Jonah and the Whale

If you grew up going to church, most likely you had some children’s classes. You probably heard about Moses parting the Red Sea, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Samson and Delilah, and Jonah and the Whale. There are probably different versions of the children’s stories, but I tend to think mostly we all got something pretty similar. When it came to Jonah, it probably included something like this: “So instead of listening to God, Jonah thought he would run away from Nineveh and not do what God asked him. He ran to the sea where he found a ship that was going to another city. He paid the captain, went in the lower part of the boat and went to sleep.” Directly from scripture (Jonah 1:3) we see:

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Run Away Jonah. We learned about Jonah running away. We grew up, and we still think of Jonah as someone who ran away. It’s not a good label to put on a person, either. Perhaps better than Judas, but not by much. On his blog “Messy Grace,” Steve Austin, on Tuesday, asked for comments to help him teach a youth group on Wednesday that “Labels Lie.” While I missed the opportunity to comment, it really fits into the Bible book I’ve been reading lately—Jonah—and how I was once called a Jonah by a friend.

My friend decided I was running from my engagement to a mutual friend. He said the marriage was G-d’s will, and I was running away from it. He didn’t accuse me of fearing commitment, which he certainly would have been correct about. And, yes, I ran away from the marriage. Not just from cowardice in the face of commitment, either.

The thing is I really loved the woman. She is an incredible Christian, servant, woman. I’ve followed some of her life since seeing her the last time many years ago: She married a man she served with in WYAM, and later served with him; Along with her husband made mission and medical mission trips overseas; And more trips with her husband and their two boys as they raised them. I’ve prayed for her and her family, too. Occasionally I’ve felt such an incredible burden to pray that it made me hurt for her, and I never learned why. And it doesn’t matter.

Being told I was running from G-d’s will hurt. I couldn’t marry the woman. And I didn’t even know why, at the time. Maybe fear of commitment. Maybe a lot to do with fearing being trapped. Same thing I suppose. But I couldn’t say that to her, or to our friends, for some reason. So I broke up and ran away. And I felt guilty for years. And I’ve played the mind games of “What if. . .” too.

Anyway, is the book of Jonah solely about a man who runs away? Is that the main principle to be learned and taught from the story. Sure Jonah fled to the sea. And, yes, when the storm hit, and the Captain woke him to join the crew in praying, he admitted that the problem might be all his fault, and explained why. (Jonah 1:9,10)

And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Aboard a Ship with Jonah. There’s another connotation for the label “Jonah.” It has to do with bringing bad “luck” to those around him. I don’t recall the preacher or the sermon/talk, but I do remember the over-used slogan hammering away at the audience. “Don’t get on a ship with a Jonah.” Bad things happen around people labeled a Jonah. No, sorry to disappoint, but there’s no story about me being considered bad “luck”; I’ve got Midas touch, as one person put it once. In reality, I’ve got G-d’s touch upon me. So do you, if you’ve been redeemed, having turned from sin to the newness of Life, know Y’shuaJesus as Lord, Savior, Son of G-d. Anyway, I don’t really thing that the book of Jonah is really about bad things happening to people around a man who flees from G-d.

Jonah the bad man. There’s a more recent addition to the story of Jonah and the Whale. At least I don’t recall this sort of thing: “The only problem was that Jonah didn’t want to help the people there. He knew they were bad and he wanted them to be punished for their mistakes.” Okay, so it’s true, Jonah, like all Israel, was very familiar with the evil that was the people of Nineveh. And, hey, sure, Jonah knew all to well the threat those heathen Gentile posed to Israel. So Jonah and all of Israel would have been just fine to let Nineveh go up in smoke like Sodom. Did Jonah not want to help the people of Nineveh? No, I’m sure Jonah wasn’t too interested in taking a message to Nineveh that, if acted upon, would ensure G-d’s forgiveness of some bad dudes. But is it fair to characterize Jonah as a person who didn’t care about people. I know, that isn’t what the quote from the child’s story says. But I think, since it appears up in the front of the story, that is what is conveyed to kids, if this story is used.

