Model Prayer

Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:9-13. (HCSB version)

The other day I began to pray The Prayer, and stopped after the first two words: “Our Father.” The LORD is the Master of the Universe. The LORD is G-d. The LORD is One. And The LORD is Father to His chosen. How awesome is this knowledge. How incredible to be a child of the Most High King. Wow! Echoing King David, this knowledge is too wonderful for me. This awesome moment still lingers, warming my heart.

Yet I’ve considered before the concept of G-d as our Father. In the early 1980s I was blessed to attend Calvary Chapel Irvine, then pastored by Chuck Smith. I was in Irvine for a two-week electronics course, and able to attend during the week as well as on Sunday. Pastor Smith spoke on various aspects of The Lord’s Prayer. I don’t recall all that he taught.

And there are books on this subject, too, I discovered. I perused one written by a Rabbi. He wrote about אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ (Avinu Malkeinu), which is translated Our Father, Our King. It is a prayer recited on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur during services. It is said to be the oldest and most moving of the prayers. It is taken from Isaiah 63:16, Our Father, and Isaiah 33:22, Our King.

Speaking of Rosh Hashanah, it begins tomorrow (Sunday Sep. 13, 2015) at sundown. It begins ten days of repentance that concludes with Yom Kippur. The traditional blessing for this period of time is: “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”

Lord Bless y’all. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

Freedom’s Just Another Word. . .

Kris Kristofferson wrote and performed “Me and Bobby McGee.” I remember Janis Joplin’s beautiful, gritty voice singing the song, and especially the line “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” If you look up the lyrics, a lot of people have commented their understanding of the song, and of this particular verse. A number of people commented that total freedom means having no material goods that one can lose, of have taken. “True freedom comes from having nothing left to lose. As long as we have something to lose, our actions are constrained by our need to protect it. A more modern, anti-consumerism expression of this would be ‘Our things own us,’ ” wrote one person. I’m sure that a measure of freedom can be gained by putting aside material goods, by simply having nothing. But can we simply say that a homeless person is truly free? I equate freedom with independence, with the ability to determine one’s own future, having one’s own sovereignty. Freedom is also the ability to recognize the freedom of others, and to enter into an interdependence with other free persons. I am not free if I am dependent upon people or people governing. I am also not free if I have dependents, people depending upon me taking care of them because they are unwilling to care for themselves.

But for the people of Israel, having been in Egypt nearly four-hundred years, freedom was being out of the bondage to the Egyptian rulers. It seems to me that G-d had other ideas what freedom is for them—and is for us today. G-d allowed a band of brothers, along with their aging father, to live quite nicely in Egypt for a time. As the years became decades, as rulers changed, as the band of brothers grow into a small nation of people, they became a threat to Egypt. Also, Egypt didn’t know the G-d of the Hebrews, the sons and daughters of Israel. Bene Yisrael. Egypt became ‘master’ to the the people of Israel in order to contain them.

So G-d, Who took a band of squabbling brothers into Egypt in the first place, Who then turned them into a nation, wanted to be their only Master. As Y’shuaJesus taught, one can not have two masters. G-d called Moses out of his own exile to lead the people out out of Egypt. G-d would use Moses to led what by then had become a great nation out of Egypt so that G-d’s people could have one Master, the Master of the Universe, the Creator.

When Israel came out of Egypt. . .

Read Psalm 114. It can be seen as the “deliverance of Israel,” as it is titled in my online Bible. It can also be seen as much more. This Psalm describes. . .

“. . .the sea “fleeing,” the Jordan River “retreating,” and the mountains and hills “dancing” in the presence of God. According to the Radak, these images refer to the events of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the splitting of the Jordan River, and Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai). The Sea of Reeds (Yam Suf) split to allow Bene Yisrael to escape from the pursuing Egyptian army (Shemot, chapter 14), and the Jordan River split when Bene Yisrael entered the Land of Israel under the leadership of Yehoshua (Yehoshua, chapter 4). At Matan Torah, Mount Sinai as well as the surrounding hills trembled as the divine presence descended upon the mountain.

