Kirk Cameron's 'Saving Christmas' - A 119 Ministries Review

Elmo saved Christmas Jason Alexander saved Christmas earnest saved Christmas The Flintstones saved Christmas this dog saved Christmas this other dog saved Christmas and even Inspector Gadget saved Christmas every year it seems as though someone is trying to save Christmas yes your Christmas spirit but does it really need saving should it be saved actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron seems to believe so I love Christmas his new movie saving Christmas is an hour and 20 minute comedic diatribe to put Christ back into Christmas and ultimately restore the Christian meaning of the holiday will you and your family join me and my family this year in putting Christ back in Christmas this video is in no way an attack on Kirk his character or those who subscribe to his position rather it is intended as a scholarly review and rebuttal to some of the claims made in his movie with the help of comedic dialogue the film introduces its characters and sets the stage for Kirk to present his defense for Christmas the two main threats are introduced first there are the secular atheists who want to remove Christ from the holiday secondly there are the believers who are now against Christmas because they have discovered its pagan roots the focus of this movie is on the second crowd in which Kirk jokingly asks what are they going to do next tell us hot chocolate is bad for us that the Druids invented it while we understand Kirk's concerned it must also be understood that statements like these do nothing but detract from the central issue as enjoying a warm beverage and the act of assimilating a cult derived pagan customs into our worship of the Creator are in no way related aside from the storyline Kirk's central arguments can be broken down into four main categories one Christmas is and always has been about Jesus God's gift to mankind two Christmas trees cannot be inherently wrong because trees were ultimately created by God who uses the trees in the Bible to illustrate a spiritual message three st. Nicholas was a real person who defended the faith and generously gave to the poor for we need to redefine the pagan elements of Christmas and see it through new eyes in watching we received the impression that this movie had an agenda to paint those who do not participate in Christmas for legitimate reasons as being wet blankets grumpy and pessimistic individuals Kirk's brother-in-law who has done his research on the pagan origins of Christmas via Wikipedia is portrayed as one who has a negative outlook on life really need to work on your exegesis extra Jesus as the movie progresses Kirk is able to quickly persuade his brother-in-law who is unable to properly defend his opposing stance making it appear as though the anti-christmas position is weak and does not have a leg to stand on nearly 10 minutes into the movie Kirk says where some see festive decorations others see perverted symbols with hidden meanings Kirk then says some people are determined to see the worst and even the best of things a big slap in the face to the true meaning of Christmas but what is the true meaning of Christmas everything you see inside them it's all about Christmas it's all about Jesus according to Kirk every element of Christmas can point to Jesus as birth life death and resurrection and because of this we should cheerfully engage in all traditional Christmas activities as for the pagan symbols and customs we need to redefine those things because ultimately God created them in the first place Kirk later goes on to say but all this tradition is good all this is what it's all about you just need to see it with new eyes Kirk argues that trees were created by God therefore we should be able to decorate an evergreen tree in December despite the fact that this custom originates from ancient fertility rites to which Kirk himself admits by saying the evergreen trees represent eternal life and represent fertility gods and people would worship these symbols and they believe that if they worship these symbols and they laid down their offerings and their gifts that they would inherit eternal life and this is all idolatry in the spirit of seeing things through new eyes and redefining old symbols Kirk proceeds to encourage his brother-in-law to start seeing the Christmas tree in a new light giving biblical examples in which trees were used in a positive way in the movie we then see Adam naked standing next to an evergreen tree with a Christmas bulb in his hand which looks like a piece of fruit Kirk then says Adams stole the fruit from God's tree and ate it now when you steal something you're required to put it back now how could he Adam had already eaten it it had gone down inside and become part of him the only way that Adam could put the fruit back on the tree would be as crazy as it sounds he would have to put himself up on that tree now think what did Jesus do he was the last Adam Jesus was able to do what Adam could not do he put himself up on a tree making us right with God Jesus was God's blessed fruit hung on God's blessed tree how is it that according to Kirk Christ can be God's blessed fruit when Deuteronomy 21 and Galatians 3 declares cursed is the man who has on a tree how is it that Kirk can confidently call this God's blessed tree when the tree in this illustration represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the Bible tells us to shun evil it was a forbidden tree not a blessed tree it represents compromising his set apart ways by mixing the holy with the profane adam was instructed not to eat from this tree kurt continues the bible begins with trees adam stole the fruit from god's tree and ate it the fruit that the first adam stole was put back on the tree by the last adam when he himself hung on a wooden cross so when you walk into a Christmas tree law i want you to see a hundreds of crosses that will never be used because of jesus's finished work kirk is correct in his assertion that trees are used in the bible to convey spiritual truths God does indeed use the natural to communicate the supernatural however it is always important to remember to employ proper biblical hermeneutics using context with a proper application of terms in the garden we see two trees one which we are told to eat from the other we are to shun as believers would it not be important to understand which tree we are allowing into our homes we are called to be like the Bereans and test everything to the scriptures have many of us failed and testing the Christmas tree to see if it passes the test throughout history we likewise see two trees the first tree is the Tree of Life which is represented by the golden lampstand crafted with seven branches with seven bulls God himself instructed Moses to make this tree to stand in the Holy Place the seven flames represent the seven spirits of God in the seven churches the light coming from this tree is the obedience of his people keeping his Commandments his Torah the second tree is a counterfeit tree it is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or rather good works mixed with people doing what is right in our own eye this forbidden gnosis or knowledge is accompanied by a counterfeit light and counterfeit works this tree comes with the promise of being made like God but in the end it only brings death throughout history we can see both trees continue on from the Garden God's people congregating around the tree of life and those who have worshipped false deities