4,000 Years of Christmas

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4,000 Years of Christmas


article by Gary Petty





'Tis the season for mistletoe and decorating the tree. But the origins of Christmas may surprise you. Did you know one of the American colonies outlawed observance of this holiday in 1659?







Source: Photos.comIt's called the spirit of Christmas—the ringing of sleigh bells on a snowy night, Tiny Tim turning the heart of Scrooge in Charles Dickens' famous novel A Christmas Carol, Santa Claus and flying reindeer.



For many, it seems, the birth of Jesus takes a backseat to mythology, packed shopping malls and greed. Every year, signs in front of neighborhood churches remind people to put Christ back into Christmas—or proclaim "Jesus is the reason for the season."



But is He?



In his 1997 book 4,000 Years of Christmas: A Gift From the Ages , Episcopal priest Earl Count enthusiastically relates historical connections between the exchanging of gifts on the 12 days of Christmas and customs originating in ancient, pagan Babylon. He shows that mistletoe was adopted from Druid mystery rituals and that Dec. 25 has more to do with the ancient Roman Saturnalia celebration than with Jesus.



Early Church celebration?

Nowhere in the New Testament do we see Jesus' disciples observing His birthday. In fact, as late as the third century the early Catholic theologian Origen declared that it was a sin to celebrate Christmas, viewing it as pagan.



First-century Corinth was a Greek city filled with polytheistic religions. Its customs included temple prostitution and priests who performed sacrifices to the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods.



The apostle Paul writes to the Church members there in 1 Corinthians 10:19-21 [19] What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?

[20] But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

[21] Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.





See All...: "What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons."



Paul clearly warns people to avoid having anything to do with pagan religious customs, labeling such actions "fellowship with demons"!



Familiar to early Christians was the Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival celebrated during the last days of December in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. Many ancient religions conducted festivals at that time of year, the time of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, when days are the shortest, to appease the various gods to restore the sun and bring an end to winter.



The Roman Saturnalia included drunkenness, debauchery and other practices diametrically opposed to the teachings of Christ. Yet this holiday would eventually develop into Christmas. What happened to change many Christians from Paul's practice of abhorring and resisting pagan forms of worship to accepting and participating in such practices in the name of Jesus Christ?



Tremendous forces pressured early Christians away from the apostles' original instruction to avoid mixing idolatry with the worship of the true God. Thousands of pagans, while outwardly converting to Christianity, refused to give up the rituals and ceremonies of their former religious experiences.



Dr. Count sums up this historical struggle: "To the pagans, the Saturnalia were fun. To the Christians, the Saturnalia were an abomination in homage to a disreputable god who had no existence anyway. The Christians, moreover, were dedicated to the slow, uphill task of converting these roistering pagan Romans.



"There were many immigrants into the ranks of the Christians by this time, but the Church Fathers discovered to their alarm that they were also facing an invasion of pagan customs. The habit of the Saturnalia was too strong to be left behind. At first the church forbade it, but in vain. When a river meets a boulder that will not be moved, the river flows around it. If the Saturnalia would not be forbidden, let it be tamed" (p. 36).



Why a Dec. 25 celebration?

The church adopted Dec. 25—the date of the ending of the Roman Brumalia, immediately after Saturnalia—as the date of Christ's birth (even though biblical evidence shows this cannot be the right time of this event).



This date also marked a great festival in Mithraism, the Persian religion of the sun god. In A.D. 274 Emperor Aurelian of Rome declared Dec. 25 to be the "birthday of the invincible sun." In time the Son of God, Jesus Christ, became indistinguishable from the pagan sun god in the minds of hundreds of thousands of converts throughout the Roman Empire.



Instead of standing as Christ's force for change in the world, nominal Christianity was changed by the pagan world it was supposed to transform!



Dr. Count relates: "There exists a letter from the year 742 AD, in which Saint Boniface . . . complains to Pope Zacharias that his labors to convert the heathen Franks and Alemans—Germanic tribes—were being handicapped by the escapades of the Christian Romans back home. The Franks and the Alemans were on the threshold of becoming Christians, but their conversion was retarded by their enjoyment of lurid carnivals.



