A Time To Start Over

Is there really any way for you to start over?

At the end of every year people celebrate the beginning of a new year.  They often spend the last day of the year reflecting on the year that is ending and what they would like to do better in the new year than they did in the old year.  So they make resolutions about how things are going to different once the new year begins.  For many people New Year's Day is a time to start over.

Of course, most of the time not really much changes.  They still have the same problems on January 1st that that they had on December 31st.  They are in the same relationships with same people.  They have the same job and the same pressures in the new year that acted upon them in the old year.  Their resolutions for change quickly fall to the wayside.   Their hopes for a time to start over vanish like the snow when the weather suddenly warms up.

The truth is that your life is really nothing more than an unbroken series of events that have occurred since the moment you were conceived.  Concepts like days, weeks, months and years are just convenient ways of organizing and measuring those events.  For example, someone may talk of their high school days to mean the collection of events that occurred from when they entered high school until when they graduated high school.  The changing of the number assigned to a calendar year does not really mean that is a time to start over.

Many of these events driven by choices that others have made but affect you in some manner.  For example, your parents made a choice that lead to your conception and then another that lead to your birth.  You then made other choices that drove other events that have shaped your life.  For example, you might have made a choice to go to college after high school.  Often people look at their lives and realize that these events have not shaped their life into what they wish it was like.  They get excited about the changing of the calendar year when what they really long for is a time to start over.

Is there really any way for you to start over?  Is there ever really a time to start over?

You might realize that you are among those who make resolutions each New Year's Day only to watch them be broken by the first of February.  You need to make a resolution that you can keep.  When you do then you will find there really is a time to start over.

You came alive the moment your father took action to cause your mother to conceive.  You came into the natural world the moment you were born of your mother.  The rest of your life was shaped by the events that occurred after that.  So in order for there to be a time to start over you would have to a second beginning.

The Good News is that the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) has taken action to cause you be conceived a second time by giving you the Word of Truth (James 1:18).  He has resurrected the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) so that you can have a time to start over (1 Peter 1:3-5).

The only way for you to truly have a second beginning to change the course of your life is to be born again (John 3:3).  This why the Man of Truth said that you must be born again (John 3:7).  You can only be born again from the seed that the Father of Truth uses to beget the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) in the House of Truth (1 Peter 1:23).

When you are born a second time you are born of the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) in the spirit into the House of Truth instead of being born of a woman in the flesh into the world (John 3:4-6).  When you are born a second time you become a brand new person so you will truly start over (2 Corinthians 5:17).  It does not matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile because being born again has nothing to do with the flesh (Galatians 6:15).

You will start over because you become as uncontrollable by the world and as unpredictable to the world as the wind when you are born of the Spirit of Truth (John 3:8).  You will no longer be conformed to living like everyone else because you will begin to think like Man of Truth so that you can do what is pleasing to the Father of Truth (Romans 12:2).  The Father of Truth will cause you to both desire and be able to live in His ways as you work out the details of how to live out your salvation (Philippians 2:12-13).

Of course, this will not happen at once overnight because you are starting over.   You have to grow into be able to eat the meat of the Word of Truth in same way you had grow into eating solid food after you were born in the flesh (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).  Just like you were born in the flesh as a baby and then could only drink milk until you grew up some so also will you only be able to take in what is easy to digest from the Word of Truth at first because you are also born in the spirit as a baby until you grow up into righteous living (Hebrews 5:12-14).  You will grow up into righteous living if you drink in the Word of Truth like a baby grows by drinking in milk (1 Peter 2:1-3).

When you start over in the House of Truth you will no longer be a slave to sin (John 8:31-32).  You will not be a slave to sin because the Man of Truth will set you free from sin (John 8:34-36).  You will grow in obedience to the Father of Truth until doing what is right is as natural as doing what was wrong used to be (Romans 6:15-17).  All you have to do is stay in the House of Truth.

It will be a time to start over because the Spirit of Truth will give you the ability to obey the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) from the heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27).  The Father of Truth will put the Spirit of Truth in your heart (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).  Everyone will be able to see that the Spirit of Truth is writing the epistle of the Man of Truth on your heart (2 Corinthians 3:2-3).  Since the Spirit of Truth will be in your heart you will be able call the Father of Truth your daddy (Galatians 4:6).  You will no longer find it hard to keep His commandments (1 John 5:3).  You will not find it hard to keep the Law of Truth because you will be able to join me in saying that the Law of Truth has been written on my heart.

When you start over you will not instantly have everything fixed.  You will still have the same problems as before.  You might even suffer some of the consequences from the decisions you made before you started over.  You will have the same pressures as before.

However you will be different on the inside and that will make all the difference.  You will no longer be relying on only your own will power to have the strength to change.  You will have the Spirit of Truth living on the inside.  You will be on the side of the Father of Truth.  You will the Man of Truth interceding on your behalf.

So your response to those problems, consequences and pressures will be different.  You will no longer keep making the same decisions that you made before that keep perpetuating your problems.  You will see everything differently and react differently.  This will drive different decisions that will lead to different results and ultimately to a different destination.

When you start over in the House of Truth you will have changed your destination from death to life (John 5:24).  You will know that the death of your body begins your life of forever being with the Man of Truth (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).  You will no longer be in bondage to the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).  The second death will never come to those who have started over in the House of Truth (Revelation 20:6).  You will understand what I mean when I say that the moment of my last breath is the moment I become alive.

You need to understand that starting over means changes in every area of life and not everyone is going to be happy about those changes.  When you come into the House of Truth to start over some people will turn on you (Matthew 10:21-22).   You will suffer some sort of persecution from other people when you come into the House of Truth (2 Timothy 3:12).  They will think that it strange that you no longer do the same kind of things that you once did (1 Peter 4:3-5).  Yet whatever you suffer at their hands for the sake of remaining in the House of Truth will only make you more like the Man of Truth (1 Peter 4:12-14).  When you start over in the House of Truth it is so you can become like the Man of Truth in this world (1 John 4:15-17).

You come into the House of Truth to start over when you surrender control of your life to the Man of Truth because you believe that His Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10).  Today is the day to come into the House of Truth because now is a time to start over (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Come into the House of Truth.

Cleaning Up The Christmas Mess

How should the Children of Truth  (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) respond to efforts to remove "Christ" from "Christmas"?

When I was growing up in the Ozarks, I was never really fond of Christmas.

Of course, there were somethings that I liked about the whole Christmas season.

There was the singing. I liked going to church, and singing Christmas carols.  I liked caroling with my friends.  I liked that people were extra nice during Christmas time.  They would even smile at my futile efforts to sing on key and in tune.  I guess it was really true, that it was the thought that counted.

I also liked the way, that people were generally nicer, and more charitable, during the Christmas season than any other time of the year.  People would go out of their way to show kindness to one another, and help each other out.  It was like for one month of each year, they actually tried to live like they were the Children of Truth.  Usually the people who lived there, just went to church on Sunday to make payments on their fire insurance, without church having any real effect, on how they lived the other six days of the week.

In fact, I liked most things that associated Christmas with the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ).  I liked manger scenes, and did not even mind being a wise man every year in the Christmas play at our small rural church.  (I always said that it was type casting.  People who knew me thought that was really funny.)

