If you are looking for options, support, or just care with a crisis or unplanned pregnancy, Lifeline Pregnancy is an amazing group of people who are there for you!
You can contact their hotline anytime at 466-4000.
They are located at 1323 12th Ave S, Nampa, ID 83651-4666.
This morning I got to talk to Brenda Cameron from Advocates Against Domestic Violence. They have many amazing programs in the Treasure Valley for helping families that are challenged by abuse.
If you’d like more information, you can contact them at:
208-459-4779 or 208-459-6279
If you are in a crisis call the Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-877-459-4779.
Advocates Against Domestic Violence runs Hope’s Door – a shelter for women and children. You can contact them at info@hopesdoor.org or at 208-459-4779 or www.hopesdoor.org.
So, the holiday season is coming. We’ve celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas is around the corner. Christmas has amazing memories for me; lots of warm feelings. But it seems that in the past few years I’ve encountered more Christians who are confused about Christmas, and maybe even apprehensive; should Christians celebrate Christmas at all? Are we merely giving in to a pagan tradition? Are we doing spiritual harm to our families?
First of all, there is NO command to celebrate Christmas in the Bible. Read it from cover to cover, you won’t find a command. So, it’s safe to say that if you choose NOT to celebrate Christmas you’re not violating some Biblical mandate.
However, if one looks deeply into the reasons given for NOT celebrating Christmas, you’ll find that they are weak arguments based on bad Biblical exegesis (study) and poor logic.
There are many reasons people propose as to the reason that one should NOT celebrate Christmas. Boiled down to the bottom line, the logic is simple: Christmas is taken from a pagan holiday and therefore should not be celebrated by Christians. In fact, the logic goes, it very likely might be a foothold for Satan to enter your life.
While many of these people are very well meaning, the logic is flawed; the conclusion is erroneous, the the whole train of thought shows a foundation of error that IS actually dangerous. Let’s look at some of the dangers of this logic:
One: One of the strong undercurrents of this mindset is a belief that we must protect ourselves from Satan’s delusions, and that we may be unknowingly tricked/seduced/led astray by some pagan influence. This leads to a heightened sense of awareness of all things that could be from Satan. When this happens, where is the spiritual focus? It’s on Satan, not on Jesus. This is such a problem – on so many levels:
2 Corinthians 3:18 says that by beholding (looking at) Jesus we are changed to be like Him. The same is true with Satan. The more we look at him, the more we are led towards him. Focusing on Satan does not lead to freedom, it leads to bondage, stress and fear.
There are whole movements, or sub-movements within various Christian traditions that are focused a lot on Satan – casting him out, rebuking him, etc. While there are elements of this that are Biblical, Jesus never went looking for demons. We should be obsessed with Jesus, not Satan. The more we are saturated with good, the less we have to fear from evil.
One of the greatest dangers from this is that at it’s core this mindset is legalism: I must do certain things to make sure I’m okay with God. It focuses us on behaviors, not on the transformation of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is legalism. I might loose my salvation if I celebrate Christmas. This is apostasy. Paul’s says that Jesus is the author and finisher; that He will keep us to the day of His return. This is based in fear – not hope. 1 John says perfect love casts out fear.
Transformation does not come by figuring out Satan’s delusions. It comes by “renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Renewing your mind does not happen by studying Satan’s lies, but by being filled up with His Word. Renewing your mind does not come by researching theories on the internet, but by being saturated in the Word.
Two: The history of the world is long. Throughout history, people have tried to explain the world and the universe and often created religions with their own systems of worship and symbols to explain it. The chance that just about ANYTHING in current culture has some type of pagan parallels is quite high. In addition, throughout history, mankind has synthesized things from diverse places and adapted/adopted them and moved forward – often with no regard to it’s origins.
The days of the work are all pagan in origin. When you say, “I’ll see you on Saturday” are you even acknowledging the god Saturn? No, probably not. Or Sunday? Or Tuesday? They’ve been stripped of their cultural underpinnings and reused.
