Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christ is no longer a baby

This time of year can be a very hard time of year for some people. Our culture says the way to emotional fulfillment is to walk around in a “Christmas haze” & become absorbed in the mystical “spirit of the season.” The 'magic of Christmas' should overtake your life with wonder & joy. It often tends toward unrealistic expectations, depression, and frustration for those who are not in Christ, and sometimes even for those that are. It can breed dissatisfaction with normal life.
Like I said in the previous post, I was born again in this frame of mind 20 years ago this Christmas morning. It wasn't in a Christmas morning service either, I didn't go to church. My deficiencies of the wondrous joys of the season started plaguing me after Thanksgiving. My sister & her husband had just married, so they were giddy newlyweds. I was recently singled and very depressed about it. Their home wasn't the ideal place for me to live at that time, but it was where I wound up. I had a deep hole in my heart that I began to try to fill with a lot of things. I'll skip glorifying sin, & sum it up with the fact that my conscience was defiled, I was empty, and the world & it's delights were being realized for the fool's gold they were. I surprised myself at the level of depravity I'd 'attained' as of late. I ran into an old friend of my brother's who was a rough drug addict, but now was very different, gleaming with the joy of the Lord. There had been an obvious change in him. I tried to tell him my woes, he told me of the wonders of Jesus. I was happy for him and we parted ways. A couple weeks later on Christmas morning, about 4 am, I thought of him. God was 'irresistibly drawing' me. I was restless, 'no sleep for the wicked' for 2 days straight. I went to talk to him about God & he showed me the way. That morning my sins were washed away, a 1,000 lbs lifted off my back, and I had a peace I'd never had before. "Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.."
"The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His Glory.."
That night I went to church for the first time in years, only to fall asleep. It was alright though, just a rough start to a new beginning. Christmas was now my new birthday, mine & Jesus's. Right?
Weeeelllll, maybe not....
A careful analysis of Scripture clearly indicates that December 25 is an unlikely date for Christ's birth. Here are two primary reasons: First, shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus' birth (Luke 2:7-8). Shepherds do not stay in the fields at night during December. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night. Second, Jesus' parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke 2:1-4). Such censuses were not taken in winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self-defeating.
So how did we arrive at celebrating Christ's birthday on this date? Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.
It is popularized on the Christian radio the story that pagans have paganized a Christian holiday, even though the reality is the reverse.
The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshiping huge trees. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and placed candles in live trees to decorate for the celebration of Saturnalia. In Scandinavia, they hung apples from evergreen trees at the winder solstice to remind themselves that spring and summer will come again. The evergreen tree was the special plant of their sun god, Baldor.
Jeremiah 10:1-4 "Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O House of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold.
This verse is speaking of making idols.
One common reservation expressed about family Christmas observance is its tendency to promote worldliness or materialism in adults and children alike. This is certainly a legitimate concern. The manner in which a large percentage in our culture spend beyond their means and lavish their family members with frivolous gifts or unnecessary luxuries will certainly promote a selfishness, materialism, and greed that are contrary to the explicit teachings of Scripture. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want," contradicts teaching our children to make a list of things they want for Christmas. 1 Timothy 6:8 "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." For a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15), and because riches make themselves wings and fly away (Prov. 23:5), we should not set our affections upon them (Matt. 6:19). Scripture, moreover, regularly forbids a covetous, greedy, and discontented spirit (Prov. 1:19; Jer. 6:13; 1 Cor. 5:10,11; 6:10; Eph. 5:5). Is the gift giving & receiving the way to show our love for Chirst? Surely, it has nothing to do with personal gratification. How does it keep the children's hearts & minds on Jesus's birthday, as if that makes any sense? Seems more like they are trained to use 'holy' things as a means to selfish ends. In view of criticism of the commercialization of Christmas, it is interesting to note that the holiday's secular, not its religious, aspect, has been most responsible for its popularity. Many Christians are uneasy about the crass commercialism and greed associated with with the day which they hold as 'holy'. The lure of profit has proven so strong that, since the 1870s, merchants have vigorously promoted Christmas. In the United States "retailers have come to count on yuletide sales for up to 50 percent of their annual profits. The shopping season now pumps an estimated $37 billion into the nation's economy. Without Christ's birthday, how will this holiday stand? Should it stand? Can we evangelize the heathen without this holiday? Did Christ himself ask us to celebrate His birth?
He left explicit instructions regarding how His followers are to commemorate His death (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), but nothing about His birth. Man himself sanctioned this 'holy day' and the keeping of it is a 'tradition of man,' one that seems to be to me,'conforming to the pattern of this world' & not beneficial, but 'legal' nonetheless.
When the Puritans came to power in England, Parliament, in June,1647, they passed legislation abolishing Christmas and other holidays. In this legislation, they wrote the following: “For as much as the feast of the nativity of Christ, Easter, and other festivals, commonly called holy days, have been here-to-fore superstitiously used and observed; be it ordained that the said feasts, and all other festivals, commonly called holy days, be no longer observed as festivals.”
Christmas was not a holiday in early America for the Pilgrims. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston...
Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
Samuel Miller, a Puritan and professor of history and church government at Princeton Seminary, stated in 1896 in his book why Presbyterians reject the holy days of Christmas and Easter. He stated that “the Scriptures were the only infallible rule of faith and practice, and that no rite or ceremony ought to have a place in the public worship of Yahweh, which is not warranted in Scripture. Not only does the celebration of non-biblical holidays lack a scriptural foundation, but the scriptures positively discount it.”
Opposition to these church holidays remained in American Presbyterianism through the latter half of the 19th century. Historian Ernest Trice Thompson wrote the following:"There was no recognition of either Christmas or Easter in any of the Protestant churches, except the Episcopal and Lutheran. For a full generation after the Civil War, the religious journals of the South mentioned Christmas only to observe that there was no reason to believe that Jesus was actually born on December 25th; it was not recognized as a day of any religious significance in the Presbyterian Church.
Charles Spurgeon, stated in a sermon given on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1871, the following:
“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or English; and secondly, because we find no scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, it’s observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority.” [C. H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 1971, pg. 697
The holidays of Christmas and Easter were banned from the Church of Scotland.
David Calderwood [1511-1651], representing the Scottish ministries, asserted in reference to Christmas and Easter: “The Judaical days had once that honor, as to be appointed by Yahweh Himself; but the anniversary days appointed by men have not like honor. This opinion of Christ’s nativity on the 25th day of December was bred at Rome.”