Still, the things about Christmas that I did not like, outweighed the things that I liked.

Foremost, there was the hypocrisy.  Many of the people there had a certain amount of disdain, and distrust for Jews, even though they knew so little about Jews, that they could not have picked a Jew out of a crowd of one.  Yet, they would sing songs about the Man of Truth ransoming Israel, and being born the King of the Jews.  Why were they excited about someone who was the king of a people, who many of them blamed for every trouble in their lives?  Did they think that the King of  the Jews, was not also a Jew?  How could they say, that they loved him but not his people?

Also, the niceness in public from Thanksgiving to Christmas, was just some sort of blind obedience to an unspoken social custom of southern culture.  When people were out of public sight, the gloves came off, and the fighting began.

Mostly, they fought over things that were Christmas related.  For example, what the other people in their immediate family were going to have to give up, to ensure that they were able to meet all of the gift giving expectations, of their friends and relatives.  They would also fight about, whose relatives they would visit, at what day and time.  Often, a man and his wife would have parents, who lived no where near each other, who both demanded that the grandchildren be at their house, on the exact same day and time.  Of course, if you were growing up divorced, then it was even worse.

When they finally did meet up with their families for Christmas, there was often more fighting.  People would be on edge, and at last let out whatever they had bottled up, since last Christmas.  It seemed that any perceived wrong, or sleight, that anyone had ever done to anyone else, even if it was when they were both toddlers, came out during Christmas.  It was a far cry from peace on Earth and goodwill towards men.

Often this tension was driven by the crass commercialism of American Christmas.  Like everything else, the Americans had found a way to turn Christmas into a lucrative business opportunity.  There were constant advertisements, telling people that if they really loved their families, then they would buy them the things this year, that would keep them from being losers, who only had the items, that had kept them from being losers last year.  Of course, the same people that sold those must-have items of last year, for inflated prices, were selling the must-have items of this year, for inflated prices.

The spokesman, and icon, of this constant materialistic discontent, was Santa Claus.  This shyster would tell children, if they were nice, then he would personally deliver the gifts that they most desired, to their home.  He would find a way to break into any home.  This conman would also tell them, that he was watching them all the time.  I thought it was kind of creepy, that this fat man in a red suit was watching me, go to the bathroom and take baths.  I really felt sorry for the girls, that he was watching.

Then I learned when I was nine, that my mother and others had perpetrated this fraud upon me.  I decided to get even, by pretending that I still believed in this fraud, and going along with their scam, until they decided to admit, that they had lied to me, themselves.  I collected loot for three more years.

While I did sometimes get stuff I really wanted for Christmas, there was an equally good chance that I would get something that I did not want, did not need, or would not fit.  The same was true for the gifts that I gave to others - particularly relatives who were 60 or more years older than me.  I had to work to buy my own clothes since I was seven years old, and money was scarce.  I would have much rather that everyone kept their own money, instead of going through the gift giving hassle, that mostly benefited merchants like Wal-mart.

Instead, I wanted to invest whatever money I could scrape up, in Wal-mart stock.  After all, Wal-mart was headquartered in Northwest Arkansas, you could by as little as a single share in the layaway department, for a small amount of money, and they were always opening new stores.  Instead, my mother made me save up just about every dime, that did not go to necessities like clothes, so at the end of each year, I could buy things that other people probably neither needed, nor wanted, in return for them providing a similar service to me.  Somehow, it seemed obvious to everyone but me, that perpetuating a system, where I would give up investment capital, to receive a sweater that itched too much to wear, was one size too small, and that I would outgrow in a few months, was of more lasting value, than stocks whose price grew so fast, that they had be split multiple times over the next thirty years.

On top of all that, was the decorating.  It would suck up almost every Saturday, after Thanksgiving, until the day after Christmas.  The men (which included my younger brother, who was five years old the first year we lived on the farm) would start by going out to the middle of nowhere, as soon as there enough light to see, no matter how cold it was, or how much other work we had, until we found a young cedar tree, that appeared to be the right size for our living room.  Then we would cut it down close to the ground.  Then we would sort of half-drag, half-carry, the cedar tree to the truck, where we would place in the bed, and tie it down.  Of course, our arms would be itching, from the scratches we received from the cedar tree needles.

When we finally got home, the tree would leave a trail of cedar needles, from the front door to the corner, where it was placed.  The women would look over the tree each year, when we attempted to set it up, and always noted every manner, in which it was less than perfect.  Some years, it was a little too tall, and they would want it shortened somehow. This never went well, and someone almost always ended up, with some sort of minor injury.  Other years, it would be a little too short, and they would want us to figure out some way to elevate it, which always made it a lot more likely to tip over.

Real trees cut by hand, and then half dragged through a doorway, that they could barely be squeezed through, always ended up lopsided, by the time they were placed in a tree stand.  The trick was to hide the bare spots, while having the tree not lean towards the side with more solid coverage.  This violated the laws of physics, and the tree became like a set mouse trap, waiting for the smallest motion to set it off.

Then came the actual decorating of the tree.  This too was a painful process, that only added to our itching woes.  We would be careful to place heavier objects on the more barren side, as the tree wobbled in its stand.  As the weight of decorations took their toll on the branches, the tree would continue to be more susceptible to swaying.  More than once over the years, the whole tree toppled over with a loud crash, after it had been decorated.  Then the men would have to place the tree back up somehow, and try to figure out how to keep it from doing so again.  Sometimes it crashed more than once in a season.

Even when things went relatively well, there was still a tremendous mess that had to be cleaned up, from bringing the tree into the living room.  Then the tree had to be watered every single day, to keep it from drying out and catching on fire, from the electric lights.  Every day, the tree would shed what seemed like a gallon of needles, and every day one of us boys had to clean it up.  Finally, Christmas day would arrive, and the nightmare was almost over.

The big moment would come, when the presents under the tree would be handed out by one, or more of us boys.  It was probably our job, because we could fit under what was left of the tree, more easily than the adults.  Mostly likely though, it was because us boys were expendable extras, in meeting the endless demands of farming life.  Also, when the tree did fall on one of us one year, the adults were able to lift it off of the unfortunate child.

Then we would open our presents, with the greatest of care.  We were careful to not tear the paper, so we might be able to use it next Christmas.  Still, after devoting countless hours of turmoil and pain, to arrive at the moment of gift opening, it would all be over in 10 minutes time.

Finally, the day that I had been waiting for since the Friday after Thanksgiving, would arrive - the day after Christmas! 

Down would come the skeletal remains of the Christmas tree, and it would be dragged out to a snow covered field, where it would become the funeral pyre of another Christmas.  Down would come the decorations, and everything else that reminded us of the most awful time of the year.  It was the happiest day of the entire Christmas season.  I knew that all was well, until the Friday after next Thanksgiving, once I started cleaning up the Christmas mess.

Today, there is another kind of Christmas mess that needs cleaning up.  Like those Christmases in the Ozarks, of long ago, there has been a lot of fighting over Christmas each year.  There has been an annual effort, by an American society that moves ever further from its moral foundation, based on the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law), to remove every reference to the Man of Truth from Christmas.

Many times, they do not even want to use the word "Christmas" but instead say "Holidays". 

