120 Ways to Celebrate Christmas!

[Bawb]

22 minutes ago, teddyv said:

Agree with @The_Patriot21 above. I think at this point you might as consider to take the Biblical mandate to "shake the dust off your sandals". I think most here have very clear consciences on celebration of Christmas.

Please realize, you are not the only one here who this message may be for. I will take the Biblical mandate to:

Ephesians 4:15 - but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

Zechariah 8:16 - These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates.

Ephesians 4:25 - Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Proverbs 12:17 - He who speaks truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.

Psalm 15:2 - He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.

Proverbs 8:7 - “For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

2 Corinthians 2:17 - For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

2 Corinthians 4:2 - but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

John 10:41 - Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.”

Galatians 4:16 - So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Job 33:3 - “My words are from the uprightness of my heart,And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.

You can always ignore me if you don't like what I say.

 

[The_Patriot21]

14 minutes ago, Bawb said:

I berated no one. I quoted scriptures and spoke the truth. And I will persist in this endeavor. Also, how do you know I haven't changed anyone's mind? I do it to plant a seed. Only YeHovah and the Holy Spirit can do anything else. No pagan greetings to you. Just prayer. We are not in the days when YeHoVah will continue to wink at these things.

 

Correction, you twisted scripture using false unbiblical sources outside the Bible to push your agenda and have at multiple times pretty much told anyone who celebrates Christ on December 25th that theyre worshipping a lie and living in sin...both accusations being untrue, especially seeing as above the accusations are based upon your agenda and not the Bible.

Just because you quote scripture doesnt mean your view is scriptural. Even satan can quote scripture.

[teddyv]

4 minutes ago, Bawb said:

Please realize, you are not the only one here who this message may be for. I will take the Biblical mandate to:

Ephesians 4:15 - but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

Zechariah 8:16 - These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates.

Ephesians 4:25 - Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Proverbs 12:17 - He who speaks truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.

Psalm 15:2 - He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.

Proverbs 8:7 - “For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

2 Corinthians 2:17 - For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

2 Corinthians 4:2 - but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

John 10:41 - Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.”

Galatians 4:16 - So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Job 33:3 - “My words are from the uprightness of my heart,And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.

You can always ignore me if you don't like what I say.

 

I know it's not just for me, or just for @The_Patriot21. But your posting on this matter has extended to multiple fora on this site, including several threads you have authored. So you've probably covered a lot of the regular posters and good amount of the lurkers. Your position is also repeated by other adherents every single year on this and other Christian fora.

[Bawb]

7 minutes ago, shodan said:

We hear it Every year as the Grinch comes out from his world where 'it is never Christmas and always winter"

Key facts: --We don't know date of Christ's birth. --establishing a day was based on religious reasons. --Christ's birth was celebrated in Dec. BEFORE the pagan festival of the sun which was instituted in 274. 

https://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=16-10-012-v

A real key fact it WE ALL KNOW WHEN IT WASN'T the 25th of December, it was the day that was observed to be every other pagan false god's birthday... Did you read the article you gave as an example? It clearly stated that due to antisemitism, a false date was made up.

Religious reasons??? And to be more specific, the religion of the Roman Catholic Church.

Christ-Mass is a "Holiday" that has no basis in any Biblical Scripture and can be easily shown to be pagan based on RCC doctrine and syncretizing of all manner of pagan rites and traditions.

Most scholars date Mithraism as existing prior to Christianity. Persian scholar and art historian, Abolala Soudavar , cites notable Greek thinker, Plutarch, whose writing represents the earliest account on this issue. In the year 67 BCE, pirates who had more than a thousand sails and had captured more than four hundred cities

"offered strange rites of their own at Mount Olympus, and celebrated there, certain secret rites, among which those of Mithras continue to the present time, having been first instituted by them ..." — Plutarch

Soudavar submits that Plutarch pins Mithraic worship in Rome long before the birth of Christ, and it is therefore improbable that Christian traditions informed Mithraic, but rather the opposite.

