Where's the Christmas Thread?????

[Evang.Benincasa]

[houston]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Oh I forgot our resident Baptists?

Here you go.

Do you ever have anything good to say?

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by houston

Do you ever have anything good to say?

Yes, of course.

So, posting to me that Brother and Sister Urshan singing was distasteful was in your opinion saying something good?

[Esther]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

My whole thing is that it is totally fabricated, as the rosary. It's Burl Ives singing silver and gold, and we get the spirit of Xmas, yet we can't see it has the face of Halloween. I have a family friend who is a Roman Catholic priest and I'm surrounded by Eastern Orthodox. Both are at odds with each other over Easter and Xmas. Yet, my position is an easy one. I'm sola scriptura, and therefore don't have or can find any mandate for Xmas celebration, or an Easter celebration. Or any celebrations or Christian festivals. I have sat on forums after forums and seen debates hotter than Florida asphalt (sorry, but Texas asphalt isn't hotter than Florida) Yet in every debate whether it's One God, Tithing, Eschatology, Soteriology, or standards of separation from the world, you have people crying "where is it in the Bible!!!" Yet, when we come to the birth and death celebrations of Sol Invictus we puppy down and break a wide grin while invoking a plea of our childhood?

Ho...ho...uh, oh.

What a laugh!

I have a couple of things to say here, one have you been to Texas in the summer, if so you might discover it is hotter here.

Second, there is no example of using electricity but using candles, however, we moved on.

There are many things we do today that the early church did not do. No reference I know of for having a choir or praise team. Just an example.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Ah, once a year when everyone becomes Roman Catholics

Are your kids getting gifts this Season?

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Xmas is wet cotton candy, while the Apostolic One God truth is 2 inch thick steak smothered in bacon, served hot with a sweet potato complete with melting butter.

True that. Christmas/Xmas doesn't save. It is merely a cultural tradition. Apostolic One God truth is salvation.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Merry Krishna!

I actually think that is amusing. LOL

Although, based on what we know of St. Nicholas, he'd have crushed Hindu idols and punk-slapped anyone challenging the divinity of Jesus (remember, he physically assaulted Arius at the Nicene Council for challenging the divinity of Jesus). And all of that took place prior to all these "Christmas traditions". So, the picture isn't entirely correct.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Jai Sri Ram, and a Happy New Year!

I like these memes. Not only are they funny, but they draw on more accurate history relating to the ancient origin of the Jolly Ol' Saint Nick....

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

As I said earlier, there is absolutely no record that the Acts church gave the date of the birth of Jesus any attention. It was all about his resurrection from the dead.

I personally think that if the winter holidays were a day where trees are put up and lights and tinsel and glitter and gifts and whatever you want to do, are all done in the name of a winter holiday, it would be just like any other national holiday, just that, a holiday, and not a HOLYday. It would be a day like July 4th or any other national holiday.

But to take pagan traditions, and try to make them holy, that is abomination to the Lord.[/QUOTE]

Most pagans from ancient times would see the way we have changed their customs and find it offensive. For example, the pagans used to hang the evergreen upside down in their homes. Christians began standing them upright to represent eternal life, the upright tree representing that which was cut down, but is alive forever more. A pagan from ancient times would find this offensive. And frankly, that's why some ancient Christians began doing it! LOL

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by good samaritan

Christmas is a national holiday whether we acknowledge it or not. There aren’t any Biblical mandates in scripture concerning it one way or another. I personally feel like we do more harm than good trying to refute people’s Christmas traditions. Our pre-conversion traditions inevitably affect our post conversion walk. Paul acknowledges this by all of the issues he has with Jewish converts. Paul didn’t combat people’s traditions. Instead, he admonished them to not judge one another nor cast stumbling blocks before one another with their non-essential views.

Paul seemed to continue to keep the Day of Pentecost himself, although, it was a Jewish feast day. I certainly understand why he kept it, due to it being the birth of the New Testament Church. A holiday by definition is basically a day of rest from daily duties, which is often to commemorate an important person or event. I do believe that Jesus’ birth was an important event, and likewise, I do not see anything wrong with commemorating it. Obviously, it should be remembered every day.

I do my best to provide for my children daily and I strive to be the dad that I should be. Once a year our family acknowledges one another’s birthday and we celebrate. What is wrong with celebrating the birth of Christ (I am not meaning mandating it)? We truly don’t know the exact day, but what if your Birthday fell upon Feb. 29th (leap year)? Would you still find a way a day to celebrate it? I think most of us would commemorate a day to celebrate our family Birthdays regardless.

I personally am not trying to change anyone’s belief for the Christmas holiday. Whether or not we acknowledge Christmas as a holiday doesn’t change the fact that it is observed by the large majority of Christian influenced nations. I don’t think protesting the observance of Christmas is going to help the cause to bring people to the Lord. I believe Catholics are lost, but I don’t believe that the method to reaching them is to squash them and their traditions. Same goes for everyone else.

Our witness to the world should be about the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ, along with the inward and our outward expression of it. National holidays are vain to us because they have no bearing on that. “Galatians 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.” Holidays have no direct bearing on our salvation, but are simply a part of the culture that we live in. God did not send us to correct the errors of cultural traditions, but instead to lead people to Jesus Christ.

I think the elements of our Christmas traditions are simply a prime opportunity to teach people about Jesus. The true Christmas tree is not a cedar decked with jewels, but was two wooden beams nailed across one another, on which our Lord and Savior hung and died. All the inhabitants of this earth are responsible for the death of the innocent blood of Jesus Christ. The Gift that we should all acknowledge and desire is the Gift of the Holy Ghost, which was bought and paid for by Jesus’ own blood. This is not just the reason of the season, but the reason of it all.

Whether or not you celebrate the Christmas holiday is your personal choice, but we should bear one another a little in our folly. I do not see where we can make a case that it is Biblically right or wrong to commemorate Christ’s birth with festivities. I don’t wish to cast stumbling blocks in front of others, nor do I want to judge others concerning non biblical issues. Colossians 2:16 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” The context may not be exact but the principle in this applies. Christmas, nor any modern holiday, is biblically supported or refuted. We should use discretion in how and if we keep them. Be peacemakers no matter which side of the fence we stand on.

This was an awesome post Brother GS. I have thought a lot about what you shared here. There is so much that is offensive to me during the Christmas holidays, and Easter too. So much that tries to imitate the truth that we know to be true and genuine.

But as you shared this scripture, I have thought about it and realized that Paul, in this passage, was opening the door for just about anything to be accepted as worship, as long as we don't offend our brother in doing so. That is a large door really, and I suppose it could include what goes on at Christmas that seems pagan and materialistic to me.


Bro. GS - thank you for this awesome post.