O you who love the Lord, hate evil! – Psalm 97:10 ~ There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. – Proverbs 14:12
From Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening
“Sanctify them through thy truth.” – John 17:17
An excerpt: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Do not say of any error, “It is a mere matter of opinion.” No man indulges an error of judgment, without sooner or later tolerating an error in practice. Hold fast the truth, for by so holding the truth shall you be sanctified by the Spirit of God.
“Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival honoring the agricultural god Saturn, occurred in mid‑December. Saturnalia rituals later became Christmas traditions. ” ~ Bing
Last night I listened to a radio host say that Saturnalia is not the origin of Christmas as we have been led to believe. However, my signal was weak, and it faded out before I could hear his argument. Now I am on a search to see if this is true. I’m putting “Christmas did not come from Saturnalia” in the search bar. Here is what I have found:
“Christmas didn’t only take from Saturnalia. Christmas is a synthesis of several different celebrations, including Yule and other Druidic practices. The idea of having a Christmas tree, wreaths, and other greenery comes from Norse and Germanic folklore. Caroling comes from pagan songs, for instance.” – Bing
That’s practicing superstitions. Superstitions are beliefs causing actions that are outside of Scriptures.
FTA: Saturnalia, held in mid-December, is an ancient Roman pagan festival honoring the agricultural god Saturn. Because of when the holiday occurred—near the winter solstice—Saturnalia celebrations are the source of many of the traditions we now associate with Christmas, such as wreaths, candles, feasting and gift-giving. ` Saturnalia
Saturnalia and Christmas — how a Pagan Roman festival paved the way for modern Christmas
Finally! I found an article to prove that Saturnalia is not the foundation for Christmas! Christmas & Dec. 25th: NOT Derived from Saturnalia -written by a Roman Catholic…🤔🤨🙄 Early Church fathers were not immune to error, so keep that in mind when you read this article. Satan is clever and can make us believe a lie as truth. That’s why discernment and knowing the scriptures is not an option but a necessity.
FTA: Fr. William Saunders, in one of his consistently excellent articles for The Arlington Catholic Herald (12-19-13), wrote:
St. Luke also recorded how the Archangel Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John (Lk 1:36), which means the Annunciation occurred March 25, as we celebrate. Nine months from March 25, or six months from June 24, renders the birth of Christ at Dec. 25, our Christmas.
St. Luke related the announcement of the birth of St. John the Baptist to his elderly parents, St. Zechariah and St. Elizabeth. St. Zechariah was a priest of the class of Abijah (Lk 1:5), the eighth class of 24 priestly classes (Neh 12:17). Each class served one week in the temple, twice a year.
Josef Heinrich Friedlieb has established that the priestly class of Abijah would have been on duty during the second week of the Jewish month Tishri, the week of the Day of Atonement or in our calendar, between Sept. 22 and 30. While on duty, the Archangel Gabriel informed Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a son (Lk 1:5-24). Thereupon, they conceived John, who after presumably 40 weeks in the womb would have been born at the end of June. For this reason, we celebrate the Nativity of St. John the Baptist June 24.
“Christmas is on Dec. 25, but it wasn’t always. Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus’ birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. The earliest Christians did not celebrate his birth.” – Bing
Here is my understanding of when Christ was not born, that I think makes the most sense: From Luke 2
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
In Israel there is much cold, and snow and it would have been an undue hardship for the travelers heading to their hometowns for the census. Now, it could be that the travelers would have left for home in the fall and spent the cold months there. Most likely they left after harvest was done.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
If it is cold this time of year in Israel, then shepherds are not going to be tending their sheep at night when the temps drop making it even colder. In a teaching by a Messianic Rabbi that I read years ago, he said that these sheep were for the sacrifices and were without blemish. The shepherds would not have exposed these sacred animals to the detriments of freezing cold nights.
Oh my! That Roman Catholic “Father” sent me on to a side note of Christ’s birth date. Simply put, God did not tell us when Jesus was born. Could it be because He did not want us to worship Him in the same manner as the heathen (pagans) do in their worship of their sun god? I believe so!
My final note: Whether Saturnalia is or is not the foundation for the Christ Mass (I have found no good evidence to say it’s not) we are not to do as the heathen do in our worship of Him. Baptizing paganism has no scriptural authority. Slapping a “Jesus” mask on the sun god Saturn/Tammuz does not make him the true Jesus. If we are to observe Our Beloved Savior’s birth on a particular day, our Father would have revealed the day His Son was born. Let us rejoice that our Savior was born on any, or all, our days. Hallelujah! Amen! 🤗
This has been copied from the comment line of a J.C. Ryle FB post:
Andrew Strom. [4 April 2003]
I am writing on a rather unusual topic today. On Monday night (31 March) I was invited onto a Christian Radio show in New Zealand to discuss the growing numbers of “Out-of-church” Christians in the West – people who have left the churches for various reasons but still claim a strong Christian faith. It was a very interesting night, and the phones ran hot.
