[Darris McNeely] We should be glad that Jesus Christ was born on this earth. His birth has enabled and brought many joyous things. But what does the birth of Jesus Christ have to do with the modern celebration of Christmas or December twenty-fifth and all that comes with it? A friend of mine sent me some pictures today that you can look at here on my screen – the traditional Christmas tree, Santa Claus, and Snoopy and ornaments there in a shopping mall, what you might typically find in any American or Canadian shopping location. But you know what? He's from Thailand. Thailand. Not even a Christian nation, it's a Buddhist nation. And yet, they keep Christmas big-time, just as big in a commercial sense as we in the western world do today. Same goes on in Japan, a non-Christian nation as well. In England – I was reading that in Great Britain, four out of five people are nominal Christians – or just not even Christians at all, or don't profess to be, and yet Christmas is big there for all of the commercial reasons that are sometimes decried because of what has taken place here, what comes on at this particular time of the year. And so the commercialization goes on and we have Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, and the usual chatter that goes on.

I was thinking about this and we discuss this at times when we do some of the programs on Beyond Today – that our society has come to the point where people don't care to even know, even if they do know, that all of the origins and the trappings of the modern Christmas celebrations have their roots in paganism. We've documented that in our magazines and our literature and on Beyond Today. You can find that in any resource book, in any encyclopedia – go out on the web today. It has nothing to do with Christianity, it has nothing to do with the birth of Christ. Every aspect of Christmas, rooted in paganism.

But people, they don't care. It's not relevant, it seems, anymore, which is also an indictment about where our country, where our nation, where our civilization has gone – that they do not care to appropriate something that is pagan in the worship of God. That's where we are, and especially with the Christmas situation.

Should we care? And why is it that important that we do? It is, because God cares, and because God's word instructs us that we should pay attention to what we do, especially when we do make efforts to worship Him, and think very clearly through what the Bible says, and then make sure that as we worship God, it is based according to His teachings. There's a scripture from the book of Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse 29 – we've used before, but this time of year I think it's good to go back and look at this because what God said to Israel, He's saying to any people who want to worship Him in spirit and in truth. He said, "When the Lord cuts you off from before the nations which you go in to possess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you're not ensnared to follow them, after they're destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods?'" Their pagan gods. "'I also will do likewise.'" God goes on to say, "You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you to do, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it, nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:29-32).

We should care because God cares. We should care how we worship God. We should care how we even think about the birth of Jesus Christ, because God cares. And the birth of Jesus Christ did not take place on December twenty-fifth, and all the Christmas celebrations really have nothing to do with that, even if we in sincerity try to make it so, because of what God says. We should care more what God says.

Jesus Christ came and was born of a virgin and lived and died and was resurrected, that God might form a new relationship with mankind, through His blood, which extends to all nations and all peoples. Christ came to be our High Priest and to intercede before God's throne before us. And because He came, because He was born, we can have a wonderful future, and have a hope ultimately to share in the glory of God. But we need to worship God in spirit and in truth. And we need to do it in a way that He prescribes, not in a way we think is right. That's what we should care about. And that's why all of this is important. Something, again, to think about during this time of year.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.