Holy Days

The Twelve -Wrongs- of Christmas

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You’ve heard of the twelve days of Christmas, but you need to know about its twelve -wrongs-!

There’s an old saying, “two wrongs don’t make a right.” So how can twelve wrongs make the holiday of Christmas right? This is a question that all who profess to follow Jesus Christ urgently need to answer! 

Most people blindly assume that everything about Christmas comes from the Bible. But never assume anything—always prove what is the truth. 

1st – Wrong Day:  Jesus Christ was not born on December 25. His human birth was in the autumn when the local shepherds were often in the field at night with their flocks (see Luke 2:8). It often snows in the winter in and around Jerusalem—and Bethlehem is a less than ten miles from the city. Wintertime is too cold for outdoor shepherding at night.  

John the Baptist conducted a widely noted ministry which served as a six month introduction to the beginning of Christ’s ministry. Through their mothers John was a distant cousin of Jesus (Luke 1:39-45). In fact, he was six months older than Christ. Based on the time of year that his father, a Levitical priest of the order of Abijah (Luke 1:5), was scheduled to serve at the Temple, we know that John was born in the spring. Therefore, Jesus was born in the autumn. 

If one sought to observe the day of birth of the most important human being in all of history, then why keep it on the completely wrong season and wrong day? In fact, Christ never commanded or intimated that His birthday was to be observed. He did, however, command a vital series of annual holydays listed in Scripture (Leviticus 23) to be faithfully kept by His true followers. 

2nd – Wrong Roots:  By “roots” we mean origins.  The day that millions of traditional Christians call Christmas is actually a lecherous, pagan holiday called Saturnalia by the Romans, and various other names by virtually every pagan religion in history. It was of importance to those pagans (worshippers of many god and goddesses) because they worshipped the sun. The world’s version of Christianity (and definitely not Christ’s) simply appropriated a day near the winter solstice and repackaged it as a so-called Christian holiday.  

Through history since, various denominations, knowing the pagan origin of Christmas, have claimed it as a “trophy for Christ.” There is no biblical sanction for doing that. For more details on its wrong origins just read the Christmas article in virtually any encyclopedia, but especially an older edition.  

The key point: God commands His own annual holydays—and in no way sanctions re-packaged paganism! 

3rd – Wrong Tree:  Millions, maybe billions of today’s Christians are infatuated at the sight of a decorated Christmas tree. How could it be wrong if it seems so right? Well, “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). 

Making an idol of a tree cut from the forest, decorated with silver and gold, fastened with hammers so it won’t topple over in the living room is flatly condemned by God through His prophet Jeremiah (chapter 10:1-8). The winter solstice tree or yule log, now Christmas tree, has long been an intrinsic part of pagan worship. 

The ancestral wrong tree was in the Garden of Eden and named by God “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” That’s the one He commanded our first parents Adam and Eve to avoid. There was a right tree of course, “the tree of life” of which God commanded Adam and Eve to eat its fruit (Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17).  Because they listened to the serpent (Satan) they ate the fruit of the wrong tree, and humanity has been, in essense, eating of it ever since. 

4th – Wrong Spirit:  How many times have you heard people speak of the “Christmas spirit”? Unfortunately, those with alcohol problems tend to speak of Christmas “spirits”—and the holiday is often used as an excuse for drunkenness.  

When you add up all these wrongs of Christmas, there is a wrong (as in evil) spirit closely associated with this and similar holidays of “this present evil age” (Galatians 1:6). That wrong spirit is the “serpent” of the Garden of Eden. It wasn’t an actual snake, but was the fallen angel, Satan the devil masquerading as a serpent. Read Revelation 12:9, noting, “so the dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…”   

The plain truth is that Satan as that fallen angelic spirit-being is the wrong “spirit” of Christmas. The evil archangel who rebelled against God, has misled mankind to adopt festivals that were never part of God’s true religion before Christ’s life on earth or after! 

5th – Wrong Ethic:  An ethic is a moral principle like, “do not take God’s name in vain,” “honor your father and mother,” “do not steal”… and “tell the truth.” The last is an appropriate example of an ethic. Since Christ did not teach the keeping of Christmas, and did not sanction all the other religious falsehoods that it embodies, then why should modern families perpetuate the falsehoods it portrays?  

