully the next one will be a little less turbulent.

Good luck peoples.

[Lady DeVille]

I miss Christmas.

Working in retail, its easy to be caught up in the commercialism of it. I've listened to 8 1/2 hours of Christmas music, five days a week since two days before Thanksgiving. Let me tell you, I am *sick* of Christmas right now.

But on the other hand, I miss it. I miss the anticipation I experienced as a child. I miss jumping in my parents' bed with my brothers and sisters trying to get Dad up faster. Of course, we'd all snuggle in and Dad would read the Christmas story to us before we were loosed on the tree.

The Christmas story, that is what Christmas is all about. The angels said to the shepherds, "Unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." A Savior! He is to be called Immanuel, which means God With Us.

Christmas morning means so many things to many people, but I pray that this Christmas the true meaning will be brought home to people who have never realized it before. God loves you. He loves you so much He sent His ONLY Son to earth, to become less than what He is, to pay our debts and set us free.

The babe in the manger is so much more than a promised child. He is the promised Savior. The Lord. When we say "the Lord" that excludes all others. When I say "Jesus is Lord" that means that *I* cannot be lord. Money cannot be lord. Britteny Spears is not lord. Michael Jordan is not lord.

Jesus is Lord.

Thank God for His wonderful grace. It is so simple it can be accepted by a child, and yet is a stumbling block to the "intellectual." And to you intellectuals and philosophers out there who may scoff, you may be interested in checkin out a book called Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, a fellow philosopher and fromer agnostic.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Year. God bless us all, no matter where we live.