WHY MOST CHRISTIANS DO CELEBRATE BIRTHDAYS Luke 2:6 says that angels celebrated Christ's day of birth, many who read first Job 1:3 and then Job 3:1, 3 believe it is clear the banquet days Job's children celebrated were birthdays, and Jude 12 says the earliest Christians enjoyed balanced merriment at "love feasts." Those against birthdays ignore the preceding positive verses and say that in the Bible the only birthdays that are mentioned are in negative contexts, namely at the birthday of King Herod when he had John the Baptizer's head chopped off, and when an ancient Egyptian was slain. They are also wrong to say "mature" Christians don't celebrate birthdays. In fact most Christians view a birthday as a time for honoring the One who caused such happiness, the Creator of Life Himself, and it is also a way of showing the person who receives a birthday that they are loved, not "worshipped" as those against birthdays have sometimes said. The detractors also claim that cakes, candles and making a wish are ungodly. Although non-Christian groups do also use cakes, candles and make wishes, the majority of Christians, being for birthdays, note that the parallel use of those do not make the usages wrong any more than it is wrong for a Christian to use a hammer since non-Christians also use hammers or a pagan may have made the first hammer. How something is used is more important than that it is used. For example, if a person used a hammer as an idol, say, with the head of a god and with praying to it, then how it was being used would not be Christian, but if a person uses a hammer to simply build a house for a homeless family, then how it is used is Christian. Consider too that Galatians 5:22 says that one of the fruits of God's Holy Spirit is "joy," and so there is every reason to ignore misinformation about birthdays and continue in joyful celebration. Christian parents should definitely feel free to keep the eyes of their children lit up with happiness whenever their days of birth come. LEARN MORE http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Birthdays http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Happy_Birthday_ to_You http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Birthday_ cake The following film is a little older, as noted by the statistic, but still informative regarding not only birthdays but other matters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qte7r3BbSKE

"SPECIAL DAYS" WINNING AMONG JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES Writing on jehovahs-witness.net, Franklin Masseys says he keeps hearing of more and more Jehovah's Witnesses doing "special days" for their children on the day of their birth.  He quotes a young couple (he being a ministerial servant and she a JW who dropped off the pioneer list to take care of their two children: "The happiest days of our lives include the births of our children. We have a blessing in our family that we want to reflect on when our kids' birth dates come around. We can celebrate our wedding anniversary with no consequence. How is a child's birthday any different? It's a day to celebrate life and family. Try explaing to your kids that you can't give them a gift or have a special dinner on their birthday because in the Bible someone got killed at a birthday party. That logic could apply to all parties not just birthdays. It's not like anyone is going to 'lose their head' because we want to celebrate how happy we are to have two beautiful kids." Similarly, many Jehovah's Witnesses ignore Watchtower's efforts to deny them the opportunity to hold family get-togethers at or near Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Governing Body men like Anthony Morris, Geoffrey Jackson etc may think all happy holiday occasions are against Jehovah, but many of us think that is being self-righteous, ignores reality and God's true feeling which is for families to show natural affections.