So this year one of the things I wanted to try to do was to learn more about the 7 feast days of YHWH. I learned last year a lot of things that were unpleasant (to say the least) about the feasts that the church has chosen to celebrate (mainly Easter and Christmas) and we as a family have chosen to go away from those holidays. However, in learning about those two holidays and where they came from, I was also confronted with the feast days of the Lord and I was faced with a conundrum. Why does the church not celebrate the feast days of YHWH, but they do celebrate the feast days instituted by man (or the Catholic church). Why are following traditions steeped in paganism and idolatry when we should be following God’s statutes and commandments?
Well, this year I was ready to do something different. This is our first year as a family celebrating the feasts of YHWH!
The first feast this year is Unleavened Bread, which begins the night of Passover.
In preparing for this feast, I literally got rid of anything leavened in my home (and I still find things now and again that I missed) and I made matzo for the first time! Now Passover in and of itself is not a required feast, but it is supposed to happen in memoriam of the Israelite exodus from Egypt so many years ago. There are many Jewish traditions that go along with Passover, but not being Jewish (and again, most of those traditions were instituted by rabbis AFTER Jesus lived and died), we decided just to go with a simple dinner while reading the age-old Exodus story. I made some delicious vegan stew (thanks to a delicious recipe that I found on the teambeachbody blog!) and unleavened bread and we read the story of hard-hearted Pharaoh and the 10 plagues that YHWH sent against Egypt and their false gods. We read about their desperate need for a Passover lamb and the blood that covered, saved and protected them that night. And finally, we saw the fear and uncertainty of the Israelites as they fled Egypt turn into victory and triumph as they crossed the Red Sea and ventured towards the promised land.
Now Passover is simply the beginning of the first of 7 feasts: the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We read about this feast in Exodus 12:15-20, where it says:
‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. ‘You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.
Each time I read this, I am struck by that last line… “you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance…” So why aren’t we observing it? Permanent means like, forever, right? I’ve heard many arguments saying that because Yeshua was our Passover lamb (which I don’t in the least dispute), that we no longer have to celebrate the feasts, but I would posit that BECAUSE Yeshua was our Passover lamb, we SHOULD celebrate the feasts. They are that much more relevant and important to us now that they have been fulfilled than they were even to the Israelites at that time! They had to use the blood of an ACTUAL lamb to physically save them that night. We have the blood of the LAMB OF GOD that covers us spiritually and that has defeated sin and death and will allow YHWH’s punishment to PASS OVER us for all eternity. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt; we were slaves to sin. The Hebrews were in a hurry to leave Egypt, and I feel that same urgency today, awaiting Yeshua’s impending return! They were led by a pillar of cloud and fire as they fled; we have the Holy Spirit living INSIDE of us to lead and guide us every single day. They had an enemy in hot pursuit of them, just as our enemy is out to steal, kill and destroy God’s chosen people.
Anyways, to celebrate this feast of Unleavened Bread, well… we needed unleavened bread! So here is a recipe that I found that we really liked! Jedidiah helped me with the first batch too. Here it is!
Angelina de Leon’s Matzo (from TheNew York Times Passover Cookbook)
2 Cups white flour
1/2 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 Eggs
3 Tablespoons honey
1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 Tablespoons water
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour and pepper. (This is the part Jedi helped me with- measuring and mixing!)
Stir together the eggs, honey, oil and water.
Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Then turn the dough out onto a countertop and knead it until it forms a cohesive ball.
Divide the dough into 6 portions (we did a few more than that).
Roll them out into 8 inch rounds. Then prick them all over with a fork , then place them onto a very lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake matzo for 10 minutes, until crisp and golden. Let cool completely on a rack.
The whole family enjoyed this recipe, which is good, because we ate it for the full 7 days of this feast! Here are some pics of us enjoying our matzo.
So, it’s pretty much Spring here in Texas (we rarely have much of a “winter”) and so the trees are starting to bud, the flowers are beginning to bloom… and the WEEDS are painstakingly flourishing!
