It is not our custom to remember particular saints during Holy Week and Bright Week, so if one of your favourite saints were missed, they will be back next year. Saints that were missed were:
Richard of Chichester (3 April)
Martin Luther King Jr. (4 April)
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
2nd Sunday of Lent: Lamentations 2
The Book of Lamentations was written about 586 B.C. just after the events he is lamenting, the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the destruction of the 1st Temple, the capture of Zedekiah and the exile of the Jerusalem.
Each poem shows graphically the destruction, and we are told very clearly that this is God's judgment. Indeed, Nebuchadnezzar, nor Babylon are mentioned by name, according to many a sign to indicate even more that this is a judgement from God.
It is a dangerous thing to be the chosen people. The Jews were held to a higher standard of behaviour, because until the coming of Messiah, they were to be a blessing to the world around them, but part of the way they were to accomplish this was through holiness of life. We see repeatedly that the prophets call Yehudah and Shomron to repentance over and over, but the people never seem to learn. If anything, after Shomron was detroyed by Assyria, the people of Yehudah should have been quaking in their sandals.
The second chapter of Lamentations also throws blame on the prophets, not the real prophets whose preaching is found in the Bible, but those false prophets who tell us all is well, those self same prophets who said nothing when the people were worshiping false gods, were mistreating the poor, and forgetting the importance of fidelity in marriage.
Today, Christendom stands at the cross roads. There are some prophets trying to warn us. Our churches have become worldly. We have forgotten the poor, forcing them to work seven days a week for our convenience, making new workers work part time so they can be fired without increasing unemployment taxes, hiring illegals without providing for them a living wage, nor health insurance in order to save money. Sunday is no longer a day of rest, a day of worship, or a day for family, but the most important shopping day of the week. We have forgotten that marriage is the icon of the relationship between Messiah and his church, and reflecting that, 50% of our kids are born out of wedlock. We encourage premarital and extramarital sex, and then tut tut when the kids of such unions are abused and grow up in poverty. God is trying to get our attention. When 9/11 occurred, a few voices cried out, this is a warning from God. But all too many laughed at them. "God doesn't punish nor judge us!" Ask the people of Israel, driven out of their country three times. Ask the Jews of Germany, who according to their own Messianic preachers were driven out for reason of greed. At one time we believed in God, a God who moved mountains, a God who was leading this country. Most Americans and Europeans no longer believe in the true living God. They believe in the Santa Claus god who gives them what they want, but who makes no demands.
Well, that is not God. YHWH Shebaot, EL Shadai is the Lord and Judge of the Universe, and when he returns, it will be in judgement. It is time for the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand to repent. The judgement will come soon, unless we repent. Ninevah, that great and evil city was preserved because they repented after Jonah's preaching. We too can be save if we truly repent, that is by treating the poor fairly, by restricting our sexual relationships to the marriage bed, by casting away the evils caused by putting money ahead of people, by casting away our greed. God wants us to take care of each other. He wants justice to flow like water. He wants to see people healed (body, mind and spirit) and reconciled to him, to nature and to one another. When will it happen, or will the judgement come first?
Each poem shows graphically the destruction, and we are told very clearly that this is God's judgment. Indeed, Nebuchadnezzar, nor Babylon are mentioned by name, according to many a sign to indicate even more that this is a judgement from God.
It is a dangerous thing to be the chosen people. The Jews were held to a higher standard of behaviour, because until the coming of Messiah, they were to be a blessing to the world around them, but part of the way they were to accomplish this was through holiness of life. We see repeatedly that the prophets call Yehudah and Shomron to repentance over and over, but the people never seem to learn. If anything, after Shomron was detroyed by Assyria, the people of Yehudah should have been quaking in their sandals.
The second chapter of Lamentations also throws blame on the prophets, not the real prophets whose preaching is found in the Bible, but those false prophets who tell us all is well, those self same prophets who said nothing when the people were worshiping false gods, were mistreating the poor, and forgetting the importance of fidelity in marriage.
Today, Christendom stands at the cross roads. There are some prophets trying to warn us. Our churches have become worldly. We have forgotten the poor, forcing them to work seven days a week for our convenience, making new workers work part time so they can be fired without increasing unemployment taxes, hiring illegals without providing for them a living wage, nor health insurance in order to save money. Sunday is no longer a day of rest, a day of worship, or a day for family, but the most important shopping day of the week. We have forgotten that marriage is the icon of the relationship between Messiah and his church, and reflecting that, 50% of our kids are born out of wedlock. We encourage premarital and extramarital sex, and then tut tut when the kids of such unions are abused and grow up in poverty. God is trying to get our attention. When 9/11 occurred, a few voices cried out, this is a warning from God. But all too many laughed at them. "God doesn't punish nor judge us!" Ask the people of Israel, driven out of their country three times. Ask the Jews of Germany, who according to their own Messianic preachers were driven out for reason of greed. At one time we believed in God, a God who moved mountains, a God who was leading this country. Most Americans and Europeans no longer believe in the true living God. They believe in the Santa Claus god who gives them what they want, but who makes no demands.