The Real Point of Jonah. It bothers me that G-d’s spokesperson is characterized as one who doesn’t care about people, runs away from responsibility, and is bad to be around. Here’s my take on Jonah. He cared about his people enough to disobey G-d. That caring drove him to leave, to sail away. And here’s the really cool thing: the people on the boat didn’t worship the G-d of Israel, but that all changed. They met Jonah, and they responded to G-d. (Jonah 1:14-16)

Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

G-d knew Jonah. G-d would have predicted Jonah’s moves. And I’m sure G-d had a plan. Jonah needed some time to come to terms with some key issues. Jonah needed come to an understanding of what he’d done in disobeying G-d, that he’d put his people and the fear of what his people would think before serving G-d’s needs. Jonah also needed to let go of his way of viewing Gentiles as some how outside the mercy of G-d, and to see the way G-d sees all His people—even those who are not the Chosen. Jonah needed a little of what my son calls “swag.” He got that in his breathtaking ride beneath the waves, when he got spewed out onto the beach.

Think about it. Out of a small, despised, people, comes an unheard of man with a message to a powerful, albeit evil, nation, “Repent or Die.” Right. Yawn. But even today, CNN would be right there on the beach when it’s reported that a man is stuck in the mouth of a great fish. Then the camera’s are rolling and Jonah pops out. What an entrance. Now people will listen. Jonah got his fifteen minutes of fame.

Okay. The big message of the book of Jonah is that G-d calls, man rejects, learns from G-d that rejection isn’t an option, and comes out smelling like dead fish and seaweed—er, I mean roses. It’s also about G-d’s concern for Gentiles, to whom He extends mercy. And it’s also about G-d having the right to decide that evil, done even by a people that doesn’t acknowledge Him, needs to be quenched, purged.

And me, what about my accusation of being a Jonah? It seems to me we were not meant to be married. I wasn’t in finished enough shape to be with someone so fantastic. She’d served the Lord for many years. I’d run from Him for as many. She had a calling upon her life, from the age of five, that she’d willingly accepted. I didn’t deserve to have a wife such as she. I needed time in the belly of hell before I could be ready for someone like her. I needed to let her go. That knowledge drove me away. I didn’t run away, but ran toward. Toward the belly of a whale.

All I need is to get some Jonah swag! For that, I’m waiting.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Except it be Given from Heaven

There are moments in which I wonder, “If only I had. . .maybe then I would. . .” Usually I’m feeling a bit low and thinking about various choices I’ve made in the past—thinking regretfully. One of my favorites is “If I’d gone running to that alter call back in eighth grade. . .”

It was during my first year in military academy. Two of my teachers were Christians and took a bunch of us up to a weekend retreat. I remember that I volunteered to help out, and was assigned the task of cleaning the bathrooms. I don’t recall too much of the weekend, except how hard cleaning toilets is, and the Sunday morning Church service. I’d never been to one quite like it. I’d been in Church regularly since birth, but Episcopal, not Baptist. I know that I liked this service. I know that at the end, when everyone was told to bow their heads and close their eyes and raise their hands if they wanted to accept Jesus into their hearts, I responded—I’m sure I did, at least I think I did, I want to think I did. But when the pastor asked for all those who raised their hands to come forward to the alter, I hesitated. Then it was over and everyone was leaving and I just exited along with them, having not been able to make it to the alter. I felt guilty about that moment of indecision, of cowardice, of fear.

I still do—at times. I wonder how my life might have been different. It’s as if I think the physical act of approaching an alter would have made a difference in my life—making it somehow better, me better, or at least a bit easier. Perhaps I’d have become somebody famous, or rich, or powerful. Perhaps I’d have had the drive to finish college after high school, rather than wait twenty years. Perhaps I’d have accepted the position that I was offered as a management apprentice, rather than wanting to drive truck. Perhaps. . .I’d have been wise. I think that’s what I would have wanted if I’d known to ask. Wisdom. Like Solomon asked for from the LORD.

