In inner city Atlanta, parents on a tight budget have the opportunity to find toys and gifts for their children without feeling like a charity case this Christmas.

A sale called “Pride for Parents” takes place every year at the South Atlanta Marketplace, a ministry of FCS Community Economic Development.

Inside the marketplace are rows of toys, bikes, soccer balls, games and much more for children of all ages. Everything is marked at half their retail price. more >>

A federal court issued an order Tuesday that will permit two Christian men to share their faith and pass out Gospel tracts during a Duluth, Minn., holiday lights show held in a city park, temporarily reversing the city’s decision last year to ban their evangelism from the event.

Although the court ruling is a temporary injunction, the Alliance Defense Fund claims a victory in its case defending the two Duluth-area residents, saying that they have prevented the city from enforcing what amounts to a “First Amendment ban on people desiring to share their faith at a city park.”

Last year, non-government organizers of the “Bentleyville Tour of Lights” alerted city officials about the men’s actions at the park, according to ADF. Police then told the two men to leave the event based upon objections of an event official who called their views “religious crap.” more >>

A Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma has translated an eighth-century script that changes what many Christians think they know about the nativity scene.

Professor Brent Landau spent two years translating the text from Syriac, a language spoken by Christians from Syria through Iraq and Iran, to English.

The English translation of Revelation of the Magi describes in detail over a dozen wise men, rather than the traditional number of three. more >>

Did you know that over 1.9 BILLION Christmas cards are sent each year? Yep, that’s the most of any holiday - not even Valentine ’s Day comes close. And the Bah- Humbug thing to me is that the vast majority of the cards are just.plain.wrong. Especially when it comes to their portrayal of the Reason for the Season!

Now… my heart is not an empty hole, in fact I really don’t have an ounce of Grinchyness in me. But I am concerned about the blatant and misleading perception that the covers of Nativity Christmas cards have created. So if you’ll indulge me for a moment, here is a brief overview of my rant.

• Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus did not have freaky looking halos around their heads • 3 Kings? No Kings - they were, in fact, scholars and astronomers from Persia • But were they at the birth? Nope…they arrived over a year later…at Jesus’ HOUSE! • Ox and Lambs keeping time? Ah, no - you see farm animals don’t have opposable thumbs for drumsticks, plus people don’t give birth with farm animals around. Besides Jesus wasn’t born in a- • Barn… Most likely He was birthed in a cave used for shelter, not a structure hosting a petting zoo. • Little Drummer Boy? Wait, that’s Justin Bieber - right? more >>

Despite what appears to be a rising hostility in the U.S. toward all things “Christmas,” one organization found that Americans still prefer the traditional “Merry Christmas” greeting as opposed to the phrase “Happy Holidays.”

Sixty-four percent of adults believe people should say “Merry Christmas” while 31 percent of believe that the appropriate greeting should be “Happy Holidays,” according to a Knights of Columbus-Marist poll.

The number of people that preferred the use of the traditional Christmas greeting rose by three percent from last year, when 61 percent of those surveyed thought “Merry Christmas” was more appropriate for the season. more >>

The official 2011 Capitol Christmas Tree that stands 63 feet tall includes no visible ornament signifying the Christian holiday or Jesus Christ. Instead, what can be seen is an ornament praising President Obama.

District visitors can linger around the Capitol and enjoy the Sierra White Fir adorned with lights and colorful ornaments. However, if they walk around to the north side of the tree they will see an ornament not about Christ or Saint Nickolas but rather one that reads “I ♥ President Obama.”

CNSNews.com first reported on the story and asked the office of the Architect of the Capitol if any ornaments on the tree have something pertaining to the Christian holiday. The office replied with a statement saying that it “does not have a policy nor any restrictions concerning the themes for the ornaments” that go on the tree.” The office could not say if this year’s tree had ornaments that directly related to Christmas. Also, the office did not say whether or not any other politician or official was displayed on the tree, other than Obama. more >>