What to do with Santa?

As a Pastor, every Christmas I'm asked the same question by at least one person..."what about Santa?" It's already happened this year! I was thinking about writing an email giving my personal thoughts but never got around to it. What sparked me today was the new Western Recorder (our state Baptist Paper) that came out. In it was a very interesting article entitled "The real Santa Claus is worth remembering"

The article can be found here

http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=36780


Ultimately you need to let the Spirit guide your conscience in your decision about Santa, but remember we are "not under the law but under grace" (Romans 6:14-15). I would challenge you to at least teach your kids about the real Santa this year. What most people do not know is the fact that Jolly Old Saint Nick, was actually a real historical person. On top of that he was a real historical person who LOVED JESUS!

If you read the article above you will discover that Nick was a passionate man of God who was a Pastor. That's right, Santa Claus was a Pastor! St. Nick actually saved young women from a life of prostitution by paying their wedding dowries, he defended the Orthodox view of Jesus Christ as God, and he faithfully preached God's word and lead churches.

The mythology of Santa Claus stems from the real man St. Nick. It is no coincidence that Nick gets associated with Christmas, due to his passionate belief in the "incarnation" (God becoming man) and his giving of gifts to help the poor and broken. Regardless of how you handle "Santa" in your home, I encourage you tell your children of Santa's origins as a passionate preacher of God's Word who loved Jesus and gave gifts to help people. By doing so, Santa takes his rightful place at Christmas.....a man who honors the Christ child.


Another great article (highly recommended) is this one entitled "What we tell our kids about Santa":

http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mark_driscoll/2010/12/what_we_tell_our_kids_about_santa.html

I hope these articles are helpful to you, as they are to me. What a comforting thought that Jolly Old Saint Nick was a passionate Man of God!

Merry Christmas

Bro. Kenny

In the Name of Jesus

Tonight I had the privilege of sending off one of our church members on the Emmaus walk with two other church members. The walk is such a tremendous experience for those who participate as they grow closer to God

After returning home and spending some quality time with my family, my little girl was put to bed and Taran fell asleep on the couch. I took this moment of quietness in the house to read a small book from my library entitled "in the name of Jesus" by Henri Nouwen.

You should check it out especially of you find yourself in Christian leadership. It challenges the believer to fight the temptation of pursuing a ministry that is about trends and popularity, and to seek a ministry of contemplative prayer, and the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

What makes this book very intriguing is the fact that it's written by a man, who by many would be considered successful in ministry and education, who left the lime light to minister to the mentality disabled. His cause for leaving the intellectuals and the prestigious roles? Burn out.

Instead he finds fulfilling and real ministry amongst those who many, especially after teaching in a seminary, would never go to. Check this book out. You can read it in one sitting. It's wonderful.

Race Day

Not posted in a while, but thought I would post today. We had "RACE DAY" at our church today, Living Faith. It was a race car themed day (with several race cars on site). We began a new sermon series entitled "LIFE IS A RACE, RUN IT". We will be preaching on several passages where we are encouraged to "Run the Race" for the next few weeks.The video below was the preface to the sermon today. Needless to say, the part you don't see on the video is me riding into the sanctuary to deliver a plan of salvation. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mliCGGuTPQ

New Post and Domain Renewal

Blogging. Not very good at it. Nevertheless, I have renewed my domain subscription for kennyrager.com, was it worth the cash? You let me know...does anyone follow my blog?

Gearing up for new Summer Small Group Semesters

As you can read from my last post (which was a while ago), we completed our first semester of small groups at Living Faith. We are gearing up for a "micro-term", of six weeks, starting next Sunday. All groups will be reading the book "FOUND: God's Will" by John MacArthur. I will also be preaching a sermon series based on the book itself. I'm very excited for the next semester. God really used the last one to shape and transform lives.

For my church leader buddies, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas's book "Activate". This method of small groups is very successful and is structured for life-change.

First Small Group Semester a Success!

Living Faith is nearing the end of her first small group semester of the year. It was an amazing time. We had several groups and many people participated in it. My group studied "Chasing Daylight" by Erwin McManus. Chasing Daylight is a powerful book, and I highly recommend it.

Last night, we did an outdoor worship service while giving testimonies about the small groups that met. It seemed like every group had an awesome time.

If your church is curious about doing small groups, I recommend "Activate" by Nelson Searcy. We used his model of small groups and we really liked them. It's a semester based group with a beginning and ending date. Pick up his book.

Sermon Ilustrations

Found a great website for my preacher buddies who struggle for sermon illustrations.

http://www.crosswalk.com/pastors/illustrations/

This site has a wonderful selection of illustrations. I find it very useful in my ministry.