Well, that is not God. YHWH Shebaot, EL Shadai is the Lord and Judge of the Universe, and when he returns, it will be in judgement. It is time for the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand to repent. The judgement will come soon, unless we repent. Ninevah, that great and evil city was preserved because they repented after Jonah's preaching. We too can be save if we truly repent, that is by treating the poor fairly, by restricting our sexual relationships to the marriage bed, by casting away the evils caused by putting money ahead of people, by casting away our greed. God wants us to take care of each other. He wants justice to flow like water. He wants to see people healed (body, mind and spirit) and reconciled to him, to nature and to one another. When will it happen, or will the judgement come first?
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
20 January 2013
This Sunday last, the Torah portion was taken from Genesis 6:1-7:24, which is the story of the great flood. For the moment we will pass by the sons of God and daughters of men. Some people believe the sons of God refer to the descendents of Seth and daughters of men the descendents of Cain. Others that the sons of God were spiritual beings like angels. We shall leave this question for the scholars. We are told there were giants, and archeology does up hold that in some areas were some pretty large people, we are not talking about giants like we think of from fairy tales, but people who were around seven plus feet tall. But again, not important to the thrust of the story.
What is important is that first, God limits man's life to 120 years old. Second, it is important to note that God regretted making man, because sin was multiplying on earth, and man could only conceive evil. In fact we are told, "all the earth had been corrupted, and was filled with iniquity.
And here we see the human condition, we always turn to sin. St. Paul puts it eloquently, "14 For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave. 15 I don’t understand my own behavior — I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! 16 Now if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good. 17 But now it is no longer “the real me” doing it, but the sin housed inside me. 18 For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can’t do it! 19 For I don’t do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don’t want is what I do! 20 But if I am doing what “the real me” doesn’t want, it is no longer “the real me” doing it but the sin housed inside me. 21 So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse “torah,” that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! 22 For in my inner self I completely agree with God’s Torah; 23 but in my various parts, I see a different “torah,” one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin’s “torah,” which is operating in my various parts. 24 What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death?(Romans 7:14-24)
In other words, sin takes on a life of its own. We know what is write, but we do evil because the sin within us drives us to it. Sin corrupts all creation, not just man. When we try and prove immorality through nature, we are merely relying on something that has already been corrupted by sin. When Noah was 500 year old, sin had been reigning for close to 1600 years, multiplying, growing and twisting all nature.Yahweh despises sin, so he resolved to destroy all humans, animals and reptiles, and does so in the flood, saving only Noah and his family, for Noah had found grace with God.
We must realise that sin corrupts nature and man. Sin prevents us from having relationship with God. In God's sight, sin must be destroyed, and so it was, perhaps a million people wiped out in one fell swoop. When will we realise how lethal sin is. Adam and Havah were kicked out of the Garden for sin. Animals were sacrificed to cover their nakedness for their sin. For sin, animals and nature were corrupted. All mankind was wiped out for sin. For sin, the Canaanites had to be destroyed from the land. For sin, only two adults out of 600,000 came to the promised land. For sin, Jesus the Messiah was crucified on the cross for sins he did not commit in order to pay for our sins.
For a Christian, it is of great importance that we realise how fatal sin is. The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death. The Bible tells us that many who think they are Christians will be told by the Lord, "
I don’t know where you’re from. Get away from me, all you workers of wickedness!’ 28 You will cry and grind your teeth when you see Avraham, Yitz’chak, Ya‘akov and all the prophets inside the Kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside. (Luke 13:27-8).
Sin is deadly, yet today Christians play around with sin. Christians play with porn, we glorify sex, we destroy families by not giving them any time together. We turn our stomachs, sports, homes, cars and children into our Gods. We gripe if the preacher goes more than 10 minutes, yet we have no trouble when the football game goes into overtime. We see people in need, yet ignore them. Adultery abounds. People forced to work without making a living wage. All of this is either sin, or a result of sin, and it is time for us to worry.
Will we be slaves of sin, or will we be slaves of Messiah. If we play around with sin, we are likely to end up not following the Lord. It is time to remember, Messiah died on the cross to set us free from sin and death. When we allow him to be in charge, he will give us the power to conquer sin and death. The decision is yours, slave of sin, or slave of Messiah.
What is important is that first, God limits man's life to 120 years old. Second, it is important to note that God regretted making man, because sin was multiplying on earth, and man could only conceive evil. In fact we are told, "all the earth had been corrupted, and was filled with iniquity.
