“We hold These Truths to be Self-evident…”

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—”

When you are free, you have happiness.
Bible in Basic English   John 8:32:  And you will have knowledge of what is true, and that will make you free.

So what is the truth? Judge for yourself.
It is not like pre-cyber days, where we followed others like sheep, because we had no way of knowing better.   Now, we have the internet, and anything can be researched, so we cannot say that we are in darkness anymore. 
Don’t take my word for it, look it up, here is an online Bible in many translations: http://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-versions/

The truth is ‘self-evident’:

"Who Are You Honoring on December 25th ?
The "LORD" that you give honor to each year on December 25th - is NOT the one that you think you are honoring.  Jesus was born in a warm month, when the shepherds were still sleeping out in the fields with their flock in the night. Jesus was NOT born in the cold rainy month of December.  His birth date was obscured because God commands us to observe Jesus death and NOT His birth. 
Then whose birth is the world honoring on December 25 ?
None other than the First Human to Oppose God.
And Who was that ?
NIMROD -“
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“After the Flood, Noah had a talented, but evil, great-grandson named Nimrod (Genesis 10:6-10) who rebelled greatly against God. The Bible says that he was “a mighty one”[1] Jewish tradition indicates that Nimrod was a tyrant "who made all of the people rebellious against God."[2] It is evident from history that Nimrod was not only a political leader, but also the lead priest of a form of occultist worship.[3]

Nimrod had one thing in common with all living things, he died!  But that wasn't the end of it.  His wife called the people together and told them that Nimrod was now serving his people in an exalted position as the sun-god! 
What about Nimrod's wife?  Her name was Semiramis.  She was also his mother! “
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“Nimrod’s death was a shocking surprise to his followers. They couldn’t understand how or why the high priest of the sun-god could be allowed to die. So many subjects lost faith in their hero that Nimrod’s religious system started to crumble.
But Satan was not about to give up his struggle to turn man against his Creator. He worked in a very shrewd way to use Nimrod’s death to shock men into going on with their worship of idols. Satan had a plan to make pagan religions something that would not only become more and more popular at that time, but which would cause them to last for thousands of years!”
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Christendom Joins "Babylon The Great",     How ?
"Nimrod was Noah's great-grandson. This system at Babel became the source of all false religion in the world. Apostate Christendom has a direct line of succession back through Roman and Greek paganism right to Babel, because Roman and Greek paganism, it is plain to see, came out of Babel.  Their gods are just renamed gods from older cultures which take you back to Babel. Of course, we know from history that the Roman Catholic Church came in as a mixture of paganism and Christianity through Constantine's desire to unite his empire with one unified religious system."
--APOKALUPSIS NOW, The Harlot Church, Chapter 17 of Revelation by Jack Shelton

"The Garden of Eden was in Southern Iraq, not far from where Nimrod, under Satan's motivation, built Babel, which was the beginning of Babylon. The Babylonian spirit is invading the world.  Its influence is breathtaking...and spreading its idea to the entire world. There is no other proper description of Babel and the evil intent of this first expression of false religion." --Babylon: The Axis of Evil by Joseph Chambers

THE REALLY SAD PART:
The really sad part about all this Foolishness - is that most people, whether Christian or pagan - do not care, even when they have learned about the trap they are in.  They like it.  THEY PREFER IT......
From:http://christmasxmas.xanga.com/682643582/item/
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"...the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. The end of a matter is better than its beginning..."   (Ecclesiastes 7:1,8) (NASB)-BibleGateway
 "1. A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. 8. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit". (Ecclesiastes 7:1,8) King James Version


“If the date of Jesus' Birth was important, then God would have had it recorded. Many events in the bible are recorded as to month and day and even the year of what King was reigning.  The fact that Jesus exact month and day of birth are never mentioned in the Bible, gives us clear indication that God did not want us to celebrate Christ's Birth.
God has concealed the time of Jesus' birth. There is no way to ascertain it. Nor was it of consequence to know the time; if it had been, God would have preserved the record of it. Matters of moment are clearly revealed. Those which God regards as of no importance. "  Albert Barnes (Barnes' Notes on the New Testament, Vol. 1, Kregel Publications, 1962, p.189).

