CHRISTMAS TREE

[Nancy]

Hi @Nancy,

After a year filled with dire reports, and the corona virus, I hope that you have time during this holiday period, to sit with a cup of cocoa and a mince pie, and enjoy reading about the birth of the Lord Jesus, God's only begotten Son, and be thankful. We don't need a holiday in order to do this, but as we have one provided, I can think of no better use for it, can you?

Thank you for the reading from Jeremiah 10:1-5. Interesting!

Take care, Nancy.
With love in Christ Jesus
Chris

Thank you Chris!
Oh I will be at home, with my dogs and will be joyful in Him and the awesome gift that He is for us! Always grateful, and no, we do NOT "need" a holiday for this as...Dec. 25th is more of a Santa Clause day to the majority but...we know better
And, yes...I will most certainly read again how our savior was born into this world!
Amen and...Merry Christmas
xo

 

[Nancy]

When my wife and I were very young together in the Lord in our very first non-Catholic church, a brother introduced us to those very verses in the 1970's [we came to the Lord in April 1976] and as a result we decided against a Christmas tree in our home for our family. It became the bone of contention and the straw that broke the camel's back.

Our pastor, who really did 'rule the roost' of that assembly had gone easy on us because we were new converts. They had not had any of those [new converts] in years. [We were led to the Lord by a family not in that assembly.] Our two children were attending the church's own Christian school and to earn money during the Christmas holidays the school was selling Christmas trees. With this economic venture beginning, we came down hard in our refusal to buy or have a Christmas tree. Our pastor came to us insisting we have a tree and said he would pay for it on our behalf. We refused and the result was us leaving that assembly.

Our ban on Christmas trees in our home did not last long, but our disconnection from that assembly was permanent. If it had been a first confrontation with that pastor we might not have left, but it was that final straw in a series on confrontations. It really did start with those verses cited here by you @Nancy

Hmm, wonder why they hadn't any new converts in years...not! Glad you and Kathy (C?) got out of there. Why would a pastor insist you or anyone have to have a tree in your home? It's funny, I hadn't thought of that verse for many years as, I had brought it up to someone and was told it had nothing to do with a Christmas tree but. Yet, I still thought it did. I don't want to be a killjoy by posting those verses making others think it is a sin to have a tree...I do have a small one for my niece as, living alone it never mattered to me.
Merry Christmas brother!

 

[Nancy]

My experience was opposite. My pastor insisted I accept my husband back after he left me for 6weeks. He said I had no grounds for a divorce. As it happened The Lord knew that he was with another women and had other affairs before that, I stayed another ten years in a difficult marriage because I didn’t want to go against what that pastor and my church family would say. Sorry to read about your experience @amadeus xx
Rita

How sad that we have to feel so cornered so as not to disappoint others. It's like they want to keep folks in bondage. It's so easy for others to tell you what you SHOULD do as, they are not living in your shoes, sad.
You did what you thought was the right thing to do at the time Rita. Ten years is a long time to put up with what you did.
I find that pastors and others in the church can give all sorts of advice to those who are going through things they cannot even imagine.
xx

 

[amadeus]

Hmm, wonder why they hadn't any new converts in years...not! Glad you and Kathy (C?) got out of there. Why would a pastor insist you or anyone have to have a tree in your home? It's funny, I hadn't thought of that verse for many years as, I had brought it up to someone and was told it had nothing to do with a Christmas tree but. Yet, I still thought it did. I don't want to be a killjoy by posting those verses making others think it is a sin to have a tree...I do have a small one for my niece as, living alone it never mattered to me.
Merry Christmas brother!

