Christmas has passed but still the debate on Facebook continues. Seems to be more heated this year, so thought I’d share my own views for your reflection.
There seems adequate evidence Jesus wasn’t born on 25th December, despite the Zeitgeist Movement using this as a piece of ‘evidence’ that He is merely a copy cat saviour! (For my radio interview and more links on this topic, please see link).
Christmas Wreath
Christmas Past
Extracts and images from a very thorough analysis of the pagan and occultic roots and activities surrounding Christmas: http://www.creationliberty.com/articles/christmas.php
The Catholic church claimed Jesus was born Dec 25th, in attempt to Christianize the winter solstice period and the pagan activities that occurred then! Yes, Saturnalia, Christmas trees, mistletoe, gift giving and so have pagan roots!
It was a pagan celebration of the sun, the cult of the sun god Ra celebrated it’s death and rebirth. It dates back to the Old Testament times when the Israelite’s were exiled in Egypt and were integrated into the worship of the Egyptian gods which they later mingled with the worshiping of the God of the bible; Ezekiel 20:7-8 — 2 Kings 21 — Isaiah 2 etc.
The Calendar
Christmas has been used by Zeitgeist to confuse the masses because many religions have celebrated the seasons. Part of the evil Luciferian plan is to draw such ‘comparisons’ to confuse the masses and discredit Jesus and the bible. No wonder, Luciferians within Zeitgeist, Lucis Trust, Jesuits, Catholic Church, Illuminati, Satanism and so on push this teaching.
Sadly, many channellers teach it because ‘spirits’ channel such information to them. Like I often say, just because a ‘spirit’ tells you something, don’t assume it’s truth. So many times spirits have been found to have lied. Zeitgeist was proven to be full of error by scholars, Christian and non Christian alike!
So ‘Christ mass’ was actually an invention of Rome. Renaming Saturnalia to persuade pagans not be so raucous in their immorality, sexual orgies and so on. This cauldron of syncretism worked pretty well to unite all people. There is nothing new under the sun! The new world order wants everyone to unite to this day!
Krampus
Santa Claus? The truth about Krampus? He’s said to be a horned demon that punishes bad children and is still celebrated during Yule (i.e. Christmas) in places like Germany and Austria. Krampus even has his own museum.
And ofcourse the Christmas season is also one of the busiest times for some Satanic groups where they celebrate a high satanic feast, mocking the birth of Christ during their rape or ritual sacrifices of animals or humans.
I could go on and I’m sure you’ll find more online.
But What Of Christmas Today?
I’ll share clips from an interesting discussion on Facebook. Used with kind permission.
“The good thing is Jesus said His Kingdom was not of this world. However, for the present we have to live in this world so it’s impossible to avoid all pagan influences. Many are so hidden and interwoven into our everyday life unaware. If that were the standard, we’d all be guilty and ultimately perish. The Father is looking at our heart and our motives and intentions. He knows who is serving idols in the chambers of their heart and who is truly honoring and worshiping Him purely. These things will be here until Christ returns to establish His Kingdom. We would literally have to be out of this world to escape their influence, but I believe the God is not as sensitive as it may seem and has a higher aim. The souls of men. I am not saying that knowing the origin and history of things are not important, but we can’t get stuck there. God has a nobler purpose for it all.
Just like the days of the week & the names of the months are all pagan in origin as well. They were all named after pagan gods & goddesses, but a lot of people don’t know that. Guess those that point fingers at others for celebrating Christmas, etc, should not use a calendar or ever say, or write the date again, nor mention what day of the week it is, lol. You are certainly right though, paganism is everywhere.
If you want to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and share the love of God on that day there’s nothing wrong with it as long as you keep it Christ centered. You are not worshipping a tree, a fat man in a suit or reindeer. Now those who teach and push that to their children are in error because it’s a lie. But to tell your kids this is the day that is set aside to honor the Lord for giving us His Son is not a sin in my opinion. As stated this world’s system is built on pagan institutions all the way down from the gas we buy, stores we shop at, food we eat, places we work and restaurants we dine at. If getting away from it all to honor God was the key to heaven, we would all perish and burn in sin and perish because we are all guilty before God on that one. God is more so looking at the heart. What we do and why we do what we do and what we mean when we do it.
