Butterfly in the Desert

Cannibals

2011-05-03T00:46:00.003-07:00

Cannibal - one who attacks and eats its own kind.

ARIZONA TRIES TO BALANCE BUDGET ON BACKS OF POOR!

2011-04-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

By Linda K. Light

Arizona is trying to balance their budget on the backs of the poor.

Early Friday morning, April 1, around 3 a.m. MST, the Arizona State House of Representatives approved a state budget for the next fiscal year that includes an additional $47 million in cuts from the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES). DES includes healthcare services and other assistance to low-income families and single adults under 65 without dependent children, domestic violence victims, the homeless, the elderly, and the mentally and physically disabled. This agency already suffered huge budget cuts this current fiscal year that included organ transplants for the indigent. That left 96 people due to receive organ transplants on the state program without the means to pay for these badly needed and expensive operations and after care. The organ transplant program has been restored in next year’s budget. But who knows how many can wait that long or will even be alive by then. One person in the program has already lost an opportunity for an organ because when one became available, he did not have the money to pay for it out of his own pocket, nor have health insurance that would cover it. So the organ was given instead to someone else who had the money or health insurance to pay for the operation.

I spoke with Rep. Katie Hobbs (D) Friday morning, and she said, “The budget did not pass until 3 a.m. this morning. The legislature was in session all night long. No Democrats were allowed any input, only Republicans. No time was given to read the final budget before it was presented and voted on, so no one could really see who would be impacted.” She asked me who my representatives were, and I told her David Smith (R)) and Heather Carter (R). She told me they both voted for the budget. I will NOT be voting them back in next term should they choose to seek re-election.

Later on Friday afternoon, around 3:30 p.m. the state budget was passed by the State Senate in the same way. Rushed through along partisan lines.

This tactic of presenting a bill and then voting on it almost immediately or within a very short time has been used before to pass bills in the U.S. Congress as well. It seems to me that usually there are things hidden in the bill that the opposition party would oppose and argue against had they been given a chance. But time for argument or discussion before the final vote is not allowed. Instead it is deliberately skipped over. Time is not given to even read the bill before the vote. Sometimes I think it is used to hide things that some legislators do not want the public to become aware of until it is too late to say anything, because they know the public would object to it.

Speaking from personal experience, not all people receiving assistance are defrauding the system. Many cannot afford healthcare on their own, nor purchase healthcare insurance. Many general practice physicians, not specialists, charge as much as $100-200 per visit full price. That cost does not include lab tests or medicines. That is just the price to see the doctor. I’ve read where some state legislators think poor people who get bumped off the state’s Medicaid program, AHCCCS, should go to the emergency room for any kind of illness or treatment instead. Hospitals are not allowed to turn anyone away if they come to the emergency room. But these hospitals will still send a bill to that person even if they have no insurance or money to pay for it. If the patient does not come up with the means to pay the bill, eventually the bill will be sent to a collection agency, and it will show up on the person’s credit report as well. Multiple daily phone calls from the collection agency as well as mail start coming in. The patient may be unemployed and trying very hard to get a job, or just barely have enough income to keep a roof over their heads and the electricity on, but not pay for the bill. Single adults without dependent children under the age of 65 (too young to be covered by Medicare) is one group that is under consideration from being dropped from the program. Just because an adult doesn’t have children in the home to take care of doesn’t mean they can all afford health care.

Yesterday I read on CNN’s web site where the U.S. House of Representatives will be presented with next year’s budget Tuesday, April 5, that will include cuts to Medicaid for the federal budget, and pass the costs along to the states, who are already struggling with their budgets.

I guess the poor are supposed to just die if they get seriously injured or ill, because they can’t afford health care like the wealthier can. Churches and other charitable organizations that provide free healthcare to the poor are struggling financially, too.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2011/03/31/20110331ahcccs-health-care-debate.html

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2011/04/01/20110401arizona-budget-senate-passes-goes-to-brewer.html

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/02/house.gop.budget/index.html?hpt=C1

Water and Rock Haiku

2011-03-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

by Linda K. Light

Gurgling joyfully

Over rock and into pool

Water streaming calm.

SHARIA LAW at work in Arizona: Dad accused in 'honor killing' will not face death penalty

2011-02-19T12:13:00.003-07:00

NOTE: Honor killings are premeditated murder. So why aren't they treated as premeditated murder? A blogger at the Arizona Republic exposes why. His blog is about the Idealogy of Islam. Link is in the title of this blog if you click on it.-- Linda

http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/2010/02/19/20100219honor-killing.html

Dad accused in 'honor killing' will not face death penalty

by Dustin Gardiner - Feb. 19, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

A Glendale man accused of killing his daughter in an "honor killing" will not face the death penalty.

After sparring with the suspect's defense attorney over its death-penalty-review process, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office has said it will not seek death for Faleh Almaleki, 49.

The Iraqi immigrant is accused of killing his daughter, 20-year-old Noor Almaleki, for being "too Westernized."

Police say he used his Jeep Cherokee to run down his daughter and another woman in a Peoria parking lot Oct. 20. Noor later died of her injuries.

Almaleki is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and two counts of leaving the scene of a serious accident. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The decision not to seek the death penalty comes after Almaleki's attorney, Billy Little, a public defender, asked a judge to take special precautions to ensure the County Attorney's Office wouldn't wrongly seek the death penalty because Almaleki is a Muslim. [NOTE: This is in accord with Sharia law which prohibits a non-Moslem from killing a Moslem for any reason. ]

Little requested that the office make public the process it uses to determine whether to seek capital punishment.

"An open process provides some level of assurance that there is no appearance that a Christian is seeking to execute a Muslim for racial, political, religious or cultural beliefs," Little wrote, referring to County Attorney Andrew Thomas' Christian faith. [NOTE: And so, once again, Moslems are being given special protection just in order to avoid the appearance of prejudice. From now on, it will be clear that the death penalty in Arizona applies only to non-Moslems!!!]

Laura Reckart, a county prosecutor, responded that Little's concern about the "supposed bias" of the office's death-penalty-review process was "without legitimate factual or legal basis." [NOTE: True enough. So, why is the prosecutor's office backing down???]

She wrote that the state can seek the death penalty for any person convicted of first-degree murder if it can prove the existence of at least one aggravating factor, not because of religion.

However, the debate stopped there. On Tuesday, Reckart filed a motion indicating prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. [NOTE: WHY???]

Mike Scerbo, a spokesman for the County Attorney's Office, declined to comment on the decision.

Prosecutors said Almaleki has admitted killing his daughter because she disgraced the family by not following traditional Iraqi or Muslim values. [NOTE: More sloppy, politically correct reporting from the Arizona Republic. What are "Iraqi values"??? We are talking ONLY about Muslim values. Iraqi Christians do not do this sort of thing.]

They liken the case to honor killings that occur in the Middle East, Africa and other parts of the world. In tribal societies where the practice occurs, male family members feel they must kill a rebellious relative who shames them by not adhering to traditional values. [NOTE: Of the more than 5000 "honor killings a year, according to the United Nations report, the vast, vast majority are committed by Moslems. These Moslems are not members of "tribes" with "traditional values". They are adherents of Islam, with Islamic values.]

Noor had reportedly married a man in Iraq and returned to Arizona to live with a boyfriend and his mother in Surprise, police said. [NOTE: These are violations of sacred Islamic Sharia law which permits, sometimes even requires death as a punishment. Sharia law specifically exempts parents from the death penalty if they kill their children!]

Friday, February 19, 2010 at 07:59 AM

Well in the Desert

2011-02-01T12:38:00.003-07:00

I thought I had a well that was deep and true.
The water was very sweet and refreshing.

I tried to take good care of it.
Then one morning I woke up and
The water had disappeared.
All that remained was shifting sand.

Maybe just a mirage in the desert.

