new blog

It's been awhile since I've been able to write anything for my blog.  In order to try to start writing again, I'm slowly moving this blog over to necessaryinferences.blogspot.com.  Once I get my blog posts moved over, I will be shutting this one down. 

Celebrando el Nacimiento de Cristo

Créalo o no, no hay ningún pasaje en el Nuevo Testamento en el que podemos encontrar una instancia de la iglesia primitiva que anualmente se celebraba el nacimiento de Cristo. Sin embargo, lo que vemos, es la revelación gradual por escrito los detalles de su nacimiento, y por 70 A. D. las dos cuentas de su nacimiento se registraron en las Escrituras. El Espíritu Santo ha considerado oportuno para dejar en el olvido la fecha del nacimiento de Cristo, llevando a muchos conservadoramente-mente los cristianos creen que es malo celebrar el acontecimiento el 25 de diciembre. Si tienes curiosidad por saber cómo fue elegido el 25 de diciembre como cumpleaños de Cristo, por favor lea mi artículo, "Why December 25?"

Sin embargo, gracias al catolicismo y el protestantismo, todo el mundo escucha durante un mes el concepto de Dios en carne y habitando entre nosotros--uno de los eventos más importantes en la historia humana (Recuerde Filipenses 1:18--o no diciembre es el mes de nacimiento de Cristo incluso, Cristo es anunciado todavía, y nosotros como cristianos debemos alegrarnos con Paul). Sería ideal, por causa del Evangelio, si ese mensaje no fue ahogado por la enorme cantidad de comercialismo materialista y actitudes centrada en uno mismo, exactamente lo contrario del mensaje del nacimiento de Cristo--tan visible durante el último mes del año. Es agradable ver que hábilmente talladas pesebre completo con la estrella eléctrico por encima de él, pero ¿con qué frecuencia durante la temporada ¿sólo sentarse y contemplar el significado del nacimiento de Jesús? ¿Con qué frecuencia apagar la música y películas de Navidad, abrir la Biblia y leer las cuentas del nacimiento de Jesús y pensar en su aplicación para nosotros hoy?

Después de estudiar esto para la temporada navideña, se hizo muy claro para mí que un) el nacimiento de Jesús ungido es motivo de gran celebración y un cristiano tiene la libertad en Cristo para celebrarlo en fe independientemente de lo que nadie piensa o cree, y b) esa celebración no iba a ser sólo una cosa de un día pero cada día--no en los regalos como sabemos Navidad a ser sino en entender el nacimiento de ese Cristo comienza el ejemplo que vino a traer a aplicar y vivir en nuestra propia vida.

Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna.
Porque no envió Dios a su Hijo al mundo para condenar al mundo, sino para que el mundo sea salvo por él.






I am translating "Celebrating the Birth of Christ" into Spanish. Please bear with me on this. It is in rough draft form.

Christmas Articles

This is a quick list of articles I've written about things relating to Christmas or the holiday season:

Celebrating the Birth of Christ

Why December 25?

Misconceptions in the Christmas Story

The Census of Quirinius

The Eclipse of Herod and the Birth of Jesus*

Can I Eat This Turkey?



*I am presently rewriting these blog postings

Why December 25?

In my previous post, I talked about how we as Christians can truly celebrate Christ's birth--that it shouldn't be just an annual celebration but an every day one. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of Christ on a particular day of the year so long as such a celebration or lack thereof is not made a requirement for justification (Romans 14:1-23). The Bible does not give a particular day as the date for the birth as it does for the death and resurrection of Christ (Passover, which occurs on Nisan 14 every year). But it is interesting how December 25 came to be considered Christ's birthday. Some believe December 25 was chosen to counter the early pagan winter solstice festivals, but while there may have been a little of that in the minds of the early Christians, December 25 was chosen because it was nine months after the spring equinox when they believed Jesus was conceived.

