Christian but I don’t celebrate Christmas or Easter!

[bootlen]

There are several parables and other noations from the Bible books referring to the distractions of faith and how they differ for different people. The tree is a distraction. Some people may not allow the tree to distract, but then, why bother with it then?

What ever distracts us from our relationship with God is a bad thing. For the one rich man in the Bible, his wealth was his distraction. Jesus told that particular man that he needed to give up his wealth in order to get to heaven. That was just that one mans distraction. There are many other wealthy men in the Bible who were not advised to give up their wealth because their wealth was not a distraction for them from God.

Everything about the Christmas and Easter holidays is designed to be a distraction. That puts a lot of distraction between a lot of people and God. That is not a good thing.

And THAT is the jist of it. People who make Santa the focus of Christmas are typically not Christians.

I see Christmas trees every year and each one reminds me of the first coming of Christ, and the fact I am so thankful that the Father would send His Son to take my place in death. That is a good thing.

[acmanko]

there's noththing like a good Human sacrifice, pagans did it,christians live for it.

[Andy Schoen]

Ahhh. But I am not concluding that life is simply a physics event. Else I would not call myself agnostic, eh?

Or perhaps a "show me" theist. Is there really a difference?

I am simply saying that the bible cannot represent our creator (if one exists). It is too flawed and rife with what I would call "the signature flaws of man".

Many Christians have little trouble with the idea that the Bible is not scientifically or historically flawless. But this notion does not diminish its significance. Can we simply dismiss the possibility that the writers of the Bible had some divine insight as to the purpose of our existence?

And as I'm sure you are aware, the Bible can be a surprisingly accurate historical reference.

I am perfectly willing to accept things being "created", as long as you give me a plausible story of a creator. Else things simply become "science we don't yet know".

This argument is no better than the argument that creation was a supernatural event, and science will be limited to the point where it can only show that some intelligence caused this event. IMHO, our fundamental laws of science would need major revision to explain our existence as purely a physics event, e.g., the First Law.

Welcome, Andy. It's been a while since you've been in these discussions.

Not long enough.

[icchvac]

I reccomend you keep your eyes open when looking in to the sky, you may find other things flying that dont belong to us..lol

Roy

I saw a movie at church the other night, it was about the universe and how big it really was, and what all has been found out there in God's creation. One star was so big that the milky way galaxy would fit into it. There could be anything out there.

[TB]

Yet, I fail to see how this history lesson shows how God or Jesus would dislike a lot of what we do at Christmas.

It don't. The basic jist of the argument boils down to the same level as everyting else--do we know Jesus, or not. The Bible tells us there will be wolves in sheeps clothing, within the flock. There will be false teachers, preachers, and counterfiet christians that do all they can to look like they think they are supposed to look like, to decieve those who aren't paying attention, but what they can't mimick is the freedom had in Christ, by those who do know Him, and in this case, that boils down to motive.

The occult is all about doing things. It places great importance on what is done, when it's done, and how it's done in the worship of their gods and powers. Jesus, on the other hand, isn't concerned with what, when, and how, but rather why it's done. This is a hard concept for those religious systems caught in the occult mindset to understand, and becomes some of the fruit they are recognized by. (It is also why I haven't answered the poll. It doesn't consider the why) Paul goes into a discussion about this type thing in Romans, and 1Cor. Since the Christian is recognizing Jesus in his Christmas / Easter celebration, then the presence of a Christmas tree, or an easter egg is irrelevant. If however a person worships the tree, or egg, then Jesus is not the focus and the practice is wrong.

[TB]

So, you are one of those guys who actually answers truthfully the wife's/GF's question; "do these jeans make me look fat?".

You say, "no your fat arse makes you look fat"?

What good does it do to offend?

.

uummm...yeah, I did. It taught her not to ask DA questions like that anymore. It also taught her that she can rely on my answers to be honest. Same reason I always have told my kids that Santa is a lie.

[TB]

... but this passage in its context does prove out that those of us who do not recognize Christmas and Easter as well as those who do can both be good Christians.

Exactly, it ain't about behavior, it's about motive.

[TB]

.

[TB]

I don't think so. What I'd like to know is why you care? What does it matter? What's your point?

What's wrong, you expecting a trap?


Numba seemed to be saying that he took offence to my statement. My question was primarily to him, but since I seem to recall a post from you suggesting you took offence at something I said, I thought I'd include you in the question too.


You have called me many things in the past designed to offend me. I chose to examine each of them and see if they were in fact true, w/o taking offense, and something I needed to be aware of. I guess I expect that you would do the same. Regardless, I meant no offense, just was curious why one existed, if it did.

[sysint]

It don't. The basic jist of the argument boils down to the same level as everyting else--do we know Jesus, or not. ...... Since the Christian is recognizing Jesus in his Christmas / Easter celebration, then the presence of a Christmas tree, or an easter egg is irrelevant. If however a person worships the tree, or egg, then Jesus is not the focus and the practice is wrong.

Exodus 32:4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.
Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.” --NKJV


30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” ---NKJV

Aaron was simply taking a pagan symbol and making it a festival honoring the God that brought them out of Egypt. ...you know, the true god, the LORD [Yahweh]

[bootlen]

Exodus 32:4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.
Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.” --NKJV


30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” ---NKJV

Aaron was simply taking a pagan symbol and making it a festival honoring the God that brought them out of Egypt. ...you know, the true god, the LORD [Yahweh]

In direct violation of, I think, the 3rd commandment. That hunk of metal did NOT deliver them from Egypt, as we all know. Their motive was to worship the inanimate object. Their motive sucked.

Edit: I don't worship a tree. It reminds me of the One whom I DO worship. Little diff there, Bud.

[sysint]

In direct violation of, I think, the 3rd commandment. That hunk of metal did NOT deliver them from Egypt, as we all know. Their motive was to worship the inanimate object. Their motive sucked.

Edit: I don't worship a tree. It reminds me of the One whom I DO worship. Little diff there, Bud.

When were those commandments given out? (It's number 2 actually)

Bad arguement you have there "Bud". There weren't any ten commandments yet.

So, they really mixed worship from paganism before the ten commandments were delivered and they still got some divine judgement. They called it Jehovah and were planning a festival to Jehovah. They weren't saying the hunk of metal was god himself.... they were merely taking pagan symbols and "Jewinizing" them. You know, just like you Christianize pagan items like the Bunnies, the eggs, the tree, the yule log, the mistletoe......

[bootlen]

When were those commandments given out? (It's number 2 actually)

Bad arguement you have there "Bud". There weren't any ten commandments yet.

So, they really mixed worship from paganism before the ten commandments were delivered and they still got some divine judgement. They called it Jehovah and were planning a festival to Jehovah. They weren't saying the hunk of metal was god himself.... they were merely taking pagan symbols and "Jewinizing" them. You know, just like you Christianize pagan items like the Bunnies, the eggs, the tree, the yule log, the mistletoe......

You think He just at that moment dreamed up the Ten Commandments? They knew better than to craft that gold and did it anyway. He was reminding them constantly about who He is and the fact they owed their allegiance to Him and Him alone. The whole of Genesis is rife with His self-proclamation.