The Babylonian system, as described in Revelation 17, has attempted to change God's Sabbath and holy days by syncretizing them into corrupt worship and establishing their own counterfeit holidays. This world's pagan holidays are not sanctioned by God, and it is wrong to participate in their celebrations. Most of these holidays are based on fables, myths, and lies, which contrasts with the command to worship God in spirit and truth.

Pagan holidays, such as New Year's Eve, have origins that true Christians should consider. The celebration of New Year's is described as pagan to the core by some, suggesting that true Christians should not participate in these festivities. The New Year, beginning in early spring, is mentioned by God only as a time marker and not as an occasion for celebration. The practices associated with New Year's, like parties, countdowns, drinking champagne, and kissing, are not endorsed by God. These Christianized pagan holidays are warned against in scripture, with a call to "Come out from her" to avoid participating in Babylon's wicked ways and their associated punishments.

Pagan Holidays Pagan holidays are celebrations rooted in ancient traditions that often involve customs and rituals not aligned with Christian beliefs. These holidays include New Year's, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, St. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and birthdays. New Year's Celebration New Year's is one of the oldest and most universal pagan holidays, originating from ancient Babylonia or Mesopotamia. It was a celebration of sun-worship, known as Saturnalia by the Romans in honor of the god Saturn. The customs have remained largely unchanged for 4,000 years, involving revelry, drunkenness, and historically, human sacrifice. Christmas Christmas is deeply rooted in pagan customs. The celebration of the 25th of December as Yule Day, the birth of the promised child, originated in ancient Babylon. This day was associated with the birth of the sun god, Baal, and his son Tammuz, who was considered the savior of the world. Many Christmas traditions, such as the yule log, Christmas tree, and gift-giving, have pagan origins. Easter Easter, celebrated as the resurrection of Jesus Christ, has its roots in the Babylonian festival of Ishtar, commemorating the resurrection of Tammuz. The customs of Easter, including eggs, rabbits, and the eating of ham, stem from the Babylonian mystery religion established by Semiramis and Nimrod shortly after the Flood. Halloween Halloween originated from the Celtic Irish festival of St. Hammond, observed on October 31st. It was considered a time for divinations and the only day to invoke the Devil's help. The practices associated with Halloween, such as consulting spirits and honoring the dead, are considered abominations by God. St. Valentine's Day St. Valentine's Day evolved from the ancient Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia. It is associated with the worship of Venus, the goddess of love, and Jupiter, the goddess of desire. The holiday involves significant spending on gifts and is marketed heavily towards children and women. St. Patrick's Day St. Patrick's Day, originating in Ireland, is linked to pagan customs related to the spring equinox. Symbols such as shamrocks, leprechauns, and the color green are associated with pagan beliefs in regeneration and regrowth. Birthdays The celebration of birthdays has roots in pagan astrology, involving rituals such as the use of candles for magical properties and the offering of gifts as sacrifices to pagan gods. In satanic religion, one's birthday is considered the holiest day of the year. These pagan holidays are seen as counterfeits of true religious observance, often used by Satan to deceive people through traditions and customs that are contrary to God's commands.

The pagan origins of Christmas are easily researched and well-documented. December 25th has been a focal point of sun-worship for many millennia, long predating Christianity. The question arises, what business do we as Christians have in trying to Christianize something that has been blatantly anti-God from the very beginning? God is very specific in the way He wants to be worshipped, warning His people not to add to His instructions or take away from them, especially in the context of adopting pagan practices. Christmas, though not involving physical child-sacrifice, carries the stench of idolatry by replacing the true worship of God with a false one. Even the idea of celebrating birthdays stems from paganism, not from God's instructions. Human nature shows a rebellious tendency to follow its own desires, even when God commands otherwise, revealing the true spirit behind such holidays.

The celebration of Christmas on December 25 incorporates numerous elements that trace back to pre-Christian, heathen, and pagan traditions and practices. Items such as Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, mistletoe, Christmas trees, Yule logs, twinkling lights, and stockings on the mantle are rooted in these ancient customs rather than in the biblical account of Jesus Christ's birth. This syncretism has obscured the true story of His nativity, blending it into a non-Christian festival that is further marred by an incorrect date and fabricated depictions. The use of such pagan-derived elements raises questions about the propriety of honoring a holy God through means that are historically tied to idolatrous practices.

