I had shingles when I was 18 in 08' and it was terrible. I just got diagnosed with them again. If you all could keep me in prayer, it's starting to hurt pretty bad. Thank you all.
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:49 pm
I'm so sorry! I will keep you in my prayers.
OtakuKat
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cristobela Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 10:12 am
KawaiiDandere
I had shingles when I was 18 in 08' and it was terrible. I just got diagnosed with them again. If you all could keep me in prayer, it's starting to hurt pretty bad. Thank you all.
James 5:14-16 (NIV)
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Make sure to confess and turn away from the sin of idolatry and adopting the ways of the nations to worship God (Christmas is one of them). I covered why that is in my reply to this article: The Importance of Reminders. Because, otherwise, the consequence is God's wrath (and for others who don't have a "full measure" yet, they're storing up God's wrath).
I'll put the reply in spoiler tags below:
The Father also reminds us to not adopt—nor preserve the slightest remnant of—the spiritual customs of the pagans. Both the Father and the Son speak against this behavior:
Deuteronomy 12:1-4 (NIV)
12 These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land. 2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. 3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
4 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.
Deuteronomy 12:30-31 (NIV)
30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
Jeremiah 10:2 (NIV)
2 This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.
Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Their ways—the way they worship, the way they pray—if not detrimental, are useless, and contradict God's commands. They lie about: (1) the true nature of God, (2) how we communicate with him, (3) how he wants to be worshiped.
Preserving Moloch worship parties, as long as we get rid of the child sacrifice, is not okay. He wants it gone completely. 100%.
Preserving Asherah images, as long as we get rid of the prostitution, is not okay. He wants them gone completely. 100%.
Preserving Baal get-togethers, as long as we get rid of the self-cutting with spears and swords, is not okay. He wants Baal worship eradicated completely. 100%.
Same with atheist spiritual beliefs. Same with theistic beliefs that deviate from his.
Our Heavenly Father wants their spiritual ways destroyed, not preserved by any means. He does not want to be worshiped in their way, nor have his people participating in the spiritual customs of the nations, no matter how hard people try to justify this.
Leviticus 18:3 (NIV)
3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.
And “Christmas” is “their way”:
“Gradually a number of prevailing practices of the nations into which Christianity came were assimilated and were combined with the religious ceremonies surrounding Christmas. The assimilation of such practices generally represented efforts by Christians to transform or absorb otherwise pagan practices. The Feast of Saturnalia in early Rome, for example, was celebrated for 7 days from the 17th to the 24th of December and was marked by a spirit of merriment, gift giving to children and other forms of entertainment. Gradually, early Christians replaced the pagan feast with the celebration of Christmas; but many of the traditions of this observance were assimilated and remain to this day a part of the observance of Christmas._ Other NATIONS, the Scandinavians, Germans, French, English and others, have left their mark . . . as well (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible) (pp. 804, 805).
Various symbolic elements of the pagan celebration, such as the lighting of candles, evergreen decorations, and the giving of gifts, were adapted to Christian signification. Later as Christianity spread into northern Europe, the Celtic, Teutonic, and Slavic winter festivals contributed holly mistletoe, the Christmas tree, bonfires, and similar items. (The Christian Encyclopedia)
The giving of presents was a Roman custom; while the Yule tree and Yule log are remnants of old Teutonic nature worship. Gradually the festival sank into mere revelry . . . . The custom was forbidden by an act of parliament in 1555; And the reformation brought in a refinement in the celebration of Christmas by emphasizing it Christian elements. (Unger's Bible Dictionary)
Many of the customs associated with Christmas also took their origins from the heathen observances. The exchanging of gifts, extravagant merriment, and lighting of candles all have previous counterparts in the Roman Saturnalia. The use of trees harkens back to the pagan Scandinavian festival of Yule. ~James Taylor, "Christmas," in The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church (J. D. Douglas, ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974), p. 223.
What the above means: somewhere down the line, some Christian(s) one day decided: we know that this pagan custom honors ______ , but no, let's make it about our Heavenly Father and Jesus! AKA Let's break that command of our Father in Deuteronomy. Because after all, if we cannot partake in the name of their pagan gods, then let's partake in the name of our God!