Now it is obviously more inclusive, of those in American society, who observe other holidays like Chanukah, Saint Lucia Day, and Kwanza, to say "Happy Holidays", instead of  "Merry Christmas", but that is not really their intention.

For example, at where I work, a lady came down from the main office on the top floor, and invited everyone to come up for a little celebration.  I inquired about what would be there.  She told me, that there were sugar cookies, punch, and the like.  When I said, "Oh a Christmas party", she jumped back a step, and raised both hands in alarm.  She said, that we are a diverse company, and it was a "Holiday party". 

Yet, when I arrived to inspect their efforts, I found Christmas decorations, including Santa and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, a Christmas tree, red and green napkins, and an assortment of traditional Christmas foods.  The only music that played were instrumental versions of classic Christmas songs. There was not one single thing that referenced any other holiday, nor to anything related to the Man of Truth, like a manger scene.  It was an obvious effort, to remove any reference of anything that might be linked to the Man of Truth, from Christmas.

How should the Children of Truth respond to these efforts?

Some of them have spent considerable effort fighting with society to keep "Christ" in "Christmas".  The only thing, the least bit worthwhile about Christmas, is the attention that it puts on the Man of Truth.  If you remove "Christ" from the word "Christmas", all you have left is "mas", which is pronounced "mess".   They think that they are cleaning up the Christmas mess.

Still others have responded, by massive efforts to participate in Christmas, in order to ensure that the Man of Truth remains at the center of Christmas, each year.  They put on holiday light displays, and Christmas plays.  Unfortunately, they often undermine their own efforts, by including secular things like Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and songs like "Jingle Bells", while they think that they are cleaning up the Christmas mess.

Like in most families, there is a lot fighting inside of the family of the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD), each year over Christmas.  Many of the Children of Truth have come to realize that Christmas is basically a pagan holiday, which they should not be celebrating in the first place, as explained by The Mensch Who Killed Christmas.  So, should the Children of Truth even be concerned about efforts to secularize a pagan holiday?

Fortunately, the Book of Truth (The Bible) has answers to these questions, for anyone that is willing to allow the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) to lead them to the truth.

The answers to these questions, really revolve around the answer to another question:  What defines religion that the Father of Truth finds pure?

Pure religion that He finds undefiled, is to both take care of the poor, like widows and orphans, AND to remain clean from the ways of the world (James 1:27).

It is for this reason, that the Man of Truth said, that the greatest two commandments were to love His Father with all of your being, AND to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).  In fact, every other commandment in the Law of Truth, is just details of how to carry out these two commandments, that define His religion of love (Matthew 22:40).

In order to get a clear picture of how, the Father of Truth says, to carry out these greatest two commandments, that are central to pure religion, we must be careful to not add commandments, that He did not give, nor to do away with commandments, that He did give (Deuteronomy 12:32).  We must remember, that the Man of Truth did not come to do away with the commandments, that define love for the Father of Truth and for other people (Matthew 5:17).   Our religion is worthless, if it is based on the commandments of men, instead of His Commandments (Mark 7:7).  We will not go unpunished, if we try to add our own commandments, or take away His commandments, because that is making our own religion, to replace His religion of love (Revelation 22:18-19).

It is keeping the traditions made by other people, that is burdensome (Matthew 23:4).  This means that we must not cling to any tradition, that contradicts any commandment that He has given, because that removes His Word, from being the basis of our decisions (Mark 7:9).  He has given us the Spirit of Truth, to write the Law of Truth upon our hearts (Hebrews 8:10).  So the commandments that define His religion of love, are not too heavy for the Children of Truth to carry out (1 John 5:3).

Any tradition or practice, that contradicts the Word of Truth, is from the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) (John 8:44).  The Father of Lies uses these traditions and practices to blind people, so that they will not see things clearly, and come into the House of Truth (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).  The Children of Truth are to not make any room in their religion, for anything that is from him (Ephesians 4:27).  The Children of Truth are to have nothing to do with any practice, that is from the Father of Lies (Ephesians 5:11). The Children of Truth are not to love secular practices, because they come from the Father of Lies, instead of the Father of Truth (1 John 2:15). [Secular means "belonging to the world".]

Now with this in mind we can clearly see how to respond to these efforts, and begin cleaning up the Christmas mess.

The root of the entire issue is not, that a secular society is making some sort of effort to "remove Christ from Christmas".  That is only a symptom of the greater sickness that is destroying America from within.  The real issue is, that there is an effort to remove the Man of Truth from American society completely.  Those, who are behind these efforts, are doing so, because they deny the existence of the Man of Truth, and His Father, just like the Man of Lies (The Antichrist aka The Beast) will do (1 John 2:22).  They operate in the same spirit as the Man of Lies (1 John 4:3).

They have been publishing one lie after another, for generations, to move America from basing its laws on the Law of Truth, through a subtle influence.  It is the same process that has lead to the disintegration of Thanksgiving.  When it is finished, it will bring about the death of America.  The only way to avert that, is for enough Americans who oppose this agenda, to recognize that is a time for civil disobedience, and resist it, by refusing to comply with laws, that oppose the commandments of the Father of Truth, that are written in the Law of Truth.

The Children of Truth must recognize, that these efforts are not battles, in some sort of cultural war.  The war is spiritual in nature, and people are not who they are really fighting against, so they need to respond accordingly (Ephesians 6:11-13).

So there is no prohibition in the Book of Truth against celebrating birthdays, but neither is there any commandment to celebrate the birthday of the Man of Truth.  The Children of Truth must not change the religion of the Father of Truth, by adding prohibitions, or commandments, that He has not made.  Still, the Children in Truth cannot call December 25th, the birthday of the Man of Truth, and be walking in truth, when the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka New Testament) gives enough information, to be certain that when Jesus was born, was about three months later.

They could however, celebrate December 25th, as his name day like people do in Greece, and eastern Europe, because that would be in line with the truth.  [When I lived in Greece, the Greeks celebrated the birthday of everyone with the same first name, on the same day.  For example, they celebrated my wife's birthday in November, even though her birthday was in April, because that is when they celebrated the birthday of everyone with her name.]  The name day of names like "Jesus" ("Jesse", "Joshua", etc.) is December 25th, and the name day of names like "Emmanuel", is December 26th.

Even if the Children of Truth decide to do such a thing, then they must be careful to avoid including pagan customs, that have their roots in idolatry, such as Christmas trees, and decorating with greenery.  There must be no place in their religion, for lying to their own children, about a man named Santa Claus, because that too is from the religion of the Father of Lies.  The same is true about manger scenes, that include wise men, because that also contradicts the Renewed Covenant.

Still, they might want to take advantage of the raised awareness of the Man of Truth, during this season, to bring people into the House of Truth (Colossians 4:5).  They can sing songs, that truthfully tell about his birth, and other events of his life.  They can put on plays, that tell the story of the Man of Truth, perhaps starting with the prophets, moving to his birth in the Spring, having the wise men showing up two years later, his ministry as a grown man, and ending with his death, burial, and resurrection.  There are many opportunities to present people with the Good News, during this season.  For example, I once went to a drive through a light display, that started with the Garden of Eden, and ended with the New Jerusalem coming down.  The important thing is to only tell the truth, about the Man of Truth, so people can come into the House of Truth.

