Merry Christmas ?

[weishaupt1776]

Santa The Impostor

[idknow]

Originally Posted by Freedomless

Here is the article that I posted the link to.


Are Christmas trees pagan?



Posted: December 7, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Gary DeMar
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
One group of Christians is trying to keep the name "Christmas tree" rather than the non-descript "Holiday tree," while a small minority of Christians wants to say good riddance to the very idea of Christmas trees because their origin is pagan. Who's right?
Some time ago, my wife was asked by a national ministry to create a quilted backdrop of a large sweeping rainbow for its presentation booth that was used at various conventions around the country. I happened to attend one that was held in Atlanta. I went over to the booth and told the young lady behind the table that my wife had sewn the large background piece. With a frustrated look on her face, she told me that a woman had just left the booth angrily pointing out that the rainbow is the symbol of the homosexual movement and that Christians should not be using it.
I reminded her that the rainbow was God's creation, and that He had posted it in the heavens as a sign to Noah and future generations that He would never destroy all flesh by a flood (Genesis 9:12*17).
So then, who owns the rainbow? Homosexuals or the people of God? Just because homosexuals have misappropriated something of God's good creation does not mean we cannot continue to use it. In fact, we should work to restore the image to its original redemptive meaning. Instead, many Christians refuse to display the rainbow because it has been hijacked by a group who flaunts a particular lifestyle that is condemned by the Bible.
Should we stop using wood because some people seek out for themselves "a skillful craftsman to prepare an idol that will not totter" (Isaiah 40:20)? Are all trees pagan because pagans have used trees to create idols? Of course not. The Bible tells us, even in a post-fall world, "everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude" (1 Timothy 4:4; cf. Genesis 1:31).
For millennia idol worshippers have bowed down before heavenly bodies * sun, moon, and stars * calling them their gods. There were people in Isaiah's day who looked to "astrologers, those who prophesy by the stars, those who predict by the new moons" seeking guidance (Isaiah 47:13). The people of Israel were warned by God not to lift their "eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven" (Deuteronomy 4:19).
God created the heavenly bodies to "be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years," and to "be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the Earth" (Genesis 1:14). Even with the misuse of the heavenly bodies, this did not stop God from choosing the sun, moon, and stars to symbolize His chosen nation Israel (Genesis 37:9*11; Revelation 12:1*2). And neither did it stop Him from using a star to announce the birth of Jesus (Matthew 2:2).
Some will turn to Jeremiah 10:1-10 to make a case against "Christmas trees." Jeremiah is describing idol worship, and he ridicules it: "Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, nor can they do any good" (10:5). Who among us believes that a "Christmas tree" is a god to be worshipped?
Just because pagans might have used trees to worship their gods does not mean that we can't use them to teach us something about God who has given us the "indescribable gift" of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 9:15). The Christmas tree, as it is now designated, is an evergreen that reminds us that we have "eternal life" in Jesus Christ (John 6:40). The shape of the tree reminds us that we are "born from above" (John 3:3). The needles on the branches remind us that Jesus was "pierced through for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:5).
The lights hung on the tree remind us that Jesus is "the light of the world" (John 8:12) and through Him we are to be "the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). The ornaments we hang on the tree and the presents we place under the tree remind us that "every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow" (James 1:17).
Instead of condemning the Christmas tree as some pagan object brought into our homes from the pagan cold, it can be used to remind us that God promises us "the right to the tree of life" (Revelation 22:14).
If the Bible tells us "to go to the ant ... to observe her ways and be wise" (Proverbs 6:6), certainly we can learn similar things from God's other good creations, even trees.

--

Awesomely excellent, accurate, pointed and edifying.
Thanks very much, FreedomLess!

[weishaupt1776]

That above article is allegorizing scripture and analogizing things w/o backing it up and attempting to "smooth over" pagan practices under the guise of Scripture.

Come on, saying the evergreen tree represents eternal life, would have to be proven scriptually.

Where's the scripture which analogizes evergreen trees w/the doctrine of eternal salvation?

The ony Birthdays recognized in the Bible were Herod's and Pharoa's

The Bible gives specific dates in the Jewish calendar Months and days for certain events, which have been now proven BOTH historically and archeaologically.

Why did God leave Christ's exact birthday out of the Word?

Why does it not make mention of Disciples celebrating his Birthday in the Book of Acts?

Why are the celebrations of Birthdays noted for 2 of the most Anti-christ people mentioned in the Word(Pharoa and Herod)

Sorry, that above article is just pure damage control in order to make the most out of a bad situation

[idknow]

Originally Posted by weishaupt1776

[b]

The ony Birthdays recognized in the Bible were Herod's and Pharoa's

Why are the celebrations of Birthdays noted for 2 of the most Anti-christ people mentioned in the Word(Pharoa and Herod)

nop, nuh uh and wrongo (meant with love!

Job's kids died during a birthday celebration.

[idknow]

weishaupt1776

we know what day jesus was born, the date, rather, the time-coordinates are mentioned in various places throughout the sriptures

1. What we dont know is when the planets were together in that configuration
2. the israelite's calendar from back then, before babylon, has since I believe become corrupted

3. daniel give a date
4. the date that abraham and isaac went to the mountain to sacrifice

[2tim215]

idnow,

What are the dates (or date) you mention and in what scriptures might I ask?

Thanks,

2tim215

[marksgirl]

Originally Posted by weishaupt1776

Santa The Impostor

What an excellent, though long, article. Thank you very much for posting the link! I will probably copy this off at some point in time for a study with my children.
I have never "done" Santa Claus with my children. (or the Easter Bunny or tooth fairy) In fact, I remember from the time I was about 8 or 9 that my little sister and I rebelled against Santa decorations in our house and refused to let our mom display them anymore! My niece (when she was about 2-3)used to tell adults who questioned her about what Santa was going to bring her, would say, "Santa's dead." LOL My sister got some funny looks!

[idknow]

Originally Posted by 2tim215

idnow,

What are the dates (or date) you mention and in what scriptures might I ask?

Thanks,

2tim215

well, you have to recall that God dates his own stuff
but I've learned that thinking in terms of known history, and historical astronomical (stellar) events,

there are plenty of dates in the word.

the Roman census that Luke the doctor wrote about

the conjunction of the three stellar objects, possibly, Jupiter, Venus and Mars that the Babylonian astronomers saw (they were taught by Daniel)

even using simulations on computers today, we can only determine a range of years for when jesus was born.

as for the day Abraham went up the mountain with his son, i dunno (read ancient israelite commentaries for that info, and Josephus perhap)

IOW, every event pinpoints a moment in time, i call them time-coordinates, the day that Herod's order to kill allthe babies less than 2 years old

when the shepards were told by the Angels

Daniel's chapter regarding 70 weeks, the cutting off, etc.

those are all dates or parts of dates to determine when things have or will happen.