Celebrating holidays and certain traditions-- do we or do we not??

[Browneyes84]

As a nondenominational Christian, or New Testament Christian, I sometimes wonder if it's appropriate for us, or myself to observe/celebrate holidays like other denominations do. For example, lots of Christians observe Christmas in remembrance of Jesus' birth, along with Easter as remembrace of his death and ressurection. But what about other traditions, like communion? Lent? Ash Wednesday? Good Friday? Advent? are those things unheard of and not necessary? I certainly do not think that we should rely on tradition as a building block to our faith, but it adds to certain aspects. I believe the Bible is authority but I do not believe that God can be confined within the Bible. Am I making sense? what do you guys think?

[revrobor]

Many traditions in many churches were begun by man in an apparent attempt to make his church appear more spiritual and to have a visible reminder of an invisible God. I'm not at all sure most of them are necessary.

Christmas and Easter are not Biblically mandated holidays. So I believe we are free to celebrate them any way we choose or to not celebrate them at all.

[CrazyforYeshua]

I agree about Christmas and Easter, though my heart is moving farther away from what the world does.
As far as the rest of your list, the only one Yeshua mentioned was communion, the rest came from church traditions as well.

[RichardT]

We shouldn't even be forced to celebrate christmas or easter.. I think it's too mass marketed ...

[brotherChristian]

The way I see it, the only real 'observance' we are called upon to practice under the new covenant is the Holy Communion. Everything else is fine if it strengthens your faith.
As a non-denom you can eat fish on Friday, but you won't be excommunicated if you don't.;)

[dalej42]

I observe almost every holiday. I believe Ash Wednesday and Lent to be very important. I take Lent very seriously and I try to attend church every day during Holy Week. I also use Advent as a season of growth in anticpation of the birth of Christ.

[oliveplants]

We celebrate Christmas and Ressurection Day. We don't celebrate any of the pagan aspects of these days - no Santa or sacred fertility bunny.

We keep communion, as taught by Jesus, and aspire to the whole Passover thing.

I think holidays are important because they remind us of very specific historical events. (Of course, we celebrate the resurection every day we are saved, but it's good to have a time to really focus on what Christ did for us.) We usually do readings every night from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday, to see where Jesus was that day of the week.

But we don't expect every other person to do things exactly like we do; otherwise I don't think it would be a celebration (but a chore).

[Imblessed]

I enjoy celebrating the main holidays(christmas, easter, thanksgiving,etc) because it's a great excuse to get together with my large family. Otherwise we would never see each other. However, I think we are free to celebrate them how we see fit. I don't see anything wrong with santa or the easter bunny, as long as my children know that these are traditions that non-christians celebrate primarily and we celebrate God primarily so santa and the easter bunny are fun "extras" but not the main point of the holidays. Make sense? Since neither easter or christmas is an "ordained" holiday, you cannot say how they are to be celebrated or not. So if if bothers you to celebrate them, don't. Otherwise, enjoy, but do everything for the glory of God.

that's my .02 cents worth.......

[knownbeforetime]

The Israelites had many holidays which point to the first and second coming of Christ.

With that said, I think having holidays of our own which point to what happened in the past aren't a bad idea. How many of us would talk about the birth of Jesus, if it wasn't for Christmas?

As for Easter, it should be celebrated every Sunday (communion) but I see nothing wrong with going all out on one Sunday of the year to really reflect on the death and ressurection of Christ.

As for Lent, Ash Wednesday, and Advent. Well, I don't even know what those are...

[StevenL]

I don't celebrate the church holy days because I've determined throught the study of the Word and history that they are intermingled with many names and practices that God plainly has hated since the time of physical Babylon and still hates in spiritual Babylon. That's enough reason for me. We aren't called to observe or celebrate anything pertaining to YHVH for our own reasons or our own pleasure....fun though it may be. Yeshua..Jesus...is the Lord. Not the "church."