In like manner, there is neither a commandment to give each other gifts, nor a prohibition against such a practice.  People are commonly off work at this time of year, so it is a convenient time to meet with family and friends, to exchange gifts.  However, they would have more time with each other, and more fun, if they met for the Jamboree of the Father of Truth, instead of rushing all over the place, over the span of a day or two.

Still, the Children of Truth certainly should only give gifts, that are in proportion to their income (2 Corinthians 8:12).  No one should be compelled to give gifts, especially ones they cannot afford, because that fosters resentment (2 Corinthians 9:7).  They should especially not build up discontent over material things, to cause other people to seek after material things, because that is leading them into idolatry (Colossians 3:4-6).  That is the end result of always seeking after bigger, better, newer things.

Their life does not consist of what they own (Luke 12:15).  The Children of Truth are supposed to learn how to be content, regardless of their wealth or poverty (Philippians 4:11-12).  They should be content if they have food, clothing, and shelter (1 Timothy 6:8).  After all, it is the gifts from the tree, that the Man of Truth purchased at Calvary, that really matter.

The Children of Truth must be wary of the real danger, that comes from being distracted by Christmas, and losing sight, of what the birth of the Man of Truth really means.

For example, I live a couple of blocks from a mega-church, that has one of the ten largest Christmas light displays in the world.  It has over two million bulbs.  They start working on putting up their lights in August, and it takes until May to take them all down.  They have displays of children playing, Santa Claus, animals, clowns, cowboys, and wise men coming to the manger.   There is hardly anything, that actually lines up, with what is recorded in the Book of Truth.  Their electric bill for this light display was several hundred thousand dollars, each year, until they got new LED lights.  Would not the efforts of their congregation, and their money been better spent, on helping the poor of their community, and supporting missionaries to spread the Good News?

The same could be said, of those who spend their treasures, talents and time, either campaigning to artificially keep the Man of Truth in a holiday, that was never really about him to start with, or attacking those, who ignorantly celebrate Christmas.

All of the Children of Truth would be better off, spending their energy in carrying out the Great Commission, to teach the commandments of the Man of Truth to all nations (Matthew 28:19-20).  It would be much better, if they would focus their energy on preaching the Good News about the Man of Truth, as he commanded (Mark 16:15-16).   That is the best way to go about cleaning up the Christmas mess.

The Children of Truth should not be overly alarmed about these efforts to remove the Man of Truth from society.   The Man of Truth warned, that the love of many for him would become cold, because evil would thrive, shortly before his return (Matthew 24:12).  The Children of Truth should be looking up, because this means that their redemption is close at hand (Luke 21:28).  They need to remember, that the Man of Lies cannot come until after there is a falling away of many from following the Man of Truth (2 Thessalonians 2:3).  The Day of Alarming is coming soon, which will set off a series of events that will lead to the Man of Truth ruling the Earth from Jerusalem.  He will finish cleaning up the Christmas mess.

The worst part about the Christmas mess, is that all of the distractions of fighting over Christmas, keeps people from ever knowing, how to come into the House of Truth.  Anyone, who surrenders control of their lives to the Man of Truth, because they are persuaded, that His Father raised him from the dead, will come into the House of Truth (Romans 10:8-10).  After they come into the House of Truth, then they can begin to grow enough to learn about cleaning up the Christmas mess (1 Peter 2:1-3).

Come into the House of Truth.

The Mensch Who Killed Christmas

What if Dr. Suess had written the truth about Christmas?

It might have went something like this:

There once was a Mensch
who lived just over the hill
from a town surrounded by a trench
that was named Saints Ville.

The Mensch would go there every Spring
just to hear their children sing.
The Mensch would visit each summer
arriving in his white and blue Hummer.
The Mensch would sell his wares
every Autumn in their fairs.

But as a boy in a sleigh one Winter
he became most ill by a tiny splinter.
So when it began to snow
The Mensch dared not go.

So every winter he spent all alone
busily crafting each ware
that he would sell over the phone
and with the needy his profits share.

Then one fateful year
The Mensch did hear
news most distressing
that was quite depressing.

In from the cold
he had taken in a stranger
who shined like gold
And warned of danger.

The people of Saints Ville
who lived just over the hill,
the angel went on to say,
had all been deceived
in a such a terrible way
that The Mensch hardly conceived
every sobering word
from that angel he heard.

So The Mensch faced his fears,
got in his hummer and started to drive
fighting back the tears,
knowing that his friends might not survive.

When The Mensch went over the hill
he saw something in Saints Ville
that gave him a terrible fright
as he peered through the night.

There was a tree of wondrous height
that was decorated with golden balls
and gave off a shimmering light
in the midst of the shopping malls.

As The Mensch headed towards town
his face made a terrible frown.
The sound of music he could hear
but it seemed wrong to his ear.

When The Mensch arrived
he could hardly believe his eyes.
There was a celebration derived
from pagan customs and numerous lies.

The children were only concerned
about the presents they demanded to get
while their parents were spurned
but went further and further into debt.

He wondered at what did next appear.
There was a man dressed in red
with eight tiny reindeer
in the air pulling a big sled.

The biggest surprise was when
he saw something even stranger
there were three wise men
kneeling down at a manger.

He could see this deception
from the False Church of Rome
had a warm reception
in almost every Saint's home.

Then in a moment of hope
The Mensch spied a glass box
that held The Book
in the midst of Founder's Square.

With his next move the Saints could not cope
but it made them jump out of their socks
as they dared to look
on a sight that made them stare.

Below the box was a sign that read,
"Break in case of emergency"
Everyone shimmered and stammered
in uncertain dread,
as with a sense of urgency
The Mensch used the little hanging hammer.

Of course, there is no need to mention
that now The Mensch had everyone's attention.

He could not stand another look.
So he stood on the stage and let out a shout.
Then The Mensch held up The Book
to remove every doubt.

Suddenly all of the music stopped
and nobody bopped.
With every eye on him
The Mensch looked grim.

All the Saints in Saints Ville
could see his alarm.
The Mensch had come over the hill
to save them from harm!

The Mensch knew the truth
that had to be spoken.
He spoke to the old and the youth
as the silence was broken.

He lifted up The Book before their eyes
and said that it would make them wise.
The truth about everything is in The Book
for those who dared to take a look.

He reminded them that in these pages
is all the wisdom of the ages.
"What does it say
about this holiday?

This story of a man most jolly
riding in a sleigh that flies
is surely untruthful folly
from the Father of Lies.

Year after year you go into debt
and train your children to be greedy,
leaving you wishing for something yet
to take care of those who are needy.

Now try to remember
that it snows in December.
So this night, there can be no doubt,
is one when shepherds would not be out.

The magi came to the Youth
at the house in reverent fear
when the Man of Truth
was a child of more than a year!

About this tree that is so adored
are these instructions from the Lord?
I intend to use this ax
unless anyone can dispute these facts."

The Saints all stood in wonder and shame
how could they have fallen for such a game?
Still some looked with all of their might
they searched The Book all through the night.

No where in The Book could it be found
so with a whack and a thud
the tree was felled to the ground
and then landed in mud.

Then to protect them from danger
down came the manger
where wise men did not appear.
Shepherds had not watched their flock
each night at the wrong time of year
The Saints had learned with a shock.