By keeping a supposedly “religious” holiday wrapped in layers and layers of lies (Santa and flying reindeer among them), parents condition their children to perpetuate the deceitfulness and prevaricating to the next generation.  

This is a great challenge like the one with which God confronted Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve. Cain hated his righteous brother Abel. God called him out about his ethics: “…Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door…” (Genesis 4:7).

Unfortunately, Cain had learned bad ethics from his parents’ example in the Garden of Eden. In perpetuating the Christmas myth, God’s true, biblical ethics and teachings are hidden from the children of future generations. 

6th – Wrong Gospel:  The early Church of God that Jesus built did not keep Christmas because the true God of the Bible did not sanction the holiday as a “commanded assembly” or “holy convocation” (terms used in Scripture for the Sabbath and annual holydays as in Leviticus 23).  

Christmas was not a point of discussion among the twelve Apostles. It didn’t become a “Christian” holiday until many years later. However, the apostle Paul confronted the early corruption of the biblical gospel of the Kingdom of God which Jesus taught, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel…” (Galatians 1:6).  

That different and false gospel didn’t come from Christ or God the Father. “But even if our gospel is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded …” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4), clearly, the great deceiver, Satan the Devil, “the god of this age” is the source of the false values, false doctrines, false festivals like Christmas and the false gospel. 

7th – Wrong Songs:  “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…” is a proverb spoken by Christ (Matthew 12:34). Also true is the logical next step:  out of the abundance of the heart the mouth sings. Music is powerfully influential in both teaching and reinforcing the meaning and values of the lyrics (for good or bad). 

Most people’s Christmas memories are tied to the holiday’s music. Millions can sing parts of numerous songs of the season by heart. Sadly, Christmas hymns extol a wrong holiday with wrong, non-biblical lyrics. There is no Santa Claus and he is not coming to anyone’s house on a flying sleigh pulled by a reindeer with a red nose! 

God loves good songs of truth. Every psalm in the Bible’s book of Psalms is a song. There are also many other sacred songs in Scripture. The vital value of biblical songs is that they all express God’s truth—not pagan myths, benevolent fabrications or outright lies! 

8th – Wrong Gifts:  Did you ever notice the discrepancy of Christmas gift-giving? Today people give each other gifts, and billions of dollars or other currencies are spent on Christmas gifts. It is the most commercialized time of the year! 

However, shortly after His human birth in the autumn the wise men called magi from the East (the Parthian Empire) arrived to pay homage to the One who was the infant Messiah (Matthew 2:1-11). They brought a variety of gifts that were fitting tribute for a king because Jesus Christ was and is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). 

Please note: the wise men did not give their gifts to each other! They gave their gifts of honor and worship to Jesus Himself (Matthew 2:11). Thus, Christmas gift-giving falsely represents the true events surrounding Christ’s birth. 

9th – Wrong Lesson:  Despite the moniker of “the season for giving,” the basic lesson of Christmas is about what you can “get” – gifts, intoxication, and in some cases promiscuity, promotions, bonuses, etc.   

In many ways Christmas is a version of the health and wealth gospel. It’s the getting rather than giving or serving others…and especially loving and serving the true God of the Bible. God does promise blessings for obedience to His laws and ways of living, but the Christmas holiday is not one of God’s festivals, in fact it’s in opposition to God’s holy days.  

The whole lesson of Christmas is wrong. It glorifies the way of “get” and getting while flagrantly disregarding God’s own holy festivals of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. In essence, the wrong lesson of Christmas says, “ignore what God actually commanded, perpetuate an ancient pagan celebration, and get what you want.”  

10th – Wrong Mission:  What is the mission of Christmas, what is its purpose – and where in the Bible did Jesus Christ commission His apostles and church members to keep His erroneously supposed birthday?  

People can search in vain because it’s not there! Christmas is a re-packaged pagan holiday and no matter how much feeling is put into it, keeping Christmas actually opposes the mission that the true Jesus Christ of Scripture gave His disciples. 

Christ was and expects His followers to be completely and truthfully mission-focused. His mission was, and ours should be, to proclaim the true gospel—the gospel of the Kingdom of God. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).  

