Not really on a jet plane, but taking off on a 3 day fishing trip with the brothers. Up here in Minnesota, US, there are so many lakes -- this state is dubbed the land of 10,000 lakes -- it's difficult not to fish and have fun. So a-fishing I will go.
Until then, shalom fine blog readers. I leave you with a song from the Messianic music playlist, a beautiful little piece by Me HaShamayim:
4/28/2008
4/25/2008
Weekend tip
If you're reading this blog, you're probably blogging yourself, or at least have some kind of web presence of your own on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Hi5, Live Spaces, or Twiibook MeebuSpace.
Just kidding, I made up that last one.
Seriously though, if you have any kind of web presence, you probably know how to post HTML links, right? You know, if you type
Child's play, piece of cake. We learned that in kindergarten.
And you know how to do images too, right? You know, if you type,
Easy as cheese. After "mommy" and "daddy", the next phrase out of your mouth was "image source equals". So we're all experts here.
Well here's something you probably didn't know. You can put charts anywhere on your page. Now, you probably just wet yourself, but no, it's not too good to be true. Go and change your pants, then come back.
Did you go change? Seriously, wet pant readers are not welcomed on this blog. Go change. I'll wait right here.
All done? Ok, now I can show you how to put a chart into your Web 2.0 presence in all its Fung Shui HTML zen. It will tickle your inner geek fancy. Here we go:
That will turn into
Cool, eh?
Here's a little chart that shows what I've been blogging about lately:
Brilliant. Now you know how to do charts. You can thank Google Charts.
Shabbat shalom fine blog readers, have a great weekend everybody. Now back to your regularly scheduled Flomax commercials.
Just kidding, I made up that last one.
Seriously though, if you have any kind of web presence, you probably know how to post HTML links, right? You know, if you type
<a href="http://www.google.com/">this is a link to Google</a>It turns into: this is a link to Google
Child's play, piece of cake. We learned that in kindergarten.
And you know how to do images too, right? You know, if you type,
<img src="http://judahhimango.com/images/Hillary_vs_Obama.jpg" />It turns into:
Easy as cheese. After "mommy" and "daddy", the next phrase out of your mouth was "image source equals". So we're all experts here.
Well here's something you probably didn't know. You can put charts anywhere on your page. Now, you probably just wet yourself, but no, it's not too good to be true. Go and change your pants, then come back.
Did you go change? Seriously, wet pant readers are not welcomed on this blog. Go change. I'll wait right here.
All done? Ok, now I can show you how to put a chart into your Web 2.0 presence in all its Fung Shui HTML zen. It will tickle your inner geek fancy. Here we go:
<img src="http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t:70,30&chs=350x100&chl=Piece of cake|Easy as cheese" />
That will turn into
Cool, eh?
Here's a little chart that shows what I've been blogging about lately:
Brilliant. Now you know how to do charts. You can thank Google Charts.
Shabbat shalom fine blog readers, have a great weekend everybody. Now back to your regularly scheduled Flomax commercials.
4/24/2008
The Mystery of Hate
The following article was written by a Israeli journalist....
The Mystery of Hate
by Yair Lapid
Hundreds of years of fighting, six and a half wars, billions of
dollars gone with the wind, tens of thousands of victims, not including
the boy who laid down next to me on the rocky beach of lake Karon in
1982 and we both watched his guts spilling out. The helicopter took him
and until this day I do not know whether he is dead or survived. All
this, and one cannot figure it out.
And its not only what happened but all that did not happen -
hospitals that were never built, universities that were never opened,
roads that were never paved, the three years that were taken from
millions of teenagers for the sake of the army. And despite all the
above, we still do not have the beginning of a clue to the mystery of
where it all started:
Why do they hate us so much?
I am not talking about the Palestinians this time. Their dispute with
us is intimate, focused, and it has a direct effect on their lives.
Without getting into the 'which side is right' question, it is obvious
that they have very personal reasons not to stand our presence here. We
all know that eventually this is how it will be solved: in a personal
way, between them and us, with blood sweat and tears that will stain
the pages of the agreement. Until then, it is a war that could at least
be understood, even if no sane person is willing to accept the means
that are used to run it by.
