The Atheist is right to point out the sheer number of
religions that have existed throughout written history. Man seems to have found a way to worship many
things, in many cultures, and almost all of it is today considered
‘superstition’, even by educated Christians.
Although within Christianity there are several hundred different
denominations and belief systems. In
general man seems to have an ingrained need to worship, but a poorly defined
ability to determine how to express that need.
The origins of non-God worship date all the way back to the inception of
Satan. Once having completed his
transformation from Lucifer, Son of the Morning, to Satan, Father of Lies – the
need to divert worship from the true God was paramount in Satan’s
planning.
And again, what more effective way to hurt God, than to
deceive man into worshipping the very things God created for man’s survival and
for his enjoyment. So Satan set about,
causing man to believe that the Sun, our Solar centerpiece, was the real god to
worship. After all the Sun gives us
light, warmth, etc.. You can see the Sun
everyday with your own eyes. It is
regular, predictable, reliable, and of course seems to require no real changes
in our character or lives. What’s more
the basis for non-God worship becomes predicated on man saving himself, by his
own strength and determination. So if
the sun would be our day god, then it stands to reason the moon would fill in
at night. And of course while the sun
may be a bit of harsh god as years go by, the moon can be the fun one, full of
sexual orgies, and self indulgence. Nightly
ceremonies based on sexual lust would be a quick draw to many new followers who
are taught indulgence not restraint, and of course objectifying people rather
than true intimacy.
These two solar neighbors found a basis of worship in many
cultural religions. And Satan was not
happy enough by diverting the minds of thousands into false forms of worship,
he further introduced the concept of sacrifice – but instead of God sacrificing
for man, Satan would have man sacrifice himself to earn favor with a cruel
God. And so, human sacrifice was born
into the world. Soon enough, reasoning
volunteers were hard to find, so purity was sacrificed. Kill the virgins first. Then eventually the children. In fact, let’s breed children at the nightly
orgy ceremonies, throw the male babies in the fires for sacrifice, the female
babies can grow up to be temple prostitutes to continue this process. Satanism prizes the most horrific and decries
anything noble. Satanism craves power
and mastery over others, while God asks for voluntary obedience, and only
offers help not insists on it. The polar
opposites of philosophy and religion.
So what does all this have to do with Easter Bunnies and
holidays you ask? The Easter Bunny was a
symbol of fertility, as was the chicken egg, back in the days of the Roman
Empire. These pagan symbols were merged
into the Christian celebration of Easter, as were other symbols and timing
merged into Christmas, and Lent, etc..
Descendents of Sun worship, and Moon worship, superstitions representing
the very government of Satan were smoothly blended into the Christian holidays
we observe today. And no-one bats an
eye. Christian parents hide the
chocolate Easter eggs for their children and in so doing perpetuate the
traditions from generation to generation.
But does this mean, that God does not like or enjoy
holidays? Actually No. God setup a good number of special holidays
and rituals throughout the Old Testament for us to both enjoy, remember, and
point forward to Him. God seems to like
the idea of feasting on occasion, and for specific reasons. The Passover holidays proscribed specific
foods to be eaten, in order to remember the exodus from Egypt. There were a variety of feasts to be
observed, even a year-long celebration of the year of jubilee every 50 years to
commemorate the releasing of all debts.
Every slave was to be freed.
Every bound-man/woman (people in servitude to pay off debts) were to be
sent back to their lands, free and clear of all debts. These were examples of the kind of feasts God
proscribed.
And today, what about our holidays, are there any in the New
Testament we could observe? Not too
many, only the gathering together to worship (Sabbaths) and the practice of
Communion (a special practice of washing feet, and eating unleavened bread, and
drinking pure red grape juice) are remnants of the traditions found as well in
the new testament. The old feasts of
atonement were gone since there was no more need to sacrifice lambs as symbols
of Christ. Christ had come and fulfilled
the symbolism. Now the atonement could
be looked at historically instead of pointing forward. It changed the nature of the observance but
did not call for its termination. It
simply became optional, and altered in its state, by the reality of Christ.
And what about Easter, or Christmas, is there any value in
the observation of these holidays?
Perhaps. We do believe in the
factual birth of our Savior come to save our world. The gift of ‘Christmas’ to us was indeed
real. It did not happen on December 25th,
(the actual date of the birth of Tamuz, a sun god derivative blended by the
Romans), in fact it was probably closer to September. Easter, or the giving of himself to die and
be reborn in our place, was also a real event for Christians. It probably did happen sometime in
March/April and sans the bunny and chocolate, did give us a real shot at life
and reconciliation with God. There is no
harm in calling to remembrance these events.
There is great harm in reducing an entire religious experience to going
to church these 2 times per year, and disregarding God entirely for the
remainder.
It is not our church attendance that God demands, it is our
love he desires. Going to church has
never been the mechanism for saving a soul.
In fact it is quite the opposite.
Church attendance, or fellowshipping with like believers, was something
of a benefit offered to us by God as a result of being saved, not as a
prerequisite. We fellowship in order to
strengthen each other, to console each other, to commiserate with each other,
to learn from each other, to lift each other up, to serve each other, and to
hope with each other. We find the power
of the Spirit in the unity of purpose we find with each other.
As a group works together for the benefit of others, the
power of the Spirit of the Lord is poured over them, and unity becomes acute,
affectivity is raised, and walls fall from the faith of a few. Subjecting our individualistic tendencies to
the goals of the group, and working in humility without attention centered on
ourselves, presents the true picture of a real church belonging to Christ, to
our fellow man. Without these
ingredients and absent this spirit, we look simply obnoxious, arrogant, and
self-absorbed. A church should be a
fortress of healing for believing sinners.
A church should be a place of comfort one can come after begin harassed
and experiencing failure in the cruel world around us.
A church is not the building, the ornate decorations, or the
beautiful music. A church is simply the
group of people who attend it. So it is
the imperfect character of this group that is reflected to the world. As this group of people become truly
converted, and learn to love, they are able to grow. It is the spirit of condemnation that inhibits
the growth of our bodies. We suffer as
we criticize. And we grow as we learn to
embrace unconditionally those around us.
Embracing your neighbor does not have to equate to accepting the sin
within them, rather it is an expression of the unconditional love the Father
has already made to them, and an admission of the imperfections in ourselves,
that continue to require divine intervention on our own behalf to fix. We are all equals under the Lord. Therefore we are free to love each other as
God loves us all, each and every one.
The work of transforming our lives will be left to the only one who is
able to do it. Our role is only to love.
I look forward to the holiday God will observe with us in
heaven. Isaiah prophesied that from one
new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, we would gather together
in heaven, and enjoy the company of our God.
This is a holiday, I believe in.
This is a holiday, I want desperately to be a part of. This is a holiday, that will mark the end of
the existence of evil, and beginning of real life. I cannot wait …
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