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The origin of Christmas can be traced to the pagan holidays. It was in the year 354 AD that Christians in the West began the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on the 25th of December; before that time, it was celebrated on the 6th of January. At the time, Christians considered many of the pagan traditions and festivals of the season that was practiced in most parts of Europe and the Middle East as a means of making them increasingly irrelevant.

Christmas day or Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Although it is observed on different dates in some churches, it is a fact that the actual time of the birth and death of Jesus Christ has not been determined. There are many sides to the celebration of Christmas, some of which are religious and some secular, including the myth of Santa Claus, the exchange of gifts, display and decoration of Christmas tree, and religious occasions.

Christians celebrate Christmas by recreating or remembering the Nativity of Christ. While the Western Church most Christians prefer to celebrate the Advent of Christ, the Eastern Orthodox Churches engage in the Nativity fast in anticipation of the birth of Christ. Children usually sing Christmas carols that make reference to the celebration or celebrate the events of the Nativity. Some Christians place a small size recreation of the Nativity in their houses using small sculptures to display the key persons in the story of the birth of Christ.

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The joy of bringing hope to the lives of others, bearing the burden of others, easy loads of others and filling empty lives and hearts with generous gifts is the true essence of Christmas. It is a period when people do things that they usually don’t do. Be kind to others if you have demonstrated wickedness throughout the year and such things as kindness, love and compassion are infectious. You may find yourself becoming loving and kind for the rest of your entire life which will do you a whole lot of good.

Christmas is a time of the year when we let go of the painful realities of this evil world and adopt and embrace a more real universe (heaven) which represents the ideals that we cherish and believe in but find it difficult to follow through in an unforgiving and ugly world which is inclined towards eroding the real loving nature of man.

The post HISTORY AND MEANING OF CHRISTMAS appeared first on NIR News / National Investigative Report.

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At First Baptist Dallas, exactly where the pulpit was embellished Sunday with red, white and also blue bunting to recognition the 4th of July, the pastor referred to the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision an affront in the face of Almighty God.

The iconic rainbow shades that bathed the White House Friday night after the court legitimate same-sex marriage across the country signify depravity, degradation and what the Bible calls sexual perversion, the Rev. Robert Jeffress stated.

But we are now not discouraged, Jeffress stated. We will not be silenced. This really is an excellent chance for our church to reveal the truth and also the love of Jesus Christ as well as we will get it done.

On the very first Sunday after the high court taking over, theological conservatives grappled with their new position as exactly what the Southern Baptists call “a moral minority” on marriage. Ministers were defiant regarding openly keeping up their ideas, in addition to cautioned church people to make their selves for a difficult period in advance.

Welcome to the brand new entire world. It’s just simply transformed for you Christians. You will definitely be persecuted, Alabama’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore declared from the pulpit at the Kimberly Church of God, in Kimberly, Ala.

Moore, who fought a losing battle to maintain a Ten Commandments monument he set up inside Alabama’s state judicial developing, said the choice went against the laws of nature.

Is there this kind of a thing as morality any longer? Sodomy for hundreds of years was announced to be against the laws of nature together with nature’s God. And even right now should you say that openly, and I assume I am, am I violating somebody’s civil rights? Have we raised morality to immorality? Do we call excellent, bad? Exactly what are we Christians to do?

In their dissents to the ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia, each stated comparable issues. Very first Amendment protections for clergy and worship are clear, making churches choose who they can marry. Nevertheless, religious freedom protections are considerably less particular for faith-based charities, schools and also hospitals that want to hire and fire depending on religious values.

I believe that people who cling to old values are able to whisper their ideas in the recesses of their homes , however if they repeat those views openly, they are going to risk becoming labeled as bigots and treated as such by governing bodies, employers, in addition to schools ,Alito wrote.

At liberal churches, pastors and congregants rejoiced since gay pride parties were held around the country.

Reverend Dr. Neil G. Cazares-Thomas/Facebook

In one decision we’ve quickly individuals from being second-class individuals to first class, claimed the Rev. Neil Cazares-Thomas, who was leading Sunday’s worship at the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, a megachurch created in the past as a spiritual refuge for gays.

62% of white colored evangelical Protestants as well as 54% of non-white Protestants defend same-sex marriage, based on the Public Religion Research Institute.

However, support for gay marriage is increasing actually within certain evangelical communities, powered to some extent by younger generations that have gay friends as well as don’t see opposing same-sex relationships as central to their belief.
The separation might be observed in competing statements from evangelicals after the high court ruling.

One group of just about 100 leaders, organized by the Southern Baptist’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, granted a marriage certification known as “Here We Stand,” pledging to keep on “witnessing to the biblical teaching” of marriage as the union of a man along with woman “and live this reality at all costs .” An additional, by the pro-gay Rise Network and also authorized by approximately 100 pastors and community leaders, praised the taking over as “a significant stage towards justice and equality.”
As well as some congregations are conflicted.

There’s a combined sensation. There are combined understandings, alleged the Rev. Donald Jenkins at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, whose denomination bars same-sex weddings. It’s simply something which we’re likely to need to look closely at, find out as we go along, just how we’re going to cope with it.
The U.S. bishops are going through a much better difficulty within, all the while they move ahead since the leading religious voice encouraging for lawful protections for people who object to gay marriage.

In the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Va. , Bishop Paul Loverde conducted numerously and put together a speech for the U .S. bishops’ yearly religious freedom commemoration, called “Religious Liberty For How Long? How to Prepare Spiritually for the Coming Persecution.”
About 58 % of Roman Catholics state they encourage same-sex marriage, based on Public Religion Research Institute, along with U .S. bishops have fought freely with how they may influence their faithful to follow church teaching.

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At New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday, there was clearly absolutely no point out of the ruling from the pulpit. Outside, roughly 20 members of Dignity, a Catholic gay advocacy group, sang and greeted parishioners.

“Our message is now to our fellow Catholics that we would like to see our relationships recognized as holy within the church as well,” said Jeff Stone, a member of Dignity. “That is not something that can be accomplished by legal means. We are hoping to change hearts and minds of our fellow Catholics .”

The post Traditional Churches Face New Reality On Gay Marriage appeared first on NIR News / National Investigative Report.