I think the "holiday" protest backfired

This whole "flap" goes back to when someone started selling indulgences, beatifications, bishoprics and papacies. The whole thing has been commercialized ever since.

What the Mass of Christ has to do with New Testament Christians is still quite puzzling.

It is written: "in vain they do worship, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men".

May we apply that scripture to this topic? Yes!

Selah,

Bro. James

 

Yay! The normal debate on this board for this time of year has always been "Santa is evil vs Santa is ok". This is a nice change of pace this year, so I'll throw in my two cents. I've waited FIVE YEARS for a new December argument!
(maybe I spoke too soon and the Santa topic is still gonna come around again, EKE!)

It was in December of 2004 that I quit following the news. Until that point in time I followed it intently. Any visitors to my home were barraged with questions as to their political viewpoints and their knowledge of current events was tested while the voices of news anchors hummed in the background.

One day it struck me that the news never changed, only the names and places of events, so I turned off the television, abandoned writing about current events, and quit participating in the politics forum on one of my favorite online message boards. My life since then has been amazingly peaceful.

Until now.

I accidentally listened to part of a news report while in my car. It happened because I had forgotten to bring my favorite cd along for the ride, and decided to see if I could find some Christmas music on the radio. Joy to the World was playing, immediately followed by a forlorn voice announcing that the White House was putting up a Holiday Tree instead of a Christmas tree. I didn't really think that much of it. I have no high expectations of government officials that claim Christianity. Zealous Christians in government offices almost never fail to become politically correct and abandon all direct mention of anything that can be tied to one certain belief system. I still haven't figured out why it is politically correct to not be direct about one's beliefs. I personally find that offensive, and believe that in the name of TRUE political correctness, one should not give the appearance of believing someone's beliefs that may or not be that person's belief, because if that person finds out that it isn't correct, they will suffer from feelings of distrust and need to visit a therapist. While we're at it, perhaps we shouldn't say people suffer. It makes them sound like victims.

What was I talking about? Oh yes, the dreaded Holiday Tree. Much to my surprise, I found that Christians everywhere are throwing up their hands in disbelief, convinced that Jesus Christ himself is under attack by people who call those decorated evergreens by the name of "Holiday Tree". I was a bit amused by that. Somehow, I can't get an image in my mind of Jesus needing us to vigorously defend Him by being outraged over the phrase "Holiday Tree".

I do wonder what Holiday this is though, for those that are refusing to call it Christmas. Is this to be a generic day of the year, known only as "Holiday"? That sounds like it would zap the fun right out of it. Why is it called Happy Holidays? The only other one around it is New Years, but if we take Christmas out, it's just a holiday. There aren't any other holidays that I celebrate between November 29th and January 29th. Plus, what should I replace my manger scene with?

Ok, so I can give up the manger scene. I never thought God was too impressed with the dried lump of plaster that was supposed to represent his newborn son anyhow, especially since the specks of blue paint that are supposed to be eyes are slightly uneven, even though it is cute when put with the rest of the scene. The rest of it has to stay though, apart from calling it Christmas. I can give that up too, and call it Holiday. It still works. It really does! Try it.
We celebrate the birth of Christ on Holiday.
Merry Holiday, and a happy new year!
Holiday is a time of giving.
Let's open our Holiday presents!

I have to quit listening to the news, because this is what happens when I do. You're stuck reading this garbage I write about it, and I'm stuck trying to figure out the world.

I just don't understand it. Why are my fellow Christians in an uproar about this? We have had an awful lot of freedom with our Christianity, but never seemed to have truly appreciated it. Now we demand it as a civil right and act suprised when people refuse to acknowledge or accept Christ, or when they don't appreciate any mention of His name.

I don't blame the unbelievers. I blame the us, the Christians. For years we've depended on stupid things like the names of holidays and public displays of biblical passages to do our witnessing for us. It makes us feel good, like everyone's saved and we're living in a Christian nation because we have all the right outward signs of it. Now those signs are being taken away, and Christians are panicking.
Pharisees, all of us!
It's the same as believing that wearing certain items of clothing, using a certain bible version, and going to church every Sunday makes a person a decent Christian.
Christianity was never about all that.
WE are the witnesses. WE are the ones who are to be spreading the word of God, and it's not done by cutting down an evergreen and calling it a Christmas tree. It's done by teaching and preaching the fact that Jesus Christ was born for us, died for us, and raised again for us.
The majority of people will not accept this. Deal with it. They do not owe it to us to pretend that they do accept it. In fact, I'd appreciate the honesty if everyone who doesn't believe in Christ will quit using the word Christmas for their Holiday celebration. They should stop using it now, today, this very second, because it's using the name in vain.

This is how it aught to be.

The anti-Christians are not taking Christ out of Christmas. They are not taking Christ out of our public schools. They are not taking Christ out of our nation. For unbelievers, the name of Christ was never in anything.
Christians are the only ones capable of removing the name of Christ from anything, and we do it every time we remove it from our choose to be politically correct and keep our mouths shut for the sake of not offending someone who doesn't believe the same way we do, or more often, because we don't have the nerve to speak up and talk to the unsaved. That HAS to change. Let your mouth and the way you live your life do the witnessing, not a tree, and certainly not a plastic baby Jesus that was mass-manufactured in the sweat-shops of some far away land.