Once we had gone back to having a tree we always had one each year until a few years ago in our present apartment. We bought a small artificial tree when we moved into this apartment in 2012. It wasn't long before my wife [Kathy] could not spend too much time on things like that. I had only continued in them when our kids were at home or we were having big holiday dinners in our home [stopped a couple of years before moving into the apartment] or to please my wife. We gave the tree to apartment managers and they set it up each year in the big coffee room [seldom unused these days due to Covid 19] for the older folks like us who got lonely because our kids did not come often and of course many here are widowed. We now have only a tiny window nativity scene display and a lighted evergreen [artificial] display on a living room table during this holiday period.

Our daughter has invited us to her house for dinner on the Sunday after Christmas. We'll dine alone at home on Christmas day. Kathy asked what I wanted to eat. I told her, no turkey, so she bought us some good steaks and the makings for a pumpkin pie. She knows I cannot survive without my pumpkin pie...

And a Merry Christmas to you!

 

[Rita]

How sad that we have to feel so cornered so as not to disappoint others. It's like they want to keep folks in bondage. It's so easy for others to tell you what you SHOULD do as, they are not living in your shoes, sad.
You did what you thought was the right thing to do at the time Rita. Ten years is a long time to put up with what you did.
I find that pastors and others in the church can give all sorts of advice to those who are going through things they cannot even imagine.
xx

The pastor was my closest friends dad, I respected him. On face value you he was weighing it up on what he knew. It was only from the prospective of time that I understood. In many respects when I did go through the divorce I had moved on from that church and had a lovely pastor who had the gift of empathy. My friends dad retired. Ten years later, time for the Lord to put the right people in place to help. I have peace with it all now, water under the bridge xx
Rita

 

[Pearl]

Once we had gone back to having a tree we always had one each year until a few years ago in our present apartment. We bought a small artificial tree when we moved into this apartment in 2012. It wasn't long before my wife [Kathy] could not spend too much time on things like that. I had only continued in them when our kids were at home or we were having big holiday dinners in our home [stopped a couple of years before moving into the apartment] or to please my wife. We gave the tree to apartment managers and they set it up each year in the big coffee room [seldom unused these days due to Covid 19] for the older folks like us who got lonely because our kids did not come often and of course many here are widowed. We now have only a tiny window nativity scene display and a lighted evergreen [artificial] display on a living room table during this holiday period.

Our daughter has invited us to her house for dinner on the Sunday after Christmas. We'll dine alone at home on Christmas day. Kathy asked what I wanted to eat. I told her, no turkey, so she bought us some good steaks and the makings for a pumpkin pie. She knows I cannot survive without my pumpkin pie...

And a Merry Christmas to you!

So is pumpkin pie a sweet or savoury dish? We were discussing it at the end of November as all the pumpkins were being carved and the flesh mostly wasted.

The first pastor at my church had been brought up by JWs so the church never had a tree while he was there but as far as anybody else was concerned we could please ourselves. And for all his JW upbringing he was a man of faith and a terrific preacher.

 

[amadeus]

So is pumpkin pie a sweet or savoury dish? We were discussing it at the end of November as all the pumpkins were being carved and the flesh mostly wasted.

To me pumpkin pie is one of my downfalls toward a place of gluttony. I love it and would eat it anytime of the year, be it sweet or savoury. To me it may well be both. I do not bake pies myself as a rule and do not ask for it anytime but at Thanksgiving and Christmas and usually I get it at no other times. This restriction on myself keeps me from the worst of it, I guess...LOL

I remember as a little fellow my babysitter baked a pumpkin pie and gave me a healthy slice. That was my first memory of pumpkin pie and it has been my favorite ever since. That was more than 70 years ago before I had started school.

The first pastor at my church had been brought up by JWs so the church never had a tree while he was there but as far as anybody else was concerned we could please ourselves. And for all his JW upbringing he was a man of faith and a terrific preacher.

Of 8 non-Catholic pastors I have sat under since coming into the UPC in 1976, not one taught against Christmas trees although they certainly taught against almost anything else that comes to mind. Perhaps among the 8 they had all of the Truth that a man needs? A question perhaps to ask someone who knows the answer? Who does definitely know the answer?