Fundamental to Christianity is the concept of God becoming man. The eyewitnesses to Christ, His disciples who later were the apostles, walked with Him and could testify that He was, in fact, a flesh and blood human being. He bled (John 19:34), He cried (John 11:35), He got tired (John 4:6), He sweat (Luke 22:44), He ate food (Matthew 9:11), He got thirsty (John 19:28), and endured everything else that human beings endure.

But as the church began to grow and spread out, it is undoubtedly so that people who had only heard of Jesus were curious about how He had come to the Earth. And certainly some were in the business of discrediting Christianity and coming up with ideas that Jesus did not really come in the flesh. We can see the growing interest of the early church in the birth of Christ by the number of details included in the gospel accounts as they were written.

Mark, the first written gospel account (ca. early 50s A.D.), does not mention the birth of Jesus at all, but the narrative does note that Jesus had a mother and brothers and a hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:1-4). John, written next (my personal belief, in the late 50s A.D.), mentions the Word (the Christ) was with God and was God in the beginning, but the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1-14). The gospel also notes that the people knew the Messiah would come from Bethlehem (John 7:42). Matthew wrote next (ca. 60-65 A.D.), giving the account of how Christ came to Earth and of Herod's wicked actions against Him. Luke, written lastly (ca. 65 A.D.), gives the most detailed account, telling us about not only Christ's birth but also about that of his cousin John.

It was not until the beginning of the 3rd Century that Christian commentators noted in their writings the growing interest in the time of Jesus' birth. Around A.D. 200, Clement of Alexadria (Egypt) mentioned the interest and noted a few different dates suggested in his day (and he preferred May 20 as the date of Christ's birth) but did not mention December 25 or any celebration associated with the birth of Christ.  Origen in Alexandria perhaps a few years later called the practice of celebrating birthdays 'pagan', indicating such a celebration for Christ was unheard of in his day.

It appears that Hippolytus, in his early 3rd Century work, Commentary on Daniel, was the first to advocate December 25 as the Anointed Jesus' birthday, but he was simply trying to work out the chronology of Daniel's prophecies. He believed Christ was conceived on the spring equinox, March 25, and concluded Jesus was born nine months later--December 25. About the same time Julius Africanus as well suggested that Jesus was born on December 25 while others, including Tertullian, believed Jesus was born and died on March 25.

By the late 3rd Century, Roman Emperor Aurelian brought the celebration of several pagan "savior gods" together under one celebration on one holy day--December 25. This further cemented this date as Christ's birth as Christians who were already celebrating Christ's birth that day undoubtedly saw this as a sign and stood up against paganism by declaring December 25 to be the date that the only begotten Son of God was born. By the mid-4th Century, Christ's birth was celebrated in spots on both December 25 and January 6. Writings from the end of the 4th Century show celebrations of the birth of Christ occurred in Constantinople, Rome, Antioch, Nyssa and Iconium. In the mid-5th Century, Sixtus III, the bishop of Rome, instituted a midnight mass the morning of the feast on December 25, and Leo I, his successor, expressed his desire to increase the importance of the feast.

In the 6th Century, Dionysius Exiguus was commissioned to extend the Alexandrian Easter tables as they were set to expire in a few years' time. He set the conception of Jesus on March 25, 753 years after the founding of Rome (1 B.C.), the birth of Jesus on December 25 of that same year, and noted his own year, the year of the consulship of Probius Junior, as anno domini (Year of Our Lord) 525--525 years after the nativity of Jesus. Byzantine Emperor Justinian soon after declared December 25 a legal holiday.

To the church from the 6th Century, March 25 was New Year's Day. In some spots, however, December 25 became the first day of the year. England and northern Europe began their year on December 25, and both Charlemagne (800) and William the Conqueror (1066/67)* were crowned on December 25, the first day of the year. By the time of Gregory (who implemented the Gregorian Calendar that we use today), New Year's Day had moved back to March 25, but, of course, December 25, continued with increasing pomp and circumstance to the present day.

