This piece may be hard for dogmatic Christians to digest, largely because they, as dogmatic as they are, have never been encouraged to think on their own and in turn, find out the truth concerning some of the practices I'm about to mention. Therefore, I apologize to anyone who feels slighted or angry at any/every part of my write up which I consider a "hardball". Please be open minded as you take your time to read through this piece.

1. Statues, Symbol of Christ/Mary in Churches is a sin:
God, through Exo 20:3-6 makes His intention known.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."

If you attend a church where symbols, statues of Christ, Mary or Angels are mounted within its premises or you have one at home, then know you're on your own. Christ never commanded this and every action put up in the Old Testament concerning this was purely condemned. You have no business with that statue! (Also read: 1 John 5:21; 1 Cor 10:14). If you have a cross, statue, rosary or image depicting Christ in your home or church, then you are in the congregation of the dead.


2. The Worship of Mary:
The worship or "honour" accorded to Mary by some within the Christian fold is nothing but a misleading. Mary WAS a fortunate vessel used by God to birth Christ. She was a virgin at the time, just like most ladies of then. God could have used anyone. In short, God used anyone and that person was Mary. The Worship of Mary or mentioning her during prayer is a sin. Why? Christ gave a template fro prayer through the Lord's prayer. Mary went on to birth several other children through sexual form with Joseph.

“The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN...that they may provoke me to anger” —Jeremiah 7:18

Notice the Halo around Mary (especially her head). That is an idolatrous practice of Christians which symbolizes deity (that she is equal with God). The Babylonians practiced the same idolatrous worship to the Queen of Heaven. Mary is NOT deity, she was a normal every-day woman. God makes CLEAR in His Word that He will NOT share His glory with another (that includes Mary).
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/bowing_to_mary_is_a_sin.htm

3. Church Marriage:
This is perhaps a practice Christ would never be happy with. Why? The church from the onset has no right joining a couple together. Never!

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord. - Proverb 18:22"

When a man and a woman agrees to marry, as far as they have sought both parents' consent, then they have God's favour and not the church's. Unfortunately, most churches prioritize this practice even more than the traditional wedding which started with Abraham's family in the Old Testament

Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim. There he went to the town where Abraham’s brother Nahor had settled. 11 He made the camels kneel beside a well just outside the town. It was evening, and the women were coming out to draw water... Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. - Genesis 24: 10 and 53

. Most ladies even live for the moment of church wedding without realizing the practice is wrong. Does it not baffle us as Christians that the wedding at Cana Christ attended was neither conducted in a temple or on a religious ground? Does it not speak volume, that despite being Christ, He did not lay any example as to how weddings should be conducted in the Scripture? Western wedding tradition has crept into the Nigerian church and our pastors are even outdoing those who started it. Amazing!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_wedding

4. Christmas:
Ah... Everyone loves this season. Who doesn't? Everyone feels it and breathes it when it is near. Unfortunately, the origin of December 25 is idolatry. Christ was never born on the 25th of December. Christ said,

“But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9)

. Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men. Christ continued,

“Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9)

. Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that! Read more on the origin of Christmas here: http://www.hope-of-israel.org/cmas1.htm

5. Tithe:
At this point, I know many will come for me. Therefore, this may be longer to drive my point home. Tithing started with Jacob and not on God's instruction, contrary to the belief of many people.

20 Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.” - Genesis 28:20-22.

Voila! And it started. But what was the original tithing system before the popular Malachi 3:10 method.

[b]

22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. 23 And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. 24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: 25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: 26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household: 26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

[/b]

The passage above was the proper way of tithing; use your money to buy what your soul lust after and eat before God. Why pastors don't preach this, I don't know. Greed, perhaps. Christ while on earth in human form taught man all he needed to know about God's worship and living with fellow men. From prayer, to fasting, to offering, to giving, to sacrificing, etc. What did He say about tithing? Nothing! What did the Apostles teach about tithing? Nothing! As a matter of fact, Christ paid tax to an earthly government, prayed, fasted, gave, sacrificed and so on, but did He pay tithe at all? No!

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2

I know many will claim "we operate both the Old and the New Testament". If this is true, how come we don't practice some of the commandments in in Leviticus 15

1. As the Old Testament practice, a woman with her monthly flow MUST not come near the Temple because she's unclean. Do churches examine this? NO! Save a few (white garments).
2. When a woman is caught in the act of adultery, the Old Testament practice was instant killing by stoning her to death. Does it happen in Christianity today? No! If we operate both Testaments, how come we cannot carry out this act? Simple! Because Christ demonstrated the perfect example - forgiveness. Under Christ, some Old practices were abolished, including tithing which is an Old Testament practice to the then Israel. It is hypocrisy to pick some parts of the Scripture that suits you and dump the rest.

