Tis the season

[countmeworthy]

When I first came to the LC back in 1975, we did not celebrate or commemorate the birth of Jesus or His FIRST coming. In fact we heard all the evil stories of Christmas being associated with pagan worship.

In a way, it liberated us from obligations but it turned us into religious pharisees. I personally threw in the towel when we no longer would call Sunday, SUNDAY. It was now called 'THE LORD'S DAY'.

So what about all the other days?? Were they not the Lord's days?? And wasn't Monday a pagan day too?? As were all the other days and names of the months. Even our Gregorian calendar came from Pope Gregory XIII and Lee did not make a stink about that.

So that brings me to the season we are in. I saw this commentary from CHRISTCONNECTION.NET

I thought it was worth posting here. CHEERS EVERYONE!! Our redemption truly draws nigh!!!

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2016

'TIS THE SEASON

'Tis the season in which religious legalists come out in force grumbling about how wrong it is to celebrate Christmas.

I'm not referring to atheists or the ACLU griping about public Nativity displays, I'm talking about grumpy religious idiots who have nothing better to do than "find fault" and try to ruin the holiday for everyone else.

Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say, that includes certain Evangelicals, certain Messianic Jews, and even certain members of my own family.

They argue that Jesus wasn't really born on December 25th. Well, duh?

That it USED TO BE a pagan holiday. That Jesus was Jewish and that this holiday lacks any Hebraic roots. Really? We’ll see about that…

That wreaths are evil, ornaments are evil, Christmas trees are evil, Santa Claus is evil, and Nativity scenes are inaccurate.

Next thing you know, EGGNOG is sinful because it contains a little alcohol.

What's next, GINGERBREAD HOUSES?

They can't produce A SINGLE VERSE OF SCRIPTURE to back up their ridiculous objection.

And, frankly, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN about the carnal OPINION of religious idiots.

How's THAT for a little Christmas attitude?

EVERYONE in the civilized world knows that Jesus WASN'T BORN ON December 25th,

SO WHAT?

That's THE DAY we SET APART (sanctify) TO CELEBRATE HIS FIRST COMING into this corrupt, sin laden world.

The actual date is far less important than the fact He SO LOVED you and me that He took on human form in order to save us (John 3:16).

Unless, of course, you'd rather that Jesus had never been born. In which case, EVERYONE, including little old sanctimonious you, is going STRAIGHT to hell.

As far as December 25 being a FORMER pagan holiday, WHO CARES?

I know of NO CHRISTIAN who worships Helios, Apollo, or Sol Invictus (same pagan god, known by three different names). Most people don't even KNOW such false deity was EVER worshipped.

And, what are you saying anyway? That we can ONLY worship Jesus ON DAYS WHEN PAGANS HAVE NEVER CELEBRATED ANYTHING?

I'm sure if we dig deep enough EVERY DAY ON THE CALENDAR has, at some point, been desecrated by some form of pagan worship in some ancient civilization.

Therefore, by that STUPID rationale, there would be NO DAYS LEFT in which to worship Jesus!

By the way, I better NOT catch any of you self-righteous nitwits singing "THIS IS THE DAY that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it", because YOU'RE CONTRADICTING YOURSELVES.

That verse, Psalm 118:24, applies to ANY day of the year, to WHATEVER day it happens to be.

The whole POINT of that verse is that it's NEVER WRONG to worship the One true God, Jesus Christ.

He SHOULD be worshipped EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE YEAR.

With regards to “Hebraic” roots, I beg to differ.

This is WHAT THE VERY HEBREW Bible says about worshiping God:

“Happy are those that dwell in your house; THEY SHALL CONTINUALLY PRAISE YOU. Selah.” (Psalm 84:4)

And again:

“I will sing unto the LORD AS LONG AS I LIVE: I will sing PRAISE TO MY GOD WHILE I HAVE MY BEING.” (Psalm 104:33)

And again:

“Blessed be the name of the LORD FROM THIS TIME FORTH AND FOREVERMORE.

FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN UNTO THE GOING DOWN OF THE SAME THE LORD'S NAME IS TO BE PRAISED.” (Psalms 113:2-3)

And, again:

“The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

But we will bless the LORD FROM THIS TIME FORTH AND FOREVERMORE. Praise the LORD.” (Psalm 115:17-18)

Again: “My mouth will praise the LORD. LET ALL WHO LIVE PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME FOREVER!” (Psalm 145:21)

Again: “EVERY DAY I WILL PRAISE YOU and praise your Name forever and ever.” (Psalm 145:2)

I see NO EXCEPTIONS in the above verses for December 25.

So take this legalistic B.S. about it being "non-Hebraic" TO CELEBRATE AND WORSHIP GOD –ALL THE TIME, EVERY SINGLE DAY -- ELSEWHERE.

As far as Christmas trees, ornaments and wreaths, we will discuss them in another message.

EVERYONE who loves Jesus should rejoice and be glad that there's at least ONE day a year in which THE WORLD stops to remember and celebrate His Birthday.

Celebrating our Lord's birth is TOTALLY scriptural.

I encourage everyone to read the beautiful, timeless story in the first chapter of Matthew's Gospel, and the second chapter of Luke's Gospel.

Mary and Joseph celebrated it.

Elizabeth celebrated it.

John the Baptist, even while in his mother's womb, celebrated it.

In the temple, Simeon and Anna celebrated it.

The wise men celebrated it.

The shepherds celebrated it…

EVEN THE ANGELS REJOICED and glorified God over it! (Luke 2:13-14)

THE ONLY ONES who DIDN'T celebrate Christmas were SATAN and wicked Herod.

THAT says a lot about Christmas haters, right there.
Let me leave you with this happy thought:

EVERY DAY you DENY to Jesus is a day which, by default, YOU'RE GIVING TO SATAN.

[Evangelical]

"They can't produce A SINGLE VERSE OF SCRIPTURE to back up their ridiculous objection."

- this is funny. There is no single verse of scripture to back up celebration of Christmas.

It is well known that Jews did not celebrate their birthdays. In Jesus's 30 years on Earth, there is no record that he or his parents celebrated his birthday.

"THE ONLY ONES who DIDN'T celebrate Christmas were SATAN and wicked Herod."

The 12 disciples did not celebrate Christmas nor did the Jews. They weren't there when Jesus was born (never gave baby Jesus gifts and all), and they never celebrated it with him during their time with him. Does that mean they were Satanic?
Show me from the bible where it says the disciples celebrated Christmas.


"As far as December 25 being a FORMER pagan holiday, WHO CARES?

I know of NO CHRISTIAN who worships Helios, Apollo, or Sol Invictus (same pagan god, known by three different names). Most people don't even KNOW such false deity was EVER worshipped."

I think God cares. When the Israelites entered a pagan land , God told them to destroy all of the symbols and artifacts (Deut 12:3) . They could not keep them and claim to be worshiping the true God at the same time. They could not say "it's such a lovely Asherah pole, I am going to decorate it and now call it a Christian pole". God did not approve of that.

With Christmas, instead of merging Christianity with paganism, they should have destroyed all the pagan trees (which today are the Christmas trees) and other such pagan symbols. Then they could have started a truly Christian celebration, which would not have led to the problem of Christmas commercialization today. Nowadays, it is the pagan symbols associated with Christmas that are displayed throughout our shopping malls and various places, not nativity and biblical scenes. This is because it is acceptable for most people even atheists and those of other religions to acknowledge the pagan Christmas, trees, santa claus etc but not acceptable for them to believe in Jesus. If a person wanted to replace the Christmas trees with a statue of Jesus for example I am sure that there will be many complaints. The world which hates Christ makes Christmas one of the most important holidays of the year. Coincidence? I think not.