Or perhaps I’d just have avoided some mistakes, not have wandered around as much. Perhaps I’d have been more focused in ministry. I know, intellectually, that one can’t change the past. I know that my “better choice” thinking isn’t necessarily a particular best choice. In my heart I know that who I am, I am as a result of G-d’s desire to take all that I am and have ever been, the real person I am, and make it work for the good in the overall scheme of things. If I were to right one perceived mistake, it might upset something else that came later. At least I can rationalize it that way.

I really admire John the Baptist. He made it big, getting to baptize Lord Y’shuaJesus with water. And he made an important choice as “his” ministry slipped away, he let it go. He understood an important principle (John 3:27):

John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

Matthew Henry commented that “different employments are according to the direction of divine providence, different endowments according to the distribution of the divine grace. No man can take true honor to himself, Hebrews 5:4. We have as necessary and constant a dependence upon the grace of G-d in all the motions and actions of the spiritual life as we have upon the providence of G-d in all the motions and actions of the natural life.”

Perhaps success that eludes does so to spare us magnifying our own selves. “Had I just. . .’ is simply another way of taking responsibility for my own success. “If I had,” then I’d have had to fail in other ways unless I was well fortified, and able to pass on all credit to the Lord. Success is not easy. Staying humble while in the limelight of applause and flattery is daunting. I do not envy Christian musicians who, after struggling for success, gain it, only to grasp hold of the honor to themselves. Then things happen, like falling flat. Or pastors who begin to think themselves above sin, and into the depths they plummet.

Then there is the thought that things might have been easier, perhaps, for me had I just run, not walked, to the alter that weekend. Perhaps I’d have somehow been a better person, and made less mistakes. Maybe I’d have not had some of the really tough moments I’ve experienced. And yet it is during those hard time of my life that I can, now, I look back upon and see the Lord at work in me, watching over me, caring for me. Hard times are. . . just plain hard. But perhaps they are the furrowing of our spiritual garden that allow great things to grow—spiritual growth as well as physical.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Shabbat in Arcata

Opening the refrigerator door this morning, I immediately saw the plate of left-over enchilada. It would be good in an omelette, I thought. Just as quickly I imagined the Mexican omelets I occasionally ate at a restaurant in Arcata, California. This was in the late 1980s while I was a university student.

Sidebar: I know, being forty years old—then—was pretty old to be doing an undergraduate degree. So, okay, it took me twenty years to figure out what I wanted to actually study. I think I’ve finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up, but I am having too much fun being an elder child to start on it.

Anyway, this restaurant had the best omelets, especially one served with chilies, eggs, flour tortillas, and refried beans. It was almost always crowded, too, and even the wait was enjoyable. Sadly, I don’t recall the name of the place. I’ve mentioned before the shear pleasure I get from some restaurants, of sitting with an open Bible eating a delicious omelette. But while living in Arcata, I practiced my own form of Shabbat Rest, which made the breakfast experience Divine. I would put aside studies and work from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday, and I’d do something totally different. For me it wasn’t about giving something up, or doing something religious, it was about restoration.

The military calls it R&R. No, not rock and roll. Rest and Recuperation. It’s time away from duty. It’s free time in which the soldier may recover, to be better fit to serve in his or her regular duties.

Home Leave is what it’s called by the Department of State (DOS), which has Americans stationed in embassies and consulates throughout the world. Every two years, these “Foreign Service Officers” and DOS Staffers are provided with transport back to the United States. It serves a couple of interesting purposes. For one, it is the very needed rest and relaxation officers and staff require to ensure fitness. In some cases, they receive medical and dental care not available at their duty stations, too. The other reason is to re-enter the American lifestyle, to be home again.