Through it all I believe that the Holy Spirit is saying and the path of wisdom is…. “Focus on what He has called us to do in this earth and address whatever He brings to our attention to address and change along the way because it is that that He is holding us accountable to individually change. However, we should not go looking for everything wrong and paganistic in this world to avoid, because if we do we are going to find a lot of it, not just in others, but also in our own everyday lives.
That looking for it will eventually overwhelm us and distract us from the very thing God called and created us to do. The whole world lies in darkness and whatever person is preoccupied with seeking, they will eventually find. Whether is the depths of Satan or whether it’s the Kingdom of light. The best way to overcome the devil is by the power of our testimonies, and drawing nigh to God. Resist and he will flee! Hard for the enemy to distract you when your focus and your desires for God.
Follow the convictions of your own heart. Just don’t condemn others for doing opposite what what you believe. (Not at all saying that you would) Paul addressed this type of situation in the 14th Chapter of Romans when some believers felt they could eat unclean animals while others felt they shouldn’t. Some honored the sabbath, others felt let not to and there was a division. His counsel was this. It’s an awesome chapter. Full of insight. Sorry for posting it all. I was just going to give you a snippet, but the entire chapter is just too good! Lol Romans 14 (AKJV)
14 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. 5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. 14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. 16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of: 17 for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. 21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. 22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. 23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’
A Facebook friend.
The author wrote a related post:
The Issue of Worship
In the text below we see Namman,who had just received a miracle from the God of heaven, being cleansed of leprosy, asking if God would forgive him for going back to his country and bowing before the false god and idol Rimmon, the god of rain, storms and thunder. He was granted forgiveness for something he would do in the near future and told to depart in peace.
(2 Kings 5:18-19)
18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.
19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
In the book of Daniel we see Daniel being forced to bow before the Grande statue of Nebuchadnezzar and him refusing and being thrown in the lions den because of it and God protecting him. (Daniel 6:7-24)
In one instance a man bowed and in another instance a man refused to bow and God honored them both. Why? Because God looks at the intent of the heart above all else.
Worship is first and foremost of the heart. Motive, intent, inner meaning is what God searches to before He alone concludes who is a servant of the Lord or who is lost and in idolatry and deserving of His judgment.
I want to encourage you in this season to think deeper, see deeper and really think about the heart of the matter. God knows and God see’s and only God searches the hearts of men, not man. If people want to honor the gift of His Son tomorrow then let them. God receives them because He knows their heart. If you don’t want to do it and you see it as bowing then don’t bow, just don’t condemn and accuse others to going to hell and being in sin because they chose to do so. I believe we serve a God that’s big enough to know who fears Him and who doesn’t. Man looks on outer appearance, but God searches the hearts… Peace and blessings!”
Conclusion
I’d add to his discussion I personally reject the paganistic and occultic aspects of Christmas. We no longer have mistletoe, etc, etc, in our home. We do nothing of a pagan nature. I merely focus on and celebrate the coming of our Saviour Jesus into the world and share a family meal. It remains one of the greatest events in history.
It’s a time when we can share our faith more easily. People are more likely to visit a church. I’ve known of people who found Jesus by visiting a church at Christmas. I myself got born again by visiting a church at Easter. And yes, I’ve heard of people getting born again on Halloween too, including a witch and a satanist. I sure hate Halloween, but God is bigger than all of these things.
If Christmas and Easter were banned worldwide, I think Christians would realise they’d missed an opportunity to speak of Jesus at these times or invite people to church.
If you don’t celebrate any part of Christmas, does every member of your church leadership team and church congregation share your views on this? If not, do you send them challenging messages or do you agree to disagree and continue with them in loving fellowship? I find it interesting people may fight over this on Facebook but probably not make a deal of it in their own church.
Saying Merry Christmas shouldn’t really offend us. Surely, there are far more real issues in the world to be concerned about.
Maybe this has brought a sense of balance and understanding to this debate. New believers on our Facebook friends’ list can feel beat up over this and others are just confused.
Whatever our personal opinion, let’s focus on showing people the love of Jesus whatever the day or season is! Arguing about certain dates may be very off putting for non believers and runs the risk of them thinking we’re all nuts thus disregarding our claims of the truths of Christ.
SOURCES:
- A very thorough analysis of the pagan and occultic roots and activities surrounding Christmas, in Chris Johnson’s article, ‘Christmas: The Rejection of Jesus’: http://www.creationliberty.com/articles/christmas.php
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P.S. Just found the below article, so I’m adding it for your study!
