Easter Significance?

Just received the following e-mail from a friend: “Hi Walter: I was just looking on an old web site where they ask you questions and the question was: 'Does Easter have any Religious significance fro you?' The result was that just over 50% said 'yes'. It just goes to show how this country has slid into self-indulgence. I would hazard a guess that if you had asked the same question twenty years ago the answer would have been more like 80%. I'm not sure how we do it except by praying, but it all reinforces the view that the end is near and we had better be ready for it. For a change; what say you? ****”
I say, poor old Easter is copping it hard at the moment it seems: from both inside and outside of the Christian Community.
For many non-Christians, it has just become another occasion for a holiday, with no religious significance at all except an excuse to have an extra long weekend.
For many, who still nominally observe Easter, it has lost it’s Jewish origins and become little more than a Christianised version of a former pagan Spring festival, where the emphasis has fallen on the accruements of the event and not on the Christ events supposedly commemorated at this time.
That is, the emphasis has fallen on the Easter Bunny, Eggs and Hot Cross buns, instead of on the Death and resurrection of God’s holy Messiah. Instead of the Cross on the Buns reminding people of Christ’s death, the buns themselves have become an object simply to enjoy. Instead of the Egg symbolising the empty tomb of Christ, it too has become an object of desire itself and morphing from an ordinary decorated egg to one of either Sugar or Chocolate! In like manner, the Easter Bunny, (like the chicken,) instead of symbolising new birth and a new life, again have become an item just to eat at this time of the year.
It is for the above reasons that some Christians would like to see Easter stripped of all its external symbolism and made not a secular Holiday but rather only a Holiday for those who genuinely remember the Easter/Passover Christ events.
To further emphasize the decline in religious significance, The Melbourne Herald Sun on the Easter Monday, in their “Vote Line” section, had the following response to their question, “Has the true meaning of Easter been overtaken by commercialism?” The response was a massive 90.3% to the affirmative.
However more telling to me was in the number who bothered to vote. While some questions do get below 100 responses, most are around the 400 to 550 mark, with some going up to 4000 votes, if it is seen as very relevant. Well the Easter question only received 228 votes, which shows yet again that Easter is fast becoming irrelevant to the greater majority.
I will leave it with you to decide whether that is a good thing or Not.
To many it would be far better to scrap it as a general event and only reserve it as a specific and meaningful Christian remembrance, rather than just a general long weekend with Chocolate eggs and hot cross buns!
Myself, although I too do not like how it has been overly commercialised and the accessories becoming the main items of celebration, I still think it great that we have this opportunity each year, as true believers to point others past the buns, bunnies and Eggs, to the true meaning off Easter. If we as Christians do not want the true meaning of Easter to be lost then, we Christians and not the world, we have to use this annual occasion to tell and tell strongly the true and original and only meaning of Easter.
Well you have heard my friend and my thoughts on the subject. What are yours?

Halloween

Well here we are and it is almost time for Halloween again. Halloween is a funny thing in Australia. Till about 30 years ago it never really existed but then started to take off as an American Holiday and because of all the sweets involved became very popular with Children. But what is, or perhaps even better, what was Halloween all about?
It originally was a religious festival that has now become largely a non-Christian event in practice. Which may indeed be quite appropriate and right. After all it was a pagan religious festival and not Christian in the first place, but built on Celtic pagan festivals.
According to an item on the NET: “By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.”
So that is how Halloween got its beginnings and its name. But what does it mean to you? And is it worth trying to reclaim it’s intended Christian beginnings? Or should we happily let it return to being a simple pagan event?
There is nothing wrong with using existing events or objects and giving them Christian significance. As long as that Christian significance is properly maintained and not allowed to degenerate or disappear completely until one is left with an empty “religious Shell” Like Halloween now seems to be.
What say You though? Should we try and reclaim Halloween for Christian celebrations and remembrance? Or should we in fact allow, if not strongly encourage, its demise? Over to you now.

Do you suffer from Paraskavedekatriaphobia?