If we think about being in this world, but not of it, then it makes sense for us, too, to have a type of home leave. We celebrate a Shabbus Rest with the Lord Y’shuaJesus, allowing the break in routine and the Holy Spirit to minister to our physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual selves.

While in Arcata, I used to run several miles each day. But on Saturday, my Sabbath, I ran a different route, often through the incredible redwood forest. I saw different sights, heard different sounds. It was a refreshing change from the flats toward the beach I usually ran. I also would read books. Not school books, but I’d read novels or some non-fiction. I’d occasionally operate my amateur radio, or take a long bicycle ride along the coast. And, yes, I had more time to spend delving into the Bible and studying it.

The idea of getting out of the routine isn’t new: it’s the reason people take holidays or vacations. For me, my shabbat in Arcata, during the two years I spent there, were times of Divine Refreshing, a day dedication to Lord Y’shuaJesus, and His restoration of me, and a form of obedience to the scripture in Exodus 20:8-11

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The writing above flowed out easily on Monday afternoon. But as I looked at the actual scripture, I hesitated. I thought perhaps I was unclear of the concept of stopping work. It seemed best to me to come back to it on Tuesday, pray about it for a bit beforehand. So now it is Friday, and I’m coming back to it. It’s been a hectic week!

The answer actual came on Tuesday. While listening to “Gospel” music on the way somewhere, a song on the radio came on that really touched me. Bill Winston’s “Released” spoke about coming to the Lord and being released from the work, the striving, of trying to gain a life. I felt myself justified by the work of Messiah, Who fulfilled the Law, and granted me the freedom to honor Him in my observance of the Sabbath.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

All Must Be Well

A.W. Tozer compiled, in The Christian Book of Mystical Verse some of his favorite devotional verse to share with us. He says “it has been carefully and lovingly prepared for those God-enamored persons who … lack the gift that would enable them to express their feelings adequately.

While the word mystic is used in Eastern religion, and has crept inappropriately into some churches, to A.W. Tozer it refers to an evangelical Christian “who has been brought by the Gospel into intimate fellowship with the Godhead.”

Today, I share with you All Must Be Well, Mary Bowley Peters, 1813-1856

Through the love of God our Saviour,
All will be well;
Free and changeless is His favor,
All, all is well;
Precious is the blood that heal’d us,
Perfect is the grace that seal’d us,
Strong the hand stretch’d out to shield us,
All must be well.

Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well;
Ours is such a full salvation,
All, all is well;
Happy, still in God confiding,
Fruitful, if in Christ abiding
Holy, through the Spirit’s guiding,
All must be well.

We expect a bright tomorrow,
All will be well;
Faith can sing, through days of sorrow,
All, all is well;
On our Father’s love relying,
Jesus ev’ry need supplying,
Or in living or in dying,
All must be well.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Carpenter Ants, Black and Yellow Bees, and Worms

Ants. A large, black carpenter ant climbed up the edge of the wooden deck. Those black ants don’t sting, I don’t think. There are also large red ants down here in Georgia that do sting—terribly so. Fire ants. And we have those small ants I think of as a grease ants, too. These are the ones that lick the oily stuff of the peonies so that the flower will bloom fully. But the large black ants just roam about ignoring everyone and everything. Harmless, seemingly. Except I’ve been told they are carpenter ants, and eat the insides of wood structures to build their nests. I’ve not seen evidence of their destruction, however. Perhaps it takes years to weaken a board on the deck, to make it collapse from my weight as I walk.

Bees. This is also the time of year I see small piles of wood dust in some places around the deck posts. There will be a small hole above the pile, bored by a black and yellow bee. I’ve seen these bees go in and out. I always thought they just bored in an inch or so and laid eggs. I thought that until one day when I cut into an old board that had been laying out back for a while. Inside, the bees had dug throughout the board, building quite a network of tunnels. I’m sure the deck posts will be damaged if I let bees continue to nest there.

