Christmas is Evil.

[A. Christian]

I believe that celebrating it could be sinful but so could eating steak if a person believes that its sinful. But really the title was really just click bait.

I originally posted about the hypocrisy of legalists. The same people who bind themselves to the law seem to be fine with holidays that go against it. However, this thread seems to have turned into one about the holidays themselves. So let me join in.

True Christmas and Easter have pagan origins (in fact Easter is actually another name for Ishtar the Babylonian goddess of fertility). True the vast majority of the associated traditions have pagan origins. True the process by which these pagan celebrations became accepted by the church is one full of manipulation of the masses by the corrupt Roman Catholic church. True people say that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year where in reality it has the highest suicide rate of all year and people are the most stressed out of the year. True we say it is all about Jesus while at the same time teach our children that who they really want is Santa. True Christmas is highly commercialised where the average person will either neglect important bills or max out credit cards. But can all these truths really be so bad when it feels so good following the cultural norm?

Thats really why we like the holidays because of the image our culture has put on us about them. We could give the gifts, spend the time with loved ones, show the love every day of the year. But Christmas is special because eveyone else also wants to do it then. And darn it it just feels so good with all the insincere love and goodwill all around us. (How do I know that its insincere? Because if it were sincere then it wouldnt just be around for the holidays)

I hope that I wasn't to offensive. I believe that Christmas and Easter could be horribly evil, but if your conscience is pure in regards to celebrating it, then celebrate it and enjoy it.

But I believe that I have a way to make Christmas more about Jesus if anyone isinterested.

 

[Sue D.]

@A. Christian -- one way To make Christmas more About Jesus birth is to take the time to Read the section in Gospels about His birth. We did That for years. And Then we'd take turns opening the Christmas presents. And sometimes there would be Christmas carols being sung. We Used to go out Christmas caroling. There's a Lot of 'used to do's' And driving around town looking at all the Christmas decorations and lights in various houses along the streets.

And then problems started -- and then people started using all white in their lights -- that took some of the beauty out of it.

And I Do realize that Lots of people go to the stores to see 'Santa Claus' to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. We never did that.

One year we were up North in Iowa and the people -- i-laws we were staying with took their kids shopping and to see Santa -- well -- my husband said that 'we' don't do Santa Claus -- he was Very firm in standing up for Our beliefs. Looking Back -- we might have missed some good socialization times.

Feelings probably Are very sincere at that time -- but 'that' time doesn't last all year around -- any more than Thanksgiving Day does. 'family' gets together for that one day a year to have turkey and trimmings. And then It's over. That's just how it is. It Used to be that 'we' gave thanks at the beginning of That meal simply because it was -- after-all 'thanks giving day' -- was That prayer 'sincere' -- well -- it's as sincere as any Other prayer would be / should be. Is it even Prayed any more ? Well -- that depends on the family. And we Should be in a spirit of 'thankfulness' 'all the time'. ?!

And 'cultural norms' Are important. One of my in-laws were missionaries some year ago in Brazil. Apparently they don't celebrate Christmas or at least not the same time 'we' do. But their Dad wanted what they knew as Christmas to be a 'real' Christmas to them even though they were in a different country. And he did make it special for them.

 

[A. Christian]

@A. Christian -- one way To make Christmas more About Jesus birth is to take the time to Read the section in Gospels about His birth. We did That for years. And Then we'd take turns opening the Christmas presents. And sometimes there would be Christmas carols being sung. We Used to go out Christmas caroling. There's a Lot of 'used to do's' And driving around town looking at all the Christmas decorations and lights in various houses along the streets.

And then problems started -- and then people started using all white in their lights -- that took some of the beauty out of it.

And I Do realize that Lots of people go to the stores to see 'Santa Claus' to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. We never did that.

One year we were up North in Iowa and the people -- i-laws we were staying with took their kids shopping and to see Santa -- well -- my husband said that 'we' don't do Santa Claus -- he was Very firm in standing up for Our beliefs. Looking Back -- we might have missed some good socialization times.

