Our office will be closed from 9/25 – 10/23. Any orders placed during this time will be shipped upon return by 11/1/23.
by Bill Perkins
Dear Compass Supporters:
This is Easter weekend. Sunday is THE most important Christian day each and every year.
...if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 1Cor. 15:14
So the article today looks at some interesting aspects regarding Easter. And, for the brave, don't miss those Additional Resources!
May you have a wonderful celebration of Jesus' remarkable resurrection from the dead.
CQLJ!
BP
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty... Prov. 16:32a
Should we call it "Easter" or "Resurrection Sunday"?
Over the last 50 years or so, many people have written about the pagan origins of the word "Easter." And, despite the word being used in the KJV translation in Acts 12:4, a lot of Believers in good Bible-teaching churches have been taught that the word "Easter" can be linked to the fertility Goddess Astarte and other such proclamations.
I, too, had read several references that bemoaned Easter as a "Satanic" holiday. Hearing all the (mis)information motivated me to offer rewards to my children if they could go the entire Resurrection Day holiday without saying the word "Easter."
But then I read Roger Patterson's (Answers In Genesis) excellently researched article showing the
misinformation and myths floating around that supposedly tie "Easter" to a number of Satanic origins.
He convincingly showed that the word "Easter" was a translation / transliteration of the word "resurrection" and its roots could be traced to solid Believers during the Reformation.(1)
The word "Easter" actually comes from the German root word for "Resurrection." And the reformers of Martin Luther's day were the first to use the word, which had zero connection to Astarte the fertility god.
Patterson pointed out that the basis for which the connection between Easter and Astarte is made is like saying, "Since Babylon was called the 'Golden City,' then McDonalds' 'golden arches' must be rooted in Satanic ritual." That's quite a stretch!
And now the myths of Easter's origins have been repeated so long and so often that most believe them to be fact... when they're not facts at all.
So much for making "Easter" the bad guy.
That being said, it's not a bad idea to call the day of Jesus' resurrection "Resurrection Sunday"... if for no other reason than to make the point that it has nothing to do with the Easter bunny and colored eggs.
Easter Bunnies and Colored Eggs ARE terrible!
Coloring Easter eggs may not be technically Satanic, but it's definitely in a league with Santa Claus, who is an abomination (2).
To have your kids or grandkids involved in dyeing eggs, Easter egg hunts, dealing with live or chocolate bunnies, etc., is missing the mark altogether. They should never be part of any Christian Easter/Resurrection Day celebration.
Easter is about Jesus defeating death so we can go to heaven. Never lose sight of that. And that's certainly worth celebrating! Your kids and grandkids need to see you celebrating the truth about Easter.
The Day We Celebrate Easter Is Usually Wrong
We should celebrate Easter/Resurrection Sunday on the Sunday after Passover. That's fact, end of story. But that's not the day most Christians celebrate Easter.
This is because the CATHOLIC CHURCH chose the wrong day for Easter. Few Christians seem to be aware of this fact.
The Catholic Church's leaders of that day (and also today) are incredibly antisemitic and wanted to SEPARATE Easter from Passover—even though it defies Biblical reasoning.
I guess this un-Biblical dating of Easter is par for the course for the Catholic leadership back in the day. They had control of a lot of Christian policies and doctrine for about 1500 years...what is historically referred to as the Dark Ages. Fitting.
Here's how they came up with the date for Easter each year. (We Protestants also continue to use their incorrect dating.)
In 325 AD Constantine decreed that 318 Catholic Bishops gather in the city of Nicaea to settle some pressing Church questions.
They addressed and voted on several huge theological issues, including confirming the 70 books of the Bible we refer to as the "Cannon." (70, not 66—Psalms is five books, not one).
And they also dealt with the issue of what day to celebrate Resurrection Day—some wanted the 14th of Nisan (Passover) and some wanted it to be the Sunday following the 14th. 
The Catholic Church leaders at that time, being the only Christian church denomination, wanted to totally distance themselves from the Jews and their yearly Passover celebration.
This was because the Catholic leadership incorrectly believed because the Jews were complicit with the Romans in killing Jesus, that God was obviously done with the Jews.
