Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Satan's Master Plan To Destroy the Lord's Church

Satan’s Master Plan to Destroy the Lord’s Church
Link to this article

To listen click this link: Bible Study

DISCLAIMER: We in no way agree totally with Dr. Greg Dixon or Sam Adams doctrinally but he has done his research and has experience in this. I am sure you will find this informative and realize we have been ignorant when it comes to this and many other things.

Table of Contents
· Satan’s Master Plan to Destroy the Lord’s Church (Online Power Point Presentation)
· The Trail of Blood Revisited—Christ's True Church Its Past, Present and Future
· THIRTY WAYS THAT THE IRS TRIES TO CONTROL PREACHERS AND CHURCHES IN
AMERICA By Dr Greg Dixon
· Is Tax Exemption Modern-day Baal Worship? By Dr. Don Boys
· IRS WARNS CHURCH MAY LOSE TAX EXEMPTION
· FAITH BASED 501-c-3 Churches are part of HOMELAND SECURITY NOW!
· Romans 13 & Unlimited Subservience to the Government: Where should a Bible
Believing Christian Draw the Line?
· Will your pastor cooperate with the Federal Government, as liberal Protestant pastors
meekly did under the terror of Adolf Hitler?
· Feds Train Clergy To "Quell Dissent" During Martial Law
· Secret FEMA Plan To Use Pastors as Pacifiers in Preparation For Martial Law:
Nationwide initiative trains volunteers to teach congregations to "obey the
government" during seizure of guns, property, forced inoculations and forced
relocation
· Excellent Study: The Surrender and Betrayal of the Church The Unholy Union of the
Church with the State thru Incorporation and Tax Exemption by Sam Adams
Satan’s Master Plan to Destroy the Lord’s Church
Go to: http://unregisteredbaptistfellowship.com and then click on the link posted below:
Or Click Here DOWNLOAD IT NOW! A PowerPoint presentation by
Dr. Greg J. Dixon
The Trail of Blood
Revisited—Christ's
True Church Its Past,
Present and Future:
In this book, Dr. Greg Dixon
provides a brief historical and
contemporary overview of
some of the conflicts the Lord's
Church has encountered, and
the ever-increasing efforts of
civil government to ensnare
and control the Lord's Church.
If civil government can require
the Lord's Church to file one
form and provide one piece of
information regarding its
internal business and function
and ministry, it can—and
eventually will—require other
forms to be filed and other
information to be given about
every internal function and
ministry of the Lord's Church.
The Lord's Church is now faced with the question of whom she will
obey—the sovereign Lord God or civil government. For the Lord's
Church to ponder the question or seek legal advice as to whether the
Lord's Church should register with civil government, seek special
privileges from civil government, pay taxes to civil government, collect
taxes for civil government, keep records for civil government, or be an
informer for civil government reveals a serious scriptural and spiritual
deficiency.
Dr. Dixon provides some practical guidelines on how the Lord's
Church can function in the real world free from civil government
entanglement. Hopefully, this book will ignite a flame of concern and
interest that will result in an application of the essential biblical truth
that Jesus Christ is the sole Lord and Head of His Church.
170 pages · Dr. Greg Dixon · $15.00
Three ways to order: Order online now or, if
you prefer, phone us toll free 1-800-234-9673
(Monday-Friday, 8-5 CST), or simply send
check or money order to: Power of Prophecy
1708 Patterson Rd. Austin, TX 78733 [Please
include 10% for domestic shipping and
handling or 20% for international shipping
and handling]
THIRTY WAYS THAT THE IRS TRIES TO CONTROL
PREACHERS AND CHURCHES IN AMERICA
By Greg J. Dixon, Pastor Emeritus
Indianapolis Baptist Temple
Each of these propositions has been taken from IRS Publication 1828, Tax Guide For
Churches and Other Religious Organizations, two letters from the Regional Commissioner of the
IRS Cincinnati that the Indianapolis received through discovery, the twenty-two interrogatories that
were included with the letters, and the 4 inch file that accompanied the letter with the news
clippings on the church and pastor dating back to 1971.
The following demands are what the Internal Revenue Service requires of churches to maintain
exemption from Federal Income Tax.
1. The church must have a “distinct legal existence” – According to IRS publication #557 that
legal existence would date from incorporation, page 3. Therefore a church must be
incorporated.
2. The church must admit that it exists by privilege granted by the IRS (tax-exempt) rather than
by right granted by God through the Holy Scriptures, (non-taxable) recognizing another
Head (State) rather than Christ.
3. The church must have a “recognized creed and form of worship”. The IRS must approve
(recognize) the creed (belief) and form (manner) of worship.
4. The church must have a “definite and distinct ecclesiastical government.”
5. The church must have a “formal code of doctrine and discipline.”
6. The church must have a “distinct religious history.” This is denominational.
7. The church must be an “organization”.
8. The church must be an “organization of ordained ministers”.
9. The church must have these ordained ministers who are “selected after completing
prescribed courses of study”. Like the Apostles, who had only “been with Jesus”, local
Baptist churches many times approve pastors who are not educated at all in any formal way.
10. The church must have “established places of worship.” True churches many times have no
permanent address (place of worship), but because of persecution and other reasons have
moved from place to place.
11. The church must submit to the IRS by paying a user fee (tribute) for tax-exempt status. This
would be contrary to the Scriptures, and U.S., and all State Constitutions.
12. The church must be engaged in activities that further “exclusively public Purposes rather
than Private interests.” The true church of Christ exists for the personal and private interest
of Christ her Head, not the State.
13. The church must answer to the IRS as to its “daily activities.”
14. The IRS controls all financial activities of the church including source, donors of $100.00 or
more, and expenditures.
15. The church may not use cash, or it will be suspected of money laundering. All books and
records must be available for IRS inspection at all times.
16. The church must act in the capacity of an informer to the RIS as to who serves at the church
in the capacity of “pastors, associates, counselors, educational directors, teachers, office
help, clerical, and maintenance personnel.”
17. The church must inform the IRS as to who the church helps in the area of charity.
18. The church must inform the IRS as to love gifts to evangelists and missionaries over
$600.00 by filing a Form 1099 on each including those who are regularly supported.
19. The church must use only IRS approved methods of fund raising.
20. The pastor of the church must not preach against the tax system of the U.S. or say anything
against the practices and tactics of the IRS.
21. The pastor of the church must answer to the IRS and give unlimited submission to the civil
magistrate pertaining to all laws, federal, state and local, including “Public Policy.”
22. The pastor of the church must advocate, promote, and actively encourage race mixing if the
church has an educational ministry.
23. The pastor of the church cannot influence legislation concerning licensure of church
ministries.
24. The pastor of the church cannot engage in political activity in regard to opposing
pornography.
25. The pastor of the church cannot actively support legislation that declares that children
belong to their parents not the state.
26. The pastor of the church cannot actively support legislation opposing a state lottery or other
gambling laws.
27. The pastor of the church cannot advocate support of the U.s. or State Constitutions as the
Supreme Law of the U.S. or the various states.
28. The pastor of the church cannot actively participate in opposing the public school system.
29. The pastor of the church cannot declare publicly that the church is to obey God, not
government.
30. The pastor of the church cannot oppose laws legalizing sodomy.
Conclusion: The entire forty-seven page booklet is available for a gift of any amoun including
postage and shipping through:
Temple Books
P.O. Box 11
Indianapolis, Indiana 46206
E-mail: drgregdixon@earthlink.net
Web: www.unregisteredbaptistfellowship.com
Is Tax Exemption Modern-day Baal Worship?
By Dr. Don Boys
Many people have confused the tax issue as it relates to churches. And there is no comparison
with personal taxes. That is a different subject altogether. The issue relating to churches and taxes
is two-fold: Should churches pay taxes and do churches have a right to demand that all gifts be
deductible from a contributor's income tax? That is the issue before us today.
The Bible nor the Constitution speak to this issue of tax deduction. The fact that we have been
permitted to deduct from our taxes what we give to the church is simply a benefit that we have had
since the income tax was foisted upon us in 1913. I believe that benefit is coming to an end - and
maybe it should!
Should churches be willing to bow to Baal in order to have the privilege of tax deduction by its
members? Remember the principle that if you get a benefit from government, you willingly put
yourself (or church) under its authority while at the same time losing some autonomy.
The Bob Jones decision (where the Supreme Court twisted the Constitution and reality like a
pretzel) will haunt us for decades. If a church stands for anything contrary to "public policy" it will be
said to be in violation of the Constitution. What is "public policy"? If you preach against perversion,
abortion, welfare, etc. then you are going against "public policy" and may lose your tax exemption.
Should a church have tax exempt status especially when you realize the price that must be paid to
keep it? The price? Obedience to Federal regulations. If a church did not have the benefits of tax
exemption, there would be no "sword" over it. A pastor could preach about any moral issue and
could support any political candidate without fear of losing that tax exempt status since the church
would not have it to lose.
Another question: Suppose you knew a candidate for office were another Hitler who would do
irreparable harm to our nation and wreak havoc with our churches. Under the law your church
cannot help defeat him and help elect his opponent. Why? Because that is part of the "contract"
you have with the government. Is it worth it? Is it now past time for churches to declare themselves
totally independent of government coercion by surrendering their tax exempt status?
Frankly, I think the issue is moot because I believe the government will "cut the cord" between us in
order to collect more personal taxes from each of us. Of course, concerned pastors will ask: Will
church members continue to give the same amount if their gifts are not deductible from their tax
returns? Wise pastors should start preparing their people NOW for that day.
We have bowed the knee to Baal for too long, and while government has its legitimate place, it is
not at church! Maybe it is time to tell public officials to keep their grubby hands off the Church of
Jesus Christ and keep them out of church coffers. And as for tax exemption, we will trade it for our
freedom. Not a bad deal when you come to think about it, and I hope you will.
Copyright, 1997, Don Boys, Ph.D
IRS WARNS CHURCH MAY LOSE TAX EXEMPTION
Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.com
Free speech and the right to oppose policies you consider unjust may be even more at stake than
we had thought under the present Administration. According to a Los Angeles Times story cited on
What Really Happened, one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches could be
losing its tax-exempt status, merely because of an anti-war sermon its now-former rector delivered,
two days before the 2004 election.
The Internal Revenue Service has warned the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena,
California, that it may be losing its tax exemption, citing a sermon by the Rev. George F. Regas, on
Oct. 31, 2004. In his lesson that day, Regas (who had previously opposed from the pulpit both the
Vietnam War and 1991's Gulf War), imagined Jesus in a political debate with then-candidates
George W. Bush and John Kerry.
According to the story, he did not take sides or tell parishioners who to vote for, but he did criticize
the war in Iraq, stating that Jesus would have called Bush's pre-emptive war "a failed doctrine," and
that "Forcibly changing the regime of an enemy that posed no imminent threat has led to disaster."
Regas was rector of All Saints from 1967 to 1995, and was a guest speaker at that particular
service.
The response from the IRS was far from immediate, but the church received a notice on June 9
that "a reasonable belief exists that you may not be tax-exempt as a church," citing an LA Times
account of the Regas sermon. Perhaps most ironic is the fact that the IRS cited the Times's
coverage of the sermon, and not the sermon itself, as its basis for the decision; the Times went
beyond quoting from the sermon's text and characterized it as a "searing indictment of the Bush
administration's policies in Iraq," which also described "tax cuts as inimical to the values of Jesus."
The IRS letter specifically cited these news report characterizations of Regas's words. Meanwhile,
current Rector J. Edwin Bacon was quoted as saying, "We are so careful at our church never to
endorse a candidate. One of the strongest sermons I've ever given was against President Clinton's
fraying of the social safety net." Phone calls by the Times, attempting to reach IRS officials in
Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles for comment, were not returned.
A further consideration is that churches all over California have been taking stances on both sides
of the controversial Proposition 73, which would ban abortions for minors without parental
notification. Some at All Saints believe they are being singled out in spite of the tolerance for this
widespread political activity. Bacon said the church had retained the services of a Washington law
firm with expertise in tax-exempt organizations, and told his congregation: "It's important for
everyone to understand that the IRS concerns are not supported by the facts."
In an October letter to the IRS, Marcus Owens, the church's tax attorney and a former head of the
IRS tax-exempt section, said, "It seems ludicrous to suggest that a pastor cannot preach about the
value of promoting peace simply because the nation happens to be at war during an election
season." - ST
staff reports - Free-Market News Network
FAITH BASED 501-c-3 Churches are part of HOMELAND
SECURITY NOW!
Executive Order: Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security with Respect to
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060307-5.html
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate a national effort to expand
opportunities for faith-based and other community organizations and to strengthen their capacity to
better meet America's social and community needs, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department
of Homeland Security.
(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall establish within the Department of
Homeland Security (Department) a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
(Center).
(b) The Center shall be supervised by a Director appointed by Secretary. The Secretary shall
consult with the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
(WHOFBCI Director) prior to making such appointment.
(c) The Department shall provide the Center with appropriate staff, administrative support, and
other resources to meet its responsibilities under this order.
(d) The Center shall begin operations no later than 45 days from the date of this order.
Sec. 2. Purpose of Center. The purpose of the Center shall be to coordinate agency efforts to
eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faithbased
and other community organizations in the provision of social and community services.
Sec. 3. Responsibilities of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In carrying out the
purpose set forth in section 2 of this order, the Center shall:
(a) conduct, in coordination with the WHOFBCI Director, a department-wide audit to identify all
existing barriers to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the
delivery of social and community services by the Department, including but not limited to
regulations, rules, orders, procure-ment, and other internal policies and practices, and outreach
activities that unlawfully discriminate against, or otherwise discourage or disadvantage the
participation of faith-based and other community organizations in Federal programs;
(b) coordinate a comprehensive departmental effort to incorporate faith-based and other
community organizations in Department programs and initiatives to the greatest extent
possible;
(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE
Romans 13 & Unlimited Subservience to the Government: Where should a
Bible Believing Christian Draw the Line?
It seems that every time someone such as myself attempts to encourage our
Christian brothers and sisters to resist an unconstitutional or otherwise
reprehensible government policy, we hear the retort, "What about Romans
Chapter 13? We Christians must submit to government. Any government.
Read your Bible, and leave me alone."
Or words to that effect.
No doubt, some who use this argument are sincere. They are only repeating
what they have heard their pastor and other religious leaders say. On the
other hand, let's be honest enough to admit that some who use this argument
are just plain lazy, apathetic, and indifferent.
And Romans 13 is their escape from responsibility. I suspect this is the much larger group, by the
way.
Nevertheless, for the benefit of those who are sincere (but obviously misinformed), let's briefly
examine Romans Chapter 13. I quote Romans Chapter 13, verses 1 through 7, from the
Authorized King James text:
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers
that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of
God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good
works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that
which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a
revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only
for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute
also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all
their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to
whom honor."
Do our Christian friends who use these verses to teach that we should not oppose President Bush
or any other political leader, really believe that civil magistrates have unlimited authority to do