There, you know which is which. Which should be abolished and which should be done away with. Happy Sunday

@. I agree with everything you said except christmas, the day of christ birth may be unknown, but First, a person who was born on February 29 (leap year) only celebrate his birthday after 4 years, is it sinful to chose another day to celebrate it ? Or if your birthday fall on saturday (saturn) will you celebrate it ? In 1 corinthians 8 paul is saying we should not in anyway aknowlegde this pagan gods exist.

malvisguy212:
@. I agree with everything you said except christmas, the day of christ birth may be unknown, but First, a person who was born on February 29 (leap year) only celebrate his birthday after 4 years, is it sinful to chose another day to celebrate it ? Or if your birthday fall on saturday (saturn) will you celebrate it ? In 1 corinthians 8 paul is saying we should not in anyway aknowlegde this pagan gods exist.

Everyone loves Christmas. I love it. But the big question is why December 25, the same as the celebration date of a Roman god? Christianity adopted a pagan practice here. Please ignore Paul's assertion. Were there Pagan practices in the Old Testament? Yes? And most of them corrupted the then Israel. Saul and Solomon are too few examples of people pagan practices corrupted. The big problem is here is Constantine, the then Roman Emperor who merged Pagan practices with Christian ways. Everybody loves Christmas, we celebrate Christ, perhaps, but is the day really the birth day of Christ? No!

On the issue of tithes, a lot of people might disagree with you as you have already anticipated.
First tithing did not begin with Jacob, it began with Abraham, when he gave tithes to Melchizedek the priest of the Most High. (Genesis 14:20)
And we're somewhat bound to follow the acts of our great patriarch if we are to enjoy his blessings as ''seeds of Abram''

But the new testament views on tithing are issues of continuing research to me, one would think that for such an important issue as tithing (as our pastors make it out to be), the New Testament Bible would be pretty clear on its stand but this is not the case

mind of a PHILOSOPHER. Nice one bro

Just passing by...

Sanchez01:

Everyone loves Christmas. I love it. But the big question is why December 25, the same as the celebration date of a Roman god? Christianity adopted a pagan practice here. Please ignore Paul's assertion. Were there Pagan practices in the Old Testament? Yes? And most of them corrupted the then Israel. Saul and Solomon are too few examples of people pagan practices corrupted. The big problem is here is Constantine, the then Roman Emperor who merged Pagan practices with Christian ways. Everybody loves Christmas, we celebrate Christ, perhaps, but is the day really the birth day of Christ? No!

you are correct bro, but for what I read , the early church leader never for once associated the pagan practice with christmas, they were only influence by the date setting.

thesicilian:
On the issue of tithes, a lot of people might disagree with you as you have already anticipated

True, and that is because a lot of people will not just change their minds on what they have been taught from childhood till date. Again to hammer on it, why didn't Christ demonstrate it when He was able to pay tax to Caesar's government? He taught us to pray, to forgive, to give, to intercede for others and even to give towards the work of God, but never made a single teaching on tithing? As big as the New Testament is, there is not a single teaching on tithing. What does this tell us? Unfortunately, some pastors realize this but they will never preach it because it;s like preaching their very own death.

Even the concept of paying tithe in the Old Testament made it known that the Levites, the tribe from Levi are to eat and feast from the people's tithes because God commanded them not to have a land like in the inheritance of Israel every other tribe had. They had no lands, they did not farm and they did not rear cattles. So if the Levites had access to the tithes based on God's instruction, why then did Christ not preach about it in the new phase? Simple, because there are no Levites in our midst again. The Pastor who has a full time job has turned himself to a Levite despite his many landed properties and cars. He cannot preach the truth in this regard because that is his primary source of income.

thesicilian:
On the issue of tithes, a lot of people might disagree with you as you have already anticipated.
First tithing did not begin with Jacob, it began with Abraham, when he gave tithes to Melchizedek the priest of the Most High. (Genesis 14:20)

We cannot call that the standard one tenth as commanded by God. Why? Because tithes are never meant to be given to given to priests and kings, which Melchizedek doubled as. As a king, it was more of a tribute. Abraham, at every turn acknowledged he was a stranger in every land he found himself in, despite being promised to be the one to inherit the earth through his offspring. Tithes are never to man but to God.