Feelings probably Are very sincere at that time -- but 'that' time doesn't last all year around -- any more than Thanksgiving Day does. 'family' gets together for that one day a year to have turkey and trimmings. And then It's over. That's just how it is. It Used to be that 'we' gave thanks at the beginning of That meal simply because it was -- after-all 'thanks giving day' -- was That prayer 'sincere' -- well -- it's as sincere as any Other prayer would be / should be. Is it even Prayed any more ? Well -- that depends on the family. And we Should be in a spirit of 'thankfulness' 'all the time'. ?!

And 'cultural norms' Are important. One of my in-laws were missionaries some year ago in Brazil. Apparently they don't celebrate Christmas or at least not the same time 'we' do. But their Dad wanted what they knew as Christmas to be a 'real' Christmas to them even though they were in a different country. And he did make it special for them.

Cultural norms are only good in a culture that is wholesome. In our current culture the norm is all types sexual perversion, hate, violence, greed, etc. The norm is evil. The world is fallen and evil and friendship with the world is enmity against God. I'm sorry to say that the church in America has become weak. We have made so many compromises in order to fit in with culture. We have sought the easy and comfortable path and forgot that we are at war in spiritual places.

Sometimes it makes me a little angry to look at the church community and see hopeless people being guided by religious people. But I know that Jesus will not let the church die.

And out of all the Christmas lies Santa is the most dangerous to our children.

 

[Sue D.]

Actually --our Santa Claus is based on an actual person from Turkey many centuries ago. St. Nicholas. He was a good guy. Take a moment to look him up.

 

[A. Christian]

Actually --our Santa Claus is based on an actual person from Turkey many centuries ago. St. Nicholas. He was a good guy. Take a moment to look him up.

Besides the fact that St. Nicholas reportedly also gave gifts (there is actually very little trustworthy material about him, most is just folklore) he has very little to do with today's Santa. Today's Santa was created by the Coca-Cola Company in 1931. Again with the commercialization.

But I remember being a child believing in Santa and I can tell you that with Santa bringing presents I could have cared less about Jesus. As with all other believing children I worshipped Santa. And I followed the law of naughty and nice in order to recieve the "gift". Santa himself teaches legalism. I say Santa is the most dangerous lie not because he takes Jesus's place in our children's hearts, though that is horrifying in itself, but because this lie indoctrinates our children with legalism and does away with the gospel of grace.

 

[rstrats]

A. Christian,
re: "But I remember being a child believing in Santa and I can tell you that with Santa bringing presents I could have cared less about Jesus."

Any idea about how much less you could have cared?

 

[Brother-Paul]

Santa brings present, he brings material things.

Jesus is the Perfect Gift.

Only Jesus can save our souls.

Parents tell children not to lie, it is wrong, it is naughty, you mustn't tell lies. Then they tell them Santa brings presents at Christmas.

The world is upside down, only Jesus turns it the right way up.

One lie is sin, if we are not saved we are heavy laden with sin, weighted down by sin, veiled from the Truth by sin.

Only Jesus can save us from our sins, He died on the cross for our sins.

Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life, no one comes to the Father except through Him.

 

[rstrats]

Sue D.,
re: "It would be a Natural thing to Want to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and his bodily resurrection."

Indeed. It just seems odd that if annual Easter and Christmas celebrations are so important to Christian theology, that the authors of scripture didn't include the practice in any of their writings.

 

[Brother-Paul]

Sue D.,
re: "It would be a Natural thing to Want to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and his bodily resurrection."

Indeed. It just seems odd that if annual Easter and Christmas celebrations are so important to Christian theology, that the authors of scripture didn't include the practice in any of their writings.

The birth, death and resurrection, plus teachings of Jesus were all there, they just hadn't been put in order as we celebrate today. Jesus was a Jew, He came to correct the wrong thinking of the Jews, God's chosen people, that was his initial mission. But as we see they failed to recognise him.

