by bay64me 9 Replies latest jw friends
I read something here recently about elders making calls to inactives on xmas day.
I can't remember who posted this.
I am just wondering.......(nay....panicing)......... is this fact? and if so where did the information come from?
I am getting my tree delivered this afternoon and am wondering if I should invest also in some very thick curtains and keep them closed for about a month
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Bay64me.
I suppose it all depends on where you live, whether they will call on you on Xmas Day.
We live out in the countryside - this territory gets "worked", once in a blue moon! but just in case of a visit, we are considering getting an effigy made of the Presiding Overseer and putting it on the top of our twenty foot high fir tree, growing outside in our garden, and having twinkling lights all around !!!!
It would be worth it, just to see their faces ! No doubt we will be amongst the ones who will receive a "shepherding call" in Jan to March, but I don't know if we can keep the lights on for that length of time :)
Have you tried the "search button" for Xmas Day, it might work.
twink
Edited by - twinkletoes on 14 December 2002 10:26:57
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=42264&site=3
I have just tried the search feature - typed in Xmas Day, and I think the above link is what you're looking for.
Twink
OK, thanks twink.
When they come, get their names, phone numbers, addresses then mail them:
CHRISTMAS -- THE REAL TRUTH: More recent scholarly studies prove that the Christmas Tree is from the Tree of Eternal Life (Ge 2:9, 3:22) depicted in church plays of the Middle Ages, not Luther or Druid tree-worshippers, although outdated articles for example in World Book Encyclopedia still repeat the legends and Luther may have originated the use of candles attached to Christmas trees. Saint Nicholas was an actual man who in the Middle Ages quietly left dowry gifts that kept Christian girls from being sold into slavery, and heading a congregation at Myra where Turkey now is, he wore red and carried a miter although without reindeer or elves.
The giant cedars of Lebanon used to build the temple at Jerusalem themselves had bright green needles with tan-colored cones, and John 10:22-3 says Christ visited the successor temple during the Jewish "Festival of Dedication," namely Channukah, during winter. Also called the Festival of Lights, it had singing, the carrying of tree branches, homes filled with lights and joy. Celebrated 8 days each time, its date varies yearly but the first Channukah was December 25, making it an even more likely source for the December 25 celebration than Rome's Saturnalia which came later in the month. Some believe Christ was actually born about Oct 1, which would mean Mary conceived 9 months previously, that is about or on December 25. Indeed count 9 months backwards from October to see for yourself. Santa Claus, as said earlier, did not come from a vaguely known Asian god who descended chimneys to bring gifts or Siberian wizards but instead the Christian Nicholaus a famous gift-giver in the Middle Ages.
In fact Christ himself was wrongly attacked as a "glutton and drunkard" simply for believing in a good time (Mt 11:19). He once turned water to wine at a wedding party in Cana (Jn 2:1-11), told followers to invite needy persons to parties (Lu 14:13-14), and accepted gifts including expensive nard oil. Interestingly, Revelation 1:14 even describes the resurrected Christ's hair as like "white wool" or "snow," his cloak was scarlet-colored (red with a bluish tinge--Mt 27:28), and white symbolized purity. True, all that just coincidentally reminds one of Santa Claus, but do note that the earliest Christians enjoyed balanced merriment at "love feasts" (Jude 12), the angels celebrated Christ's birth (Lu 2), and Job's children had enjoyed birthdays (Job 1:3, 3:1, 3).
Most Christmas trees are topped by a star remindful of the Christ star. According to John Mosley's The Christmas Star (1985) from September 3 BC to June 2 BC Jupiter, known as "the royal planet" passed Regulus "the king star" in the constellation Leo, reversed then passed again, turned and passed a 3rd time. By June 17 Jupiter and Regulus were so close they seemed a single star when seen by the eye. This then is one intriguing possible source for the Christ star in the Bible.
Before Christ's birth unspecified men called "magi" in Biblical Greek came from the East first to Jerusalem (Mt 2:1-2) then went on to find the Christ child in Bethlehem. Some translations render the word magi as astrologers because its root like the word "magician" is linked to the idea of being a person of great might but although magi may refer to people who try to predict the future by observing the stars, using omens and consulting spirit beings as forbidden by God at Deuteronomy 18:10-12, it can also refer to people who worked to predict future weather patterns, good times to plant and harvest, buy and sell crops, etc via careful observation of the clouds, stars and other natural phenomena and with very little to absolutely no special focus on the occult at all. So for solid reasons some Bible translations continue to translate magi as simply "wise men" or "stargazers" and this is also supported by the Bibles positively saying they brought gifts for Christ then also protected him by leaving without telling his location to King Herod who wickedly desired to slay him.
Those who kept their families from celebrating Christmas should not be condemned if they acted out of lack of accurate knowledge in the past but also no one should claim that those who do celebrate the birth of Christ are out of harmony with the Bible even as the preceding information proves. Please read and meditate on what Paul writes at Colossians 2:16.
just the thought of something like that is enough to make me sick...
Why sick when knowing there is a basis for Christians celebrating Christ's birthday. Go back up and re-read it.
Onthego, are you related in any way to anewperson/nancee park/nick park??
sick in the sense of elders coming to visit...."shudder"
Sorry to sidetrack this thread but I just want to respond to Prisca here.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only who has noticed this. I just posted a new thread about this before reading your comments. Thanks for making feel like I'm not totally crazy.
To make this post somewhat relavent to the thread......
I wouldn't doubt that elders would come calling on my birthday. These are the same people who will sit outside people's houses waiting to ambush them (happened to one of my friends) so its not above them to do something like that.
