Good morning, good afternoon, good evening...wherever in the world you live! I hear you're a chocoholic too - I won't tell a soul! Chocolate is good for the body - and God's Word is good for the soul: "O taste and see that the Lord is good...(Psalm 34:8 KJV)." So please join me for a few moments of fun, food and inspiration - it's all calorie-free (believe that and I'll sell you the Brooklyn Bridge) and might even make your day!

Old Time "Father Christmas" . . . . . . A Christmas Mystery or Myth??

Bible Byte 'n Chocolate Chew for Today

"Christmas Mysteries: Santa and the Savior!?!"

Daily Manna's Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-25 . . . Colossians 4:2-6 (NIV)

I love a good mystery, be it fiction, non-fiction, real-life, and yes, even TV's late-night "Perry Mason," "Matlock" and "Murder, She Wrote!" No wonder I can't sleep - chuckle!!

So what's with the mystery of Santa? No mystery to the adults......we connive the pranks, whisper the secrets, don the outfit, buy the presents, and generally, have fun with our kids. MY dad told me Santa was dead; I told MY kids he was a fun person, a "mystery" they would need to figure out and I would tell them when they solved it! Worked fine - except when our younger son caught us putting cookies, milk and stockings under the tree one year!

So what's with the mystery of the Savior? Granted, as part of the human family, there's no way we can comprehend the wonder, the depth of love, the intricate plan put in place before the foundation of the earth - to give us a Savior, a Redeemer, a Lord. We cannot grasp such grace and such love - but the mystery HAS been made plain to us through the simple words of John 3:16, a verse memorized from childhood, and woven into the very fabric of a Christian's being.

Mysteries? Lots of them in life - things we can't understand, can't figure out - the hurts, pain, suffering in our own lives and in our world; man's inhumanity to man; terror; natural disasters; tragedies - the list goes on and on...unsolvable mysteries, except for one....

He LOVES us! There's no mystery about His love and His grace for us all. Bring YOUR mysteries to the Lord and leave them there. He's the One who understands all, knows all - there are no mysteries with Him. Kneel at the manger, kneel at the Cross - love and adore Him - proclaim and make plain, in your own simple words, "the mystery of Christ" to a needy world, wherever on Planet Earth you may live this day!

"The Mystery of God Incarnate"
"The Word Became Flesh" - John Piper
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries - Christian apologetist

"Understanding God in a Suffering World" - Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

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"Why Jesus Is Better than Santa Claus"

"How to Explain Santa Claus to Christian Children"
"Reclaiming Santa" - ChristianityToday
"The Turth About Santa Claus: When Your Child is Ready to Hear..." (Amazon.com)

"How Physics Killed Santa Claus"

Copyright 2008 by Peggie C. Bohanon, Springfield, MO. All rights reserved.

--Bible readings: Courtesy of "Daily Manna," International Bible Society
--IBSDirect International Bible Society's bulk Bibles/resources at discount prices.

--Santa graphic: Free Christmas graphics.

Humor and Inspiration for Your Day - a wonderful Christian site!
Skywriting.net - humor & inspiration . . . Skywriting.net - Christian Cartoons

Once Upon a World
Unique, original audio Bible stories and podcast for children.

Pray daily for our military! View "Remember Me" - YouTube, a patriotic video.

Need Him - a place for people of all ages to find Jesus! . . . Who Is Jesus? - International Bible Society

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Chocolate-Related Devotionals by Peggie!

Chocolate De-Light! . . . The Rat, the Cat--and the Chocolate!

Confessions of a Chocoholic--by Peggie!

So Where's the Fudge? . . . Where's the Chocolate!

Other devotionals by Peggie: See The Devotional Buffet.

(With thanks and apologies to my good friend and choco-buddy, Georgia,
from whom I crooked some of these wonderful graphics, courtesy of Cute Colors Graphics. Thanks!)

Graphics credit:

Privacy Statement at Peggie's Place!
Peggie's Personal Statement of Faith . . . The Peggie's Place Story & a Mission Statement

Celebrating God's goodness . . . . . . 15 million and counting!

Note: Counter keeps a running total of "page views" for the entire site.
--It jogs around the world and around the clock--to find YOU!

This Christian home has been visited a zillion times since December 26, 1995!
Well, not quite, but there HAS been a houseful--and STILL room for one more--YOU!
The Christian Counter scans the entire site--and there's plenty of chocolate for everyone--so enjoy!

AddThis.com . . . Search Engine Submission - AddMe
Thanks, AddMe, for promoting Peggie's Place, including my new TWITTER page!

Most of the music playing at Peggie's Place originates from Songs of Praise.
Visit their great Web site to hear beautiful tunes by many talented artists. CDs are available.

Please note: Peggie's Place is a member of the Gospel.com community, formerly known as Gospel Communications Network. At that time, my site was also known as "peggiesplace.gospelcom.net" or "gospelcom.net/peggiesplace" - those "gospelcom.net" addresses no longer work. Please update any of those old bookmarks to peggiesplace.com. See "Lost 'n Found: A Redirect at Peggie's Place" for more detail.

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Please note that while I strongly adhere to major tenets of the evangelical Christian faith, I may not personally agree with every specific doctrinal belief set forth in other Christian pages. I do want to provide a diversity of links and resource material for the entire Body of Christ to enjoy, and trust you will view it as such.

A safety tip: Internet links and material may include other links and/or material which do not reflect my Christian views or yours. Please choose wisely and use with discretion! And if you find an ugly spider hiding in a dark corner, you may smash it with a broom from my BROOM CLOSET--I hate offensive stuff too!