There is evidence for and against December 25 being the actual birthday of Christ, but instead of getting all bent out of shape about whether or not December 25 should be celebrated as such, especially with Christmas trees and lights, and instead of getting upset and suing for our rights when the atheists want us to move our nativity scenes from public property, why don't we take this great opportunity, while the world is so focused on this time of year, to demonstrate the love of God through Jesus Christ to a broken and dying world. December 25 may not be the actual date for the birth of Christ, but it is still a day on which we can celebrate His birth.





* December 25 was the first day of the year 1067, but William immediately moved New Year's Day to January 1, meaning 1066, according to the English of his day, had two December 25's in it.

Celebrating the Birth of Christ

Believe it or not, there is no passage in the New Testament in which we can find an instance of the early church celebrating the birth of Christ annually. What we do see, however, is the gradual revealing in writing the specifics of His birth, and by 70 A. D. the two accounts of His birth were recorded in Scripture. The Holy Spirit saw fit to leave in obscurity the date of Christ's birth, leading many conservatively-minded Christians to believe it is wrong to celebrate the event on December 25. If you are curious how December 25 was chosen as Christ's birthday, please read my article, "Why December 25?"

Yet thanks to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, the whole world hears for one month the concept of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us--one of the most important events in human history (remember Philippians 1:18--whether or not December is even Christ's birth month, Christ is still preached, and we as Christians should rejoice with Paul). It would be ideal, for the gospel's sake, if that message was not drowned out by the massive amount of materialistic commercialism and self-centric attitudes--the exact opposite of the message of Christ's birth--so visible during the last month of the calendar year. It's nice to display that skillfully-carved nativity scene complete with the electric-powered twinkling star above it, but how often during the season do we actually just sit down and contemplate the meaning of the birth of Jesus? How often do we turn off the Christmas movies and music, open the Bible and read the accounts of the birth of Jesus and think about its application for us today?

After studying this for the holiday season, it became very clear to me that a) the birth of the Anointed Jesus is cause for tremendous celebration and a Christian has the freedom in Christ to celebrate it in faith regardless of what anyone else thinks or believes, and b) such a celebration was not meant to be just a one day thing but every day--not in the gift-giving as we know Christmas to be but in understanding that Christ's birth begins the example He came to bring to apply and live out in our own lives.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him would not perish but would have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
John 3:16-17

How does Scripture say God approached this broken, sin-infested world? If God sent His Son to condemn, Christ would have come with conquering armies to destroy it. No, Christ was sent to save the world, and that began with His birth as a helpless human baby. A lot of the time we think of Christ giving Himself just in His death, but He gave His whole life as well. He gave up His godhood and emptied Himself, becoming fully human for our benefit (Philippians 2:7) in order to give us an example to follow (1 Peter 2:21). He did this to make us into a people who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). Through love, He invested blood, sweat and tears in people and gave people a true sense of worth.

And it all started with His coming to Earth as a baby: helpless, hated by the pretend-king of Judea, and completely dependent on His Father and His earthly parents. He came as a baby so that in every instance of His life, in every instance of the example He came to give, He could stand with the helpless, the hated, and the rejected and say, "I am one of you!" This is the good message of the Anointed Jesus.



How often does the world see these things among the followers of Jesus at any point in the year? Often there is condemnation from a distance without sitting down and getting to know people and their struggles. We look down on people and call others "wrong" while we set ourselves up as right, even though sin is just as great in our own lives. Often we miss the point of Christ's birth and His call for His followers to become little children (Matthew 18:3; John 3:3).

