Holidays?

Dear Pastor Jimmy,

Is it a sin to celebrate a holiday with pagan origins, like Christmas and Easter? And what about Halloween?

-C.J.

Dear C.J.,
Let's deal with Christmas firsts. Christmas was a pagan holiday that gradually became associated with the Birth of Christ. By the fourth century, various dates were proposed for the birth of Jesus. Eventually December 25 was chosen. This replaced the pagan winter solstice festival. Most believers accepted this and the holiday was popularized in the 19th century. By the mid-twentieth century, Christians had accepted almost universally the practice's celebrating the holiday.
However, there was always opposition to the celebration. The reasons were usually either (1) too much partying and drunkenness, or (2) its association with paganism. People have the right to choose to celebrate it or not. Do they have the right to condemn someone who does celebrate?
The answer, biblically, is found in Romans 14. There Paul deals with the issue of differing beliefs among believers. Neither one has the right to judge the other. As Paul says, one esteems all days alike and one esteems some days as special. What is key is that if you think they are wrong (sinful) then they are wrong. However some believe that we can take pagan symbols and Christianize them. This is what has been done with the cross. A symbol of death has been turned into the most important Christian symbol of life through Jesus Christ. This would answer the objections to the pagan practices associated with Easter as well.
What about Halloween> This pagan festival dates back to the ancient Druids. They believed that this night ghosts and spirits were most likely to wander about. Wearing costumes and trick or treating were added after 1900 and became a commercial success in the 1950's. Christians have treated it in two ways. First, it is a purely secular holiday to be celebrated or not. Secondly, some have objected to its pagan origins and view the celebration as somehow giving support to the Devil. Again, based on Romans 14, a day is what we make of it. A symbol is what we interpret it to be. The meaning always lies with the individual.
Where Christians get in trouble is that they are too prone to call everything a conviction. Here is my definition of a conviction. A conviction is something I am willing to die for. Everything else is a preference. For example I am willing to die for my belief that Jesus is the Son of God. I am not willing to die for my preference in water baptism (which happens to be immersion). When we understand this truth then we will dial the rhetoric down.

-Pastor Jimmy Dickens

God's Anointing?

Pastor Jimmy,

The Bible talks about Gods anointed. Who does this apply to and why? I recently had a pastor tell me if you are called by God you are anointed.

God Bless

-M.P.

Dear M.P.,

The word anointing can apply to anyone who is a believer (1 John 2:20). The word anointing indicates that an individual has been made holy by the Holy Spirit, thus separating that person to God. Anointing is not reserved for clergy only. Anointing is for all believers.

-Pastor Jimmy

Genesis 4:17

Dear Pastor Jimmy,
In Genesis 4:17, it says Cain and his wife had a son. Just four chapters earlier God made Adam and Eve. Where did Cain's wife come from? Did God create other people outside of Eden? In the land of Nod?
- T.Y.


Dear T.Y.

If you hold to a literal view of Genesis; that is, God created the world and the first two people, Adam and Eve, then the answer is obvious. Cain had to marry one of his sisters. This bothers people because of the prohibition against marrying a close relative. That law was not instituted until the time of Moses in the Bible. Abraham, for example, married his half sister.

This is more important from a theological perspective. In Romans it tells us that sin entered into humanity by one man, Adam. This could only be possible if everyone was a descendant of Adam. Therefore, there could be no other people for Cain to choose from.

-Pastor Jimmy

Masons

Pastor Jimmy,

When you are speaking with Masons, they will tell you they are just patriotic to their organization regarding pledges and oaths (much the same as we do in the pledge and oaths for the military) and that much of what is said about their organization is unfounded. They will tell you about all the good things they do and that they attend church weekly (I knew some that were very active in their churches and community) and believe in the same God I do. Can you please summarize why and what they believe and how to respond.

Thanks - TQM

First of all, there are a lot of Masons that are Christians. However, that does not mean that Masons are or are not a good group. The Masons do a lot of good things just like a number of civic organizations. The question is not about what they do but about what they teach or believe in. A number of Masons do not understand what their organization actually teaches.

