How the Devil uses Legalism at Christmas

By Lisa Grace

I attend services with a congregation that observes the seven festivals mandated by God. Even the prophet Isaiah mentions these will be observed in heaven.

Unfortunately, there are several festivals (and many more if you include such commonly observed days as the Lent season or Epiphany) or holidays we celebrate: Purim, Hanukkah, Resurrection day (commonly called easter the English translation of the pagan goddess ishtar.), Christmas, weddings, dedication days, baptisms, etc., that some say we shouldn't celebrate.

Many legalistic Christians like to fall back on the prophet Jeremiah 10:1 - 6 where Jeremiah is talking about following the custom of worship of false gods. ( Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.)

So the tree is neither good nor evil, and cutting it down is a waste of time. I think this is why many have migrated to plastic ones.

Since the Jewish religion sacrificed animals, he couldn't use that as an example of how not to worship heathen gods, so he picked one the Jewish people did not do at the time, which was the cutting down and decorating of trees to the false gods. He goes on in further verses making it clear these trees can do neither good nor evil, and that these false gods will be forgotten, Jer 10:10 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. which they have been forgotten.

For the last four hundred years or so though, Christmas trees have not been associated with false gods, but have almost exclusively come to signify the promise in Christ of life everlasting. Instead of taking these verses out of context, read the whole of Jeremiah starting at the first chapter, and it becomes clear it was about the Jews turning away from God, and you can see time and time again how Jeremiah laments the Jewish people chasing after pagan gods.

Taking Jeremiah out of context is a perfect example of how legalism can be used by Satan.

Let's look at what Jesus did. Did Yeshua (Jesus) celebrate other traditions not ordained (like the seven) by God in the Torah? Yes.

We know He celebrated at weddings, the festival of lights: Hannakuh, and Purim. We know He attended dedications, and was all for baptism (He even had one Himself when He was thirty, and was dedicated Himself at the temple eight days after His birth as was the custom.) Therefore we can conclude Yeshua (Jesus) was all for observing traditions that included and honored God.

What about His birthday and resurrection?

I run across legalistic Christians who seem to think celebrating these momentous occasions is wrong, or even a sin. They go as far as to say the celebrations of these events are pagan, but are they?

Let's look at Biblical proof. First from the word of Yeshua Himself. The Lord's Prayer offers the first proof. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-13 KJV).

So was Yeshua's birth celebrated in Heaven? Yes.

Luke 2:9-17: And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

Then in Luke 2:20: And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

We are to celebrate, share and make known to all people OUR SAVIOUR is Born! The angels even describe how He will be dressed, in swaddling clothes lying in a feed trough! Certainly the angels were commended by God to release that tidbit of information because He wanted the Saviour found, worshiped, and praised. What kind of witness are we if we ignore His birth, the one the angels were commanded to come down and reveal to us through lowly shepherds? Is this news we keep to ourselves?

1) The angels rejoiced at his birth.

2) The angels were commanded to give the message and then told the shepherds to make the birth of the Savoir known to all people.

3) Christmas is the celebration and time to make known to all people the birth of our Saviour.

How does Satan (the adversary) use legalistic Christians to pervert the news of the Saviour's birth and the celebration of the news we are to spread?

The timing we celebrate

Many legalistic Christians say we shouldn't celebrate on December 25th because it falls so close to the winter solstice (December 21st in 2013, 2014, and 2015), which was commonly used to worship pagan Gods.

The truth is—any day is just as good as any other because we do not know what date it was. And if we followed God's calendar, the lunar cycle, the date would change from year to year anyway. It's legalistic to get caught up on a date since it wasn't revealed by God, it is not the "date" that is important to Him. There are plenty of times dates are revealed in the Bible.

The fact is, we do not know exactly what day Yeshua was born on. We can trace back what day he died on. However, the Jewish calendar, (God's calendar) is a lunar one, which means it does not follow closely the Roman one which is in common use today.

Yes, Yeshua was not born in the winter. The fact is we do not know what day or month He was born in. We can narrow it to a season. Roman tax season, which would be April, May or June.

