The Ebola epidemic is horrifying. It has people throughout the world at near panic. So, this all needs to be put into some sort of perspective. Basically, ebola is currently an epidemic ongoing in parts of West Africa, with cases now appeared in the United States as well as Spain. The outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013 then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. It spread later to both Senegal and Nigeria, but is now contained in those two countries and is no longer a threat. So, in ten months, around 4,000 known deaths have occurred with double that number of cases. Those are the official number; it is thought to be at least double that number. In contrast, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), various “cancers figure among the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for 8.2 million deaths in 2012.”
Looking at Liberia alone with its population of 4.294 million, there have been 2,316 officially recorded deaths. If we double that number, we have 112 deaths per 100,000 people. About the same as the worldwide death toll from cancer. If the same number of deaths per 100,00 population in Liberia from Ebola deaths per 100,000 in the United States, 336,000 people in America would die. If we look at a world-wide pandemic of Ebola, about 7.8 million people would die. Almost the number that WHO reports die from cancer each year.
So why is ebola scary? We don’t think cancer is contagious. Cancer also doesn’t kill a person in a week, but lingers on. We’ve had cancer around for a pretty long time, and perhaps have gotten use to it. Ebola is relatively new on the scene. And we know we can catch ebola. We are as likely to develop cancer as we are to catch ebola, but ebola is a strange new disease to us (yet has been around since its discovery in 1976). Governments think it can be contained by easily applied procedures, where all that we’ve tried, we continue to have cancer.
Matthew Henry wrote: “Wherever we are, we may speak to God, and worship him. God must have the praise of that which encourages our faith. And his providence must be acknowledged in events, though small and seemingly accidental”
And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house. . . -Deuteronomy 26:11
It is shameful that I so often forget, in my living and in my praying, that thankfulness and gratitude go much further to bring me into the Holy Presence of the Lord Y’shuaJesus than all my good requests and good intentions. And to live, authentically, I must live in His presence. Saying “Thank You, Lord” when things work out is all well and fine. However, it’s a mark of true Christian Character that when things are difficult, things are rough, when trials are like fire licking my feet, that a man or woman in Messiah’s Care can rejoice in thankfulness to a G-d Who is personal, Who is loving, Who is faithful to show His Light after a long walk through a dark valley.
In these times, which appear to be close to the Last Days, peace with G-d is paramount and is sought by many. We as Believers in Messiah Y’shuaJesus understand the truth that the only way to have that peace is through Y’shuaJesus. We are warned that many will come in the Name of G-d saying many things. We are warned that we will be persecuted for our Truth. So there is physical trials we must endure. But there are other trials: for we battle a spiritual enemy that delights in emotionally battering us. We have feelings that betray us, disrupt our peace. As we are inundated with thoughts and fears, we pray for help and deliverance. We feel like we are dying, perhaps. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, or so goes the saying today. We must remember that we are not going to die. So all these hardships, both physical and emotional, only makes us stronger.
Being thankful to G-d isn’t thanking G-d for the trials, necessarily. Being thankful and rejoicing in that thankfulness, is remembering the past deliverance that G-d has done personally in our lives. Remember the time He did . And being thankful to G-d is rejoicing in the remembrance of those times of His deliverance. I can certainly begin a prayer with “Oh, Lord, please save me. . .” and proceed to go at length talking to Him about all that concerns me, that threatens me, that makes me feel so badly. But how much better it is when I say, “I praise you Lord, I thank You. For in times past You have rescued me and You have shown me that You were near me though I didn’t feel Your presence. Thank You that even today, even now, I can understand that despite how I feel, You are there with me. Together I will overcome, in Your Name by Your Power.”
When the water warms, the fish seem so much more active. Photo by Wil Robinson.
Lately it feels like that for me, at least mentally. And that’s not a good thing, really. I’m not talking about great mental activity, great productive writing or thinking or praying. I’m talking about thoughts swimming around too fast, feeling like attention deficit. I’m talking about focus.
Summer finally arrived here in north Georgia. And with it an odd anxiety. It’s all in my head.
I began a study looking at “Rights” and “Justice.” I quickly got overwhelmed, moved on, and haven’t returned. Perhaps it’s just not the time to write about it. Perhaps it’s “the enemy” attacking me. Perhaps it’s just too many fish in the warm water of my mind.