The church itself was not created until Pentecost, which we read about in the Acts of the Apostles, it was from that point that the church began, being empowered by the Holy Spirit. The writings in the Epistles and Revelation were during the life of a few Apostles, and in that period there was turmoil, the Apostles were Jews who had chosen in the eyes of the rejecters to turn away from the grass roots of their religion. It really was Jew hate Jew during that period, but there were other conflicts as well, including the Roman Empire. In A.D. 70 we see Jerusalem taken over by the Romans, the Temple thrown down [as was prophesied by Jesus] and the Jews were scattered across the world. The Bible was still being written up to towards the end of the first Century A.D. after which all the manuscripts had to be brought together, checked and canonised.

So we see that although the special periods in the churches year were not in place as today, they were created by God and in place in the manuscripts. It wasn't until the early 300 A.D. that a RCC monk placed Easter and then Christmas was put in position, this was during the period of Constantine. It wasn't until around 500 A.D. that the churches year as we know it was put in order, which is as we see it today.

Looking at the churches year as we see it today, it is a joy to celebrate the birth of Christ during Advent, it is a privilege to follow what Christ went through and did for us and for our sins. But what I do feel is very sad is that Pentecost, the birth of the church, is not given the same attention.

 

[Brother-Paul]

Actually --our Santa Claus is based on an actual person from Turkey many centuries ago. St. Nicholas. He was a good guy. Take a moment to look him up.

So true Sue, he was the bearer of gifts, he provided for the less fortunate family in the village.

But Santa Claus, St Nicholas, cannot save us from our sins.

Santa Claus has in effect become a man made God, kids worship him and parents encourage it with lies, we all get drawn into the trap.

Christ is Christmas, He is the Reason for the Season.

Love came down at Christmas. For the saved soul, His Love never leaves us.

Thanks be to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Jesus Name. Amen

 

[A. Christian]

A. Christian,
re: "But I remember being a child believing in Santa and I can tell you that with Santa bringing presents I could have cared less about Jesus."

Any idea about how much less you could have cared?

Jesus to me then was barely a footnote. It was Santa that we decorated the tree for so that he'd have a place to put out presents, Santa that we wrote letters to, got excited to see in the mall, sometimes even prayered to when we did something "naughty" and was reminded of the list. We left him out cookies and tried so hard to stay up and see him. Next to Santa, Jesus was just a person from a story.

 

[Sue D.]

It's true that lots of people / Kids were brought up with Santa Claus. It was fun for them. But I was brought up with the passage of the birth of Jesus Christ. Was brought to church every Sunday -- a large and growing conservative Baptist church.

The 'habits/ rituals' we grew up with. Lots of nice things for kids. Nothing Evil in them. Just not Jesus Christ as the Christ-child.

Back in Those days -- we were still doing an out-side nativity scene. there Are churches that still do a private Christmas nativity scene -- it's only visible from within the churches property. But advertized by word of mouth. Very popular.

We also had the Christmas tree and got it all decorated knowing that Mom and Dad and as we were growing up were the one's who bought the gifts and put them under that tree.

And, for those who watched TV -- the weather man would include 'santa and his reindeer' appearing on the weather radar along with the rest of the weather forecast. We knew it wasn't real -- just a 'cutsy' thing.

 

[A. Christian]

It's true that lots of people / Kids were brought up with Santa Claus. It was fun for them. But I was brought up with the passage of the birth of Jesus Christ. Was brought to church every Sunday -- a large and growing conservative Baptist church.

The 'habits/ rituals' we grew up with. Lots of nice things for kids. Nothing Evil in them. Just not Jesus Christ as the Christ-child.

Back in Those days -- we were still doing an out-side nativity scene. there Are churches that still do a private Christmas nativity scene -- it's only visible from within the churches property. But advertized by word of mouth. Very popular.

We also had the Christmas tree and got it all decorated knowing that Mom and Dad and as we were growing up were the one's who bought the gifts and put them under that tree.

And, for those who watched TV -- the weather man would include 'santa and his reindeer' appearing on the weather radar along with the rest of the weather forecast. We knew it wasn't real -- just a 'cutsy' thing.

Can I ask what your opinion is on the state of our church in regards to empty religion?

 

[Sue D.]