My toddler loves being outside (a boy after his momma’s heart) and so nearly every day, rain or shine, we go outside to play! One afternoon we were out there and I noticed this big patch of weeds in our flower bed. Now, normally, I wouldn’t be so bothered by them, but we had these same weeds last year and they were obnoxious! They were sticky, interconnected and spread… well, like weeds.
Now, I could have just gone for some quick-fix chemical solution, however, my young son and my kitty cat are outside in the yard all the time, which meant, for me, chemicals were NOT an option (Not to mention all the adverse side effects and health problems they can cause). So for as long as Jedidiah would allow me, I’d sit and pull them up. By hand. I worked for a good hour that first day, my son brought me my water bottle and my phone and I only had to stop a few times when he needed help with something. Anyways, after that first day, I began noticing these weeds EVERYWHERE! They were all over the yard, in our garden plots, even in our car port. So, for the rest of that week and these past few weeks, I have been pulling up weeds nearly every day!
I let my mind just wander as I pulled them up. It was almost… lest I say… relaxing (In the same sense that running can be relaxing). You can just let your mind be blank, you don’t have to focus on anything major, you can just allow yourself to be lost in your own thoughts. You can simply quiet your spirit and pray… or in this case, listen. And here is what I have realized.
Weeds are very much like sin. God is very much like our gardener. The yard is very much like our life. It was as if God spoke to my spirit as I sat there day after day, tending to my yard giving me these illustrations of life.
You see, I didn’t notice the weeds right away. It took a while, until they were actually quite overgrown, in order for me to take notice. Sin is very much the same way. Little sins creep into our lives quite easily and often go unnoticed or undetected until all of a sudden, our “little” sins have grown quite substantially and gotten out of control.
Throughout those days I would spend my afternoons carefully going from section to section in my yard, tackling small chunks at a time. I tried to be super thorough, getting up as much as I could. And as soon as I would feel confident with one section, I would move on to the next… except that only a few days later, I would return to those sections that I already weeded and, much to my dismay, they would have those same dang sticky weeds back! Frustrated, I would stoop down to pull them up. But, even this, I realized, is very much how sin works in our lives. We think we’ve eradicated it (in an area or two), and then we try to tackle a different sin… but sometimes it just keeps popping right back up.
Another thing I’ve learned about weeds is that if you don’t pull them up by the root, they will come right back… just like sin. Sometimes we think we are “handling” our sin, but if our Gardener, by his Holy Spirit, isn’t the one pulling it up by the ROOTS, it isn’t going to disappear from our lives.
I noticed many different kinds of weeds in our yard over the course of these few weeks- sticky weeds, prickly weeds, pretty weeds and tough weeds. Each of these can also serve as an illustration of sin.
Some weeds, like sin, are “sticky” and interconnected (just like those blasted weeds that were EVERYWHERE), often leading or spring-boarding into other sins. Often times we get into them without even intending to or sometimes without even realizing it! Pride can be like this, self-sufficiency, good works (with selfish intentions), lies, etc. Sometimes they can even take the form of “good” things that we get into but that slowly take priority in our lives and “spread” in influence, taking the place of our relationship with our creator.
Some sins, like the prickly weeds, are obvious and we know that we should stay away from them because they can obviously hurt us or others. These could be things like addiction, pornography, infidelity, murder, stealing, etc.
Others, like the pretty flowering weeds, look appealing and attractive, but still take over our lives and bring death in the end. Money, power, sex, lust, partying, etc. would be examples of these.
Some are shallow and easy to pull up- they are obvious and easy to reach… and then there are the tough weeds have the deepest roots and these are the HARDEST ones to pull up! I actually have callouses on my finger from pulling up so many of them! These are those deeply-rooted sins in our lives, sometimes going back even to our childhood. These are the sins that may have developed into strongholds in our lives. These are the ones that the gardener has to take special caution with and that are much harder to deal with. They can also be painful to pull up (Yes, I was pulling all these weeds without gloves on… ouch. Lesson learned.)
