Topic : 11/01 Is This Normal?

Shellita, I found it interesting how you said us Christians would be judged for celebrating Christmas.  Ever read a little book called the Bible? 

 

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 

 

THAT, my dear, is in the book of Matthew.  I'm not half as worried about the judgement I face because I bought my kid a Barbie this year than the judgement YOU face for judging me.  You are just a cheapskate that used a bunch of propoganda websites to back your frugal nature.  The websites you are looking on are ALSO the ones that showed a bunch of kids in a blurry photo worshipping Satan because they read Harry Potter, and that was proven to be a HOAX provided to these "well-meaning Christians" BY Harry Potter fans to make zealot Christians look stupid because they thought Harry Potter was a Satanist guidebook. 

 

So, pardon me if I'm not a jerk like you.  I'll let my kids have the magic of Christmas for a little while longer.  I'll let my kids dress as princesses and trick or treat in our neighborhoods.  I'll let the kids look for plastic eggs in my mother's front yard.  I'll give my husband a big box of chocolates in a cardboard box.  And I WON'T worry about you being a world-class hypocrite by slamming your relatives and their beliefs, all the while waiting for your handout.  You are a real piece of work.

I want to say up that I think Shelita is a NUT CASE.  I'm sorry that is just how I feel.  Last night was Halloween and my husband and I had a WONDERFUL doling out the candy to our dozens and dozens of trick or treaters.  We had lady bugs, and football plays and princesses galore.  I don't think God was frowning on me as I dished out Hershey Bars and Tootsie Pops to the children of my neighborhood.  For the past two Christmases my husband and I have participated in a program in which we buy Christmas gifts for a child who's parrent is incarcerated in a state prison.  Last year my husband went out and bought a few gifts for our unborn daughter ( I was eight months along) because he loved her and he didn't want her to feel left out!!!

It doesn't matter what the exact day of Christ's birth is, it only matters that we honor his birth and we try to follow everyday.

Shelita is right...with just a little research, people will know that many of the holidays the world celebrates (including Christmas and Easter) have pagan origins.  Shelita is not wrong if she chooses not to celebrate these holidays.  Right now, it appears that she would be sinning against her own conscience if she did so.

 

As a Christian and a serious student of Christ's teachings, however, I believe that as she grows in her faith, she will realize that it is possible to celebrate these things as "holidays", not "holy days".  When each of these holidays comes around, we emphasize to our kids that these are not holy days...and exactly what the issues are with them.  We then conclude by saying, "but it is good that the world recognizes the birth (or the death, burial and ressurection) of Christ at least one day a year."  For us, Easter is about candy and colored eggs only; Christmas is about the spirit of giving, the love of family and presents; Thanksgiving is about family time and good food, etc.  I can not , however, find anything redemptive about Halloween.  I blast this holiday to my kids, but I do let them go to their school's Fall Festival to get some candy--no witch and ghoul costumes, of course!

 

Not trying to tell you how to raise your kids, Shelita, but balance can be created by distinguishing the difference between "holidays" versus "holy days."  There is scriptural basis for this.

 

I agree with you all:  STARTING CHRISTMAS THE DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN!  One year a few years back, something NOT NORMAL that I did was I put up my Christmas tree on Halloween night while all the kids were trick or treating and handing out candy at the same time.....  And when the costumed kids said:  "Why are you putting up your Christmas tree on Halloween?"  I answered:  "Hey, here's your candy, you just chill out and mind your own beeswax kid; and move along to the next house."  And as they walked away....  "Mommy, why is that lady putting up their Christmas tree on Halloween?"  "I don't know dear, let's just go to the next house....."  **laugh**

 My husband and I celebrate all the holidays and we have three young children. They understand that it is all for fun. Halloween is just a fun time to get dressed up in a costume (nothing scary is allowed) and go treating for candy we do not take this holiday seriously or make it into a something is shouldn't be it's just something fun for the kids. As far as Easter, and Christmas yes we do celebrate these and our kids do believe there is a santa claus and and easter bunny, however they do see the true meaning behind them (though we do understand that Christ may not have been born on this actual day it is the fact of celebrating his life) Our children our taught that we exchange gifts in the loving manner that God gave us this gift of his son and we celebrate by exchanging gifts to our loved ones as well. As far as easter goes again  these may not have been the actual dates, but we do remember that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and that he was resurrected and we do celebrate these occassions in this manner. We allow our children to be children and have fun as long as they can because they are only children once and they all grow up too soon and it is a true blessing for our family to see the innocense of children on these days. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Let me give you a big A-men sister! 

i thought santa was real too,well relly santa is very real, we each make it so that one time a year when we remember what it was like to be a child and all the excitement we felt counting the days down till christmas day, boy ohh boy do i remember,lol, that kind of makes you sorry you have to grow up in a way, bit getting to see the faces of children smile even if its only for just that one day a year its a time when familys should come togather as a family, most of the children are too small to understand why every one is gathering so the toys from santa relly give them something to do on that day when we adults get to see family members we havent seen in years,it dose get them out from under foot so we adults can carry on a conversation with each other,but relly dosent it just give you a warm feeling inside to see the joy on your childrens faces as they open the gifts you bought- or hand made them,christmas is one day of the year there should be peace on earth just for that one day,

She is right, however she still has more research and studying of the Bible to do if she truly wants to please God.  I don't believe she was being judgmental toward anyone else, just stating what she believes the bible to say. Eph. 5:10, 11: "Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord; and quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness, but rather, even be reproving them." Remember, the Bible does say that the wages of sin are death.

 

The bible tells us not to take part in "traditions of man" or to be making festivals of seasons, etc.

 

A genuine love for Jehovah [God] and a strong desire to be pleasing to him will help a person break free from unchristian practices that may have had emotional appeal. A person who really knows and loves Jehovah [God] does not feel that by shunning practices that honor false gods or that promote falsehood he is in any way deprived of happiness. Genuine love causes him to rejoice, not over unrighteousness, but with the truth. See 1 Corinthians 13:6. (information taken from Reasoning from the Scriptures)

 

We don't need traditions of society to dictate to us how or when to be giving or kind. Charity begins at home and occurs on a daily basis as is needed -our neighbors, our friends, our families, and others with whom we come in contact.

 

As for me, I would much rather put my efforts toward pleasing God rather than man. Man has no power over my eternal life, but God does!

 

I leave you all with this thought:  The bible tells us that if we continue seeking the truth, it will find us.