Note from Ally Tower, Ex-Wiccan/witch: ‘I’ve always questioned why many Christians rely on information provided by pagans as fact, especially when it comes to Christian holidays. I mean really, do you honestly expect to find “truth” from a source not following God? It is rather the subtle deceit of the enemy in an attempt to take the world’s focus off of Christ and what better way to accomplish this than by having Christians believe they are engaging in evil. The following post is by Marcia Montenegro, from her Facebook Page entitled Christian Answers for the New Age, who shares the research she has done supporting the fact that “Christmas is not Pagan”.
CHRISTMAS IS NOT PAGAN by Marcia Montenegro, Ex Professional Astrologer and Ex New Age Medium.
When I was a new Christian, I believed all the “Christmas is pagan” tales but did not check it out. I have checked it out and find that is not true. The cults have been very skillful at spreading these tales (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Armstrong followers, Hebrew Roots, and others) and consequently, due to the proliferation of false information, some Christians have come to buy into it as well.
Comments such as “Christmas is pagan” or links to sites supporting false data will be deleted. I have spent too much time and energy on this topic in the past to spend more time on it, but want to post this for those interested. I am not going to engage in arguments, and disrespectful comments will be deleted.
If you do not observe Christmas due to commercialism or for a personal reason, this does not apply to you. But if you believe its pagan, or think that Jeremiah 10 applies to Christmas trees, I hope you decide to investigate.
God bless all of you.
REFUTATION OF CHRISTMAS BEING PAGAN
Four part article:
http://bit.ly/1HomRhL
Other articles on Christmas:
http://bit.ly/1Nsbyo6
http://bit.ly/1KhJpw4
http://bit.ly/1UVTKD9
http://bit.ly/1CTpq7q
goo.gl/iuNJiW
Why the date of Dec. 25 became connected to the birth of Jesus
http://bit.ly/1NIFhMO
http://bit.ly/1YnlOq4
Quote== Devout Christians will be reassured to learn that the date of Christmas may derive from concepts in Judaism that link the time of the deaths of prophets being linked to their conception or birth. From this, early ecclesiastical number-crunchers extrapolated that the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy following the Annunciation on March 25th would produce a December 25th date for the birth of Christ. – See more at http://bit.ly/1MGpuKI
The Christmas Tree
http://bit.ly/1P08RcO
http://bit.ly/1KSxuKT
http://bit.ly/1P092Ff
http://bit.ly/1NDPYPS
==The fact of the matter is that the Christmas tree originated in Christian Germany about two thousand years after Jeremiah’s criticisms of wooden idols. It originated from two Christian symbols found in homes at Christmas time. The first was a “Paradise tree,” an evergreen which was hung with apples which represented the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. The second symbol was a “Christmas pyramid.” This of course was a triangular shelf holding Christmas figurines and decorated with a star. By about the 16th century these two symbols had been combined into the Christian Christmas tree.==
Videos
http://bit.ly/1Jcop8m
goo.gl/2ht3qo
HISLOP Discredited: “Myths From Hislop: A Call to Examine Facts,” by Marcia Montenegro
http://bit.ly/1NyjCnW
By Marcia Montenegro, Ex Professional Astrologer and Ex New Age Medium, from her blog Christian Answers for the New Age.
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I find it interesting that you spent the first half of this article quoting and using images from Chris Johnson’s article, ‘Christmas: The Rejection of Jesus’ without mentioning where you got it from until the very end while you were very upfront about Corey Douglas and where you got HIS info from. While he’s right in saying that we can’t get away from all pagan influences while we’re here on Earth, that doesn’t mean that as Christians we should go out of our way to celebrate pagan holidays, either, whether we THINK we’re honouring Christ or not. In the end, you can make all the excuses you want to other people, but we’re not the ones you ultimately have to worry about. The real question is, will GOD accept your reasoning for very clearly defying what He has said in His word? I think not. You also mentioned people ‘finding Jesus’ in church on these holidays. You sure about that? See the articles http://creationliberty.com/articles/repent.php and http://creationliberty.com/articles/falseconverts.php also by Chris Johnson.