No. Still unacceptable.
To go ahead and hijack their spiritual traditions, and apply them to our lives—whether we make Him the meaning behind the spiritual custom or not—is not conducive to worshiping the Father in Spirit and in Truth.
John 4:23 (NIV)
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Romans 12:1 (NIV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Leviticus 20:26 (NIV)
26 You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Ephesians 5:17 (NIV)
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Psalm 40:8 (NIV)
8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
Matthew 7:21 (NIV)
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 15:3 (NIV)
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
AiG needs to reassess the justification they've given Christmas: we can reason things away as innocent, but if our Father commanded against it, then it is NOT good. Avoiding it is for our own good and the good of others.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NIV)
12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
God is leading people away from lies/myths, but people are choosing to dress in the costume of the myth. We're confusing people, not being clear about who YHWH/Jesus is, nor about who we are. He's not a sun God and we're not sun worshippers (but by allowing the sun god / nature worship, pagan custom to continue existing in Christian culture that is exactly the message we're communicating to onlookers and outsiders who are comparing/contrasting the cultures. When they see that this festivity predates Christ, and is found in pagan cultures, they'll think that we're closet pagans putting on a Christian mask and that the legitimate spirituality is that of the pagans).
We become useless—just like a garment interwoven of wool and linen (Deut 22:11), a lukewarm mixture—when we mix the truth of God with the myths of the world and the customs of these myths. Jesus is saving us from myths. He's also saving us from self-imposed traditions that nullify commands of the Father. Jesus is the truth, the way and the life—the light of the world leading us out of darkness (not leaving us in it). How can we adopt lies/darkness/demon-honoring-traditions into our worship and think this will please the Father? We cannot insinuate that he was born on this day (but that's exactly the impression we give off by observing that day to commemorate his birth). Every “holy day” reminder that God has given us commemorates the event on the exact day it happened in the past (on his calendar). For example, Passover is the 14th day of the first month on God's calendar because that's the day the Israelites placed the lamb's blood on their doorpost in Egypt and thus it became the day that Jesus would sacrifice himself as our passover lamb, and thus is the day we commemorate what God did both in Egypt and in Jerusalem. Jesus rose on the day of First Fruits, ergo every time this date rolls around on God's calendar, his resurrection is commemorated. God poured out his Holy Spirit on Pentecost (a.k.a. the Feast of Weeks), ergo every time that day rolls around on his calendar, this act is commemorated.
We are suppose to be bearers of light/truth, but when we intermingle with the ways of the nations, we stifle that light, pollute it and contaminate it. He is unlike what the nations worship—so we are not to worship Him in the ways that the nations worship their gods / the way the nations do spirituality, but lead our lives based on what is in accord with the Father's commands (because if not detrimental, the pagan's ways are useless spiritual customs; and they fail to convey the truth of the Living God, and fail to exclusively honor him).
Posting justifications to break this command is not conducive to helping God's children stay on the narrow path. You're encouraging them to compromise with the world. I was going to ignore this post, but something said no: it could mislead people into thinking this is a legitimate stance, when in actuality, it is not: no one in the bible supports observing idolatrous days.
Not even Paul—whom they tried to use as support:
Galatians 4:8-11 (NIV)
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces[a]? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Footnotes:
a. Galatians 4:9 Or principles
We are not free to observe the festivities of idols / things that make us look like part of the pagan beliefs we came out of. Like most people do, they twist Paul's letters to say: “it's okay to partake of spiritually-pagan customs that are a part of the religious culture God drew you out from”. It is NOT okay. He's judging them for the days they want to keep. This is not the type of day we're at liberty to choose whether to observe or not.
This behavior will only lead to the wrath of God, even if you're a believer:
Ezekiel 20:8 (NIV)
8 “‘But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt.
---
That said, the author of this article twisted the meaning of Deut 4:25...
Quote:
In Deuteronomy 4:25 we read, “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger . . . ” Here Moses is highlighting that people and their descendants would forget God and what He has done.