anything they want without opposition? I doubt whether they truly believe that.
For example, what if our President decided to resurrect the old monarchal custom of Jus Primae
Noctis (Law of First Night)? That was the old medieval custom when the king claimed the right to
sleep with a subject's bride on the first night of their marriage. Would our sincere Christian brethren
sheepishly say, "Romans Chapter 13 says we must submit to the government"?
I think not. And would any of us respect any man who would submit to such a law?
So, there are limits to authority.
A father has authority in his home, but does this give him power to abuse his wife and children? Of
course not.
An employer has authority on the job, but does this give him power to control the private lives of his
employees? No.
A pastor has overseer authority in the church, but does this give him power to tell employers in his
church how to run their businesses? Of course not.
All human authority is limited in nature. No man has unlimited authority over the lives of
other men. (Lordship and Sovereignty is the exclusive domain of Jesus Christ.)
By the same token, a civil magistrate has authority in civil matters, but his authority is limited and
defined. Observe that Romans Chapter 13 clearly limits the authority of civil government by strictly
defining its purpose: "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil . . . For he is the
minister of God to thee for good . . . for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon
him that doeth evil."
Notice that civil government must not be a "terror to good works." It has no power or authority to
terrorize good works or good people. God never gave it that authority. And any government that
oversteps that divine boundary has no divine authority or protection.
Civil government is a "minister of God to thee for good." It is a not a minister of God for evil. Civil
magistrates have a divine duty to "execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." They have no
authority to execute wrath upon him that doeth good. None. Zilch. Zero. And anyone who says
they do is lying.
So, even in the midst of telling Christians to submit to civil authority, Romans Chapter 13 limits
the power and reach of civil authority.
Did Moses violate God's principle of submission to authority when he killed the Egyptian
taskmaster in defense of his fellow Hebrew?
Did Elijah violate God's principle of submission to authority when he openly challenged Ahab and
Jezebel?
Did David violate God's principle of submission to authority when he refused to surrender to Saul's
troops?
Did Daniel violate God's principle of submission to authority when he disobeyed the king's law to
not pray audibly to God?
Did the three Hebrew children violate God's principle of submission to authority when they refused
to bow to the image of the state?
Did John the Baptist violate God's principle of submission to authority when he publicly scolded
King Herod for his infidelity?
Did Simon Peter and the other Apostles violate God's principle of submission to authority when
they refused to stop preaching on the streets of Jerusalem?
Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather
than men.
Did Paul violate God's principle of submission to authority when he refused to obey those
authorities who demanded that he abandon his missionary work? In fact, Paul spent almost as
much time in jail as he did out of jail.
Remember that every apostle of Christ (except John) was killed by hostile civil authorities
opposed to their endeavors. Christians throughout church history were imprisoned,
tortured, or killed by civil authorities of all stripes for refusing to submit to their various
laws and prohibitions. Did all of these Christian martyrs violate God's principle of
submission to authority?
So, even the great prophets, apostles, and writers of the Bible (including the writer of
Romans Chapter 13) understood that human authority--even civil authority--is limited.
Plus, Paul makes it clear that our submission to civil authority must be predicated on more than
fear of governmental retaliation. Notice, he said, "Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for
wrath, but also for conscience sake." Meaning, our obedience to civil authority is more than just
"because they said so." It is also a matter of conscience. This means we must think and reason
for ourselves regarding the justness and rightness of our government's laws.
Obedience is not automatic or robotic. It is a result of both rational deliberation and moral
approbation.
Therefore, there are times when civil authority may need to be resisted. Either governmental
abuse of power or the violation of conscience (or both) could precipitate civil disobedience. Of
course, how and when we decide to resist civil authority is an entirely separate issue. And I will
reserve that discussion for another time.
Beyond that, we in the United States of America do not live under a monarchy. We have no king.
There is no single governing official in this country. America's "supreme Law" does not rest
with any man or any group of men. America's "supreme Law" does not rest with the President, the
Congress, or even the Supreme Court. In America, the U.S. Constitution is the "supreme Law of
the Land." Under our laws, every governing official publicly promises to submit to the Constitution
of the United States. Do readers understand the significance of this distinction?
This means that in America the "higher powers" are not the men who occupy elected office; they
are the tenets and principles set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Under our laws and form of
government, it is the duty of every citizen, including our elected officials, to obey the U.S.
Constitution.
Dear Christian friend, the above is exactly the proper understanding of our responsibility to civil
authority in these United States, as per the teaching of Romans Chapter 13.
Furthermore, Christians, above all people, should desire that their elected representatives submit
to the Constitution, because it is constitutional government that has done more to protect Christian
liberty than any governing document ever devised by man..
As a result, Christians in America (for the most part) have not had to face the painful decision to
"obey God rather than men" and defy their civil authorities.
The problem in America today is that we have allowed our political leaders to violate their oaths of
office and to ignore, and blatantly disobey, the "supreme Law of the Land," the U.S. Constitution.
Therefore, if we truly believe Romans Chapter 13, we will insist and demand that our civil
magistrates submit to the U.S. Constitution.
Now, how many of us Christians are going to truly obey Romans Chapter 13?
Proverbs
25:26
: "A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a
troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring."
---- Original Message -----
From: Greg Dixon
Dear friend in Christ, Some fifteen years ago or more I stood in the pulpit of the Indiana Baptist
College of the city of Indianapolis, which later became Heritage Baptist University, in a summer tent
camp meeting and warned the pastors that this event that World Net Daily announces today would
take place in the future. Most of those present stared at me with glassy eyes. One of the most
prominent pastors of the area followed me to the pulpit and In his introductory remarks rebuked me
publicly for preaching that type of sermon because it had nothing to do with our responsibility as
preachers of getting the gospel of Christ to out. That dear brother is with the Lord now. I am still
here to see the prophecy that I warned of, which was not in reality a prophecy but based on sound
facts, fulfilled before the entire world. However the preachers for the most part are still glassy eyed
and I am still being attacked for trying to warn them. Amazing but true.
Dr. Greg Dixon
During the coming dissolution of our Constitutional
government, will your pastor cooperate with the
Federal Government, as liberal Protestant pastors
meekly did under the terror of Adolf Hitler?
Before you scoff, let us review our current news story.
NEWS BRIEF: "Homeland Security Enlists Clergy to Quell Public Unrest
if Martial Law Ever Declared", KSLA-TV, Shreveport, LA, Aug 23, 2007
View the actual TV video on this most explosive topic!
"Could martial law ever become a reality in America? Some fear any nuclear, biological or chemical
attack on U.S. soil might trigger just that. KSLA News 12 has discovered that the clergy would help
the government with potentially their biggest problem: Us."
The Federal Government rightly knows that many, many gun owners are genuine Christians.
Therefore, in the early stages of the managed crisis which will give Federal officials the opportunity
to dissolve our Constitutional government and take away our freedoms, they know they will have to
deal with gun owners who are Bible-believing Christians.
How can the government possibly convince these Christian gun owners to surrender their guns
peaceably? Remember, the first acts a dictatorial government always takes is to declare martial
law and then confiscate guns from the public. Therefore, this discussion is not an academic one, is
it?
"... gun confiscation is exactly what happened during the state of emergency following Hurricane
Katrina in New Orleans, along with forced relocation. U.S. Troops also arrived, something far
easier to do now, thanks to last year's elimination of the 1878 Posse Comitatus act, which had
forbid regular U.S. Army troops from policing on American soil." (Ibid.)
The government plans to create the conditions ripe for the imposition of dictatorship. What is their
plan?
1) Huge disaster -- in this case, the Illuminati plans another disaster on the scale of 9/11, or
possibly even greater. Such a disaster would provide the pretext to implement their plan created
over 100 years ago; we speak more of this fact, below, as we discuss "The Protocols of the
Learned Elders of Zion".
2) Forced relocation from their homes -- New Orleans residents were forced to relocate out of
their neighborhoods, in many instances to other states. Disclocation is key to disruption of normal
life for tens of millions of civilians.
3) American troops could patrol the city, because Presidents Clinton and Bush have
consistently eroded the prohibitions of the Posse' Comitatus Act. It generally prohibits Federal
military personnel and units of the United States National Guard under Federal authority from
acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized
by the Constitution or Congress. The Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act substantially
limit the powers of the Federal government to use the military for law enforcement.In New Orleans
after Hurricane Katrina, Army troops did engage in law enforcement duties, as the video, below,
demonstrates.
Now, let us return to this feature story, so we can see the role the government envisions for
clergymen who do not know their Bibles. You will literally see that deceived and/or "wolves in
sheep's clothing" clergymen are going to fulfill the role of the "Judas Goat", the animal which
sheepherders use to be the first up the ramp to the slaughter truck, knowing that, once sheep see
the goat going up the ramp, they will quietly and meekly follow -- going to their slaughter without
resistance!
"If martial law were enacted here at home, like depicted in the movie 'The Siege', easing public
fears and quelling dissent would be critical. And that's exactly what the 'Clergy Response Team'
helped accomplish in the wake of Katrina. Dr. Durell Tuberville serves as chaplain for the
Shreveport Fire Department and the Caddo Sheriff's Office. Tuberville said of the clergy team's
mission, 'the primary thing that we say to anybody is, 'let's cooperate and get this thing over with
and then we'll settle the differences once the crisis is over.' " (Ibid., Emphasis added)
That last concept is most interesting, don't you think? Liberal clergy will be assuring their flock that
they will soon get their freedoms and their Constitution back "once the crisis is over". Isn't it
interesting that the Illuminati thought of this very concept as they planned over 100 years ago to
take our freedoms from us? Listen to their exact wording:
"4. WE ARE WOLVES -- The [people] are a flock of sheep, and we are their wolves. And you know
what happens when the wolves get hold of the flock?
5. There is another reason also why they will close their eyes: for we shall keep promising them to
give back all the liberties we have taken away as soon as we have quelled the enemies of peace
and tamed all parties .....
6. It is not worthwhile to say anything about how long a time they will be kept waiting for this return
of their liberties" ["PROTOCOL 11 -- THE TOTALITARIAN STATE", The Protocols of the
Learned Elders of Zion]
Did you completely understand this last sentence? "It is not worthwhile to say anything about how
long a time they will be kept waiting for this return of their liberties".
To see how important this false assurance is going to be to these clergymen in convincing people
to cooperate with the Federal Government, let us return to this current news article.
"Civil rights advocates believe the amount of public cooperation during such a time of unrest may
ultimately depend on how long they expect a suspension of rights might last." (Ibid.)
All clergymen who plan on cooperating with the Federal Government by holding up the false hope
that, when the crisis is over, the people will get their freedoms and their Constitution back, had
better think again! No hungry wolf ever spares the life of his victim once he has him in his jaws.
Neither will this most power-hungry Illuminati ever give his victims another chance once he has
disbanded the beloved American Constitution.
Lest you think I am wrong on this issue, listen to a current Illuminati boldly state this part of the
Plan.
"Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that
inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of
government ... if terrorists succeeded in using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) against the
U.S. or one of our allies, it would likely have catastrophic consequences for our cherished
republican form of government." ("Gen. Franks Doubts Constitution Will Survive WMD Attack", by
NewsMax, 11/21/03; read our analysis in NEWS1979).
At this point, you must be asking yourself a pertinent question: since Christians place much stock in
the Bible, will these liberal clergymen be able to base their message of cooperation with the
government upon any Scripture?
Let us return to our news story:
"For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or
to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13. Dr. Tuberville elaborated, 'because the
government's established by the Lord, you know. And, that's what we believe in the Christian faith.
That's what's stated in the scripture'." (Ibid.)
Too many churches and pastors have been misleading their flocks on this issue for the past 100
years. Cutting Edge recently posted an article written by Pastor Chuck Baldwin on this very subject.
While we cannot quote it at length here, we encourage you to read it fully, for Pastor Baldwin
debunks the use of Romans 13 as the basis for meekly cooperating with the government all of the
time, and under any circumstances. This article is NEWS2229.
During the reign of Adolf Hitler, three prominent Protestant theologians were dramatically
successful in convincing German Protestants to cooperate with Hitler, including with his genocide
of 18 million "Devalued People". (See DVD pictured above, "Theologians Under Hitler". You will
be shocked)
The Illuminati here in America is using this same tactic, and will most assuredly get the same
cooperative response, from a Christian population not familiar enough with Romans 13 to know
when they are being deceived.
When America has reached this unfortunate point, will these liberal clergymen also use the powers
of their office to assist the government in the persecution of true believers who are not willing to
give the Federal Government carte blanche authority based on Romans 13, or who are not willing
to compromise their beliefs to accomodate the new political/religious paradigm?
Will these liberal christian leaders act like the liberal churchmen of Hitler's Germany in identifying
recalcitrant church members and turn them in to the dictatorial authorities?
I personally believe that much of the reason genuine Christians will be turned in to authorities is
because church leaders submissive to the government will turn them in. Hitler was so
successful in turning Germany from a democracy to the kind of dictatorial power which could
murder 18 million devalued people and begin a war which would consume the lives of tens of
millions, that the current Illuminati leadership is following his example.
If you are a genuine Christian pastor, are you prepared for officers of Homeland Security to
enter your sanctuary, to sit down on your front row -- dressed in intimidating official
clothing -- and to listen to your sermon and your announcements? Are you prepared to have
them arrest you after the service for not adhering to official government guidelines as to
what you can and cannot say?
These intimidation tactics worked extremely well during Hitler's reign, and they will work once
again, all over the world. Pastors need to remember the era in which they are living, and not
succumb to the temporary political and religious pressure from your Illuminist government, but keep
their minds focused on the eternal.
This following Biblical passage is simply pregnant with meaning for pastors and other church
leaders of this present era.
Proverbs
25:26
: "A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a
troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring."
Feds Train Clergy To "Quell Dissent" During Martial Law
Shocking KSLA 12 news report confirms story we broke last year, Pastors to cite Romans 13 as
reason for public to obey government orders, relinquish guns and be taken to camps during state of
emergency
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Thursday, August 16, 2007
A shocking KSLA news report has confirmed the story we first broke last year, that Clergy
Response Teams are being trained by the federal government to "quell dissent" and pacify citizens
to obey the government in the event of a declaration of martial law.
In May 2006, we exposed the existence of a nationwide FEMA program which is training Pastors
and other religious representatives to become secret police enforcers who teach their
congregations to "obey the government" in preparation for the implementation of martial law,
property and firearm seizures, mass vaccination programs and forced relocation.
A whistleblower who was secretly enrolled into the program told us that the feds were clandestinely
recruiting religious leaders to help implement Homeland Security directives in anticipation of a