"When Boniface tried to turn them away from such customs, they argued that they had seen them celebrated under the very shadow of Saint Peter's in Rome. Embarrassed and sorry, Pope Zacharias replied . . . admitting that the people in the city of Rome behaved very badly at Christmas time" (p. 53).



Over the centuries

Over the subsequent centuries, Christmas absorbed customs from German, Scandinavian and Celtic paganism—such as the Yule log, the decorating of evergreen trees and the hanging of mistletoe.



In the Middle Ages, Christmas observances in Europe continued the excesses of Saturnalia. Dr. Penne Restad, in Christmas in America: A History, writes of the moral debate that raged during that era:



"Some clergy stressed that fallen humankind needed a season of abandonment and excess, as long as it was carried on under the umbrella of Christian supervision. Others argued that all vestiges of paganism must be removed from the holiday. Less fervent Christians complained about the unreasonableness of Church law and its attempts to change custom. Yet the Church sustained the hope that sacred would eventually overtake profane as pagans gave up their revels and turned to Christianity" (1996, p. 6).



Sadly, it didn't happen. Following the Middle Ages, some Protestants tried reforming Christmas but created little real change. The English Puritans waged a war on Christmas observance as unchristian behavior. In 1659 the holiday was outlawed in Massachusetts, but proved so popular that it gained official approval again in 1681.



A U.S. News & World Report cover story, "In Search of Christmas," states: "When Christmas landed on American shores, it fared little better. In colonial times, Christ's birth was celebrated as a wildly social event—if it was celebrated at all . . . Puritans in New England flatly refused to observe the holiday" (Dec. 23, 1996, p. 60).



In more modern times many Christians have become concerned about the commercialization of the day that is supposed to celebrate the birth of the Son of God. With parades featuring Santa Claus sponsored by department stores, half-price sales, and incessant TV and radio commercials, Christmas obviously has become more about the accountant's bottom line than about worshipping God.



Many people approach the yuletide season with a vague longing for a Christmas that is more spiritual and less commercial. But is our fast-paced, greed-filled rendition of Christmas the real problem, or is there something wrong with Christmas itself?



Put Christ back in Christmas?

Christmas has become such a central holiday of American culture that it's difficult to get anyone to step back and evaluate its Christian validity. You be the judge.



Here are the facts: Jesus wasn't born on Dec. 25. Christ's apostles rejected pagan ceremonies and rituals in their worship and told other Christians to likewise avoid them. The early Church didn't observe Jesus' birthday. The selection of Dec. 25 as Christ's supposed date of birth was based on the dates of the Roman Saturnalia and Brumalia—a time for worshipping the god Saturn.



Most Christmas customs—decorating the evergreen tree, use of mistletoe, exchanging of gifts, Santa Claus—come not from the Bible but from ancient pagan religions. For centuries Christianity tried unsuccessfully to rid itself of the paganism of Christmas. Throughout its history Christmas has inspired drunken parties, and the modern holiday is more about convincing children to harass their parents to buy toys than worshipping Christ.



What is your verdict? Some say, "But we can't take Christmas away from the children." Others: "As long as it brings people to Jesus, what does it matter?"



Earlier we saw Paul's instructions to Christians in pagan Corinth. He continues his instructions in his next letter to the Corinthians: "For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? . . . Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? . . .



"Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you . . .' Therefore . . . let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 [14] Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

[15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

[16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

[17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the LORD, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

[18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.





See All...; 2 Corinthians 7:1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.



See All...).



Paul's point is very pertinent to Christmas. How can we claim to be honoring God with pagan customs and traditions that He forbids in His Word?



The crucial question is: How can we put Jesus back into the season when He was never part of it to begin with? It's a difficult question, isn't it? But it's one that's vitally important for you to answer.

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Hail, Mary?

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Hail, Mary?

article by Andy Diemer





Jesus Is Our Intercessor, Not Mary.







