By Biblestudycompany.com Ric Joyner
We will state upfront that Christmas is not a biblical holiday. But it is not unbiblical to celebrate the birth of Christ. We should also not equalize Christmas with the advent of our Savior. The Old Testament prophesized over the birth of the Savior to come. The current secular traditions of Santa, with almost God-like qualities and manipulating kids to "further fantasize" a jolly old man who can give all children on earth toys and an "elf on the shelf" that watches how they behave, is unbiblical. Still, some feel it is acceptable to create a myth around Santa Claus while children are young. We disagree. It is always best to be honest with children about Santa. Giving presents at this time of the year is not wrong because the Magi gave Christ's family gifts in worship to the young boy Messiah, who helped the family with the expenses of fleeing to Egypt. Consumerism and greed are wrong and sinful, but only the Holy Spirit can lead you to that truth, and He knows your heart.
Frustration mounts as we approach this time of year in the Christmas season. Screams of "Christmas is pagan" escalate into a crescendo with arguments against Christmas on social media and by some bible teachers. Could this be a veiled attack on the Gospel in the name of "we don't want to be idolators"?
Let's take a look. Please reread these scriptures prayerfully as we begin our biblical study.
Matthew Chapters 1-2 highlights
"30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."
Luke Chapters 1 and 2. Pay attention to what the angels say a couple of times: "Good news," translated as the same word… Gospel. The birth of Christ was good news for Jews because their long-awaited Messiah was finally here, and the prophecy was fulfilled. We write this paper 2,000 years later for Gentiles, grateful that the apostles preached the Gospel to us: Good news: Christ came as a child to break the back of sin and death and allowed us Gentiles an eternal "home" and become children of God! Gentiles are not part of the nation of Israel, but we are part of God's family! (Eph Chap 1-4) We celebrate the birth of Christ because of the Gospel!
Read John 1 for a view from heaven of why Christ came.
"9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the intention of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. We saw His glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."
If it is, then are you a pagan for celebrating the Day of Christ's birth? The historical false proof that Christmas is pagan is thrown at you with overwhelming emotional authoritarianism. Is emotionalism based on biblical truth? How about historical facts? We know the origin of Christmas (birth of Christ) is biblical. The story of our Savior starts with His birth because the prophets mentioned He was coming. We suspect the anti-Christmas vehemence is agenda-driven. We ask this question because born-again believing Christians are not worshipping pagan deities by participating in the birth of Christ called Christmas today. I spoke to a Torah-keeping brother who said, "Yes, Christmas is pagan." I asked how that could be, and he shared, "When you put a present under the tree, you are 'bowing' down to the tree." I was stunned. The logic he displayed defied logic. Yeah, no. Worshipping a pagan deity requires one to engage the diety knowingly.
In our research, there were pagan celebrations that started around the time of 274 AD, but they appear to be in response to Christians in Rome celebrating the birth of Christ! We then ask what came first, the "chicken or the egg?" "However, it has also been argued that, on the contrary, Emperor Aurelian, who in 274 instituted the holiday of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, did so partly as an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already important for Christians in Rome.[76]
Is the nearness of a pagan holiday make Christmas pagan? When I sift through the concerns of 'Christmas is pagan,' people, did you know there was a pagan holiday at this time? We will deal with this later, but does that make celebrating the birth of Christ pagan today? Let's ask another question: Is Hanukkah pagan? The answer is no. Yet, Hanukkah is square in the middle of this pagan holiday called Saturnalia. The true church pushed hard against these wicked holidays, and to assume born-again believers were participating in pagan festivals doesn't make much sense since Christians had to live outside of society for several hundred years because of severe persecution.
Calling Christmas pagan because of the nearness of the same period of a pagan holiday would be the same as calling Easter (the resurrection of Christ) and Passover pagan. The proximity does not work because a pagan spring festival may happen simultaneously.
We can confidently say that born-again believers would not have observed a pagan holiday and dishonored our Lord Jesus Christ, who rescued us from sin and death. Born-again believers do not participate in pagan rituals today, and Christmas is about the birth of Christ.
Conclusion. We will focus on the birth of Christ currently and not conflate the past to today.
"Certainly today, the mix of consumerism (AKA Santa Claus) can take people's eyes off Christ, but our job is to bring them back to the salvation message of the Gospel. Will you join us?" BSC.
Note: In our extensive research, we stumbled upon a Wikipedia article. We usually would bypass Wikipedia as higher education frowns on the use of Wikipedia; however, this article has stood the test of time (2001) and is updated continually, even in 2021. Once you dive into the article, you will see the extent and expanse of the research on Christmas.
