Discipleship Journal

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  2. Excellent summary. Refreshing to find a balanced presentation in this day of itching ears.

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  4. As a Minister I fear God decorations of a Santa Claus and reindeers is taking the focus the true meaning of this holiday.What does a man in a red and white suit have to do with God birth ? When the Disciples found Yeshua in a house there were no Christmas trees no images of any man in a red suit celebrating his birth .God tells us he is a jealous God and will not share his glory with any one. You are taking their eyes off our Savior and getting caught up in man vain traditions the rudiments of the world which Paul warned us of.

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    1. Hi Barbara, thank you so much for taking the time to read this post and also share your thoughts.

      I completely agree with you that many of the extra elements of our modern Christmas season—Santa, reindeer, gift-giving, lights, and even Christmas trees—can distract us from the wonder of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:1–3, 14). Scripture is clear: our God is a jealous God, and He will not share His glory with another (Isaiah 42:8). So your concern is understandable and worth taking seriously.

      However, while these cultural elements can distract, they don’t have to. Many families intentionally use ordinary, seasonal things to point their kids and guests to Christ. Jesus Himself regularly used everyday objects and cultural practices to teach people about God—the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:28), mustard seeds (Matthew 13:31–32), lamps on a stand (Matthew 5:15), shepherding practices (John 10), coins with Caesar’s image (Matthew 22:19–21), birds (Matthew 6:26), and even festivals (John 7; 10). All these things were familiar to the people were familiar to the people—and Jesus used them as bridges to truth.

      In the same way, Christian families can use things like a tree, lights, or gifts to remind themselves of biblical truths: Jesus as the Light of the world, the gift of the Son, and the tree that points to the cross. It’s not required, but it is possible.

      Secondly, this particular blog post was written to address a very specific claim: that Jeremiah 10 condemns Christmas trees. Many well-meaning believers hear this taught, but it is not what the passage is about. As shown in the article, Jeremiah 10 addresses carving a tree into an idol, decorating it with silver and gold, and bowing down before it. It is a passage about worshiping idols—not about modern Christmas traditions. So while Christians are free to not use trees if they feel they are distracting, Jeremiah 10 cannot be used faithfully to condemn those who do.

      Thirdly, you mentioned Paul’s warning in Colossians 2:8, and that’s an important verse:

      “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

      Paul is warning believers not to be taken captive by false religious systems, human inventions of salvation, or spiritual practices that lead people away from Christ. In context, Paul is confronting a mix of Jewish legalism, Greek mysticism, and early Gnostic ideas—teachings that claimed believers needed extra rules, secret knowledge, special diets, angels, or ceremonies to be “close to God.”

      Paul says: Don’t let anything pull you away from the sufficiency of Christ.

      That warning can support your concern if:

      Santa or holiday traditions are treated like spiritual truth,

      or if they replace or redefine the gospel,

      or if they become a rival object of trust or worship.

      In that case, yes—Colossians 2:8 applies as a needed caution.

      But using a tree as decoration or celebrating Christmas culturally is not what Paul was addressing. The verse is not about avoiding every cultural practice; it is about avoiding false teachers and teachings that undermine Christ.

      So on one hand, your concern is valid: we must guard our hearts from anything that competes with Jesus. On the other hand, Paul’s words are not forbidding the use of cultural elements in celebration—only the misuse of them.

      My heart in writing the post was simply this:
      We cannot use Jeremiah 10 to condemn believers for having a tree, because that is not what Jeremiah was talking about.
      How we choose to celebrate Christmas is a matter of personal wisdom, conscience, and focus on Christ—not a matter of biblical command.

      Thank you again for sharing your heart. I appreciate your desire for Jesus (Yeshua) to be at the center of the season, and I pray your celebration this year is filled with worship, wonder, and a deep awareness of the glory of Christ.

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      1. This is an excellent explanation. I am sure the intent of the heart is what our Lord looks at. Decorating a Christmas tree and looking at it’s beauty is no different than any other thing we admire. Priorities!!!

  6. The artist who released the song is a demonic being who actively practices Santeria. I trust nothing he says. Try Galatians 6:7 as a comeback when someone says “six-seven!”

