Archive for December 2016

The Purpose of Christmas

THE WINNING SIDE
Published on December 24, 2016 By @kent_shot_it on ig
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What are you celebrating this Christmas?

 Many atimes we get too carried away with the hype surrounding Christmas that we forget exactly what we are celebrating, we forget the real reason for the season and it becomes an issue..

Christmas is a party. Specifically, it's a birthday party — for Jesus — and birthdays are meant to be celebrated. It's why we say "Merry Christmas!"

Ironically, at most Christmas parties the person whose birthday we're supposed to be celebrating is completely ignored. He's never even mentioned. Although Jesus is the reason for the season, he's often overlooked or merely mentioned along with Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, the Grinch, elves, and a long list of celebrated fictional characters.

As I was writing this little book, I decided to take a survey of Christmas shoppers. I asked, "What are you celebrating this Christmas?" Most answers had nothing to do with Jesus:

"I'm celebrating that I made it through another year."
"I'm celebrating being home with my family."
"I got a Christmas bonus."
"My son is home from abroad."
"The candidate I voted for got elected."
"I'm celebrating that I've finished all my shopping."
"I'm not celebrating anything. I'm just trying to survive."

Preparing for Christmas can be a lot of work, especially for moms. With the pressure of buying gifts, sending greeting cards, decorating our homes, putting up lights, cooking, attending parties, and cleaning up afterward, we have little time to actually enjoy the meaning of Christmas.

The first purpose of Christmas is celebration! We learn this from the angel's opening statement to the shepherds of Bethlehem. God had wonderful news for us that would cause us all to rejoice, celebrate, and throw a party: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2:10 (NIV)

The good news of Christmas is worth celebrating for three reasons. It is personal: "I bring YOU." It is positive: "GOOD news of great joy." And it is universal: "for ALL the people." It doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, where you've been, or where you're headed — this news is for you.

A national magazine used to carry a feature called "News You Can Use." I always read that section first. The angel brought us news we can use. It's the best news in the world:

God loves you!
God is with you!
God is for you!
Christmas is a time to celebrate that God loves you!

The most famous statement in the Bible is Jesus' explanation of why God sent him to earth: "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

The entire reason for Christmas is the love of God. God loves you so much that he came to earth as a human so you could get to know him and learn to trust him and love him back. Theologians call this the Incarnation. God became one of us, a human being, so we could understand what he is really like.

God has given us, as human beings, the capacity to know him in ways animals can't. He created us in his image, which includes the ability to enjoy a personal relationship with him. Then he took the initiative to send Jesus so we could understand his love and our need for him.

Of course, we know a little about God by simply observing his creation. For instance, by looking at nature we know that our Creator loves variety: he created an incredibly diverse universe. Think of the limitless array of plants, animals, rock formations, snowflakes, and people. No two human beings, even twins, are exactly alike. God doesn't make clones or copies. Every one of us is an original. After you were born, God broke the mold.

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DADDY AN IMPERSONATOR ON CHRISTMAS

OTHERS
Published on December 22, 2016 By @kent_shot_it on ig
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She has vowed to wait and meet Santa Claus this time – no going out, no sleeping, and no leaving the sitting room. Her dream must break forth into reality; she is tired of waiting. Since Odunwas two, she has been dreaming of meeting Santa Claus.

She has been awaiting the day she will look into Santa Claus's eyes to see the colour of his eyeballs. She wants to pass her fingers like a comb through his fluffy white beard. She also wants to put her ear on his stomach to know if there are coins jingling therein. Or maybe notes. She imagines he vomits money like an unbridled ATM for him to be able to purchase so manygifts that he distributes. She wants to feel the tenderness in his palms too.

She has waited for six years, but something always happened that would be the reason she could not see Santa Claus. Last year and the one before, she fell asleep. That was her parents' justification for her not seeing him. When she asked her parents why they did not wake her, they claimed Santa Claus restrained them, saying he does not like disturbing children sleeping on Christmas day. Why is Santa Claus avoiding me, she wonders.

