Tag: easter

Easter 2023— of chocolate Easter bunnies and Jesus

Having just read an online article about all the carcinogens in Chocolate Easter Bunnies I am somewhat loathe to dash all your myths about Easter and its surrounding festivities. The good news is that there are some chocolates that are actually good for you; Ghiardelli Chocolate, M&Ms, and Dove to name a few. But the majority of chocolate Easter Bunnies, well, er, not so much. Still, you would have to eat A LOT of chocolate/

     The Western world has been moving away from admitting the true meaning of Easter for quite some time. But to learn that the stuff in Easter Bunnies can kill you…, that’s just over the edge. It’s like learning the Tooth Fairy didn’t really leave you that quarter under your pillow in the morning.

     For the most part, our Easter candy gathering is actually killing us. What’s next? Valentine’s Day hearts?! The death of Trick-or-Treating!? What is this world coming to?

     Our whole Easter celebrations, the arrival of Spring, the last remnants of winter, has led us to this— poison rabbits. It’s just wrong.

     Then again, so is what we’ve done with Jesus at Easter. I don’t think my own grandkids know what Jesus did for us at Easter. The true meaning of Easter has been lost to commercialism and triviality.

     As if the sacrifice of Jesus’ life wasn’t enough, conquering death is simply unbelievable! How could the magnitude of His work on the cross be supplanted with this trivial bunny stuff. Kids love it, to be sure. But shouldn’t we explain more to them than just the bunnies? [and the jelly beans, and Cadbury eggs, and marshmallow Peeps?!?]

     This past Easter celebration struck me as unusually essential. Our society has moved so far away from its roots in the Christian religion that, we, as followers of Christ, own very little of our former value to be a major stabilizing force within.

     How can we reverse that? Well, we can’t. But we can regain ground through entering into our world’s celebrations. As Christians, let’s build our right to be heard!

1.   Throw an Easter egg hunt where you live.

2.   Hold an Easter barbeque in your home or apartment.

3.   Serve good wine, not two-buck chuck.

4.   Plan activities for the kids that teams them up with their parents.

5.   Plan the Next holiday party with your neighbors. [Juneteenth?]

We need to win the right to be heard in our clueless culture.

     Hope your Easter was as wild and deep as ours!

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! ©

Gary

NEXT—  

Web: www.cluelessChristianity.org

The Day After

easter, christ, risen, needinc, gary, davis, sundayYesterday marked the annual celebration of the Resurrection of Christ, called Easter and/or Resurrection. It is celebrated often alongside the Passover Commemoration, coinciding with the lunisolar calendar, used by the Jews of the first century, to celebrate the pass-over of the Death Angel in ancient Egypt.

 

But what about the day after Easter?

 

At that point in 30 AD, only 2-3 women had actually seen Jesus. Announcing this to His disciples, the men found their report incredulous. Skeptical and confused, they remained hidden.

 

In Western Culture today, Christians merely go back to their everyday lives with little to no change. Back to business-as-usual. Unless you live in a monastery, the dominant culture of our time has supplanted the formerly prevailing “Christian” underpinnings with the bottom line of progress and profit. Very little Christian influence remains in our nation’s preferred secular-religion-free society.

 

The Resurrection of Jesus should remind us of some characteristics that should pervade our lives as genuine Christians. Like the reminder that we are truly forgiven; forgiven for our rejection of His Godhood, our ignorance of what He wants from us and of what He wants to give us. We should be reminded that our imperfections are being made perfect, that we don’t need to feel so guilty when we are already forgiven. We need to remember that the penalty of eternal separation from the God who made us is no longer an option. We are now saved from that fate…, and from ourselves.

 

So the next time your world seems to be coming apart at the seams, remember Jesus on the Cross. Remember that He is in charge of your life, bringing together the various streams and roadways to merge in the perfect pattern for your fulfillment, AND for His glory. Never separate them: they are woven together within you.

 

But the day after, take some of those remembrances and reasons to celebrate along with you. Know your place in our world and move with grace.

HE IS RISEN!

Giving up God for Lent

We are now 6 days into the Christian season of Lent. Coming down to us through the Greek “Tessarakoste,” meaning “fortieth,” it signifies the time of Christ’s 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. For Christians, it is supposed to be a time preparation through prayer, repentance, increased giving, and self-denial for the coming of Resurrection Sunday. Following the debauchery of what Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) has become, a time of fasting and sacrifice seems quite appropriate to prepare for the remembrance of Christ’s Passion. In the late Middle Ages the word Lent (meaning Spring) replaced the longer “fortieth” recollection, melding it with the heralding of approaching Spring.

Today, nominal Christians make token gestures at giving up something, usually trivial, to signify their sacrifice for Lent. Chocolate comes to mind. We certainly would not seriously sacrifice anything that would draw us closer to Christ; let alone further from this world’s pleasures.

Here’s a suggestion— Why not give up God for Lent?!?

If you are a casual Christian, one who maybe attends church at Christmas and/or Easter, the occasional wedding or mandatory funeral, this suggestion is easily grasped. For you, the Christian life is an addendum to the one you live out on this earth. Your faith has little to do with your life. You practice a convenient-faith, one that fits your needs and your priorities. What the God of the Universe offers you seems to come at too high a cost. When He says to you, “Give me everything you have; and I will give you everything I have.” you wonder if it is a fair trade.

Now, if you are a genuine Christian, with a deep faith, rooted in Christian community and the Holy Scriptures, this will prove most difficult. It will be veritably impossible. For you could no more think of turning your back on your Savior than serving another god. This suggestion should be most repugnant to you, if not near blasphemous. For true followers of Christ, the idea of sacrifice is already imbedded as a core value. Lent should be no different than any other time of the year.

So, if you are not a genuine follower of Christ, why not give up God for Lent?!? Frankly, why not give up on God altogether? It will affect your life neither one way nor another. OR…, you could use this Lenten Season to begin a new faith in God and humbly seek His favor. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? That we should seek the forgiveness and favor of One beyond ourselves.

What do you do to celebrate Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection?

For what it’s worth,

Gary