The Minions Who Stole Christmas

Many years ago the Devil called a special meeting of the leadership of his minions.  He chose some of the most devious minds from the ranks of the Dominions, Principalities and Powers regimens. 

“We have a serious problem on our hands,” he said.  “This Christian celebration of the Nativity of Christ is growing way too big and must be stopped.  The message of God’s love and saving power in the Incarnation is ruining our chances with a lot of people.  It’s leading a lot of people to believe that they don’t have to settle for the mess, misery and destruction we helped to create.  Too many are seeking reconciliation with God through the God-man and His redemption of human nature and the fallen world through His Incarnation.  It must be stopped!  So I have called you here today to brainstorm the best ways to put a stop to this annual celebration of the Incarnation of Christ.”

A number of ideas were set forth and debated, all focusing on how to destroy or stop the annual Feast of the Nativity of Christ.  Some of the ideas discussed were good and some not so good.  Some involved a lot of evil and violence against Christians, wrecking havoc through sickness, suffering and even death.  But one of the minions reminded everyone that such efforts in the past had tended to drive people to a greater love and desire for God and His redemption rather than away from Him.

When the ideas were getting thin and the minions were about to adjourn for a “smoke”, one of the lesser known but brighter minions proposed a new idea and a different approach. 

“Maybe” he said, “instead of trying to destroy the celebration of the Nativity we should think of how we could sabotage it and make it our own.”  The room grew eerily silent as the idea sunk in and almost instantly the Devil and his demons instinctively knew the minion had hit on something.  Yes, this was it!  It was ingenious!  “Tell us more,” prodded the Devil. 

“The idea,” continued the minion, “would be to let people celebrate, indeed to encourage people to celebrate while little by little over time we plant ideas and customs into the celebration that will change it so gradually from one generation to the next that eventually the true meaning and message will be lost.  People will continue to celebrate each year but it will be a celebration that we delight in rather than one that brings fear and dread to our beings.”   The idea was so simple, yet so profound that the air was full of excitement.  It was then suggested that they break into small groups to brainstorm ideas on how to accomplish this brilliant idea of sabotage.

When the brainstorming session had ended and the various ideas were collected a committee was appointed to put the ideas into a manual and provide a copy to all the demons for immediate execution.

The chapters of the manual formed alliteration: The Purity of the Feast, The Perversion of the Festivities and The Pretensions of a Few.  Aahh! This was it!  (The demons loved to use alliterations.  They sounded cute and ingenious. They could be easily used to manipulate the subject and make the text say what they wanted it to say and people loved the entertainment aspect of alliterations. Years later, many preachers would adopt alliterations as one of their favorite tools for preaching, often with the same results.) 

First, the demons had to understand the purity of the Feast before they could begin to understand how to pervert it.  They knew the Feast was a holy day in the Church that was kept holy and preserved in a number of ways.  The Feast was never celebrated before the Feast Day.  The Feast was preceded by a period of 40 days of prayer, self-denial, fasting, almsgiving and confession, all in preparation to receive and worship the Holy Nativity in Spirit and in Truth.  Only on the Feast Day would there be celebration and the celebration then continued for the twelve days after until the Feast of Theophany (the manifestation of Christ as God and God as Trinity in the Holy Baptism of the Saviour).  These celebrations centered in the worship services of the Church.  During this time the hymns proclaimed the joy and truth of the meaning of the Incarnation.  Thus, the purity of the Feast was maintained and the true meaning of the Feast was celebrated.  The Faithful received the Grace of God through the Divine Services to unite themselves to the God-man born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to become partakers of the Divine Nature.  The Faithful knew that without the Incarnation there is no Salvation.  The minions knew this had to change if they would ever have a chance to make the Feast their own.

The name itself was a problem and a good place to begin to whittle away.  “So long as the name contains a reference to the Holy Nativity of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ,” the minions reasoned, “there would be no hope of change.”  This title would always keep the celebration focused on Christ’s Incarnation.  “A new name is essential,” they concluded.

But the minions knew they could never get away with changing things in the Church suddenly or with replacing something holy with something obviously evil or demonic.  They knew it takes time, much time and patience over many years, and they knew the changes have to appear as something good at least at the beginning and on the surface.   Furthermore, they knew their best bet would be to conquer and divide.  If they could get groups to separate from the one Church and One Faith and form rival groups with divergent teachings, they could easily use this to their advantage.

