Throughout much of our daily lives I suspect we do many things that are derived from pagans. The question is do we do it in order to celebrate being pagan, or because it is simply something to have fun and enjoy?

Easter should be celebrated by remembering Christ. We should be thinking of Him and remembering the sacrifice that was made for us by Him. Does this mean we shouldn't have good, wholesome, family activites in conjunction with that? I suspect much of what happens at the Easter Celebrations will also include discussion or a program on the sacrifices of Christ. EVEN if this doesn't happen, it is nice that churches provide a time and an activity for families to come together and enjoy some good fun! There are never enough excuses to do that!

You've got to look past it being derived from pagan celebration/activities, and remember the good it can provide for the families and the community!

Easter is about Christ and the sacrifice he made for us.  And also for the eggs that he colored and hid for us to find.

Love@hm is right. Once you start trying to purge everything with pagan roots from our lives, where does it stop?

Case in point: you will have to find new days of the week. Good luck getting everyone else to sign on to this . . .

Sunday: day of the sun
Monday: moon day
Tuesday: day of Tiew, Norse god of war
Wednesday: day of Wodin, head Norse god (that's why Wednesday is spelled that way!)
Thursday: day of Thor, Norse god of thunder
Friday: day of Friga, Norse goddess of love
Saturday: day of Saturn (got to throw in a Roman god somehow)

English is a Germanic language, hence our preponderance for Norse mythology, but his is similar in Romance (Latin based) languages. For example, German retains Sonntag (sun-day), Montag (moon-day), Dienstag (day of Tiew), Donnerstag (thunder-day), Freitag (Friga's day). Spanish retains Lunes (moon-day), Martes (day of Mars, Roman god of war), Viernes (associated with Venus, Roman goddess of love). Same gods, different cultures, same focus (love and war).

As for months, January is named after Janus, the two-faced god (the month looks back at the old year and forward to the new) . . . and so on.

Easter, Christmas, Halloween, etc. are fun holidays with pagan roots, but we aren't celebrating the pagan stuff, it's just there, like with our days and months. We aren't venerating Wodin or Saturn or Janus by accepting those names, are we?

Now, not focusing on the atonement, Christ's life, mission, resurrection, etc. and just focusing on Peeps (ugh!) and plastic grass is a different story. That's up to families and individuals, though.

I like it when they mix the Easter Bunny with 'jesus'.  It just goes to show that jesus is about as real as the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.

Again, how do you determine what He does and doesn't find acceptable?

Now I'm not saying whether God thinks it's right or wrong for a church to have an egg hunt because unless He tells me Himself I would only be guessing.  You make your choices in life whether to participate or not participate in something like that and hopefully you'll find out later if your choice was the right one.  I'm just not so sure I would make a presumption about God not minding if the focus on the death and resurection of His son Jesus is in direct competition with candy and eggs to all the little children who He loves so much.

I'm curious...do you put up a tree for Christmas?

"I'm curious...do you put up a tree for Christmas?"

Yes, and no.  Some years I do, others, I don't.  I suppose I try to look at my heart and make things right for me.  The tree is pretty, yet it doesn't mean 'Christmas' to me.  Giving to others is nice, it is the right thing to do, yet it seems to become obsessive with some during the Christmas season. Receiving gifts is great, again the obsessiveness of this during Christamas bothers me.  So, I'll say that I celebrate Christmas in line with my faith.  I work to do the 'right' things in acordance with my faith in Jesus Christ.  Am I the "perfect Christian"?  By many people's standards, my consumption of beer and blues music would deffinitely not even categorize me as a "good Christian".  Fortunately , the judgements of 'man' are meaningless in my faith in God.

I personally don't care what the Community of Hope Church celebrates.  My aim was to provoke thought and conversation. After all, this is a forum for communication,, i.e., provoking thought and conversation.

What would God have you do?  Have faith in him.

Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, and Christmas trees considered, he would have us to believe in his grace, he would have us believe in Jesus Christ.  

Your mileage may vary...so be it.   This is after-all, a free country where spiritual beliefs are concerned.

"........take time to teach your kids the true meaning of the holiday instead of bashing others for having fun."

Well, since my 'children are 28 and 32, I have already taken the time to school them, and I haven't "bashed" anyone. I would suggest that people shouldn't make uneducated assumptions.  I simply asked a question, stated my opinion, there was no bashing of any person or faith. Do what you like, I would suggest that you only think about what you are doing.  Thank God this is a free country and we can speak our opinions, never mind the small minds who would like to make something out of nothing!