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    <title>Messianicmdg</title>
    <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/</link>
    <description>Messianicmdg</description>
    <lastBuildDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:45:00 PDT</lastBuildDate>
    <generator>http://www.blogdrive.com</generator>
    <copyright>Copyright 2009.</copyright>
    <category>Religion &amp; Beliefs</category>
    <category>Spirituality</category>
    <category>People</category>
    <item>
      <title>The Pagan Origins of Easter</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/11.html</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2009 06:40:23 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>What does the term Easter itself mean?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean&lt;br&gt;Babylonian origin on its very forehead. The &lt;br&gt;popular observances that still attend the period &lt;br&gt;of it's celebration amply confirm the testimony &lt;br&gt;of history as to it's Babylonian character. The &lt;br&gt;hot cross buns of Good Friday and the dyed eggs &lt;br&gt;of Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites &lt;br&gt;just as they do now. The &quot;buns&quot; known too by that&lt;br&gt;identical name, were used in the worship of the &lt;br&gt;Queen of Heaven, the goddess of Easter. The &lt;br&gt;prophet Jeremiah takes notice of this kind of &lt;br&gt;offering when he says: &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the &lt;br&gt;fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead &lt;br&gt;their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, &lt;br&gt;and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, &lt;br&gt;that they may provoke me to anger.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;From where comes the eggs?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The classic poets are full of the fable of the &lt;br&gt;mystic egg of the Babylonians and thus its tale &lt;br&gt;is told by Hyginus, the Egyptian, the learned &lt;br&gt;keeper of the Palatine library at Rome, in the &lt;br&gt;time of Augustus, who was skilled in all the &lt;br&gt;wisdom of his native country. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen &lt;br&gt;from heaven into the river Euphrates, the fishes &lt;br&gt;rolled it to the bank, where the doves having &lt;br&gt;settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, &lt;br&gt;who afterwards was called the &quot;Syrian Goddess&quot; &lt;br&gt;-- that is, Astarte. Hence the egg became one of &lt;br&gt;the symbols of Astarte or Easter.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;From where comes the &quot;Easter Bunny&quot;?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;That a rabbit, or more accurately a hare, became &lt;br&gt;a holiday symbol can be traced to the origin of &lt;br&gt;the word &quot;Easter&quot;. According to the Venerable &lt;br&gt;Bede, the English historian who lived from 672 &lt;br&gt;to 735, &quot;the goddess Eastre&quot; was worshipped by the &lt;br&gt;Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the &lt;br&gt;hare.&quot; - Panati's Extraordinary Origins of &lt;br&gt;Everyday Things pg 55&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Easter is another example of a Christianized &lt;br&gt;pagan festival. For hundreds of years before the &lt;br&gt;Messiah was crucified the pagans had a festival &lt;br&gt;which basically celebrated the &quot;Queen of Heaven.&quot;&lt;br&gt;This spring equinox festival was known by &lt;br&gt;different names in different cultures (Eastre / &lt;br&gt;Ishtar / Astarte), but the same traditions &lt;br&gt;associated with it are pagan customs. YHWH (God) &lt;br&gt;commands us not to worship Him with pagan customs.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Deut. 12:30-31 says, &quot;enquire not after their &lt;br&gt;gods, saying, How did these nations serve their &lt;br&gt;gods? even so will I do likewise.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;You can choose the broad way (the way the world&lt;br&gt;/ crowd goes) that leadeth to destruction ... &lt;br&gt;(Matt 7:13) The pagan bunny fertility symbol - &lt;br&gt;Ishtar / Eostre to Easter - spring fertility &lt;br&gt;goddess worship rites. Or you can choose the &lt;br&gt;narrow way (of truth that few people find), which &lt;br&gt;leads to life eternal (Matt. 7:14) &lt;br&gt;- Leviticus 23 eternal feast days and Sabbaths&lt;br&gt;Obey Elohim's (God's) eternal holy days (Lev. 23) &lt;br&gt;for all Israel (including grafted in believers in &lt;br&gt;Yeshua / Jesus) (Rom. 3:31; 11:17, Eph. 2:12-13)&lt;br&gt;Check a good encyclopedia on Easter / Eastre / &lt;br&gt;Ishtar. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Shalom&lt;br&gt;Michael Grant&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;tags: Easter, Eastre, Ishtar, Astarte, Eostre, Osiris, &lt;br&gt;Isis, Attis, cupid, baal, baalism, Nimrod, pagan,&lt;br&gt;paganism, fertility, Chaldean, Babylonian, Good Friday, &lt;br&gt;Sunday, crusifixion, Rome, Egypt, Greece, holidays, &lt;br&gt;feast days, Yeshua, Jesus, HaMoshiach, Messiah, God, &lt;br&gt;Elohim, YHWH&lt;br&gt;
 
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    <item>
      <title>Valentine's Day and The god of Love</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/10.html</link>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:55:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
 This video exposes the pagan pederastic roots of St. Valentine's Day. &lt;br&gt;Originally, cupid and his mother were the Madonna and child of &lt;br&gt;ancient Babylon. He is always represented as a naked little boy with &lt;br&gt;wings. Cupid is Latin for Eros the god of Love from ancient Greece, &lt;br&gt;and Amor the Roman god of love, son of Venus and either Mercury &lt;br&gt;or Mars. This day is dedicated to the fertility worship of ancient Greece, &lt;br&gt;Rome and Babylon, but has nothing to do with God's Word. &lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/9SeIhUR-XA0&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/9SeIhUR-XA0&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shalom&lt;br&gt;Michael Grant&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;tags: Eros, Cupid, Tammuz, Venus, Pope, Nimrod, Greece, Babylon, &lt;br&gt;Valentine, Love, War, Merchants, hearts&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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    <item>
      <title>Pagan Roots of Valentine's Day</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/9.html</link>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:52:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>Where did St. Valentines day come from?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;You might suppose that school teachers and&lt;br&gt;educators would know. But do they? How many of you&lt;br&gt;were taught the real origin of Valentines Day? Why&lt;br&gt;should you observe the custom of exchanging&lt;br&gt;valentines? The silence of educators!!! Teachers&lt;br&gt;are all too often silent about the origin of the&lt;br&gt;customs, they are forced to teach in today's&lt;br&gt;schools! If they were to speak out, many would&lt;br&gt;lose their jobs!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Isn't it time we examined why we encourage our&lt;br&gt;children to celebrate St. Valentines Day -- when it&lt;br&gt;is never so much as mentioned in the Holy Bible as&lt;br&gt;a practice of the New Testament Congregation?&lt;br&gt;Today, candy makers unload tons of heart-shaped red&lt;br&gt;boxes for February 14, while millions of the younger&lt;br&gt;set are annually exchanging valentines Florists&lt;br&gt;consider February 14, -- St. Valentines Day -- as&lt;br&gt;one of their best business days. And young lovers&lt;br&gt;pair off -- at least for a dance or two -- at St.&lt;br&gt;Valentines balls.