The
word Christmas itself and the erroneous religious teachings thereof has painted
such an indelible picture in the minds and hearts of many that claims to know
and worship God (Yahweh).
The danger
with today’s Christmas teaching is that despite the fact; the bible / the word
of God doesn’t support such teachings; religious leaders both far and wide
takes great delight in preaching / teaching their Christmas messages.
Most
church-folks / religious-minded folks really don’t care about knowing the
truth, especially when such truth is going to disrupt and expose their
religious / traditional beliefs which they hold dearly to their hearts. In
fact, many will diligently search the scriptures to argue, defend and to justify
their religious tradition.
Please
note:
By no means will I ever deny the birth of my
Lord and Savior, Yahshua Messiah (a.k.a. Jesus the Christ).
Here’s one of the biblical
account of His birth:
Lk.2:
1.
And it came to pass in those days, that there
went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
:2.
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius
was governor of Syria.)
:3.
And all went to be taxed, every one into his
own city.
:4.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of
the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
:5.
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife,
being great with child.
:6.
And so it was, that, while they were there,
the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
:7.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was
no room for them in the inn.
:8.
And there were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
:9.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore
afraid.
:10.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for,
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
:11.
For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
I’m simply speaking to the
erroneous religious spin / twist that have been attached to His birth and the
date that we’ve all so lovingly accepted as His birthday.
Whereas the actual date of Messiah’s birth is
not known, but based upon studying the scriptures there’s absolutely nothing
that points to the date December 25th,
a
s
His date of birth. The best estimation we can narrow down to of Messiah’s date
of birth is late summer or early fall about 2,000 years ago.
History
tells us that the climate in Palestine from December to February is very
piercingly cold at night, and it was not the custom of the shepherds of Judea
to watch their flock in the open field later than October:
(
Lk.2:
:8.
And there were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night).
One need not be a theologian, a
seminary graduate, a spiritual guru or a Harvard scholar to study the
scriptures and conclude that December 25th, o
r
the month of December could not be the date of Yahshua Messiah.
The first mention of
December 25 as the birth date of Jesus occurred in A.D. 336 in an early Roman
calendar. The celebration of this day as Jesus' birth date was influenced by
pagan [unchristian] festivals held at that time. The ancient Romans held
year-end celebrations to honor the birthday of Saturn, their harvest god; and
Mithras, the [sic] god of light... As part of all these celebrations, the
people prepared special foods, decorated their homes with greenery and joined
in singing and gift giving.
These customs gradually became part of the
Christmas celebration in which we partake today.
If there
is one set of people who should have celebrated the birth date of the Messiah
as
we’re
religiously and ignorantly doing today; it should have been the Apostles who
walk with Him and those during His time on earth; but
here’s what the Apostle Paul said
to the churches in Galatia about being in bondage to religion:
Gal..
4: 9. But now, after that ye have
known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and
beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
: 10.
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and
years.
While
there’s usually some acknowledgment of our Savior’s Birth at this time of the
year; Christmas as we know it has become a major merchandising event. Store
merchants all around the world records their highest cash intake during the
Christmas season. For the sake of partaking in the season many persons would
even go into financial debts in purchasing all kinds of gifts for themselves
and others.
The
MERRY in the Christmas celebration is short lived as after the eating of the
Ham and Turkey, the exchanging of gifts and the partying; a few days later
everything returns to normal and the troubles of paying the accumulated Christmas
bills and dates, compounds the stress factors in the lives of the celebrators.
I’m
not saying “Don’t celebrate Christmas” that’s not my call.
As a Pastor (not a Religious Leader), it’s my
duty / responsibility to feed you with knowledge and understanding:
(Jer.3:
15.
And I will give you pastors according to mine
heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding)……..
You have the rights to reject or to receive
that which I’m feeding / saying to you.
Don’t
allow yourself to be held hostage / in bondage to any form of Religion or
Tradition that doesn’t line up with the uncompromised, unadulterated word of
God.
Here’s
what Yahshua Messiah says:
“John.8:
32.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free.
Merry
Christmas & A Happy New Year:
Pastors
Matthew & Brendalee Allen
Kingdom
Minded Fellowship Center Int’l
