The Ghetto State of Mind

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                     The Ghetto State of Mind  The Ghetto state of mind is an intriguing concept. In my hometown this mind set is on an upscale. It has always been there but in the last 5 years its grown rampantly like wildfire. The ghetto state of mind comes in all colors and nationalities. You can identify it by how someone carries themselves and by their words and actions and how they treat others.   Let us explore this unaesthetic mind set.  This mind set is at one of the lowest mindsets. In this mindset the person always has to be right, always gets their way. Putting their needs first is always on their agenda. Some examples are screaming and honking at an elderly to cross the street as opposed to a more noble mindset of going out of your way to help an elderly person cross the street. This mindset is also displayed by not letting people merge on the highway knowing that now they will now have to exit. In some states not merging is against the law but it is just human decency tha

Is Christmas Biblical?

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                                      Is Christmas Biblical?




                            Is Christmas biblical is a question that has been a question I have been struggling with for over 20 years. Why would I even ask such a question? Some people think, isn't that what Christmas is all about, Christ's birth? Christ's birth is not the true origin's of "Christmas". Before it was called Christmas is was a part of the Midwinter Celebration which was celebrated in different parts of the world as Yule, and also Saturnalia. Basically worshipping the sun God for the winter solstice. It's funny that during these midwinter celebrations they celebrated it very similarly to how we celebrate Christmas today. These celebrations have been going since ancient times. 


                                     

                                How did people celebrate Yule back then you ask? By burning the yule log, decorating the tree and wassailing (basically Christmas caroling). This was also a time of year where Druid priests sacrificed a white bull and gathered mistletoe in celebration. This was also a time of great feasting and merrymaking. Saturnalia which was on a week long celebration that ended on Dec. 17th. This holiday was celebrated with feasting and gift giving. People decked their halls with boughs of greenery. If was like a mardigrad madness. Saturnalia was kind of like the Purge. During that week all no legal system was enforced  and public drunkenness, gambling,. Forget ugliest sweater competition for these events you just come naked.



                                 In the fourth century the Constantine merged the pagan holidays with Christianity. That is were all the confusion came. They made Jesus' birthday on December 25 the same day as the sun God. That is why we have Jesus and Santa, The wise men, carols, Christmas trees etc. This is a meshing of Christianity with Pagan traditions. The Puritans did not like this merging. That is why they outlawed it from Christmas in 1659-1681.  Even though the ban was revoked in 1681, it did not become fashionable again until the mid 19th century.  Revival was greatly spurred on by Charles Dickens's novel, The Christmas Carol".  Which you may be wondering if I am a "Scrooge" for even writing this.

                               When my children were little I was convicted by all this information and wanted my Children to celebrate Christ's birth. Instead of Santa the children helped set up a Nativity set and put the animals in the stable. They had figurines of Mary and Joseph and they put them on a different side of the room, far away from the stable. Everyday the children moved the figurines around the room till a day before  Dec.25th They came to the stable, on Christmas morning they found the baby in the manger. They also then proceeded to move the wise men around the room till they got to the stable. We did not have a Christmas tree but there was gifts. Another idea is to focus more on the holidays mentioned in the bible like Hanukkah. This seems like a very fun holiday and very kid friendly as well. This can be a confusing time for some Christians, on how to celebrate or not celebrate this Holiday. It is between you and the Lord just how you will do this.



                                       Doing some of my own research it looks like Jesus was more likely to be born around the end of September. September 29th?? So then I think it's kind of weird to be celebrating Jesus birth in December. Then again this is a good time to proclaim Jesus virgin birth and his Salvation story. That he was born and then later died for our sins. The real gift is him and the free gift of Salvation that he offers to anyone who believes in him. In Romans 14 5-6 it says,  One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. This blog post is not here to condemn someone who puts up a Christmas tree etc.. Let's not point the finger at each other in judgment. Let us not be ignorant but be informed and let us pray so that we know what God's will is in us pertaining to all this. So I don't think we should go around judging other people's decisions on how they will celebrate or not celebrate, but if you do, it should be for God's glory. 


                                I personally will not be putting up a Christmas tree. Possibly a Nativity Set and in the future a Menorah because I would love to focus celebrating all the holiday's Christ Celebrated and there are some very interesting ones I would love to know more about like the feast of Trumpets these Holidays might be related to future events.  I am not completely banning "Christmas", I am just eliminating someone the Pagan fluff that does not appeal to me. Even though I do not beleive that Jesus was born on Dec. 25th, I think this is a great window of opportunity to deliver the gospel message to people that might be more open to think about the birth of Jesus during this time. I love doing Advent devotionals on miracle birth of Jesus Christ. I think we should also be thinking and meditating on his second coming too and getting prepared for his second coming not just the first. I think it is still very confusing of the the merging of Pagan practises with Christians ones and how people don't know if they should say, "Merry Christmas or "Happy Holidays". Children at their schools can have "Christmas Performances" and not allowed to have any thing with Jesus included. All secular songs leaving Christ out. Overall I still think the Christmas season can have a lot of Joy and special essence to it. Which makes me wonder if there could be more to December 25th? I looked on a conception calculator and typed in Sept 29th as the due date and guess what? Dec.25 was possible date of conception.   Maybe Dec, 25th is just a pagan Holiday or just possibly could it be the conception of Christ? Something to think about! 



Blessings!!

      

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