More like, “would forget God and what he has prohibited”: to depict him in image form and worship him in their ways.
Exodus 34:17 (NIV)
17 “Do not make any idols.
Deuteronomy 4:15-18 (NIV)
15 You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.
Psalm 115:2-4 (NIV)
2 Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. 4 But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
We are to have NO depictions of God to show the world.
And what's happening on Christmas...? Nativity scenes galore.
Some even depicted by action figures (who are the idols of the nations; myths) [link]
What impression does that give a child? That Jesus is just a fictional character—just as fictional as these toys of yours who are lifeless. Just another idol among idols. What we “do” communicates more than what we “say”—if we ever get a chance to “say” (on top of that, what we “say” is invalidated by what we “do”). People are judging our culture / cultural practices before they ever read a bible or even get acquainted with the commands to note the difference between the Living God described in the bible, and the concept of god floating around in the nation(s). What Christmas says: “do not worship the God of the bible exclusively, go ahead, have other gods before him, you can mix him into other beliefs, you can mix yourself into other beliefs, the spiritual practices of your culture are worth preserving, it's all good.”
That is a lie.
That's not what the Father says. That's not what Jesus says. That's not what Paul says.
None of the apostles or prophets will support what AiG is telling Christians to do concerning Christmas.
We cannot adopt and tweak the spiritual practices of the pagans, and continue participating in them once we've been saved from them. We can't participate in any practice that contradicts the Father's commands.
And comparing this to memorial day glosses over the fact that memorial day does not give honor to myths/lies, the way Yule and all those other nature worship practices in Christmas still do.
Our love for God should make us hate giving honor to demons/lies even in the slightest. Our love for the lost sheep should make us desire to make it is easy for them to differentiate between truth and lie, the narrow way and the broad path.
Whoever wrote this article is dishonestly handling the Father's commands and thus, deceiving people and deviating them from God's will/ God's commands.
Santa and his 8 reindeer (plus Rudolph who was added in later) are based on the Norse god Odin (Odin is depicted as a white-bearded, old man) and he rides an 8-legged horse named Sleipnir. The festivity that honors Odin is Yule (ergo, the Yuletide carols, the evergreen trees, etc, that are involved with "Christmas").
As God's holy (set-apart) people, we're to have nothing to do with their myths. Otherwise, like I mentioned above in the spoiler tags, we come under his wrath for honoring the demons of the nations and failing to convey the truth about him.
1 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
1 Corinthians 10:20-22 (NIV)
20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
There comes a time when God's long-suffering / patience wears thin and he starts punishing after having warned his people several times to leave something behind / not participate in something. I bring up this warning considering your avatar's open affiliation with Christmas. Perhaps your measure has reached fullness and he's pouring out his wrath against you. Solution: confess/admit your sins and repent away from them. I pray that he heals you when you do.
Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 10:23 pm
KawaiiDandere
I had shingles when I was 18 in 08' and it was terrible. I just got diagnosed with them again. If you all could keep me in prayer, it's starting to hurt pretty bad. Thank you all.
I'll pray for you. Have you ever tried olive leaf extract? I reccomend you try it if you haven't, my brother had(or has but it's finally dying down) a bad case of what might have been oral herpes which seems to have spread, that or it's Shingles or something else but we're unsure as to what it is and he was tested for herpes but his results kept coming back negative and docters are confused because it has the symptoms of herpes but wouldn't go away even after a month and the things they prescribed him didn't really help very much so I found that olive leaf extract could help and he's been taking it for about 2 months or more now and it seems to have really been helping him. I read it can help with shingles too but I'm not sure it's backed up scientifically for medicinal properties in case you were wondering but for those who are interested you would want to get the kind that is 25% oleuropein, Olivus seems to sell some pretty good olive leaf extract and is the kind my brother, me, and family use(since olive leaf seems great for many things). My brother takes more than the recommended dosage, he built up to it by starting with either one or 2 pills a day for about a week maybe so he wouldn't overwhelm his body and then increased the dosage every week I think over the month or so I think(not petfectly I think but if I remember correctly he did start off slowly for maybe 3 weeks by taking only maybe 3 or 4 pills by the time it was 3 weeks of him starting to take them) and he's been taking maybe 4 or 5 pills a day maybe, that or he's lowered it down to 3 now but I am unsure but I think he was or is taking about 4 or 5 a day now. If you want to be safe then don't take more than the recommended dosage but if you do take more than the recommended dosage from the company or your doctor then you do so at your own risk, talk with your doctor before taking olive leaf and let him know what you plan to do and how many you want to take, especially since olive leaf might interact with some medications due to it's anti inflammatory properties I believe. It can lower your blood pressure so it's not wise to mix it with medications or supplements that lower your blood pressure as well. http://www.olivus.com/cautions_olive_leaf.htm this is the cautions page from the Olivus website concerning olive leaf and incase you are interested to buy the olive leaf with 25% Oleuropein from Olivus (you can also buy it on amazon but it's a bit more expensive but not by too much) you would want to get the OliveLeafMAX Capsules to get the 25% oleuropein which is what helps you.
