Question: “Do some Christmas traditions have pagan origins?”

Answer:There is no doubt that some of what we now refer to as Christmas traditions can be traced back, in some form, to pagan cultures and celebrations.

The ringing of bells, for example, is generally thought to have had its origin in the early pagan winter celebration of ringing of bells to drive out evil spirits.

In later centuries, bells were rung on Christmas Eve to welcome in the spirit of Christmas with joyful noise (Psalm 95:1).

When Christians enjoy the beauty of a glorious bell choir ringing Christmas carols, we are reminded of the coming of Jesus into the world, not the driving out of evil spirits.

Similarly, there was an early pagan tradition of lighting candles to drive away the forces of cold and darkness. However, is it likely that our hearts are drawn to those early pagans rather than rejoicing in our Savior, the Light of the World (John 1:4-9) as we light candles?

Of course not.

Nor is it likely that when I give gifts to my loved ones at Christmas, the gifts will have less significance to either of us because some Druid somewhere in time offered a gift to his goat as part of some pagan ritual.

No, we remember, as we should, the gifts given to the Christ-child by the Magi (Matthew 2:11). Jesus was the greatest gift ever given, and therefore His birth is worthy of celebration.

So obscure are the beginnings of many Christmas traditions that reference books and internet sites contradict one another on the details.

Some of our most popular and beloved Christmas symbols are entirely Christian, and were never part of any pagan religion anywhere.

At the same time, some Christmas traditions undoubtedly do have their origins in the pagan past. What is important is not the origins of traditions, but their significance to us today as believers in the Son of God.

December 25 was not mentioned in the biblical narrative as the day Jesus was born, and, as such, we cannot be dogmatic about it one way or the other.

But even if the date is completely wrong, there is still the opportunity for thousands of people who wouldn’t go to church any other time of the year to go on Christmas day and hear the gospel of Christ.

If you are fully convinced that you cannot, in good conscience, observe a particular Christmas tradition, do not observe it. If you are fully convinced that a particular tradition is too steeped in paganism to honor God in any way, by all means forsake that tradition.

At the same time, if you are fully convinced that you can honor and worship God through a particular tradition, honor and worship God (Romans 14:5)!

For Christians, Christmas traditions can be an important part of the celebration of the birth of our Savior, and they remind us of that momentous event that changed the world forever. More importantly, they bring to mind the miracle of new birth He created in us when He came into our hearts, saved us from our sins, and made us children of God by the shedding of His blood on the Cross (Colossians 1:20).

It is this amazing truth that enables us to say with the angels, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

Christopher Hitchens will be remembered as many things: an acerbic essayist, connoisseur of Scotch and cigarettes and roguish writer whose forceful pen was fueled by an imposing intellect.

Yet his impact on American life, which will be felt long after his death at age 62 on Thursday (Dec. 15), is likely to be the unabashed atheism he championed throughout his life, and the public voice he gave to growing numbers of unbelievers.

Even his foes — whose prayers he simultaneously welcomed and rejected as he battled esophageal cancer — say his acid-tongued arguments against God sharpened their own.

“As an atheist who challenged America’s deeply held religious convictions, he will continue to serve as a thorn in the side of those who believe that religion requires no rational defense,” Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a friend and frequent sparring partner, wrote in a tribute for The Forward, a national Jewish newspaper.

Hitchens had long been a foe of organized religion and its leading lights; when the late Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa in 2003, Hitchens dismissed her as a “fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.” He called the late Jerry Falwell an “ugly little charlatan,” saying “it’s a pity there isn’t a hell for him to go to.”

Throughout his career, Hitchens rejected religious faith as “evil nonsense,” and a “real danger” to civilized society. “I regard it as an enemy,” he said in 2008, “and a real deadly one.”

The self-described anti-theist channeled his unbelief into a direct and eloquent challenge of religion, especially the large and small actions carried out in God’s name.

“Christopher Hitchens changed the discussion about religion and nonbelief by championing public criticism of theology,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.

The murderous religious extremism behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks crystalized Hitchens’ fears about religion. In the years after 9/11, he and other public atheists shot to the top of best-sellers lists with titles like his 2007 manifesto, “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”

Together with Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, Hitchens was hailed as one of the “Four Horsemen.” In a tweet after Hitchens’ death, Dawkins heralded his friend as a “valiant fighter against all tyrants, including God.”

Still, Hitchens’ take-no-prisoners style was not universally embraced within atheist circles. Hitchens could be as militant and fundamentalist as those he criticized, his atheist allies said, and did little to help the movement’s public perception.

“Now, they’re very good atheists and very dedicated people who do not believe in God,” Paul Kurtz, founder of the Council for Secular Humanism, told NPR in 2009. “But you have this aggressive and militant phase of atheism, and that does more damage than good.”

When Hitchens announced his terminal cancer last year, some foes hoped it would prompt a deathbed conversion of sorts. Hitchens said he was grateful that people would care enough to pray for him, but swiftly rejected the idea that death could or should make him a believer.

“I have resented the idea that it should be assumed, now that you may be terrified, or depressed, that now would be the time to throw out values you have had for a lifetime,” he said. “Repulsive. Wholly contemptible.”

