EPICENTER: ISAIAH 25:7

EPICENTER I was at the Jewish Community Center here in Southwest Houston recently for a meeting of the HOA in our neighborhood. I felt just a bit awkward and shunned by others and wondered if it really was that way; and was because our house and property are not as tidy as they should be; or because my face is scarred (acne as well as a recent non identified rash on my face which has left new permanent or semi permanent scars); or was it because I wore- in this dedicated space for jewish people and by Jewish people, and in this group of neighbors, many of whom were jewish- a necklace with the Hebrew name for the One whom the jews are forbidden to embrace as their Messiah. ooo! that last phrase was loaded! Yes, I wore my "Yeshua" necklace that daughter had given me. And as the Lord worked it out, I wore it with a plain dark blue tee shirt and dark red jacket that allowed the name to be seen clearly for those that read Hebrew. yeay, God! anyway (and didn't feel bad about not too much interaction), that reminded me about a quest that I've been on for several years now. so i tell you now. ... continuing June 12, 2024 I was driving by the Houston/ meyerland jcc several years ago, which is on a verdant stretch of s. braeswood between chimney rock and Hillcroft with the vista of the open land and bayou to the north- beautiful spot; I thought of that verse, ISAIAH 25:7, and I pondered, and asked the Lord: How can it be that You can wipe away every tear and take away the disgrace of...? How can people forget all the pain that has been endured? would not that be the same as forgetting the people who endured the pain? and we don't want to forget those people, Lord. Isn't that so, Lord? Okay, people. Here goes: Somehow, i felt the Lord impress upon me that the answer to that seemingly impossible promise, ISAIAH 25:7, was something that hadn't been revealed before. Uh oh! A seed to the answer was planted many years earlier when my sister (Sarah) told me that she had started to regularly pray for people and their events that had happened in the past, not concerning herself with the fact that the events are past to us and supposedly the results are known and set because that time has, in fact, passed. Sally Sarah told me she was inspired to include such prayers in her reaching out to our God because of the teaching and beliefs expressed by Charles Williams, the British Christian author and friend of C. S. Lewis. (I later read a novel by Williams where a character does pray for someone in the past.) I went into "WHAT IF" mode. What if the Lord desires and has ordained that in order to bring about His Will and glorious kingdom in this Earth His followers have to unite in prayer and in faith for a person or persons in the past at a pivotal time in the History of Mankind (I was thinking of a time event after Christ's ascension and before now. I would also think that such a pivotal time would be before Christ's church started going off the rails; before that church became majority man; before church lost the hallmark of sacrificial love and strong obedience to God.) (to be continued)

MINORITY REPORT

minority report I was part of a (phone/ zoom) Bible study this Tuesday. I had a very different opinion/ belief from the majority (vocal majority, at least). I remained pretty much silent about my beliefs. As the conversation continued, I DID formulate in my mind (the Lord gave me this?) The passage was JOHN 15:6-19, maybe. One of the main themes of passage is Jesus' call for unity of believers. (Last week's passage dwelt on our need to be attached to Jesus and gaining our lifeblood from Him.) the Methodists- who are as a denomination in the midst of disintegration about changes to the accepted theological foundations of our sect- are facing the dichotomy of unity/ disunity. the new thought was: WHAT ABOUT UNITY WITH THE FOUNDERS AND CARRIERS OF THE FAITH AND SECT IN THE PAST. WHAT ABOUT UNITY WITH OUR MAKER AND LORD?

O WITHOUT! WITHOUT! WITHOUT!

often, when i see the word "sin" i think about the fact that in Spanish that means without. i wonder if it also in Latin is like that and if that is truly the root of the word in English. there IS another word in Latin- scandalon, but i think that like in English it more refers to the exposed sin. Those two concepts are so close, theologically: sinning, and being without God.

FELLOWSHIP MEAL

Shalom, Friends. This day i am watching on Houston channel 55 a group of tv preachers/ teachers. These different ones seem to be humble, sincere followers of Jesus (Yeshua). (4 teachers - independent, Catholic, independent, Church of Christ- all seeking to speak the true truth, helpful truth of God's Word.) ok, I'm listing five. Sunday mornings 6:00. Terry Anderson Lilly Grove 6:30. Jeremy Pfiels Accelerate Church 7:00. (fr.) Chapin in West Virginia 7:30. Phil of Abba's House, Tennessee 8:00. Phil Sanders church of christ we do not watch all five of these on any given Sunday (i am concerned about us followers of Jesus spending too much time consuming even wonderful "God's Word" and ending up with less time for living out His will for us.), but i like to think they are connected amongst themselves and in God's beautiful, glorious family, endeavoring to give out God's good news all over the place.