Christmas is steeped in contradictions, many of which stem from its pagan origins. The celebration, often dated to December 25, aligns with the Roman winter solstice festival, Saturnalia, and was merged with a commemoration of Jesus Christ's birth in the early fourth century to ease new converts into Christianity. This blending of traditions is evident in the term Yule, which originates from a pagan midwinter festival, and in practices like the Yule log, historically used in heathen rituals to ward off evil spirits with bonfires on the winter solstice night. Despite these well-documented pagan roots, the Christmas tradition persists, largely because human nature justifies such contradictions for the sake of enjoyment and perceived benefits. People continue to embrace these customs, attaching a religious significance to them, even though they lack any biblical foundation for celebrating Christ's birth on this day or in this manner. The secular and mainstream Christian divide over Christmas only serves to distract from the underlying truth that these pagan elements are inherently at odds with worshipping God as He desires.

Members of God's church do not celebrate Christmas or New Year's Day due to the absence of a biblical command to do so and the divine instruction to avoid pagan practices, which these holidays embody in abundance. Society seems to emphasize these holidays more than ever, possibly as satan works harder to distract God's people. The allure of these seasons, especially to children, is one of satan's tactics, as he transforms himself into an angel of light to make his ways and holidays attractive. Recognizing this allure can be a first step in understanding that the devil is attempting to manipulate us. God has provided detailed instructions on when and how to keep His feasts, and nowhere in the Bible is there a command to observe Jesus' birthday, especially not with symbols from pagan, heathen, idolatrous religions. Jesus, the apostles, and the early church kept the holy days commanded by God, not holidays like Christmas or New Year's Day, which are not mentioned in the New Testament. God will richly bless those who reject these wrong holidays and keep His true holy days, offering strength, protection, and future blessings for enduring the challenges of this season.

We are approaching the time of year when the world celebrates the supposed birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas, founded on the premise that Jesus was born on December 25, is based upon falsehood, as a person striving to follow the Bible will see. The true date of His birth destroys the entire foundation of the Christmas holiday. The Christmas season promotes a lie concerning the date of His birth, and we need to do more than reject the world's explanation; we must know, prove, and follow what is true. Since we in the church of God do not celebrate Christmas, we often stand out, prompting curiosity from others about why we do not keep it. When this subject is broached, many become emotional and firmly entrenched concerning the December 25 date, despite the facts.

While this time of solstice celebrations is especially wearying to those called out of this world's paganism, it is not without the occasional gleam of ironic humor. If there is indeed a war on Christmas, then let Rome defend it, for it was Rome that co-opted the bacchanalia of the winter solstice and inserted the presumed birth of the Messiah. Without authentic biblical roots, there is nothing to define and describe how traditions such as Christmas should be observed. Each person has a different reason for the season, and who is to say that one interpretation of a pagan celebration is more right than another? God has already defined the way He would have man venerate Him: in spirit and in truth. But truth is certainly absent in the celebration of Christmas, and the spirit of the holidays is not the one of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. This season, with or without the religious veneer, is all about man's insistence on doing things his own way without regard to truth.

No Christian holiday is as misleading as Christmas, which is a quagmire of deceptive traditions rooted in pagan rites abhorrent to God. From its non-Christian background, Christmas emerges as a syncretistic blend of pagan practices and Christian themes. Its origins trace back to Babylon with Nimrod, a great grandson of Noah, and his mother and wife, Semiramis, who promoted the belief that Nimrod was a god after his death. She claimed an evergreen tree symbolized his new life, and on his birthday at the winter solstice, he would visit the tree and leave gifts under it. Semiramis later bore a son, Horus, declared as Nimrod reincarnated, forming a deceptive trinity worshipped as Madonna and child under various names across cultures. Pagans developed beliefs tied to the winter solstice, celebrating the sun-god's return with riotous feasting and orgies during Saturnalia, named after Saturn, another name for Nimrod. Historically, Christmas was not observed by Christians until about AD 300. Saturnalia and Brumalia continued as pagan celebrations into the fourth century, when Emperor Constantine, converting to Christianity, aligned the pagan winter solstice festival on December 25 with the birthday of the Son of God, coinciding with the birth of the sun god. By the fifth century, the Roman Catholic Church officially designated December 25 as the day to observe Christ's birth, renaming the old Roman feast of Sol as Christmas. In England, long before conversion to Christianity, December 25 was a festival, and pagan practices were blended into Christmas under Pope Gregory I's decree in AD 596. The Normans introduced further pagan ceremonies in 1066, and despite Protestant criticism during the Reformation, Christmas retained its pagan elements. In America, German and Dutch settlers brought pagan customs like the Christmas tree and St. Nicholas in the early 1700s, and by 1836, Christmas became a legal holiday in Alabama, eventually spreading as a national holiday marked by gift-giving and unrestrained feasting reminiscent of ancient pagan celebrations. The origin of Christmas and its traditional perversions stand as clear reasons to avoid this epitome of paganism. The emphasis on mother and child distracts from the Father-Son relationship, and customs like gift-giving stem from pagan roots rather than any biblical command. God instructed the Israelites not to worship Him as the heathen do, knowing that such ungodly practices cannot produce the purity of character He desires.