There is an interesting give and take in religions. According to the Biblical understanding, God institute sacrifices after sin in Genesis. Pagan religions took sacrifices and went crazy with it. They built temples to worship in. Yet God instructed Solomon to build a temple. Was this a sin? Was it saying that God agreed with paganism? No, not at all. But, He was using something they understood to teach His lessons.
So, should we be surprised that someone somewhere had a similar symbol? Does that mean that Christmas is completely pagan?
Some of the research that you will read on the internet about the pagan origins of Christmas is shaky at best. Have you looked at www.snopes.com recently? It amazes me how gullible we are. We get an email forwarded from Aunt Betty about some disaster/virus/whatever, and we forward it on. And on. And on. But, with a little research, it is proved false. Recently, there’s a great little video about Einstein showing up his teacher who didn’t believe in God. Yet, that is most likely an untrue story, but it continues to be passed around, and I’ve never seen anyone quote a source that shows the evidence that this story is true! Yet we just accept it as true. We must think. We must research. We must study. We should not look quite as stupid as we sometimes do. In the issue of Christmas it’s no different. Much of the research is shaky.
Speaking of shaky research: My favorite is when people quote Jeremiah 10 as a Biblical injunction against Christmas trees. Here’s the passage, taken from the New American Standard Bible – one of the most literal translations of the Bible:
1Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2Thus says the LORD,
“(A)Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens
Although the nations are terrified by them;
3For the customs of the peoples are (B)delusion;
Because (C)it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
4″They (D)decorate it with silver and with gold;
They (E)fasten it with nails and with hammers
So that it will not totter.
5″Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
And they (F)cannot speak;
They must be (G)carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they (H)can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”
Ok, so let’s take a look at this verse. Verse 3 is where many start to try to show Christmas was condemned by Jeremiah: it is wood cut from the forest (some translations will say a tree). Then, you have to skip over the rest of verse 3 and go to verse 4 – “they decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not totter.” And at that point, you might make a case that this text is talking about Christmas trees.
However, to do that, you have to ignore the end of verse three which talks about a craftsman working on it – which my Christmas trees have never had. If you get past that, you have to go to verse 5, “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, and they cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm, nor can they do any good.”
Now, I have never heard ANYONE try to get their Christmas tree to speak; I have never seen anyone try to get their tree to walk. This is obviously contrasting false gods that are created by human hands with the eternal God that can do anything!
This is horrible Bible study methodology. It’s taking things out of context, it’s taking bits and pieces to support a theory and ravaging the Word of God. It’s a horrible! We must be better students of the Word than this!
Conclusion of point 2 – Study. Research. Don’t just take what you see on the internet. Study the Word for yourself – just about anyone can make the Bible say anything they want.
Three: The argument that Christmas is pagan and therefore can impact your life ignore this text from Paul:
1 Corinthians 8:4So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
I find this interesting. Here was food that was actively offered in a pagan ceremony and Paul’s saying, “so what? There’s no god but God! This has NO power over you!” And yet we live in fear of being contaminated by something pagan. Let this be clear. Jesus Christ has beaten Satan. Satan has no power over Jesus Christ.
Now, if you keep reading, it’s obvious that Paul does not want us to flaunt our freedom to the injury of others. If someone has come out of paganism, don’t let your freedom trip them up!
Connected to this is the fact that power does not reside in the object – power resides in God or Satan. I used to do some concert lighting. There’s a really big lesson that is quickly learned. If the extension cord that connects the light itself to power is not plugged in to the power source, the light will not turn on. There is no power in the extension cord. The “objects” are like the extension cord – are they connecting you to God or Satan? That’s the question – not the question of whether the cord is bad or not.
These symbols have been stripped of any religious/pagan meanings. They are simply things. We should not walk around being afraid of stumbling into something “pagan” that will contaminate us!
