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 dear 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
Yahshua Messiah (a.k.a. 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 eventually became 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 one of the religious community’s
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
