Seasonal Greetings
Dear brethren,
we were forwarded an email expressing great concern and lamenting the fact that many Big Name retailers are sanitizing Christmas out of America. Here for you is an excerpt and some of my thoughts:
*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*
* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*
*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*
*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*
Apparently Lowes, Sears, K-Mart, and other leading retailers are becoming anti-Christmas and doing their best to eliminate the connection between the birth of Jesus and Dec. 25th.
Amazingly, there is one more place the birthday of Jesus on dec 25th is not mentioned or celebrated......-the Scriptures from the Bible
PS. aint no santa claus in there either. see thisto understand why.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Do you know what Christians in the Book of Acts celebrated on Dec 25th?
Do you know what Christians in Rome celebrated on Dec 25th in 100a.d.?
Do you know what Christians in Asia, Europe, and Africa celebrated on Dec. 25th?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> nada, zip, zilch, zero ... nothing
Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD..... the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say,Surelyour fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is noprofit.
Do you know what the pagans in Rome, Europe, and Asia were doing during "the holidays"?
Why they were having a BALL!
Drunkeness, Merry "io, io, io Saturnalia!!" greetings, parties everywhere, gift exchanges, decorations, candles, ornaments, mistletoe, yule-logs, tradition-keeping, banqueting, and a general debauchery prevailed as they celebrated the re-birth of the SUN.
In our last few years in "church", we noted santa claus, Christmas trees, banquets, gift-exchanges, decorations, special services, "Merry Christ-MASS" (merry death-of-Christ), Christmas parties, shopping madness, lying to children about santa, spoiling them with materialistic expectations, and the celebration of Christ's "birth" on December 25th prevailed.
That's right, for the disciples of Jesus Christ there were no santas,
no trees, no dingle-balls or jingle bells.
no manger scenes, no yule logs,
no shopping frenzy,
no Christ-Mass,
no gift list, no stockings hung, no Christmas cards,
no Christmas parties,
NO SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES,
no Christmas parades or pagents,
no "Christmas Program" featuring the children....
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
In our view, this is just one more reason to "come out from among them", the paganized, scripture-forsaking, apostate church that has become "conformed to the world".
Well, what about our families and friends who love lying about santa, the shopping fenzy, parties, and the seasonal bustle? GOOD question! Here is how we handled our family celebration with those that practice.
2. Here is an excerpt of an articel I wrote on how we handled the holidays with our very Catholic family.
But I wanted to save the best for last.: Because we are not self-righteous or militantly legalistic about our growing rebellion against the Great Commercial Holiday, nor do we want to flaunt our anti-commercial Christ-mass in anyone's face, we gladly gathered with family in a neighboring city for Christmas Day dinner. Kind of like Paul when he said "to the Jews I became as a Jew, under the law... in order that I might win some".
Before leaving, we spent time in prayer and I really desired something different in our gathering. I remember asking God to let "the love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost" verse be manifested in us. On the drive over, we prayed some more, and we even "bound" any negative spirits, words, or attitudes from spoiling our time together. After arriving, we all prayed over our meal and had a very harmonious and loving visit.
Towards the end of the evening, the kids had their gifts and my aging in-laws gave each of us a token of their love in the form of a gift to each adult and child. Afterwards as the younger adults started playing board games, and others were in conversation, I watched as my wife got up to hug and thank her parents. Quickly I got up and went with her as first she hugged her dad, then her mom, saying thank you, I followed suit.
For the first time in our 24 years of marriage, I went beyond the normal manly handshake we always did, and hugged Dad's neck, saying "I love you". Then I did the same with Mom. A few moments later it was evident they had been moved by a sincere expression of love that I knew came from the Lord Himself through us.
For me those moments of expressing love instantly became an imcomparable precious treasure in our memory bank, and maybe a small window into what God meant when He said "For God so loved..."
You can realize the battle at hand yet trust the Lord in prayer to resolve these issues as your family matures. Being weak to the weak...Living by example and changing behaviors rather by your own examples of Love not enforcing rules and laws... Rather we are led in his wisdom by keeping our eyes upon Jesus. We trust in his Spirit not trying to force these issues on our families that rebel because they still have not had the revelation that the Lord has shared with us...
Rory,
That is very true, straight-forward, and well put. The Lord is revealing these things to more and more people who love Him. May the Lord Jesus continue to bless you as you share what He prompts you to.
Posted by Keith W on 11/16/2009 14:42:06
And the tradition is carried on. That is the Pagan traditions. So true and Jeremiah 16:19 really nails it, does it not. Funny the looks and off hand comments we receive because we do not participate in the insanity.
Thank the Lord for deliverance! Great article and so timely.
Posted by Sid Grimes on 11/16/2009 23:37:14
Thank you. It is so interesting that the brethren He is trying to show, come up with all the excuses or explanations of why or what they do for this pagan holiday. Then turn around and twist your words so that you look like the villain/pagan, or judgemental, or call you self righteous and any number of other things. It is so sad. Keep on planting, maybe the seed will grow.
Posted by Betty on 11/20/2009 17:03:19
Having spent many holidays in the company of my Catholic family over the years, I certainly can relate to and appreciate the spiritual preparation it takes to gather with people who we love, but have a much different understanding of this time of year than we have. Being all things to all people, without compromising our own beliefs can be a challenge, but God's wisdom always prevails when we approach them with love and humility. It's not about who is right and who is wrong. It's about obeying our Lord and walking in paths of righteousness, even in times of conflict. Thanks for sharing- Isabel