Worms. A few years ago we were using some lawn treatment that helped prevent weeds. It worked pretty well, too. But I’ve never really been a fan of chemicals, and finally we gave it up. Our neighbors have done likewise, so we all now just mow the weeds with the grass. What I’ve noticed is that we’re now getting worms back in the grass, and more in the gardens that surround it. I think the chemicals destroyed the worms. Worms are good to have around, eating there way through the dirt, making small spaces that allow air to saturate the ground. That’s not bad, either. A lot of people pay to have lawns punctured with holes to do the same thing.

What do all these critter have in common, the carpenter ants, the bees, and the worms? The all makes small holes. I read Regular Joe’s article on zombies on his blog. He came out and said what needs to be said. There are zombies walking around today. Lot of ’em, too. They are the walking dead. Unless they receive Messiah Y’shuaJesus as their Lord, the will be dead for eternity.

To take up on that idea, we can see the dead speaking loudly, making small holes like the ants, bees, and worms. They teach in public schools, especially colleges. They report for various news organizations, write for television shows, produce movies, write movies. They are in our political arena, as well. And unfortunately these walking dead infiltrate our churches. And the walking dead are deceivers. As Jude wrote (Jude v10-13.):

But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Paul put it this way: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . .” Romans 1:22

Deceivers. At least three types of deceivers. One like the ant, one like the bee, and one like the worm. The holes deception bores begin small, getting beneath the surface where we don’t see what it’s really doing. Eventually, with a destroyed foundation, the structure collapses. Y’shuaJesus said that our faith must be built upon a rock. And, yes, we say Y’shuaJesus is the Rock. Out faith is built upon Him. It is still faith. We have to remember that our sins are forgiven. We have to remember that Y’shuaJesus paid the price of for our lives. But deception undermines our faith, slowly chipped away, by the walking dead, whether in the “world” or in the church. Do we begin to think we have to earn salvation through works or doing a certain type of mystical prayer? What can we offer G-d in trade for eternal life?

The black ant deception looks perfectly sound, fine. We don’t suspect a thing is going on. The bee is more direct. We see signs, but don’t think it’s really too dangerous. The worm. Well, the worm of deception appears to be a good thing. Like the worms in my lawn and garden. But our faith is to be a rock, not a garden. Worms say “The Bible teaches. . .” and we applaud, or say “amen.” Worms, well, worm their way into our lives, eating at us in ways we don’t even know.

The aim of deception is to undermine our faith. We are called to endure until the end. We can suffer set backs, but our faith must endure. We must be prepared to endure hardships without the loss of our faith. Our faith must endure. The Gospel Faith. That Y’shuaJesus lived, died, returned from the dead, and lives at the right had of the Father. Truth.

The cure to deception is what Paul wrote to the Corinthians (Ephesians 4:14,15):

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. . .

One example. There is a deception today that goes by the name of “emergent.” It isn’t new: It’s “new age” wrapped in Bible quotes. It looks so spiritual, even something Y’shuaJesus would approve. “From the Lighthouse” is a great place to learn about exactly this type of deception, and more. You can find it here:

Evangelism and the Walking Dead. In his article, Regular Joe wrote about evangelism of the walking dead, that they might be awakened. I agree. It is our mandate, too easily forgotten as we duck assaults from an enemy that is not flesh and blood (though too easily works through physical forms). We pray for all to come to the knowledge of Messiah, to the salvation that is preached in the Gospel Message.

Tom White, from his column in Voice of the Martyrs magazine encourages us: “Don’t let the big dogs in our country—who growl loudly through the media—prevent us from finding ways to reach out.” Throughout the world, Believers in Y’shuaJesus reach out to, and from within, countries in which the Gospel is restricted or simply outlawed. There are 54 nations like this. Here, in America, we are, for the present, unrestricted in our out reach with the saving message of Messiah and Lord Y’shuaJesus. “We must thereore go outside the fence with childlike faith,” wrote White.

