If Christmas is pagan, should Christians be involved?

Should Christians get involved in supporting or celebrating Christmas? Have you ever heard that argument? Why in the world would Christians want to get involved in something that was really a “pagan holiday,” that we the Church co-opted? So for those critics, I have three points.
Number one: Do you give your kids birthday gifts? You celebrate your kids birthdays, why not celebrate the birth of the Savior? If we’re not going to do it now, when would you decide to do it? That would be a question.
Secondly, in 1st Corinthians 9:22, Paul says, “I became all things to all men, that by all means I may win some.” I can’t think of a time, and I doubt that you could think of a time in the year when there is more focus on the birth of Jesus Christ. Once a year, the world is confronted with the reality of His coming. And I think that’s great!
The third point is in Matthew 16:18,where Jesus said, “On this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The idea is not that we are holding out against the world. The idea is that we are assaulting a world and they cannot overwhelm us. They cannot withstand the assault of the Church. The very fact that you and I are here, 2000 years after the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, is evidence of that. The world has done everything it can to squash the message, destroy the Word, and intimidate believers. Yet, all around the world today there are those who are singing praise, spreading the Word and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, if we co-opt or take over Christmas, that’s what we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to seize the gates of the enemy. This is why we’re here and why this season is so important.

Gene Cunningham - August 10, 2022

Rapture before the Antichrist is "Revealed"?

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Note seven reasons the Rapture occurs before His “revelation” to the world (2 Thess. 2:1–8): 1. Because the coming of Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him is cause for comfort from all fear, vv.1–2. 2. The “departure” (better rendering of “falling away”) or Rapture, must precede Antichrist’s coming, v. 3. 3. Antichrist will stand in the rebuilt temple (v. 4), which will not be built until after the Church is gone. 4. Paul refers them back to what he has already taught them about the Rapture, v. 5, see 1 Thess. 4:13–18. 5. The “restrainer” (vv. 6–7) can only be the Holy Spirit indwelling the Church. When the Church is removed, the restraining power departs also. 6. Only “then” (remember, a key word in the Olivet Discourse) will “the lawless one” be revealed, v. 8. This verse accords with Revelation 13, the coming of Antichrist and the false prophet. 7. These points all agree with Paul’s statement in Rom. 11:25 that “blindness in part has happened to Israel until [time limitation] the fullness of the Gentiles has come in [i.e., the Rapture of the Church].” Note: Regarding the word “revealed” (2 Thess. 2:3, 8) two words are used: apokalupto and epiphaneia. Concerning the first, “the word is very significant, not only as marking the ‘superhuman’ character of the one spoken of, but as placing it in mocking counterpart to the revelation of the Lord Jesus Himself” (Milligan). And concerning the second, “the word usually has some idea of striking splendor and was often used by the Greeks of a glorious manifestation of the gods” (Morris). Both of the above quotes are found in The Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, pp. 608, 609, by Rienecker and Rogers.