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Yes, I’m sure I found Jesus 20 yrs ago at Easter. The ex witch, the ex satanist and another guy I know who found Jesus years ago on Halloween are still committed Christians and in ministry. You don’t know me or them, so really can’t talk about us in the context of ‘false converts’. I shall add Chris Johnson’s article, ‘Christmas: The Rejection of Jesus’, to the top too. It’s my blog, so I’m entitled to share my opinions. Like anyone of us sister, we will meet God one day face to face and find out what we did that was wrong or not … all down thru history, Christians have argued over various things in the bible …. that will never change. If you knew me or my blog, you’d know I certainly don’t go out of my way to celebrate pagan holidays, quite the opposite, I’m always warning folks about Halloween. In the same token, will God accept your reasoning for judging my opinions, when I truely feel I’m being led by Him? I’m sure you feel you are being led by Him too. So I’m not about to try fight with you over it. Others will know us by our fruits of love towards one another, not fighting. As my blog is mainly an outreach tool, I ask respectfully that Christians don’t start arguements here, but rather pray for those involved in the occult, as that’s what my blog is for.
Does every member of your church leadership team and church congregation share your views on Christmas? If not, do you send them messages too or do you agree to disagree and continue with them in loving fellowship? God bless you.
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I have no intention of starting any arguments. I was merely pointing out the fact that a lot of people THINK they are Christians when they’re really not, and that also included me at one point. I’ve learnt a lot since then, and I believe these are things other people need to know, as well. For instance, most people are unaware of how totally pagan the Catholic Church is and that most of the traditions mainstream churches follow today were originally instituted by that same Catholic Church and they don’t bother to question them.
I no longer attend any sort of formalised church group, as I have never found one that truly adheres to what the Bible actually teaches. Most of them actually present a totally UNBiblical version of Jesus Christ (i.e. the Catholic version) and I cannot, in good conscience, continue to fellowship with people who have such a different philosophy.
I do have to admire the work you are doing in exposing the occult and trying to get people out of all that. And no, I don’t think people are going to go to hell for celebrating holidays for one reason or another. That IS something between them and God, but again, it’s also important to know that these celebrations are NOT Biblical and do not honour Him.
As far as judgements go, the Bible tells us to ‘judge in righteous judgement’ meaning that if I’m going to criticise anyone for doing something, I had better make sure that I am clean in that particular area of my life, too, or the same judgement will be upon me. If we all had to wait until we were perfect in EVERY area of our lives before speaking out against ANYTHING, nobody would ever be able to speak out against the evil in anyone, which would do no good at all.
I look forward to exploring your website further to see what you have to say on other topics.
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I agree Jeanne these celebrations are NOT Biblical and do not honour Him. Like I said in my post, I know there are many like myself who don’t celebrate or include any of the occult/pagan trappings of Christmas…just a time to love God and thank Him for the birth of Jesus. It’s an interesying point you make sister: ‘If we all had to wait until we were perfect in EVERY area of our lives before speaking out against ANYTHING, nobody would ever be able to speak out against the evil in anyone, which would do no good at all.’ Most of my peers in ministry do expose the truths of Halloween, ex pagans/witches/satanists and so on. But actually a few of them don’t. Some may feel we shouldn’t talk to them anymore. But I still love and appreciate them and their ministries – they’ve led 1000’s, possibly tens of 1,000’s out of the occult. So God is bigger and His will is done 🙂 Many thanks for your gracious reply. God bless you.
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I forgot to add, I did give his article credit! I said how thorough it is and quoted his source. People are free to go study all he shared. Plus, as I said in the post, I reject the paganistic aspects of Christmas. We no longer have mistletoe, etc, etc, in our home. We do nothing of a pagan nature. I merely focus on and celebrate the coming of our Saviour Jesus into the world and share a family meal. It remains one of the greatest events in history. You feel I’m clearly defying what He has said in His word. Sister, what a thing to say to anyone. Are you saying you are 100% obedient to God in every second of your life? I think not. Put it this way, there may be Christians who reject Christmas entirely, but maybe they have an ongoing habitual sin in their life, like heroin addiction or pornography. You trying to tell me God is more sad if they decided to have Christmas one year? Please, holiness and sanctification are about our daily lives, whole life as an entirety to Him. I hate Halloween but I certainly won’t accuse Christians who celebrate it. That’s not my place. It’s between them and God. Although I teach on it every year, I personally have no right to dictate to people what to do on Halloween. That would make me guilty of control, and thus the sin of witchcraft itself. We can share our opinions with our brothers n sisters, but God does not tell us to demand they follow Him. He still gives people free will to make mistakes or not.
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