'Tis The Season!

[vernecarty]

Well! Well! Well! Christmas is here again. Remember the old assembly days and what a dry time that used to be? I don't know about you guys but I start with the carols in October! (My wife objects!). What is your favorite Christmas album.? I have several but at the top of my list is an album by Singers Unlimited simply called "Christmas". There is a selection on there called "Carol of the Russian Children" that is the most hauntingly beautiful thing I have ever heard.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good...oops...kinda rushing things aren't I?  
Verne

[jackhutchinson]

Yeah, we ought to wait til Thanksgiving is over before declaring this to be 'the season'.  But, since you brought it up, I can't help but mention 2 classis movies for the season:  'A Christmas Story' and the newly-released 'Elf'.  I think 'Elf' will become a Christmas classic.  It's squeaky clean and hilarious!

Jack

[Tony]

Well! Well! Well! Christmas is here again. Remember the old assembly days and what a dry time that used to be? I don't know about you guys but I start with the carols in October! (My wife objects!). What is your favorite Christmas album.?I have several but at the top of my list is an album by Singers Unlimited simply called "Christmas". There is a selection on there called "Carol of the Russian Children" that is the most hauntingly beautiful thing I have ever heard.
Merry Christmas To All, and to All...oops...kinda rushing things aren't I?  
Verne

...Hey, wait a minute!   I have a lot to be giving thanks for and I love Thanksgiving!   This year I have fully recognized how remarkable God's Grace truly is.

   The Assembly didn't affect the way my family celebrated Christmas the past two years.   I went through a strong anti-pagen/anti-Christmas thing about 8 years ago.    Saw a lot of Joy missed and a poor testimony with family and coworkers.    Today, I love getting out the old ornaments, as they are a scrapbook of precious memmories to me.   Our wedding, each childs birth, places we've been, special  friends...all come back as I hold and hang each ornament.   Being blind, I cannot enjoy a picture scrapbook, but these tangeble "pictures" bring back some wonderful memories...or JOY!  

  Love the Steven Curtis Chapman Christmas CD...especially the song, This Baby.

   Anyone who may be looking for tree trimming tips, especially if it may be your first time for many years, feel free to drop me a PM.

God Bless ya and have an awesome Thanksgiving and an opportunity to share in the true Joy of what  Christmas offers in Christ.

Tony and Peggy Edwards

[Oscar]

Hi Tony,

Our first Christmas out of Assemblyland we didn't have a tree, though we had been giving the kids presents for about two years.  We left in November, 1989 and I had not yet gone from disagreement to defiance of the rules.

The next year Caryl and I went out and bought a big tree.  We had just brought it home and carried it in the house when some dear folks from our new church showed up.  They knew what we had been practicing in the assembly, so they brought us lights and ornaments.  They gave us a clear plastic star with "JESUS" painted on the front.  We still put it on top of the tree every year.  

When I was a kid I used to love to sit in the darkened living room and look at the tree all lit up.  I saved my money and bought three of those "bubblers".  Little fake candles that have colored fluid in them and bubble when they heat up.

Last year I spotted a whole string of those at Walmart, so home they went.  Now as a little kid of 62 I love to sit in the darkened living room and look at the tree all lit up.  Especially the bubblers.

God bless,
Thomas Maddux

[vernecarty]

Who can forget those magical moments of childhood?
Sneaking out of bed in the deep stillness of the night to see what Ole' Saint Nick had brung!
The house I lived in as a child had a straight view down the corridor to where our Christmas tree stood in all its resplendent glory. One Christmas I remember in particlular must have been quite a good year for Mom and Dad. The goodies were piled to the ceiling and at my first sneak peak I almost fainted with wonder.
Of course the deep and profound joy so many of us associate with that time has to do with much more than receiving of material gifts...thanks be to God for His unspeakable Gift!  
Verne

[Kimberley Tobin]

Last year was our first year "out" and boy, did we celebrate with a bang!  This being our "second" Christmas, my kids have already started asking when we can bring out the decorations.  My daughter, just yesterday, asked if we could start stringing lights.

The kids are the ones who have missed out the most.  I can remember when I was a little girl and what fond memories I have of Christmas.  Not even the "toys" and "stuff".  Just the family atmosphere.  Everyone getting together and spending time together, etc.  We began "celebrating" without all the gift giving for quite a number of years prior to our assembly departure.  But now we are entering into the spirit of Christmas with great abandon.  Enjoying the family participation of this season is tremendous and so liberating!

Merry Christmas!

[sfortescue]

Giant Santa Relocation



This giant Santa was made by my mom's uncle Kenneth Vaughn.  Last Friday my mom and my sister's son Zebedee were at the dedication ceremony for its new location in Ventura County.  It used to be on Santa Claus Lane in Santa Barbara County.

