WRITTEN IN MY HEART
Dorothy von Lehe
20) Celebration of Christmas: Where is Jesus?
In my 26th year of offering a Christmas Tour Program, thoughts went racing through my head as I began leading my first group of young second grade students from our local school through the historic Mayo House in early December of 2005. These thoughts seemed focused on society dictates concerning what I could and could not talk about with these young children. The thoughts included this kind of utter nonsense: don’t you dare talk about Jesus, don’t even mention His name, and you know you must bow down to the idea of separation of church and state.
It was both the hardest and the worst tour I had ever conducted. I struggled through the parlor program that included sharing information with these little ones on the evolution of the “Christmas time gift-bringer, Santa Claus” and the cleaned-up versions of “pagan religious traditions” that are embedded into today’s “celebration” of Christmas.
Before I even made it into the second room of the historic home, I knew in my heart this was it, no more; there would not be another Christmas tour program for children or a Christmas event done at the Mayo House. No more Christmas tours if the focus cannot be on the true reason for Christmas, Jesus Christ.
My conviction: The “celebration” of Christmas dishonors and offends God. After being born-again in the fall of 2001, it took the loving and gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit four Christmas seasons to bring this truth into clear focus.
Over the course of some 26 years, I shared the evolution of Christmas traditions in America with thousands of young children and adults without realizing I was dishonoring and displeasing God.
I am the person who researched Christmas traditions for the Christmas tour program and Christmas event and initiated these activities at the historic W. W. Mayo House in Le Sueur, Minnesota. As I did the research, I reviewed materials that were cleaned up versions that seemed to sound okay on the origins of our Christmas celebration traditions. I was aware that our traditions had pagan origins, but the significance of this went right over my head.
Everything from the Christmas tree and its decorations to Christmas colors to holly and mistletoe to Christmas wreaths to candle lighting to singing carols to the exchanging of gifts, all of which have become embedded into today’s Christmas celebration have their root origins in pagan religious practices and celebration. In some form, they all relate to the worship of false gods with their pagan religious rituals and celebration conducted at the time of the winter solstice of the sun in December.
When the Church of Rome attempted to draw pagans into the church, basically church leaders invited these pagans to bring their traditions with them. The truth is: it is impossible to marry pagan religious rituals and traditions (the unclean and impure) to a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ (the clean and pure) and expect that the union of the two can honor God and be pleasing to Him.
It is impossible to welcome pagan religious traditions into the Christian Church with the idea that somehow these traditions can be cleaned up. Instead, only the opposite can happen. The marriage of pagan religious traditions with The Church can only work to defile and contaminate The Church.
We now can vividly see the results of the attempt to marry the two. The “celebration” of Christmas has returned to its root origins, it has become a full- blown pagan celebration. It was hoped by believers that Christmas would be a clean and pure celebration honoring the humble birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Instead, today, Jesus is nowhere to be found in the unclean, impure and godless “celebration” of Christmas except often to have the name Jesus mocked or taken in vain.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”17 Therefore“ Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters.
I have a very hard time with nearly all of what is practiced and with what is unintentionally promoted at Christmastime by many who profess to be Christian.
Personal Testimony of
Dorothy von Lehe
Post 20 2024