Just in case you think that the word above is made up and all Greek to you, let me assure you that it is both a genuine word and is in fact derived from three Greek words. Translated into English, the Original Greek words meant, Friday thirteenth Phobia, hence the above word and Malaise of Paraskavedekatriaphobia.

And in case you think that that is a crazy malaise, it would appear that around 67 Million Americans suffer from this malaise to some degree whenever one appears, like it did this June.

And if you are unlucky to suffer this impediment, next year looks like being a bad one for you with three of them then.

According to the Herald Sun Newspaper of that date (June 13^th) “Psychologists believe that Friday the 13th will become a day of bad luck if you focus on it too much. They say that you can create your own bad luck by paying attention to a superstition."

Now I don’t suffer from Paraskavedekatriaphobia and I hope you don’t either, but I do think that the message that the Psychologists are trying to get across in this case, also applies to most things in life that cause us concern too.

Many of our concerns become self-fulfilling prophesies because we concentrate on them too much and they can often be mostly avoided by putting our time, energies and concerns elsewhere. Now while I don’t believe a positive attitude will solve or avoid every problem, I do believe that a positive mind-set and work effort will produce a better way of life for us, than one of always fearing the worst and then being held back by that fear.

So whatever your fear today, whether it be Paraskavedekatriaphobia, or any of the countless other phobias, including the fear of the unknown, let us all be a little more positive in future and far, far less negative. Indeed let us focus on the positives in our lives and not the negatives! What say you? What phobia is holding you back today?

For a change, let me conclude with a little scripture that reinforces this little thesis of mine: “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”(Philippians 4: 8.) Will you do that instead of thinking of your fears all the time?

Things God won’t ask.

Recently received an e-mail that I have slightly altered/shortened and added my comments to at the bottom, which, seeing it is Sunday, I thought I would share with you. Many people say, ‘When I get to heaven I am going to ask God “such and such”’. But have you ever wondered what God might ask you instead? Well here are a few things He won’t ask you.

· God won’t ask what kind of car you drove. He’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transport.

· God won’t ask the square footage of your house. He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into it.

· God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet. He’ll ask how many you helped clothe.

· God won’t ask what your highest salary was. He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

· God won’t ask what your job title was. He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

· God won’t ask how many friends you had. He’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

· God won’t ask in what neighbourhood you lived. He’ll ask how you treated your neighbours.

· God won’t ask about the colour of your skin. He’ll ask about the content of your character.

· God won’t ask why it took you so long to seek salvation. He’ll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven and not to the gates of Hell.

Yes it is only us who are interested in owning the biggest and best of everything. God is only interested in how we use these things for the benefit of others and not for ourselves. How are you using what you have now, whether you think God gave them to you or not?

Are you using the things you have for the benefit of all around you or for just your own selfish needs? Who are you able to help with the things you have, without any real effort? I ask myself this as a person who often drives around with only myself in the car. Yes I know it is not safe to pick up hitchhikers willy-nilly, but how many friends and neighbours do you know that you can occasionally offer lifts to without really going out of your way. That is the secret here. How many people can you currently help by sharing your current possessions with out any real effort or going to extremes? Over to you for comment.

Elvis: The Gospel Singer.

In reply to my blog, ”Elvis: Not original but unique anyway!” I received the following response: ”Hi Walter, Some years ago we went to see an Elvis impersonator who only sang his Gospel songs. At the time he told us that Elvis recorded more Gospel songs than he did rock and roll ones. I'm not sure if this is correct but others have told me that he recorded an enormous number of Gospel tracks so maybe it is correct. Evidently in his younger days he was a very active Christian but that obviously fell away in his later years prior to his death.”

Now I don’t know if it is true whether Elvis recorded more Gospel songs than Rock ones, or whether He was or wasn’t an active Christian. However I do know that before the period that Elvis blasted upon the Music scene and turned the then fledgling Rock scene into the popular World scene, Gospel Music was an important music stream within the then American Music scene.