Now the demons knew that it was next to impossible to get anything about the Church changed in the East.  The Fathers in the East were staunch and uncompromising in their defense of the One Apostolic Faith and Church and their rejection of any innovations.  So they turned their attention to Rome and the West where the winds of change and innovation were already well under way and gaining acceptance as a result of Rome’s separation from the Orthodox Faith of the East.  It was noted that the West was more and more calling the annual feast the Christ Mass instead of the Feast of the Nativity of Christ.  Now here they saw potential for real change.  Eventually, this could be abbreviated into Christmas and finally the word Christmas would gain widespread acceptance in the world and could be used without any reference or recognition of the Nativity of Christ.  This would be the first of many steps for the eventual and complete sabotage of the Feast of the Incarnation.  With this first step it was now only a matter of time until everything could be turned on its head and inside out.

The second section of the manual dealt with the second alliteration, The Perversion of the Festivities.  Up until now the focus of the festivities was on the Feast Day and after the Feast Day the primary focus was the worship and glorification of the Feast in the hymns and prayers of the Divine Services.

In this regard, the first thing that had to change was the focus on prayer and fasting leading up to the Feast.  The minions knew that once the Feast was renamed it was only a matter of time until the Feast would gain acceptance in the world and then it was only a matter of time until the world would celebrate Christmas as a worldly, self-indulgent and materialistic holiday.  Thus, over time, the fasting and prayers and the meaning of the Incarnation would be replaced by dinners, parties, drinking, commercialism and in general a celebration for the sake of celebration.  To be sure certain historical elements would be retained such as almsgiving, the emphasis on peace and good will and the remembrance of Saint Nicholas as a symbol of Christmas love and compassion.  But the demons knew it was only a matter of time until these “good” ideas would also be perverted into self-worship and self-indulgence – a humanistic worship of Man.  The demons knew all that was necessary for all of this to happen over time was for the celebration of Christmas to be separated from the celebration of the Holy Nativity in the one true Faith and Church.  

Slowly but surely the world and Christians who separated from the Church began to introduce festivities that would eventually succumb to a worldly celebration with no connection to the Nativity of Christ and the Incarnation.

The Christmas tree was one of these early introductions.  Some say Martin Luther was the “inventor” of the Christmas tree.  The idea was that the evergreen tree was a reminder of eternal life in Christ.  And then came the lights, - candles at first and then eventually electric lights.  These were reminders of Christ the Light of the World.

But over time, separated from the Church, the Christmas tree and the lights became more prominent with less meaning or connection to the Incarnation.  Eventually, the world would celebrate Christmas in a pagan way using the Christmas tree and lights.  Soon the world would add snowmen, sleigh bells, mistletoe and all the rest.  These would become nothing more than cheerful decorations to help create a certain “spirit” which was essentially a self-created warm, cozy and fuzzy feeling that makes everyone think they have the “spirit of Christmas”.   The minions danced with glee when they envisioned such developments. 

The same thing happened with Saint Nicholas.  St. Nicholas was venerated in the Church as a godly bishop from Myra of Lycia (today’s Turkey) who defended the true Faith and true Church at the First Ecumenical Council against the Arian heresy.  In the Church he is venerated for his love not only for the truth of the Incarnation but also for the poor and suffering.  In no time at all the world stole St. Nicholas from the Church and created a Christmas idol called Santa Claus.  In this, the minions rejoiced.   Here was a figure, a new incarnation that would eventually replace Christ in the celebration of Christmas.  All the attributes of God would be assigned to an imaginary and make believe figure.  Parents would teach their children to believe in a fairy tale as a reality right along side of the story of the birth of Jesus.  The minions surmised that the story of Jesus would become a fairy tale in the minds of people just like Santa Claus.  Parents would teach their children to believe in Santa Claus just like they were to believe in Jesus.  They would teach them to pray to Santa, trust in Santa and hope in Santa.  After all, Santa Claus (not Jesus) would be the source of all good gifts at Christmas.  He would possess all the attributes of God: holy – he is like a saint; loving and compassionate; omnipresent – he is present at all times in all malls and all parades in all the world; omniscient/all knowing- he knows when you are asleep or awake and if you have been naughty or nice and he knows what you want even if you don’t get a chance to talk to him - he sees and discerns your heart and mind; omnipotent/all powerful – he is able to make reindeer fly and with a small sleigh deliver millions of toys around the world in a single night.  Yes, Santa Claus was the best idea of all for sabotaging the message of the Incarnation.  Santa is God incarnate and the true God-man is no longer needed.