"Got you, Biblestudycompany…see, Christmas is pagan". Well, no, and not so fast. This Wikipedia article on Christmas is excellent and thorough for a balanced perspective.
Here are some highlights:
"Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's mass." The word was recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131.[22] Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah," meaning "anointed";[23][24] and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist.[25]”
"December 25 was the winter solstice date in the Roman calendar.[16][53] A late fourth-century sermon by Saint Augustine explains why this was a fitting day to celebrate Christ's nativity: "Hence it is that He was born on the Day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us chose the shortest Day, yet the one whence Light begins to increase." [54]
We conclude by the historical facts that the Roman Catholic Church did not exist at the beginning of Christian recognition of the birth of Christ.
"The Roman Emperor Constantine established himself as the head of the church around 313 A.D., which made this new "Christianity" the Roman Empire's official religion. The first actual Pope in Rome was probably Leo I (440-461 A.D.), although some claim that Gregory I was the first (Pope) (590-604 A.D.). This ungodly system eventually ushered in the darkest period known to man, called the "Dark Ages" (500-1500 A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests, Satan ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity became illegal."
"And therefore, we should not celebrate the birth of Christ." We would say, "Tell that to the angels engaging the shepherds because heaven celebrated the birth of God's Son!" Luke 2:2-14
"And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
Note: the words Good News are translated from Greek
Original word: εὐαγγελίζω
Transliteration: euaggelizó
Definition (short): preach
Description (complete): to announce good news
Yep, evangelize during Christmas. There are hurting hearts at this time of the year, and many blindly celebrate a holiday not connected to Christ's birth. Let us help people relate it to Christ, our Savior.
If not Christmas, what should we celebrate instead? We should celebrate Hanukkah to return to our Jewish roots. Hanukkah was not part of the Gospel, and the birth of Christ IS part of the Gospel.
We encourage everyone everywhere to ask God whether one should participate in the celebration of the birth of Christ. We say YES! We can confidently push back on anti-Christmas and anti-birth of Christ people with correct historical and biblical facts.
During this time of the year, people are open to the Gospel for nearly one month. Do we let this opportunity slide through our fingers? In Matthew 28, our commission is to go and make disciples. To make a disciple, we must present the Gospel first. Will we waste our time arguing over the birth of Christ, whether it is pagan or not? To this, we say that people saying Christmas or the celebration of the birth of Christ is pagan are avoiding the Gospel! Why? Who in the spiritual realm attacks the Gospel and wants it destroyed? Satan. Think about this tidbit. Imagine a worldwide focus on Christmas, even in Buddhist countries. Why not present the Gospel at this time of the year? As Paul said, his focus was on getting people reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:18-21)
"15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." The Accuser is bound and determined to use people, even with good intentions, to stop the message of the Gospel of Salvation. We use the word accusation intentionally because people who celebrate traditional Christmas are called pagans. A severe charge but, fortunately, untrue.
God is a God of prophecy. He wants us to know what is coming. He answered His word and has "healing in His wings" to "reconcile us to God." There are no other holy books that contain prophetic words fulfilled!
Every Christmas season is a literal miracle that this holiday (holy Day) is focused worldwide on Jesus Christ, our Savior. Even the Wikipedia article acknowledges this undeniable fact.
Therefore, let us turn aside from the poor handling of scripture and agenda-driven history "facts" and focus on the birth of Christ and sharing the Good news of His coming to rescue us from our sin, thus giving us eternal life without works and fear in the blood of Christ!
What can you and your family do to share the love of Christ with a hurting world this Christmas season? Here is one video that touches our hearts when we watch it.
Feel free to share the resources.
Melton, James. "The Plain Truth about the Roman Catholic Church." biblebelievers.com. Bible Baptist Publications, 1998. https://biblebelievers.com/jmelton/Catholic.html.
Wikipedia Contributors. "Christmas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas.
———. "Christmas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
William Federer: There is a Santa Claus - History of Saint Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions
by Amazon.com Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0965355748/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_QVM4MJF835RK35KMWAHR
Christmas has nothing to do with paganism: Red pen logic
Was December 25 the date of Christ's birth? The Greek Orthodox church thinks so.