“This Psalm declares (verse 2) that when Bene Yisrael earned their freedom from bondage and left Egypt, they became God’s “sacred nation” (“Hayeta Yehuda Le’kodsho”) and His “governed people” (“Yisrael Mamshelotav”). The event of the Exodus involved much more than simply an oppressed nation earning its freedom; it meant the transformation of Am Yisrael into God’s special nation, with all the privileges and responsibilities that this entails. The miraculous events that followed – such as the splitting of the sea and the Jordan River, and the Revelation at Sinai – demonstrate the unique status as Am Yisrael, that their freedom from bondage was intended not merely for the sake of personal liberty, but rather to allow them to become the loyal subjects of the Almighty.” —Daily Tehillim

As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

“We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered Him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus responded, “ I assure you:Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free

John 8:30-36 tells us the lack of freedom is more than attachment to material things; it is bondage to sin, which enslaves ones heart. We must be redeemed, says Y’shuaJesus, from our current bondage,and we must continue in Y’shuaJesus’s Word. Y’shuaJesus here speaks in the divine voice, representing the Father, to us on Earth. The Word we are to remain in, the Word that makes us Free, is Y’shuaJesus, the Word of G-d. And the Word is the Word spoken to us through Moses and the Prophets, and we’ve come to accept G-d’s Word spoken to us through His Apostles. It is the whole Word of G-d, we are told by Y’shuaJesus, in which we are to continue. The Bible contains the divine thoughts and words of our Lord, our G-d. Continue in Him, in His Word. Be free.

Is G-d with Us?

Attending Sunday School as a child, I must have been taught a lot of Bible stories. I’m sure they were taught simply, that as a child I could begin to understand some simple Biblical principles. No doubt the important stories were connected the the Church year; that’s the holidays and celebrations that the Church celebrates during the year. Certainly I learned of Y’shuaJesus’s birth during the time of year most call Christmas, December 25th. Likewise, as Easter approached I must have been taught Y’shuaJesus’s death and resurrection.

I don’t remember. I don’t remember the specific lessons, though some how I know that I learned some of the Bible stories. And I do remember that at some point in my earliest years I learned “Thou Shalt Not.” I learned a lot about what I was not suppose to do; sadly, I don’t remember learning just what I was suppose to do.

Also, there were no alter calls, like some churches; the closest thing in my church was being called to come forward for communion. My church didn’t do the “born again” thing. I think it was just assumed that because as babies we were baptized we were right with G-d. I attended classes during my sixth-grade years that prepared me for “confirmation;” my baptism was confirmed to have taken, I guess. Someone said that confirmation was the church’s way of baptizing in the Spirit.

It wasn’t until eighth grade that I learned about alter calls. I was a cadet at Brown Military Academy, Glendora, California. That was one of the best years of my youth. I remember Mr. Kitchen and Mr. “C.” The school wasn’t a Christian school, as such, but we had a few hours of religion each week as part of our studies. It was very different from Sunday School. We studied from the Gospels and from the writings of Paul. We actually read and discussed the Bible.

One weekend, I, along with most of my class, went with Mr. Kitchen to a “youth retreat.” I remember volunteering for latrine duty for the weekend: I, along with a couple others, cleaned the bathrooms. We had several lively praise and worship sessions, classes, and did some fun outdoor activities. Late Sunday morning, during the last church service of the weekend came the alter call. I can see in my mind’s eye the church and the other kids. At the alter the pastor asked us to bow our heads in prayer. He prayed. He spoke to us about accepting Jesus into our lives. He asked for a show of hands of those who would like to give their lives to Jesus. I remember peaking out to my left at hands going up. Then he asked that we all stand. He asked for those who’d raised their hands to come forward. At the alter camp staff had gathered. Boys began to move forward to the alter.

Did I raise my hand? I don’t know. Did I walk forward to the alter? No, I did not. I remember how I felt within. I remember the desires—to raise my hand, to go forward to the alter. I remember the struggle, too, within. And I think I was still thinking about to go forward when church was dismissed; my opportunity now gone. Hesitation. Unable to decide. Hallmarks of a life to come.