11th – Wrong Form:  Human beings were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), that is, in His bodily shape and form. This truth was verified when as an infant Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary. Most people intuitively comprehend the fact that man was created in the image (form, shape and potential) of God fact despite educational conditioning through the erroneous theory of evolution. 

Form is also the established system, custom or practice—as in the true form of worshipping God as clearly revealed in the Bible. From the Garden of Eden forward God revealed to his servants, the patriarchs and prophets of old, then later Christ thoroughly instructed His twelve apostles in the true way of life and righteous form of worship. 

Neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament was Christmas revealed to be in any way a part of the system, custom or practice of God’s people. If it is not a part of the true form of worship, then it is a part of an entirely wrong and sinful form of worshipping God. That fact should weigh heavily on the mind of any person of good will who desires to know and follow the truth. 

12th – Wrong Truth:  “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). 

Those are the words of Jesus Christ, the very One who neither commanded nor intimated that His human birth should be celebrated. Thus, Christmas, in effect, is not part of God’s truth. 

Yet, long after the twelve apostles were in the grave, in the 200s A.D. the budding Roman church began attempts to determine the date of Jesus’ birth. As it developed, the trappings of the Christmas festival copied various Roman and northern European pagan sun-worship celebrations that had long been observed around the winter solstice. The result was a traditional Christian holiday comprised of completely fabricated “truth.” No matter how accepted it became over the centuries in the greater Christian world, it remains the wrong truth—which of course is not truth at all! 

You can know what is true! 

The really good news is that God’s truth is right before our eyes! If we study God’s Word in the Bible with an open mind and genuine humility His truth will come crystal clear to those God is calling at this time.

Learning the twelve wrongs of Christmas is only a beginning. God would have us know much more of what is right. In fact, Jesus Christ personally promised, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Freedom from wrong is the right thing to seek!

-Randy Stiver

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

**All images are property of Amanda Stiver, unless otherwise noted. Please do not re-use without permission.

Planting the Seed: A Child’s-eye View of God’s True Church

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Missouri River, October 2022

As a youngster there was a scripture that echoed in my adolescent mind…

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

This was a passage that was impressed upon me by my grandmother, Alice Bissell, a longtime true Church of God member. My earliest such memories, around age five, were of attending Sabbath services with “Grammy”, on Saturday, in Portland, Oregon. She even began to teach me how to take notes during church—which initially meant writing down the scripture references and listening carefully to whichever of God’s ministers was speaking that day.

Lessons learned

Among the many instructions I absorbed this way, I realized that it’s critically important for us to become experts in the function of the carnal mind. By “carnal” the Bible means… physically and selfishly oriented and unrepentant. Also note this definition: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).

I learned that a person who was “carnal” had not yet repented of his or her sins and thus had not yet receive God’s Holy Spirit. Therefore, such were still unconverted. That lesson was imparted to my young mind at about age eight, in the late 1950’s, when my grandmother took me to the combined, Day of Pentecost holyday service at a park just north of the Columbia River, which forms the state line between Oregon and Washington.

Baptism commitment

After we had eaten lunch with more than two hundred other brethren, my grandmother pointed to a bend in the stream, back under the shade of many trees where the ministers were baptizing (through brief, but full immersion in the water) some new brethren whom they had recently counseled and deemed ready to become members of God’s Church. Some were older and some younger, in their late teens or early 20s.

She sent me with one of the older men in the Church to where we could watch the baptisms along with the others who were also witnessing this important ceremony as each newly repentant member waited for his or her turn. Other children my age were also watching since, in some cases, their parents were being baptized. It was at that time I realized that one day when I was a fair bit older than eight, I too, must be baptized.

Individual commitment strengthens the whole Body of Christ

With lunch and the baptisms completed, I visited with several youngsters my age until the afternoon service was about to start. Another dawning: I now had friends in God’s Church—and would have many more to come!

The afternoon sermon was even clearer than the one in the morning. Later, on the way home “Grammy” reviewed what we had heard and learned. It would be another ten years before I was baptized during my first year at Ambassador College, at the Bricket Wood campus in England. However, the seeds of God’s truth and faithfulness were planted well and deeply at that county park in southern Washington state on that special Pentecost.