I am not affiliated with Olivus in case you're wondering, I just like to let people know the best brands I have found for things.
starry night-163
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Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:23 am
cristobela
KawaiiDandere
I had shingles when I was 18 in 08' and it was terrible. I just got diagnosed with them again. If you all could keep me in prayer, it's starting to hurt pretty bad. Thank you all.
James 5:14-16 (NIV)
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Make sure to confess and turn away from the sin of idolatry and adopting the ways of the nations to worship God (Christmas is one of them). I covered why that is in my reply to this article: The Importance of Reminders. Because, otherwise, the consequence is God's wrath (and for others who don't have a "full measure" yet, they're storing up God's wrath).
I'll put the reply in spoiler tags below:
The Father also reminds us to not adopt—nor preserve the slightest remnant of—the spiritual customs of the pagans. Both the Father and the Son speak against this behavior:
Deuteronomy 12:1-4 (NIV)
12 These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land. 2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. 3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
4 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.
Deuteronomy 12:30-31 (NIV)
30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
Jeremiah 10:2 (NIV)
2 This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.
Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Their ways—the way they worship, the way they pray—if not detrimental, are useless, and contradict God's commands. They lie about: (1) the true nature of God, (2) how we communicate with him, (3) how he wants to be worshiped.
Preserving Moloch worship parties, as long as we get rid of the child sacrifice, is not okay. He wants it gone completely. 100%.
Preserving Asherah images, as long as we get rid of the prostitution, is not okay. He wants them gone completely. 100%.
Preserving Baal get-togethers, as long as we get rid of the self-cutting with spears and swords, is not okay. He wants Baal worship eradicated completely. 100%.
Same with atheist spiritual beliefs. Same with theistic beliefs that deviate from his.
Our Heavenly Father wants their spiritual ways destroyed, not preserved by any means. He does not want to be worshiped in their way, nor have his people participating in the spiritual customs of the nations, no matter how hard people try to justify this.
Leviticus 18:3 (NIV)
3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.
And “Christmas” is “their way”:
“Gradually a number of prevailing practices of the nations into which Christianity came were assimilated and were combined with the religious ceremonies surrounding Christmas. The assimilation of such practices generally represented efforts by Christians to transform or absorb otherwise pagan practices. The Feast of Saturnalia in early Rome, for example, was celebrated for 7 days from the 17th to the 24th of December and was marked by a spirit of merriment, gift giving to children and other forms of entertainment. Gradually, early Christians replaced the pagan feast with the celebration of Christmas; but many of the traditions of this observance were assimilated and remain to this day a part of the observance of Christmas._ Other NATIONS, the Scandinavians, Germans, French, English and others, have left their mark . . . as well (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible) (pp. 804, 805).