Sanchez01 it been long I read your post.

malvisguy212:
@. I agree with everything you said except christmas, the day of christ birth may be unknown, but First, a person who was born on February 29 (leap year) only celebrate his birthday after 4 years, is it sinful to chose another day to celebrate it ? Or if your birthday fall on saturday (saturn) will you celebrate it ? In 1 corinthians 8 paul is saying we should not in anyway aknowlegde this pagan gods exist.

there is nothing bad in choosing a date to celebrate birth but if u go down history lane, u will realize dt Dec 25 is a special day in Rome for celebrating an idol called MARS. D early Christians joined dem in d celebration and associate it wt d birth of Christ. Hence they formed CHRISTMAS frm christ-mars. Jst as d current Christians try to lured ppl into Christianity by advertising solution to hunger, poverty, barrenness e.t.c

I'll make sure I follow the thread till ∞

thesicilian:
But the new testament views on tithing are issues of continuing research to me, one would think that for such an important issue as tithing (as our pastors make it out to be), the New Testament Bible would be pretty clear on its stand but this is not the case

Trust me, you'll find nothing. I have read almost all commentaries concerning the NT and tithing but found nothing. Most pastors live for tithes. While their strong point for driving home the message is Malachi 3:8-10, which is in the OT, nothing spilled into the NT concerning this practice. As Christians, if we are in the world and not of this world as the Scripture makes us understand, why then did God in flesh (Christ) lay the example of tax paying to an earthly government but never tithe paying to the Kingdom of heaven? It was an exclusive practice to the then Israel which was meant to feed the Levites. See this:

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. - Malachi 3:8-10

Did you notice the word "this whole nation"? Why? Because those who refused to pay tithe then refuse to feed the Levites who have no inheritance in the land. Then notice the second bolded, "the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house". Who eat these meats? Why is there a storage to receive these goods in the Temple? I hope you understand this.

malvisguy212:
Sanchez01 it been long I read your post.

I took a deliberate sabbatical from the section. Perhaps I'll have more reasons to visit and post comments and topics now.

Advans:


there is nothing bad in choosing a date to celebrate birth but if u go down history lane, u will realize dt Dec 25 is a special day in Rome for celebrating an idol called MARS. D early Christians joined dem in d celebration and associate it wt d birth of Christ. Hence they formed CHRISTMAS frm christ-mars. Jst as d current Christians try to lured ppl into Christianity by advertising solution to hunger, poverty, barrenness e.t.c

You simply took the word from me. Thanks!

Lalasticlala, let me call you again

Sanchez01:

I took a deliberate sabbatical from the section. Perhaps I'll have more reasons to visit and post comments and topics now.

welcome back bro, I enjoy reading your post emasun and scholar8200. I learn a lot from you guys.

We understand The Nature of God more than others. It's God we all Worship, no nothing else and these ceremonial unctions are authorized and approved by the only God we all worship. Happy Sunday!!!!

Advans:


there is nothing bad in choosing a date to celebrate birth but if u go down history lane, u will realize dt Dec 25 is a special day in Rome for celebrating an idol called MARS. D early Christians joined dem in d celebration and associate it wt d birth of Christ. Hence they formed CHRISTMAS frm christ-mars. Jst as d current Christians try to lured ppl into Christianity by advertising solution to hunger, poverty, barrenness e.t.c

you made a very good point. You said the early christian join them, meaning they were influence by the date setting. But the celebration is DIFFIRENT from the pagans.

thesicilian:
On the issue of tithes, a lot of people might disagree with you as you have already anticipated.
First tithing did not begin with Jacob, it began with Abraham, when he gave tithes to Melchizedek the priest of the Most High. (Genesis 14:20)
And we're somewhat bound to follow the acts of our great patriarch if we are to enjoy his blessings as ''seeds of Abram''

But the new testament views on tithing are issues of continuing research to me, one would think that for such an important issue as tithing (as our pastors make it out to be), the New Testament Bible would be pretty clear on its stand but this is not the case

The money Abraham gave to High priest/ruler of Salem was more like taxes paid for using the land for commerce. Abraham having migrated from a more sophisticated society (Babylon) was the wealthiest and most successful entrepreneur in the land, naturally like every new generation MOG of today Melchizedek gave Abraham special blessing/prayers thus making Abraham the most important man in town after God.

