Celebrating Christmas

"Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy." Daniel 9:24

There are those that do not celebrate Christmas for a variety of reasons. Some do not do it because there is no proof Jesus was born on December 25th. Others do not celebrate it because it is "rooted in Pagan customs." There are those that still celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but do not put up Christmas trees because of those previously mentioned "pagan customs." I have even heard of at least one, so-called Christian, who stuffed pillows in the fireplace to "prevent" Santa Claus from coming down the chimney so their children would not believe in him. To all of this I say, "To each their own." It is not mandatory for a Christian to celebrate Christmas. However, a person is also free to celebrate Christmas as well and shouldn't be condemned by those that do not. We are not under law. Furthermore, While there is no proof that Jesus was born on December 25th, those that do celebrate Christmas are celebrating the fact of His birth, not necessarily the day of His birth. It is true that Christmas is connected to pagan festivals. However, the early church began celebrating Christmas as "a spiritually positive alternative to what they perceive as a pagan celebration," according to one source. It is no different than what we see with other holidays like Halloween where churches have "Harvest Festivals" and other similar events. Also, I have never known anybody to worship trees or anything else considered pagan. Even Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicklaus, has a Christian "connection" if you are inclined to look it up. Most children, including myself, who grew up in homes that celebrated Christmas, were not negatively affected by believing in Santa Claus, decorating Christmas trees or doing it all on December 25th. I am of the belief you can do more harm than good by trying to take all these precautions to protect your children and others from the so-called "paganism" associated with Christmas. If you really look at it, what traditions do we engage in, outside of Christmas, that don't have their origins in some sort of pagan activity? As one person put it, "Realistically, how could public ceremony exist at all apart from non Biblical origins, since the Bible doesn’t define or prescribe any public ceremonies to speak of ...?" The one thing missing in a lot of this discussion about Christmas, regardless of what side you fall on, is Jesus Christ!

In the book of Daniel, he was praying to God when Gabriel appeared to him and delivered what is known as the "Seventy-Weeks Prophecy." This was a Messianic prophecy detailing the time when Jesus would make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In Daniel 9:24,  we see some key components of this prophecy; to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring righteousness. In short, the prophesied Messiah, Jesus, would forgive sins and give us the opportunity to be in a right standing with God. Prior to the birth of Jesus, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, who was considering divorcing Mary, and said, "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).” This prophecy about the Lord was about who the baby was that Mary was carrying and what that baby would do after His birth. Would it have been okay to celebrate Christmas if the angel had said, "She will give birth to a son, on December 25th, ....."? The day of Jesus' birth is inconsequential. His purpose was to not only save His people from their sins, but, as it turned out, to save the entire world from our sins! Consequently, because Jesus Christ took the penalty for our sins, by His death on the cross, God can give us the righteousness of Christ when we accept Him as our Savior. Jesus Christ, because He was the perfect sacrifice for sins, can now indwell each believer for eternity because our sins are no longer an issue between us and God. We are given Christ's righteousness, which makes us righteous. We are perfect in God's sight because Jesus Christ is perfect. We are reconciled to God because He is no longer counting our sins against us. This is why His birth was prophesied. This is why His birth was so important. This is why we celebrate His birth. The Bible says, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)." Why somebody does or does not celebrate Christmas is between them and the Lord. However, when we get caught up focusing on everything surrounding Christmas, it only serves as a distraction; dividing the Body of Christ and taking the focus off of Jesus Christ. It does not glorify God, but gives the impression we are glorifying ourselves. Whatever you are doing on December 25th, my prayer is that you're doing it for the glory of God. In my opinion, the birth of Jesus Christ is something to be celebrated. God thought it was such an important event that He prophesied about it in His Word. The least we can do is thank Him for doing so by celebrating the day God became one of us, so He could save us. Merry Christmas!

Detestable Acts

It is sad to see so many people trying to find comfort and direction in their lives from everything other than the Lord Jesus Christ, including so-called Christians. I know of people who won’t let a day go by without consulting their horoscope. They would rather trust in the alignment of the planets and stars as having some influence on their lives than God. There are even people who will resort to engaging in what are commonly called “old-wives tales” in an effort to predict such things as the gender of a baby. I have seen a pregnant woman lying on her back while another pregnant woman dangled a necklace over the other’s belly believing that it would predict the gender of the baby. How about the times we try to offer an opinion on a subject by talking about what “they” say. For example, once a person sneezed and another person says, “You know ‘they say’ that when you sneeze it means that someone is thinking about you.” Who is “they” and what makes them an authority on anything? I could go on and on about the myriad of things we believe and promote that have little more than anecdotal evidence at best to justify their validity. Yet, people will still resort to these things in order to try and find answers to the circumstances in their life. While they may be dismissed as harmless fun, for many people the constant focus on these things says their trust in them goes deeper than just superficial fun. Usually, what it means is that we have no idea why something is happening or what will happen in the future, but are too afraid or ashamed to admit it. Unfortunately, Christians get wrapped up in this form of paganism just as much as any unbeliever and then wonder why their relationship with God suffers or is nonexistent. God told the Israelites, “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there (Deuteronomy 18:9).” What can Christians take from such a warning? Have we not seen our own brethren imitating the “detestable ways” of the lost in our own nation and world?

