"From whence comes wars.......

[toad]

.........and fightings amoung you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your memembers?

"Ye lust and have not:

"Ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain"

"Ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not.

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

(James 4:1-3 KJV)

Poetry man! That's just simple poetry.........

Ain't no such thing as a Christian Easter Sunday, but He has risen and give new life and another chance to this old fellow..........toad

[best]

Originally Posted by toad

Ain't no such thing as a Christian Easter Sunday, but He has risen and give new life and another chance to this old fellow..........toad

Enlighten us.

Your posts always get me thinking.

We say that we should carry the spirit of Christmas with us all through the year. Thinking in that same manner towards Easter ...
We should share the "Good News" of Easter time to all people through-out the whole year.
He has risen in my heart.

Need to give it away to keep it.

[LeftBehind]

He might be referring to the attempt some make to tie the resurrection of Jesus to the worship of allegedly resurrected fertility gods in ancient pagan religions (Osiris, Adonis, Attis, Mithra, etc.). In my research, I've found such comparisons to be superficial, inexact, and often the product of late sources demonstrating no historical connection with, or influence upon, Christianity. That's the reality. None of these pagan religious stories have the historical foundation that surrounds the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of course, he might mean something entirely different.

[cmc]

He has risen and give new life

Yep- Christmas means nothing without Easter!

"It is finished." John 19:30

Thank you toad. For the battle within me and without as well....

"..thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1 Corinthians 15:57)

[best]

Originally Posted by LeftBehind

... Of course, he might mean something entirely different.

Many times when Toad posts a message, I gather what he is saying but I also find the Holy Spirit talks to me as other thoughts come to mind.
He is a gifted writer. You should have a look through for some of his past posts.

yes I agree with what you write about comparisons... already have those thoughts in my mind as I read and digest posts. Again... look over some of Toad's other posts. You will find he is guided by the True Spirit.

[cmc]

Left,
I'm pretty sure toad's intention is to rejoice in the victory won by Jesus' death and resurrection and that He now gives us peace and provision-that's how I interpret it but ...maybe toad will stop by and add more thoughts to his excellent post.
cmc

[IO Storm]

Yes, Maybe Toad was saying..........

He has risen and give new life and another chance to this old fellow..........toad


And me as well....I went to church first time in 2 years

on Sunday.

The first thing pastor said was welcome to this Easter

service, and then, you know, it is not just today, is it?

Gotcha Toad.


Love,

:

Sherry

[toad]

I apologize for taking time in getting back to answering this post. The word translated "easter" in the Bible I feel is a mistake, although I have heard from some Christians that in Acts 12:4, the KJV actually corrects the Greek and that Peter was actually held until after the pagan festival of Easter and not the Passover. The original Greek word used by Luke is Pascha which is tranlated to English as Passover. Share with me what Finis Dake from the Dake Bible has to say about the word easter.

"This is an unfortunate and absurd translation, as Easter was a pagan festival observed long before Christ. It is not a Christian name, but is derived from Ishtar, one of the Babylonian titles of an idol goddess, the Queen of Heaven.

"The Saxon goddess Eastre is the same as the Astarte, the Syrian Venus, called Ashtoreth in the Old Testament. It was the worship of this woman by Israel that was such an abomination to God. Round cakes, imprinted with the sign of the cross were made at this festival, the sign being, in the Babylonian mysteries, a sign of life.

"Easter eggs which play a great part in this day's celebration were common in all heathen nations. The fable of the egg declares that 'an egg of wondrous size fell from heaven into the river Euphrates; the fish rolled it to the bank, where doves settled upon it and hatched it; and out came Astarte or Ishtar, the goddess of Easter."
(The Dake Annotated Reference Bible, page 137)

If anyone can explain to me why as a born again Spirit filled Christian, I should use the word Easter I will listen.

I think that we Christians should observe the Jewish time of Passover, I attended a Christian Seder (Passover dinner) and saw Christ in the whole service.