By Linda K. Light

Apartment Refugee

2011-01-25T19:04:00.002-07:00

Refugee from my own home

Clashing disharmony all around

Ever seeking a quiet moment

Only finding it in stranger places.

by Linda K. Light

Blood Everywhere

2011-01-04T19:20:00.001-07:00

Blood, blood everywhere

and not a drop of compassion anywhere.
"Party Hearty!!" the wolves cry
as they suck the last bit of sustenance away.

Linda K. Light

Paying It Forward

2010-11-12T00:24:00.002-07:00

There was a movie that came out several years ago called “Paying It Forward”. It was about an idealistic boy around ten years old in elementary school. His teacher gave the class a project to do that involved doing random acts of kindness for strangers without asking for anything in return, and then reporting back on what happened. This young boy took it seriously and began doing that. Soon, other strangers were helping other strangers because they had been helped, asking them only to “pay it forward' by helping someone else that they did not know. Soon the whole city began to change with people doing random acts of kindness all over. It even made the daily newspaper. In the end this young boy gave his life literally by “paying it forward” by helping a fellow classmate who was being constantly bullied by this gang. The gang leader pulled out a knife and stabbed the boy to death. It happened on school grounds. The teacher saw it and arrived in time to break it up and get help, but the helpful boy died in his arms, saying, “Just paying it forward”. Well I had a real experience this evening.

I was shopping for groceries late in the evening and had finished around 9 p.m. I sat down with my several bags of groceries at a local bus stop. It suddenly occurred to me that maybe the last bus had gone by because of it being a holiday and they were on a Sunday schedule, which means the buses do not run as late as they do during a regular weekday schedule. I had forgotten this when I left my place. I called my son on my cell phone and had him check the bus schedule. Sure enough, I had missed the last bus by a half hour. There was another man also waiting at the bus stop. He looked to be a business man in his dark suit and white dress shirt. I went over and told him that the last bus had already gone by and why. I was thinking about if I even had enough money to take a cab home, but never said anything to this guy. The man asked where I was going, and I told him. Turned out it was about half the distance of where he was headed further on, so he asked if I wanted to split a cab fare with him. I said sure, but that I need to go to an ATM to get some cash because I didn't have any on me. He had to do the same, so we agreed to meet back at the bus stop in a couple of minutes. He volunteered to call the cab with his cell phone, so I agreed and we split. Turned out we both used the same bank and there was an ATM right behind us that we both used. The cab arrived about five minutes later. He offered to let me sit in the back of the cab with all my bags and he take the front seat beside the driver. I said that that was ok with me. Well, the driver had stuff piled in the seat beside him, so that was out, but I just stacked my 3 bags around me and left the side open for the other guy. We all managed to fit in the back seat.

My stop was first. I had told the driver an intersection a couple of blocks away from my place so as to keep us going in a straight line and not to inconvenience the gentleman sharing the fare with me. The driver let me out at the corner gas station. I told them here was fine that I could walk the couple of blocks to my home from there. They both graciously offered to take me all the way, but I said I was fine, that I did not wish to inconvenience the other passenger. I asked how much I owed the driver and had my wallet out to pay, when the businessman said that it was only a couple of dollars and that he would take care of it. He routinely took the cab this distance when he got off work late at night to his home sometimes about another mile away, so he was familiar with the cost. I graciously thanked him, utterly astounded, and he said, “Just pay it forward. Just help somebody else.” I laughed in joyous understanding and said that I would. I left the cab in a daze and started my trek home with grocery bags in hand.

God bless you, kind stranger.

Is Modern Israel a Fulfillment of Prophecy?

2010-09-09T12:14:00.003-07:00

I fully agree with the ideas and theology expressed in this article. I am wholeheartedly against replacement theology.-- Linda L.

By Mark Ellick

Is modern-day Israel the fulfillment of prophecy? In this article we will consider and evaluate various positions and determine whether it is or not.

A Closer Look at Replacement Theology

What is "replacement theology"? This theology claims that because of the Jewish people's disobedience and general rejection of Messiah, God has rejected Israel and replaced it with the church. It asserts that the church is the "New Israel," and states that the promises made to Israel in the Tenach (Old Testament) have been transferred to the church. Replacement theology also holds that the prophecies in the Tenach regarding a re-gathering of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and the reestablishment of Israel as a nation should be interpreted allegorically, not literally. Thus, replacement theology argues that modern-day Israel is not a fulfillment of prophecy.

However, God's promise that Abraham's descendants (the Jewish people) would possess the land God promised to Abraham is initially found in a covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional, meaning that its fulfillment does not depend on the obedience of Abraham or his descendants. Rather, its fulfillment depends solely on the faithfulness of God. The Abrahamic Covenant is mentioned a number of times in Genesis. Two of these are particularly relevant to our study:

"And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are-northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.'" (Genesis 13:14-15).
"And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:7-8)

Neither of these passages place any conditions on Abraham or his descendants, and it is in these passages that God promises Abraham, "all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever." God, who never lies, promised Abraham that his descendants would possess the land forever - and He will keep that promise!

The prophetic Scriptures concerning Israel's future are founded on the promises contained in the Abrahamic Covenant. Because the promises in the Abrahamic Covenant are unconditional, these same promises found in the prophetic Scriptures must also be unconditional. This includes the promises concerning the re-gathering of the Jewish people to Israel that they might possess the land.

Allegorical Or Literal?

Replacement theology's claim that the prophecies concerning Israel's future should be interpreted allegorically is also incorrect. The promises God made to Abraham were clearly literal. For example, God's promise that He would make Abraham a great nation (Genesis 12:2) has been literally fulfilled. Likewise, the covenant promises concerning Israel's future - and the prophecies that elaborate on these promises - will be literally fulfilled as well. Additionally, the prophecies regarding the reestablishment of Israel are part of a group of prophecies concerning the second coming of Messiah. Because the prophecies concerning Messiah's first coming were fulfilled literally, consistent interpretation dictates that the prophecies concerning His second coming - and the reestablishment of Israel - should be interpreted literally as well.

Conclusion
We may conclude that the teachings of replacement theology are not the most literal interpretations of the teachings of Scripture, and replacement theology must be carefully scrutinized. The covenant promises made to Israel still apply to Israel, and they will be fulfilled literally. This includes the possession of the land of Israel by the Jewish people.

Israel And The Prophetic Scriptures

Let's now consider one of the prophetic Scriptures that elaborates on the promises made to the Fathers concerning the land.

"For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God." (Ezekiel 36:24-28)

In this passage, Ezekiel prophesies that the Jewish people will be gathered from the nations among which they have been scattered and return to live in the land promised to their forefathers. This prophecy records, far in advance, the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham concerning the Land. There is neither a literary nor a biblical reason to interpret this prophecy allegorically. Its fulfillment is, as Ezekiel clearly indicates, literal.

Two Re-Gatherings

We have established that the promises God made concerning the land of Israel still apply to Jewish people and will be fulfilled literally. Now we will determine whether modern-day Israel is a fulfillment of these promises.

There are some who say that while it is true that God will restore the Jewish people to the Land, it is possible that there may be a number of "non-prophetic" re-gatherings preceding the prophetic re-gathering. According to this view, modern-day Israel may be a work of man, not a work of God - and therefore not necessarily a fulfillment of prophecy.

However, according to the Scriptures, there are to be only two re-gatherings of Israel. This is confirmed by the prophet Isaiah:

It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11:11-12)

Isaiah chapter 11, which contains the prophecy of a second re-gathering, describes it as a final and permanent re-gathering. Scripture thus indicates that there will be precisely two re-gatherings - no more and no less.
One view of this passage asserts that the modern-day re-gathering and reestablishment of Israel is the first re-gathering, a re-gathering in unbelief for judgment - and that a second re-gathering in belief for blessing will follow this first re-gathering. However, this view does not account for a previous re-gathering: the return of the Jewish people to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity. This appears to contradict Isaiah 11, which calls for precisely two re-gatherings.

A different view of this passage, which accounts for precisely two re-gatherings, asserts that the first re-gathering took place when the seventy-year Babylonian captivity prophesied by Jeremiah ended (Jeremiah 25:8-11), and the Jewish people returned to their homeland (Ezra chapters 1 and 2).

