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Thread: Christmas

  1. #1

    Christmas

    A friend (non-Christian) posted the following on FB...in time for the annual "Should Christians put up Christmas trees" discussion..

    Christmas-christmas-jpg

  2. #2
    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    I kinda look at it as the food offered to idols thing. We know that's nothing and Paul gives us permission to eat.

    This is even further removed. It's not done with the intent of heart as a pagan thing today. Celebrating Paganism is the furtherest thing from our heart and intentions. It's just something we do to celebrate Christmas. Nothing more to it than that.

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  4. #3
    Frozen Chosen A.J.'s Avatar
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    I don't worship a tree or the earth or sky.

    I worship Jesus Christ and I honor Him and Him alone by celebrating Christmas. I thank the Father for sending His Son to be born completely human so that by Christ's death, all CAN be saved. And by the power of precious Holy Spirit it was all made possible.

    My Christmas has nothing to do with paganism, except perhaps the way the date was set, and about that, I can do nothing.

    I think a lot of lives would be made a lot more simple if there weren't so many pressures to "perform" (gifts, baking, travel, big holiday meals) but it really is one of two times a year Jesus is prominent over everything else, well, it used to be that way... the "real pagans" have made Santa and Elves and Grinches and Easter Bunnies the prominent things.

    I celebrate Jesus. I struggled with the whole holiday thing over the years and my kids didn't get gifts from Santa. They knew as soon as we started to celebrate Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords that there is no Santa or Easter Bunny.

    ..... sigh. My 2 cents.

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  6. #4
    My wife and I went full circle, ... for a few years we stopped all celebration of Christmas because of the pagan connections. ... The Lord mellowed us out!!! We began to see that the world we live in is full of all kinds of things that we do not personally approve of, yet we cannot just withdraw from everything and hide in a hole. While we are still selective in how we celebrate, we understand that Santa and some other aspects of Christmas celebrations are not of themselves evil, though many can be a distraction. We tolerate some of these things, but we seek to emphasize those aspects of Christmas that honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen!

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  8. #5
    Senior Member Cardinal TT's Avatar
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    I reject the pagan association with Christmas as there is no way I am going to refuse all that food

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  10. #6
    Senior Member Joy's Avatar
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    I too think there are many things we do that could be pagan if that is what we allow in our hearts and minds. I have hated the idea of crazy busyness from before Thanksgiving til Christmas. I have changed my beliefs and ideas about as many times as I am old. I enjoy decorating and the decorations for Christmas and what each represents to me and my family. I think much of it is what it is to you and your family. One area I have wanted to work on is making the gift giving more about celebrating hat Jesus means to me and to those I give gifts to.
    Any good ideas on this?

  11. #7
    Senior Member Ezekiel 33's Avatar
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    We just had our Christmas service this past Sunday. I bought a cake at Walmart and had them put "Happy Birthday Jesus" on it. I brought it up at the end of our service and we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. To me, that drives home what it is all about.

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  13. #8
    Senior Member Tehilah Ba'Aretz's Avatar
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    I'm getting ready to get on a big plane during the night tonight to fly to Missouri to celebrate love and family. We will intentionally eat delightful food, give gifts to friends and family, read the bible story about the birth of Jesus and sing some songs. I suspect there will be a display of lights and a decorated thing that looks like a pine tree. Probably an electric train and a village scene too.
    I also plan to light lights on my Hanukkah menorah on Christmas eve. December 25th is the first day of Hanukkah.

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  15. #9
    I have also come full circle on the christmas issue... I understand all the pagan influences, we do not put up a tree in our house etc.

    But... there is an opportunity to speak to people about the birth of Christ... We really only get two times a year when people are open to the things of God... Christmas and Easter and I think we need to take every opportunity that we can get... Should we participate in the pagan practices? No! but we should take advantage of the opportunity it provides...

  16. #10
    Senior Member Colonel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PastorMike View Post
    I have also come full circle on the christmas issue... I understand all the pagan influences, we do not put up a tree in our house etc.

    But... there is an opportunity to speak to people about the birth of Christ... We really only get two times a year when people are open to the things of God... Christmas and Easter and I think we need to take every opportunity that we can get... Should we participate in the pagan practices? No! but we should take advantage of the opportunity it provides...
    A green, even Christmas tree looks good but I always wondered why people would drag a needle shedding tree into their living room just to adorn it with various decorations (the Bethlehem star makes sense I guess). Until I read about the pagan connection. But it's just a pagan thing that was refurbished into a Christian thing, like with Christmas day itself which was originally a pagan holiday on the same date. I think it's worse when people do silly things like set out cookies for Santa and carrots for Rudolph. Those are originally the god Odin and his steed Sleipner who would descend people's chimneys to collect offerings and the contemporary Christian connection is meagre to say the least. Granted, Santa was originally Saint Nicholaus but people have mostly forgotten about that and he has become his own thing, some sort of demi-god with small elves as his minions.

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