Today, another Christmas day, she is determined to see Santa Claus. I must see him today, she keeps confessing to herself and anyone who cares to listen. After she had heard Aunty Ayo talking about a girl that was drugged and raped in a nightclub,Odun began to suspect her parents – she suspects they had given her sleeping pills last two Christmas. So, she has refused to eat or drink until she sees Santa Claus. This resolution has not just brought a great worry to her parents' faces and hearts,it has also brought their fingers to their hair, which they are giving a good scratch, thinking about how to resolve the issue on ground.

Odun sits on the gold-coloured settee, eyes glued to the TV, ears alert to any jingle from outside. Today na today, her parents rack their brain, wondering how to handle this starving, stubborn child of theirs. AndOdun is too innocent to pity them or understand their plight.
At about 11am, the Santa Claus she has been expecting appears. An average height clad in his Christmas attire with a bag of gifts appears at the doorpost. The only problem with this Santa Claus is that it has a chocolate-coloured skin unlike the ones she has been seeing in her storybooks and Christmas posters.

"Here comes your Santa Claus, sweetheart," her mum announces, bowing and pointing her two hands at him as if she wants to receive a gift from him.
"But why is he black, mum?"
"Oh, Santa Claus has the unique gift of a chameleon. That is, if he is in America, he is white; if he is in Africa, he is black; if he is in India, he is red. Like that, like that.  Am I right, Santa Claus?"
“Yes, ma’am,” Santa Claus bows as he replies her, still smiling like he does not know how to frown at all.
"Wow, that's amazing!" She runs towards the standing smiling Santa Claus, and gives him a big hug as if she wants to swallow him with her thin, tender hands.
"Welcome, my hero! At last, my dream has come true! I am now the happiest girl on earth!" She screams as she drags him to the settee. After sitting, Santa Claus brings out a gift and gives it to her.
"Merry Christmas, Odun." The words flow out of his mouth via the shiny canoe of the smile etched on his face.
"Thank you, Santa Claus, I love you! But how do you know my name?"
"Oh, your mum told me. She also told me you have refused to eat, and I would love you to eat now, and be a good girl. Do you understand?" He says, touching her cheeks.
"Now that I have seen you, I will eat. In fact, I can eat the whole food cooked by everyone celebrating Christmas today."
"Anyway, I have to leave now. I have other houses to go to." He says after glancing at the wall clock, ticking a few feet away, opposite them.
"Oh, not so fast! I have wanted to look into your eyes, touch your beard, put my ear on your stomach and give my hands to you so I can feel the tenderness in your palm. So can you please allow me to complete my dream?"
"No problem. You have sixty seconds, Odun."

She peeps into his eyes as if her eyes are a microscope searching for a tiny organism somewhere in the orbs of this Santa Claus.
"Your eyeballs have the same colour with those of my dad. And where is dad, mum?" She turns to face her mum, who has been struggling to stifle a sea of laughter surging in her.
"I think he must have gone out to get some Christmas decoration items. He will soon be back, sweetheart."

Odun then continues to fulfil her dream. She lifts her right hand until her palm touches Santa Claus's bushy cheeks. She feels as if she is waving her hand deep into the sky. She closes her eyes as she caresses his beard. Then somewhere deep inside of her, a naughty voice tells her to pull the beard to confirm how real her dream is. She grabs the beard firmly, and before Santa Claus can restrain her, she pulls the beard, and the beard obeys her gravitational pull. And the Santa Claus's face becomes that of her beloved father.
"Dad!?"


Her mum releases the laughter into the Christmas air. Her father becomes infected with the laughter flu, and his bass laughter creates a gentle vibration. Although, Odun seems surprised and annoyed, she cannot help it but to be infected with the laughter so thick in the air. She laughs too, louder than everyone does.

