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The Real Meaning Of Christmas!!
It's that time of year again. December has come and with it all the joys of Christmas. But what is the real meaning of Christmas? Is it the gifts under the tree, the lights in the windows, the cards in the mail, turkey dinners with family and friends, snow in the yard, stockings hanging in the living room, and shouts of "Merry Christmas" to those who pass us in the streets? Is this really Christmas? For many people, Christmas is a time of sorrow. They don't have the extra money to buy presents for their children, family, and friends. Many are saddened at Christmastime when they think of their loved ones who will not be able to come home for various reasons. Turkey dinners may be only a wish and not a reality for some. Yet, Christmas can be a season of great joy. It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. You see, Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child. Luke 2:4-19 says: "So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." (NIV) Why did He come? Why did God send His son to this sometimes cruel and hard world? He sent Jesus to us so that one day, He would grow up to become a very important part of history. His story (history) is one of truth, love, and hope. It brought salvation to all of us. Without Jesus, we would all die in our sins. Jesus was born so one day the price could be paid for the things we have done that are wrong. The Bible says that all have sinned. We are all born with a sin nature. We do things that do not please God. Through the sins of Adam and Eve, we have all inherited that sin nature. We need to have that removed. The only way is through Jesus. Jesus came so He could die on the cross for ALL of our sins. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we can ask Him to come into our hearts and forgive us. Then, we are clean and made whole. We can know that heaven is a place where we can go to when this life is over. "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." 1 John 1:9 (NLT) We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. We then become sons and daughters of God. Heaven will be our home one day. Look at Christmas in a new way this year. This is the year to invite Jesus into your heart. You will then have a "Merry Christmas." The joy and peace you will receive will last all year as you look to God for all your needs to be met. Jesus Is the Reason for the Season! Rejoice! Warriors4Trump Comment Policy
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Please be sure to review our community guidelines before commenting. Thank you! 10 Facts About the Winter Solstice, the Shortest Day of the Year
Amid the whirl of the holiday season, many are vaguely aware of the approach of the winter solstice, but how much do you really know about it? Whether you're a fan of winter or just wish it would go away, here are 10 things to note—or even celebrate—about the shortest day of the year. 1. THE WINTER SOLSTICE HAPPENS ON DECEMBER 21 IN 2019. The date of the winter solstice varies from year to year, and can fall anywhere between December 20 and December 23, with the 21st or 22nd being the most common dates. The reason for this is because the tropical year—the time it takes for the sun to return to the same spot relative to Earth—is different from the calendar year. The next solstice occurring on December 20 will not happen until 2080, and the next December 23 solstice will not occur until 2303. 2. THE WINTER SOLSTICE HAPPENS AT A SPECIFIC, BRIEF MOMENT. Not only does the solstice occur on a specific day, but it also occurs at a specific time of day, corresponding to the instant the North Pole is aimed furthest away from the sun on the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth's axis. This is also the time when the sun shines directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. In 2019, this moment occurs at 4:19 a.m. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) on December 22. For those on Eastern Standard Time, the solstice will occur at 11:19 p.m. on December 21. And regardless of where you live, the solstice happens at the same moment for everyone on the planet. 3. THE WINTER SOLSTICE MARKS THE LONGEST NIGHT AND SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. As most are keenly aware, daylight hours grow shorter and shorter as the winter solstice approaches, and begin to slowly lengthen afterward. It's no wonder that the day of the solstice is referred to in some cultures as the "shortest day of the year" or "extreme of winter." New York City will experience 9 hours and 15 minutes of sunlight, compared to 15 hours and 5 minutes on the summer solstice. Helsinki, Finland, will get 5 hours and 49 minutes of light. Barrow, Alaska, will not have a sunrise at all (and hasn't since mid-November; its next sunrise will be on January 22), while the North Pole has had no sunrise since October. The South Pole, though, will be basking in the glow of the midnight sun, which won't set until March. 