Mince pies and Sherry

Before your child goes to bed on Christmas Eve, let them prepare a snack For Santa. Leave a mince pie and a small glass of sherry out for him in the living room.

Before you go to bed, drink the sherry and eat mince pie. Make sure you leave allot of crumbs on the plate.

Reindeer bells

Buy some bells and ever reveal hem to your child. An hour or so after bedtime nip outside, out of view of your child’s bedroom window and ring your bells to mimic the sound of bells on Santa’s reindeer collars.

Correspondence from Santa

Of course you can’t do this in your own handwriting because you will get caught out. At SantasPostbag you can send a free personalised email to your child, adding details such as the child’s age, best friend and even the family pet adds credibility to the letter and the existence

Wish list letters to Santa

SantasPostbag also enables you child to write a letter to Santa, listing toys they are hoping to find under their Christmas tree and your child receives a reply from Santa which rein-forces he existence of Santa.

Use these little tips to prolong your child’s magical belief in Father Christmas.

Of course Santa was a real person. He was St Nicholas, the patron saint of giving. St Nicholas was born in 300 AD. He was a holy man, being brought up in a monastery after being orphaned at an early age. He remained within the monastery and rose to the position of bishop.

He obtained his reputation for giving because there are many tales of him giving gifts to the poor and needy and in particular children.

Over the years the European community have embraced to concept of St Nick and customised it to make it their own. Because of this Santa’s appearance sometimes changes, his cloak may be described as different colours but his ‘Giving’ nature remains the same.

It is sometimes considered that Christmas festivities which do not include the nativity misconstrued the meaning of Christmas. However, St Nicholas was a religious man and lived his life according to the holy scriptures of the time and it’s because of this that Santa and the Nativity hold parallels.

The birth of Jesus Christ itself depicts God giving mankind his only son, and the prospect of the gift of eternal life. Additionally the three wise men also came bearing gifts for the baby Jesus.

Although St Nicholas lived many years ago, he still lives on. He lives because he is a major part of Christmas and we all keep Santa alive, and he lives in us every year that we give one another a gift at Christmas time. So when your child asks you if Santa Claus is real, say – Yes.

Visit www.santaspostbag.co.uk for a free special Christmas message to send to your child from Santa, so that they know that the patron saint of giving – Father Christmas himself still lives.

The History of Santa Claus Revealed

Norman A. Rubin

(At Christmas time we imagine a jovial figure dressed in red driving a sleigh filled with toys and gifts pulled by a herd of reindeer streaking over rooftops. Or could that he is a really figure from the past and not as we envisage him to be.)

Since the earliest history of man almost every European culture has marked the winter solstice with a major festival for the rebirth of the earth. As the moment in time when, provided the appropriate rituals are performed and celebrated the earth will be reborn anew from the quietus of winter, its significance is manifest. Many are aware that this which lies behind our Christmas and New Years celebrations.

The lack of significance is indicated by the fact that no attempt was made to Christianize the festival until the middle of the fourth century. In the seventh century when the Puritans of England actually banned it with

other festivals of this kind there was no outcry.

The truth is our present festivities of the holidays are almost entirely a nineteenth century innovation in which three elements came together. One, the English writer, Charles Dickens with his Christmas stories, most famously ‘A Christmas Carol’, was the native element. The second was Germanic, in the form of the Prince Consort of the throne of England who, in 1840, set up a Christmas tree for his children at Windsor Palace. The other element was American, though it was to combine with a relic from pagan Britain.

The American contribution to the element of Santa Claus came by a circuitous route, which in the early of colonization of America was called Saint Nicholas. The Dutch who colonized what was called New Amsterdam, now New York, had imported a custom from their home country of Holland. The sixth of December is the feast of their Patron saint. Nicholas of Myra. The day was traditionally marked by a figure in red and white Episcopal vestments visiting every household in which there were children. If the youngsters had been good throughout the year, they were rewarded with small presents. If not they were liable to a mild form of punishment at the hands of Klaubauf the assistant who accompanied St. Nicholas.

In 1822, Clement Moore, professor of Greek and Hebrew at New York State University, charmed by the custom, wrote a fifty-six-line poem ‘The Visit of St. Nicholas’, with its now famous line:

“T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…”

The poem was intended solely for his children, his audience, when he first read it, numbered a lady who arranged for its anonymous publication in a local paper. The story was later taken up by Thomas Nast, a magazine illustrator of Bavarian descent. He was the person who turned St. Nicholas, his name now abbreviated to Santa Claus or Klaus (from the Dutch Sankt Nikolaus) into the cheerful, rubicund, bearded figure that became the personification of Christmas.