Christmas, often seen as a beautiful and harmless celebration with dazzling lights and greenery, hides a darker origin tied to pagan customs. When you erect a Christmas tree, hang a wreath, or place mistletoe, you are engaging in practices rooted in ancient fears of darkness and evil spirits. These early people used evergreens to ward off such forces, believing light could protect them from satan's influence. Yet, satan has twisted these symbols to deceive mankind, turning them into enticing distractions. The tradition of giving dolls at Christmas also stems from heathen practices. Ancient Romans and Greeks, during their Saturnalia festival, gave dolls to children as representations of human sacrifices to cruel gods like Baal, Cronus, and Saturn. This custom reflects a history of horrific offerings, a deception that satan uses to mask his influence with seemingly innocent gifts. These customs—evergreen decorations, lights, and dolls—may appear attractive and harmless, but they draw attention away from God, aligning with satan's schemes to mislead humanity through pagan festivals like Christmas.

The celebration of Christmas, often assumed to be a Christian holiday, has deep roots in paganism. It gravitated into the Roman Church from pagan customs in the fourth century, long after the time of Christ and the apostles. Historical authorities, such as the Catholic Encyclopedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica, confirm that Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church and was adopted from pagan traditions, particularly those centered around the winter solstice and the feast of the birth of Sol, the sun god, on December 25th. This date, far from being the true birthday of Jesus, was a significant pagan festival, including the Saturnalia and Brumalia, which were too entrenched in popular custom to be discarded even as masses converted to Christianity. The real origin of Christmas traces back to ancient Babylon, under the influence of Nimrod and his mother-wife Semiramis, who propagated idolatrous worship. Semiramis claimed that an evergreen tree, symbolizing Nimrod's rebirth, would be visited by him on December 25th, leaving gifts, thus establishing the roots of the Christmas tree. This pagan worship of a mother and child spread across various cultures under different names, eventually merging with Christian practices in the fourth and fifth centuries as pagans adopted Christianity while retaining their old customs. Specific Christmas symbols like the holly wreath, mistletoe, and Yule log also stem from pagan rituals. Mistletoe was considered sacred to the sun for its supposed healing powers and was part of revelry at the winter solstice. Holly berries were revered as sacred to the sun god, and the Yule log, meaning "wheel," symbolized the sun. Even the lighting of fires and candles during Christmas mirrors pagan efforts to encourage the waning sun god. These customs, as noted in historical references like the Encyclopedia Americana, are relics of pre-Christian times, directly tied to pagan worship. The custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas also finds its origins in pagan practices, notably from the Saturnalia, rather than any biblical precedent. Historical records indicate that this tradition was adopted by Christians from pagans, lacking any connection to honoring Christ's birth. Instead, it reflects a continuation of ancient festive exchanges that do not align with the true purpose of honoring Him. Even Santa Claus, often seen as a benign figure, has pagan undertones. Derived from St. Nicholas, a fifth-century bishop, the character and associated customs of secret gift-giving on December 6th, later shifted to Christmas, are rooted in legends that have no basis in Christian practice. This figure, intertwined with the term "Old Nick," a name for the devil, further illustrates the pagan influences woven into modern Christmas celebrations.

Hardly anything more clearly illustrates the self-deceived perverseness of human nature than its presumptuous additions of the observation of Christmas and Easter to the worship of the God of the Bible. That Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea is indisputable, but He was not born on December 25, nor did anybody exchange gifts on that date. Regarding Easter, Jesus was not resurrected on a Sunday morning, nor was He crucified on a Friday afternoon. It is impossible to squeeze three days and three nights, which Jesus Himself said would be the length of time He would spend in the tomb, between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. Even so, fantastically detailed and emotionally appealing traditions have been presumptuously built around these events and have been taught to a deceived public as though they were true. Beyond what has been mentioned regarding these days, where in God's Word does He command us to believe and do these commonly accepted practices? Men have presumptuously taken them upon themselves. The addition of Christmas and Easter to Christianity happened so long ago that most accept them as part of the Christian religion, and people celebrate them without thought. Nevertheless, adding to so-called Christian beliefs has not ended; in fact, it is still happening.