The first account attempting to reverse Plutarch's original chronological documentation of Mithraism predating early Christianity came from a remark in the 2nd-century by the first Christian apologist, Justin Martyr, who accused the Mithraists of diabolically imitating the Christian communion rite. Justin Martyr was born roughly 50 years after Plutarch. A late 2nd century Greek scholar and philosopher, Celsus, references how later Ophite gnostic ideas overlapped with the early mysteries of Mithras; however, the writing of Celsus was systematically suppressed by a growing Christian community shortly thereafter.

Originator of the Christ myth theory, Charles-François Dupuis, set out to prove the Mithraic origins of Christianity. Dupuis points out the absence of non-Christian historical records pertaining to Jesus, as well as the shared narrative structure possessed by the biblical account of Jesus and other notable myths. Dupuis underscores evidence that suggests the New Testament's story of Jesus was likely a mythological construct created as a means to control religious practices.

In 1882, Ernest Renan posited a case of two rival religions. He writes, "If the growth of Christianity had been arrested by some mortal malady, the world would have been Mithraic."Christian apologist Edwin M. Yamauchi rebuts Renan's inference, which he claimed was "published nearly 150 years ago ... has no value as a source."

Christian apologists, among them Ronald Nash and Edwin Yamauchi, have suggested a different interpretation of Mithraism's relationship to Christianity. Yamauchi, pointing out that some of the textual evidence for Mithraist doctrine was written after the New Testament was in circulation, makes a logical leap in considering that it is more likely that Mithraism borrowed from Christianity, rather than the other way around. Ultimately, Plutarch provides the earliest unbiased account of Mithraism's earlier existence, which continues to provoke scholarly response.

Regarding the date, most commentators agree that from many points of view, no date could be more unlikely to be that of Christ's birth. There is no month in the year in which respectable ecclesiastical authorities have not confidently placed the birth of Jesus. The date is undeniably pagan: even Catholic authorities admit that. The Encyclopedia Britannica (1949, article "Christmas") says--

"CHRISTMAS (the 'Mass of Christ') ... Clement of Alexandria (about 200 AD) mentions several speculations on the date of Christ's birth, and condemns them as superstitious... The exact day and year of Christ's birth have never been satisfactorily settled.

The Encyclopedia Americana (1946, article "Christmas") says the same--

"CHRISTMAS, the 'Mass of Christ'... In the 5th century the Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the Birth of Sol (the Sun)...

Among the German and Celtic tribes, the Winter Solstice was considered an important point of the year, and they held their chief festival of Yule 1 to commemorate the return of the burning-wheel (the sun)."

 

[Bawb]

32 minutes ago, The_Patriot21 said:

Correction, you twisted scripture using false unbiblical sources outside the Bible to push your agenda and have at multiple times pretty much told anyone who celebrates Christ on December 25th that theyre worshipping a lie and living in sin...both accusations being untrue, especially seeing as above the accusations are based upon your agenda and not the Bible.

Just because you quote scripture doesnt mean your view is scriptural. Even satan can quote scripture.

I would contend that it would take a lot of twisting to validate what you call Christ-Mass as God-ordained worship. And again I ask you which of the Apostles or Disciples celebrated Yeshua's birthday? Where was it written they did this? Where are we instructed to do this? Where is it written that we are told to do so? Until you can do this to disprove me, it is a lie...

"Just because you quote scripture doesnt mean your view is scriptural. Even satan can quote scripture."

And in turn, Yeshua used scripture to prove truth. Do you have ANY scripture to prove me a liar?

Simply put, because you have no scriptural basis for your "holiday" is is not scriptural. It is however, a proven tradition of men full of pagan rites started and propagated by the RCC...

Edited December 19, 2021 by Bawb

[OneLight]

1 hour ago, Bawb said:

You can find true Holy Days in the Bible. Those are the ones I do my best to celebrate, as those are Scriptural.

Passover occurs on the evening of the 14th day of the first month (called Nisan or Abib) of the calculated Hebrew calendar (Ex. 12:2, 6). While it is not a holy day, Passover ushers in the spring festival season. The first high day is on the 15th, the first day of the festival of Unleavened Bread, which runs a full week. The last day of Unleavened Bread, the 21st, is also a holy day.

