Of course we are glad you’re here and that your eyes are being opened.

I have been monitoring the comments to Brother Glenn’s article, and yours have drawn my attention concerning the Sabbath.

I can appreciate that you do not want to follow the traditions of Rome, or any of man’s traditions, and that you seek to follow only God’s “traditions,” but is that what God really wants us to do. Did Jesus obey His Father because of some Godly tradition, or because it was impossible for Him to do otherwise. I’m saying these things to you because I want you to think through the words you use to express something as precious following our Lord, afterall our words, according to the Bible, reveals our heart. Our heart, in the end, will be the thing that will expose the reason why we follow Jesus; is it for the bread and the loaves, is it to adhere to some formula or tradition, or is it because, to not follow Jesus, is a torment to our spirit. Are we following Jesus because He is the air we breathe; and every day is consumed with thoughts of Him, like our lungs are consumed with drawing in breath?

King David is a good example of why we should follow Jesus; he loved God with a severe passion. When the Spirit was not near him he withered and was in torment, like a worm on hot pavement. To obey God’s laws was a love affair with God Himself, and if this is what you mean by God’s traditions then I concur, but the words make me think otherwise.

Now on to the Sabbath thing.

It is good that you pursue truth, because that is what we all here desire. There are very many who profess to have the truth, and they will interpret Bible verses and then turn and build an impregnable fortress on their own cherished meaning, but is that pursuing truth, or is that pursuing the safety of pet doctrines at the expense of truth? These people surround themselves with others who have been convinced of a particular dogma and then watch each other’s back so that no new light is able to penetrate their battlement.

The O.T. has given us solid, concrete examples—that our human minds can grasp—that have spiritual meanings—which enlightened spirits can grasp. Most of the problems in the Church today, and always, have been the result of trying to put the round peg of the spiritual into the square hole of the natural; it just will not carry over one to the other. The problem is as Jesus has said, “Ye error not knowing the Scripture nor the power of God.” We Christians are constantly being confronted and challenged by “truth.” Many of us have not yet really enter into Christianity. The very doorway into true Christianity is through the door of “rest;” the rest of faith; that is our Sabbath.

The simple way that Jesus put it was, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). There is a much deeper meaning than the one generally recognized in these words. Those who are spiritual do not build fortresses of self-satisfaction signifying some sort of natural leisure, but crave truth in the “inward parts” as David expressed his desire. If we get hung-up on the rocks of the natural meaning and miss the spiritual meat of all interpretation, we are yet immature, and cannot comprehend that, “There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God” (Heb. 4:9), and “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:19). Who were “they?”—the people of God. It is still the people of God for whom the rest “remaineth.” This rest is not something that is engraved on our tombstones, nor is it a certain day; it is not in any way to comprehended as something that is in the future, either as day of the week, or as something we enter into when we die. Jesus is our rest, which we enter into by faith, not by keeping some rule of procedure; not by making ourselves some new kind of Jew and enforcing our dogma on all the world; nor is the rest of faith settled by our being justified, and if it is not settled here, then it is not settled anywhere. Our rest is a continual entering in, into the light of truth of who Jesus is, and what He has inherited in us, and we in Him; a continual moving toward the Light; not stopping to build forts or religious buildings.

Sorry, for being wordy Igor, and there is no argument here, but like you, only the passionate pursuit of truth, “In the inward parts.” Some people can take a few words and say what I have said; I do not have that gift, sorry. I am not trying to offend you, but to open up a window and to let the fresh air of the Holy Spirit blow wherever it is allowed to blow.

Blessings,

Steve Blackwell
IndyWatchman

Hallelujah! Hallelujah, to your response to each comment justifying the mixture. When we learn the truth, it is up to us, as believers, to enlighten others with the truth, hopefully, with love.

Most of us, who proclaim to be Christians, (I now refer to myself as a “gentile messianic”, ” a believer”, due to reasons discussed on this forum, etc.) grew up in church with this mixture. But, when we mature in our Abba and His son Yeshua, taking Yahweh’s Word as truth, we no longer wish to do the same as the majority, who don’t search the scriptures for the truth. I now commemorate Passover, with my Messianic Jew brothers and sisters moreso, than Christmas. I, also, enjoy the celebration of other holidays with them, as God has admonished us to do.

