Welcome

                        I recently discovered the word- KHAWDASH.  It’s a Hebrew word translated “new”,- the root meaning of which means to “renew”, “repair”, “rebuild”, “restore” with secondary, adjectival meanings of new and fresh.  When Jesus Christ came into my life, that is exactly what He did… he made me a brand ‘new’ person.  Since that time He has continually ‘refreshed’ my soul.  Daily, as I follow Him He ‘renews’ me with strength and gives me times of rest and ‘refreshing’ when I am weary.  He is the “Breath of Fresh Air”.

                        When we come to Christ, there is a “metamorphosis” that takes place in us.  We are changed like the caterpillar into a butterfly.  This changes takes place in us spiritually– it’s called the ‘new birth’, or being ‘born again’.  Unlike the butterfly, the difference for us is that it doesn’t stop there.  We are in a continual state of change.  “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.  And the Lord- who is the Spirit- makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (2 Cor. 3:18- NLT)

                        I would like to share with you some of the simple, but powerful, truths the Lord has given me over the years that have, and are still, helping me in my “transformation” to be conformed to His image.  After all, the goal of a Christian is to be transformed into the image of Christ so that through my life others may be able to “taste and see that the Lord is good”, and desire to have Him in their life as well. 

Grace

G od

R edeemed us

A t

C hrist

E xpense

“Blessed”

The Lord showed me that blessings don’t necessarily mean “things”.  You are blessed even if you have nothing.  I looked up the word blessing, it meant:  benediction, to speak, to invoke a benefit on someone.

I am blessed because God “said” I am blessed.  There are tangible blessings, but even if we don’t have them or see them– we are still blessed.

“The Christian Perspective of Easter”