According to this view, since the prophecy concerning the first re-gathering has been fulfilled, the modern day re-gathering of the Jewish people and the reestablishment of Israel as a nation must be the second and final re-gathering and a fulfillment of prophecy. This view is consistent with the promises made in the Abrahamic Covenant and the prophetic Scriptures based on that covenant.

Based on our study of the Abrahamic Covenant and the prophetic Scriptures, we may conclude that God has declared unconditionally that Israel would one day be reestablished - and God has been faithful in keeping this promise. The prophetic Scriptures, properly interpreted, indicate that modern-day Israel is indeed a fulfillment of prophecy.

* The views above are those of the author.

Mark Ellick serves with Chosen People Ministries in Irvine, California

http://www.chosenpeople.com/main/index.php/prophecy/261-is-modern-israel-a-fulfillment-of-prophecy

A New Day

2010-08-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

The veil was thin this morning.
Doves were cooing
As the sun peaked thru
The billowing grey clouds,
Full of promise of rain to come.
Yahweh's children were up and about
Greeting their Father
As a new day arose.

Linda K. Light

Easy to Talk

2010-05-01T11:04:00.001-07:00

It's easy to talk about someone else's woes when you are in an armchair a safe distance away.

Walking Wounded

2010-03-14T01:18:00.002-07:00

[Dedicated to MR]

by Linda Light

I walked by the hospital one day

And out back I heard the sounds of shots fired.

Hurriedly I ran back there to see

A man kneeling on the ground,

Writhing in pain,

As a doctor stood pointing a gun

At a man who was already ill.

I shoved the gun aside and ran

To the man on the ground.

I screamed at the doctor

“ You’re supposed to help people heal here,

Not wound them more! What do you think you are doing??”

I took hold of the elbow of the now shot man,

Helped him to stand, and

Took him to a humble cottage down the road.

Urgently I rapped on the door.

A bearded man robed in white

Soon opened wide the door.

“Father, please take us in! Another patient rescued

From down the road.”

With eyes full of love, he helped the man in.

He touched his wounds and healed them,

Then lastly he touched the man’s heart.

“Go and tell others of what you’ve learned this day.”

Jewish Salvation Is Not Automatic

2010-01-11T14:59:00.001-07:00

There are some false teachings going around in the “Christian” world that the Jewish person does not need to be told about Yeshua HaMachiach (Jesus Christ) because the Jewish people are automatically saved by being Jewish and therefore they will automatically go to Heaven when they die. Not so!! This is a lie straight from the pit of Hell to keep the gospel from the Jewish people. I love the Jewish people. I believe they are a chosen people by God to bring the law (Torah) into the world and to be the earthly line that the Messiah would be born into and enter the world of mankind in physical form. But I believe they have to make a choice about what they will do with Yeshua just like everyone else. The Bible supports this. Here is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Mitch Glaser of Chosen People Ministries that explains it very well.

The Church and Jewish Evangelism
By Dr. Mitch Glaser

Introduction

As the leader of a traditional mission to the Jewish people, I believe that all Jewish people need to accept Jesus in order to have a place in the age to come (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). I do not believe that a Jewish person is capable of keeping the Law to the extent that their human efforts would in some way satisfy God’s demands for righteousness, enabling the individual Jewish person to enter heaven on their own merit (Gal. 2:15-16, 3:23-25, Romans 10:2-4 ff.). This is true of non-Jews as well, who are judged on a different basis than the Jewish people according to the argument of the Apostle Paul in the early chapters of Romans (Romans 2:12-16, 3:9-20), but non-Jews are also made acceptable before God by the same act of conscious faith in the Son of God who died and rose for our sins (Romans 10:9-12).

I also believe it is a biblical mandate for Gentiles in the Body of Messiah to reach Jewish people with the Gospel message. In fact, according to Paul’s statement in Romans 11:11, the Gentiles are to make the Jewish people jealous. The Great Commission has application to both Jewish and Gentile believers; however, the Scriptures do not present Jewish evangelism as simply one aspect of the Great Commission among many. It is a unique venture that is specifically addressed in Scripture and once again, Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is the biblical spokesperson who argues for this position.

This mandate for Jewish evangelism (and discipleship) that Paul calls upon the Gentiles in the Body of Messiah to embrace is based upon many different passages from the New Testament, but the following two passages seem to be the most prominent.

The Mandate to Evangelize Jewish People Based Upon Romans 1:16

Franz Delitzsch, the well-known Old Testament scholar, wrote, “For the church to evangelize the world without thinking of the Jews is like a bird trying to fly with one broken wing.”

The Apostle Paul expresses it this way, For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).

It is in this thematic verse of Romans that one is able to see the clear progression of evangelism. The rest of the world is not to be ignored, but the first step is to reach out to God’s chosen people. Even the word “first” clearly exhibits that the Jewish people are the first priority for evangelism in time, place and rank.

…for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first…

Of course, Paul is not suggesting that the Roman believers withhold the Gospel from the Gentiles until every Jewish person in the world is reached.

Neither is the Apostle implying that the Gospel has already come to the Jewish people first and therefore preaching the Gospel to the "Jew first" no longer has any particular application to the year 2010. Romans 1:16 is written in the present tense - so let's follow the logic of the text. If the Gospel is still the power of God "unto" salvation and is still for "all who believe," then the Gospel is still "to the Jew first."

The Greek word used by Paul and translated first is protos. It implies a priority, rather then a sequential order of events. The word is also used in Matthew 6:33 where the Lord Jesus reminds us to Seek first the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God should always be sought as a priority in our lives, even as we seek other things. In a similar way, reaching Jewish people with the Gospel must be a priority concern for all who know the Lord Jesus as their Savior.

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, focused his ministry on reaching non-Jews with the Gospel message. But this did not lessen his concern for the salvation of the Jewish people. Wherever Paul went in his ministry among the Gentiles, he also tried preached the Gospel to the Jewish people living in that area (Acts 13:13-52; 14:1-5; 18:7-11; 19:8-10). He would regularly attempt to evangelize the Jewish people of a particular city before he spoke to the Gentiles. The salvation of the Jewish people was an ever- present concern for Paul, and his actions in the Book of Acts reveal his understanding of what he wrote in Romans 1:16.

However, all too often Jewish evangelism has become the Great Omission of the Great Commission. This is beginning to change and some church bodies are taking Jewish evangelism more seriously than ever before - and it is my hope that this will continue.

A wonderful story is told of the relationship between John Wilkinson, a Gentile missionary to the Jews who founded the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, and of J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission (which is now OMF). It seems that every January, Taylor would send Wilkinson a check for a sum of money with a note attached, “To the Jew first.” Wilkinson would then the same amount back to Taylor with a note that read, “And also to the Gentiles.”

I hope this is a true story, though it has almost reached the zenith of myth within the Jewish missions community! However, it does characterize the interdependence that missions to both Jews and Gentiles have in Scripture. One mission does not negate the possibility of fulfilling the other. We can reach Jewish people as a priority founded upon God’s own choice of Abraham’s seed according to the flesh, and still reach the world as commanded by our Messiah prior to the ascension.

Romans 9-11

Romans, chapters 9, 10 and 11 are passages of Scripture with which most Christians are familiar, but which are not usually understood in respect to Jewish evangelism. These texts are often utilized by preachers to instruct believers in the doctrines of election and predestination - especially Romans chapter 9.

Romans 10 speaks about the role of preaching and the preacher in evangelism: “How can they hear without a preacher?” This is the passage believers use regarding evangelism in general and the role of the Word of God in evangelism.

In Romans chapter 11, where clearly the relationship of Israel and the Church is central to the Apostle's thinking, the text is mostly known for the final few verses which form a doxology, “For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever and ever.”

Yet for our purposes, Romans 9, 10 and 11 are some of the most critical chapters of Scripture dealing with Jewish evangelism, the role of the Jewish people in God’s plan, and the role of the evangelist among the Jewish people.