But the best thing that he showed me is this. After I would pull the weeds up, I’d put them in piles all over our yard- on the sidewalk, on our stepping stones, on the lawn chairs, on our yard swing… anywhere but on the ground where I feared they would take root once again! After just a day in the sun, they were dried up and posed no greater threat. They were DEAD. In the same way, in the light of God’s son, Yahushua HaMashiach (Jesus), sin CANNOT live. Righteousness has already been imparted to us through HIS finished work on the cross. And being in his very presence causes sin to die in our lives as we continue to die to ourselves and live in obedience to him. Being in the Son’s presence makes everything else just simply fade away. Nothing but his love remains. Hallelujah! Now THAT is some good news!
I’m so thankful that we have a Gardener who is much more patient than I am. A Gardener who wants the best for his children, a Gardener who takes time to gently prune and tenderly uproot the undesirable things in our lives. One who wants us to flourish and grow in faith and be BEAUTIFUL from the inside out, always pointing to His glory! YHWH slowly sanctifies us, weeding out the bad, and allows us to produce the fruits of the Spirit so that when others look at us, they see the glory of HIM!
‘Tis the season for beautiful lights, decorations and merriment! Christmas is one of my favorite times of year, it can be said that it really is “the most wonderful time of the year.” I love everything about it…the advent calendar, the beautifully lit Christmas tree, the light displays, wreaths, the fresh smell of pine, hot cocoa, Christmas music, stockings hung, pretty presents under the tree, the nativity scene, and of course, the birth of Jesus. After all, that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown… or is it?
The truth is that despite my deeply rooted emotional attachments and many happy memories of Christmas, none of these things are happening this year in the Logsdon household. And it’s by choice. Say whaaa??? Yes, you read it right, despite the fact that this will be a highly unpopular view, and despite the fact that I will probably catch a lot of flack for my choice (and probably mostly from other Christians), I am choosing not to participate in Christmas.
No wreaths, no stockings, no Christmas tree, no Christmas books, movies, music… nothing.
I’m sure your wondering minds are asking, “why such a drastic choice? She seemed so normal…” Why leave Christmas behind? What the heck is she smoking?!?
I really wrestled with whether or not to write this post, mostly because I know that most people will think I’m some whackadoodle, but I’m doing it anyways. If I’ve learned anything at all over the past 31 years, it’s that the fear of God is more important than the fear of man, that obedience is better than sacrifice, and that those who earnestly seek after God and truth will find it (whether it fits into their paradigm or not).
Here’s the deal. I LOVED Christmas (past tense). But I’ve learned some things that I just can’t unlearn. It’s like when Neo took the red pill in The Matrix and all of a sudden his eyes were opened… it’s kind of like that. This realization and decision has been a slow, prayerful one, not one that I just jumped into haphazardly. It’s something I’ve researched, studied, prayed over, and asked for discernment about. And I’ve come to this uncomfortable conclusion… Christmas is NOT about Christ (at least not the one that I profess).
Let me explain.
Christmas has nothing to do with Yeshua (who most call Jesus). Most Christmas traditions existed long before Yeshua ever walked the earth. The apostles and other early believers did not celebrate it nor are we commanded anywhere in scripture to do so. In fact, early Christians banned against Christmas with such fervor that it was actuallyillegalto celebrate Christmas until 1856 when legislation finally gave in and made Christmas a legal holiday. Why such opposition to such a “harmless” holiday?
Well, Christmas never had anything to do with Yeshua until we put him there. That’s right, the Catholic church, together with Constantine, “Christianized” the pagan holidays celebrated around the time of the winter solstice and inserted “Christ” into them (I’ll get into the harm of that later in this post). Constantine was trying to maintain the peace by uniting pagan traditions with those of the relatively new movement called “The Way” (later called “Christianity”). There were already many traditions in place surrounding the winter solstice, including Saturnalia– a festival of drunken revelry and orgies. It was also the birthday of many other gods, and who I (and many others) would consider the very first Anti-Christ figure, Nimrod. They ALL celebrated their birthdays on December 25th. We KNOW that Jesus was in fact NOT born on December 25th or in December at all. Shepherds would not have been out at that time of year. In fact, the only time they would have been out keeping watch at night is in the spring when lambs are being born (and the Lamb of God would arrive). Yet they have chosen a date associated with all sorts of “pagan” gods to celebrate our savior’s birth???
