Dear friends:

Happy Easter!  To my very "religious" friends -- please don't go into cardiac arrest.  Let me explain.

There is a lot of stuff on the Internet about how evil and pagan Easter is. 

But Easter to me means the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I don't care what a bunch of pagans did thousands of years ago, or what words they used.  They mean nothing to me.  Words are only sounds or letters to convey meanings.  In my language and culture, the word "Easter" means the day of Christ's resurrection and the celebration thereof, regardless of the word's pagan derivation.  I don't get uptight about it.

Some believe He was raised on Saturday and not Sunday.  So what?  I celebrate it on Easter Sunday.  The Bible says that days are not important anyhow.  Paul rebuked the legalistic Galatians for insistence on observing the special days of the Old Covenant (Galatians 4:10).

Some believe He was crucified on Wednesday and not "Good" Friday.  So what?  I don't celebrate the crucifixion anyhow.  I celebrate His resurrection.  But if I did, either Friday or Wednesday, or maybe even Tuesday, would be good days as far as I am concerned.

Some believe we should celebrate on Passover.  Why?  There is no resurrection on Passover!  That was the day of blood-letting.  Give me a break.  The crucified and risen Christ is our Passover.

I don't do Easter bunnies or Easter eggs, but if little children want to have some joy and fun on that day of celebration, let them have joy and fun.  I did that as a little kid and it never diminished my appreciation for the resurrection.  The kids have no clue about a pagan connection and could care less.  For sure, they are not worshipping some ancient goddess babe named Ishtar.  They are just having fun.  That's what kids do. 

I know some believers who trace just about every word back to its pagan origin and they are in incredible bondage about it.  Even the word "God" is forbidden.  No joke.  (Please do not reply and explain why "God" is an evil word.)  It's hard to say anything around them for fear of offending.  It is so sad.  They need to be set free.  In reality, just about everything can be traced back to pagan origins.  But I don't live there.  I live now, and words have the meaning I or we assign them.

When will New Covenant believers finally understand that it's not days on the calendar that matter, or days of the week, or even feast days, or what pagans did or did not do or say thousands of years ago, it is what is in the heart now, where Christ dwells.  

With that in mind, have a happy Easter, and remember -- He is risen!

Jim