The ressurrection, not Easter is of most importance to me. When the finished work of the Cross was accomplished by Jesus, I became free of the bondage of sin. When the chains of addiction fell, I became reborn as a new creation. God did for me what I could not do for myself..............toad

P.S..........I did hide some easter eggs and have a great time watching the children hunt for them, and I am still eating the leftover ham. I celebrate the ressurrection not easter. Just my opinion, I hope I have not offended anyone, I am sorry if I have..............toad

[IO Storm]

The ressurrection, not Easter is of most importance to me. When the finished work of the Cross was accomplished by Jesus, I became free of the bondage of sin. When the chains of addiction fell, I became reborn as a new creation. God did for me what I could not do for myself..............toad

I kind of wish we could go back to a Passover or a New

Christian Seder Celebration service and dinner. With activities

for the little ones. Wouldn't that be great! I can just imagine the

power in that. My goodness, feasts and celebrations were for..

what, toad 3 days then? What joy and celebration and worship

and fellowship. A time of spiritual edification for the tired ministers.

A time for stressed families to spend together in the Lord.

Now, I have chills running up and down, and no I am no silly female

who does this all the time. Who knows, maybe a new trend is coming....

No offense taken here.... love you brother.

Again, gotch'a ....toad.

:

Sherry

[best]

Greek and Eastern Orthodox Church hold to a passover tradition when they celebrate Easter. It is my understanding that Rome changed celebration dates around so that the people of the church would not go to the pagan celibrations.

Hey what you doing for the weekend?
Well I hear that the pagans are having a party...wanna go?

And the church says... Why is no one in church this weekend? How can we fix this?
The answer was found by moving a few celibration days around so that the pagan parties were not the only party in town.

What day we celibrate the birth and resurrection of Christ on isn't important in my mind. What I find is important... that I understand what His resurrection means and what I hold in my heart.
Traditions are nice. Understanding Traditions held to the original days and times helps me find a deeper meaning of the intent of the traditions.
If not for the changes that Rome brought about, I would not be thinking of the traditions in the depth that I am. So yes...even change can be good.

Christ's resurrection... the ultimate passover that saves all who believe.

[cmc]

toad,
Absitively, posolutely no offense taken here by me!
Over the years I have known the Lord I have taken varied stances on some of the holiday issues. I feel that in the beginning we (mr and me) were more
'strict' about some of them and over time gradually placed less focus on the particulars and more on the main idea from scripture. For instance at one time, I would not give out candy on Halloween and now I do- to be a blessing to the children who come to my door.
I think we all must follow our conscience on these things as the Lord leads us in different directions for different purposes....all good and in His will.
I guess that I see the Easter celebrations as 'our side' taking over what was once a pagan day... I prefer to remember that time as Passover not the pagan celebration.
Many of the Christian holidays have been reformed by our culture to the point that the Lord is excluded.... that gets me very upset.
So...turn around is fair play and I feel that the Lord can redeem a holiday...I like the use of the Resurrection eggs, and even that dang ole Easter Bunny!
As long as...and this is critical....we don't compromise our stand, and don't condone an evil practice- I like the idea that what was a pagan holiday can now be all about my Lord... I rejoice in Him alone. He is Lord of ALL.
He has put everything under His subjection!

[IO Storm]

And Christ did say to the Church...

"Behold, I make all things new"...

But..I have always loved the aesthetics of the cathedrals and the idea of

the feasts. More time...slowing down.

You know how it today. One one hour or two on Sunday that we "fit' into

our busy schedules. I recall when I was raising my girls in the church,

before I was divorced and my own addictions set in.... going to college 3

nights a week, choir practice. Leading the worship services Sunday

morning and Sunday evening in song.

As I drove to pastor's home in another city one cold Wednesay night

for final choir rehearsal before the pagaeants on Sunday,

I passed glittering lights and wept. There seemed to be such an

emptiness inside. When I arrived at the parsonage, we had a brief

prayer meeting. I confessed to the group how I felt, and my good friend

and pastor's wife L----- broke down and said she had been feeling the

same. Then.... member after member confessed the same feeling.

We gave up much of the practice that night and confessed to the Lord

that we missed Him and were sorry for leaving Him out on what

was supposed to be His celebration. Needless to say, the fellowship and

TIME spent with Jesus and one another was more benefical than going

through the music yet again.

Time...to really fellowship together with God and others in a holy place...

Maybe I was just speaking to me.

An inner desire?

Aesthetics, 3 day feasts, cathedrals, maybe outward things. But they

sure give pause to wonder at the awesomeness of God.




Thanks for letting me share.


Love,



Sherry