Secular Christmas

Christmas is celebrated all round the world. Christmas is not a religious holiday for most people. This secular version of Christmas promotes values of love, compassion, generosity, giving, family, hope, peace, and joy. These good values originated with the Christian celebrations of Christmas, but the main point of Christmas, from which these values derive their meaning, is Jesus Christ coming to Earth and being born so that we might have life in him.

I find it interesting that people of other faiths have their version of Christmas. Many Buddhists, Jewish people, Muslims and even atheists celebrate Christmas in some form. They have some of their own traditions but for many of these celebrations what binds them to the secular Christmas is Santa Claus, because many of these celebrations have Santa Claus.

Santa Claus is the icon of the secular Christmas. Folklore of his story has been developed over the last 200 years to what it is today. First, there was a historical person called Saint Nicholas who really did exist and was born about 280 A.D. He was a generous Christian Bishop. Today’s Santa Claus story is very different from the historical story of Saint Nicholas but Saint Nicholas provided the origins from which Santa Claus developed. The Dutch with their Sinterklaas tradition and the English with their Father Christmas tradition were blended together to create the Santa Claus tradition. In 1823, an anonymous author (likely Clement Clarke Moore) penned a poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, which is also known as “Twas the Night before Christmas”. I believe that poem created the foundation for the Santa Claus tradition. From that poem, the story of Santa Claus developed into what it is today.

Secular Christmas is fun and promotes some good values, however it is missing the historical importance of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is meant to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. God, the Father, gave his only begotten Son, Jesus, to us to restore us back to himself and to give us life in him (John 3:16). God in Jesus humbled himself and was born human (Philippians 2:5-8) so that he could live the perfect life we could not (Hebrews 4:15) and to pay the price for our sins by dying on a cross (Colossians 2:13-14) and then rising again 3 days later. Jesus gave himself so that we might have life in him. By the power of the Holy Spirit we have real life. That is the real story of why we celebrate Christmas.

The Christmas story can be found in Luke 2:1-20 and in Matthew 1:18-2:12. This Christmas let us remember the birth of Jesus who is our Lord and Savior.

PS This year I discovered the ancient “O Antiphons” which are short chants that cover 7 days (December 17-23) of Advent, right before Christmas. The hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” incorporates the 7 antiphons into its verses. I am using a devotional based on the antiphons this year from 1517.org.

Saints Past

Photo of crepuscular rays by Peter Hostermann

There are several definitions of the word “saint”, however the biblical definition is simply one who trusts in Jesus as Lord and Savior, so we who believe in Jesus Christ are saints. November 1st is known as All Saints Day, among other names. On this day we remember those saints who have gone before us. I think of the many Christians that have influenced me over the years. Many of them have passed on, though many are still here today providing encouragement and support. I am thankful for all they have taught me.

I think especially of my parents, Erwin and Irene. Their Christian example made a huge difference in my life. I owe so much to them. They were not perfect, so there are a couple things that I am having to unlearn, but they ended up shaping my life for the good. I am very appreciative of their influence in my life. I see a lot of their influence in how I act and behave. I thank God for their good influence.

It is not just those who over the years I have had some contact with but it is also those saints from days long gone who influenced others who then influenced a later generation who then influenced the next generation. There is a chain of saints from centuries past that have had an influence on me. I am thankful for them also.

It is somewhat mysterious the way saints from the past, saints today, and saints in the future are all interconnected to form the Body of Christ, the Church. We are not all the same and yet we each bring something needed to the Body. And saints from the past encourage us to live lives of faith. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 11 encourages us with a list of saints of faith that had looked forward to the coming Messiah and a future where everything would be made right. He ends the list with this encouragement.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

So let us be encouraged to live that good life of faith for Jesus because we are surrounded by a great cloud of saints who have lived a life of faith before us. And let us encourage others in the Faith to also stand firm for Jesus. I am thankful for all the saints past, present and in the future who make up the Body of Christ.

