december 25 is ba-al (tammuz) birthday and was celebrated in ancient babylon long before Messiah Yeshua was born. NOWHERE does the bible say to celebrate Messiah Yeshua's birthday and many places it says to NOT worship pagan "gods" or incorporate paganism into worship of G-d. christmass is paganism that was "christianized" by constantine just like he "christianized" the pagan idols of isis and horus - renaming them "the virgin mary" and "baby Jesus" - which are depicted in the nativity scene which is common around ba-al's birthday celebration
http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract3.html
The Origin Of Christmas
Christmas is a holiday shared and celebrated by many religions.
It is a day that has an effect on the entire world.
To many people, it is a favorite time of the year involving gift giving, parties and feasting. Christmas is a holiday that unifies almost all of professing Christendom.
The spirit of Christmas causes people to decorate their homes and churches, cut down trees and bring them into their homes, decking them with silver and gold.
In the light of that tree, families make merry and give gifts one to another.
When the sun goes down on December 24th, and darkness covers the land, families and churches prepare for participation in customs such as burning the yule log, singing around the decorated tree, kissing under the mistletoe and holly, and attending a late night service or midnight mass.
What is the meaning of Christmas? Where did the customs and traditions originate?
You, as a Christian, would want to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth, discerning good from evil.
The truth is that all of the customs of Christmas pre-date the birth of Jesus Christ, and a study of this would reveal that Christmas in our day is a collection of traditions and practices taken from many cultures and nations.
The date of December 25th comes from Rome and was a celebration of the Italic god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god.
This was done long before the birth of Jesus.
It was noted by the pre-Christian Romans and other pagans, that daylight began to increase after December 22nd, when they assumed that the sun god died.
These ancients believed that the sun god rose from the dead three days later as the new-born and venerable sun.
Thus, they figured that to be the reason for increasing daylight.
This was a cause for much wild excitement and celebration. Gift giving and merriment filled the temples of ancient Rome, as sacred priests of Saturn, called dendrophori, carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession.
In Germany, the evergreen tree was used in worship and celebration of the yule god, also in observance of the resurrected sun god.
The evergreen tree was a symbol of the essence of life and was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility worship.
Witches and other pagans regarded the red holly as a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, also known as Diana.
The holly wood was used by witches to make wands.
The white berries of mistletoe were believed by pagans to represent droplets of the semen of the sun god.
Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them.
These customs transcended the borders of Rome and Germany to the far reaches of the known world.
The question now arises: How did all of these customs find their way into contemporary Christianity, ranging from Catholicism to Protestantism to fundamentalist churches?
The word "Christmas"itself reveals who married paganism to Christianity.
The word "Christmas" is a combination of the words "Christ" and "Mass.
The word "Mass" means death and was coined originally by the Roman Catholic Church, and belongs exclusively to the church of Rome.
The ritual of the Mass involves the death of Christ, and the distribution of the "Host", a word taken from the Latin word "hostiall" meaning victim!
In short, Christmas is strictly a Roman Catholic word.
A simple study of the tactics of the Romish Church reveals that in every case, the church absorbed the customs, traditions and general paganism of every tribe, culture and nation in their efforts to increase the number of people under their control.
In short, the Romish church told all of these pagan cultures, "Bring your gods, goddesses, rituals and rites, and we will assign Christian sounding titles and names to them.
When Martin Luther started the reformation on October 31st, 1517, and other reformers followed his lead, all of them took with them the paganism that was so firmly imbedded in Rome.
These reformers left Christmas intact.
In England, as the authorized Bible became available to the common people by the decree of King James the II in 1611, people began to discover the pagan roots of Christmas, which are clearly revealed in Scripture.
The Puritans in England, and later in Massachusetts Colony, outlawed this holiday as witchcraft.
Near the end of the nineteenth century, when other Bible versions began to appear, there was a revival of the celebration of Christmas.
We are now seeing ever-increasing celebrating of Christmas or Yule, its true name, as we draw closer to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In both witchcraft circles and contemporary Christian churches, the same things are going on.
As the Bible clearly states in Jeremiah 10:2-4, "Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen; and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven. For the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain. For one cutteth a tree out of the forest. The work of the hands of the workman with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not."
