Excerpts from Too Long In The Sun by Richard M. Rives  “The traditional customs connected with Christmas have developed from several sources as a result of the coincidence of the celebration of the birth of Christ with the pagan agricultural and solar observations at midwinter. In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchange of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness.” Encyclopedia Britannica “After the triumph of Constantine, the church at Rome assigned December 25 as the date for the celebration of the feast, possibly about A.D. 320 or 353.…

What the Encyclopedias are Saying The word “Christmas” is derived from “Mass of Christ” or “Christ-Mass”. The Christmas festival came to the Protestants and the secular world from the Roman Catholic Church. However, the Roman Catholic Church did not get Christmas from the original Apostles. It’s not even in the Bible!! Now just in case you may think I just have something personally against Christmas; or as the psychologists saying, I just had a bad childhood so I feel bad about Christmas; or worse, I belong to a religious cult!; let us see what the Catholic and secular Encyclopedias themselves are saying about Christmas. “Christmas was not among the earliest…

 All we hear and are being told is that our Savior was born on the 25th of December, in the dead-cold of winter, some 2,000 years ago; without even proving from the Bible the date exactly on which He was born and the command to observe, commemorate or celebrate His birth. But December 25 is a Roman calendar dating. The Gregorian-Roman calendar vastly differs from the calendar in the Bible given by this our very same creating Savior whose birth-transformation into the flesh is supposedly being observed in the celebration of Christmas. Had He meant for us to or instructed that we observe/celebrate His birth and on the very same…

 Another year has rolled around. “Christmas” has come again. Newspapers, magazines, radios, [televisions] and posters will tell the world that Santa Claus is come again. The churches will have special services, and commemorate, as they say, the birth day of the Savior on the 25th of December. Whence came Santa Claus, Christmas, and the custom of celebrating this special day? You may answer that it was the day on which the Messiah as the babe of Bethlehem was born; the night upon which the angels sang praises as they appeared unto the shepherds – or, not being satisfied with “hear say” you may have gone to the bottom of this…

 By Robert J. Wells ‘Tis the season to be jolly, deck the halls with boughs of holly, jolly ‘ol Saint Nick, mistletoe, Christmas trees, decorations, gift giving, shopping, parades, shopping, carols, shopping, lights, shopping, glitter, shopping…. There comes a point when the true believer, the one who is truly seeking our savior, says, “let’s put Christ (Messiah) back in Christmas”. But was Yahshua the Messiah ever in Christmas? The following is taken from The Saturday Evening Post, Nov/Dec ’93. Of course, this is a secular magazine. They have no “religious” horn to toot, no reason to try and persuade you to believe according to any particular denomination or creed. Perhaps…

By: Robert Wells What about Easter? How did this pagan, fertility festival enter the Christian calendar? Most certainly there is no mention of Easter eggs in the Scriptures; no mention of bunny rabbits. Where did they come from? Is it wrong to celebrate Easter? The facts will surprise you; but here are a few quotations about Easter from Alexander Hislop’s famous book, The Two Babylons, published by S. W. Partridge & Co., 4 Soho Sq., London. (ISBN 0 7136 0470 0). -“Then look at Easter. What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its forehead. Easter is nothing else than…

By R. H. Parry, Michigan Nations may learn to fly and orbit the moon and yet forget to walk in the path of Yahweh’s commandments. Are we accepting the strong delusions, stones instead of bread and death instead of life? The spirit and the word of Yahweh does agree. There is a way that seems alright unto men of goodwill. They believe in their hearts that this path they are pursuing is the right road. The spirit in which these joyous feasts and days are observed cannot be denied. Yet let us stop for a moment and weigh facts against traditions and fantasies. We have grown up in a generation…

 By R. H. Parry, Michigan Halloween? (The eve of the day of the dead – ‘Hallows Eve,’ October 31). All Saints Day? (November 1). All Souls Day? (November 2). Are these fun filled, festive, holy days found in the Bible? If you are a Christian you should weigh your beliefs and practices by some standard. If they are not found in the Bible, then what tradition or ancient belief are you honoring? If you take for granted what man says, when there are reasonable grounds for doubt and you feel uncertain deliberately suspending your judgment, you know without a doubt your footing is unsure and you will sooner or later…