As we remember those who had gone on before us, I am reminded of the hymn “For All the Saints”. Here is a version you can sing along with.

Meaning of Words

Today, we live in a pluralistic society. People view the world in different ways and they may interpret words differently than you do. Many people today want you to believe that if you say one word it also means that you must believe or do another word. One example is the word love. They say you cannot love a person unless you also affirm that person. That is not true!

Love does not equal affirmation. People want you to believe that you cannot love a person unless you also affirm the person and their actions. Affirmation means you validate and approve the person, their lifestyle, and their actions. People say that as Christians if we love unconditionally we must approve everything about the person. That is not true. Look at our parents. You can say that almost all parents love their children wholeheartedly, and yet they disciplined us and did not approve of everything we did. They did so for our own good. We too can love people, and yet not affirm them if their lifestyles are harmful. To love means to seek the good of the other person. We can not approve or validate harmful behavior because that would not be the loving thing to do. One way we can sort of affirm them is to say “God loves you”.

Disagreement does not equal hate. People will say that you must hate them because you disagree with them and/or their lifestyle. People assume if you are their opponent then you must hate them and you must be out to get them. And yet we may only disagree on a topic. That does not mean that there is hatred. As Christians we try to live life peacefully with all people as much as it is possible (Romans 12:18). We do need to speak the truth but we speak the truth in love and not out of hatred.

People do not equal their ideas, opinions, or beliefs. People today are tribal. Their identities are reduced to a label, but reality is people are complex. We cannot label a person who has this opinion and assume they must also have this belief. God treats everyone with equity. There is no partiality with God. He loves everyone. We too need to treat everyone with equity and love, and avoid labeling them. We can build relationships by listening to others.

Association does not equal advocacy. “Guilt by association” is a common phrase, and unfortunately it describes a common judgment. Jesus was found guilty of associating with “sinners”. He was not advocating their lifestyle, rather he was reaching out to them to try to bring them back to a better life found in him. Many times we Christians refuse to associate with those whose life makes us uncomfortable, yet God calls us to reach out to them with the life giving message of the Gospel. We should not be afraid to reach out.

Engagement does not equal endorsement. It is okay to engage with people of different ideas. It is okay to work long aside others with different beliefs for the common good. In doing so we are not endorsing their beliefs, but we are building relationships that may allow us to share the message of Jesus to them. We need to listen to them to find out what they believe and how to respond to them.

Words and their meanings do matter. We need to listen and learn what people mean when they speak to us, and not assume they view the world the same way we do. In America, today’s emerging culture wants to define words differently than in the past. We need to be aware of this change and understand what is behind the new definitions.

This blog post was inspired by Chapter 9 of “How the Light Shines Through” by Chad Lakies.

Is Forgiveness Counter-Cultural?

Recently, Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a shooter, and at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service, Charlie’s wife Erika Kirk said,

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.” And she said, “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love and always love.”

After Erika, President Trump spoke and said,

“[Charlie Kirk] did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry,”

Now I think President Trump’s attitude is not that uncommon today. Forgiveness is an unnatural act. We want vengeance. We may want to call it justice, but many times what we really want is vengeance. We want to hate those who hate us or even those who just oppose us. Jesus has a better way of love and forgiveness.

Hatred and vengeance divides people. Love and forgiveness brings people together. People are reconciled when forgiveness is given and accepted. It is not easy to love and forgive but with the help of the Holy Spirit we are able. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-48), and he also says “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28). He does not say to hate them. Rather we are to “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21), and “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless” (1 Peter 6:9). It is not easy, but Christians are called to be different, to be counter-cultural.

The culture today sees the world in terms of power. Many times it is expressed in terms of oppression. This view is also divisive. It divides the world into us versus them. They have and we want. They are in control and we are not. This view feeds the hatred and vengeance that was expressed by President Trump. Christians see the world differently. We view the world through the lens of God’s amazing love. Christians are counter-cultural and one way we show our difference and our love is by forgiving people.