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Why? Where did these customs originate? Where do&lt;br&gt;we find any such practices in the Holy Bible? How&lt;br&gt;did we come to inherit these customs? Did you know&lt;br&gt;that century before Christ, the pagan Romans&lt;br&gt;celebrated February 15 and the evening of February&lt;br&gt;14 as an idolatrous and sensuous festival in Honor&lt;br&gt;of Lupercus, the &quot;Hunter of Wolves&quot;? The Romans&lt;br&gt;called the festival the &quot;Lupercalia&quot;. The custom&lt;br&gt;of exchanging valentines and all other traditions&lt;br&gt;in Honor of Lupercus (the deified hero-hunter of&lt;br&gt;Rome) was also linked anciently with the pagan&lt;br&gt;practice of teenagers &quot;going steady&quot;. It usually&lt;br&gt;led to fornication.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Today, the custom of &quot;going steady&quot; is thought to&lt;br&gt;be very modern. It is not. It is merely a rebirth of&lt;br&gt;an old custom handed down from the Roman festival&lt;br&gt;of the Lupercalia, celebrated in the month of&lt;br&gt;February, when names of young women were put into&lt;br&gt;a box and drawn out by men as chance directed.&lt;br&gt;When Constantine made Christianity the official&lt;br&gt;religion of the Roman Empire there was some talk&lt;br&gt;in church circles of discarding this pagan&lt;br&gt;free-for-all.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it&lt;br&gt;was agreed that the holiday would continue as it&lt;br&gt;was except for the more grossly sensual observances.&lt;br&gt;It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that&lt;br&gt;the holiday became a &quot;Christian custom&quot;. As far&lt;br&gt;back as 496 Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia on&lt;br&gt;February 15 to St. Valentines Day on February 14.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But how did this pagan festival acquire the name&lt;br&gt;of St. Valentines Day? And why is the little naked&lt;br&gt;Cupid of the pagan Romans so often associated today&lt;br&gt;with February 14? And why do little children and&lt;br&gt;young people still cut out hearts and send them on&lt;br&gt;a day in Honor of Lupercus the hunter of wolves?&lt;br&gt;Why have we supposed these pagan customs in Honor&lt;br&gt;of a false god are Christian? Who was the Original&lt;br&gt;St. Valentine?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Valentine was a common Roman name. Roman parents&lt;br&gt;often gave the name to their children in Honor of&lt;br&gt;the famous man who was first called Valentine in&lt;br&gt;antiquity. That famous man was Lupercus, the&lt;br&gt;Hunter. But who was Lupercus? -- and why should he&lt;br&gt;have also born the name Valentine among the heathen&lt;br&gt;Romans? The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of&lt;br&gt;&quot;Pan&quot;. the Semites called Pan &quot;Baal,&quot; according to&lt;br&gt;the &quot;Classical Dictionaries&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Baal -- mentioned so often in the Bible -- was&lt;br&gt;merely another name for Nimrod, &quot;the mighty Hunter&quot;&lt;br&gt;(Genesis 10:9). The hunter Nimrod was the Lupercus&lt;br&gt;-- or Wolf Hunter -- of the Romans. And St.&lt;br&gt;Valentines Day was originally a day set aside by the&lt;br&gt;pagans in his Honor! But why should Nimrod have been&lt;br&gt;called &quot;Valentine&quot; by the Romans? And why should the&lt;br&gt;celebration of this day have been anciently limited&lt;br&gt;to the city of Rome before Pope Gelasius' time? What&lt;br&gt;part did the site of ancient Rome play in the life&lt;br&gt;of Nimrod?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Valentine comes from the Latin word &quot;Valentinus&quot;, a&lt;br&gt;proper name derived from the word &quot;valens&quot;, meaning&lt;br&gt;&quot;to be strong,&quot; declares &quot;Webster's Unabridged&lt;br&gt;Dictionary&quot;. It means literally &quot;strong, powerful,&lt;br&gt;mighty.&quot; Any connection with Nimrod? We read in the&lt;br&gt;Bible that Nimrod was the &quot;Mighty Hunter&quot;&lt;br&gt;(Genesis 10:9). It was a common proverb of ancient&lt;br&gt;time that Nimrod was &quot;the Mighty Hunter before the&lt;br&gt;Lord.&quot; Nimrod was their hero -- Their Strong Man --&lt;br&gt;Their Valentine!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;How plain that the original Valentine was Nimrod,&lt;br&gt;the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's&lt;br&gt;names was &quot;Sanctus&quot; or &quot;Santa&quot;, meaning &quot;Saint&quot;. It&lt;br&gt;was a common title of any hero-god. No wonder that&lt;br&gt;the Roman Lupercalia is called &quot;Saint Valentines Day&quot;!&lt;br&gt;But why do we associate hearts on a day on Honor of&lt;br&gt;Nimrod -- the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites?&lt;br&gt;The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans&lt;br&gt;acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians.&lt;br&gt;In the Babylonian tongue the word for &quot;heart&quot; was&lt;br&gt;&quot;bal&quot;. The heart --- &quot;bal&quot; was merely a symbol of&lt;br&gt;Nimrod -- the &quot;Baal&quot; or Lord of the Babylonians!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Nimrod -- the original St. Valentine -- was also known&lt;br&gt;as Saturn, the Roman-Babylonian god Hid from his&lt;br&gt;pursuers in a secret place. The Latin word Saturn is&lt;br&gt;derived from the Semitic-speaking Babylonians. It&lt;br&gt;means &quot;be hid&quot;, &quot;hide self&quot;, &quot;secret&quot;, &quot;conceal&quot;. The&lt;br&gt;original Semitic (Hebrew) word, from which the Latin&lt;br&gt;Saturn is derived, is used used 83 times in the Old&lt;br&gt;Testament.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;According to ancient tradition, Saturn (Nimrod) fled&lt;br&gt;from his pursuers to Italy. The Apennine Mountains of&lt;br&gt;Italy were anciently named the mountains of Nembrod&lt;br&gt;or Nimrod. Nimrod briefly hid out at the site where&lt;br&gt;Rome was later built. The ancient name of Rome, before&lt;br&gt;it was rebuilt in 753 B.C., was Saturnai -- the site&lt;br&gt;of Saturn's (Nimrod's) hiding. There he was found and&lt;br&gt;slain for his crimes.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Later, professing Christians in Constantine's day made&lt;br&gt;Nimrod -- the St. Valentine of the heathen -- a Saint&lt;br&gt;of the Church and continued to Honor him under the name&lt;br&gt;of a Christian martyr. Why February 14Th? But why&lt;br&gt;should the Romans have chosen February 15 and the&lt;br&gt;evening of February 14 to Honor Lupercus -- the Nimrod&lt;br&gt;of the Bible? (Remember that days in ancient times began&lt;br&gt;at sunset the evening before.)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Nimrod -- the Baal or sun god of the ancient pagans --&lt;br&gt;was said to have been born at the winter solstice. In&lt;br&gt;ancient times the solstice occurred on January 6 and his&lt;br&gt;birthday therefore was celebrated on January 6. Later,&lt;br&gt;as the solstice changed, it was celebrated on December&lt;br&gt;25 and is now called Christmas. It was the custom of&lt;br&gt;antiquity for the mother of a male child to present&lt;br&gt;herself for purification on the fortieth day after the&lt;br&gt;day of birth.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The fortieth day after January 6 -- Nimrod's original&lt;br&gt;birth date -- takes us to February 15, the celebration of&lt;br&gt;which began on the evening of February 14 -- the&lt;br&gt;Lupercalia or St. Valentines Day. On this day in&lt;br&gt;February, Semiramis, the mother of Nimrod, was said to&lt;br&gt;have been purified and to have appeared for the first&lt;br&gt;time in public with her son as the original &quot;Mother and&lt;br&gt;Child&quot;. The Roman month February, in fact, derives its&lt;br&gt;name from &quot;februa&quot; which the Roman priests used in the&lt;br&gt;rites celebrated on St. Valentines Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The &quot;febua&quot; were thongs from the skins of sacrificial&lt;br&gt;animals used in rites of purification on the evening of&lt;br&gt;February 14. Cupid makes his appearance. Another name for&lt;br&gt;the child Nimrod was &quot;Cupid&quot; -- meaning &quot;Desire&quot;. It is&lt;br&gt;said that when Nimrod's mother saw him, she lusted after&lt;br&gt;him -- she desired him. Nimrod became her Cupid -- her&lt;br&gt;desired one -- and later her Valentine! So evil was&lt;br&gt;Nimrod's mother that it is said she married her own son!