"In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world" - (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908 edition, Vol. 3, p. 724, "Natal Day").

There is no certainty as to the month or day of the birth [of Jesus]. The Christmas date, December 25...was...borrowed from a pagan festival.  'December'... seems unlikely, as unsuitable for the pasturing of flocks.  A more probable date -is a couple of months earlier" -(The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,    1986, "Jesus Christ," p. 1628).

A far more likely scenario is that Jesus was born in the early autumn, around the time of the biblical Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34-36), when Joseph and Mary would have traveled to Jerusalem to keep the Feast along with thousands of other Jewish families. This also helps us understand why in the town Bethlehem, a few miles to the south of Jerusalem, "there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7)- the town would have been crowded with other travelers keeping the Feast at this time of year."

From: http://christmasxmas.xanga.com/677078838/item/
Colossians 2:8:  "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (customs) of the world, and not after Christ."
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From me:

Churches and preachers aren’t going to tell you the truth.  It would cut down on their donations at Christmastime, which, just like the stores, is the most profitable time of the year.
“The church leaders won't release membership numbers, but a recent annual report shows that Christmas revenues, listed at $8.1 million, dropped nearly $1.6 million, feeding speculation that the future is anything but rosy.”

Jesus didn’t have a paid ministry, so I won’t go to a congregation that pays fulltime ministers.  Small congregations without elaborate buildings, can give more comfort to those who need it, and give more to the needy.   Donations, are supposed to be done discreetly into a box at the rear, not in the open, passing a plate in front of others, seeming to say “Look at me, see how good I am!”.  That is not the true spirit of giving.

So look for the Truth in the Bible.

If you saw the time line I wrote out yesterday, I guess we would be celebrating His birth in mid September, IF that is what God had wanted us to do.

If you stuck with me this far, sorry, I didn’t mean to bend your eyes off again, today.

What’s John The Baptist Got To Do With It?

A lovely sunny day, so Ray and I finished painting the cross-fences in the back yard.

Then I had an early dinner at the True Wei restaurant with my granddaughter, Michelle (17 yrs), her mother, Becky, and Becky’s five month old son, Carson. He sure is good, and a cutie. We had a great time, and then I scurried to get home before dark.
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Now about John the Baptist:

Luke1:5 tells us: “In the time of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron”.
So we know that priestly division that John the Baptist’s father belonged to.  Therefore we know when he was serving in the Temple.

In 1 Chronicles we read that the sons of Aaron had been divided into 24 groups, and that each group had a set schedule for serving in The Temple of God.  The division of Abijah, which Zechariah belonged to was assigned the 8th. slot of the 24 divisions.
The Jewish calendar begins in the spring during the month of Nisan, so the 1st. division of priests, the division of Jehoiarib, would serve for 7 days.  The 2nd. week would then be the responsibility of the division of Jedaiah, and so on.
The 3rd. week would be the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and all the priests would be present to serve.  Then the schedule would resume with the 3rd. division of priests.  This would go on until the 24th. division had served, then the cycle would repeat again.

So Zechariah served during the 10th week of the year.  This was because he was a member of the division of Abijah, the 8th. division, and both the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost would have occurred before his scheduled duty.
Luke 1:23-24 tells us: “When his time of service was completed, he returned home.  After this, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and for five months remained in seclusion.  Having completed his Temple service on the 3rd. Sabbath of the 3rd. month, Zechariah returned home and conceived his son John, soon after.”  So John the Baptist was probably conceived shortly after the 3rd. Sabbath of the 3rd. month of the Jewish calendar.

Now, why is the information about John so important?  It is because according to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the 6th. month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.  In Luke 1:36 the angel tells Mary: “Even Elizabeth, your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her 6th. month”.  Luke 1:56-57: “Mary stayed with Elizabeth for the last 3 months of her pregnancy, until the time when John the Baptist was born”.   
So starting with John’s conception late in the 3rd. month of the Jewish calendar, and going forward 6 months, we arrive late in the 9th. month of Kislev, (Nov-Dec) for the time frame of the conception of Jesus.
It is interesting to note that the first day of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated on the 25th. day of Kislev.  Could Jesus have been conceived then?