And here we see the human condition, we always turn to sin. St. Paul puts it eloquently, "14 For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave. 15 I don’t understand my own behavior — I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! 16 Now if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good. 17 But now it is no longer “the real me” doing it, but the sin housed inside me. 18 For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can’t do it! 19 For I don’t do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don’t want is what I do! 20 But if I am doing what “the real me” doesn’t want, it is no longer “the real me” doing it but the sin housed inside me. 21 So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse “torah,” that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! 22 For in my inner self I completely agree with God’s Torah; 23 but in my various parts, I see a different “torah,” one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin’s “torah,” which is operating in my various parts. 24 What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death?(Romans 7:14-24)
In other words, sin takes on a life of its own. We know what is write, but we do evil because the sin within us drives us to it. Sin corrupts all creation, not just man. When we try and prove immorality through nature, we are merely relying on something that has already been corrupted by sin. When Noah was 500 year old, sin had been reigning for close to 1600 years, multiplying, growing and twisting all nature.Yahweh despises sin, so he resolved to destroy all humans, animals and reptiles, and does so in the flood, saving only Noah and his family, for Noah had found grace with God.
We must realise that sin corrupts nature and man. Sin prevents us from having relationship with God. In God's sight, sin must be destroyed, and so it was, perhaps a million people wiped out in one fell swoop. When will we realise how lethal sin is. Adam and Havah were kicked out of the Garden for sin. Animals were sacrificed to cover their nakedness for their sin. For sin, animals and nature were corrupted. All mankind was wiped out for sin. For sin, the Canaanites had to be destroyed from the land. For sin, only two adults out of 600,000 came to the promised land. For sin, Jesus the Messiah was crucified on the cross for sins he did not commit in order to pay for our sins.
For a Christian, it is of great importance that we realise how fatal sin is. The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death. The Bible tells us that many who think they are Christians will be told by the Lord, "
I don’t know where you’re from. Get away from me, all you workers of wickedness!’ 28 You will cry and grind your teeth when you see Avraham, Yitz’chak, Ya‘akov and all the prophets inside the Kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside. (Luke 13:27-8).
Sin is deadly, yet today Christians play around with sin. Christians play with porn, we glorify sex, we destroy families by not giving them any time together. We turn our stomachs, sports, homes, cars and children into our Gods. We gripe if the preacher goes more than 10 minutes, yet we have no trouble when the football game goes into overtime. We see people in need, yet ignore them. Adultery abounds. People forced to work without making a living wage. All of this is either sin, or a result of sin, and it is time for us to worry.
Will we be slaves of sin, or will we be slaves of Messiah. If we play around with sin, we are likely to end up not following the Lord. It is time to remember, Messiah died on the cross to set us free from sin and death. When we allow him to be in charge, he will give us the power to conquer sin and death. The decision is yours, slave of sin, or slave of Messiah.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
23 December 2012
Interestingly enough, the proto gospel shows up in this weeks Tanakh. All the consequences of sin are laid out here clear to see. First, as we read the lesson, we discover that Adam was there. Why on earth didn't he keep Havah from eating the fruit. When YHWH God comes to the garden, he calls out to Adam, where are you? When God asks this question, he doesn't mean literally where are you, but where are you in relationship to me, an excellent question for Advent.
Then comes the sad part. YHWH asks Adam if he has been eating the forbidden fruit, and Adam, instead of confessing his sin, lays it at YHWH's door, "the women you gave me..." When he gets to Havah, she is not much better, as she blames the serpent. I suspect if anyone took the blame willingly, this world would have been very different, but Adam and Havah lead the way, which we all follow of blaming others, including God for our faults. The sin breaks the relationship between man and God (God's Holy Spirit no longer resides in man bringing Adam and Havah to spiritual death. The relationship between Adam and Havah goes down hill, and even his relationship with nature, as he now works by the sweat of his brown, and they are kicked out of Gan Eden, and a Cherub is set to keep them out.
The good news is given to Havah. Her descendent (singular) will stomp the servant, which we recognise a being the first prediction of Messiah's birth and ministry. And of course we are celebrating this grand miracle now. Messiah Yeshua has come into the world to save sinners, and to show us the way.
Merry Christmas.
Then comes the sad part. YHWH asks Adam if he has been eating the forbidden fruit, and Adam, instead of confessing his sin, lays it at YHWH's door, "the women you gave me..." When he gets to Havah, she is not much better, as she blames the serpent. I suspect if anyone took the blame willingly, this world would have been very different, but Adam and Havah lead the way, which we all follow of blaming others, including God for our faults. The sin breaks the relationship between man and God (God's Holy Spirit no longer resides in man bringing Adam and Havah to spiritual death. The relationship between Adam and Havah goes down hill, and even his relationship with nature, as he now works by the sweat of his brown, and they are kicked out of Gan Eden, and a Cherub is set to keep them out.