Historically speaking—when the majority of the ministry and brethren are faithful—God’s Church grows in the process of doing His work of preaching the true gospel and preparing for the soon coming of our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, it is vitally important that we each individually remain diligently faithful to the teachings that God has recorded for us in His Word, the Bible.

Keep the true faith—and spread it!

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

**All images are property of Amanda Stiver, unless otherwise noted. Please do not re-use without permission.

THE POWERFUL VISION OF…GOD’s MARVELOUS WORLD TOMORROW!

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“Welcome to God’s Feast of Tabernacles!”

If you’ve kept “the Feast” for few or many years you immediately understand the meaning of that joyful, truth-filled, opening night greeting.

If you’re new to God’s annual holy days, then you too may soon comprehend the sense of purpose, the historical mission, and the marvel of prophetic detail that God built into His plan of salvation and true way of life!

Savor the following rich visuals in this prophecy about the “the wonderful world tomorrow,” as the true Church of God in the 20th century often described Jesus Christ’s anticipated, literal rule of all the nations during the millennial age beginning with His second coming:

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6).

Even the most urbanized individuals recognize the dramatic, predator vs. prey contrast in that prophecy. In our world today wolves and large felines routinely kill and eat lambs and other herbivore prey that may happen by. That change of animal (especially in carnivore) nature will be a reflection of a far more important change in the nature of mankind.

Clearly, it isn’t the animals that God is in the process of saving! It’s people…all the humans made in His image from Adam and Eve on into the deep future.

The dramatic predator-prey contrast illustrates the greatness of God’s plan of salvation for humanity. It captures your imagination!

Of all God’s creation human beings are the ones given that incredible destiny to choose life and live through spiritual conversion and later resurrection to eternal life in the Kingdom of God!

That incredible, spiritual potential for humanity includes those whom God calls to choose His way of life now. But eternal life will also be offered to future humanity who live into the one thousand years of Christ-governed peace, and then, after that, to historical humanity through a second resurrection to physical life, and a first opportunity to genuinely know the true God.

Savor these eight days, and all the deep prophetic and spiritual meaning. That’s what the Feast of Tabernacles is all about!

– Commentary by Randy Stiver

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

What Is America’s Best Holiday…and Why?

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A commentary by Randy Stiver – 11/18/2022 *

The U.S.A. has an official listing of its federal holidays (10 in all). But from the perspective of God’s Word and way, which of the 10 is America’s BEST holiday? Let’s review and weigh each one while striving to see it as Jesus Christ sees it.

Official U.S. Federal Holidays (according to days given off work):

New Year’s Day – January 1

New Year’s Day was a commonly celebrated holiday in ancient Rome—but it was very distinctly not a true Christian day of celebration. The Roman celebrations were typically drunken, adulterous festivals celebrating Roman, pagan deities. Drunken immorality is profoundly not the conduct of true and faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

Martin Luther King’s Birthday – the 3rd Monday in January

Dr. King was a courageous man of his time. He helped forge an increased level of freedom under the law for vastly more Americans directly and in principle. Recognizing and valuing great leaders of the nation is worthwhile and important but valuing the Word of God is of even greater importance.

Washington’s Birthday – the 3rd Monday in February

Speaking of courageous men of their times, George Washington became the legendary “father of our country”! The historic, American system of law and governmental function ensuring “freedom for all” was begun during his service as the nation’s first president. He was a great leader, but the day of his birth is still not remotely of the magnitude to be the nations’ greatest holiday.

Memorial Day – the last Monday in May

Memorial Day began in 1868 on May 30th in the aftermath of the Civil War Between States which claimed more American lives than any conflict in its history. Originally called “Decoration Day,” the observance was later moved to the last Monday in May. Remembering one’s national history and ancestors who forged the path for us today is typically a good thing. On the other hand, if a people ignore the troubled times in their history and the right principles and values they and their ancestors have stood for, then they will also soon forget who they are. Identity is forged in remembering. But God has even greater things for us to remember!