@ A. Christian -- the churches I've gone to are definitely Not empty in their teaching / Christianity.

Religion is what people are doing to 'get to heaven'. Based on good works.

Christianity is what Jesus Christ has already done For us on the cross / His shed blood.

Seems that the Church has always gone through Dark times in history. But there has always been a remnant Of believers.

And in these 'end times' it will be more and more prevalent to have 'dead churches'. That's why born-again believers NEED to take a Positive stand For Christianity.

The 'universal' body of born-again believers exists all over this world.

Maybe the Church is as 'empty' as 'we' allow it to be?!

There's a LOT of negativity going on all over this world. It's easy to get side-tracked From God's Word and get 'into' politics. And there's ample opportunity To get involved in 'stuff'.

That's why we Need Christian fellowship. On a very regular basis. Like Really often.

 

[A. Christian]

@ A. Christian -- the churches I've gone to are definitely Not empty in their teaching / Christianity.

Religion is what people are doing to 'get to heaven'. Based on good works.

Christianity is what Jesus Christ has already done For us on the cross / His shed blood.

Seems that the Church has always gone through Dark times in history. But there has always been a remnant Of believers.

And in these 'end times' it will be more and more prevalent to have 'dead churches'. That's why born-again believers NEED to take a Positive stand For Christianity.

The 'universal' body of born-again believers exists all over this world.

Maybe the Church is as 'empty' as 'we' allow it to be?!

There's a LOT of negativity going on all over this world. It's easy to get side-tracked From God's Word and get 'into' politics. And there's ample opportunity To get involved in 'stuff'.

That's why we Need Christian fellowship. On a very regular basis. Like Really often.

Thanks I was mostly referring to churches in places like america. I am confident that the churches in china and other hostile places are very strong.

So if the word of God is spirit and life and power, and if it is being preached in the churches, then why is their no growth in most of the churches that I've seen? And I have seen a lot of church from many different denominations.

 

[Sue D.]

@ A. Christian -- you're bio says your from Ft. Meyer. That's in this country.

It's probably because 'this' country has experienced very little persecution. We're founded on God's Word which is sort of being ignored. Society has been very content to sanitize 'us' from Christianity. It's been said that we're ALMOST as it was in the days of Sodom and Gohmorrah.

It's been predicted that America would be taken down from within. I'm concerned that That's about to happen. This coming election will be Very 'telling'. Then again, the past Several elections have been that way.

God's Word tells us that 'in the last days' people won't want to hear good preaching. Only what sounds good. Want to get their 'ears tickled'.

I've only been around Baptist churches.

What we Need are churches / preachers who are willing to continue or start teaching God's Word.

 

[A. Christian]

It's probably because 'this' country has experienced very little persecution.

I don't know about the rest but this is the moat important part of what you've said in my opinion.

I'm sure that this really isn't the place to ask this question. Maybe you could send me a private message. I don't know how to do that yet. But if you don't mind can you tell me why baptist? I have some good friends in alot of different denominations and I always find their choices interesting. I myself do not belong to any denomination, not even nondenominational. But in your 57 years of being a christian why baptist churches?

 

[Brother-Paul]

There are many reasons the 'Church' is as it is today, and we can all sit down and make long lists I am sure.

Possibly one of the main reasons is that people do not understand what 'The Church' is. They think they know what 'A Church' is, and their decisions or ideas stem from there.

'The Church' is the One True Church, the bride of Christ, the ekklesia.
'The Church' is the Body of Christ, worldwide, including all saved souls in the world, all born again believers in the world, regardless of age, sex, colour, language, etc.
'The Church' is what Jesus, the Bridegroom, will Return and take to be with Himself forever.

'A Church' is the building, the kuriakon, a word that will not be found in scripture, it was a word introduced by the RCC, as was calling the building 'A Church'

I think as we look at the reasons we would come up with far more than we first expect, some may be excuses, some may be genuine or genuinely misunderstood.

So what is 'The Church' on earth? The best place to find the answer is starting in the Acts of the Apostles, then compare the early Church with what we see and do today.

