Protestants often critique the Catholic Church this way: Catholicism is too bound by tradition. Furthermore, some say Catholicism wrongly venerates Mary, is too enamored with Saints, gives too much power to the Pope, and so on.

I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul's words, "You may be saying, 'What terrible people you have been talking about!' But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do these very same things" (Rom 2:1).

Trust me when I say this. I'm not trying to make anyone's life difficult, nor am I passing judgement. I'm simply pointing out some things (see below) we all, as disciples, should consider. As a matter of fact, I'm still working through this stuff.

"You must remember [Passover] forever. Each year you will celebrate it as a special festival to the LORD. For seven days, you may eat only bread made without yeast. On the very first day you must remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast at any time during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel. On the first day of the festival, and again on the seventh day, all the people must gather for a time of special worship. No work of any kind may be done on these days except in the preparation of food.

"Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent regulation for you, to be kept from generation to generation. Only bread without yeast may be eaten from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day of the month. During those seven days, there must be no trace of yeast in your homes. Anyone who eats anything made with yeast during this week will be cut off from the community of Israel. These same regulations apply to the foreigners living with you, as if they had been born among you. I repeat, during those days you must not eat anything made with yeast. Wherever you live, eat only bread that has no yeast in it."

When I read Paul's letter to "those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ" in Rome, I often wonder how Paul knew when to let 'em have it. I mean, Romans 2:1 seems about as in-your-face as American Idol's Simon Cowell used to be. Was Paul led by the Spirit in this instance, did he just call it like he saw it, or both?

But I digress. In the pictures to the right, what you're seeing is, essentially, three house churches getting together to observe Yahweh's Passover and the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Firmly rooted in Scripture (Ex 12, 13; Lev 23), you might find it interesting that "Passover" isn't a feast (i.e., "appointed time") at all. Instead, it's a thing - Yahweh's Passover, the Lamb that was slain. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is all about getting the sin (yeast that "puffs up") out of our lives and households; it's about getting the Egypt out of us.

So why don't we Christians do this stuff? These are the types of questions I'm compelled to explore. Here are a few others. Did Jesus (Yeshua) come to set up a new religion - one fundamentally different than Abraham's or Moses's? And why have we dismissed the Bible's commanded observances/celebrations and replaced them with new ones - ones having more to do with pagan mythology than the Bible?

Now, before you answer, go search out the Scriptures - spend the next month or two on it, then shoot me an email. I'm suggesting the few months study because, in my experience, people are far too quick to respond. For example, people erroneously believe that God "inhabits the praises of his people." While somewhat true, did you know that nowhere in Scripture does it say that? Look it up. The psalmist clearly states, "[Yahweh] inhabits the praises of Israel" (emphasis mine). If you'll do the research, the implications are rather large.

Before this gets too long, consider this: Our God (Yahweh) is a revolutionary. He has set us apart as a peculiar people - a people who look and feel distinctly different from the world. And by living these set apart lives, we will be a light to the nations.