The good news is given to Havah. Her descendent (singular) will stomp the servant, which we recognise a being the first prediction of Messiah's birth and ministry. And of course we are celebrating this grand miracle now. Messiah Yeshua has come into the world to save sinners, and to show us the way.
Merry Christmas.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
4 October 2012: Zechariah 14: 1-21
14:1 Behold, the days of the Lord come,
and thy spoils shall be divided in thee. 2
And I will gather all the Gentiles to Jerusalem to war, and the
city shall be taken, and the houses plundered, and the women ravished; and half
of the city shall go forth into captivity, but the rest of my people shall not
be utterly cut off from the city.
3 And the Lord shall go forth, and fight with those Gentiles as when he fought in the day of war. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave asunder, half of it toward the east and the west, a very great division; and half the mountain shall lean to the north, and half of it to the south. 5 And the valley of my mountains shall be closed up, and the valley of the mountains shall be joined on to Jasod, and shall be blocked up as it was blocked up in the days of the earthquake, in the days of Ozias king of Juda; and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with him. 6 And it shall come to pass in that day that there shall be no light, 7 and there shall be for one day cold and frost, and that day shall be known to the Lord, and it shall not be day nor night: but towards evening it shall be light.
8 And in that day living water shall come forth out of Jerusalem; half of it toward the former sea, and half of it toward the latter sea: and so shall it be in summer and spring. 9 And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one, 10 compassing all the earth, and the wilderness from Gabe unto Remmon south of Jerusalem. And Rama shall remain in its place. From the gate of Benjamin to the place of the first gate, to the gate of the corners, and to the tower of Anameel, as far as the king’s winepresses, 11 they shall dwell in the city; and there shall be no more any curse, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely.
12 And this shall be the overthrow with which the Lord will smite all the nations, as many as have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they are standing upon their feet, and their eyes shall melt out of their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And there shall be in that day a great panic from the Lord upon them; and they shall lay hold every man of the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall be clasped with the hand of his neighbour. 14 Juda also shall fight in Jerusalem; and God shall gather the strength of all the nations round about, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And this shall be the overthrow of the horses, and mules, and camels, and asses, and all the beasts that are in those camps, according to this overthrow.
16 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall be left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, shall even come up every year to worship the king, the Lord Almighty, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever of all the families of the earth shall not come up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord Almighty, even these shall be added to the others. 18 And if the family of Egypt shall not go up, nor come; then upon them shall be the overthrow with which the Lord shall smite all the nations, whichever of them shall not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all the nations, whosoever shall not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20 In that day there shall be upon the bridle of every horse Holiness to the Lord Almighty; and the caldrons in the house of the Lord shall be as bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and in Juda shall be holy to the Lord Almighty: and all that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and shall seethe meat in them: and in that day there shall be no more the Chananite in the house of the Lord Almighty.
This is one of those lessons that make Christians and others uncomfortable, or that causes churches to pick and choose what part of scriptures to use. But we cannot do that. We are told in I or II Timothy that "...all scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; 17 thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work." so we cannot ignore this scripture. One of the things we note here is that to our way of thinking, this scripture is very carnal, not at all very spiritual. Now this is important for Christians. Christianity is not a religion where we obtain salvation by contemplating God. Salvation comes to us by very carnal acts. Yeshua died on the cross for us. We in turn must "trust and be immersed to be saved; for whoever does not trust will be condemned. (Mark 16:16). So Christianity, by the world's definition is not very spiritual, but a religion that serves us for life in this world. We are told, that at some point in the future, all the enemies of the Jews will be wiped out. Jews will be restored to Israel and Jerusalem. While this passage does not bring this up, we believe these to be Messianic Jews who have come to know Yeshua as their Lord and Messiah. All the nations will come to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the feast of tabernacles (Sukkoth), and that everything in Jerusalem will be holy, and the city will be a holy place to be.
Why tabernacles. Tabernacles represents God's protection. The lessons from Sunday and during these days of Sukkoth remind us that Yah provided manna, water, and that the peoples clothing and shoes did not wear. out. By celebrating tabernacles, we are celebrating that we have learned to completely depend on God, which is a mark of a true Christian. The new Heaven and Earth, while different, will still be places where we have a body. We won't be ghosts wandering around, nor will we be angels with wings, but new creatures living a new life. But that new life must begin here on the old Earth. We do this by allowing he who "tabernacled" among us to tabernacle in our heart. We are to depend on him 100% and to obey him 100%. Baptism, or going to church guarantees nothing, unless there is complete faith in the Messiah.