So, what is wrong with Christmas?
1. To say that Jesus was born on December 25th is a lie! The true date is sometime in September according to the Scriptures.
2. Trees, wreaths, holly, mistletoe and the like are strictly forbidden as pagan and heathen! To say that these are Christian or that they can be made Christian is a lie!
3. The Lord never spoke of commemorating his birth but rather commanded us to remember the sacrifice of His suffering and death, which purchased our salvation.
Think about it! Can we worship and honor God by involving ourselves with customs and traditions, which God Himself forbade as idolatry? Can we convince God to somehow "Christianize" these customs and the whole pretense and lie of Christmas, so we can enjoy ourselves? Can we obey through disobedience?
So what is right about Christmas? 1. Nothing! For more information and documentation contact:
Last Trumpet Ministries International PO Box 806 Beaver Dam, WI 53916
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http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/dec2008/marya1215.htm
Mary Adams (15 Dec 2008) "A Blessed Christmas"
A Blessed ChristmasI just have to share this with you: Christmas is a celebration of a birthday--His. And the giving of gifts to one another. You'd think we'd be giving something to the one who has the birthday, but then we think of Jesus as somewhere in outer space, and besides--He has everything already, right? So Christmas has mostly become joy for the kiddies and Walmart, and those of us who simply love to bless somebody, and the holiday has a merit in forcing some grumpy people to smile and say "thank you", if only for one day out of the year. But my thoughts about it go back to a powerful vision I had when I was overseas in Singapore several years ago. It is still as real to me today as it was then, and I share it everywhere I go, especially during Christmas. In the vision, I was with a large group of people (perhaps 200), and we all had been walking together for a long distance through a rather bleak landscape. We were hungry and thirsty. Suddenly we saw a small hill in front of us, and on the top of the hill was a very small cabin. A man came out the door, and looking down at us, he spoke: "Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?" Everyone said "yes", so he replied, "I will get you something" and after going back inside the cabin, he brought out loads of food and drink which was distributed to the entire crowd. Everyone was happy and refreshed. As each one finished eating and drinking, I heard some thank him as they were leaving, but most did not. I was standing at the very end and overheard a few of them talking together. "Look at that man up there in that cabin. Do you know, he used to be a king? But now he just lives in a small cabin". They were making light of his circumstances. Then they left together. I was the last person standing, and I began to think of what had just happened. "That man in the small cabin that had just fed us---he used to be a King? Wow!Kings usually lived in palaces. I wondered what might have happened to change his circumstances?" As I thought about it, I knew I should thank him before I left--but this man was royalty, how do I thank royalty? If the man was once a king, he was still a king because he had royal blood in his veins. Do I bow, or what? Then I decided what I should do. I got down on the ground and prostrated myself and said these words to him, "Sir, if you were once a king, you are still a king and honor you as a king. And I thank you for what you have done for me." Just then, the "man" stood before me. It was Jesus! And He spoke these words to me:"I left my glory in heaven to come to earth as a common man. Most people still see me as "poor baby Jesus--born in a manager stall. Poor Jesus--raised as a carpenter's son. Poor Jesus---no place to lay His head". Poor Jesus---wearing a homespun robe. Poor Jesus--hung on a cross." Yes, I was all these things, but I am no longer those things. I have returned to My Father and the glory I once had. I, indeed, am King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and all who honor me as such, all I have belongs to them as well. If you ever need anything, ask in My name and I will give it to you." What an experience I had! And what a revelation! So how do I honor My King? Yes, I know the story of His birth and His life--His sacrifice on the cross. But wearing a cross around my neck is not my vision of Him anymore. I see a KING, and honor Him as the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, just as the wise men got the revelation of WHO HE WAS. They looked at a babe but saw a KING and fell down to worship Him. That is still the only gift I can give the Christ child at Christmas. And I thank Him for blessing my life with YOU as friends and loved ones, and also ask my King of Kings to bless you all with protection, health, provision and great joy in His presence every day throughout the year to come. Mary E. Adams
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Exposing false prophets and false prophecies of those who call themselves Christians