I am in agreement with you on due diligence and reverence to our Sovereign, Holy God. To Him be all the glory and honor. The money spent on the tree could be given as a mitzvah to missions. Psalm 41:1

One of my bible study sisters asked “what’s wrong if Christians choose to celebrate with a tree and lights”. I found your blog by seaching for that answer. After my comment, I will be printing this page.

Thank you, Steve, for your boldness. I desire to emulate that boldness in the territory that has been give to me. I pray to speak boldly as I ought to speak (Ephesians 6:20) and that you will continue to write and speak His Word in Spirit and in Truth.

Your sister in Him,

Gemstones to Jewels

I always appreciate any response I get on the articles I post here, so before I start my reply I want to say thanks, even if I disagree with you.

I’m not sure of the point you are trying to make. The argument stated here stands firm. Your comments do nothing to defeat the author’s purpose; it remains steadfast.

You say that the author’s description does not translate to your experience. Your experience is that “Easter is in Dutch called Pasen, a clear link with Pesach/Pascha.” Since I don’t know Dutch it is not a “clear link.” I have to only assume, with you, that Pasen is the Dutch word for Easter, and I will also assume that you are making the link that the Dutch Easter is the same as the Passover since Pascha Πάσχα, or Hebrew OT Pecach (peh’-sakh); from a pretermission, i.e. exemption is used only techically of the Jewish Passover (the festival or the victim). If that is the case then it still makes no difference, unless the Dutch Easter is celebrated on Nisan 14 or 15 (depending on the calendar you use) on the Jewish and Christian Passover. If your “Pasen” is celebrated on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox, in which case it would align perfectly with the pagan ritual in honor of Eastre (or Ostara) the Saxon fertility goddess; this would make the Dutch Pasen a pagan holiday, just like the English Easter.

If the Dutch Pasen is celebrated on the same day as the traditional Easter, then it is the celebration of a pagan holiday. We can give a holy name to a pagan holiday, but it is still pagan. We can call Easter, Passover, or Pasen, and we can call a bull a buffalo, but it is still a bull.

Our re-defining things change nothing regarding truth. Truth remains true, and the re-definition is just a lie, they give us privileges that are nothing but fiction, truth is still truth. Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples then offered Himself as the Passover lamb, and He said to celebrate the Passover in remembrance of Him. Men, to satisfy themselves, have taken liberties with His words that are not justified.

I hope this response helps clear up things for you.

Steve Blackwell

(there had to be a “but” of course )

Much of what the author describes does not translate to the situation i always experienced.
First Easter is in dutch called Pasen , a clear link with Pesach/Pascha.
So the saxon goddess link falls through,
I personally know no dutch songs about an easter hare or some such, the only song about a hare i know is a bit different
(in short: In a green beet field, there were two hares, then came the hunter, he shot one of them and the remaining one was sad, for those interested in the whole text search for “In een groen groen groen groen knolle-knolle land, daar zaten twee haasjes heel parmant).

The author does rightly point out that an increasingly prevalent pagan movement wishes to “liberate” festive days from its “christian shackles”. And use all kinds of irrelevant and irreverant arguments. That is one admonition for christians not to accept blindly tradition, nor yield to pressing pagans, but to investigate what the cause of remembrance is, and educate that (to their children)

I certainly meant to reply to your comment about your grandson and am sorry for the delay. He is so blessed to have you. What a process in letting go and letting God. But as you will know, once we do He is so wonderful — full of surprises. How I desire all His children to abide in the security of His love. My husband and I appreciate your many articles. They have been very challenging and always along the line of our Father’s dealings in our own lives. But I think it’s more your vulnerability we appreciate the most. Once we are secure in our Father’s love for us we are free to be vulnerable with Him and others.

My husband is a beautifully vulnerable man. The dealings of God in His life have been immense. We have both come to understand that true humility comes from the security of our Father’s love. Holy Spirit boldness to live and speak truth is rooted in this humility.

A few months back a dear brother emailed us and said, “God is so hard”. Our reply was, “Only on our flesh, because He knows this is our greatest enemy. This is His love for us.”