What do the Masons believe in? They claim to not be a religion but they perform many rituals that are religious in nature, such as funeral services etc. A religion is simply any group that expresses a belief in God, higher power, etc. Here is a brief summary of what Masonic belief is:
Bible – they believe in a “Volume of Sacred Law” that needs to be in their Masonic furniture. The Christian Bible serves as this in lodges where Christians are in the majority. However, the Torah (for Jews), or the Koran (for Muslims) is also acceptable)
The guiding light for a number of Masonic rituals would appear to be a book called the Kabala, a medieval book on mysticism. Therefore, the Masons do not adjust their beliefs to fit in with scripture.
God – they believe in a God and cite him by many different names, such as the Great Architect, etc. but it again is not necessarily the God we worship.
Jesus Christ – Jesus is rarely mentioned. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and is himself very God.
Salvation – Masons are encouraged to advance through degrees to a place of enlightenment which sounds like salvation by works.
Because they deny that they are a religion, it is hard to carry on a discussion with them. Yet, it would appear that they are open to a number of different beliefs including Christianity. I would cite the research done by John Ankerberg and Walter Martin as sources. Belonging to a lodge does not make the people non-Christian. It raises issues that they need to deal with. Probably the best way to deal with them is to give them literature from ex-masons who found that the beliefs were incompatible with their faith.

Giving to the Poor?

Dear Pastor Jimmy,

Ok, this kind of has a story to go with it... I went swing dancing with some friends a few weeks ago, and when we were walking out of the club, an older man came up to us and asked us if we had any money we could spare for him. All of our answers were "no, sorry" when we all had at least five dollars in our pockets. So here, we have done two things wrong, one: we lied, which is against the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:16), two we did not give to the poor, which results in being cursed. (Prov 28:27) So my question is why are we, as Christians, brought up to say "no" to people downtown when they ask for money because "they will probably just spend it on alcohol" when the bible tells us just to "give to the poor and follow Jesus" (Matt 19:21) not "give to the poor only if your gift is used for something you approve". So my question is, are we, as Christians, obligated to give to everyone who asks? Or is it right to say "no" to people on the street who ask for money?

-E.L.

Dear E.L.

This is a great question because it deals with several issues that produce conflict within believers: guilt, charity, and frugality.

First, you didn't lie to the man. He asked if you had money to spare for him. You told him no. You didn't say that you had no money, just none to spare for him.

Second, should Christians give to the poor? Certainly. this is commanded and encouraged throughout the Bible. However, is everyone who says that they are poor really poor? No.
What about those who probably will use the money for drugs or alcohol? What does the bible say? Paul, in II Thessalonian 3:10, says that if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. In the Old Testament, people had to work even when provisions were given to them. Ruth had to go out and glean the fields to gather grain. The Law provided for the poor to follow the harvesters and to pick what they left.
We have often received calls at the church for help. We tell them that we have food that we can give them. We are able to weed out a lot of con artists because they quickly say that they do not need food they want money and hang up when we say all we have is food.
So, be generous, especially to the poor. But that doesn't mean that you have to help every poor person or every one who says they are poor.

Should I tithe?

Dear Pastor Jimmy,
Should I tithe no matter how bad my finances are? No matter if I can pay my bills? What does the Bible say about this?
-T.L.

This is a complicated question that I will answer in several parts. Let me begin by saying that the New Testament does not force or coerce anyone in to giving. The admonition is that we give cheerfully (II COr. 9:7). However what is the best course of actions for someone in financial difficulty?
1. Determine why you are in the shape you are in. Overspending? Loss of revenue? Catastrophe? Etc.
2. Come up with a realistic budget plan to get yourself out of the hole. at this point you may have to choose to sacrifice a number of items that you are used to in your life. Learn the difference between a necessity (food, clothing, housing) and a want(eating out, designer clothing, a new house).
3. Implement the budget. At this point you may want to contact your creditors to inform them of your difficulty and what your plan is to pay them off.

Now what about tithing? The questions that you need to ask is not, Do I tithe? but Do I need the blessing of God? II Cor. 9:6 talks about the law of sowing and reaping. You do not reap unless you sow. Can I do better with 100% of my income without God's blessing or can I do better with 90% and God's blessing? The overwhelming testimony of people I know is that the latter is preferred.
What if you are in such a bind that you cannot see to give any funds right now? You just cannot believe that God will help you out. You can still tithe in the following way. Determine what your tithe should be. Say it is $80. Then you could volunteer to do some work at the church that would save the church money, say 8 hours of janitorial work. Then you would have saved the church an amount equivalent to your tithe.

1st Entry-Pastor Jimmy

I am excited about this blog and pray you will find it useful, educational and informative. I will answer one or more questions per week. I look forward to your questions!