I believe it is
quite confusing to our children to ask them to believe in the one, true,
omnipotent God and then turn around and suggest to them that there is an
omnipotent Santa Claus who knows everyone, where they live, whether they
are bad or good, and is able to be all around the world in the same night.

**All blessings, including Christmas presents should be
acknowledged as from God. He will share His glory with no one, especially
Santa Claus. If we want our children to acknowledge God as their source,
then don't confuse them with our double-mindedness. "Santa Claus" is
not another of God's Holy names.

"Promote?"... I'd have to give
an emphatic , "No!"
Yet, I do feel that the Santa Claus
tradition should be explained and interpreted for children . Children
can't be in the world and not come into contact with the secular
viewpoints of Christmas. They need not be contaminated with it though
when we emphasis, as the saying goes, "The Reason for the Season.; where
Christ is exaulted, and our own family traditions reflect this . Make this
time of year a reflection on the greatest giver ever- and the gift no one
should be without- "Christ". Everything can be redeemed for Christ and
we can make our own "Christmas'" Christ honoring through our worship,
our gift-giving, our own family traditions at Christmas to bring glory to
Him.
Like the family who celebrated Christmas every year with a
birthday party for Jesus and made Him the center of attention. When a
visitor to their home asked their young daughter, "Did you get everything
you wanted for Christmas?" , she answered, "No, but then again it's not
my birthday!"
Ww can promote Christ.

To me if you teach Santa to the
children as they grow up and they come to find out as they grow older that
he is just a fairy tale then they may also consider that Jesus is nothing
but a fair tale also. I have a friend whose mother taught her that Jesus
was a fairy tale and trying to get her to see that Jesus is so real has
been a task so great for me.

Yes and no. for little childern
it would be alright. But for older childern paernts shuld explain to them
the meaning for Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season. in todays
world there is to mutch hype. the holliness has been taking out of the
season. The world we live in today is very complex we need to get back to
our Christian values we should teach our childern at an early age about
Jesus Christ and twll them why he was born and for what purpose. To teach
us to love one another and to suffer and die for us that we may have
eternal life with him.

My grandmother told us the story
of the original St. Nicholas in Holland. He was an "ordinary" man, who
at Christmas time, would bring children gifts of carrots, apples,
chocolates, and coal to warm them. His message was of love and salvation.
Santa Claus was a missionary, spreading the love and teachings of
Jesus.

I at times have asked my self this
question many times. I've come to the conclusion, that its all in fun
for the children & that's it. I think it's a perfect opprotunity for
parent's to teach their children that Santa Claus is only pretend.
Furthermore, what we truly celebrate christmas for & that's our Saviour,
Jesus Christ. How is that harmful? Santa Claus is no different then
Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, Snow White, &/ cartoon characters. All these
characters do, is teach our children how to dream. Dreams bring hope, do
they not? Moreover, we know what hope brings... Without dreams, hope &
love, we ourselves could not believe in God's kingdom. I tell yah, I
believe in God, His Son, His Holy Spirit, Angels, heaven, etc. & I hope &
dream daily of spending eternity with them in HIS kingdom! God can use
anything to teach His children about Him, what's true/false. ANYTHING!!
I think where people make the mistake is that they give the enemy more
credit than he deserves. Sure the devil will try & use these things &
other things too as tools for his means but only if we allow him! The
question one should ask themselves is, "who do you think is more
powerful, God/satan?" God can take the worst circumstance & turn it into
something righteous. People need to remember that. Faith comes in all
shapes, colors & styles but no matter what faith is faith. Love, faith &
hope conquer all things & His word assures us of this!! Much love
always, honeybee xoxo

I believe that
the commercial Santa should not be promoted, but the real story of Saint
Nicholas is an appropriate tool for helping children to see how Christ can
be real in one's life.

I have never told my
kids about Santa Clause(as far as being real...bringing presents ect...)
One reason is I am not going to Tell them Sanata is real and God is real
then when they find out Santa was fake then well they could believe God is
fake! That way when a friend of thiers sometime in their childhood finds
out Santa is not real then My child can comfort them in someone who is
Jesus. I also don't think it is right because it is a lie. No matter how
much you sugar coat it is a lie! If you do not believe it is wrong to lie
in this way pray to God about it. "God may I lie to my son...no wait God
I am going to tell my daughter Santa is your helper...Father can I lie for
fun?" Sounds good huh? I guess we could LIE for fun....Wow what fun! So
we are going to teach our kids it is fun or funny to lie? It is so much
fun or funny when you child comes to you confused and crying asking if
Santa is real. Confused?

1Corinthians 14:33 For God is
not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the
saints.

I do the santa claus tradition
with my kids every year, as well as teach my kids about the true meaning
of Christmas-Jesus' birth. It doesn't hurt a thing. I was raised with
the santa claus fairytale. I have very special memories of the lengths my
Christian parents would go to , keepimg that alive for me. I knew that
Christmas was, first and foremost, a celebration of the birth of the Lord
and a time that Santa Claus travelled the world on Christas Eve, stopping
only at the houses of children who were asleep.

I think parents should follow some of the
traditions. but also they should tell the whole storey of st. nick. they
should not say he is alive and lives on the north pole. when you do that
you lie to your kids and break some of that trust you biuld.

My children were tought that this
belongs to Jesus and no one else. We don't promote in the Church and if
you would really get down and study the bible. Jesus wasn't born during
the winter but early spring, because the shepherds were in the fields
tending their flocks. If it were winter they would have been in the
stables. But Santa is not a word used around our house, its
"JESUS".

We never
taught our children about "Santa Clause" for one reason, let's face it,
it is a lie. (I'm not talking about st. Nick, I'm talking about the
jolly guy in the red suit.) How can my children believe me when I openly
lie about something like this? And how do I teach my children not to lie
when mommy and daddy have been doing it for years!?!
They
enjoyed the benefit of the holidays. Even a gift or two under the tree
from Santa Momma, and Santa Daddy, but they always knew it was just fun.
(They were also instructed not to go to school and announce to the class
that it was make-believe. We tried to help them understand that some kids
thought it was real and it was up to their parents to enlighten them.
Because of grace,

Can you imagine our migthy God,
giving an inconverse, longliving foreigner man, the job of distributing
little presents every christmas eve? Would you start the necesity of
another almost-god to give hapiness to each son of God, only if this son
has had a good behaivor? Our God is Lord of Lords, but a nice-looking,
funny man, can judge and sentence you for your faults every year?

Do you think Christians need several semi-gods for every
diferent need they have?

Mine is a jealous God.

Does your God accept you to write a letter to a semi-god,
asking for material goods?

Mine is a jealous God. For
Him be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. (Rev.
5:13)

I have learned the hard way that
Santa Claus should not be promoted. I raised my son to believe in Santa
Claus and now he bekieves that the Messiah is as phony as Santa Claus. I
have a hard task ahead of me now. One of the things I will be correcting
in what he was taught is that the Messiah was born, not in Dec., but on
the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall. That is before the
cold rainy season in Israel and would still be warm enough for shepards to
be out with their flocks at night.

I can't ever remember being confused or damaged by believing in Santa Claus. Since we celebrate Jesus all year long the belief in Jesus is a constant. Santa only comes once a year for a very short time during the year and during our lives. I never praying to Santa.

By the time a child knows Santa is not real they are so rooted in Christ that it's not a problem.

I’m coming to realize that Christians are so paranoid by our own "Christ correctness" that we are afraid to seem not Christian enough.

Enjoy Christmas, have fun, relax, love Christ, smile.