Let’s just yield to His masterful hand. He is skillful in the circumcision of our flesh and can be completely trusted. Pain endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

I do not want to grieve Him anymore with my mistrust.

Maria.

I believe you are leaning toward too legalistic a view of these things. Paul said it was okay to eat meat offered to idols IF it didn’t offend another person’s conscience. He certainly makes it clear (1 Cor that eating food offered to pagan gods wasn’t the real issue. It was whether one regarded it as offered to gods that really existed. Sunday is a day that was originally observed as the “Sun’s day” so there is a pagan background to Sunday services. Maybe we should be worshipping on Saturday?

I am not teaching children about the Easter Bunny. I’m trying to teach them about kindness and concern for people one doesn’t even know that well. The candies are not good for their teeth, but does that make giving candy to a child an evil thing?

What God cares about is the attitude and intent of our heart. Cain and Abel are the earliest proofs of that. My conscience is clear on this. It would not be clear if I dressed up as the Easter Bunny while doing it.

Peace and grace brother!

I would have to differ with you, Easter IS about rabbits, colored eggs, and fertility, and Pagan to its core.

There is a religious word that applies quite well regarding “Easter” and it is called syncretism. def.: Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term may refer to attempts to merge and analogize several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.

The freedom we experience in the Lord does not include the freedom to celebrate pagan holidays (Deut. 12:30-31, Jer. 10:2). Freedom does not include the freedom to sin (Gal. 5:13, 1Pet. 2:16). Celebrating a pagan holiday in any of its transformation over the years is still celebrating a pagan holiday, and is a form of worship in honor of pagan deities, which is expressly forbidden (Exod. 23:13, 24, Deut. 13:6-8, 2Chr. 25:15). Institutional churches participate in this “syncretism” where they have attempted to Christianize certain pagan holidays, and this is incompatible with Scripture. You would never go as far as stating that you could Christianize Halloween but they still celebrate Christmas and Easter.

Christians who are walking in obedience to our Lord should give due diligence in their consideration in participation in these known pagan holidays. We serve a Holy God who will not share His Glory with another.

We should take heed how we worship The Most High God.

With Godly concern,

Steve Blackwell

I think my comments were a bit defensive and I apologize. But, I would like to say that we are doing the “easter” baskets in spite of, not so much because of the date. It’s a matter of seizing the opportunity I think, to show that Easter isn’t about rabbits and colored eggs, but about showing kindness without cost.

I just don’t want to become a strict legalist and start following a bunch of rules from either side of this issue. We are to seek peace with ALL men, so I don’t think we need to be contentious about the influence pagan religions have had on our own civilization. Akin to this is the idea that all humans have immortal souls, when that is a very Platonic notion and not at all what scripture implies. Scripture tells us that God alone has immortality and those who seek immortality do so by perseverance in good works (Romans 2:7). Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, is talking about believers putting on immortality. He does not picture the unbelieving doing that also.

My point is, much of what we teach and hear in Christianity is not scripturally sound because much church tradition is of men. It’s not limited to Easter, Christmas, Good Friday, etc.

Grace and peace to you, brother!

Thank you very much. Your words were a special treat for me today. I say treat, but actually they were much more, they were a reminder of the very thing I try an instruct others in, they were the swift words of Abba, coming from one of His children. I will not ignore these words, unless His gentle treatment turns to discipline.

I raised three daughters and my first grandson was a special treasure. He is fifteen now and I have desired his company like a father would a son, but things are changing. Although he lives close by, and I could use his help in my business he elects to work for a neighbor instead. When I requested his help today, as a paid employee, earning a fair wage, he said he had to find out first whether the neighbor would require his services. My flesh was quick to respond that I wanted priority over the neighbor; much silence followed; now I must do the right thing. I enjoyed the wallowing in self pity. The feelings of rejection stirred all sorts evil emotions that I didn’t want to face. when I returned home I went to my office to search for some kind of divergence, and decide to check my e-mail. Your list of things we exchange for truth was just what I need to hear at that particular moment. Thank you. Now I must go and make a phone call, and say a prayer.

Steve Blackwell