For the first three hundred years after the Day of Pentecost, Christians never participated in days of festivals such as Christmas, Easter, Lent, Saint Patrick's Day, Halloween, Mardi Gras, eating fish on Fridays, infant baptism, rubbing ashes on foreheads of believers, praying to the souls of dead people, nor with the hope that their belief in Christ would eventually become the State Religion of the Roman Empire.
All of these teachings, these traditions, these rites and these rituals came to us out of Paganism, from a collection of various religions invented by men, and they have been incorporated within the Christian culture, fully accepted as normal, and worthy to be believed as holy days.
For the first three hundred years after the Day of Pentecost, the apostles and disciples of Christ preached Christ and Christ alone. They preached Christ and nothing else. They never preached that Christ came to earth to launch a new religion, filled with rites and rituals out of the religions of the earth.
For the first three hundred years, Christians were considered to be the enemy of religion as well as the enemy of Rome. So then, why would Rome suddenly turn its face and embrace the One they helped to crucify in Jerusalem?
By human nature, we want to believe that all the things we believe are true.
By human nature, we do not want to believe that can be wrong about anything.
By human nature, we do not want to believe that we can be deceived, or led astray, or tricked.
By human nature, we do not want to believe that ministers, preachers, pastors, and priests can be wrong about anything, deceived, led astray, or tricked. Instead, we want to believe that these leaders are even holy men---incapable of being wrong, and even incapable of being sinners.
Even after Rome accepted Christianity as the State Religion of the Empire in 326 A.D., the leaders of Rome never repented for their sins. They never repented for their persecutions and murders of Christians for three hundred years. They simply went on living as if nothing had happened.
Even after this acceptance of Christianity by Rome, the persecutions and murders of Christians continued for hundreds of years thereafter by the leaders of Almighty Rome: for they believed and taught their converts to believe that the killing of Christians was their Christian duty: to rid the world of infidels, or people who would not kneel to Almighty Rome, and that these infidels were worthy of death.
During this period of hundreds of years, Almighty Rome embraced and accepted holiday festivals out of Paganism and deemed them to be holy days of Christianity, which people have believed as truth.
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase into more ungodliness." (2nd Timothy 2: 15-16)
The purpose of this blog today is to encourage Christians to study the Word of the Lord. For unless we are willing to search and research for truth, we will believe in any doctrine or tradition known to men. For if we accept days of festivals, with all the rites and rituals out of Paganism, we will become Pagans, the truth of the Lord will not be in us, and we will become double minded.
To know Christ, however, is to let go of all the things that constrain us. To let go of religion, to let go of the ways of Paganism. For it is impossible to have one foot in Christ while having the other foot still stuck in the world of Paganism, still stuck in the days of festivals, or living for the days of parties and celebrations when we dress in Pagan costumes and dance the dance that Pagans dance.
For as people in churches reject Christ, but hold fast to their days of festivals as holy days, then their behaviors and attitudes are the same as the founders of Almighty Rome, and that ridding the world of Christians (or infidels) is their Christian duty by the Pagan belief that such people are worthy of death, and that they should be willing partners in religious homicides. How Pagan is that!
For Pagans, their faith will always be in their days of festivals, for these are the days they live for as the evidence of their religious convictions.
As Christians, let us always remember that our faith is in Christ and in Christ alone. This way we will not be consumed by the days of festivals. But let us also remember that we, too, were once Pagans---until we met Christ.
Jesus said,
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3: 3)
What shall we do, then, with these words of Jesus?
Will be believe in Him and be saved from our sin?
Or shall we ignore His words and continue to believe in Paganism?
All of these teachings, these traditions, these rites and these rituals came to us out of Paganism, from a collection of various religions invented by men, and they have been incorporated within the Christian culture, fully accepted as normal, and worthy to be believed as holy days.
For the first three hundred years after the Day of Pentecost, the apostles and disciples of Christ preached Christ and Christ alone. They preached Christ and nothing else. They never preached that Christ came to earth to launch a new religion, filled with rites and rituals out of the religions of the earth.
For the first three hundred years, Christians were considered to be the enemy of religion as well as the enemy of Rome. So then, why would Rome suddenly turn its face and embrace the One they helped to crucify in Jerusalem?
By human nature, we want to believe that all the things we believe are true.
By human nature, we do not want to believe that can be wrong about anything.
By human nature, we do not want to believe that we can be deceived, or led astray, or tricked.
By human nature, we do not want to believe that ministers, preachers, pastors, and priests can be wrong about anything, deceived, led astray, or tricked. Instead, we want to believe that these leaders are even holy men---incapable of being wrong, and even incapable of being sinners.
Even after Rome accepted Christianity as the State Religion of the Empire in 326 A.D., the leaders of Rome never repented for their sins. They never repented for their persecutions and murders of Christians for three hundred years. They simply went on living as if nothing had happened.
Even after this acceptance of Christianity by Rome, the persecutions and murders of Christians continued for hundreds of years thereafter by the leaders of Almighty Rome: for they believed and taught their converts to believe that the killing of Christians was their Christian duty: to rid the world of infidels, or people who would not kneel to Almighty Rome, and that these infidels were worthy of death.
During this period of hundreds of years, Almighty Rome embraced and accepted holiday festivals out of Paganism and deemed them to be holy days of Christianity, which people have believed as truth.
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase into more ungodliness." (2nd Timothy 2: 15-16)
The purpose of this blog today is to encourage Christians to study the Word of the Lord. For unless we are willing to search and research for truth, we will believe in any doctrine or tradition known to men. For if we accept days of festivals, with all the rites and rituals out of Paganism, we will become Pagans, the truth of the Lord will not be in us, and we will become double minded.
To know Christ, however, is to let go of all the things that constrain us. To let go of religion, to let go of the ways of Paganism. For it is impossible to have one foot in Christ while having the other foot still stuck in the world of Paganism, still stuck in the days of festivals, or living for the days of parties and celebrations when we dress in Pagan costumes and dance the dance that Pagans dance.
For as people in churches reject Christ, but hold fast to their days of festivals as holy days, then their behaviors and attitudes are the same as the founders of Almighty Rome, and that ridding the world of Christians (or infidels) is their Christian duty by the Pagan belief that such people are worthy of death, and that they should be willing partners in religious homicides. How Pagan is that!
For Pagans, their faith will always be in their days of festivals, for these are the days they live for as the evidence of their religious convictions.
As Christians, let us always remember that our faith is in Christ and in Christ alone. This way we will not be consumed by the days of festivals. But let us also remember that we, too, were once Pagans---until we met Christ.
Jesus said,
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3: 3)
What shall we do, then, with these words of Jesus?
Will be believe in Him and be saved from our sin?
Or shall we ignore His words and continue to believe in Paganism?
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