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Inscribed on the monuments of ancient Egypt are&lt;br&gt;inscriptions that Nimrod (the Egyptians called him&lt;br&gt;Osiris) was &quot;the husband of his mother.&quot; As Nimrod grew&lt;br&gt;up, he became the child-hero of many women who desired&lt;br&gt;him. He was their Cupid! In the book of Daniel he is&lt;br&gt;called the &quot;Desire of woman&quot; (Daniel 11:37). He provoked&lt;br&gt;so many women to Jealousy that an idol of him was often&lt;br&gt;called the &quot;image of jealousy&quot; (Ezekiel 8:5).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Nimrod, the hunter, was also their Valentine -- their&lt;br&gt;strong or mighty hero! No wonder the pagans commemorated&lt;br&gt;their hero-hunter Nimrod, or Baal, by sending heartshapped&lt;br&gt;love tokens to one another on the evening of February 14&lt;br&gt;as a symbol of him. Nimrod, the mulatto son of Cush the&lt;br&gt;Ethiopian, was later a source of embarrassment to the&lt;br&gt;pagans of Europe. They didn't want an African to worship.&lt;br&gt;Consequently, they substituted a supposed son of Nimrod,&lt;br&gt;a white child named Horus, born after the death of Nimrod.&lt;br&gt;This white child then became the &quot;fair Cupid&quot; of European&lt;br&gt;tradition.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It is about time we examined these foolish customs of the&lt;br&gt;pagans now falsely labeled Christian. It is about time we&lt;br&gt;quit this Roman and Babylonian foolishness -- this Idolatry&lt;br&gt;-- and get back to the faith of Yeshua /Jesus that he&lt;br&gt;delivered once for all time. Let's stop teaching our&lt;br&gt;children these pagan customs in memory of Baal the sun god&lt;br&gt;-- the original St. Valentine -- and teach them instead&lt;br&gt;what the Bible really says!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Shalom&lt;br&gt;Michael Grant&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;tags:Nimrod, Osiris, Roman, Semiramis, Jesus, Valentines, &lt;br&gt;Day, pagan, Isis, Yeshua, Egypt, Greece&lt;br&gt;
 
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      <title>I am Gentile and observe Chanukah! Why? </title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/8.html</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:07:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>I am Gentile and observe Chanukah! Why? 
&lt;P&gt;First off all there is nothing from Torah, &lt;BR&gt;the Prophets and the B'rit Chadashah or in &lt;BR&gt;Gentile terms nothing from Old testament to &lt;BR&gt;New testament that commands a gentile to &lt;BR&gt;observe Chanukah. 
&lt;P&gt;So why do I? 
&lt;P&gt;Well I am no longer a Gentile. You see though &lt;BR&gt;the mighty work of God and His son Yeshua I &lt;BR&gt;am no longer a Gentile. I have been called &lt;BR&gt;from afar off to be grafted into the olive &lt;BR&gt;tree, that is Abraham's tree. Yeshua did all &lt;BR&gt;the work and all I have to do is believe, &lt;BR&gt;follow and obey. Actually Yeshua destoyed all&lt;BR&gt;principalities and powers of darkness and all &lt;BR&gt;works of Satan in his work on the cross. &lt;BR&gt;Everything nothing left of darkness we just &lt;BR&gt;need to believe that. 
&lt;P&gt;Yes but still why do I celebrate Chanukah? 
&lt;P&gt;Well even being a gentile by birth but by a &lt;BR&gt;new birth through the work of Yeshua I have &lt;BR&gt;become a spiritual Jew. Not only this, If I &lt;BR&gt;believe in his sacrifice and obey his &lt;BR&gt;commandment, and walk as he commands, he will &lt;BR&gt;write my name in Heavenly places and write my &lt;BR&gt;name in the Lambs book of Life. 
&lt;P&gt;Where does Chanukah come into all this? 
&lt;P&gt;Well it is God's purpose in his elect for the &lt;BR&gt;Gentile and Jew He calls to be one. When a &lt;BR&gt;Gentle is born anew through the power of the &lt;BR&gt;work that Yeshua has done, the Gentile can &lt;BR&gt;only be filled with unlimitless love for the &lt;BR&gt;Jew. 
&lt;P&gt;We are called in love, through the work of Yeshua, &lt;BR&gt;for the Jew and Gentile to be his body until he &lt;BR&gt;comes again. We are his bride or first fruit. 
&lt;P&gt;However, many Gentiles do not go that way, infact &lt;BR&gt;many Gentiles created their own religion and &lt;BR&gt;ignore the Jew which is not the purpose of God.&lt;BR&gt;just read :&lt;BR&gt;&lt;A href=&quot;http://ruthsheart.ning.com/group/christmasalookatitspaganroots&quot; rel=nofollow&gt;&lt;FONT color=#003399&gt;http://ruthsheart.ning.com/group/christmasalookatitspaganroots&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;unfortunately the Christian church has much &lt;BR&gt;antisemitism towards Israel. The church has recycled &lt;BR&gt;many pagan practices that are opposed to God's Word &lt;BR&gt;and Israel in general. 
&lt;P&gt;Personally I love Israel and follow Israel as &lt;BR&gt;long as nothing violates Jeremiah 10:2 . The &lt;BR&gt;faith is not some Gentile pagan faith like &lt;BR&gt;Christianity has made it out to be. 
&lt;P&gt;So Why Chanukah? 
&lt;P&gt;Well I love Yisrael and follow her, I follow &lt;BR&gt;her observances. I understand that Chanukah &lt;BR&gt;is not commanded but I love Yisrael and love &lt;BR&gt;the work that God did for Yisrael. So if I&lt;BR&gt;love Yisrael and am grafted into her I love &lt;BR&gt;her victories. Chanukah is for me I am sorry 
&lt;P&gt;Furthermore John 10:22 proves that Yeshua &lt;BR&gt;observed the Feast of Dedication. Leaves a &lt;BR&gt;Gentile anew with only one priority. If &lt;BR&gt;Yeshua observed Chanukah I must too. Scripture&lt;BR&gt;says so. You don't believe me? read &lt;BR&gt;1 John 2:3, 4, 5, and especially &lt;BR&gt;6 &quot;He that saith he abideth in him ought&lt;BR&gt;himself also so to walk , even as he walked . 
&lt;P&gt;So if we are instructed to walk as Yeshua &lt;BR&gt;walked, the paganism found at&lt;BR&gt;&lt;A href=&quot;http://ruthsheart.ning.com/group/christmasalookatitspaganroots&quot; rel=nofollow&gt;&lt;FONT color=#003399&gt;http://ruthsheart.ning.com/group/christmasalookatitspaganroots&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;has nothing to do with the faith. 
&lt;P&gt;if Yeshua did Chanukah I do Chanukah plain and simple. 
&lt;P&gt;Many Blessings to Yisrael&lt;BR&gt;Michael Grant 
&lt;P&gt;tags: Yeshua, HaMashiach, HaMoshiach, Chanukah&lt;/P&gt;&lt;!-- begin(Yahoo ad) --&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/click/&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/img/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmessianicmdg.blogdrive.com%2Farchive%2F8.html&amp;amp;pid=1846251505&quot; alt=&quot;Ads by Yahoo!&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- end(Yahoo ad) --&gt;</description>
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      <title>Pagan Roots of New Years</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/7.html</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:04:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>Isn't the beginning of spring a logical time to &lt;BR&gt;start a new year? After all, it is the season&lt;BR&gt;of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of&lt;BR&gt;blossoming. January 1st, on the other hand, has&lt;BR&gt;no astronomical or agricultural significance.&lt;BR&gt;It is purely arbitrary. The celebration of the&lt;BR&gt;new year is one of the oldest of all worldly&lt;BR&gt;holidays. 