For most people, it is a difficult undertaking to buck tradition, especially in holiday celebrations. This is particularly evident with religious holidays like Easter and Christmas, where the paganism and inaccuracies inherent in these observances are often ignored. As often and as forcefully as one might proclaim the truth about these holidays, the words seem to fall on deaf ears. Many prefer to shrug off the inconvenient truth to avoid disrupting family, friends, and societal relationships, choosing to worry about God's opinion later. The Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition presents a glaring inconsistency with the truth. Jesus Himself stated in Matthew 12:38-40 that He would be buried for three days and three nights, just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish. This calculates to 72 hours, yet the traditional timeline from sundown on Friday to sunrise on Sunday amounts to only about half that time. This discrepancy suggests a chronological impossibility in the traditional narrative. Even the account in John 20:1 indicates that when Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb while it was still dark on Sunday morning, it was already empty. Easter sunrise services lack a factual basis, as Jesus was placed in the tomb near sunset and would have been resurrected at a similar time.

Christmas, like many religious festivals in the so-called Christian world, is rooted in pagan traditions. A common thread runs through these celebrations, from Halloween to Easter, Mardi Gras to Valentine's Day, and even to Christmas, where pagan elements are evident. Satan has deceived the world into believing that observing these pagan days is in worship of the Son of God, hiding in plain sight by masking sun worship as something holy. The tie between sun worship and Christmas traces back to ancient figures like Nimrod, a mighty hunter and king after the flood, and his queen, Semiramis. After Nimrod's violent death, Semiramis bore a son and convinced the people he was Nimrod reincarnated, establishing a worship of mother and child that spread worldwide under various names like Tammuz, Adonis, Osiris, Baal for Nimrod, and Astarte, Isis, Venus for Semiramis. This worship often involved lamenting the death of these figures, as seen in ancient practices of women weeping for Tammuz or Adonis, which Ezekiel's vision reveals as an abomination provoking God to jealousy. Further, sun worship is directly linked to Christmas through historical accounts of sun deities like Mithra, Osiris, and Tammuz, all celebrated as born on December 25, coinciding with the winter solstice under the old Roman calendar. During the twelve days surrounding this solstice, societal rules were abandoned, leading to unrestrained behavior and orgies. Early Christian missionaries found societies already worshipping a mother and child intertwined with sun worship, indicating satan's preemptive distortion of God's prophecies about a Child being born. Historical records show that by the third century, the church emerging from obscurity had appropriated pagan practices wholesale. Followers of Mithra, another name for Nimrod as a sun god, celebrated on December 25, worshipped on Sunday, and held rituals akin to a Lord's Supper. Converts from sun worship brought remnants of their old beliefs into Christianity, as evidenced by complaints from Pope Leo in the fifth century about worshippers in St. Peter's turning to adore the rising sun. Christmas falls on the date of a popular sun god festival in Rome, revealing the deep pagan roots carried into modern observances.

God's people reject the celebration of Saint Valentine's Day due to its deep-rooted connections to pagan holidays. The origins of this day trace back to two ancient Roman fertility festivals: the Faunalia on February 13, honoring the god Faunus, and the Lupercalia on February 15, honoring the god Lupercus. These festivals, central to Roman culture, involved rituals such as purification ceremonies and other practices tied to fertility and ancient beliefs. The Lupercalia, one of the oldest Roman festivals, held significant importance, with prominent families organizing its annual celebrations. Despite the arrival of Christianity in Rome, the Lupercalia persisted until AD 494, when Pope Gelasius I transformed it into the Feast of the Purification, later adjusted to February 2, leaving February 14 to be dedicated to the two Saint Valentines. God warns His people repeatedly to adhere to His ways and feasts, avoiding the pagan practices of the surrounding world. Therefore, those called into God's church should not observe Saint Valentine's Day, recognizing it as an ancient pagan festival with only a thin Christian overlay. Instead, they are encouraged to focus on God's holy days with joy and zeal, demonstrating their love for Him by keeping His commandments.

Each year, as the last day of October nears, members of God's church make plans to avoid Halloween, a holiday steeped in pagan roots and unchristian practices. Halloween, deriving primarily from the Celtic festival of Samhain, was a New Year's celebration and harvest festival marked by the belief that the boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds relaxed, allowing spirits to cross over. The Celts thought they had to appease these spirits with food and treats to prevent tricks or curses, while others conducted séances and divination to contact the dead for guidance. This period was considered a time of chaos, with social order turned upside-down, laws unenforced, and revelry unchecked. When Roman Catholicism converted the pagans, it attempted to overlay Christian meaning by moving All Saints' Day to November 1 to coincide with Samhain, allowing old customs to persist under a new name. However, Halloween has since evolved into a form devoid of any Christian elements, retaining its pre-Christian Celtic practices with recognition of the spirit world through figures like fairies, witches, and demons. Today, trick-or-treating mimics the ancient extortion of treats to avoid curses, while divination, séances, and hooliganism often peak on October 31. God warns against being ensnared by such heathen practices, describing them as abominations and idolatrous false worship that honor spirit beings other than Him. These customs, appealing to human nature, act as lures into hidden traps, and God advises vigilance against their dangers. Halloween, stripped of its façade of revelry, stands as an unholy mixture of consumerism, paganism, occultism, and demonism, incompatible with the worship of God.