Soon popular throughout the United States, Santa Claus began to lose any connection with his Dutch and religious past. His secularization went still further when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the British Isles in the mid-nineteenth century. Here the figure quickly merged with an ancient personage, Father Christmas or Old Christmas, who had figured in the Mummer’s plays probably since the pre-Christian era.

Over the ensuing years the process continued with Father Christmas/Santa Claus acquiring characteristics, which increasingly separated him from his original ancestry. Save in the country of Holland, where the tradition of St. Nicholas is still celebrated. Within time the Saint is no longer generally associated with the sixth of December, but to the Christmas holiday on December twenty-fifth; and his abode has moved to the frozen north, whence he travels on a flying sledge drawn by a team of flying reindeer. Today Santa Claus remains the bearer of gifts, but most idiosyncratically he enters homes by the way of the chimney and leaving, ‘traveling upward with fire and smoke..”.

“And a Merry Xmas to all…”

NOTE:

1) The reindeer remains important to the economy of the Laplanders of Northern Europe, but another source of income augment it. It is tourism as it is the place much visited that is supposed to be the place where Santa Claus lives; and at Xmas time the post office there is inundated with letters by children to that jolly figure.

2) In the days when open fireplaces were usual, children would write their requests to Father Christmas on pieces of paper then thrown on the fire when they burned to ash and allowed to drift up the chimney and float on the winds, that it was hoped their petitions would reach him before Xmas.

All rights belong to Disney. No copyright infringement intended.

Bam Margera’s christmas special the movie

All rights belong to Disney. No copyright infringement intended.

When I was in my religious church, I used to wonder like my fellow christians on why has Christmas become a celebration of Santa Clause. Isn’t Christmas supposed to be the birthday for Jesus Christ? How did this Santa Clause manage to sneak in? No matter now hard we tried to tell the public that Christmas is about Jesus and not Santa, no one bothers. Why? In this article, I will seek to explain this phenomena.

Please note that I use the term “Religious Jesus” to mark it as a separate entity form the true Jesus of the Bible. The Religious Jesus is the Jesus preached by the religious churches and this person is the exact opposite of the true Jesus of the Bible.

“How do you know that?”

I was once a member of a religious church. Please go to the following link for information on my past:

http://cheee.wordpress.com/about/

Let us start from Santa Clause. What type of a man is he? He is happy. He is kind and generous. He always laughs. He gives out presents unconditionally out of love. He only has one law: Be good and you will get presents. Be naughty and you won’t get any.

Even then, he is very forgiving. Even if you are naughty for the whole year and be good only in the last few days prior to Christmas, you will still be qualified for presents. Whenever he talks to you, he used kind words. Children love him. He doesn’t condemn you nor put you down. He doesn’t lay burdens nor guilt on you.

His favourite words: Ho ho ho. Laughter. He loves to laugh. He creates happy mood. He lifts up your spirit. His only weakness is he only works once a year.

How about the Religious Jesus?

In my view, he is the worst person ever existed. He is a hypocrite, sadist, liar and evil. Whatever evil you can think of, he can do exceeding abundantly worst than that. For some unknown reasons, religious churches love him and promote him.

Here is how he operates:

If you are not a christian, he will tell you how much he loves you. He loves you so much that he is willing to die for your sins. His love is selfless and unconditional. He wants you to accept his love and be a christian.

Once you have become a christian, the evil face appears. Now that you belong to him, you are to obey his every instruction. He wants you to read the Bible, pray, go to church, give him money, serve in church and go for missions. He doesn’t like disobedient children and he will not hesitate to punish anyone who dares to disobey him.

Whenever you pray, he will tell you all your faults. If you sin, he will condemn you for sinning. If you do good, he will tell you it is not enough. No matter what you do, he will find ways to put you down.

If you disobey him, beware! He can give you or your family accidents, sickness or any other disaster. Ironically even if you tried your best to obey his every command he can still give you or your family accidents, sickness or any other disaster. In a nutshell, nothing is beneath him. He can sink to any level, any perversion.

When that happens, you are required to praise him for his goodness.

He also loves your money. It does not matter to him how poor or needy you are. He wants you to give him money. It is his glory to see you poor and sick.

Do you dare to ask him for prosperity? I don’t think so.

Based on the above comparison, who will you choose to spend time with? Santa Clause or Religious Jesus? I go for Santa Clause anytime.

However, I have a good news and a bad news for you.

The bad news is: Santa Clause does not exist.

The good news is: neither does the Religious Jesus.

The Jesus of the Bible is exactly opposite from the Religious Jesus that is preached in the religious churches.

Here is some simple comparison:

Religious Jesus: I want you to stop sinning. I will not hesitate to take stern action to punish you if you still sin.

Jesus of the Bible: I paid for the penalty of your sins. Sin has no power over you now. You are free. Come to me. Together we are going to beat this sin of yours. Remember, I am always on your side against your sins.