According to God the artifacts of a religion are just as much part of that religion as the beliefs. Just like the artifacts of drug use as just as much a part of drug taking as the drug itself. For example, possessing a bong or other drug taking device can get you in trouble with the law, even if you are not a drug user yourself. Or don't you know that the God of the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament? God is just as jealous now as he was then. But people think, "oh no, now that Jesus died for us, God is nicer, God is friendly, he doesn't care if we decorate this old pagan tree here and call it a Christ- tree". Either we think God must be blind or stupid, or God is not real.

[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Because you condemn the entire household of faith for what was done thousands of years ago.

Because Christians celebrate Christmas differently than the Gentiles. They worship the Lord and focus on their family.

Because the scripture gives us the liberty to celebrate that day to the Lord. You have definitely torn Romans 14 out of your Bible.

What if your great-great-grandmother's fourth cousin twice removed worshiped Mary, and then I went around condemning you and all your relatives for being pagan idolaters? That's kind of what you are doing to my Christian family.

Christmas, is like taking a copy of the Quran, decorating it with pretty adornments and saying it reminds us of the Bible. That's what Emperor Constantine did when he merged paganism with Christianity.

Romans 14 was about Jewish converts to Christianity who felt the need to continue their traditions (including the Sabbath) .They had biblical instructions to do so and these came from God in the first place.

Romans 14 does not, however, give a person a license to celebrate any old false religion day however they want. Take any idol, decorate it up and call it "worshiping God", without any instruction in the Old or New testament to do so.

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

Christmas, is like taking a copy of the Quran, decorating it with pretty adornments and saying it reminds us of the Bible. That's what Emperor Constantine did when he merged paganism with Christianity.

Romans 14 was about Jewish converts to Christianity who felt the need to continue their traditions (including the Sabbath) .They had biblical instructions to do so and these came from God in the first place.

Romans 14 does not, however, give a person a license to celebrate any old false religion day however they want. Take any idol, decorate it up and call it "worshiping God", without any instruction in the Old or New testament to do so.

Christmas does not remind people of the bible. It not only as a reflection, a reminder that JESUS WAS BORN and lived, died and resurrected if nothing more. More & more it's more like IT USED TO BE a reminder. Christmas has become soooooo commercialized..and has for decades and decades, just more so now. I remember seeing a whole lot of nativity scenes in front yards. Now it is about the best inflatable santas and best lighted up homes. There was even one I saw last year with a 'Christmas dragon' inflatable on top of a house roof.

For me, Christmas is a great tool to reach the lost, to give them hope. It might be the one time of the year, they are willing to listen to the Gospel of Hope and Love. It might be the one time of the year, people's hearts are softened.

And as for Christianity... well... I did not convert to Christianity. Did you? I converted my heart, my life to Christ, to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and His Holy Spirit. Christianity is a religion and don't forget God hates religion.

Constantine merged one religion with another religion. Btw, if you search deeply, you will find that Catholicism invented/created Islam.

And while I don't care for the commercialism of Christmas, I do like seeing homes decorated with Christmas lights at night.

As for evil Santa...consider Revelation 1:17
"I saw one like a Son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. "

You are probably a very straight and narrow guy so you might never have seen the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe. "Santa" appears in a sleigh and gives the kids weapons as presents to fight the evil witch and company.

It was the first time i recognized him as the Son of man described in Revelation 1:13-14

And you know, Elijah was translated/raptured on a chariot with horses ( a sleigh)

As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. 2 kings 2: 11-12

You will probably argue and scoff.

Just saying... the LSM has so many people tied up in knots about trivial matters. I knew many LCrs who took 'vacations' with their families during the Christmas season. They wanted to celebrate family time together alone without the LC pressure. They did not tell anyone of course.

The diehards don't do that anymore. .

Of course I also know a lot of true blue believers who never have been associated with the LC/LSM and never even heard of Nee or Lee who don't celebrate Christmas. I respect that.