potential bio-terrorist attack, any natural disaster or a nationally declared emergency.
The first government led directive was for Pastors to preach to their congregations Romans
13, the often taken out of context bible passage that was used by Hitler to hoodwink Christians into
supporting him, in order to teach them to "obey the government" when martial law is declared.
It was related to the Pastors that quarantines, martial law and forced relocation were a problem for
state authorities when enforcing federal mandates due to the "cowboy mentality" of citizens
standing up for their property and second amendment rights as well as farmers defending their
crops and livestock from seizure.
It was stressed that the Pastors needed to preach subservience to the authorities ahead of time in
preparation for the round-ups and to make it clear to the congregation that "this is for their own
good."
Pastors were told that they would be backed up by law enforcement in controlling uncooperative
individuals and that they would even lead SWAT teams in attempting to quell resistance.
Though some doubted the accuracy of this report at the time due to its fundamentally disturbing
implications, the story has now been confirmed by a KSLA 12 news report, in which participating
clergy and officials admit to the existence of the program.
Watch the "Clergy Response Team" video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRIDNQNsUss
Such clergy response teams would walk a tight-rope during martial law between the demands of
the government on the one side, versus the wishes of the public on the other. "In a lot of cases,
these clergy would already be known in the neighborhoods in which they're helping to diffuse that
situation," assured Sandy Davis. He serves as the director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of
Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or
to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13. Dr. Tuberville elaborated, "because the
government's established by the Lord, you know. And, that's what we believe in the
Christian faith. That's what's stated in the scripture."
Screenshot from the KSLA 12 news article that accompanies the video report
(http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=6937987).
So there you have it - Homeland Security are working with local police departments and religious
leaders to prepare for the declaration of martial law and in particular developing techniques they
will employ during the crisis to "quell dissent."
Phony Christian leaders are brainwashing their congregations to accept the premise that the
totalitarian police state is "of the Lord" and that they should get on their knees and lick jackboots
while the round-ups take place as citizens are processed into quarantine zones and detention
camps by the National Guard and U.S. troops returning from Iraq.
The precedent for mass gun confiscation and martial law in times of a real or manufactured
emergency was set during Hurricane Katrina, when police and National Guard patrols forced home
owners - even in areas unaffected by the hurricane - to hand over their legally owned firearms at
gunpoint.
This is a clear precursor for the imminent declaration of a state of emergency, a scenario that
President Bush codified in his recent Presidential Decision Directive of May 9th, which states in
the event of a "catastrophic event" the President can take total control over the government
and the country, bypassing all other levels of government at the state, federal, local,
territorial and tribal levels, and thus ensuring total unprecedented dictatorial power.
The scope of the program is so secretive that even Homeland Security Committee member and
Congressman Peter DeFazio was denied access to view the classified portion of the documents.
Clergy to be used to quell dissent
WDN--August 18, 2007--A government plan to use members of the clergy to quell dissent and
objections to government orders during a time of national emergency has been revealed by a
Shreveport, La., television station.The story by reporter Jeff Ferrell on television station KSLA says
such "Clergy Response Teams" already have been used - following the hit on New Orleans by
hurricane Katrina.The station's video is available on a link on its website, and also available on
YouTube. It asks if martial law ever could become reality in the United States, following a nuclear,
biological or chemical attack.
The report said one of the biggest tools the clergy members would use would be the Bible itself,
specifically Romans 13, where Tuberville said the Bible states "the government's established by the
Lord, you know. And, that's what we believe in the Christian faith. That's what's stated in the
Scripture." A blogger for the Christian education site, Chalcedon noted that the training has been
going on in secret for over a year already.
"The clergy are being advised to use Romans 13 to encourage parishioners to submit to the
sudden and massive expansion of government control that takes place during martial law,"
the writer said.
WND already has documented a series of executive orders by the president, that so far give the
government broad new powers to address private property if it's related to any one of several
issues, all of which are foreign so far.
One recent order, for example, gives Bush the power to freeze the assets of people who threaten
Iraq's stability. A former Reagan administration officials says the wording is so broad it could be
applied to any domestic opponent of the Iraq war who has assets in the U.S.
To view the entire article, visit
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57219
that even Homeland Security Committee member and Congressman Peter DeFazio was denied
access to view the classified portion of the documents.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57219
Secret FEMA Plan To Use Pastors as Pacifiers in
Preparation For Martial Law
Nationwide initiative trains volunteers to teach
congregations to "obey the government" during
seizure of guns, property, forced inoculations and
forced relocation
Paul Joseph Watson/Prison Planet.com | May 24 2006
A Pastor has come forward to blow the whistle on a nationwide FEMA program
which is training Pastors and other religious representatives to become secret
police enforcers who teach their congregations to "obey the government" in
preparation for a declaration of martial law, property and firearm seizures, and
forced relocation.
In March of this year the Pastor, who we shall refer to as Pastor Revere, was
invited to attend a meeting of his local FEMA chapter which circulated around
preparedness for a potential bio-terrorist attack, any natural disaster or a
nationally declared emergency.
The FEMA directors told the Pastors that attended that it was their job to help
implement FEMA and Homeland Security directives in anticipation of any of
these eventualities. The first directive was for Pastors to preach to their
congregations Romans 13, the often taken out of context bible passage that was
used by Hitler to hoodwink Christians into supporting him, in order to teach them
to "obey the government" when martial law is declared.
It was related to the Pastors that quarantines, martial law and forced relocation
were a problem for state authorities when enforcing federal mandates due to the
"cowboy mentality" of citizens standing up for their property and second
amendment rights as well as farmers defending their crops and livestock from
seizure. It was stressed that the Pastors needed to preach subservience to the
authorities ahead of time in preparation for the round-ups and to make it clear to
the congregation that "this is for their own good."
We have received confirmation from other preachers and Pastors that this
program is a nationwide initiative and a literal Soviet model whereby the
churches are being systematically infiltrated by government volunteers and used
as conduits for martial law training and conditioning. The Pastor was told that
over 13,000 counties were already on board.
It falls under the umbrella of the NVOAD program which is training volunteers in
a "Peer to Peer" program in a neighborhood setting.
Pastors were told that the would be backed up by law enforcement in controlling
uncooperative individuals and that they would even lead SWAT teams in
attempting to quell resistance.
Police provide cover for a FEMA house-by-house search in New Orleans.
"We get the the picture that we're going to be standing at the end of some
farmer's lane while he's standing there with his double barrel, saying we have to
confiscate your cows, your chickens, your firearms," said Pastor Revere.
The Pastor elaborated on how the directives were being smoke screened by an
Orwellian alteration of their names.
"They're not using the term 'quarantine' - this is the term they're going to be using
- it's called 'social distancing' don't you like that one," said the Pastor.
He also highlighted how detention camps had been renamed to give them a
friendly warm veneer.
"Three months ago it was quarantine and relocation centers and now it's
'community centers' and these are going to be activated at the local schools," he
said.
Pastor Revere outlined the plan to carry out mass vaccination and enforced
drugging programs in times of crisis such as a bird flu outbreak.
"In the event of an outbreak or a bio-terrorist attack, there'd be a mass
vaccination....they have a program nationwide 'Pills in People's Palm In 48
Hours'," said the Pastor who was told that Walmart had been designated as the
central outlet of this procedure.
Pastor Revere said that many attendees believed in the necessity of the program
and were completely unaware to the motivations behind its true purpose and
were offered incentives to become volunteers such as preferential treatment and
first access for themselves and their families to vaccines and food shipments in
times of emergency.
Which roads to close off after martial law was declared had also already been
mapped out.
The precedent for mass gun confiscation in times of real or manufactured
emergency was set during Hurricane Katrina when police and national guard
patrols forced homeowners even in areas unaffected by the hurricane to hand
over their legally owned firearms at gunpoint as is detailed in the video below.
In the following video Alex Jones exposes FEMA's deliberate sabotage of
Hurricane Katrina relief efforts which were used as a platform for a beat test of
forced relocation and gun confiscation.
Alex Jones' 2001 documentary film 9/11: The Road to Tyranny featured footage
from a FEMA symposium given to firefighters and other emergency personnel in
Kansas City in which it was stated that the founding fathers, Christians and
homeschoolers were terrorists and should be treated with the utmost suspicion
and brutality in times of national emergency.
We have highlighted previous training manuals issues by state and federal
government bodies which identify whole swathes of the population as potential
terrorists. A Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Law Enforcement
pamphlet gives the public characteristics to identify terrorists that include buying
baby formula, beer, wearing Levi jeans, carrying identifying documents like a
drivers license and traveling with women or children.
A Virginia training manual used to help state employees recognize terrorists
lists anti-government and property rights activists as terrorists and includes
binoculars, video cameras, pads and notebooks in a compendium of terrorist
tools.
Shortly after 9/11 a Phoenix FBI manual that was disseminated amongst federal
employees at the end of the Clinton term caused waves on the Internet after it
was revealed that potential terrorists included, "defenders of the US Constitution
against federal government and the UN, " and individuals who "make numerous
references to the US Constitution." Lawyers everywhere cowered in fear at being
shipped off to Gitmo.
In December 2003 the FBI warned Americans nationwide to be on the lookout
for people reading Almanacs as this could indicate an act of terrorism in
planning. Almanacs are popular glove box inventory of any vehicle and this
ludicrous fearmongering was met with a raucous response from satirists and
news commentators.
In another twilight zone Nazi-like spectacle, Pastors were asked to make a
pledge or an affirmation during the meeting to fulfil the roles ascribed to them by
FEMA. They were given assurances that they would be covered by full
compensation in the event of resisters injuring them during property seizures and
round-ups.
The Pastor said that his county had already succumbed to a tattle-tale like
mentality where neighbors were reporting neighbors to the authorities for things
like having chickens in their back yard. The brown shirt precedent has been set
whereby people immediately turn to the authorities in fealty whenever their
paranoid suspicions, fueled by zealous government and media fearmongering,
are heightened.
Pastor Revere said the completion of the first stage of the program was slated for
August 31st. At this point all the counties within the United States would be
networked as part of the so-called disaster relief program.
We issue a challenge to all of our readers to print off this article and the
supporting documents and confront their local preacher with it. If they don't
receive a response within a week they should investigate further into whether
their preacher is involved and hand out information to other members of the
congregation.
Click here to listen to the Pastor's interview on the Alex Jones Show.
The Surrender and Betrayal of the Church The
Unholy Union of the Church with the State thru
Incorporation and Tax Exemption by Sam Adams
A great and treacherous apostasy has taken place in the churches of America to
which most Christians are totally oblivious, but which almost every church in
America has fallen prey to. Though the New Testament Church has been called
out to be the faithful bride of her one and only husband, the Lord Jesus Christ,
she has betrayed her espoused head. The Apostle Paul said to the church at
Corinth, “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I have espoused
you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I
fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your
minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2-3).
Just as Old Testament Israel was unfaithful to her husband and went “whoring”
after other gods, so has the Church in America corrupted herself, and as the
Apostle feared, has indeed been beguiled by the Serpent as was Eve. Like the
church at Ephesus she has left her first love, and has joined herself in an
adulterous affair with another head, the civil government, otherwise known as the
state, and has thereby been neutralized from being the “salt” of our society (Mt
5:13). This betrayal has taken place by: (1) re-organizing the churches into
fictitious corporations which by law are created by and therefore controlled by the
state, and by: (2) entering into a traitorous contract with the government to limit
their message and influence in society in exchange for tax exemption. Though
the Bible clearly teaches that Christ is to be head over all things to the church
(Eph. 1:22), the churches have taken the idolatrous position that the Lord Jesus
must share his lordship over his Church with the state; and they are furthermore,
except for a few brave souls, refusing to see how great and abominable this sin
is, and are refusing to repent and correct their error. In this exposรฉ the following
facts will be conclusively shown:
1. Incorporated “churches” are not and cannot be true New Testament churches,
in that: • Corporations are created by the state, not by Jesus; • Their head and
master by law is the State, not Jesus; • Their final authority for faith and practice
by law is their corporate charter and statute law, not the Bible; • At law their
property belongs to the State, not to God • Their pastors do not have Biblical
authority (per Heb. 13:7,
17; etc.) over their flocks but are mere hirelings (John 10:12) under authority of
the corporate trustees, and:
2. Tax Exemption for “not-for-profit” organizations (for corporations, trusts and
unincorporated associations) under Internal Revenue Code sec. 501(c)3 is a trap
used by the government to control the churches and silence the preachers of
America from influencing our government and society, and from crying out
against wicked government policies, politics and politicians. For the churches to
enter into such a treacherous contract with the state constitutes a grievous,
abominable SIN. In fact, for all practical purposes it is a sin very similar to taking
the "mark of the beast" (Rev. 13) upon the Church, in betraying the Lordship of
Christ by bowing to the supremacy of the state. The civil government has always,
from the first century onward, attempted to control and subjugate the Church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jewish Sanhedrin asked Peter of his authority to
preach and heal in Acts 4:7, “By what power, or by what name [(i.e., By whose
authority)], have ye done this?” This was essentially the same question they had
asked the Lord Jesus in Matt 21:23: “By what authority doest thou these things?
and who gave thee this authority?” They wanted the disciples to ask them for
their permission or authority to preach. They may have let them preach about
Jesus, but only under their authority. It has been the same down through the
ages, through the days of intense and bloody persecution of the true church by
the Roman Caesars and then for many centuries by the Roman Papacy, after the
apostate church entered into an unholy marriage compact with Roman emperor
Constantine in the fourth century. The issue has always been who would control
the Church; civil/ecclesiastical government, or the Lord Jesus. One of the primary
reasons God had so blessed America is that under our Constitutional system and
Bill of Rights, the Church could for the first time in history function unhindered by
the state. Before that time, even in America, most of the 13 colonies had their
own state churches, which often persecuted those of dissenting denominations.
Patrick Henry’s timeless quote, “I know not what course other men may take, but
as for me, give me liberty or give me death” was inspired when he witnessed a
man being publicly flogged in Culpepper, Virginia, in March of 1775. The man
was of one of twelve Baptist preachers jailed for preaching without a license from
the state (Episcopal) church. In 1789 there were many delegates to the
Constitutional Convention who were still of the belief that the nation must select
and support a state church. It was primarily at the insistence of the Baptists of
Rhode Island, assisted by Madison and Jefferson of Virginia, that the First
Amendment was adopted guaranteeing that no particular denominational sect
would be sanctioned by the government. During Madison’s presidency the
Episcopal Church sought incorporation through Congress. Madison vetoed the
