IT’S TIME Christians reclaim Christmas.

We live at a time when some Christians are intimidated about wishing other Christians a Merry Christmas, afraid they might accidentally be participating in what was originally a pagan rite. Our monthly Iron and Myth round table says, “So what if it was?”

Author and pastor Doug Van Dorn, bestselling author and award-winning screenwriter Brian Godawa, and Director of the Institute of Biblical Anthropology Dr. Judd Burton discuss the signs in the heavens that pointed to the birth of Jesus, the ways in which the powers and principalities—the gods of the pagan world—have tried to appropriate what was, in actual, historical fact, a Christian celebration from the beginning, and why—biblically—it doesn’t matter.

Links:

• The Star that Astonished the World by Dr. E. L. Martin (full text available online

• )Dr. Michael Heiser’s Naked Bible Podcast: Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

• Dr. Michael Heiser - September 11: Happy Birthday to Jesus

• Brian Godawa's book God Against the Gods: Storytelling, Imagination, and Apologetics in the Bible

• Derek Gilbert - The Truth About Christmas

• Derek Gilbert - Merry Non-Pagan Christmas

• Pastor Doug Van Dorn’s “Wandering Stars” sermons on the churches of Revelation:

• Rev 2:1-7; 3:14-22 ~ Wanderings Stars Part I: Ephesus/Laodicea PDF, Sermon Audio

• Rev 2:8-11; 3:7-13 ~ Wandering Stars (II): Smyrna/Philadelphia PDF, Sermon Audio

• Rev 2:12-17; ; 3:1-6 ~ Wandering Stars (III): Pergamum/Sardis PDF, Sermon Audio

• Rev 2:18-29 ~ Wandering Stars (IV): Thyatira PDF, Sermon Audio