Why I don't do Christmas...

It's that time of year...
Last year, I didn't make mention of Christmas to you'all. I just hid away, letting you do your thing without me raining on anyone's parade. I know in my saying this, I'm not really stomping on toes, but some people I'm sure will see it that way. Everyone is entitled to do as they wish, I am not personally condemning anyone by what follows. I just saw on a couple blogs people saying why they do Christmas and so I thought I would share why I don't.

Feel free to leave comments, but please be nice to me. Last time I spoke up, I got 50 or more comments bashing me as a person without them even really knowing me. And like I said before, this is what I choose to do. We will each answer to Him for ourselves.

1. Christ never told me to. (I see the baby as the man who was only born to die...not a festive happy thing)
2. The three wise men is all messed up...(the bible never says how many and they came when He was two...If you will read Matthew 2:7-11carefully, you will see that the star led the wise men to Nazareth, not to the stable in Bethlehem where our Lord was born. Verse 9 tells us that they found Jesus in "the house" where He had lived with Mary and Joseph since He was 91 days old. (Luke 2:7, 21-39) This "house" was in Nazareth, the place where Joseph and Mary lived.
3. Christ was not born on December 25th. "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."Luke 2:8.it is a well known fact that December is the rainy season in Palestine and the sheep were kept in the fold at that time of the year. The shepherds always corralled and brought their flocks from the mountain sides and fields not later than October l5th, to protect them from the cold, rainy season that followed that date. So the birth of Christ could not have taken place at the end of December. Then, in the second chapter of Luke, you will find that at the birth of Christ every woman and child was to go to be taxed at the city where they were citizens. This could not have been in winter. Augustus, the king of Rome, would certainly not call for such a taxing in the depth of winter. Therefore, Christ could not have been born in December. Actually, Christ was most likely born some time in the first part of October. This is figured from the fact that His earthly ministry lasted 3 1/2 years, and He was crucified on the l4th day of Nisan which corresponds to our April. See John 19:31; Leviticus 23:5. If we go back 3 1/2 years to the time when Jesus was 30 years old (when He began His public ministry), we come to the month of October. This was probably the month when our blessed Lord was born into the world. (Of course, the date of Jesus' birth is not too important. The important thing is that He was born and that He died for our sins. We're not worshiping a helpless infant lying in a manger, but we're worshiping a risen and exalted Christ who has all power in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18.)
4. Christmas is of heathen origin. Christmas started w i t h the Sun worshipers in the t i m e of Nimrod, the man who built the Tower of Babel. Any reputable encyclopedia will tell you that our modern day Christmas customs came out of paganism. Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say: "Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ) was not among the earliest festivals of the church." Other encyclopedias say much more, but I am sparing you the reading! :)
   
5. Christmas is a Catholic holiday. Why should I steal Christmas from the Catholics? They got it from the pagans and I'm happy to let them keep it. Sometimes you hear the slogan, "Let's Put Christ Back Into Christmas." Well, how can you put Christ back into something when He was never there? History teaches that the Catholics invented Christmas to get the pagans into the church so they mixed their pagan ideas with Christ and this is what they got. (most of the traditions have pagan roots-- misiltoe, yule logs, stockings and the lump of coal, even the tree--especially the tree)
   
6. Even the name "Christmass" is an abomination to the Lord. Christmass is a combination of two words, "Christ" and "Mass." Christ is the divine title of our Lord. "Mass" is from the Roman Catholic sacrament of the mass. Certainly born-again Christians shouldn't have anything to do with masses. The mass is a Roman Catholic invention. The mass is a prayer that is read or sung for the soul of a dead person.
7. Christmas is of the world. We are commanded in I John 2: 15, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." One fact alone proves to me that Christmas is not of God. It is this: The world which hates Christ and His blood atonement for sin makes more fuss about Christmas than any other holiday. Now , just think, if December 25th were really the birthday of Jesus, don't you know that the world would have nothing to do with it?
8. Now the tree...The Christmas tree is condemned by the Bible. "Learn not the way of the Heathen . . . For the customs of that people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not . . . But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities . . ." Jeremiah 10: 2-4, 10. Here you have a perfect description of the Christmas tree, called by God "the way of the heathen." We are commanded not to learn that way or follow it. It is also viewed in this passage as idolatry. The fifth verse says that these trees cannot speak - cannot walk - must be carried. Some people misread this to make it say there is no harm in having a Christmas tree, but that is not what it says at all. Rather, the prophet Jeremiah tells us that it is vanity and foolishness and says "learn not the way of the heathen." Some people will stay up all night to work on an old dead tree. They'll trim it all up, and stand off a little ways and admire their handiwork. Some of you will sit up all night and look at that old Christmas tree. I'd like to leave this little thought with you. Did you know that the green tree is mentioned 14 times in the Bible, and in every instance it is linked with idolatry. There isn't one place in the Bible where God commends the use of the evergreen in connection with true worship.
9. When people exchange gifts, they're not bringing them to Christ; they're giving them to one another. You have got to keep a list of the people who sent you presents last year and each year your list grows longer and longer, and before long you're in such a heavy debt buying Christmas presents that you've got to start saving money right after one Christmas in order to buy presents for the next Christmas. Beloved, I can't understand why anyone would went to be in bondage to such an expensive custom. Jesus is supposed to be the cause of Christmas, and yet people give their gifts to everybody but Jesus.