It is the others. Those I cannot understand. Why does Hassan
Nasralla, along with tens of thousands of his supporters, dedicate his
life, his visible talents, his country's destiny, to fight a country he
has never even seen, people he has never really met and an army that he
has no reason to fight?
Why do children in Iran , who can not even locate Israel on the map
(especially because it is so small), burn its flag in the city center
and offer to commit suicide for its elimination? Why do Egyptian and
Jordanian intellectuals agitate the innocent and helpless against the
peace agreements, even though they know that their failure will push
their countries 20 years back? Why are the Syrians willing to stay a
pathetic and depressed third world country, for the dubious right to
finance terror organizations that will eventually threaten their own
country's existence? Why do they hate us so much in Saudi-Arabia? In
Iraq ? In Sudan ? What have we done to them? How are we even relevant to
their lives? What do they know about us? Why do they hate us so much in
Afghanistan ? They don't have anything to eat there, where do they get
the energy to hate?
This question has so many answers and yet it is a mystery. It is true
that it is a religious matter but even religious people make their
choices. The Koran (along with the Shariaa - the Muslim parallel to the
Jewish Halacha) consists of thousands of laws, why is it that we occupy them so much?
There are so many countries who gave them much better reasons to be
angry. We did not start the crusades, we did not rule them during the
colonial period, we never tried to convert them. The Mongolians, the
Seljuk, the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, the
British, they all conquered, ruined and plundered the whole region. We
did not even try, so how come we are the enemy?
And if it is identification with their Palestinians brothers then
where are the Saudi Arabian tractors building up the territories that
were evacuated? What happened to the Indonesian delegation building a
school in Gaza strip? Where are the Kuwaiti doctors with their modern
surgical equipment? There are so many ways to love your brothers, why
do they all prefer to help their brothers with hating?
Is it something that we do? Fifteen hundreds years of anti-Semitism
taught us - in the most painful way possible - that there is something
about us that irritates the world. So, we did the thing everyone
wanted: we got up and left. We have established our own tiny little
country, where we can irritate ourselves without interrupting others.
We didn't even ask a lot for it. Israel is spread on a smaller
territory than 1% of the territory of Saudi-Arabia, with no oil, no
minerals, without settling on another existing state's territory. Most
of the cities that were bombed this week were not plundered from
anyone. Nahariya, Afula, and Karmiel did not even exist until we
established them. The other katyusas landed on territories over which
no one ever questioned our right with regards to them. In Haifa there
were Jews already in the 3rd century BC and Tiberias was the place
where the last Sanhedrin sat, so no one can claim we plundered them
from anyone.
However, the hatred continues. As if no other destiny is possible.
Active hatred, poisoned, unstoppable. Last Saturday the president of
Iran , Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called again 'to act for the vanishing of
Israel '' as if we were bacteria. We got used to it so much that we
don't even ask why.
Israel does not hope and never did for Iran to vanish. As long as
they wanted, we had diplomatic relations with them. We do not have a
common border with them or even any bad memories. And still, they are
willing to confront the whole western world, to risk a commercial
boycott, to hurt their own quality of life, to crush what's left of
their economy and all that for the right to passionately hate us.
I am trying to remember and cannot: have we ever done something to
them? When? How? Why did he say in his speech that ' Israel is the main
problem of the Muslim world'? more than a billion people living in the
Muslim world, most of them in horrible conditions. They suffer from
hunger, poverty, ignorance, bloodshed that spreads from Kashmir to
Kurdistan, from dying Darfur to injured Bangladesh . How come we are the
main problem? How exactly are we in their way?
I refuse to accept the argument that claims 'that is just the way
they are'. They said it about us so many times that we have learned to
accept this _expression. There must be another reason, some dark secret
that because of it, the citizens of South Lebanon allow to rouse the
quiet border, to kidnap the soldiers of an army that has already
retreated from their territory, to turn their country into a wasteland
exactly at the time they finally escaped twenty years of disasters.
We got used to telling ourselves worn expressions - 'it's the Iranian
influence', or ' Syria is stirring behind the scenes' - but it is just
too easy explanation. Because what about them?
