Posted on 12/14/2013 2:56:27 PM PST by InHisService
Those who truly wish to honor their only hope for salvation would do well to put His wishes first rather than customs of man. The total lack of concern for the will of God by those who purport to serve Him is telling.
Deuteronomy 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God
And the principle perseveres even though covenants change.
What did not God simply coopt paganism with all its distinctive pagan practices, which many liberals and atheists falsely charge our faith is, rather than commanding,
But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. (Deuteronomy 7:5)
Why did God want the high places destroyed rather than transforming them into places of His worship? It perpetuated them so that they easily reverted back to what they were, as these were not trees, so to speak, that God had planted.
New creations, not re-formation of paganism.
How radical, although i hope they give gospel literature along with a loaf of bread, etc.
9 million people tuned into the Duck Dynasty Christmas special and saw the nativity story put on by the Robertson family for their church. I didn’t see it, but from everything I’ve read, I bet they honored Christ. And I bet at least half a million of those viewers aren’t Christian and just got the gospel presented to them.
Beats me why anyone can’t see the tremendous witness to the world that Christmas has.
The lack of concern for God’s wishes and instruction is rather troubling.
True, the Bible doesn’t mandate celebrating Christmas. The same is probably true for Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentacost and Thanksgiving. Are Christians who observe these occasions committing sin?
Anyway, happy holidays!
I enjoyed your post and thought it was dead on concerning how Christianity have imposed worship days despite the belief that they were done away with.
However a careful reading of scripture will show that the Holy Days of the Lord Jesus Christ were not done away with in scripture. There is an obligation and benefit that comes from observing them.
These holy days are listed in detail in Leviticus 23. However it's important to recognize that they were given to those who worship God BEFORE the establishment of the old covenant. Biblically there's a very strong case that they were established at the creation of the earth. For example:
Gen 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years
The term translated "seasons" is actually the same hebrew word that is used for the holy days of the Lord. Some translations render the verse:
(GW) Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.
The notion that Galatian 4:10 "did away" with these flies in the face of future prophecies of people keeping these feasts of Christ as well as the early church's observance of them in the books of the new testament. In addition there are specific greek words used to denote Gods' feast in new testament scripture and these words are not used in Galatians 4:10.
The real story of why Christianity doesn't observe them is simple: Traditional Christianity "evolved" away from them mainly due to Antisemitism. The people in Judea revolted against the Roman empire in a series of revolts in the early first and 2nd centuries. (Jewish-Roman Wars
As a result anything that "looked" Jewish was spat upon, criticized and discouraged by Rome, the most powerful military power on the planet. This hatred of anything that looked jewish was incorporated throughout culture and society and still explains the antisemitism we have today.
In other words, and this is hard for most to hear, the traditional church today was founded by those who abandoned the ways of God when it comes to worship because they couldn't stand the heat. The day of worship was changed from the sabbath to Sunday. Scriptures were cherry picked and mistranslated to support this change and is still done today to justify abandoning the holy days (and other things) of Christ.
That’s right. I don’t have time to be offended anyway. Aint nobody got time for dat ; )
Well said.
For the first time I put some thought into the argument that celebrating Christmas is not mentioned in Scripture and therefore we should not celebrate.
As I showed on that I asked myself about the feasts and festivals that were required in the Old Testament. The question is, what was the purpose of these events. Simply put, they all point to the Messiah. Every one of them.
So now that Jesus has come I see Christmas as a these feasts rolled up into one big feast.
People, being the sinner’s that they are, will corrupt any and everything God has given us. Why are we suprized that Christmas has been corrupted? It is our job to do the right things with our gifts, wether creation, our work or our private lives, not to hide them under a basket.
Thank you for your kind words. Amazing some of the comments on here, attacking me for being a single mother, attention seeking, poor, angry, the list goes on. I will continue to pray for those who clearly need to be shown by God what the spirit of Christ is. While they are busy shopping and decorating they should be praying. Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Nothing wrong with taking something pagan and turning it around for Christ? I see a LOT of things wrong with that.
I wouldn’t have a problem with Christmas if you took away all the trappings; the the insane shopping and spending, the decorations, the greed, people fighting each other in stores on Black Friday, etc. Those things don’t honor Him. If it was just singing carols, witnessing for Jesus and doing things that strictly honored Him, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. However, that’s not the case. We deceive ourselves saying all the pagan traditions that we stole honor Him.
Thank you. I appreciate your comment.
I’m looking at my tree and my decorated mantel right now....they’re beautiful. I really doubt the Lord is angered by these harmless, pretty things.
I didn’t write this piece to offend, but rather to get people thinking. For years I was oblivious to the pagan traditions that were stolen, and all the other things I wrote about. I think many people are unaware of it as well. My purpose is to inform, not to offend or become a “martyr” as you say.
Christmas has not been “hijacked” by retailers, that is silly. I mean, seriously, are you that easily influenced by advertising?
I find it interesting that you seem to use the testimony of atheists to build your case. Seems rather incongruent for a Christian to do that.
Thank you for your comment, and God Bless you and yours!
Thank you for your thoughtful reply and kind words. God Bless you!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.