So here we go again.
Honestly though, is seems like nothing has changed, which is a pity.
I came across this picture on facebook that addresses things which I have had to deal with in the past.. so here…. lets start with what it says.
“Hebrew Roots is an occult?
Christianity has adopted Christmas/pagan idol worshiop of winter solstice yule god, pagan idol worship of Ishtar/Easter, 40 days of lent/40 days weaping for Tammuz, The Lord’s day/pagan day of Sol invictus the sun god.
I’m sorry…. who is in an occult? ”
Now, discounting the poor wording and grammar, we’ll take a look at the content.
First, I don’t know who ‘Hebrew Roots’ is, I would think they are an offshoot of the Messianic movement which is fine by me.. The problem here is that this person is spouting the same nonsense I found on the web years ago.
Christmas. Okay, since when is celebrating the birth of Jesus pagan?… and ‘winter solstice yule god’ really? Why do people think that celebrating the Saviour’s birth is worshiping that creature? Something to ponder there…. moving on now.
Pagan idol worship of Ishtar….. does not equal Easter at all, which is when I celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
’40 days of lent/ 40 days weaping for Tammuz’ so okay… I have no idea and am not even looking it up right now.. I admit to having lint in my dryer but that’s about it.
‘The Lord’s day/Pagan day of Sol Invictus the sun god.’ The first day of the week was designated as the Lord’s day… has nothing to do with Sol Invictus… sun god my eye…. in which tradition?
I think what disturbs me most is the exwitch that was seemingly in agreement with this mess… She should know better since with worship, it is a matter of intent more than anything else. I am sorry for them if some misinformed folks are equating them as being in the occult, but….. the followers of Jesus are not.
I am actually going to deal with something else as well… just for those who buy into the whole ‘pagan christianity’ nonsense. If you are going to say that because some pagan somewhere did things on a certain day or in a certain way, that christians are pagan….. you better stop cooking your food, and living in shelters because pagans did that… oh and birthdays…. oh yeah, before I forget; there is pretty much a pagan holiday on every calender day of the year somewhere,in some tradition or other so you better stop using the calender and stop celebrating on those days…. or worshiping on them… or anything else…… feel free to go hide in a dark corner somewhere safe though.
Dear Brother Mark,
The post was simply an effort to defuse the accusations that Hebrew Roots is an occult and/or cult practice while at the same time pointing out that those who are saying so may need to examine the log in their own eye first. Also, as you admit to not really knowing what Hebrew Roots are, you may want to do a bit of research on it before launching into an attack on a sister personally. A great place to start is the video on this page: LINK REMOVED
Since you insist on making it into a debate, I will start by saying that I don’t think everyone in the church is pagan. I know that I have been there, done that, and that when we have been misled by shepherds knowingly or not that the brunt of the fault lies with them. It is important, however, that we examine our faith and forms of worship to ensure that we are not offending our Creator and Father, because He makes it plain in His Word that we must not worship Him in ways of the pagans and that when we do, we are invoking dire consequences. It is not a matter of every thing we do so much as it is a matter of our worship of Him, so this is where we really are required to use the microscope to examine closely for His Sake. Even the Israelites had their ‘intention’ set on worship of YHWH when they fashioned the golden calf and Aaron declared their feast to YHWH (your Bible probably has ‘the LORD’, but you will find in the beginning of your Scripture pages there will likely be an explanation about removal of our Father’s Name, which is commanded against, and it’s replacement with ‘LORD’, also commanded against adding to The Word). And poor Uzziah had only the best intentions when he stretched out his hand to keep the Ark from tipping off the cart, and yet YHWH killed him immediately for this infraction of His instructions. Remember, Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
So just because your heart is in the right place does not mean your worship is acceptable.
For a short discussion of the concepts behind what I have been trying to express, please see: LINK REMOVED
If and when you feel ready for a more in-depth discussion, check out LINK REMOVED
To better understand why a studious Believer will find the Apostles keeping the Shabbat on the 7th Day 85 different times, as commanded in the Big Ten, written in stone, check out this excellent teaching: LINK REMOVED
I will be praying your heart will be softened to these important truths that are finally coming back to the fore in these last days just in time to prepare for His Return!
Shalom Shick,
I have removed the links for now as I don’t want to link to sites that I have not explored yet.