Some Key Thoughts from the Text

In Romans 9-11, the Apostle Paul points out some key thoughts about the Jewish people and about Jewish evangelism.

For example, in Romans 9:1-3, we learn of Paul’s burden for the Jewish people. The statement “I wish that I would be accursed” shows Paul’s willingness to go to hell so that Jewish people might go to heaven. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, had a great burden for his own people.

In Romans 10:1 we learn about Paul’s desire to pray for the Jewish people. “Brethren, my heart’s desire, my prayer to God is that Israel might be saved.” The Apostle Paul relates his struggle in Romans 9-11 as he attempts to figure out how in God’s plan, the Jewish people did not embrace Jesus as their Messiah.

In chapter 11 Paul concludes that God has not rejected the Jewish people and that there is hope for their salvation in the present age and in the age to come.

The following summarizes the Apostle's struggle and conclusion. Did all Israel reject Christ? Did God reject the Jewish people? No - all Israel did not reject Christ because Paul himself declares that he is a Jew in Romans 11:1 ! So not all Jewish people rejected Jesus, because Paul himself was Jewish! Had God rejected the Jewish people for their unbelief? No! Paul is living evidence of God’s faithfulness. I too am a Jewish believer in Jesus, and there is a remnant of Jews today who are accepting the gift of salvation through our various ministries.

God had preserved a remnant, and there is a remnant today as there was in even in the Old Testament period, as evidenced by Paul’s recounting of the story in 2 Kings 18. Elijah went up to Mt. Carmel to stage a contest with the Ba’al worshippers. What ultimately happens is that God shows Elijah when he feels all alone that he has company, because there are 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Ba'al.

This remnant doctrine is extremely important in Scripture and is mentioned throughout Scripture from Genesis through Revelation. Sha’ar, the remnant, is a key term and a very important concept in Scripture.

Noah is one example of the remnant. God was willing to preserve a city, Sodom, for the sake of the remnant. Often you see the phrase, “except for the sake of the remnant, I would have destroyed...” Jewish believers today are also part of the remnant.

This doctrine points out that we are not alone. The Apostle Paul's teaching reminds us that in every age there exists a remnant of Jewish people who are open to the Lord and willing to follow Him! In this age, clearly, accepting Jesus as the Jewish Messiah fulfills this faith in God.

One of the reasons I am excited about serving with Chosen People Ministries is because I know that in every corner of the globe and every community within our own country, there are Jewish people ready to hear the Good News and respond positively.

This is why we should preach the Gospel “to the Jew first” in our communities, knowing that the Lord has promised to save a remnant.

I hope we will follow the Lord’s mandate and proclaim the Good News to the Jewish people and keep Jewish evangelism close to our hearts, as we know from Scripture that God is not finished with His people yet! (Romans 11:25-27).

http://www.chosenpeople.com/main/index.php/evangelism/400-the-church-and-jewish-evangelism

If Jesus Had Not Been Born, There Would Have Been No Crucifixion

2009-12-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

'Tis the season to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, God's Anointed One, Yeshua HaMachiah.

There are some who would be spoil sports and try to take the joy of our Savior’s birth out of this time of year, saying Christmas has pagan origins and that we don’t know for sure if Jesus the Messiah was really born on December 25. Also, they would remind us that it was Jesus’ death on the cross that brought salvation to humankind. Well, I’m here to say that Jesus’ birth is an event worth celebrating regardless of when it happened. It did happen! He is THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD! He offered his perfect, sinless body up on the cross as the perfect blood sacrifice to pay the price for our sins. Jesus TOOK UPON HIMSELF all the sins of humankind, past, present and future in those hours of suffering on the cross. BUT, if He had not come down to earth into the womb of a human woman, a virgin, supernaturally conceived of the Holy Spirit, in human form and been born, He would have never been on earth to do that in the first place. He had to become wholly human, yet wholly divine to fulfill EACH AND EVERY Messianic prophecy foretold in the Judaic Tanakh, or Old Testament in the Christian scriptures. He could not truly claim to be God’s Anointed One if he failed to fulfill even one Messianic prophecy. One of those prophecies foretold centuries before His birth is found in Isaiah 7:14:

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

A virgin shall conceive and bear a son. A woman who should not even be pregnant is going to have a BABY! And IT’S A BOY! His name will be IMMANUEL, which means GOD WITH US! The Divine Creator is sending his only Son to earth in human form to literally live among mankind, and laugh and cry and suffer rejection JUST LIKE US! Immanuel will know what it is like to be human in every way. To humble Himself and become as one of us. What a loving God!

Truly the message for this time of year is one the angels sang after one of them announced Jesus’ birth to those shepherds long ago: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men”. Hallelujah!

Who Is the Rich One? or, 'The Man on the Street'

2009-11-18T18:40:00.003-07:00

I’ve been feeling really bummed out, depressed lately. Unemployed and feeling useless. Didn’t want to write anything here because I want this blog to be a place for being uplifted, encouraged, comforted, maybe exhorted from time to time. But just when I’m feeling at my lowest and feeling sorry for myself, God sends someone across my path to remind me that there are people out there who are in a far worse situation than I am, and yet they bear it with such grace and faith in God. They put me to shame.

Feeling a head cold coming on and not feeling like cooking, but wanting something warm to eat, I walked to a local fast food place for some late breakfast. I can’t afford to eat out very often, yet if I do, it’s usually a cheap fast food place. While sitting inside the dining area eating I saw this presumably homeless man from his somewhat shabby, disheveled appearance come in through a side door and sit down a few seats from me at a counter. Another man whom I did not see was sitting in a booth behind me and he began talking to the guy beside me, asking him if he was hungry and walking over to give him some money to get something to eat with. He then sat down back at his booth and told the guy about the food stamp program and how it worked. The man beside me never once asked anyone for money or anything. He just quietly came, used the bathroom and sat in the dining area. After a few minutes of silence and thinking, I decided to chime in with some further information on what office location he could go to specifically for this area of town since the other guy was originally not from this part of town, and government assistance offices here in the Phoenix area each serve people according to the ZIP codes assigned to that office. The other guy behind me talked to him some more. From that conversation I learned the guy beside me had a camp somewhere up the road from there. He said his church was helping him out a lot, too. Then man behind me then told the other guy that he was homeless, too. This latter guy had bought something to eat there, finished, and walked out after that. I then saw him with his overstuffed backpack, clean and neat nevertheless, walk out the door. It then dawned on me what had just happened. One homeless man had just helped another homeless man out for a meal after seeking reassurance that he would use the money to buy something to eat with the money, not something else. The first homeless man went to order something to eat then, and I felt led to quietly go up and slip a dollar on the counter before him to insure he got enough to eat. I said not a word, just quietly went and sat back down to finish eating. After awhile when he had gotten his food, the guy thanked me and told me he knew where to go but had not had a chance to go there yet and fill out the paperwork for food stamps. Both of the homeless men were very sober, and fairly clean, in spite of their situations. Most homeless men I encounter smell strongly of alcohol and are drunk as a skunk, very belligerent, always trying to start an argument and beg for money or cigarettes. These guys were very polite and well-behaved. The guy beside me looked to be in his 40’s somewhere. The other guy was younger, probably in his late 20’s or early 30’s. The guy beside me started talking to me some more. He asked me if he could ask me a personal question. Hesitantly, I said yes, but fearing he was now going to “hit” on me and try to sweet talk his way into me taking him home and having sex with him, making him kinda my gigolo. I’ve had it happen to me before. Turns out all he wanted to know was my name. I gave him just my first name. He said he asked because he wanted to say a prayer for me that night. I thanked him. I asked him just before I left what his name was and he told me his name was Kurt. But while I was still there eating, Kurt began to talk some more. He told me how Jesus had saved him one day on the street corner just across the street. He was filthy dirty at the time, had hit bottom in his life, and was wanting to go to church but did not have a way to get there. He said most people usually thought he was “out of his mind” when he told them that, about Jesus saving him there, but it was the truth. God had also provided a way for him to get to church that day. Being a woman I did not want to appear too friendly, so I didn’t ask him details, but nodded and told him that I believed him. I told him that I was a born again Christian, too. He told me how rich he felt, in spite of his homeless situation, and how it wasn’t material goods that mattered in this life, but having Jesus in one’s heart. He told me that at one time in his life he had had nice homes, owned several nice cars and motorcycles, but that now he had nothing, nothing at all. Yet he acknowledged that all those things meant nothing, and that the only thing that really mattered was to have Jesus’ in one’s heart. So he felt rich, actually. He had the only thing that really mattered. He had a positive attitude. Gentle. Not bitter or angry. I felt in my spirit the love for God that he had in his heart. He went on to tell me how the manager of the place where we were at, John, was also a Christian. I told him that I thought so, but I wasn’t sure, because of the man’s friendly welcoming, sincere smile he greeted a person with when they came in the door, and his genuine pleasure at serving others and bringing their food to them if they ate in. Not a superficial attitude for on the job. His attitude was sincere. He makes a person feel like he/she is a welcome guest in his home. Anyway, Kurt told me how John and he were friends and how they shared books. Turned out Kurt loved to read fiction books, adventure and mystery and when he had finished with a book he would pass it on to the manager, John, to read because he liked to read also. When I heard about his love of books I was reminded that I had some books at home that I was going to donate somewhere and they were the kind of books that Kurt liked to read. I had finished with the books and don’t have much space to store things. It occurred to me that I could bring a little joy to this homeless man’s life by giving him my books even though I had not much money to give him. So I told him I liked those kind of books, too, and had some at home that I was going to give away anyway, and if he was going to be around long enough, that I would go home and get them and bring them there to him. I told him if they were books that he did not like, maybe he could pass them on to someone else who would like them. He joyfully said sure, he would do that, and he would be glad to accept the books. He said he respected books and never threw them away if he was done with one, but tried to find someone else to pass it along to who liked it. So I told him I didn’t live far from there, told him I had the books ready to go, and for him to wait there while I went home and brought them back there for him. That’s when I asked him his name and told him that I would pray for him also. I walked home, got the books in a plastic bag, and brought them to him. He was still sitting at the counter where I had left him. I handed over the books to him and just smiled and said “Enjoy!”. He smiled as he accepted them and said he had made a new friend and repeated that he would pray for me that night. I just smiled and nodded at him and left to go back home.