Sanchez01:
This piece may be hard for dogmatic Christians to digest, largely because they, as dogmatic as they are, have never been encouraged to think on their own and in turn, find out the truth concerning some of the practices I'm about to mention. Therefore, I apologize to anyone who feels slighted or angry at any/every part of my write up which I consider a "hardball". Please be open minded as you take your time to read through this piece.

1. Statues, Symbol of Christ/Mary in Churches is a sin:
God, through Exo 20:3-6 makes His intention known. If you attend a church where symbols, statues of Christ, Mary or Angels are mounted within its premises or you have one at home, then know you're on your own. Christ never commanded this and every action put up in the Old Testament concerning this was purely condemned. You have no business with that statue! (Also read: 1 John 5:21; 1 Cor 10:14). If you have a cross, statue, rosary or image depicting Christ in your home or church, then you are in the congregation of the dead.


2. The Worship of Mary:
The worship or "honour" accorded to Mary by some within the Christian fold is nothing but a misleading. Mary WAS a fortunate vessel used by God to birth Christ. She was a virgin at the time, just like most ladies of then. God could have used anyone. In short, God used anyone and that person was Mary. The Worship of Mary or mentioning her during prayer is a sin. Why? Christ gave a template fro prayer through the Lord's prayer. Mary went on to birth several other children through sexual form with Joseph.

[/color]
Notice the Halo around Mary (especially her head). That is an idolatrous practice of Christians which symbolizes deity (that she is equal with God). The Babylonians practiced the same idolatrous worship to the Queen of Heaven. Mary is NOT deity, she was a normal every-day woman. God makes CLEAR in His Word that He will NOT share His glory with another (that includes Mary).
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/bowing_to_mary_is_a_sin.htm

3. Church Marriage:
This is perhaps a practice Christ would never be happy with. Why? The church from the onset has no right joining a couple together. Never! [color=#990000] When a man and a woman agrees to marry, as far as they have sought both parents' consent, then they have God's favour and not the church's. Unfortunately, most churches prioritize this practice even more than the traditional wedding which started with Abraham's family in the Old Testament [/color]. Most ladies even live for the moment of church wedding without realizing the practice is wrong. Does it not baffle us as Christians that the wedding at Cana Christ attended was neither conducted in a temple or on a religious ground? Does it not speak volume, that despite being Christ, He did not lay any example as to how weddings should be conducted in the Scripture? Western wedding tradition has crept into the Nigerian church and our pastors are even outdoing those who started it. Amazing!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_wedding

4. Christmas:
Ah... Everyone loves this season. Who doesn't? Everyone feels it and breathes it when it is near. Unfortunately, the origin of December 25 is idolatry. Christ was never born on the 25th of December. Christ said, [color=#990000]. Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men. Christ continued, . Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that! Read more on the origin of Christmas here: http://www.hope-of-israel.org/cmas1.htm

5. Tithe:
At this point, I know many will come for me. Therefore, this may be longer to drive my point home. Tithing started with Jacob and not on God's instruction, contrary to the belief of many people. [/color]Voila! And it started. But what was the original tithing system before the popular Malachi 3:10 method.

[color=#990000]

The passage above was the proper way of tithing; use your money to buy what your soul lust after and eat before God. Why pastors don't preach this, I don't know. Greed, perhaps. Christ while on earth in human form taught man all he needed to know about God's worship and living with fellow men. From prayer, to fasting, to offering, to giving, to sacrificing, etc. What did He say about tithing? Nothing! What did the Apostles teach about tithing? Nothing! As a matter of fact, Christ paid tax to an earthly government, prayed, fasted, gave, sacrificed and so on, but did He pay tithe at all? No! [color=#990000][/color]

I know many will claim "we operate both the Old and the New Testament". If this is true, how come we don't practice some of the commandments in in Leviticus 15

1. As the Old Testament practice, a woman with her monthly flow MUST not come near the Temple because she's unclean. Do churches examine this? NO! Save a few (white garments).
2. When a woman is caught in the act of adultery, the Old Testament practice was instant killing by stoning her to death. Does it happen in Christianity today? No! If we operate both Testaments, how come we cannot carry out this act? Simple! Because Christ demonstrated the perfect example - forgiveness. Under Christ, some Old practices were abolished, including tithing which is an Old Testament practice to the then Israel. It is hypocrisy to pick some parts of the Scripture that suits you and dump the rest.