legislation, saying that if the government incorporated the Episcopal Church it
would have created a state church. For over a hundred years after the adoption
of the Bill of Rights, the Church stood rightly as the “watchdog” over the
government, holding government accountable to the Word of God (Ps. 149:5-9).
Legislation in Christian America back then had to pass the “pulpit test”; if it
wouldn’t preach well from the pulpits it would surely not pass in the legislature.
Sadly, those days are now long gone and the Church has been effectively
silenced. It has become incorporated, and it has, to its shame, become a state
church. A CORPORATION CANNOT BE A CHURCH A true New Testament
church cannot organize as a corporation, because a corporation cannot be a true
New Testament church. What exactly is a corporation? Black’s Law Dictionary
(6th. Ed.) defines a corporation as “an artificial person or legal entity created by
or under the authority of the laws of a state. An association of persons created by
statute as a legal entity.” By law, corporations are created by the state and are
therefore by law under the state’s jurisdiction and control. To affirm this point, in
the landmark case of Hale v. Hinkle, 201 U.S.
43 (1906), the U.S. Supreme Court made the following very revealing
declaration: “A corporation is a creature of the state. It is presumed to be
incorporated for the benefit of the public. It receives certain special privileges and
franchises and holds them subject to the laws of the state and the limitations of
its charter. Its powers are limited by law. It can make no contract not authorized
by its charter. Its right to act as a corporation are only preserved to it so long as it
obeys the laws of its creation. There is a reserved right in the legislature to
investigate its contracts and ascertain if it has exceeded its power.” (emphasis
added) It should be obvious to every thinking Christian that every statement in
the above legal definition of a corporation is diametrically opposed to the Biblical
definition of the Church and to the lordship of Christ over His church. Consider
these statements one by one: “A corporation is a creature of the state...” Our
copyright and patent laws are based on the legal maxim that the creator always
has ownership and control over his creation. By law whatever the state creates,
the state controls. A New Testament church cannot be a creature of the state;
Jesus founded the church and said He would build His church. “...It is presumed
to be incorporated for the benefit of the public...” The Church exists for the
benefit of its members (1 Cor. 12) and its head, the Lord Jesus Christ, NOT the
public. Jesus promised us that the world (the public) would HATE the Church
(John 15:18-
19). Corporate churches must by law exist for the benefit of the public, which is
exactly why the IRS says they cannot publicly preach any “propaganda” contrary
to established public policy. “...It receives certain special privileges and
franchises...” (the Church exists and functions as a matter of right, not of
privilege; by order of the Lord Jesus’ commission in Matthew 28:18-20, not by
permission from the government) “and holds them subject to the laws of the state
and the limitations of its charter [(not the Bible)]. Its powers are limited by law
[(not the Bible)]. It can make no contract not authorized by its charter [(not the
Bible)]. Its right to act as a corporation are only preserved to it so long as it obeys
the laws of its creation.” By law the first and final authority for the corporation is
the corporation’s charter
(corporate constitution and by-laws) and corporate statute law, not the Bible.
“There is a reserved right in the legislature to investigate its contracts and
ascertain if it has exceeded its power.” Regarding this right, the court also said:
“the right of visitation [by government] is for the purpose of control and to see that
the corporation keeps within the limits of it powers.” A corporate church has no
privacy in its membership, financial or other business records, which may be
ordered at any time to be open to public scrutiny and control. Incorporated
churches are therefore informants for the government regarding the finances and
contributions of its members. Corporate churches are required to conduct regular
business meetings and maintain minutes from those meetings, also open to
public scrutiny. Also, by corporate law, all property owned by the corporation is
held in trust by the trustees for the beneficiary of the trust, which is the state; i.e.,
the property is ultimately owned by the state. Under corporate law, Biblical
church government is turned on its head as the trustees run the corporation on
behalf of the State, and are over the pastor in authority. The church is converted
to a business, the pastor is reduced to a CEO of the business and is now a mere
a hireling
(John 10:12). Consider the glaring contrast between the above quote from the
Hale v. Hinkle ruling and the 1st Amendment to the Constitution: “Congress shall
make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof.” That means Congress can neither protect nor restrict the
Church’s activities. Congress has no jurisdiction to make any law which applies
to the Church. Conversely, as stated in Hale v. Hinkle, corporations cannot exist
or function apart from statute law! When a church incorporates, it is then seen in
the eyes of the law (by the courts) as a corporation, not a church. As such,
incorporated churches are not protected under the First Amendment to the
Constitution, but are entities over which the courts and the legislature may take
jurisdiction and command to perform according to their orders. That is how the
courts can hand down decisions against incorporated churches that seem to
violate the First Amendment, when actually the First Amendment does not even
apply! Incorporated “churches” have no 1st Amendment rights; they have
willingly given up First Amendment protection in exchange for corporate
privileges and government subsidies, just as Jacob’s older brother Esau traded
his birthright for a mess of pottage. Beyond this, however, and by far the most
critical issue, is that the head of every incorporated “church” is the State, not the
Lord Jesus. TAX EXEMPTION vs. TAX IMMUNITY As if incorporation itself
wasn’t bad enough, the incorporated “church” then goes to the state to humbly
beg for tax exemption as a “Non-Profit Charitable Organization” (see Jer. 2:11,
“but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit”). The true
Church, protected under the 1st Amendment, is actually non-taxable; it is
immune from taxation and needs no exemption, which is only a privileged
exception extended to taxable entities at the government’s expense. As such, the
Supreme Court ruled in the Bob Jones University case that tax exemption for
non-profit organizations is a government subsidy. Regarding their Supreme Court
ruling, Dr. Bob Jones III wrote the following summary
(emphasis added), clearly showing that tax exemption is a trap: “From 1971 until
1983 Bob Jones University was in controversy with the IRS over its tax-exempt
status. The issue culminated in a 1983 ruling against this institution by the U.S.
Supreme Court declaring that since we held views that were contrary to
prevailing federal public policy we would forfeit our exemption...the court ruled in
our case that tax exemption was a subsidy...and that religious organizations had
to yield their religious beliefs in favor of ‘overriding government interests.” In case
you missed it, that quote said tax exemption is a government subsidy. What the
government subsidizes, it also controls. Tax Exemption is a trap, which has been
intentionally baited and sprung by the government to lure and draw the churches
outside of Constitutional protection, and thereby to control the churches and
pulpits of America and prevent them from speaking out against established
government policy. To receive tax exemption the corporate “churches” must
enter into a treacherous covenant with the IRS to preach public policy and
remain silent on all issues before the legislature. This “new covenant” for the
corporate church, otherwise known as Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)3,
reads as follows: Sec. 501. Exemption from Tax on Corporations, Certain Trusts,
etc...
(c). List of Exempt Organizations...
(3). Corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and
operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety,
literary, or educational purposes or to foster national or international amateur
sports competition, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part
of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or
individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda
[?] or otherwise attempting to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided
in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in, (including
the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of
(or in opposition to) any candidate for public office. (emphasis added) By begging
for tax exemption under IRC 501(c)3 the incorporated churches have lumped
themselves together with secular and pagan organizations (most of which are
allowed to lobby to influence legislation under an exception clause not offered to
churches; see 501(h)(5)); and have made an agreement with the government not
to “carry on propaganda” (not defined in the IR Code, but defined in the BJU
case quoted above as speaking out against "prevailing Federal public policy") or
to “attempt to influence legislation.” If an issue such as homosexual rights or child
pornography or abortion rights is being considered in Congress, pastors of
501(c)3 incorporated churches are not allowed to tell their people to call their
congressmen to voice their views, as that is attempting to influence legislation.
They are not allowed to take out ads in the local news media to inform Christians
on legislative issues. Technically, IRC 501(c)3 can be interpreted to completely
disallow preachers from even preaching from their own pulpits on political issues.
The day will soon come that the “propaganda” forbidden by 501(c)3 will include
preaching the Gospel that the only way to heaven is through the Lord Jesus.
Actually, under current “hate crime” legislation, that day is already upon us. For
preachers to say (as many do when confronted with the issue) that they can
make such an agreement without intending to keep it constitutes fraud, and is
exactly parallel to taking the mark of the beast with their fingers crossed behind
their backs. Also, any Christian who believes the Church should be confined to
its own four walls and should not influence government or society needs to reread
his Bible, particularly such passages as Matt. 5:13-14, Matt. 28:18 (“all
authority in heaven and in earth”), Rev. 5:10, Is. 9:6-7, Ps. 2:8-12 and Ps. 149:5-
9 which shows that all of God’s saints have the honor of holding kings and nobles
accountable to the two-edged sword, the word of God (Heb 4:12). Since Jesus is
the “king of kings” then all civil authorities answer to him (Rom 13:6). He is
presently working on this earth through His Church, which is to be the salt of the
earth. The Bible Subjected to the Internal Revenue Code No incorporated taxexempt
"church" can honestly claim that it is operating under the fundamental
doctrine of the Sole Authority of the Scriptures. Incorporated tax-exempt
churches have by their contract not only placed the Bible under their corporate
charter, but also under the Internal Revenue Code in authority. Consider the
following quote from the opening statement of the Constitution and By-laws of an
independent, fundamental Baptist church in Land O’ Lakes, Florida: Section 2 -
Purpose A) This congregation is organized and incorporated as a church
exclusively for charitable, religious, and educational purposes within the meaning
of Section
501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision of
any future United States Revenue law)... (emphasis added) In case you missed
it, that said “exclusively” within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code! This
blatant apostasy and treacherous betrayal is not unique to this church but is fairly
common as this very wording has been promoted by the lying deceivers of the
CLA, the “Christian Law (Lie) Association.” This is an outright betrayal of the
blood of the martyrs through the centuries who were tortured and burned at the
stake for standing on the sole authority of the scriptures. It is also a betrayal of
another of the main distinctive doctrines of the Baptists held throughout history, a
doctrine of which modern-day Baptists seem to be sadly ignorant: the doctrine of
the Separation of Church and State. (Note: historically Baptists were the few that
believed it is not the Church’s job to control the government, neither is it the
government’s job to control the Church. History was dominated from the 4th
through the 18th centuries first by the Popes and then by the Protestants
enforcing false doctrines by the edge of the sword and persecuting, torturing and
murdering the Baptists.) This is not just a Baptist issue, but Baptists must wake
up and see that any preacher that pastors an incorporated, 501(c)3 taxexempt
(state-sponsored) church, and at the same time preaches against worldly attire,
worldly music, smoking, or other personal compromises is straining at gnats
when he has swallowed a camel (Matt 23:24). He can preach against the NIV or
NASV on behalf of the King James Bible, but his first and final authority is the
IRC (Internal Revenue Code) and his corporate constitution and by-laws, not the
Bible. He can preach against sexual immorality and adultery, but he has
committed spiritual adultery by marrying the bride of Christ to another husband.
He can call himself Baptist, but he has compromised and betrayed both Baptist
distinctive doctrines of the Sole Authority of the Scripture and the Separation of
Church and State, and is unworthy of the name Baptist and those doctrines for
which many thousands of saints courageously and willingly gave their lives.
“COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM” Many pastors and churches have
awakened from their ignorance and now see that it is wrong, immoral, idolatrous,
unbiblical and sinful to allow the Church to be organized as a
501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation (or any other similar statutory tax-exempt
organization) and are now standing up for the Lordship of Christ over His Church
no matter what the cost. The main reason for their conviction is the premise that
Christ alone is the one and only authority over the Church, as found in Ephesians
1:19-23: “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to
the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.” The central
issue concerning church incorporation, based on Ephesians 1:22, (also Matt.
16:18, Col. 1;18, and Eph. 5:23) is that the Lord Jesus Christ has sole jurisdiction
and authority over the Church in all matters; therefore: THE CHURCH CANNOT
ANSWER TO ANY AUTHORITY OTHER THAN JESUS CHRIST. Jesus is head
over all things to the church. That means the civil government has no authority
whatsoever over the church. To grant authority over the church to anyone other
than Jesus is denial of Ephesians 1:22 and is absolute idolatry. America’s
founding fathers understood this, when they wrote in the 1st Amendment to the
Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Congress has no jurisdiction to
restrict or tax the Church. As the Supreme Court has stated, “the power to tax
involves the power to destroy.” Congress does NOT have authority to destroy the
Church through any form of taxation. Congress cannot tax the Church because
the government cannot tax God or take His tithe. This is why the Church is nontaxable
and does not need any “exemption.” Even if the 1st Amendment had not
been written, if Congress made any law apply to the Church, the Church would
be duty-bound to ignore the law, because the State has no authority over the
Church. This same principle applies to local government. For the Church to go to
local government for occupancy permit, marriage license or any other permit or
license is to acknowledge another head over the Church. We cannot take a
license from government to do what God commands. This is why during the
1600’s, John Bunyan, author of “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” spent 13 years in jail -
at great price to his wife and children - for preaching the gospel without a license
from the Anglican state church. This is why Baptist preachers were persecuted in
Virginia and other colonies even up until the 1770’s; for preaching the gospel
without a license from the state church. 1st century Christians were martyred by
Rome not because they were Christians, but because they refused to accept
Caesar’s lordship and seek permission (“licit”) from Caesar to be Christians. In
going to the government for incorporation and tax exemption, the churches have
done what the martyrs refused to do; they have asked the state to license the
church, and thereby have voluntarily surrendered Jesus’ lordship over the church
to the government, “even denying the Lord that bought them” (2 Pet 2:1). “But
they’re not telling me what to preach!” This is the typical reaction most preachers
have when confronted with this information. They think that if the government is
not holding them to the contract they have signed and the covenant they have
made, then they have no problem. They say that when they are told what to
preach (which in fact they already are), then they will get out of the corporate
trap, or they will simply not honor their contract and will preach what they want to
anyway. As stated, this dishonest and dishonorable approach constitutes fraud.
Furthermore, the problem is not whether or not the government is enforcing the
contract; the problem is in the preachers’ willingness to give the government
jurisdiction over the Church that only belongs to Jesus! “Know ye not, that to
whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Rom.
6:16). Again, incorporating a church and begging for tax-exemption involves the
same sin as taking the mark of the beast; both acts deny the exclusive lordship of
Christ by bowing to the supremacy of the state. This issue is totally one of
Lordship. While God “winks” at the sins we commit in ignorance (Ac. 17:30, 1
Tim. 1:13), the pastors of America must now repent and free their churches from
the wicked covenants they have made with the state, and return their churches to
the Lord Jesus. “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent,
and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (Rev 2:5). It is time for the
Church to be the Church; for the Bible to once again be our sole authority for
faith and practice, and for the Lord Jesus Christ to once again be our only Lord
and Master. Amen.
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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Should a Christian Celebrate X-mas?

