With all the insanity going on recently, I received some encouragement from some friends. I post it here so that I remember it. “When I put my whole life in His hands, I do not erase the possibility of doubt. I simply refuse to accept it as real.” (Skip Moen) I love this! It’s like the little child with a monster under her bed or in his closet. :) Much of faith (perhaps all) is a choice I make to believe. “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5.10) This verse was part of a longer post reminding me about the three men who were thrown into the furnace for refusing to worship the kind of Babylon. Even heated seven times hotter, the fire did not kill them – and the mysterious “fourth man” hung out with them in the midst of the flames. Silver is refined in a pot, but gold in the fire. Maybe God’s going for the gold. :) “I pictured the act of rolling out dough. I don’t know if you are familiar with southern cuisine……but I like to “roll” my own dough for chicken and pastry. I roll it very thin and it almost melts in your mouth. There is a certain point where, if rolled too thin, it falls apart. If you cook it too long, it also becomes mushy and the consistency is less than desired. May I say that the One who gives us Bread of Life is working in your life RIGHT NOW, and He will make sure everything is PERFECT FOR HIS GLORY!” This analogy is awesome (especially if you’ve had good old-fashioned southern biscuits)! God never rolls things too thin or cooks things for too long. He is the perfect chef! Now, if the chicken will just stay in the pot… One thing I’ve craved is community, and I find it interesting how much of that I find in these friends whom I’ve never met! Their openness and insight pours soothing balm over my life. We may live worlds apart (literally, since some are as far away as Australia!), but a common love and passion connects us. How incredible is that! I am SO blessed! Thank you Yeshua for Your love and for Your children!
I just had to post this. Obviously, I regularly read Dr. Skip Moen’s blog, and I feel that he brings many things to light that many people, especially traditional Christians, don’t know about because we can’t read God’s Word in its original language (I am thinking I need to learn Hebrew, though). There was a post yesterday about what it means to be created in God’s image (read it here), and it’s generated a lot (A LOT) of commenting. The comments are fascinating in and of themselves, and if you read the blog long enough you can recognize the style of writing of different people (some have such distinct writing styles that I can almost imagine them bobbing in their seat trying to contain their enthusiasm). I love the community of this site. I love that questions aren’t discouraged or laughed at, that suggestions are encouraged, and criticism or skepticism are accepted graciously and not condemned. Sometimes I feel very inadequate when I post comments because my understanding seems so small, but nobody laughs or is rude when I write something stupid (oh, and I’ve done this several times). I wish I lived in a community of people (not just a virtual community) like this. I hardly know anyone who lives around us in the apartment complex (although many of them are empty, are rented on a month-to-month basis, or are vacation condos; or the people who live there don’t speak English). I know I get caught up in living my life with my family (which is overwhelming sometimes, to say the least), and I should probably reach out more to the people around me. Most of the people I know, most of my friends live across town from me, and with each mile and each month it seems to get harder and harder to stay connected. I miss living there. (And I am reminded that I need to be content and grateful in the place I find myself. The last few days this has been a struggle. I have more than most, and sometimes I only see how much less than some I have. Maybe I’m here to learn more about contentment.) And, finally, one last story. Yesterday I was at the grocery store and as I was pulling out I saw this old man getting out of his car with great difficulty. At first I didn’t think anything of it, but as I put the car into drive I noticed that he was using the post to hold onto as he got a grocery cart to lean on. I almost re-parked the car and asked him if he needed help. I almost. But as I started to re-park the car I saw that he had a shopping cart and was using it to help him walk to the grocery store. And out of fear of being “rude or condescending” I figured he was okay and on his way. So I left. And ever since then I’ve kicked myself. I should have gotten out sooner instead of watching to see if I should help. I shouldn’t have hesitated. I should have offered to get him one of those mechanized cart thingies. I should have asked him if he wanted help, even if he rejected it. This was a kairos moment, when God injected himself into my day… and I missed it until it was too late. I missed an opportunity to show God’s love and compassion because I was afraid of what he might think of my offer. I think this is a moment that will haunt me, a reminder to seize those opportunities that God puts in my path. Yeshua recognized those kairos moments (think about the woman at the well when he was on His way to heal/raise Lazarus – what would have happened if He hadn’t obeyed God’s leading and taken that moment to change her life and the lives of everyone in her town). He wasn’t too busy or worried to stop. I want to be like that, and I hope the next time I am ready.