Our pride--our desire to control the world around us, to be our own gods and to get what we want at the expense of everyone else, to look down on others and think of ourselves as better than others, to save ourselves and make a name for ourselves--this is what separates us from God. It's why the world is so broken and chaotic. In being born again, we give up all this as Christ gave up His divinity to become human--we deny ourselves and place our trust and reliance in Christ (John 3:13-15; Matthew 16:24). Turning from our self-centric ways, we as Christians have met Him in the water and submitted to the crucifixion of our old selves, a burial and the resurrection unto new life as new creations in Christ, trusting in the salvation provided by God through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-7, 22-23). We no longer walk in the law that says we must fend for ourselves, fit a certain social standard, or "eat or be eaten". We walk in the law of faith that says we don't have to labor to earn the love of God or the approval of men. God already loved us before we came to love Him (Romans 5:1-10; 1 John 4:10; John 3:16) and we walk free in reliance on God, preaching a message not of condemnation but of God's love and desire that none perish but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We gladly extend the gift of God (Romans 6:23), the gift of the Son (John 17:3), and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) to the broken world around us that God desperately wants to heal.



There is nothing wrong at all with a person in faith celebrating annually the birth of Christ as long as that person does not mandate it necessary for justification. Likewise, no person or group should forbid a personal celebration of the birth (Romans 14:1-23). But I don't think the birth of Christ was ever meant to be just an annual celebration or else the Bible would have given us a date to celebrate. Instead, the birth of Christ was meant to be a daily celebration of the gift given to mankind. It is not about giving toys, candy or material things as if we are mimicking the magi. It is not about decorating trees or about what we give of our money (nothing about Christianity has ever been about giving just of our money). It is all about the example Jesus initiated with His birth and the call for His followers to declare in our every day actions that Jesus really is LORD (Revelation 19:16), that God really is LOVE (1 John 4:8), and that this love is extended through the followers of Jesus--those who have become like little children--to the hopeless, the depressed, the oppressed, the enslaved, the trampled, the mistreated, the lonely, and those of every other walk of life. Only in this do we truly celebrate the birth of the only begotten Son of God.

Can I Eat This Turkey?

I took my mom to the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving 2011 so she could get some things for the Thanksgiving meal. On the way back to her place, she mentioned she had a turkey she needed to return: a Butterball frozen turkey. I asked why the need to return a turkey? She said she discovered all Butterball turkeys were "halal certified" under the Muslim custom, so she felt she couldn't eat it. After talking for a little bit, I learned that she understood the Scriptures to say if one has knowledge that meat was a part of a non-Christian religious ceremony, one could not eat that meat.

Halal in the Muslim religion simply means "lawful" or "permissible" and is used in connection with food to indicate whether or not it can be eaten by a faithful Muslim (just as kosher refers to foods that can be eaten by faithful Jews). The turkey goes through a special process that is done swiftly with respect and compassion to avoid as much as possible any pain or discomfort for the animal. However, it is prayed over in the name of Allah, and this causes a lot of concern for some Christians. It has to do with those interesting passages in the Bible concerning the eating of meat sacrificed to idols.

The Bible instructs us concerning eating meat sacrificed to idols (or in the name of false gods and false religion):

1. There is only one true and living God who knows no other god besides Him (Isaiah 43:10). He is the creator of the animals. An idol or false religion is nothing and is simply empty practices and customs (1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

2. Paul says there is nothing wrong with eating meat sacrificed to idols if you know and understand point #1. The instruction from the Holy Spirit to the Gentile converts in Acts 15:29 was for brand new converts who needed to distance themselves from their pagan backgrounds. As they grew in the faith and matured, they would understand that idols and pagan religions are nothing and the eating of meat sacrificed to idols would be no big deal anymore. Paul calls those "weak-minded" and basically immature who think eating meat sacrificed to idols has significance (1 Corinthians 8:7, 10, 12). A mature Christian can eat anything and give praise to the only true and living God for it without worrying if it was sacrificed to an idol or prayed over in the name of Allah.