3 And the Lord shall go forth, and fight with those Gentiles as when he fought in the day of war. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave asunder, half of it toward the east and the west, a very great division; and half the mountain shall lean to the north, and half of it to the south. 5 And the valley of my mountains shall be closed up, and the valley of the mountains shall be joined on to Jasod, and shall be blocked up as it was blocked up in the days of the earthquake, in the days of Ozias king of Juda; and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with him. 6 And it shall come to pass in that day that there shall be no light, 7 and there shall be for one day cold and frost, and that day shall be known to the Lord, and it shall not be day nor night: but towards evening it shall be light.
8 And in that day living water shall come forth out of Jerusalem; half of it toward the former sea, and half of it toward the latter sea: and so shall it be in summer and spring. 9 And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one, 10 compassing all the earth, and the wilderness from Gabe unto Remmon south of Jerusalem. And Rama shall remain in its place. From the gate of Benjamin to the place of the first gate, to the gate of the corners, and to the tower of Anameel, as far as the king’s winepresses, 11 they shall dwell in the city; and there shall be no more any curse, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely.
12 And this shall be the overthrow with which the Lord will smite all the nations, as many as have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they are standing upon their feet, and their eyes shall melt out of their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And there shall be in that day a great panic from the Lord upon them; and they shall lay hold every man of the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall be clasped with the hand of his neighbour. 14 Juda also shall fight in Jerusalem; and God shall gather the strength of all the nations round about, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And this shall be the overthrow of the horses, and mules, and camels, and asses, and all the beasts that are in those camps, according to this overthrow.
16 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall be left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, shall even come up every year to worship the king, the Lord Almighty, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever of all the families of the earth shall not come up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord Almighty, even these shall be added to the others. 18 And if the family of Egypt shall not go up, nor come; then upon them shall be the overthrow with which the Lord shall smite all the nations, whichever of them shall not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all the nations, whosoever shall not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20 In that day there shall be upon the bridle of every horse Holiness to the Lord Almighty; and the caldrons in the house of the Lord shall be as bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and in Juda shall be holy to the Lord Almighty: and all that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and shall seethe meat in them: and in that day there shall be no more the Chananite in the house of the Lord Almighty.
This is one of those lessons that make Christians and others uncomfortable, or that causes churches to pick and choose what part of scriptures to use. But we cannot do that. We are told in I or II Timothy that "...all scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; 17 thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work." so we cannot ignore this scripture. One of the things we note here is that to our way of thinking, this scripture is very carnal, not at all very spiritual. Now this is important for Christians. Christianity is not a religion where we obtain salvation by contemplating God. Salvation comes to us by very carnal acts. Yeshua died on the cross for us. We in turn must "trust and be immersed to be saved; for whoever does not trust will be condemned. (Mark 16:16). So Christianity, by the world's definition is not very spiritual, but a religion that serves us for life in this world. We are told, that at some point in the future, all the enemies of the Jews will be wiped out. Jews will be restored to Israel and Jerusalem. While this passage does not bring this up, we believe these to be Messianic Jews who have come to know Yeshua as their Lord and Messiah. All the nations will come to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the feast of tabernacles (Sukkoth), and that everything in Jerusalem will be holy, and the city will be a holy place to be.
Why tabernacles. Tabernacles represents God's protection. The lessons from Sunday and during these days of Sukkoth remind us that Yah provided manna, water, and that the peoples clothing and shoes did not wear. out. By celebrating tabernacles, we are celebrating that we have learned to completely depend on God, which is a mark of a true Christian. The new Heaven and Earth, while different, will still be places where we have a body. We won't be ghosts wandering around, nor will we be angels with wings, but new creatures living a new life. But that new life must begin here on the old Earth. We do this by allowing he who "tabernacled" among us to tabernacle in our heart. We are to depend on him 100% and to obey him 100%. Baptism, or going to church guarantees nothing, unless there is complete faith in the Messiah.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
24 September 2012
This week, several of the lessons point us to Yom Kipper, the great day of Atonement which prefigures the death of Yeshua on the cross. The lesson from Isaiah is perhaps most relevant to us as Christians today:
Isaiah 57:14-58:14:
And they shall say, Clear the ways before him, and take up the stumbling-blocks out of the way of my people.
15 Thus saith El Shaddai, who dwells on high for ever, Holy in the holies, is his name, El Shaddai resting in the holies, and giving patience to the faint-hearted, and giving life to the broken-hearted: 16 I will not take vengeance on you for ever, neither will I be always angry with you: for my Spirit shall go forth from me, and I have created all breath. 17 On account of sin for a little while I grieved him, and smote him, and turned away my face from him; and he was grieved, and he went on sorrowful in his ways. 18 I have seen his ways, and healed him, and comforted him, and given him true comfort; 19 peace upon peace to them that are far off, and to them that are nigh: and Yahweh has said, I will heal them.