While some may say, “who cares which day we choose?” or that “God knows my heart,” do you think he is honored by our actions? If you celebrate Christmas, I don’t think that it will affect your salvation, but when you love someone (YHWH and Yeshua), you want to honor them and this just doesn’t seem very honoring to me! That’s like me celebrating my anniversary with my husband on an ex-boyfriend’s birthday. Nimrod, also known as Baal celebrates his birthday on the 25th… there’s nothing like saying “It’s okay, Jesus, we celebrate you on your arch-nemesis’ birthday!” Yeah… happy birthday Jesus…
Here is a photo of all the gods that celebrate a Dec. 25th birthday (note- Yeshua should not be among them). Also, not listed are Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs and Nimrod (who is known by many of the below names).
So what’s the danger in “Christianizing” pagan things? Doesn’t that make them better, or somehow more acceptable or less abhorrent to God? I just finished reading my Bible, cover-to-cover, somewhere between 10-15 times (I’ve lost count) and I have learned a thing or two about doing things “our” way. Here are a few verses that I think speak to that very point.
Deuteronomy 12:4- “You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.” (their= pagan nations)
Deuteronomy 12:30-31- “be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.”
Jeremiah 10:2- “This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations…” (in other versions nations= heathen)
Mark 7:9- “And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”
Amos 5:21-23-“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Doing things their own way and not being obedient to God’s commandments made for some pretty rough times… like wandering in the desert for 40 years.
The heart of this matter goes all the way back to Cain and Abel. God accepted Abel’s offering because it was offered in the prescribed way. Cain tried to do his own thing and his offering was rejected by God. It led him to jealousy and murder. A little while later, the Israelites were waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain and when he took longer than expected, they decided to make a golden calf to serve in his place, as an intermediary between God and man. They decided to have a big festival in YHWH’s honor and create their own “holy day”… God was not a fan. A huge plague followed and many lives were lost. The Israelites were told not to assimilate with the nations, yet they ended up worshipping Baal (another name for Nimrod) and the “Queen of Heaven” (Isis). Time after time they were led astray by pagan practices, yet we “Christians” embrace them without once thinking about where they come from.
For example, Santa Clause. People say that it began with St. Nicholas, but it really began far earlier. It was really modeled after Wodan/Odin who could be traced back to Adan of Babylon (Nimrod). He was called a “mighty hunter” (same as Nimrod) and was said to fly in the night sky dragging his chained, furry, black-faced, horned slave behind him (where we get the idea of the reindeer who pull Santa’s sleigh).
Tony van Renterghem writes in When Santa Was a Shaman: The Ancient Origins of Santa Claus & the Christmas Tree:
“In Holland and several other European countries, the Saint Nicholas figure is still highly esteemed. He appears as a tall, dignified, bearded, white-haired old man, dressed as a Catholic bishop, complete with cloak, mitre, and pastoral staff, a seemingly genuine Catholic saint, but with a bizarre, quite unsaintly habit of riding through the skies on a white horse, followed by his Dark Helper. It seems that our Catholic saint inherited some of these customs from the pagan god Wodan, who had also been a BEARDED, WHITE-HAIRED OLD MAN, also dressed in a hat and cloak, carried a staff (or spear), rode a white horse, and dragged along the same dark slave/helper on a chain” (p. 97).
Look at this picture of Nimrod and Santa Clause… note the beard, the Christmas tree and the reindeer.