In fact many of the soon to be household names of the Rock area, like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, were major Gospel stars, before they lost most of their Gospel audience and Market by selling out to the Rock Market Scene and even greater fame. Even Johnny Cash started out trying to record Gospel songs at the beginning of his career. At this distance in time and in Mileage, from the American scene, we don’t quite realize how important Gospel music was and still is, to some people there, as a distinct stand-alone market.

Some choose to stay in Gospel music and relative obscurity, doing and recording what they really wanted, while others took the route of Elvis and Johnny Cash, and moved on to the bigger markets, still doing mostly what they wanted, especially in Johnny’s case, less so in Elvis’ case.

As to who is right, I will leave it up to you to decide, but money, fame, and financial success is not the be all and end all that you might at first suspect. Some have gone that route, only to regret it.

What about you? Are you happy where you are or do you wish to move on up and over to bigger markets? Whether that is right for you, only you can decide, but when you read or learn about the personal lives of Both Elvis and Johnny cash, one can only wonder whether they both may not have been happier with less success but more control over their lives. What say you?

Positive reporting.

Recently I was reading the Annual Report from the Church Denomination (Africa Evangelical Church) that we had worked under whilst in Transkei and South Africa last century and very early this one, and came across the following recommendations:

“Look for positive things that will encourage people to pray for you. Sell your Christian life in style as AEC member. Do not be wishy-washy and hanky-panky! Negative reporting turns people away. Share what is worth sharing and keep those things that might be sensitive and handle them with skill.” (Taken From AEC 2007 Annual Report.)

Just temporarily removing the Christian content (and the African Grammar,) for a moment, I thought that it was very good advice for all of us, irregardless of our spiritual involvement, or lack thereof!

· I believe it will do no one any harm if we always look for good and positive things to focus our thoughts on, instead of worrying about all the negative things.

· I also believe that none of us should ever sell ourselves short as valuable members of the Human race, with something genuinely important to give to the world at large. Therefore we should not be unwarrantedly ashamed of ourselves or our place in society

· I also believe many valuable opportunities are lost to the world because we are so wishy-washy that we can’t make up our minds whether to do something or not. We may have the world’s greatest invention in our minds, but it will help no one if we do nothing with it.

· However sometimes we do get involved with Hanky-panky of some kind or another and distracted form our original and beneficial gaols and end up hurting people rather than helping anyone.

· Whilst there is great danger in always looking through Rose Coloured Glasses, there is the other danger of only ever seeing danger and missing the opportunities also available.

· When it comes to sharing, it seems all we ever want to share is the rubbish and the unhelpful, but not the beneficial and helpful. Let us all be more selective in what we share and why.

· Whilst we should always speak the truth, we should do it in love and not in a hurtful or spiteful way. And sometimes we should only share the truth when asked or not at all.

· Sometimes it will have to be said whether you want to or not, and those are the times where you will need skill, tack, patience, and even a thick skin yourself, because often the truth is so painful that people refuse to see it and not only reject it, but you too. But if we truly love or care for them than that should not stop us trying to help.

So what about you this year? Are you going to be as positive as you can? Or do I hear a negative response there?

Three Dollars' Worth of God

Not so recently, a visitor to our church read us a little Poem about “Three Dollars Worth Of God.” More recently I came across that poem again and thought how appropriate it was to the series I am currently preaching on from the Book of Romans in the New Testament of our Bibles.

I felt that this poem summed up the attitude of the Jews of that time. Although, they would never have acknowledged that their problem was that they only had about “Three Dollars Worth Of God.” (Although in their case, Paul would have argued that they only had about “Three Sheckles Worth Of God”.)

But what about us today? Many today claim to have God, particularly celebrities who have recently gotten into trouble, but also many churchgoers too! But I can’t help wondering, how much of God do we really have? The whole package? Or only Three Dollars Worth? Here is the Poem again so you can decide for yourself.

“I’d like to buy three dollar’s worth of God. Please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of a womb, not a new birth. I want about a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I’d like to buy about three dollars’ worth of God please.”

The thing here is not to ask how much God do other people have but rather ‘How much of God do you really have?

Better yet, “How much of your attention and love does God have?” Only you and Him can answer that honestly! Will you? Walter