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PLEASE I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU

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Home Archives for December 2016

Saturday 24 December 2016

The Purpose of Christmas

Time
Tags


What are you celebrating this Christmas?

 Many atimes we get too carried away with the hype surrounding Christmas that we forget exactly what we are celebrating, we forget the real reason for the season and it becomes an issue..

Christmas is a party. Specifically, it's a birthday party — for Jesus — and birthdays are meant to be celebrated. It's why we say "Merry Christmas!"

Ironically, at most Christmas parties the person whose birthday we're supposed to be celebrating is completely ignored. He's never even mentioned. Although Jesus is the reason for the season, he's often overlooked or merely mentioned along with Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, the Grinch, elves, and a long list of celebrated fictional characters.

As I was writing this little book, I decided to take a survey of Christmas shoppers. I asked, "What are you celebrating this Christmas?" Most answers had nothing to do with Jesus:

"I'm celebrating that I made it through another year."
"I'm celebrating being home with my family."
"I got a Christmas bonus."
"My son is home from abroad."
"The candidate I voted for got elected."
"I'm celebrating that I've finished all my shopping."
"I'm not celebrating anything. I'm just trying to survive."

Preparing for Christmas can be a lot of work, especially for moms. With the pressure of buying gifts, sending greeting cards, decorating our homes, putting up lights, cooking, attending parties, and cleaning up afterward, we have little time to actually enjoy the meaning of Christmas.

The first purpose of Christmas is celebration! We learn this from the angel's opening statement to the shepherds of Bethlehem. God had wonderful news for us that would cause us all to rejoice, celebrate, and throw a party: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2:10 (NIV)

The good news of Christmas is worth celebrating for three reasons. It is personal: "I bring YOU." It is positive: "GOOD news of great joy." And it is universal: "for ALL the people." It doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, where you've been, or where you're headed — this news is for you.

A national magazine used to carry a feature called "News You Can Use." I always read that section first. The angel brought us news we can use. It's the best news in the world:

God loves you!
God is with you!
God is for you!
Christmas is a time to celebrate that God loves you!

The most famous statement in the Bible is Jesus' explanation of why God sent him to earth: "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

The entire reason for Christmas is the love of God. God loves you so much that he came to earth as a human so you could get to know him and learn to trust him and love him back. Theologians call this the Incarnation. God became one of us, a human being, so we could understand what he is really like.

God has given us, as human beings, the capacity to know him in ways animals can't. He created us in his image, which includes the ability to enjoy a personal relationship with him. Then he took the initiative to send Jesus so we could understand his love and our need for him.

Of course, we know a little about God by simply observing his creation. For instance, by looking at nature we know that our Creator loves variety: he created an incredibly diverse universe. Think of the limitless array of plants, animals, rock formations, snowflakes, and people. No two human beings, even twins, are exactly alike. God doesn't make clones or copies. Every one of us is an original. After you were born, God broke the mold.

Thursday 22 December 2016

DADDY AN IMPERSONATOR ON CHRISTMAS

Time
Tags


She has vowed to wait and meet Santa Claus this time – no going out, no sleeping, and no leaving the sitting room. Her dream must break forth into reality; she is tired of waiting. Since Odunwas two, she has been dreaming of meeting Santa Claus.

She has been awaiting the day she will look into Santa Claus's eyes to see the colour of his eyeballs. She wants to pass her fingers like a comb through his fluffy white beard. She also wants to put her ear on his stomach to know if there are coins jingling therein. Or maybe notes. She imagines he vomits money like an unbridled ATM for him to be able to purchase so manygifts that he distributes. She wants to feel the tenderness in his palms too.

She has waited for six years, but something always happened that would be the reason she could not see Santa Claus. Last year and the one before, she fell asleep. That was her parents' justification for her not seeing him. When she asked her parents why they did not wake her, they claimed Santa Claus restrained them, saying he does not like disturbing children sleeping on Christmas day. Why is Santa Claus avoiding me, she wonders.

