The Beauty Of Christmas!

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farouk

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It would be really great to visit Las Vegas at Christmas! (So many reasons to go: the Christmas lights - outstanding! there is a great music scene; there are many tattoo parlors [if you are into such things]; there is a big Hispanic community; there is so much mountain scenery close by; trips to the Grand Canyon are easy; lots of choices for hotels; lots of discounted flight tickets).
 

dev553344

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My happiest memory as a child was on Christmas. My brother and sisters were getting gifts and they were so happy that it made me happy. It's the one memory that's always stayed with me. We were all enjoying Christmas day as a happy family.
 
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dev553344

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I also have always enjoyed my grandmothers and mother making Christmas dinner. It wasn't receiving presents that made it a great time of the year. It was being with family and enjoying each others company.
 
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charity

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Hi there @HiddenInHim & Co.,

This is all of the flesh, and if that is what you glory in, that's just fine, but it has nothing to do with Christ.

I love being with family around a table laden with good things to eat too, but it has nothing to do with Christ Jesus our risen and glorified, Saviour, Lord and Head. It is of the flesh.

But I wish you all every happiness. :)

With love in Christ Jesus
Chris
 

Hidden In Him

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Hi there @HiddenInHim & Co.,

This is all of the flesh, and if that is what you glory in, that's just fine, but it has nothing to do with Christ.

I love being with family around a table laden with good things to eat too, but it has nothing to do with Christ Jesus our risen and glorified, Saviour, Lord and Head. It is of the flesh.

But I wish you all every happiness.

With love in Christ Jesus
Chris


Charity, the Carols are essentially worship music. If you are contending that music which glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ and celebrates His birth is "of the flesh," that's a really strange position to take, IMO.
 
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Lambano

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It would be really great to visit Las Vegas at Christmas! (So many reasons to go: the Christmas lights - outstanding! there is a great music scene; there are many tattoo parlors [if you are into such things]; there is a big Hispanic community; there is so much mountain scenery close by; trips to the Grand Canyon are easy; lots of choices for hotels; lots of discounted flight tickets).
Not to mention one of the best friends I ever had moved out there when he retired. No state income tax and more golf courses than we could hope to play in a lifetime. But this Christmas, my lovely granddaughter and her fiancé are coming to visit!
 
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dev553344

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Hi there @HiddenInHim & Co.,

This is all of the flesh, and if that is what you glory in, that's just fine, but it has nothing to do with Christ.

I love being with family around a table laden with good things to eat too, but it has nothing to do with Christ Jesus our risen and glorified, Saviour, Lord and Head. It is of the flesh.

But I wish you all every happiness. :)

With love in Christ Jesus
Chris

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil."

12-20-17-radicalis-the-spirit-of-christmas-is-generosity64dd45858a726cdaa129ff000055777f-1280x720.jpg
 

Hidden In Him

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1 Corinthians 13:4-5 "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil."


I suppose she might be contending that the physical beauty of lights at Christmas time is of the flesh, and/ or the attire that people wear in order to do live performances. Can't say as I agree with it, however. The focus seems all wrong to me. As stated in the OP, people do lights at Christmas time to bless others; to make the scenery more beautiful for others during the time when Christ's birth is celebrated. As your picture states, all of it encapsulates the Spirit of Christmas, which is a time of giving to one another and generosity.

I'm not following her at all, but maybe she's had an adverse reaction to too much superficial Christianity in her own country. Conditions are a bit different there, and much of the celebration of Christ there is not really in Spirit, but more a type of formalism.
 
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Lambano

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Charity, the Carols are essentially worship music. If you are contending that music which glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ and celebrates His birth is "of the flesh," that's a really strange position to take, IMO.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
(1 John 4:2)

(Chris, @charity, you’re my sister in Christ and you’ve always treated me kindly. Can we celebrate that Jesus has come in the flesh together?)
 
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charity

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Charity, the Carols are essentially worship music. If you are contending that music which glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ and celebrates His birth is "of the flesh," that's a really strange position to take, IMO.
'Howbeit then, when ye knew not God,
ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
But now, after that ye have known God,
or rather are known of God,
how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements,
whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.'

(Gal 4:8-11)

Hello @Hidden In Him, @devin553344, @Lambano,

Worship is of the heart, truly in spirit, and can take place every moment of every day, it is 'making melody in your heart unto the Lord'. I don't need a day set apart in order to celebrate either my Saviour's birth or His resurrection. Christmas day is not even celebrated in the same month in which He was born, so that the perfection of it's timing is hidden from view.

The keeping of days such as Christmas and Easter were not inaugurated by God, they are of man's devising. These days have been corrupted by commercialisation, and now put burden's on parents which many are not able to bare. They also place faith in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the same level as the religious observances of those whose gods are of gold and silver, wood and stone, for whom the keeping of days play a big part.

Those are my objections. :)

In Christ Jesus
Chris
 
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Lambano

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Hello @Hidden In Him, @devin553344, @Lambano,

Worship is of the heart, truly in spirit, and can take place every moment of every day, it is 'making melody in your heart unto the Lord'. I don't need a day set apart in order to celebrate either my Saviour's birth or His resurrection. Christmas day is not even celebrated in the same month in which He was born, so that the perfection of it's timing is hidden from view.

The keeping of days such as Christmas and Easter were not inaugurated by God, they are of man's devising. These days have been corrupted by commercialisation, and now put burden's on parents which many are not able to bare. They also place faith in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the same level as the religious observances of those whose gods are of gold and silver, wood and stone, for whom the keeping of days play a big part.

Those are my objections. :)

In Christ Jesus
Chris

Hi, Chris.
There's a reason God told His people to remember certain milestones over the course of a year. Remember! But this falls under Romans 14:1-17:

One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it for the Lord...

I think I understand your position. I will respect your choice; I hope (but cannot insist) that you will respect mine.
 
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Hidden In Him

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whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.'

(Gal 4:8-11)

Bondage and labor in vain? Oh come on! LoL.

Who's in bondage here? :) I don't know about where you live but here people decorate if they want to and they don't if they're not into it some years. I do the same thing. Some years I do, and some years I don't. Some people just put up a little, and some people put up a lot. It's a blessing for Heaven's sakes.

And how hard is it to post a few pics? Here:

o-CHRISTMAS-2012-OUTDOOR-LIGHTS-facebook.jpg


See look, I didn't even break a sweat. :) I'm just appreciating what someone else did, and that's the whole point of the holiday; giving, and appreciating what others give. There's no "bondage," and nobody's getting circumcised over this business, LoL. You do know Paul was talking about observing Jewish holidays in an attempt to be under law, correct? No one is attempting to be under law here. :) Even Paul himself observed Pentecost, Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but not because he wanted to be under law. He was simply being all things to all men (i.e. a Jew to the Jews), and also because he understood the prophetic significance of the feasts, describing them as "shadows of things to come."

Here. Here's a Youtube feed with 2,500 people watching. It's just relaxing. Nothing more. People responding in English, Russian, Spanish, etc. because they are enjoying the Spirit of the season. Yes, we worship Him all the year round, but how often does the rest of society?

It's just a special time of the year, Charity. Don't go all Scrooge on me, Lol.

 
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farouk

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Hi, Chris.
There's a reason God told His people to remember certain milestones over the course of a year. Remember! But this falls under Romans 14:1-17:

One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it for the Lord...

I think I understand your position. I will respect your choice; I hope (but cannot insist) that you will respect mine.
@Lambano How it is remembered may vary from one believer to another, but the great doctrine of the Incarnation is a deeply Scriptural subject (John 1.14; 1 Timothy 3.16, etc.).
 
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