Parachuting Bunnies

photo credit Skydive Milwaukee

Parachuting bunnies.  Our former church hired one for their Easter egg hunt this weekend.  And it even made the local news (I noticed people holding big yellow cue signs "Laugh" and "Applause" to amp up the hype factor - LOL.).  For now they are the hero church reaching out to the community.  But for what reason? Is it for their reputation? Only the Lord knows the true motive.  As usual our state is 2 years behind California. Does CCC and Channel 7 assume this is a brand new idea fresh off the press like they came up with the original idea themselves?  Free at Last was thinking they are trying to replicate the White House easter egg hunt in Washington DC, but even the White House doesn't feel the need to hire a parachuting bunny.

In their advertising campaign, CCC said they would be hosting parachuting bunnies - plural.  But alas, it appears it was one bunny who descended the murky sky today into the public park at the Village.  By the way, why the Village and not their own property as in former years?  Our guess it's because the CCC lawn is shrinking in size due to the fact they have been selling off their land to - what - pay their mortgage?  But still, if honesty were an issue, they could have at least billed it in the spirit of truthfulness and said we will have a parachuting bunny - singular - but I suppose I am majoring on a minor with that one.

So check out THIS ARTICLE Free At Last tipped me off to - a story of the parachuting bunny church Easter celebration phenom (i.e. a blatant attempt to lure the masses to church) - yet keep in mind the article was written in 2013,  Therefore, CCC's perception of their cutting edge trend is on the decline before they even pretended it was their new and original idea this year.  Just saying.

Since CCC is a church we think it odd that there was no mention of Jesus and the Risen Christ in any of their advertising.  It was just... Parachuting Bunnies, egg hunts, dancing animals and pictures with the Easter Bunny.  Not that reaching out to the community in a way that appeals to them isn't valid. Children do love Easter egg hunts and fictional characters no matter how pagan the origin.  Even adults love to join in on the pretend Disney LaLa Land world of make believe.  But isn't the death and resurrection of Christ the central idea to the Easter celebration in Christian churches?

What is really irksome for us is the way Ken Wilde preached against the pagan rituals of Easter and Christmas and Halloween the entire time we attended that church while we were raising our children.  You either didn't participate in the pagan ritual out of fear or you did it secretly - and adopted the 'what they don't know won't know won't hurt them' attitude.  (It's called not allowing religious leaders to steal your child's childhood thank you.)  Can you imagine how it took some of the joy out of the holidays?  On the other hand, our secret participation made it kind of special in a mysterious clandestine sort of way. But still, some of us can't help but feel ripped off in a way, as we observe Ken has lifted the ban on pagan rituals during holidays now that he has grandchildren, especially now that he is reaping such praise by doing it sooooo publically.  We can totally identify with the Psalmist that mentions gnashing teeth.  

Anyway, we hope they are happy that they got press over the weekend - public honor and praise - hailed as the hero church.  But where was channel 7 with their cue cards when CCC wasn't paying their mortgage a few years ago which was published in the Idaho Statesman?  Not that it was a story in itself.  What makes it a story of interest is how the lead pastor family who controls the finances continued to spend extravagantly taking vacations in Hawaii, attending international church conferences, and parading designer outfits on instagram for anyone to see.  And that's just what was noticeable at a distance. Apparently that isn't considered news but parachuting bunnies sure fits the bill.

The worship leader worker bee is on the channel 7 video as saying it's one of the largest easter egg hunts in the nation.  Whaaat?  If you Google easter egg hunts in the USA and you will see the potential for much larger turn outs.   They flatter themselves with their elevated sense of importance.  It may certainly be the largest Easter egg hunt in the Treasure Valley - but I'm sure their numbers pale on a national level.  But, in their minds, they are the Big fish in a small pond.

So why did they host it at the Village?  And how much did that cost?  (Hey, let's not pay the mortgage this month and that should cover the expense.) Is it because their front and back lawns are being sold off in portions?  No one mentioned that on the channel 7 glowing report.  And why doesn't channel 7 investigate why CCC's property is shrinking?  Why is this not news?  I think it's time to call channel 6 on your side and tell them something fishy has been going on at 2760 E. Fairview Avenue for years now. Or there is always the Truth Squad with channel 2.  Something tells me they could get to the bottom of the weirdness.  We can just mention how KGW was in cohoots with scammer Jeremiah C. Yancy who is a wanted criminal in at least 4 states under different aliases for conning people to invest in his real estate ponzi scheme.   Now that is newsworthy!  Just remember you heard it here first. ;-)

Halloween Sanctions of the New Pastoral Elite

 

I have nothing against Christians letting their kids trick or treat or have halloween parties. Apparently the progeny of our former pastor have no problem with it either. Now that halloween is sanctioned by the First Family of a World That Shouldn’t Matter, we can add it to the list of contradictions (that we’ve been keeping handy for later use). Their autocratic rules have changed direction one more time. Really, it wouldn’t even matter except that the former rules were often mandated with such authoritarian forboding which basically boils down to a form of intimidation.

It just sorta rankles that the years our kids were growing up halloween was such a big no no at The Former Church, so in order to take our kids trick or treating we had to sneak since it was considered participating in the devil’s holiday. We didn’t really sneak it - we just didn’t advertise - because we figured what overly concerned Christians don’t know wouldn’t hurt them. In an effort to grant kids an alternative to trick or treating, I think the church had parties some years but the costumes had to have a biblical theme. Our kids didnt’ attend since we were so busy sneaking them around our neighborhood because we never had a conviction that the Lord was telling us not to connect with our neighbors. By the way, it was a really great way to mingle with the neighborhood - we handed out candy from our door and we took our kids around to their houses too - and there was no other time of year when that happened so easily without being contrived. And we actually found out who lived around us.

I guess I’m just whining a little that our years of halloween weren’t as free and fun-loving as they could have been without Christian judgment glaring at us from churchland. To the contrary, the New Aristocracy seems to be frolicking in halloween delight! They not only participate in the festivities, they’ve jumped in with both feet decorating their kids and their houses and tweeting prolifically about it - as leaders of the church. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that” since they must be making up for all those years they had to dress up like Moses or the Virgin Mary and couldn’t just have a normal trick or treat night like the rest of America.

So my question is, if they keep rewriting all the rules that they were mandating before, what are they mandating now that they will be loosening up on in years to come? How about the undercover doctrine for instance? If they think they have so much authority in peoples’ lives TODAY maybe they should rethink it NOW instead of intruding on peoples’ private lives and misleading them for years with their unhealthy concept of God and all that He stands for. Otherwise, in the end, people who finally get free of them will be ranting about them just like I am ranting now about the intimidations of their tyannical parents.