WARNING: Do not allow your child to read this with out you first reading this blog. I am going to talk about a holiday called christmas, and what the LORD YHWH has shown me about this pagan holiday. I will share openly, but it is still not appropriate for young viewers with out their parents guiding. If you are offended after reading this, then don't read another one of my blogs, but if you want the truth, and are willing to really listen and change for the better, and learn HIS truth, then read on.
Well, here is another one of those hard to read posts. Some of you may decide to never read my blog again, and others, the ones who are curious and might learn something, will at least read it. I hope that is all of you.
It is holiday time again. I use to work so hard during the holidays to make fun family memories. I would do theme christmas trees each year. The kids and I would spend hours making about 70% of the decorations that would go on the tree, gathering what ever was needed and working hard at also teaching my children all about it supposedly being Christs birthday. We even made our own plastic ice cycles, that I cut from clear sheets of plastic and twisted and melted, and burned my fingers over and over again. I was crazy about the word x-mas, and would say that was the worlds way to leave christ out of christmas...Sayings like 'put christ back into christmas' was always 'stickered' (store bought stickers) or written on everything that went out from my home.
Some years back, the LORD/YHWH began to teach me HIS ways and HIS thoughts and what HIS word said about mans holidays. What I discovered was not pretty. Actually it was very gross. To me, almost pornographic.
The last time I had a christmas tree in my home, that year I was decorating the tree, and my oldest grandchildren were helping me, when their father walked up and asked me to not let his children do that. I was upset, and told him that a tree was needed since my mom was coming to dinner with us and I did not want to upset her, as she would not understand us not having all of the decorations and traditions. We had already been discussing this holiday stuff at bible studies in church and learning the truth. But being stubborn, I wanted things my way, not YHWH's way. You should never do that. My son, the oldest one, respected me enough to not say much more. But a seed had been planted, why was this son not celebrating this family holiday like we always did? I knew most of the answers, but yet, I always made christmas about christ. I always had stuff in the holiday about HIM and even though I 'knew' it was not HIS actual birthday, I tried to keep christ in christmas.
The problem, HE was never there to begin with.
Later when the season was over, I decided, I need to get into a study myself and see what GOD/YHWH has to say about this season of 'joy' and what we consider to be HIS birthday, including all of the decorations and the tree, not just take mans teaching, even in church, and believe everything your pastor says (sorry Ron-no disrespect meant here) but you need to check it out for yourself.
Here is some information from a 'non-christian' site...called the history channel. I have included this information so no one can say I am being biased about my religion. After reading this, I will follow up with my study and what I learned. Here is the link for you:
http://www.history.com/content/christmas
AN ANCIENT HOLIDAY
The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.
In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.
The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.
In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.
SATURNALIA
In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of the city. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in the fun.
Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra's birthday was the most sacred day of the year.
In the early years of Christianity,
Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the
Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.
By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the
Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today's
Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the "lord of misrule" and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined "debt" to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.
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The Christmas tree
The decorated pine tree stems directly from the Mystery cults and the worship of the god Attis. He is held to have been a man who became a tree and, hence, is the embodiment of the ancient tree-spirit we meet in ancient Indian or Indus mythology from as early as Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. He is clearly a fertility god of corn and wears a Phrygian cap like Mithras (from the statue in the Lateran; Frazer, v, p. 279).
The bringing in of the pine tree decked in violets and woollen bands is like bringing in the May-tree or Summer-tree in modern folk custom. The effigy that was attached to the tree was a duplicate representative of the god Attis. This was traditionally kept until the next year, when it was burnt (Firmicus Maternus, De errore profanarum religionum; cf. Frazer, v, p. 277 and n. 2). It is forbidden by God in Jeremiah 10:1-9.
The original intent of this custom was to maintain the spirit of vegetation intact throughout the coming year. The Phrygians worshipped the pine tree above all others and it is from this area that we derive the Mysteries and the Mithras system. It is probably sacred to the cults in that it is an evergreen lasting through the solstice period over a large area, when other trees are bare. Remember also that pine-resin was burnt at the solstice festivals. The origins are lost in the antiquity of the Assyro-Babylonian system.
The resemblance of the god Attis was changed to the Sun-symbol as a monstrance on the top and then to angels and other types of decorations. The decorations are easily identifiable as the Sun, Moon, and stars of the Triune system of the Babylonians as Sin, Ishtar and Shamash or Isis, Osirus and Horus of the Egyptians (see the paper
The Golden Calf (No. 222)).