Another ingenious idea of the minions was to create a big emphasis on family and children at Christmas.  This seemed a good and natural part of Christmas.  But the minions intended that eventually, Christmas would focus almost entirely on the children and seeing their wide eyes on Christmas morning, and about families getting together with some eggnog or cocktails and lots of food and feeling all warm and fuzzy inside while listening to Hear Comes Santa Claus.  And the spirit of Christmas will really be there if it’s a white Christmas.

With these changes in place the “peace on earth, good will to men” of Christmas would no longer be understood as a part of the Kingdom of God resulting from the Incarnation and experience in His Church but rather a worldly and humanistic utopian dream that the “spirit” of Christmas creates for a few days each year only to be forgotten the day after when everyone is relieved that its finally over. 

As the minions reviewed the manual they were amazed at their own ingenious ideas.  The goal would be to make people think they are celebrating Christmas when in fact they are celebrating themselves and their own self-indulgence.   “What a plan,” they surmised, “these things will make Christmas our own! Only in the true Church will the Nativity of Christ still be observed rightfully and they are so few it hardly matters.”

“But there is still one problem,” said a fiery eyed minion.  “What about all the other professing Christians of Rome, Protestantism and Evangelicalism who will continue to insist on ‘keeping Christ in Christmas’?”

“Not to worry,” exclaimed the brains behind the plan.  “This is all covered in the third section of the manual, The Pretensions of the Few.  “So long as they cease to call it the Feast of the Holy Nativity of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and so long as they cease to observe the prayer and fasting leading up to the Feast but instead join the world in its celebration of parties, snowmen, lights, sleigh bells, Santa Claus and self-indulgence their efforts at keeping Christ in Christmas will amount to very little.  And so long as they reduce it all to the children and families getting together, and the make believe ‘spirit of Christmas and peace on earth, good will to men’ all their talk about keeping Christ in Christmas will be meaningless.  They will even cancel their church services on Christmas day because it’s ‘all about the family’ rather than all about the worship of God and the Incarnation.  And whatever kinds of celebrations they do attempt in their churches will be mostly some forms of worldly entertainment that will celebrate the performers and entertain the audience with little or no connection to the true meaning of the Incarnation.”

“To be sure,” one of the minions concluded, “someone will one day expose our plan and some of those Christians will read it and think ‘how true’ and they will ‘Like’ it on Facebook but then they will continue as usual to celebrate the pagan Christmas of the world as usual.  It’s just too hard and to unpopular to do it any other way.”

A Review of the Minion’s Manual

by joseph bragg

FAITH OF OUR FATHERS (REALLY) PART II

     On those rare occasions when we would come across some reference to the Apostolic Fathers when I was a Bible college student in Nashville, Tennessee, it was always somehow implied or expressly stated that these Fathers had fallen away from the truth into error and were therefore, for the most part, discounted. They may have had a few things to say that were ok but mostly, it was understood that they had departed from the true Christian Faith. 

      At Concordia Seminary, in St. Louis, Missouri I had a little more exposure to the Fathers and they were given a bit more credence but in the end they were dismissed as inconsequential or contradictory to our Faith. 

     It was only when I actually read the writings of the Apostolic Fathers many years later that I came to see things were not as I had been told. The writings of the Apostolic Fathers sound just like the writings of the Apostles themselves, revealing that their minds and hearts were taught by and saturated in the Apostolic teachings. It also became clear to me that these Fathers were very particular and devoted to maintaining, preserving and defending the teachings they had received from the Apostles without change or compromise. They staunchly defended the Apostolic teachings even to the shedding of their blood and giving themselves over to unbelievable tortures and deaths. These were not men who compromised or changed what they had been taught by and received from the Apostles.

      So why did our modern day “Fathers” discount them and their teachings as being false or unreliable? The answer became clear to me. It was because they taught things that our modern day version of Christianity did not believe or want to hear. That’s it. There was no other basis or reason for dismissing them out of hand except for the fact that we held a different understanding of the Christian Faith. So I had to ask myself. Who changed the Faith? Who is more believable?  Are we to reject the teachings of those who were taught by the Apostles, who all taught the same undivided Faith and who gave their lives rather than to compromise, while embracing the teachings of those some 2,000 years later in the midst of thousands of conflicting and contradicting beliefs, interpretations and innovations? I knew if we wanted to understand the mind and teachings of the American Fathers of the Constitution we would read the writings of those Fathers and those who were taught by them rather than the conclusions of the conflicting voices today. It was clear to me that the same had to be true regarding the Church and the Christian Faith. 

