Christmas Story

Noise Makes News

Reverend William E. Flippin, Jr. | Posted 02.26.2012

Read More: Women in Luke, Messianic Promise, Virgin Mary, The Magnificat, Christmas Story, Christmas, Good News Christianity, Good News, Religion News
Reverend William E. Flippin, Jr.

If we are honest with ourselves, if given a choice between good news and bad news, we would want to hear the good news, but only if there is bad news to go with it.

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'A Winter Wish' To Warm Your Heart

Kia Makarechi | Posted 12.25.2011

Read More: Christmas Fiction, Alex Jeffries, Winter Wish, Christmas Story, Glory Gale, Alex Michael Jeffries, Christmas Poem, Arts News

Los Angeles-based writer and baker Alex Jeffries has always had a winter chip on his shoulder. "I grew up in a place where it doesn't really snow,...

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Demolishing A Christmas Fixation

Charles Redfern | Posted 02.23.2012

Read More: Christmas Traditions, Mary, Baby Jesus, Christmas 2011, Christmas, Christmas Story, Religion News
Charles Redfern

My thoughts turn to God, who chose to live as a human being, beginning as a baby. God did not merely appear human or become similar to a human. God was human, stripped of divinity's power.

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The Zen Of Christmas

Mary Anne Mercer | Posted 02.22.2012

Read More: Religion, World Religions, The Golden Rule, Christmas, Christmas Story, Religious Tolerance, Religion News
Mary Anne Mercer

Christmas is indeed special -- for Christians, a celebration of the earthly birth of the Son of their God, the Christ child.

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The Absurdity Of Christmas

David Lose | Posted 02.21.2012

Read More: Gospel of Matthew, Atheism, W.H. Auden, Christmas, Christmas Story, Christina Rosetti, Gospel of Luke, Tertullian, Marcion, Origins of Christmas, Atheist-Christmas-Billboard, Birth of Jesus, Christianity, Atheist Billboard, Religion News
David Lose

I've been struck by the ads and billboards atheists have purchased this year suggesting that Christmas is a myth. Struck. Not offended or angered. Just struck. And they may be right.

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PHOTOS: We Wish You A Scary Christmas, 'A Christmas Carol' Revamped

Posted 12.21.2011

Read More: Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Holiday Art, Christmas Story, Charles Dickens, Jesse Kornbluth, A Christmas Carol, Christmas Tradition, Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge, Paige Peterson, Arts News

At some point in its history, Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' stopped being just a book and became a Christmas experience, a force of its own, br...

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The Very Pregnant Mary And Joseph Have A Chat

John Shore | Posted 02.19.2012

Read More: Mary and Joseph, Virgin Birth, Christianity, Christmas Eve, Christmas, Mother Mary, Origins of Christmas, Christmas Story, Christmas Reflection, Christmas 2011, Religion News
John Shore

He told me not to be afraid, that I had found favor with God. "You will be with child," it said, "and give birth to a son. And you are to give him the name Jesus."

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The Real Christmas Story

Rev. Jesse Jackson | Posted 02.19.2012

Read More: Unemployment, War in Iraq, Barack Obama, Occupy Wall Street, Christmas, Occupy Faith, Christmas Story, Christianity, Birth of Jesus, War on Christmas, Religion News
Rev. Jesse Jackson

This Christmas, let everyone take a moment for the real story. Let us take stock of how we treat the young in the dawn of life, the poor in the pit of life, the elderly in the dusk of life.

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The Origins Of Christmas

Jeffrey Small | Posted 02.14.2012

Read More: Christmas, Richard Dawkins, Jesus, Christmas Trees, Gospels, History of Christmas, Origin of Christmas, Christmas Story, Religion News
Jeffrey Small

What is more important to me than the mechanics of Jesus' birth is that he was an historical figure who came to be viewed as "the Christ," the Messiah.

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The Real "War on Christmas"

Chris Weigant | Posted 02.13.2012

Read More: Jethro Tull, Church, Maypole, Puritans, War on Christmas, Christmas, Massachusetts, Mencken, Jeff Schweitzer, Drunk Driving, Colony, Thomas Morton, Christmas Story, Chris Weigant, Miles Standish, Christian, Catholic, Merrymount, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Just because the modern "War on Christmas" may not exist does not mean such a war never existed in America. The subject of Christmas was indeed at the heart of a previous bitter political dispute, but you've got to go pretty far back to find it. All the way back to the Puritans.

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How Would You Sing 'You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!'?

AP | By MARK KENNEDY | Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: Theater, A Christmas Story Musical, A Christmas Story Film, A Christmas Story Theater, A Christmas Story, Christmas Story Musical, Christmas Story, The Christmas Story, A Christmas Story the Musical, Culture News

NEW YORK -- This Christmas, Ralphie can skip the air rifle and poke his eye out with jazz hands. A musical stage version of the classic film "A Chris...

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Epiphany: Light In The Darkness

Rev. Anne Howard | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Epiphany, DREAM Act, Day of the Three Kings, Epiphany Meditation, Christmas Story, El Dia De Los Tres Reyes, Christianity, King Herod, Feast of the Epiphany, Story of Jesus, Three Kings Day, Religion News
Rev. Anne Howard

To prepare for this festival for dreamers, I'm imagining those travelers who dared the darkness for the light of a star, and thinking of those other dreamers who have looked into the darkness, glimpsed the light and followed a star.

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After Christmas, How Is God With Us?

