The Truth Concerning the Birth of Jesus: What the Manger Scene Tells Us – Dr. Mike Spaulding

Here we are again, another Christmas Sunday. The celebration of the birth of our Savior is a few days away. As I have done for the last couple of years, I’m breaking from our current Lord’s Day study, in our case this year, the book of Acts. I’m taking this Lord’s Day to teach about our Christmas celebration. Those who have been with us here at Calvary for a while may recall that two years ago, I titled the Christmas Sunday teaching, Debunking the Debunkers. Then last year I titled the Christmas Sunday teaching, Merry Non-Pagan Christmas.

The reason I have done this for the last couple of years is because the noise around Christmas gets louder all the time. I’m speaking of all the people who take to social media to remind the rest of us that Christmas is pagan. These people tell us that it originated with Roman Catholicism or Constantine, or the Druids, or some other pagan demonic source. Critics tell us that the day is really about the festival of the “Birth of the Unconquered Sun” or, Sol Invictus.[1]

Is any of this true? It is absolutely not true yet so many who profess Jesus Christ seem to take great pains to criticize and denigrate other Christians who celebrate the day set aside to commemorate the incarnation of the savior of the world.

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Debunking the Debunkers – Christmas IS NOT Pagan – Dr. Mike Spaulding

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed a few days ago and found a post about Christmas. Specifically, it was a post about a recent survey of American views concerning Christmas. The most recent survey results said that 57% of respondents affirmed that America needs more of Jesus in Christmas and less commercialism.

I, of course, agree with that wholeheartedly. That same survey said that as recently as 2019, among those surveyed, 63% of respondents said we need more of Jesus in Christmas and less commercialism. That shows a 6% drop in 3 years. What is going on here?

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TMR 129 : Dr. Mike Spaulding : Isn’t It Obvious How You Read The Bible?

Julian Charles

I recently had the blessing to join Julian Charles on his show, The Mind Renewed. It was a wonderful conversation. I hope you will be encouraged by it. Below is the show notes from Julian’s site.

For TMR’s final programme of 2015 we are joined by Dr. Mike Spaulding, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel, Lima and host of Soaring Eagle Radio, for a discussion on the subject of Biblical Hermeneutics.

Isn’t it obvious how we should read the Bible? After all, if it says such-and-such, surely it means such-and-such, and that’s the end of the matter? Or is it really always quite so straightforward? Drawing upon his many years of study, grounded in the context of pastoral ministry, Dr. Spaulding guides us through the maze of biblical hermeneutics – observation, interpretation and application – and shares with us some invaluable tools that can help us unlock the plain meaning of the Scriptures.

Click here to listen.