So yes, the middle church picked a date close to the winter solstice to celebrate the Lord's birth. The winter solstice is not on a set date, it changes according to the movement of the sun. It fell on December 21st, 2013 and will fall on December 21st again in 2014. Sooo if you're going to be *legalistic* be aware that Christians are not celebrating it on the pagan celebration day, but four days later.

If Satan can get legalistic Christian to forsake celebrating our Lord's birth, and spreading the joy and peace they were commanded to, then Satan wins. Silencing the church is a work of Satan.

Pagan Elements are Integrated into Christmas

This is the most common argument used against celebrating our Lord's birth.

Who made creation? God.

Who said it was good? God.

What perverted it? Satan, sin.

Romans Chapter 1 is a powerful treaty against those who know God and see the works of His hand, then pervert it, and become "the inventors of evil things" Romans 1:30. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things

That is what pagans do.

They take the creation and make it into the creator, or assign God's creations unholy meanings and attributes they have never had or were not intended to have.

By saying, "Well, trees were used for pagan purposes so we can't use them now to honor God" is ludicrous. The earthly Ark of the Covenant was made from a tree, so was the cross! A Christmas tree should do the same thing, be a reminder of our Awesome God. Satan stole it for a time with the use of pagan gods who are now forgotten BUT God takes back His creation to be a reminder of His ultimate sacrifice. If God did it by using trees for the ARK and the cross, we should take back His creation and use it for the purposes it was intended for: to scream there is one true God, He is magnificent, and worthy to be praised, and remembered for His humbling Himself to be born of an unwed mother, born in a lowly borrowed barn, and lain in a feeding trough among cow and sheep food.

As Christians we can stand firm and boldly profess that the creation is God's handiwork. If we don't he will replace us with stones! (Keep reading to see what I'm referring to.)

Pharisees were the equivalent of the legalistic Christians we find today.

In the book of Luke we come across an impromptu gathering of Yeshua's followers. They were so happy their Saviour and King was here they threw an impromptu parade and celebration for Him. Waving fronds, lining the road with their cloaks. They were showing their love, joy, praise, and respect for their King. (Just like we do at Christmas!)

And what did the Pharisees say to Jesus about this impromptu celebration?

Luke 19: 39: And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

Interesting point here, the Pharisees admitted (by calling them disciples) that they were doing His will.

What was Jesus' answer to the legalistic Pharisees?

Luke 19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

Praising the one true God is never wrong. This can not be stated enough. If you are rebuking someone from worshiping the one true God, you just might be legalistic.

What should Christians do?

1) Use every opportunity to turn people back to God.

2) Remove pagan elements from your celebrations. There's no need for a Santa Claus or an Ishtar bunny. Bring the celebrations back to what God intended. Celebrating Jesus' birth, resurrection, baptism, sacrifice.

3) If you are legalistic, think about Jesus' admonishments. If someone is using an opportunity to praise God, do not be a stumbling block. Praise God even louder, instead.

Satan will use legalism as a tool to turn baby Christians away, and fool weak believers into thinking their righteousness is anything more than filthy rags. Remember, Eph 2:8-9 It is by grace and faith alone, salvation is a gift of God. Law is a mirror to condemn, and you can bet that's what legalistic Christians are using the law for, to condemn others. But when they do, the mirror of the law is condemning them.

Vision of the Dark Cloud Coming

By V.K. Bronz

1987

And the Lord said, “Go and pray in the harvest with Mary.” Now, it was midnight in Bangor, Maine and Mary was sound asleep, but I trudged upstairs anyways and jiggled her. Then I shook her, and finally I shouted, “Mary!” Slowly she  responded,“ Uh.”- “The Lord said we were to pray in the harvest.” With a thick tongue, Mary began, “Uh, yah. Oooh, Lord. Uh, we prraay your harvest comes. Uh Amen.”

Ok, this is not working!

Downstairs I went, curling into the corner of the sunroom. Praying and crying out for the harvest, I was soon lost in a vision: I was standing upon a huge boulder with a thick mist surrounding me, so thick I lifted my hands in front of me and I could not see them. To the right of me was a harbor with the spirit of God brooding way, way out upon the ocean. To the left of me was a patchwork map of the United States, just like how you would see it if you were looking out of the window of a plane.