It’s also that several things lately have reminded me of the “End Times.” I recalled that Y’shuaJesus said we need to be vigilant for we don’t know the time of the coming wrath. And I am encouraged by the Apostle Paul, who, guided by the Spirit of G-d, wrote:
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:9
Relax, I tell myself. There’s nothing to be anxious about. Anxious. Anxiety. Y’shuaJesus comforts us with words meant to sooth us, to let us know that we need not be anxious. When I think about being anxious about nothing, I remember I once attended in which it was somehow inappropriate to be anxious or concerned or upset. I remember how the preacher led praise and the congregation danced in procession around the auditorium. I remember the faces that held tight their anguish, forcing smiles. It was as if some one might let out a brief display of sadness and an Elder coming around saying, “Your not. . .” this or that or some other thing or another. “Let go, Let G-d,” he or she might say.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s alright to feel sad, or blue, or anxious, or distracted. Maybe that’s what makes us human. It makes me wonder just how far we’ve come to trying to be emotionless robots, flesh-covered computers. Adverts on the television tell us to ask our doctors about this drug or that drug to make us feel better. Preachers tell us we need to get right with G-d, and we’ll feel better. The best one I’ve ever heard, is that Solomon was depressed when he wrote Ecclesiastes. “All is vanity. . .” Maybe King Solomon was right. Maybe we’re just being deluded into accepting a well-placed lie. “Life is wonderful. Life is beautiful. Be happy.”
It seems to me that it’s okay feel what ever way we feel. And with those feelings, perhaps because of those feelings, we grasp tighter to the hem of our Savior’s clothing and, as Apostle Paul so said, find a contentment in even these tribulations. Perhaps in the depths of anxiety, we may rejoice. This isn’t suppose to be a “wonderful life.” It’s suppose to try us. For Life that is wonderful is Life with our Savior when He comes for us.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling[a] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (ESV)
Reconcile is defined as:
rec·on·cile (rkn-sl)
v. rec·on·ciled, rec·on·cil·ing, rec·on·ciles
v.tr.
1. To reestablish a close relationship between.
2. To settle or resolve.
3. To bring (oneself) to accept: He finally reconciled himself to the change in management.
4. To make compatible or consistent: reconcile my way of thinking with yours.
1. To reestablish a close relationship, as in marriage: The estranged couple reconciled after a year.
2. To become compatible or consistent: The figures would not reconcile.
“The renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a new heart is given him. He is the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Though the same as a man, he is changed in his character and conduct. These words must and do mean more than an outward reformation. The man who formerly saw no beauty in the Saviour that he should desire him, now loves him above all things. The heart of the unregenerate is filled with enmity against God, and God is justly offended with him. Yet there may be reconciliation. Our offended God has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. By the inspiration of God, the Scriptures were written, which are the word of reconciliation; showing that peace has been made by the cross, and how we may be interested therein. Though God cannot lose by the quarrel, nor gain by the peace, yet he beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity, and accept the salvation he offers. Christ knew no sin. He was made Sin; not a sinner, but Sin, a Sin-offering, a Sacrifice for sin. The end and design of all this was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Can any lose, labour, or suffer too much for Him, who gave his beloved Son to be the Sacrifice for their sins, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him?” —from the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
In the great mercy of G-d, we are made compatible with G-d through our belief, our faith, in Y’shuaJesus. This faith, even, is a gift from Him. And thus we are given a task of offering this reconciliation to all people. We also have the task to offer this same reconciliation to ourselves. For in the past we all, and I say again, WE ALL, have not been compatible with the ideals of G-d. We are being perfected, continually being made whole. But there remain past beings that were once us that occasionally come to the surface to haunt us. The person that I was in the past is forgiven, but the actions done by that person are not compatible with G-d, so accuse me today, trying to taint the person I am now. Yet it isn’t to me of today. Perhaps this is, in part, the struggle Paul spoke of when he wrote of the struggle with the old flesh and the new.
It seems to me a proper attitude is needed. I am who I am today by the grace of G-d. That old person that was me is dead, and is best left that way, not resurrected. The person I am today is the person that G-d is working with to bring me to the Feast with Messiah at the head of the table. I am who I am, and G-d has things under control.
Winter is long gone; so too spring. It is now summer. Yet there are heavy clouds that obscure the sun. It doesn’t have to be winter to just feel like it. The sky looms darkly over Georgia like an anvil ready to drop on our heads at any moment. Yesterday, showers with lightning and thunder, then out of the darkness followed bright sun and blue skies. The seasons are confused. Looking outside, the temperatures may be in the 20 C range but it appears like more like 20 F. Are we depressed? Are we sad? Do we just feel like crying? Do we even know why? Perhaps prompted by the weather, what we see though the window, we stare at the state of our nations, our people, and we mourn like Jeremiah mourned.