This mindset caused them to take the position that the Church had inherited all the Biblical blessings that God had promised the Jews—the descendants of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.
Of course, this is nonsense. God's promise to the Jews being His chosen people was, and is, unconditional. As was His designation of the land of Caanan being given to Israel.
Unfortunately, the Catholic Church's antisemitic view of God's chosen people still prevails today. And Satan has lately been fanning the flames of antisemitism inside the Church.
It makes sense that the Nicean Bishops ultimately correctly dismissed Nisan 14 being Easter Sunday because Jesus was resurrected on the Sunday after Passover, not on Passover. Not even sure why that was a debate.
But they incorrectly discarded the Sunday following Passover as the date to celebrate Easter. The stated reason was they wanted nothing to do with the Jewish feast days.
These Catholic Bishops, showing their complete misunderstanding of scripture, decided against using the Bible to determine the correct date.
Instead, they decided that Easter/Resurrection Day should be completely unrelated to the scripturally based Passover date! Good grief, what were they smoking!
To accomplish a date unconnected with Passover, they decided Easter should fall on "the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full-moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox."
The vernal equinox is when the sun crosses the equator in the spring, which is the first day of spring.
By the Catholic Church connecting the Resurrection Sunday date to the moon and the first day of spring, it removed any possibility of Easter being connected to Passover!
The Catholic Church hierarchy explains it this way on catholic.com: Answering the question "How is Easter Sunday determined?" After first admitting that Easter SHOULD immediately follow Passover, which occurs on Nisan 14, they then added:
"Christians didn't like being dependent on the pronouncements of rabbis for when to celebrate Christian feasts, so they (the Council of Nicaea) came up with another way of determining the date. They decided that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after (never on) the Paschal full moon." (3)
Really? Let's think about that for a moment... God established the specific day for Passover to be celebrated, Nisan 14.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’S Passover. Lev. 23:5
Passover was the greatest event of Jewish history. Each year the Jews were commanded to celebrate it with a feast on the 14th of Nisan, forever!
"And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever." Ex. 12:24
In 33 AD, the 14th of Nisan was on Friday. However, the Jews begin each day at twilight, not midnight. So Passover actually began on Thursday night at sunset.
Also, there was Preparation Day, the day before Passover. This was the day the Jews prepared and sacrificed their lambs for Passover meal celebrations.
Preparation Day was also a "High Day"—therefore Passover was a two-day event composed of Preparation Day and Passover Day.
When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Mark 15:42
Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day)*, asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. John 19:31
(* The Sabbath is usually Saturday, so this is referring to Friday as a High Day and therefore was treated like a Sabbath.)
This also explains how Jesus was having a Passover meal on Wednesday night, after sunset, which was Thursday for the Jews, part of the two-day Passover celebration.
A simple confirmation that Friday was not the day Jesus was crucified is this verse:
Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. John 12:1
"Six days" is a critical notation. Jesus had to arrive in Bethany on Friday, before sundown because by Levitical law he could not travel on Shabbat (Saturday). Sunday morning He was in Bethany, 2 miles to the east of Jerusalem for the infamous Palm Sunday walk to the Temple.
The Bible says Jesus rose on Sunday, three nights after His crucifixion.
for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt. 12:40
Therefore Jesus was crucified on Preparation Day, Nisan 13. While some 20,000 lambs and kids were being slaughtered, Jesus was also being slain on the cross as the Lamb of God. Should we call it Good Thursday?
Sunday morning, three days and three nights later, on the Feast of First Fruits, Jesus' tomb was discovered empty. He had risen from the dead.
“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying." Matt. 28:6
This is not up for debate... the Resurrection is forever tied to Passover and the Jewish Feasts. It has zero to do with the first day of Spring!
But in 325 AD the spiritually defiant leaders of the Catholic Church decided to change the date of the Resurrection so as not to be connected to the Jewish Passover!
That is like changing/adding to God's Word—which is NOT GOOD!
"I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;" Rev. 22:18
This was Satan at his best—getting the Catholic Church to loathe Israel and the Jews so much they didn't want to be associated in any way with the Jewish Passover.
And now, we Protestants are stuck with the Catholic Easter dates. Easter being celebrated on the correct Sunday only happens about one out of every ten years.
