Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Well, do ya?

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

When i was growing up our family did the santa thing and all. Now that i am married but have no kids or money i am really hoping that santa is really so he can bring me and my wife some presents lol. No i dont know if my wife and i will do the santa thing with our kids when we have them but we will decorate our house and have a tree and celebrate Christmas.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

I spend time with family. All of my family as well as my church believes in Christmas. I really don't. I celebrate to spend time with family and participate to some extent in their festivities. Other than that I don't get to involved.

It is a developing conviction for me.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

yep.

if people keep saying silly things about being lost if you celebrate Christmas, I am going to go home and sing Oh Christmas Tree too!

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

I don't have my own place so I don't get a tree.

However I have no problem with having a tree and decorating it as a festive family occasion but it has nothing really to do with Jesus other than what people make of it.

I have no problem either with celebrating the birth of Jesus but our Modern day Christmas is not really about Jesus except a very small part. It's about commercialism (Spending tons of saved up money). I believe we are essentially slaves to a smart marketing campaign just as we are on Easter, Mothers day etc etc. It's all about spending money.

The Festive nature of it all is being used to get us into the mood to spend spend spend.

Having said that, I still have no problem with that if that is what one wants to do but even better I have no problem with celebrating the birth of Jesus if that is what one wants to do

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Sing it loudly so that the scrooges from the other thread will hear you....:heeheehee

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

:thumbsup we will continue the cycle of Santa in my home :heeheehee

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

My wife and I have a tradition where be buy one fairly large gift for the two of us, and get it long before Christmas itself. We bought ours last night! Since we're buying it earlier and earlier it won't be too many years before we "lap" ourselves and will soon be getting TWO. LOL

We do decorate our house pretty well also. Have a 10 foot (artificial) tree and a few hundred feet of LED Christmas lights for the outside, as well as the inside. Christmas is also a great time to see what sort of new drinks we can make to introduce even more Holiday Cheer.

Oh yes, we "gave ourselves" a GoPro Hero3+ "Black Edition" sports video camera. We want to start filming some of our hikes and times when we go swimming at the beach since this thing is waterproof to 131 feet. :)

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

it's just fleshly feel good fun.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Christmas was never about Christ. Let the pagans have the holiday back.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

So far, all the folks who celebrate Christ's Mass do so with the additions of trees, Santa Claus, and so forth.

Interesting...

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Reminds me of Rush Limbaugh's Politically Correct football picks.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Do I celebrate Christmas?

Yes. But only in December.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Listening to Bing Crosby's Christmas Collection as I type this.

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/...+Christmas.jpg

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

We celebrate with all the 'normal' stuff, but we make a point not to go overboard with the kids regarding Santa and gifts. We kinda let them decide if they believe in him and when they get older, they'll figure out it was in fun. BTW, I think my 9 year old has figured it out, but keeps the joke going for our 6 year old. First and foremost it's about the start of God's redemptive plan and that's why we have way more Christian Christmas CDs playing than secular. Nothing wrong with a few gifts, some decorations, and family get-togethers as long as that's not the only time of year you celebrate Jesus.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

I am not a Catholic thus I don't.:thumbsup

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

haha!
Love Bro. Epley!

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Well I am part of the catholic (universal- not Roman Catholic) church and we choose to celebrate "Christmas" in the traditional manner. We do a tree, get together with family and friends and give and receive gifts. We do not forget that it is a day when we celebrate Jesus Christ -God who came to dwell among us as a man to die on the cross for our sins.

In my opinion, Christmas is one of those things where we as Christians need to respect one another's opinions and not condemn one another about.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Yes, I do. No Santa though.
My grandbabies all know where their gifts come from.
We celebrate this time of year in honor of
the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

ha ha ha this is funny;
I teach against celebrating Christmas, without saying anyone is lost if they do, yet I get told I am lost because I wear a wedding ring.
now who is the bigger pagan?

ha ha ha

should I go home and sing about the 5 golden rings?

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

So that makes the many UPC-Apostolics *Catholics* who do celebrate Christmas? :nah

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Personally, I'm not comfortable in pleasing our Lord thru setting up a tree as the centerpiece of our living room, adorning it with all kinds of attractive things, and then putting our Messiah's name on it. Just don't feel good about it.
Each to their own tho...