I specifically confined my comments to the mistaken ideas that were presented, so unless they were/are your ideas as well, I’m not sure why you would feel it was a personal attack against you.
I mentioned intent earlier and that is the issue as I point out the fallacies in those tired old accusations against the Christians. I also pointed out that I had this discussion years ago and consider this just a continuation of that. It usually centers on someone trying to prove that various things are pagan.. ie Christmas, Easter, Pulpits, instruments, day of the week, etc…. it just seems to keep growing.
You brought up the Golden Calf as a proof that it is the way we choose to worship that is important, rather than intent, but when one goes to God’s word in Exodus it says something other than what you did: Exodus 32:1 “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Not only were they not trying to worship our Lord, they were creating Graven images to worship as gods to go before them, and even worse, attributing the miracles of God to them. Their intent was to replace the God that they could not see… with gods that they could. Ever the popular choice with humans…
You mention my admitting a lack of knowledge of your group, but it was not important to know of it since it was the ideas that I was addressing, specifically. I have since looked at some of it and find much that I do not agree with, but if that’s what floats your boat.. it’s between you and our Lord. 🙂
Brother Mark, you stopped short just one verse from where I referred to in Exodus 32:5 5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to YHWH.
So, you see, they really did dedicate the whole thing to Yah, maybe with a little Santa Claus and Christmas trees on the side, but their ultimate proclamation was to YHWH, and they did mean for it to go to the powers that had led them out of Egypt. Remember, Elohim is more accurately translated “mighty ones” or “powers”, rather than ‘gods’.
Of course, the Catholics are the most obvious for worshiping graven images, but I think those who frame and display paintings and prints that depict Yahushua and/or YHWH are treading thin ice as well. It is not like we are so far away from graven images today. Yah knows it is hard to worship an invisible deity, but He demands that we do.
You did not address the unfortunate Uzziah and his ill fated good intentions.
Please do explore these concepts and the links I offered further and I pray you will find an even greater closeness with our Father. It is important that we understand His Word to the best of our ability. Blessings on you and yours and Shalom from Shalom 🙂
Shalom Shick,
The issue at hand is one of worship and intent.. and whether or not christians are practicing pagan worship. The incident with Uzzah was not about worship.
God’s word says they wanted Aaron to make them gods…. That is not worshiping our Lord. That was making them an idol and attributing God’s miracles to the idol. Your comment does bring up an interesting point though that the person you referred me to touched upon as well.
Christmas.
We’ll start with the date.. December 25th that is the date that a portion of the church chooses to celebrate our Savior’s birth. Another portion of the church chooses to continue with a day in January, I think it is the 6th, but do not remember for sure at this time. Being a cynic, I suspect that the true date of His birth was in the Fall, right after harvest time. After all, the Romans would know that this would be the time that people would have more to pay their taxes with.
Let us move on to christmas trees… I don’t worship mine… they make nice decorations and light holders…. so no, that’s not pagan either. oh yes, the star.. when I choose to use a star on my christmas tree… it is not the ~eight pointed solar disk~ currently I have one with 5 points.. sometimes I have used a 6 pointer… I have nothing against an 8, just haven’t got one.
Santa Claus…. lets see here…. do I worship him? no. So I think he’s real? no. Did I teach my children he was real? no. Was this fictional character based on a real person? yes. I believe he was a Bishop in Turkey that looked to Constantinople rather than Rome. It was early on, I’m pretty sure it was before the split within the Catholic church. He made a mark by giving gifts to those who could not afford much, if I recall correctly.
Easter
Yes, we celebrate Easter here at my place… on that day we are celebrating the resurrection of my Savior, not some pagan mythos.
Easter Bunny… never told my kids it was real..
Easter eggs… colored eggs of plastic that are amusing to watch kids look for and find. Best idea I’ve seen were plastic eggs that had things in them to remind us of the resurrection of Jesus.
As you probably guessed by now…. no I don’t worship either the bunny or the eggs.
So far here are the grades for his video:
Public presentation: A
Creativity: B (I’m old enough to know that some of his material has been around the block before him.)
Arrogance: A
Logic: F
Research: F
Piece of heartfelt advice for you Shalom, take a good hard look at the path you are on and the teachings you are following.
Bro Mark