What about their thoughts?
What about their hopes, loves, ambitions and their dreams?
What about their children?
When they send their children to die, does it seem enough for them to say that it was all worth while just because they hate us so much?
The Mystery of Hate
by Yair Lapid
Hundreds of years of fighting, six and a half wars, billions of
dollars gone with the wind, tens of thousands of victims, not including
the boy who laid down next to me on the rocky beach of lake Karon in
1982 and we both watched his guts spilling out. The helicopter took him
and until this day I do not know whether he is dead or survived. All
this, and one cannot figure it out.
And its not only what happened but all that did not happen -
hospitals that were never built, universities that were never opened,
roads that were never paved, the three years that were taken from
millions of teenagers for the sake of the army. And despite all the
above, we still do not have the beginning of a clue to the mystery of
where it all started:
Why do they hate us so much?
I am not talking about the Palestinians this time. Their dispute with
us is intimate, focused, and it has a direct effect on their lives.
Without getting into the 'which side is right' question, it is obvious
that they have very personal reasons not to stand our presence here. We
all know that eventually this is how it will be solved: in a personal
way, between them and us, with blood sweat and tears that will stain
the pages of the agreement. Until then, it is a war that could at least
be understood, even if no sane person is willing to accept the means
that are used to run it by.
It is the others. Those I cannot understand. Why does Hassan
Nasralla, along with tens of thousands of his supporters, dedicate his
life, his visible talents, his country's destiny, to fight a country he
has never even seen, people he has never really met and an army that he
has no reason to fight?
Why do children in Iran , who can not even locate Israel on the map
(especially because it is so small), burn its flag in the city center
and offer to commit suicide for its elimination? Why do Egyptian and
Jordanian intellectuals agitate the innocent and helpless against the
peace agreements, even though they know that their failure will push
their countries 20 years back? Why are the Syrians willing to stay a
pathetic and depressed third world country, for the dubious right to
finance terror organizations that will eventually threaten their own
country's existence? Why do they hate us so much in Saudi-Arabia? In
Iraq ? In Sudan ? What have we done to them? How are we even relevant to
their lives? What do they know about us? Why do they hate us so much in
Afghanistan ? They don't have anything to eat there, where do they get
the energy to hate?
This question has so many answers and yet it is a mystery. It is true
that it is a religious matter but even religious people make their
choices. The Koran (along with the Shariaa - the Muslim parallel to the
Jewish Halacha) consists of thousands of laws, why is it that we occupy them so much?
There are so many countries who gave them much better reasons to be
angry. We did not start the crusades, we did not rule them during the
colonial period, we never tried to convert them. The Mongolians, the
Seljuk, the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, the
British, they all conquered, ruined and plundered the whole region. We
did not even try, so how come we are the enemy?
And if it is identification with their Palestinians brothers then
where are the Saudi Arabian tractors building up the territories that
were evacuated? What happened to the Indonesian delegation building a
school in Gaza strip? Where are the Kuwaiti doctors with their modern
surgical equipment? There are so many ways to love your brothers, why
do they all prefer to help their brothers with hating?
Is it something that we do? Fifteen hundreds years of anti-Semitism
taught us - in the most painful way possible - that there is something
about us that irritates the world. So, we did the thing everyone
wanted: we got up and left. We have established our own tiny little
country, where we can irritate ourselves without interrupting others.
We didn't even ask a lot for it. Israel is spread on a smaller
territory than 1% of the territory of Saudi-Arabia, with no oil, no
minerals, without settling on another existing state's territory. Most
of the cities that were bombed this week were not plundered from
anyone. Nahariya, Afula, and Karmiel did not even exist until we
established them. The other katyusas landed on territories over which
no one ever questioned our right with regards to them. In Haifa there
were Jews already in the 3rd century BC and Tiberias was the place
where the last Sanhedrin sat, so no one can claim we plundered them
from anyone.
However, the hatred continues. As if no other destiny is possible.
Active hatred, poisoned, unstoppable. Last Saturday the president of
Iran , Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called again 'to act for the vanishing of
Israel '' as if we were bacteria. We got used to it so much that we
don't even ask why.