There, you know which is which. Which should be abolished and which should be done away with. Happy Sunday

It gladdens my heart whenever I come across posts like this; it shows we still have youths that think for themselves rather swallow religious doctrines "hook, line & sinker".

Every point you have raised is true, but I've got one more to add (actually, I've got more than one, but I'd only give one for now and save the others for later).

In Matthew 23:9, Jesus said “And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and He is in heaven". Obviously, we know he wasn't referring to our biological fathers here.

But what do we have today? Starting with Roman Catholics calling their priests 'Rev Fathers', we move on to pentecostals with titles like 'Daddy G.O.' 'Papa this' and 'Papa that'. When you ask why, they say these guys are their "spiritual fathers"
If your pastor is your spiritual father, then God is what? Your biological father?

GrammarNazi:


It gladdens my heart whenever I come across posts like this; it shows we still have youths that think for themselves rather swallow religious doctrines "hook, line & sinker".

Every point you have raised is true, but I've got one more to add (actually, I've got more than one, but I'd only give one for now and save the others for later).

In Matthew 23:9, Jesus said “And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and He is in heaven". Obviously, we know he wasn't referring to our biological fathers here.

But what do we have today? Starting with Roman Catholics calling their priests 'Rev Fathers', we move on to pentecostals with titles like 'Daddy G.O.' 'Papa this' and 'Papa that'. When you ask why, they say these guys are their "spiritual fathers"
If your pastor is your spiritual father, then God is what? Your biological father?

I couldn't agree more.

You nailed it! I'm so happy with this post.....you've made my day already.

Seriously, i think we need to stop chasing shadows and stop this craziness, but sadly some Christians are so blind

orisa37:
We understand The Nature of God more than others. It's God we all Worship, no nothing else and these ceremonial unctions are authorized and approved by the only God we all worship. Happy Sunday!!!!

True, we understand the nature of God more than each other and THINK or BELIEVE we worship the same God. A pastor cannot commit adultery with a member of his church and then comes to the altar without remorse to preach on forgiveness. Such a person stopped serving God the moment he lost his sense of remorse. Just like law, ignorance is not an excuse. In the Christian race, no one will tell God he his condemned because he didn't know that bowing to the statue of Jesus or Mary is idolatry.

Please note: These so-called ceremonial unctions are not the works of God. Rather, they are the works of manipulative, selfish and self serving men who claim they are pastors. Jesus is the yardstick for which every man and woman, including Pastors, should measure themselves with. If anyone falls short, such a person should pray, but should never use manipulations and formatting as an excuse to unctions given to them by God.

Sanchez01:

Everyone loves Christmas. I love it. But the big question is why December 25, the same as the celebration date of a Roman god? Christianity adopted a pagan practice here. Please ignore Paul's assertion. Were there Pagan practices in the Old Testament? Yes? And most of them corrupted the then Israel. Saul and Solomon are too few examples of people pagan practices corrupted. The big problem is here is Constantine, the then Roman Emperor who merged Pagan practices with Christian ways. Everybody loves Christmas, we celebrate Christ, perhaps, but is the day really the birth day of Christ? No!

If another date was chosen. Skeptics will still find a god to attribute it to. We have 365 days and there about 5000+ gods.
Personally, i see nothing wrong in celebrating Jesus anyday. He owns all days.

ammyluv2002:
You nailed it! I'm so happy with this post.....you've made my day already.

Seriously, i think we need to stop chasing shadows and stop this craziness, but sadly some Christians are so blind

Lol. Most can't see it. The height of dogma is just too much. Most churches have done too much damages that only Christ can restore to factory setting.

winner01:
If another date was chosen. Skeptics will still find a god to attribute it to. We have 365 days and there about 5000+ gods.
Personally, i see nothing wrong in celebrating Jesus anyday. He owns all days.

I have tried justifying it too. Why do you think Christians say "He is the reason for the season"? Some have come to know but still fight it. Emperor Constantine of the then Roman Empire who was partly Christian and partly Pagan then just so he could keep everyone together fused the celebration of Christ + that of Mars, a Roman god together to realize the celebration of December 25 today.

Sanchez01:

I have tried justifying it too. Why do you think Christians say "He is the reason for the season"? Some have come to know but still fight it. Emperor Constantine of the then Roman Empire who was partly Christian and partly Pagan then just so he could keep everyone together fused the celebration of Christ + that of Mars, a Roman god together to realize the celebration of December 25 today.