This one event, this one experience, I’ve made into a pivotal life-changer. Many times, usually as a result of my own hesitation, my own inability to do what I feel within to do, my abandonment of my will to that of others, I think back and say to myself, “If I’d just gone forward, maybe things would be different.” If I’d had the courage, then, to stand up, to run, not walk, to that alter, it may have set a precedent in my life of living for G-d, and His promptings within me, rather than just living, going along.

As I look back at that failure at camp, and the many failures in the fifty-four years since—despite everything—I see evidence of G-d’s presence in my life, His protective hand and His merciful ways.

All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? Exodus 17:1-2

“They began to question whether God was with them or not,” wrote Matthew Henry in his commentary. “This is called their ‘tempting God,’ which signifies distrust of him after they had received such proofs of his power and goodness.”

I still have the Bible given to me at Brown Military Academy. In the front of the Bible I’d written Romans 8:36-38. In the midst of my poor choices over that last half decade, the disasters, struggles, trials, I didn’t know that the LORD was with me. He was present. He is present. We hear a lot that Y’shuaJesus experienced in his sojourn upon Earth all that we experience so that He can “understand” us. Y’shuaJesus continues to experience everything we experience, for He is with us. His Spirit has been in the world and His Spirit has acted in the world for centuries. As His Spirit begins to recede from the Earth, His presence will be only in us, His Chosen, His People. We will shine like flames in darkness, for the world will fall into spiritual darkness.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39

I noted the passage from Romans as a reminder, one that I failed to remember. But I’m not sure I really understood it anyway. The next time the world feels as though it is collapsing around me, will I remember G-d is with me? I pray so. I pray you, too, despite all to the contrary, you remember G-d is with us.

Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.*”

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Daniel 3:8-25 (*emphasis added)

G-d is with us. G-d can save us. And here is a beautiful faith: “But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Honor Mom

Honoring parents is so much more that obedience. While that may be a part of honor, it is not all. To honor a person is to respect him or her. It is also to remember, and to hold dear.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12

My mother’s birthday is this month. I shared these things on facebook with my family. Many of them commented on their own remembrance of these products. A cousin in Wales still uses HP. A Welsh-Canadian, turned American, still uses Lyle’s and Bird’s and HP.

While these are products, they are part of Hearth Memories. Those are the memories we all share of being in the kitchen while the cooking’s done, of setting the table, of carrying the food out, and of gathering together to eat. They become a part of who we are as humans.

These are reminders, too, of things I’ve learned from my Mom: like G-d works in mysterious ways; like “It turned out nice again.”

Here are three things I remember, and this is my way of honoring the memory of my Mother.

HP is for steaks, but as i don’t/ won’t eat meat, it’s okay on veggies once and awhile. I remember trying to trick Mom by putting A-1 sauce in an empty HP bottle.

i really liked Bird’s custard. Found some in a store, but haven’t tried to make it yet; i’m sure it wouldn’t taste like Mom’s.

Did you know Golden Syrup was originally tapped from palm trees in Sri Lanka. i think it’s just sugar syrup now, though. i still have fond memories of Mom putting it on top a thin slice of toast.

And, no, not everyone knows who their parents are. Sad. Many children are abandoned or abused by their parents, and the parents make no effort to reconcile. Sad. Not all things that parents do are right. And some things are very bad, even if they the parents do mostly good. Yet we are called to honor our parents nonetheless. This can be a hard thing. I feel badly about that. I don’t know how that can be done. But the Lord knows and can work His way within those who seek Him.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Creed and Cross

Growing up attending an Episcopal Church (Anglican Church), I remember bits and pieces of the various liturgies, among them both the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed. Both creeds have been around since the 4th Century. And, no, I wasn’t there when they were first used, though my teenage daughter asked me once if I played with dinosaurs when I was little and didn’t mean toy ones, either. She said she was only kidding. But what exactly is a creed, and why is it important?

