Sorry, after reading this I must seem like a total jackass. Sorry about that. Easter is what you make of it. I value it as a holiday where the family gets together and does something nice. Any reason to have a nice feast with the family is ok in my book!

"Easter is still a time of resurrection for me ... the resurrection of nature after a winter asleep." I loved that line, Helpful Vote from me.

Easter resurrected hope and changed history. Easter reminds us of the tremendous sacrifice God made in sending His only son to be the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins. It gave everyone the gift of forgiveness. Not just any ordinary sacrifice would be enough to atone for all the sins of man, or the sins to come. It was His beloved Son who would take on the burden of those sins, making the ultimate sacrifice on the cross.

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Here's an excerpt from a message I gave on Saturday. Edited slightly to be made a little more appropriate for Mahalo.

On Easter Sunday we will celebrate one of the most absurd things to have been recorded in Human history. We will celebrate one of the most debated facts, the most controversial. Easter Sunday marks the day that separates Christians from people who like Christ. For there are people from all over the world, throughout history, from Gandhi to Mohammed to Spinoza that know who Jesus is. They acknowledge his birth, his teachings, his death. But tomorrow, marks the day where human logic prevails and faith fails for many people. The day that after Jesus took all of our sins with Him upon that cross, died, and was buried; He rose again.

For some of us, that’s a hard pill to swallow. I’ve heard and came up with so many excuses over the years. Human logic, trying its best to rationalize what happened that day almost 2000 years ago. Maybe he was in a coma, maybe he was faking it. Maybe they resuscitated him… Maybe… Maybe it was something, anything that can be logically explained, and it was not a miracle. Because miracles are hard to believe. There’s no such thing as magic, but magic tricks…

But that’s not what I want to talk about today, I’m not going to spend the rest of the day trying to convince you that Jesus actually did die on that cross, and rose again on the third day. I’ll leave that for you to reconcile on your own. I want to discuss another issue that is much deeper, much more important. Because I think that no matter how you reconcile Jesus’ death on the cross, I think that even if you don’t acknowledge that He did what HE did. I want to make it clear that I do believe that He died and did everything the Bible says He did. But I also believe that something else, far more important happened that day. Something that will separate the weeds from the good crop, separate the saved, from those who are not.

Jesus’ resurrection on the third day marked His victory over death. If you recall, one of the things Jesus did upon the Cross was bear our sins. Romans 6:23 NIV
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That means Jesus should have died and stayed dead. But the only way He could have returned from death, was if He was FORGIVEN for those sins.
You might think, “Duhh, everyone knows that Jesus died for our sins and now I’m forgiven.”
NO!!! everyone does not know it. It’s possible, that many of you reading this now don't full grasp it.

Why do I say that? Because it is not the fact that Jesus was born. It is not the fact that He taught wonderful, world changing things. It is not the fact that he died upon the cross and rose again that saves your eternal soul. Even if you believe all those things are true, live a peaceful, inspiring life, it is still possible you will not enter the gates of heaven.

Matthew 7:21-23 NIV
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

What is it that happened on Easter that was so significant? Even more awesome than rising from the dead? Forgiveness.

There are two parts to being forgiven. First it has to be offered. The person that you sinned against, the person you hurt, you offended, etc. they have to offer you forgiveness before you can be forgiven. You can beg for forgiveness, but if they don’t offer it to you, you’re wasting your breath.

Fortunately for us, when Jesus returned from death, God openly offered to everyone in the entire world forgiveness for their sins. We don’t have to perform any rituals, we don’t have to offer anything, sacrifice anything. All we have to do is accept. And that is the second part of forgiveness. Acceptance

You have to accept the forgiveness of the person offended, in this case God, in order to be forgiven. And you may think that is the easy part. We sit and talk about, we stand and sing about how hard it must’ve been for God to send His son to die for our sins. What a sacrifice God made for us. And we think that was the hard part. Not to downplay what God and Jesus did for us, but that is not what will prevent you from going to heaven. That’s already said and done. God has already offered us our forgiveness, the question then, is will we accept it?

So I want to talk about 2 situations, 2 traps that come straight from satan and our sinful natures. 2 situations where we might fail to receive forgiveness.

Situation #1, we are too dirty, too sinful, too terrible to be forgiven.
Lets look in Luke chapter 22. We have 2 disciples that do the same thing, in different ways, granted, but they both do the same thing, they both betray Jesus. Do you know who they are?

Luke 22:20-23 (New International Version)
20In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him." 23They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

Do you know who the betrayer is?

Luke 22:47-48 (New International Version)
47While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"

But Judas isn’t the only one to betray Jesus that night is he?

Luke 22:31-34 (New International Version)
31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
33But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
34Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

If you read in the other gospels, you’ll find Peter putting up a fight, “even if all fall away, I will never Lord.” Does he betray Jesus?

