NO DATES GIVEN!
"Even if some very smart person discovered a more realistic date for Jesus' birth, December 25th will always be Christmas. It has become tradition. However, we know Jesus wasn't born in a stable and laid in a manger in this snow we are having. Evidently the date of the birth wasn't important to God or He would have clearly let us know. Our world is trying its hardest to squeeze Christ out of Christmas and we need to try all the harder to keep Him in our Christmas celebrations. My Santa uses every opportunity to point to the birth of Christ. That is what St Nicholas was doing with his life when he was discovered (wearing his red bishops cape) and delivering gifts in secret. He simply went about doing good, and in secret so others wouldn't be bombarding him for gifts. We so want the glory for what we do--but not Nicholas. I think Christ is more concerned about the position of our hearts toward him, than the date on which we focus the celebration. He is not bound by time and space like we are. In our limited sphere the date needs to be correct to keep us on track". Ellen, a follower of Morning Glory who has shared these thoughts with us is also married to Santa Claus. We knew him as our Pastor of many years but in his retirement he has added a Santa’s hat to his many other hats he has worn.

In Luke 18:31 Jesus tells the Apostles; "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished". Those things that were to be accomplished are told to us through verses 32-33. Jesus would be handed over by the Jews to the Gentiles to be mocked, treated terribly and spat upon. They would scourge Him, put Him to death and on the third day He would rise again.

No one seems to question that Jesus rose on the 3rd day. No one says that Friday to Sunday morning would only be 1 ½ days after He died. However, there was Friday, Saturday and then Sunday! He did die on Friday and rose on the third day which was Sunday! Dates and days are important only if we place importance upon them. I am thankful that December 25th was the date that was set. I am thankful that God gave man the ability to figure out the calendar by using the stars and the pattern of the solar system to understand the seasons and to set the date for us to have a special time for Christ’s resurrection which is called, Easter!

I have a few ‘think so’s’ I would like to share with you. In our countries history we find books that have recorded dates, times and seasons so that we will not forget and so that we will know that something happened. We read these recorded informational facts and we believe it.
It is fact! It is our history! In the Old Testament, dates, seasons and times were also important. Many times a celebration was scheduled for the 10th day of the seventh month in the 4th year....(I just made up that date)... Many times God would set a date to schedule a celebration, a cleansing or a season that He felt was important and didn’t want the people to forget. There was a time set aside for sacrificing for forgiveness.

In the New Testament very few dates were set by God. Why do you think that is? I believe it is because our beliefs are to be based on faith and not necessarily on recorded fact. The gospel tells us about His birth, death and resurrection, but no dates were given. We have heard, read and believed by faith! The date is not important! What was important was that a date was set for the census which was to be taken. Unknown to Caesar Augustus, God used him to set a date so that Mary and Joseph could go to Bethlehem to fulfill all prophecy. That date brought us the birth of our Savior just at it was told in days of old. Jane Ann