When I talk to God, will he ever speak to me in English words?
Who can say?
I don't mean that flippantly, but sincerely. God is forever surprising humanity. Just when we think we have God figured out, God does something new. God certainly spoke to Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Peter in language they could understand. Over the years, saints have told of God speaking to them. God's Spirit is active in many people's lives, communicating with such a directness that they are overwhelmed.
It seems unlikely that God has said everything God has to say, either to humanity in general or to you in particular. Does that mean you will hear God speaking to you in English? Only God knows that. The fact that such a thing has never happened to me or to anyone I know doesn't mean God won't do it.
My one caution is to let it happen and not try to force it. Some people believe that God's speaking directly to them makes them superior (read 1 Corinthians 12), and so they try to force that to happen or even imagine it's happening. That seems unfortunate, because our everyday lives are just as sacred without direct conversation with God.
As to your speaking to God, that is what prayer is all about.
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Could you please explain the importance of celebrating Christmas and birthdays?
From the beginning of Jewish history, it has been important for God's people to celebrate key events of their lives, such as birth, being dedicated to God, coming to maturity, marriage, childbirth, death. Christians continued this practice and, over time, developed liturgies for each key passage, such as the sacraments of Holy Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Matrimony.
Why do we do this? It is our response to God. Such celebrations express our understanding that our lives derive from God, that we are called to holiness throughout our lives, that faith is a journey with God, and that celebrating life passages as a faith community nurtures love and faithfulness. Thus, Jesus was brought to the temple as a baby to be dedicated, returned later as a young adult, was baptized by John, and was prepared for burial according to custom.
Christmas is different. Like Easter, Epiphany, Palm Sunday and Good Friday, the Feast of the Incarnation celebrates a moment in the life of Jesus. We do that because we understand him to be the center of our faith.
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Did Jesus come to invalidate all other religions?
Jesus himself said he came to show the way to the Father. The original Greek says “show way,” which could mean “show THE way” (as in the only way) or “show A way” (as in one way among several). The tendency of many religious leaders has been to make the claim of exclusiveness and to argue that no other faith is valid.
I think we are moving beyond that narrow and triumphalist point of view. If one has any experience of the larger world, one sees that Jews have a solid, inspiring and transforming faith—indeed, it was the faith of Jesus. So do Muslims. Their ways to God are different from those of Christianity, but I think we are recognizing that all get to the same God eventually.
We don't need to condemn all others as being “wrong” or “invalid” or “infidels” in order to have a lively faith in Jesus Christ.
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Is there any scripture in the bible that supports having godparents for your children or guidance on selecting godparents?
The role of sponsor for baptism (later called “godparent” in the English church) was developed by the early Christian community. In those challenging days, becoming a Christian was fraught with danger, both for the candidate and for the community. In order to verify the candidate's sincerity, and to make sure they weren't a Roman spy, the community required that one of its own vouch for the candidate. Baptismal instruction lasted as long as three years. The sponsor monitored the process to make sure the candidate was taking it seriously.
At the baptism itself, the sponsor presented the candidate, generally to a bishop, for baptism.
At that time, nearly all candidates were adult converts from paganism or Judaism. Later, after all adults had been baptized, the Church began to lower the age of baptism, until finally it reached infancy. At that point, issues of sincerity and spying vanished, and the sponsor's role became more ceremonial.
In English law, the godparent had some legal responsibility for the child, in the event both parents died. That isn't the case with godparenting in the U.S.
When I instructed godparents, I urged them to take an active role in the life of the child, at least until they were confirmed, and preferably for the rest of their life. Children need additional caring adults in their lives.
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I always questioned why Christians were able to eat pork and shellfish even though it clearly states in the book of Leviticus that these are not to be eaten. Also I have never understood why the Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday and the majority of Christians in the world honor Sunday as the Sabbath.
Dietary laws in the Hebrew Bible had to do with establishing Israel 's unique identity as the people of God by doing things (including eating) in ways that were different from other people. Some ancient health issues also were involved. The books of the Law (Genesis to Deuteronomy) spoke to certain ancient situations, but those situations changed. The nomads became city dwellers, for example. Food-safety requirements in a tent culture were obviated by better storage. The Christian era has had its own shifts in dietary requirements. In both eras, religion changes its rules as situations change.
The early Christians began as Jews, and then pulled away from Judaism. One way to act out that pulling away was to adopt a new definition of Sabbath.
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