4. ANCIENT CULTURES VIEWED THE WINTER SOLSTICE AS A TIME OF DEATH AND REBIRTH. The seeming death of the light and very real threat of starvation over the winter months would have weighed heavily on early societies, who held varied solstice celebrations and rites meant to herald the return of the sun and hope for new life. Scandinavian and Germanic pagans lit fires and may have burned Yule logs as a symbolic means of welcoming back the light. Cattle and other animals were slaughtered around midwinter, followed by feasting on what was the last fresh meat for several months. The modern Druidic celebration Alban Arthan reveres the death of the Old Sun and birth of the New Sun. 5. THE SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR MARKS THE DISCOVERY OF NEW AND STRANGE WORLDS. The Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth on December 21, 1620, to found a society that would allow them to worship freely. On the same day in 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium, ushering in an atomic age. And on December 21, 1968, the Apollo 8 spacecraft launched, becoming the first manned moon mission. 6. THE WORD SOLSTICE TRANSLATES ROUGHLY TO "SUN STANDS STILL." Solstice derives from the Latin scientific term solstitium, containing sol, which means "sun," and the past participle stem of sistere, meaning "to make stand." This comes from the fact that the sun’s position in the sky relative to the horizon at noon, which increases and decreases throughout the year, appears to pause in the days surrounding the solstice. In modern times, we view the phenomenon of the solstice from the position of space, and of the Earth relative to the sun. Earlier people, however, were thinking about the sun's trajectory, how long it stayed in the sky and what sort of light it cast. 7. STONEHENGE IS ALIGNED TO THE SUNSET ON THE WINTER SOLSTICE. The primary axis of the megalithic monument is oriented to the setting sun, while Newgrange, another structure built around the same time as Stonehenge, lines up with the winter solstice sunrise. Some have theorized that the position of the sun was of religious significance to the people who built Stonehenge, while other theories hold that the monument is constructed along natural features that happen to align with it. The purpose of Stonehenge is still subject to debate, but its importance on the winter solstice continues into the modern era, as thousands of hippies, pagans, and other types of enthusiasts gather there every year to celebrate the occasion. 8. ANCIENT ROMANS CELEBRATED REVERSALS AT THE MIDWINTER FESTIVAL OF SATURNALIA. The holiday, which began as a festival to honor the agricultural god Saturn, was held to commemorate the dedication of his temple in 497 BCE. It quickly became a time of widespread revelry and debauchery in which societal roles were overturned, with masters serving their slaves and servants being allowed to insult their masters. Mask-wearing and play-acting were also part of Saturnalia's reversals, with each household electing a King of Misrule. Saturnalia was gradually replaced by Christmas throughout the Roman Empire, but many of its customs survive as Christmas traditions. 9. SOME TRADITIONS HOLD THAT DARK SPIRITS WALK THE EARTH ON THE WINTER SOLSTICE. The Iranian festival of Yalda is celebrated on the longest night of the year. In pre-Islamic times, it heralded the birth of Mithra, the ancient sun god, and his triumph over darkness. Zoroastrian lore holds that evil spirits wander the Earth and the forces of the destructive spirit Ahriman are strongest on this long night. People are encouraged to stay up most of the night in the company of one another, eating, talking, and sharing poetry and stories, in order to avoid any brushes with dark entities. Beliefs about the presence of evil on the longest night are also echoed in Celtic and Germanic folklore. 10. SOME THOUGHT THE WORLD WOULD END ON THE 2012 WINTER SOLSTICE. December 21, 2012 corresponds to the date 13.0.0.0.0 in the Meso-american Long Count calendar used by the ancient Maya, marking the end of a 5126-year cycle. Some people feared this juncture would bring about the end of the world or some other cataclysmic event. Others took a more New Age-y view (literally) and believed it heralded the birth of a new era of deep transformation for Earth and its inhabitants. In the end, neither of these things appeared to occur, leaving the world to turn through winter solstices indefinitely, or at least as long as the sun lasts. Warriors4Trump Comment Policy
Please be sure to review our community guidelines before commenting. Thank you! 8 Fun Facts about Cereal in Battle Creek