Do I really want to promote this idea of a dark guy who flies the night sky with his slave to innocent children? The whole story of Santa is based on lying to your kid, which I want no part of.And not only does he promote works-based righteousness, but at the risk of sounding a bit extreme, Santa Clause can be easily changed into Satan’s claws…
Furthermore, According to Langer’s Encyclopedia of World History, (article “Santa”), “Santa” was a common name for Nimrod (or Baal, the sun god) throughout Asia Minor. This was also the same fire god who came down the chimneys of the ancient pagans and the same fire god to whom infants were burned and eaten in human sacrifice among those who were once God’s people. Uh, no thank you.
Well, what about Christmas trees? I have to confess, this was one of the hardest things for me to give up. There’s nothing I love more than to sit by the light of the tree, reading a good book or drinking a hot cup of cocoa… but what does it really represent? A penis. Yep… the phallic symbol of Nimrod (the one part of his body that was said to never have been found). “An old Babylonish fable told of an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree stump. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, the new evergreen tree symbolized that Nimrod had come to life again in Tammuz! Among the Druids the oak was sacred, among the Egyptians it was the palm, and in Rome it was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia!” (Walsh, Curiosities of Popular Customs, p. 242). Here is some other disturbing stuff I found…
Attis (one of the “gods” listed in the above picture of December 25th birthdays) died by bleeding to death under a pine tree, after castrating himself in a madness. Every spring, his death was mourned until he was resurrected by his mother Astarte (immediately following the winter solstice). Thus follows that pious male followers of Cybele castrated themselves, holding up their bloody organs to the heavens to make themselves eligible for the priesthood. Uh… gross
“In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that all the green plants would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return” (http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/trivia/trees.htm)
The evergreen and the fir tree were also seen as symbols of fertility and were worshipped as such. These trees were used during Saturnalia and were adorned with ornaments which were symbols of the sun (as worship to the sun god). The whole thing represents the rebirth of the anti-Christ, Nimrod. This practice was around during the old testament and there is a direct scripture that tells us not to partake in it: Jeremiah 10:1-4.
“Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. This is what the Lord says:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.”
After learning all of this, I don’t think I could look at a Christmas tree the same again…
What about other Christmas traditions?
Holly- This is a symbol of fertility, the pricking leaves being a sign of the male organ (Again!?! So many penises…). Also in order to get the berries, you need both male and female holly plants.
Mistletoe- this has long been a symbol of the sun (again sun-worship aka Baal/Nimrod worship). It is also an aphrodisiac, and was used in the festival Saturnalia as the starting place to kiss before things escalated into an all-out orgy.
Yule log–
In Northern Europe, Winter festivities were once considered to be a Feast of the Dead, complete with ceremonies full of spirits, devils, and the haunting presence of the Norse god, Odin, and his night riders. One particularly durable Solstice festival was “Jol” (also known as “Jule” and pronounced “Yule”), a feast celebrated throughout Northern Europe and particularly in Scandinavia to honor Jolnir, another name for Odin. Since Odin was the god of intoxicating drink and ecstasy, as well as the god of death, Yule customs varied greatly from region to region. Odin’s sacrificial beer became the specially blessed Christmas ale mentioned in medieval lore, and fresh food and drink were left on tables after Christmas feasts to feed the roaming Yuletide ghosts. Even the bonfires of former ancient times survived in the tradition of the Yule Log, perhaps the most universal of all Christmas symbols.
…the origin of Yule is associated with an ancient Scandinavian fertility god and that the large, single Log is representative of a phallic idol. Tradition states that this Log was required to burn for twelve days and a different sacrifice to the fertility god had to be offered in the fire on each of those twelve days. (http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/trivia/yulelog.htm)
Also, “The original “sun log” came to be called the yule log. “Yule” simply means “wheel,” which has long been a pagan representation of the sun. No wonder people today commonly speak of the “sacred yule-tide season.” (https://realtruth.org/articles/169-ttooc.html)
Gift giving– The Bibliotheca Sacra states, “The interchange of presents between friends is a like characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows” (Vol. 12, pp. 153-155).