His people were far from G-d. And to this he wrote:
“For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.”
Lamentations 1:16
A Glooming Perspective by Wil Robinson
Jeremiah had cause to weep. Things hadn’t gone well for his people. G-d felt very far away. And his people had distanced themselves from Him. And He allowed disaster to strike. And perhaps as we look through our own eyes, we see a world not much different than his. We as a people are distant from our G-d, too. Here in America, there are many that cry out to the nation to repent and turn to G-d before it is too late. It’s another Welsh revival that we seek. Or a revival like the Azuza Street Revival. We want the Spirit of G-d to fall upon us and lead us as a nation back into being a Christian nation. We want the 1950s back, were life seemed some how simple. So we mourn, too, like Jeremiah.
And we see what might be signs of revival, like what started down in Lakeland, Florida. It was suppose to be a move of G-d that had begun in Toronto, Canada. People flocked to the church services looking for a “blessing,” looking for the Spirit of G-d to fall afresh up them–like the praise song goes. People yearn for something from G-d. We want to somehow “feel” His presence.
There are movements afoot that capitalize upon this yearning, too. They seek to build a peaceful kingdom here on Earth. If we just do this or that or have love and tolerance then. . . Then what? If we are honest with ourselves we can look at these movements and see the fallacies within them. On the surface they appear to promote a Christian revival. At the least, they promote a “modern” Gospel with a “modern” Messiah. Hummmmm. A New Age Gospel for a New Age. If we could all just get over the exclusivity of the old notion of one savior, one Christ, they tell us. We need to broaden our minds, our thinking. This is a darkness that engulfs the world today. Perhaps this is the mourning we feel. Naivety passes. We face a world of chaos as spoken of in the Book of Revelation. We are not building a new and peaceful world. We are seeing the first stages of chaos and the coming of G-d’s wrath that will cleanse the world in order for Y’shuaJesus to come and rule as Lord and King over a Kingdom that He will build.
We need to see clearly, despite the darkness that engulfs our tiny world, which is the limitations of our perspective. Y’shuaJesus, the Light of the World, shines brightly upon our hearts as He chooses.
There is for the people of G-d, to the people whom G-d has chosen and written their names in the Book of Life, continual renewal, a refreshing in and by the Holy Spirit of G-d. We don’t go to church to find it. This revival isn’t something for which we can pray. It is something that G-d, our Heavenly Father, drops upon us at His pleasure. This is the Springtime in our relationship with our Lord, when we feel anew His refreshing breath, His Spirit falling upon us. . .
Springtime for the Heart by Wil Robinson
We are renewed in Praise. We acknowledge acts of kindness, wisdom, and truth previously unseen. We acknowledge that even during those troubling times our Lord has been right beside us, urging us onward. Have we not heard the angels singing “Onward Christian Soldiers. . .” Praise is the acknowledgement of what G-d has done, is doing, and is going to do.
We are renewed in Worship. We find a deep and utter sense of who our Heavenly Father is, and Y’shuaJesus, and The Holy Spirit. We find ourselves and our place in our Lord. We worship for Who He is.
We are renewed in our Gratitude and Thankfulness. We begin to understand, to see through the vale that has distorted our vision. The troubled pieces of our lives seem less disjointed, less terrible, more just stepping stones to get us into a place in which we are engulfed by HIS PRESENCE.
We are renewed in our Purpose and our Mission. We begin to sort out where in Messiah we are at the moment. We begin to recognize where we are going, where He is taking us.
We are renewed in Holy Fear, the Awe of G-d Almighty. Our Father invites us into His house, through His library, and on to His back porch. He shows us His backyard. The Lord Y’shuaJesus comes to sit next to us while we are in our own home. We are speechless. There is nothing we can say. We just experience Him. We are lifted up by the Holy Spirit and carried upward, beyond the Earth and its woes, toward Heaven, toward the Throne of the Living G-d. We begin, so slowly, to understand. We gain some perspective. Revival is the springtime of our Lord that invades our heart and makes us a little more whole.
According to the Christian News Network, “Rob Bell, author of the best-selling and controversial book Love Wins, which challenges the Christian teaching of Hell, came out in support of homosexual marriage on Sunday and called “narrow” Christians to repentance.
“According to reports, Bell was speaking at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and delivered a message based on his new book What We Talk About When We Talk About God.
“I think we are witnessing the death of a particular subculture that doesn’t work,” he asserted. “I think there is a very narrow, politically intertwined, culturally ghettoized, evangelical subculture that was told ‘we’re gonna change the thing’ and they haven’t. And they actually have turned away lots of people.”