L'Annonciation de 1644, Philippe de Champaigne



Source: Wikimedia Commons/Metropolitan Museum of ArtI was raised a Catholic. Sunday Mass at our neighborhood Catholic Church was a regular part of the weekly observance of our religion. As a young boy I was taught the Catholic observance of Confession and Communion. For several years I served as an altar boy at daily and Sunday mass. In my late teens I even investigated the possibility of joining the Catholic priesthood.



Then as I was attending Catholic university, I began to read and study the Bible more than I had ever in all my years of Catholic upbringing. I saw things in the Bible that contradicted my Catholic religion. This led to my search for religious faith founded on the Bible, not on Catholic tradition.



In my search, one of the first things that I came to see is that there is no intermediary between God and man other than Jesus Christ. I had been taught that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the mediator and advocate to intercede to God on our behalf. I had said the “Hail Mary” countless times at family rosary and in my nightly prayers. But in studying the Bible, I found that Jesus Christ is the true intercessor between God and man. Here are some key scriptures that confirm this.



“It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us,” (Romans 8:34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.



See All...).



“Therefore He (Jesus) is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them,” (Hebrews 7:25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.



See All...).



“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us," (Hebrews 9:24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:



See All...).



The function of a mediator and an advocate is to intercede on behalf of others. The Catholic tradition I learned assigns this position to Mary. On the other hand, Scripture is plain about the identity of man’s true intercessor before God the Father. Mary is never mentioned in the Bible as an intercessor between God and man. The Bible teaches that anyone who comes to the Father must go through Jesus Christ. It is clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only intercessor between God and man.



My understanding of scripture has led me to reject the teachings of the Catholic Church in which I was raised. I concluded that its doctrines are not based on the Bible. Rather, they are based on the teachings of men apart from the Bible. I must therefore agree with Jesus’ statement directed at the Pharisees and apply it to the Catholic Church or any church that teaches man’s doctrine and not God’s.



“In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men,” Matthew 15:9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.



See All....



It is not me or any man that condemns the teaching of the Catholic Church. Rather, it is the Bible itself, the Word of God, with which Catholic doctrine does not agree.



There are many other doctrines in the Catholic theology that I learned as a child for which I could find no Biblical proof. In fact, many churches share beliefs in common with the Catholic Church that do not square with scripture. Among them are the observance of Sunday as the Lord’s Day instead of keeping holy the seventh day Sabbath; the teaching that the reward of the saved is heaven instead of rulership with Christ in a Kingdom that comes to earth; the belief in the Trinity, which does not define the true nature of God.



Investigate further for yourself and you will find much in scripture contradicting the doctrines of the Catholic Church and many of the churches of our day.

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Treasure Digest: The Pulls of Babylon

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Treasure Digest: The Pulls of Babylon






article by William (Skip) Miller





We in God's Church made a decision at some point not to live in Babylon.



In antiquity Judah was assaulted, defeated and taken captive. But after 70 years the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem and begin again the rites of the temple. Many returned, but more did not. They had found a home that worked for them. They stayed in Babylon by choice. Many remained observant, but probably some were enveloped and sucked right into that maelstrom of frenetic life in the Babylonian system. As Christians, the choice is still ours, but in my opinion, it is even harder to remain true to God's way of doing things today. Although ancient Babylon was worldly, wise and wealthy, modern Babylon operates by a steady stream of reverberating and unremitting requests for our attention. Even if you don't "shop till you drop," it is hard to avoid the materialistic impulse that is inherent in every ad that says, "You need this; you deserve this!" We must candidly admit that, were it not for God's Sabbath, we too—God's own people—would have no time for anything else except servicing our "labor saving" devices. We may possess more stuff than any people of the past ever imagined, but we have virtually no time at all. This fact would be simply ironic except that that loss of time (to reflect and pray and study) has been part of Satan's plan ever since the Eternal created the Sabbath. We all are free to choose how we spend the 24 hours that come to us each day. Many say that they must spend unseemly amounts of time at work or on the road or on the freeway so that they may enjoy a modicum of what others call the "good life." In fact, they are reaping exactly what they have sown. Choices were made before and the results could have been foreseen as the natural consequence of those choices. You can always do Bible study. You can always pray. But too often we don't because we have previously chosen amiss. Everything, both good and bad, in Satan's world can and will be used against us so that prayer and Bible study won't happen—unless we treasure them and give them the highest priority.