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  7. I can accept the individual points that are made but everything here considers only positive and hopefully accurate informationn while failing to recognize other facts such as ‘Christmas’ being taken from an event known as ‘Christ’s Mass’ on the other side of the pond, which was imported to America following the arrival of the Puritans, who were staunchly opposed to this event full of drunken debauchery and wild sex, even permitting children to be involved in such sinful acts. The Puritans considered all who participated in such an event to be heathens and the Bible instructs us not to have anything to do with heathens. Every aspect of Christmas (as we know it) is rooted in paganism: lighting, Yule tides, gift giving, ghd Christmas tree, women standing underneath holly – it all began as Pagan rituals and once imported to America, was commercialized, made into a holiday in which the birth of Christ is celebrated. Given all of this, it isn’t hard to see how ‘Santa’ is an anagram for ‘Satan’.

    What I find difficulty in reconciling with is this: I can celebrate, worship, and be in awe of Christ every single day of the year. Nothing in the Bible tells us that Jesus was born on December 25th. We have neither instruction nor commandment to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th. But people all across the world so. Absent Christ’s known day of birth of instruction to remember December 25th each year, my foremost concern is that the world today is following in the traditions of pagans , who in all liklihood, created ‘Christ’s Mass’ as a mockery of Jesus, and here the world carries on that same tradition, forever channeling those old pagan e n ergies. I’m clear that Christmas contains ‘Christ’, and that Christmas was taken from the pagan ‘Christ’s Mass’. I had a brief conversation with another who suggested that Christmas does not necessarily mean that Jesus was born on December 25th and that’s true but given ‘Christmas’ containing ‘Christ’ , the numerous nativity and manger scenes, churches proclaiming ghe birth of Christ, all the stationary that talk of ‘a Savior being born, I think it’s clear thag the vast majority celebrate Christmas Day as being the day that Christ was born. But again, we have no scripture indicating or even suggesting that Christ was born on December 25th and if Christmas is rooted in paganism, I’m concerned about a lot of different things. And with ‘Santa’ being as unique of a name as it is, and as similar to ‘Satan’ as it is, it’s very difficult to think that this is just some very random occuring coincidence – of course, that’s just how my mind operates. Anytime I hear, “no, don’t look here, look over there”, I will naturally continue looking here for obvious reasons.

    I haven’t the slightest idea who this Jim Staley is but it may well turn out that he could be on to something significant. Or, maybe not. I’ll have to do some digging.

    Thank you for the information.

    Regards

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to read the article and for sharing your concerns so thoughtfully. I genuinely respect the care you’re trying to take in honoring Christ and avoiding anything that might detract from Him.

      You’re absolutely right that Scripture does not tell us the exact date of Jesus’ birth, nor does it command Christians to observe December 25th. Because of that, I believe believers are free to approach Christmas differently according to conscience (Romans 14:5–6). Some choose not to observe it at all, and that is a decision I respect.

      Where I would gently disagree is with the conclusion that Christmas — or Santa — is inherently pagan or demonic in origin. Many of the historical claims often repeated online (Christ’s Mass as a pagan mockery, every Christmas custom being rooted in pagan worship, or the idea that objects retain “pagan energy”) go far beyond what the historical or biblical evidence actually supports. Scripture consistently places the emphasis not on an object’s distant origin or name, but on present belief, intent, and worship (1 Corinthians 8:4; Colossians 2:16–17).

      As for Santa being “Satan,” similarities in spelling or anagrams are not a biblical or linguistic method for determining meaning. Scripture gives us clear tests for truth and deception — doctrine, fruit, and allegiance — not wordplay (Matthew 7:15–20).

      I agree wholeheartedly that Christ can and should be worshiped every day of the year. For many believers, Christmas simply serves as a focused teaching opportunity to proclaim the incarnation — the Word made flesh. For others, the wisest choice is to abstain. Scripture allows room for both without condemning either.

      I appreciate your respectful engagement and your willingness to think carefully through these issues. My aim here isn’t to pressure anyone into celebrating Christmas, but to separate well-supported facts from claims that don’t hold up under careful examination. I also never want to approach anything with a “don’t look here” tone or direction. This is one reason I name Jim Staley so that people who have a desire to learn or research can look at the other side of the coin or hear it directly from the source.

      Again, thank you so much for your thoughtful and respectful comment after reading.

      God bless,
      Thomas

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  8. Eph 6:12
    Titus 1:10
    Eph 5:6
    Prov 10:19
    James 3:6
    2 Tim 2:16-17
    Eph 4:29
    Col 4:6
    Matt 12:36
    Titus 1:10
    Eph 4:27
    Eph 6:10-18
    1 Jn 4:1
    Phil 1:9-10
    Heb 5:14
    1 Cor 2:12
    Jn 14:26

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    1. I appreciate the concern about spiritual influences in culture, but Scripture calls us to test things carefully (1 John 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). The term “6-7” is a viral internet meme that originated in a song and spread as hype slang, with no biblical, occult, or ritual meaning found in credible sources.