Afterwards I reflected on the experience. While listening to his story, I felt ashamed for my own self pity and lack of gratitude to God for all that he had given me. This man had nothing materially, not even a roof over his head, but he was content, knowing that it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world, but lose his soul. Suddenly, materially I felt rich and humbly blessed of God. Sure I had no job, but I had a roof over my head, however small and cramped, food to eat, clothes. I had family, a son, whom I love very much, living with me. We manage to get along in spite of close quarters. So who was the richer person in this story, I or the homeless man, Kurt? I would say Kurt was.

James Sundquist Exposes Rick Warren's False Teachings in Purpose Driven Life-Part 2

2009-11-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

James Sundquist Exposes Rick Warren's False Teachings in Purpose Driven Life-Part 1

2009-11-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

Health Care Reform to Be Voted on in House Nov. 7

2009-11-05T21:52:00.002-07:00

I have just finished a public teleconference call with my U.S. Representative, John Shadegg. The House wants to vote on this bill this Saturday, November 7. CALL YOUR U.S. STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE HEALTHCARE REFORM BILL TODAY OR SATURDAY. Their offices will be open Saturday. Call your local representative’s office in your state if you do not want to call Washington D.C. and let your voice be heard!
http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html

There are some things about Nancy Pelosi’s version of the Healthcare Reform Bill that are not getting out in the media. Contrary to what is being put in the media, the states WILL NOT be allowed to have a choice on whether to accept the provisions of this Healthcare Reform Bill. Rep. Shadegg said, “I would almost say that is a bald-faced lie!”. If this bill is passed, it WILL BE FORCED on the states to comply with it.

Nancy Pelosi is calling members of Congress and asking them what do they need to vote FOR this bill. We’re talking special interest projects here for the individual states. At least one Michigan representative was mentioned as needing a special walkway over one of the lakes. Nancy Pelosi is promising that the Congress members will get whatever they want for their state if they will just vote to pass the Healthcare Reform Bill.

In a poll that was done, 83 percent of people with healthcare insurance expressed satisfaction with their current healthcare insurance plan. Yet, if this bill is passed, ALL healthcare insurance plans will be revised in two to three years. NONE of them will be allowed to stand as is.

There have been protests organized for this Saturday, November 7, for people to come to Washington D.C. to show in numbers on the streets that many people oppose this bill. Nothing in the regular media about this. This was organized only a week ago. People who live further out of the D.C. area are at a disadvantage if they want to make plans to attend this event.

Congress members have been given a 2000-page document for this bill and being allowed only one or two days to read it before a vote is being called on it.

DO NOT GIVE YOUR MEDIOCRE SERVICE TO GOD

2009-10-31T21:57:00.004-07:00

And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Col 3:23

I am going to do a little ranting from my soapbox. It is one of my pet peeves, and I have had to deal with this issue in a recent situation, and it really galls me. Giving mediocre service to God. People in recent years seem to be quite content to do a task at work, on the job, in a sloppy, half-baked manner. Sometimes because it is a tedious task, and then daring to present the results to their boss, even though they were capable of doing it better, more thoroughly, much neater, if only they had put a little more time and effort into the project. Just hurry up and get it done and throw it into the boss’s In basket. Even if they had some extra time to work on it before the deadline. And especially if the boss is a tyrant. The employee figures their boss is so bad, he deserves to get a sloppy mess thrown on his desk.

But most galling of all is to see people who claim to be God’s children, followers of the Living Word of Yeshua, involved in a public activity that is supposed to be an act of ministry, in some cases even an act of worship, to the Heavenly Father, in a group setting, in assisting others to prepare their spirits to be in a worshipful mode towards the Most High God. Yet they do not give their best effort, and they are acutely aware that it is not their best effort, for they have done better on other occasions. But they are content to give a very poor effort and go through empty motions. Just because they said they would be there, knowing they have not given proper heartfelt practice and effort after a long absence of practice ahead of time to their presence there, where their position is to act as corporate worship leaders, to assist the congregation into the presence of God through corporate worship. And they dare to come and stumble through, rather than cancel their presence until they could come together and give time and effort to practice and give a quality performance, which is not really to show themselves off, but to lead in worship with their very bodies and souls as a living sacrifice to God. Yet really the majority of the group is not embarrassed, for they have come to live in the comfort zone of mediocrity, not requiring much effort, before they rush on with the rest of their extremely busy lives out there in the world. In this case it was a Messianic dance, or “body worship” group that I was a part of (until recently) and sometimes performed with, dancing some very ancient steps that probably even Jewish people in King David’s time were doing in holy convocations.

Sometimes I have been in employment situations where after awhile I began to literally hate and dread coming to work. The quality of my work began to show it, in that I was not doing the excellent quality of work I was doing before, and I became sloppy and careless, and it showed. My attitude sucked. I am a person who generally takes personal pride in my work and insures that it is of the highest quality and appearance possible. I am embarrassed when it is not, and I usually know if it is less than quality work. When my work starts to become affected like that, and I have tried everything I know to make the situation better, and still my work quality goes downhill, and my attitude gets worse and worse, then I begin to figure that it is time I start looking for a different job and leave there.

