PilgrimPassingThrough

K, so why do I aways think I need to get my 2 cents in? Oh well, here goes.... I don't know muchonuttin about meds. I do know I go for sugar/carbs when I really need calcium/magnesium....and I'll gorge, unsatisfied, till I remember to take my supps. And I know this. When I've got my head in the fridge again...and I'm not hungry... Time to get honest. Time to ask myself: What am I feeling right now? Let myself feel it Drift with it...when did I first feel that way? I'll get a memory. Let it come. Own the feelings. Get real. Decide what I believed about myself right there...(I'm unlovable. I'm worthless. I'm.....) Ask Jesus what HE thinks about that. "Comfort food" is for a soul out of peace. Soul in (Christ's) peace: no other comfort needed. He (as always) is the Answer.

The Canaanite association of Asherah with sacred trees is also found in Israelite tradition. For example, one of the Canaanite epithets of Asherah, elat, “goddess,” is etymologically identical to the Hebrew word for the terebinth tree (ela). Another word for “terebinth” (alla) and two words for “oak” (elon and allon) are also closely related. Gen 2:4b–3:24 may further suggest the association of Asherah with sacred trees, since the way that Eve, “the mother of all living” (3:20), is described in the Eden story mimics in certain respects the role of the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah. If a correspondence holds, then the trees of life and of knowledge in the Eden narrative may also reflect Asherah imagery. So evidence is pretty strong that this is what Jeremiah was referring to. Now if you want to claim that the Christmas tree is connected to Asherah poles, then that's a whole other debate. But please don't claim anyone is worshiping the real or fake evergreen tree we set up in our homes in December! Owey, my poor little brain ! That's a lot of great info, though. I guess my thought about idols, now, is that they are in the heart, more than on the shelf, or livingroom floor. I know I have idolized my children, allowing them to discourage my walk with the Lord. I have idolized my husband, allowing him first place in my life, at times. I have idolized money, thinking for even a minute that it was greater than God. So the entire holiday, like anything else, may be an exalting of, say, materialism, over God - or not that at all. Is just my thought, anyhow. Loveya!

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:7-14 Celebrate I'm with you! Every day -- for all of time - and beyond -- Shalom

Every point you have brought up above have been thoroughly debunked time after time, year after year. The Jeremiah 10 false premise, in particular, always a perennial favorite with the Christmas Bad crowd, is a particularly poor piece of exegesis. Jeremiah 10 is quite clear in what it is talking about, and that is making an idol in the shape of a person (god) and worshiping it. Jeremiah 10:1-11 Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. 2 This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. 3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." 6 No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. 7 Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. 8 They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. 9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple-- all made by skilled workers. 10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. 11 "Tell them this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.'" Jeremiah calls it an idol, directly. God tells him it cannot speak and cannot walk. Since trees have never been able to either speak or walk, this passage cannot be talking about a Christmas tree. Christmas trees didn't exist in any form until the 16th century AD. The Saturnalia and greatly-feared Babylonia "Yule log" are also a couple of grasping-at-sticks myths as well. But you have to use what you have, year after year, when it's all you've got. I can think of at least a couple more dog-eared items you missed. I've never bowed on my knees in front of a Christmas tree, and I don't know anyone personally who has either, and that is probably the worst reasoning when it comes to Christmas that I have ever seen. The Christmas tree is not an idol. It certainly does not fit Jeremiah 10. And no one is worshiping it anyway, so it isn't an idol. It's a pretty and sometimes annoying dodad that sits in a room for a month or so like other knick knacks that people have. So if you are going to assign some sinister motivation to a Christmas tree that it doesn't actually have, I hope you don't have any other kind of useless dodads in your house that you have sitting around just because you are fond of them, think they are kind of cool, or just because you like to look at them. Like pictures. Or porcelain figurines. Or things you collect just for the fun of it. Because to use your measure of logic, I could brand them as idols and you would have to get rid of them. You have not broken any forum rules. Just posted something that is false and not binding on anyone. And all of it based on poor reasoning. Whooa there, Co. Obviously I got under your skin. I REALLY don't take myself that seriously, or anyone else for that matter, after 30-odd years of hanging out with Jesus. Please forgive me -- a little grace for the new Kid who didn't know this topic had been thoroughly rehashed already. The knee-thing referred to arranging and recovering the gifts, etc, from under the tree...but Romans 14 was right in there too, along with the word "idol" above my Jeremiah quote. We're just talkin; no one knows it all, yeah? I guess I'm still curious just why we do what we do...but I wonder that about so many things. Maybe you can fill me in on this one. But hey - YOUR living room is none of my business, on Dec. 25 or any other day. Loveya!

Do I really need 104 GB of disk space for the ISA?

An interesting topic. As a newcomer to the forums, thought I might jump in on this one. I'm on board with several thoughts here; one being that nowhere in Scripture is any celebration of the Incarnation required (or mentioned), as far as I know. Like another poster, I've heard of the celebration in December having its roots in pagan customs, such as Saturnalia, the Yule Log, the evergreen symbols of immortality, and of course, the Big Fib of the fake Giver of Gifts... who can "see you when you're sleeping....and knows when you're awake..and knows if you've been bad or good....." Hmmm. Remind you of anyone in particular? Of course, I'm quite certain no one on THIS forum would deliberately lie to a child for the sake of a custom. Personally, I've chosen to treat that particular day like any other, for many years. But what say ye? Question #1: Are the angels really looking down and laughing at my Shakespearean English and asking "Hey, isn't it 2013 down there?" Which question is, admittedly, a bit off topic. Question #2, Does Romans 14 settle the matter, between Christians? Rom 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Rom 14:6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. On the other hand, I'm picturing so many Christians, literally on their knees, on Dec 25, in front of a tree that sounds oddly similar to this idol mentioned in Jeremiah: Jer 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. Jer 10:3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. Jer 10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. Jer 10:5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. Jer 10:6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Jer 10:7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. Jer 10:8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. Hmmm. Remind you of anything in particular? And have I broken several forum rules by now?