Next the tree was set ablaze
and Santa was cast into the fire.
Then The Mensch did something to amaze.
He called Christmas "the work of a liar".

Then the Saints all cried
saying "even though we lied
we need a holiday to make us cheery
because Winter can be so dreary".

The Mensch said that he had not ruined their fun
by taking away a day they thought was great.
Instead of a false holiday that lasted for one
there was a true holiday that lasted for eight!

Then The Mensch opened The Book for all to see
how the Man of Truth celebrated the Feast of Dedication
and explained how they should do the same as he.
Then all the Saints pondered this in quiet meditation.

The Father of Truth had given them better holidays
than those that celebrate a natural phenomenon
like the Winter Solstice and the arrival of Spring.
The Book showed them how to walk in His ways.
"Keeping His Feasts", The Mensch went on and on
to explain, "was not just a Jewish thing."

The Saints of Saints Ville
came to see things that were real
and how Christmas had move them year after year
further and further from reverent fear.

So for the next eight days
they mended their ways
and dedicated themselves to the One
who had given them His son.

That self centered celebration came to stop
as they learned each night how to play with a top.
Every night they threw a party for the poor
and it was more fun than they ever had before!

They no longer taught their children to be greedy.
Instead they showed them how to take of the needy.
Spreading the Good News became their mission.
So they could carry out the Great Commission.

Their money was used to amend
those who had fell into neglect.
They gave up a life of pretend
and lived like they were the Elect!

"Hanukkah is a holiday
that surely won't bore us"
they said each and every day
as they lit their Menorahs.

So they decided to walk in the Truth
from the eldest to the youth.
The Feasts of Truth they would now celebrate
instead of listening to those who were celibate.

They had neglected doing His will
when the Saints had been distracted
until The Mensch came to Saints Ville
and all of these lies were retracted.

Pagan holidays they will no longer be keeping,
but said, as they with joy were weeping,
"The Father of Truth will not dismiss us
thanks to The Mensch who killed Christmas!".

Now this may have caught you off guard and even given you a shock or two.  You may be wondering about some things and have some questions.

For example, what is a Mensch? 

A Mensch is a person of good and noble character.  It is the opposite of an Unmensch.

Wasn't the Man of Truth  (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) born on December 25th?

No, he was not even born until about another three months later.  In fact the Book of Truth (the Bible) gives enough information to determine when was Jesus born down to the day within a two day margin.

Didn't Joseph (Yoseph) and Mary (Mariam) flee to Egypt with the baby Jesus (Yeshua) within a few days of his birth?

No.  Eight days after the Man of Truth was born they circumcised him (Luke 2:21).  Then when he was six weeks old they took him with them when his mother went to the Temple to be purified according to the commandment of the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) (Luke 2:22-24).  This when Simeon and Anna blessed the Man of Truth (Luke 2:25-38).  Then they returned to Nazareth to live there (Luke 2:39).

Weren't the wise men at the manger?

No.  They came to the house that the Man of Truth lived in when he was a toddler (Matthew 2:11). [The Greek word "paidion" translated as "young child" means a child that is older than an infant and is generally used of a child that can stand on its own and has started to walk.]

When did the wise men visit the Man of Truth?

The wise men saw the star appear when the Man of Truth was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-2).  Herod then asked them when did the star appear (Matthew 2:7).  Herod then had all of the children that were two years of age and younger were killed based on when the star had first appeared to the wise men (Matthew 2:16).

So the wise men went to visit the Man of Truth when he was about two years old.

Where did the wise men visit the Man of Truth?

When they arrived in Jerusalem then Herod directed them to Bethlehem (Matthew 2:3-8).  They then went to the house, which may not have even been in Bethlehem, where the Man of Truth was by following the star instead of the directions of Herod (Matthew 2:9-11).  Then they left to go back to the East while Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with the Man of Truth (Matthew 2:12-15).  Herod then had all of the children that were two years and younger killed in the area from Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem to Ramah, north of Jerusalem based on where he was told that the Man of Truth was born (Matthew 2:16-18).   Joseph then intended to move the family to Judea after Herod died but was instructed to go to Nazareth instead (Matthew 2:19-23).  Nazareth is where Joseph had returned to previously when the Man of Truth was six weeks old (Luke 2:39).

So it is not certain where they went to pay homage to the Man of Truth.  They may have went to a house in Nazareth where the Man of Truth went to when he was six weeks old. (Nazareth was also in the jurisdiction of Herod so they would still be in danger and would still need to flee to Egypt until Herod was dead.  However, Herod split his kingdom in his will and it was out of the jurisdiction of his son Archelaus.)  Since Joseph sought to go to Judea after Herod died it could be that he had moved to Judea at some point after returning to Nazareth when the Man of Truth was six weeks old.  Even so, there is no indication of where in Judea he sought to live.  It might have been Bethlehem since he would have to be there every ten years for the census but it could have been somewhere else in Judea.

So it is not certain where the wise men went to visit the Man of Truth.  What is certain is that the wise men did not kneel at the manger in Bethlehem in worship of the Man of Truth when he was an infant.  They did this at a house, either in Nazareth or an unnamed city of Judea, or Bethlehem, when the Man of Truth was about two years old.

Is there anything like a Christmas tree in the Book of Truth?

Sort of but not exactly.

The closest thing is the description of idol worshipers cutting down a tree, decorating it with silver and gold, and placing it on a stand (Jeremiah 10:3-4).   While this sounds a lot like a Christmas tree, if you read the rest of the passage it is clear that this is actually an idol that they carve into some sort of statue (image), like perhaps something that looks like a man, and then clothed with expensive cloth colored purple and blue (Jeremiah 10:5-9).  It is obvious that these idols are being worshiped even though they have no power to deliver anyone from trouble (Jeremiah 10:10-15).

So while there are many similarities in creating these idols to decorating a Christmas tree, there is one important difference.  The makers of these idols are doing so for the expressed purpose of worshiping them while practically no one puts up a Christmas tree to worship it.  I have never met one single person who has looked to a Christmas tree to deliver them from trouble like these idol worshipers did with the idol they carved from a tree.

Do Christmas trees have any other connection to idol worship?

Yes.  Christmas trees came from the customs of pre-Christian Germany.  Originally they decorated an oak tree that they worshiped until Saint Boniface cut it down and replaced it with an evergreen tree in the 6th century AD that was supposed to remind them of the Trinity and heaven by its shape.  The Germans then began cutting down evergreen trees and decorating them in their homes after that.

The Germans were hardly alone in tree worship and many other countries had similar practices that also changed into placing something similar to a Christmas tree in their homes.  Over the years, the placing of Christmas trees in homes became a tradition that continued on long after most people had ceased to worship trees.

The tree worshiping roots of Christmas trees are exactly the same as those who worshiped trees in Canaan and other places.  It was under green trees that idols were worshiped (Deuteronomy 12:2).  It was in the groves of trees where idol worship was carried out (1 Kings 15:13).  It was green trees that were used for the poles which were decorated to look like the fertility goddess (Asherah) (2 Kings 17:10).  It was under green trees that sexual sin was committed in worshiping the fertility goddess (Jeremiah 3:6).

So while Christmas trees are not idols (unless you actually worship it) the custom of cutting down a tree, decorating it and placing it on a stand definitely has its roots in idolatry.