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Pearl Harbor Day and the Pearl of Great Price

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Pearl Harbor Day and the Pearl of Great Price


Submitted December 6, 2011





USS Arizona Memorial Pearl Harbor Hawaii



Source: Photos.comPearl Harbor Day, 70 years later, December 7, 2011.



December 7, 1941, was the worst day in U.S. military history as a Japanese armada of ships and planes made a devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This Hawaiian U.S. naval base was a tempting target for the imperialist Japanese since America’s entire Pacific Fleet was headquartered at Pearl. The Japanese met little resistance as their planes bombed and strafed U.S. Navy ships and Army aircraft.



The next day the President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the U.S. Congress and delivered what turned out to be the most famous American political speech of the 20 th century—the “Day of Infamy Speech.” Congress then declared war on Japan, and three days later it declared was on Nazi Germany.



The United States, by being unprepared for this attack, paid a very heavy price:



- 2,388 Americans died in the attack



- 1,178 Americans were wounded



- 21 American ships were sunk or damaged



- 323 American aircraft were destroyed or damaged



The Japanese paid a dear price but not nearly so great:



- 64 Japanese died during the attack, though the number of injuries is unknown



- 5 Japanese ships were destroyed



- 103 Japanese aircraft were destroyed or damaged



The U.S. paid the greater short-term price but Japan paid the greater long-term price. If much more time had gone by without the U.S. getting involved militarily, both the Japanese and the Nazis might have been victorious in their conquests. Quite likely, God allowed the Pearl Harbor bombing to awaken America to join the war against Japan and Germany.



Some inspiring facts

The Japanese failed to accomplish their primary objective when they bombed Pearl Harbor. They wanted to destroy the aircraft carriers, but the three carriers were all at sea away from the port at the time. Those carriers were critically important in the ensuing war against Japan. and at the same time protected the aircraft carriers. Sparing those carriers was also likely an act of Providence.



Lately several websites have posted a message which had also been sent around the world by e-mail. It supposedly is an excerpt from a book titled, "Reflections on Pearl Harbor" by Admiral Chester Nimitz. Although it sounds like it could have been authored by Admiral Nimitz, I have not been able to verify that such a book exists. However, I did verify most of the facts stated. Following is my summary of that message:



“Immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack, President Roosevelt appointed Admiral Chester Nimitz to be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet.



“When Nimitz landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941, there was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat--you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.



“Afterwards, someone asked him, ‘Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?’ Admiral Nimitz's reply shocked everyone: ‘The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America.’



“Nimitz explained:



“Mistake number one: The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk, we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.



“Mistake number two: When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.



“Mistake number three: Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is on top of the ground in storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make, or God was taking care of America.”



Whether or not Admiral Nimitz said those exact words, it’s obvious that this disaster could have been much, much worse. God has been very merciful to the United States and to freedom-loving people in general.



The "pearl of great price"

Pearl Harbor has a nice name. It originally had a native Hawaiian name which meant “Water of Pearl.” The harbor was teeming with pearl-producing oysters until the late 1800’s.



One of the most famous and popular Bible passages is Matthew 13:45-46 [45] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

[46] Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.





See All..., in which Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”



The naval base at Pearl Harbor has been and still is extremely valuable for the United States. It would have been extremely valuable for the Japanese had they been able to conquer and hold it.



But the combined value of that that harbor, that real estate, the military facilities, the ships and planes, and the strategic location are a tiny pittance compared to the value of life after death—life in the Kingdom of God forever and ever! Every sacrifice that we ever need to make in this life will be a small price to pay for glorious eternal life!



