Hellig, alminnelig Julehefte 2007
Gammel tradisjon tilsier å utgi et lite julehefte..
i år har jeg gjort det lettvint og importerer litt:
== EAECs Julehefte 2007 ==
på engelsk, til en viss beklagelighet for ustive i sånt..
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I used to celebrate Christmas as much as - or even more than -
any Gentile.
You might think that is strange since I was born and raised in
a Jewish home.
But my family always had a Christmas tree every year
because it was the popular thing to do.
We had ornaments, mistletoe, holly wreaths, presents
and everything else
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Did you know that the green tree is mentioned 14 times in the Bible,
and in every instance it is likened with idolatry?
There isn't one place in the Bible where God commends the use
of the "green tree" in connection with true worship.
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Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about Christmas:
"Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ) was not among the earliest
festivals of the church."
After Constantine became the Emperor of Rome, he forced all the pagans
of his empire to be baptized into the Christian Church.
Thus pagans far outnumbered true Christians.
Since the church worshiped the Lord Jesus as the Son of God,
when the 25th of December rolled around and the pagans wanted to worship
Tammuz, their sun-god,
Constantine knew that he would have to do something.
So he had the church combine the worship of Tammuz
with the birthday of Christ,
and a special mass was declared to keep everyone happy.
Thus pagan worship was brought into the Christian church
and called "Christ-mass."
Every time we say "Merry Christmas," we're actually mixing the precious
and holy name of Christ with paganism.
This is not right. God says in Ezekiel 20:39,
"Pollute ye my holy name no more."
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the celebration of this pagan custom was forbidden by law
in England. In 1644, Parliament declared Christmas to be unlawful;
and, consequently, it was abolished.
The English Puritans looked upon the celebration of Christmas
as the work of Satan
At one time in early American history, the observance of Christmas
was illegal. A law was adopted in the general court of Massachusetts
about 1650, which required that those who celebrated Christmas
were to be punished.
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As you read these lines perhaps you say, "I have my Christmas tree
but I don't worship it,
and consequently, I see nothing wrong with it."
Let me remind you, however, that you don't determine what is right
and what is wrong.
God determines what's right and wrong.
If the Christmas tree is not an idol to you,
why are you so reluctant to give it up?
What are you doing down on your knees when you place your gifts under it?
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. . .
og hvorfor ikke trykke opp igjen Tricias vitnesbyrd for the season:
* == HER == *
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The more secular aspects of Christmas take over the Church,
instead of the other way round.
Many churches have Christmas trees, and even sing in worship
to them!
"O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree…."!!
Why is this? Is it because there really IS no genuine Christian content
in the Winter Festivals?
We Christians, who would be very nervous at the idea of letting
our children dance around a Maypole,
who would discourage them from dressing up as witches at Halloween,
who would certainly not attend the Druidical rites of the
winter solstice at Stonehenge -
we are at the same time almost unthinking in our acceptance of
the practises of Christmas
because of the pleasure and fun they bring.
Is this not a hypocritical stand to take?
We, who are generally so careful to avoid pagan practises,
and who pride ourselves in being biblically accurate,
somehow switch off our powers of discernment at Christmastime,
and "anything goes".
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. . .
Det gamle hedrede heftet har vel også holdt seg rimelig bra,
og er på norsk:
= = Her = =
.
Dere tok ikke vare på det som var å vareta i mine helligdommer;
men dere satte andre i stedet for dere
til å ta vare på det jeg ville ha varetatt i min helligdom.
(Esek 44)
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