Luke 22:54-62 (New International Version)
54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him."
57But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said.
58A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them."
"Man, I am not!" Peter replied.
59About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."
60Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.

So what’s the difference between these two betrayals? You can break down all the details, but what you’re left with is the same. A betrayal is a betrayal, a sin is a sin. But after Peter betrays Jesus, he returns to the only one who can forgive him. Yes he weeps bitterly, he’s full of remorse. But he knows that there is only one person to turn to for life, and that is Jesus.
Judas on the other hand.

Matthew 17: 3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."
5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Judas couldn’t accept Jesus’ forgiveness. He thought that what he did was unforgivable. His idea of God, was too small. His relationship with Jesus, too shallow. Even though he had been a disciple of Jesus, one of the chosen 12.

I said there are 2 situations where we can’t receive forgiveness for our sins. First one, is if we don’t accept it. If we think we are not worthy of it, and we can’t accepted it, then we won’t receive forgiveness. This happens sometimes. When were depressed, when we’ve been listening to the lies of the devil for so long, when we start believing those lies. We can fall into this trap.

The second situation I think is the most common. Here’s an example of it in Luke
Luke 23:33-34 (New International Version)
33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

Luke 23:39-43 (New International Version)
39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

We can’t receive forgiveness for our sins if we can’t accept that we need it in the first place, forgiveness that is. It can sound like this.

“I haven't done anything wrong. I don’t know what the big deal is. Jesus forgives me for my sins, ok sure, good, thanks," and then I go and live my life the same way I did before I heard the good news.

Or If you talk to some hard-core, educated, self-awared aethiests out there, you’ll come across this argument again and again. “What did I do, that I would have to seek forgiveness for? Tell me, why do I have to ask God for forgiveness?"

Maybe you’re sitting there today, and you don’t have such an aggressive stance. But that doesn’t mean you’ve accepted that you have sinned against God, that you continue to sin against God. And that you need to seek His forgiveness. We hear the good news that we are forgiven, and it clicks in our head, I’m forgiven. but then in our hearts, we haven’t acknowledged that we needed to be forgiven in the first place.
Like the one thief, “Hey, you’re the Christ, you save people, right? Well then save us.” He heard the good news, he’ll be happy to receive forgiveness, on the surface, but he doesn’t have a repentant heart. He might as well have screamed, “what did I do, that I have to ask you for forgiveness from you. You save people so Just get me down from here.”

But the other thief knows that he has done wrong, knows that he needs forgiveness. He has a repentant heart.

Throughout history, there have been people who like Jesus’ teachings. They like what He has to say. They’ve been inspired by Jesus, they’ve done good, even great things. But if they don’t acknowledge that they are a sinner, and that they need forgiveness for their sins, then they’ve missed the whole point.

So, when you are reminded of Jesus’s death and resurrection, through chocolate and bunnies and pastel colored eggs and baskets. I would like you to ask yourself, what is more important for you, right now, in your walk with Christ. The fact that Jesus did all that, so that you can be forgiven for your sins. Or the fact that you have sins, that need to be forgiven.

We use it as a time to get together with family and friends and enjoy some good food. All the kids get Easter baskets filled with candy and we color eggs which will later be used for deviled eggs if they survive the hunt. We usually cook the traditional ham but it's not set in stone. I had a turkey in my freezer so we're smoking a turkey this year.

Happy Easter to you too! Would you have any further details to share about how you celebrate your Easter? Did you see anything on the web that you liked or did not like about Easter? YouTube has lots of interesting videos for example that folks can place here and write comments on, do you have any special Easter tips for celebration? Have you ever seen any of the broadcasts at http://www.revival.com for example? They have a 10 am Easter broadcast for example that will be rebroadcast all week long - do you feel any higher being present there or not for example, I would be interested in what you think because a lot of folks who are not Christian tune in there 2,000 to 4,000 a week from almost every country and religious area of the world - they normally announce that at the start and they seem to find it interesting. Would you? I wonder for example..... However, really I am quite new on this discussion in forums - and although I would be interested if everyone felt a higher being on that site for privacy purposes it is nobody's business what anyone really thinks or feels or does on any site. I find it a very fascinating place, but other folks may say it is not their cup of tea although I would venture to guess that they may not be saying the truth if they said they found it boring as the folks there really knock their socks off to give you their best that they have each time and for me effort matters a lot even if nothing else is there - that is why I tend to tip money more for effort even if the answers are not all there as fully as I would have liked in detail because I respect the effort that people make and brilliance does take time - but that too shall come in every case when it is ready to shine forth..... Thanks so much for answering - just trying to help you pull the answer out longer to win more money :)

I'm sorry, but this is a word for word article in the Examiner.
http://www.examiner.com/x-5870-Charleston-Family-Entertainment-Examiner~y2009m4d2-The-JesusversusEaster-Bunny-conundrum-BOOK-REVIEW