If you’re happy in your view of life, love, God, and salvation, you might want to stop reading now. I’ve been reading a book called Pagan Christianity (Frank Viola and George Barna) and it’s all about the origins of the church and our traditional church service. One thing I found out in the mini-history of the major church movements is that a personal relationship with God is a relatively new idea started by DL Moody and George Whitfield at the turn of the 20th century (early 1900′s). Prior to that relationship with God was more of a community thing and more of the idea of rescue. I’ve also been listening to Skip Moen teaching about Abraham Heschel’s book, Who is Man. He talks about salvation in light of the experience of the jailer who is in charge of Paul and Silas in prison. When he asks Paul what he must do to be saved, Paul tells him that he and his family are saved. His family is saved because of his faith. There are two major differences between this view of salvation and our current view: 1. Salvation is not about getting to heaven. It’s about being rescued from the world and its ways. It’s about entering into the nation of God, into a community where God is first and obedience to Him is a result of a decision to make Him Lord of everything. It’s about doing, and it’s about now, and it’s about shema (hearing and obeying). 2. Salvation is not a personal thing. If one family member enters into the community of Israel, swearing allegiance to God and not the rulers of the world(this made me think twice about The Pledge of Allegiance that we say at my school every day), then as a result the whole family makes this move. When Paul was teaching the followers of The Way, swearing allegiance to God was treason since it required a person to not swear allegiance to Caesar. Making this kind of statement wasn’t done lightly and often led to persecution and death. Entering into a community of believers who could support and encourage was huge! And when one family member entered, the whole family became part. Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my brain about all this. I feel kind of heretical. Right now my prayer is for truth – to understand what God’s original intent was and to understand how it is worked out in my life. God is clearly a God of community, but He also knows each of us individually. How does this all fit together? I don’t know. I’ll have to keep reading.
Leviticus 7 This chapter talks about fellowship/peace offerings. It says that all meats or baked grains that are brought must be eaten that day (apart from the ones that are given to the priests). It struck me that perhaps this was a way to encourage community and fellowship among the Israelites. Considering that some people were bringing entire cows, that’s a lot of meat. It probably took more than one family to finish it off in one day, so it could have been shared by the community. Party! Just a thought. And another thing that the chapter talks about is how the Israelites aren’t supposed to eat the fat or the blood. The fat’s just plain bad for you, but the blood has more meaning that simple health regulations. Pagan cultures included the drinking of blood in their religious rituals because they believed that the blood contained the essence of life. So by drinking the blood (lifeblood) they could gain extra power or strength by absorbing the life essence of the dead creature (or person?). God specifically prohibits this practice by telling the Israelites that they aren’t allowed to drink blood. The blood is part of what is sacrificed on the altar. Symbolically, this also makes sense. By offering the blood to God, we are giving Him our life. God doesn’t need our sacrifices to be strong, but the blood was a reminder that He owns our life, its strength, and its very breath.
God is always faithful. He is. Even when we don’t see it, He is. (aside: for an interesting article on the difference between Greek seeing and Hebrew hearing, read this.) I’m not always the best example of remembering this, but I was reading an update from a woman who was miraculously healed, recently moved, and is now searching for a job in Spokane, Washington, and was struck by her perseverance and faith that God’s got it under control, even when it seems chaotic or uncertain. The bigger thing that struck me is that she is part of my community. We live on opposite sides of the country, but we interact and pray and study with a group of people together. This same community gave my family a gift when we were struggling, and when we can, I hope to be able to give back. Small contributions are never unimportant. The widow who put in two small coins was commended by Yeshua because she had given sacrificially and because she had been faithful to Torah in her giving to the Temple and because she had come to the Temple when perhaps, given her financial situation, it would have been easier to stay away. Interestingly, this is what I read today: Psalm 20 (NASB) Prayer for Victory over Enemies. For the choir director. A Psalm of David. 1May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high! 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary And support you from Zion! 3 May He remember all your meal offerings And find your burnt offering acceptable! Selah. 4 May He grant you your heart’s desire And fulfill all your counsel! 5 We will sing for joy over your victory, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. 7 Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God. 8 They have bowed down and fallen, But we have risen and stood upright. 9 Save, O LORD; May the King answer us in the day we call. This is a prayer for myself, but also for this woman in my community. I love verses 5 and 6: 5We will sing for joy over your victory, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. We sing for joy over the victory He gives! God does save with the strength of His hand! He is faithful and reliable! Amen!
I posted on SkipMoen.com’s site a couple days back about a frustration that I always felt like I was just soaking up information and not actually doing anything with it. From that I learned a couple of things: 1. Dr. Moen said “The rate of movement is not nearly as important as the direction.” LOVE it! 2. The elders of the community ideally have the most time to teach the children about God. Sadly, few in our communities have the time or inclination to do this… and on top of that, even fewer have the same beliefs as I have… and it seems that even few of those feel the way I feel about the Old and New Testament. 3. I need to reread my own comments before replying to others comments about my comments…. I think I replied several times before realizing that I was contradicting my original message because I was getting confused. I sounded kind of moronic. Because… 4. I often think of being a “doer” as being like Martha (which is always spoken about negatively)… but there’s a positive aspect to this, too. James says to be doers of the Word as proof of our faith in and allegiance to Yeshua. But “being” isn’t bad either; it all depends on context and timing. Time to go… Big monkey’s awake.