So why do we forgive? Because God has forgiven us so very much, and so out of gratitude we forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35). God did not wait until we got our act together. No, he loved us while we were still broken ungodly sinners (Romans 5:6-8). We all are broken sinners (Romans 3:23) from the worst of us to the best. There is no difference. There is no us versus them. We are all in need of the Savior. In response to God’s saving love, we love and forgive others as we imitate God (Ephesians 5:1-2). That is why we forgive and in doing so we are counter-cultural.

So instead of being divisive, we Christians need work to reconcile and unite. Let us love those we disagree with. Let us be kind to those who hate us. And let us forgive those who attack us. Let us work to reconcile people to God and to each other. This is what we have been called to do. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). And from the little I know about Charlie Kirk, this appears to have been his goal too. Let us reach out in love and forgiveness and share that Gospel message of love.

SPECIAL ME

American Flag Photo by Lisa Setrini-Espinosa

There are nine signs of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). If a mental health professional finds 5 of the 9 signs in a person then that person is diagnosed as having NPD. The nine signs spell out SPECIAL ME.

Sense of self-importance
Preoccupation with power, beauty, or success
Entitled
Can only be around people who are important or special
Interpersonally exploitative for their own gain
Arrogant
Lack empathy
Must be admired
Envious of others or believe that others are envious of them

After reading these 9 signs, I immediately thought of President Donald Trump. Now I am not a mental health professional and I am not certain that with a professional evaluation we can find 5 signs of NPD (or more), but I think President Trump has some of the signs, at least from what I have seen from his public persona.

What concerns me more than whether he has NPD or not is that he is authoritarian with his actions. Now I appreciate several things that President Trump has done but not always in the way he does it. I am a social conservative and a fiscal conservative. However, I believe he has issued several executive orders that are unconstitutional. They are still winding their way through the courts, so it is not certain which ones (if any) are unconstitutional. He is trying to expand the powers of the executive branch and that is upsetting the checks and balances in doing so. I understand that he wants to get stuff done and he can not guarantee Congress will do what he wants and the Judicial Branch is slow and methodical. But I believe the checks and balances of the three branches of government are what has made America great. It prevents one branch from grabbing too much power. The three branches have to work together. President Trump’s authoritarian actions threaten that. He also demands loyalty to him and his policies. This is not good for the country.

I believe that he feels that he personally must succeed and be a success, so his authoritarian tendencies and his loyalty requirements flow out of that need. I also believe that his continued focus on the 2020 presidential election is because he cannot believe he lost. He still claims there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election and I have yet to see any conclusive proof. His own Attorney General William Barr said there was no widespread fraud in the election. One of the biggest accusations of voting fraud was with the Dominion Voting machines. Right before the defamation trial was to start, Fox News settled the defamation lawsuit with Dominion for $787.5 million. No evidence appeared in the pre-trial discovery supporting the claim of fraud. Instead after the settlement, Fox News gave a statement that “certain claims about Dominion to be false”. And Mike Lindell who had made big claims about having proof of election fraud did not in his defamation trial offer any proof of election fraud. And yet today President Trump continues to claim fraud in the 2020 election.

He recently said in regard to Space Command moving from Colorado to Alabama, “The problem I have with Colorado, one of the big problems, they do mail-in voting. They went to all mail-in voting, so they have automatically crooked elections.” There is no proof that Colorado has crooked elections. They are very careful with their mail-in ballots. I think the elected Colorado Republicans would say that their elections were not crooked. It seems he still claims there is still widespread election fraud in the country. Without proof of widespread election fraud, I do not think these claims are good for the country.

And President Trump’s administration has gone after many of those who in the past have criticized or investigated Donald Trump. It looks like he is taking action against those who have opposed him. It seems to be personal for him. I am concerned about the precedents being set. These actions are not good for the country.