And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Col 3:23

The word “heartily” used here in the Greek is “ek psyche”, which means out of the very breath of life, or, the soul, to do something with all of one’s being. That is no little effort. It means to do something with all one’s body, mind and soul. One’s very heart, if you will, where some consider it to be the seat of emotions. With all one’s might. In other words, God wants our very best, no matter what we do, or where we are! Do it unto Him, the Creator of the Universe, as a servant performs a service for his master. We are called to be servants of the Most High God in this world. In this case we should consider it as done for the Heavenly Father, even if we are in an earthly position of submission to another for our duties to perform. If we are doing less than our best at something, or we know it is something that our Heavenly Father would not approve of, we should seriously consider moving on somewhere else, or doing something different, or quitting that situation entirely if we cannot improve it or change it, if humanly possible. Would we feel content to dump a pile of smelly garbage at the feet of the Most High God when we had jewels of great value to place there??? We should not. We should feel embarrassed. No, I am not saying that our works can earn us our way into Heaven, because they cannot, lest any man should boast, the Scriptures say. God gives each of us special gifts and abilities meant to be used in His service for the building up of the body of Christ and to point the blind to His Holy Light, Jesus. We are not to use those gifts and abilities carelessly, or neglect them. We are here on a mission, and we should do only our best to fulfill that mission, and settle for nothing less. The King of Kings expects nothing less of us, whether we be an humble sanitation worker or cabbie driver or ruler of the land. We should desire to hear the King of Kings say to us at the end of our mortal life, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Spousal Abuse and Clergy Response

2009-10-17T23:42:00.003-07:00

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. It is also Breast Cancer Awareness month, of which you hear more about than domestic violence in the media. I want to share my personal experience in the hopes that it will help someone else and wake up the clergy in the churches.

I was 19 and very naïve when I first met my husband, “M”, 49. I was working as a cashier in a local Salvation Army thrift store, and he was a truck driver with the same organization. He would go pick up donations and make deliveries to the various thrift stores on his route. I had moved to Colorado from the Bible Belt in Florida about a year before that. I was born and raised in a very conservative, morally upright Christian family, very sheltered. I had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. At the age of eight I accepted Christ as my Savior and dedicated my life to following His teachings as I understood them at the time, and the way my church taught me. The family attended a Southern Baptist church regularly and actively participated in church activities. I had dated a little starting at 16, but had had my first boyfriend in band in middle school, though my parents made me break up with him because they said I was too young at 13 to have a boyfriend. It was a pretty platonic relationship actually, and we never went anywhere except on band trips and activities. Very few guys were interested in me because I was pretty homely, shy and conservative. I was so skinny. My parents were poor and could not afford to dress me fashionably either. I wore a lot of hand me downs from my aunt and gifts from other people. My family changed churches the last year in Florida, and the new pastor, a real country preacher/farmer, had a son the same age as me who I went out on a few group dates with. One day, while we were waiting in a car for his younger sister to come out and go with us to meet her boyfriend, this boy suddenly grabs me and smacks a big smouchy wet kiss on my lips. My first kiss, and it was disgusting. I tolerated him, but I did not really care for him. I just wanted to get out of the house away from my parents and go do something. My parents did not take us out much to do anything or see anything except church. We went on our date to the movies and dinner that night, but I did not go out with him after that.

The only other guys I was interested in were much older than me, like about 10 years. They were more mature acting, I thought, than the ones my own age. But I was never their girlfriend. They all liked and dated “S”, the pastor’s daughter who was a year or two younger than me, so she was around 15 then. She would go out and meet these older men, and sometimes I would go with her, letting my parents think I was just going somewhere with her, and get a chance to talk to them. I later found out she was also having sex with them. She was very wild, the opposite of me, very obedient to my parents most of the time, staying out of trouble. I liked to be around her though, because she was so different than me, and adventurous.

When I first met “M” in the thrift store and was introduced, he immediately started flirting with me, and singing to me. But at the time I was not interested in him, but his trucker helper, “K”, around 23. “K” was staying at the Salvation Army rehab center, which were mostly alcoholics. “K” didn’t seem to really be much of a drinker, though, and was very gentlemanly in his behavior towards me. He was more of a drifter, not staying in one spot for very long. He wanted to go to church with me, though, and so my mother would go pick him up and take him to church with us, still a Southern Baptist church. (I did not have a driver’s license, and do not to this day. I don’t like to drive.) Also, residents of the center and Salvation Army employees could not date. From being in Colorado Springs, I was transferred to a more remote store further away in a nearby neighboring town of Security. The other one was situated in the Salvation Army local headquarters. “K” left and moved on out of state somewhere a few months later. I was heart broke, but “M” was glad. He had asked to be transferred to a different route that included the new store where I was working at. He started flirting with me even more outrageously, and trying to grab my hand. He and my female manager were friends, so she did not mind it at all, even with the age difference. She encouraged the relationship. “M” at first invited us, including my manager, to go play pool somewhere after work occasionally, then he and I started going out alone. I would take the city bus on the weekend and go meet him somewhere. I was fascinated by him. I loved the attention, and he was so much more mature than any guys I had met, even at church, and so experienced with women. It didn’t matter to me that he was even older than my own father.

It turned into a romantic relationship. He eventually began kissing and touching me, but I wouldn’t let him have sex with me like he wanted. I was still a virgin and he knew it. I started staying out late with him, and he would give me a ride home, past my curfew my parents had set for me, even though by this time I was 23. My parents did like me going out with him because of his age. He was not a Christian, and had different morals than me, but I was so fascinated by that wild side, like nothing I had ever encountered before. Dangerous. I began to fall in love with him, and was hurt when he told me he was having sex with a female friend of his who was not so morally conservative, who did not love him, but would give him sex when he wanted it because I would not give it to him. He claimed to love me. I made him feel so young, and he said I was different than any other woman he had known. And he had known plenty of them, all way younger than he, had been married and divorced previously seven times, but had not married the woman, also named Linda, who had born him a daughter, but he believed she was not his because he had gotten injured while in the Army as a young man and was told he was sterile. This other Linda was no virgin when he met her, and he said she was cheating on him when she became pregnant. They were living together at the time, and she had an infant son when he met her from another boyfriend. He broke up with her and took the two children when he came home from deer hunting one day and found the children, around two and four years of age, alone, crying, and hiding under a bed. She had left them alone to go drinking at a bar. He waited for her to come home, they got into a fight, and he beat her up for leaving the children alone and he thought to meet another man also. He would go camping out in the woods for several weeks when he went deer hunting, sometimes with male friends, sometimes alone. He beat her up and left with the kids.

He also would get into fights in bars, only occasionally getting drunk, though he did drink some. I never did drink alcohol and don’t now, though I tasted it a few times. Even at a bar I would have soda with him. Violence was a way of life for him, though I did not realize how much until much later. The signs that he was an abuser were there, but I did not recognize them at the time. I never thought he would hit me because I would never leave the children home alone unless they were old enough to be left alone unsupervised. I just thought it was an isolated incident with his ex-girlfriend.

However, I jump slightly ahead. One night before we went dancing I gave in and had sex with him, though I knew it was wrong. I wanted all of him, not just his heart, and I was jealous of that friend of his he was having convenient sex with. Shortly after that I became pregnant. After a couple of months of missed menstrual cycles and nausea and tiredness, “M” began to suspect I was pregnant when I told him my symptoms, and took me to his doctor to get tested. I was pregnant, and terrified of what to do now. “M” had said he loved me, but had decided not to marry me even after he had sex with me, was going to break up with me and wanted me to start dating men closer to my own age. He changed his mind after I became pregnant with his child. He had been told by Army doctors that he could not have children. This time he knew the child was his because I was a virgin before I became intimate with him, and I was not seeing anyone else. I was afraid of being left alone, an unwed mother. In my church, my family, the whole culture I was raised in, it was a horrible disgrace and shame to bear a child and not be married. “M” did mention an abortion as a possibility briefly, but I told him I was against abortions, and would not do it, and why. He wanted the child, but was hesitant about marrying me. Still thought I should marry someone younger, but because it was his child that he thought he would never have, he decided to marry me. I was afraid to tell my parents, but eventually I did. I knew they would be so upset with me, their firstborn, ever before obedient, honor student in high school they had such high hopes for. I told my mother first, and she made me tell my father alone. My father was a very angry, abusive man, and we kids were scared of him. We always asked for things or permission to go places through our mother, who then would ask him. Never directly. My father did not hit me, but he broke down and cried. I was crying. He then said that “M” and his two children from a previous relationship would never be allowed to come visit at the house. Only our baby and I could come visit them. The baby could come because he was a part of me, my flesh and blood.