I am afraid that very often the Church gives a very unbalanced view of the Christ-child during the Christmas season. We must not let the world forget that Jesus grew up. When he did, he drove the moneychangers from the temple, ridiculed the Pharisees for their wicked perversions of God’s law, and spoke of the need for faith and repentance. Can the world see past the baby to the reality behind the Christ child — that God had become incarnate through the Virgin in order to save his people from their sins and judge all enemies of his kingdom or is His Name & Image in this season used in vain, violating commandment #3?
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Note: These are just my personal views, I know of no one else who believes this strongly on this subject. So take it or leave it, just my ramblings.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Does God like chocolate or vanilla?

I guess the best way to know what someone likes is to ask.. or maybe they've said what they liked at one time or another.

Thus begins the Christmas shopping season every year. Trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list. And does not the list get bigger every year or do you feel guilty because you have to trim it because of your budget? If someone new gives you something, do you feel bad you didn't give them anything back? Some people can get really stressed over these issues, I know I have. I am not a mind reader, so unless someone spells out what they want, I'm not going to know. Don't we encourage our children to make their list of whatever it is they want, whether it be one thing, three, or however many things we, the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or friends will get them? (Not adhering to "Be content if you have food, water, & shelter," much, is it?)
I was in my Salvation Army today when my friend who works there was bemoaning the angel tree woes. It seems some well meaning people, who maybe wanted to take the edge off the worldliness of Christmas by thinking of poor children whose parents may not have enough money to buy their children presents, took the names of poor children off their Angel Tree, only to not bring it or the gifts back. A lot of folks will return with the child's tag from the tree with the gifts that were on the list in the proper amount of time, but this year there were a disproportionate amount of names taken off that were not returned with the gifts. She was saying they had a lot of gifts to come up with because of some would-be giver's backing out. Now what good Christian has not picked a name off an Angel Tree? If you're like me, you skip the expensive ones that have listed the electronic gadgets such as Ipods, video games, or laptops simply because you can't even afford them for your own child, much less someone else's. I personally don't see these things as a necessity, so I wouldn't buy them that if I had the money. Some of the tags are real conversation pieces to those of us around the tree of just what all these poor kids want & about what tags probably won't get picked. The coveting/want meter can get shamelessly full tilt. The ones that get picked probably the mom, not the kid, filled out with a what was a legitimate need. Things such as a coat, shoes, socks, pants & a modest toy or two were always popular ones to be picked. So what happened to the people who reneged on their commitment to these underprivileged children? We should be gracious I suppose & say maybe they lost or forgot about their tag or tragically ran out of money trying to make sure they had 'enough'gifts to lace around under their Christmas tree for their own children, family, & friends. You have to admit, it can be hard on the budget these days, especially if you have a teen-ager or two. I take that back, they don't even have to be a teen anymore to want those big ticket technological gadgets. What happened to baby dolls for the 7 year old girls & a nerf gun for your 10 year old boy? Christmas can get darn right expensive a lot earlier with kids these days, & I don't know how grandparents do it. It can make a believer out of you that liberal lie that says it cost that shockingly exuberant amount of money ($$$$$$$$, I can't remember) to raise one child from birth to eighteen that is supposed to deter young couples from starting their family. And God said, "Be fruitful & multiply!"

