Monday, October 24, 2005

Modern moneychangers



The MERCHANTS OF MAMMON need their tables overturned and their stock driven out! Such greedy folk extort the Christmas season to make a killing off foolish consumers driven by idolatrous traditions and under the intoxicating influence of clever AD CAMPAIGNS. Is Christ honored by such senseless shopping? Does God want people to go into debt? It's just not right!

PAGAN HOLIDAYS—OR GOD'S HOLY DAYS—WHICH?

Soon when the Third Temple shines upon the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel, representatives from all nations will gather to learn more about the God of Jacob and His ways and biblical festivals, having trashed their former vain traditions. Other than our Jewish brethren, some Christians are now pioneering in celebrating these glorious days of the wonderful World Tomorrow!




PAGAN HOLIDAYS—OR GOD'S HOLY DAYS—WHICH?

By Herbert W. Armstrong

Does it make any difference which days we observe-or whether we keep them? Does the Bible establish whether we are to keep certain days holy to God? Were these days given to ancient Israel only? Are they binding today only on the Jewish people, while Christians are commanded to keep holidays such as Christmas?

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Chapter 1 Which Days Should We Keep?
Chapter 2 What You Should Know About Pentecost
Chapter 3 Feast of Trumpets
Chapter 4 Feast of Tabernacles

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Why is Holly a Christmas symbol?



How Christmas Works

by Marshall Brain goes into the origins of many customs associated with Christmas.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

I used to keep Christmas

Just for the record, I know that with all these facts and figures, biblical or otherwise, I can often appear too harsh, even though I do try to get across it is TOUGH LOVE. I am one who truly believes that our popular holidays of pagan origin are a prime cause for our IMMINENT NATIONAL CAPTIVITY, as forewarned in the little book destined to have a big impact: Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. That being said, I would like folks to know that I have, as mentioned in the beginning, kept Christmas celebrations until I was 18 and discovered the plain truth about Christmas.


I was blessed to grow up in Risingsun, Ohio next door to my Grandma and Grandpa Hoover on their farm that embraced where we lived, surrounding us with its loving arms on both sides (until the age of 11) and behind, with our woods over yonder a bit, that I loved to walk through as a boy, always looking for my circling overhead "brother" hawk to greet me.


Anyway, besides my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Hoover always made sure we had a rich Christmas celebration, in every sense of the word. We always went to their house, next door (an orchard field in between us), on Christmas eve and to my Grandma King's in Fostoria on Christmas Day.


Grandma Vivian Hoover always made sure we had plenty of wonderful homecooked food and baked goods of every kind and different types of fudge and peanut brittle (my sister Sue and Grandpa liked it), and that we each had ten presents to open. She bought year round from mail-order catalogs and hid them upstairs somewhere. She also preferred the blue Christmas lights, like the candles in the windows, and always had us bring down the box with her artificial tree (because she was allergic to the real thing) and the horse sleigh bells to put around the front door and candy canes for the tree...


As kids, my sisters and I, we always wanted to open up our presents right away, but Grandma would leave that decision to dad to decide if we ate first or not. We ate first (which is undoubtedly wise).

So I know the warm and lovely cherished Christmas memories many have, having experienced them, but once I learned that such holidays are actually pagan in origin, unclean observances that the Great Creator God of the Bible forbids His children, and that God wants us to enjoy family and friends and wonderful memories keeping His biblical festivals that are kosher, I promptly stopped keeping Christmas and started keeping God's holy days with His blessing.


I hope and pray for America, and our Israelite peoples everywhere who have been Gentilized in too many ways, to remember our Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities and draw closer to our God and increasingly further away from those ways and days He strongly disapproves of since God loves us.