Various symbolic elements of the pagan celebration, such as the lighting of candles, evergreen decorations, and the giving of gifts, were adapted to Christian signification. Later as Christianity spread into northern Europe, the Celtic, Teutonic, and Slavic winter festivals contributed holly mistletoe, the Christmas tree, bonfires, and similar items. (The Christian Encyclopedia)
The giving of presents was a Roman custom; while the Yule tree and Yule log are remnants of old Teutonic nature worship. Gradually the festival sank into mere revelry . . . . The custom was forbidden by an act of parliament in 1555; And the reformation brought in a refinement in the celebration of Christmas by emphasizing it Christian elements. (Unger's Bible Dictionary)
Many of the customs associated with Christmas also took their origins from the heathen observances. The exchanging of gifts, extravagant merriment, and lighting of candles all have previous counterparts in the Roman Saturnalia. The use of trees harkens back to the pagan Scandinavian festival of Yule. ~James Taylor, "Christmas," in The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church (J. D. Douglas, ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974), p. 223.
What the above means: somewhere down the line, some Christian(s) one day decided: we know that this pagan custom honors ______ , but no, let's make it about our Heavenly Father and Jesus! AKA Let's break that command of our Father in Deuteronomy. Because after all, if we cannot partake in the name of their pagan gods, then let's partake in the name of our God!
No. Still unacceptable.
To go ahead and hijack their spiritual traditions, and apply them to our lives—whether we make Him the meaning behind the spiritual custom or not—is not conducive to worshiping the Father in Spirit and in Truth.
John 4:23 (NIV)
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Romans 12:1 (NIV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Leviticus 20:26 (NIV)
26 You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Ephesians 5:17 (NIV)
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Psalm 40:8 (NIV)
8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
Matthew 7:21 (NIV)
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 15:3 (NIV)
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
AiG needs to reassess the justification they've given Christmas: we can reason things away as innocent, but if our Father commanded against it, then it is NOT good. Avoiding it is for our own good and the good of others.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NIV)
12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
God is leading people away from lies/myths, but people are choosing to dress in the costume of the myth. We're confusing people, not being clear about who YHWH/Jesus is, nor about who we are. He's not a sun God and we're not sun worshippers (but by allowing the sun god / nature worship, pagan custom to continue existing in Christian culture that is exactly the message we're communicating to onlookers and outsiders who are comparing/contrasting the cultures. When they see that this festivity predates Christ, and is found in pagan cultures, they'll think that we're closet pagans putting on a Christian mask and that the legitimate spirituality is that of the pagans).
We become useless—just like a garment interwoven of wool and linen (Deut 22:11), a lukewarm mixture—when we mix the truth of God with the myths of the world and the customs of these myths. Jesus is saving us from myths. He's also saving us from self-imposed traditions that nullify commands of the Father. Jesus is the truth, the way and the life—the light of the world leading us out of darkness (not leaving us in it). How can we adopt lies/darkness/demon-honoring-traditions into our worship and think this will please the Father? We cannot insinuate that he was born on this day (but that's exactly the impression we give off by observing that day to commemorate his birth). Every “holy day” reminder that God has given us commemorates the event on the exact day it happened in the past (on his calendar). For example, Passover is the 14th day of the first month on God's calendar because that's the day the Israelites placed the lamb's blood on their doorpost in Egypt and thus it became the day that Jesus would sacrifice himself as our passover lamb, and thus is the day we commemorate what God did both in Egypt and in Jerusalem. Jesus rose on the day of First Fruits, ergo every time this date rolls around on God's calendar, his resurrection is commemorated. God poured out his Holy Spirit on Pentecost (a.k.a. the Feast of Weeks), ergo every time that day rolls around on his calendar, this act is commemorated.
We are suppose to be bearers of light/truth, but when we intermingle with the ways of the nations, we stifle that light, pollute it and contaminate it. He is unlike what the nations worship—so we are not to worship Him in the ways that the nations worship their gods / the way the nations do spirituality, but lead our lives based on what is in accord with the Father's commands (because if not detrimental, the pagan's ways are useless spiritual customs; and they fail to convey the truth of the Living God, and fail to exclusively honor him).
Posting justifications to break this command is not conducive to helping God's children stay on the narrow path. You're encouraging them to compromise with the world. I was going to ignore this post, but something said no: it could mislead people into thinking this is a legitimate stance, when in actuality, it is not: no one in the bible supports observing idolatrous days.