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6)  In this verse the Lord is addressing His people-  the children of Israel and every born again believer- not those living in sin or still in the kingdom of  darkness, but to those who have come out of darkness and are walking in the Light- those who are embracing the Truth and are living a life led by the Spirit of God.  This verse could also be translated, “The people of God are perishing without knowledge”.  Why?  The problem is not that the knowledge is not available, (Psalms 103:7; Daniel 2:20-23, 28,29; Amos 3:7)  The problem is that God’s people haven’t made it a priority to seek out the knowledge that God has provided for them and embrace it as the only Truth.  The only way we can truly walk in the light is by going to the only true source of knowledge- the Word of God.  (Psalms 119:130- “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”)
For too long the church has walked in darkness concerning many different issues.  It is my desire, through the help of the Holy Spirit, to address one of these issues in this article.  That issue is the Easter Celebration.  The church has participated in the Easter Celebration since post apostolic times.  Why is this?  There could be many reasons.  Perhaps it’s because we haven’t had knowledge of this subject brought into the light, (or perhaps we have but refused to walk in it), perhaps it is because of traditions or could it be that we have succumb to the influence and pressures of the world to be a participant instead of being separate in this area.  Whatever the reason may have been, it is time that the church started being the church and come out from among those things that God has condemned and told us to have no fellowship with.
Since it has already been stated that the Word of God is the only true source of knowledge and truth, it is important to find out just what the Bible says about Easter.  The word Easter is only mentioned once in the Bible- Acts 12:4- “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.”  The word Easter here is a mistranslation.  The word translated- “Pascha”, which is the Greek spelling of the Aramaic word for the Passover- from the Hebrews, “pasach”, meaning to pass over.  In Exodus 12 when the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt He instituted the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  The Passover applied to the Paschal (or Passover) supper.  This was the killing of the Passover lamb which took place on the 14th day of the first month (Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 28:16).  The Feast of Unleavened Bread followed on the 15th day of the first month and went through the 21st day of the first month (Numbers 28:17-25; Leviticus 23:6-8).  The observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread followed the Passover and was associated with it.  So much so that the two events were regarded as being one and the same feast (Matthew 26:17; Luke 22:1).  In Acts 12:3 we see that Peter was taken during the days of unleavened bread, thus translated in verse four as Pascha, or Passover.  The word in verse four never should have been translated Easter and in the original Greek text it wasn’t.  Therefore, Acts 12:4b should read, “… intending after Passover to bring him forth to the people.”
So where did Easter come from and what is it?  The term “Easter” is not of Christian origin.  The word Easter is derived from Astarte, the name of the goddess of fertility and sexual love worshipped by the Greeks and Romans (she was also known as Venus to the Romans).  She was Ishtar to the Assyrians.  Easter was her Saxon name and Ashtoreth was the name given to her as the principle female deity of the Phoenicians.  She was also called the queen of heaven.  Ashtoreth is the name that the Bible refers to her as.  References to her are found in Judges 2:11-13; 1 Samuel 7:3; 1 Kings 11:5,33; 2 Kings 23:13; Jeremiah 7:18; 44:18,19.  Ashtoreth’s priest were eunuchs in women’s attire.  The women devotees were prostitutes for the male devotees whose lustful orgies formed the main part of the worship, which was carried on in the temples, gardens and high places.  The Easter Celebration was a Babylonian festival to the worship of this goddess.
There are certain symbols and practices that are carried on in our modern day Easter Celebration that had their origin in this pagan feast to the goddess Astarte- such as the Easter bunny and hiding eggs.  Astarte was the goddess of fertility- eggs represent fertility and reproduction.  Later in history, eggs were hidden and then hunted.  It was a strong belief that whoever found  the gold colored egg would conceive and bear a child during the year.  Many believe also that these eggs would bring them good fortune.  The “Easter egg” was a sacred symbol of the ancient Babylonians.  They believed a fable that declares “an egg of wondrous size fell from heaven into the Euphrates; the fish rolled it to the bank, where doves settled upon it and hatched it, and out came Astarte, the goddess of Easter.”
The Easter bunny had his part too in representing fertility.  Rabbits, chickens, ducks and other animals are not evil, they are creatures created by God (Genesis 1), but in particular settings, when they are being used for something other than God’s original purpose, they become “unclean” and to be left alone in those setting.  Let’s look at a Biblical example of what we are talking about.  In Genesis 1:24, God created cattle.  In Leviticus 9:2-8 a calf was to be the sacrifice for the sin offering for the priest and in Leviticus 11:3 cows were clean under the dietary law and given to man for food.  Certainly, we don’t see anything wrong with the cow, again provided it is used for the purpose in which it was intended.  But let’s look at Exodus 32:2-4.  Here we see that the children of Israel had Aaron make a golden calf and they worshipped it.  This was not God’s purpose or intention for this animal- an image to be made of it and worshipped.  This is not God’s intention for anything that He has created.  Even if it is a bunny rabbit and it is only one day a year.  You may say, “I’m not worshipping the Easter bunny”.  Hopefully not, but we fill the shelves of our stores and our baskets full of little chocolate images of these cute little bunnies.  If you were to ask a child, “What is Easter?”, most, especially the younger ones, would say, “the Easter bunny!”  Maybe we haven’t made them idols in our lives but what about our children?  How can you tell if something is an idol to you?  One sure way is by trying to do without it.  This year see if you can pass up the opportunity to buy a chocolate, creme filled, marshmallow or stuffed rabbit, even a card with a rabbit on it.  What about an Easter basket loaded with sweets or colorful eggs?  If you can’t then maybe you had better reconsider whether or not it truly is an idol.
“But the children enjoy it so much!”, has become too familiar of an excuse.  2 Timothy 2;22 says to ,”flee youthful lust; but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”  Is the Easter bunny fable really innocent fun?  Should it be accepted in our families and promoted by Christian fathers and mothers this time of year?  The Easter bunny is a lie promoted and reinforced by parents who hypocritically tell their children not to lie.  Are we justified in lying simply because a child enjoys the benefits from the lie?  Are we exempt from guilt simply because lying is accepted by a major portion of society?  The Word of God quiet plainly affirms, “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord.” (Proverbs 12:22)  God hates a lying tongue. (Proverbs 6:16,17)  Paul tells us to lay aside “lying” and to “speak… truth”. (Ephesians 4:25)  God assures us that “all liars” will have their part in the lake of fire. (Revelation 2:18)  This should settle the matter for all those who prize honesty and truthfulness.  (Perhaps it would also cause us to look a little closer at some other areas and holidays besides just Easter.)  Your children won’t hate you for “robbing” them of some “enjoyment” by telling them the truth.  On the contrary, they will have a greater love and respect for you as well as a security that comes from knowing they can trust their parent’s every word.
Even though the pagan festival of Easter was celebrated at the same time as the Passover (this explains why the word Easter was transposed for the word Passover in Acts 12:4), the early church did not participate in the pagan celebration.  The early church was gathered together in prayer for Peter- Acts 12:5,12-17.  The church today should follow the example of the early church an have no part of Easter or the things associated with it.  We should, however, celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!  You can’t serve God and mammon; you can’t be hot and cold; and you can’t have Jesus and the Easter bunny!  Most Christians go to church and celebrate the Resurrection, then go home and celebrate the Easter activities.  By doing this we give the resurrection and the pagan celebration to this goddess equal billing.  Jesus alone is worthy to be exalted.  After all, Jesus died for us.  He took our place at Calvary.  He paid for our sins with His own blood.  He gave us eternal life– we owe Him everything and He should never have to compete with anyone or anything for our affections.  Ephesians 5:16- “Redeeming the time…”, as parents we need to redeem the time by seizing those precious moments to tell our children about the love of Jesus and His salvation instead of wasting the time by telling them the mystical fables about the Easter bunny.
After seeing the truth about Easter, there is only one thing for the Christian to do.  Ephesians 5:8-11, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:  walk as children of light:  for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”  The Word of God is the Truth.  John 8:32 tells us that the truth will set us free.  But freedom comes only when you choose to obey the truth and walk in it.

Have Patience

When my daughter was growing up, we listened to lots and lots of children’s Christian songs.  We kept lots of cassette tapes with us and played them every time we got in the car.  When I was a children’s pastor, I listened to lots more children’s Christian music.  Many of these songs have stuck with me- just like the songs I learned in church when I was a little girl.

There is one of those songs that I learned when my daughter was little that the Lord uses when I catch myself becoming impatient.  Each time I am, I can hearing it “singing” in my thoughts.  “Have patience, have patience, don’t be in such a hurry.  When you get impatient, you only start to worry.  Remember, remember, that God is patient too… and think of all the times when others had to wait for you.”

He uses this little song to convict me of my impatience, and remind me to be patient.  He is so patient with me.  I am to be patient with others.  When I am, I reflect His nature and character… and He is glorified… and my peace is restored.  I am so glad that God uses “foolish” things– even a children’s song– to help develop His likeness in me.    “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)  “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” (1 Timothy 6:11)