And we must also not become discouraged in our efforts, must not question why there seems such poor return for our efforts. Not all will hear. Paul wrote (2Corinthians 4:3,4):

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Oh, Lord, You are our Rock. You will not be moved. Help us endure, with our faith intact, that we might greet You at Your Glorious Return and Feast with You, even reign with You as You’ve said we shall. Amen.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Zombie Apocalypse

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. . .

Romans 1:3-6

Vernon Weiss (aka Regular Joe) writes 5 G’s and a Cup of Joe (http://5gsandacupofjoe.net/). One of his recent posts is Why Is Zombie Apocalypse So Popular? (http://5gsandacupofjoe.net/2012/04/30/why-is-zombie-apocalypse-so-popular/). I look forward to reading his post, but haven’t yet. Here’s why: I awoke one morning this week troubled, thinking about a Zombie Apocalypse. No, not that one will happen; rather that there are some dangerous statements made in relation to a zombies.

Zombie Apocalypse (video game) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today it is time to begin putting together my thoughts on paper (albeit electronic paper). Once I’ve done that, I’ll go over and see what Regular Joe has to say. I suggest you do also.

Resurrection. Let me clarify a point here and now. For us, the True-Born Believers in Y’shuaJesus, resurrection is a good thing. We believer death does not have a hold upon us. As Randy Travis sang, “Death. Where is your sting?” Death can’t jump up and bite us. The demonstration of this was in the life, death, and resurrection of Y’shuaJesus. This is one of the key points of the Gospel message. We die in our flesh and are reborn, filled now with the Spirit of G-d. We die with Messiah, and rise to new life with Him. This is symbolized in our baptism.

But the word resurrection is taking on an different theme these days. It’s a new word for the dead becoming zombies. Normally, in the Zombie World, a person dies, usually infected with a disease, then comes back as a zombie. A zombie has no mental capacity, only primal functions of what is usually explained as the reptilian brain, for benefit of evolutionists, I’m sure. These zombies are walking dead, craving fresh flesh. Their bite is infectious, causing others to become zombies, if they aren’t eaten completely. Nothing affects zombies; they feel nothing, don’t breath, and only have one inherent desire: to eat. They are put back into death by killing that lower portion of the brain that is controlled, in some zombie books and movies, by the infection or virus.

In the past, becoming a zombie has been called turning or converting. It has also been called reanimation, as if we, the living, are animated, cease, and are animated again. Reanimation is also used in other-than-zombie talk to refer to revival of a person. Interesting. Once becoming zombies, they are sometimes referred to as the undead. According to an article in Wikipedia, “Undead is a collective name for beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. It could also describe a dead body animated by supernatural forces. . .” Even more interesting!

So why are zombies important to us? It’s that the word resurrection is being used to describe the living, dying, and subsequent return as a zombie. It occurs this way in the book The Return Man, by V.M Zito. The book didn’t tie the word resurrection to Y’shuaJesus, though. Resurrection is the name of the disease that causes death, followed by becoming the somewhat stereo-typical zombie. The word resurrection also occurred once in an episode of the television show Walking Dead. But in Walking Dead, there’s a particularly nasty scene that really bites us. One of the characters in the show is considered the closest person in the group to a preacher, as he is often portrayed reading his Bible, and “thumping” on it. In one scene, as he considers the zombie hordes, he laments that he knew G-d promised resurrection from the dead, but didn’t think this was what G-d had in mind. Ugh!

What’s my point? Simple. They, the unbelievers, have once again stolen a word that describes a very specific action of great importance to believers. It is defiling. It is steering other unbelievers away from, rather than toward, the Gospel Message. “But it’s only fiction!” one might exclaim. Sure. But don’t you see something sinister behind it? After all, the whole premise behind zombie is irrational. In a false logic model, the enemy of Messiah hammers away at illogical = resurrection = Messiah. See?

