MY QUEST FOR THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS | by Steve Hansen What is Christmas really about? Where do the customs and practices of Christmas originate from? Did you know that it up until the mid-1800s it was illegal to celebrate Christmas in the USA? Do you know why that is? Did you know that Charles Spurgeon was a staunch advocate of keeping the practice of celebrating Christmas out of the church? Why was he? As a believer, have you ever asked yourself where the origins of Christmas came from? Have you truly searched the meanings of all the Christmas traditions and customs? If you have, what did you discover? In our society today the Christmas season has really come under fire and been a frequent target of atheist and secular progressive groups. So much so that it recently prompted Kirk Cameron to released a movie about Keeping Christ in Christmas. So during this holiday season, Christmas once again has caught the national headlines of most news agencies across the country. In light of all the media attention on the national forefront, I want to share with you my personal journey on my Quest for the meaning of Christmas. Over 15 years ago, I was getting ready to put up my Christmas tree in my house and the Holy Spirit asked me a question, Do you know what that symbolizes? Do you know why you are putting that tree up in your house? Do you want to know what I think about it? I was shocked. I had always been a very adamant supporter of the holiday. I used to be very vocal about Keeping Christ in Christmas. But then the Holy Spirit asked me, Did you ask Him if He wants to be in Christmas? Needless to say, these questions posed by the Spirit of the Lord Himself put me on a historical and Biblical search for the answers to the questions. What I found utterly shocked me! My journey was a process and very challenging in numerous ways, but it all came down to the question of, Do I love You and do I want to live a life that pleases You the way You want to be pleased and loved? I realized that a number of the holidays I was celebrating were cultural and not Biblical at all. But the thing that shocked me the most was that they actually had a very pagan past and history. I was equally shocked to find that some of the pagan practices are actually being practiced in some of the originating countries present day. I challenge you, if you want to know about the origins of Christmas, watch this video. It is very, very informative and contains a basic approach to most of the answers I found in the journey I took over 15 years ago on my Quest for the true meaning of Christmas. There are plenty of other resources out there that offer a wealth of information. I can give you some of that information after you watch this video if you are truly interested in researching this topic further. Jim Staley has a more detailed video on the topic of Christmas, but I found this one to be a bit more interactive and easier to ease into for a first-timer on this topic. I would like to end this by stating, this is my personal conclusion that I have come to on this topic and I am not looking for debate to the contrary as this is not going to change my outlook. My desire is to provide this post and its information to people who have asked themselves the same questions or are even feeling challenged by the Lord to do their research. I hope you find this information informative and helpful. youtu.be/kmXJsxun2A8
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 22:16:57 +0000
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