[vernecarty]

A great time to re-watch the "peanuts' special and hear Linus reading about the nativity. I still get goose-bumps listening to that passage....even in Summer!  
Verne

[outdeep]

Reckoning Santa Dead

[aragorn]

Watching Linus reading about the nativity last night on TV was awesome, as is listening to Frank Sinatra sing "Heark the Herald Angels Sing" on my rat pack Christmas CD    

Aaron and Lucy gave us a great book on Christmas called "I Love Christmas" by John R. Rice.  His "key verse" is Romans 14:5,6a. (about regarding the day as to the Lord)  This book helped us clear up some residual baggage we had about the holiday.  After reading this book, for example, the distinction between worshiping a tree (Jer. 10) and using a tree as a holiday decoration has become clear.

The learning curve on putting up outdoor Christmas lights was a little steeper than I thought, but they are up and  we have acquired lots of great ornaments from grandma and grandpa.

Last year I heard someone preach that to be true worshippers, we must have a high standard which means making a stand, ie. not celebrating  holidays like Christmas, Easter and Halloween.  This year I am hearing preaching about being focused on Jesus and his birth as you celebrate this wonderful holiday.

Merry Christmas every one!!!

[M2]

Here's rule #8 for buying gifts for men:
Rule #8
Never buy a man anything and then tell him he should read the instructions because the box says "some assembly required".  It will ruin his special day.  He will always have parts left over.

I always thought that "some assembly required" meant that it was time for a fellowship.

M

[Joseph Reisinger]

Marcia... that is absolutely hilarious.  i would use that in a stand-up comedy routine, except i'm not a stand-up comedian, and only "saints" would understand it.

[al Hartman]

Marcia... that is absolutely hilarious.  i would use that in a stand-up comedy routine, except i'm not a stand-up comedian, and only "saints" would understand it.

     i once saw a standup comic who was an ex-alcoholic.  He had a whole routine for AA members.  Maybe we could do something similar, like Assemblyites Anonymous.  Better yet, we could be Assemblyites Unanymous, then whenever we see a fellow member we can just yell A U !
     But the number of steps in our program will vary from one assembly location to another, depending on the distance from your seat to the exit.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

     OK, back to the topic at hand: Christmas...
     Just about any traditional music of the season is good-- i keep a variety on hand, lots of styles.  The singing chipmunks, dogs & cows are good for a chuckle i guess, but they get old quick & i don't really care for 'em.  Grandma's getting run over by a reindeer always raises the sticky issue of senior citizen drivers...

     The old movies are the best:  It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol (several decent versions have been made, but my favorite stars Alistair Sim as Scrooge), Miracle on 34th Street (the 1947 version, with Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle) and i have a really great Twighlight Zone episode starring Art Carney as a disillusioned Santa who discovers Christmas magic.  
     If you have a choice, watch the older movies in B&W.  The colorized films are pretty, but rob away the real flavor of their era.  We probably have two dozen or more Christmas movies, ranging from touching (Prancer, The Bells of St. Mary's) to nutty (Burns & Allen, Red Skelton, The Honeymooners).  We have drama, cartoons, ballet, Muppets, the Grinch.  And if Cathy's schedule permits, we may play them all.  But while she's not at home, i'll be singing, humming or whistling along with my albums.

 :)al H.

[M2]

Marcia... that is absolutely hilarious.  i would use that in a stand-up comedy routine, except i'm not a stand-up comedian, and only "saints" would understand it.

Joseph,

We even had the same jokes. Maybe it was because of the proximity thing; Chicago is only 13-15 hours away, depending on who's driving.

Here's another assembly joke for your next comedy routine:

Do you know why the Sadducees were sad?
They didn't believe in the resurrection, so they were Sad You See.

Marcia
Sorry, this post is not on topic.

[outdeep]

I love getting out the Christmas music.  Chip Davis and his band, Mannheim Steamroller gives a unique, but talented interpretation of lots of Christmas songs.

When the kids were younger (and to an extent now), we would light several candles in the living room and sing Christmas carols together.  One person at our church gave us the idea of taking an wooden apple box and put some hay in it.  On Christmas day, a "baby Jesus" doll appears (again, more for little kids).

Locally near Winston-Salem, NC there is a great Christmas light display set up in an upscale golf course.  Worth the $$ to go in and see it.

I always liked the Christmas presentation at Evangelical Free in Fullerton.  If you can get tickets, the Crystal Cathedral was good, but very Hollywood-overdone.  The angels flying around on cables were impressive, but when Robert Shuller started flying around . . . OK, just kidding.

Some folks do what we never did, but in some ways wish we had.  They buy a Christmas ornament that characterizes their children each year.  For example, if the child is into soccer, they buy a teddy bear playing soccer, etc.  When the kids are grown, they give it to them.

One last note to Stephen Fortescue:  We have relatives in Los Alamos, CA which is an hour, I believe, North of Santa Barbara.  We would go up there on several Christmas and other times in the year.  One of the big landmarks for us kids was passing Santa Claus Lane and seeing the giant Santa Claus and snowman.  Though we only actually stopped there once, it was a joyful memory for me.

-Dave

P.S.:  Sorry about my picture below.  It's not exactly my view, but I thought it was morbidly funny the first time I saw it.