Forget constantine or rome. God created all days. Jesus can be celebrated anyday even if it clashes with the islamic Eid festivals. 25, 31, 1 anyday is okay for me. Personally, i stay at home and eat turkey on the 25th, i can shift that to 27th. Its not like it means anything, the main point and focus is to serve and praise God.

Except the tithe: Tithe is still relevant relevant, which is why Jesus said do it but more importantly do justice, mercy and faithfulness. Matt23:23, LK 11:42.
Wedding in church neither right nor wrong but tradition. In many places people don't marry in church anymore but you must have someone in authority and a few people as witnesses, and of course parental consent. So also wedding/engagement rings, these are not scripture but not necessarily wrong. So you can marry in court, by the beach, in your sitting room etc.

Christmas is tradition dating from Constantine. It is neither right nor wrong to choose a date to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. Whether it is right or wrong to do it on a day that previously was a pagan celebration is up for debate, but you not required to do it in Scriptures. The main New Testament ordinances are Holy Communion and Water Baptism.

There are a lot of traditions that get incorporated into faith practice locally. The important thing is to know what is scripture and what is not. What is scripture you are obligated to do, what is not, you're not. Trouble is, many people don't read their Bibles.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them (Ex. 20:45); Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold(Ex.32:31). It is right to warn people against the sin of idolatry when they are committing it. But calling other Christians most especially Catholics idolaters because they have images of Christ and Saints is based on misunderstanding or ignorance of what the Bible says about the purpose and uses (both good and bad) of statues. God forbade the workship of statues, but he did not forbid the religious use of statues. Instead, he actually commanded their use in religious contexts!
In Ex. 25:18-22; 26:1; 31, for example, God commands the making of image of golden chorus. This heavenly image, of of course, is not worshiped by the Israelites. Instead, the image dispose their minds to the supernatural and draws them to God. God also command the making of broze serpent. One had to look at the broze statue of the serpent to be heale, which shows that statues could be used ritually, not merely as religious decoration s. The image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind of the supernatural (Num.21:. Solomon s temple contains statues of cherubium and images that were used in worship(1 Kings 6:23-36;7:27-39;8:6-67). it was only when the people began to worship the statuein 2 Kings 18:4 that they did incur Gods wrath, and the King destroyed it. The command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images. The only image of God that Catholics worship is Jesus Christ, who is the "image" (Greek "eikon" of the invisible God (col.1:15).
God's commandment in Deu.5:8- "thou shall not make a graven image'' is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. God does not prohibit images to be worship, but He prohibits the images themselves to be workshiped as idols. Christions, especially Catholics use images in worship and devotions; we do not use ''idols''. The different lies in what we believe about them. An ''idol'' is something made that is not simply used in worship, but itself is the object of worship. Sacrifices and obligations are offered to idols, since sacrificed is the root of any true worship. An image is something that is used in worship, but is not itself the object of worship. Sacrifices and oblation are not offered to images.
I hope these write up 'll enlighten our Protestants brethren. I 'll be posting on the issue about Why do catholics venerate the virgin Mary, the issue of Tithe, How we got Chrismas, Christmas Tree and Santa Claus.

ryom:
Except the tithe: Tithe is still relevant relevant, which is why Jesus said do it but more importantly do justice, mercy and faithfulness. Matt23:23, LK 11:42.
Wedding in church neither right nor wrong but tradition. In many places people don't marry in church anymore but you must have someone in authority and a few people as witnesses, and of course parental consent. So also wedding/engagement rings, these are not scripture but not necessarily wrong. So you can marry in court, by the beach, in your sitting room etc.

Christmas is tradition dating from Constantine. It is neither right nor wrong to choose a date to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. Whether it is right or wrong to do it on a day that previously was a pagan celebration is up for debate, but you not required to do it in Scriptures. The main New Testament ordinances are Holy Communion and Water Baptism.

There are a lot of traditions that get incorporated into faith practice locally. The important thing is to know what is scripture and what is not. What is scripture you are obligated to do, what is not, you're not. Trouble is, many people don't read their Bibles.

The same passages you gave as references to tithe is the same someone gave me just almost two weeks ago. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Was Christ teaching about tithe? No, He was highlighting the hypocritical nature of the Pharisees and Scribes who carry out the Mosaic Law thinking they are better than others when in reality they are not. Please re-read the passage to understand what Christ meant.

Tithing started with Abraham
Jacob continued it
Jesus commended it