When we worship God, we must worship in spirit and truth. Is there any truth in Christmas? There is no truth offered in Harper's Bible Dictionary to support the observance of Christmas, and certainly no command in the Bible to support it either. This should tell us which spirit Christmas comes from, and it's not God's. Christmas, despite being considered a Christian holiday, owes most of its symbols and icons to pagan celebrations and practices. One of the more obvious non-truths associated with Christmas is Santa Claus. The modern portrayal of Santa is that he listens to children's wishes and brings gifts to the good children, delivered by flying reindeer in a single night to the entire world. This concept mirrors deceptive ideas, and the name Old Nick or Old Saint Nick is another name for the devil. This spirit, in the form of Santa, is not from the God of heaven and contains not one shred of truth. Additionally, elements of Santa are linked to the Celtic feast Samhain, also known as the Feast of the Dead or Halloween, where the dead roam the earth from dusk to dawn, and food and drink are left out for these visitors, along with candles to guide them. Mistletoe, another Christmas symbol, is tied to pagan folklore. It is associated with the goddess Frigga, whose story involves the death and restoration of her son Baldur, leading to the tradition of kissing under mistletoe as a token of love. This myth has been translated into a so-called Christian way of thinking, accepting mistletoe as an emblem of love that conquers death, which lacks any scriptural basis and is far from truth. The Christmas tree also has origins in pagan celebrations, derived from the practice of bringing a live tree into the home for wood spirits to keep warm during winter months. Bells were hung in the limbs to signal the presence of spirits, food and treats were hung for them to eat, and a five-pointed star, the pentagram, symbol of the five elements, was placed atop the tree. None of this has anything to do with Christ. Another alarming symbol is the Amanita muscaria mushroom, known as the fly agaric, which is linked to Christmas in some traditions. It has little to do with Christianity and stems from shamanism, an occult philosophy of pre-Christian tribal people in Northern Europe. This mushroom, believed to contain hallucinogenic compounds, was used in rituals and mistaken for transcendental visions. Its association with Christmas is furthered by its growth at the base of pine trees, yet it holds no truth and reflects the wrong spirit. Christmas has no truth of God in it. Therefore, it is not God's work. It is obvious that Christmas is a pagan festival, filled with symbols and practices that lack any foundation in truth.

Christmas, a festival not mentioned in the Bible, serves as a striking example of the perversity of human nature, as many who claim Judeo-Christian roots celebrate it despite its pagan origins. Its global appeal, seen even in non-Christian nations like Japan with extravagant holiday decorations, highlights a commercial rather than religious interest. The inclusion of Christmas in Christianity, a deliberate act centuries ago to win converts from paganism, was a grab for power rather than a reflection of true worship. God nowhere commands the celebration of His Son's birth, and He explicitly warns against adding heathen traditions to His worship. Such additions, like Christmas, hinder the journey to God's Kingdom, leading people away from the truth rather than glorifying Him. Scripture labels these practices as a snare, vanity, and spiritual death, emphasizing that adding to or subtracting from God's Word is unacceptable. Thus, it makes a significant difference whether or not one keeps Christmas, as it involves practicing a lie and straying from the purity of God's revealed truth.

Through the centuries, theologians have devised arguments to do away with the observance of God's holy days, often targeting scriptures to support their views. In Galatians 4:9-10, Paul expresses frustration with the Galatians for returning to certain religious practices, calling them weak and beggarly elements and warning against bondage to them. He defines these as observances of days, months, seasons, and years. Considering the cultural and historical context, Galatia was a province in Asia Minor with a largely Gentile church membership, known for worshipping pagan deities. In Lystra, within Galatia, the people mistook Paul and Barnabas for pagan gods, showing their superstitious nature and inclination toward idolatry. Paul's letter to the Galatians addresses their return to a perverted gospel, influenced by false teachings blending Judaism and Gnosticism, which often led to a licentious lifestyle. What, then, were these days, months, seasons, and years Paul criticizes? He nowhere mentions God's holy days in the letter, and the context clarifies that these observances were not holy days but pagan, idolatrous festivals the Gentile Galatians had kept before conversion. The weak and beggarly elements refer to demon-inspired practices, with the term "elements" indicating the influence of satan and his demons, rulers of this world and authors of idolatrous worship. Paul recognized that the Galatians were turning back to their former sinful practices, including superstitious holidays connected to pagan deities. Thus, these scriptures emphasize that we should not observe days, months, seasons, and years rooted in paganism, such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, and others originating from the worship of pagan gods. God has called us completely out of the ways of this world, including its pagan customs and traditions, and we should have nothing to do with such weak and beggarly elements.