This “Out-of-church” phenomenon has now grown so large that books are being written about it. In fact, several years ago I heard an estimate that there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of such Christians just in our largest city (-Auckland) alone. And I believe it is the same right across the Western nations. I have personally come into contact with literally hundreds of such people. The surprising thing is that they are often the most committed kind of Christians – praying, insightful, deep-thinking. Yet they have grown tired of “playing the game” inside our church system and have opted out. Often their involvement goes back many years. In fact, they had commonly been leaders of various kinds.
But now they have left. Why? The church obviously finds this a very difficult thing to explain or deal with. The usual accusations are often trotted out: “So-and-so has been hurt and has a root of bitterness”. Or they are in “rebellion”. Or they are “not a team player”. Or they are “backsliding”.
But if you talk to these people you will often find that they have been sitting in church for years and years, and they simply cannot stand to sit and watch the same old game being played any more. The LACK OF GOD is what gets to them – even in our most “Spirit-filled” churches. WHERE IS GOD IN ALL OF OUR ACTIVITY? Surely this is not the way it is supposed to be?
New fads and programs come and go, but the mediocrity and LACK OF GOD just seem to go on forever. And so quietly, sometimes without anyone even noticing, they slowly slip out the doors – never to return. Some have even told me that they felt God “calling them out”. Others simply felt they couldn’t stay there anymore. The state of the church weighed upon them more than words could say.
Very often they did the rounds of other churches, hoping against hope that they would find a place that felt “right” in any way. (-Though most of them are not “church-hoppers” by nature). But the places they visited never seemed any more “right” than the place they had left. And after a while it just seemed easier to stay at home with God.
As I said earlier, most of these people have not given up on Christianity at all. It is today’s church system that they have given up on. And we are talking about large numbers here. Thousands are already opting out. And many feel like they are “waiting” for something.
Some of these people have started up home-fellowships. Or they meet with other couples on a casual basis. But many meet with nobody at all, and they consider themselves in a ‘Wilderness’ place – alone with God. (-Very common).
I was asked several weeks ago by a pastor whether I agreed that what is happening could be a ‘move of God’. That is a pretty radical thought. Many leaders would think the opposite. Because anything that leads people out of “their church” can’t be of God, can it?
Hmmmm. All I know is this: The concept of going through a ‘Wilderness’ just before entering the ‘Promised Land’ is totally Scriptural. In fact, it is right through the Bible. Even Jesus went through such a wilderness time.
But it is not possible to stay “alone” forever. Some day, if these people are going to be part of a new move of God’s Spirit, they are going to have to come out of their wilderness and become part of the “BODY” that Jesus brings together – the ‘new wineskin’ that will come with this new move of God. Otherwise they could miss out. That is the great danger.
I’m sure there are many on this List with comments or testimonies relating to this topic. I would love to hear from you. It really is becoming a significant issue in the church.
God bless you, my friends.
________________________________
For weeks after I published the above article, I was inundated with emails. It seemed to be going round and round on the Internet because many responses were from people that were not even part of our own List. Such a huge number of heart-felt stories from people who still loved Jesus but had left the churches (-forever, in many cases). What an eye-opener! It confirmed to me that this issue is so much larger than many of us have realized. I don’t think a lot of Christian leaders have any clue how many believers are simply opting out of “organized religion” today. Andrew Strom
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Pastors, there are many of us “Out-of-Church” Christians who want to belong to a Bible practicing church that has nothing to do with the pagan/papist/traditions of men “holy” days like X Mass and Easter, which is just blasphemously slapping Christ’s holy name on an unholy pagan feast to Tammuz and the Queen of Heaven. Get rid of those unlawful days as practices and see if your numbers improve. Even if they don’t, you can know you are obedient to God’s Word.
Let not the child of God become discouraged because his efforts to please Christ make some of those who call themselves Christians speak evil of him. Let not the Christian imagine that fiery trials are an evidence of God’s disapproval. “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad.” Not only are the afflictions that faithfulness to Christ involves to be patiently endured, but they are to be received with joy and gladness.
The world may despise them as fanatics, professors of religion may regard them as narrow-minded sectarians, and their relatives may look upon them as fools. But the great God owns them as His children even now, distinguishing them by tokens of His peculiar regard and causing His Spirit within them to witness to them that they are sons of God. But in the Day to come, He will publicly avow His relationship to them in the presence of an assembled universe. However humble their present situation in life may be, however despised and misrepresented by their fellow men, they shall yet “shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).
– Arthur Pink, “The Beatitudes” (1886-1952)
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