And Christmas is bad for many people. Christmas becomes a time of debt, greed, consumerism, and all kinds of crazy emotional/inter-personal stuff that is just destructive. This is sin! It’s a good thing gone wrong. But this isn’t because of paganism – this is people loosing sight of Jesus!
Four: Now, if I were Satan, I would try to do everything I could to get people NOT celebrating Jesus coming to earth. So, on one hand, I would take Christmas and make it a commercial, debt laden, shallow greedfest. At the same time, I’d get Christians to be afraid of it! If Jesus never came, then there’s no Easter (which I think should be celebrated more than Christmas!!!!). If there’s no Easter there’s no hope and Christianity is just another religion among many and completely worthless of true transformation.
While I was at it, I’d make Christians look foolish in the eyes of the unchurched. Why would Christians refuse to celebrate their holiday? Sure, some Christians might dress up on Halloween (which, if there’s a pagan holiday, Halloween would be it!), but they wouldn’t celebrate Christmas – which is when most everyone – Christian or not at least have some understanding of the story of a baby in a manger.
I would strip Christians of this great opportunity to share their faith when people are open to it. Just one story, but a week ago I interviewed a KTSY listener who started listening during the Christmas season when we play 100% Christmas music. She didn’t believe in God, but she got hooked on the station. After Christmas, she stayed with KTSY and has become a Christian. Why? Because of Christmas. The words of Jesus come to my mind… By their fruits you will know them….
So, what’s the bottom line? I challenge all of us to find better ways to celebrate Christmas – to make sure we celebrate Jesus. To make sure He is not replaced in our lives by some cheap alternative. But, let’s not get so caught up in a theory that sounds righteous, but is not sound Biblically, logically, or experientially.
Here’s some links to some other writers about this subject:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/AskPastorJohn/ByTopic/63/2535_Should_Christians_celebrate_Christmas/
http://www.letusreason.org/Apolo16.htm
http://www.letusreason.org/Current18.htm
It’s not about the words… It’s about the heart. Pray these concepts and pray it slowly – savoring it and take it in…
Lord, I choose to forgive ____PERSON___ for _____ISSUE_____ causing me to feel ____EMOTIONAL PAIN___. I am willing to pay for the emotional pain and consequences that ____PERSON___ has caused me. I ask you to come and fill my heart up for what was taken from me. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to take back the ground I gave to the enemy through my bitterness and I yield that ground to Your control.
Adapted from John Regier.
“My struggle is how can I read the word more often…I feel like the only time I read is when I am at service and I feel that I am failing overall.”
Anytime someone starts to get serious about reading the Word, God is incredibly excited. Someone wants to be better friends with Him!
Here’s some basic ideas for you.
Set a time. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It’s a cliche, but pretty accurate sometimes. Making a new habit means you have to do some work to figure out when/where you’re going to spend time with God. The more regular/consistant it is, the better off you are. It doesn’t have to be a ton of time to start out – just set some time.
Set a plan. Have a plan on how you’re going to read the Bible. I suggest using a Bible reading plan – to read the New Testament or the whole Bible. You can find a couple lower on my blog.
Look to be in relationship. Often we read the Bible looking for facts. The Bible is written as a story. There are times to do theological study, but more importantly, it’s a relationship; a love letter; a message to your heart. Look to hear from God; look to listen to Him.
Get some friends. Get in some type of group of friends that share your relationship with God, where it’s normal to talk about your love relationship with Him. This will encourage and keep you consistant.
Try these ideas and let me know how it’s going!
I got an email a little while ago from someone dealing with jealousy over relationships past. I won’t share all the details as it’s personal. But, the end with this
“I thought if I studied “jealous” in my life application study guide I could figure it out, but the examples I found (mainly Exodus 20:5) confused me even more. …”for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate….”
Please help me understand why our God is jealous over His relationship with us and why I feel so bad about being jealous.”
