Celebrations

 Earlier in the year, I talked about changing our December celebrations.  And we are still on track to do that.  Now, that Thanksgiving is over, we really need to decide what to do, but we are "on a journey" and don't have a jumping off spot yet.  Here is what we do know....for right now, at least

Our past observances of "Christmas" will be changing.  Our journey has led us to ponder what we've done in the past and why we've done it.  I love tradition, keeping up traditions, and passing on traditions ~ but is that a good enough reason or any reason to continue on the same path?  For some, the answer would be Yes ~ keep it up, there is nothing wrong with it, and everyone has to make decisions for their own family and household.  Our journey, has also pointed us toward different sermons, resources, books, etc. that deal extensively with the subject.  If you start reading/listening you will find that emotions run deep and some get quite obstinate/heated/antagonistic ~ on both sides of the issue. There is the Puritan "don't observe the day in any way", there is the "observe it as Christs birth day" mindset, and the "do whatever, have fun, anything goes" mindset.  We could get to Heaven and find out we are all wrong, and we missed the path completely.

This is the difficulty, both in deciding what to do and the explaining about what we are striving toward.  The Bible doesn't indicate what we should or shouldn't do.  It never tells us to celebrate or observe the birth of Christ.  It does tell us to remember His Death Burial and Resurrection by observing the Lord's Supper and Baptisms.  However, there are many accounts of the birth of Christ involving ~ angels, singing, praises, visits, and gifts.  All given to Him and for Him.  In the New Testament, the books of Matthew and Luke share the birth of Jesus.

The 2 blogs listed below have some good points and the ladies share what their families are doing...

http://yoursacredcalling.com/blog/2011/11/should-christians-celebrate-christmas/

 http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2011/11/why-weve-decided-to-stop-celebrating-christmas/

You will probably have to copy and paste these to your address bar to read the articles.  I added these links so y'all could read some other perspectives and know we aren't the only "crazy" people out there changing things up.

We are not dropping the observance of Christs birth (even though he wasn't born on 12-25, that is just a day which was selected by the Roman church to coincide with a pagan day).  It is more likely that Jesus was born during the festival of booths and that the stable was a booth built by the Inn Keeper.  This festival occurs during the harvest time, when Caesar would have asked people to pay taxes.  This is also the time when shepherds would have been out with their flocks at night, not during the cold of winter.  This also ties in well with John the Baptist being born at passover 6 months before Jesus.  We aren't dropping all gift giving, just greatly cutting down ~ and we are going to give gifts to our children, each other, family members when we find them...not find, save, stash away and bring out on 12-25. We are doing minimal decorating ~ haven't quite decided on this one yet, but its time to decide.  We are eliminating Santa, reindeer, etc.  Greg has a good blog on the lie of Santa and why we should not have him in our house.  We are also eliminating our tree (Jeremiah 10:2-4).

While we don't have all the answers, we are striving to make our lives pleasing to the Lord.  We do know, when you ask the Lord to show you what to change in your life to please Him ~ you had better be ready for His answers and guidance.  He is leading us in directions we never dreamed about.

***This post is just a sharing of our journey.  It is not an attempt to sway anyone to our "way of thinking".  The 2 links given share their families observations and what they've decided for their families.  There are many excellent sermons on Sermon Audio concerning Christmas.