I think, therefore I blog...

just ran across that slogan on a tee shirt somewhere out here in blog land.
i've visited a few friends, and it's only 5:30am and I haven't even had coffee yet, but hey the sun is about to rise and I hear rain on the roof top...don't want to miss it. Never thought I would enjoy rain - but living on a desert changes ones outlook...

Psalm 83

Verse one reads: O God do not remain quiet, Do not be silent and O God, do not be still...
How would God speak to us today? Dreams - Visions - through our imaginations?
The God of Glory Thunders (psalm 29).
Well it seems as if God has spoken loud and clear to the world a few days ago. Yet I ask, who will listen? In Ireland, a book was found. An old book. (have you read the news reports?)
It was obviously an ancient Roman Catholic book - from between 800 and 1000 years AD., written in Latin. A prayer book. A book of psalms. Buried in a bog for over 1000 years. Open to Psalm 83. Thats what CNN said in their report.
So let's read Psalm 83. Does God know what's happening in the middle east?
Is the Israel attack an act of God, or are they taking things into their own hands rather than waiting for God to act? The Old Testament is full of real battles, defeats, and victories. Will God, YHWH, receive the Glory? Will anyone actually come to know that He alone, whose name is YHWH is the Most High over all the earth? Will anyone listen?

Psa 83:1 A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
Psa 83:2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.
Psa 83:3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones.
Psa 83:4 They say, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!"
Psa 83:5 For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant--
Psa 83:6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
Psa 83:7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
Psa 83:8 Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah.
Psa 83:9 Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
Psa 83:10 who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground.
Psa 83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
Psa 83:12 who said, "Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God."
Psa 83:13 O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.
Psa 83:14 As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
Psa 83:15 so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!
Psa 83:16 Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD.
Psa 83:17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace,
Psa 83:18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

Dispensationalism

I just did a quick study on “dispensational theology.” Obviously it is an extensive subject, worthy of a 3 credit hour college course, but I had to clarify my understanding of the word. Basically it breaks the Bible in to ages, ie the Abraham Age, the Moses Age, The Jewish Age, The Jesus Age, The Gentile Age etc. In doing this it seeks to explain “why” God - who proclaims Himself to be the same today, yesterday and forever, seems to have changed His expectations and requirements of humankind. Some people think that the 7 Churches in Revelation reflect the 7 ages of the Church - 7 dispensations.
Dispensation Theology would explain why I am wrong in saying that it is important to understand the culture and belief system of the people who were listening to the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles, to understand how they would interpret certain expressions (ie Chosen and Elect) in relation to what they believed about Scriptures. A new age was beginning, with new grace and new revelations, and the other was part of an earlier dispensation, not relevant any longer. What we read in the Old Testament can not be taken at face value / literally. We instead have to measure it against the New Testament. For example, praying for the peace of Jerusalem, which meant at the time, to pray for the physical place, now - in the light of this new dispensation - means to pray for the heavenly Jerusalem to come down out of the clouds???
Most Bible Believers I know, understand that when Paul wrote to Timothy that all Scripture was God Breathed, the Bible as we have it was not even complete. He was talking about the Old Testament, although some of his writings were already considered Scripture by Peter. The Bible, as we have it, from Genesis to Revelation wasn’t complied until nearly 400AD. It wasn’t available to laity in their own language for another 1200 years or so. Even then, only the rich could afford a copy.
I believe the Bible is the most important Book in the world, the only and infallible guide of our faith. I believe that it is the inspired word of God, God breathed from “In the beginning” to “The grace of the LORD Jesus be with all, Amen.” But it is Jesus who saves, not the Bible. It has always been and will always be Jesus. It is said, that when Helen Keller was told about Jesus, her response was, “Oh, that’s His name. He has been with me in my darkness all this time, but I didn’t know who He was.”
That may just be a legend…but it rings true to me. Jesus cried over Jerusalem, and I pray for its peace.
And I pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…” Amen