Ivy was also sacred to Attis and his eunuch priests were tattooed with the symbol of the ivy leaf (Frazer, v, p. 278).
Pine nuts were used to produce a wine used in the orgiastic rites of Cybele which were in effect counterparts of the Dionysian orgies and Strabo compared them (Strabo, x, 3. 12ff.).
At the festival of Thesmophoria, they were thrown along with pigs and other agents or emblems of fertility into the sacred vaults of Demeter for the purpose of increasing the fertility of the Earth and of women (Frazer, v, p. 278). Thus, we are back again to the Demeter festivals and the aspects that have kept on and which are associated with Christmas in Europe generally, as we have already seen.
Now for what I have learned. Christmas is NOT my saviors birthday. You can see that and the actual beginnings of how this day was chosen if you have read the above, and the other links I have added here on my blog. If you have not read them, they are at the bottom of this page...spend time reading them right now.
Trees and other decorations for this holiday are forbidden as pagan and heathen! If you are one who has a hard time with this information, like I was, and try to say 'what we do is not the same as when they began',
and 'well I see it that way',
or 'we celebrate it like this',
or 'it means this to me'...
hog wash.
What matters is how GOD sees it, not you!
The Bible states in Jeremiah 10:2-4, "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. 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. They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not."
God is explaining the Christmas tree long before Martin Luther tried to christianize the tree and the pagan celebration of Dec 25th back in the 1500's.
The following is from this site: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract3.html
The evergreen tree was a symbol of the essence of life and was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility worship.
Witches and other pagans regarded the red holly as a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, also known as Diana.
The holly wood was used by witches to make wands.
The white berries of mistletoe were believed by pagans to represent droplets of the semen of the sun god.
Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them.
These customs transcended the borders of Rome and Germany to the far reaches of the known world.
The question now arises: How did all of these customs find their way into contemporary Christianity, ranging from Catholicism to Protestantism to fundamentalist churches?
The word "Christmas"itself reveals who married paganism to Christianity.
The word "Christmas" is a combination of the words "Christ" and "Mass.
The word "Mass" means death and was coined originally by the Roman Catholic Church, and belongs exclusively to the church of Rome.
The ritual of the Mass involves the death of Christ, and the distribution of the "Host", a word taken from the Latin word "hostiall" meaning victim!
In short, Christmas is strictly a Roman Catholic word.
Ok, so you can now tell me that you can find a bunch of links that says that this holiday is actually christian,how they have taken a pagan holiday and made it christian and all of that info...
but what I have to ask you is this:
What does GOD say about it? not you.
Where in the bible does it command us to celebrate HIS birth?
Where does it say that?
and the only thing I can find about a tree is the scripture I shared above.
So when you find a scripture that says it is ok for me to drag a evergreen into my home, which I have learned stands for fertility stuff, that it actually stood to represent the sun god (little g) and his penis. Gross. And then you (the world) suggest that I place lights on this 'penis tree', and put decorations on this 'p' tree, (which with further study I found these round bulbs/ decorations represented the scrotum of this sun god) again gross. And I will not even mention the above holly stuff, again not a good picture in my brain of what this all represents!
So back to a few years ago, when I was placing decorations of round globes of all colors and other decorations all over my artificial christmas tree, and helping my grandbabies to do the same. This is the thought that came to me when after this last christmas celebrated in my home-I was teaching my grandbabies how to decorate a penis with little colorful scrotums. Not pretty. Very gross. Very upsetting. Never again did a tree enter my home, and never again did I participate in the pagan ritual of christmas.
I have to be honest, the family stuff was not easy to give up. I missed it the first year after this one of my eyse being opened. But now, I do not miss it at all. I can get together with my family any time, I can have them all over for a day or a weekend anytime, not just christmas. So why not honor YHWH with our get togethers? Again, what is important is how HE sees this holiday, not you.
here are more links to help you with further study:
http://messiahfellowshiponline.com/discipleship-articles-cat/a-hard-pill-to-swallow
http://messiahfellowshiponline.com/discipleship-articles-cat/christmas-trees
http://torahperspective.com/
http://www.nazarite.net/the-churches.html
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57978
http://www.insearchofmanna.com/
http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Jesus-Birthday
Dustin and Samantha come to visit us!
Here is Stephen with Dustin, his long lost brother in law- and friend whom he misses -
Again, stephen spends huggy time with dustin!
The girls! starting in front is Adreana, behind her is Nalani, behind her is Anastasia and to the right is Samantha.
The 'boys'..starting to the left is Dustin, then Zachary, then Stephen then Logan.