Enough for now. Let’s have a truly blessed weekend out there! Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Legacy

Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity. There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:20-24

Once upon a time, either on the radio or sitting in a pew, I heard a preacher talk about Solomon and his depression. It seemed to that preacher, that was the only explanation for Solomon to write such things. It seems that many others think this is the case, too. We work hard to build a life for ourselves, to make a difference in the world. We spend our lives to build a legacy. We need others to believe this is the correct approach to life. We need everyone to be on board with this idea to ensure that the economy grows. If too many believe they don’t have to buy materials to better adorn their homes and offices and places of work, the economy won’t grow and we’ll slide into a recession and then a depression. People will be out of work.

If Solomon were around writing his thoughts today, he’d certainly be singled out for psychiatric therapy, a regular dosage of anti-depressant medication, and no doubt someone would convince him to attend some “joy” seminar somewhere. Solomon would be called a “doom-sayer” and labeled a nut. I suppose that most would believer Solomon would be getting rich on spreading his depressive thoughts about the internet.

Therefore I [the LORD] will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Isaiah 13:13

Y’shuaJesus spoke about seeking the Kingdom of G-d. He didn’t say we were to try and build that kingdom here on Earth. That’s the Lord’s work; that isn’t ours. So what is our legacy to be, then?

This morning returning from dropping my son at school, Watching You by Rodney Atkins played on the radio. It’s about a boy who is watching his father, who wants to be like his father IN EVERY WAY. The boy says a naughty word, and his father asks where he learned that word. The boys says he’s been watching. In another verse the boy is praying to our Heavenly Father as though he were a friend. The father asks where the boy learned to pray that way. The boy replies, “I’ve been watching you.”

It’s not the riches we have to leave as an inheritance, not the great buildings we’ve built to house ourselves and our families, not the products we create or repair or construct for others, but the character we allow the Lord to create in us and pass on to others that is our legacy. Our character is built through our relationship with Y’shuaJesus. We forsake the earthly kingdom, seek the Heavenly Kingdom. We allow G-d to be the center of our lives, creating in us, as the psalmist wrote, “a clean heart.”

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Identity

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13

The identity of a True-Born Believer in Y’shuaJesus as Lord, Messiah, is deeper than the external appearance—it is the driving force of our lives in concert with one another. Whether we are dark or light skinned, live on one continent or another, work in fields, or offices, or drive truck, we are all born of the Blood and Flesh of Messiah. We are one in Him. We “have been all made to drink into one Spirit” as Paul heard it from G-d.

Unbelievers have a conscience, an internal mechanism, that provides some guidance in their lives—if the conscience isn’t seared, that is. This conscience is placed there by G-d that the whole of humanity doesn’t simply go bonkers before giving a chance to build a complete people for G-d’s Name upon Earth. This explains why non-believers do things that are considered good, even righteous, while worshiping false gods, or not god at all.

Unlike the conscience of an unbeliever, True-Born Believers have the Spirit of G-d, the Mind of Messiah. We are sealed. Our names are written in the Book of Life with permanent ink. Conscience can be seared, deformed, destroyed. The sealing of G-d is once forever. Like the Blood of the Lamb upon the doorposts of Jews in Egypt protected from the Death Angel, we are protected from eternal death, even from the Wrath of G-d when finally the last of those who are to be saved are brought into the Body of Messiah.

Back in my days with Calvary Chapel, we sang a song that included the lines from a Psalm, How good and pleasant it is when brothers (and sisters) dwell together in unity. We need to shed our fleshly concerns, our worldly ways, and see one another as One in Messiah. Then we can, together, in the unity of the Spirit of G-d, with one voice, give praise to our Lord and seek His way on Earth, drawing all that are willing, able, into fellowship with Him.

This is our true identity on Earth.

I was Christian, I was Buddhist, I was Hindu, I was Jew
Now I am only one in You, awaiting my ultimate fate
Doubting not what You have told me to be true
I am one people, I belong to You—I knell at Your gate.