For proof of the pagan origin of long-cherished days such as Easter and Christmas, it is evident that nowhere in the biblical record can sanctions for these holidays be found. The shocking truth remains that their roots lie outside the sacred scriptures, urging a reevaluation of the source of our religious beliefs and whether we ought to observe them.

Many people, even after leaving God's church, return to celebrating Christmas, despite its well-known pagan origins. They willingly refuse to believe the truth, choosing instead to follow traditions rooted in lies, as their pleasure in unrighteousness blinds them to the reality of its deceptive nature. Christmas, a holiday flourishing in the materialistic Western world and spreading globally, is a syncretistic blend of pagan rites and Christian themes, forming a quagmire of deceptive traditions that God finds abominable. Historical sources reveal that Christmas was not observed by Christians from Christ's time until about 300 AD, while pagan celebrations like Saturnalia and Brumalia, worshiping the sun, persisted in Rome well into the fourth century, later being given a Christian-sounding name through syncretism that destroys truth. God does not accept worship mixed with pagan elements, as seen in the warnings to the Israelites against combining idolatrous practices with worship of Him. Christmas turns people's hearts away from God, characterized by decadence, lying, greed, cavorting, drunkenness, gluttony, and murder, offering no true worship of God and Jesus Christ, who must be worshipped in spirit and truth. The holiday's customs, such as gift-giving, stem from ancient pagan worship rather than any biblical basis, and its focus on material gain starkly contrasts with the purity of God's holy days, which are full of the fruit of the Spirit. Scripture consistently warns against mixing Christian and pagan practices, emphasizing that true worship must start with God and adhere to His revealed truth, not human reasoning or traditions. Christmas, along with other pagan holidays like Easter and Halloween, represents a form of spiritual adultery encouraged by ungodly leaders who compromise by accepting and teaching lies. God commands His people to observe His seven holy days listed in Leviticus 23, which lead to peace, joy, hope, and spiritual growth, teaching His great master plan for mankind, unlike the deceitful misdirection of pagan celebrations that entice people away from His truth.

Today, on God's Sabbath, His people worship Him in spirit and in truth and in love, while the world's people celebrate their pagan holiday in flesh and in lies and in lust. Sexual immorality has always been a key part of observing Saint Valentine's Day. The origins of Valentine's Day predate Christianity, stemming from pagan Rome's celebration on February 15, beginning the evening before on February 14, as a sensuous festival honoring Lupercus, the deified hero-hunter of wolves. This ancient Roman practice encouraged young people to indulge in licentious acts of sexual immorality. Due to its immense popularity among the pagan Roman citizenry, Roman church leaders in the 5th century AD included the festival Lupercalia in the church, renaming it Saint Valentine's Day to infuse it with a Christian value, though excluding the more extreme sensual observances. Similar syncretism is seen today with pagan holidays like Groundhog Day, May Day, and Halloween being integrated into the lives of some members of the greater church of God. In AD 496, Pope Gelasius officially Christianized Lupercalia by renaming it St. Valentine's Day and shifting its observance to February 14. Despite attempts to focus on Christian saints, the day retained its pagan elements, with Cupid and arrowed hearts remaining prominent. The origin of Valentine's Day is not saintly, and holidays like it continue to secularize into icons of the world's culture, reflecting a mix of paganism with Christianity. God warned ancient Israel not to mix pagan customs with worshipping Him as the one true God, emphasizing that all aspects of life should honor Him. No true Christian in good conscience would wish someone a Happy Valentine's Day or participate in such celebrations rooted in lust rather than love.

Professing Christians celebrate Easter as a day of worship, though no command from God supports this practice. The belief that Jesus rose on the first Easter Sunday morning is used to justify disregarding God's command to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. However, the timing of Easter and related events, when closely examined, conflicts with the scriptural account of Jesus' death and resurrection. The truth reveals that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, the fourteenth of Abib/Nisan, and rose from the dead 72 hours later as the Sabbath ended, not on Sunday as traditionally celebrated. Another traditional holy day, Palm Sunday, is celebrated as Jesus' triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. Yet, a closer look shows discrepancies. If His entry occurred on Sunday, five days before Passover, then Passover would fall on Thursday, the fifteenth of Abib/Nisan, not Friday. This challenges the traditional Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection narrative. Scripture indicates that Christ entered Jerusalem on a Sabbath, further aligning with the timeline of His crucifixion on Wednesday and resurrection at the close of the Sabbath.