A creed is a confession, a symbol, or statement of faith. It is something that states or displays the shared beliefs of a particular group of people. Creeds are summaries, expressing only core elements that are essential to a group of people. Creeds are not comprehensive. The Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed are only two such statements of faith, summaries of core beliefs. Some churches use the four spiritual laws as a form of creed. These are often stated as: 1) God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life; 2) Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for his life; 3) Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life; and 4) We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.

The Cross is a form of Creed, too; it is a symbol of both the death of Y’shuaJesus and the life that we are offered through His death and subsequent resurrection. The image at the right is a Celtic Cross, and is seen throughout Wales. In a cemetery in Wales, a large Celtic Cross stands at the head of my family’s plot, and looks much like that one. I’ve written previously about the giant aluminum crosses along many interstate highways in America. The cross also marks most of the grave markers at the cemetery in Normandy where buried are soldiers who died on the “D-Day” invasion to liberate Europe.

Professions of faith, of belief. Since the 4th Century the Nicene Creed has summed up the faith that Christians must have to be considered Christian. The Cross is a visible symbol of that belief. After a time, as I’ve mentioned before in other posts, it is good for us to go back to the place where we began in Y’shuaJesus. We need, on occasion, to take a look at the essentials, the core elements, and see if we can say AMEN! to each and every element. We must not, in our great spiritual holy walk, abandon the core believes, trampling them beneath non-essentials that distract us from the view of Golgotha, the view of Christ died, and the Empty Tomb, Christ Raised, and the sight of Y’shuaJesus ascending into the clouds. Messiah. Lord. Y’shuaJesus. He Died; He Lives. And He will come again. MARANATHA! Come, Lord! AMEN!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

A Life’s Mission

Those CNN stories of women who “died” and “returned” all seemed to have the idea of a life mission, whether it was a commitment to find one or continue one. So I was thinking. Many years ago, a member of the church group in which I ministered said he was waiting for a sign to begin his ministry, his mission. I think I was a bit harsh, not as pastoral as I’d once been, when I suggested that the Bible provided the all that we needed to hop to it, to go. I recall saying that he was like a pilot awaiting landing instructions from a small field that had no particular flight control center but relied upon written protocol. This fellow was awaiting a word, yet Y’shuaJesus, I’d said, already provided the word:

Then He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.

Mark 16:15

As I write this, I think about how I’d responded in a way that wasn’t characteristic of me. I described it as a bit harsh, not as pastoral. . . There are time when I revert to a pastoral way with people. But just as often I find myself just speaking out what I find in me to say. Things change. Our calling doesn’t but perhaps what changes is the way we approach our calling, or how we perform.

This subtle change is exemplified a friend who ministered in a church that utilized the five-fold ministry of Apostle, Pastor, Prophet, Evangelist, and Teacher–an Apostolic Church similar to the one founded during or after the Welsh Revival in 1904-05, in Pen-y-groes, Wales. My friend had served in a position of Prophet, as it suited his personality. But the Apostle of the church was reassigning him to a pastoral ministry, which my friend found quite a challenge. My friend, however, agreed that it was necessary for his Christian growth, and good for the Church as well. The difference, I believe was in the way in which he was to relate to those to whom he was called to minister. He wasn’t just speaking the word of G-d, as when he was a prophet. Now my friend would speak to word, yes, but often in a different manner, staying around to pick up the pieces. He was also called, now, to comfort people going though hard times, struggling to stay afloat amid life’s drama.

Here’s the thing, I’m not so sure we have one specific destined task that we’re to complete in our sojourn upon Earth. We are all strangers in a strange land. We all relate to one another in some way. Perhaps our mission is very broad: to relate to each other in a righteous, Messiah-centered manner. At times this may mean we are to be good listener and ask appropriate questions that allow the other person to find his or her direction to Y’shuaJesus. There are other times I know that we are to be like a stone that sharpens a knife by grinding off rough edges.

Perhaps, then, our “mission” is our relationship to Messiah extended into our relationships with those around us–each day, every day.

Lord lead us into Your Truth. Lord extend Yourself through us. Lord let us lead others to You. AMEN.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine . . .

Reconciled

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.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

A Woodpecker, Two Cats, and Two Dogs

This weekend, while sitting in the back yard, I saw a woodpecker hunting for food along the trunk of a pine tree. His red head, a sharp contrast to his black body, moved back and forth wildly as he plunges his beak over and over into the bark of the pine. Then he’d move to another spot and repeat the process. His hunt for food went on and on until perhaps he noticed the bird feeder hanging near the tree. He hopped over to it, and began pecking for his food in the holes along the tube-shaped feeder.

While his pecking action served him well in the pine, and probably fed him seed at the feeder, it also caused seed to fly all over as he forced his beak into the soft seed. If other birds had witnessed this, and could think it, they’d have thought, “how vulgar is that fellow.”

Now the cats. We have two of them. The first, Tabby, was about six weeks old when we took her in. She’d been abandoned. We also took in a puppy, Brandy, at the same time. These two were raised together. Tabby is part Maine coon, and makes quite a scene when we take her into the veterinarian’s office. People love her, but always point out how big she is. She’s huge. . . for a cat. Tabby also has an interesting habit of expressing herself in what is nearly a bark, or as close as she can come. She’s been around Brandy nearly eight years now, and perhaps considers herself more dog than cat.

Two years ago, we took in a German shepherd/husky mix, Sina. While she “talks” as though she were giving a warbled whine, she also will occasionally bark. This is the nature of the husky that is within her.

The three of them are funny when the doorbell rings. The two dogs head for the door, while Tabby makes a straight run for the downstairs family room. She’s decided she’s big, but no match for however is at the door.

A month or so ago, we took in another given-up cat. Violet is about two years old and her previous caretaker couldn’t care for her any longer. Violet is small, and walks around the house carefully. She also has a very cat-like meow. She doesn’t bark like Tabby.

The woodpecker and Violet both act according to their true natures. A woodpecker is meant to peak at trees. Taken out of its environment, to the feeder, it continues to peak as if it were in a tree. Its his nature. Violet, too, speaks with a voice of a cat. “Meow,” she cries. Tabby is different. She was so young, and not long around other cats, that she’s adopted the strange habit of speaking in an bark. Now Sina is really interesting. The longer she’s been around Brandy, the more often she will bark rather than “talk” like a husky.

The Apostle Paul spoke of the nature that we have within us.

. . .put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus. He wrote to a people who’d not been raised in Jewish tradition and custom. They had formally been Gentiles, heathens, pagans. They were like the woodpecker and the cat Violet. The Ephesians had previously had a particular nature, an old self as Paul pointed out. This was to be a former life, something in the past, and to be put aside. They were encouraged to put on the new self that is created in the likeness of G-d. Tabby, on the other hand, grew up around an animal of a different nature. She accepted that barking, not soft meowing, was to be followed. Sina shows me that even in a short time she is able to adopt new behavior when around a different breed of dog.

The People of G-d come into the Biblical tradition in one of two ways. Either they are born into it, as Jews, or they are adopted into it, as Gentile Believers. For the Jew, it is only a matter of believing that Y’shuaJesus is Messiah that has come, and will come again. The Jewish people were awaiting a conquering Messiah when Y’shua came, died, and rose to Heaven. The Jewish people still await that conqueror. For the Jew to be complete, the Jew must recognize the dual role of Messiah: the suffering servant, Who lived, died, rose; and the conquering Messiah Who will come back to Earth to cleanse the wicked and to rule with justice. Their eyes and heart will be toward Y’shuaJesus as Messiah.

The Gentiles came to understand and find salvation in a Messiah who came to suffer and pay the bond that must be paid to come reconcile themselves with G-d. Formally Gentiles, they must also come to realize that they are now, as has been said, grafted into a domesticated tree. They are not the tree, but grafted branches among the natural branches, the Jewish Believers in Messiah Y’shuaJesus. As such, formally Gentile, Believers come to acknowledge Messiah Y’shua as Lord and Savior and coming King, putting off their former selves and practices of the heathen world.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

You are Not Allowed to Do That!