From “I Wait” by Wil Robinson ©1989

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

More Thoughts on “Image”

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. . .

Romans 8:29 & 30

Let me ask again: Am I like the wizard of Oz that stands behind a curtain, with a projector displaying a powerful entity upon the wall, as if that were him? Is the person that I am within, the person I display to the world? If I project a righteous image, is that truly who I am within? Mark reports Y’shuaJesus commenting on things that come from within us.

And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Mark 7:18-23

There is the rub, then. It is not “IF” we have within us something that when it comes out defiles our image, our identity. We have seeds of corruption sown within our hearts. If we are to be fully honest, fully real people, from time to time we are going to show some of those defiling qualities. We can only and always, until we meet the Lord in the air, be mere sinners saved by the grace of a loving Heavenly Father through His Son, our Messiah, Y’shuaJesus.

In our desire to be authentic, we must still struggle with not acting upon inner, defiling, thoughts. We walk the edge of a razor, dance upon the edge of a cliff. We must at all cost persevere to be conformed into the image of Messiah. It is a process. Our salvation is immediately bestowed upon us at the time of our coming to accept Y’shuaJesus as Messiah, as Lord of our lives. And from this point forward we are being conformed into the Lord’s image—the image for which we were intended.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Image, Identity, and Legacy

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature
after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth
after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the
earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that
creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God
created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.

Genesis 1:24-28

Image. I can’t articulate, at the moment, what it means when G-d says we are created in His Image. I’m sure that at some point in my life I’ve heard some sermon or other on the topic. I know that if I read the commentary at the bottom of the page in one of my study Bibles, I’ll be told what that author thinks, and often there will be other opinions given, too. But today, for the moment anyway, I’m vague on previous teachings, and I’m not willing to check the commentaries. Until the word “image” popped out at me, I wasn’t thinking about it at all.

Identity. I began this morning with several thoughts bouncing around in my head. One was identity. I’d previously noted the following in a journal: “Identity => given, associated with a name [someone from a place] often used or [someone’s son or daughter] also used. Identity had not been something we’d look for, we just were. . . we didn’t need to ‘find ourselves.’ Identity & soul are linked, too, to place. . . a place and a place in the world. Belonging.”

Drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen this morning, with my Bible before me, I scanned through the index just to see if the word “identity” came up. As expected, it didn’t, but “image” did. This seemed to tie together another event that is on my mind. Recently, the executive officer for an international ministry that supports persecuted Christians, in which I participate, died. The events are not clear, yet, but he left a note at the ministry saying he faced investigation for a serious crime. Furthermore, he wrote that he was suicidal and depressed at the thought of the way the accusations would affect his wife and children. It matters not if the allegations against this man are true or false, that he is dead, possibly taking his own life, then he appears guilty. All that remains now of this man is the image of a man’s corruption, and way it tarnishes G-d’s image.

The thing is, we are all capable of committing the most heinous crimes, most unforgivable acts. It isn’t why did this happen, but why doesn’t it happen more often? It isn’t “How could he?” but “Why have I been spared such horror?” When bad things happen to good people, we ought to wonder why it hasn’t happened to us instead. We are all fallen with Adam. Yes, through the grace of Messiah Y’shuaJesus, we are forgiven, redeemed during the final judgement when wicked are separated from the Lord’s True-born believers.

Legacy. Always a close companion to various thoughts that bounce around my head is what will I really leave behind. If I project a particular image, it is based upon the identity I’ve developed as I’ve grown up. Does that image match my true identity? Or am I projecting something that isn’t truly me? Am I like the wizard of Oz that stands behind a curtain, with a projector displaying a powerful entity upon the wall, as if that were him? I am created in the image of G-d. Do I display that image? Is that truly my identity in this world? If so, my legacy will be intact, I’ll leave behind whatever the Holy Spirit does through me.

More later! Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon y’all this day and every day. May the mercy of the Lord operate abundantly in our lives.