Showing posts with label Holiday Issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday Issues. Show all posts
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, friends! I'm looking forward to 2012 and whatever God has in store for me, my family, my friends, and even my country. I'm praying and believing that 2012 will be a blessed year for me and my loved ones. That doesn't mean I believe that hard times can't happen but that God will be there for me if they do. The one thing, however, that I'm praying definitely won't happen is any relapse in mine or my mom's health. I do NOT want another bout with cancer for either of us, nor more heart problems for my mom. I'm earnestly praying that the Lord will spare us and all my loved ones that or any other health problems. But with that caveat, I'm ready to plunge into the new year. Welcome, 2012! And thank you, Lord, for letting me see it.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Christmas 2011
To those believers who celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a wonderful holiday. To those believers who don't celebrate Christmas, I still hope this season was good for you. I wish all believers a blessed New Year and pray that 2012 will see the Church repent of its sins, pray, and reclaim lost territory in the culture and the hearts of men. Amen.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Holiday Honesty
It's that time of year again. The holidays are upon us again, and once again I'm marveling at the self-righteous double standard of many Christians. It begins with Halloween.
Many Christians refuse to celebrate Halloween and it's easy to see why. Halloween is a "holiday" overtly rooted in spiritual darkness. The whole tone of the festival is occultic, with it's "lighthearted" emphasis on ghosts, goblins, witches, etc. The actual origin of Halloween in Celtic paganism is the final straw for anti-Halloween believers. I understand the distate these believers feel; what I've never understood, though, is why the Christians who so sanctimoniously condemn Halloween eagerly celebrate Christmas and Easter, which are just as pagan in origin as Halloween. I've never gotten a real answer from such Christians, but I recently had the pleasure to finally meet a Christian who was honest about the holidays.
His name is E, and I work with him. He's a strong Christian and leads the prayer group at work. Right before Halloween I asked E if he was taking his kids trick or treating. I must admit that I was baiting him; I wanted to see where E stood on not only Halloween but also the larger issue of pagan "Christian" holidays. E answered my question with a question. He asked if I knew the origin of Halloween and I said I did. He then said that I should know why he didn't celebrate Halloween. Because it's pagan, I responded and E said yes. Then I asked him if he celebrated Christmas and Easter, since they're pagan in origin, too. E said he didn't, and I was surprised. That was the first time I'd heard a Christian be consistent on the holiday issue.
I told E I was surprised by his answer because most Christians I knew refused to acknowledge the paganism of Christmas and Easter. E had a response to that. He said that his duty as a Christian was to be true to Scripture, not Church tradition. E said that while he remembered Christ on Christmas and thanked God for sending His Son to earth, he didn't celebrate the holiday itself. As I said, I found that refreshing.
I admire E for his honesty. So many Christians are uninformed, inconsistent, or just plain ignorant on the issues of the holidays and whether they should celebrate them. E has taken a stand and he's letting the Bible, not cultural norms, be his guide. He is being consistent and honest on the holidays and doing it to remain true to God. E is living out holiday honesty, would that every Christian did so.
Many Christians refuse to celebrate Halloween and it's easy to see why. Halloween is a "holiday" overtly rooted in spiritual darkness. The whole tone of the festival is occultic, with it's "lighthearted" emphasis on ghosts, goblins, witches, etc. The actual origin of Halloween in Celtic paganism is the final straw for anti-Halloween believers. I understand the distate these believers feel; what I've never understood, though, is why the Christians who so sanctimoniously condemn Halloween eagerly celebrate Christmas and Easter, which are just as pagan in origin as Halloween. I've never gotten a real answer from such Christians, but I recently had the pleasure to finally meet a Christian who was honest about the holidays.
His name is E, and I work with him. He's a strong Christian and leads the prayer group at work. Right before Halloween I asked E if he was taking his kids trick or treating. I must admit that I was baiting him; I wanted to see where E stood on not only Halloween but also the larger issue of pagan "Christian" holidays. E answered my question with a question. He asked if I knew the origin of Halloween and I said I did. He then said that I should know why he didn't celebrate Halloween. Because it's pagan, I responded and E said yes. Then I asked him if he celebrated Christmas and Easter, since they're pagan in origin, too. E said he didn't, and I was surprised. That was the first time I'd heard a Christian be consistent on the holiday issue.
I told E I was surprised by his answer because most Christians I knew refused to acknowledge the paganism of Christmas and Easter. E had a response to that. He said that his duty as a Christian was to be true to Scripture, not Church tradition. E said that while he remembered Christ on Christmas and thanked God for sending His Son to earth, he didn't celebrate the holiday itself. As I said, I found that refreshing.