Mike Winger on Christmas:
1. Is Christmas PAGAN? In defense of Christmas
3. Stop Twisting Jeremiah 10 Because It's Not About Christmas Trees
4. Alisa Childers on Christmas
5. For the extensive history of Christmas with the discussion of the dates for the birth of Christ, God Became Incarnate James Quiggle by Amazon.com
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/149918669X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_AR6NEZ6XB0TPZ5N1VB90
6. The star of Bethlehem is an excellent movie on the astronomical view of the star. https://youtu.be/55VRdLnkvDw
Playlist of videos that will go step by step
Article On how to study the Bible from BSC step by step
Article by Dr. Baruch on how to study the Bible
Article on how numbers play a role in Bible Study
Blog article and podcast on how we learned to study the Bible with Dr. Baruch
See full post & commentsThis prayer is a guide and biblically based. All a person needs to do is cry out to God in their own words. If you are not sure how to pray, please use this as a guide.
To have a relationship with God versus religion, pray this prayer sincerely and in your own words.
Dear Heavenly Father, (Matt. 6:9) I want a relationship with You...not a religion. I come to You and open my heart. (John 3:16) I will be honest and sincere with You. (John 4) I am running my life and need Your help. (Matt. 6:10) I am made in Your image (Gen 1:26, 27), and I won't be happy until I am in a relationship with you. (Gen. 3) Most of my behavior does not please You. (Romans 3:23) I know I am a sinner, so please forgive my sins because of Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who came to die for my sins. (John 3:16) His death on the cross is the punishment I should receive, but You were gracious to die in my place through Christ. By faith, I place all of my past, present, and future sins on Christ. I believe Jesus Christ is my Savior, and salvation is a gift! I know I cannot earn my way to heaven by being good through good works. (Eph. 2:8) You did this so I can be in a relationship with You on earth and for all eternity. (Romans 10:9-13) And I will forgive those who have sinned or hurt me because you have forgiven me. Take away any bitterness or resentment I carry toward You or other people. (Matt. 6:13-14) Please show and teach me how to live a praiseworthy life on earth to You starting today. (Matt. 6:33, Acts 9 and 10) I ask you to be in my heart, as Paul said in Ephesians 3:17. I know that You love me, Father, and I want to love You and that you have a purpose and plan for my life. I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Lord, because You gave me breath in my lungs and Savior, because you paid my sin debt. Please teach me to pray. (Matt. 6:9) Thank You, Jesus, for saving me to Yourself (Ex. 19:1-8) and making me a new person! (2 Cor. 5:17) In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!
Learn to grow at www.biblestudycompany.com, Grace Bible Church, and Christ Community Church.
See full post & commentsWho and what are the 144,000 of Revelation? Why is it important? Enjoy part 2 of End Times Videos
Dr. Baruch Korman of Loveisrael.org is covering this important topic. The video is somewhat confusing because Baruch covers many topics within the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is truly a bible study that is worth your attention.
Hang in there as "they" say to discover the truth and grasp the mystery of the 144,000 and why it matters to us today.
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Episode Notes
Dr. Baruch Korman of Loveisrael.org explains the timeline for biblical prophecy and the end times sequence of events. You will not want to miss this detailed and brief talk.
For example, he discusses many questions people are asking.
Has the end time started?
Some answers will give you comfort, and some will clarify. We look forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many people are hurting from the loss of jobs and lost family members to this virus, and thus we are sad. Not to mention the stress from being quarantined.
Remember by His stripes, you are healed from sin, and now have everlasting life if you place your trust in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Enjoy the video/podcast from Dr. Baruch and Rivka Korman and consider supporting this biblical teaching, which is going around the world. Please share and comment.
Episode Summary
Can we know God's will? Yes! But once we find it and act upon it, we are going to experience pushback, which is called Spiritual Warfare. Did you know spiritual warfare can come through people? Let's dive into Exodus 5 and see for ourselves. Join us for this Podcast for Pewsitters
Episode Notes
We want to find God's perspective in Scripture. The world is His house and His rules.
Have you ever been in a situation we don't have control over and feel trapped? God wants us to trust Him for redemption by obeying His Words. He may not get us out right away, but the journey will be hard and amazing. We will grow in our faith to obey His word.
In this chapter, Moses and Aaron are in Egypt, and they are speaking to the oppressed Hebrews that are in real trouble and suffering. With Covid 19, we can almost put ourselves there!
God is coming to the rescue in which is a pattern in the gospels.
They were in bondage to the world system in Egypt and when Jesus was on the scene, and Christ said: "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sins is a slave of sin" John 8:34, So there is a spiritual side to bondage and Egypt is a typology of the world. Sin and obeying are themes in Exodus 5. Who will obey, and who will not? But then who is affected by our obedience? We want God in our lives, but are we ready to have our commitment to Him challenged? Let's take this lesson of worshiping Him during hard times and ask God for help during trials.