congregating around a counterfeit tree one tree brings life the other death one tree belongs to the Creator the other a false deity so the question is which tree are you bringing into your home each December despite the biblical prohibitions on assimilating pagan practices into the worship of our Creator it seems as though Kirk encourages his audience to redeem these practices for Christ stating we need to make traditions of our own we need to infuse old pagan symbols with new meaning we need to rearrange our lives and our homes so that every single thing points to Jesus does that mean we can infuse Buddhist symbols with new meaning can we infuse Wiccan symbols with new meaning could we even infuse yoga with the new Christian meaning Ray Comfort Kirk's ministry partner from way of the master uses biblical principles to teach that believers should avoid all forms of yoga including Christian yoga because of its pagan origins this shouldn't be a question for Christians because Yoga has its roots in Hinduism so why would I look into an exercise that has roots in Hinduism if you want to get rid of stress do what I do get on a bike and ride it like a maniac for about a mile seriously and Ray we have to be careful as Christians not to just go with the flow but to step back and say how does this line up with Scripture what are the ramifications to this sort of thing what if we were to swap the word yoga for Christmas does not the same principle apply why would we avoid yoga because of its pagan origins but not avoid the pagan practices of the winter solstice in ray comforts way of the master Street evangelism videos Kirk Cameron uses the law of God as a tool to win the lost so God's law tells us what sin is first John 3:4 says sin is transgression of the law that's what sin is Romans 7:7 says I had not known sin except by the law why would Kirk use parts of God's law to win the lost but gloss over the biblical prohibitions on assimilating pagan there are some times that we do things that we shouldn't do and we try to justify ourself we say well there's a good reason why I did it and we try to justify ourselves we say well there's a good reason why I did it furthermore why does Kirk advocate the assimilation of pagan festivals into our faith when God himself already gave us holy days which all point to him God's appointed times are all beautiful prophetic shadow pictures of our Messiah Passover unleavened bread firstfruits Pentecost Trumpets the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles all testify of the life death resurrection and return of the Messiah God's appointed times are truly a blessing for us to keep and help bring us into a deeper understanding of our Savior what he practiced and taught later in the movie Kirk then goes on to defend Santa Claus stating his real name was Nicholas he was a devout Christian he was the Bishop of Myra a city in modern-day Turkey he was left with a large sum of money when his parents died and he became famous for his kindness toward the poor and his generous giving of gifts to children he was there at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 one of the most important events of church history he was a real man who fought for a real truth against a real enemy of the faith is there any legitimacy to Kirks claims multiple sources including the Vatican insists that st. Nicholas simply didn't exist you sit on a throne of lies look if Saint Nicolas truly did exist and was on the Council of Nicaea why would we want to commemorate this individual this council was created by Constantine for the purpose of uniting and divided Rome under his rule they were politically and socially motivated to add to and remove from God's commandments including the biblical Sabbath appointed times and dietary instructions every effort was made to distance themselves from distinctive aspects of the law of God in an attempt to conform to their strong anti-jewish sentiment in Deuteronomy 4 verse 2 we are instructed not to add to nor take away from God's instructions in Matthew 5 Christ tells us that those who set aside the least commandment will be least in the kingdom in Matthew 4 we see Christ quote the law saying it is written man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God every word when did every word become some words if st. Nicholas did exist would he and his fellow council members not be considered least in the kingdom according to our Messiah something to think about in the spirit of testing everything has Kirk truly tested the customs practices and history of Christmas - the Word of God watch son burned by 119 ministries and decide for yourself here's a sneak peak Christmas and Easter two days esteemed above most others and are observed by nearly one-third of the human population millions of believers worldwide celebrate these holidays to honor the birth death and resurrection of the Messiah these festivals take many cultural forms and shapes around the world but would you be alarmed to discover that these two seemingly innocent holidays are historically rooted in ancient occult practices which can be traced back to Babylon Babylonians Sun God worship has evolved throughout the centuries and has branched out into several major religions many professing believers have also adopted several of these pagan customs unaware even today all throughout Catholicism and daughter denominations there are still dozens of popular monuments and symbols that were at one time dedicated to various Sun gas what became this very same organization also instituted Christmas and Easter secular and Christian scholars align all record that the Christmas tree wreaths boughs of holly and mistletoe were all objects used in pagan Sun God fertility rites this of course makes the question what are they doing in the homes of believers today discover how Mithra and the Norse OD evolved into the imaginary st. we know today as Nikolas and how he became the key figure in the celebration of Christmas in ancient folklore st. Nicholas was accompanied by a dark counterpart known as the Krampus and had a striking resemblance to other false deities the Easter Bunny and the dying of Easter eggs are also symbols of fertility connected to Ishtar biblically referenced as the Queen of Heaven long before the birth of our Messiah December 25th was a day used to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun God all of this and more has all been justified by man for hundreds of years but when was the last time we considered what our Creator had to say regarding all of this do we care should we care we reveal an opportunity and faith center challenge to worship and practice the faith as he stated he desires for all his people not according to us not according to men but instead according to his way according to his word that is if you are ready to test everything to order this two-part teaching visit test everything that men are watching for free in our video section

Channel: 119Ministries

Views: 66,000

Rating: 4.6498518 out of 5

Keywords: holidays, pagan, Odin, Saturnalia, wreath, yule log, saint nick, St. Nicholas, Way of the master, ray comfort, baby jesus, holiday, carol, christmas, saint nicholas, Santa Claus (Film Character), Kirk Cameron (Film Actor), Yule (Holiday), jesus christ, 119, 119 ministries, 119 ministries sunburned, Merry Christmas, Review (Media Genre), Film (Media Genre), elves, sinterklaas, krampus

Id: _cTPUcCXcS0

Length: 16min 31sec (991 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 04 2014