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

We celebrate Christmas in the traditional way. I definitely see the other viewpoint, though.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Yes, and I was raised in a home where Christmas was forbidden. I know all of the history of it, and it was one of those things I couldn't WAIT to celebrate with my own family someday. I completely reject the reasoning behind Christians not celebrating Christmas.

I absolutely love the Christmas season. I love the family time, the decorations, the food, the gift-giving and receiving, the shopping, the charity, the generosity that it sparks in many people, and the traditions. It's always over too soon for me. There are aspects of it that I don't like, but I think anything can be taken too far or used negatively.

We've never told our children the myths about Santa Claus (at least, not in the sense of making the story part of our celebration), and they've always known their parents, friends and families were the gift-givers. However, I do understand that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, etc., are sort of extended "games" that some parents play with small children and I don't condemn parents who do that with their kids. I don't know any children who grew into adulthood still believing that those characters were actually real, nor do I know any who resented the parents being "liars." It's a fun game that children eventually grow out of. We're more pragmatic parents, so I never liked the idea of our kids not knowing that gifts come from us. I believe it's helped them become more generous themselves, and appreciate things more instead of just expecting every wish to come true under the tree.

We've shared the story of the generous German priest who was later sainted, St. Nicholas, who is probably the basis for the Santa Claus legend. We also share the biblical "Christmas story" and relate it to the idea of giving gifts and being thankful and generous, but our kids know that December 25 is not Jesus' actual birthday. We have traditions, such as making gingerbread men every year, opening stockings on Christmas Eve, etc., and it's a very enjoyable time for our family.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Christmas is a delightful time of year in which we partake in many different traditions.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

:thumbsup

Miss B backslid into pagan idolatry. Sad.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

:thumbsup :thumbsup

Your experience mirrors my own. I grew up in a family that stopped celebrating Christmas when I was about 11 years old. When I came of age, I told my parents I would be celebrating the holiday. It was during that same Christmas season that my grandmother - the matriarch of my father's family - passed away.

When I told my parents that I would be celebrating Christmas, they followed suit. I believe that the timing of my decision, along with my grandmother's passing, made my parents regret distancing themselves from our family by not celebrating the season. In addition to it being a joyous remembrance of God's plan for humanity, and manifesting himself in the flesh so he could live life on this earth, suffer, and die to redeem us from our sins - it is also a beautiful time of family togetherness, love, comfort, and strength. I do not regret making the decision to celebrate Christmas, and I look forward to the day when my children are old enough to begin grasping the concept of its significance. (Not sure if we'll do Santa with them or not, but if we do, it will likely be in conjunction with the historical basis for the St. Nicholas legend. Call me a Catholic all you want.)

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

One problem I see with folks who become convicted regarding Christ-Mass, Easter, etc, is they do not replace these celebrations with something else. Thus, Real's comment about "...my parents regret distancing themselves from our family by not celebrating the season..."

We don't celebrate Christmas, but we do keep Biblical holy days. As a result, we have been drawn much closer as a family than if we just stuck with Christmas, Easter, and Halloween (much less doing nothing). Now we do not only the Sabbath (which is actually the highlight of our week), but also Passover/Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.

If a person isn't going to do Christmas, and doesn't want to do God's holy days, they at least need SOMETHING that regularly calls the family together for a shared experience. Otherwise, the family members wind up drifting apart.

My 2 cents (corrected to 10 cents due to inflation).

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

The problem with that premise, Esaias, is that the extended family whom we were distanced from by not celebrating the holidays would never be convinced to stop celebrating Christmas. We had a mix of faiths in the family, but the Christmas season was a very uniting time for the whole family. It's one thing to replace those traditions with something else within your own family unit. But for the rest of your family, and society as a whole, you're saying a time that is full of love and joy and meaning for them is worthless to you. To not celebrate is most certainly distancing. And while I respect where you're coming from by not celebrating, there is something to be said for being so separate from the world that you lose connection and common ground with those whom you're trying to reach (not saying you personally have, it's just an observation from my past).