Israel does not hope and never did for Iran to vanish. As long as
they wanted, we had diplomatic relations with them. We do not have a
common border with them or even any bad memories. And still, they are
willing to confront the whole western world, to risk a commercial
boycott, to hurt their own quality of life, to crush what's left of
their economy and all that for the right to passionately hate us.
I am trying to remember and cannot: have we ever done something to
them? When? How? Why did he say in his speech that ' Israel is the main
problem of the Muslim world'? more than a billion people living in the
Muslim world, most of them in horrible conditions. They suffer from
hunger, poverty, ignorance, bloodshed that spreads from Kashmir to
Kurdistan, from dying Darfur to injured Bangladesh . How come we are the
main problem? How exactly are we in their way?
I refuse to accept the argument that claims 'that is just the way
they are'. They said it about us so many times that we have learned to
accept this _expression. There must be another reason, some dark secret
that because of it, the citizens of South Lebanon allow to rouse the
quiet border, to kidnap the soldiers of an army that has already
retreated from their territory, to turn their country into a wasteland
exactly at the time they finally escaped twenty years of disasters.
We got used to telling ourselves worn expressions - 'it's the Iranian
influence', or ' Syria is stirring behind the scenes' - but it is just
too easy explanation. Because what about them?
What about their thoughts?
What about their hopes, loves, ambitions and their dreams?
What about their children?
When they send their children to die, does it seem enough for them to say that it was all worth while just because they hate us so much?
Filed under:
israel,
palestinians
4/21/2008
Deliverance
Tonight is the beginning of Passover, one of God's feasts in Scripture which he told Israel to keep as an eternal ordinance.
At Passover, God told each house in Israel to select a perfect, spotless lamb, to be the sacrifice lamb. In Egypt, the blood was put on the door posts of Israel so that when God went to strike against the captors, death would pass over Israel. Unleavened bread (bread without yeast) was eaten, as well as bitter herbs to remind us the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
In the New Covenant, Messiah celebrated the Passover with his disciples. He told them, "When you do this, do it in remembrance of me." So we celebrate the Passover not only in remembrance of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, but also of Messiah's deliverance of us from sin and death."
A Messianic rabbi friend, Derek Leman, has something quite profound to say in Passover As a Spiritual Journey, touching on this dual remembrance that we, as believers in Messiah who keep the Lord's Passover, are in a position to carry out:
In a moment of introspection, ask yourself who or what has abused you? What has been your affliction? What was your harsh servitude? What's been holding you down, suppressing you, stifling your relationship with God? What's caused you to cry out to the Lord, asking earnestly for deliverance?
I know I can fill in those blanks with some damning, ugly sins of my own. I can't even count the times I've cried out to the Lord for deliverance from the things the evil one has tripped me up with as I attempt to live a life for the Lord. Like Israel's journey out of bondage, we've lived our lives captive to sin -- even more so in this backwards culture! -- but the Father is drawing us out.
Messiah's atoning sacrifice, the once-and-for all sacrifice, is the thing that can deliver us from this bondage, make us clean before God; we need only come in sincere repentance to him, as we clean out the leaven from our lives and walking more in-step with the Lord, day by day.
Here's to remembering the Passover Lamb, Seh HaElohim, Yeshua HaMashiach. May He come quickly in our day and restore justice to this perverted world.
----------------
Now playing: Lamb - Yeshua Ha Mashiach
via FoxyTunes
At Passover, God told each house in Israel to select a perfect, spotless lamb, to be the sacrifice lamb. In Egypt, the blood was put on the door posts of Israel so that when God went to strike against the captors, death would pass over Israel. Unleavened bread (bread without yeast) was eaten, as well as bitter herbs to remind us the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
In the New Covenant, Messiah celebrated the Passover with his disciples. He told them, "When you do this, do it in remembrance of me." So we celebrate the Passover not only in remembrance of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, but also of Messiah's deliverance of us from sin and death."