&lt;P&gt;It was first observed in ancient Babylon about&lt;BR&gt;4000 years ago. The Babylonian New Year began&lt;BR&gt;with the first new moon after the Vernal&lt;BR&gt;Equinox (first day of Spring). The Romans&lt;BR&gt;continued to observe the New Year in late March&lt;BR&gt;but their calendar was continually tampered with&lt;BR&gt;by various emperors so that it soon became out&lt;BR&gt;of sync with the sun. In order to set the&lt;BR&gt;calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC&lt;BR&gt;declared January 1st to be the beginning of&lt;BR&gt;the New Year. 
&lt;P&gt;In 46 BC, Julius Caesar established January 1st&lt;BR&gt;as the New Year after the god Janus (January).&lt;BR&gt;Janus was the Roman god of doors and gates, and&lt;BR&gt;had two faces, one looking forward and one back.&lt;BR&gt;Caesar celebrated his first declared New Year&lt;BR&gt;by ording the violent routing of revolutionary&lt;BR&gt;Jewish forces in Galilee. Eye witnessess say&lt;BR&gt;blood flowed in the streets. 
&lt;P&gt;In later years, Roman pagans observed the new&lt;BR&gt;year by engaging in drunken orgies. The early&lt;BR&gt;Catholic Church condemned New Years festivities&lt;BR&gt;as pagan. But as Christianity became more&lt;BR&gt;widespread, the early church began having its&lt;BR&gt;own religious observances concurrently with&lt;BR&gt;many of the pagan celebrations, and new years&lt;BR&gt;day was no different. 
&lt;P&gt;The tradition of using a baby to signify the&lt;BR&gt;new year began in Greece around 600 BC. It was&lt;BR&gt;their tradition at that time to celebrate their&lt;BR&gt;god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a&lt;BR&gt;basket, representing the annual rebirth of that&lt;BR&gt;god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians&lt;BR&gt;also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth. 
&lt;P&gt;Other traditions of the season include the&lt;BR&gt;making of new year resolutions. That tradition&lt;BR&gt;also dates back to the early Babylonians. The&lt;BR&gt;early Babylonians' most popular resolution was&lt;BR&gt;to return borrowed farm equipment. 
&lt;P&gt;Should we celebrate new year? Should we&lt;BR&gt;participate in a festivity that has its roots&lt;BR&gt;in paganism? False worship is unclean and&lt;BR&gt;detestable in the eyes of YHWH / God, and we&lt;BR&gt;should reject practices that have such origins. 
&lt;P&gt;&quot;When you come into the land which the Adonai&lt;BR&gt;(Lord) your Elohim (God) is giving you, you&lt;BR&gt;shall not learn to follow the abominations of&lt;BR&gt;those nations.&quot; Deuteronomy 18:9 
&lt;P&gt;The Apostle Paul wrote: &quot;Do not be unequally&lt;BR&gt;yoked together with unbelievers, For what&lt;BR&gt;fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?&lt;BR&gt;And What communion has light with darkness?&quot;&lt;BR&gt;2 Corinthians 6:14 
&lt;P&gt;&quot;'Therefore, come out from amoung them and be&lt;BR&gt;separate,' says the Adonai (Lord) . 'Do not&lt;BR&gt;touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.&lt;BR&gt;I shall be a father to you, and you will be&lt;BR&gt;sons and daughters to me.'&quot; 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 
&lt;P&gt;Indeed, YHWH (God) promises eternal blessings and&lt;BR&gt;prosperity to those who are loyal to him. 
&lt;P&gt;&quot;For the Adonai (Lord) loves justice, And does not&lt;BR&gt;forsake His saints; The are preserved forever,&lt;BR&gt;but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut&lt;BR&gt;off.&quot; Psalms 37:28 
&lt;P&gt;Shalom&lt;BR&gt;Michael Grant &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;tags: pagan, holidays, festivals, Babylonian, new, Caesar, doors, two, violent, drunken, Christianity, traditions, Greece, Egyptian, Years, 1st, baal, baalism, Equinox, Roman, Romans, Julius, Jewish, Jews, blood, flowed, annual, spirit, fertility, Egypt, roots, moon, routing, wine, New, festival, Babylonians, Vernal, Janus, faces, revolutionary, festivities, baby, Dionysus, resolutions, January, holiday, Babylon, Rome, god, gates, Jew, orgies, tradition, rebirth, Egyptians&lt;/P&gt;&lt;!-- begin(Yahoo ad) --&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/click/&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/img/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmessianicmdg.blogdrive.com%2Farchive%2F7.html&amp;amp;pid=1846251505&quot; alt=&quot;Ads by Yahoo!&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- end(Yahoo ad) --&gt;</description>
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      <title>Video: Christmas unWrapped- The History of Christmas [1-5]</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/6.html</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:51:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>this is a 5 part video on the origins and history of Christmas&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/A5T5ibb2E9I&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/A5T5ibb2E9I&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/qAZDGKSveD8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/qAZDGKSveD8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/hQ3BvK1R6hI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/hQ3BvK1R6hI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/OvopeBfS89w&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/OvopeBfS89w&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/CqjQpu3cctk&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/CqjQpu3cctk&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shalom&lt;br&gt;Mike&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;tags: Nicholas, Claus, Unwrapped, Christianity, Pagan, Santa, Christmas, History, Jesus, Mithras&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- begin(Yahoo ad) --&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/click/&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/img/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmessianicmdg.blogdrive.com%2Farchive%2F6.html&amp;amp;pid=1846251505&quot; alt=&quot;Ads by Yahoo!&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- end(Yahoo ad) --&gt;</description>
      <comments>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/comments?id=6</comments>
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      <title>Video: The Truth Behind Christmas part 1, 2 &amp; 3</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/5.html</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:50:03 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>Christmas Unpackaged. This vid explores the pagan holiday where Christmas gets most of it's traditions&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/l2JXDSl_z5U&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/l2JXDSl_z5U&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/H8xzrb-O3sU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/H8xzrb-O3sU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/Wz9uFnBCGCI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/Wz9uFnBCGCI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;tags: Christmas, unpacked, videotapes, part, vid, videotaped, traditions, truth, 3, videos, holidays, pagan, 1, 2, video, videotape, videotapping, holiday&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- begin(Yahoo ad) --&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/click/&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/img/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmessianicmdg.blogdrive.com%2Farchive%2F5.html&amp;amp;pid=1846251505&quot; alt=&quot;Ads by Yahoo!&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- end(Yahoo ad) --&gt;</description>
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      <title>Video: The pagan origins of... Christmas</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/4.html</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:47:59 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>who was really born on December 25th?&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/vIogQSUCTnk&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;never&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/vIogQSUCTnk&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;never&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shalom&lt;br&gt;Mike&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;tags: tammuz, christmas, isis, xmas, nimrod, christianity, festival, lazbo4174, pagan, paganism&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- begin(Yahoo ad) --&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/click/&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ypn-rss.overture.com/rss/35557/431579/img/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmessianicmdg.blogdrive.com%2Farchive%2F4.html&amp;amp;pid=1846251505&quot; alt=&quot;Ads by Yahoo!&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- end(Yahoo ad) --&gt;</description>