What does it matter if pagan customs are incorporated in honoring the Man of Truth for his birthday?

The Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) does not want His Children worshiping Him by doing the same things that the pagans do to worship their idols that He ordered destroyed (Deuteronomy 12:2-4).  For this reason there are not even to be trees anywhere near where the Children of Truth worship Him nor anything even resembling an idol (Deuteronomy 16:21-22).  The Children of Truth are to worship in spirit and truth through customs He gave to the Jews instead of Pagan customs (John 4:22-24).  Pagan customs come from customs used for worshiping Spirits of Lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods) and the Father of Truth does not want the Children of Truth to have anything to do with Spirits of Lies (1 Corinthians 10:20).  He wants His Children to abstain from anything that appears to have anything to do with evil things like idol worship (1 Thessalonians 5:22).

So for these reasons, Christmas trees and other pagan customs should not be used to honor the birthday of the Man of Truth, even on the actual day of his birth, much less on a day that came via the Romans from Babylonian sun god worship.

What is so bad about Santa Claus?

Foremost, people are perpetrating a fraud on their own children, often with the help of the religious professionals in the place where they congregate.  In other words, they are lying to their children instead of telling them the truth.  In fact, everything about Santa Claus is a lie.

Not only that, many things about Santa Claus, like the hat he wears, come from pagan customs rooted in Babylonian sun god worship. This another bad thing about Santa Claus.  Allowing this fraud, who is dressed like a pagan priest, into the lives of children because it is fun is the Satan Clause.

The Children of Truth are supposed to teach their children the Word of Truth (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).  If they train their children in the Word of Truth then they will not depart from the Way of Truth when they grow up (Proverbs 22:6).

All lies are from the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) (John 8:44).  There was nothing that belonged to him in the life of the Man of Truth (John 14:30).  The Children of Truth should not make room for anything that is from him in their lives either (Ephesians 4:27).  Their Father wants them to walk in truth at all times (2 John 1:4).

The Children of Truth should strive to always be walking in truth so they should have absolute nothing to do with Santa Claus.

Does the Book of Truth really say that the Man of Truth celebrated Hanukkah?

Yes, even though it was called the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah means dedication) he celebrated it during the Winter at the Temple in Jerusalem (John 10:21-22).

What is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah is the Feast of Dedication to celebrate the dedicating the Temple after it was restored by the Maccabees who did exploits as had been revealed about 300 years earlier to Daniel the Prophet of Truth (Daniel 11:31-33).  It is also called the Festival of Lights.

Why should Gentile Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) celebrate a Jewish holiday?

It's not just a Jewish thing to celebrate Hanukkah.  Hanukkah has many applications for all of the Children of Truth.   For example, it is about the Children of Truth dedicating the Temple that is their body.  Everything that the Father of Truth gave to Israel is meant for His Gentile Children of Truth who have became part of the commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:11-13).

Is it enough to avoid pagan customs associated with Christmas and instead practice Biblical customs associated with Biblical holidays like Hanukkah?

NO!

The commandment to love other people is next in importance to the commandment to love the Father of Truth (Mark 12:30-31).  The Children of Truth are to always remember the poor who live in the House of Truth (Galatians 2:10).  The Children of Truth are to do good to everyone but especially those who are in need in the House of Truth (Galatians 6:10).  Not doing what we can to provide for the needs of each other makes us worse than being a pagan (1 Timothy 5:8).  It is not enough to avoid pagan customs unless you also take care of the poor (James 1:27).

In like manner, keeping the right holidays in the right way is worthless if it distracts the Children of Truth from doing their part to carry out the Great Commission.  The Children of Truth must make disciples for the Man of Truth of all kinds of people (Matthew 28:19-20).  The Children of Truth must tell everyone the Good News about the Man of Truth so they can be saved (Mark 16:15-16).  Anyone that does not do all they can to save those who do not know the Man of Truth are guilty of the worst kind of hatred.  They simply do not love the Father of Truth (1 John 4:20-21).

The Children of Truth do not use keeping the lessor matters of the Law as an excuse to neglect the weightier matters of the Law.  If you observe the weekly Sabbath and all of the holidays found in the Book of Truth but do not take care of other people then whose Sabbath are you keeping?

Does it really matter if I observe Christmas or Hanukkah or nothing at all?

It does matter at all unless you come into the House of Truth.  No one is saved by observing or not observing holidays or even by keeping the Law of Truth (Romans 3:27-28).  You must first come into the House of Truth by surrendering control of your life to the Man of Truth because you believe his Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10).  Only after you come into the House of Truth will you be able to grow to the point that you can eat meat (Hebrews 5:12-13).   It is only after you come into the House of Truth and have learned the foundational truths that things like killing Christmas will really begin to matter (Hebrews 6:1-2).

Come into the House of Truth.

It's Not Just A Jewish Thing

Should Christians celebrate Jewish holidays?

Every year more and more of the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) are celebrating various "Jewish" holidays like Hanukkah, Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles and the like.

Of course, this is to be expected in Israel, because it is the Jewish state.  One might even expect it in various places, like parts of America that have a high Jewish population.  However, this is happening in many places in America, where there is practically no Jewish presence.  More than that, this is a global trend, and not just an American phenomenon.  

While one might expect this from those who belong to a Messianic congregation, the surprising thing is that many of them, are members of various churches, that meet on Sunday.  This is happening in congregations of every denomination that the Children of Truth attend.

Some of them are quite open about observing these holidays, but many more have been quietly doing so in their homes, without telling other people.  Often initially they celebrate these "Jewish" holidays, in addition to various traditional "Christian" holidays like Christmas and Easter.  Over time, many of them drop off celebrating the traditional "Christian" holidays in their homes, so that these "Jewish" holidays become the only religious holidays that they celebrate.

Many of them keep celebrating these "Jewish" holidays, and often even refrain from working on the Sabbath (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday), even though they still attend congregations that meet on Sunday.  In fact, I have known a number of religious professionals, who observe these "Jewish" holidays, while still conducting services on Sunday.

Now one might expect this, in a family where the husband or wife is Jewish, or one of them grew up celebrating these "Jewish" holidays.  However, most of the time, neither one of them has any known Jewish ancestry, and they did not grow up in a Jewish household.  So why is it becoming more and more common, for the Gentile Children of Truth to celebrate "Jewish" holidays?

Well, for one thing there has been an ever increasing percentage of the Children of Truth, who are Jewish.  The Jewish Children of Truth have had influence on the Gentile Children of Truth, even as they both become more and more like the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ).  They are both experiencing changes in their perspectives.  So in some part, it is a by product of this trend.  After all, it's a Jewish thing to be following the Man of Truth.

The main thing, that both the Jewish Children of Truth and the Gentile Children of Truth, have been coming to realize, is that these "Jewish" holidays, are not really "Jewish" holidays at all.  Most of these so-called "Jewish" holidays, are the Feasts of Truth (Moedim aka Feasts of the Father of Truth).

The Father of Truth said, that the Feasts of Truth belong to Him (Leviticus 23:2).  He said, that the Feasts of Truth were not just for those Jewish Children of Truth, who were in the wilderness, but were also for the Gentile Children of Truth, who were not there, when these holidays were given (Deuteronomy 29:14-15).  The Jewish Children of Truth were there, because they were in their fathers loins (Hebrews 7:9-10).  So it is the Gentile Children of Truth, who were not there, when these holidays were given, but have a right to celebrate them .