In the OT, Passover was celebrated as an annual memorial of God sparing Israel’s firstborn and delivering the nation from bondage in Egypt (Ex. 12). Israel’s slavery was a physical forerunner pointing to mankind’s spiritual slavery to sin. In the NT, we see the fulfillment of this “type” as Jesus is sacrificed as the ultimate Passover Lamb (I Cor. 5:7). Just as the Passover lamb in the OT symbolized God’s deliverance from certain death, Christ, through His sacrifice, has delivered those called into “spiritual Israel”—the Church—from eternal death.

It is evident that Jesus, Who was God manifested in the flesh, instituted the New Covenant Passover—the Christian Passover—on the night of the 14th day of the first month. When Jesus instituted the new ceremony of the Christian Passover, He did not change the day or the frequency of observance. The new ceremony consists of the foot washing, the eating of unleavened bread and the drinking of wine.

Passover reveals the love of God in the giving of His only begotten Son to redeem mankind, bringing remission of sin through His blood (John 3:16-17). Through His sacrifice, the New Covenant has been ushered in, promising eternal life. For those under the New Covenant, the Christian Passover is a time of renewal and rededication of one’s covenant relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Historically, the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread pointed to the time when God led Israel out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 12:17; 34:18). Spiritually, this festival refers to God leading the saints out of sin as they strive to become “unleavened”—free of sin (I Cor. 5:7-8). Christians are unleavened in Christ, overcoming sin (leaven) by the power of the Holy Spirit. Walking in newness of life, Christians strive to keep the commandments of God (Rom. 6:4; 7:8).

God gave Israel the Ten Commandments at Sinai on the day of Pentecost (Ex. 20). It was also the beginning of God’s Old Covenant “marriage” relationship with Israel (Ex. 19:3-8; 24:8). Anciently, Pentecost was known as the Festival of “Firstfruits”—celebrating the beginning of the barley/wheat harvest (Ex. 23:16; 34:22). As a physical type, this pointed to the spiritual harvest of mankind by God—the firstfruits of which are the Church (James 1:18; Rev. 14:4).

Under the New Covenant, God’s law is being written in the hearts of Christians through the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5; Heb. 8:10; 10:16). Thus, it was fitting that on Pentecost, 30 AD, the Holy Spirit was given (Acts 2), beginning the Church age—made up of those who would become the firstfruits of God’s Kingdom through the first resurrection.

Pentecost—meaning “count fifty”—is counted from the wave sheaf offering, which occurs during Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:15-16). As the 50th day following seven complete weeks (49 days), Pentecost always falls on the first day of the week.

The fall festival season begins with the Feast of Trumpets, which falls on the first day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:24). In the OT, Trumpets pictured a time of war (Zeph. 1:15-16), and thus points to the coming “Day of the Lord”—a time of great calamity and warfare leading to the glorious return of Christ as He triumphs over Satan and the armies of men.

On the 10th day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:27). Anciently, Israel’s high priest figuratively atoned for the sins of the people on this day with animal sacrifices—particularly with a special sin offering, a sacrificed goat (Lev. 16). Moreover, the blame for such sins was symbolically placed on the head of a living goat, which was then released into a “wilderness captivity.” The living goat pictures Satan the devil, the source of all sin, being removed from power and bound at Christ’s return (Rev. 20:1-3); the sacrificed goat pictures Christ crucified. While Christ’s sacrifice was typified by the slain Passover lamb, His sacrifice is yet to be applied to all the world through the symbolic sin offering of the day of Atonement.

Beginning on the 15th day of the seventh month—as the sixth holy day of the year—is the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Ingathering (Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:34). This seven-day festival pictures the period know as the Millennium—the 1000-year reign of Christ and the saints (Rev. 20:4-6). Only the first day is a high day. The name “Tabernacles” reflects back on Israel’s wandering in the wilderness and points to the temporary nature of this life as saints look forward to the age to come; the designation “Ingathering” points to the fact that the Millennium will be a time when all mankind will be brought to salvation.
           
Uniquely attached to the end of the Feast of Tabernacles is an eighth day—the Last Great Day—the final, seventh high day in God’s plan (Lev. 23:36, 39). While related to Tabernacles, this special day functions as a separate high day. It pointed anciently to the bounty of God’s blessings on Israel. Spiritually, it portrays the “great day” when all who have died without an opportunity for salvation will be raised to a second, physical life in the “second resurrection” and offered eternal life (John 7:37). As an “eighth day” it pictures a new beginning—the time of the new heaven and earth, the new Jerusalem, and the beginning of eternity in the presence of God the Father.