3. There are those who need more growth in the faith and still think false religion has significance. For their sake, do not eat meat sacrificed to idols in front of them. They could give in to what basically amounts to peer pressure (following your example in order to fit in) and eat with a guilty conscience, and you in essence sin against Christ because of it. Eating meat sacrificed to idols in the presence of someone who thinks it is wrong (or drinking alcohol or smoking a cigarette or anything else here applies) drags the gospel of Jesus Christ through the mud. Be VERY mindful of your brother and sister in Christ (1 Corinthians 8:9-13; 10:24). If a brother or sister notes something as wrong, for his or her sake don't do that in front of him (1 Corinthians 10:28-29). It doesn't matter if you think it will help him grow. It doesn't matter if you think he is wrong. It doesn't matter if you feel you have the right to do so in Jesus Christ. DO NOT DO IT or you yourself will be sinning against Christ! As well, there's no need to broadcast the fact that people are eating a "halal certified" turkey. Just don't do anything that will destroy a person's faith or hurt a person's conscience. And if you just can't help it or if there is any question, then for the sake of those who think eating a "halal certified" turkey is wrong, just make other arrangements.

4. When you buy meat or when you are invited to an unbeliever's house for a meal, don't ask questions. There's no need. Just buy the meat or eat what is set before you and give thanks to God. Otherwise, you will end up looking like a jerk and offending your host and the gospel will lose a lot of its power in that situation (1 Corinthians 10:25-27). As well, there is no need to write Butterball or any other provider of meats and ask religious questions. If you have real concerns about it, instead of writing and sending letters, read the letter Paul already wrote to Corinth with Spirit-inspired instruction concerning idols and false religions (1 Corinthians 8:4-6). Spend time meditating on that instead of filling people's minds with a disgust toward Muslims or other religions--I don't care how many Muslims are trying to kill Americans. Christ wants them all to hear His gospel and see it in practice so they have that much more of an opportunity to come to Him!

Eat your hams and turkeys and beef and whatever else this holiday season in good conscience. Always give the praise to God through Jesus Christ, and always think of others before you think of yourself.

To the only true and living God, always faithful, full of patience and love for those who call upon His name, to Him we will always praise and give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If you have any questions, post below or email me.

Misconceptions in the Christmas Story

We get a healthy dose of the story of Christ's birth this time of year:

A very pregnant Mary and her fiancee Joseph travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and Mary is riding on a donkey.  As they are entering Bethlehem city limits, Mary starts going into labor, but they find there is no room at all in any inn.  They have to settle for the barn out back, and, surrounded by talking cattle, sheep, chickens and other animals, Jesus is born and placed in a manger to sleep.  And this newborn did not make a sound. 

Meanwhile, there are shepherds in the field, and a myriad of angels appears and begins singing in Latin!  And then three kings from eastern countries come to Jerusalem by following a wandering star that later shows them the way to Jesus by stopping and shining over the barn where the baby Jesus is sleeping.  The shepherds and kings together kneel in worship, and Jesus is presented with the gold, frankincense and myrrh.    

Is any of this true?  The only place we can find anything concerning the events of the birth of Jesus are Matthew 2 and Luke 2.

1.  Did Mary go into labor as soon as they arrived in Bethlehem?  Maybe, but the Bible actually indicates they were in Bethlehem for a time before she went into labor.  "...while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth"  (Luke 2:6).

2.  Did Mary ride on a donkey?  Maybe, but the Bible does not say.

3.  Was Jesus born in a barn or stable?  A manger is quite common in a stable or barn--it is a feeding trough for barnyard animals.  But the Greek word translated as "inn" in Luke 2:7 is used only 3 times in the New Testament.  The other two times, it is translated as "guest room" (Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11).  It is more likely that Joseph and Mary stayed with relatives in Bethlehem, and preparations had not been made to welcome a baby into the world, so a manger was brought inside, washed out, and used as a crib.  Or maybe the room in which they stayed was too small to have a crib, so a smaller manger was employed.  Jesus was probably not born in a stable.