This post has been more opinionated and subjective than I would have liked, but I am concerned that President Trump has been too authoritarian and too focused on himself. I am concerned that President Trump is not presidential material, because of his narcissistic tendency.

I will end with one story to illustrate my point. The Trump administration has been working to bring peace to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. That is a good thing. They have produced a framework for peace and one key part of the deal is the creation of the “TRIPP corridor” or the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity”. It will be “a transport and trade route designed to connect Armenia and Azerbaijan more directly while integrating the South Caucasus into broader international shipping and energy networks.” The peace treaty is not a done deal yet and I hope that peace happens, but this does illustrate the narcissistic tendency of President Trump. There really is no need to name the corridor after President Trump, except for his ego.

And some advice for you, Mr. President, look to Jesus and not to yourself. Jesus has been very good to me. I am a broken sinful person, who is loved and forgiven by God because of all Jesus has done. Receive that love of God! Do not reject it!

Transhumanism to Posthuman

Some people today envision a future where human beings will have evolved beyond our bodies to a super artificially intelligent posthuman that may or may not inhabit a body (biological or robotic). They see the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) as a dream come true and they want to encourage and support AI so that AI can free us from our biological constraints and usher in a utopia. Others, transhumanists, see AI as a tool for us to enhance our human limitations and incorporate AI into a cyborg-like utopian future. These transhumanists also want to encourage and support AI with a utopian future in mind. And many others see AI as only an important tool for business and other uses. How should we see and deal with AI in our lives today?

Transhumans or cyborgs are here today. People today with pacemakers, advanced prosthetics, cochlear implants, or other technological implants can be considered real-live cyborgs. They may not be like the Six Million Dollar Man from that old TV show who had superhuman capabilities, but they do have technological enhancements. And I also would argue that it is not much different than the basic tools we use today. Smart phones seem to almost be body parts for some people, but even a simple lever enhances our capabilities. So in some ways, we have been enhancing our abilities since Adam and Eve, and God started the technology enhancements with the technology of clothing (Genesis 3:21).

Today’s hype is all about enhancing our brain power with AI. Will that make us all cyborgs? Will that lead us to “evolve” beyond our biological selves to this posthuman future? Technology has always changed society. Unfortunately we do not always see the downsides of new technology. Social media is here to stay and it can be a good way to stay in contact with people. However, social media is also addictive and can create echo chambers of like thinking. AI has already been shown to be addictive when it becomes a companion. We need to evaluate the new technology, like AI, to make certain it is a good tool for us. You need to figure out what the cost of this new technology is.

Technology has a tendency to isolate, so does this technology help or hinder social relationships?
In making life easier in one part of your life, does this technology make another part of your life more difficult?
Does this technology make life easier for one segment of society at a cost to another segment of society?
Does this technology satisfy a felt need while costing you some real needs?

You need to evaluate any new technology. One may need to not use this technology if the cost is too high, or to limit its use to prevent addictions and harm to others. What is the cost of AI today? What will be the cost tomorrow when AI is much more powerful? How will it change society? How for the better and how for the worse? These are questions to ask and to decide what we can do and whether this is a technology that is good to use or not.

Note I only explored the posthuman future from an AI superintelligence viewpoint. Others see the posthuman future with biologically modified humans to be like elves, dwarves, dog-people, cat-people, vampires, and the like. This view also aims to free us from our biological constraints by modifying them.

As Christians, we know who we are and whose we are (Galatians 2:20). We have a God who loves us (1John 4:19), became human for us (John 1:1,14), and died for us (Romans 5:6-8). We are sons and daughters of the Heavenly King (2 Corinthians 6:18). We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), so we are not constrained by our biology, because it is God who formed us (Psalm 139:13-16). We are who we are in order to serve him by serving others (Ephesians 2:10). Transhumanism and Posthumanism is all about using technology to become like God (Genesis 11:4). We are not God.