As I See It

please remember, I'm not claiming to be a Bible Scholar and these thoughts are just my own...do with them as you wish, comment if you like, but please try to refrain from calling me a heretic or false prophet...unless you really feel the Holy Spirit compelling you to.
Life got the better of me last weekend. An outburst of anger and frustration led to several days of depression. One of my pity parties that I prefer to blame on my “time of life.” Poor Pastor Art…and even now I whine, but it’s not all my fault…if only he would
Never mind.
Yesterday I visited several blogs. I am surprised how few are mentioning the crisis in the Middle East. Perhaps the authors are all on the hill tops waiting for the trumpet to blow.
With the war and the earthquakes and the storms and fires, surely the Day of the LORD is upon us. Or perhaps my circle was not wide enough. I did encounter an interesting question on one of the sites I like checking out. “Where are the Evangelical Christians in this Middle East Crisis?”
My initial thought was, “just who do you mean by ‘Evangelical?”
The article was written by a Christian in Lebanon, who of course had a rather unique point of view of the matter. Then I thought of the Biblical mandate to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”. And the promise that YHWH would bless those who blessed Israel and curse those who cursed her.
This morning I read - well I scanned Isaiah chapters 1 through 30. I was looking for a verse that had jumped out at me around the time that Israel was handing over the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians - an apparent victory for terrorists in my opinion. I found the verse - 30:1
“Woe to the rebellious children” declares the LORD. Who execute a plan, but not Mine. And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit.”
The chapter goes on to talk about Egypt. A lot of Bible scholars, over the years, have discussed what places like Egypt, Babylon, Moab, Assyria actually refer to in prophesy.
It is true that neither Isaiah or John, the author of Revelation, had any knowledge of places like Russia, England, North America. So if they saw people from such places, how would they identify them. If they saw armies from such places, where would they assume they were from. Lot’s of scholars like to say that Babylon in Revelation refers to the Roman Catholic Church. I recently heard one teacher explain quite convincingly that Babylon was actually the United States. Of course I also heard a teacher explain how Prince Charles was the anti-christ. Seems like anyone can proclaim anything if they wear a suit and have a PhD after their name, and do so using the Bible. Then again, some anti-higher learning, self proclaimed Bible teachers do the same thing. I think it is a dangerous thing to play with the Word of God. So maybe Babylon is actually Babylon (Sadom Husain, you know who I mean, declared that Iraq was and would again be the great Babylon). And Egypt is Egypt. Isaiah 19 says the Nile river will dry up and the Egyptians will become believers. I wonder when that will happen?
In my opinion, Assyria sounds an awful lot like the USA. But what do I know?
As I read/scanned the first 29 chapters of Isaiah, looking for that verse, I got a sort of spinning sensation. Like Isaiah standing in the midst of this unfolding vision as it spiraled around him. There is war and destruction, there are warnings of natural disasters coming from God as judgment. The total end of the world is mentioned a few times, and at other times more localized catastrophes are mentioned, as God judges His chosen people for not keeping their part of the covenant. Jesus appears several times. Isaiah 7 - the virgin birth, Isaiah 9, the light in the great darkness, Isaiah 11 a little child will lead them, Isaiah 16, the Kingdom of Jesus, Isaiah 28, the corner stone. There are more Jesus prophesies in the book, but remember I only scanned it, and only went as far as Chapter 30.
I was thinking of the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70AD. The invasion of the Muslims, the crusades, World War II. Was Isaiah seeing all that as God revealed to him His plan, His warning, His promise? “If my people… When my people…”
I just thought of Scourge in “A Christmas Carol “, asking the spirit of Christmas’s yet to come. Are these visions of things that will be, or that might be?
Isa 30:8 The LORD told me to write down his message for his people, so that it would be there forever.
They have turned against the LORD and can't be trusted. They have refused his teaching
and have said to his messengers and prophets: Don't tell us what God has shown you and don't preach the truth. Just say what we want to hear, even if it's false.
Stop telling us what God has said! We don't want to hear any more about the holy God of Israel.
Now this is the answer of the holy God of Israel: "You rejected my message, and you trust in violence and lies.
Boy, I sure don’t want to come across sounding Anti-Semantic. But I don’t hear the Israelis calling upon the Holy God of Israel as they continue this fight. It seems they are trusting in their own might. And clearly they have rejected the message about Jesus. Someone in the blog world said that when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem we are praying for the second coming of Christ, for the Day of the LORD, for only then will Jerusalem have true peace. The radical Muslims see this as a “holy war”. Perhaps some of the so called evangelicals and surely some of the charismatic Christians see this as a “holy war” in that Biblical prophesy is being played out. I don’t know. But I am watching, and praying. Matthew 24:6 and 7. And these are only the beginnings of the birth pangs.
One last thing I found very interesting in Isaiah. Chapter 14:1-2 CEV
The LORD will have mercy on Israel and will let them be his chosen people once again. He will bring them back to their own land, and foreigners will join them as part of Israel.
Other nations will lead them home, and Israel will make slaves of them in the land that belongs to the Lord. Israel will rule over those who once governed and mistreated them.
Sounds a lot like what happened at the end of World War II
This is how it reads in the KJV
For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
Which of course was translated some 300 years before World War II.