Today, another Christmas day, she is determined to see Santa Claus. I must see him today, she keeps confessing to herself and anyone who cares to listen. After she had heard Aunty Ayo talking about a girl that was drugged and raped in a nightclub,Odun began to suspect her parents – she suspects they had given her sleeping pills last two Christmas. So, she has refused to eat or drink until she sees Santa Claus. This resolution has not just brought a great worry to her parents' faces and hearts,it has also brought their fingers to their hair, which they are giving a good scratch, thinking about how to resolve the issue on ground.

Odun sits on the gold-coloured settee, eyes glued to the TV, ears alert to any jingle from outside. Today na today, her parents rack their brain, wondering how to handle this starving, stubborn child of theirs. AndOdun is too innocent to pity them or understand their plight.
At about 11am, the Santa Claus she has been expecting appears. An average height clad in his Christmas attire with a bag of gifts appears at the doorpost. The only problem with this Santa Claus is that it has a chocolate-coloured skin unlike the ones she has been seeing in her storybooks and Christmas posters.

"Here comes your Santa Claus, sweetheart," her mum announces, bowing and pointing her two hands at him as if she wants to receive a gift from him.
"But why is he black, mum?"
"Oh, Santa Claus has the unique gift of a chameleon. That is, if he is in America, he is white; if he is in Africa, he is black; if he is in India, he is red. Like that, like that.  Am I right, Santa Claus?"
“Yes, ma’am,” Santa Claus bows as he replies her, still smiling like he does not know how to frown at all.
"Wow, that's amazing!" She runs towards the standing smiling Santa Claus, and gives him a big hug as if she wants to swallow him with her thin, tender hands.
"Welcome, my hero! At last, my dream has come true! I am now the happiest girl on earth!" She screams as she drags him to the settee. After sitting, Santa Claus brings out a gift and gives it to her.
"Merry Christmas, Odun." The words flow out of his mouth via the shiny canoe of the smile etched on his face.
"Thank you, Santa Claus, I love you! But how do you know my name?"
"Oh, your mum told me. She also told me you have refused to eat, and I would love you to eat now, and be a good girl. Do you understand?" He says, touching her cheeks.
"Now that I have seen you, I will eat. In fact, I can eat the whole food cooked by everyone celebrating Christmas today."
"Anyway, I have to leave now. I have other houses to go to." He says after glancing at the wall clock, ticking a few feet away, opposite them.
"Oh, not so fast! I have wanted to look into your eyes, touch your beard, put my ear on your stomach and give my hands to you so I can feel the tenderness in your palm. So can you please allow me to complete my dream?"
"No problem. You have sixty seconds, Odun."

She peeps into his eyes as if her eyes are a microscope searching for a tiny organism somewhere in the orbs of this Santa Claus.
"Your eyeballs have the same colour with those of my dad. And where is dad, mum?" She turns to face her mum, who has been struggling to stifle a sea of laughter surging in her.
"I think he must have gone out to get some Christmas decoration items. He will soon be back, sweetheart."

Odun then continues to fulfil her dream. She lifts her right hand until her palm touches Santa Claus's bushy cheeks. She feels as if she is waving her hand deep into the sky. She closes her eyes as she caresses his beard. Then somewhere deep inside of her, a naughty voice tells her to pull the beard to confirm how real her dream is. She grabs the beard firmly, and before Santa Claus can restrain her, she pulls the beard, and the beard obeys her gravitational pull. And the Santa Claus's face becomes that of her beloved father.
"Dad!?"


Her mum releases the laughter into the Christmas air. Her father becomes infected with the laughter flu, and his bass laughter creates a gentle vibration. Although, Odun seems surprised and annoyed, she cannot help it but to be infected with the laughter so thick in the air. She laughs too, louder than everyone does.
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