A few months later, before the baby was born, I got married in a cold civil ceremony before a justice of the peace. Not the beautiful romantic wedding and white dress in a church that I had always dreamed of. Only one of my sisters and a lady friend from church attended on my behalf. My best girlfriend, supposedly a devout Christian, refused to attend because of the circumstances. We did not remain friends after that. My husband’s best friend and his girlfriend also came.

Sometime before I got married, my pastor found out I was pregnant. I forget if I told him or my mother did. By that time my father had stopped attending church altogether because of a dispute involving my youngest brother with a pastor at another church where we first went when we moved to Colorado. Even after I became pregnant I attended church regularly, but I dropped out of choir and I stopped teaching the pre-school Sunday School class I was teaching. I resigned immediately when I found out I was pregnant without giving a reason to the Sunday School Director, but it was because I was so ashamed of what I had done, and felt I was no longer the good example to the children that I should have been as one of their teachers. I think “M” would come to church occasionally with me, but not often. I had previously introduced him to the pastor. After I became pregnant, and when I would meet the pastor or choir director in the hallway, they would greet me, but not as friendly as before, kinda cold, with a frozen smile on their lips. It was a very uncomfortable meeting time. I was uncomfortable and ashamed, wishing I had never done what I did, and their attitude made me feel worse. I had trouble looking them in the eye. Some of the choir ladies, including the pastor’s secretary and another secretary in the office I had done volunteer work with, gave me a baby shower to help me out. My husband was a poor truck driver working for a rock and gravel company that he had just started working with after he was let go from the Salvation Army for stealing stuff from the donation bins several months before I became pregnant. My job had ended at the Salvation Army, too, sometime before this, because it was a federal job training program job, and when my year of training was up, they would have had to pay all my wages, instead of being responsible for half, and they said they could not afford to do that. All in all, I had known my husband for 2 years before I married him.

“M” moved his family to a trailer even further from the city of Colorado Springs, to Fountain. The city bus did not go out there then. A Greyhound bus did, several times a day, but I could not afford it. So I became even further isolated from family and what few friends I had. My husband worked during the day. His two children were in school except for the summer. They were teenagers by then, so they spent a lot of time at friends houses except when it was time for their dad to come home from work. I was home with our infant son. Occasionally, my mother would come out to visit, or take me into the city, but not often. My husband would take me and our son and drop us off at church. My step daughter started going with me a lot of times, and was eventually baptized after she allegedly accepted Christ, her own choice. No pressure from me. But she was still a rebellious, disrespectful girl.

After about a year of marriage, my father relented and allowed my husband and his two children to visit as well. They accepted them as their own flesh and blood grandchildren. We spent part of the holidays there, and all of my new family were given presents as well at Christmas.

However, it was not a happy marriage. I experienced verbal and in the last year of my 3 1/2 year marriage, physical abuse. About two years into our marriage, the whole family was ordered into court ordered counseling because he had physically abused his daughter with a belt buckle for stealing. I did not know how bad he hurt her. I was not in her room where it happened. I was afraid of him by that time. Punishment with a belt was normal in my own childhood. I don't approve of it. Afterwards he took me and our baby son and dropped me off at church. After he left, his daughter ran away and called her mother, who lived in town and she called the police. They took her and her older half brother away in group homes for several months, but left our baby in the home amazingly. The daughter lived in several group homes and kept running away, occasionally being allowed to visit for a day or two after several months of being kept away. The family was in court-ordered therapy for a year with a secular therapist, but it was a joke. My husband refused to even acknowledge to the day he died years later that anything was wrong in the home, and he refused to say anything during counseling sessions. During that year in counseling, he started being abusive to me, physically, and even more verbally. I stayed home sick one day and called the counselor while he was on his way to the session and told her about it, but nothing happened. After he started slapping me to the ground, I sneaked out the next morning while he was asleep and left with our almost 3 year old son to my parents. That last night before I left, a voice told me "Get out now. Otherwise, in a week you will be dead". I later have come to think of that voice as God's. The law in Colorado Springs, Colorado was such that in that time a husband would only be arrested if he hurt the wife so much that she had to be hospitalized for her injuries. Otherwise nothing was done to the husband, so the law was no help then. I knew from a girlfriend who, along with her children, was slammed against the walls by her new husband, and got bruised, but not hospitalized. I still divorced my husband for abuse, though the official reason was "irreconcilable differences" by the judge and my do nothing lawyer. I got full sole custody of my son. The step daughter became emancipated and the stepson stayed with his father. The step children and I never got along. They totally disrespected me with their father's approval. As to what my pastor thought of all this, he thought I should have only been separated from him, but not sought divorce, even though therapy had not worked and he was not going to change. Also, in the law, the police would arrest a divorced spouse for some other charge, not domestic violence at that time, probably some kind of assault charge, but not if one was just separated. And you had to show the police your divorce papers.

My mother was verbally abused by my father, but stayed with him because she could not support herself and us kids enough financially on her own. We kids were abused by our father as well, I know now. During that time my mother sought counseling and help from an associate pastor at her current church, where I last was, a professionally trained Christian counselor, but not trained to recognize signs of abuse. He never helped my mother. My mother got freedom and relief after my father died 3 years ago, though he did get better the last 15 years he was alive. My mother has never sought counseling elsewhere and only understands a little what the lingering effects of abuse are on herself, much less a child.

I first became aware of what domestic violence while married, when I was home alone with my baby one day and watched a movie with Farah Fawcett, “The Burning Bed.” It was about a married woman who was beat and hit a lot by her husband. When she tried to leave him, he brought her back and beat her up again. She tried several times. One day, so sore she could barely move, bruised all over, including her face, she could not take the abuse anymore. She and her husband were in bed. He was sleeping. She got up and found some gasoline in a can. She brought it in and poured it over the bed and him. He woke up about that time and she threw a lit match onto the bed, lighting it on fire. She screamed at him that he was never going to hurt her again, or something like that. He screamed at her and tried to get away off the bed, but he was already on fire and burnt to death. She just watched him and did not call a fire truck or the police. A neighbor called a firetruck though. She was arrested by the police, and told them of her abuse. I don’t remember what happened to her after that, but at the very end of the movie, it told of how shortly after that domestic violence shelters were started and were available to women who were abused like her. It talked about what domestic violence was. That’s when I learned I had a way out, and that what was happening to me was wrong also, and it had a name. Even if the police would not protect me, there were shelters available that I could flee to, and the police were not even supposed to know where they were. I could call someone and they would pick me up or meet me somewhere, and take me to a secret location.

I know others have been abused way far worse than I was, but I know what it is to live in fear and walk on eggshells all the time around an abuser, never being able to please them. I was able to leave my situation before I got so badly abused I had to be hospitalized or permanently injured physically. Many are not so lucky. Though most of the victims are women, there are some men, too, who are abused by their spouses, even physically. I know of one man who brutally beaten by his wife so bad he saw his own blood spattered on a wall of his home, then she raped him. I learned later how abuse affected me emotionally, mentally and more recently, spiritually.

I personally know the legalistic attitude of Southern Baptist clergy who seem to believe that the only reason for divorce is infidelity. But I believe God does not want a woman to endanger her life and stay with an abuser when the abuser shows no signs of remorse or won't even try to get help to change himself. If he wants to change, and makes a sincere effort, fine, then give the marriage a chance.

However, a verse was pointed out to me by a Christ follower, who has studied Jewish beliefs, customs and culture, that even the Jewish rabbinical commentaries in biblical times recognized abuse as a legitimate reason for divorce. This is the verse they were basing that on: Malachi 2:16

For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for [one] covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

Putting away = divorce
garment = wife

I left the Southern Baptist church several years later, and joined another denomination. Since then, I have come to see the corruptness of the church system, how far away they are from the true love and compassion of God, and have since left all churches. I no longer belong to any church. I still believe in Yeshua HaMachiach and his teachings, study the Bible, and still strive to be ever more like Him.