I myself don't celebrate Christmas but I have taken the opportunity of the season to point people to Christ the SAVIOR.

And I think GOD has been pleased with me. See He's not religious.
In the late 60's and early 70s, there was true freedom in Christ in the LC. Or so I thought. But it became like the church in Ephesus who lost her first love while persevering in deeds and toils and have not grown weary and cannot tolerate evil men, ( OH WAIT.. there are a couple of exceptions in the Lee camp) and put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them to be false;

But remember and heed to the warning from the SON OF MAN:
I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

Shalom and Peace in Christ Jesus Who was and IS and IS TO COME AGAIN.

[Evangelical]

My comment about the Bible was an analogy. Christmas is about taking something of another religion, making it pretty, and saying it reminds us of something genuine.

We see eye to eye on a few things - that God hates religion. Now Christmas came from religion not from the bible or Judaism. So why defend it? Religion is a substitute for the true God, so religion is an idol, right?

Remember that the Israelite's built a golden calf to remind them of God, because Moses took a long time coming down from the mountain. What was Aaron's problem? He merged the worship of God with the worship of the idol. Aaron let the people get out of control. Some might say "the golden calf was only a reminder of God", but God did not see it that way.

It is like that today with Christmas. Religion is an idol, people worship the idol of Christmas and say "it is only a reminder". God does not see it that way. We may not have been involved in paganism or even understand what pagan gods are. But God does and only His opinion truly counts here. We might say "Christmas reminds us of Jesus's birth". But what if Christmas reminds God of all the times when His people worshiped an idol

Probably when God sees a Christmas tree it reminds Him of this:

"Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice ..., under oaks and poplars and elms" .

Jeremiah 10:1-4

“Do not learn the ways of the nations... -clearly this rules out taking pagan things such as trees and decorating them

"For the practices of the peoples are worthless;... -Christmas is basically a worthless occasion, it has no spiritual value.

"they cut a tree out of the forest, ... - many people cut trees out of the forest to make Christmas trees

"They adorn it with silver and gold;... - referring to the pagan practice of decorating trees.


People only care about their own selfish feelings. They want to remember God in their own way and not consider His feelings about the matter. The only reminder Jesus asked us to keep was the weekly Lord's Table meeting and that was remembrance not just of his birth but his whole life including his life-purpose to die for the world on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:24). Not only has Christmas become commercialized as you rightly said, but Christmas is the only time of the year when many will go to church to remember God and they do not attend weekly or even monthly communion. In other words, they substitute the genuine remembrance in the Lord's Table with their own way of remembering the Lord. That is also religion. Religion is doing things man's way instead of God's way.

The Lord's table is the genuine remembrance of the Lord and it happens week by week. So there is really no need for a Christian to celebrate Christmas to supposedly "remind them" of Jesus's birth. First and foremost we are to remember Jesus's life and death in the weekly Lord's Table meeting. The real reason people celebrate Christmas is because it is a man-made tradition started in 336 AD.

A lot people have the wrong idea about what it means to be religious. To many, to be religious is to not observe Christmas, Easter etc. Actually, a person who does not observe the occasions that came from religion such as Christmas, are the truly non-religious ones. A truly non-religious person is one who does not observe Christmas but remembers Christ in regular Lord's Table meetings.

If we defend Christmas we are defending that which God hates and are being religious. We are making a mockery of the Lord's Table not only because the Catholic "mass" is wrong, but by substituting the true remembrance with a counterfeit remembrance day, we are being like Aaron who saw nothing wrong with merging genuine worship of God with pagan idols. To create our own occasions for worship such as Christmas, following the traditions of men and setting aside the commandments of God, is the true definition of self-righteousness and religion. The person who wrote the article you posted does not know what self-righteousness means.



"And you know, Elijah was translated/raptured on a chariot with horses ( a sleigh) "

Unfortunately the idea of Santa being pulled by reindeer (not horses) comes from paganism. Reindeer represent the horned god prevalent in pagan/Satan worship.