Religious Jesus: Sometimes I will give you sickness for any reason I choose. After all I am God. I can do anything I like. I can be as perverted as I want to be. Even then, I expect you to praise me and tell others what a good God I am.

Jesus of the Bible: At the Cross, I took away all your sickness. By my stripes you are healed. Sickness and disease has no right to oppress you. Stand up to your right. I paid dearly for you healing. It pleases me to see you healed. Start believing in me and claim your right of healing.

Religious Jesus: Give me all your money. I love your money. It does not matter to me how poor you are. If you are poor then continue to be poor for my glory.

Jesus of the Bible: At the Cross, I was poor in order to make you rich. It does not matter how bad your situation is right now. As long as you keep believing, you will receive my prosperity. Even if you are very rich now, I can still give you more. It is my glory to see you rich.

Religious Jesus: I want you to do things for me like serving in the church and going for mission. I don’t care how much you need to sacrifice. I am God. If you think you are in a bad shape right now, I can make it worse if you dare to disobey me.

Jesus of the Bible: I appreciate any intention of yours to do things for me but I want you to remember this: You are the one I love. My love for you is not dependent on the things you do for me. Even if you stop doing those things, I still love you.

Conclusion

I hope this simple article is able to help you to tell the difference between the true Jesus and the Jesus invented by the religious churches.

Start out by working with a real estate agent to find out where apartments for sale in Santa Barbara are located within the region. Finding Santa Barbara commercial real estate for sale is not difficult, but an agent can narrow down your search results to fall within your price range, location needs, amenities and more. An agent can also get you a comparative analysis report that gives you an indication of apartments that are up for sale. Prices are based on location as well; for instance, if you want to purchase commercial property near the State Street district, you may end up paying a little more for the property than you would in other areas.

Next, you should look at how you will handle your investment. Do you plan to invest in properties for the purpose of offering commercial leases? Or are you purchasing apartments for the purpose of offering residential leases? Either way, you need to work with someone who is knowledgeable with both the residential and commercial leasing process to be sure that you have all of the information you need — both financially and legally — to make it work.

If price is a consideration, you may consider looking for apartments or properties just outside of the city limits, in regions such as San Luis Obispo and The Mesa. Both places have great properties for less the cost you would pay within the State Street area or other communities within Santa Barbara.

If it is residential property you are considering, amenities for the apartments for sale in Santa Barbara should also be a consideration. Are you purchasing property with a pool? Will you offer additional laundry services washer and dryers in each apartment? Would you rather offer hardwood floors or carpet? All of these will affect the price of your apartment, so be sure to keep these things in mind when you are meeting with your agent.

Whether you are looking at apartments, or commercial property for sale in Santa Barbara, the financial aspects should be a consideration. Figure out the monthly mortgage payments you can afford to make on your investment. Be sure to set up your commercial leases to make the financial burden easier.

No matter which you decide to purchase — be it apartments or properties — real estate remains a sound financial investment. Just be sure to do your research and make informed decisions to ensure success.

Opened in 1909, the Santa Monica Pier has a yearlong celebration for its 100th anniversary that will lead up to a climax on the 9th of September. There are many activities that can be pursed here.

The Santa Monica Pier was opened to the public on September 9th, 1909 following 16 months of building.  Over a 1000 people had gathered here to witness the opening of this magnificent pier, the pier was 1, 600 feet long and was made of concrete. The opening involved a fun day with swimming races and bands playing, and a walk above the water of the Pacific Ocean. The pier was initially constructed to serve for sanitation purposes of the city. In 1923 the Santa Monica Pier was sold to an amusement company that went by the name the Santa Monica Amusement Company.

1933 saw the formation of the Santa Monica Yacht Harbor. The harbour became the central location for a transport service to an offshore gambling area. The operations were carried out by the thug Tony Cornero. In 1939 Attorney General Earl Warren championed a legal effort to close this down. The last ship, the Rex was taken down in the famous “Battle of Santa Monica Bay”. Finally Cornero surrendered subsequent to a 3 day confrontation, because he “needed a haircut”.

There are numerous activities to do at the Santa Monica Pier. A year long celebration is being held for the 100th anniversary that will culminate on the 9th of September 2009. There are games and great spots to sightsee. There are rope courses, flying and static trapeze, trampoline, aerial silks, medieval sword fighting, acrobatic yoga and professional aerial and acrobatic shows.

A stay a day or two in the area at a Beverly Hills hotel would be a good idea. And for the luxury enthusiast why not even try a luxury hotel in Beverly Hills such as Raffles L’Ermitage, Beverly Hills. A stay would enable one to have a better experience of the area.

My sisters and I went and got our pictures taken with Santa GET AN IJUSTINE SHIRT: ijustine.spreadshirt.com MY MAIN YOUTUBE CHANNEL youtube.com