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         <h3 class="panel-title">[[File:Page.png]] December's featured article</h3>
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         <h3 class="panel-title">[[File:Page.png]] January's featured article</h3>
 
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==<strong>A QUESTION</strong>==  
=='''History of Christmas'''==
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<p>We hear often is, "Does it really matter what I believe as long as I believe in something?" Or, "As long as your belief helps you, isnt that all that matters?"</p>
 
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<p>The idea behind statements such as these is that there is no absolute truth to believe in, and thus the act of believing is all there is. We all believe in something, as Edgar Sheffield Brightman states, "A thinker cannot divest himself of real convictions, and it is futile to pose as having none"</p>
Having surveyed the subject of festivals in scripture we will briefly consider the origin and story of Christmas observance, I will not go into great detail on this subject as any encyclopaedia will give most of the required information.
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<p>The idea of finding any truth or meaning to life has escaped modern man. This statement reflects the inability to conceive of something outside of one's self: "There are no rules by means of which we would discover a purpose or a meaning of the universe"</p>
The early church, as we have seen, simply did not observe Christmas. Until the 5th century there was no consensus of opinion as to when it should be observed. Jan 6th and March 25th were rival dates. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica December 25th was originally a Mithraic festival, the natalis invicti solis, or birthday of the unconquered sun. It seems clear that the time of the winter solstice was generally a time of pagan festivity.
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<p>Even though we live in a day in which we all have definite beliefs about things, the climate seems to be the act of belief rather than any real object of belief. "Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact," states pragmatist William James.</p>
 
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<p>Unfortunately, this is not the case. Belief will not create fact. Truth is independent of belief. No matter how hard you may try, believing something will not make it true. For example, We may believe with all our hearts that we want it to be hot tomorrow, but this will not guarantee it.</p>
Before proceeding we must ask some controversial and radical questions. After the departure of the original apostles, did the church steadily grow into maturity, or did it steadily decline into darkness? Was the establishment of Christianity under Constantine as Rome's official religion a triumph or a tragedy? Was the "Christianising" of heathen places of worship and customs a wise and generous compromise, or was it departure from the truth?
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<p>Belief is only as good as the object in which we put our trust. Someone may come to you and say, "Hey, let's go for a ride in my new car!" If I come to find out that his car hardly runs at all and he does not even have a license, then your faith, no matter how <em>much</em> you have, is not well-founded.</p>
 
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<p>However, if another friend of yours comes along and makes the same offer, but he has a license, then your trust has a much more solid base. So it does matter what you believe, for your believing in it does not make it true.</p>
I would submit that Scripture and history unite to testify that the organised church went progressively into darkness rather than into light. In general the church steadily lost the spiritual dimension of the New Covenant. Then, instead of simply retreating into the truths of the Old Covenant, its leaders like Jeroboam of old produced idols and festivals out of their own hearts to satisfy the people; or perhaps to be more accurate, they turned to paganism for their inspiration! Consequently the period when the church held undisputed sway over all Europe has become known to historians with unbelievable irony as the dark ages.
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<p><strong>The Bible also emphasises the fact that it is vital what one believes.</strong></p>
 
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<p>Jesus said, "If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24, MLB). We are also told, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36, KJV).</p>
The date of Christmas is clearly heathen, but what about its customs? Where do they come from? In fact they come from many different sources all of which are pagan and were gradually added over the centuries. The decorating of homes and giving of presents comes from the Roman Saturnalia. Mistletoe comes from the druids. The Saxons used holly and ivy. The emphasis on lights and fires probably comes from the original sun worship at the darkest time of the year. The Christmas tree appears to be of German origin.
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<p>Thus, the stress of the Scriptures is not so much on the <em>act</em> of belief as on the <em>object</em> of belief. What is emphasised is not so much the one trusting, but rather the one trusted. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6, KJV).</p>
 