"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31a-32
And we will be free indeed regardless of our circumstances. Join Ric and Mary Joyner for this exciting and fun show.
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Look for the link below for Episode 1 of The Chosen
Episode Summary
Bible Study Company Interview with Dallas Jenkins of THE CHOSEN TV Series. The first-ever TV series on the life of Jesus Christ that features the Jewish context of Scripture!
Episode Notes
Dallas Jenkins, the Creator of The Chosen TV Series, joins Ric and Mary Joyner in "Podcast for Pewsitters" to discuss the show.
We love the introduction. It is a description of repentance!
The music is outstanding!
What brought the TV series to life for Mary and me is the "backstory" of the characters. Scripture is a type of narrative. But to round out the story, we need to "immerse" ourselves in the lives of the characters. Bringing to life the characters is what The Chosen TV series does. What is His will, and how do we please Him is our constant question?
A particular joy is to watch the characters giving up their "lives" to follow Christ and how that impacted their families. Christ chose His disciples in the beginning of His Journey of obedience to the Father. Onward to the cross, He went for our salvation. The disciples did not know what lay around each corner. So, as you watch The Chosen..."Get ready for different!".
Dallas shares about the many difficulties The Chosen experienced to complete the first season, and God met each one. When Dallas shares with us the experiences in his enthusiastic style, we are on the journey with him, so please join us!
Mary and I are both so excited to watch this series continue. We highly recommend it to all of you. We are also so grateful to Dallas Jenkins for honoring Bible Study Company and coming on the Podcast!
To find out more about The Chosen here are some links:
Get the app and watch it from any device for free
Watch how the show is made
https://www.youtube.com/c/thechosenseries?sub_confirmation=1
To buy merchandise to help the fund the show
Official Statement of The Chosen
Description
WHY A TV SERIES ABOUT JESUS?
We've been making movies for some of the biggest studios in Hollywood for 20 years. But a subject this important shouldn't be entrusted to Hollywood. It needs to be made by us.
Isaiah 43:19 says, "Behold, I am doing a new thing..."
The Chosen is a new thing.
* How it was financed is new: We're the #1 highest crowd-funded media project of all time -- over $10 million from over 19,000 people.
* The content is new: We're the first-ever multi-season show about the life of Christ.
* The way to watch it is new: We're the first show to have our own app that connects directly to your streaming devices. No subscription needed. Just search "The Chosen" where you get apps and download to your phone.
* How it's reaching the world is new: The show is free, but by "paying it forward," you help ensure people around the world can see it -- we're currently in every country.
Welcome to a new thing!
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Episode Summary
Walking with God will affect our family and relationships. How? When we submit to God's word He begins to work in our lives, to train us and to bring our relationships into covenant with Him.
Episode Notes
Once we begin to obey God, He begins to move in our lives and hearts. In the last podcast, we talked about the 7 things that will change in our life. We finished the first 3 points. Here are the next 4.
Exodus 4 Part 3 In Exodus 4 Part 3 we will deal with the other 4 items.
In our next podcast in Exodus 5, we see that people oppose the will of God and that we are to expect this opposition. Join Ric and Mary Joyner for this fun and interesting Scripture.
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Do you long for adventure? What if it can happen when you decide to obey God? It can and will because you were made to serve God. He will start you on a journey that will change all areas of your life.
In our previous podcast, we discussed God becoming angry at Moses's unbelief. If we want to make God angry, that is the place to start---unbelief. Denying His existence in this beautifully ordered world is foolish. But once we have asked Christ into our lives, we are going to be confronted with obedience to God's word. We were not prepared for the impact of correctly studying God's word had on our life when we first started. But this lack of understanding makes sense because Moses struggled in the beginning, and so did the disciples. Can we expect anything different? NO!
We understand from Judaism that our life, which is given to us from God, is for the express purpose of worshiping and serving God. But as our Creator, He gives us free will and then invites us to go into service to Him willingly. Rarely do people accept this call. Moses almost didn't. Will we? In these passages, our entire life is being affected by our decision to take this service from God. Sometimes we "compartmentalize" our walk with the Lord into separate focuses. We must not.
So, what are the six things that happened to Moses after he decided to start walking with the Lord?
Join us next week for the other 4 changes! Don't forget to share it with friends! Sharing helps us grow.
