Easter Blessings

From a Dear Abby letter some time ago comes the story of a young man who was about to graduate from high school. He and his father had talked about his receiving a car as a graduation gift. They looked at cars for some time and finally found the perfect one.

One his graduation day, the father handed his son a gift wrapped Bible. The son, expecting the keys to a car threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house and out of his father's life. So intense was the son's anger that they never saw each other again. You see, the son wanted that car really bad.

The years went by and as some of us know, they went faster as as we get older. It was only thw news of his fathers' death that brought the son home again. As he sat that night going through his father's possessions and papers as we all have done, he came across the Bible his father had given to him for his graduation. He wiped off the dust and opened it to John 3:16 because there was an envelope there.
He opened the envelope and there he found a cashier's check, dated the day of his graduation in the exact amount of the car they had chosen together.

When I thought about that, I could not help but wonder how many people in this world have done the same thing with God. Literally tossed aside a wonderful promise because they did not understand it or they did not believe that it was possible?

God has never made a promise that He did not keep! The world is full of "empty" promises. We watch TV and the advertisments tell us that we can be happy, sexy, rich, or famous if we only use their product. It does not take long before we have been fooled enough to know that the world's promises are full of "emptiness".

BUT GOD IS DIFFERENT! Instead of promises full of "emptiness", on Easter He gave us EMPTINESS THAT IS FULL OF PROMISE!!! Think about it for just a monent.

The cross of Jesus is EMPTY. The tomb of Jesus is EMPTY. The burial cloths of Jesus are EMPTY.

It is the very fact that each of these is EMPTY that assures us that God's promises are real and valid. Because they could not hold Jesus, because He could not be contained by the cross, the tomb or His burial cloth's, we can be absolutely sure of the fullness of God's promises in our lives.

I pray that you all will enjoy the Resurrection Day of the Lord Jesus and that you will remember that this "EMPTINESS" of the cros, tomb and burial cloths is God's way of saying to us...............................

Relax my child, I took the sting of death for you and death can not hurt you anymore".

Bless you all!

Major.
 
Where/when did "Easter" celebration begin?

For "God's blessing?"

It would take more room than is available here to explain your question. I encourage you to do a goggle search of the name "Semeramis" and you will have the answer in detail.

The short answer is that long before Christianity, Bayblon had a goddess name "Semeramis," the goddess of reproduction, and the original MOTHER EARTH. It is from her that all false religions trace their roots to. In the spring she was honored as the giver of all new life. Eggs, a symbol of fertility, were worshipped, and rabbits, prolific reproducers, were also worshipped. That's where we get Easter rabbits and Easter eggs. Semeramis's day was always celebrated the first Sunday, after the equinox. As we progress through history, we come to Rome around 300 A.D. Constantine, the ruler, claimed he had become a Christian. He simply took Semeramis day and transferred it to honor Jesus Christ the giver of life, on Easter as a means to pacify the people of that reagion and keep the peace and stave off any rebellion. Papal Rome, the Catholic church continued this, and spread it to all the world.

I do not think that there is a problem in where or when Easter came from. The important thing is that God took something eveil and made something HOLY out of it. Think for a moment about the scene on the cross. There is nothing pretty or good when one first looks at that scene. Blood everywhere!!!! Moanings, crying, pain, suffering DEATH. But out of that God made salvation for all humanity possible. He took something bad and turned it into something very good!!!

I would encouage YOU to look at the good and not under rocks of the past on the day that has been set aside to acknowledge the gospel of God.

Philippians 3:13-14
King James Version (KJV)
13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
 
I really liked that story, Major! I have to admit, I'm not much of a holiday fan, largely because of what secular society has done with them (e.g. turning Christmas into a marketing ploy for the economy). But all that aside, holidays do also provide us with a society-assisted opportunity to slow down, and reflect on some of the most important events in history, and how they relate to our faith. Hopefully we can all do that this Easter, in remembering the death and resurrection of the Messiah, the need for fellowship to truly remember it; and looking for ways to take up our own cross in following Jesus' most powerful example. Amen.
 
I really liked that story, Major! I have to admit, I'm not much of a holiday fan, largely because of what secular society has done with them (e.g. turning Christmas into a marketing ploy for the economy). But all that aside, holidays do also provide us with a society-assisted opportunity to slow down, and reflect on some of the most important events in history, and how they relate to our faith. Hopefully we can all do that this Easter, in remembering the death and resurrection of the Messiah, the need for fellowship to truly remember it; and looking for ways to take up our own cross in following Jesus' most powerful example. Amen.

AMEN!
 
Since "Easter Holiday" is just a copy-cat from a PAGAN celebration, how could Christianity adopt this so as to appear appealing to the laity?

No wonder by "divine revelation" we have to "open our eyes" to see the two kinds of CHRISTIANITY:

Christianity composed of 1001 sects
Pure Christianity that can be traced back to the original Apostles.

God gave us free will to choose.
 
I hardly think that modern Easter celebrations, whether secular or religious, are copy cats of pagan religions. It is true that certain symbols and elements, as well as the timing have their origins in pagan rituals, but they have changed considerably in their representation, their meaning, and their incorporation into modern social context. When I go to an Easter service, I feel no connection to any pagan deities or sensibilities past or present. My objection to modern easter eggs and easter bunnies is that they are simply irrelevant distractions from that which Christians celebrate. And, of course, the continuing push to commercialize the holiday.

Of course, each person must answer for their own conscience, and if they connect the modern Christian Easter observance with paganism, they honor God by not observing the holiday.
 
I tend to agree Rumely. I think the commercialization of Easter and Christmas is doing more damage than any assumed pagan connection. Hot cross buns are in the supermarkets over here as early as 2nd January...maybe earlier.
Rather than adding a pagan connection, they are destroying the Christian connection.

blessings,
calvin
 
I tend to agree Rumely. I think the commercialization of Easter and Christmas is doing more damage than any assumed pagan connection. Hot cross buns are in the supermarkets over here as early as 2nd January...maybe earlier.
Rather than adding a pagan connection, they are destroying the Christian connection.

blessings,
calvin

Calvin................what is a "hot cross" bun????
 
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