Smoke
Done here.
Sorry. My husband is sitting here telling me I need to hurry up and finish so we can go to the fish store; I'll blame him for my lack of alertness.I was just trying to be funny...
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If you don't believe Christ, do you still celebrate Christmas?
- Thread starter Bishka
- Start date
when it comes to our worship it should be pure worship not adultrated worship. and those who turn to pure worhip are forgiven for their past badness. saul used to be into false worship and he was very zealous for that belief system, but he turned to true worship and all of the bad things that he did in the past were forgiven him . the fact of the matter is ,that when we realize something is wrong we refrain from doing it . you are right to say it is not up to us to judge, but some people after finding out something is wrong are willing to give it up but some are not willing to do that . and many people do things in ignorance.Since when did God say that celebrating him or his son is wrong?
You seem to be stuck on the fact that it used to be pagan holiday and has now been turned into a way to worship God. Somehow you believe that because it used to be bad, it is always bad.
I seem to remember stories in the Bible that say you are wrong. What about the prostitute that God forgave and told her to sin no more?
(used to be bad, now is good)
What about Saul who went about killing Christians, what did God do there? Oh yes, he convinced Saul to follow him and teach about Christ.
(used to be bad, now is good)
I could go on and on but I hope you get the point.
Anyway, if you want to complain about things with pagan origins, then you can't use the regular days of the week since they all derive from paganism. Do you use the regular names for days of the week?
relax.
i dont make them a part of my worship .
Comprehend
Res Ipsa Loquitur
Comprehend
Res Ipsa Loquitur
recognizing Jesus as Gods only begotten son, and as the reigning king of Gods kingdom ,is the thing to do every day of my life . mixing my beliefs with other beliefs is not needed.
Actually December 25 was chosen as the date to celebrate Jesus birth because, as The World Book Encyclopedia explains: "The people of Rome already observed it as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the sun."
Christmas is a prominent religious holiday today. But history shows that it was not a celebration observed by the very early Christians. Jesus told his followers to observe a memorial of his death, not of his birth. (1 Corinthians 11:24-26)
The Bible ignores Christmas because it is not a Christian doctrine or practice. It is not of divine origin.
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
I agree. We should always be humble and submissive. We should also be show to judge others as "so-called Christians" and ourselves as the real deal. God alone is entitled to separate the sheep from the goats.
And tell me why God would be so opposed to an annual commoration of the birth of His Only Begotten Son. Regardless of the fact that we all know it didn't take place on December 25, why would He object to beautiful music, the reading of Luke's account of the Savior's birth, family togetherness and goodwill towards all? If He doesn't object to these things on the other 364 days out of the year, why do you think He objects to them on December 25? Naturally, we should be focused on Christ every day of our lives, but if an annual day of remembering helps us focus on the most glorious night in the history of the world, and brings joy to the hearts of millions, I find it ludicrous to believe that God is offended by it.
There is another important point. If Jesus wanted his followers to celebrate his birth, why did he not instruct them to do so? With respect to the day of his death, he outlined a simple celebration and commanded: "Keep doing this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19) Jesus gave no such instruction regarding his birth.
The word "Christmas" does not even appear in the Bible because there was no such celebration among Jesus early disciples.
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
I don't think that Jesus particular cared one way or the other. Even today, I don't think He cares that I do and that you don't. There are certain things that matter very much to Him, and those things we have been commanded to do. There are other things we have been commanded not to do. I don't find the celebration of His birth to be on either list.
Neither do the words "Kingdom Hall" or "Watchtower." Maybe His early disciples did not worship in Kingdom Halls or handout Watchtowers.
My point is not that we should or should not celebrate Christmas. I have no problem whatsoever with your choice not to. What I object to is the way you look your nose down at those Christians who do and your use of the qualifier "so-called" every time you refer to anyone other than JWs as Christians.
In Mark 9:38-41, we read of Christ's response to John when John attempted to exlude another of His disciples on the basis of some technicality. Jesus said, "...Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward."
I'm sorry, but I just have little patience with Christians of any denomination who are so narrow-minded that they have to condemn everyone whose practices are different than their own. It's entirely possibly to be strong in one's own faith without judging other people's faiths as being offensive to God.
alwayswondering
Frubler
I don't celebrate Christmas December 25th. Instead I take the primary lesson I've found in all faiths - treat others like you want to be treated - out into my world every single day.
I don't think that matters too much.
In my reading of the Bible, the celebration that Jesus emphasized most was ritual foot-washing (John 13:12-17), but this only gets lip service in Catholic churches, and most Protestant denominations ignore His commandments for this ceremony completely, IIRC.
If a church doesn't care about foot-washing, why would they care that Jesus never said anything about Christmas?
reasoning on the scriptures is not judging others, if others celabrate it that is up to them . but i can see for myself that it is out of line with bible teaching.
i think Jesus was teaching about humility, he was not making a command of washing peoples feet.
Jesus Christ washed his apostles feet on the last night of his earthly life, Nisan 14, 33 C.E., doing so to teach them a lesson and "set the pattern," rather than to establish a ceremony. (Joh 13:1-16) That evening there had been a discussion among the apostles as to who was the greatest (Lu 22:24-27), and the spirit then prevailing apparently led to Jesus washing of his disciples feet as a lesson in humility and willingness to serve one another in the humblest way.
eudaimonia
Fellowship of Reason
Yes, I celebrate family and commercialism on December 24th (eve) and December 25th. I call this holiday "Christmas" simply because others do. Sometimes I jokingly call this holiday Newtonmass, since Isaac Newton was born on December 25th.
Christmas/Newtonmass is a secular holiday for me, and is motivated by tradition... and relatives who will kill me if I don't get them presents.
eudaimonia,
Mark
Pariah
Let go
Our family reunions happen during Thanksgiving for the most part, because our school calendars have different schedules for the winter holidays (otherwise known as Christmas vacation with a secular twist). In the end, we give gifts for Thanksgiving rather than Christmas.
When I was in 1st grade, after having returned from Christmas vacation, my friends began talking about all the "things" they got. I was confused. Why would so many people be getting things simply because school was out? I cried, and so my younger sister joined in, and we eventually began a gift-giving tradition.
When my sister and I grew older (high school), my parents stopped putting up the tree, and we had to take the initiative and turn it into a family activity. Around sophomore year, my mother became more religious (our family is Hindu) and oddly enough, more of a neat freak, so she stopped working on the tree. My dad has never been very enthusiastic about gift giving as a token of love, but he loves buying things on sale, so he continued.
Junior and Senior year my mom refused to exchange gifts for Christmas and instead decided we should only do so for Sankranthi, which is the Hindu new year (and occurs in early January).
And that's the story.