Let me leave you with this quote from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from a podcast (found in this AP article). “When people in the tech industry talk about building this one true AI, it’s almost as if they think they’re creating God or something.”

This post was inspired in part by the article “Resisting a Posthuman Future” by C. Ben Mitchell, found in the Summer 2025 edition of the Concordia Journal on page 21.

The Lord’s Prayer

The “Lord’s Prayer” or “Our Father” (Pater Noster) is a model prayer or a prototype that Jesus taught his disciples (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4) when they asked him to teach them how to pray. It is not meant to be words that are recited to receive a blessing. It is good to intentionally pray it with sincerity and meaning, or to use it to fashion your own prayer.

In my praying of the Lord’s Prayer, I am going to use the version of the Lord’s Prayer that is commonly used in LCMS churches. It is based on the Matthew passage. This prayer was taken from the Book of Common Prayer (either the 1892 version or the 1928 version) when the LCMS was producing the 1941 hymnal which was in English and not German. I believe this English version of this Lord’s Prayer actually dates back to before the King James Bible, perhaps all the way back to Tyndale.

Our Father, who art in heaven. Heavenly Father, we thank you that because of Jesus, our high priest, you allow us to approach you and come before you (Hebrews 4:14-16). You are not a distant God but one who wants to be in relationship with us. Thank you!

Hallowed be thy name. Lord, you are holy and we are not. We sin. We ask that by our thoughts, actions and words we may live holy and pure lives for you (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8). Make your name be holy in our lives and throughout the world. Strengthen us, because you alone are worthy of praise. May our lives exhibit that praise.

Thy kingdom come. Father, we ask that by your Spirit your kingdom would come to us and among us. You are reigning now (Psalm 103:19). Help us to see your reign. We wait for Jesus’ return when the fullness of the kingdom will be ushered in (1 Timothy 6:14-16).

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, your good and gracious will is being done, but we ask that it would be done among us also. Hinder the devil, the influences of the world, and our own sinful nature so that we may live our lives for you. Help us to know your will (Romans 12:1-2).

Give us this day our daily bread. Father God, we thank you for your provision. We thank you for allowing us to come to you with our needs and with our wants. In your gracious provision, you do supply everything we need (Psalm 145:15-16). We thank you! We ask that you continue to supply our needs, the food, the shelter, the peaceful environment, our faith, family, and so much more.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lord God, we sin daily. We are broken and corrupt and do not realize how thoroughly broken we are (Psalm 130:3-4). In your mercy, forgive us, renew us, and restore us, so that we may delight in you and walk in your ways. Remind us how so very much we have been forgiven so to help us to forgive others. We thank you, Jesus, for your death and resurrection so that by the Spirit we may have this new life.

And lead us not into temptation. Lord, we are asking that you would hinder the devil, the influences of the world, and our own sinful nature from leading us into sin, harmful behavior, false beliefs, and the like (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). Lord, you have freed us and so out of gratitude we desire to live life for you.

But deliver us from evil. Save us, Lord, from the evil in this world, especially protect us “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Praise to you, Triune God, for your great love! You reign! You are above all. No one can even closely compare to you. So all honor and glory and blessing are yours (Psalm 145:1-3; Revelation 5:12). It is all yours! (This last phrase of the Lord’s Prayer is not found in many manuscripts.)

First Date

August 3, 1998 was Gail and Paul’s first date. In many ways, it was not anything special, but in other ways it pointed to our compatibility. We had started emailing each other near the end of June. A mutual friend had suggested to me that Gail needed a pen pal. I knew that she was matchmaking and I almost did not email Gail. The only reason I did, was that I was in Colorado and Gail was in Oregon. The matchmaking was not going to work because of the long distance. So this first date was just to see who I had been emailing. I was out visiting my folks, and Gail and I had planned a hike in the Columbia River Gorge and have lunch together. That was it.