      If the mere combination of the numbers 6 and 7 were inherently demonic, then the implication would extend far beyond internet slang—to ordinary counting, mathematics, or even Scripture references themselves (such as chapter 6, verse 7). That illustrates why context and intent matter greatly when determining whether something is sinful, spiritually harmful, or demonic.

      Scripture consistently teaches that words, objects, and practices derive their moral or spiritual weight from meaning, use, and intent—not from fear-based associations. Christians should therefore avoid speculation driven by fear and instead seek discernment rooted in truth, building one another up in grace and wisdom (Ephesians 4:29; Colossians 4:6).

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  9. I think something that originated from a man who is openly worshiping, summoning, and sacrificing to demons cannot be anything but evil. It’s logical that the number itself isn’t necessarily evil, but just because a demon worshiper says it has no inherent meaning to him, doesn’t mean it has no meaning. He also says he “not allowed to explain it” when talking about how he sacrifices animals to put bad spirits on people to kill or harm them. He intentionally put the number one song of baby shark in the song to target kids. And the greatest way that demons work is to make themselves seem innocuous and no big deal. The ferocity with which this circled the globe, the way in which kids literally can’t seem to stop themselves, the disruption and problems it causes to order and learning and logic, the sources it comes from, and how it shows a worship of and belonging to an evil world, all indicate some level of demonic interaction. Yes, your arguments show that it’s possible that there is not a demonic basis, but your arguments don’t prove there isn’t. That’s your opinion. And since this is an incredibly dangerous topic to be wrong about, and it comes from an evil man who promotes harm and death and demonic worship, maybe it shouldn’t be played with or put in sermons.

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    1. I appreciate your concern for children and your desire to take spiritual matters seriously—that’s something Christians should care about.

      At the same time, Scripture calls us to discernment rooted in truth, not fear or speculation. The Bible is clear when something is demonic, and it does not ask us to infer spiritual warfare from popularity, repetition, global spread, or emotional intensity. Those things describe modern digital culture just as easily as anything else.

      We should absolutely be thoughtful about what shapes our kids, how much screen time they have, and what they imitate—but we also need to be careful not to attribute demonic intent where Scripture does not clearly do so. When we do, we risk training people to see Satan everywhere and Christ’s authority nowhere.

      My goal isn’t to minimize concerns, but to keep our thinking anchored in Scripture, evidence, and calm discernment rather than fear-driven conclusions.

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  10. The bigger issue that should terrify us is how global this is. Kids have always imitated things. But when I was a child, trends stayed on the playground in my school or within my neighborhood or at most within my town. This is absolutely global. Overnight. That means that very young children are not only present online with the global community to a degree that is unsafe, but that they are actively participating in generating culture, something children don’t have the judgment or wisdom to safely do. I have never in my life seen a child chant the words of Christ with any where near the same passion as I see these kids nonsensically and hypnotically chant 6-7 like zombies. They absolutely can’t stop themselves. It isn’t something I’ve ever seen before. There has always been slang. There has always been shared language amongst a people or generation that makes them feel connected. This is on an entirely new level. A level that is consuming and unrelenting. Those are words I would use to describe demonic interaction. These children are enslaved to this nonsense, and the worst part is that people are saying, oh it’s harmless fun. No one is even calling it what it is. Insidious. It’s an insidious pull into the world that we are meant to be apart from. we are to be in it, but not of it. This is a chant that says, I am of this world and I revel in it, and it’s being done by kids while parents and teachers smile stupidly and shake their heads. No big deal. We have a culture of idiocy that is silently and innocently leaning into the evil powers in this world, and letting that suck up every ounce of time and attention we could ever have for family or life or Christ.

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  12. Gen:1.5…and the evening and the morning were the first day…
    God Himself has given us this way of reckoning a DAY. So Jesus would follow His Father’s will and not the traditions of men, He would start the day from sunset to sunset and not as you presume.

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    1. Benhur,

      The more I reflected on your comment about Jesus keeping Passover on Nisan 14 in obedience to the Father and the Law, the more I felt compelled to revisit my earlier explanation regarding Galileans and Judeans using different methods of reckoning days.

      Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. Your comment led me back to the Scriptures, into the commentaries, and into the historical question of whether there is clear evidence for multiple calendar systems being practiced in this way.

      As a result, I’ve revised the post and removed the calendar theory as a primary explanation. I want to be careful to present what can be clearly supported, not just what is possible.

      I’m grateful for your input—it was helpful. I’m still growing in my understanding as well.

      Reply

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