If you are scared and you need to talk, call the
NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE at:
1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)

What Does God Think of Racism?

2009-10-10T15:50:00.004-07:00

I know the face of racism personally, and it is a very ugly thing. I, a fair-skinned person of European descent, was born and raised in a little Southern town in northwestern Florida. My parents did not like black people, my town did not, and, confusing to me, neither did my church. I heard God’s call to me as a child of eight, and I recognized my need for His son, Jesus’ redemption of my soul then. The gospel message was brought to me by a Southern Baptist pastor of the church my family was attending. Because of this early commitment of my life to God, He kept me from accepting the lie that was all around me, the lie that my race was superior to others, and that anyone who was not of my race deserved to be treated with less respect. It was only His grace in my life that prevented this attitude from growing in me. I did not find out what my church thought of black people until an event in high school.

From 10th grade through 12th grade (1974-1976), I was in the Girls’ Ensemble chorus. Our director was a loving, Christian black woman. She loved everyone, regardless of color of skin, and had zero tolerance for showing disrespect to others, including an offence against someone because of the color of their skin. We had black and white members in our group. Our high school was about 10 miles from where I lived. Our ensemble did not just perform at the school. We also did concerts at churches, district and state school competitions, and other secular venues. We had a wide repertoire of songs which included Christian as well as secular songs, including songs in Latin, Spanish and Japanese. My director was looking for some churches for us to give a concert in, and I excitedly suggested mine. There was another girl in the chorus with me, who also attended there, too. My choir director called up my pastor to discuss it with him. Well, I don’t remember hearing the response from my choir director first. I remember getting the answer from my parents. One evening my parents sat me down and told me that my choir was not going to be allowed to sing at our church, the church that I was a regular and active attendee of, the one where I had been baptized at 9. Angry and confused, I asked my parents why. They said that it was because there were black people in my choir. I was shocked. Wasn’t God love? I could not believe my teenage ears. That’s what the pastor preached about up there in his pulpit. Well, my parents explained that our church believed that people of different races should worship separately, not together, in their own churches. And that was the end of that. I told my choir director the next day that I had heard we were not going to be allowed to sing in my church. She just compressed her lips together in anger and eyes full of sorrow and just confirmed that it was true to the choir. I think she gave a speech then, as she had on other occasions, how everyone did not love everyone regardless of race, and how some people would not understand us. On other occasions she would speak to us of God’s love as well. She walked the walk.

Her name was Barbara Beck. We called her “Mama” Beck, for she was like another mother to us. We shared our personal problems with her, and she took the time to listen in her office and give us advice or other help if she could. She opened up her home to all her “children”, regardless of the color of our skins. She had us over for Christmas and other special occasions. When we visited Washington D.C. one year, we did a concert at the church where her father was the pastor of an African-Methodist-Episcopalian (AME) church. There her father and the entire congregation, all black, welcomed us. They were all so friendly. Now that was God’s love exhibited to us. The kind of welcome my own church failed to exhibit.

When my father moved the family west to Colorado Springs, Colorado, things were different in the churches. The Southern Baptist churches there were of mixed race in the congregation. People of all races were welcome to attend, and they did. I was glad of that.

Hmm, but let’s see what God has to say about people of other races. Phillip proclaimed Jesus Christ to the eunuch of Queen Candace of Ethiopia in explaining the book of the prophet Isaiah that the eunuch was reading in Acts 8. He supernaturally moved Phillip from one place and dropped him out of nowhere to proclaim the news of the Messiah to this eunuch. But God gets real specific with Peter in Acts 10. Peter was sitting on the rooftop of Simon the tanner where he was staying in Joppa. The evening meal was being prepared below in the house. Peter was getting hungry while he was waiting, but he was praying anyway. Suddenly he fell into a trance, and had a vision of a sheet tied at each of its four corners, and filled with all manner of wild animals, birds, and creeping things, and it was let down right in front of hungry Peter. Suddenly, a voice which Peter recognized as God’s, said “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” Peter took one look at the contents of that sheet and was horrified. All the creatures in it were “common” or “unclean” according to Levitical dietary laws in the Old Testament given by God to the Jewish people. Peter was an obedient Jewish person who loved Jesus and recognized him as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. Peter responded to God that he had never eaten anything that was “common or unclean”. God sent the sheet full of animals down a second time, and told Peter not to call anything which God had cleansed “common” or unclean. God took it up and sent it down a third time for Peter to eat from, then took the sheet back up into heaven for the final time.

While Peter was trying to figure out the meaning of this vision, he heard a knock at the door downstairs. The Holy Spirit told him that three men were had come seeking Peter, and that he was to go with them. Not knowing all the details, but being obedient to God, Peter went downstairs and told the men that he was the one they were looking for. A spokesman for the three men told Peter that they were come from Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, a “just man, one that feareth God and is of good report among all the nations of the Jews”. He was also a Gentile, and according to Jewish customs, Jews were not supposed to visit in a Gentile’s home. A Gentile was a non-Jewish person, and considered unclean to be around. God told Peter that an angel had spoken to Cornelius and had told him where to find Peter, have him come to him, and hear the words that he would speak. Cornelius was in Caesarea. Peter was in Joppa, about 30 miles south of Caesarea on the coast. Peter housed Cornelius’ men for the night at his host’s place, and left with the men the following morning. Some Christian brethren from Joppa accompanied Peter as well.

When Peter arrived at Cornelius’ home later that evening, he found a house full of people. Cornelius had invited all his relatives and friends to come hear the words that Peter would say to them. Cornelius met Peter at the entrance and knelt down before him, worshiping him. Peter told him to rise up and not do that because he was just man also as he was. When Peter saw all the people gathered, he understood the meaning of the vision that God had given to him. The first thing Peter spoke to them was how it was unlawful for a Jew to “keep company or come unto one of another nation,” but God had showed him that he should not “call any man common or unclean.” Peter then asked Cornelius why he had summoned him.

Cornelius explained how he had been praying and fasting to God and on the fourth day a man in bright clothing appeared and spoke to him. This person, probably an angel, told Cornelius that his prayers had been heard, and to send for Simon Peter. The angel told Cornelius where to find him, and that Peter would have a message from God for him. So Cornelius told Peter essentially “So here we are, now please give us the words that God has given you for us.”

Peter looked out at the crowd and said, “Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him.” Then Peter proceeded to preach the good news of redemption through Jesus Christ, and how he was one of the witnesses of Jesus Christ’ miracles and resurrection from the dead after His crucifixion. The Holy Spirit descended on the Gentiles who believed that day, and afterwards Peter baptized them in water.

God is no respecter of persons. God loves everyone, regardless of what ethnic background they have, or the color of their skin. He wants all nationalities to come into His Holy Kingdom. Therefore, if God loves them and desires them to be with Him, we should love them as God does and treat all with respect, and not hold back the news of redemption from them.

Besides, it would be a very boring world if we all looked alike. I like to think of the different colors of skin in people like a rainbow. (Now please, I’m not talking about the politically correct rainbow here) The rainbow would not be so beautiful if it consisted of only one color. The various colors in it are part of what make it so beautiful. Someone who is different than you are is not automatically evil. So go out today and try to get to know someone or at least better understand someone who is different than you. Trust me; it will be a very personally enriching, mind-expanding experience for you.

Welcome to Linda's Blog

2009-10-06T22:48:00.002-07:00

Hi,

Welcome to Linda's blog, "Butterfly in the Desert". I've just started it, so not much is here yet. I do have some articles started, fresh from my mind. This blog is not limited to just one subject. I love to write, but have not for quite a few years. The pains and trials of life kinda took my creativeness out of me, but the fresh breeze of the Holy Spirit has been blowing through me, along with some inspiration from some friends, who the Holy Spirit definitely sent into my life, and I have a lot I want to write about. So check back often. No schedule so you never know when I'll post, but I have a lot on my mind. You never know what you'll find here.

Just some housekeeping notes: I do have Comment Moderation on, so comments will be reviewed before being published. Please be respectful and courteous with your comments.

God bless.