The “good news” is this: All those who died on December 7, 1941—and at all other times and places—will yet have their opportunity to learn God’s truth and to qualify for God’s Kingdom! With Jesus Christ reigning over all the earth, we will at last have peace on earth!



Someday all peoples will have the opportunity to attain “the pearl of great price”!







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Groupthink Affects the Battle Over Marriage

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Groupthink Affects the Battle Over Marriage




 In a self-absorbed world, we are unwittingly influenced by the words and actions of others. From weekend parties, to watching negative TV programs, to texting while driving, many people simply follow the lead of others. After all, how can so many people be wrong? Yet people can be hurt by social norms they don't question. We often go along to get along. This happens in groupthink, and groupthink on a grand scale can be dangerous to our marriages and families!



Groupthink can directly affect the way we view marriage. Groupthink author Irving Janisdefined the phenomenon: "[G]roupthink…refer[s] to the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action. [T]he term refers to a deterioration in mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgments as a result of group pressures " (Janis, I.L., Psychology Today, 1971, p. 43-46; emphasis mine).



When millions of TV viewers watch shows like The Modern Family or The New Normal , they can eventually water down or dismiss their Christian roots and morals and incrementally absorb the amorality of such shows. Remarkably, groupthink also works on a grand scale.



Over the last 60 years, following World War II and the pervasive impact of television, the institution of marriage has deteriorated dramatically. As Americans became more affluent, they invested in the novel technology of television, which became, to media moguls, more of a business tool than an educational one. Media companies maximize their income by playing on the basest of human passions. Bad news sells better than good news. The result is that more people watch, or are excited by, the basest of human experiences, like illicit sex, violence and corruption.



On a global scale, whole societies can exhibit groupthink just like smaller in-groups. It's based on concurrence-seeking that overrides any realistic appraisal of other good courses of action . God reveals that the entire world is blinded from the glorious gospel of God by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.



See All...). His name is Satan, and his avowed purpose is to destroy humankind from the face of the earth (Matthew 24:21-22 [21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

[22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.





See All...; 1 Peter 5:8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:



See All...).



In structuring this Good News article—"Who Will Win the Battle Over Marriage? "—I considered the debilitating effects of groupthink as it applies to the battle over marriage. I began with modern TV programs that influence harmful social thinking (through groupthink) while chipping away at the building blocks of society: marriage and family. I then discussed an unseen power who flaunts (through global groupthink) his hate-filled designs against humankind. Finally, I showed that God will win the battle over marriage and the family unit through Jesus Christ our Lord, after His return to this earth (Malachi 3:1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.



See All...; John 14:3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.



See All...). This is positive groupthink (Hebrews 8:10-12 [10] For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

[11] And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

[12] For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.





See All...).



The Good News is dedicated to imparting spiritual understanding to any who hunger and thirst for God. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.



See All...). We are dedicated to helping you to satisfy that hunger and thirst!



Thank you for allowing us to share godly principles about how to have a happy marriage and also to explain the conventional wisdom of groupthink that directly affects the battle over marriage. We invite you to share with others The Good News , which is free and without obligation or follow-up.







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Advent

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Advent

 When Advent is celebrated today most think of Christmas and the nativity. Lighting candles and hanging wreaths have nothing to do with the powerful coming of the King.




[Steve Myers] This is the time of Advent for many Christian churches. Now, if you're awaiting Christmas, this time may come to mind for your church, for your beliefs. But is it something that's Biblical?



It's interesting if you looked up the definition for what is advent and what does it have to do with Christmas? Well, here's one of the definitions. It's a season that's observed in many western Christian churches as a time of expecting, waiting, and preparation for the celebration of the nativity of Jesus Christ. Or in other words, it's the time leading up to celebrating Christmas, which is supposed to represent the birth of Christ.