Ancient nomadic pagan Eurasian tribes featured reindeer in sacrificial religious rituals.

“Santa’s reindeer evolved from the Celtic
Horned God. Eight reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh,
representative of the eight solar sabbats.
From their late Autumn dramatic rutting displays,
stags represented strength, sexuality and
fertility.”

https://christmaspagandeception.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/whats-with-the-reindeer/

Pagans seem to know where Christmas is really from more than Christians themselves...

From: https://www.paganspath.com/magik/yule-history2.htm

As we pagans already know, many of today's Christmas celebrations are rooted in pagan practices. And Santa isn't an exception.
At Yule, Odin leads a great hunting party through the sky in celebration. This story gives rise to comparisons of Santa and his 8 reindeer flying through the sky.

[Evangelical]

http://calltoworship.org/spurgeon-on-christmas.html


THE PERSONAL MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS
by Charles Spurgeon

"We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas. First, because we do not believe in any mass at all, but abhor it whether it be sung in Latin or in English. Secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and consequently, it's observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Saviour's birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the Church celebrated the birth of our Lord; and it was not till long after the western Church had set the example, that the eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known, probably the fact is that the "holy" days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. We venture to assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which our Saviour was born, it is the 25th of December. Regarding not the day, let us give God thanks for the gift of His dear Son.

How absurd to think we could do it in the spirit of the world, with a Jack Frost clown, a deceptive worldly Santa Claus, and a mixed program of sacred truth with fun, deception and fiction. If it be possible to honor Christ in the giving of gifts, I cannot see how while the gift, giver, and recipient are all in the spirit of the world. The Catholics and high Church Episcopalians may have their Christmas one day in 365, but we have a Christ gift the entire year." (Dec. 24, 1871)

"Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under pagan superstition. that Christmas is a pagan festival, is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is celebrated, prove its origin."

"Those who follow the custom of observing Christmas, follow not the Bible but pagan ceremonies."

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

We see eye to eye on a few things - that God hates religion. Now Christmas came from religion not from the bible or Judaism. So why defend it? Religion is a substitute for the true God, so religion is an idol, right?

God does not hate religion, as you say, which is just another Leeism to deceive us.

Where are the verses for that?

He hates hypocrisy. Big difference.

Your LC religion of elevating Lee to the "acting God" is the real idolatry.

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

My comment about the Bible was an analogy. Christmas is about taking something of another religion, making it pretty, and saying it reminds us of something genuine.

We see eye to eye on a few things - that God hates religion. Now Christmas came from religion not from the bible or Judaism. So why defend it? Religion is a substitute for the true God, so religion is an idol, right?

Religion is believing in something, even God, but not having a true relationship with Him and more importantly on HIS terms. We come as we are, dirty as filthy rags, yet with a humbled heart realizing we NEED GOD in our lives, to change our stinking thinking, to rescue us from the mess we are in, to feel His Love for us when we feel no one cares, no one loves us.

When we surrender to HIM, He fills our spirit with His Love, with His Spirit, with His Peace. And thus our relationship with HIM begins. The scriptures are our guide but without the Spirit opening the eyes of our understanding, we know very well, the letter will kill us! And THAT is when we become religious. We quote the scriptures as the pharisees and sadduccees did but have no relationship with our Creator. We trust the man or woman preaching/teaching God's Word more than the Spirit Himself. (That's not to say God does not use man to preach and teach His Word.)

What happened in the LC back in the day is the LCrs came under the spell and delusion that especially LEE was the 'oracle' on the earth and there was no one else God was using to preach and teach His Word.

I could go on and on here...but we have all heard it and no need to rehash. Only the Holy Spirit of Almighty God can open the eyes of our understanding.

Remember that the Israelite's built a golden calf to remind them of God, because Moses took a long time coming down from the mountain.

