ARCHIVE: Will You Be Celebrating Christmas?

[Crow]

Originally posted by Yorzhik

I'd say that Hilston has a point as long as one thinks that "Don't let others judge you concerning celebrations/holidays" has the same understanding that "Your sister will no longer scream because her hair was pulled" does.

I dunno about the rest of y'all, but if my son was pulling his sister's hair, his sister would indeed no longer be screaming because her hair was being pulled because he'd have his hands too busy rubbing his sore behind to even think of pulling her hair again.

 

[Yorzhik]

Can you help me out a bit on that? I am not sure I get your point.

Paul uses the 3rd person imperitive to give direction to a 2nd party. He tells the 3rd party not to do something.

There are 2 ways for the 2nd party to carry out the command given to the 3rd party (that is meant for them). Either they can ignore what the 3rd party was commanded to do (thus, not letting them accomplish what they are commanded not to do). Or, the 2nd party can avoid doing something that would illicit a response from the 3rd party that included what they were commanded not to do.

An example of the latter: "Your sister will no longer scream because her hair was pulled".

I think as far as arbitrary laws are concerned, using the 3rd person imperative is a poor way to establish them.

Crow - :chuckle:

 

[Nathon Detroit]

Originally posted by Yorzhik
There are 2 ways for the 2nd party to carry out the command given to the 3rd party (that is meant for them). Either they can ignore what the 3rd party was commanded to do (thus, not letting them accomplish what they are commanded not to do). Or, the 2nd party can avoid doing something that would illicit a response from the 3rd party that included what they were commanded not to do.

Are you invoking the sanity clause?

 

[Frank Ernest]

:darwinsm: :first:

 

[julie21]

It is Christmas morning here now...and I was wondering if this thread of Jim's will continue after the 25th when no-one will be saying Merry Christmas to him at all. Oh well,he doesn't seem to have convinced too many of us to follow his stand on putting ourselves back under the Law...only another 365 days to go until the next round.
Guess we can always wait to see when Easter comes around...:thumb:

 

[Nathon Detroit]

Originally posted by julie21

It is Christmas morning here now...and I was wondering if this thread of Jim's will continue after the 25th when no-one will be saying Merry Christmas to him at all. Oh well,he doesn't seem to have convinced too many of us to follow his stand on putting ourselves back under the Law...only another 365 days to go until the next round.
Guess we can always wait to see when Easter comes around...:thumb:

LOL

P.S. This wasn't "Jim's thread". It was Lucky who started this one. And if you go back and read the first post of this thread you might start to chuckle. It just seems so funny that such an innocent sounding post could start such a thread.

 

[Rimi]

Re: Re: Re: Will You Be Celebrating Christmas?

Re: Re: Re: Will You Be Celebrating Christmas?

Dear Knight, perhaps I chose my words poorly. Just for the record, I am a new Christian after being RC. From the get go, I've not been fed milk but meat -- steak! -- by reading Scriptures and finding Bob Enyart on TV about 1997 (OK, fairly new!). Moved and had to find him on the internet, for which I am truly thankful! Now I get the sermons and study cds. Back to topic, I really should not have said "authority". What I meant/mean is, I read that verse and wondered what it would feel like to be courted by my spouse and then find out it was exactly the way he courted a former girlfriend. It would hurt. And I wondered how God would feel about Christmas, and so there was my conclusion. I don't consider it a sacrifice. I am closer to God when I don't have to have a knife fight over a parking place, that's all. I don't see a lot of Christian love during this time. And I don't see how "we can use this to reach people" (as I always seem to hear from Christians) is of any value since if people are celebrating Christmas, then they have heard of Jesus Christ -- and still reject him or choose to be Christian in name only. If you want to celebrate Christmas, go for it. Cool. It just doesn't seem like a big deal to me as per that verse, and that we don't actually know His birthday. It seems too RC for me, and I'm a survivor of that brainwashing. Bottom line: it's a want-to, not a have-to. Hope that makes sense.

Anyway, I'm glad I got to talk with the great Knight. I've been lurking for a while and love this place! Peace.

Originally posted by Knight

What an odd verse to base your decision on.

I would be careful to use that verse as a command for yourself.... for if you are correct that Deut 12:29-31 is aimed at you..... you probably best get destroying the rest of us who celebrate Christmas. Did you read the context of the verse you are using?

Are you planning on doing this any time soon?

No???? Why not?

And if not Christmas why not celebrate the way God commands in this chapter....



And there is more!



Do you observe that command? If not, why not? What do your neighbors think of you spilling blood all over the place?



Now be honest is the following really a good comparison with celebrating Christmas?



Sorry my friend..... but this just isn't a very good argument against celebrating Christmas. Now if you choose not to celebrate Christmas that's fine I suppose thats your business but I certainly wouldn't use Deuteronomy 12:29-31 as a proof text.

:doh: :doh:

 

[Nathon Detroit]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Will You Be Celebrating Christmas?

Re: Re: Re: Re: Will You Be Celebrating Christmas?

