Sue,

 Thanks for sharing something that was so strong on your heart. I often times struggle with the legitimacy of sermons or teachings that are "based" on scripture yet the scripture is not spoken.  I still can't understand why many choose to leave it out. I for one enjoy hearing His spoken word. We do have to be careful ,as you point out, about what we say or think about the teachers of His word. There are so many out there that are NOT annointed or chosen to be Prophets of God yet make every attempt to lead people into believing that they are Prophets.  Sometimes we really have to listen and discern before we act.  Thanks again. I encourage you to continue to share your heart with others and pay no attention to the previous reply about Easter. I won't even begin to get into that one but I will say there would be  a good example to be made about false teaching if I did. I know people can look at that profile and understand.  

Dear golden2100, I believe by "Easter message" Sue simply meant the resurrection story. It is unfortunate that we call it Easter Sunday and not "Resurrection Sunday", isn't it? 

 Sue, I was going to star this blog anyhow, I always love to see brokenness before God. It is simply NEVER a bad thing! ~mike

Sue, great lesson here. Thank you for sharing. 

Golden, I attend Sue’s church. We celebrate Resurrection Day… the resurrection of Jesus, popularly known, in American culture, as Easter Sunday. Please keep in mind the audience here on mychurch (which includes children and new believers). Not everyone is up to speed on ancient Anglo Saxon goddesses. 

I wish you a happy Pesach,

Help!  I don't know what that Golden guy is talking about!

Thank you for all of your stars blogs and comments.  This story and message have absolutely nothing to do with Easter.  I was just basically saying that is was the same time of year only long ago.  I know that not everyone who says they are Pastors are anointed.  I am talking about if God has led you to a church, then you should seek to bless and honor that church by watching what you say.  It would be good to ask yourself this question, "Could what I am about to say be printed in the bulletin this Sunday?" 

Golden, First of all, the Pastor I was referring to is not my current Pastor.  Second of all, since I know them both and your don't know either one of them, I would say my guess would be better :)  Although God is the ultimate judge.  I am merely suggesting people have some regard for the things of God.  ie:  The church and His servants.

Cathy, the funny thing is that the message was very clear and some choose to pull the one thing they disagree with out of it and forget about the rest.  I think this is exactly what happens when people gossip about churches/pastors.  They are constantly looking for "errors" instead of the blessings or better yet seeking to be a blessing. 

Hi Sue, you have been very brave and courageous to step out and reveal yourself this way. I ask forgiveness on Golden's behalf, for being insensitive and unkind. However, I must also say that Golden hints at a deeper truth that I think the Lord was trying to reveal to you, Sue.

God dislikes it when we downtalk one another, regardless if it's the Pastor, Church, the janitor, landscaper, or the greeter. There are 2 things that are required for the Holy Spirit to have complete liberty: Love & Unity. Downtalking is a form of division that breaks the spirit of unity.

What you say is true: You should not talk negatively of your Pastor. But the implications and application go much further than that; you should not speak negatively of anyone.

Like my school teacher used to scream at me: If you can't say anything nice about a person, then say nothing at all.

Jonathan

Cathy, the Easter Bunny is an example of folklore mythology. Some people don't approve of teaching of an existence of the Easter Bunny.  However, many families participate in the roles of this myth without believing in it literally as a form of play or tradition. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eostre to learn about the goddess :-)

you're funny,

Mary Ann

Sorry Sue, didn't mean to get off-topic. The lesson you present is an important one and, I'm sure you are in agreement with Jonathan, one that we should strive to apply to our entire walk. I also believe you raise a great point to ponder... regarding "constantly looking for "errors" instead of the blessings or better yet seeking to be a blessing." I think that topic is a blog in itself.

love from your sis,

Mary Ann

Sue,

I thought this was a great message...please don't be discouraged in any way...keep bringing them on. I usually look at the blogs in the morning after doing my devotions and this one hit home today, so I take it as a reminder from God coming through my sister in the Lord. As Jonathan said, it applies to anybody, not just Pastors, but we, as humans, seem to be harder on the folks in leadership.  How many of us talk bad about our bosses, for example? Seems to be a natural and accepted thing to do...and if you are Cathy, your boss and your Pastor are the same!!! (I think)

Regarding the pagan Easter bunny...he does have issues...laying chocolate eggs is something that needs to be dealt with...but, as Mary Ann says, that is a topic for another blog...oh wait, she wasn't talking about the Easter bunny!

Yes, my boss is my pastor also.  Please note however, my pastor is also one of my best friends.  Pretty cool working situation I think.

P.S.  The Easter Bunny does not lay chocolate eggs.  He hides them!     

Ronnie D (Golden2100), I've got to admit that you've piqued my curiosity and you've not responded to the comments above so I've got to ask:

Do you really consider teaching the resurrection of our Lord as "pagan"? 

I find it nearly impossible to believe that in this (Christian) context you didn't understand Sue's implicit point so go read 1st Corinthians 15 and get back to us. 

Btw, the statement of faith for Pastor Arnold Murray's Shepherd's Chapel of Gravette, Arkansas (the media outlet you cite in your profile as your church) affirms their belief that Christ was raised from the dead. Is this a pagan teaching too, or does it only matter when someone's using a standard English term to concisely communicate with fellow believers? Google couldn't find any teaching regarding Easter on the Shepherd's Chapel website but it did come up with two references to "resurrection" -- the one in the statement of faith and the other a passing reference in "In Answer to Critics".  You might want to take heed of the verse cited at the end of that paragraph: "The Lord hates those who sow discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19)."

Um! Wow! 