Interestingly, this year, 2026, the Catholic dating of Easter Sunday correctly lines up with the Feast of First Fruits which is the Sunday following the Sabbath after Passover.
And even though almost all Protestant churches will continue to celebrate Easter or Resurrection Sunday on the verifiably wrong Sunday, it's important for Believers to know when and why it should be celebrated.
The bottom line: It's not rocket science to know what day the Resurrection Day should be celebrated. The correct day is on the Feast of First Fruits, the Sunday following Passover.
Using the kooky Catholic dating of Resurrection Day, sometimes we miss it by a month or more!
(Note that Nisan 14 is not a fixed day of the week and therefore the Jewish Passover celebration moves around each year.)
The Necessity Of Jesus' Resurrection:
"... if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins." 1Cor. 15:17
This fact is an important part of the Gospel. Many men have been born, and many have died. But only one has died sinless and risen from the dead.
Jesus' resurrection demonstrated that He's alive. Without the resurrection from the tomb our faith is worthless. But with it, we have the promise of our own resurrection to heaven.
And that's something Born Again Believers can amazingly claim while we're still living on the earth.
He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1John 5:12-13
Best of all, you can't have eternal life today and not have eternal life tomorrow. We've already won. And nothing can change that fact.
I heard someone once say "God will not leave you, but you can leave God." That, of course, is a works doctrine from the pit of hell. Here's the verse that proves it's not up to what we do or not do:
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 8:38,39
You, as a human Believer, are a "created thing." A created Believer can not separate itself from God. Therefore, salvation is a one-way street. Once you have it, you can't lose it.
The Importance of Correct Eschatology
The Catholic Doctrine of a-millennial eschatology lays the groundwork for a long list of bad beliefs. To believe there is no 1000-year reign of Christ, and that we currently live in the Millennium, means you can't take the Bible literally.
And if you can't trust the accuracy of 100% of God's inspired Word, it opens up a number of non-Biblical beliefs.
This also shows the incredible importance of accurately understanding Bible prophecy!
If you have the wrong eschatological position it will distort how you interpret the scriptures. The Catholic Church holds to an a-millennial position which means they don't take scripture literally.
For instance they take the six references to "a thousand years" in Revelation 20 to mean Jesus will reign a "long time." They can't take it literally since it's already been 2000 years.
Correctly using a literal translation we understand that Jesus will reign 1000 years on the earth as King.
Rev. 20:2 ... a thousand years
Rev. 20:3 ... the thousand years
Rev. 20:4 ... a thousand years
Rev. 20:5 ... the thousand years
Rev. 20:6 ... a thousand years
Rev. 20:7 ... the thousand years
If the Catholic Church properly viewed the scriptures literally, they would be pre-millennial and embrace the Jews as God's chosen people.
But their poor doctrine and antisemitic views blinded them to the point that they incorrectly changed the day we celebrate Resurrection Day.
But we can't be too hard on the Catholics. Martin
Luther also misunderstood and loathed Israel and the Jewish people.(4)
Although Martin Luther was correct protesting the Catholic Church's poor doctrines and policies, God did not reveal to him at that time the Catholic Church's incorrect eschatology positions.
In fact, Catholic eschatological error continued to be passed down to Protestant denominations for another 100 years or so before pre-millennial doctrines finally exposed the error of a-millennial theology.
To nail shut the case for which day we should be celebrating Resurrection Day, we need to quit being led by the incorrect calendar dates of the Catholic Church.
Instead, we should use the scripturally commanded Nisan 14 date to determine which Sunday to celebrate— the Sunday following Passover.
This year (PTL) Passover falls on Wednesday, April 1. Therefore, by chance, the Catholic dating of Easter comes up with April 5, which is the correct date.
However, in 2027, the Catholic Easter date is March 28 and Passover is not until April 21...100% wrong.
The Results Of Jesus' Resurrection
The resurrection of Jesus Christ shows the incredible power of God. If He spoke the universe into existence in six literal days, then He also has the power over death. Only He Who created life can resurrect it after death.
DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Cor. 15:54b-57
The Resurrection Validates Jesus' Deity
Jesus spent 40 days showing Himself to the disciples and hundreds of other eyewitnesses as irrefutable proof He is the Messiah/Redeemer sent from God.