I’ve been married to my wife for over 6 years. She’s an awesome wife – and more than that I’ve given my heart and my life to her. And, yes, I am jealous of her. Not in the “I’m worried every second of my life you might be looking at another guy” high school way, but in the true love is exclusive – and I don’t want to share the intimacy we have with any other guy.
In the same way, God is crazy passionate about you – and He knows that you can only have one God – one ultimate purpose in life. He knows that He is the source of life and love and only in Him will you find perfect satisfaction – so He’s insanely jealous of your affection.
Let’s look at all of the second commandment, from which Exodus 20:5 is taken:
Exodus 20: 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
I think it’s that second part, “punishing the children for the sin of the fathers…” that freaks us out. How can God punish people – especially children – for what someone else does?
First of all – this is the law of genetics and cause and effect! My grandfather was an alcoholic. I am more susceptible to alcoholism because of that. My father had an affair and had some relationship challenges – I carry that history into my life.
However, the second part of the promise is what we miss – “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments!” The blessing is exponentially greater than the curse! A thousand generations of blessing rather than the 3rd or 4th generation. You may right now be receiving blessing based on the faithfulness of someone in your family tree from centuries ago!
But why is God jealous at all? Again, as I stated above, it goes down to radical passionate love – and this kind of love is exclusive! God isn’t a petty immature high-school freshman who’s jealous because he’s afraid of being alone, looking silly, or having his heart broken. He’s the lover who has given everything to his bride and wants what is best for her.
So, let me ask you, my blog friend, how does it make you feel to think about God being crazy jealous of YOU?
“Also, I have many friends who are believers and we try to encourage each other. I feel very blessed to have these great friends. I know we’re supposed to share the Good News about Jesus with others. It’s hard to know how/when to share about our faith. I don’t know where many of my extended family is with Jesus. I feel extreme pressure because I claim to be a Christian to be a perfect example of Christ’s love. Obviously, I’m not perfect and I fail a lot. I want to feel at peace about that, but to also live my life so they see the love of Christ.
Sometimes I think we carry too much pressure to “win” people over to Jesus. We feel a little uncomfortable, like maybe we’re not much better than a pushy used car salesman. And when we realize our own imperfections, it seems all the stranger. As a pastor, though, one of the best things people have told me is that because of my imperfections – and my honesty about it – that they feel God can be real in their life too. People can handle our imperfections – they can’ t handle us acting like we don’t!
Instead, we need to enter into relationships with them and then be willing to ask deep questions – and instead of simply waiting to give our answers to them be willing to listen to them and actually dialogue rather than monologue.
I’ve read this quote many times, “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.;”
So, to put some of this in practical terms with your family… I would suggest you begin by building your relationship with God and asking Him to give you divine appointments – even them asking you about your life, your relationship with Christ, how you handle stuff in life, etc.
Secondly, spend time each day remembering why you serve God. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” Part of that means remember why you are in love with God; what He’s done for You. How it’s impacted your life day to day.
I highly recommend the books, “Out of the Saltshaker & Into the World” by Rebecca Manley Pippert and “Just Walk Across the Room” by Bill Hybels. Both are available at Amazon.com as well as through local Christian book stores and I know Hybels book is available at your local library (that’s where I got it!).
Another question from the KTSY family:
“Is it possible to believe Jesus is my Savior and yet still struggle with God and his plan for my life? I want to be genuine in my faith and worry about if it really shows. Deep down I have peace that God is control of my life, but sometimes in my day-to-day life I still worry about things of this world, etc.”
This is such a fun question – and one I know I face and probably most of us do. Sometimes it seems easier to trust God for eternity – but to trust God with my finances for this month, or what to do about my job or who to deal with my kids seems much more difficult.
So, what does this mean? Do I really have faith?