We met at The Grotto parking lot in Portland. It was easy to find each other because there were a couple of bus loads of Asian tourists there, and it appeared that we were the only two Caucasians. We drove to Multnomah Falls hoping to hike to the top but the trail was closed. We did get a picture taken on the bridge there. The guy who took the picture told us to get closer together and act like we liked each other. We had just met less than an hour ago.

We ended up hiking up behind Wahkeema Falls. As we hiked up the Gorge wall, we talked and learned more about each other. We came down and had a lunch Gail prepared, and then the date was supposed to end. But we decided to drive over to Portland’s Rose Garden and there continued our conversation. We talked until it was getting late. We stopped because we had to make sure to pick up Gail’s car at The Grotto before it closed. Since it was dinner time, we stopped at a nearby restaurant, “Elmer’s”, and that was our first date.

It ended up being a lot longer than I had planned, and yet there was no spark for either of us. I did not think anything of it even though we talked much longer than planned. Gail was a nice lady and I enjoyed my time with her. I was still a confirmed bachelor. Gail learned that I was a “Lord of the Rings” fan so she read “The Fellowship of the Ring”. She struggled to read the book and was surprised to find out that it was just the first of three books. (She still ended up marrying me, and did enjoy the BBC Lord of the Rings radio drama and the movies.)

We continued emailing each other. By the time December came around, I knew I wanted to spend more time with Gail, so I took an extra long Christmas vacation to visit my folks. I did not see much of my folks, but I saw a whole lot of Gail, and at the end of the vacation I realized that I was in love.

We got engaged in February, and on August 15, 1999, I married Gail. That is now 26 years ago and it all started 27 years ago with email and that first date. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with Gail. She has been a wonderful partner in life.

*****

Gail here:

Paul captured the day well. I want to add that the timing of our meeting was God’s perfect timing. Meeting Paul at that point in my life was just right. God had been working in both of us over the years and I can see how meeting any earlier would not have worked out as well. The way we met was also perfect. We saw that we were compatible and over the months that we continued to email nearly daily, I learned so much about what Paul thought and how he lived. With the “pressure off” our love and attraction grew. We could “talk” thoughtfully about important things through email, and I learned that Paul was wise, kind, and generous. He was and is God’s gift to me. We are very different, but wonderfully suited to each other. It’s a joy to live life together!

*****

More of the story can be found with these blog posts: Before Engagement and During Engagement.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:31-33)

USA Debt

Do you know that the American federal government spends more money paying the interest on the federal debt than it spends on defense? Did you know that last fiscal year over a quarter of federal spending was with borrowed money? We have a debt problem, and Congress seems unable to even come close to balancing the budget. Every day we spend $2.6 Billion on interest. That is more than $30,000 per second for just interest. It has been 24 years since the federal government has had a surplus.

In the last 24 years the federal debt has greatly increased, from $5.8 Trillion to $36.7 Trillion (or now 122% of the GDP). There are several factors for the increase. The obvious cause is not enough revenue coming in for the spending, and experts blame that on the aging population and the rising cost of healthcare. I believe some other factors are the two tax cuts (G.W. Bush and Trump), the Great Recession, and the Pandemic. And I believe Congress has not had the will power to address the deficit, and that is due to we the people wanting lower taxes and still wanting all the benefits.

Ever since I have been able to vote, I have been concerned with the federal government’s debt. And I have been saying we need to raise taxes and cut spending. It is an unpopular idea, however the Trump administration is actually raising taxes (tariffs) and cutting spending (DOGE). Tariffs are an indirect taxation on us, though the Trump administration does not characterize it that way. Unfortunately, by making the former Trump tax cut permanent, the Trump administration is also cutting taxes. When I said raise taxes and cut spending, I did not have in mind the way the Trump administration is doing it.