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<p>People today are believing whatever they wish to believe, but this will lead to their ultimate destruction. The famous classroom story of the philosopher, Georg Hegel, illustrates the type of faith many people display, which is entirely unbiblical. Hegel, as the story goes, was expounding on his philosophy of history with reference to a particular series of events when one of his students objected to Hegel's view and replied, "But, Herr Professor, the facts are otherwise."</p>
More significant perhaps than these customs, whose origin has largely been forgotten, is the central religious theme of Christmas: the worship of the mother and child. The ancient Babylonians worshipped a goddess mother and her son and this worship appears to have spread throughout the ancient cultures. At Christmas this ancient idolatry appears annually disguised as Mary and Jesus.
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==<strong>"So much worse for the facts," was Hegel answer.</strong>==
 
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<p>One of the darkest periods in the history of Israel occurred in 4 the time of the kings. During this time, there was a contest between the Lord God and Baal, a highly regarded cult deity.</p>
In mediaeval times the "merrymaking" aspect became particularly strong. This included eating, drinking, carol singing, dancing and pantomimes. Ceremonies were directed by a man whose official title was the "Lord of Misrule".
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<p>An altar of wood was built, with pieces of an oxen laid upon it as a sacrifice. The god who answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice would be acknowledged as the true god in Israel. Baal went first.</p>
Christmas was forbidden in England by act of parliament by the Puritans under Cromwell, but revived with the restoration under King Charles II. In Scotland it has only become a public holiday in the last 30 years.
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<p>If anyone could start a fire from the sky, it was Baal -the great nature god who controlled the weather (e.g., rain, thunderstorms, lightning). The priests of Baal paraded around the altar all morning and until late afternoon, beseeching Baal to respond.</p>
A minority of Christians, notably among the Brethren, have rejected Christmas in recent times.
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<p>These false priests jumped all over the altar, cut themselves with swords, danced into a frenzy, raved and pleaded all day. Yet nothing happened. No one can say they were not sincere or did not believe.</p>
 
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<p>After they were finished and the altar was rebuilt, the Lord God answered with fire from heaven and consumed the altar and sacrifice. The false prophets of Baal were then slain.</p>
=='''Christmas Today'''==
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<p>If sincerity and belief saved, then these prophets should have been spared. But they do not. These prophets had their trust in the wrong object. They had never chosen to investigate the truth. God requires man to put his faith in Jesus Christ; nothing less will satisfy either them or Him.</p>
 
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We must bring this study up-to-date by considering modern Christmas. Each year as world poverty increases, some new spending record is made. Presents that might have seemed expensive twenty years ago are nothing today. Children feel deprived if their presents aren't as good as those of their friends. Bigger and better presents compensate for less and less happy families. Each year the police have a special campaign to prevent drunken driving. Women especially wear themselves out with endless hours of buying presents, sending cards, preparing food and decorating the house. The pagan origins of the festival are forgotten and materialism has taken over.
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Should we attempt to "put Christ back into Christmas", as an old slogan used to exhort us. Can we encourage people to remember its "true meaning"?! I believe we face fundamentally the same problem as the early church and indeed as the modern missionary. Can we take something essentially heathen and make it Christian? I personally do not believe we can. It is not the way of the Bible or of God.
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No doubt here are many people who seek to keep Christmas "in the right spirit". They genuinely seek to remember the birth of Jesus without undue emphasis on Mary. They seek to turn the occasion to an evangelistic opportunity. They minimise the worldly aspects of it all. They visit the elderly and lonely and welcome them into their homes. Such actions one can only praise, but must they be done in the name of Christmas? If I were in India and felt moved to pray, I would not go to a Hindu temple to do it. If I wanted to hold a Christian meeting I would not normally do it in a mosque.
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=='''Other Festivals'''==
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So far I have concentrated on the keeping of Christmas; but it must be obvious that exactly the same principles apply to other church festivals. The name Easter goes back to the goddess Astarte of Nineveh. Hot cross buns and Easter eggs go back to ancient heathen ceremonies. Once again Arthur Ware and Frank Paine have shown conclusively that Jesus died on Friday 1st of May in 33 AD and rose at midnight between Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th.
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Alexander Hislop in his book "The Two Babylons" gives a wealth of tedious detail illustrating that every festival in the church's calendar goes back to ancient heathen worship.
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=='''Summary'''==
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We may then summarise our findings. The festivals of the Old Covenant were solemnly ordained and commanded by God. They served a temporary purpose in pointing forward to spiritual realities as yet not revealed. The festivals of the New Covenant belong to the invisible realm of the spirit. To those born of water and the spirit into the kingdom of God they are substantial and real and vastly superior to anything manmade. They are above the Old Covenant festivals as heaven is above the earth. The festivals of the organised church were never ordained by God. They are heathen in origin and mainly materialistic in practice (at least in the case of Christmas). They are foreign to the fundamental concepts of the New Covenant.
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Let me close with the words of Paul from 2 Corinthians 6: 14-18: 'Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteous and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; ... 'Therefore come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord. 'And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me,' says the Lord Almighty.'
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Revision as of 16:12, 30 December 2016