God warned the Israelites not to do these things because, “Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you (Deuteronomy 18:12).”  Oh, and what were these detestable practices? According to Deuteronomy 18:10-11, these practices were things like, divination or sorcery, interpreting omens (which is taking an experience and using it to predict future events), engaging in witchcraft, casting spells, is a medium, spiritist or who consults the dead. We have an entire religion under the banner of Christianity who engages in consulting the dead. Thankfully, because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God is not holding these sinful acts against Christians and is not going to “drive” us out. However, are you truly in the faith if you see nothing wrong in consulting horoscopes, practicing old-wives tales or believing that something as trivial as a sneeze has spiritual significance? I would encourage anybody, Christian or not, to reject this nonsense which can only lead you further away from God. If you are a Christian, while God is with you, you will only feel that He is somehow not a part of your life and how could He be when you are not seeking guidance and instruction from Him, but from the detestable practices of the world? If you are not a Christian it is time to stop allowing yourself to be deceived by the godless and empty practices of the world in an attempt to find answers for your life. Instead you should turn to Jesus Christ; the answer to the real problem you have which is spiritual death. Regardless of your circumstances, “You must be blameless before the LORD your God (Deuteronomy 18:13).” And when you come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ you are blameless. That is why Christians are reminded, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight (Colossians 1:21-22).” Be blameless in Christ and put away the detestable acts of unbelievers. 

Jinxed!!

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority (Colossians 2:8-10).” So, I am having an innocent conversation about baseball when I say, “The (Colorado) Rockies haven’t lost a series at home this year.” A coworker replies, “Don’t jinx it!” I laughed it off as nonsense. I told a story about how people seemed to think that the Denver Broncos would win the Super Bowl if I watched it with my brother in Mississippi. It was in Mississippi where I watched the two Super Bowls they won. Well, I said, “I was in Mississippi this year for the Super Bowl and we got hammered. Did I jinx the team?” I know people like to play around with this stuff and for the most part it is harmless. However, there are people who put more stock into it than the average person. My coworker suggested that by my mentioning the success of the Rockies, I had “jinxed” them to start losing. If they lose the series then this person’s belief system will be validated. If they win the series, you won’t hear another thing about it. It is a subjective belief system at best.  A jinx, in popular superstition and folklore, is: A type of curse placed on a person that makes them prey to many minor misfortunes and other forms of bad luck. Superstition. Bad luck. These are things that have no basis in fact; they only have basis in anecdotal stories (i.e. folklore) which people use to support a belief system.

 Ultimately, at the root of a belief in jinxes, superstitions, bad luck and so on is fear. We are afraid that something bad is going to happen to us or others we care about because somebody or something has “interfered” with the “cosmic balance.” Therefore, we come up with things like jinxes to explain away our fears and help us cope with them. It is this type of belief that leads to things like false religions and occult practices like astrology, black magic, divination, voodoo and sorcery.  The Bible condemns those who practice astrology. “And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven (Deuteronomy 4:19).” It condemns those who practice magic, divination and sorcery. “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).” Most people, including my coworker, are not into any of these practices the Lord detests. However, they do serve as a good way of teaching how the devil can deceive people into things that lead them away from the truth of God and His Word. To me, it is a form of the “captive philosophy” and “empty deceit” so many fall prey to in this world. Alone, they don’t seem like much. However, when you constantly add little things to these false belief systems they become pretty big and can easily guide our lives if we are not careful. It is imperative that whatever we do and believe we check it against the Bible to see if it is “according to Christ.” If it is not, we need to discard it and ask the Lord to teach us His truth because He is the “head of all rule and authority.” 

Jesus' Wife

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27).” Did Jesus have a wife? I guess that is the question of the day, albeit an old question, after the discovery of a fragment of a papyrus text that allegedly offers evidence that Jesus was married has apparently  been “authenticated.” If something was confirmed to have been written about you hundreds of years after you lived, does it mean that what was written is true? No. It just means that something was written about you. As one Christian writes, “What’s all the recent excitement over? Well, the fragment itself is just a few unfinished sentences, and the one people are talking about states, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife . . .’” That’s it! That’s all of their evidence—but some skeptics believe this may shake the foundations of Christianity. Our culture is certainly working hard to discredit the Word of God.” 

This only should worry a Christian if they aren’t secure in their faith. This fragment was apparently written in the fourth century A.D.; some three hundred years after Jesus walked the earth and way too late to have been written by someone who was an eyewitness to His life. The Bible never mentions Jesus having a wife. You have four Gospels written about Jesus’ ministry and none of them mention Him being married. That same Christian continues, “On the Cross, Jesus commended His mother to the care of John. If Mary Magdalene was His wife (as proposed by many who claim Jesus was married), why didn’t He provide for her care at this time since she was standing with Mary and John? If He was married to someone other than Mary Magdalene, then where was this woman during His ministry? Where was she during His Crucifixion? What about after He rose from the dead? Would she not have been among the 120 disciples in Jerusalem waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? Surely someone would tell us about Jesus appearing to His wife. Why doesn’t she ever make an appearance in the Gospels or the remainder of the New Testament?” You know what? If Jesus did have a wife, the next question would be if He had children. That leads to another question about whether or not there are half God and half human descendants walking around and on and on. And we don’t even want to speculate about people trying to worship His wife. We have enough of that heresy with people worshiping His mother. Ultimately, this is all a distraction to keep people focused on anything other than who Jesus is and what He came to do. However, there is a sense in which Jesus is married.  “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him (2 Corinthians 11:2).” The Apostle Paul refers to believers as being promised to “one husband;” Jesus Christ. In a spiritual sense born again Christians are the “bride” and Jesus Christ is our “husband.” Jesus Christ is God in the flesh that came to save mankind by dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the dead to offer us the life of God.  When an individual accepts Jesus Christ as their savior they become united with Christ. That is why when Paul was encouraging husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, he did so in the context of equating the Church to Christ’s bride. The bride that He loves so much that He gave Himself for “her” in order to cleanse “her” and present “her” holy and blameless. Therefore, unbelievers should realize that why they try to prove that Jesus had a wife in order to diminish Him and those who trust in Him for salvation, they miss the fact that He came to offer them the chance to be His “bride.”