 

[Pearl]

Of 8 non-Catholic pastors I have sat under since coming into the UPC in 1976, not one taught against Christmas trees although they certainly taught against almost anything else that comes to mind. Perhaps among the 8 they had all of the Truth that a man needs? A question perhaps to ask someone who knows the answer? Who does definitely know the answer?

I am blessed to have never had heavy handed pastors. They have been bible teaching, Spirit filled and humble; encouraging us to check for ourselves that what they preached was biblical, giving chapter and verse for evey passage they used. It's good to check thing out, instead of taking their word for everything and ending up beelieving wrong doctrines.

 

[amadeus]

I am blessed to have never had heavy handed pastors. They have been bible teaching, Spirit filled and humble; encouraging us to check for ourselves that what they preached was biblical, giving chapter and verse for evey passage they used. It's good to check thing out, instead of taking their word for everything and ending up beelieving wrong doctrines.

Give God the glory!

 

[BreadOfLife]

Israel gravitated to the heathen worship systems because they were 'attractive' to the unregenerate person. They fed carnal desires in an unconscious way to the participant.

Ever wonder why the larger slab of humanity abandoned worship of the God of Heaven?.....well now you know.

Consider the reasons Christians give for using a tree with its various decorations. You will find the whole heathen connection is downplayed and abundant seductive reasons given to attempt to justify the practice yet ask the same folk to remember the Sabbath day, a direct Commandment of God and it's hands in the air wholesale in horror with accusations of wanting to be justified by works let alone the energy put into trying to prove that breaking one of Gods Commandments is justified.

That should be telling you something about the seductive nature of Satans reasoning and how easy it is to adopt pagan practice and feel comfortable with it.

Any close look at the practices of Rome (RCC) will reveal how closely the two are related.

EVERY time I hear people like YOU doncemning practices that wer formerly pagan in origin but cop-opted and redirected by Christianity, I am amazed at BOTH your hypocrisy and your historical ignorance.

There are MANY practices that were formerly pagan in origin that just about EVERYBODY engages in now - but the pagan aspecs have bee REMOVED and redirected. Take the Wedding Ring, for example. This was a PAGAN symbol, but in Christian marriages, it is not only a symbol of the couple's everlasting love and devotion to each other - but of GOD Himself. The round shape symbolizes the fact that He has NO beginning and NO end.

Your attacks on the Church are as ignorant as your grasp of history . . .

 

[farouk]

I am blessed to have never had heavy handed pastors. They have been bible teaching, Spirit filled and humble; encouraging us to check for ourselves that what they preached was biblical, giving chapter and verse for evey passage they used. It's good to check thing out, instead of taking their word for everything and ending up beelieving wrong doctrines.

@Pearl This is indeed refreshing...

 

[farouk]

Give God the glory!

@amadeus I do agree...

 

[farouk]

To me pumpkin pie is one of my downfalls toward a place of gluttony. I love it and would eat it anytime of the year, be it sweet or savoury. To me it may well be both. I do not bake pies myself as a rule and do not ask for it anytime but at Thanksgiving and Christmas and usually I get it at no other times. This restriction on myself keeps me from the worst of it, I guess...LOL

I remember as a little fellow my babysitter baked a pumpkin pie and gave me a healthy slice. That was my first memory of pumpkin pie and it has been my favorite ever since. That was more than 70 years ago before I had started school.


Of 8 non-Catholic pastors I have sat under since coming into the UPC in 1976, not one taught against Christmas trees although they certainly taught against almost anything else that comes to mind. Perhaps among the 8 they had all of the Truth that a man needs? A question perhaps to ask someone who knows the answer? Who does definitely know the answer?

@amadeus My wife and I were out shopping this afternoon and we bought pumpkin pie. I agree we need to go easy on eating too much of it at a time.....

(Up here in Canada we have seasonally pumpkin flavored muffins from the Tim Horton's chain.)

