Happy Resurrection Day

Easter or Passover?

Why not both? I can do both!

As what I would call a Messianic Christian, I get asked if I celebrate Easter or Passover. I do observe Passover. But I love to celebrate our risen Lord, every chance I get.

What about the unbiblical origins of Easter?

I try not to get hung up in the origins of Easter. At least, I have decided to not let it keep me from celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love Jesus. I celebrate what He did for me on the cross. And I choose to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

CELEBRATE JESUS EVERYDAY

So, joining with the rest of Christendom, today we celebrate what Jesus did on our behalf. He died, He was buried and He rose again. AND THAT IS SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE.

When I was a child,

my introduction to church was through my grandpa, who was Catholic at the time. It was through the testimony of a Charismatic nun, that I received Christ as my Savior at the age of 7. And it was at a Catholic Charismatic prayer meeting that I first heard anyone speaking in tongues. Yet, I am not restricted to my Catholic origins.

There’s more to God than we can imagine

Out of Grandpa’s hunger for God, I was introduced to the Charismatic Renewal, the gifts of the Spirit and the incredible manifest presence of God. And when Mom got born again, I was introduced to the concept of non-denomination. As a teenager, I was exposed to home church. Later, drawn by the manifest presence of God Grandpa and I started attending a Spirit-filled church in Chicago.

When a family friend brought back a video of the Father’s Day service at Brownsville Assembly in the early 1990’s, when she went to check out the revival, I was hit powerfully by the Spirit of God. Another aspect of this dynamic God of ours. This resulting in driving 45 miles to attend meetings in our region where the Pensacola via Smithton outpouring overflowed.

When I was exposed to the outpouring that started in Toronto, I found myself at Catch the Fire gatherings near me. Still more of God.

If I would have confined my experience with God to my local church I would have been stifled. Thankfully, I was exposed to a variety of ministries, gifts and manifestations of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12.4-6 BSB – There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.

Bigger, Greater, Better

God is bigger than our limitations. He is greater than our religion, and far better than our human understanding can conceive.

He is far less offended than we give Him credit for. He isn’t bound by our religious traditions or our legalistic mindsets.

He can meet with a seven year old girl in a Catholic mass. He can invade the life of a twenty something with the power of His Holy Spirit, altering her life forever. He can change our doctrine with just one revelation. He can alter our experience with one encounter.

He is bigger than both Jew and Gentile.
He is greater than Easter and Passover.
He is more powerful than the grave.
He is the Resurrection and the Life.

John 11. 25-27 NIV Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 3:14–17 (CSB)
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

And He can meet with you where you are.

Because He Lives I Can Face Tomorrow