Stepping out of the picture, always good to do I think, it is clear to see that, no matter which denomination one would go to they all profess to be Bible believing Churches! So in reality None think they are wrong! Many say they are Gospel believing Churches, but what about the rest of scripture. I prefer to call each one Church/Fellowships, but I am talking of the people not the building. Why do I call them Church/Fellowships, quite simply because they are a fellowship of born again and not born again souls. The born again are the ekkelsia, the not born again are part of the fellowship but are not part of the Saved Church.

Congregations are not taught this, many believe they are saved because they were Christened. Many don't even hear the expounding of The Word, 'you must be born again'. Is it not surprising there is so much confusion?

If it was preached that the Church is the ekklesia, the building is the kuriakon, unless you are born again you are not a member of the Body of Christ, if it was preached from The Word, according to The Word, would the not saved want to be saved. Instead I found denominations make you welcome, they want you to be part of their group, their flock, they want you to become a member so that it is recorded how many members there are, in itself that is not bad, it is also not bad that they want you to covenant give your donation to God and His Church, but often wanting you to become a member of their denomination and covenant give is done the wrong way or for the wrong reasons, without preaching or teaching from the Word of God.

So all in all it is not surprising every church fellowship, or every denomination, each think what they do is right with God.

The early church didn't have fancy buildings, cushy seats and carpeted floors, they didn't have central heating, they didn't have pastors on good salaries, good holiday entitlement and good pensions, they didn't even have a building they called church, they met in each others houses. They gave all they had to the Church so that it could be shared equally and evenly amongst those in need. None of that reflects today. The apostles were Evangelists, they did everything for the Love of God, for Jesus, even unto death. They were Evangelists, but didn't have swanky homes, cars, jets, gold sovereign rings like those we see today who preach on TV.

If we are to be part of the One True Church, the ekklesia, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, our Lord's Church, then we must get right with God, get right with His Word, all of The Word.

Jesus is for Life, Jesus is Life, He gave His Life, so that we may have Life, Eternal Life, starting the second we are born again.

We must help one another, teach The Word with each other, learn with each other, have fellowship with each other, growing in Faith daily, humbling ourselves at all times, being 'The Spiritual Stones' of the 'One True Church', our Lord wants us to be, expects us to be.

We are to build each other up, in Faith, in His Love, in Christ Jesus our Lord. It starts by understanding The Word, understanding what the True Church is, and not being influenced by denominational differences and practices. Denominations were created by man due to the errors in the RCC.

We do not go to Church on Sunday, or any other day, we go to the place 'The Church' which meets on those days. The Church the ekklesia is the born again believers.

Not all who go to the Church (the Building the kuriakon) are saved souls, they fellowship with the ekklesia, until they are born again then they to become part of the Body of Christ, the True Church.

Unless we are born again, we will not see the Kingdom of Heaven, unless we are born again we are not part of the Body of Christ His One True Church.

Lord Your Word is Truth, we pray you will reveal The Truth in Your Word, to every preacher of The Word.
Lord we pray you will reveal The Truth in Your Word, to every Saved Soul.
Lord we pray you will reveal The Truth in Your Word in every place of worship, what ever place this may be.
Lord we pray you will reveal The Truth in Your Word to all who think they are saved but are not.
Lord we pray you will reveal The Truth in Your Word, regarding 'Your Church the ekklesia'
Lord we pray you will reveal The Truth in Your Word, regarding the importance of being Born Again.
Lord we pray you will reveal The Truth in Your Word, regarding your Love for mankind.
Lord we pray you will reveal The Truth in Your Word, regarding God's Wrath, Sin, Death and Judgement.
Lord we pray that our hearts and minds are open to the Holy Spirit as He quickens in our hearts, guiding us in all Truth.
To God be the Glory, in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Sue D.]

@Brother-Paul -- yes, the church is Both the body of born-again believers AND the building they meet In. Or outside on the lawn or hill or where ever.

Your comment regarding 'born again' but not born-again souls. Are you sure you're not meaning to say 'born -- but not born-again' people.