“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses." Acts 13:38-39
Jesus Resurrection Fulfilled Bible Prophecy
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Mark 8:31
And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” Acts 17:2-3
So Jesus' resurrection gives us assurance of our victory over death and the promise of eternal life for Born Again Believers. Our incredible Lord has given us eternal promises to share when He opens a door for us to witness to non-believers.
praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, Col. 4:3
CQLJ!
BP
Notes: (1) https://answersingenesis.org/holidays/easter/is-the-name-easter-of-pagan-origin/
(2) Satan’s Claws/Santa’s Claws
(3) https://www.catholic.com/qa/how-is-easter-sunday-determined-palm-sunday-ash-wednesday
(4) http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot
(5) http://tlarsen2.tripod.com/thomaslarsen/easterdates.html
Biblelands Cruise September 2026 Sold Out! Email us to get on the waiting list.
Grand Canyon Grand Staircase Tour May, 2026 Sold Out! Email us to get on the waiting list.
Grand Canyon Rim and Raft Tour June, 2026, 27 seats sold, 23 seats remaining
Steeling the Mind 2027 —March 13—Coeur d'Alene, save the date!
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another! Prov. 27:17
This is a fantastic long-weekend tour where you learn to SCIENTIFICALLY defend a worldwide flood occurring about 4,500 years ago using the secular displays at the Grand Canyon.
Includes a fun 10-mile raft trip (float) down the Colorado River seeing the canyon from the bottom up.
June 4-7, 2026 from Phoenix, CLICK HERE for more details or to register.
May 27-31, 2026 departing from Las Vegas, CLICK HERE for details.
The links in the Additional Resources below are meant to help us be wise and aware as we make decisions living in the concluding moments of the Church Age.
So this section is intended to offer more insight into our adversary's worldwide actions to help us make good decisions between now and our exciting exit.
CQLJ!
---Clicking on any fuzzy picture below usually clears it up---
Sometimes info is shared below without a corresponding link if the link requires a registration to read or watch.
90-second video CLICK HERE
13-minute video CLICK HERE
This is creepy. Customized humanoid robots make their debut, but Daniel 12:4 warns us that in the latter days "knowledge will increase."
Article
This is unreal. 49% of participants exhibited heart problems. Hmmmm...I wonder if it was done on purpose? The answer is YES if we're close to our mind-bending and quite-loud disappearing act.
In the span of nine months, nine top-level scientists in the United States have died or vanished without a trace.
Iran’s supreme leader is dead, his successor is reportedly wounded, and every principal instrument of Iranian power projection – missiles, nuclear infrastructure, air defenses, the navy, proxy command networks – has been degraded beyond near-term recovery.
The campaign’s execution has been imperfect, its public communication poor and its post-conflict planning incomplete. War is never clean. But the strategy – the actual strategy, measured in degraded capabilities rather than cable news cycles – is working.
Ray Dalio is a quite successful hedge fund manager. His success is due to his consistent ability to get the Big Picture right. He recently said this:
"We are at a point in which we are borrowing money to pay debt service.
"When you keep having debt growth faster than income growth, that means you have debt service encroaching on your spending, and you want to keep spending at the same time.
"As that happens, there is a need to get more and more into debt. It accelerates.
"We are at the point of that acceleration. We are near that inflection point."
The financial position of the US government has been gradually deteriorating for decades, so it’s not surprising that many people are complacent. They’ve long heard about the debt problem, and nothing has happened.
However, it is now reaching the tipping point.
That’s because the US government is now borrowing money to pay the interest on the money it has already borrowed, as Dalio noted. Politicians are adding more debt to solve the problems of prior debt. It’s creating a self-perpetuating doom loop.
The federal debt’s interest cost is already higher than the defense budget. It’s on track to exceed Social Security in the coming months and become the biggest in the federal budget.
In short, the skyrocketing interest expense has become an urgent threat to the US government’s solvency.
Our debt problem is causing inflation...which reaches its zenith in the first few months of the Tribulation when 1/4 of the earth dies from war, famine and pestilence.
Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. Rev. 6:9b
At that time it will take everything you make in a day to just pay for food...nothing left for housing, energy, etc. -BP
And here's another interesting 30-minute financial video featuring Newman and Zeee on what might be going on titled "Global War or Great Reset?"
Article
This all started in the 1940s by referring to "adultery" an "affair." Now it's moved to referring to "fornication" as "cohabitation."
Some pastors openly admit they don't want to preach on sin for fear of losing "giving units." Sounds like money is more important than "Preaching the Word." I guess they never read James 3:1 or Acts 20:27.
The viral moment began with the testimony of Colton and Kaylee, a young couple who admitted they had been "Christians in name but not in how they lived."
During premarital counseling, they were confronted with a simple truth: either honor God and get married, or stop living together.
That confrontation cut through the haze of compromise. They chose obedience. They got baptized -- and then, just an hour later, got married. That testimony sparked dozens of others living in the same gray zone.
40-minute video
Great interview of Billy Crone by Jan Markell. They cover many topics including Trump and the Mark of the Beast, the One World Government, the Board of Peace, AI taking jobs and more!
Franklin Graham has the gift of evangelism. He's burdened by anyone who thinks they might not be saved. When President Trump remarked that he "hopes" he'll go to heaven, Graham sends him a letter correcting President Trump's poor theology.
After reading that letter I'm hoping President Trump, in a rare moment of humility, immediately confessed Jesus!
One of the things Susie and have picked up on through the years on our 65 Israel tours is how the Israelis have learned to deal with their Muslim enemies. They don't think like we think.
The Muslims believe a lot of strange things. They basically worship a moon god...which means they worship Satan and Satan is a liar.
They believe that if they die in war, or while killing any non-Muslims, they go to heaven and receive 72 virgins as their wives.
Regarding trusting what they tell you, they believe it's ok to lie if it serves a greater purpose. So you can't trust them. Israel knows this.
Since 1979, Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden have received promises that were worthless. So President Trump also knows this.
The only thing they truly understand is pain. They will not stop doing what they do unless it becomes too painful to continue.
So as a confirmation that President Trump is on the right track bombing the smithereens out of Iran is a letter posted online yesterday by the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that said the cost of the month-long confrontation with the USA has become "costly and futile."
This is big and likely they are getting close to throwing in the towel.
On Palm Sunday weekend there were supposedly 3000 "rallies" across the world protesting President Trump's policies.
Well, we had one here in Coeur d'Alene on a major street corner. About 100 protesters were paid $100 each to wave preprinted signs at the passing traffic for exactly two hours.
Few, if any, were from Coeur d'Alene. The Dims are dumb as a box of rocks.
Fox News Reported this:
The latest US Government expenditures charts:
6-minute video
This is a sobering six minutes of what Israelis are having to put up with—almost daily.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you." Psa. 122:6
Iranians who love President Trump.
30-minute video
This is a great, laid-back Bible study sharing all the verses that support a pre-Trib Rapture position.
Article
This is an interesting article from Dr. Mercola.
Cancer doesn't appear out of nowhere — it develops in an environment your body has been shaping for years. One of the most overlooked factors is the way everyday stressors gradually push your system out of balance.
When your body is constantly under pressure, the signals that control repair, growth, and immunity start working against you instead of for you.
You might not notice it at first. A little more tired than usual, a few pounds gained or lost without explanation, aches that seem to linger — these are all signs your body is stuck in a cycle of strain.
Left unchecked, this state doesn't just wear you down, it lays the groundwork for serious disease.
This connection between chronic stress, energy disruption, and cancer risk was explored in detail during a discussion hosted by Chemaines Model Health, featuring bioenergetic researcher Georgi Dinkov.1
Their conversation revealed how cancer cells hijack broken energy pathways and why controlling stress and inflammation is central to prevention.
And a phenomenal parallel article to also read on this subject:
Cancer does not exist in isolation. It thrives within the biological environment it’s given, and that environment is shaped daily by what we eat, how we move, and the rhythms we keep.
The right nutrition can shift that terrain—undermining cancer’s metabolic advantages while strengthening healthy cells and immune defenses. This isn’t fringe thinking or “alternative” care; it’s physiology, long overlooked in standard oncology.
Is this where we're headed?
Article
