Ideas for Easter on LDS Blog

11 March

Jesus crucifiedSo today I visited the LDS.org site, and came upon an (a-hem), let’s just say, an interesting article; 7 Family-Friendly Ideas for Centering Easter on Christ,’ March 4, 2016, by Irinna Danielson.

The first thing that popped out at me was the little cross made of toothpicks…more on that later…

As already mentioned, the article was from an LDS blog (see link above) by Irina Danielson, who is obviously a member of the Church. She sounds like a nice enough gal, and I’m asking Christians to pray for her.

The topic of her article is self explanatory, and my purpose is to ask questions about a couple of the  ‘ideas’ she came up with to entertain kids during the Easter season. To read her article in full, click on the link above.

Interaction w/ the little ones is of vital import when they’re young enough to want to learn, and using visuals is a great method to introduce important stuff. My concern is, what are you introducing?

The one thing I noticed in her article is what she didn’t say. Nowhere in the article is Jesus’ name used by itself. Not once. She only referred to Him as Christ, or Jesus Christ. Now don’t get me wrong, addressing the Lord as Christ, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing! However, Mormons never – and I do meannever – refer to Him as just Jesus. Why? Could it be that using a name instead of a title would commit you to a relationship???

Here are a couple of things she thought would be good for you to do with the kids during Holy Week –

1.‘Remember Christ with a Candlelight Dinner’. In this activity, Ms. Danielson suggested you could talk to the kids about the three days of darkness as mentioned in the Book of Mormon. She also thought this would be a good time to talk about His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. Oh dear…

The alternative to this? Teach the kids about the 3 hours of darkness when Jesus died on the cross as found in the Bible! –

Matthew 27:45; “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.”

2.’Visit a Cemetery’. Yep, you read that right. In context, here’s what she said –

‘Visit a Cemetery. Because of our Savior Jesus Christ, death is not the end. The time around Easter is a good time to teach that lesson to your kids by visiting the graves of loved ones. If a visit to a cemetery is not possible, talk with your kids about family members who have passed away and express gratitude for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.’

Now, before we go any further into this, I want to make something abundantly clear. I’m not posting on this woman’s article to dog on her, nor am I here to bash her in any way, shape, or form. She sounds like she’s an awesome mom, but she’s missing one vital thing. The truth.

My heart grieves over the predicament of this situation; so much so, the English language is bereft of articulating the heaviness in my heart.

Visiting a cemetery would be the last place in the world I’d want to be for Easter.  I understand what she was trying to convey, but honestly, there are so many other metaphors…

Where is there any mention of being grateful, not just for Jesus’ resurrection, but for what He did on the cross?

The last thing is about that cross.

Little to nothing was said about it other than mentioning it was one of the items she suggested for putting representations of Easter in a bag for your kids to learn about. This is what makes Mormonism so sad. Words can’t describe how grateful each believer is for His resurrection! Can I get an amen?!?!?

However, before the resurrection, there had to be a sacrifice! The crucifixion is why we’re saved. Missing from the bloodless picture of the Mormon Jesus furnished in the article, is the blood. And missing in the attached scripture wasJohn 19:30; “It is finished”.

Finished are the works we must do to earn salvation because Jesus’ spilt blood on God’s altar paid the price for our sin. Hebrews 9:14

Finished is the endless worry of whether we’ve done enough to be saved.Ephesians 2:8-9

Finished are the constant journeys to a temple to offer money, and buy an animal to sacrifice. Hebrews 10:10-12

Finished is the chasm between God and us, because now the veil has been rent in two, giving us direct access to Him! Ephesians 2:15, Matthew 27:51, Ephesians 2:18-19.

We pray this is the king of Holy Week each and every Mormon experiences!

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