20 But the unrighteous shall be tossed as troubled waves, and shall not be able to rest. 21 There is no joy to the ungodly, said God.
Chapter 58
58:1 Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up thy voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. 2 They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that had done righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgement of their God: they now ask of me righteous judgement, and desire to draw nigh to God, 3 saying, Why have we fasted, and thou regardest not? why have we afflicted our souls, and thou didst not know it?
Nay, in the days of your fasts ye find your pleasures, and all them that are under your power ye wound. 4 If ye fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with your fists, wherefore do ye fast to me as ye do this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying? 5 I have not chosen this fast, nor such a day for a man to afflict his soul; neither though thou shouldest bend down thy neck as a ring, and spread under thee sackcloth and ashes, neither thus shall ye call a fast acceptable. 6 I have not chosen such a fast, saith Yahweh; but do thou loose every burden of iniquity, do thou untie the knots of hard bargains, set the bruised free, and cancel every unjust account. 7 Break thy bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to thy house: if thou seest one naked, clothe him, and thou shalt not disregard the relations of thine own seed.
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily spring forth: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall compass thee. 9 Then shalt thou cry, and God shall hearken to thee; while thou art yet speaking he will say, Behold, I am here. If thou remove from thee the band, and the stretching forth of the hands, and murmuring speech; 10 and if thou give bread to the hungry from thy heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light spring up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as noon-day: 11 and thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desires; and thy bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain from which the water has not failed. 12 And thy old waste desert places shall be built up, and thy foundations shall last through all generations; and thou shalt be called a repairer of breaches, and thou shalt cause thy paths between to be in peace.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, so as not to do thy pleasure on the holy days, and shalt call the sabbaths delightful, holy to God; if thou shalt not lift up thy foot to work, nor speak a word in anger out of thy mouth, 14 then shalt thou trust on the Lord; and he shall bring thee up to the good places of the land, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken this.
The lesson begins by telling us that the nation of Israel will be restored, but that they had been punished for their sin, but they shall be healed. Then Yahweh takes on the fast (Yom Kippur, or the day of Atonement, the only Jewish Holy Day mandated by the Bible as a fast day.) The people are fasting and sad, most especially because there is no blessing, and Isaiah explains why. What is a real fast, loosing the chords of iniquity (repentance), feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, providing shelter to the homeless, and doing all of this from our hearts, not just because we have to. When we do all these things, we shall have the blessing, and a powerful blessing at that. That blessing will be even more, if we learn to keep the Sabbath (both Yom Kippur and the weekly Sabbath as a day of joy.
Many of us here in the United States of America believe that this nation was begun as a Christian nation, but are we still? Do we worry about repentance, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, or do we just worry about ourselves. I myself see the hand of God against this once great nation. We have become a land of divorce, more than 50 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, a nation promoting sexual iniquity, and yet we wonder why God does not bless us. The CEO is rewarded, yet the workers have to collect food stamps and Medicare to survive. Do we worry about them. Unless we fight against iniquity, divorce, gay marriage, abortion and neglecting the poor, God will judge this nation. Some Christians think God is too nice to punish us. I say, look at Israel. Cast off the land three times. The third time for close to two millennia. Will we really keep rejecting God and his commandments? Will people continue to stay away from church, because they are forced to work on Sunday?
I would ask you to join me and many others, on Yom Kippur, which begins tomorrow at sunset. Fast, pray. Ask God to help you repent. Ask God to help us as a nation to repent, to put a slow down on divorce, to end extramarital sex, to quit sacrificing our children on the altar of convenience, to help the less fortunate, to repent in spirit and truth. If you can, take off work. Pray, fast, tell your neighbours, for if we don't get serious, God will. Read the lesson above again. God is a loving father. He will do what is necessary to put us back on the right track.
Isaiah 57:14-58:14:
And they shall say, Clear the ways before him, and take up the stumbling-blocks out of the way of my people.
15 Thus saith El Shaddai, who dwells on high for ever, Holy in the holies, is his name, El Shaddai resting in the holies, and giving patience to the faint-hearted, and giving life to the broken-hearted: 16 I will not take vengeance on you for ever, neither will I be always angry with you: for my Spirit shall go forth from me, and I have created all breath. 17 On account of sin for a little while I grieved him, and smote him, and turned away my face from him; and he was grieved, and he went on sorrowful in his ways. 18 I have seen his ways, and healed him, and comforted him, and given him true comfort; 19 peace upon peace to them that are far off, and to them that are nigh: and Yahweh has said, I will heal them.
20 But the unrighteous shall be tossed as troubled waves, and shall not be able to rest. 21 There is no joy to the ungodly, said God.
