Newsletter: 2006-16b A season to believe... pt.2

Holiday Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

It is a sad fact amongst the faithful:
What we are against, takes priority over what we are for.

It’s Christmas time again, and during this season of peace and goodwill, the fighting continues. I do not mean the war raging in the battlefields, I mean the hometown fighting in the public squares over Christmas. You have probably heard the news reports: Should we say happy holidays, or is it Merry Christmas? The nativity must come down because it’s religious! But the Hanukah Light can stay. Or, if one religious display is not allowed, then no holiday displays can be allowed, etc, etc. Many times the public issues become political when they have to be resolved in our courts of law. The judge is strongly influenced by lawyers for powerful interest groups. The lawyers are plotting legal strategy behind the scenes and maneuvering with their allied politicians to win public opinion. Boorrrring - the politicians do not understand it’s not about them.

If one gets tired of the public debating and seeks calm in the sanctuary of their houses of worship they find the battle continuing. The purists would say Christ was not born on December 25^th, it’s a pagan holiday with its roots in Babylon, not Jerusalem. I receive a fair amount of mail on it and I’ll quote:

"Christmas on the Net - The History of Christmas

"The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals(parades) with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians." .

www.holidays.net/christmas/story.htm

Also See Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia about the history of Christmas. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas

History / Pre-Christian origins of holiday

Christmas has its origins in several pagan holidays. The celebration known as Saturnalia included the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia). This holiday was observed over a series of days beginning on December 17 (the birthday of Saturn) and ending on December 25 (the birthday of Sol Invictus, the "unconquered sun"). The combined festivals resulted in an extended winter holiday season. Business was postponed and even slaves feasted. There was drinking, gambling, and singing, and nudity was relatively common. It was the "best of days," according to the poet Catullus.[3]

During the time in which Christianity was spreading throughout the Roman Empire, another similar religion known as Mithraism was also gaining widespread acceptance. The followers of Mithraism worshipped Mithras, a god of Persian origin, who was identified with Sol Invictus. [citation needed] The followers of Mithraism, consequently, adopted the birthday of Sol Invictus as the birthday of Mithras. In 274 AD, due to the popularity of Mithraism, Emperor Aurelian designated December 25 as the festival of Sol Invictus.

We must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. What does it mean?”

What does it mean? Now that’s a loaded question. The religionists also learn have to learn, it’s not about them. Is it any wonder that people are leaving organized religion? I get points for not bashing religions, so let me give it a try.

Think back in time for a moment. The year was 321 C.E., and the Roman Emperor Constantine worried over civil unrest in the heartland. There were the usual problems plaguing the empire for the last few hundred years, disease, pestilence, corruption, bandits, tribal warfare, etc. In hard times the people needed a scapegoat to blame their troubles on. When times got hard, the tradition among the Gentiles was that they would tear down the statue of their existing, non-performing god, and replace it with another god, which gives them hope for a better future. Now the emperor wondered what to do to bring peace to the empire. They had used up most of the Greek and Roman gods, and they really didn't work anyway. Joining up with the Jews was not an option. But maybe adopting the Gospel story of the Messiah-Christ would work.

By now, most all of the Jewish-Christians had been killed, or driven deep underground. Torah learned Gentiles were few, so there would not be much of a protest if some Gospel events were given that "special" Roman touch. The emperor’s sales pitch to his advisors might have been something like this: "We'll disregard the complexity of Hebrew scrolls (the Old Testament), and concentrate only on the end of the story - the belief in the Messiah! Yesterday's - pagan - priests will become today's Gospel priests. Yesterday's temple to Zeus will be replaced with today's Je'zeus. Yesterday's - pagan - holidays will be rewritten with today's Gospel stories of Jesus. He was the Son of God, and had much the same life story as Hercules. You already know the story; his father is a god. He lived to do good works for the oppressed. He died before finishing his work. Went to hell to battle evil, and now sits with his father in heaven. All you have to do is change the names."

If you think about it, it worked! The Romans never again tore down their Christ-centered worship places and replaced them with some other god.

Now getting back to critics of the Christmas observance, today you are getting your wish. The news headlines tell the stories of more and more communities taking down or not allowing Christian symbolism in the schools or public squares. The Muslim Crest and the Jewish Chanukah is ok, but the cross, Ten Commandments, and the nativity are out. So now what? Do you think we are better off as a community? Do you think all the Christians will now suddenly adopt the Biblical Holy Days? It would be nice, but I think not. Some of us had the Divine calling to study the Bible more and have learned the spiritual mysteries of the Biblical Holy Days, but to the general Christian population that well has already been poisoned and they are not goin’ there (Act.15:1-35). Besides, did you ever think of the fact that Satan and his dark followers might not like YHWH’S Messiah celebrated on their holy day, and maybe they have been seething over it ever since?