Halloween, a modern descendant of the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain, holds a significant place in American culture, ranking second only to Christmas in economic impact. Its origins trace back to Samhain, a kind of New Year's holiday on November 1, when the Celts believed the boundary between this world and the spirit world relaxed, allowing spirits to cross more easily. Superstitious people left out food and treats to appease these spirits, while some practiced divination to contact departed loved ones, and Druids sought guidance from the dead. Samhain was considered a no-time, neither in the old year nor the new, during which normal laws, order, and customs were suspended for three days of merriment. People did as they pleased, reversing roles and abandoning usual behaviors in a time of total revelry, feasting, drinking, and disguising themselves. Today, Halloween's popularity continues to rise, serving as the year's biggest escape from reality through costumes and alcohol consumption. Revelers use the holiday as an excuse to step away from mundane, stressful lives and indulge in whatever they desire, often disregarding laws, customs, and order for a short time. This self-indulgence, however, stands in contrast to a life reflecting the righteous and holy example of Jesus Christ. Believers are called to walk as children of light, having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, and to redeem the time in these evil days.

Many professing Christians anticipate Easter and Christmas as significant holidays, yet neither is found observed in the Bible. In contrast, the Bible highlights holy days, referred to as the Lord's appointed times, which are observed in both Testaments and by the early church, including Gentile congregations. These appointed times, or festivals, commemorate significant events in Israel's history and hold prophetic significance, pointing to the works of our Lord Jesus Christ in the spring and fall harvests. Unlike these holy days, Easter and Christmas lack biblical foundation, raising questions about their origins and relevance to God's plan. God dictates how we worship Him, and we cannot choose our own days of observance outside of His appointments. The Hebrew calendar, which governs these appointed times, differs from the Gregorian calendar used by many today, further distinguishing God's designated holy days from modern holidays like Easter and Christmas.

Easter, far from being a Christian name, derives from the ancient pagan goddess Ishtar, also known as Astarte, the consort of Baal, the sun god. This name, a slight variation of the Assyrian and Babylonian deity, is rooted in old Teutonic mythology as Ostern, revealing its idolatrous origins as the queen of heaven, a figure condemned in the Bible as the epitome of pagan abomination. The festival now called Easter bears its Chaldean origin openly, being none other than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, and was not originally associated with the Passover observed by early Christians. Lent, a forty-day period of abstinence, was directly borrowed from pagan worshippers of the Babylonian goddess, observed by various ancient cultures including the Yezidis, pagan Mexicans, and Egyptians in honor of deities like Osiris, Adonis, and Tammuz. This practice was absent in the early true Church and from the observances of Jesus and the apostles, highlighting its heathen roots. Dyed Easter eggs, integral to modern Easter celebrations, also trace back to ancient Babylonian mystery rites. They were sacred emblems in Druidic orders, hung in Egyptian temples, and offered as sacred gifts in various cultures, symbolizing birth and renewal in the spring season, a purely pagan tradition with no basis in the practices of Christ or the early Church. Easter sunrise services, often seen as beautiful, are condemned as abominations in the vision shown to Ezekiel, where men worshipped the sun toward the east, mirroring the ancient sun worship of Baal and his consort, the goddess Easter. This practice, replicated by millions every Easter Sunday morning, stands as a direct continuation of idolatrous sun worship, deemed most detestable in the sight of the Eternal Creator. The injection of Easter into professing Christian religion came through a gradual apostasy, where the politically organized church adopted popular pagan practices, substituting them for God's ordained festivals like Passover. By the fourth century, under Constantine and the Council of Nicaea, the observance of Easter on Sunday was decreed universally, rejecting the true Christian practice of observing Passover on the 14th day of the first sacred month, thus enforcing pagan traditions over the ways of Christ and the early Church.

In our day, people are enamored with holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Lent, Mardi Gras, Good Friday, Holy Sunday, and Ascension Day. They cherish these celebrations, often ignoring the truth about their origins. Despite stumbling upon information that reveals the pagan roots of these days, such as Halloween's connections to witches, goblins, demons, Druids, and satan-worship, or Christmas aligning with Saturnalia and Brumalia, people dismiss these facts as quaint or interesting and continue in their observance. They read articles in newspapers highlighting these origins, discuss them casually at gatherings, and then brush off the truth without deeper reflection. This dismissal stems from a lack of guidance from religious leaders who fail to confirm the truth of God, allowing ignorance and error to persist among the masses. This gradual departure from truth, little by little over time, mirrors the syncretism that blends falsehood with belief, ultimately obscuring the pure truth of God.