“And I think that when you’re in a part of a subculture that is dying, you make a lot more noise because it’s very painful. You sort of die or you adapt,” Bell continued. “And if you adapt, it means you have to come face to face with some of the ways we’ve talked about God, which don’t actually shape people into more loving, compassionate people. And we have supported policies and ways of viewing the world that are actually destructive. And we’ve done it in the name of God and we need to repent.”
And to this I have to say, “Yes, okay, so I am a narrow-minded member of a culturally ghettoized evangelical subculture.” But, guess what? Many are called to holiness, to be born again into the Kingdom of Y’shuaJesus, but few are chosen. And I, according to my faith, am chosen. I am chosen according to the Promise of The Father, The Son, The Spirit. I Am Chosen. Oh, and as for repentance. Well, perhaps Mr. Bell will come to repentance for being deceived, and for deceiving. May G-d bring Mr. Bell to his knees.
Holiday time is a busy time. Around here, its constantly on the go. It’s a time, in my household at least, in which we work hard preparing for the holiday, barely enjoy it, then abruptly disassemble and rearrange the home to get back to normal. It’s exhausting–for me, anyway. This holiday was special, though. One of my kids passed his driver license test (94 out of a 100, with the average being 67–not too shabby, huh!) and the other received her permit to learn to drive. So now one kid is spreading restless wings, and finding freedom to roam, while the other is learning to fly, in my pickup truck accompanied by me.
And sports, too, dominated the holidays. Lots of practices and games for each of the kids. Both my wife and I try to attend each game and match. On a couple of occasions it meant one of us at a wrestling match, the other at a basketball game. Both kids are doing well, enjoying their teams and competitions. The school basketball teams, girls and boys, have done well. Saturday afternoon the girls won against Mt. Paran Christian 72-21. The varsity wrestling team took third in its last tournament. In individual tournaments, my boy has taken second and third, and at a “take down” tournament, he took first overall, with the second-highest number of take downs in the tournament’s history. My daughter finished up softball season just before the holidays with a letter and an award for most improved. It was her first year playing softball. No she’ll get her letter”mans” jacket to proudly display her letter.
Global Warming (Photo credit: mirjoran)
The weather has been warm and wet on and off for the last month. Over the weekend the temperature hit 76F (about 24C) under cloudy skies. It’s different from the year, not too many ago, in which we received five inches of snow. But before one says, “Ahah! Global Warming is Real (opps, it’s called Climate Change now),” one must realized there was a spring in 1973 while I was at Fort Benning, GA, it snowed enough to stop all traffic. And Fort Benning is much farther south in Georgia than we currently live. Okay, so we are getting variations in the climate from decade to decade. Anyway, it’s been nice and the trees, bushes, even dormant flowers, seem to enjoy all the rain. We were able to clear the dropped leaves–tons of ’em–before the rains could make them soggy, which will help during the spring clean up.
[ASIDE: I didn’t intend to write this like one of those family letters often sent during the Christmas Season; it just came out that way.]
So as for me, I’m feeling like I need to once again withdraw from people and books and radios and televisions and most of everything except the Word of G-d and His presence. It’s sort of a nagging feeling that says, “stop paying attention to all the controversies and disagreements and stuff going on in the world. Rest in the Lord, being filled by His Spirit. So be it. But at the same time I’m inclined to write. I have some ideas, inspiration maybe, for a new direction for JonahzSong, too.
I’m running of reserve battery on my computer, so will wrap it up for now.
So this is the time of year in which many make resolutions. Here’s a repost written by David Wilkerson. It reminds me that a New Year is a New Slate and a New Time for Belief, Faith, and Following the Lord anew. Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon you and yours throughout this New Year.
THE SIN THAT MAKES GOD CRY
Let me give it to you straight—no beating around the bush and no soft-pedaling. The sin that makes God cry is being committed daily, not by pagan workers of iniquity but by multitudes of Christians—the sin of doubting God’s love for His children.
Do you think it makes God sound too human and vulnerable to say that He cries? Then ask yourself how a God of love could not cry when His own people doubt His very nature. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, and according to the book of John He wept when those closest to Him doubted His love and concern. That was God incarnate at the tomb of Lazarus, crying over friends who failed to recognize who He was.
Time and time again Christ’s dearest associates on this earth doubted His love for them. Think of the disciples in a storm-tossed boat that was taking on water. Jesus was in the stern of the boat, sound asleep. Fearing for their lives, His followers shook Him awake and then accused Him of outright unconcern. “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38). How their accusation must have grieved the Lord! That was God Almighty in their boat! How could He not care? But whenever men take their eyes off the Lord and concentrate instead on their circumstances, doubt always takes over. Jesus was astounded! “How can you be afraid when I am with you? How can you question My love and care?”