I admire E for his honesty. So many Christians are uninformed, inconsistent, or just plain ignorant on the issues of the holidays and whether they should celebrate them. E has taken a stand and he's letting the Bible, not cultural norms, be his guide. He is being consistent and honest on the holidays and doing it to remain true to God. E is living out holiday honesty, would that every Christian did so.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Monday, October 29, 2007
It's That Time Again
Well, it's almost upon us. In two days it'll be Halloween and a lot of conservative Christians will be struggling with how to celebrate this holiday or if to celebrate it at all. Halloween raised scarcely a concern in the Church when I was a child. How things have changed! Now many Christians are being taught to have nothing go do with this scarily fun time of the year. Why?
Many Christians are just discovering Halloween's pagan roots. What they thought was just a time of innocent fun is now seen as worshipping false gods and opening the door to the occult. I agree. Halloween IS based on ancient pagan practices and I totally understand Christians who reject this holiday. The problem is that Christians aren't consistent in shunning all pagan-based festivals. The same ones who condemn Halloween enthusiastically embrace Christmas and Easter which are just as pagan in origin. I don't get it.
I've dealt with this issue in a previous post but I'm revisiting it because I haven't gotten a satisfying explanation for the inconsistentcy. Christmas and Easter are pagan, just like Halloween. Christmas is derived from ancient sun worship and Easter is based on the worship of a Middle Eastern fertility goddess. If Christians shouldn't celebrate Halloween they shouldn't celebrate Christmas and Easter, either.
Some Christians might argue that Halloween is different from Easter and Christmas because of the ghoulishness and scariness of it's theme. It could lead people, especially impressionable children, more easily into the occult. Christmas and Easter, on the other hand, have nothing to do with the occult. They come from the "bright" side of paganism: the worship of life and the life-giving force. It is much easier, they might say, to Christianize pagan practices celebrating life and rebirth than those fixated on death.
But the apostle Paul taught that ALL pagan gods were fronts for demons. He made no distinction between the dark deities and the light ones. Moses also didn't make such a distinction when he commanded the Israelites not to worship Yahweh the way the heathens worshipped their idols. In the Bible there's no blurring of the line between true worship and false worship. So there shouldn't be such blurring among Christians, either.
The origins of Christmas, Easter, and Halloween are equally pagan. I don't think they can be Christianized. Just because they've become traditions doesn't make them right before God.
Christians are supposed to revere Jesus, not custom. If custom is something He disapproves of then custom has to go. Many Christians understand this with regard to Halloween. They need to understand it with regard to Christmas and Easter, too.
Many Christians are just discovering Halloween's pagan roots. What they thought was just a time of innocent fun is now seen as worshipping false gods and opening the door to the occult. I agree. Halloween IS based on ancient pagan practices and I totally understand Christians who reject this holiday. The problem is that Christians aren't consistent in shunning all pagan-based festivals. The same ones who condemn Halloween enthusiastically embrace Christmas and Easter which are just as pagan in origin. I don't get it.
I've dealt with this issue in a previous post but I'm revisiting it because I haven't gotten a satisfying explanation for the inconsistentcy. Christmas and Easter are pagan, just like Halloween. Christmas is derived from ancient sun worship and Easter is based on the worship of a Middle Eastern fertility goddess. If Christians shouldn't celebrate Halloween they shouldn't celebrate Christmas and Easter, either.
Some Christians might argue that Halloween is different from Easter and Christmas because of the ghoulishness and scariness of it's theme. It could lead people, especially impressionable children, more easily into the occult. Christmas and Easter, on the other hand, have nothing to do with the occult. They come from the "bright" side of paganism: the worship of life and the life-giving force. It is much easier, they might say, to Christianize pagan practices celebrating life and rebirth than those fixated on death.
But the apostle Paul taught that ALL pagan gods were fronts for demons. He made no distinction between the dark deities and the light ones. Moses also didn't make such a distinction when he commanded the Israelites not to worship Yahweh the way the heathens worshipped their idols. In the Bible there's no blurring of the line between true worship and false worship. So there shouldn't be such blurring among Christians, either.
The origins of Christmas, Easter, and Halloween are equally pagan. I don't think they can be Christianized. Just because they've become traditions doesn't make them right before God.
Christians are supposed to revere Jesus, not custom. If custom is something He disapproves of then custom has to go. Many Christians understand this with regard to Halloween. They need to understand it with regard to Christmas and Easter, too.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Merry...Winter Solstice?
Well, Christmas is practically here, and I don't have any Christmas spirit. I don't mean to sound like a Scrooge, but Christmas is almost just another day to me, and not just because this will be the first Christmas without Daddy. I haven't had any Christmas spirit for years, and I think I know why. I don't feel any connection with the religious aspect of the holiday. Yes, I know that Christmas is supposed to be the celebration of Christ's birth, but that never had much significance for me.
When I was a child, Christmas was anticipated because of the presents. Santa Claus, not Christ, was the "reason for the season". My family was nominally Christian and we sang all the religious carols, but Jesus never figured prominently in our celebration of the holiday. A nativity scene was never part of our Christmas decorations. If Christmas fell on a Sunday, we didn't go to church. I'm not saying that the holiday was meaningless for my family, or that the meaning was only materialistic. I'm just saying that the religious importance of Christmas wasn't emphasized.