Chapter 58 58:1 Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up thy voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. 2 They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that had done righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgement of their God: they now ask of me righteous judgement, and desire to draw nigh to God, 3 saying, Why have we fasted, and thou regardest not? why have we afflicted our souls, and thou didst not know it?
Nay, in the days of your fasts ye find your pleasures, and all them that are under your power ye wound. 4 If ye fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with your fists, wherefore do ye fast to me as ye do this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying? 5 I have not chosen this fast, nor such a day for a man to afflict his soul; neither though thou shouldest bend down thy neck as a ring, and spread under thee sackcloth and ashes, neither thus shall ye call a fast acceptable. 6 I have not chosen such a fast, saith Yahweh; but do thou loose every burden of iniquity, do thou untie the knots of hard bargains, set the bruised free, and cancel every unjust account. 7 Break thy bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to thy house: if thou seest one naked, clothe him, and thou shalt not disregard the relations of thine own seed.
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily spring forth: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall compass thee. 9 Then shalt thou cry, and God shall hearken to thee; while thou art yet speaking he will say, Behold, I am here. If thou remove from thee the band, and the stretching forth of the hands, and murmuring speech; 10 and if thou give bread to the hungry from thy heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light spring up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as noon-day: 11 and thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desires; and thy bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain from which the water has not failed. 12 And thy old waste desert places shall be built up, and thy foundations shall last through all generations; and thou shalt be called a repairer of breaches, and thou shalt cause thy paths between to be in peace.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, so as not to do thy pleasure on the holy days, and shalt call the sabbaths delightful, holy to God; if thou shalt not lift up thy foot to work, nor speak a word in anger out of thy mouth, 14 then shalt thou trust on the Lord; and he shall bring thee up to the good places of the land, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken this.
The lesson begins by telling us that the nation of Israel will be restored, but that they had been punished for their sin, but they shall be healed. Then Yahweh takes on the fast (Yom Kippur, or the day of Atonement, the only Jewish Holy Day mandated by the Bible as a fast day.) The people are fasting and sad, most especially because there is no blessing, and Isaiah explains why. What is a real fast, loosing the chords of iniquity (repentance), feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, providing shelter to the homeless, and doing all of this from our hearts, not just because we have to. When we do all these things, we shall have the blessing, and a powerful blessing at that. That blessing will be even more, if we learn to keep the Sabbath (both Yom Kippur and the weekly Sabbath as a day of joy.
Many of us here in the United States of America believe that this nation was begun as a Christian nation, but are we still? Do we worry about repentance, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, or do we just worry about ourselves. I myself see the hand of God against this once great nation. We have become a land of divorce, more than 50 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, a nation promoting sexual iniquity, and yet we wonder why God does not bless us. The CEO is rewarded, yet the workers have to collect food stamps and Medicare to survive. Do we worry about them. Unless we fight against iniquity, divorce, gay marriage, abortion and neglecting the poor, God will judge this nation. Some Christians think God is too nice to punish us. I say, look at Israel. Cast off the land three times. The third time for close to two millennia. Will we really keep rejecting God and his commandments? Will people continue to stay away from church, because they are forced to work on Sunday?
I would ask you to join me and many others, on Yom Kippur, which begins tomorrow at sunset. Fast, pray. Ask God to help you repent. Ask God to help us as a nation to repent, to put a slow down on divorce, to end extramarital sex, to quit sacrificing our children on the altar of convenience, to help the less fortunate, to repent in spirit and truth. If you can, take off work. Pray, fast, tell your neighbours, for if we don't get serious, God will. Read the lesson above again. God is a loving father. He will do what is necessary to put us back on the right track.
Monday, September 17, 2012
16 September 2012
10 Have ye not all one father? Did not
one God create you? why have ye forsaken every man his brother, to profane the
covenant of your fathers?
11 Juda has been forsaken, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Juda has profaned the holy things of the Lord, which he delighted in, and has gone after other gods. 12 The Lord will utterly destroy the man that does these things, until he be even cast down from out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and from among them that offer sacrifice to the Lord Almighty. 13 And these things which I hated, ye did: ye covered with tears the altar of the Lord, and with weeping and groaning because of troubles: is it meet for me to have respect to your sacrifice, or to receive anything from your hands as welcome?
14 Yet ye said, Wherefore? Because the Lord has borne witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, whom thou has forsaken, and yet she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant. 15 And did he not do well? and there was the residue of his spirit. But ye said, What does God seek but a seed? But take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake not the wife of thy youth. 16 But if thou shouldest hate thy wife and put her away, saith the Lord God of Israel, then ungodliness shall cover thy thoughts, saith the Lord Almighty: therefore take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake them not, 17 ye that have provoked God with your words. But ye said, Wherein have we provoked him? In that ye say, Every one that does evil is a pleasing object in the sight of the Lord, and he takes pleasure in such; and where is the God of justice?
