Fast Facts about Christmas

The etymology of Christmas derives from the Greek, “Christos” which means anointed, and the Olde-English, “mass” (massae), which means festival. Christmas is the festival celebrating the birth of the Lord's anointed, Jesus Christ.

Other names which Christmas has been celebrated under are the Feast of the Nativity (birth), Noel (birthday), and Advent (coming).

Early church history places the date of Christ’s birth at 6 January (Clement of Rome) or 25 December (Augustine of Hippo) 5 BC. Calendar errors in the seventh century account for the 5 year discrepancy.

Bethlehem, the city of David, is small among the clans of Judah, but out of here the King was promised.

The Old Testament contains over 300 direct prophecies for Jesus Christ, naming the place, method, and reason for his birth.

“Behold a virgin will be with child” was written more than 700 years before Mary was born. She is called blessed among women, and her song of praise is one of the most beautiful ever written, beginning with, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

Because Christ was born of Mary and of God, He is 100% God, and 100% man; the prophet Daniel (~600 BC) called Him both the Son of man, and the Son of God.

Jesus Christ has many names; Jesus derives from Jehovah-Yasha, which means, God Saves. Isaiah called Him Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” John of Patmos said His name is, “Righteous and True.” His is the name above every other name, the only name blessed forever.

Isaiah may have said it best with, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The Father of Eternity, The Prince of Peace.

The Bible says Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but through Him the world might be saved. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already.

The 10 Commandments are a textual representation of Jesus Christ, he cannot lie(9), steal(8), covet(10), murder (or hate without cause)(6), commit adultery(or lust)(7); submission to parents is paramount(5), and especially that His primary concern(2) is His righteousness(1) and name(3), and in Him the Christian finds rest(4).

The 10 Commandments are also the standard of judgment for the human race. Have you ever told a lie? Stolen anything? Coveted something that didn’t belong to you? Called someone an idiot? Lusted after someone that wasn’t your spouse? Always obeyed your parents? Kept God first in your heart? Used the name of God only with respect? Given God one day out of your week?

Hark the Herald Angels Sing was written by Charles Wesley, it captures the reason for the season in, “Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled." Our transgression had not only separated us from God, but made us an enemy of God, and nothing we could do would redeem us.

Christmas is only celebrated because of what happened on Easter. On Easter, Jesus was sentenced to death for claiming to be God, a very serious offense. In this charge, He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.

Proof of Christ's divinity exists in His miraculous resurrection from the dead; this event is one of the best testified to and recorded events in antiquity.

Jesus Christ never committed a single sin, but He became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus was born of the Spirit, while we are born of the flesh. He was adamant that lest you be born of the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. This is also known as being born-again, or being baptized in the Holy Spirit; this is separate from being baptized in water and can only be accomplished by a supernatural work of God.

The first words Jesus proclaimed to the world were, “Repent and believe the Gospel.” This means to turn from sin, turn towards God, ask for forgiveness, and believe (trust) that Jesus Christ is who He says He is, and that His payment on the cross for your sins is sufficient.

Jesus' last command to the world was, "Be zealous therefore and repent!"

When Christ was born, the herald angel said, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” This was important because heretofore God had a very bad will towards people, which will come to fruition in the unrepentant who step out of this world without receiving the Heaven-born Prince of Peace.

In the words of Go Fish, the beginning and the middle are both wonderful and great, but it’s the ending that can save you, and that’s why we celebrate.

Merry Christmas!

Mitt Romney - About his father's business

In response to Mitt Romney's JFK speech on Dec 6th, 2007
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I like the fact that Romney tried to condemn people that don't know or stand in what they believe, when in recent years he's flip-flopped on abortion, same-sex marriage, and gays in the military. He is jettisoning his beliefs in order to gain the world.

The inherent trouble with his speech is the constant referral to liberty, referencing it to the Founding Fathers and the country. They founded the liberty of the nation on the liberty they had found in Jesus Christ.

Mormons do not have this liberty, and thus cannot appreciate, understand, or continue to maintain American liberty. In George Orwell's "Animal Farm", the animals held fast to their freedom even in their absolute bondage.

Nothing is more clear in America's bondage than the desperate and boisterous call of, "We are free!" Nothing is more clear in Mitt Romney's bondage than his desperate and boisterous call, "every single human being is a child of God."

Not if you have ever told a lie. If you have told a lie, you have given your soul to the devil (You don't even get to say, "I'd sell my soul for...") and the Bible calls you a child who is of his father's desires, for he is a liar, and the father of lies. (John 8:44)

Romney's idolatry in his following of baal-jesus, a created, impotent, man-god proves who his owner is. He is doing the will of the devil by spreading this idolatry and calling out, peace, peace between God and man, when there is no peace. Romney's god would not send anyone to Hell, the main reason is because he doesn't exist. Romney has created a god in his image, one which he is comfortable with and one that works for him. Be assured that no idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ or of God.

For the captives, slaves to sin, dead in their transgressions; liberty is an idea which they can only dream of. It is something they have never felt nor possessed, and therefore cannot understand.

The Founding Fathers that Romney references knew this, but they knew first the captivity of the devil, but by the grace of God, they came to the liberty of Christ. They knew that Jesus Christ, the eternal, coexistent, coequal, Son of God, had paid the ransom for their life. They were owned by the devil and could do nothing to purchase themselves out of this bondage, their sins held them and they were doomed for disobeying their parents, creating their own representation of God, stealing, no matter how petty, lust, hatred without provocation, and coveting. But Christ lived a perfect life and willingly gave Himself up to die on the cross so that His blood could wash these sins away and that many would be purchased out of their spiritual bondage to eternal liberty.

When they repented of their sins and placed their trust in Jesus Christ, they were born of the Spirit. They were originally children of the devil, but they were adopted into the family of God. They were captives, but they were liberated.

They became members of the church of Jesus Christ, which He purchased with His own blood. The Mormon Church is not so bought, because they are trying to purchase this church themselves with their works. George Whitefield, a friend of the Founding Fathers, summed up the difference between the heretical Mormon Church and the grace of Jesus Christ, "Works! Works! A man get to Heaven by works? I'd as soon climb to the moon on a rope of sand."

The Apostle Paul tells us how we are saved, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9

James tells us that you can tell someone is saved by their works, not by their profession of faith. Romney was a proponent of babycide, he didn't understand the sanctity or symbolism of marriage, he didn't understand the damage that homosexuals in the military would cause. He has changed his opinion, and that is good, but he was a Mormon when he believed these evil things, and he is a Mormon now. There was no rebirth, there was no change of heart, and there was no conversion.

Beloved, when you repent and place your faith in Jesus Christ, your sinful heart which drinks iniquity like water will be replaced with a heart for God that thirsts after righteousness. Things you used to love which God hates, you will now hate, and things of God which you used to hate, you will now love.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17

This is not Mitt Romney, and if he becomes president in his spiritual captivity, you can be assured that he will be about his father's business.