For Search Engines: There are many bible verses about love, and there are many bible verse of the day programs. The holy bible provides these remarkable bible commentary. Bible Study and online bible study are available at biblestudycompany.com. Bible verses of faith are of interest as well. Even bible verses about hope are helpful. Bible verses about women are encouraging. Read the Bible online with biblestudycompany.com. We will all do better when love is patient love is kind. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me in times of trouble. With daily bible devotions, I grow. The gifts of the holy spirit are for every day. Online bible study is so helpful. Biblestudycompany is a free online bible. With so many books of the bible, I can grow. We love inspirational bible verses in daily Bible reading.
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Join Ric Joyner of Bible Study Company in a prayer and worship time through King David's Psalm 4. We often read through the Psalms without taking the time to pray them back to the Lord. This practice can show us how to be worshipful and repentant for issues in our own life. Go deep. Get honest with God. Tell Him your scariest fears and what you are struggling with, and even, who. He knows. He wants you to worship Him through the trials. To use current day vernacular; HE'S GOT THIS even if you don't. But fear not He is with you.
For Search Engines: There are many bible verses about love, and there are many bible verse of the day programs. The holy bible provides these remarkable bible commentary. Bible Study and online bible study are available at biblestudycompany.com. Bible verses of faith are of interest as well. Even bible verses about hope are helpful. Bible verses about women are encouraging. Read the Bible online with biblestudycompany.com. We will all do better when love is patient love is kind. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me in times of trouble. With daily bible devotions, I grow. The gifts of the holy spirit are for every day. Online bible study is so helpful. biblestudycompany is a free online bible. With so many books of the bible, I can grow. We love inspirational bible verses in daily Bible reading.
See full post & commentsWorship with us in Psalms 1-4. We are reading the scripture back to the Lord and making it our own.
What is your concept of worship? Going to church and listening to "nice" songs that you can sing to the Lord? The majority of the Psalms were written by David to worship the Lord. Why? Because the current king, Saul, spent many years trying to kill David! I could imagine David thinking: "Lord, You chose me to be king, but people are chasing me to kill me...this makes no sense?" Going through these trials caused David to learn dependence on the Lord. Will we in our testing? How do we worship in trials when everything in our being is screaming: "WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME, LORD?!" At this very moment in our emotional turmoil, this is where we can grab Psalms and read them back to the Lord. Psalms are about worshiping THE ONE IN CONTROL when we lose control.
Trials and tough times require us to dig down...like a well...and learn to tell God everything. He already knows, but He wants to be with us through hard times because if we learn to worship and respond correctly, we will grow in Him. It is a challenge few people will undertake.
The Children of Israel in the Exodus continually complained when faced with trials. In Heb 3:10 this scripture shows how angry the Lord was with their attitude. He was trying to bring them to the promised land. When confronted by real fear for our desperate needs, how will we respond? Worship using Psalms! Please share so that we can grow.
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Bible Study: Does your church teach you to study the bible? Mark and Lorri Lorentz join us for table talk!
Mark and Lorri Lorentz join Ric and Mary Joyner for a discussion on studying the bible and why churches typically do not teach people to study the bible. Our conversation then leads us to why the church may be "getting off the rails" and why pewsitters may be ill-equipped for the great apostasy (falling away) that is upon us. We then have a short bible study to put in BSC principles and action steps for study.
We then do a short bible study applying the principles we learned from the last podcast.
Join us for the podcast for pewsitters: Mark and Lorri Lorentz
For a link to the 20 steps of bible study article go here: https://biblestudycompany.com/files/Howtostudythebible2.pdf
See full post & commentsThis is a tough Psalm for David. When we have troubles in our life, sometimes they are a consequence of our own actions even if we have repented and turned back toward God from the evil of the consequence. Absolam is attempting to steal David's throne by disrespecting his father David. Psalms are born in trials and troubles.
Will we learn to worship during these times? Will we trust God or become angry and depend on ourselves? As you learn with us to worship in Psalms, go read the story of David and Absolam. It is a tragedy for Absolam and David. But David, unlike Absolam, is restored. Why? Because David turned to the Lord, AS HE WAS BEING CHASED OUT OF HIS KINGDOM! Read the Psalm while reading the story. But look on your own life and make it your own through praying it back to the Lord. Absolam was in rebellion to God. His name means "Father of Peace". Peace in Hebrew has a very deep context to it. But the best peace we can have is peace with God through salvation and repentance. Absolam was not acting toward his father with peace nor with God. He was rebelling against two fathers! Will we? Join us for this wonderful Psalm to learn to worship which is our highest calling.
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