Chapter
3
3:1 Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in: behold, he is coming, saith the Lord Almighty. 2 And who will abide the day of his coming? or who will withstand at his appearing? for he is coming in as the fire of a furnace and as the herb of fullers. 3 He shall sit to melt and purify as it were silver, and as it were gold: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, and they shall offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.
4 And the sacrifice of Juda and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Lord, according to the former days, and according to the former years. 5 And I will draw near to you in judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the witches, and against the adulteresses, and against them that swear falsely by my name, and against them that keep back the hireling’s wages, and them that oppress the widow, and afflict orphans, and that wrest the judgment of the stranger, and fear not me, saith the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 2:10-3:5, LXX)
11 Juda has been forsaken, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Juda has profaned the holy things of the Lord, which he delighted in, and has gone after other gods. 12 The Lord will utterly destroy the man that does these things, until he be even cast down from out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and from among them that offer sacrifice to the Lord Almighty. 13 And these things which I hated, ye did: ye covered with tears the altar of the Lord, and with weeping and groaning because of troubles: is it meet for me to have respect to your sacrifice, or to receive anything from your hands as welcome?
14 Yet ye said, Wherefore? Because the Lord has borne witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, whom thou has forsaken, and yet she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant. 15 And did he not do well? and there was the residue of his spirit. But ye said, What does God seek but a seed? But take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake not the wife of thy youth. 16 But if thou shouldest hate thy wife and put her away, saith the Lord God of Israel, then ungodliness shall cover thy thoughts, saith the Lord Almighty: therefore take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake them not, 17 ye that have provoked God with your words. But ye said, Wherein have we provoked him? In that ye say, Every one that does evil is a pleasing object in the sight of the Lord, and he takes pleasure in such; and where is the God of justice?
Chapter
33:1 Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in: behold, he is coming, saith the Lord Almighty. 2 And who will abide the day of his coming? or who will withstand at his appearing? for he is coming in as the fire of a furnace and as the herb of fullers. 3 He shall sit to melt and purify as it were silver, and as it were gold: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, and they shall offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.
4 And the sacrifice of Juda and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Lord, according to the former days, and according to the former years. 5 And I will draw near to you in judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the witches, and against the adulteresses, and against them that swear falsely by my name, and against them that keep back the hireling’s wages, and them that oppress the widow, and afflict orphans, and that wrest the judgment of the stranger, and fear not me, saith the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 2:10-3:5, LXX)
At first glance one wonders if the writers of the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence were familiar with Malachi. Do we indeed all have one father and God who created us, so indeed we are equal in God's eyes. But from here we go downhill. Yehudah has rejected God by going after false Gods. Do we not have the same problem today. We abandon the one true God to worship the gods of sex, sports, alchohol and drugs, and occasionally wonder into church to profane God's temple, just as Yehudah did. Some do worst. How many Christians convert to Buddhism, not because they think the religion is better, but because they don't believe it condemns our behaviour. I once had someone tell me they wanted to be a Buddhist, because they would only have to go to the temple once a year!!! And then we come crying back to god, because we have found out that our false gods are truly that, false.
But more powerfully, this lesson talks about marriage, and God lets us know what he thinks. First he condemns unfaithfulness. He hates divorce. He wants us to be faithful to our wives and to have children. And implied of course, he wants wives to be faithful to their husbands. As we look at the divorce rate in the US, and the abortion rate, is it not amazing that he does not judge us now? Why is it that God hates divorce? It is because marriage is an icon of the relationship between Christ and his church.
And Yah condemns us for calling evil good. Does this not describe the world today? Bishops divorce their wives to marry another man, and call this good. We affirm the right of a woman to murder her own child, and call it good. Sunday has become the most important shopping day of the week and we call it good, even though our "need" to buy stuff on Sundays keeps people out of church and keeps families from spending time together. People no longer have children because they are inconvenient, and we call it good. Yah warns us that we cannot continue on this path. Just as he warns the Jews that John the Baptist is coming to prepare Yeshua's way, so he warns us that the Lord is coming, and he is coming to judge the Earth and set things right. There will be judgement against witches, adulteresses (and adulterers as well), those who swear falsely by Yahweh's name, against those who hold back wages, who oppress the widow and orphan, and against those who pervert justice. For many, when the Lord returns to judge the earth, it will be a day of tears.
We need to learn to truly be God's servants. God does not want us to continues in the same old lifestyle. God expects us to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, but he is not going to force that change upon us. He allows us to do it at the rate we want, but he does expect us to go forward. Is God transforming your life? If not, why not. This day as we proclaim with trumpets that God is king, we need to consider that in truth. If God is truly our king, then it is time to put him in charge of our lives.
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