You can do your own research and find many, many more resources that will reaffirm the things I just said. Why should we look into this? Well, the Bible commands us to “Testeverything, hold fast to what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) And why should we care about truth anyways? YHWH wants worshippers who will worship him in spirit and in truth! (John 4:23)
So, what does this look like for me? Well, I’m still really trying to figure that out. We don’t have any decorations up, except for our nativity scene and some special ornaments that we’ve hung from our blinds. We haven’t sent out Christmas cards. We’ve already taken photos with Santa this year, so it’s too late to boycott that. As far as family goes, we will still gather on Christmas, but the sentiment won’t be the same. We have already bought presents for most everyone, so we will still give gifts (at least this year, not in the future). We’ve already received many gifts, cards, and cookies from people who love us and whose heart is in the right place. We still thank you and are honored that you were thinking of us. Baking? Holiday parties? I have no idea, I’m still trying to sort out all of the details, but one thing remains clear to me: my God is not honored by our celebration of Christmas (or Easter, for that matter) and honoring him is the most important thing to me.
Am I worried about what people will think of me? Yes and no. Like I said earlier, I am more concerned with what God thinks of me than what others think of me. But am I human? Do I want others to like me? Of course! Do I want people to think I’ve gone off the deep end? No! But at the end of the day, I answer to YHWH. I am following in obedience out of conviction, not guilt (which is how I know it is from the Spirit). Am I worried how this will affect my relationships with those closest to me? Yes! I worry about how my husband, my family and my friends will view me. My pastor said it well once- he said that it is so hard to talk about the things that matter most to the people who matter to us the most because we care so deeply about what they think of us. But at the same time, the spirit keeps putting on my heart Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to the ways of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (renewing of the mind only comes from being in the Word). So as much as this decision will inconvenience those around me who DO want to continue to celebrate Christmas, I have to follow God, not man. The Bible says that, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39) I LOVE Christmas, but I love my Jesus more, and to give it up is a small sacrifice in the light of eternity.
Some may say that in making this decision, I am depriving my son of precious childhood memories (Believing in Santa, the excitement of Christmas morning, presents, etc.). The Bible tells us “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.Impress them on your children…” If I’m impressing anything on my child, I want it to be God’s laws and commandments, not the traditions of man.
Before I sign off, I want to clarify my heart for sharing this. I’m certainly not judging anyone who celebrates Christmas. I think that much of what we do is out of ignorance over what it’s based on, and I think our enemy (Satan) has done a fantastic job of lulling us into these warm and fuzzy feelings about this particular holiday. Do I think I’m better than anyone else because I am doing this? Not at all. I just know that when I was confronted with these truths, I had to have a “come to Jesus moment.” This was a HARD choice. Do I think this topic is a “salvation” issue? No, but I do think it’s a “heart and obedience” issue, which is why I’m pursuing it. I want to know my savior deeper and love him with ALL my heart, soul, strength and mind. And before you write me off as being legalistic, I want you to know that I’ve prayed over this, asked for discernment and prayed for boldness to follow YHWH’s leading on this subject. What has remained is a strong conviction that I need to share the truth with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and leave Christmas behind. What you do with it is up to you.
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for meandmyhousehold,wewillserve YHWH.” (Joshua 24:15)
So, it’s pretty much Spring here in Texas (we rarely have much of a “winter”) and so the trees are starting to bud, the flowers are beginning to bloom… and the WEEDS are painstakingly flourishing!
with ceremonies full of spirits, devils, and the haunting presence of the Norse god, Odin, and his night riders. One particularly durable Solstice festival was “Jol” (also known as “Jule” and pronounced “Yule”), a feast celebrated throughout Northern Europe and particularly in Scandinavia to honor Jolnir, another name for Odin. Since Odin was the god of intoxicating drink and ecstasy, as well as the god of death, Yule customs varied greatly from region to region. Odin’s sacrificial beer became the specially blessed Christmas ale mentioned in medieval lore, and fresh food and drink were left on tables after Christmas feasts to feed the roaming Yuletide ghosts. Even the bonfires of former ancient times survived in the tradition of the Yule Log, perhaps the most universal of all Christmas symbols.
Logsdon's big adventures! 