Great educational documentation regarding the origination of the mass of Christ (Christ-mas).

Hosea 4:6


Should a Christian Celebrate X-mas?

To start this study out lets look at some quotes from a book entitled: Sabbats: A Witch’s Approach To Living The Old Ways by Edain McCoy (A Practicing Witch)

(Page 53): “Yule is a time of mixed emotions for pagans. All around us we see evidence of the Christmas celebration…one which we know takes its form and meaning from ancient pagan practices. Virgin births, decorated trees, festive lights, feasting, wreaths, bells, and fragrant fires, were-and still are-at the heart of pagan Midwinter observances.”

(Page 59): “For pagans, this usurping of Yule (by Christians) has one great advantage-it has preserved for us many ancient Yule customs which might otherwise have been lost. Look in any book and Christmas customs around the globe and you will find a plethora of pagan traditions.”

(Pages 85 and 86): “Music is another important part of Yule, and Christmas carols are yet another idea taken from paganism. Many common Christmas carols contain pagan images that are not so subtle. “Carols are form an Old /French word meaning “joyous songs”, and were also the name of round dances celebrating the rebirth of the Frankish pagan gods. The English Christmas Carol “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly” contains not one Christian religious image.” (Note: That is because the images mentioned are pagan in their origin as we will see.) “When Yule rolls around you should feel free to have a lighted tree in your home, hang a wreath on your door, ring the jingle bells, and give gifts in memory of loved ones. Remember that this is a Sabbat, a pagan festival, a time that marks the return of the Sun god both to his Goddess Bride and to his joyous people.”

Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian (Julian) calendar was adopted. Some historians claim that the celebration is connected to the Wild Hunt or was influenced by Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival.

II Corinthians 2:11: "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule

II Corinthians 6:15-19: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Galatians 4:16: “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”

Is X-Mas Biblical? Let explore the facts so you can see for yourself. On 12/24/1871 Charles H. Spurgeon said: "We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas. First because we do not believe in any mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be sung in Latin or in English: Secondly, because we find no scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and consequently, its observance is a superstition,.. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the Church celebrated the birth of our Lord;.. Probably the fact is that the 'holy' days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. We venture to assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which our Savior was born it is the 25th of December. Regarding not the day, let us give God thanks for the gift of His dear Son. How absurd to think we could do it in the spirit of the world, with a Jack Frost clown, a deceptive worldly Santa Claus, and a mixed program of sacred truth with fun, deception and fiction…The Catholics and high Church Episcopalians may have their Christmas one day in 365 but we have a Christ gift the entire year." Dec. 25 is known as the 'nativity' of the sun or birthday of Tammuz (the pagan equivalent of the son of god). If you would like this teaching emailed to you just let me know.
Plus much more.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=6250719659



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X-Mas: The Biggest Pagan Holiday/Holyday of the Year

Scott A. Johnson | Current Events and Bible Study

Jeremiah 10:1-5, Proverbs 14:12


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“The Bottom Line!” 10/25/09 • dr. scott johnson tells us the truth about this pagan...




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I Corinthians 5:6: “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?”



Many Christians are up in arms over the fact their right to say merry Christmas in public settings is being eroded more end more every year. After all we have been told that “Jesus Christ is the reason for the season”. I too am upset over the erosion of free speech in America. But from a Biblical (as well as a Pagan) perspective, the evidence widely available emphatically proves that Jesus Christ never has or will have anything to do with this pagan holiday. To do so would be contradictory to his nature. If you doubt this please read the verses above again if need be. If you need more convincing please read on.



In addition to this, there is no Biblical warrant, precedent, nor precept for remembrance of the day of Christ's birth as a day of special religious celebration. This is not to say that we shouldn't remember Christ's birth and its significance, but for religious commemorations or celebrations, we must have Biblical command or precedent! It is very important to be able to Scripturally all things we do. Many believers say we have liberty in these matters as Christians. Well in reference to that Scripture, we need to look at the whole verse. Galatians 5:13: "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." The fact of the matter is this -- the early church did not celebrate Christ's birth, but such celebration only came into the church with the "Christianization" of pagan rites as Catholicism was made the state religion by Constantine in the fourth century A.D. Since the Word of God does not support the tradition of Christmas, a Christian's conscience ought not and must not be bound.
Galatians 4:9-11: “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.”
The following discussion describes the origin of Christmas (with its associated pagan customs, symbols, and terminology), details the Scriptural support against celebrating Christmas, attempts to show that celebrating Christmas violates the spirit of every one of the ten commandments, attempts to demonstrate that celebrating Christmas does not fall in the realm of Christian liberty, and attempts to debunk eight of the major rationalizations Christians put forth for celebrating Christmas.



You Probably Know This Woman!



Issue Date: January/February 2007

By David W. Daniels

To the Aztecs, she was known as Tlazolteotl (TLAS-ohl-tay-OH-tul), the goddess of filth, gambling, prostitution and witchcraft, among other things. She was also known to the Aztecs as Coatlicue (co-AT-li-KWAY).

In the form of Coatlicue, she was a “virgin goddess” who became pregnant. The son she bore was supposed to be Huitzilopochtli (WHIT-sil-oh-POHKT-lee), the chief god of the Aztecs, reincarnated as a baby.

She was the goddess of the moon and of the morning/evening star (Venus). People who spoke different languages called her by other names. Some of them are Hecate, Astarte, Aphrodite, Venus, Isis, Semiramis and Ishtar (The fertility goddess which is where we derive the word Easter). Note: Easter is the first Sunday after the first new moon of another pagan holiday known as Ostara which March or 21st or 22nd. The Goddess Ostara (AKA: Ishtar), for whom "Easter" is named -- Ostara as well as Easter is one of the Illuminati's Human Sacrifice Nights

She is also known as the Roman Catholic “Virgin Mary” goddess.

Her son had many names as well. Some of them are Horus, Harpocrates, Mithras, Sol Invictus, Hercules, Attis and Tammuz. What do these god-babies have in common? Well, for one, they were all supposedly born on December 25th. Which is where we derive the pagan celebration of Christmas from, which was originally known by the Romans as Saturnalia. December 21-22 -- Winter Solstice/Yule. One of the Illuminati's Human Sacrifice Nights December 21- 22 -- Yule -- When the sun begins its northward trek in the sky, and days began to grow longer again, pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice by burning the Yule log. Since the sun had reversed itself and was now rising in the sky, pagans believed this was a sign that the human sacrifices carried out in Samhain (Halloween) had been accepted by the gods. The Roman Catholic Church later changed the day of celebration to December 25, calling it Christmas.





Roman Catholicism is a demonic blend of ancient pagan religions made to look like Christianity.



I. The Origin of Christmas

A. Christmas customs are an evolution from times long before the Christian period -- a descent from seasonal, pagan, religious, and national practices, hedged about with legend and tradition. Their seasonal connections with the pagan feasts of the winter solstice relate them to ancient times, when many of the earth's inhabitant's were sun worshipers. As the superstitious pagans observed the sun gradually moving south in the heavens and the days growing shorter, they believed the sun was departing never to return. So to give the winter sun god strength and to bring him back to life again, the sun gods were worshipped with elaborate rituals and ceremonies, including the building of great bonfires, decorating with great evergreen plants such as holly, ivy, and mistletoe. The winter solstice, then, was the shortest day of the year, when the sun seemingly stood still in the southern sky. Observing the slowdown in the sun's southward movement, and its stop, the heathen believed that their petitions to the sun god had been successful. A time of unrestrained rejoicing and debauchery broke out, with revelry, drinking, and gluttonous feasts. Then, when the pagans observed the sun moving again northward, and a week later were able to determine that the days were growing longer, a new year was proclaimed.

B. -- Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. It was not celebrated, commemorated, or observed, neither by the apostles nor in the apostolic church -- not for at least the first 300 years of church history! History reveals that about 440 A.D., the Church at Jerusalem commenced the celebration of Christmas, following the lead of Roman Catholicism. It was sufficient for the early Christians that Jesus, their Lord and Savior, had been born. They praised God that Jesus Christ had, indeed, come in the flesh. The day and the time of His birth had no relevance to them, because Jesus was no longer physically on earth. He had returned to heaven. And it was the risen, exalted Christ to whom they looked, and that by faith -- not a babe laid in a manger. Jesus Christ is no longer a baby; no longer the "Christ-child," but the exalted Lord of all.



Hosea 4:6&7: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame."


C. Seemingly forgotten is the essential role religion played in the world of ancient Rome. But the Emperor Constantine understood. By giving official status to Christianity, he brought internal peace to the Empire. A brilliant military commander, he also had the genius to recognize that after declaring Christianity the "state" religion (Constantine forced all the pagans of his empire to be baptized into the Roman Church), there was need for true union between paganism and Christianity. The corrupt Roman Church was full of pagans now masquerading as Christians, all of which had to be pacified. What better way than to "Christianize" their pagan idolatries. Thus, the Babylonian mystery religions were introduced by Constantine beginning in 313 A.D. (and established a foothold with the holding of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.). The Constantine-led Roman Church was more than willing to adapt and adopt pagan practices in order to make Christianity palatable to the heathen. Constantine used religion as a political tool, totally devoid of any true spirituality:
Pagan rituals and idols took on Christian names (e.g., Jesus Christ was presented as the Sun of Righteousness [Malachi 4:2] replacing the sun god, Horus, Tammuz, Sol Invictus ).
Pagan holidays were reclassified as Christian holidays (holy-days).
December 25th was the "Victory of the Sun-God" Festival in the pagan Babylonian world. In the ancient Roman Empire, the celebration can be traced back to the Roman festival Saturnalia, which honored Saturn, the harvest god, and Mithras, the god of light; both were celebrated during or shortly after the winter solstice (between the 17th and 23rd of December). To all ancient pagan civilizations, December 25th was the birthday of the gods -- the time of year when the days began to lengthen and man was blessed with a "regeneration of nature." Moreover, all of December 25th's Babylonian and Roman festivals were characterized by 5-7 day celebration periods of unrestrained promiscuous revelry and licentiousness.
In order to make Christianity palatable to the heathen, the Roman Church simply took Saturnalia, adopted it into Christianity, and then eventually many of the associated pagan symbols, forms, customs, and traditions were reinterpreted (or "Christianized") in ways "acceptable" to lukewarm Christian faith and practice. (In fact, in 375 A.D., the Church of Rome under Pope Julius I merely announced that the birth date of Christ had been "discovered" to be December 25th, and was accepted as such by the "faithful." The festival of Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithras could now be celebrated as the birthday of Christ!) The pagans flocked into the Catholic places of worship, because they were still able to worship their old gods, but merely under different names. It mattered not to them whether they worshiped the Egyptian goddess mother and her child under the old names (Isis and Horus), or under the names of the "Virgin Mary" and the "Christ-child." Either way, it was the same old idol-religion (cf. 1 Thes. 1:8-10; 5:22 -- Paul says to turn from idols, not rename them and Christianize them). Roman Catholicism's Christmas Day is nothing but "baptized" paganism, having come along much too late to be part of "the faith once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).