Not even Paul—whom they tried to use as support:
Galatians 4:8-11 (NIV)
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces[a]? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Footnotes:
a. Galatians 4:9 Or principles
We are not free to observe the festivities of idols / things that make us look like part of the pagan beliefs we came out of. Like most people do, they twist Paul's letters to say: “it's okay to partake of spiritually-pagan customs that are a part of the religious culture God drew you out from”. It is NOT okay. He's judging them for the days they want to keep. This is not the type of day we're at liberty to choose whether to observe or not.
This behavior will only lead to the wrath of God, even if you're a believer:
Ezekiel 20:8 (NIV)
8 “‘But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt.
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That said, the author of this article twisted the meaning of Deut 4:25...
Quote:
In Deuteronomy 4:25 we read, “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger . . . ” Here Moses is highlighting that people and their descendants would forget God and what He has done.
More like, “would forget God and what he has prohibited”: to depict him in image form and worship him in their ways.
Exodus 34:17 (NIV)
17 “Do not make any idols.
Deuteronomy 4:15-18 (NIV)
15 You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.
Psalm 115:2-4 (NIV)
2 Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. 4 But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
We are to have NO depictions of God to show the world.
And what's happening on Christmas...? Nativity scenes galore.
Some even depicted by action figures (who are the idols of the nations; myths) [link]
What impression does that give a child? That Jesus is just a fictional character—just as fictional as these toys of yours who are lifeless. Just another idol among idols. What we “do” communicates more than what we “say”—if we ever get a chance to “say” (on top of that, what we “say” is invalidated by what we “do”). People are judging our culture / cultural practices before they ever read a bible or even get acquainted with the commands to note the difference between the Living God described in the bible, and the concept of god floating around in the nation(s). What Christmas says: “do not worship the God of the bible exclusively, go ahead, have other gods before him, you can mix him into other beliefs, you can mix yourself into other beliefs, the spiritual practices of your culture are worth preserving, it's all good.”
That is a lie.
That's not what the Father says. That's not what Jesus says. That's not what Paul says.
None of the apostles or prophets will support what AiG is telling Christians to do concerning Christmas.
We cannot adopt and tweak the spiritual practices of the pagans, and continue participating in them once we've been saved from them. We can't participate in any practice that contradicts the Father's commands.
And comparing this to memorial day glosses over the fact that memorial day does not give honor to myths/lies, the way Yule and all those other nature worship practices in Christmas still do.
Our love for God should make us hate giving honor to demons/lies even in the slightest. Our love for the lost sheep should make us desire to make it is easy for them to differentiate between truth and lie, the narrow way and the broad path.
Whoever wrote this article is dishonestly handling the Father's commands and thus, deceiving people and deviating them from God's will/ God's commands.
Santa and his 8 reindeer (plus Rudolph who was added in later) are based on the Norse god Odin (Odin is depicted as a white-bearded, old man) and he rides an 8-legged horse named Sleipnir. The festivity that honors Odin is Yule (ergo, the Yuletide carols, the evergreen trees, etc, that are involved with "Christmas").
As God's holy (set-apart) people, we're to have nothing to do with their myths. Otherwise, like I mentioned above in the spoiler tags, we come under his wrath for honoring the demons of the nations and failing to convey the truth about him.
1 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
1 Corinthians 10:20-22 (NIV)
20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
There comes a time when God's long-suffering / patience wears thin and he starts punishing after having warned his people several times to leave something behind / not participate in something. I bring up this warning considering your avatar's open affiliation with Christmas. Perhaps your measure has reached fullness and he's pouring out his wrath against you. Solution: confess/admit your sins and repent away from them. I pray that he heals you when you do.