Christians today grieve the Lord in this matter even more. Our unbelief is a greater affront to Him than the unbelief of Mary, Martha, and all the disciples, for our sin is committed against greater light. We stand on a higher mountain and see more than they could ever see. We have a completed Bible with a full and detailed record of God’s trustworthiness. We have the written testimonies of almost twenty centuries of Christians, generation after generation of godly fathers who have passed down to us unshakable proofs of God’s love. And we have countless personal experiences that testify to God’s tender love and affection for us.
Let us look for His exceeding mercy and love, admit the sinfulness of our unbelief, and recognize who He is!
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Brandy is our first dog. She’s a “sweetheart,” as most describe her, and is now nearly nine years old. We got her as a puppy from a group who rescues dogs. She’s a mixed breed: Golden Retriever and Shetland Sheepdog. At the same time we got Brandy, we got a kitten that is named Tabby. They’ve been raised together, but give each other plenty of room. Tabby hisses at Brandy once and a while, which scares Brandy. A year ago we picked up another rescued dog, Sina (pronounced SHE-NAH). Now Sina doesn’t give into Tabby at all, and from day one, Tabby gives Sina plenty of room. Hum. Guess Tabby got what was coming to her. Now, occasionally, Sina chases her around. Sina doesn’t hurt Tabby, just likes to sniff at her. Sina seems to understand Tabby is part of the household. Though they’re still not buddies, exactly.
Sina is a good hunter, and eats squirrels and rabbits she finds out back. She’ll see a rabbit on the other side of the fence, and has not problem heading over it to chase it. Brandy, on the other hand, chases squirrels and rabbits but doesn’t have a clue what to do with them. One day she chased one around the yard and it finally got stuck trying to get under the corral fence. Brandy just stood there looking at the poor thing until I came out to help it get away. Sina would have eaten it without a sidewards glance.
Brandy likes to talk tough, though. One day, barking up a storm after seeing something in the back, I let her out just to shut her up. She flew down the stairs then out through the garden to the fence that runs along a creek. It wasn’t two minutes and she was back at the door whining to get in. I opened the door and Brandy sulked in, tail between her legs, and went into hiding. I think she barked at a coyote hunting the creek.
This morning when I came into the kitchen, Brandy and Sina lay on a rug together. Tabby lay under a dining table about five feet away. They had a truce going, I suppose. What popped into my head was that there is a time coming when the lion lays with the lamb. To me it means there’s no longer conflict. And I’m just a little tired of conflict. It’s in all the soap opera-style television shows, especially the “reality” shows. And the traffic, whew! People cutting people off, and I’ve mentioned how frustrated and irritated I get, and how upset I am with myself when I participate myself. I should somehow be better than all that.
There’s the crime that seems so rampant in our “modern” society. It means we have built up our local sheriff to be a military operation ready for combat.
Israel Intifada 1986-87 photo by Wil Robinson
Which brings me to real combat, real conflict. The Earth is at war. World War III. It seems everyone is against someone. And being an American, if feels like every one is against the United States. Jealousy? I really think so. But it’s not just us. At one time there were 80 or so wars going on in different places around the globe. Most were not reported on in the world media: too small. For instance, While I was in Darjeeling a number of years ago the Gurkha “patriots” were fighting against India for their own place in the world. On the opposite border of India, in Kashmir, there were constant clashes with the Indian Army. And India and Pakistan have been at war seemingly forever. When lines were drawn by colonial powers, like the British, they lumped a lot of cats and dogs together, so to speak.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Romans 8:19-21
And so we groan, too, to be set free. And through Lord Y’shuaJesus, Messiah, we have been spiritually set free and in time shall be physically free from the conflict of this world. Until then we Praise the Name of Y’shuaJesus, and say “Maranatha! Come, Lord, Come!”
The Ebola epidemic is horrifying. It has people throughout the world at near panic. So, this all needs to be put into some sort of perspective. Basically, ebola is currently an epidemic ongoing in parts of West Africa, with cases now appeared in the United States as well as Spain. The outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013 then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. It spread later to both Senegal and Nigeria, but is now contained in those two countries and is no longer a threat. So, in ten months, around 4,000 known deaths have occurred with double that number of cases. Those are the official number; it is thought to be at least double that number. In contrast, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), various “cancers figure among the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for 8.2 million deaths in 2012.”
Jonah’s Song 