A QUESTION

We hear often is, "Does it really matter what I believe as long as I believe in something?" Or, "As long as your belief helps you, isnt that all that matters?"

The idea behind statements such as these is that there is no absolute truth to believe in, and thus the act of believing is all there is. We all believe in something, as Edgar Sheffield Brightman states, "A thinker cannot divest himself of real convictions, and it is futile to pose as having none"

The idea of finding any truth or meaning to life has escaped modern man. This statement reflects the inability to conceive of something outside of one's self: "There are no rules by means of which we would discover a purpose or a meaning of the universe"

Even though we live in a day in which we all have definite beliefs about things, the climate seems to be the act of belief rather than any real object of belief. "Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact," states pragmatist William James.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. Belief will not create fact. Truth is independent of belief. No matter how hard you may try, believing something will not make it true. For example, We may believe with all our hearts that we want it to be hot tomorrow, but this will not guarantee it.

Belief is only as good as the object in which we put our trust. Someone may come to you and say, "Hey, let's go for a ride in my new car!" If I come to find out that his car hardly runs at all and he does not even have a license, then your faith, no matter how much you have, is not well-founded.

However, if another friend of yours comes along and makes the same offer, but he has a license, then your trust has a much more solid base. So it does matter what you believe, for your believing in it does not make it true.

The Bible also emphasises the fact that it is vital what one believes.

Jesus said, "If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24, MLB). We are also told, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36, KJV).

Thus, the stress of the Scriptures is not so much on the act of belief as on the object of belief. What is emphasised is not so much the one trusting, but rather the one trusted. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6, KJV).

People today are believing whatever they wish to believe, but this will lead to their ultimate destruction. The famous classroom story of the philosopher, Georg Hegel, illustrates the type of faith many people display, which is entirely unbiblical. Hegel, as the story goes, was expounding on his philosophy of history with reference to a particular series of events when one of his students objected to Hegel's view and replied, "But, Herr Professor, the facts are otherwise."

"So much worse for the facts," was Hegel answer.

One of the darkest periods in the history of Israel occurred in 4 the time of the kings. During this time, there was a contest between the Lord God and Baal, a highly regarded cult deity.

An altar of wood was built, with pieces of an oxen laid upon it as a sacrifice. The god who answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice would be acknowledged as the true god in Israel. Baal went first.

If anyone could start a fire from the sky, it was Baal -the great nature god who controlled the weather (e.g., rain, thunderstorms, lightning). The priests of Baal paraded around the altar all morning and until late afternoon, beseeching Baal to respond.

These false priests jumped all over the altar, cut themselves with swords, danced into a frenzy, raved and pleaded all day. Yet nothing happened. No one can say they were not sincere or did not believe.

After they were finished and the altar was rebuilt, the Lord God answered with fire from heaven and consumed the altar and sacrifice. The false prophets of Baal were then slain.

If sincerity and belief saved, then these prophets should have been spared. But they do not. These prophets had their trust in the wrong object. They had never chosen to investigate the truth. God requires man to put his faith in Jesus Christ; nothing less will satisfy either them or Him.