A Messianic rabbi friend, Derek Leman, has something quite profound to say in Passover As a Spiritual Journey, touching on this dual remembrance that we, as believers in Messiah who keep the Lord's Passover, are in a position to carry out:
Passover calls us to think not only about Israel’s journey, but our own. God brought not only Israel out of Egypt, but us as well.
So then there is the second telling of the story, the one that begins with slavery:And the Egyptians abused us . . . they afflicted us . . . and they subjected us to harsh servitude . . . We cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our plea and saw our affliction, our misery and our oppression . . .
And this is another way of looking at our story. It is the crisis perspective, looking at the things we needed saving from (and still do — let’s not kid ourselves about how far we have come).
It is good at Passover to think about these things also:
–What traps were we caught in? What dangers did we face (including judgment for sin)?
–How aware were we of our misery when we sought God? What was happening?
–How do we need him to save us over and over again? I don’t mean in the Christian sense of the word “save” as a technical term for becoming a part of God’s people. I mean, in what ways do we find again and again we need God’s forgiveness and help in escaping the worst tendencies in ourselves?
–Put our own issues into the following sentence: And _________ abused us and _________ was our affliction and __________ was my harsh servitude and we cried to the Lord . . .
This year, as you celebrate Passover, why not take a minute to journal about these things. And put your writing inside your favorite Haggadah. You’ll read it from year to year and maybe even add to it. It is your own personal Haggadah.
In a moment of introspection, ask yourself who or what has abused you? What has been your affliction? What was your harsh servitude? What's been holding you down, suppressing you, stifling your relationship with God? What's caused you to cry out to the Lord, asking earnestly for deliverance?
I know I can fill in those blanks with some damning, ugly sins of my own. I can't even count the times I've cried out to the Lord for deliverance from the things the evil one has tripped me up with as I attempt to live a life for the Lord. Like Israel's journey out of bondage, we've lived our lives captive to sin -- even more so in this backwards culture! -- but the Father is drawing us out.
Messiah's atoning sacrifice, the once-and-for all sacrifice, is the thing that can deliver us from this bondage, make us clean before God; we need only come in sincere repentance to him, as we clean out the leaven from our lives and walking more in-step with the Lord, day by day.
Here's to remembering the Passover Lamb, Seh HaElohim, Yeshua HaMashiach. May He come quickly in our day and restore justice to this perverted world.
----------------
Now playing: Lamb - Yeshua Ha Mashiach
via FoxyTunes
Filed under:
biblical feasts,
feasts of the lord,
passover
4/16/2008
Breaking News: Israeli Supreme Court Allows Messianic Jews Right of Return
Blogger friend and Messianic Jewish rabbi Derek Leman posts some great news coming from Israel: the Israeli Supreme Court has reversed its 1989 ruling that Messianic Jews are not Jews and therefore cannot emigrate to Israel.
This means Jews that believe Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel are allowed to move to Israel.
The court further ordered the Israeli Minister of Interior, which had been persecuting Messianics by revoking their citizenship, to halt harassments against Messianic Jews.
Baruch Haba BaShem Adonai Yeshua HaMoshiach!
----------------
Now playing: Marty Goetz - For Zion's Sake
via FoxyTunes
This means Jews that believe Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel are allowed to move to Israel.
The court further ordered the Israeli Minister of Interior, which had been persecuting Messianics by revoking their citizenship, to halt harassments against Messianic Jews.
Baruch Haba BaShem Adonai Yeshua HaMoshiach!
----------------
Now playing: Marty Goetz - For Zion's Sake
via FoxyTunes
Filed under:
israel,
Judaism,
messianic,
restoration of israel
4/15/2008
Re-Judaizing Jesus
Earlier this year, Time Magazine posted an interesting "top 10" list: 10 Ideas That Are Changing The World.
#10 on the list? Gentile Christians world-wide are awakening to the Jewish identity of Messiah.
Regarding how this came about in gentile Christian circles, the article states,
Interesting article. It is unfortunate they failed to mentioned the increasing number of Christians celebrating the Feasts of the Lord, Scriptural holidays which Christians for over a thousand years have deemed "too Jewish" and have not been widely celebrated since the organization of the Roman state religion 1700 years ago.