As I stood there looking, a massive black cloud stretched from Washington down to the bottom of California. The black cloud rolled across the United States as a solid black wall until the United States was completely consumed by it. When it reached the east coast, and the country was covered, in an instant, the Spirit of the Lord met it with a huge bang.

The Lord spoke to me and said, “Obedience, obedience, obedience. I am not a God with a chair and a whip ruling my sheep with force. I need obedience to guard and protect you.

Blow ye the trumpet, sound the alarm in my Holy Mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the lord cometh; it is nigh at hand.

Obedience, obedience, obedience.

A day of darkness and of gloom, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, a fire devoureth before them and behind them a flame burneth:  Obedience, obedience, obedience.

They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march everyone in a row and they shall not break their ranks.

Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk everyone in his path; and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

Obedience, obedience, obedience.

The earth shall quake before them and the lord shall utter his voice before His army: for he is strong that executeth his word.

Obedience, obedience, obedience.”

The Lord in his great mercy and long suffering has been calling to his sheep for a long time to come to wash in his blood. But we have been to busy; making money building our kingdom enjoying the world. Even Solomon had to stop building his kingdom and focus on the house of the Lord.

Saul was a man that was called by God but immediately took things upon himself and disobeyed God. He continued for a long time pretending he had God until the judgment time had come and there was no room to pretend anymore.

Samuel no longer heard from God so he sought other substitutes, the paranormal; a witch to bring up Samuel from the dead to tell him what to do. Saul had one up on the church today: he knew he did not hear the voice of God. The church today has substituted the voice of God for the paranormal without knowing it.

In the sixties when the Lord began to pour out mightily, Satan was right there to take that seed and twist it. The Love God wanted us to know he had for us became; free love, make love not war, be loosed from the bondage of marriage and relationship and have sex with anyone freely, as long as it feels good do it.

The loving hand of care and provision God wanted us to know we had in him became name it and claim it. Take God's word and claim your Cadillac. God was the great Santa Claus in the sky.

The healing God wanted us to know he had for us became the foundation of false prophets to build their name and wealth upon. Now after fifty years of the perversion of Gods word to us the Lord has come to bring judgment; judgment born out of love. He has not come to kill the homosexuals or the abortionist he has come to set HIS church straight. Then he judges the world.

I think of poor Jeremiah. That man suffered. He could see the coming judgment as clear as day and knew he would have to suffer along with everyone else. “Repent, please,” he was crying, “maybe God will still have mercy on us.” In the dungeon he would go. “Repent. Repent. The judgment is coming.” In the tar pit he would go. “Repent. Repent. Turn yourselves  over to the Chaldeans, and you will escape death.” Off he went as a captive. Bless his heart, no one would listen. They even went so far as to try to kill him because they thought his message would discourage the townspeople from believing their prosperity and blessing was coming.

In 1998 the Lord began to tell me of the separation that He was bringing. He said he was going to begin to make a distinction as to who belonged to the lord and who did not. Each year there would be a greater and greater chasm (divide).  Not only is the Lord showing a very clear division of morals, but He is also whittling down, going deeper and deeper into the hearts of the Christians, to make the distinction of just who really means it and who doesn’t. The Lord is causing us to be more and more responsible for our actions and our words. Just how committed to God’s ways are you? Which side of the chasm will you be on?  

Paranormal or Supernatural?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Last week I wrote about the demonaphobia that is prevalent on the many TV shows dealing with the supernatural. 

With very few exceptions, these dozens of diverse shows are in sync with each other in avoiding the mention of the demonic (Biblical demons, not characters from Charmed). A month-long experiment of focusing on how various TV shows viewed the demonic was startling and sobering—even well respected researchers like John Zaffis bent over backwards to not see demons as the cause for paranormal activity. Demonaphobia is real and rampant, and (this is key) this dismissive attitude regarding demons is effecting the beliefs of tens of millions of Americans. When there is paranormal activity it is assumed that trapped human spirits are the cause. In this regard, television accurately mirrors the majority report in the paranormal community. Of the roughly 4,000 groups listed on paranormalsocieities.com most are not explicitly Christian in their beliefs and methodology. Hence, the assumption of these investigators is that genuine activity is almost always caused by intelligent human spirits or residual energy and that demonic activity is very rare. This phobia is furthered by the tendency to refer to negative or dark spirits instead of simply calling them demons. However, it is primarily TV which is shaping the collective mindset of Americans regarding the demonic and the paranormal. Demons have been so marginalized on these paranormal shows that the paranormal realm has become synonymous with demonaphobia, no matter how unconscious it might be.