Here lies the spirit of confusion. Exodus 32:1 doesn't say they were reminded of the GOD of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Remember. They were in Egypt for a very, very long time. They were used to seeing the Egyptians worship all kinds of gods. And in the scripture (NASB) the people are saying let us make a god, little g.

when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

What was Aaron's problem? He merged the worship of God with the worship of the idol[/B]. Aaron let the people get out of control. Some might say "the golden calf was only a reminder of God", but God did not see it that way[/B].

WHO SAYS THAT ?? I have never heard anyone think or say that a golden calf was only a reminder of God.

It is like that today with Christmas. Religion is an idol, people worship the idol of Christmas and say "it is only a reminder". God does not see it that way. We may not have been involved in paganism or even understand what pagan gods are. But God does and only His opinion truly counts here. We might say "Christmas reminds us of Jesus's birth". But what if Christmas reminds God of all the times when His people worshiped an idol

What if it does not remind God of all the times when His people worshiped an idol?

Probably when God sees a Christmas tree it reminds Him of this:

Spoken like a true blue Leeite. I still recognize the LC lingo.

People only care about their own selfish feelings. They want to remember God in their own way and not consider His feelings about the matter.

Thankfully it's not ALL people but yes.. the world including many true believers have an attitude of 'bless MEEEEE. GIVE MEEEEE' mee. mee. mee'

And so we pray for God's Glory Light and Love shine on them and create in them (and in all of us daily) a clean and pure heart, sanctified by His Precious Blood.

Not only has Christmas become commercialized as you rightly said, but Christmas is the only time of the year when many will go to church to remember God and they do not attend weekly or even monthly communion.

But see ??!! This is the perfect opportunity for us to reach out to them. It might be the time they will be open to the full gospel, the entire Word of HOPE, of LOVE, of FAITH. God uses EVERY situation!

Remember what Paul did at Mars hill. He was sooo wise when he looked at all the idols and then found one that had the inscription 'the unknown god'. BINGO!! He hit the jackpot on how to talk about this 'unknown God', JESUS CHRIST. Even though it did not bode well with him, he at least went out on a limb !!! GOOD for him!!

A lot people have the wrong idea about what it means to be religious. To many, to be religious is to not observe Christmas, Easter etc. Actually, a person who does not observe the occasions that came from religion such as Christmas, are the truly non-religious ones. A truly non-religious person is one who does not observe Christmas but remembers Christ in regular Lord's Table meetings.

There you go again.. quoting something you learned in the LSM. A truly non-religious is not someone who remembers Christ in regular Lord's table meetings !! What happens to their lives the rest of the week???
Don't you go telling me they live 'holy lives' just because they observe the Lord's table!!!!

A truly non-religious person walking with the Lord is one who has a daily 24/7 intimate relationship with our Creator through His Spirit living in us, His Living Word operating in us (Hebrews 4:12) and being washed daily in the Blood of the Lamb.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by countmeworthy

You are probably a very straight and narrow guy ...

You will probably argue and scoff.

Just saying... the LSM has so many people tied up in knots about trivial matters.

Hi CMW, Praise the Lord! Good to see you again.

I'll let you take over the conversation with Evangelly about Christmas.

Along with Sodom and Gamorrah, it's his favorite topic. (Especially when confronted with corruption at LSM.)

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Hi CMW, Praise the Lord! Good to see you again.

I'll let you take over the conversation with Evangelly about Christmas.

Along with Sodom and Gamorrah, it's his favorite topic. (Especially when confronted with corruption at LSM.)

Hi Ohio !
I'm still around... learning, growing in Christ (hopefully), searching, studying, hearing people's views, shedding the old wine skin and putting on the new wine skin which is not always easy to do.. and most importantly learning continuously to walk in the spirit and to love the Lord with all my heart, my mind and soul...

AND praying without ceasing praying as the days grow darker but we His beloved shine brighter !