Neither does the article mention the rise of Messianic and Nazarene Judaism in Israel and abroad, nor does it touch on the various Hebraic-roots movements which attempt to restore the faith in Messiah closer to its origins and further from its Roman and often pagan influences.
What is really happening is God is moving Jews and gentiles closer to Himself. When we gather closer to Him, the strife and grumblings between us begin to crumble. This is why we see gentiles abandoning the Roman and pagan elements of their religion and restoring the Messiah of Israel as the center, some even going as far as to keep Torah. Yes, kashrut-keeping goyim Christians -- God works in mysterious ways.
And on the other side of the spectrum, we are witnessing a miracle in this modern time: the Jewish people in greater number are taking this great leap of faith to accept what Jews have for so long regarded as unacceptable: that moshiach did come and his name is Y'shua, whom the gentiles call Jesus. Both are going through a transformation that transcends the religions of Christianity and Judaism.
The article focuses only on the gentile side of things, yet what God is doing among the Jewish people is even more amazing: Jews turning to the Jewish Messiah in numbers not seen in 2 millenia. And unlike the shameful, evil forced conversions of the old world Church, these are folks coming to know the Messiah in his authentic identity: as a Torah-observant, zealous Jewish rabbi who made full the Torah and the prophets, a rabbi who came not to start a new religion, but to open up to Jew and gentile alike all the promises of God and a way for atonement now that the Beit HaMikdash is gone and the Levitical priesthood is no more. Jews are seeing Y'shua as one of our own for the first time in nearly 2000 years. God is so faithful.
With the long history of Christian persecution of Jews, and early Jewish persecution of Christians, the long history of antisemitism in the name of Christ, the pogroms carried out, even the strife between us, one must come to the conclusion this is a work of God's fingers to bring us closer after this long separation. In retrospect, we can now see the whole mastery of it all, the wisdom of God that puts humanity's knowledge to shame: during this time, God was not sleeping; during this separation we have witnessed almost 1/3 of the entire gentile world come to know the God of Israel through the Messiah of Israel. The Lord is so good.
Despite the article's shortcomings, I'm happy to see God's move among the gentiles recognized by secular sources.
#10 on the list? Gentile Christians world-wide are awakening to the Jewish identity of Messiah.
Regarding how this came about in gentile Christian circles, the article states,
The shift came in stages: first a brute acceptance that Jesus was born a Jew and did Jewish things; then admission that he and his interpreter Paul saw themselves as Jews even while founding what became another faith; and today, recognition of what the Rev. Bruce Chilton, author of Rabbi Jesus, calls Jesus' passionate dedication "to Jewish ideas of his day" on everything from ritual purity to the ideal of the kingdom of God — ideas he rewove but did not abandon.
Interesting article. It is unfortunate they failed to mentioned the increasing number of Christians celebrating the Feasts of the Lord, Scriptural holidays which Christians for over a thousand years have deemed "too Jewish" and have not been widely celebrated since the organization of the Roman state religion 1700 years ago.
Neither does the article mention the rise of Messianic and Nazarene Judaism in Israel and abroad, nor does it touch on the various Hebraic-roots movements which attempt to restore the faith in Messiah closer to its origins and further from its Roman and often pagan influences.
What is really happening is God is moving Jews and gentiles closer to Himself. When we gather closer to Him, the strife and grumblings between us begin to crumble. This is why we see gentiles abandoning the Roman and pagan elements of their religion and restoring the Messiah of Israel as the center, some even going as far as to keep Torah. Yes, kashrut-keeping goyim Christians -- God works in mysterious ways.
And on the other side of the spectrum, we are witnessing a miracle in this modern time: the Jewish people in greater number are taking this great leap of faith to accept what Jews have for so long regarded as unacceptable: that moshiach did come and his name is Y'shua, whom the gentiles call Jesus. Both are going through a transformation that transcends the religions of Christianity and Judaism.