They were all eyes and ears. They monitored the doings of the people about them. They cast angry looks toward anyone who might dare to commit an infraction, or what they perceived to be wrong. They are self-appointed critics. The speak out at any opportunity, pointing out the sins of those they encounter, those they choose to hate. They are Accusers.

They are the liberals in America pointing fingers at people for doing what is, to the liberal, wrong, which is just about everything a liberal doesn’t like. They are conservatives pointing equally judgmental fingers at anyone whom they don’t approve. Some are worse than others. All have some basis they think gives them the right, the mandate, to be an accuser.

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids–blind, lame, and paralyzed [waiting for the moving of the water;] [for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.] One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.“

John 5:1-10 (emphasis added)

Now here’s the thing: “It is not lawful. . .” What they are saying is, “It’s not me telling you that you that you are not allowed to do that, it is (insert some reference here)!”

Standing upon some ruling, some law, they point there fingers saying, “I don’t judge, but the law says what you are doing is unlawful.” How many times have I heard some Christian say that he doesn’t judge people but the Word of G-d does? Too many. And yet who am I to say that he wasn’t appointed, like Jonah or Elijah, or whomever else, to point out the wrongs he is shown by Almighty G-d Himself?

How do we respond to accusations of wrong doing? To the credit of the newly healed man in the Gospel of John, he didn’t say “@$#%&$ Off!” Rather, he, according to Matthew Henry, wanted to give credit and glory to the One Who healed him, though didn’t know the man’s Name. He said, “He made me whole.” Eventually, the healed man learned the Name of the One who’d healed him, and told the Jews. Matthew Henry points out that while done with a mind to give glory to Y’shuaJesus, was like “throwing pearls before swine.”

Some points come to mind while reading the Word this morning, and reflecting upon it. One I led with, that too many people are self-appointed judges, regardless whether or not they are liberals or conservatives, or Chistians. Worse, I’m right there along with them. I have a very bad habit of pointing out the driving faults of most every one on the road, especially when my kids are in the truck with me. My excuse is that I want them to notice the wrongs so that they’ll know to do right. And I certainly get there attention when my hand goes to the horn, and it blasts away at some unwary offender. Yet, I’m just acting in the self-appointed role of accuser. Just like too many other people in this angry, volatile, ready-to-explode country, world.

But there is a more important point, easily overlooked when I get off on to a tangent. This newly healed man said, “He that made me whole. . .” told me what to do.

Thank You, Y’shuaJesus, for making us all whole in You. May we be bold and stand firm in You when accused of wrongs. For this newly healed man obeyed the One who made him whole. He stood, picked up his bed, and carried it away. In essence, his reply to those who accused him was, “I do not do it in contempt of the law and the sabbath, but I am obeying a greater law than the one you cite, for the One who healed me is greater than those laws.” (paraphrased from Matthew Henry’s Commentary) This man obeyed G-d.

Y’shua was accused of breaking the law, too. Many times. On several occasions he referred to scripture to support his action. He pointed out David’s eating of the showbread, of the priests’ slaying the sacrifices, and of the people’s watering their cattle on the sabbath day. Eventually, when accused of healing this man on the sabbath, Y’shuaJesus goes higher and alleges the example of His Father and His divine authority.

Another point: Y’shuaJesus was a radical. Why not just come back another day. That man had been there 38 years, so another day wouldn’t hurt. Then Y’shuaJesus wouldn’t have caused this man to “break the law” and carry his mat. Y’shuaJesus wouldn’t have broken the law, either. Well, why did Y’shuaJesus heal the man on the sabbath?

The other day I heard someone on the radio speak of the gentleness and kindness of Jesus. This authority on Jesus said Jesus wasn’t a zealot. I sorta figured he meant that Jesus just walked around Israel doing nice things for people, patting the heads of children, talking to outcasts, eating with sinners. Okay, so sure, Y’shuaJesus did those things. But that just isn’t ALL of the things Y’shuaJesus did. And to imply that it was, is to undermine the Word of G-d. It borders on deception. It also marks a man as not truly knowing Y’shuaJesus.