Juneteenth National Independence Day – June 19

Rooted in the end of slavery in America at the close of the Civil War between the States, this recently added national holiday is a day of celebrating the freedoms proclaimed in the Emancipation Proclamation. Freedom is a wonderful thing to be treasured by all. And yet, we must always remember the source of true freedom comes through Jesus Christ of the Bible—the true Savior of all mankind.

Independence Day – July 4

Of all the holidays on this list, Independence Day in America is perhaps the most quintessential. It heralds the nation’s freedom and independence from national oppression.

In the Bible Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh were prophesied to inherit phenomenal world greatness. Firstborn son Manasseh’s descendants in the end time of this world’s history would become the greatest single nation in world history. The United States of America has fulfilled that prophecy. Joseph’s second born son Ephraim was to become the world’s greatest “company of nations.” The British with its now past but great empire fulfilled that prophecy (see Genesis 48).

American Independence Day marks the separation to the two phenomenal destinies of America and Great Britain.

Labor Day – 1st Monday in September

The proverb says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Jesus backed that prophecy up with His own words, “…My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” (John 5:17). A holiday that celebrates good, hard work—especially the direct and specific work of God is worth valuing very highly!

Columbus Day – 2nd Monday in October

When Christopher Columbus sought sail across the sea, he may well have realized that he sailed in the wakes of Jean Cabot under an English flag, Eric the Red and other Vikings, a fair number of adventurous Irish, not to mention King Solomon’s navy of about 1000 B.C. However, in modern times Columbus received the largess of the credit for discovering America.

Veterans’ Day – November 11

Likely every nation has such a day of remembrance for their young citizens who gave their lives defending their homeland. The irony of God’s children in one place striving to destroy God’s children in another place is profoundly sad commentary on the history of mankind from the Garden of Eden forward. But such has always been ever since the tragedy of Cain murdering his brother Able (see Genesis 4:1-15).

However, the sadness of war more significantly devolves from the pre-Adamic rebellion of the arch-angel Lucifer against God’s plan and divine rule. Satan and his followers (the one-third of the angels who rebelled and became demons) attacked God’s faithful angels led by the member of the Godhead we know now as Jesus Christ. On God’s own sacred calendar the spiritual holyday Day of Atonement marks that ancient tragedy (see Isaiah 14:12-21; Ezekiel 28:11-19).

Thanksgiving Day – 4th Thursday in November

Credited to the Pilgrims of Massachusetts in the days of the Plymouth Colony (1660s) when they dined with the native American tribesmen. For the Pilgrims it was a day of thanksgiving for a safe journey to the New World. For the tribesmen it was a peaceful greeting to the newcomers. The modern world’s greatest nation the United States grew from that event. Thanksgiving Day’s true fame comes from the expressions of profound thanks to God for the pilgrims’ safe journey across the sea and for the peaceful reception by the local tribesmen already in North America. O that America and all the nations could just keep that peace! Under Christ and the resurrected saints’ Millennial rule they finally will!

Christmas Day – December 25

This is the supposed day of Jesus Christ’s human birth. However, it’s not only the wrong date—it’s also in the wrong season of the year in ancient Judaea. Winter in both ancient and modern Israel (or Palestine as the Romans called it) was and is a cold season. Shepherds have their sheep in barns at night and they themselves at home in warm beds during the winter. Therefore, the shepherds of the time of Christ would have been out with their flocks during the warmer nights of autumn—but not in mid-winter!

That places the human birth of Christ in the September—October time frame and not in December. The Bible is divinely silent on the exact date, but the season would have had to have been autumn. Jesus Christ knew His mission and His great love for all God’s children. His first coming was to live a perfect life (without sin) and ultimately die for the sins of all humankind—thus providing them the calling to know of and to accept that sacrifice and ultimately be resurrected to live forever in the eternal Kingdom of God.

And now America’s Best Holiday selection…

True freedom comes through the spiritual leadership of Jesus Christ. In the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). So, which is America’s (or any nation’s) best holiday?

The answer is that none of America’s holidays equate to God’s holy days which are specifically listed in Scripture. However, one holiday more closely harmonizes with the principles of God’s truth in true Christianity—and that would be Thanksgiving Day. “Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, / And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name” (Psalm 30:4).

Remember its true, spiritual roots, and have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving 2022!

*This originally appeared as a weekly note sent to my local congregation. If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.