 

Gina L, I love your post!!
What a laugh...
You certainly have a unique way of looking at things.
You should publish that.
Thank you.

 

Interesting viewpoint, Gina.

For myself, even from over here in Japan it seems apparant to me that the American secularists simply hate Christ and anything Christian (but not any other religion, not even Islam), so they are offended every time anything Christian comes up. That is normal. The lost world will always hate Jesus. And, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3:12). It just is getting more obvious. Prepare for more persecution in the decades to come.

I also realize that there is a vocal minority of true Christians who oppose Christians, for whatever reason, as well as the wackos and the cults (JWs for one). That's fine. You guys are welcome to your view. We have freedom in Christ. Just don't commit the silliness of calling the Christmas tree an idol and celebrating Christmas idolatry. That really bugs us missionaries who fight the real thing.

As for me and my house, we will celebrate Christmas in a Christ honoring way, praying and giving gifts and singing praise to the Lord. As for me and my church, we will also celebrate Christmas in a Christ honoring way, with a special Christmas Eve service to try to get the lost in to hear the Gospel. We will have a special service on Christmas Day for us believers, and we will have a Christmas cake, for after all, it is a birthday! (And if you are not going to celebrate Christ's birthday, it seems to me to be selfish to celebrate your own!)

Oh, and by the way, many lost Japanese celebrate Christmas, and have no problem with calling it Christmas. They even will listen to Christian carols and hearing us Christians tell the true meaning of Christmas, which my wife and I will do on the 22nd at a Japanese kindergarten! To them it is a beautiful holiday, whatever the enemies of Christ think.

 

Merry Christmas--have a happy sacrifice of Jesus.

There is something blatantly bogus about this celebration.

There are Christians who will have nothing to do with such things.

The lost need the unadulterated Gospel, not glitter, incense, and pine oil scent. Some have tried pizza lockins and gymnasiums. While the numbers may increase, the churches are becoming filled with the unregenerate, which is part of prophecy fulfulled: "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears".

Every day is blessed--if one knows Jesus--and the power of His resurrection. Let us leave Dec. 25th to Saturn.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

That is not exactly correct. Knowing a number of Wal Mart associates in and around the Little Rock area, I quizzed them about this, and none of them stated that they were told by anyone within the Wal Mart company not to say Merry Christmas at any time while they're at work.

 

No fear of that here John, we're too busy bowing down to Santa.
I used to work with Asians who would bow to statues and burn incense. I participated in that myself on year.
I think American Christians are prone to calling things idols because most have never really seen idolatry. Preachers going for sensationalism take the word and exaggerate it to get their point across, and now American Christians aren't even sure what it means anymore. We've been told that if we're too concerned with ANYTHING, whether it's money, a hobby, a sport, or anything else that takes up too much time, we're worshipping it and it has become an idol.
Americans have been slack in their witness, we're seeing the results, and unfortunately, still don't get that it's our faults, not the unbelievers faults. We don't raise kids to be strong Christians who can take roles in political fields and change things, or rise up and take the places of great Christian leader... we're shy about our beliefs, and somehow think that if we can keep symbols alive and well and with their proper names, we can keep Christianity alive. We don't seem to care if it's well, just alive.

A few people are probably thinking "does she ever shut up?"

Not really. I think I'm right and that people need to hear and think about where we are as a nation when it concerns Chrisianity, why we are where we are, and what we should do about it.
I do try to state things with a sense of humor, but I really do mean what I say. There are a number of decent Christians out there and when I say there aren't, people will find a few and point them out. And they will be right, but what people don't seem to realize is that there aren't enough and that if we want our witness to grow, and it always should be growing, we HAVE to be more actively involved in our Christianity! We HAVE to raise our kids to be strong leaders. We HAVE to be involved.
And I HAVE to go eat breakfast, I forgot to this morning! See what this thread has done to me?!

 

Yep. Accept the anything-goes attitude and that's what happens, and that's what many churches do today. It's a problem.

An idol can be anything that you put ahead of God. I doubt that many people put a tree ahead of God, or project any power into it. It's just an object in the eyes of many people, although obviously some people put too much importance into it.

However, for many people, their jobs, their cars, their houses, etc., are their idols.

 

Sorry, Hope of Glory, I just don't find this in Scripture. Where do you find it?

My Bible teaches me that idols are things you bow down to, worship and pray to other than the one true God: statues, ancestors, heavenly bodies, nature (mountains, trees, etc.).

What you are talking about are not idols, but stumbling blocks.

 

Actually, Christmas should be a tool for Christians to use to remind everyone about Christ."JESUS is the reason for the season".

Again, I REFUSE to give in to the PC New-Age-Liberals who, in the name of separation of church & state, attack everything associated with Christianity, while SUPPORTING the "rights" of certain Indians to fry their brains with Sched.1 drugs(psylocybin, mescaline) in the name of religion. Speaking of COMBINING church and state!

Bro. James, I respect your right to have your view, but I have that same right, and my view disagrees with your view.

 

At first, I too was incensed by the deletion of the word "Christmas" from our vocabulary. It just now ocurred to me as I was perusing through this thread of the origin of the word "holiday". It is from the old English meaning "holy day." So using the original meaning of the word and saying "Happy Holy Day" does not sound so bad after all.