THEY?!?

this post is about the violence being done to the English language by SOMEBODY. (I don't think I've commented on this yet.) the word "they" already had a solid specific meaning. it meant PLURAL other, third person plural. please, people, it doesn't make sense to use a word that has a specific, established meaning attaching a different meaning to it. i have read many articles in the newspaper and other public forums where the use of "they" to mean a person who wants to be called "they" had really confused the facts of the article. In newspapers especially, conveying facts is the primary job of the organization (supposedly). that makes this additional confusion caused by this kidnapping of this word so ironic.

DEVALUING THE RICHES IN YOUR PRESENCE

Devaluing the riches in your presence

This post is all a bunch of conjecture. I'm just admitting this and warning you up front.

It is about my idea that in the history of the English language, there are some words that came from Hebrew and Jewish languages that are not correctly   identified  as to "give credit" to Hebrew.
I was going to keep this maverick theory to myself, except that recently I have learned that England as well as much of Europe is living through a time ofdecrease in Christian commitment, influence, activity and observable relevance. The reasons for this decline are many, but I wonder if my theory is correct and that we are reaping harvest from that particular wrong that needs to be righted.
SHALL --- from shalom;
Salvation --- Might better be translated "shalomization"?
"robin" from "raboni"; robinhood from " chad" a group (must put discussion of "chad" first. I suspect that "Chad" from the Hebrew (pronounced "hod") is the source of hood. "chad" in Hebrew is the word used in the Shmah where it is translated as " ... the Lord your God is ONE. "Chad" means"one" there. that describes the Jews' monotheism, believing that there is only one God. Jews are very uncomfortable or rejecting of the Christian belief in Jesus as the "son of God" because they see that as Christians saying they worship more than one god. this is where the concept of the Trinity comes in. We Christians believe that God is one ("chad") and that the three parts of Him/ Them work in total agreement and unity. In GENESIS and other parts of the Bible, God DOES refer to himself in plural.

JESUS SPEAKS OF GOD'S TIMING

GUS ELOWITZ was the rabbi of BETH YESHUA HA MASHIACH in Houston, Texas up until his passing. This, as you can tell by the name, is a messianic congregation (not considered a "real" Jewish congregation by other Jewish groups that do not accept Jesus Yeshua as the Messiah spoken of in the Bible.) Brother Elowitz came and spoke to our women's group a few years before his passing. the first year he gave his testimony of how he came to believe in Yeshua. The next time he came, he asked if he could speak based on a paper he had written and had submitted to, i think, the NEW YORK TIMES. We agreed, of course. (the NYT had rejected his submission.) The title of Brother Elowitz' paper was THE SEVENFOLD ANSWER TO THE QUESTION: WHO KILLED JESUS? First let me list the seven that bro elowitz names, as best that i can. This talk was almost 20 years ago, i think. i haven't tried to remember the entirety in quite a while. please bear with me. God, the Father JESUS the Jews Satan the Romans every human being, individually (i don't know who was the seventh. Maybe you can think who that might be.) Bro Elowitz, of course, had scriptural references for each segment of his stated theory (SEVENFOLD ... WHO...) For example, perhaps, verse: EPHESIANS 1:5 "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself...."v.7 "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, ... v.8 which He lavished on us.... intention... purposed" these all indicated that the Father (and Son Jesus) choose to cause Jesus' death, as a sacrifice for all who would call on Jesus to be their sacrifice and take their punishment. Now, I want to turn to the aspect of God's plan that i will call "timing". If it was God's plan that Jesus die for the sins of the World, the Lord and Jesus had to "make" it happen. That means that They must choose the time in history of Israel when the people in charge were antagonistic to the plan and will of God. And, They, the Planners, Father and Son, had to even push the (free will) wrong-hearted leaders (that is, aggravate, "egg on" the antagonists) in order for the sacrifice to happen. Jesus spoke of "timing" a few times. He said things like: My time is not yet come; it is not yet time i wonder if He also referred to God's timing when He said "one does not light a lamp and put it under a bushel." Could He be referring to God's very specific instructions to Gideon wherein the warriors were to in fact have lamps lit and confined to a jar until the appointed time when all were to break the jars and shine the lights and defeat the enemy by confusing them? i wonder, too, if Jesus' pointing out the "poor fig tree" i referred to earlier, another day, might be another instance of Jesus speaking of timing. those verses indicate that Jesus was looking for figs when it was not even the time for figs. is that right? is that what happened? was Jesus saying that it had to be this way? that the Jewish establishment had to reject Jesus as the Messiah in order that prophecy be fulfilled? that God PICKED this WRONG time when the Jewish leaders of that day did not have the fruit of being open to the Lord's work in their days?