Still, not every Jewish person is part of the Israel that the Father of Truth intended, just because they were among those, who were given these holidays in the wilderness (Romans 9:6-8).  The Children of Truth are the Israel that the Father of Truth always intended, so these holidays are for all of the Children of Truth (Galatians 6:15-16).  These Gentile Children of Truth have a right to celebrate these holidays, because they have become part of that commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:11-13).  So these holidays do not belong to Jewish people, who do not follow the Man of Truth, but they belong to the Children of Truth who have received the better circumcision.

The Gentile Children of Truth have been coming to realize the roots of their faith comes from those Jewish Children of Truth who were given the Feasts of Truth in the wilderness (Romans 11:16-18).   The nature of the entire congregation of the Children of Truth has been reverting back to its original state as more and more Jewish people come back into the House of Truth (Romans 11:24).  So it is only natural that the Gentile Children of Truth would start celebrating the holidays given by their Father with the Jewish Children of Truth in the House of Truth.

These Feasts of Truth are not "Jewish" holidays but are His holidays. So it's not just a Jewish thing to be celebrating these holidays.

Even though it may seem like the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) is doing something new by leading the Gentile Children of Truth to celebrate these "Jewish" holidays this is not a new phenomenon.  In fact, it is very ancient.  It started as soon the Spirit of Truth lead the Jewish Apostles of Truth to bring Gentiles into the House of Truth.

The Gentile Children of Truth gathered offerings on the three Feasts of Truth where first fruits were gathered (First Fruits, Pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles) in both Galatia and Corinth to send to Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1-3). [The Greek phrase, “mian sabbaton” that is translated as "first day of the week" in this verse is literally “first Sabbath”.  These three feasts are referred to as "first Sabbaths" because they were special Sabbaths and almost always occurred before the regular weekly Sabbath.  Two of them always occurred on the first day of the week.  This is part of how we know who changed the Sabbath to Sunday.]

The congregation at Corinth was obviously familiar with the lamb of Passover (Pesach) that represented the Man of Truth (1 Corinthians 5:7).  They knew that Passover was about the death of the Lamb.

There were so few Jews in Philippi that they could not even form a synagogue but instead met to pray at the river on the Sabbath (Acts 16:11-13).  Still Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matzoh) with the almost exclusively Gentile congregation at Philippi when he was on his way to present the first fruits offerings that had been gathered by the mostly Gentile Children of Truth at the Temple in Jerusalem (Acts 20:6).  Also the Gentile Children of Truth at Corinth obviously had been celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread and knew what it meant to purge out the leaven (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  Both of these congregations understood the importance of removing the leaven.

In like manner the congregation at Rome understood the connection between the firstfruits of the barley harvest and the bread made from the rest of the harvest (Romans 11:16).  The Gentiles in the congregation at Corinth were also familiar with the Feast of First Fruits (Bikkurim) (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).   Paul the Jew revealed to them the significance of the raising of the Firstfruits.

Paul the Jew had left the fledgling congregation that he had just started at Ephesus to celebrate Pentecost (Shavuot) in Jerusalem (Acts 18:19-21).  [A careful study of the events before and after show that Pentecost was the Feast of Truth that he celebrated in Jerusalem.  The Feast of Passover occurred too early for him to have arrived in Jerusalem on time after he left Corinth.  The Feast of Tabernacles occurred too late for him to have traveled to Galatia and Phrygia before Winter after he left Jerusalem.]   Both this congregation and the one at Corinth understood the significance of Pentecost since Paul the Jew had celebrated it with the congregation in Ephesus right before he left Ephesus at the end of his three year mission there to collect the first Sabbath offerings from the congregation at Corinth (1 Corinthians 16:8). The next year, the elders of the mostly Gentile congregation at Ephesus understood why Paul the Jew had to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 20:16-17).  A Gentile Child of Truth from Ephesus named Trophimus even went to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost with Paul the Jew (Acts 21:27-29).  The congregations of Ephesus and Corinth understood why waving the leavened bread was so important.

This same congregation at Corinth was also familiar with the sounding of trumpets on the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).  The congregation at Thessaloniki was also familiar enough with the Feast of Trumpets that Paul the Jew could use it to explain the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).  These congregations in Corinth and Thessaloniki that contained many Gentile Children of Truth were familiar with the Day of Alarming that will keep the Father of Truth from taking collateral damage.

Paul the Jew also had fasted on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) with the congregations that he started in Crete (Acts 27:7-9).  It was these congregations in Crete that he left Titus to continue building while he was imprisoned in Rome for the first time (Titus 1:1-5).  He also referenced this same holiday when he wrote to Timothy, who he had left in charge of the congregation at Ephesus when he was imprisoned in Rome for the second time, concerning the day when the Man of Truth would return to the Earth to judge all people and begin his reign over the Earth (2 Timothy 4:1-3).  Timothy and the mostly Gentile congregation were familiar enough with the Day of Atonement to understand that it was this Day when all of the Children of Truth will begin to reign over the Earth with the Man of Truth (2 Timothy 4:8).  These congregations understood the importance of eating the breakfast of champions and total surrender.

Finally, Paul the Jew used the tabernacles built at the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) to explain to the congregation at Corinth that the Father of Truth is building an eternal place where the Children of Truth can dwell with Him forever in their eternal bodies (2 Corinthians 5:1-4).  In like manner the Man of Truth told John the Jew (Yochanon ben Zebedee aka the Apostle John) to write a book of what he saw for the mostly Gentile congregation of Ephesus and the other mostly Gentile congregations of the Roman providence of Asia (Revelation 1:9-11).  In this book the tabernacle built for the Feast of Tabernacles was used to explain to these mostly Gentile congregations how the Children of Truth would live with their Father forever in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-4).  These congregations had experienced His Jamboree so that they could understand what would happen in the aftermath of the return of the Man of Truth that would bring about the end of all trouble.

So both the Jewish and Gentile Children of Truth when the Apostles of Truth lived on the Earth were celebrating all of the Feasts of Truth in some manner.  That is why Paul the Jew told the Children of Truth in Colosse to not let anyone judge them for celebrating these holidays because they were all about the Man of Truth (Colossians 2:16-17).

It has been shown that the congregations in the cities of Corinth, Thessaloniki, Philippi, Ephesus, Colosse, and Rome all celebrated these holidays along with all of the congregations in the Roman providences of Asia, Galatia and Crete.  In fact, Paul the Jew references at least one of the Feasts of Truth in every letter that he wrote to the mostly Gentile congregations that he started.  All seven of the Feasts of Truth were being celebrated by the mostly Gentile congregations in ancient times because it's not just a Jewish thing.

The Feasts of Truth form the greatest play ever.  This play does not just tell the story of the Jewish people.  The main point of this play is to tell the story of the Man of Truth who the Gentile Children of Truth follow.  This play also tells the story of the Children of Truth.  These holidays were meant for the Gentile Children of Truth as much as they were meant for the Jewish Children of Truth.   It's not just a Jewish thing.