You haven't even started buying for mom, dad, siblings, cousins, friends, & co-workers! Is it really giving to Jesus on His birthday when we are really just exchanging gifts with one another? Some folks just bite the bullet & whip out the credit card or take up that friendly timely bill board's ad from the loan sharks for extra 'dough' that has the cute Christmas gingerbread cookies on it. I'm sure those places are real busy this time of year, but I'll bet it isn't half as stressful as the folks who work in retail. Ron has a old friend from a past life on facebook who is in the middle of this headache. He has A LOT of unwinding to do after work, just another reason to drink away his stress. He caught four shop lifters in one day! (when normally it is just one a day in any give week this time of year. Jesus's birthday time of year is not fa la la for him (or the shoplifters who feel forced to steal, I suppose), sad to say or many others in these types of jobs. My niece has the 'awesome' job of helping kids get on Santa's lap at the mall. Yikes!

Is jail time & a criminal record really worth stealing for (so & so) to have some earrings or your child that (latest hip toy) for CHRISTmas? The DJ on the radio the other day was talking about getting caught in the holiday traffic around the mall & there wasn't a lot of the fruit of God's Spirit that day in celebration of His Son, I'll tell you. What a witness to the world this holiday creates.

That is what this season is all about, isn't it? For some folks, undoubtedly yes, but not Christian families, right? Just show up Sunday morning at church & ask the children in Sunday school what their Christmas was like. Is it, "we had breakfast, prayers, & advent stories, then we opened presents!" Not in the real world. It starts with, "I got....!!!!!, what did you get???" to boil it down to the bottom line. How can we win against materialism that the children so easily pick up on?

A new friend at church was talking the other day about how he wanted a catchy Christmas quote from a dear respected saint from the past to put on his facebook status, so he googled, Charles Spurgeon, Christmas." Whoa! What a shock he received! What was his problem? What was the Covenanter's problem with this sacred *Christian* holiday? The Puritans were throwing people in jail in early America for celebrating this holiday they outlawed? Why even Andrew Bonar was a 'Grench that stole Christmas'!!

Ok, I'm going to come out of the closet now & from what I've researched
I think the 'emperor's New Clothes' need to be called what they are. This holiday is a fiction made up by Pope Julius I to Christianize the pagans in his kingdom who celebrated the re-birth of the sun on this winter solstice day. Next year Christ mass (the Catholics invented this day) falls on the Lord's Sabbath Day. How many churches all across our nation & maybe even the world will negate God's fourth commandment to observe this 'tradition of man? Does God like that? Does He want us to do that? I think He has specifically stated against that.
As stated in my research on the matter.
Look at what we so ardently fight against this holiday being... what it is... a crass commercialism holiday we try to Christianize that is man invented & is pagan at it's bare root. It is like a growing Goliath to stand against in our society if you don't celebrate it & I wish someone would chop off it's head.
Let the Christian church arise & do it's duty to call out the emporer's nakedness & stop saying what beautiful clothes 'He' has on. Aren't we supposed to worship Him in spirit & in TRUTH?
What will His bride do next Christ mass on the God ordained & sanctioned Sabbath Day? Take His name in vain for the sake of a fallacy?

The weather in Bethlehem the other day was six degrees Celsius as it has always been around this time of year. The Caesar would be crazy if he wanted an accurate counting in his census in this cold & rainy season & heartless if he sent families to travel for days or even weeks back to their hometowns in this terrible weather. I'm a farmer, modern yes, but I know a few things about agriculture. The forecasters are calling for snow on Christ's mass Day in Bethlehem. No shepherds are out in their fields watching their flocks by night, grazing on what grass(?)that would be growing in this weather with what kind of shelter from the rainy season they're having right now in this cold.

They were in their homes & the animals in the barn eating hay they'd stored up during the summer. (remember the animals were in the barn in the nativity scene ;-)
IMHO, truthfully, I think he was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, when God came to dwell among men, under the sign of the stars in heaven of the Virgin in Sept. Some others think it was spring according to Zachariah's time in the temple & when Elizabeth got pregnant & Mary came to visit. I don't know.

So what about the children who didn't get their angel tree gifts when they awaken on Saturday looking for the spread of presents Santa was supposed to bring (or Jesus give if they are a religious home)? What about the children in Africa who got the shoe boxes from Franklin Graham years ago, are they still getting a shoebox full of gifts from Jesus for His birthday this year? Most rich American children, Christian & non alike have a bunch of gifts under their Christ mass tree. So are they still worshiping Him for what they did not get?
I just know this tradition of man is one that I have a hard time in my conscience honoring. So does God like chocolate or vanilla



...or strawberry hhhmmmm

Friday, December 3, 2010

Brandon Thanksgiving

This is how our Thanksgivings start, on Tuesdays, with the yummy centerpiece for other's tables. A few of you may have recently met the fellow who is 'processing' our birds. He is a dear old friend who has recently, miraculously, confessed Christ. Corey McClellan has been a delightful change at Zion Farms as our house guest.

Going in to gather another turkey.
Hannah is happy & grateful to have her dear cousin Jeremiah over to help us process. ;-)
Watch out, Mom, she has a knife!

Three down, one to go in this set.
May the Lord bless him & his wife with 10 more years of marriage, only now serving our wonderful Redeemer. I suppose we could have called him in the past, Slick the Slayer, but now hopefully, it is Corey the Christian.
On Thursday we go to the Rileys for a day of fun & fellowship