Battle Creek’s National Cereal Festival is coming up on June 9. 2020! Before you come to the festival, there are some fun facts you should know about cereal and its unique history in Battle Creek. You probably know that cereal was invented here, but do you know any of these facts? 1) Cereal was invented by accident! W.K. Kellogg and J.H. Kellogg invented it in the basement of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, now the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center 2) The original flakes were made out of wheat until 1906 when W.K. Kellogg discovered how to make cornflakes. 3) Kellogg Company was originally called the Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company. 4) At one point there were over 100 different cereal companies in Battle Creek. Now there are only three: Kellogg’s, Post and Ralston Foods. 5) Starting out, Post actually had better sales than Kellogg’s due to Post’s belief in advertising. 6) On a good day you can smell cereal in the air in Battle Creek. 7) Tony the Tiger was created in the 1950’s to promote Frosted Flakes on television. 8) W.K. Kellogg’s house sits in Kellogg Park in downtown Battle Creek. You can tour it by appointment. Our Best Days Are Yours....History of KELLOGS From one great day over 100 years ago all the way to today, Kellogg's has continued to fuel better days for American families. From going to the moon to feeding the U.S. Army to making your days great, some of our best days have been in your home country, the United States. Discover our best days in the U.S.1898 — In a fortunately failed attempt at making granola, our company’s founder, W.K. Kellogg, and his brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, changed breakfast forever when they accidentally flaked wheat berry. W.K. kept experimenting until he flaked corn, and created the delicious recipe for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. 1906 — W.K. Kellogg opened the “Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company” and carefully hired his first 44 employees. Together they created the initial batch of Kellogg’s® Corn Flakes® and brought to life W.K.’s vision for great-tasting, better-for-you breakfast foods. 1914 — Kellogg’s® Corn Flakes® was introduced to a new country: Canada. (Later the Kellogg Company will spread the goodness of grain around the world by opening factories in Australia, England, Mexico, Japan, India and more. Today Kellogg brightens breakfast in over 180 countries around the world). 1915 — Kellogg introduced Bran Flakes, the first high-fiber cereal, promptly followed by the introduction of Kellogg’s® All-Bran™ one year later. 1923 — The Kellogg Company made another bold move and become the first in the food industry to hire a dietitian. Mary Barber started the Kellogg’s Home Economics Department and began defining the roles different foods played in proper diets. 1930 — As the United States sunk into the Depression, W.K. Kellogg declared, “I’ll invest in people.” He split shifts and hired new employees to work them. He also founded the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, whose mission — to help children realize their potential — complements that of the Kellogg Company to this day. To further our commitment to people, Kellogg became one of the first companies to proudly display our cereals’ recipes and nutritional info on our boxes — so our consumers knew exactly what they were eating. 1942-1945 — Kellogg’s employees proudly produced K-rations for the U.S. armed forces overseas during World War II, and our engineering teams helped manufacture supplies in Kellogg machine shops. We continued to help America get nutrition by bringing new, whole-grain cereal to life when we introduced Kellogg’s® Raisin Bran®. 1969 — The Kellogg Company was honored to provide breakfast for the legendary Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins during their groundbreaking Apollo 11 trip to the moon. 1997 — We opened the W.K. Kellogg Institute for Food and Nutrition Research — where food scientists, nutritionists and engineers transform wholesome grains and other ingredients into great-tasting and good-for-your-family foods. 2006 — The Kellogg Company celebrated our 100-year commitment to nutrition, health and quality. We also celebrated our future — by creating new Kellogg’s® Special K® Bars and other innovative ways of giving your family the delicious nutrition you need to make the most of every day. 2009-2010 — After discovering that many people in the U.S. don’t get enough fiber, Kellogg increased the fiber in many of our most popular cereals — including Kellogg’s® Froot Loops®. Now, in the U.S., Kellogg Company offers more ready-to-eat cereals that provide at least one good source of fiber (3 grams) and one-half serving of whole grains (8 grams) than any other U.S. food company. Today — We’re proudly upholding the values W.K. Kellogg instilled more than 100 years ago — but now we’re doing it in 180 countries across the world. We still provide you and your family with better breakfasts that lead to better days, and we flake corn the same way W.K. Kellogg did back in 1898. It just tastes better that way. Warriors4Trump Comment Policy
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