In 1526 William Tyndale printed the first English New Testament directly from the Greek. He had to do it in Germany because the English church hierarchy had prohibited the translation. Tyndale managed to smuggle Bibles into England and they spread throughout the country. When news of their arrival leaked out the church authorities gathered up as many as they could find and burned them in a bonfire in the courtyard of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Growing up in New Zealand, we were taught earthquake drill in our school. Seeing the sea roil offshore from my home town and experiencing shock waves is a sobering experience. We were aware that the whole country was created by volcanic activity. New Zealand would not exist if volcanoes had not risen above the Pacific, and then became extinct, or dormant. What had been created in that way can also be destroyed by the same action. “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

We thank thee, O blessed Lord God, that while another year has passed away, and thousands and tens of thousand precious souls have departed to the eternal world, we yet survive; that we have been, by thy merciful providence, conducted through a thousand perils to this present time. Help us, O heavenly Father, so to number our days, and so duly to consider the shortness and uncertainty of human life, that we may apply our hearts to true wisdom.

The most popular Christmas movie this year is THE POLAR EXPRESS, produced by Tom Hanks. A boy dreams of contacting Santa Claus. He dreams that a train picks up children who take a night-time ride to the North Pole to see Santa Claus. Some of the children are skeptical about Christmas. Some have been disappointed in the past and are afraid to hope that Santa will come for them on Christmas morning. Some doubt that Santa exists.