Just because a person is sick it doesn't mean God is punishing them for a certain sin or sins. God will afflict us for his own purposes and not always for punishment. Take for example Lazarus, he was sick but what did Jesus say about his sickness? He said this "But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." (John 11:4 NASB) So basically Lazarus wasn't sick because of any particular sin or sins he had committed but rather he was afflicted with this sickness to bring God glory and we see that as we continue reading John 11 that God was glorfied by Lazarus being sick because he died and was therefore able to demonstrate his power before the people and resurrect Lazarus from the dead after having been dead for four days. Everyone is bound to get sick at some point in their life, this is just what we have to endure in this world, it could be we're sick as a result of God punishing us for some sin or sins or for another reason such as to help build us up in our Spiritual life to teach us endurance, faith, ect. (Romans 5:3-5) or for some other reason to bring God glory.
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 7:29 am
starry night-163
Just because a person is sick it doesn't mean God is punishing them for a certain sin or sins. God will afflict us for his own purposes and not always for punishment. Take for example Lazarus, he was sick but what did Jesus say about his sickness? He said this "But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." (John 11:4 NASB) So basically Lazarus wasn't sick because of any particular sin or sins he had committed but rather he was afflicted with this sickness to bring God glory and we see that as we continue reading John 11 that God was glorfied by Lazarus being sick because he died and was therefore able to demonstrate his power before the people and resurrect Lazarus from the dead after having been dead for four days. Everyone is bound to get sick at some point in their life, this is just what we have to endure in this world, it could be we're sick as a result of God punishing us for some sin or sins or for another reason such as to help build us up in our Spiritual life to teach us endurance, faith, ect. (Romans 5:3-5) or for some other reason to bring God glory.
I think the example you're thinking of is the blind man:
John 9:2-3 (NIV)
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
I'm aware that sometimes people are born disabled, not because the individual sinned (nor his parents), but for the sake of demonstrating a miracle and thus helping people to believe.
To be fair to scripture, however, we are not told what induced the sickness in Lazarus, just that the result would be to God's glorification (Lazarus could have fallen ill due to sin; we don't know). But God would use his death. God can use our sin for his own glory too, though that's not an excuse to commit it.
Romans 3:7-8 (NIV)
7 Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” 8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!
So, when it comes to sickness that we acquire later, after being born, as judgment against sin (including unbelief, not trusting God, what he warned about, what he commanded against, thus you sought your own harm by violating a command or instruction, or someone causes us harm by their unbelief and violation of the commands), God is glorified here too in this way: since God set the path of life and the path of death before us, we either choose to obey and guard life, or disobey and cause death. God is proven right, thus glorified, whatever we choose, because we will either live like he said or die like he said. Then, as you said, there's affliction he sends on purpose to refine us. And then there's Job, a righteous man whose righteousness is being proven by affliction, and how he responds to his sickness, despite knowing he hasn't violated a single command.
But I can tell KawaiiDandere is no Job because of what she's expressing on her avatar. Ergo, I bring up the strong possibility that she has provoked God's wrath by her idolatry (and I have been expressing possibility not outright fact: "Perhaps your measure has reached fullness and he's pouring out his wrath against you.") Considering that Christmas gives honor to other gods (for the above stated historical facts located in the spoiler above [coming from Christian encyclopedias and Christian dictionaries] and that I provided in the rest of the post), KawaiiDandere's avatar is in open affiliation with the pagan myths (ergo, she is cherishing pagan myths [thus falsehoods and other gods] in her heart). Even if we don't know something is sin, we can still be punished for it and suffer because of it.
2 Kings 17:24-28 (NIV)
24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. 25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. 26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.”
27 Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.
The above people were Gentiles and idolators. God attacked them because of their sins, despite them being totally ignorant that they were sinning in his eyes. YHWH only killed off some of them (as a warning). But despite sending a priest to teach them the way of the Lord...
2 Kings 17:40-41 (NIV)
40 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. 41 Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.
Knowing that the customs involved in Christmas give honor to other gods/demons/myths/idols, and knowing what our Heavenly Father said he would do if we honored other gods, I had to bring up God's wrath as a very strong possibility. And what I can say 100%, without a doubt—not a possibility but a fact—is that if she doesn't have a "full measure" yet, she is storing up God's wrath. Christmas violates Deuteronomy 12:30-31 because the festivity of Christmas uses the religious practices of the pagans (and YHWH/Jesus is not exclusively being honored by those symbols, nor will they ever give honor to him alone because they originated to worship other gods). Ultimately, God prohibited us from adopting their spiritual customs—even if we make him the reason behind adopting it; so, we have zero excuse for adorning ourselves with their spiritually-significant dress.