In life, Hitchens swam against the tides of religious belief that shape so much of modern life. In death — an irony that would delight and disturb his contrarian soul — believers are using the loss of the most articulate voice of unbelief in a generation to argue, once again, for belief.

“The point about Christopher Hitchens is not that he died of unbelief,” tweeted R. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, “but that his unbelief is all that matters now. Unspeakably sad.”

A Christian pastor who is also a driver of the nationwide NASCAR series is using his gift in race car driving to spread the gospel.

Blake Koch, 25, wears a race suit with a slogan on the back of it that says, “I’ve got your back—God.” His sponsors include Daystar Television Network and GodSpeaks.com, Star-Telegram said.

Koch told Star-Telegram that when he is racing, he knows he is alone with God and as he surrenders the race to God, he is confident that God is watching his back.

Koch told Star-Telegram, “When they roll up the window of the race car, it’s just God and me. I ask God to drive the car through me. Put it where you want it. Drive it with my hands and my feet and my mind and my heart. After that I don’t think of anything but winning the race and doing the best I can.”

Last Friday Koch joined the Nationwide O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 held in Texas Motor Speedway, according to Star-Telegram. Before that he addressed a group of hundreds of youth at Arlington High Point saying, “Racing has really brought me closer to God. When you drive one of these cars, I don’t know how you could not be close to God.”

Koch told The 33 News, “God’s given me the opportunity to race in NASCAR and I feel like and I know as a Christian I have to give back by living out my Christianity.”

Dirt bike racer

Koch started as a dirt bike racer when he was nine, and within eight years reached the professional level. He was also getting hurt a lot including five concussions, eight broken bones and three surgeries, Star-Telegram said.

He got into his first race car when he was 20 and now, five years later, is competing for rookie of the year in the Nationwide Series, Star-Telegram said.

Koch is also part of a weekly bible study with other race-car drivers. Before every race they pray, followed by the national anthem. A pastor also invokes Jesus’ name before the race begins. He told Star-Telegram, “I like to say 80 to 90 percent of the fans believe in God.”

Blake says that whenever he is inside his car, just before a race, he prays. He told The 33 News that he believes God is riding
with him. “There are so many situations during a race where you almost get into wreck, you did get hit, you’re safe and protected and maybe you’re spinning out and you do go straight miraculously somehow. You definitely feel as a believer I know those are close connections to God.”

In 2009 NASCAR driver Eric Holmes knocked his car, and Koch laughingly told The 33 News, “[A]fter the race his wife’s like, ‘we’re so worried we don’t know what’s going to happen we might go to hell, we just took out the God car.’”

A Christmas shoe box goes further than just the goodies that are contained inside.

This is what Deborah Hall, 13, says and she knows better than most. Four years ago, she was living in a desperate situation in Haiti, until someone gave her an Operation Christmas Child shoe box, DeMoss News said.

Hall told DeMoss News, “I was very excited to receive the box.  It was totally unexpected.” The box contained things many would take for granted—a bar of soap, candy, toothpaste, two toothbrushes, a teddy bear, a pair of pants and two long sleeved shirts.

But Hall, who now lives in New York with her adoptive family, told DeMoss News, “What was most special was a letter and a picture of the American girl who sent me the gift.”

This is why she is spearheading Operation Christmas Child shoe box in her neighborhood. “I want the kids in Haiti to receive shoe box gifts and feel the same way I did,” she told DeMoss News.

According to Brainerd Dispatch, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse under Franklin Graham has delivered over 77 million shoe boxes to children in need from 130 countries since 1993.

The children who receive the boxes are often victims of war, terrorism, natural disaster, famine, disease and poverty. It is a chance, Brainerd Dispatch said, to let a child in such circumstance know that someone in the world cares about them.

It is hoped that this year they can gather enough shoeboxes for eight million children. People can choose what to put in their shoe boxes, including school supplies, combs and hard candy that will not melt, according to Brainerd Dispatch.

Everything in the box should be new. Clothes are allowed as long as they fit. War toys and chocolate, which melts, are not. Shoe boxes, including the plastic kind, are preferred to boot size boxes because they can be used afterwards, Brainerd Dispatch said.

People who would like to participate in this project can drop off a shoe box gift at any of 3,000 collection areas nationwide. To find a site near your area, go to http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/Drop_Off_Locations/.

The gift boxes will then go to the children in need overseas by whatever means it takes. This can range from helicopters to airplanes and even elephants so the box is hand delivered, DeMoss News said.

Brainerd Dispatch said that one can even follow the path that their shoe box takes through tracking technology found at www.samaritanspurse.org. One is assured that the children who will get them will need them the most.

Special effort is being exerted for the children in Haiti. According to Brainerd Dispatch, the shoe box might be the only Christmas present that they will ever get.

Enjoy yourself. Enjoy your family. And remember that Jesus is why we have Christmas.

In the meantime, here’s my gift to you.

Enjoy!!!!!

This Christmas — Donny Hathaway

Christmas in Hollis–Run DMC

Christmas Wrapping-The Waitresses