LORD let us feed upon Your Holy Word, and give us wisdom as we do.

poor meghan...

Jesus Saves

for any early morning readers, today, Thursday July 13, the theme of VBS is "Jesus is my Savior" VIVA! The kids will be given the chance to ask Jesus into their hearts...
Pray for open ears, sensitive hearts, and Shalom - for the Children and Volunteers as well.

JESUS IS MY LIFE

Jesus has been my life for nearly 27 years now. Jesus friends, Jesus celebrations, Jesus work, Jesus play, Jesus vacations, Jesus business, Jesus tears and Jesus quiet times. Oh yeah, I mustn’t forget, all the “But Jesus…” temper tantrums.
Today’s VBS theme was “Jesus is my life, VIVA!”. The Bible story was about Lazarus being raised from the dead…and the treasure verse is Deut. 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you might.”
Well, I don’t know about loving the LORD, but these kids sure put their whole heart, soul and might into singing the songs.
It reminds me of a story. A long time ago, the theme song of a VBS was “Jesus, Your Word Lives in Me.” It had a typical child friendly melody. The words were a little tricky for some of the littler ones, but that didn’t curb their enthusiasm. So one afternoon, my friend’s four year old daughter was seen, riding her trike down the street, joyfully singing at the top of her little lungs: “Jesus, your worthless to me.”
I pray that these kiddos get more truth and light out of these fiesta days, than that little lady did. Regardless, it sure is fun.

Jesus is our Friend - VIVA!

I'm helping with VBS this week. It is quite a nostolgic experience for me. I've done a lot of VBS's in my life. The treasure verse for yesterday was John 15:15
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for the things that I have heard from MY Father I have made known to you. ML and JC might point out the next verse that says " You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you..." No argument, He hand picked and called the people to whom he was speaking, the 11 apostles at the Last Supper (Judas had already left).
So then, since it was the apostles to whom He was speaking, can we apply any of the discertation to ourselves? Is is right to tell kids that Jesus is their friend, whom they can trust in when things go wrong and get scarey? The main message of the day seemed to be, Jesus wants to be your friend and Jesus wants you to behave in a friendly way towards others. We sang a spanish style version of "What a Friend I have in Jesus"...any problem with the theology of that old hymn?
Time to head out for another day...by the way
yesterday I had to drop Pastor Art off real early, so I found a quiet spot on a back road to watch the sunrise. Just as it crested the horizon, an incredibly vibrant rainbow appeared in the southwest. Lightning was flashing under the arc. It was quite an awesome sight - Glory To God!

Before Dawn

5:45 am
The sun didn't beat me up this morning. The sky is lightening, and the birds are in full voice. It's time to bless the day, and thank the Creator for His many blessings. I'll be on the front porch in a few minutes, with my coffee, my Bible and my prayer journal. But first this:
Yesterday I went into town after I dropped Pastor Art off at work. The first thing I did was go to a nice little park to pray. I have a lot of happy grandchildren memories about that partiuclar park. It was still early, and a bit rainy (thank the LORD for the rain), so I was alone as I walked along the stream, listening to the sound of the determined water dance over the rocks in its way. I got all sad and misty eyed, that way grandmas sometimes do, thinking about my grandkids, and their father, whom I haven't seen or heard from since Christmas.
I strained to remember happy times that I spent with my own grandmothers. I thought, did my own mother, or grandmothers love me any bit near as much as I love my Elijah, my Amadaya. Does my own dear son know how much I love him. The feelings of love were so strong. And I thought, they will never realize how deeply I love them. And then I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit,
"Do you realize how much I love You child?"
God's love for us, as small and insignificant as we are in this huge universe which He created, His love for us is like that of a parent for his child.
The Bible uses a lot of words to explain our relationship with and to the Creator. He's our King, our LORD, our Shepherd, our Master, our Judge. We are the sheep of His pastor, hopefully His good and faithful servents, even His friends. But when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He told them to call on Abba, Father. When Jesus taught the ultimate lesson on forgiveness, and called out to the Almighty to forgive those who were nailing Him to the cross, He called out to His Father. Those of you who are parents, consider this. To what extent would you go to find your child if he or she got lost? What sacrifice would you make to save the life of your child?
I think now, of the cross. We call Jesus the Son of God. Actually He seemed to prefer the label Son of Man. We say over and over again: For God so Loved the World that He gave His only begotten son... So sometimes the Father seems cruel. How could He do that to His own son, How could He allow such torture and shame? Why? But we need to realize it was the Creator of the Universe on that cross, dying for His beloved creation. That is how much God loves us. So that we who were lost could find our way out of the darkness. Why the cross? Perhaps we can never fully understand why? But not knowing why doesn't mean it didn't happen. The cross may seem like foolishness to those who are perishing. But it is all the proof I need that the Bible is true, and Jesus is Truth. And God loves us. As real and strong and urgent that my love for my children is, even though they are grown and have made some really bad choices, as strong and urgent that my love for my grandson and his sweet sister is, God's love for me, for us, is more real, more urgent. He wants me to spend time with Him, to listen to Him when He speaks to me, to run to Him when the world gets too big or too scarey for me to deal with. To hold His hand as He leads me, not into temptation, but down His path of righteousness...The sun is just about to peek over the horizon. I'm coming Abba...