When I was anti Christmas I still attended family gatherings. I would prefer that Christmas was completely secular. Gather with family, exchange gifts, fine. But don't say it's about JESUS when the only thing on your mind is what junk (that you don't need) you will be receiving.

pseudo Jew does not work for me.

Shalom.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

I think my Dad regretted that later in life, also. He felt he was right about Christmas, but it was a point of contention with the rest of the family. I'm not so sure that being "right" was worth it.

I can appreciate that, Esaias. Family traditions are important, and it probably doesn't matter which ones you choose to observe.

Yes, and where it really gets sticky is in situations where you have the non-celebrating family gathered with the celebrating family which makes people feel odd about giving/receiving gifts. Some people feel that they can't accept gifts, which makes the giver feel bad. The people who aren't celebrating don't buy gifts, so they may feel bad for only being a recipient. It makes the whole thing awkward and stilted, at the very least. At its worst, (and I've been present for worse) the family argues over the issue, the non-celebrating family condemns those who celebrate or those who celebrate criticize those who don't celebrate and everyone's holiday is spoiled. It does end up separating family, because people aren't going to have you to their home and risk having their valuable family time ruined. Or, worse, there's some sort of incident or fight and the separation occurs due to hurt feelings.

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

I understand. It is probably easier for me since on my dad's side the extended family only got together for funerals. (!) On my mom's side, the only time the extended family got together was Thanksgiving, and once Papa passed away well that was the end of that.

My wife's family is a little different. Almost the entire extended family lives in other states, but her mother is nearby. Her mother was horrified at the idea that we quit doing Christmas. For several years she would try to 'force' it on us. We inadvertently developed a compromise, however.

See, our immediate family does birthday's a little different than normal. On a person's birthday, THEY plan the event and buy gifts for everyone (instead of receiving gifts). Now, this has worked out rather nicely for my mother in law, because her birthday happens to be Dec 25th. :highfive Thus, she buys all the kids gifts for 'her birthday' and comes over and spends the day with us. Took her awhile to get over the fact there wasn't a tree and stockings, but the family get-together is what's important, after all (right?)...

I have no idea what you are talking about in this part, though. Not keeping Christmas doesn't make us 'so separate from the world' that we 'lose connection and common ground with those whom' we are trying to reach.

In fact it has proven to be just the opposite. 'What, you don't celebrate Christmas? Are you Jewish or something?' which leads immediately into Bible discussion and discussion of the gospel (Christmas being almost immediately forgotten as a topic of discourse).

We are not monks. We do not live in a hermitage. We try to be separate, as God has commanded (be ye separate... come out from among them... etc) but that doesn't mean we aren't interacting with people on a daily basis.

In fact, I'd say we weren't separate enough (hopefully it's just a common teenager thing... lol). But I've never had our not doing Christmas being a stumbling block for anyone except for other Christians who think if you don't do Christmas you must be antichristian or something....

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Been there done that. lol

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

So how do you guys handle family gatherings during the holidays? Do you accept gifts if people give them to you, or does everyone know not to? Do you go ahead and give gifts? Do you stay away on Christmas day and get together with family at a different time?

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

Dec 25th is my mother in law's birthday. As I mentioned we do birthdays where the birthday person is the one who gives gifts. She comes over on Dec 24th or 25th and gives kids gifts, so she gets to keep a dec 25th family get together/celebration thing. Took her awhile but she let go of the Santa Claus thing lol.

My mother couldn't care less one way or the other, she respects our values and spends time with us when she can regardless of what's on the calendar.

Father in law lives with us so he sort of has no choice but to keep Passover and Tabernacles with us lol. He's cool with it tho.

Really the only opposition came from my mother in law. she just hated the idea we didn't do christmas or halloween or easter anymore. She was also very controlling in a lot of other ways but she has learned to give us space and realised that we simply don't do christmas etc but it doesn't mean we care less about her.

None of my kids miss it, they prefer Tabernacles anyway. :thumbsup

Re: Do you celebrate Christmas?
 

I think Christmas and "Easter" (I prefer Resurrection) should be taken advantage of to reach out to our communities for Christ