 

[amadeus]

@amadeus My wife and I were out shopping this afternoon and we bought pumpkin pie. I agree we need to go easy on eating too much of it at a time.....

(Up here in Canada we have seasonally pumpkin flavored muffins from the Tim Horton's chain.)

I've had store bought pumpkin pies a few times, but frequently they have additives that may preserve them longer but take away fro me the flavor that I loved. Usually in restaurants where they make them in house, they are very good. [We don't go to restaurants to eat inside anymore.] Foe me, if the are made right, I can eat my pumpkin pie plain, or with whipping cream on top, or with vanilla ice cream on top.

I cannot recall eating muffins flavored with pumpkin, but once in a while I'll drink a hot pumpkin flavored cappuccino. I wish had my appetite of youth and my capacity... but that is the flesh again trying to look back. I also wish I could play a good round of tennis, but forget that. I pretty much live in my study except when playing board games or putting together jigsaw puzzles with my wife. Not much outside exercise these days. Masks are mandated by the city council everywhere. My lungs won't keep up very well without a mask. With a mask I breathe but I can tell the difference. I used to walk around playing my harmonica, but I had to stop that. It became impossible to get enough oxygen to both walk and play.

My parts are wearing out, but I am ready for that. I have outlived my father and I am gaining on my mother. Six more years to catch up with her. Actually, my wife and I are working first on attaining our 50 years together. About 1½ years to go!

Give God the glory!

 

[farouk]

I've had store bought pumpkin pies a few times, but frequently they have additives that may preserve them longer but take away fro me the flavor that I loved. Usually in restaurants where they make them in house, they are very good. [We don't go to restaurants to eat inside anymore.] Foe me, if the are made right, I can eat my pumpkin pie plain, or with whipping cream on top, or with vanilla ice cream on top.

I cannot recall eating muffins flavored with pumpkin, but once in a while I'll drink a hot pumpkin flavored cappuccino. I wish had my appetite of youth and my capacity... but that is the flesh again trying to look back. I also wish I could play a good round of tennis, but forget that. I pretty much live in my study except when playing board games or putting together jigsaw puzzles with my wife. Not much outside exercise these days. Masks are mandated by the city council everywhere. My lungs won't keep up very well without a mask. With a mask I breathe but I can tell the difference. I used to walk around playing my harmonica, but I had to stop that. It became impossible to get enough oxygen to both walk and play.

My parts are wearing out, but I am ready for that. I have outlived my father and I am gaining on my mother. Six more years to catch up with her. Actually, my wife and I are working first on attaining our 50 years together. About 1½ years to go!

Give God the glory!

@amadeus May you and your dw always be able to say indeed EBENEZER, 'Hitherto hath the LORD helped us' (1 Samuel 7.12) !

 

[farouk]

Do you have any home made Christmas cookies you would like to share with someone.... like me maybe?

@Adoration We have had pumpkin flavored muffins at Tim Horton's...

 

[quietthinker]

EVERY time I hear people like YOU doncemning practices that wer formerly pagan in origin but cop-opted and redirected by Christianity, I am amazed at BOTH your hypocrisy and your historical ignorance.

I'm sorry that your understanding of the history of the RCC is restricted.

 

[BreadOfLife]

I'm sorry that your understanding of the history of the RCC is restricted.

And YOUR willingness to accept such obvious manure by lying anti-Catholic bigots like Alexander Hislop is even more tragic.

 

[Addy]

And YOUR willingness to accept such obvious manure by lying anti-Catholic bigots like Alexander Hislop is even more tragic.

Gosh... how did you escape my "ignore dungeon"?? I see you are your usual delightful self these days.... LOL

 

[BreadOfLife]

Gosh... how did you escape my "ignore dungeon"?? I see you are your usual delightful self these days.... LOL

And yet you have no problem with the post that I was responding to.
That's fairly typical of anti-Catholics . . .