D. Christianity had to undergo a transformation so that pagan Rome could "convert" without giving up its old beliefs and rituals. The actual effect was to paganize official Christianity. "'A compound religion had been manufactured, of which ... Christianity furnished the vocabulary and Paganism the doctrines and rights.' The idolatry of the Roman world, though deposed from its ancient pre-eminence, had by no means been demolished. Instead of this, its pagan nakedness had been covered with the garb of a deformed Christianity" (W.E. Vine). Pagan customs involving vestments, candles, incense, images, and processions were all incorporated into church worship and continue today.

The following customs and traditions associated with Xmas all have pagan/heathen origins. ("Xmas" is the more preferable form for the day, since it at least leaves the name of our Savior out of the heathen observance.) Naturally, true Christians of the time would not keep these customs for such evil and perverse reasons, but the fact of their origins remain and should thereby be carefully considered by all who know and love the Lord:


1. The blasphemous "Christ's Mass" shortened to "Christ-mas" -- The Roman Catholic "Christ's Mass" is a special mass performed in celebration of Christ's birth. In this mass, Jesus is considered both the priest and the victim, represented by the Catholic priest who offers Him as a sacrifice each time the mass is performed. In offering this "sacrifice," the priest believes he has the power to change the bread and the wine of the Communion into Jesus' literal flesh and blood, requiring the people to worship these elements as they do God Himself. A doctrine known as transubstantiation. This is obviously a denial of the gospel, and thereby, a false gospel (a re-doing of the sacrifice for sin -- Hebrews 9:24-26: “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world… Hebrews 9:12: “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Yet, many who cry out all year long against the blasphemous Roman Catholic system, at year-end embrace Rome's most blasphemous abomination of them all -- Christmas!

2. Nativity Scenes



"Saint Francis of Assisi (A pagan Catholic) popularized the Christmas 'crib' or 'creche' in his celebration of the Nativity in Creccio, Italy, in 1223. Francis used wooden figures of Mary, Joseph, the infant, sheep, shepherds, starting a tradition still popular to this day." (Panati, p. 217). -- Nearly every form of pagan worship descended from the Babylonian mysteries, which focus attention on the "mother-goddess" and the birth of her child. This was adapted to "Mary-Jesus" worship, which then easily accommodated the multitude of pagans "converted" to Christianity inside Constantine's Roman Catholic Church. If anyone were to erect statues or images of Mary and Joseph by themselves, many within Protestant circles would cry "Idolatry!" But at Xmas time, an image of a little baby is placed with the images of Mary and Joseph, and it's called a "nativity scene." Somehow, the baby Jesus statue "sanctifies" the scene, and it is no longer considered idolatry!

Exodus 20:4-5 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God…” Now even if you are not bowing down and worshipping the nativity scene figurines, how do we get around the first part of the commandment that tells us not to even make the images.


3. Christmas Tree (The sacred tree of the Winter-god) -- Evergreen trees, because of their ability to remain green through-out the winter season when most other forms of vegetation are dormant, have long symbolized immortality, fertility, sexual potency, and reproduction, and were often brought into homes and set up as idols. For ages, evergreen trees would be brought into the house during the winter as magic symbols of luck (Lucifer) and hope for a fruitful year to come. The five pointed star is a sacred symbol of Nimrod and also is a representation of the stars to which the ancient Chaldean astrologers looked for guidance.

The first decorating of an evergreen was done by pagans in honor of their god Adonis, who after being slain was brought to life by the serpent Aesculapius. The representation of the slain Adonis was a dead stump of a tree. Around this stump coiled the snake -- Aesculapius, symbol of life restoring. From the roots of the dead tree, then comes forth another and different tree -- an evergreen tree, symbolic to pagans of a god who cannot die! In Babylon, the evergreen tree came to represent the rebirth/reincarnation of Nimrod as his new son (Sun), Tammuz. In Egypt, this god was worshiped in a palm tree as Baal-Tamar. (Heathen people in the land of Canaan also adopted tree worship, calling it the Asherah -- a tree with its branches cut off was carved into a phallic symbol.) The fir tree was worshiped in Rome as the same new-born god, named Baal-Berith, who was restored to life by the same serpent. A feast was held in honor of him on December 25th, observed as the day on which the god reappeared on earth -- he had been killed, and was "reborn" on that day, victorious over death! It was called the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun." Thus, the annual custom of erecting and decorating evergreen trees was brought down to us through the centuries by the pagan Roman Catholic Church -- the paganism of Tammuz and Baal, or the worship of the sun, mingled with the worship of Aesculapius the serpent. Whether erected in private homes or in churches, decorated or not, the evergreen tree is a glaring symbol of this false god.

Jeremiah 10:1-5: ‘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.”

4. Christmas Wreaths -- In pagan mythology, evergreen means eternal life and a never-dying existence. Made from evergreens, Christmas wreaths were most frequently round, which symbolized the sun (just as do halos in most religious art). Hence, the round Xmas wreaths stand for an eternal sun and the circle of life. In addition, the round also represents the female sexual organ and is considered a fertility symbol. Because of these pagan associations, the Christian church was initially hostile towards the use of wreaths and other evergreen derivatives. But in the same way it Christianized other pagan traditions, the church soon found a way to confer its own symbolic meanings. For example, the sharp pointed leaves of the "male" holly came to represent Christ's crown of thorns and the red berries His blood, while the "female" ivy symbolized immortality (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor Christmas," p. 6).


5. Mistletoe -- The use of the mistletoe plant (which is poisonous to both man and animals) can be traced back to the ancient Druids. (The Druids were pagan Celtic priests who were considered magicians and wizards.) It represented the false "messiah," considered by the Druids to be a divine branch that had dropped from heaven and grew upon a tree on earth. The mistletoe symbolized the reconciliation between the gods and man. And since a kiss is the well known symbol of reconciliation, that is how "kissing under the mistletoe" became a custom -- both were tokens of reconciliation. The mistletoe, being a sacred plant and a symbol of fertility, was also believed to contain certain magical powers. It was supposed to bring "good luck" and fertility, and even to protect from witchcraft the house in which it hung.

The practice of "kissing under the mistletoe" also had roots in the pagan celebrations of the Celtic Midsummer Eve ceremony. At the time the mistletoe was gathered, the men would kiss each other as a display of their homosexuality. (The custom was later broadened to include both men and women.)


6. Santa Claus -- Santa Claus or "Father Christmas" is a corruption of the Dutch "Sant Nikolaas." ("Saint Nicholas" was the 4th century Catholic bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, who gave treats to children; he was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church, "regarded as a special friend and protector of children." The red suit comes from the fact that Catholic bishops and cardinals in Italy wear red.) Santa Claus was also known as "Kriss Kringle," a corruption of the German "Christ Kindl"-- Christ Child. This has to be one of the most subtle of Satan's blasphemies, yet most Christians are unaware of it.

Originally, the Santa Claus concept came from the pagan Egyptian god, Bes, a rotund, gnome-like personage who was the patron of little children. Bes was said to live at the North Pole, working year-round to produce toys for children who had been good and obedient to their parents. In Dutch, he was called "Sinter Klaas." Dutch settlers brought the custom to America. In Holland and other European countries, the original Santa Claus was actually a grim personage who traversed the countryside, determined to find out who really had been "naughty or nice." Those who had been acting up were summarily switched. The association of Santa Claus with snow, reindeer, and the North Pole suggests Scandinavian or Norse traditions of the Yuletide season. (In Babylonia, also, the stag [reindeer] was a symbol of the mighty one, Nimrod. The symbolism of antlers worn on the head of a noble leader would demonstrate his prowess as a hunter, and thereby, influence people to follow him.)

Santa is the blasphemous substitute for God! He is routinely given supernatural powers and divine attributes which only GOD has. Think about it. He is made out to be omniscient -- he knows when every child sleeps, awakes, has been bad or good, and knows exactly what every child wants. He is made out to be omnipresent -- on one night of the year he visits all the "good" children in the world and leaves them gifts, seemingly being everywhere at the same time. He is also made out to be omnipotent -- he has the power to give to each child exactly what each one wants. Moreover, Santa Claus is made out to be a sovereign judge -- he answers to no one and no one has authority over him, and when he "comes to town," he comes with a full bag of rewards for those whose behavior has been acceptable in his eyes.

Santa Claus has become one of the most popular and widely accepted and unopposed myths ever to be successfully interwoven into the fabric and framework of Christianity. It is a fact that Christ was born, and that truth should greatly rejoice the heart of every Christian. But the Santa Claus myth distorts the truth of Christ's birth by subtly blending truth with the myth of Santa Claus. When Christian parents lie to their children about Santa Claus, they are taking the attention of their children away from God and causing them to focus on a big man in a red suit with god-like qualities. All of this teaches the child to believe that, just like Santa, God can be pleased with "good works," done in order to earn His favor. Also, they teach that no matter how bad the child has been, he will still be rewarded by God -- just as Santa never failed to bring gifts. Even in homes of professing Christians, Santa Claus has clearly displaced Jesus in the awareness and affections of children, becoming the undisputed spirit, symbol, and centerpiece of Christmas.

7. Christmas Eve -- "Yule" is a Chaldean word meaning "infant." Long before the coming of Christianity, the heathen Anglo-Saxons called the 25th of December "Yule day" -- in other words, "infant day" or "child's day" -- the day they celebrated the birth of the false "messiah"! The night before "Yule day" was called "Mother night." Today it is called "Christmas Eve." And it wasn't called "Mother night" after Mary, the mother of our Lord -- "Mother night" was observed centuries before Jesus was born. Semiramis (Nimrod's wife) was the inspiration for "Mother night," and "Child's day" was the supposed birthday of her son (Tammuz), the sun-god!

8. Yule Log -- The Yule log was considered by the ancient Celts a sacred log to be used in their religious festivals during the winter solstice; the fire provided promises of good luck and long life. Each year's Yule log had to be selected in the forest on Christmas Eve by the family using it, and could not be bought, or the superstitions associated with it would not apply. In Babylonian paganism, the log placed in the fireplace represented the dead Nimrod, and the tree which appeared the next morning (which today is called the "Christmas tree") was Nimrod alive again (reincarnated) in his new son (sun), Tammuz. (Still today in some places, the Yule log is placed in the fireplace on Christmas Eve, and the next morning there is a Christmas tree!)

Today's Yule log tradition comes to us from Scandinavia, where the pagan sex-and-fertility god, Jule, was honored in a twelve-day celebration in December. A large, single log was kept with a fire against it for twelve days, and each day for twelve days a different sacrifice (many times human or animal) was offered. This is where we get the song (On the 12 days of Xmas my true love….) The period now counted as the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany was originally the twelve days of daily sacrifices offered to the Yule log. (What, then, are we really doing when we send "Yuletide greetings"? Are we really honoring Christ by sending greetings in the name of a Scandinavian fertility god? These are the same customs being practiced today as in ancient paganism! Only the names have changed.)

9. Candles -- Candles were lit by the ancient Babylonians in honor of their god, and his altars had candles on them. And as is well known, candles are also a major part of the ritualism of Roman Catholicism, which adopted the custom from heathenism. Candles approached the Yule log in ritual importance. Like the Yule log, they had to be a gift, never a purchase, and were lighted and extinguished only by the head of the household. Such candles stood burning steadily in the middle of the table, never to be moved or snuffed, lest death follow. The Yule candle, wreathed in greenery, was to burn through Christmas night until the sun rose or the Christmas service began (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor Christmas," p. 9). Obviously, candles should have no part in Christian worship, for nowhere in the New Testament is their use sanctioned.

10. Giving of Gifts -- The tradition of exchanging gifts has nothing to do with a reenactment of the Magi giving gifts to Jesus, but has many superstitious, pagan origins instead. One prominent tradition was the Roman custom of exchanging food, trinkets, candles, or statutes of gods during the mid-winter Kalends (the first day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar). This custom was transferred to December 25th by the Roman Church in keeping with the Saturnalian festival and in celebration of the benevolent St. Nicholas. [Is it not the height of ridiculousness to claim that giving one another presents properly celebrates Jesus' "birthday" (not that there is anything necessarily wrong in giving each other presents)? But what are we giving Him, if indeed we are specifically celebrating His incarnation?]

11. Christmas Goose -- The "Christmas goose" and "Christmas cakes" were both used in the worship of the Babylonian "messiah." The goose was considered to be sacred in many ancient lands, such as Rome, Asia Minor, India, and Chaldea. In Egypt, the goose was a symbol for a child, ready to die! In other words, a symbol of the pagan "messiah," ready to give his life (supposedly) for the world. This is obviously a satanic mockery of the truth.