Re-writing History

There is a difference between researching to discover the facts concerning a historical event that may have, over the years, been distorted and re-writing the Bible to fit our particular bias. Although I've stated that the English translations of the Bible may in some places reflect certain doctrines held by the translators and not necessarily the beliefs of the original authors, I do believe that the Holy Spirit can and does reveal truth to those who sincerely seek it, regardless of the translation they have at hand.
As I was reading history lately, and finding so many conflicting stories about the same events, I found my self questioning how reliable the Bible actually was. But really, history and HIS-story are two completely different things. We have plenty of reliable sources, artifacts, manuscripts to prove that the Bible is indeed what it claims to be, The Living Word of the Living God. And the "story" remains consistant, over hundreds if not thousands of years. I remember one of my Old Testament Professors saying once that the very fact that the Bible records the mistakes as well as the successes of the Hebrew people is proof that it is true. Most ancient writings about ancient nations sing only the praises, and never the defeats. I trust the Bible, more than that, I trust the Holy Spirit. To God be the Glory!

Grace like Rain

that's the name of a song, and a CD...but I didn't know that on June 27.
I was on my porch, enjoying the early morning sun and song, praying through my notes on JOB that I had made 10 days earlier. Comparing verses in the CEV with verses in the more reliable NASV. When it started to rain. It is important to note that we are in the midst of a serious drought here in the southwest. I am living in a dry and barren land, plagued by dust storms, where the fire threat is extreme. But it was raining. A steady shower, the rain coming strait down, on my house, on my yard and believe it or not...no place else. Well, there was a little falling on the road in front of my house, and the house across the way, but none on the houses on either side of mine. None in the back yard. One grey cloud, raining on my yard, a steady refreshing rain. Of course I went out and stood in the shower. There was no one around to notice it. Just me and God. I could have walked around the shower, I could have walked out of it. I turned my face toward the one lone cloud and breathed deeply. It lasted about 10 minutes.
When I returned to my porch, a slight breeze blew the pages of my Bible to Revelation 1:11. The page went from 1:11 to 2:18, and I've been reading those for the past few days, extending to the whole of chapter two and finally to the the end of the letters to the seven churches.
One more thing. That night I drove into Farmington to attend a VBS meeting - I'm helping with the joint Episcopalian/Luthern Fiesta VBS next week. On the way home I was praying and wondering. There is this ministry possibility...a sort of Market Place Evangelism venue (see Gateway of the Rock) and I was praying about if it were really something the LORD wanted us to persue. The radio was on, just back ground noise really, but all of a sudden I heard the line
"Grace like rain fall on me..." I didn't know the song, or the group, but the line really struck home. Like, "hey Maryellen, don't forget this morning." So I figured, yep...this is something the LORD wants us to persue. A lot of spiritually significant stuff has happend since then. We had an incredible weekend. The report of it really belongs on the Ministry Site. And if you are brousing...RD has a new story we are posting Wednesday, July 5.
One more weather experience before I move on...
Like I said, we are in the midst of a drought. Saturday we were at a "Tent Meeting" about prayer, worship, and the prophetic. It was coming to a close, at sunset, when a dust storm blew in. There was thunder in the distance - The God of Glory thunders - but no rain. Just wind and dust. I stood facing the sun set, it was beautiful, but I could only catch glimpses of it because of the dust. I had to keep my eyes closed most of the time. I felt as if I was in the middle of a battle. The thunder and the wind were the LORD, the dust, swirling and fleeing was the enemy's. This Dine'Ta - Navajo Land, this place is at the same time a sacred and forsaken land.
The enemy is a liar. Our purpose is to glorify God and let His light shine through us into this dark and forsaken land. Truth will set the captives free. Truth will restore the sacred. Amen