 

What about days like New Years Eve, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, etc. ... or even your birthday?  Let me ask right out, are you a Jehovah Witness?

[Bawb]

9 minutes ago, OneLight said:

What about days like New Years Eve, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, etc. ... or even your birthday?  Let me ask right out, are you a Jehovah Witness?

Is "New Years Eve" in the Bible? How do we gauge the New Year based on the Bible? (Hint, it's not about the ball falling).

4th of July: I am an American Army Veteran of 22 years and a 12 year DA Civilian Instructor Retiree. I do celebrate the 4th of July as well as Memorial and Veterans Day. Liberty and freedom was given to us by YeHoVah. This is an opportunity to thank Him for our many blessings and mercy America has received in spite of becoming a reprobate nation...

Thanksgiving: I will always give thanks to YeHoVah. I see nothing wrong with this. However, I do not celebrate giving thanks by how the world tells me how I have to do it.

Other "holidays" not included in the Bible, I pay no heed at all to...

Birthday: No I do not celebrate my birthday. Celebrating birthdays was a pagan custom. In particular, pagan rulers, who often considered themselves like gods (Dan 6:6-9)(Acts 12:21-23)(Dan Ch.3), were well-known to celebrate their birthdays. In the apocryphal book of (2 Maccabees 6:7)(GNT), it says, “Each month when the king’s birthday was celebrated, the Hebrews were compelled by brute force to eat the intestines of sacrificial animals.” In addition, most of the traditions that we use today to celebrate birthdays like cakes, candles, singing songs, making a wish, giving presents (offering a sacrifice), appear to have pagan roots. These were often used in conjunction with the “birthday” celebrations of idols (i.e. see Jer 7:18).

Don't even ask me about Helloween...

No, I am not a Jehovah Witness or 7th Day Adventist or whatever label you want to place on me. I follow Yeshua, for that is what He told us to do in the Bible, is it not? I also believe in the Bible, the WHOLE Bible, and I believe in following YeHoVah's Word. I believe YeHoVah's Instructions have not been changed or done away with. The only difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is that the New Covenant is written upon our hearts and not on stone. I believe His Son Yeshua the Messiah died on the cross for our sins. He is the Way the Truth and the Life. His name Yeshua means Yah's Salvation. Because of my belief in Yeshua/YeHoVah, I have been grafted into the House of Israel as an adopted Son. Therefore, I obey the rules of that household.

 

 

[OneLight]

1 minute ago, Bawb said:

Is "New Years Eve" in the Bible? How do we gauge the New Year based on the Bible? (Hint, it's not about the ball falling).

4th of July: I am an American Army Veteran of 22 years and a 12 year DA Civilian Instructor Retiree. I do celebrate the 4th of July as well as Memorial and Veterans Day. Liberty and freedom was given to us by YeHoVah. This is an opportunity to thank Him for our many blessings and mercy America has received in spite of becoming a reprobate nation...

Thanksgiving: I will always give thanks to YeHoVah. I see nothing wrong with this. However, I do not celebrate giving thanks by how the world tells me how I have to do it.

Other "holidays" not included in the Bible, I pay no heed at all to...

Birthday: No I do not celebrate my birthday. Celebrating birthdays was a pagan custom. In particular, pagan rulers, who often considered themselves like gods (Dan 6:6-9)(Acts 12:21-23)(Dan Ch.3), were well-known to celebrate their birthdays. In the apocryphal book of (2 Maccabees 6:7)(GNT), it says, “Each month when the king’s birthday was celebrated, the Hebrews were compelled by brute force to eat the intestines of sacrificial animals.” In addition, most of the traditions that we use today to celebrate birthdays like cakes, candles, singing songs, making a wish, giving presents (offering a sacrifice), appear to have pagan roots. These were often used in conjunction with the “birthday” celebrations of idols (i.e. see Jer 7:18).

Don't even ask me about Helloween...