12. Christmas Ham -- Hogs were slaughtered and the eating of the carcass was one of the central festivities of the Saturnalia. Each man would offer a pig as a sacrifice because superstition held that a boar had killed the sun deity Adonis. Hence, the tradition of the Christmas ham on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

13. Christmas Stocking -- According to tradition, a poor widower of Myra, Turkey, had three daughters, for whom he could not provide a dowry. On Xmas-Eve, "Saint Nicholas" threw three bags of gold down the chimney, thereby saving the daughters from having to enter into prostitution. One bag rolled into a shoe, and the others fell into some stockings that had been hung to dry by the fire. Hence, the beginning of the tradition of the "Christmas stocking" or "boot."

14. Christmas Cards -- The first British Xmas card can be dated back to 1843. The first cards featured pictures of dead birds! Evidently, the popularity of hunting robin and wren on Christmas Day made the dead bird image an appropriate one for "holiday" cards. Often the text of the cards would also have a morbid tone. Later, the cards displayed dancing insects, playful children, pink-cheeked young women, and festively decorated Christmas trees. The first actual Xmas cards were really Valentine's Day cards (with different messages) sent in December. Mass production of Xmas cards in the United States can be traced back to 1875. Initially, the manufacturers thought of Xmas cards as a sideline to their already successful business in playing cards. But the "tradition" of sending cards soon caught on, leading to a very profitable business by itself.

15. Christmas Carols -- What do you suppose the reaction would be by a church's leaders if its pastor were to propose that the following hymns be introduced into the church to commemorate the birth of Christ? After all, the tunes are quite lovely.
Hymn #1 -- A hymn by a Unitarian minister (Unitarians reject the Trinity and full deity of Christ) that does not mention Jesus Christ and reflects the liberal social gospel theology of the 19th century.

Hymn #2 -- A hymn by an American Episcopal priest, the fourth verse of which teaches Roman Catholic superstition about Christ coming to be born in people during the Advent season.

Hymn #3 -- A song, the words by an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, the music by a Roman Catholic schoolteacher, containing the Roman Catholic superstition about halos emanating from holy people, with no gospel message.
Perhaps you would expect the church's leaders to be very upset. It might surprise you to learn that they were upset when they suspected that the pastor might somehow prevent them from singing them! You see, those three hymns were already in the church's hymnals! The pastor did not have to introduce them. The three theologically incorrect "Christmas carols" referred to above are It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and Silent Night. (See the sub-report for an evaluation of some of the most popular Xmas carols found in church hymnals today.)

E. European Xmas Traditions -- In the early days of Christianity, as it moved north and west into Europe, many pagan celebrations were encountered. For example, in the late-6th century in England, the Angles and Saxons were found celebrating Yule. The Christian evangelists thought they would fail in any attempt to rival, suppress, or stamp out such long held customs, so they simply adopted popular dates for their own "special rituals and hallowed services." In other words, it was easier to establish a festival celebrating the birth of Christ if it conveniently coincided with an existing popular pagan feast day. In this way, the pagan peoples (albeit potential converts to Christianity) could continue with their usual celebrations at this time of year, but the reason for the merrymaking could be redefined and attributed to Christ's birth rather than to any pagan rituals. As paganism eventually died out and Christianity became widespread, Christmas became increasingly more associated with its religious foundations than any others (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor Christmas," p. 2).

It was left to the Puritans to denounce everything. For them, Christmas was rightfully part popish, part pagan, and was forbidden to be kept as a holiday or feast day. The attack began in 1644 when the Puritans controlled the Parliament; December 25th was changed to a Fast Day. By 1647, even the Fast Day was abolished as a relic of superstition, synonymous with the Church of Rome. No observation on December 25th was any longer permitted, but the day was to be observed as a normal market-day. Christmas was accurately depicted by such names as the Profane Man's Ranting Day, the Superstitious Man's Idol Day, the Papist's Massing Day, the Old Heathen's Feasting Day, the Multitude's Idle Day, and Satan -- that Adversary's -- Working Day. In those days, any Christmas celebrations would be broken up by troops, who would tear down decorations and arrest anyone holding a service. Some who celebrated it in Europe were also thrown into prison. Because of the riots that broke out following the banning of Christmas, the celebrations and revelry were restored in 1660 by King Charles II, a Roman Catholic (Sulgrave Manor, "A Tudor Christmas," p. 3).

F. American Xmas Traditions -- America's settlers (the "founding fathers" of so-called "Protestant America") rightfully considered Christmas a "popish" holiday. In fact, it was only in the early 1800s that several founding members of the New York Historical Society "invented" Christmas. Before then, it was illegal in colonial Massachusetts to even take December 25th off work. Christmas was forbidden as "unseemly to ye spiritual welfare of ye community." (It was banned in Massachusetts in 1659, and this law remained on the books for 22 years. In Boston, public schools stayed open on December 25th until as late as 1870!) It wasn't until 1836 that any state declared Christmas a holiday (Alabama), and then there were no more state declarations until the Civil War. It was not until 1885 that all federal workers were given Christmas Day off. The so-called Xmas customs and traditions were later concocted more for commercial purposes than for religious.

Quoting from a 12/23/83 USA TODAY article about Christmas: "A broad element of English Christianity still considered Christmas celebration a pagan blasphemy. The Puritans, Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Calvinists and other denominations brought this opposition to early New England and strong opposition to the holiday lasted in America until the middle of the 18th century." Henry Ward Beecher, a Congregationalist, wrote in 1874 of his New England boyhood:
"To me Christmas is a foreign day, and I shall die so. When I was a boy I wondered what Christmas was. I knew there was such a time, because we had an Episcopal church in our town, and I saw them dressing it with evergreens, and wondered what they were taking the woods in the church for; but I got no satisfactory explanation. A little later I understood it was a Romish institution, kept by the Romish Church."

II. Scriptural Support Against Celebrating Christmas -- Unacceptable Worship

A. 2 Chron. 33:15-17 -- The Israelites had kept the old pagan form (the high places of Baal), but had merely introduced the worship of God into that form -- a refusal to let go of pagan worship forms (i.e., God was to be worshiped in the Temple, not on the high places). This was unacceptable worship because the right object of worship was mixed with wrong forms of worship; i.e., the mixing of godly worship with ungodly form. Likewise, is not the celebration of Christmas the taking of a celebration established by pagans and for pagans, and then introducing the worship of Christ into that pagan form?

B. Deut. 12:29-32 -- God warned His people Israel to destroy all vestiges of pagan worship that they found in the "Promised Land." Not only did God want to prevent His people from being enticed to worship false gods, but He also specifically revealed that He did not want His people to worship Him in the same manner in which the heathen worshiped their gods. We know, therefore, that our Lord is displeased by practices which profess to honor Him, but which are copied from the tradition of false religions. The command here was to worship God only in His way, i.e., do only what God commands -- not adding to God's commands nor taking away from them. Therefore, is not "putting Christ back into Christmas," worshiping "the Lord your God their way"? Is there any command in the Bible to give special reverence to the Scriptural account of Christ's birth more so than to any other Scripture, let alone even a suggestion to celebrate or commemorate His birth in any way whatsoever? God never intended for His people to be imitators of the pagan customs of the world, but has called us to be separate and set apart.

C. Lev. 10:1,2 -- Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire to the Lord. Is not the celebration of Christmas, with all its pagan symbols and forms, a "strange fire" unto the Lord, and is not this form of worship contrary to what God commands?

D. 1 Sam. 15:1-3, 7-9, 21-23 -- Saul disobeyed God's prophet in order to worship God in his way. Is not the celebration of Christmas one of man's ways of worshiping Christ? There is certainly no Biblical command to offer worship in this manner.

E. 2 Sam. 6:2-7 -- David attempts to transport the ark on a "new cart" instead of using the rings and poles as the Law required (Exo. 25:12-15). Additionally, the "transporters" of the ark were not even authorized to carry it (1 Chron. 15:2, 13-15); i.e., the ark was not only transported in the wrong way, but was transported by the wrong people! Is not the celebration of Christmas the wrong way (pagan forms and tradition) with the wrong people (the heathen of the world join right in with the professing Christians)?

F. 1 Ki. 12:26-33 -- In order to unify the northern ten tribes of Israel, ungodly King Jeroboam set up pagan idols, not in place of God, but as new focal points for directing worship to God. He even instituted a new festival on a new day; i.e., a new religious holiday of his own choosing. Even though the true God of Israel was still to be the object of worship in the new religious holiday, both the holiday and the worship were not authorized by God nor accepted by Him (1 Ki. 13:1-3; 15:29,30). Why? Because the concocted mixture of error with truth constituted false religion! Likewise, is not the celebration of Christmas a religious holiday of man's own choosing, replete with pagan symbols and forms, all under the guise (by sincere Christians at least) of worshiping the one true God and Savior? But does not this worship form and system still constitute false religion, and thereby, make it unacceptable to God? And besides, where in the Bible do Christians have the right to add a new holy day to the so-called Christian calendar, any more than King Jeroboam had the right to add a new holy day to God's theocratic calendar?

G. 1 Cor. 8:4-13; Rom. 14:1-13; 1 Cor. 10:14, 18-21 -- These passages concerning Christian liberty are discussed in more detail under Roman numeral IV. [Christian liberty can best be defined Biblically as "the freedom to engage in practices not prohibited by the Scriptures or denying oneself what is permitted (i.e., a moral choice of self-discipline) in order to be a more effective witness for God." So the question must first be answered, "Is Christmas permitted?"] Briefly, some claim that Paul is teaching that the participation in pagan forms condemns no one, and therefore, participation in Christmas and its forms, even though arising out of pagan idolatry, is inconsequential. However, Paul nowhere approves participation in acts of idolatry, of which the participation in the pagan forms of Christmas comes dangerously close to doing. Instead, Paul is speaking of the liberty to continue in Jewish days of worship/festival that had been previously ordained under the Jewish law. There is certainly no liberty to bring outside pagan forms into the church's worship services. Likewise, there is no liberty to Christianize Babylonian/Roman pagan holy days as special days.

Christians in the first century churches had the liberty to observe Old Testament holy days and feasts (days that had previously been revealed by God) if they were so immature as to do so. The weaker brother, Paul wrote, was at that time not to be censured for continuing to attach some importance to the Old Testament holy days, as a clear knowledge of their abolition in Christ was not yet given to him (the weaker brother). But to observe a pagan holy day is something this passage does not sanction. They certainly did not have the liberty to regard Babylonian/Roman pagan holy days (days that were invented by the devil) as special days. Again, that would have been idolatry, worldliness, and perhaps even a form of Satan worship on their part. Therefore, how can the observance of Christmas Day, or any other Babylonian/Roman Catholic holy day, be a matter of Christian liberty?

Yet when some of us refuse to regard the pagan holy days as special days, we are the ones often referred to as the "weaker brother" in this matter! Are we opposed to such days because we are "weak in faith"? Faith would be defined as believing what the Word of God says about a matter and acting upon it. It was by faith that we stopped regarding pagan holy days as special days. Would we be more mature Christians if we would start regarding such days again? It would certainly be much easier on our families and us.


III. Christmas and the (Spiritual) Violation of the Ten Commandments (reverse order)

A. Do Not Covet -- Children learn to covet the gifts of others, to drool over the Christmas catalog, to drag their parents endlessly through toy stores, all in the name of "the Christmas spirit."
B. Do Not Bear False Witness -- "Jesus is the reason for the season!" is the Christian battle cry to "put Christ back in Christmas," when in actuality, there is not only no Biblical warrant for Christmas, but its roots are in pagan worship systems. Nevertheless, professing Christians lie to their children about Santa Claus, the supernatural, sorcerous false "god" of Christmas, whose "gospel" is one of works salvation along with unconditional acceptance and rewards. Parents lie to their children for years about the god-like character of Santa Claus, in effect asking them to trust in a false god and a lie, and then don't understand why later in life their children won't believe and trust in the true God, Jesus Christ.

C. Do Not Steal -- Christmas spending patterns could never stand the test of Biblical stewardship; i.e., Christians, in celebrating Christmas, "steal" the Lord's resources by ignoring their proper use; lavishly spend these resources on worthless and useless trinkets (in many cases); and withhold resources from those in need, while at the same time claiming to never have enough money to buy good Christian books, pay for home schooling, or buy Bible helps for their children. (Christians could also be helping the spiritually needy by buying and giving them tracts, books, etc.) We "steal" from our families what they need and what we owe them in order to buy gifts for those who don't need them.

D. Do Not Commit Adultery -- At this "special" time of the year, lustful thoughts are actually encouraged; e.g., teens are allowed to go to parties and stay out later, thereby having temptations put in front of them that otherwise wouldn't be there. Christmas parties for adults also encourage evil thoughts through the use of the mistletoe, etc. (According to Matt. 5, such thoughts constitute adultery. At the very least, spiritual adultery is encouraged by the "season.")

E. Do Not Murder -- Envy and hate of my brother (which, according to Matt. 5, is equal to murder) because he has more than me or because he receives a larger Christmas bonus than me, is encouraged at Christmas time. We also tend to spiritually sacrifice our children to the "god of Christmas" via greed, selfishness, etc.

F. Honor Father and Mother -- Christmas gift-giving is not an honor to parents; the term "exchanging" gifts (i.e., giving in expectation of a return) is a dead give-away of the mockery associated with this tradition.

G. Remember the Sabbath and Keep It Holy -- Although we recognize that the Lord's Day is not the "Christian Sabbath," clearly the Lord's Day is to be kept for worship and observed as such. Yet when Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or the day after Christ-mas falls on a Sunday, most churches adjust the Lord's Day to accommodate Christ-mas, usually by canceling the regularly scheduled Sunday evening service. Most of its members are too busy or too tired to attend services anyway.