Speaking from the basis of living in this country and having access To things like A/C and heating ,etc. yes, the surroundings Of the place Of worship varies a lot.

We're Not all called to be evangelists. It Does happen to be one of the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit to a believer.

Unfortunately Not all denominations Do teach the Word of God As such. Some Do allow things to be taught / practiced that Aren't Scriptural.

And there Are lots of churches that teach / allow 'good works' to determine 'salvation'. IF you join a church And give financially And do -- whatever -- of Course you're welcome. And as a result -- the person Does 'feel' safe / saved by going to that particular denominations' church.

Yes, absolutely -- we Do need to be reading God's Word -- find out what It says -- follow it. Share it with others. And those who Are born-again believers Need to be sharing the Gospel unto salvation with everyone. Some will listen and accept and some won't - some at the first time of hearing -- and some 'after a while'.

Back at the time of the early church , there were no denominations -- either you followed Jesus Christ's teachings or you Didn't.

The groups that Do follow God's Word DO feel that 'they' have 'it' right. The first time I read the Bible through completely -- I could see in the New Testament how / where various churches got their teachings From. I can understand how various churches get 'hung up' on various areas of Scripture. The book of Acts especially. But I'm not getting into That here.

The 'saved church' is the Universal body of Christ. The local church is the group of believers from a particular town.

 

[Brother-Paul]

@Brother-Paul -- yes, the church is Both the body of born-again believers AND the building they meet In. Or outside on the lawn or hill or where ever.

The True Church is the ekklesia, born again believers worldwide.

The building being called the church misleads people, the RCC were the ones who called the building the church, using the word, kuriakon, which is not in scripture

Your comment regarding 'born again' but not born-again souls. Are you sure you're not meaning to say 'born -- but not born-again' people.

Scripture term for 'born-again', is when we become new creations.

John 3:1-8 (NKJV)
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."
3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

When we have repented, been baptised in the spirit and water, when we have accepted Jesus as our saviour, His spirit is in us, we are in Christ, Christ is in us.

Unfortunately Not all denominations Do teach the Word of God As such. Some Do allow things to be taught / practiced that Aren't Scriptural.

And there Are lots of churches that teach / allow 'good works' to determine 'salvation'. IF you join a church And give financially And do -- whatever -- of Course you're welcome. And as a result -- the person Does 'feel' safe / saved by going to that particular denominations' church.

Yes, absolutely -- we Do need to be reading God's Word -- find out what It says -- follow it. Share it with others. And those who Are born-again believers Need to be sharing the Gospel unto salvation with everyone. Some will listen and accept and some won't - some at the first time of hearing -- and some 'after a while'.

Back at the time of the early church , there were no denominations -- either you followed Jesus Christ's teachings or you Didn't.

True there were no denominations, they are the result of the reformation, which came about, as we know, due to errors in the RCC.

The question was is the church today like the early church?

The early church started by the brethren coming together in each others homes, they would read Scripture together, pray together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and the observance of the sacraments; all of these were derived from the example and command of Jesus Himself.
ALL who believed were together and had all things common.

Acts 2:39-47 (NKJV)
39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation."
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The groups that Do follow God's Word DO feel that 'they' have 'it' right. The first time I read the Bible through completely -- I could see in the New Testament how / where various churches got their teachings From. I can understand how various churches get 'hung up' on various areas of Scripture. The book of Acts especially. But I'm not getting into That here.

The 'saved church' is the Universal body of Christ. The local church is the group of believers from a particular town.

The RCC think they are right, so does the Church of England and elsewhere, so do the Methodist, the Baptist's the URC's etc.

If you talk to any of them, they all profess to be right in all they do, their ways, their practices, they all profess to be scripture based, Gospel believing, but they all go their different ways, at Easter, at Christmas and throughout the churches year.

Acts 2:44-47
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The only point I am making is do we ever ask what was the early church like, are we today doing things differently?

Many of us, me included, seem quick to say the RCC is wrong in this or that, but has the church today, picked up/inherited ways from the RCC with a few reformed ways in each denomination, each their own way, or are we really like the first church in what we do?

Bless you