     The more I read the Fathers, the more I came to see that their teachings actually were true to the Scriptures, while modern day “Fathers” were deviating, twisting or ignoring many of the things taught in the Scriptures. There were several main areas where this came to light as I read the Apostolic Fathers and documents: 
1.Teachings as to whether the Church is visible or invisible 
2.Whether the Church is congregational or hierarchical and the place or necessity of bishops
 3.How the early Church worshiped
4.How disputes and controversies are to be resolved in the Church 
5.The understanding of salvation – what it means to be saved and how it is accomplished 
6.The meaning and place of Baptism and Holy Communion and how they relate to our salvation
 -To Be Continued-

Nihilism - The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age

In the book: ”Nihilism - The Root of The Revolution of the Modern Age” Fr. Seraphim Rose analyzes the spiritual causes behind the modern revolution. He looks on the revolt of nihilism as a spiritual revolt against God and every form of authority. In the religious order Nihilism seeks, not a mere reform of the Church and not even the foundation of a new ”church” or ”religion”, but a complete refashioning of the idea of religion and of spiritual experience. In art and literature the Nihilist is not concerned with the modification of old aesthetic canons regarding subject-matter style, nor with the development of new genres or traditions, but with a whole new approach to the question of artistic ”creation” and a new definition of ”art”... The disorder so apparent in contemporary politics, religion, art, and other realms as well, is a result of the deliberate and systematic annihilation of the foundation of the authority in them...Of this age the Nihilist regimes of this century have given a foretaste, and the widespread rebelliousness of the present day is further portent; where there is no truth, the rebellious will reigns. But ”the will”, said Dostoyevsky, with his customary insight into the Nihilist mentality, ”is closest to nothing; the most assertive are closest to the most nihilistic” He who has abandoned truth and every authority founded upon that truth has only blind will between himself and the Abyss; and this will, whatever its spectacular achievements in its brief moment of power (those of Hitler and of Bolshevism have so far been the most spectacular), is irresistibly drawn to that Abyss as to some immense magnet that has searched out the answering abyss within itself.

THE FOLLY Of AUTONOMY

I recently read this quote from a member of a Freewill Baptist Church in response to a Freewill Baptist church in KY that excluded a racially mixed couple:
"That’s the problem with autonomy. Biblically illiterate and unspiritually guided kooks have nobody they HAVE to answer to. All the official stances and resolutions that could be made from here to eternity are unenforceable in reality. It’s time to rethink this position for the sake of preserving dignity in the denomination."

Didn't she just describe most/all of Protestantism and Evangelicalism? Doesn't everyone have the right to their private interpretations? Sounds like one Freewill Baptist is questioning the very foundation of the Reformation and the congregational form of government which is supposed to be based in Scripture. But then who's to say, since everyone has complete autonomy?

THE SECULARIZATION OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY

THE SECULARIZATION OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANTIY


The Body of Christ is no longer recognized as such but is just a group of like minded people who have formed an organization to their liking.

The building where the Body of Christ meets is no longer a holy temple but just a building.

Its design no longer reflects the holiness of the kingdom of heaven but the ordinary ugliness of a meeting hall.

The sanctuary has been replaced by a stage.

The holy altar has been replaced by a lectern or pulpit.

The service of Holy Communion has been replaced by a preacher, lecture or sermon

The icons of the saint, martyrs and angels have been replaced by plain bare walls, mood lighting, theatre screens and folding padded seats just like in a theatre.

The services are no longer built around the Gospel for the day but all manner of secular themes and celebrations in step with the world.

America and the flag is more celebrated, honored and venerated than the Church and the heroes of the Church.

The “holy” days of the church year are really the secular days of the world.

The holy chanting that conveys spiritual compunction has been replaced by Hollywood and Grand ole Opry style entertainment that appeals to the flesh.

The modest and chaste dress that identifies the worshipers as being in a holy place has been replaced by all manner of immodest and suggestive attire and behavior more fitting for a night club or a house of ill repute.

The fasting to prepare to receive the Lord’s Body and Blood has been replaced by snack bars and even coffee drinking during the service.