Carol Howard Merritt | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jesus, Joseph, Motherhood, 12 Days of Christmas, Mary, Mothers, Incarnation, Christmas, After Christmas, Christmas Story, Christianity, Religion News
Carol Howard Merritt

While Christians put decorations away, vacuum up the tinsel, and find places to put our new toys, I often wonder what it all means. After the pregnant longing, after the birth, how do we understand that God is with us?

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A New Year Invitation: Bring In 2011 With The Youth Of Afghanistan

Shane Claiborne | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Afghan Youth, Youth in Afghanistan, Gospel of Matthew, Feast of the Holy Innocents, Christmas Story, Holy Innocents, Herod and Jesus, Common Prayer, Dear Afghanistan, Children of Afghanistan, Friends Without Borders, Afghan Youth Voices of Peace, Religion News
Shane Claiborne

I can't imagine a better way of celebrating the original Christmas event, or a better way of kicking off a new year, than by allowing our genuine and well-warranted joy to be interrupted by the suffering of our world, even for a moment.

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Newborn God: A Christmas Meditation On The Birth of Jesus

Rev. James Martin, S.J. | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Christmas Meditation, Christmas Season, Gospel of Matthew, Virgin Mary, Christmas Story, Christmas Vigil Mass, Christmas 2010, Mary and Joseph, Nativity of Jesus, Birth of Jesus, Rev. James Martin, The Nativity Story, Birth of Christ, Baby Jesus, Religion News
Rev. James Martin, S.J.

How overwhelming the first Christmas must have been for Mary and Joseph. Few things can provoke such intense worry as a newborn child. But few things promise such unreasonable hope, such unexpected change and such unbounded joy.

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Christmas Tales:

Flavorwire | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Christmas Book, Holiday Stories, Holiday Tales, Christmas Tales, Christmas Story, Holiday Books, Christmas, Books News

We're all familiar with classic Christmas tales of outcast mutant reindeer, hallucinating old men, and thieving green goblin cartoons, but there are p...

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The Deep Truth of the Christmas Story

Rev. Anne Howard | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Christianity, Gospel of Luke, Christmas Story, Star of Bethlehem, Meaning of Christmas, Christmas, Religion News
Rev. Anne Howard

The truth of Luke's story is that it is still being told in the events of our day, in the events of our headlines and the secrets of our hearts.

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WATCH: Nativity Story Retold Through Social Media

The Huffington Post | Catharine Smith | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Digital Nativity, Video, Nativity, Digital Nativity Story, Nativity Story, Christmas Story, Christmas, Technology News

A festive video called "The Digital Story of the Nativity" tells the tale of the first Christmas as it might be told today--through the eyes of social...

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The True Meaning of Christmas 2010

Mark Chironna | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Christianity, God, Jesus Christ, Christmas, Three Wise Men, Christmas Story, Gospels, Meaning of Christmas, Religion News
Mark Chironna

In a culture that has been termed not merely post-modern, but also "post-Christian", it might seem as though there are no claims left to make regarding the true meaning of Christmas.

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Christmas Carol

Jesse Kornbluth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Christmas Carol Updated, Christmas Story, Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens Christmas Carol, New Christmas Carol, Jesse Kornbluth a Christmas Carol, Kornbluth Christmas Carol, Books News
Jesse Kornbluth

Scrooge's snoring woke him. He immediately looked round the bed --- he didn't want to be taken by surprise. And he wondered: What curtain would this new ghost draw back?

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Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol

Jesse Kornbluth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Christmas Carol Updated, Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens Christmas Carol, Christmas Story, New Christmas Carol, Jesse Kornbluth a Christmas Carol, Kornbluth Christmas Carol, Books News
Jesse Kornbluth

Like the Paige Peterson illustrations that accompany it, it means to convey the feeling of 19th century London in 1843, but without the formal diction and Victorian heaviness

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The Meaning Of Christmas

Frank Schaeffer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religion, Christianity, Love, Faith, Redemption, Christmas, Boarding School Story, Christmas Story, Meaning of Christmas, Religion News
Frank Schaeffer

Here is a story of what Christmas is, or should be. It is also what religion is, or should be about.

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Why The Birthplace Of Jesus Matters

Matt J. Rossano | Posted 05.26.2011

Read More: Bethlehem, Jesus Birth, Birth Narratives, Gospel of Luke, Historical Jesus, Christmas Story, Gospels, Christmas, Gospel of Matthew, Religion News
Matt J. Rossano

While theories vary on who the "historical" Jesus really was, there's general agreement that Jesus was not born in Bethlehem. So why was it so important for the gospel writers to claim Bethlehem as Jesus' birthplace?

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The Point Of Christmas Pageants

Rick Hamlin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Stacy Schiff, Christmas, Origins of Christmas, Christmas Pageant, Christmas Story, Christianity, Christmas Myth, Birth of Jesus, Three Wise Men, Religion News
Rick Hamlin

The Christmas story has what all great stories must have: the characters become changed, the shepherds leave their flock, the wise men follow a star, a young father trusts a dream and a girl becomes the mother of God.

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Dueling Billboards And The Myths of Christmas

Kenneth C. Davis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Christmas Billboards, War on Christmas, Christmas Origins, Saturnalia, Christmas Myth, Winter Solstice, History of Christmas, Feast of Annunciation, Birth of Jesus, Christmas Story, Birth of Christ, Religion News
Kenneth C. Davis

The importance of the winter solstice is crucial to understanding not only the date of Christmas but many of the other "myths" of this season.

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