The Feasts of Truth are not the only holidays that belong to the Children of Truth.  Since they have been grafted into the Israel intended by the Father of Truth then every holiday in the Book of Truth (the Bible) belongs to them.

Purim was never intended just for those who were born Jews but for all who joined themselves to the Jewish Children of Truth (Esther 9:26-28).  It is only natural that the Gentile Children of Truth should also celebrate walking on the path of true love.

The Man of Truth celebrated the Feast of Dedication (Chanukah aka Hanukkah) (John 10:22-23).  So it is only natural that those who follow him would also celebrate the Festival of Lights.  They are the ones who are truly dedicating the Temple.

Since these holidays and the Feasts of Truth are the holidays that are found in the Book of Truth then it would better to call them "Biblical" holidays instead of "Jewish" holidays.  It's not just a Jewish thing to celebrate the "Biblical" holidays.

More than that the Children of Truth have been called "Christians" after the Gentiles came into the House of Truth (Acts 11:26).  The Children of Truth continued to be known as "Christians" by the unbelieving Jews during the lifetime of Paul the Jew (Acts 26:28).  The Children of Truth even identified themselves as "Christians" during the years when they were celebrating these "Biblical" holidays (1 Peter 4:16).   So then these "Biblical" holidays are the real "Christian" holidays.  It's not just a Jewish thing to be celebrating the real "Christian" holidays.

So this brings up some good questions.  Since the Children of Truth were celebrating the real "Christian" holidays when their congregations were started by the Apostles of Truth then why do most of them celebrate other holidays instead?  If these holidays belong to the Children of Truth then why do people call them "Jewish" holidays?

On the one hand, the so-called "Christian" holidays like Christmas and Easter that were created by the False Church of Rome cannot be found in the pages of the Book of Truth.  These false "Christian" holidays were introduced on purpose by the False Church of Rome to keep the Children of Truth from gaining the understanding that only comes from celebrating the real "Christian" holidays that are found in the Book of Truth.  The Apostles of Truth were already fighting with those who created this doctrine and warned the Children of Truth about it. 

Paul the Jew said that the Children of Truth are to mark those who teach any doctrine contrary to what is taught in the Book of Truth and avoid them because they are not from the Man of Truth (Romans 16:17-18).  He warned that the Children of Truth should not let themselves be robbed by a philosophy that is based on pagan ideas and expresses itself through traditions that did not come from the Man of Truth (Colossians 2:8).  He said that the Children of Truth should continue in the traditions that the Apostles of Truth taught in the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka New Testament) (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15).  He said that the Children of Truth should withdraw themselves from any of the Children of Truth who do not walk orderly according to the traditions that the Apostles of Truth gave (2 Thessalonians 3:6).  In like manner, Peter the Jew (Cephas aka Simon aka Simeon aka the Apostle Peter) reminds the Children of Truth that they were redeemed from these pagan traditions by the precious blood of the Passover Lamb - The Man of Truth (1 Peter 1:18-20).  The Apostles of Truth knew that those who formed the foundational doctrine of the False Church of Rome would try to substitute other holidays based on pagan traditions to lead people away from the understanding of the truth that only comes from celebrating the Biblical holidays.

On the other hand, the Rabbis went out of their way to change how these holidays should be celebrated to make them hard to celebrate and even harder to see the story they tell.

For example, the Rabbis changed the names of some of the holidays like calling the Feast of Trumpets that occurs in the Fall "the head of the year" ("Rosh Hashanah").  The command of the Father of Truth is to call the month that Passover that occurs, in the Spring, the first month of the year making the first day of Abib (Aviv) "the head of the year" (Exodus 12:2-6).  The Feast of Trumpets occurs on the first day of the seventh month on the Biblical calendar (Leviticus 23:24).  So they have obscured the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets by renaming it and also obscured the order of the Feasts of Truth by changing which month begins the yearly cycle of the Feasts of Truth.  So whenever anyone follows their calendar for the Feasts of Truth the play begins in the fifth act, goes on the seventh act, then goes to first act and finally ends in the fourth act.  No wonder people cannot see that the story of the Man of Truth, the Jewish people and the Children of Truth that is told by the Feasts of Truth!

The Rabbis have made it a burden to celebrate the Biblical feasts for anyone that tries to do so according to their rules (Matthew 23:4).  They have created many of their own traditions for these holidays that they treat as if they were laws from the Father of Truth (Mark 7:7).  They will even lay aside His commandments to keep their own traditions (Mark 7:9).  No wonder people think that the Biblical holidays are "Jewish" holidays!

Matters are then made worst when religious professionals from the Children of Truth go to ask the Rabbis for insight about how the Biblical holidays are celebrated even though the Man of Truth called them blind guides who worry over trivial matters while ignoring important matters (Matthew 23:24).  These are very people who have obfuscated how to celebrate the Biblical holidays that speak of the Man of Truth, who their fathers killed, because they are contrary to all people (1 Thessalonians 2:15).  They are keeping the very traditions that once caused Paul the Jew to persecute the Children of Truth (Galatians 1:13-14).  No wonder people have no idea that the Apostles of Truth taught the Gentile Children of Truth to celebrate the Biblical holidays!

For these reasons people have come to call the Biblical holidays the "Jewish" holidays even though they are the real "Christian" holidays that the Apostle of Truth celebrated with the mostly Gentile Children of Truth!  This is just another example of Rabbinic distort.

So the False Church of Rome and the Rabbis have both contributed to the Children of Truth celebrating false "Christian" holidays instead of the real "Christian" holidays found in the pages of the Renewed Covenant.  The Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) has inspired both of these entities to lie about the Biblical holidays (John 8:44).  It is the Spirits of Lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods) that have manipulated both of these entities into hiding the truth (Ephesians 6:12).  The Father of Lies does not want the Children of Truth to understand that it's not just a Jewish thing to celebrate the Biblical holidays.

The Spirit of Truth will reveal the mysteries hidden in the Biblical holidays to those who celebrate them as the Father of Truth commanded (1 Corinthians 2:10).  It is not hard to celebrate the Biblical holidays in the way that the Father of Truth commanded (1 John 5:3).

The Children of Truth just need to remember that the instructions for celebrating the Feasts of Truth were originally for the Jewish Children of Truth living in the Jewish homeland with the Temple standing in Jerusalem.  Without these conditions they can only celebrate them to a limited extent just like the Gentile and Jewish Children of Truth who lived outside of the Jewish homeland in the congregations started by the Apostles of Truth.  They need to be gracious to each other and not fight over difference in customs for celebrating the Biblical feast because they are playing with broken toys.

The Children of Truth will gain the understanding into mysteries that have been hidden since they were lead into celebrating other holidays once they return to celebrating the real "Christian" holidays in the way that they were celebrated by the Apostles of Truth.  After all, it's not just a Jewish thing to celebrate the Biblical holidays!

Of course, it does not really matter what holidays anyone celebrates or how they celebrate them until they come into the House of Truth.  The Biblical holidays, like everything else in the Book of Truth, are meant to point people to the Man of Truth so they can come into the House of Truth (Acts 3:20-22).  People come into the House of Truth when they surrender to the Man of Truth because they believe that He was raised from the dead by His Father (Romans 10:8-10).  Gentiles can also come into the House of Truth because it's not just a Jewish thing (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Come into the House of Truth.