Pagan Calendar

So we are now in that season in which Christians, Jews, and those of the various Wiccan and Pagan religions hold very dear unto themselves - and for good reason, as several highly regarded and important festive times are occuring this Month for all three. However, since I am a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, I am mostly concerned with the Christian/Jewish holidays. And most specifically for this particular post, I am interested in pointing out some things that will hopefully jar people (specifically Christians) awake, and share some eye opening information.

For many years (centuries/millenium really) there has been debate within the Christian Church over various issues, one of which being Easter. There have always been those that have declared that it was and is a Pagan festival that Christians should not have any part in. And equally, there have been those that defend the observance of Easter as being completely permisible  for Christians to celebrate. In fact, many Christians regard it as the highest holiday on the Christian calendar (and for good reason, as they are seeking to celebrate the resurrection of Yeshua from the grave - the cornerstone doctrine of our faith). And of course both sides have their "biblical" support. I will be open at this point and state right up front that I believe that Christians who seek to follow Yeshua (Jesus) should not celebrate Easter, and of course, I have my biblical reasons. But I will take it one step further. I not only believe that Christians should not celebrate Easter, but also that they should celebrate Passover. I won't go into all of that here (much of the reasoning can be found in previous blog posts), as there is just one, simple point that I want to make in this post.

I would like to present a couple of examples of modern Pagan calendars, showing various holidays and festivals. The first is found at a website called Pagan Calendar. If you click on the link, you will get a glimpse of the shcedule for the Month of April, 2011. What I find of interest first is the fact that there are quite a few Pagan festivals! Man alive, that is quite the calendar of events! What I noticed second was the fact that right in the midst of all of these Pagan celebrations we find...Easter! Now, why on earth would a (supposedly) "Christian" holiday be listed on a Pagan calendar??? I mean, the name of the calendar (and website) is "Pagan Calendar." So why is a "Christian celebration on a Pagan calendar? Hmmmm. Furthermore, what I find notoriously absent on the calendar is the BIBLICAL feast of Passover. Passover...that celebration that, according to the NT and according to Christian doctrine is a feast that speaks of and points to Jesus (Yeshua)!

To give yet another example I'd like to offer the website Gypsy Magic. Once again, if you scroll down to the Month of April for this year, we see a boatload of Pagan/Wiccan holidays listed...and right in their midst we have...Easter. Now again, why would a Pagan/Wiccan calendar list Easter among thier celebrations? (BTW - did you happen to notice that "Good Friday" was listed as well on both sites?). Yet interstingly enough, Passover is not listed.

I've covered the issue of Passover in previous posts, so I don't want to be-labor the point here again. But anyone can easily look up Easter, it's origins, practices, etc. and find a plethora of information on it. The bottom line on it though is that it is NOT biblical. It is NOT fitting for a believer in Yeshua (Jesus) to partake in, no matter how much the Church tries to "baptize" it and pronounce it Holy! Yeshua did not rise from the dead on "Easter." He rose three days after the Passover, which hapens to be the biblical Feast of Firstfruits.

Perhaps in the future we can take a deeper, longer look into the celebration of Easter within the Christian Church. But for now I will contend that believers in Yeshua the Messiah should not be partakers in that celebration, even if we say that we are merely celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the grave (when we in fact are not, since we KNOW when He rose, and it was not on the first Sunday on or after the Vernal (Spring) Equinox)!

My desire is to prompt anyone and everyone reading this blog to:

1) Read the bible daily, and follow it in faith and action, and...
2) Call everyone to "Test all things; hold fast what is good" - 1 Thess. 5:21

Revelation 18:4

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

Please take the time to really look into this issue, and seek the scriptures concerning it. Don't let my words, nor the words of anyone else make the decision for you. I only seek to provoke everyone to search the scriptures themselves.