PASSOVER AND RESURRECTION GREETINGS
Ex 12:11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover . 12 'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. NKJV
Since my last email Feb 14, 2008 many things have happened. I have had 4 visitations of the Lord since January of this year. It has been absolutely transforming. One of the words that the Lord spoke to me was to align my life to His calendar. I thought I had done that many years ago. I have taught a number of times on the Feasts of Israel and we have celebrated them most years. But His perspective of my life was that I was still aligned to the Gregorian calendar and the Western Church calendar that is based on paganism. I want to encourage you to alligne yourself with the Lord's time. I have been repenting many times over the last 3 months for the deception that has been in my life regarding these issues. My eyes have been opened and the Scriptures more alive and revelation deeper as I have acknowledged the areas where I was beguiled. Janet immediately received these points when I shared them with her. It is unfortunate how deceived the Western Church is from replacement theology.
Mark 7:7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men .' 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men - the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." 9 He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. NKJV
In this Passover Greeting I simply want to point out that most of the Western Church has already celebrated Easter. It is a celebration that has its roots in paganism and not Biblical truth. The simple way to understand this is based on Romans 11. Prayerfully consider these verses.
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. NKJV
What happened was the Emperor Constantine "ungrafted" the western church from Israel and the Jews because he and many of the leaders at the Counsel of Nicea were anti-semitic. He then "grafted" it in to paganism and for the last 1700 years the Western Church has been aligned more with paganism than the New Testament order. I know some of you are now thinking, "This is crazy, I don't believe it! Clint has gone off the deep end." I want to challenge you to search out this truth for yourself. I have posted a few articles on the web and have read 3 books on the subject. Frank Viola and George Barna wrote one of the best: Pagen Christianity
There are 3 feasts that are celebrated at this time of the year. The Feast of Passover, The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits.
1. Pesach Passover Nisan/Aviv 14
2. Hag HaMatzah Feast of Unleavened Bread Nisan/Aviv 15-26 or 27
3. Bikkurim First Fruits of Barley Harvest The day after the
Sabbath during Hag HaMatzah
Jesus fulfilled all three of these feasts when He was crucified and resurrected. He was the sinless unleavened bread, He is our Passover Lamb and He was raised from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits. This feast has not been celebrated by Jews since 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed.
Passover begins on Saturday sundown on April 19, 2008 and ends at nightfall on Saturday April 26th in Israel and 27th in the Diaspora. The Feast of Firstfruits would be on Sunday, April 27 this year. We celebrated a wonderful Passover Sedar with close friends and 3 of them are Messianic Believers. What a privilege it is to celebrate the true Passover and Resurrection of the Lord. The Eastern Orthodox refused to go along with the Roman church and they celebrate Easter on April 27th.
For those of you who celebrated the pagen Easter on March 23, 2008--you still have time to repent and get it right. I have observed that the more religious a person is the more the are offended by this. The more they are intimate with the Lord the easier it is to embrace the truth and the Biblical calendar.
Shalom, Clint & Janet
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