Blessed Easter Sunday
-
and he remains as Mod.Originally posted by Icemoon:Brey is in a bad position.
He has offended the Catholics and the Protestants .. not to mention his long standing enmity with the yellow leftie.
I think only the Messianic Jews support him now. -
The cross had been used for centuries in the Hindu religion, in Babylon, Egypt, and Assyria. During prehistoric times in Europe a human would be sacrificed and hung on a cross. Then the human would be taken down, chopped up, and pieces would be planted with the crops for fertility.
So why is there a cross in your church?
When people get married, they exchange wedding bands. That too was a pagan custom.
Does that make you pagan? -
you are welcome to do the job...Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:and he remains as Mod.
-
oh no.. i wouldn't dare...Originally posted by breytonhartge:you are welcome to do the job... 
-
-
hmmm. ... I wonder how many messianic jews are there in EH?Originally posted by Icemoon:I think only the Messianic Jews support him now. -
I agree..... It is not even necessary to go that far back. The fact is the cross is an instrument of death during the Roman times. The cross, after the cruxifixion, is used as a symbol in association with the death and resurrection of Christ. In itself, it is still a form of punishment. This is a classic case where a "foreign" icon is assimilated into our faith.Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:The cross had been used for centuries in the Hindu religion, in Babylon, Egypt, and Assyria. During prehistoric times in Europe a human would be sacrificed and hung on a cross. Then the human would be taken down, chopped up, and pieces would be planted with the crops for fertility.
So why is there a cross in your church?
When people get married, they exchange wedding bands. That too was a pagan custom.
Does that make you pagan?
As I'd said before, religion and culture goes hand in hand, and religion in any culture will take on a revised form of the culture - that is quite natural. -
being a Christian is not about religion, its about a personal relationship with GOD and His culture not ours. That is why the bible says we must decrease and He must increase.Originally posted by Chin Eng:As I'd said before, religion and culture goes hand in hand, and religion in any culture will take on a revised form of the culture - that is quite natural.
take it how you will. like I have said, God convicts each of us at different levels. You have your convictions, I have mine. for the longest time, we have agreed to disagree so we shall leave it here. -
Originally posted by breytonhartge:take it how you will. like I have said, God convicts each of us at different levels. You have your convictions, I have mine. for the longest time, we have agreed to disagree so we shall leave it here.
so have I challenged your stand? or refused your right to state what you'd stated?
so shall we leave it here..... and you stop posting, and I stop posting? -
Any faith is a religion to anyone outside of that religion.....Originally posted by breytonhartge:being a Christian is not about religion, its about a personal relationship with GOD and His culture not ours. That is why the bible says we must decrease and He must increase.
Any religion is a personal faith to anyone inside that faith.....
So when we go forth and make disciples of all nations, are we commanded to make Jews of all nations? hmmmm.... I wonder. Might need to get a circumcision before too long..... -
The thing about festivals - personally, i believe they can used by God to give good messages, time of refreshment, to remind us of.....etc etc. And also from our part - it is up to us to want to observe (not a MUST) and seek the "good parts" just as Paul mentioned of the "unleavenness".
Perhaps it is sad to some observers, but for me - such festivals / or times of observance do bring people into great times of corporate worship in a Church. Granted that the ideal is to worship God daily, but given the structure of our society today - i believe the Lord shown us His grace to inspire the leaders to find a good way to bring people together at different times of the year - just as God told Moses about the Feast of Ingathering.
What better would it be - then to observe the birth of Christ on Xmas Day - to tell the Truth of Jesus in replacement of the falsehood of reindeers flying in the sky ? God is so full of grace and love at the times of Moses and also for the current times - And i believe He can turn what is pagan to what is Holy.
If Jesus teaches during his public ministry at Passover seasons and Tabernacles and even Hanukkah - who are we, to judge over the Love of God for His people - no matter in what form of standings they are today or stage of "spiritual maturity" - cos like me - i do need a big nudge every now and then, to remember and to wait upon the Lord. -
I think it boils down to what you associate a date to right?
One can use a special date such as Christmas and celebrate with no religious meaning to it. Just because the date has pagan roots doesn't mean that all who observed it is a pagan.
To most (if not all) Christians, Easter is a day to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. We don't mix paganistic practices into it. Our intentions are clear, to rejoice that our bondage to death is broken. Hallelujah! -
Exactly. Amen to that. Our God is afterall a Creative God.Originally posted by sillyme:I think it boils down to what you associate a date to right?
One can use a special date such as Christmas and celebrate with no religious meaning to it. Just because the date has pagan roots doesn't mean that all who observed it is a pagan.
To most (if not all) Christians, Easter is a day to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. We don't mix paganistic practices into it. Our intentions are clear, to rejoice that our bondage to death is broken. Hallelujah! -
Ok, let me share my view after reading all these pages.
two points
1) There are pagan origins to some of these holidays like Easter, Christmas ...etc
2) Today most (if not all) churches and christians who do celebrate these holidays do so with a clear conscious that they are remembering the birth, the suffering, death, resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (at least I hope so).
Given the above 2 points,
What then should we do if we want to celebrate them?
I would like to susgest the following,
1) we need do it with a clear understanding of why we are doing this, in that we are celebrating Jesus (and not Santa Claus/Easter Bunnies).
2) also be ready to explain this to others where chances arise to do so.
Is there any possibilities (however remote it maybe), that some paganistic practices may slip into the church and hence corrupt it? maybe.
Since not all believers are blessed with understanding (ie. mature enough) in this area, some may be young and hence may be confused, hence there is a need to be careful when celebrating these holidays.
Personally, I feel that these holidays may well be a good evangelistic opportunity for us to share the good news of the gospels, who knows, people may get saved in this way.
God Bless.
-
Ok lor. SingaporeMac be the modOriginally posted by breytonhartge:you are welcome to do the job... 
-
I always think the RC should have one representative to reflect the diversity of the Christian faith.Originally posted by Honeybunz:Ok lor. SingaporeMac be the mod
Machiam like GRC hor! -
lol, maybe next time. my grasp of theology not very good..Originally posted by Icemoon:I always think the RC should have one representative to reflect the diversity of the Christian faith.
Machiam like GRC hor! -
too modest.Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:lol, maybe next time. my grasp of theology not very good..
-
why is it that religion must be pit against relationship?
religion and relationship are not mutually exclusive.