Originally posted by Rimi

Dear Knight, perhaps I chose my words poorly. Just for the record, I am a new Christian after being RC. From the get go, I've not been fed milk but meat -- steak! -- by reading Scriptures and finding Bob Enyart on TV about 1997 (OK, fairly new!). Moved and had to find him on the internet, for which I am truly thankful! Now I get the sermons and study cds. Back to topic, I really should not have said "authority". What I meant/mean is, I read that verse and wondered what it would feel like to be courted by my spouse and then find out it was exactly the way he courted a former girlfriend. It would hurt. And I wondered how God would feel about Christmas, and so there was my conclusion. I don't consider it a sacrifice. I am closer to God when I don't have to have a knife fight over a parking place, that's all. I don't see a lot of Christian love during this time. And I don't see how "we can use this to reach people" (as I always seem to hear from Christians) is of any value since if people are celebrating Christmas, then they have heard of Jesus Christ -- and still reject him or choose to be Christian in name only. If you want to celebrate Christmas, go for it. Cool. It just doesn't seem like a big deal to me as per that verse, and that we don't actually know His birthday. It seems too RC for me, and I'm a survivor of that brainwashing. Bottom line: it's a want-to, not a have-to. Hope that makes sense.

And although I still disagree with much of what you are saying....... the paragraph you have just posted is far better reasoning to not celebrate Christmas than referring to Deut 12:29-31.

Glad to have you on TOL, please post more!!!!

 

[Rimi]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Will You Be Celebrating Christmas?

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Will You Be Celebrating Christmas?

Originally posted by Knight

And although I still disagree with much of what you are saying....... the paragraph you have just posted is far better reasoning to not celebrate Christmas than referring to Deut 12:29-31.

Glad to have you on TOL, please post more!!!!

Just as soon as I can figure out all the techno stuff, you bet. Man! There's just so much to read and learn here! Nice people here. It's invigorating to see Christians I can learn from and grow. DBC is my church long distance because I can't find thinking Christians where I am now. Ah, well, keep the steaks coming, hold the taters.:thumb:

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by Knight

P.S. This wasn't "Jim's thread". It was Lucky who started this one. And if you go back and read the first post of this thread you might start to chuckle. It just seems so funny that such an innocent sounding post could start such a thread.

Merry Christmas, Knight.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

Originally posted by Lucky

Merry Christmas, Knight.

Thanks my man!

Merry Christmas to you!

And... when are you coming to Colorado to visit us?

 

[Lucky]

CO is so far away. :sigh: Hopefully sometime next year, though.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

Originally posted by Lucky

CO is so far away. :sigh: Hopefully sometime next year, though.

I would like that!

 

[Frank Ernest]

Hey! Colorado! I lived in Aurora some 30 years ago. Fishing was great - Cheesman Reservoir and Platte River mostly. Used to go skeet shooting at the Izaac Walton reserve.

 

[julie21]

Originally posted by Knight

LOL

P.S. This wasn't "Jim's thread". It was Lucky who started this one. And if you go back and read the first post of this thread you might start to chuckle. It just seems so funny that such an innocent sounding post could start such a thread.

(Thanks Knight!)
Hey Lucky,
Merry Christmas mate and sorry that I got so engrossed in Jim's posts (my head spins going through them all!) that I totally forgot you began the thread! My apologies my friend.
Look out for snowballs from Oz!
Night night.

 

[koban]

How are we free from the Law if we are still under symbolic restrictions?

I'm still slogging through this thread, so if anybody's responded to this, excuse me.


:thumb:

 

[Shalom]

I don't do communion the way the vast majority of Christendumb does it. My church understands the fellowship table biblically, i.e. to be a full, multi-course, hunger and thirst satisfying meal; not the Mithraic ritual observed by most. We do nothing ceremonially, symbolically, or ritualistically.

It's absolutely non-symbolic. The hotdogs and sauerkraut symbolize nothing. The Mountain Dew and coffee symbolize nothing. The coconut cream pie and the blackforest cake symbolize nothing. We eat together because that's what fellowship is partly about: Satisfying the hunger of the spirit for God's word, satisfying the hunger of the soul for the company of the saints, and satisfying the hunger of the body for good food, with the added bonus of sharing it with people we love.

Yeah, but Christ-Mass is especially about Him because it's His birthday, right?

You should recognize my non-observance as originating in scripture. If you don't you're either in denial, self-deluded, or too dense to see the perspicuity of the argument.

Now there's an admission that will come back to haunt you someday.

Hi Hilston,

None of the things listed above are done for any symbolic reasoning as you say....but are they done so that you can be more pleasing to God then others? Because if it makes you proud, I'm sorry but its the law. The law makes you proud.

Nothing you are ever going to DO will make you more pleasing to God. You are saved by grace not by your works. No one on here is celebrating Christmas as a requirement of their salvation. But I question the people who dont celebrate holidays with the reasonings that they will then in turn be more pleasing to God.

 

[koban]

Shalom - Hilston's last post was December 22nd, 2004, 12:11 PM .

:think: I don't think you're going to get a response.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

I'm still slogging through this thread, so if anybody's responded to this, excuse me.


:thumb:

So you say (in another thread) you don't like Jim's new avatar? Actually I like it because it reminds me of what my face does when I read Jim's posts!

:wave2: Jim.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

Shalom - Hilston's last post was December 22nd, 2004, 12:11 PM .

:think: I don't think you're going to get a response.

Good point, although Hilston is on this thread right now.