I would have taken more time to cut spending, much like how the Clinton administration did it. The Clinton administration over a five year time period cut more than 250,000 federal jobs, consolidated more than 800 agencies, and eliminated over 100 programs. It was much less disruptive than the chainsaw approach of DOGE. And I would also have let the former Trump tax cut expire, or at least let it expire on those making more than a million dollars, and thus bring in more revenue. And I would use tariffs sparingly. Note, I believe that making the former Trump tax cut permanent undermines what they are doing and may cancel out the tariffs tax increase. Yes, cutting taxes does improve the economy and could bring in more tax revenue, but results over the last 50 years show that the net result of cutting taxes is to increase the deficit.

Congress needs to make some hard decisions. They do not need to balance the budget right away, though that would be a good thing to do. They do need to significantly reduce the deficit. The deficit for fiscal year 2024 was $1.83 Trillion. The federal government spent $6.75 Trillion and collected $4.92 Trillion in revenue. That meant that the government spent 27% more money than it received. Over a quarter of federal spending was with borrowed money! This is shocking! Yes, this will make those interest payments even higher. How long can we keep doing this?

According to the Congressional Budget Office, fiscal year 2025 is estimated to have a deficit of $1.9 Trillion and in fiscal year 2035 the deficit estimate is $2.7 Trillion. We are still digging ourselves into a much deeper fiscal hole. This is not good. We need to prioritize reducing the deficit and work towards balancing the budget. We need to raise taxes and cut spending, and we need to do it in a way that is less disruptive than the current methods.

Nicene Creed

Jesus Christ Statue Photo - Myriam Zilles

This year, the Nicene Creed is 1700 years old. Way back in 325 A.D., there was the First Council of Nicaea, where a large number of church leaders gathered primarily to discuss the relationship of Jesus Christ to God. There had been this ongoing controversy (Arianism) on whether or not Jesus was created and thus not the same as God the Father. Everyone considered Jesus to be divine but what was his relationship to God the Father? It came down to two Greek words, homoousios, Jesus being “of one substance” with God the Father, or homoiousios, Jesus being of a like substance to the Father. Arianism held that Jesus was the first created being, inferior to the Father but like him, and still superior to all other beings. The Council of Nicaea firmly rejected Arianism and chose homoousios. I believe homoousios fits much better with what the Bible says.

Emperor Constantine had called the church leaders together because this controversy was dividing the Church. He got the church leaders together and he let the church leaders decide the controversy and did not influence the decision. Everyone of the church leaders voted for the creed except for two holdouts. Emperor Constantine had hoped this would resolve the issue, but unfortunately the controversy continued.

In 381 A.D., at the First Council of Constantinople, the Nicene Creed was amended with the biggest change being the fleshing out of the third article which is about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not the focus in the original creed. All the other changes have been minor. And that is how the Nicene Creed came to be.

The Nicene Creed makes it very clear that Jesus is God who became human. It says

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; … became man, …

And at the end of the original Nicene Creed it said

But as for those who say, there was when He was not, and before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing, or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance, or created, or is subject to alteration or change – these the catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes [strongly condemns].

The original creed also made it clear what the wrong beliefs were. The key point of the Nicene Creed is that Jesus is God, a person of the Trinity, who became human for our salvation.

Today there is a falsehood going around that Emperor Constantine called the council because he wanted to make Jesus a so-called mortal human being who was a prophet into a deity and thus suppress the sacred feminine (symbolic of fertility and reproduction and being representative of mother earth). This is a completely different narrative from the historical documents, and the idea of the Trinity (three persons and yet one God) had already been established so it was not a new idea introduced at the Council of Nicaea.

And another falsehood that people believe today is that at the Council of Nicaea, the books of the Bible were selected and the Gnostic Gospels were suppressed at that time. Nothing about that is true. The Biblical Canon was not discussed at all. It had already been set by consensus. Again the false idea is that Emperor Constantine was suppressing the sacred feminine by banning the Gnostic Gospels. The funny thing is the Gnostic Gospels are much more anti-feminine than the books of the Bible. Be careful of the lies that surround the Council of Nicaea. Unfortunately “The Da Vinci Code” popularized many of these lies.