Should Christians Really Be 'Saving Christmas'?
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Guest Column-
A friend sent me a trailer of “Saving Christmas” a couple of months ago. When I saw the title, I wondered as to the movie’s premise. As the preview played on the screen before me, one message took center stage. Subsequent reviews of the movie have confirmed what I suspected.
“Saving Christmas” is not about redeeming the religious message of Christmas from Secular Humanists and Atheists. It isn’t about trying to convince the powers that be, who refer to this as a “post Christian nation,” to allow nativity scenes on government lawns. That segment of society may want greetings like “Happy Holidays” to replace “Merry Christmas,” but that doesn’t stop people from all over the world who have no belief in the Father or Son from celebrating Dec. 25. I am convinced that if the holiday was truly God given, most unbelievers wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Leviticus 23 bears this out. His Feast Days are ignored by most of the world.
So what is the message of Saving Christmas? In a nutshell, the movie’s central theme is to save Christmas from ... Christians. Its attempt is to show believers that regardless of what they may have heard from a few family members or friends, there isn’t anything wrong with the holiday and that we should enjoy all of the festivities associated with it. In that respect, Mr. Cameron has not only the agreement of the vast majority of the laity, but also the resounding approval of church leaders from all over the world. From all appearances Christmas is very much alive, so I am left wondering, “What was the motivation behind the making of the film?”
In case you’re wondering, I think that Kirk Cameron is a sincere man. All of this goes much deeper than one man or a movie. The heart of the matter is that people around the world are finding out that the holiday is Pagan and that it has nothing to do with the birth of the Savior, and have therefore stopped celebrating it. Christ-mas was set into place in 349 AD by Roman Emperor Constantine and Pope Julius because it was seen as a way to blend the Pagan practices of winter solstice and the birthday celebrations of all sun gods, including Tammuz – the first to be called Baal, with the followers of The Way. All that was essentially changed were the names. The birthdays of the sun gods were well established and observed on Dec. 25 for over 1,000 years before the promised Messiah was born. For believers to think that Christmas is all about Christ is unfortunately a lie, no matter who tells us it isn’t, how much reverence we give to it, or how good it makes us feel to participate in its traditions.
The Creator told us how He wanted to be worshiped and that included not being worshiped in the ways that heathens worship their gods (Deuteronomy 12:28-32). No matter how we view it, it is spiritual adultery to Him (Exodus 32 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-12). We cannot mix holy with unholy and think that He will be pleased. Ironically enough, Christmas wasn’t even allowed in this country until the 1800s because of that reason and because of the debauchery that surrounded its celebrations. Although its origins go back to Babylon, the Christmas tradition has only been in our midst, so-to-speak, for less than a couple of hundred years but its grip is tight. I have found that people take this holiday very personally. It is as though all of the trimmings, traditions and memories have been woven into our very fabric; and I suspect that was the enemy’s plan from the very beginning. That one way or another, he would be worshiped. Even if he had to pull the wool over the eyes of people in order to do it.
Where does this leave us? Based upon biblical and historical evidence, plus the commands seen in Scripture, a minority of believers have chosen not to celebrate Christmas, and rather than respecting their beliefs, a movie has been made highlighting them. The results of which are that arguments have ensued and those who have opted out of the celebration of Dec. 25 are being mocked, laughed at and pitied or worse – by Christians. It would grieve me even more if that was the desired outcome all along.
Barna Research Group’s findings from 2009 contained the following quote: “The problem facing the Christian church is not that people lack a complete set of beliefs; the problem is that they have a full slate of beliefs in mind, which they think are consistent with biblical teachings, and they are neither open to being proven wrong nor to learning new insights.”
https://www.barna.org/barna-update/faith-spirituality/325-barna-studies-the-research-offers-a-year-in-review-perspective#.UqxF7Rpuk5t
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmXJsxun2A8
Jeremiah 29:12-13[[In-content Ad]]
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A friend sent me a trailer of “Saving Christmas” a couple of months ago. When I saw the title, I wondered as to the movie’s premise. As the preview played on the screen before me, one message took center stage. Subsequent reviews of the movie have confirmed what I suspected.
“Saving Christmas” is not about redeeming the religious message of Christmas from Secular Humanists and Atheists. It isn’t about trying to convince the powers that be, who refer to this as a “post Christian nation,” to allow nativity scenes on government lawns. That segment of society may want greetings like “Happy Holidays” to replace “Merry Christmas,” but that doesn’t stop people from all over the world who have no belief in the Father or Son from celebrating Dec. 25. I am convinced that if the holiday was truly God given, most unbelievers wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Leviticus 23 bears this out. His Feast Days are ignored by most of the world.
So what is the message of Saving Christmas? In a nutshell, the movie’s central theme is to save Christmas from ... Christians. Its attempt is to show believers that regardless of what they may have heard from a few family members or friends, there isn’t anything wrong with the holiday and that we should enjoy all of the festivities associated with it. In that respect, Mr. Cameron has not only the agreement of the vast majority of the laity, but also the resounding approval of church leaders from all over the world. From all appearances Christmas is very much alive, so I am left wondering, “What was the motivation behind the making of the film?”
In case you’re wondering, I think that Kirk Cameron is a sincere man. All of this goes much deeper than one man or a movie. The heart of the matter is that people around the world are finding out that the holiday is Pagan and that it has nothing to do with the birth of the Savior, and have therefore stopped celebrating it. Christ-mas was set into place in 349 AD by Roman Emperor Constantine and Pope Julius because it was seen as a way to blend the Pagan practices of winter solstice and the birthday celebrations of all sun gods, including Tammuz – the first to be called Baal, with the followers of The Way. All that was essentially changed were the names. The birthdays of the sun gods were well established and observed on Dec. 25 for over 1,000 years before the promised Messiah was born. For believers to think that Christmas is all about Christ is unfortunately a lie, no matter who tells us it isn’t, how much reverence we give to it, or how good it makes us feel to participate in its traditions.
The Creator told us how He wanted to be worshiped and that included not being worshiped in the ways that heathens worship their gods (Deuteronomy 12:28-32). No matter how we view it, it is spiritual adultery to Him (Exodus 32 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-12). We cannot mix holy with unholy and think that He will be pleased. Ironically enough, Christmas wasn’t even allowed in this country until the 1800s because of that reason and because of the debauchery that surrounded its celebrations. Although its origins go back to Babylon, the Christmas tradition has only been in our midst, so-to-speak, for less than a couple of hundred years but its grip is tight. I have found that people take this holiday very personally. It is as though all of the trimmings, traditions and memories have been woven into our very fabric; and I suspect that was the enemy’s plan from the very beginning. That one way or another, he would be worshiped. Even if he had to pull the wool over the eyes of people in order to do it.
Where does this leave us? Based upon biblical and historical evidence, plus the commands seen in Scripture, a minority of believers have chosen not to celebrate Christmas, and rather than respecting their beliefs, a movie has been made highlighting them. The results of which are that arguments have ensued and those who have opted out of the celebration of Dec. 25 are being mocked, laughed at and pitied or worse – by Christians. It would grieve me even more if that was the desired outcome all along.
Barna Research Group’s findings from 2009 contained the following quote: “The problem facing the Christian church is not that people lack a complete set of beliefs; the problem is that they have a full slate of beliefs in mind, which they think are consistent with biblical teachings, and they are neither open to being proven wrong nor to learning new insights.”
https://www.barna.org/barna-update/faith-spirituality/325-barna-studies-the-research-offers-a-year-in-review-perspective#.UqxF7Rpuk5t
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmXJsxun2A8
Jeremiah 29:12-13[[In-content Ad]]
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