For my family, Christmas was for the kids and when the kids grew up, Christmas "grew down".
Now that I'm grown I have a hard time taking Christmas seriously as a religious holiday. I strongly oppose the efforts by secularists to erase Christmas from our culture, whether in the name of "diversity", separation of church and state, or what have you. But I oppose them because they're trying to commit historical genocide by wiping Christians out of America's history as thoroughly as racists wiped out Blacks. I don't oppose them because I'm personally committed to Christianity.
Would this time of year be easier for me if I was a committed Christian? No, because then I'd have to deal with the consistency problem. In fact, I'm dealing with it even without being a Christian. And just what is the consistency problem? It's the problem of why an originally pagan holiday like Halloween is rejected by many conservative Christians, but equally pagan-in-origin Christmas isn't. That's right, Christmas is pagan! It was a celebration during the winter solstice meant to ensure the return of the sun. Every Christmas tradition, from the carolling, to the gift-giving, to the very date itself, was practiced by pagans in the worship of their false gods. If a Viking, a Druid, or an ancient Roman were to come back from the dead during Christmas, he would instantly recognize the holiday. Yet tv preachers like Pat Robertson happily immerse themselves in Christmas while sanctimoniously disapproving of Halloween.
This inconsistency really, really bothers me! I expect more from people who claim to take God and His Word seriously. If God said His people are not to be "unequally yoked" with darkness, are not to learn the way of the heathen, are not to worship Him the way the goyim worship their idols, didn't He mean it? Isn't syncretism, the mixing of false with true religion, supposed to be anathema to Christians? But Christmas is different, some will say. Halloween is about occultism and Satanism; Christmas is about the birth of Christ. No it's not. Christmas is about the rebirth of the sun, period. It is totally, 100% pagan. Just like Halloween. So if Christians reject one, they have to reject the other; accept one, accept the other. If the Roman Saturnalia, the Viking yule log, and the Druid evergreen tree can be Christianized, then so can the carving of faces into pumpkins.
It's time Christians took a long, hard look at themselves to see just how much they're really following Christ. Jesus told the Pharisees that they had made God's Word null and void by their tradition. Are His followers doing the same thing today? I fear they are. And that's why I don't have any Christmas spirit.
Merry Winter Solstice.
When I was a child, Christmas was anticipated because of the presents. Santa Claus, not Christ, was the "reason for the season". My family was nominally Christian and we sang all the religious carols, but Jesus never figured prominently in our celebration of the holiday. A nativity scene was never part of our Christmas decorations. If Christmas fell on a Sunday, we didn't go to church. I'm not saying that the holiday was meaningless for my family, or that the meaning was only materialistic. I'm just saying that the religious importance of Christmas wasn't emphasized.
For my family, Christmas was for the kids and when the kids grew up, Christmas "grew down".
Now that I'm grown I have a hard time taking Christmas seriously as a religious holiday. I strongly oppose the efforts by secularists to erase Christmas from our culture, whether in the name of "diversity", separation of church and state, or what have you. But I oppose them because they're trying to commit historical genocide by wiping Christians out of America's history as thoroughly as racists wiped out Blacks. I don't oppose them because I'm personally committed to Christianity.
Would this time of year be easier for me if I was a committed Christian? No, because then I'd have to deal with the consistency problem. In fact, I'm dealing with it even without being a Christian. And just what is the consistency problem? It's the problem of why an originally pagan holiday like Halloween is rejected by many conservative Christians, but equally pagan-in-origin Christmas isn't. That's right, Christmas is pagan! It was a celebration during the winter solstice meant to ensure the return of the sun. Every Christmas tradition, from the carolling, to the gift-giving, to the very date itself, was practiced by pagans in the worship of their false gods. If a Viking, a Druid, or an ancient Roman were to come back from the dead during Christmas, he would instantly recognize the holiday. Yet tv preachers like Pat Robertson happily immerse themselves in Christmas while sanctimoniously disapproving of Halloween.
This inconsistency really, really bothers me! I expect more from people who claim to take God and His Word seriously. If God said His people are not to be "unequally yoked" with darkness, are not to learn the way of the heathen, are not to worship Him the way the goyim worship their idols, didn't He mean it? Isn't syncretism, the mixing of false with true religion, supposed to be anathema to Christians? But Christmas is different, some will say. Halloween is about occultism and Satanism; Christmas is about the birth of Christ. No it's not. Christmas is about the rebirth of the sun, period. It is totally, 100% pagan. Just like Halloween. So if Christians reject one, they have to reject the other; accept one, accept the other. If the Roman Saturnalia, the Viking yule log, and the Druid evergreen tree can be Christianized, then so can the carving of faces into pumpkins.
It's time Christians took a long, hard look at themselves to see just how much they're really following Christ. Jesus told the Pharisees that they had made God's Word null and void by their tradition. Are His followers doing the same thing today? I fear they are. And that's why I don't have any Christmas spirit.
Merry Winter Solstice.
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