      <comments>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/comments?id=4</comments>
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      <title>Heathen Origins of Christmas</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/3.html</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:46:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>Heathen Origins of Christmas&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I am going through all my booklets I have on the topic&lt;br&gt;so you can read my resources. If you want to write&lt;br&gt;an article or book on the topic please feel free to use&lt;br&gt;as you like.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Rough Notes -PAPC&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- we acknowledge the details of Yeshua's (Jesus')&lt;br&gt;birth Luke 2:10, 11&lt;br&gt;-strangely no one knows the exact date of Yeshua's&lt;br&gt;(Jesus') birth - was it December 25th?&lt;br&gt;- is this birth date, December 25th taught in Bible?&lt;br&gt;- Christmas is not taught in the Bible nor even&lt;br&gt;celebrated by the Apostles nor the first century&lt;br&gt;Congregation&lt;br&gt;- What is the origin of Christmas and the December&lt;br&gt;25th date?&lt;br&gt;- What is the origin of the Christmas Tree, lights&lt;br&gt;decorations, and Santa Claus?&lt;br&gt;- Where did these traditions come from?&lt;br&gt;- Who authorized them and for what reason?&lt;br&gt;- New Standard Encyclopedia Volume 4 Article&lt;br&gt;&quot;Christmas&quot; (Chicago, Illinois: Standard Education&lt;br&gt;Corporation, 1989), C-320 writes, &quot;Christians began&lt;br&gt;to celebrate Christmas about 200. But they&lt;br&gt;observed it on varying dates, because the exact date&lt;br&gt;of Christ's birth was unknown. In 354, December 25&lt;br&gt;was declared to be the birthday of Christ, and in&lt;br&gt;440 the pope decreed on that date. The Church at&lt;br&gt;Constantinople, however observed it for years on&lt;br&gt;January 6, and that date is still used in some Eastern&lt;br&gt;Orthodox churches.&quot; &quot;December 25 comes only a&lt;br&gt;few days after the winter solstice (about December&lt;br&gt;22). the shortest day of the year in the Northern&lt;br&gt;Hemisphere. This season had long been a period of&lt;br&gt;celebration among the pagans in many parts of the&lt;br&gt;world because it symbolized the beginning of a&lt;br&gt;new year in nature. Christmas thus replaced a pagan&lt;br&gt;holiday with a Christian one, while keeping the same&lt;br&gt;symbolism - the birthday of Christ corresponds to the&lt;br&gt;birth of the year. Many of the pagans customs became&lt;br&gt;part of the Christmas Celebration.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- Earl W Count, 4000 Years of Christmas (New York,&lt;br&gt;New York: Henry Schuman, 1948, 18 writes,&lt;br&gt;&quot;Mesopotamia is the very ancient Mother of&lt;br&gt;Civilization. Christmas began there, over 4000 years&lt;br&gt;ago, as the festival which renewed the world for&lt;br&gt;another year. The twelve days' of Christmas; the&lt;br&gt;bright fires and probably the Yule log; the giving of&lt;br&gt;presents: the carnivals with their floats, their&lt;br&gt;merrymakings and clownings, the mummers who&lt;br&gt;sing and play from house to house; the feastings;&lt;br&gt;the church processions with their lights and songs&lt;br&gt;- all these and more began there centuries before&lt;br&gt;Christ was born. And they celebrate the arrival of a&lt;br&gt;New Year.&quot; &quot;For that day [December 25] was sacred,&lt;br&gt;not only to the pagan Romans but to a religion from&lt;br&gt;Persia which, in those days, was one of Christianity's&lt;br&gt;strongest rivals. This Persian religion was Mithraism,&lt;br&gt;whose followers worshiped the sun, and celebrated&lt;br&gt;its return to strength on that day. The church finally&lt;br&gt;succeeded in taking the merriment. the greenery,&lt;br&gt;the lights, and the gifts from Saturn and giving&lt;br&gt;them to the babe of Bethlehem.&quot; &quot;It happened that&lt;br&gt;the date [December 25] did fall in the midst of the&lt;br&gt;Saturnalia. Far from being an invention to compete&lt;br&gt;against Roman and Persian paganism, the birthday&lt;br&gt;of Christ ran the danger of being swallowed up in&lt;br&gt;pagan merrymaking. The [church] Fathers tried&lt;br&gt;strenuously to keep Christmas strictly a church&lt;br&gt;celebration. It was part of their unremitting struggle&lt;br&gt;to break the grip of the pagan gods upon the people.&lt;br&gt;And they broke the grip -- after a battle of centuries.&lt;br&gt;The pagan Romans became Christians -- but the&lt;br&gt;Saturnalia remains.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- Here is the origin of the Christmas Tree:&lt;br&gt;R. Brasch, How did it Begin? (New York, New York:&lt;br&gt;David McKay Company, Inc., 1966) 332, 333 writes,&lt;br&gt;&quot;It is a fact that the Christmas tree stems primitive&lt;br&gt;pagan customs. Its main features, green foliage and&lt;br&gt;candles, were associated with the winter solstice&lt;br&gt;when nature seemed dead, and green branches and&lt;br&gt;trees were used in a magical rite to insure the return&lt;br&gt;of vegetation and the victory of light over darkness.&quot;&lt;br&gt;New Standard Encyclopedia, Volume 4, C-320 writes,&lt;br&gt;&quot;Nearly all American customs can be traced to other&lt;br&gt;countries -- the homeland of the many nationalities&lt;br&gt;represented in the United States. For instance, the&lt;br&gt;Christmas tree, usually an evergreen , was first used&lt;br&gt;in Germany.The mistletoe was sacred to the Druids,&lt;br&gt;priests of ancient Britain and Gaul. The Norse used&lt;br&gt;holly and yule log to keep away evil spirits.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- Here is the origin of the gift giving:&lt;br&gt;New Standard Encyclopedia, Volume 4, C-320 writes,&lt;br&gt;&quot;Gifts were exchanged during the Roman celebration&lt;br&gt;of Saturnalia, a feast to the god of Saturn, held&lt;br&gt;December 17-23. Gift-giving came to symbolized the&lt;br&gt;gifts brought to the Christ Child by the Three Wise&lt;br&gt;Men or Magi.&quot; Note the wise men gave gifts to&lt;br&gt;Yeshua (Jesus) not exchange gifts among themselves.&lt;br&gt;Adam Clarke, Clarke's Commentary, Volume 3 writes,&lt;br&gt;&quot;the people of the East never approach the presence&lt;br&gt;of kings and great personages without a present in&lt;br&gt;their hands.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- Here is the origin of Santa Claus:&lt;br&gt;originated from 2 Christmas traditions; 1. St Nicholas&lt;br&gt;2.Kris Kringle&lt;br&gt;- Saint Nicholas was a fourth century bishop of Myra&lt;br&gt;which is now in Turkey; Patron Saint of children; the&lt;br&gt;Dutch call him Sinterklaas&lt;br&gt;- In Germany reformers replaced Saint Nicholas with&lt;br&gt;the Christ Child or Kris Kringle and in North America&lt;br&gt;Kris Kringle became Santa Claus, in England he&lt;br&gt;became Father Christmas&lt;br&gt;- Santa Claus legendary figure who brings gifts to&lt;br&gt;children on Christmas pictured as Joly old elf who&lt;br&gt;knows if children have been naughty or nice&lt;br&gt;- Children are taught to write to Santa to tell him what&lt;br&gt;they want for Christmas or sit on his lap and tell him&lt;br&gt;their Christmas wishes&lt;br&gt;- Children are also taught it is Santa who brings the&lt;br&gt;gifts and that on one night, Christmas eve, Santa&lt;br&gt;encompasses the whole world to bring gifts to all&lt;br&gt;children everywhere in the world and that he is in&lt;br&gt;Sleigh drawn by reindeer whereby he goes from&lt;br&gt;rooftop to rooftop and even comes down every&lt;br&gt;ones chimney. Santa is a rival to Jesus in the&lt;br&gt;Christmas celebration, Children are taught to pay&lt;br&gt;attention to Santa Rather than Jesus&lt;br&gt;- Is Yeshua (Jesus) honored by all this myth and&lt;br&gt;deception?