The problem of your examples are that your try to separate them from the purpose they are used for as a whole. You seem to have forgotten that the examples you use are in this discussion tied together (except Hannakuh which I will address) to achieve a religious end. This topic is related specifically to xmas and must be kept in that context in order to follow a logical conclusion.
Giving in and of itself is not the issue but your tying of it to a supposed holy day that you seek to practice is.
The question of giving gifts is not a general question but related specifically to the practice and supposed justification in the practice of xmas. I will repeat for your benefit that the wise men brought gifts to their Lord and Savior. They recognized Him for who he was, the foretold Messiah. Are you or any of the people you give gifts to the Messiah? The point and purpose is that we are to bring our offerings to the Lord, not one another. You cannot build according to the pattern given in the scriptures and justify your position unless you qualify as the Messiah. Sorry, you ain't Him. My point also is you can't slap the name of Jesus on whatever you want and say it is OK. It's kind of like people who think they see Jesus's face in a cheese sandwich. Again, it just ain't Him. Revelation 11:10 says "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and SEND GIFTS T
NE ANOTHER because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.." Sound familiar.
I actually have a small decorative tree in my house but I do not put lights on it and tie it to any supposed religious celebration like you do. I do not see the relevance of your "studs in the wall" reasoning. In your case, you use the tree to try to accomplish your intended purpose and tie it in with Christmas. I must ask, do you pull the studs out of your house and decorate them? You do not. Therefore your point of studs in the wall become irrelevant and irrational.
Remembering the birth of Christ is certainly not sinful in itself but at least try to get the date right. Again, your ultimate intent in this topic is to justify your position. To take it out of context does not follow the discussion.
December 25 th becomes a problem when you use it as a leg to try to tie it to and justify your erroneous doctrinal position. Correct date please.
Concerning Hannakuh, did Christ observed the other feasts in the bible and including the to command in the old covenant to be circumcised? Absolutely. Did he assemble in Jerusalem with His brethren at the assigned times? Absolutely. Did he take ALL of them out of the way in his fulfilling of the law? Absolutely. They ALL pointed in types and shadows to what Christ would accomplish and were no longer necessary to practice. Your example of Hannakuh becomes pointless.
If you and your friends purpose drinking coffee is to accomplish the same purpose as the pagan religious intent, then yes it is sinful. In xmas, you ARE taking pagans traditions and trying to accomplish a scriptural purpose. You are NOT observing xmas without a religious intent or purpose therefore your example fails. That house will not stand.
My wife and I were covenantly married by an ordained Baptist pastor. I am not sure about you.
In the end, the use of your red house example as well as well as the rest of your examples must be kept in context of the end purpose which, in your case, is to try to justify a practice as scriptural in origin when it is clearly otherwise.
The Father says in Jer 2:32, "Can a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten Me days without number." They had forgotten Him in the form of His covenant work. Christ in giving the ordinance of the Lord's supper to his disciples said in I Cor 11:24-25..".this do in remembrance of Me." This is a covenant command and is given exclusively to the body of Christ to keep as is whole His covenant. Christ, in giving of this ordinance, is found in the prophet Jeremiah in 11:20 ...Hear ye the words of this covenant AND DO THEM. We then must ask is xmas a covenant work or command? If it is part of the words of the covenant, we dare not fail. I must ask you, how do you get the work of Christ/His covenant out of a xmas tree? The practice of xmas is observed without regard to the covenant, Everyone that wants to think they are doing a "good work", even a Hindu I know, observes and wishes merry xmas.. How do you get Christ out of santa clause? What do any of your traditions of xmas do to point to the work of Christ? The children of Israel were rebuked because, as were the Jews during the time of Christ, they said they followed the Lord when they were actually following Belial. Deu 13:13, I Sam 2:12, Mt 7:21-23, Jn 8:34-54.
I gladly say that whatever I say, it is in unity with and by the authority of Monarch Baptist Church.