The article focuses only on the gentile side of things, yet what God is doing among the Jewish people is even more amazing: Jews turning to the Jewish Messiah in numbers not seen in 2 millenia. And unlike the shameful, evil forced conversions of the old world Church, these are folks coming to know the Messiah in his authentic identity: as a Torah-observant, zealous Jewish rabbi who made full the Torah and the prophets, a rabbi who came not to start a new religion, but to open up to Jew and gentile alike all the promises of God and a way for atonement now that the Beit HaMikdash is gone and the Levitical priesthood is no more. Jews are seeing Y'shua as one of our own for the first time in nearly 2000 years. God is so faithful.
With the long history of Christian persecution of Jews, and early Jewish persecution of Christians, the long history of antisemitism in the name of Christ, the pogroms carried out, even the strife between us, one must come to the conclusion this is a work of God's fingers to bring us closer after this long separation. In retrospect, we can now see the whole mastery of it all, the wisdom of God that puts humanity's knowledge to shame: during this time, God was not sleeping; during this separation we have witnessed almost 1/3 of the entire gentile world come to know the God of Israel through the Messiah of Israel. The Lord is so good.
Despite the article's shortcomings, I'm happy to see God's move among the gentiles recognized by secular sources.
Filed under:
Christianity,
Judaism
4/14/2008
The Long Silence
At the end of time, billions of people were seated on a great plain before God's throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly, not cringing with cringing shame - but with belligerence.
"Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?", snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. "We endured terror ... beatings ... torture ... death!"
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. "What about this?" he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. "Lynched, for no crime but being black!"
In another crowd there was a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes: "Why should I suffer?" she murmured. "It wasn't my fault." Far out across the plain were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He had permitted in His world.
How lucky God was to live in Heaven, where all was sweetness and light. Where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.
So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the vast plain, they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, He must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth as a man.
Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind.
Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die so there can be no doubt he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.
As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled. When the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No one uttered a word. No one moved.
For suddenly, all knew that God had already served His sentence.
-Anonymous
"Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?", snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. "We endured terror ... beatings ... torture ... death!"
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. "What about this?" he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. "Lynched, for no crime but being black!"
In another crowd there was a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes: "Why should I suffer?" she murmured. "It wasn't my fault." Far out across the plain were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He had permitted in His world.
How lucky God was to live in Heaven, where all was sweetness and light. Where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.
So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the vast plain, they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, He must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth as a man.
Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind.
Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die so there can be no doubt he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.
As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled. When the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No one uttered a word. No one moved.
For suddenly, all knew that God had already served His sentence.
-Anonymous
4/09/2008
The Checklist
- Stayed up most of the night out of excitement - CHECK
- Called mom - CHECK
- Emailed mother-in-law - CHECK
- Updated Facebook status - CHECK
- Updated MySpace status - CHECK
- Wrote blog post - CHECK
It's official. My wife is pregnant with our 2nd child. Woo! :-)
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Now playing: Marty Goetz - Unless it is the Lord
via FoxyTunes
Filed under:
family
4/07/2008
Happy Scriptural New Year!
The new moon of the month of the Aviv (barley) was sighted in Israel after sunset at 7:05pm Jerusalem time on Monday, April 7, 2008. The barley crop in the land of Israel had matured to the stage of aviv during the added 13th month (Adar bet), which brings us to the Scriptural head of the year.
God told us in Scripture this indicates "the beginning of months for you." Scripture tells us that the 14th day of this first month, we are to celebrate God's Passover in remembrance of death passing over us in Egypt, and God's deliverance of Israel from slavery.
The New Testament tells us that Messiah celebrated Passover this month with his disciples, and we are to celebrate the Feast in 2 weeks "in rememberance" of him. This is also the month Messiah, the unleavened Lamb of God, was given up as the final atonement for our sin.
Happy Biblical New Year!
God told us in Scripture this indicates "the beginning of months for you." Scripture tells us that the 14th day of this first month, we are to celebrate God's Passover in remembrance of death passing over us in Egypt, and God's deliverance of Israel from slavery.
The New Testament tells us that Messiah celebrated Passover this month with his disciples, and we are to celebrate the Feast in 2 weeks "in rememberance" of him. This is also the month Messiah, the unleavened Lamb of God, was given up as the final atonement for our sin.
Happy Biblical New Year!
Filed under:
biblical feasts,
feasts of the lord