I don’t know if you ever had a frank Bible discussion with a Mormon, every once in a while they might come knocking on your door. After a while of discussing the origin of the Book of Mormon, you eventually come to the point of the mysterious Golden Tablets that only one person has seen, and the so-called divine dictation that had to be given twice. There is no archeological proof of their story, and the whole thing sounds a bit like more myth then fact, but an honest Mormon will say, “…yes I know, but the religious system is working good for us. Our people are happy and have many benefits from the Mormon community, etc.” And generally that is how the Christians feel about the Christian Sunday worship and their holidays – it’s working for them. After all, the American community of Sunday keeping Protestants did build a great country.

Like I often say, “Critical thinking is a lost art,” and Christmas is a good example. The Catholic Encyclopedia states; “In the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of 8 December, 1854, Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God…” A thinking person would ponder, if the conception was in the beginning if December then how can the birth be more then a year later on December 25^th?

Generally the Christians wonder what’s the big deal, many birthday holidays of famous people are not celebrated on the exact birthday. The idea that is important is that it is being observed. Recent surveys reveal that this ‘season to believe’ is still a big comfort to the people. (Log on: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36093)

False doctrines aside, I see organized religion more as a Bible learning experience. The Romans Catholics brought the Bible down to its lowest common dominator, and let's call that the grade school level. The Protestants are like high school. The Sabbath keepers, the Holy Day keepers, the Sacred Names keepers, Jewish Messianic, are like junior college. Studying Hebrew (and a little Yiddish), Biblical archeology, and natural healing, are like the university level. I can't help but wonder, do the university professors look down their noses at the grade school teachers? Do the college students, confident in their educational superiority, insult the grade school students?

Maybe this holiday has pagan roots, but the people are not sacrificing children and virgins anymore, and they are not praying to their Christmas trees anymore, they are celebrating righteousness. Discounting the characterless mass-marketing, they are celebrating the Divine concept of giving, instead of receiving (Act.20:35). One must remember, if giving up long held traditions was so easy, there wouldn't be a very special reward for it (Rev.2:17). At least in this country we have the freedom to read, study, and learn new things, and for that I am grateful.

We should always look to the example of our Master-Teacher. When Yahshua-Jesus was talking to a general audience about Heaven, with all His spiritual knowledge, He didn't look down his nose at them and demand ritual purity. He spoke of His FATHER's Kingdom as a blessing to the people (Mat.5:1-12).

Presently, this world is a compromise. The righteous do not have it completely their way, and neither does the dark side (Mat.13:36-43). Our FATHER will overlook some things because of our false teachings (Act.17:30) There is no doubt, when the conquering Messiah arrives, He will destroy this corrupt system and introduce His pure teachings to the world and things will change, but until then, getting to Heaven is a matter of the heart (Dan.2:34; Heb.4:12). If getting there was because of a perfect theology, then we would a-l-l be in serious trouble.

It is important to remember: That the first humans Adam and Eve, after being created, immediately knew their CREATOR. After their fall from grace, humanity now has to have 'faith' in our CREATOR, and have the 'heart' for HIS Righteous path (Heb.11:1). That is what makes the faithful so special during this age, because in all the Universe we are the true faithful because we are the only ones who believe without seeing (Jon.20:29;1Pet.2:9).

In the opening I quoted, “What we are against takes priority over what we are for.” Meaning that te are arguing in a house that is on fire. We are arguing amongst ourselves over minutiae and ignoring those who are actively trying to destroy our way of living. We should focus more on believing and less on doctrinal differences. This season of holidays represent peace, good will, giving, and caring – all Biblical virtues that we are all for and should be encouraged. It could almost be the Golden Rule day.

There is only one man that has the power, and after the revolution (the 2^nd coming,) we will all be celebrating Christ-mass, amongst other things, during Tabernacles, until then a little love and kindness, a little understanding and patience doesn’t hurt.

Enjoy the journey of learning…

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

Wishing all a season of believing… Blessings, Errol.
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Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website: www.homeworship101.com
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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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#WSC Newsletter 2006-15b, posted 12/24/06.
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A season to believe... part 2

Holiday Greetings from HomeWorship 101™