Maybe the Lord was just plain tired of the self-righteousness of a stubborn people who prized the “Law” over the people for whom the Law was given. Perhaps Y’shuaJesus wanted to stir up some trouble to make a point. I’m sure it got the attention of more than one person when He went into the Temple, in an act of fury, and drove out sellers and money changers. This gentle Jesus was also the One Who called Pharisees white-washed, empty tombs, vipers. Hum. Not so very gentle. Y’shuaJesus was a very dangerous man, one that the religious establishment knew would cause them distress, one that would undermine the all they’d done to get along with the Roman rulers. Y’shuaJesus was a rebel.

Y’shuaJesus didn’t come down from His throne to bring a temporary, carnal peace. He came to die violently for a true Peace that is eternal, offered to all. Well, to all as long as they believe that Y’shuaJesus is Lord and Savior. He said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. . .” Hummmmmmm. That’s “hate” speech, isn’t it? I mean, He excluded a lot of people who follow the universalist religious views. And humanist who believe humanity is god, as well as New Agers. Well, let’s not go there, shall we.

The One Who healed me made me whole. Thank G-d. Blessed is the Name of the Lord Y’shuaJesus.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon you and yours today and tomorrow, as we long for His coming. . .

Dollywood and Mountain Peace

The West Fork of the Little Pigeon River in Pi... — The West Fork of the Little Pigeon River in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last week, all week, we spent in Pigeon Forge and Gaitlinburg, Tennessee. Six of us went there, my wife, our two kids, and two of their friends. We rented a cabin, rather than stay in a hotel. We cooked breakfast, but ate out in the evenings. Lots of choices of places to eat, too. Two days we spent at Dollywood Park, on rides and taking in some shows. While walking around, lots of country and folk bands played. The weather was warm, but not overly humid, and it didn’t rain, like it did the last time we visited. We took time to explore tourist shops in Gaitlinburg.

The thing about the entire area is that people, while mostly tourists coming for the entertainment as well as visits to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, were a model of behavior. Lots of people. Lots of respect for each other, too. It wasn’t too crowded, in comparison with Memorial Day weekend, but there were still a lot of people. This respect, for lack of a better word, was especially noticeable while driving: people maintained a safe driving distance, didn’t drive too much over the speed limit, and made way for others to enter their lanes of travel when needed.

The experience left me relaxed. And one the way back we stopped at a trail head that crossed a river. We didn’t walk far, but played on large boulders that sat like islands clustered together in the river. We also stopped for some photo opportunities at Newfound Gap, that is a ridge along which the Tennessee and North Carolina boundary runs.

Yes, the time there left us relaxed, feeling good.

That changed as soon as we entered the Atlanta metro area. The rush of traffic pressed against us. The tension stripped the beneficial peace we’d found in the Smokey Mountains. We were home. Which of course makes me thing about why exactly do we remain in such a place such as this, in which we live. We ended up farther from my wife’s office than she’d originally thought possible, when she accepted a transfer to Atlanta. I’d hoped, of course, to live even farther away. But at the time we moved here, we were on the rural edge, just beyond the metro growth ring around Atlanta. That ring expanded over the last few years to encompass our home.

What we’ve done to cope is build a garden between our home and the creek that runs behind us. We’ve mixed hundreds of yards of top soil into the red clay, making it possible to grow a wide variety of edible and medicinal plants and flowers and roses and trees. We’ve expanded and expanded the garden to make a small enclave that promotes some feeling of serenity despite the occasional noise from the office buildings across the creek–office buildings that have morphed into small, light industry with associated noises even at the early hours of the morning.

It’s easier to find peace beside a river, in the mountains. But peace isn’t external. Peace is internal. And, yes, true and lasting peace comes from knowing the Lord Y’shauJesus as Lord and Savior. Yet, in this world, we must find some worldly peace, too. Our bodies need it. And if I can find some measure of peace amid the rancor stressed out people rushing to make a living, then that is a good thing. Shalom!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine . . .