Easter Bunnies, Jelly Beans, & Salvation

I'll be the first to admit that I love Jelly Beans. A trait, I happened to have passed on to my son.

But while I could eat Jelly beans all day long, I must admit that I am troubled by the fascination of the church with Easter eggs, Easter Bunnies, and Jelly Beans around the most important celebration of the year: Easter.

We dress our kids up like little rabbits, give them an Easter basket full of jelly beans, Peeps, and rabbit shaped, hollowed out chocolate, and throw in a token 'abridged' version of the Easter story. (I've even seen a picture recently of a the tomb with the stone rolled away and a goofy looking rabbit peering out!?) As much as we try to convince ourselves that Easter is truly about the resurrection, I think we're going to have to admit we care a lot less about that and a whole lot more about "the hunt."

I think my opinion about encouraging children to believe in fairy tale characters was evidenced by a previous post, but why do we talk about the stupid rabbit? Why is it that we are so compelled to "enrich" (I use that last work sarcastically) the truth of the resurrection with bunnies and candy eggs?

The usual excuse is that little kids don't understand the crucifixion and ressurection of the Savior. Maybe that's because we've never taken the time to explain it to them. (Which also brings me to the place where I wonder how many parents actually explain God's plan of salvation and our response to grace to their children.)

You won't hear any talk about an Easter bunny around my house. But you will hear about a much more significant event: the resurrection of the Savior.

He is Risen! He is risen indeed!

A New Low for "the Church."

Maybe I should have titled this post: "A new low for the church of Laodicea." (Revelation 3:17)

Advertising by "cool" churches has reached an all time low. How can the church continue to deny what it is and who it is about to bring people to the cross of Christ. Things such as this disturb me greatly. I cannot put words to the frustration and discouragement things such as the advertisement below bring.

My prayer is simply this:

"May the God who rose on the third day victorious over sin, hell, and the grave pour out His Holy Spirit on the church in America today. We need a fresh anointing, a renewal of the power and work of the Living God. Have mercy on us oh Lord!"

Sunday is Coming!

Quoting a Quote #6

"If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified."

Leonard Ravenhill

The "End of Marriage"

Sometimes we give the enemy more power than he has. (Yeah, I'm referring to the Devil, Satan, Beelzebub or whatever you want to call him. I do believe he exists, but anyway, back to the point...)

For example I received an e-mail a few weeks ago about some new legislation trying to be pushed through in California (they're going bankrupt due to excessive spending and are trying to take everything decent down with them). I'm not really so concerned about the legislation in this blog post as I am about something the e-mail said:

"A shocking and very disturbing report has just crossed my desk that could fundamentally shift the marriage debate in America. In fact, if this new strategy works, it could literally mean the 'End of Marriage.'"

Now certainly those two sentences that begin the e-mail are probably there to catch the attention of a reader, like me, who is probably going to delete that e-mail in 5 seconds or less unless it captures the interest of the reader; therefore, the purpose is probably an "attention getter."

However I want to, if I may, evaluate those two sentences as claims about marriage. May I just say that there is no governmental body that will ever be able to abolish the concept of marriage. Primarily because marriage was not invented by a human institution (including the church), but created by God.

The church in the United States has seceded the sacredness of the covenant called marriage to the secular idea of a sort of contractual business agreement between two people. If that is all it is, then why not allow two people of the same gender to enter such an agreement?

I propose a few things that would in a host of incidents be a change in the way the church in the United States deals with marriage...

(1) Preachers need to learn to say 'No.' The responsibility of a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not to oversee a ceremony between two people. The minister is God's representative to the individuals entering the covenant of marriage. So if God, in His Word, says "what fellowship has light with darkness" or "do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers' and a Christian wants to marry a non-Christian; the preacher should say 'No!' In matters of divorce the situation should be evaluated with the Bible as the standard (God does not believe in annulments or no-fault divorce).

(2) The church should refuse to recognize marriages performed by a 'justice of the peace' or other 'governmental official.' Already in some areas of our nation the state will join together either in a 'civil union' or 'marriage' people of the same gender. The state, like most ministers, also does not have any biblical inclinations about performing marriages that God will not bless or does not desire (such as a the marriage of a believer & a non-believer or those married multiple times without biblical reasons for divorce.)

(3) The church should begin to view marriage as a blessing rather than a right. I get so tired of people talking about "their rights." What right do you have if you are a living sacrifice? What right do you have if you have denied yourself, taken up your cross, and followed Jesus? Let me answer for you... NONE! Marriage is not something you are owed or deserve, it is something God blesses us with.

(4) The church should usher the sacred back into the wedding ceremony. For some people a wedding is just another opportunity to get drunk, go to a strip club the night before, or dance like a fool in front of everyone at the reception. I know of someone who "wrote their own vows" and made reference to the husband being superman and the wife being a dazzling princess. Please don't denigrate something as sacred as marriage by acting like a middle school teenager writing a love letter to the third girl that day! (Stop singing Britney Spear songs at weddings or using language that you might hear on some stupid reality show!)

(5) The church should raise expectations away from divorce. Most ministers, when they find out someone may be getting a divorce, simply ignore the couple (they wash their hands and deny any responsibility). Why don't we preach "against" divorce? Certainly we need to care and love for those who are experiencing the devestating effects of divorce, but that does not mean we look the other way while more and more, even in the church go through divorces! We sure can talk about promoting marriage in the church, but when it comes to salvaging a marriage being attacked by the Devil it becomes a "more difficult situation" that we simply refuse to deal with in reality.

(6) Re-draw the "battle lines." The fight for Biblical Marriage (which is the only kind) isn't with the state of California and proposition 8 (although we should certainly support such things), but within the church! Christians today don't seem to have a firm grasp on what marriage is anymore. I think that the greatest enemy to marriage is not the liberals, not the homosexuals, or even the politicians in Washington DC. The greatest enemies of marriage are the very people that claim to be defending it.

Hmmm.