&lt;br&gt;- Was the real Yeshua (Jesus) part of Christmas in the&lt;br&gt;first place or is the Christmas Jesus a different&lt;br&gt;Jesus? Read this: 2 Corinthians 11:1 Would to God&lt;br&gt;ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed&lt;br&gt;bear with me. 2 For I am jealous over you with godly&lt;br&gt;jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband,&lt;br&gt;that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.&lt;br&gt;3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent&lt;br&gt;beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds&lt;br&gt;should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in&lt;br&gt;Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another&lt;br&gt;Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive&lt;br&gt;another spirit, which ye have not received, or another&lt;br&gt;gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well&lt;br&gt;bear with him.&lt;br&gt;- Santa is made to be a god knowing who's been&lt;br&gt;naughty or nice, actually knowing all our actions all&lt;br&gt;year long&lt;br&gt;- Santa is a Myth and the real Yeshua (Jesus) is not&lt;br&gt;- Yeshua (Jesus) is the giver of gifts and when he returns&lt;br&gt;he brings our rewards whether good or bad&lt;br&gt;Re 22:12 - And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward&lt;br&gt;is with me, to give every man according as his work&lt;br&gt;shall be. James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth&lt;br&gt;temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the&lt;br&gt;crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them&lt;br&gt;that love him.&lt;br&gt;- Mixing religious practices has never been acceptable&lt;br&gt;to YHWH. John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is,&lt;br&gt;when the true worshippers shall worship the Father&lt;br&gt;in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to&lt;br&gt;worship him. Jeremiah 10:2 Thus saith the LORD,&lt;br&gt;Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not&lt;br&gt;dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are&lt;br&gt;dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are&lt;br&gt;vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work&lt;br&gt;of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They&lt;br&gt;deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with&lt;br&gt;nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are&lt;br&gt;upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must&lt;br&gt;needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid&lt;br&gt;of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in&lt;br&gt;them to do good. 2 Corinthians 6:4 Be ye not unequally&lt;br&gt;yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship&lt;br&gt;hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what&lt;br&gt;communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what&lt;br&gt;concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he&lt;br&gt;that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement&lt;br&gt;hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple&lt;br&gt;of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them,&lt;br&gt;and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall&lt;br&gt;be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among&lt;br&gt;them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch&lt;br&gt;not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And&lt;br&gt;will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and&lt;br&gt;daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. R. Brasch, How&lt;br&gt;Did it Begin, 324 writes, &quot;It is interesting... to see how&lt;br&gt;the genius of the human mind has been able, through&lt;br&gt;the centuries to give them [heathen customs] a&lt;br&gt;different and sacred meaning&quot; Ezekiel 23:29 And they&lt;br&gt;shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all&lt;br&gt;thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and&lt;br&gt;the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered,&lt;br&gt;both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms. 30 I will do&lt;br&gt;these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a&lt;br&gt;whoring after the heathen, and because thou art&lt;br&gt;polluted with their idols. 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having&lt;br&gt;therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us&lt;br&gt;cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and&lt;br&gt;spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.&lt;br&gt;- Yeshua (Jesus) was never part of Christmas so we&lt;br&gt;cant put him back into something he was never in.&lt;br&gt;M. A. Smith, From Christ to Constantine (Dowers&lt;br&gt;Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971) 150, 151&lt;br&gt;writes, &quot;Christmas was generally celebrated in the&lt;br&gt;West only after the triumph of Constantine, when&lt;br&gt;the time of Christ's birth was reckoned with the&lt;br&gt;day of the Unconquered Sun on December 25.&quot; The&lt;br&gt;New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious&lt;br&gt;Knowledge, Volume 3, (Grand Rapids, Michigan:&lt;br&gt;Baker Book House, 1908), 48 writes, &quot;The pagan&lt;br&gt;Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched&lt;br&gt;in popular custom to be set aside by Christian&lt;br&gt;influence ... The pagan festival with its riot and&lt;br&gt;merrymaking was so popular that Christians were&lt;br&gt;glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with&lt;br&gt;little change in spirit and in manner.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Shalom&lt;br&gt;Mike&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;tags: Christmas, December, custom, 25th, Heathen, century, congregation, tree, origins, Apostles, first, trees&lt;br&gt;
 
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      <title>Pagan Roots of Christmas Resources</title>
      <link>http://messianicmdg.blogdrive.com/archive/2.html</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:44:25 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>Pagan Roots of Christmas Resources&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I am going through all my booklets I have on the topic&lt;br&gt;so you can read my resources. If you want to write&lt;br&gt;an article or book on the topic please feel free to use&lt;br&gt;as you like.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Rough Notes -PTAC&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- who was born on December 25th?&lt;br&gt;- did the Apostles or the first century Congregation celebrate&lt;br&gt;Christmas?&lt;br&gt;- what does the Bible say about Christmas trees?&lt;br&gt;- few people know where Christmas customs come from?&lt;br&gt;- people are just born with these customs already existing and&lt;br&gt;don't ever question them.&lt;br&gt;- Most people assume that these customs to be chief&lt;br&gt;observances of the true Congregation of YHWH&lt;br&gt;- Assume that these customs were celebrated by the first&lt;br&gt;century Congregation and the foundation of the true faith.&lt;br&gt;- Assume Yeshua (Jesus) was born on December 25th&lt;br&gt;- assume we exchange gifts because the wise men presented&lt;br&gt;gifts to child Yeshua (Jesus)&lt;br&gt;- Christmas means &quot;Mass of Christ&quot; which came to us from the&lt;br&gt;Catholic Church&lt;br&gt;- Catholic Church got the customs of Christmas from the Heathen&lt;br&gt;celebration Sol the Sun God&lt;br&gt;- these customs came from Baalism which the Bible condemns&lt;br&gt;as the most abominable of all idolatrous worship&lt;br&gt;- Christmas is never observed by the Apostles nor the first&lt;br&gt;century Congregation&lt;br&gt;- it is one of the fables that Apostle Paul talked about in 2 Tim 4:4&lt;br&gt;that would deceive the world in the latter days&lt;br&gt;- Christmas is of Pagan Babylonish origin&lt;br&gt;- Yeshua (Jesus) not born on December 25th not even in the&lt;br&gt;winter&lt;br&gt;- &quot;there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields,&lt;br&gt;keeping watch over their flock by night&quot; Luke 2:8&lt;br&gt;- Shepherds could not be abiding in the fields nor could their flock&lt;br&gt;be in the field in December in Palestine&lt;br&gt;- the flocks would not be in fields in winter but no later than&lt;br&gt;October 15th would be corralled and brought out of the cold rainy&lt;br&gt;season and put in stalls&lt;br&gt;- scriptural proof winter was a rainy season not allowing shepherds&lt;br&gt;to abide in the fields: Song of Solomon 2:11, Ezra 10:9, 13&lt;br&gt;- It was an ancient custom among Jews of the day to send out their&lt;br&gt;sheep