Valentine's Day is a continuation of the ancient Roman rite of Lupercalia, a fertility festival held each February 15 in honor of the god Lupercus. During this observance, goats and a dog were sacrificed, and young men, wearing goatskin, ran around striking women with goatskin strips to ease labor for the pregnant and make others fertile. Lupercus, a hunter of wolves, is associated with Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture and fertility, tracing back to the Greek god Pan and ultimately to the Phoenician sun god Baal, identified as Nimrod, a mighty hunter. The word Valentine, derived from the Latin "valens" meaning strong or mighty, reflects Nimrod's characteristics, and even the heart symbol, originating from the Chaldean word for heart sounding like Baal, became an emblem for him. Cupid, often depicted with a bow and arrows like a hunter, is also linked to Nimrod in mythology. The celebration of Lupercalia, centered on fertility, served as an excuse to lower morals under the guise of religion. The date shifted from February 15 to February 14 possibly due to ancient customs of counting days from sunset or by order of Pope Gelasius in AD 496. The Lupercalia's date relates to Nimrod's supposed birth at the winter solstice and the purification feast forty days later. Traditions like exchanging Valentines originated from drawing names during Lupercalia, and the color red, associated with sin and harlotry, ties to the holiday's pagan roots. Valentine's Day, deeply embedded in paganism and worldly values, holds no redeeming merit and stands as a product of Babylon, from which God calls His people to come out to avoid sharing in its sins and plagues.

Israel's apostasy, as depicted in Hosea, is deeply tied to the adoption of pagan practices, which God condemns as a betrayal of His covenant. Among the sinful reasons for God's judgment is the use of symbols and holidays with pagan origins within professing Christian churches, reflecting the same hypocrisy seen in ancient Israel. These churches celebrate Easter, an ancient sun worship service where people rise early on Sunday to honor the rising sun, mirroring the pagan reverence for Ishtar. Halloween, marked by ungodly costumes and demonic activities, is identified as a cherished day of satan, with significant commercial focus. Christmas, linked to the pagan festivals of Brumalia and Saturnalia, celebrates the rebirth of the sun while being named after Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which is seen as hypocrisy and apostasy. Such practices, justified by some as being viewed from a Christian perspective, are rejected by God as deceitful, echoing the same spiritual neglect that led to Israel's judgment. Just as Israel faced consequences for forgetting God through these false practices, so too are modern nations warned of impending judgment for similar deviations.

In stark contrast to true worship of God in spirit and truth, many in this world celebrate holidays rooted in fleshly practices and lies, with Saint Valentine's Day steeped in lust and sexual immorality, directly opposing God's commandments. Historical evidence shows that Valentine's Day predates Christianity, originating from pagan festivals like the Roman Lupercalia, celebrated on February 14 and 15 in honor of Lupercus, a deified hunter linked to figures like Nimrod, who lived in defiance of the Lord. This festival encouraged licentious acts among young Romans, and despite its sensual nature, it was incorporated into Christianity in the fifth century AD by Roman church leaders through syncretism, renaming it Saint Valentine's Day while retaining much of its pagan essence. The Lupercalia involved crude rituals, including priests running through Rome in goatskin, striking women with strips called februa to supposedly purify and remove infertility, connecting the day to sexual themes through associations with wolves, Venus, and Cupid, who symbolized sexual passion. Though less overtly sexual today, the modern celebration of Valentine's Day remains popular and retains its pagan core. Through syncretism, the Catholic Church, under Pope Gelasius in AD 496, officially Christianized Lupercalia by shifting its focus to saints and moving the date to February 14, yet the festival's essence persisted, even after the Protestant Reformation diminished the role of saints, returning the focus to romantic pairings. Valentine's Day, with its heathen origins, continues to reflect worldly culture rather than true worship, as many remain apathetic to its pagan roots, prioritizing enjoyment over spiritual truth. This holiday, like others of pagan origin, falls short of honoring God, promoting carnal desires instead of godly love, and fails to align with worshipping the Father in spirit and truth.

The world, without the revealed understanding of the holy days, has little idea what God is working out on this earth. After careful study and observance of these days, we find that within the annual holy day cycle, God unveils His awesome plan of salvation for all mankind. To summarize these festivals, the Passover reminds us of Christ's sacrifice, when He took our sins upon Himself. Unleavened Bread pictures a Christian's life-long task of removing sin from his life. Pentecost memorializes the giving of the Holy Spirit and looks forward to the reaping of the firstfruits of God's Family. The day of Trumpets signifies the second coming of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the saints. The day of Atonement shows access to God being opened and our sins being completely removed by Jesus Christ, while the Feast of Tabernacles typifies His coming thousand-year reign on earth. Finally, the Last Great Day represents the Great White Throne Judgment period when all mankind will have an opportunity for salvation.