Now what's very interesting about this, if you were to look up the history of advent, you would find that it really stems from a pagan celebration. It stems from the Roman Saturnalia. And it was a time that the Catholic Church modified the Saturnalia in order to point to Christ rather than the pagan practices that it did. And so western churches celebrate it today to hopefully remind them that Christ's nativity is coming - that first coming of Christ.



And yet you look in your Bible, where does it tell you to celebrate this? Well, you won't find the lighting of candles that happens at Advent, you won't find the Advent wreaths or things like that mentioned in the Bible at all. In fact, what the Bible points to is the second coming of Christ. Yes, Christ came in the flesh. He suffered as a servant. He died as our Savior to pay for the penalty of our sins. Now, you know what the Bible points to? It points to the second coming of Christ. There's an amazing passage that's in Revelation chapter 11 and in verse 15 it points to the time when Christ will come again, to His second advent. And here's what it says about that angel sounding that trumpet to announce that second coming. It says, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever."



That's Revelation 11:15And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.



See All.... That points to, to not some baby in a manger, but that points to the powerful coming of the Savior of the universe taking over the kingdoms of men and establishing the Kingdom of God. That's not about wreaths. That's not about candles. That's about a governing King that's going to rule this earth. That's a coming to look forward to. That's the second coming of Jesus Christ. So that's what we should be looking forward to. That's a time to remember and look forward to and certainly to make ourselves ready. The end of the whole thing in Revelation 22:20He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.



See All..., here's what it says, "He who testifies to these things," Christ says, "Surely I am coming quickly." That's that same word for advent, the perusa, the second coming of Christ. So let's be ready for that coming and look forward to the second advent of Christ.



That's BT Daily . We'll see you next time.

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The Latest in Egypt

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The Latest in Egypt

 Mohammed Morsi has given himself dictatorial powers. The big question is what the military will do in the largest Arab state.

[Steve Myers] Big things are happening in the Mid-East once again. In Egypt, Mr. Morsi, the president, there has granted himself extra powers, basically making himself dictator over all of Egypt. Even though he's denying that, in essence, that's what these things have done. What he's granted himself is power to the level that the judicial system can't even question his decisions.



[Darris McNeely] And this has also brought people back out into the streets about a year and a half, nearly two years now since the first Arab Spring riots in Egypt that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak and now led to what people thought would be a breath of democracy within Egypt. They had elections. They elected Mohammed Morsi, who is associated with the Islamic Brotherhood, a fundamentalist group within Egypt. And now he has taken this bold step in the wake of the recent Gaza bombings between Israel and Gaza and the brokered ceasefire that he was a part of. He's now taken these powers to himself and has brought people back out into the streets.



[Steve Myers] It raises a lot of questions. What's going to happen in Egypt? Will it become an Islamic state? Could it become another Iran? You see, these issues come right to the heart of the matter because these are the things that the Egyptians were protesting against before Mr. Morsi came to power. So how exactly is it going to turn out and why should we keep our eye on what's happening in Egypt?



[Darris McNeely] The reason we should be keeping our eye on Egypt is because of course it is part of a volatile region. Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria - all of the Middle East and other countries played significant roles in future Bible prophecy. In Daniel 11:42-43 [42] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

[43] But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.





See All..., Egypt is mentioned as this powerful King of the North, comes into the region and Egypt specifically is mentioned. And so what takes place in Egypt, the largest, most populous, Arab state with the largest standing military within the Middle East, what happens there is critical. And in regard to this current crisis, again one of the key players is the military and what they will do - whether they will support Mr. Morsi, whether they will follow the side of the man in the street, the population, the public of Egypt which they are sworn by duty to protect. Exactly what they will do is really the critical step here because since the early 1950's the military really has been the major power within Egypt. So you need to watch what's taking place with the military in this most important and critical nation of Egypt in the Middle East.



[Steve Myers] Especially when you think of it in terms of Bible prophecy. Remember the Bible talks about Arab coalitions. How will that come about? Let's keep our eye on what's happening in Egypt and how it may begin to fulfill some of those prophecies that you find in your Bible.



[Darris McNeely] That's BT Daily . Join us next time.

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