Great lesson, Sue!  The tongue is probably the most powerful part of the body.  In one second it can make someone's entire day or destroy it.  It can set the tone for everyone else who hears, who may have otherwise had a positive opinion of the situation.  And as is evident in this blog, the first to speak can sway all the hearers to a completely different track than they would've otherwise taken.  If I walk out of the movie theatre excited about what a great movie that was, and someone with me speaks first about the stupidity of the whole premise, my attitude is from then on tainted.  You have shared a personal story of a lesson we all need to reexamine over and over.  When we speak negatively about any other person, are we building God's kingdom or doing our part to tear it down?  A star, Sue! 

Sue: Great message here my sister in Christ. Funny, you have been annointed with the Holy Ghost and your first poster tries to raise his hand. He may have bunny envy! LOL

All of you C3 folks better appreciate the man God has given you! I love reading Pastor Dan's posts and wish I could sit under his teaching at some point. How happy I am to know I have such a brother in Christ.

Take a look at the following link for more on the Shepherd's Chapel. www.carm.org Follow the links for Shepherd's Chapel.

In the Love of Christ,

Brother Chris

CJ, Thanks for the encouragement.  I can handle it, bring em on!  I don't know where they come from, but I do seem to attract them :)

Mike,  I don't understand..."I was going to star this blog anyhow"?  Are you saying that you don't agree with something?

Jonathan,  Right on Bro!  I was just focusing on this aspect of gossip.  Pastors seem to get it the worst, next to President Bush, but lets not go there :)  Your input is a powerful addition to this blog.

MaryAnn,  Thanks for tackling the Easter Bunny debate.  I had three jobs today, so thanks for stepping up to the plate.  It is okay to change topics.  Once you give me a star, you can get away with just about anything :)

Voice,  Thank you for the encouragement brother, don't worry....I have only just begun!  I have so many blog ideas, I don't know if I will ever run out of ideas. 

Kathy, Thank for your kind words and added Bible verses.  Suits this blog perfectly!

Pastor Dan & YPC,  Thanks for the links, very interesting.  Glad to have you all help us do our homework.  I had never heard of this movement. 

All,  Pastor Dan is one of the Pastors at Calvary Community Church, but Pastor Mark is the Senior Pastor.  See my church for details.  I would post a link, but I know I will probably lose what I just wrote :)  I am sure you have all been there! 

Both of our Pastors make this a very easy job at our church to say the least.  But I do see a huge problem with this issue by the church in general.  And now with modern technology, you can gossip about your church/Pastor via the internet!  Yes, now you can gossip and let your voice be heard by many as you broadcast your slander over the web.  Repent!

Mike,  I don't understand..."I was going to star this blog anyhow"?  Are you saying that you don't agree with something?

Nope. I should have wrote "I was going to star this blog anyhow, but the part about brokenness really did it for me!"

I knew that Pastor Mark Scott was the Senior Pastor. Haven't heard from him in a while.

Mark will be back soon.

Sue:  How come I didn't get a shout out about my bunny?

LOL  I love you sister! 

Mark Scott???????

I had a high school friend by that name?

Is he skinny? is he paraplegic? 

Jonathan, check out RealLifeMatters.com.  You will see a better profile on Mark Scott

RealLifeMatters.com...yep, good call Cathy.

YPC,  I think Mark must have fallen asleep from all of the tongue blogs, lol (I just couldn't resist :)

Cathy,  You covered the Easter Bunny so well, there is not much else I can say! 

As long as there are Marshmallow Peeps, the Easter Bunny will not offend me!

Sue,

I did a very similar thing to an Apostolic worker who had been visiting our church. This was a man who I valued very much, and well, it was just my mouth out of control....I also apologized. I've found that if we can't apologize in these situations, then God really, really needs to work on our heart. In fact if we can't have the humility to come to brothers and sisters when we "tromp on that holy ground' then we probably shouldn't be on that holy ground, In a former church they have forgiveness Sunday at the beginning of Lent. You literaly go from person to person in the church and ask forgiveness. If done with a soft heart it is a tremendous time of freedom and blessing.

As to Pascha, I again find that satan has crept in and tried to ruin a good thing,  Yes, there are many "holidays" that the church has absorbed, but isn't the church about transormation? From it's earliest times they have taken the things of the world and said, "these too are from God" and "we will transorm and show them to be in His image and likeness". I particularly love the comment in Lewis's "The Last Battle", Narnia was revealed to be like the "real England" only more so, cause it was revealed to be who she was in truth. I think back to that for myself, I will be revealed to be who I truely am, fully made in His image and likeness. Then I will truely be able to cry out at Easter, and every day, like the church has done for it's whole life on Easter, "Christ is Risen", "He is risen indeed!"

Dennis 

There is probably a whole different topic here worth discussing and that is how to respect your pastors and elders...even though they are human.  Those of us who aren't pastors look for someone who is and that is indeed a hard thing to do. We want to submit ourselves to good leadership, insight into the scriptures, and a good shepherd for the walk through life.  Sometimes we make mistakes in those we choose to follow and when we finally come to the point of understanding that it is time to move on, it is so very difficult for all concerned.

That Murray guy is a real character!  Some interesting teachings and ways of getting his point across. I know a lot of leaders who lead by intimidation and there are a lot of followers who follow them. The followers think this intimidation technique makes their leaders strong.  All are clearly in need of a chocolate from the Easter bunny.

Good discussion Sue...bring them on, lady!

For Sue, great message! (Don't know why I didn't comment it before...)

And For Cathy... a bunny...

Cj 

Sue,

Better late then never...  this is a good reminder for everyone.  Just wanted to comment, it spoke to me.  Thanks for sharing.