CHRISTMAS

A
Actually that was you. You said you had righteous indignation if I recall and were spewing at the mouth. But u seem better now. Im glad. Dont spread false gossip. Dont make me digg up the thread...

Ahhh, a Calvinist swine. Now it all makes sense. Get behind me, little tare.

Celebrating the true meaning of Christmas can not be wrong. After all, the world waited thousands of years for the savior to come. The angels thought it was worth celebrating. It is the fulfillment of prophecies that go all the way back to the Garden of Eden. I celebrate Christmas every day with gratitude. The savior was born into this world as the lamb of God without spot or blemish to take away the sin of the world. God wants us back!

Joy to the World! The Lord Is Come – Words by Isaac Watts, 1719

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Beautiful. Amen. Amen.

I enjoy all of the secular traditions because it's joyful and beautiful, as long as I remember the reason for the season there's nothing wrong with mistletoe

look mr. high-seas' ceasar has joined us. blackbeard welcome friend

Glad to grace you with my presence

Another great hymn celebrating the birth of our Lord.

“O Holy Night”

Original French lyrics by Placide Cappeau, 1843

Translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight, 1855

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth;
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;

Chorus
Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born.
O night, O holy night, O night divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming;
With glowing hearts by his cradle we stand:
So, led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land,
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend;

Chorus
He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger!
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King! your King! before him bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease,
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful Chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise his Holy name!

Chorus
Christ is the Lord, then ever! ever praise we!
His pow'r and glory, evermore proclaim!
His pow'r and glory, evermore proclaim!

2Timothy 2:24-25 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.

At the end of the day, we can't force anyone to see things the way we do. Quarreling and insulting each other is not pleasing to God.

Once you have made your point, leave it there. If you feel that someone is wrong, better to pray for them than to argue with them.

whatever it is you are spreading in the name of Jesus, I do not want it

one day you may learn better and wish you had not said and done these things

apparently that time has not yet come

don't expect me to respond to you again. you have not changed since the last time you came in swinging in all directions

so let's see

the devil must hate Christmas because he has so many little helpers trying to wipe it out

the heavens opened and the shepherds saw myriads of angels rejoicing in the birth of the Son of God

God's gift to mankind

God healing the impossible rift created by sin

and those who hate that choir, while saying they love God, try to shame, condemn and curse and judge

they bring judgement back on themselves and never understand why they just cannot have a 'breakthrough'

there is a vast difference between saying you don't like or you don't want to put up a tree or whatever and spitting hatred at people and basically creating a vile atmosphere

and all the while telling others how they are not Christlike or not Christian etc etc

while having hatred in their heart towards others

We sure cant force someone to love God and put His ways first and foremost. People want to follow their neighborhood pastor or "calvin" or "martin luther" etc. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. God bless you Kim. I enjoy your posts.

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “A s I live , says the Lord , every knee shall bow to M e , A nd every tongue shall give praise to G od .” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
Romans 14:4‭-‬23 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/rom.14.4-23.NASB

I was thinking about posting this scripture but you beat me to it..

Romans 14: KJV
5 "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. {6} He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks."

To add on the Magi - history has chosen to honor three, but the actual number is unknown (although it was more than two), and the names, of course, are later "inventions".

I believe them to have been, as their name suggests, practitioners of "magick" (not sorcery). That is, learned astrologers and ones wise in the ways of arcane knowledge. I don't see "magi" as being anything negative at all. Likely from Persia, though Arabia has also been suggested due to the origin of frankincense and myrrh (almost impossible to grow naturally outside the Arabian Peninsula). If they were Persian, they were possibly Zoroastrian.

As afar as the gifts go - I have always wondered if these too were added to the narrative due to their symbolic meaning, or were they actual historical tradition. The value of said gifts goes without saying; particularly the resins - both worth more than gold.

As an aside, the Köllner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) has the Shrine of the Three Kings (the largest reliquary in the western world) - reputedly containing the remains of the Magi. Originally the remains were situated in Constantinople, later brought to Milan, and then "acquired" by Barbarossa and brought to Cologne. The coat of arms of the city, which are at least 1,000 years old, has three gold crowns on the top representing the three Magi.

Matthew 15:12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”
13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted,14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

This year the solstice is on December 21.

It's always between the 20th and 23rd

first words that came to mind today on this thread

barnacle brain

use sparingly and claim ignorance