Last week’s blog and today’s form a unity—part one and two (I would strongly encourage you to read it because the two are an organic whole . . . in addition to my longer newsletter). I have wanted to write this article for two years but it wasn’t until recently that I felt the nudge. The reason for my hesitation will be manifestly clear in about thirty seconds.

We all know that words are powerful; I don’t need to go on and on to establish that point. But sometimes we can use words that are harmful and not even be aware of it. My impossible task is to persuade you that the word paranormal is one of those harmful words.  Do I really need to elaborate on the centrality of this word? It is the linguistic glue that binds this whole thing together—literally. I am acutely aware of the name of this excellent blog site, and it is with an even more acute sense of my own personal sinfulness, weakness, and brokenness that I write this . . . hopefully to simply stimulate some discussion.

What we think the word paranormal means is not important; what the dictionary’s definition is . . . that’s not important either—what IS important is common usage, because that is the real meaning of the word. It’s time for Christians to understand that this word has become so corrupted that it is irredeemable. Let me explain.

Based on what was said last week, and what is summarized above, the word paranormal connotes an invisible realm where ghosts dwell and where science alone can uncover its mysteries; God, the bible, demons, and spiritual warfare are all marginalized in the word paranormal. Honestly, is that not what paranormal has come to imply on TV and in culture (try not to take into account your personal beliefs)? I do not like what I am writing, but unfortunately it is an undeniable fact. Repeated so frequently, it is shaping a collective worldview in our culture . . . causing a paradigm shift in the spiritual landscape. Paranormal suggests a man-centered reality instead of a God-centered reality. This word is having an insidious effect on millions of people as they watch TV . . . insidious and profound. It is actually reshaping how the contours of invisible reality are perceived. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” is NOT the world of the paranormal. The world of the paranormal is more, “Forever there has been Energy, and the vibrations are increasing until there will be a revolution in consciousness.” It is the worldview that is going to make being a Biblical Christian increasingly difficult.

My suggestion is that we substitute the word supernatural in place of paranormal, because historically that is what Christians have referred to the invisible realm as. Like the word Trinity, supernatural is not in the Bible but it effectively connotes a Biblical reality. “The Jones’ are having supernatural activity in their home, so I am going tomorrow to cleanse and bless their demonically infested house.” Insert the word paranormal and see the difference? Maybe not, but that is my point . . . we have to realize that we are inadvertently causing misunderstanding, and even promoting an unbiblical view of reality by our continued use of this loaded word. We shouldn’t sentimentally cling to a word that is clearly conveying an anti-Christ agenda.  PLEASE, my intent is not to offend the people I care about . . . but I have to follow my calling.

Satan has co-opted this word, and is skillfully using it to hurtle this paranormal juggernaut across our country.  If ghosts are his most successful global deception—and I am convinced they are—then this word is vital in his strategy. As a brilliant general (linguist, wordsmith, and deceiver), he knows the importance of propaganda and the connotation of words in effective warfare strategy. A single word can dehumanize an entire group of people and cause genocide. In one word (paranormal), Satan summarizes a whole host of deviant beliefs regarding the invisible, and is causing spiritual genocide. Please don’t think I am joking or exaggerating.

What we call the paranormal realm is the realm God has sovereignly ordained to be the temporary home of Satan and his demonic followers . . . did you catch that? (Please read it again) Tragically, it is also the realm we poke around in, informing them not to be afraid of us. We are playing in Satan’s sandbox . . . otherwise known as the paranormal realm.

Lord Jesus, please help us. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I have been weeping a lot lately. My message and book are largely ignored, but I know it is the truth. Here I stand . . . clinging to Jesus and His word—trying, in my stumbling way, to stand in the gap.