Should Adventists Celebrate Easter

If by Easter, one means the death and resurrection of Jesus, most certainly we should observe and celebrate Easter. Celebrations were part of ancient Jewish life, even commanded by God. The celebration of Purim was started in the book of Esther.

Of course bunnies, eggs, chicks, and other things are not to be promoted in the church.

Easter does not really have pagan beginnings. It is called Pascha in both Greek and Latin. It is named after the month it occurs in.

Don't be caught up in the falsehoods that are generated each time during Easter. It is just a name. The name came from a book, and from the name of a month in that book. Nothing more, nothing less.

Easter is no more pagan than modern weddings. Yes modern weddings have their origin in pagan beliefs.

So you would sound quite foolish by telling people about the paganism they are doing when they celebrate Easter, as you condone wedding cakes, veils, dresses, flowers, rings, rice, and more. They all have pagan origins. In fact, many if not most, of our customs and everyday items, can be traced to paganism.

And anyone that knows this, will start schooling you on such pagan practices that you do.... as you berate them about Easter.

Easter is not about bunnies or any other such nonsense. But a person do such a thing can hardly be called pagan. The origins of those things do not exist today.

We seem to quote only half The Bible, and only things we like. Consider tattoos. We love to criticize people over those, all the while ignoring something in the same passage: Trimming your beard with round corners. Funny how we never talk about the pagan practice of rounding the edges of your beard.

Why not? Because it's not a good sound bite the way Easter is.

Easter, and Christmas, should be all about Jesus Christ. If it is, then go in peace.

Oh and one more thing. Do you use The King James version of The Bible? And hate Easter? Better get a new Bible. The word Easter is in there. Read little know Bible facts and trivia.

Being Good Stewards, Money, and the Parables of Jesus

This quarter the church is studying about being good stewards. The first thing we think about is money. We must indeed be good stewards with money. We are also being instructed to save your money, think about the future, and not waste things. We need to save and worry about retirement, kid's college, new car, etc.

But won't the Earth be destroyed, and everything in it?

Why does The Bible, Jesus, Bible Authors, and Apostles warn us to NOT think about the future? That is, our monetary future? We are not supposed to worry about such and such when we don't even know what will happen today.

Did Jesus tell us that the lily has no worries about its clothes and so should we be?

What then, does one make about the parables of Jesus about money. These parables apparently teach us about saving and investing money.

Or do they....

Jesus told parables about sheep. We readily agree the parables are NOT about sheep keeping.

Jesus tells us parables on sowing seeds. Of course this is not about farming.

He warns us about having oil in lamps. Most assuredly he is not talking about having lamps lighted.

A son returns to his father after squandering his inheritance. Family matters are not what that was about.

Whey then do we talk about the parables of money.....as if they were about money?

We cannot have it both ways. We cannot be told to worry about the future....but we must save our money just in case?

Jesus tells of a man who did just that. Saved huge amounts in his barns....and then was satisfied. But he died without ever enjoying it. No retirement for him.

Jesus' parables on money must be on something more. Just like all of His other parables.

Each and every one of these parables of money could have The Light substituted for money.

The people in these parables who hid the money were not rewarded.

Are we supposed to hide The Gospel?

The people who took the money and made it grow were rewarded.

Are we not required to spread The Gospel?

After further review, each and every parable that Jesus told was about spreading The Good News. Not saving and investing money.

Jesus had no money. The disciples had little money. Peter and John had no money to give the lame beggar. They have him Jesus.

We should not be saving money just for the sake of saving money. We should not be investing money because Jesus told a parable on it. Just like we would not be going out and taking care of one hundred sheep.

We must use our money, whenever we can, for spreading of The Gospel. We would be foolish and very un-Biblical to say to ourselves, "I'm putting my money in stocks, bonds, CDs, and annuities because I need retirement money to live until I'm 90."

Let's look at what Jesus says:

Matthew 6:34 

³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

James 4:13-16 
 
^"13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."

Conclusions?

Of course we need to think about the future. If you spend your time worrying about your retirement, socking money away, and other worries, you are not listening to what The Bible says.

What if you die tomorrow? What good is your retirement savings? What good is your bank account? What good is your new car? What came of your worries and plannings?


A Biblical perspective on your future money worries, or non-worries, is what you should be concentrating on.

Are you using your money wisely to spread The Gospel, or filling your earthly storehouses?
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Work and The Sabbath

As Adventists, you have heard that having a medical job is sacred. That somehow you can work on The Sabbath because you are a healer. Ditto with other "emergency" jobs that someone else has deemed sacred. So, why is this?

If you happen to work at a department store, and called to work on Saturday, we become militant. We tell them in no uncertain terms that they MUST get off. That they must trust God to somehow come to their rescue.

However, if you have the privilege of being a doctor, we give you a pass. Or a nurse. We tell them they are doing some sort of God's work, so that is okay.

Of course this makes us look foolish.

Oh sure, some people say to give the money you earn on Sabbath back to the church, and you are pure. But you still worked your regular job!

Working on Sabbath seems to be okay so long as you :
A) Have a medical or emergency job.
And, perhaps....
B) Give the money back to the church.

Of course this violates Sabbath keeping, does it not?

Is one job sacred over another?

This is related to tithing and faith.

If someone says they have no money left over to pay tithe after bills, then you should pay God first, and God will miraculously make up the difference.

Doctors, nurses, and others, seem to live in a parallel Sabbath universe.

They are told no such thing. They are not told to make other arrangements. They are not told to trust God with their patients. (Or their employer.) They are not told to give their employer a threat of a lawsuit if they are forced to work on Sabbath.


Of course giving back the money you earn on Sabbath opens up a whole slew of problems. If your normal week is 5 days, then is it fair to only take the money you earn on 4 days, when someone else who is "lucky," takes home 5 days pay?

Do we really, really want to talk about faith?

Why do we try and force the little guy to have so much faith, and doctors a pass?

I imagine that most (yes this is a logical statement) doctors, at least in the United States, have quite a lot of wealth. As opposed to a department store employee.

Do we not tell people that God will supply all their needs? Oh...unless you are a doctor or nurse. Then somehow your faith is irrelevant. You must be available on The Sabbath.

Jesus never charged a mite on Sabbath for healing. He never took money on this day, then gave it to the church.

Jesus said to do good on The Sabbath. He certainly did not say do any work on The Sabbath, nor did He say get paid for your good works on The Sabbath.

So the conundrum is there. And we seem to have taken sides.

To some, we tell them to be harsh on their employers and demand to not work on The Sabbath.

To others we say, work in peace. You are doing "good" work, so you are okay.

There must be some other slant. We know this.

It is NOT about flat out working or not working on The Sabbath. There is a principle there. There is a pureness of heart. Jesus told them that they took their ox out of a ditch because it was the right thing to do. Jesus did not tell them to trust God that the ox will keep until sundown.

We do not know the motives or struggles of people who are trying to keep The Sabbath.

However, it seems to us here at The Undercover Adventist, that we tell some people to struggle, and others not to.

Shouldn't we tell everyone to not struggle and live by faith? Without judgement?

Very difficult to do if we take sides and deem some jobs sacred, others not.

In the very near future, we will address more of this. Stay tuned!