to the fields and deserts about the Passover (early-spring),&lt;br&gt;and bring them home at commencement of the first rain, says the&lt;br&gt;Adam Clarke Commentary Vol 5., page 386&lt;br&gt;- this authority also states, &quot;during the time they were out, the&lt;br&gt;shepherds watched them night and day, As ... the first rain began&lt;br&gt;early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our&lt;br&gt;October and November [begins mid October], we find that the sheep&lt;br&gt;were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. And, as&lt;br&gt;these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks , it is&lt;br&gt;presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and&lt;br&gt;that, consequently, Our Lord, was not born on the 25th of December,&lt;br&gt;when no flocks were in the fields; nor could He have been born later&lt;br&gt;than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this&lt;br&gt;very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The&lt;br&gt;feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- see quotations from the Talmudist in Lightfoot&lt;br&gt;- Catholic Encyclopedia states Yeshua (Jesus) was not born on&lt;br&gt;December 25th&lt;br&gt;- Yeshua's (Jesus') date of birth is unknown&lt;br&gt;- Scriptures indicate mostlikelyhood Yeshua (Jesus) was born in early&lt;br&gt;fall probably September.&lt;br&gt;- If YHWH wanted us to observe Yeshua's (Jesus') birthday He would&lt;br&gt;not so completely hidden the exact date&lt;br&gt;- not one word in New Testament or Old Testament telling us to&lt;br&gt;observe Christmas&lt;br&gt;- The Apostles nor the first century Congregation never observed&lt;br&gt;Christmas&lt;br&gt;- no bible authority for its observance&lt;br&gt;- Catholic Encyclopedia under caption of &quot;Christmas&quot; says &quot;Christmas&lt;br&gt;was not among the earliest festivals of the Church ... The first evidence&lt;br&gt;of the feast is from Egypt&quot;&lt;br&gt;- continued: &quot;Pagan customs centering around the January calends&lt;br&gt;gravitated to Christmas.&quot; &quot;...in the scriptures, sinners alone, not&lt;br&gt;saints, celebrated their birthday.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- From Encyclopedia Britannica &quot;Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ)&lt;br&gt;Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church...&quot;&lt;br&gt;- From Encyclopedia Britannica &quot;Christmas It was, according to many&lt;br&gt;authorities, not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian&lt;br&gt;church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death&lt;br&gt;of remarkable persons rather than their birth...&quot; &quot;a feast was&lt;br&gt;established in memory of this event [Christ's birth] in the fourth&lt;br&gt;century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered it to be&lt;br&gt;celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth&lt;br&gt;of Sol, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- Roman Church ordered Christmas observance in fifth century&lt;br&gt;- Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia states in article on Christmas,&lt;br&gt;&quot;How much the date of the festival depended upon the Pagan&lt;br&gt;Brumalia (Dec. 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and&lt;br&gt;celebrating the shortest day of the year and the &quot;new sun&quot; ...&lt;br&gt;cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and&lt;br&gt;Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set&lt;br&gt;aside by Christian influence... The pagan festival with its riot and&lt;br&gt;merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an&lt;br&gt;excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and&lt;br&gt;in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East&lt;br&gt;protested against the unseemly fivolity with which Christ's birthday&lt;br&gt;was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their&lt;br&gt;Western brethren of idolatry and sun-worship for adopting as&lt;br&gt;Christian this pagan festival.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- Constantine made Christianity the state religion of the Roman&lt;br&gt;Empire in fourth century&lt;br&gt;- Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia also explains how Constantine&lt;br&gt;recognized Sunday as the new Christian sabbath which was&lt;br&gt;formerly Sunday day of Sun Worship and how influence of pagan&lt;br&gt;Manichaeism which identified the Son of God with the physical&lt;br&gt;Sun hence calling December 25th birthday of the Son of God&lt;br&gt;(birthday of the Sun-god)&lt;br&gt;- no matter what we call Christmas is still the sun-worshipping&lt;br&gt;festival&lt;br&gt;- from Encyclopedia Britannica &quot;Certain Latins, as early as 354, may&lt;br&gt;have transferred the birthday from January 6th to December 25,&lt;br&gt;which was then a Mithraic feast, ...or birthday of the unconquered&lt;br&gt;Sun ... The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6th,&lt;br&gt;accused the Romans of Sun worship and Idolatry, contending that&lt;br&gt;the feast of December 25th, had been invented by disciples of&lt;br&gt;Cerinthus...&quot;&lt;br&gt;- We got Christmas from Roman Catholics, they got it from&lt;br&gt;paganism, where did it originally come from?&lt;br&gt;- it is chief custom of corrupt system denounced in Bible prophecies&lt;br&gt;and teachings under the name of Babylon which derived from&lt;br&gt;Nimrod&lt;br&gt;- Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, real founder of Babylonish&lt;br&gt;corrupt worship system.&lt;br&gt;- a system of organized competition, man-ruled governments and&lt;br&gt;empires, based on competitive and profit-making economic system&lt;br&gt;- Gen 10:6, 8-12 records the story of Nimrod and the building of the&lt;br&gt;Tower of Babel, the original Babylon, Nineveh, and many other cities&lt;br&gt;and created the first world kingdom.&lt;br&gt;- Nimrod in Hebrew means &quot;He Rebelled&quot;&lt;br&gt;- Nimrod started the the great organized worldly apostacy from YHWH&lt;br&gt;which has dominated the world until now sifted through all the ruling&lt;br&gt;kingdoms&lt;br&gt;- Nimrod married his own mother named Semiramis.&lt;br&gt;- After Nimrods death his mother-wife propagated the doctrine of the&lt;br&gt;survival of Nimrod as a spirit being&lt;br&gt;- She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang over night from a dead&lt;br&gt;tree stump which symbolized Nimrod being resurrected from the dead&lt;br&gt;- on the anniversary of Nimrod's birth Semiramis claimed Nimrod would&lt;br&gt;visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it.&lt;br&gt;- December 25th was the birthday of Nimrod&lt;br&gt;- this is the real origin of the Christmas tree&lt;br&gt;- through scheming Semiramis became &quot;Queen of Heaven&quot; and Nimrod&lt;br&gt;under various names became the &quot;divine son of Heaven&quot;&lt;br&gt;- as generations went by Nimrod became the false Messiah the son of&lt;br&gt;Baal the Sun-god&lt;br&gt;- this false babylonish system - Mother and Child - Semiramis and&lt;br&gt;Nimrod reborn became chief objects of worship&lt;br&gt;- The &quot;Mother and Child&quot; false babylonish system spread throughout the&lt;br&gt;world under different names&lt;br&gt;- in Egypt - Iris and Osiris - in Asia - Cybele and Deoius - in Rome - Fortuna&lt;br&gt;and Jupiterpuer - in Greece, China, Japan, Tibet are found counterparts&lt;br&gt;of the original Madonna (Mother and child false babylonish system&lt;br&gt;- Rome was pagan before Christianity so the Roman pagans during the&lt;br&gt;fourth and fifth centuries were converting to Christianity by the hundreds&lt;br&gt;of thousands because they could observe their old pagan customs in&lt;br&gt;Christianity as Christianity adopted them changing their names to&lt;br&gt;Christian sounding names.&lt;br&gt;- it was the habit of Christianity to overtake and rename certain forms of&lt;br&gt;paganism and assimilate it into Christianity&lt;br&gt;- we just never questioned whether these customs came from the Bible&lt;br&gt;or from pagan idolatry&lt;br&gt;- this babylonish pagan idolatrous worship system Satan has used for&lt;br&gt;centuries to deceive the world&lt;br&gt;- in Egypt was always believed the son of Iris (Queen of Heaven) was&lt;br&gt;born on December 25th and paganism celebrated this famous birthday&lt;br&gt;over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of Yeshua&lt;br&gt;(Jesus)&lt;br&gt;- The Apostles did not celebrate this famous birthday, Yeshua (Jesus)&lt;br&gt;was not born on December 25th, there is no command in the Bible to&lt;br&gt;celebrate it, and the celebrating of birthdays is Heathen custom&lt;br&gt;- no where in the Bible does it command us to worship Mother and Child,&lt;br&gt;the Apostles did not worship this Mother and Child&lt;br&gt;- Sure Miriam (Mary) is written in the scriptures Luke 1:28, 42, 48 but no&lt;br&gt;where is it commanded that we worship Miriam (Mary)&lt;br&gt;- No where in Scripture is Miriam (Mary) commanded to be worshipped,&lt;br&gt;deified, made a divine being.