No, I am not a Jehovah Witness or 7th Day Adventist or whatever label you want to place on me. I follow Yeshua, for that is what He told us to do in the Bible, is it not? I also believe in the Bible, the WHOLE Bible, and I believe in following YeHoVah's Word. I believe YeHoVah's Instructions have not been changed or done away with. The only difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is that the New Covenant is written upon our hearts and not on stone. I believe His Son Yeshua the Messiah died on the cross for our sins. He is the Way the Truth and the Life. His name Yeshua means Yah's Salvation. Because of my belief in Yeshua/YeHoVah, I have been grafted into the House of Israel as an adopted Son. Therefore, I obey the rules of that household.

 

 

So, if it is not in the bible, than we should not partake of it.  I'll say my good-bye's now since you are using a device not found in scripture created by man in which, by partaking in such a device, you must be guilty of giving honor to the device, celebrating the intelligence of the people involved in it's development, and continuance of following what is not scriptural.   Just as you claim those who partake in man created holidays are sinning, you have to turn the mirror and take a good long look at your own actions.  You know, Matthew 7:1-5

Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

[Bawb]

Just now, OneLight said:

So, if it is not in the bible, than we should not partake of it.  I'll say my good-bye's now since you are using a device not found in scripture created by man in which, by partaking in such a device, you must be guilty of giving honor to the device, celebrating the intelligence of the people involved in it's development, and continuance of following what is not scriptural.   Just as you claim those who partake in man created holidays are sinning, you have to turn the mirror and take a good long look at your own actions.  You know, Matthew 7:1-5

Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Wow, that was some scriptural acrobatics...

There is a gigantic difference between using a computer and using false pagan worship to worship YeHoVah...

We are in the World, that does not mean we have to be Of the World...

Many Christians misinterpret what the Bible says about judging and say that we should never judge. In Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus did say not to judge. However, a close look at these verses will show that He is referring to hypocritical judging and He went on to say that when a hypocrite cleans up his own life then he will be fit to judge another. Of course, it is always wrong to make judgments about a person's motives or thoughts because we don't know their mind. In John 7:24, Jesus said, "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." In this verse Jesus is talking about making righteous judgments in regard to God's laws. We must make judgments in matters of biblical doctrine and righteous living. The Bible is our foundation and if we don't discern and follow what God says then it will become just another book. Then everyone will be doing whatever they think is right, just like the Israelis did in the time of the Judges. Judges 21:25 says, "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit".

To keep God's commands, we must first judge what is right and what is wrong. For example, 1 Cor. 5:11-13 say, "... you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked man from among you'". In these verses, God tells us to judge church members and expel them if necessary. Then we are told in Rom. 12:9, "Hate what is evil; cling to what is good". How can we do that if we don't first judge what is good and what is evil? So, we must make judgments about what is right and what is wrong so that we can live according to God's commands.

Let us now look at personal matters which are disputable.
Romans 14 talks about matters which we are not to judge because they are disputable. Disputable matters are things which God has left to our choice: things such as what we eat (Rom. 14:2), what day we worship (Rom. 14:5), what Bible translation we read, watching TV etc. These are matters of personal choice and are not essential for salvation. 1 Tim. 2:9 tells us that we must always dress modestly but other than that we should be free to dress how we like. However, in Rom. 14:21, God tells us, “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall”. This verse makes it clear that we must be careful not to do anything that could cause a person to fall because another person's salvation is far more important than pleasing ourselves. A certain matter may seem absolutely trivial to us but to another person, or in another culture, it may be a serious issue and damaging to their faith or bad for the Christian image. Note that Rom. 14:10-12 warn us that we will all give an account of our actions to God.

Now let us look at personal things that are not disputable.
To decide if a personal activity is disputable or not ask yourself, "Can this affect someone's salvation?" If the answer is yes, then you can be sure that the Bible warns us against doing it and we should warn others. The church is commanded to judge and discipline members concerning their personal conduct. The Corinthians were told to, "...expel the wicked man from among you … so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord"(1 Cor. 5:13, 5). This man was expelled from the church after he was judged as being wicked. He was expelled in the hope that he would repent and be accepted back into the church.

Another example of warning our brothers and sisters is in James 5:19-20. These verses say, "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." It's not possible to follow these instructions, and save this man from death, without first judging his actions. As hard as it may be to do, it is an act of love to confront a sinning brother or sister and it is uncaring not to try to help them. In Ezekiel 33:1-9, God warns the Watchman that if he fails to sound a warning, then he will be held accountable. All Christians are Watchmen so let us lovingly encourage brothers and sisters who have gone off the path of righteousness. Also, if we don't keep God's standards of holiness, sin will soon work it's way through the people and the church will become just another unholy social club.