The consequences for this, both in the Old and New Testaments alike, is that we arouse God's jealousy:
Old Testament
Deuteronomy 6:13-15 (NIV)
13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.
New Testament
1 Corinthians 10:21-22 (NIV)
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
What does his jealousy look like when we're not faithful / loyal to him alone? When we're not faithful to the covenant/marriage vows we made to him?
Deuteronomy 28:59-61 (NIV)
59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
Plus, a whole list of ever-mounting consequences the more they resist repenting, turning away from what is idolatrous and sinful (which Moses goes on to list in Leviticus 26:14-39. Verses 40-45 describe what happens if they repent, and the last verse, verse 46, simply states that YHWH gave these commands through Moses). Amongst the consequences listed, is sending animals to attack the inhabitants of the lands—just like we saw demonstrated by 2 Kings 17:24-26 (YHWH sending lions on the Gentiles because of their sins despite being unaware that they were sinning in YHWH's eyes). They were ruining his reputation with their idolatry. He won't hold back just because Gentiles are ignorant.
And the New Testament says, that anyone who won't turn away from sin, is storing up wrath for themselves, even believers:
Romans 2:5 (NIV)
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
Revelation 2:20-23 (NIV)
20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
Sure, some disabilities are there for the sake of a healing miracle. Other times, with illnesses and sickness, if it's not because someone interacted with creation incorrectly and invited sin and disease in, it's because of something you did. And we have to warn people of this if we care about their well-being and safety. In either case (blameless or committing wickedness, and KawaiiDandere's avatar is the fruit of the latter), staying in sin will not help her, nor is conducive to her well-being in the long run.
When I made my original reply, she had a reindeer item on (thus why I mentioned Odin [who is depicted as an old man with a long, white beard; where Santa's image comes from], and his 8-legged horse named Sleipnir [thus where the 8 reindeer come from, Rudolph, the 9th reindeer, was added in later]).
But there's also:
Quote:
In Germanic Neopagan sects, Yule is celebrated with gatherings that often involve a meal and gift giving. Groups such as the Asatru Folk Assembly in the US recognise the celebration as lasting 12 days, beginning on the date of the winter solstice.[16]
In most forms of Wicca, this holiday is celebrated at the winter solstice as the rebirth of the Great horned hunter god,[17] who is viewed as the newborn solstice sun. The method of gathering for this sabbat varies by practitioner. Some have private ceremonies at home,[18] while others do so with their covens.[19]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule#Neopaganism
The Horned God is born in winter, impregnates the Goddess and then dies during the autumn and winter months and is then reborn by the Goddess at Yule.
Whether giving honor to Attis, Mithra, Odin, the Horned-God or Santa, we're to have nothing to do with the honoring of other spirits...
1 Corinthians 10:19-21 (NIV)
19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
...nor myths.
1 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
We arouse the Lord's jealousy, if not are storing up wrath for ourselves, when we do. Nothing good will come out of adopting physical gestures of obeisance to other gods.
Above all, aside from ruining her own Christian testimony (making herself look like a closet-pagan), it ruins God's holy (set-apart) reputation (that he's unlike what the other nations worship) when we dress up in their spiritual customs. We make God look like just another sun-god by adopting sun-god traditions; we communicate that he's equally a myth along with the other myths to whom these Phrygian cap, evergreen-customs belong to. That he's just another idol).
May God forbid that His Holy Name / holy reputation become tainted by these idolatrous acts. And may he give us eyes to see what he finds abominable in our lives so that we don't profane his Holy Name and give off the wrong impression to the lost and to fellow believers. Idolatry is a serious sin, with serious consequences. We would do well to repent of it once we learn we're in it, because the punishment only gets worse once we're aware and we persist in hostility against his commands.
Luke 12:47-48 (NIV)
47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Leviticus 26:23-24 (NIV)
23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over.
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