Beyond Today -- Is God a Trinity?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pln8YWni7X0
Although this is a core mainstream Christian belief, discover why it's a false concept that hinders your relationship with God.


Do you have a ministry or a business

Do you have a called of God ministry where your whole purpose is to "feed the sheep", and God supplies your needs, or do you have books, tapes, videos, etc. that you SELL for a "donation", or just outright SELL, and your buyers supply your needs?

There is nothing wrong with being in business and selling things. However, if you are a church or any kind of "ministry", you may want to check your motive for how you are conducting the work of the Lord.

Remember the money changers in the temple where JESUS turned over the tables and threw them out. They were selling things in the "CHURCH".
(God made it quite clear to us that we were not to charge for anything, that HE is our source.)


Smallinfo.png Our Pin Board


Pin.pngMIDWEEK PROPHECY UPDATE DEC 28, 2016 - KERRY WORKING ON UN-RESOLUTION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Elj8ARtHI
Rebuffing Israel, U.S. allows censure over settlements .... Netanyahu defends response to UN vote: 'Israel will not turn the other cheek' .... John Kerry is working on another UN resolution that would officially recognize a Palestinian State .... UNSC resolution promotes Mid East war .... Authorities foil suspected Islamist terror attack in Melbourne, Australia


Pin.pngWhy Christ’s Birth is Good News, Luke 2:1-20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldFFs0ZtR60

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In a Christmas Eve message out of Luke 2:1-20, Pastor JD answers the question of why the Savior’s birth brings good tidings of great joy, peace and good will to a world that is anything but peaceful and joyful.


Pin.pngPro-161 - Prophecy Update, 25 December 2016 (War on Christmas)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f47yZbCgcyI
Our Christmas update which includes details of an all-out assault on Christmas, as well as some interesting patterns concerning the birth of Christ Jesus. We do hope this week's update will bless you immensely.


Pin.pngMIDWEEK PROPHECY UPDATE DEC 21, 2016 - PUTIN VOWS TO OBLITERATE ISIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pAkWNT4oVo
IDF tanks fire at Hamas targets in response to Gaza border shooting .... Russian Ambassador to Turkey killed; gunman shouted 'Don't Forget Aleppo' .... Putin vows to obliterate ISIS after assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey


Pin.pngMid-East Prophecy Update – December 18th, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlrbR_NtIBc

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Pastor J.D. addresses the breaking news last week concerning what’s happening in the city of Aleppo specifically related to Bible prophecies concerning Damascus, Syria, Russia and Iran.


Pin.pngMIDWEEK PROPHECY UPDATE DEC 14, 2016 - STRONG EARTHQUAKES HIT SOLOMON ISLANDS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX7fMrk1K5w
Iranian defense minister warns of war that will ‘Destroy’ Israel .... Israel foiled chemical weapons' delivery to Hezbollah, defector says .... Hamas offers missiles for armies willing to fight Israel .... bill would allow government to locate people with tracking devices


Pin.pngMid-East Prophecy Update – December 11th, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NilTMjUT9DU

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Pastor J.D. addresses the significance of the Israeli strikes targeting the city of Damascus prophetically, and shares three main reasons people are unaware of its seriousness geopolitically. --- Pin.pngEND-TIMES-NEWS DEC 11, 2016 - BIBLE PROPHECY EXPLAINED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqsBdX8prgE
Pastor Andrew Russell explains why we should be informed as bible believing Christians and why we should not be ignorant. Bible prophecy shows us that we are in the last days and that Jesus Christ will come soon for His bride. Therefore we should be watchful and alert, stay in the Word and keep our eyes upon Jesus.


Pin.pngMIDWEEK PROPHECY UPDATE DEC 7, 2016 - ISIS DECLARES 'BLOODY FRIDAY'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irxAQNFi4U8
Iranian ‘Military-Religious Amusement Park’ Lets kids practice attacks on Israel .... ISIS declares Trump inauguration day 'BLOODY FRIDAY' .... Italian prime minister resigns in populist revolt .... Obama family travel vacations, cross $85 million mark .... Argentine judge rules woman can marry her own stepdaughter





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