4.  Did the animals talk at Jesus' birth?  This point is far less common than the others covered here, but I remember it from my childhood.  Maybe it was in a cartoon or something, but I've always carried around with me the idea that the animals actually spoke in amazement at the birth of Jesus.  Given that He was probably born in a house rather than a stable, this becomes moot, but the Bible does not say whether the animals talked when Jesus was born.

5.  Did Jesus cry when He was a baby?  I figure Philippians 2:7 might indicate that He did--He was the Word made flesh.  His flesh gestated in Mary's womb just like every other baby.  He was born just like every other baby.  Why wouldn't He cry like every other baby?  I think some people have this perfect little idea of infant Jesus looking up at Mary with big blue eyes and saying in a British accent, "Mother, don't worry about feeding me.  I shall command the birds to drop manna on my lips until I am filled.  And do not worry about changing diapers.  I shall manipulate my physical aspects to do away with diapers altogether!"  No, He cried!  If Jesus wept when Mary told Him of Lazarus' passing (John 11:35), He cried as a baby.  He had smelly diapers.  He was human in every aspect so that He could say to any one of us on the planet that He is one of us!  He gave up His godhood and became a man.  This is the gospel in its purest form.  If Jesus didn't get scared at animal noises and cry (which is not a sin or anything to be embarrassed about), how was He human?  But that's all beside the point--the Bible doesn't mention anything about whether He cried or not.

6.  Were there shepherds in the fields the night of December 25?  Maybe.  Some say Winter was not a time to have sheep out in the fields, but the climate of Judaea south of Jerusalem in the winter months could support it.  But they were more likely out in the fields with sheep from March thru September,  and I believe that Jesus was born at or closer to Passover.

7.  Did the angels sing for the shepherds?  Well, they praised God, and that's all the Bible says.  One angel appeared to the shepherds and told them where to look for the new King.  And then myriads of angels appeared and began to praise God--probably in Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek (depending on the language of the shepherds--they would have praised in a manner that the shepherds understood what they were saying).

8.  How many kings or wise men were there?    The Bible calls them magi which was a group of wise men.  The Bible never calls them kings.  They brought three different types of gifts--gold, frankincense and myrrh.  This doesn't necessarily mean three wise men each gave a gift (though it is possible).  It could be that a group of wise men presented gold, another group presented frankincense, and another group presented myrrh.  The Bible just doesn't place any importance on how many wise men there were.  But you know the saying, though--"The more, the merrier."  What if a large number of wise men came to Bethlehem to see the new king--a large enough party that, when they ignored Herod's request to inform him of Jesus' whereabouts, Herod became threatened enough and paranoid enough to attempt to murder the new King?

9.  Did the star wander around in the sky until it stopped over the place where Jesus lay?  Most likely not.  Following the stars was the GPS of the 1st Century.  Constellations were identified and used to determine direction at night, and the magi were simply doing this.  The wording in English in Matthew 2:9, however, makes it seem like the star moved around.  Apparently, there was a bright star that was an indication to the magi of a new king born in Judaea.  And they simply used this star as a navigation point in the sky.  My translation of Matthew 2:9 is:

"When they heard the king, they left, and, BEHOLD!  the star they saw in the east led them until it showed itself fixed over the place the young child was."  

10.  Did the wise men show up the same night Jesus was born?  Probably not. The way Matthew records the event, it seems the magi came to Jerusalem later. Herod slew all the male infants in Bethlehem that were two years old and younger according to the time the magi told him the star appeared. So Jesus was probably six months to a year old from birth before the magi came. I've written elsewhere that I believe Jesus was born around Passover of 1 B.C., and there was a noted eclipse that occurred December 29, 1 B.C., and Herod died soon after that. I think Jesus and family left for Egypt about this time, which means Jesus was about 9 months old at that time, but 18 months if they continued to reckon his age from conception as the ancients had done for over 3500 years.

Perhaps there are other misconceptions and ideas that you can think of, but these are the ones I'm familiar with.  If you know of others, let me know.