H. Do Not Take the Lord's Name in Vain -- "Christ" and "mass" are two words that are totally opposite from one another, and to connect the two is to blaspheme the name of Christ. By taking a pagan celebration, "Christianizing" it, and calling it a celebration of the birth of Christ, is most certainly taking the Lord's name in vain. (A good example of the willingness of the professing church to profane the name of the Lord would be the title of a popular children's Christmas concert production -- The Divine Ornament. Imagine, identifying our Lord with a pagan ornament to hang on a pagan tree! What insult! What blasphemy!) In addition, some professing Christians use religion ("Christ's birthday") as a cloak to cover the evils of covetousness, idolatry, greed, immorality, etc. -- all excuses to give vent to evil lusts.

I. Do Not Make Yourself Any Carved Image -- Nativity scenes, "pictures" of Christ, Christmas cards with "pictures" of Jesus, etc., all violate this command. God has given us His Word, not images, to teach us about Christ (1 Pe. 1:23; Dt. 4:12, 15-19).

J. Have No Other Gods Before Me -- The "god of Christmas" is idolatrous! Looking to the Christmas season for happiness, joy, and fulfillment, rather than through a pure, personal, and Biblical relationship with Jesus Christ, is idolatry.


IV. Is a Christian's Decision to Celebrate Christmas a Part of Christian Liberty?

A. Romans 14:1-13 -- This passage is speaking of Jews who were observing the Old Testament Jewish holy days/festivals and dietary laws even though they were now believers in Christ; but they were also judging their Gentile brothers-in-the-Lord who did not observe the Jewish customs. Likewise, the Gentile Christians were judging their Jewish brothers who were seemingly caught-up in ceremonial law. Paul was thusly saying, "To you Gentile Christians -- leave the Jewish Christians alone, because they are not violating any Scriptural commands by their actions (i.e., it's a "disputable" matter [doubtful or gray area] and not a moral issue). To you Jewish Christians -- it's okay for you to observe the Jewish festivals and dietary laws because they were given by God in the Old Testament, and thereby, are considered to be previously approved worship forms, but don't judge your Gentile brothers, because there is no Biblical command for either of you to continue to observe these things." (Actually, it wasn't "okay" [see IV.C. below], but Paul allowed it as an act of an immature/weaker brother [see II.G. above].) If a moral issue is involved (i.e., a practice that is covered in Scripture), then this passage and its application to Christian liberty (i.e., the freedom to engage in practices not prohibited by Scripture) would obviously not apply. And as brought out earlier in this report, the celebration of Christmas appears to be such a moral issue, because its celebration is not only not from God, but is from ancient paganism itself!

B. 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 -- The Gentile Christians, who had been raised in an idolatrous system, were having a problem with their Jewish brothers who were eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. (Apparently, this was the only "healthy" meat available.) Similar to the Romans 14 passage above, Paul says that eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols is not a moral issue, and thereby, is not prohibited. However, Paul does not say that it is okay to go into the pagan temple itself; in fact, in other passages (1 Cor 10:14, 18-21), Paul specifically prohibits getting involved with the pagan feasts. In other words, it's not a moral issue to partake in the byproducts of a pagan religious system (note, however, that there is no indication here that the Jewish Christians were using the "idol meat" as part of their worship), but it is not okay to partake in the religious system itself (because the corrupt character of the participants would be harmful for believers). Rather, we must be separate from the worldly system (2 Cor 6:14-7:1). Therefore, when items (byproducts) associated with a pagan religious system not only develop religious associations of their own, but have been integrated into what would otherwise be true Christian worship (as the celebration of Christmas has clearly become in our culture), then we should pull away from them so that there is no confusion over our allegiances.

C. Galatians 4:9-10; Colossians 2:16-17 -- Both these passages of Scripture refer to the Jewish holy days under Old Testament law. If Christians were not even to observe the Old Testament holy days -- days that did have divine sanction, for a time -- they certainly don't have the liberty to observe pagan holy days!

D. James 4:11 -- James is saying that Christians may only judge a brother on matters determined in God's Word (i.e., moral issues). If a matter is not covered in the Word, then these are matters of Christian liberty (รก la Rom. 14:1-13 and 1 Cor 8:4-13), and he who judges in these areas of Christian liberty is, in effect, judging and condemning the Word of God as being an imperfect standard to which the judge, thereby, refuses to submit. On the other hand, since we have clear Scriptural precept that condemns the things that go on around December 25th in the name of Christ, the celebration of Christmas does not appear to be a matter of liberty, but one of moral conduct.


V. The Right Response

A. Quench Not the Holy Spirit (1 Thes 5:19-22) -- Test all things against the Scripture and line-up beliefs and actions with what is true (i.e., do not treat with contempt the Word of God). If one is convinced that to celebrate Christmas is sin, then he and his family must not compromise with the world or the church by participating in any Christmas celebrations (Rom. 14:23).

B. Avoid Traps of the Devil:

1. Lack of Zeal -- One who never considers why he does certain things, but he just does them because he always has or because his parents always have; one who acts on emotions rather than on facts.

2. Lack of Truth -- One who does things for good reasons and right motives (i.e., plenty of zeal), but not in truth.

C. Realize that Christians Celebrating Christmas as the Day of Christ's Birth Makes No More Sense than Adding Any of the Following Days as Special Days of Christian Celebration: -- (Remember, the Bible's focus on the birth of Christ is for the sole purpose of documenting his virgin birth, his incarnation, and the fulfillment of His prophetic Messiahship. Like the tongue-in-cheek suggestions below, one must also remember that there is no Biblical warrant, precedent, nor precept for the remembrance of the day of Christ's birth as a day of special religious celebration.)

1. Baptism Celebration -- Why not have three days of swimming parties in the summer in order to celebrate/symbolize Christ's three days in the grave? We could even pick a time based upon our speculation of when John the Baptist baptized Jesus!

2. Ascension Celebration -- Why not have one day set aside every year for hot-air balloon rides in order to celebrate Christ's ascension to heaven?

3. Miracle Celebration -- There is considerable Biblical focus on Jesus' miracles (even more than on his birth), so why not have one day set aside every year to celebrate the first of Christ's miracles? And since that was the turning of water into wine (John 2), why not have "Christian" wine-tasting parties?

D. Avoid the Rationalizations that:

1. "Christmas Provides a Festive Time to Share the Gospel" -- One cannot take something condemned in God's Word and "use it" to spread the Gospel; neither will God bless it to spread His Word. Unacceptable worship and the "mixing-in" of unholy/pagan forms is surely not the normal means through which God blesses the faithful. Satan works to blend together his system with God's system, because when unacceptable worship (paganism) is blended with true worship (God's truth), true worship is destroyed. In fact, any time one mixes pagan ideas and practices with the pure religion of Christ, it is condemned in Scripture as the heinous sin of idolatry! God has always detested taking those things dedicated to idols and using them to worship Him. As a matter of fact, this "special time of the year" is probably more a hindrance to the receptiveness of the gospel message than a help. Much of the celebration observed by our contemporary society deludes people into assuming that God is pleased, when in reality, He is offended by false religion, pseudo-worship, and alien philosophies. The ecumenical spirit and a counterfeit "love" under the guise of "peace and goodwill among men," more than likely dulls one's sensitivity to his desperate need to repent of sin and be reconciled to a holy God.

2. "Christmas is Merely the Honoring of Christ's Birth" -- Someone says, "I know Christmas is of pagan origin, but I still think it's not wrong for a church to have a special time for honoring Christ's birth." But since when did Protestants believe that Christians have the right to add to the Bible? Is the church a legislative body? Are we to follow the Bible in our faith and practice, or the thinking of fallible men? If we have the right to add a special holy day to the Christian economy, then we can add 10,000 other things. Then we will be no better than the false cults and the Roman Catholics who follow heathen traditions! [Besides, celebrating Christ's birth is a form of worship. But since Christmas is a lie, those who celebrate it are not worshiping in "spirit and truth" (John 4:24).]

3. "All I'm Doing is Putting Christ Back into Christmas" -- The modern conservative cry to put Christ back into Christmas is absurd. As detailed earlier in this report, Jesus Christ was never in Christmas. It's a lie to say He was. He has no part in a lie. When anyone takes the truth and mixes it with a lie, they no longer have the truth. They have changed the truth into a lie. Neither is it possible to take a lie and mix it with enough truth to change the lie into the truth. You still come out with a lie. One may say, "Well, I know it's not the truth, but I'll put Christ back in Christmas and glorify God in it then." No, you won't. Christ never was in Christmas. You cannot change a lie into the truth. It should in reality be called Baal-mass, Nimrod-mass, Tammuz-mass, Mithras-mass, or Mary-mass. Christ-mass is a lie. Why use a lie as a good time for a fundamental truth (the incarnation) of the Christian faith?

4. "I'm Using Christmas to Witness for Christ, Just Like the Apostle Paul Did" -- Some say that all they are doing is taking the "truth" from Christmas (i.e., the incarnation of Christ) and "cultivating" it as the Apostle Paul did (Acts 17/Mars Hill), taking the opportunity of the season to witness to a lost world. This would be fine if these Christians were actually doing only as Paul did. Paul, in addressing the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, proclaimed to them that their "unknown god" to whom they had erected an altar, was none other than "the God who made the world and all the things therein." Paul was not intimidated by the pagan surroundings and symbolisms, nor did he berate the Greeks for their error, but merely showed them the truth of the gospel of Christ.

But do Christians really use the "opportunity presented by the season" in the same way as Paul used the opportunity of the pagan altar? Do Christians personally stand in front of their hometown public displays of Xmas (Nativity scenes, etc.) and preach the gospel? To paraphrase Paul, do they say: "Men of Indianapolis, I see that in every way you are very religious; what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you"? Do they come out of the public schools, where they have just attended their children's Xmas programs, and preach to the attendees about the true God who has been grossly misrepresented in the program they have just witnessed?

Hardly. Even to most of those who understand the true origin of Xmas, this "unique time of year" means inviting unbelievers into their homes to gather around the Xmas tree, to enjoy the beauty of the wreaths, absorb the heat from the Yule log, etc., reasoning that they are only using the pagan forms and the pagan festival season as an opportunity to witness. If Paul meant this in Acts 17, he would have met the people in the Athenian temple or in his or their homes, gathering around their idols that he had Christianized and was now using as a part of his worship. Most of the people who decorate their homes and churches with Xmas trees, holly wreaths, Nativity scenes, etc., all supposedly to be used as "opportunities" via "Xmas coffees," neighborhood "grab bag" gift exchanges, Xmas concerts, etc., are thoroughly convinced that they're doing God a service. And since they are not involved in the crass secular "commercialization" that the world revels in, but have instead "put Christ back in Xmas" (so to speak), they reason that all is Biblical and pleasing to God.

5. "It Doesn't Mean Anything to Me" -- Many Christians who routinely make a habit of picking-and-choosing which Biblical commands they will or will not obey, have likewise carried this practice over into a justification for celebrating Christmas. They claim, "but the Christmas tree, mistletoe, Santa Claus, etc., don't mean anything pagan to me, so I'll exercise my Christian liberty and partake in all of it." Obviously, if one were to take such a cavalier approach to the physical world (i.e., "I can drink rat poison because I choose not to regard it as poison"), it would likely lead to a quick physical death. Why, then, do Christians think they can avoid spiritual harm by ignoring God's spiritual warnings?

6. "The 'Connection' Has Been Broken" -- There are those who clearly recognize the pagan nature of the various Christmas worship forms and practices. Nevertheless, many of these Christians claim that because of the long passage of time from their pagan inception to the present (6,000 years?), the "connection" to paganism has been sufficiently diminished to allow the adoption of these forms and practices into our Christian worship and celebration. While it may be true that most symbols have lost their original demonic meaning and significance in a modern society, it is strangely bizarre and ironic that Christendom seeks to commemorate Christ's birth with the faded symbols of Satan. And even though some of God's people may be naive and ignorant

Monday, December 14, 2009

End of Law

Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
It's funny that those of liberty and those that say that we are not under the law leave off the the part of the "end of the law FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS" out. It doesn't meant that the law has no affect on us or that we will not be held accountable for doing the laws that transcend into the new covenant. Remember there are no gray areas. -James 4 :17
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

I will let ya'll chew on that for, now.



Through His Blood,

CW

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Quite scary in lieu of what has just happened in our Military.



http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/bio_1250605425754.shtm
http://washingtonindependent.com/tag/kareem-shora
http://www.exposeobama.com/tag/kareem-shora/


> Is this really true?



> Can you even believe this??
> Well, boys and girls, today we are letting the fox guard the henhouse.
> Tomorrow, the wolves will be herding the sheep! Obama Appoints two devout
> Muslims to homeland security posts. Doesn't this make you feel safer
> already?
> http://www.theodoresworld.net/pics/0609/ArifAlikhanImage1.jpgObama and
> Janet Napolitano Appoint Arif Alikhan, a devout Muslim as Assistant
> Secretary for Policy Development Source for announcement: Homeland
> Security Press Room.
> http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/06/obama-appointment-arif-ali-khan-asst-secretary-dhshtml
> http://www.theodoresworld.net/pics/0609/shoraImage1.jpgThe American-Arab
> Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is proud to announce that the DHS
> Secretary Janet Napolitano swore-in Kareem Shora, a devout Muslim, who was
> born in Damascus, Syria as ADC National Executive Director as a member of
> the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC). http://www.adc.org/ ; NOTE:
> Has anyone ever heard a new government official being identified as a
> devout Catholic, Jew or Protestant...? Just wondering Doesn't this make
> you feel safer already?? Devout Muslims being appointed to critical
> Homeland Security positions? That should make our homeland much safer,
> huh!!

This announcement was made on Aug 20. Why are we just now hearing about
> it???