Well, on one hand, Jesus said don’t worry… That’s a simple command – don’t worry! On the other hand, we are faced with disciples who constantly worried and did not live in a place of faith. Faith is a growth process. It’s a journey into trusting God. Don’t get discouraged by your worry – rather just let your worry turn you to God and growing your faith.
Here’s our first question to talk about together:
“Is mental illness real or is it really demonic possession, I have heard so many times if I had my life right with God I would not have the problems I have and there is no such thing as mental illness. It gets hard to talk with people about problems when they keep saying it is Satan who is doing it. Is this scriptural about mental illnesses not being physical?”
First of all, thank you for your question. I can tell this has caused you a lot of pain with well meaning Christians diagnosing your situation.
Let me begin to answer your question with a question… Last week I was in a school cafeteria, carrying a tray, walking out of the cafeteria up some steps to a meeting that was being held in another area. While I was walking up these stone steps, carrying my tray AND texting on my phone, I tripped and fell, with my shins smacking into this rock step.
So, here’s my question: Was my falling a result of demonic oppression or a result of me trying to do too many things at one time and suffering the natural cause and effect of my actions?
The question may not be as easy as yes or no. The Bible gives us this warning: 1 Peter 5:8 a “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” So, did he want me to fall and hurt myself? Well, Satan isn’t able to be everywhere and know everything, so I’m not sure he knew much about it, but his demons were happy to see me in pain. And, maybe they encouraged/arranged circumstances/pushed for me to fall. However, the best thing is to NOT TEXT WHILE WALKING! If I fix the problem, I have closed the door to Satan.
Secondly, there is such a thing as mental illness. There are brain conditions that are physiological in context. A broken arm is a physical thing. A brain can be broken as well.
Now, again, we swing between two extremes on this. One extreme says there is no physical reason for mental illnesses. The other side says everything is physical. However, we are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them.” God is a triune being – that means there are three parts of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the same way we have a mental (Father), physical (Son – God in human flesh) and spiritual side (Holy Spirit). So, all three aspects of our lives interact and impact each other.
We know this reality already. Go smash your toe and see how your emotions are doing. Don’t get sleep and feel how close you feel to God. And if you’re really a glutton for punishment, don’t sleep for a few days THEN smash your toe and see how you’re doing emotionally and spiritually.
I am often frustrated when I hear people “rebuking” Satan for things. There is a time to do this. However, sometimes if we can simply blame someone else for our problems we don’t have to take responsibility for our own actions. I don’t have to recognize I’m a sinner, I can just blame Satan. Paul himself talks in Romans 7 about how he is a sinner and does things he doesn’t want to do!
James 1:14 says, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” I believe that if Satan were to DIE, we wouldn’t know about it for a really long time. We are already deeply wounded, filled with desires inside us. James 4 says, “1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”
This stuff that is hurting inside us, these desires keep us hurting and hurting each other. Satan doesn’t even have to do anything! Instead of focusing on Satan, we should be asking God to heal our desires and hurts! We should dealing with the psychological and spiritual issues of our lives.
And there are things that are spiritual. There was a young boy at a church I was at who was suffering from hearing voices telling him that people wanted to kill him, etc. His psychiatrist said it was all in his head and gave him more medication and it didn’t help. He was prayed over and the voice s left him and never came back.
I’ve heard of stories of people who have been on anti-depressants that when they work with a spiritual counselor who has led them into healing of emotional and spiritual wounds who are no longer need any medication. There is a huge link between emotional and spiritual; as well as physical conditions.
I also want to talk about another component of your question: “Is mental illness real or is it really demonic possession…” Believers in Christ cannot be possessed without their consent. Possession happens as someone turns from God. The Bible says, in John 10:29, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” Satan can challenge and frustrate and antagonize a believer (Satan asked to temp Peter – Luke 22:31, “’Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.’”) but he cannot possess!
This is a big question, and I hope you’ve found some answers here. Feel free to reply to this post, or email me at brian@ktsy.org if you’d like some referrals to people who can help you with these issues or if you have questions of your own.