The atmosphere of prayerful preparation that approaches God in holy awe has been replaced by loud, boisterous, passionate laughter, jesting and all manner of secular conversations.

Everything resembles a concert in a concert hall for the entertainment of the people.

There is no accountability to anyone for what the people belief or how they live.

There is no such thing as heresy and no such thing a discipline.

American Christianity, by and large, is thoroughly secularized in appearance, understanding and message and bears little or no resemblance to the historic Church of Christ.

HOW OLD IS YOUR CHURCH AND WHO STARTED IT?

HOW OLD IS YOUR CHURCH AND WHO STARTED IT?

By Rev. Dr. Miltiades Efthimiou

If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of  the Roman Catholic Church, in the year 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to re-marry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560. If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.

If you are Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England, founded by Samuel Seabury in the American colonies in the 17th century. If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1606.

If you are of the Dutch Reformed Church, you recognize Michelis Jones as founder because he originated your religion in New York in 1628. If you are Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865. If you are Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion was born and to Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.

If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal Gospel, Holiness Church or Jehovah's Witnesses, your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past hundred years.

If you are a Roman Catholic, your church shared the same rich apostolic and doctrinal heritage as the Orthodox Church for the first thousand years of its history, since during the first millennium they were one and the same Church. Lamentably, in 1054, the Pope of Rome broke away from the other four Apostolic Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), by tampering with the Original Creed of the Church, and considering himself to be infallible. Thus your church is 1,000 years old.

If you are an Orthodox Christian, your religion was founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It has not changed since that time. Our Church is now almost 2,000 years old. And it is for this reason, that Orthodoxy, the Church of the Apostles and the. Fathers, is considered the true "one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church."

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH

If you came to American and knew nothing about our country but wanted to learn all about it so you could maybe become a citizen what would be the best course of action. You could go to a bookstore and buy all kinds of books written about America. Then you could read all those books and think about all that you have read. You might imagine that you now understand America and are ready for citizenship. But out of all those books you read some of the authors didn’t know their subject very well. Some of the books, for whatever reason, included false or misleading information. Some of the books were written by people who understand our history and some by people who don’t. Some of the authors love America and some dislike it. Some are written to give a clear picture of America, some to express the author’s bias or personal agenda. So you could read all those books and still not know what you should know or need to know. And even if you then think you understand America, you might not understand it at all.

The other option would be to read the books that relate the history of America, clear certain facts that are known by all. You could read the writings of the founding fathers, their very words, ideas and intentions – not some one’s interpretation of their words, two hundred years later. You could read the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, the Jefferson Papers, the Bill of Rights and other similar documents. Then you would know the truth about America and what it means to be a citizen. This truth would be drawn from objective, established and known truths, not from what you feel or think or from a thousand different modern voices.

Then if you wanted to become a citizen you would not, could not start your own America. Your only option would be to embrace the America that has existed for two hundred plus years. You would have to submit yourself to the America that is and abide by its laws. The way you would be able to identify this America is by its Constitution, its unbroken history and it line of succession of the same beliefs, values and government from one generation to another. If you did not want to do all of this you would be rejecting America and saying you do not want to be a citizen.

All of this can be applied to the Church that Christ established. The Church is His Body of which He is the Head. There are not many Churches, just as there are not many Christs or many Americas. There are not many different Christian Faiths. There is only one God, one Christ, one Faith and one Church. The Church is an historical entity and reality. You can trace its history and read its “constitution” and read the writings of its founders and trace its unbroken succession of truth, life and government from the time of Christ to the present. To learn about the Church we must learn about the Church as it has been from the beginning. To enter the Church we have to embrace what is and not try to create our own or what others have created two thousand years later. We can’t recreate the Church on our own anymore than we can recreate America as though it has no history or historical existence. We can only submit to what is. Christ established His Church with its truth, its life and its way as the means for our salvation. The Church is like a ship sailing across the ocean of time inviting us to enter her safety.

Unfortunately, mankind in his pride tries to create his own “church” according to private interpretations of the Bible and according to personal likes and dislikes. And then, knowing that the Bible clearly teaches there is only one Church, man invents something called the invisible church to allow for all kinds of contradictory beliefs to be included in this “invisible church”. This idea of the invisible church is a new invention of Protestantism that has no history in the historical Church and no basis in the Bible. The only invisible Church is the Church in heaven, i.e., the Church triumphant vs. the Church on earth.