Now if John was conceived shortly after the 3rd. Sabbath in the 3rd. month of the Jewish calendar, we arrive in the month of Nisan for the date of his birth, if Elizabeth's pregnancy was normal.  It would appear that John the Baptist may have been born in the middle of Nisan, which would coincide with the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Now, since Jesus was conceived 6 months after John the Baptist, and we have established a likely date for John’s birth, we only need to look 6 months farther down the Jewish calendar to arrive at the likely date of the birth of Jesus.

From John the Baptist’s likely birth date of the 15th day of the 1st. month, Nisan, adding 6 months gives us the 15th. day of the 7th. month, Tishri. (Sept)    And what is on the 15th. day of Tishri?  It is the 1st. day of the Feast of the Tabernacles!  But should this surprise us?  God has always had the most important events fall on his festival days.  It is interesting to note that John 1:14 literally says: “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us”. 

If Jesus was born on this day it would also fully explain why there was no room at the inn for Mary and Joseph.  Bethlehem is approximately 5 miles from Jerusalem, and all the men of Israel were required to attend the Feast of the Tabernacles.  Every room for miles around the city would have been full for the feast.
It is also interesting to note that the Feast of the Tabernacles is an 8 day feast. 
Why would God make a feast that lasts eight days?  Well, according to the Laws of Moses, a child is supposed to be circumcised on the 8th. day.  So if Jesus was born on the 1st. day of the Feast (a High Sabbath), He would have been circumcised on the last day of the Feast (another High Sabbath).  In addition, the celebration of the Feast of the Tabernacles actually prophetically foreshadows how Jesus would enter the world.

For centuries God had made His followers set up humble temporary shelters and live in them during this great Feast of Tabernacles.  This was a prophetic indication of how His Son would enter the world in a humble shelter during that exact same time of the year.
Only the God of the universe could have set up holidays that His Son would fulfill perfectly over a thousand years later.

So that’s what John the Baptist has to do with the birth date of Jesus Christ.

Enough typing for today!

Jesus Christ or Santa Claus

"Santa will fill your stocking,
But Jesus will fill your heart with
Love that never fails,
Peace that surpasseth all understanding
Joy, unspeakably joy.
Santa comes only once a year---Christmas Eve,
But Jesus says, “Lo I am with you always.”
“I will never leave you nor forsake you”
Santa is making a list and checking it twice,
But Jesus has our names written in the
Lamb’s Book of Life.
Santa brings gifts,
But Jesus brought the gift of eternal life.
Santa comes with his sled and reindeer,
But Jesus is coming back with a mighty army
To receive unto Himself, His bride, the Church."

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=4378&Page=1

"Jesus Christ or Santa Claus? It has become more difficult to determine whether the Christ child is at the center of Christmas or Santa Claus. A primary reason is because the spirit of this season, as promoted by the world has become one gigantic commercial venture. We have gone from a season of joy and grace to a season of greed.

The spotlight, if not far removed, has been precariously dimmed on the Christ child born in a manger. However, chubby little man in a red suit with a bag full of goodies is bathed in radiant beams and proudly displayed. The world has cleverly managed to turned the hearts of many Christians away from “the word that became flesh and dwelt among us,” St. John 1:14.


The most anticipated aspect of the Christmas holiday season is the receiving and giving of gifts. Hence, the commercialization of Christmas world wide. There is nothing wrong with sharing gifts, sharing is a blessed act. But we should not make sharing gifts the central focus in our christian Christmas experience. Giving, in every way, must be a daily event not a contrived, once a year, special occasion act. Giving should be a daily experience, not a seasonal one.


I wonder would God be pleased with our Christmas hassles or with our Christ like hope. Think about it. Would God be pleased with the financial debt most of us accumulate during this season? Would He be pleased with our seasonal giving? Would God be pleased with our “shop till we drop” attitudes? Or would He be more excited about our sacrifice and faithfulness.

I wonder would God prefer our wrapped gifts with pretty bows or would He be delighted to have our body, spirit, and soul. We must be careful not replace Jesus Christ with Santa Claus and the ungodly spirit of this season. Surely, our Lord would not be pleased."

Have a safe day.