Babylon & Paganism

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In a message dated 3/13/99 8:13:59 AM Pacific Standard Time, lyohnk@juno.com
writes:

> On Fri, 12 Mar 1999 17:57:16 EST JLareau246@aol.com writes:
>  >You bring up a very good point.  All I can say is, we don't celebrate
>  >Christmas, Easter or any other holiday that has these pagan origins.  
>  >Thank
>  >God we've been delivered from it!  (no financial stress, etc...)  :-)  
>  
>  I have often wondered if your position is not the best position to take.
>  The scripture says "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind"
>  which I will frankly tell you, I am not fully persuaded that my position
>  is the best (on celebrating holidays, but I am not persuaded that it is
>  not either.)  As I said, we do not have a Christmas tree and I feel very
>  good about that. We've recieved quite a bit of flack over that one! 
>  
>  I am writing because I have a few questions concerning this issue (for
>  you and/or others who do not celebrate these holidays). 
>  
>  1. Is this a stand your church takes or have you taken it on your own?

It is a stand our local assembly takes.  After a couple of years of not
celebrating Christmas at all, I was able to view it's celebration from
different perspective, that is, one of an outsider.  It was this objective
view that changed my stand of not celebrating Christmas from one of
convenience (blending in with my fellow apostolics) to a conviction.
    
>  2. Is your extended family in church?

None of my extended family is in Church, or ever has been as far as I know.  I
pray this changes.
>  
>  3. Do you have children? How have they done concerning it?

Yes, I do have two children, both girls.  The oldest, eighteen will be married
in December, the youngest is sixteen.  They seem to be doing fairly well.  No
visible scars, no trembling during the first weeks of December (Rachel, my
oldest might do a little trembling this year, but for different reasons) they
don't seem agitated when they see Santa Claus. And yes, They still believe in
the birth of Christ. :-)  
 Seriously, I don't remember them ever feeling deprived, but I might have one
or both write a few paragraphs on their feelings if you are really interested.
  
>  4. How has your stand affected your walk with God and your relations with
>  others?

 This is a difficult question to answer, because I have not celebrated
Christmas since I have been born again.  I must say, it is my opinion, that
when you do "the right thing" (and of course I believe that is what I am
doing) that it can only bring you closer to God.  Don't get me wrong, I don't
believe it is my works that save me, but I do believe there are things that
God would rather us not do, and Christmas is one of them.  I want to please
him.

 As far as my relationship with others, most people understand, or at least
accept it.  It has become a great conversation opener.  Guys at work know I am
different because I go to church so much, I don't use foul language, and don't
laugh at their foul jokes.  When they discover I don't celebrate Christmas, it
makes them start asking questions they ordinarily wouldn't ask.   
>  5. Anything else you can tell me would be appreciated. 
>  
>   I don't think I can think of one person I know of that doesn't celebrate
>  these holidays. One reason I have come to the conclusions I have is
>  because I know of some groups (have some literature) of some who do not
>  practice these holidays and they seemed pretty sour about life in
>  general, but that has been my only exposure. I am interested in your
>  experiences!!

 Just a short story.  We have some dear friends in California who just started
pasturing a fairly large church.  The pastor is good man, interested in doing
what is right.  He had an evangelist (who didn't believe in celebrating
Christmas) preach for him for a few months.  While driving to dinner one
evening, (the two men were in the front seat of the car, while their wives,
were in the back seat) the subject of Christmas came up.  My dear friend, (the
pastor) and his wife *do* celebrate Christmas.
 The pastor asked the evangelist why he didn't celebrate Christmas.  The
evangelist started explaining it's pagan origins and about midway through the
explanation, the pastor's wife (which was sitting directly behind him) sat up
and literally put her hands over her husbands ears and exclaimed, "Don't
listen to him!"
  This is kind of a funny story but it illustrates the attachment many people
have to their traditions.  I applaud you Sister Yohnk, regardless of your
decision, you seem more interested in discovering truth, and doing what is
right than remaining comfortable in your family's tradition. 
 
    Mike Reed