CG7: Promoting Christmas cookies for prisoners?

A former Church of God, Seventh day-Denver (CG7) member forwarded me the following from an email by Bruce Noble, who was the once the Chair of CG7’s (Denver) General Conference Nominating Committee:

Help, I need help! Christ birthday is just around the corner and it’s time to celebrate.

          Actually we should celebrate all the time, but we get to do it in the Shiawassee Jail on December 23^rd, this year. So once again I need your help. We need homemade cookies individually wrapped, with no staples or strings, just like you like for your family along with individually wrapped candies.

          These are given to the inmates in a way, that shows God Loves them, every year we see people come to Christ through this out pouring of your Love.

          We need the cookies and candy delivered December 22^nd @ 6:30 at St Pauls Episcople Church, in Corunna so we can pack them.

December 25th is NOT Jesus’ birthday. For some details, people in CG7 and elsewhere may want to watch our latest sermon: James Ossuary, Fake News, and Jesus’ Birth. Furthermore, early Christians did not celebrate it nor other birthdays (see Did Early Christians Celebrate Birthdays?).

While visiting prisoners is a good thing to do (cf. Matthew 25:36-40), giving prisoners Christmas cookies is certainly not a spiritually nor physically healthy thing to do.

Furthermore, let me state that CG7 historically has taught against celebrating Christmas:

The Church does not promote the tradition of Christmas celebration for these reasons: 1. We believe Jesus was born in early- or mid-autumn, certainly not on December 25. This date was celebrated by idolatrous religions many years before Christ. Many Christmas customs are borrowed from ancient pre-Christian traditions (see Jer. 10:2; 1 Cor. 10:18-22; 2 Cor. 6:14-18). 2. No official celebration of Christ’s birth is prescribed in Scripture. Christmas wasn’t observed as a Christian holiday until nearly 400 years after Christ. 3. The feasting, drinking, spending, partying, etc. of Christmas trivializes and insults the One whose birth is remembered. The entire season is so compromised that some Christians, at least, ought to decline as a form of protest against its materialism and hedonism (see 1 Peter 4:3, 4)” (Elder Calvin Burrell. Q&A Bible Advocate. May 2002).

To confirm that this still is CG7-Denver’s view, today I spoke with its President Loren Stacy.

Loren Stacy stated that CG7-Denver does not observe Christmas nor the other worldly holidays that many who profess Christ do.

Christians are not to compromise with the world’s pagan substitutes for God’s Holy Days or His truth.

The Apostle Paul warned about those who wanted to compromise with the religious practices of the world:

14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”

17 Therefore

“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 ‘I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

Christians are to be separate from the false worship that the world promotes.

As Jesus said:

24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)

Pagan holiday promotion is not a worship of God in spirit and truth.

Some items of possibly related interest follow:

Church of God, (Seventh Day): History and Teachings Nearly all COG’s I am aware of trace part of their history through some affiliation with this group. Loren Stacy is the president of the largest CG7 group (Denver). Do you know much about them?
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. A related sermon is Which Spring Days should Christians observe?
Is Keeping Christmas a Sin? Is keeping Christmas acceptable for true Christians? What are some scriptures to consider?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Did biblical era Jews celebrate birthdays? Who originally celebrated birthdays? When did many that profess Christ begin birthday celebrations? A related sermon video is available and is titled: Birthdays, Christians, and December 25th.
What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days? Do you know what the Catholic Church says were the original Christian holy days? Was Christmas among them? Is December 25th Jesus’ birthday or that of the sun god? Here is a link to a related sermon: What do Catholic and other scholars teach about Christmas? another sermon is James Ossuary, Fake News, and Jesus’ Birth.
The Sardis Church Era was predominant circa 1600 A.D. to circa 1933 A.D. Discusses early history of the Seventh Day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and COG-7th Day.
The Dangerous Rise of Preterists Has the Great Tribulation finished? What was the view of early Christians? Why is the preterist view dangerous? A related sermon video is titled Preterism: You’ve Gotta Be Kidding…Right?
The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now the remnant of that era is basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like who hold to the beliefs and practices of the Continuing Church of God.
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. The Laodiceans are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG or its offshoots. They do not properly understand the work or biblical prophecies and will face the Great Tribulation if they do not repent. One video of related interest is 17 Laodicean Errors in Prophecy.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2018, 2019, or 2020? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2018 o 2019? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation begin in 2018?
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.