   Perhaps some of you are asking, "Didn't the Wise Men give gifts to Jesus?" They certainly did, but they didn't give them to one another. And their gifts were not birthday gifts because the Wise Men did not come to visit Jesus until he was nearly two years old.

10. The name Santa Claus is a corruption of the name Saint Nicholas who is none other than Old Nick, the Devil. And yet thousands of parents will encourage their children to write to dear old St. Nick or dear Santa. Now if you're a Christian, you should be ashamed of yourself if you lie to your children by telling them that there is a Santa Claus. Through the year you punish your children for lying, and then you turn right around and lie yourself by telling your children that there is a Santa Claus. Is it any wonder when they grow up and learn the truth that they begin to believe that God is a myth too?

    The Bible says in Colossians 3: 9, "Lie not one to another." We are commanded in Ephesians 4:25, "...to put away lying, and to speak every man truth with his neighbor

11. Finally, I don't celebrate Christmas because God's Word absolutely forbids the (spiritual ) observance of any holy days in this dispensation of grace.

    "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain." Galatians 4:10-11.

    That sounds like the observance of Christmas, doesn't it? Here the Apostle Paul absolutely forbids the ( spiritual ) observing of days, months and seasons. To the Christian there are no special holy days. Every day should be alike, holy unto the Lord. If you are a Scriptural believer you will not "esteem one day above another." Romans 14:5. If you are truly saved, you will remember the birth, the life, the death, the burial and the resurrection of your wonderful Savior 365 days a year. Yes, I am glad to serve a real and a living Christ who lives all year round. Let us as born-again Christians use our money this season of the year, not for foolish and unnecessary presents, but to spread the Gospel message to this lost and dying world.

I choose to teach my children the truth about Christmas. God's Word says ( Ephesians 6:4) to bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and why should we dishonor the name of Christ in such manner under the pretense of showing the children a good time? There are 364 more days in the year during which we can give gifts to our children. Trust me, my kids aren't missing a thing!

Most of this info comes from Charles Half and the Christian Jew Foundation

Opinions??

Here are a couple pictures of a sketch-up of the commissioned work I am tackling for the lady at the bank. The only instruction I got was to have a crown, the initials COP, kids bithdays and names and a Bible verse. I am wondering if you all could give me some advice before I finish it. I know that it needs to have more white space around it, so I was going to move the kids names and birthdays closer to the crown. I also know that I need to drink less coffee before I write so I don't have the shakeys when I write! This is just the mock up, so the writing isn't the greatest, I don't think...Any critiscm that I can put into it would be great!

This is the picture since I fixed the spacing on the outside edge. And I wrote the scripture smaller to make it fit better.

I can be poo

At my church, there is a weekly bible study held every week on Friday. Yes, I am a regular attendee. I've only missed one or two times due to illness. (I'm not patting myself on the back, just giving background.) There are two verses that the attendees are expected to memorize. Then we take turns reciting them and everyone can give their opinion as to what they think they mean. The person who says the verse gets to pick the next week's verse to memorize. Last week I was the one to recite the verse so I got to pick one of this weeks verses for everyone to memorize.

I like to hear what everyone has to say about the Proverbs because we all come from such different walks of life. Application of verses can run the gammon. I picked:

Proverbs 14:4

Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,
But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.

Craig said I can't share what I thought at church so you'all are blessed with my thoughts. haha!

I think of the oxen owners as the leaders, the pastors, those who are disciplining. If their are no oxen or disciples, there is no poo and the manager is clean. If a Pastor or any Christian really chooses not to disciple and share the faith and interact within the body, they don't have any poo to deal with either. Some examples of what I mean might be that when you take someone under your wing, you may get a phone call at midnight with your sister in Christ crying about her unbelieving husband and wanting to know how to deal with it. Small poo, small shovel. Maybe some one you led to the Lord is thinking they are of no use to God and is contemplating taking their own life. Big pile of poo-You might need help with this shovel. Maybe I myself am a big ox with a pile of poo when I call the pastor whining about my kids or my unsaved family or whatever. I can be poo, too...

It's easy to keep our own mangers clean, but it's not so easy to help other people clean up the messes in their life. I could hide out in my house, reading my Bible and being faithful to God on my own, but like James says, "Faith without works is useless, being by itself." What good is my faith if I just clean up myself; I need to clean up after others, so to speak.

The second half of the verse to me just shows how if we do put ourselves out there, God will give us reward for our work. I liken the revenue to the rewards in heaven for being faithful and the strength of the ox to the gumption it takes for us to go out and do something. And if you think about it, if you as an oxen owner choose to have a lot of oxen, think of how much work can be accomplished by having those oxen and all the revenue that could be passed on to you by their faithful work in following after their owner.

I don't know if I have communicated what I wanted to, but I hope I did. Please leave your thoughts as to what I said and also your application of the verse. :)

I was reading last night...

I was reading last night in the book of Haggai and was set back by how unhappy God was with his people. Have you read it?
He said to them to Consider their ways TWICE!
And then asked them if doing something holy made everything they did holy...well, NO...and then He asked if touching something unclean made everything good unclean as well and then of course, the answer is yes.
Then He told them that's the way they are! That all their good is unclean and slimy before God... Think about that for a moment. I mean, you can be doing so well in so many different areas, but if you are living unclean in an area, in makes everything you do unclean.
Maybe like when the bathroom is completely spotless, but the mirror is dirty. You look at the bathroom and see it as so sparkly, but God looks at it through the reflection of the dirty mirror and He sees it as a big mess... Time for us to clean the mirror, I think...