&lt;br&gt;- erroneous doctrines about Miriam includes worshipping her as&lt;br&gt;Mother of God, doctrine of Immaculate conception, her as an&lt;br&gt;intercessor between God and Man,&lt;br&gt;- the deified Miriam (Mary) originated from Semiramis the Queen of&lt;br&gt;Heaven the wife/mother of Nimrod&lt;br&gt;- this Chaldean Mystery founded by wife of Nimrod was handed down to&lt;br&gt;Christianity renamed Christmas&lt;br&gt;- how did we get Holly Wreath, Mistletoe, and Yule Log - was used at&lt;br&gt;festival of Winter Solstice because was considered sacred to the Sun&lt;br&gt;because of its miraculous healing power&lt;br&gt;- kissing under the mistletoe was an early step in the night of revelry and&lt;br&gt;drunken debauchery&lt;br&gt;- celebrating the death of the old sun and the birth of the new sun at&lt;br&gt;the Winter Solstice&lt;br&gt;- Mistletoe, sacred in pagan festivals is a parasite&lt;br&gt;- Holly berries were also sacred to the Sun-god&lt;br&gt;- The Yule log is Sun log - Yule means wheel and is a pagan symbol for&lt;br&gt;the Sun this is the origin of the so called sacred Yuletide season&lt;br&gt;- The Americanna writes, &quot;The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log ... are&lt;br&gt;relics of pre-Christian times&quot;&lt;br&gt;- Paganism the book, Answers to Questions by Frederick J Haskins&lt;br&gt;writes, &quot;The use of Christmas wreaths is believed by authorities to&lt;br&gt;be traceable to the pagan customs of decorating buildings and places&lt;br&gt;of worship at the feast which took place at the same time as&lt;br&gt;Christmas. The Christmas Tree is from Egypt and its origin dates&lt;br&gt;from a period long anterior to the Christmas era.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- What about Santa Claus? - the name Santa Claus is a corruption of&lt;br&gt;the name St Nicholas, a Roman Catholic bishop from 5th century&lt;br&gt;- Encyclopedia Britannica Vol 19 11th edition pages 648-9 writes,&lt;br&gt;&quot;St Nicholas, bishop of Myra ... a saint honored by the Greeks and&lt;br&gt;Latins on the sixth of December ... A legend of his surreptitious&lt;br&gt;bestowal of dowries on the three daughters of an impoverished citizen&lt;br&gt;... is said to have originated the old custom of giving presents in secret&lt;br&gt;of the eve of St Nicholas [Dec 6] subsequently transferred to&lt;br&gt;Christmas day. Hence the association of Christmas with&lt;br&gt;Santa Claus...&quot;&lt;br&gt;- throughout the year parents punish their kids for telling falsehoods&lt;br&gt;but at Christmas they themselves tell their children the Santa Claus&lt;br&gt;lie&lt;br&gt;- Is it Biblical to teach your children Myths and Falsehoods?&lt;br&gt;- may seem right to man but here is what Bible says:&lt;br&gt;Pr 14:12 - There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the&lt;br&gt;way of death. Pr 16:25 - There is a way that seems right to a man, But&lt;br&gt;its end is the way of death.&lt;br&gt;- Old Nick is a term for the devil and Satan appears as an angel of light&lt;br&gt;so says scripture - 2Co 11:14 - And no marvel; for Satan himself is&lt;br&gt;transformed into an angel of light.&lt;br&gt;- What the Bible says about the Christmas Tree -&lt;br&gt;Jeremiah 10:1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you,&lt;br&gt;O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the&lt;br&gt;heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen&lt;br&gt;are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain:&lt;br&gt;for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the&lt;br&gt;workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they&lt;br&gt;fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are&lt;br&gt;upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne,&lt;br&gt;because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil,&lt;br&gt;neither also is it in them to do good. 6 Forasmuch as there is none&lt;br&gt;like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in&lt;br&gt;might.&lt;br&gt;- We are told not to learn the way of the Heathen and this scripture&lt;br&gt;describes what YHWH views as Idolatry&lt;br&gt;- is exchanging gifts Biblical? - Christmas Shopping Season -&lt;br&gt;Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol 12 pages 153-155 writes, &quot;The Interchange of&lt;br&gt;presents between friends is alike characteristic of Christmas and the&lt;br&gt;Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the Pagans,&lt;br&gt;as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows.&quot;&lt;br&gt;- exchanging gifts does not honor Yeshua's (Jesus') birthday or honor&lt;br&gt;him. how does exchanging gifts and ignoring the persons who's birthday&lt;br&gt;it is honor that person?&lt;br&gt;- People honor a birth date that is not Yeshua's (Jesus') scrape together&lt;br&gt;every dime they can buying presents to trade back and forth but do&lt;br&gt;people give gifts to Yeshua and his cause?&lt;br&gt;- consider this scripture - Matthew 2: 1 Now when Jesus was born in&lt;br&gt;Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came&lt;br&gt;wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born&lt;br&gt;King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to&lt;br&gt;worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was&lt;br&gt;troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the&lt;br&gt;chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them&lt;br&gt;where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem&lt;br&gt;of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem,&lt;br&gt;in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for&lt;br&gt;out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.&lt;br&gt;7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of&lt;br&gt;them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to&lt;br&gt;Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child;&lt;br&gt;and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come&lt;br&gt;and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed;&lt;br&gt;and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it&lt;br&gt;came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw&lt;br&gt;the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were&lt;br&gt;come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother,&lt;br&gt;and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their&lt;br&gt;treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense,&lt;br&gt;and myrrh. - did they present gifts because it was his birthday? They&lt;br&gt;did not come on his birthday it took many days actually 2 years&lt;br&gt;(Matthew 2:16) it took the wise men to get there. The wise men&lt;br&gt;presented gifts to the Yeshua (Jesus) child not baby and did not&lt;br&gt;exchange gifts amongst themselves.&lt;br&gt;- Adam Clarke Commentary Vol 5, page 46 writes, &quot;Verse 11, (They&lt;br&gt;presented unto him gifts). the people of the east never approach the&lt;br&gt;presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their&lt;br&gt;hands. The custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still&lt;br&gt;prevails in the east and in some of the newly discovered South Sea&lt;br&gt;Islands.&quot; They were not instituting the custom of exchanging&lt;br&gt;gifts for Christmas but rather following an old eastern custom to&lt;br&gt;present gifts to a King.&lt;br&gt;- Christmas is part of the Idolatrous Babylonish Worship System that&lt;br&gt;YHWH calls his people out of. Read Revelation 17-18:4&lt;br&gt;- The Christmas Spirit is created annually to sell Merchandise&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;tags: Yeshua, Christ, Catholic, heathen, pagan, YHWH, baal, customs, exchange, gifts, baalism, roots, December, tree, god, Nimrod, Christmas, Apostles, first, custom, church, sol, sun, congregation, trees, 25th, century, Jesus, mass&lt;br&gt;
 
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