|
#06. "Put
Christ back into Christmas"
... (Most recent post 11 December 2003)
The
festive season
is almost upon us. Let us as the Christians of Port Elizabeth "put
Christ back into Christmas"
and remember "Jesus
is the reason for the season."
These two slogans have been bandied about for some time, but contain
deep spiritual truth. Let us have YOUR ideas on the meaning of this
time of the year, and what we can do to bring glory back to our Lord
during this season.
(posted 13/11/99)
Please
email
us your comments for posting to this page.
From:
"Tony Olsen" <T.Olsen@mchsi.com>
Date:
Thu, 11 Dec 2003 10:11:39 -0600
Subject:
"Man shall live forevermore because of..."
I
agree with your posting on "Put Christ Back Into
Christmas". I share most of your views on the subject and find
it nice that others are also trying to put Christ back into Christmas.
Regarding
"Man shall live forevermore because of Christmas day":
While it is true that Christ's birth itself didn't provide us
salvation, it marked the beginning of something that would bring
salvation. There were 2 obstacles for man: Sin and Death. Christ
provided a way for us to repent and be forgiven of our sins through
his suffering for our sins. Christ also provided for the
resurrection. Christ was the first person to rise, and now we too
shall live again as well. One gift is free to all (resurrection) and
one requires repentance (forgiveness). All will be resurrected, but
only the righteous will live with God. Hence, Christ provided for man
living forever... or in other words: "Man shall live for
evermore because of [what Christ did]".
Not
to be confused with "eternal life", which is something
different. God is often referred to as "eternal". life"
means "Life with God"... and that is only available to
those who repent.
Thanks,
=)
By
the way, another interesting note: December 25th wasn't even
Christ's birthday... it was simply a day chosen by the
mid-evil-period Catholic church to celebrate His birthday. The
shepherds were watching their flocks by night... that only happens
when the sheep are giving birth, which happens in the spring.
Also,
the wisemen we never numbered in the bible. It never says
"3"... and they came long long after the birth of Christ,
so they shouldn't even be in the manger scene.
The
Christmas tree is a pagan tradition the mid-evil-Catholic church
adopted to appease the pagans. In fact, there's a scripture in the
bible where it talks about evil people dancing around a decorated tree.
Yes...
there's lots of fun falsehoods in today's Christmas traditions. =)
As
for me and my family, even though this wasn't His brithday, we try
to remember the wonderful things he has done for us and commit
ourselves to try a little harder to be worthy of them.
Merry
Christmas! =)
Tony
Olsen =)
What
is your
opinion ? Please email
us your comments for posting to this page.
From:
"Werner Greeff" <wergreeff@hinet.co.za>
Date:
Thu, 18 Nov 1999 21:54:07 +0200
Personally
I have been pondering about the whole idea of Christmas. I don't see
any significance in Christmas at all. Christmas is just another
commercial god. I have various problems with Christmas. From it's
very start it has NEVER been about Jesus Christ but the 25th of
December was a date on which the Sun-worshippers observed the
birthday of some sun-god. My second objection to Christmas is the
fact that somehow the birthday of Jesus is exalted to a place which
is dangerous and foreign to Scripture. The incarnation of Jesus did
nothing for the world. I remember as child how we sang all these
Christmas songs and that it was suppose to give us some sort of
assurance of faith. Boney M's famous Christmas album will soon be
heard in every shopping centre. Remember the one song, the words go
like this: "And man will live forever more, because of Christmas
day." Absolute nonsense. The world is not saved by Christmas
neither any individual. No one ever disputed the birth of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth in Bethlehem "away in a manger" some
2000 years ago. The question is this: Is he born in your life?
Scripture says that "For there is born to you this day in the
city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11.
However, the birth was only a means to an end. He had to come as a
human in order to become the "Lamb slain from the foundations of
the world", the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of
the world". I have yet to read of an account in scripture where
Christians celebrated the Birth of Jesus. The birth of Jesus has
already been celebrated 2000 years ago, we celebrate his death and
resurrection and Him our advocate in heaven, our great High Priest
seated at the right hand of God the Father. Not much time and effort
is spent celebrating his death and resurrection and even then it is
turned into another commercial weekend. Instead of teaching kids the
FULL TRUTH we teach stuff like Santa Claus and Easter Rabbits! We
then say that we give gifts on Christmas because we celebrate God
giving us his son. Wonderful, just a pity that the children do not
know that. They are under the impression that Santa Claus brought the
presents. I don't think it is a matter of having move away from what
Christmas was intended to be, no. It is a fact that Christmas was
pagan from the start and unfortunately we have embraced it too
easily. Am I going to give and receive presents? As a matter of fact
I will and I will never condemn people who practice it. Paul says in
Romans 14:5 "One person esteems one day above another; another
esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord, and he who does
not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it...." If
you celebrate Christmas for the right reasons and feel not
condemned...God bless you! However, I don't think we must make
Christmas a general Christian celebration. What about those who don't
esteem Christmas as you do?
God
bless
Werner
What
is your
opinion ? Please email
us your comments for posting to this page.
back
to top
Back
to Discussion Forum Index |