Even though people will tell us that we should not judge, the Bible makes it clear that we should. The following examples show where the Apostles exposed error:
a) Paul named and spoke against certain men in 2 Tim. 2:16-17, 2 Tim. 4:14-15 and 1 Tim. 1:19-20.
b) John named a man who was in error in 3 John 1:9-10.
c) Paul publicly corrected Peter, a fellow Apostle, in Galatians 2:11-14.
d) Leaders caught in false teaching or immorality are to be rebuked publicly as 1 Tim. 5:20 says.
e) Christians who won't repent must be removed from the church -  Matt. 18:15-17.
These examples make it clear that we must judge and publicly expose error and, if necessary, discipline those who are in sin. The salvation of souls and purity of the church depends on this.

There is a lot of peer pressure telling us not to judge and not to speak against false teachings even when it is known that souls are being misled. People will say, "We must not judge" or "Let's keep the peace and unity". However, if we don't show people their error then they may end up in hell. Jesus told us clearly in Matt. 24:10-11 that during the end times “many will turn away from the faith… and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people”. Worldwide, the Ecumenical Movement is seducing millions of Christians into an ungodly unity of false hope which knows nothing about salvation through repentance and the Lordship of Jesus. We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into this lie as there is only one hope of salvation and that is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. All other promises of salvation are untrue. We should not have unity with error.

Throughout the world there are churches, televangelists and teachers with all sorts of false teachings, fake healing ministries and the false prosperity gospel. These people are described and condemned in 2 Pet. 2. Rom. 16:17 warns us to "… watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them" and in Gal. 1:8 God condemns those who preach false gospels. Like the Bereans, in Acts 17:11, we must check the scriptures to see if what we are being taught is true and we must warn others about false teachings otherwise they may be badly misled and leave the path of holiness. So, it is most important that we make righteous judgments according to the Word of God so that we can recognise and separate ourselves from false teachings. 1 Tim. 1:3-5 tells us “… command certain men not to teach false doctrines … the goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”. As we can see from these verses, the reason God commands us to judge is because of love for each other as false teaching leads believers away from God. Failing to judge is failing to love.

Finally, if you were in error, wouldn't you want someone to warn you? Of course you would! So, in love, warn a brother or sister when it is necessary. James 4:17 tells us that, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." Failing to judge righteously is unloving and will leave a sinner on the Broad Road to destruction. Also, as I said before, if we don't have discipline in the church then sin will spread to other members and the church will soon become little more than a social club.

Be a watchman for the Lord's sake.

I don't partake in pagan worship, so therefore there is no plank in my eye...

 

[The_Patriot21]

1 hour ago, Bawb said:

I would contend that it would take a lot of twisting to validate what you call Christ-Mass as God-ordained worship. And again I ask you which of the Apostles or Disciples celebrated Yeshua's birthday? Where was it written they did this? Where are we instructed to do this? Where is it written that we are told to do so? Until you can do this to disprove me, it is a lie...

"Just because you quote scripture doesnt mean your view is scriptural. Even satan can quote scripture."

And in turn, Yeshua used scripture to prove truth. Do you have ANY scripture to prove me a liar?

Simply put, because you have no scriptural basis for your "holiday" is is not scriptural. It is however, a proven tradition of men full of pagan rites started and propagated by the RCC...

You twist scripture...and is evidenced in the very first sentence of this...and im the one twisting it? For example....the christ-MASS statement. The church has been celebrating christmas, on December 25th no less well before the Catholic church celebrated it. Its not a catholic holiday. To say otherwise is ignorant of the facts.

Weve already established that your dating methods are completely unscriptural and false. Which pretty much eradicates your entire argument...

When the fact is the date is irrelevent. Theres nowhere in the Bible that says you have to celebrate christmas on a certain date. And its not a commanded holiday. It is a day many christians choose to celebrate Christ.

Until you can show where the Bible commands us NOT to celebrate Christ, then you have zero ground to stand on.