[Browneyes84]

Obviously one can say that the origin of Easter has pagan origins-- but at the same time, can't God take what was unholy and turn it into something for His praise? after all, I read the Bible and Paul talks about how he uses a pagan altar....I had to read that for myself but it's there. Can't traditions be used as physical actions to help us strengthen our faith? Ultimately I could care less about buying cards, presents, the bunny, etc... but what I do care about is the real spiritual meaning behind them all. I've been to several non-denominational churches and all seem to have their own thing going on: some preach against the celebrating of holidays, some say that it's up to you, and some say it should be done as a remembrance time for spiritual growth.

[Antoinette.Marie]

Well, my parents celebrate ash Wednesday by getting ashes in the shape of the cross put on their foreheads. They are Catholic, and it is done at their church. I'm non-denom, and we don't do that at my church. I'm just wondering if it's a church tradition or a God tradition.

BTW, where DID Santa Claus originate from?

[brotherChristian]

Well, my parents celebrate ash Wednesday by getting ashes in the shape of the cross put on their foreheads. They are Catholic, and it is done at their church. I'm non-denom, and we don't do that at my church. I'm just wondering if it's a church tradition or a God tradition.

BTW, where DID Santa Claus originate from?


That is a church tradition. One of the biggest differences among the denominations is traditions vs. scripture. Most Non-denom chruches are concerned primarily with scripture, whereas RCs and early Protestants have a comparitively high concentration of tradition. Good question.

As for Santa, he comes from a European celebration involving Saint Nicolaus which occurs on Dec 6. You can probably find more info on the internet.

[knownbeforetime]

Obviously one can say that the origin of Easter has pagan origins-- but at the same time, can't God take what was unholy and turn it into something for His praise? after all, I read the Bible and Paul talks about how he uses a pagan altar....I had to read that for myself but it's there. Can't traditions be used as physical actions to help us strengthen our faith? Ultimately I could care less about buying cards, presents, the bunny, etc... but what I do care about is the real spiritual meaning behind them all. I've been to several non-denominational churches and all seem to have their own thing going on: some preach against the celebrating of holidays, some say that it's up to you, and some say it should be done as a remembrance time for spiritual growth.God took an idol-worshipping gentile named Abraham and made him into the first patriarch of Israel. When the Israelites called for a king to be like the other nations, God didn't deny them. He gave them a king and told them how to run a theocracy.

[Xelsorsior]

As a nondenominational Christian, or New Testament Christian, I sometimes wonder if it's appropriate for us, or myself to observe/celebrate holidays like other denominations do. For example, lots of Christians observe Christmas in remembrance of Jesus' birth, along with Easter as remembrace of his death and ressurection. But what about other traditions, like communion? Lent? Ash Wednesday? Good Friday? Advent? are those things unheard of and not necessary? I certainly do not think that we should rely on tradition as a building block to our faith, but it adds to certain aspects. I believe the Bible is authority but I do not believe that God can be confined within the Bible. Am I making sense? what do you guys think?
Perfect Scriptural sense.
Since you are blessed and those that are around you are blessed, may even more blessing be poured apon you so that your light may shine even brighter to those that are still unaware of your Christian Denomination.

[Browneyes84]

There are other church traditions we follow yet dont realize it: 1. belief in the trinity-- the Bible does not explicitly state there is a trinity. It was a council of Church Elders who settled this matter. 2. The divinity and humanity of Jesus is also a church tradition, when the Arianism was becoming mainstream. 3. The incarnation of Jesus-- the concept of incarnation, at least, is not mentioned in the Bible. These are all traditions that have been "assumed" from the Bible. Does that mean they are bad, take away from faith, and are sinful? no! I think that placing too much emphasis on the Bible limits God to the Bible, especially when God is beyond the Bible. What do I mean by when I say that? The BIble is God's Word-- his believers were inspired and wrote it down. Their writing and recording alone does not contain everything we need to know about God-- it takes a personal relationship. Is there anything in the Bible that says how to do that, and that there is a personal relationship? no. It was JESUS who SHOWED us how to do that, and what he did was recorded into the Bible. Having a personal relationship with God, and the concept, is also another church tradition all Christian follow. So yes, I guess I can say I am in support of traditions as long as they are for GOD. It doesn't matter if you aren't doing them for God-- because then there is no point to doing it.