I thought this is a long gone topic but im really scratching my head. Chinese New Year was and has always been a celebration of various pagan Chinese gods and ancestors, and I personally don't really enjoy it, but Lee and the saints in LC today who are Chinese consistently emphasise the need to use this festival to make a "feast" or a "love feast" to attract people to Christ. Now there's nothing ever been Bible-relating at all in Chinese New Year, can I even stretch a bit like you do, that the Chinese New Year calendar attempts to "change God's law and time" like the little horn in Daniel does, because it keeps making the first day of each year different according to Chinese tradition? So I can say CNY is a type of antichrist and that Lee and the saints have mixed themselves with such evil, using their "man-made concepts" to promote Christ and LC?

I was not going to say anything and I personally am not particularly into Christmas and I don't enjoy Chinese New Year at all. But I love Valentine's Day and birthdays my Lc friends celebrate them all the time. My lc friend even wrote once on Valentine's Day saying Jesus is her true valentine. now Valentine's Day was a pagan festival used for worshipping goddess of love, now are you going to carry a double standard to judge this sister? those who celebrate Christmas and find no condemnation from their conscience are allowed to do so, there is no such law against or for it. I could have cared less but any consistent Pharisee-type of attitude really turns me off and makes me want to say something. God have mercy on me and if I offended anyone may His grace renew me.

May all brothers and sisters go in peace whether we celebrate the birth of Christ or not. Jesus is King and he Head, period. We are not condemned in Him, period.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I thought this is a long gone topic but im really scratching my head. Chinese New Year was and has always been a celebration of various pagan Chinese gods and ancestors, and I personally don't really enjoy it, but Lee and the saints in LC today who are Chinese consistently emphasise the need to use this festival to make a "feast" or a "love feast" to attract people to Christ. Now there's nothing ever been Bible-relating at all in Chinese New Year, can I even stretch a bit like you do, that the Chinese New Year calendar attempts to "change God's law and time" like the little horn in Daniel does, because it keeps making the first day of each year different according to Chinese tradition? So I can say CNY is a type of antichrist and that Lee and the saints have mixed themselves with such evil, using their "man-made concepts" to promote Christ and LC?

It was this kind of hypocrisy which helped me to see thru many of Lee's condemnations on Western society.

Thanks for posting.

For many years I was a crusader against all celebration of Christmas. I used to think that this "ministry of condemnation" was somehow pleasing to God. Today I still have very little celebration of Christmas, but now know that loving my neighbor is a far weightier matter of God's law, and more pleasing to Him.

[Cal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCt1s44cfMM

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by Igzy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCt1s44cfMM

HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING! GLORY TO THE KING OF KINGS!

One of my all time favorites! Brings tears to my eyes. Definitely a SPIRIT anointed song. And thanks for posting all the lyrics!

“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14) - NASB

“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” -NLT

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." -KJV

interesting translations.

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by Ohio

It was this kind of hypocrisy which helped me to see thru many of Lee's condemnations on Western society.

Thanks for posting.

For many years I was a crusader against all celebration of Christmas. I used to think that this "ministry of condemnation" was somehow pleasing to God. Today I still have very little celebration of Christmas, but now know that loving my neighbor is a far weightier matter of God's law, and more pleasing to Him.

Excellent comment Mr O! My experience exactly! I dared not say Merry Christmas. (the religious and controlled side of me by LC)

Funny how in the secular world, the atheists rallied to condemn 'Christmas'. LOL... now it's back in full vogue ! LOL

But sadly few people stop to think about THEIR SAVIOR, our Savior was born (regardless of the actual date) and that through His life, death and resurrection, we would be set free from the power of darkness and be filled with HiS Glorious Light and LOVE for all eternity.

As a child, I used to see a lot of nativity scenes in front lawns or wherever. Now they are filled with (super) expensive blow up plastic mannequins of all kinds! (Not that people who had nativity scenes were 'holier than thou'. They weren't! ) Just an observation.