Written by: Andries Combrink, pastor of Centurion West Presbyterian Church.
The ultimate love affair
Love is not easy to define! It may be the topic that is the most thought about, written about, talked about, dreamt about and sung about. It has been called the “thing that makes the world go round”, "a many splendored thing," as a thing that "the world needs now," and many more. The love story has been written about in poetry, in songs, in literature, in novels and for movies.
Yet it is most of the time not defined clearly, simply and often not even practically. Love has been confused with passion, sexual attraction, the need for mystical experiences, the answer to loneliness, and many other needs of men and women. These may be needs closely related to love, but not one of them is quite love itself.
But one thing is clear - everyone knows they need love in their lives. Everyone wants to be loved and wants to love. And many look for love in the wrong place and has been hurt, devastated and ruined by an unfulfilled need for love.
Most people would try everything to find real love. Many tried "free love," simply to find that it was not free at all and cost them their education, their youth, their purity and their self respect. “Free love” is expensive! It can cost you your marriage and the privilege to see your children grow up. You may find that extra-marital "love" affairs are dead-end streets and that at its best leads to nothing and at its worst leads to death itself.
But there is one love affair which is good for us, that we need to survive in life and that can teach us the true meaning of what love really is! There is one love affair that is worth dying for and that makes life worth living. The One who prescribed, even commanded, this love affair was Jesus. It is a love affair with God.
A scribe asked Jesus to explain, in a nutshell, the bottom line of what it meant to follow God.
In his reply to the Scribe, Jesus pulls together two well-known passages of Old Testament Scripture:
One of the teachers of the law came and asked Jesus, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-34)
One commandment concerns itself with love for God; the other with love for your neighbour. We have nicknamed them the Great Commandments. Everything written in the Old and New Testaments boil down to these two great commandments, and the key is found in these words: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the top priority. This is where it all begins. This is where true living begins. This is where understanding love that is real, begins! This is where spirituality, union with God, positive thinking, great personal relations, exciting church membership, successful parenting and a glorious marriage begins. Loving God is the catalyst for a dynamic, caring, meaningful life!
As we consider the meaning and impact of the Great Commandments over the next couple of Midweek Devotions - please listen carefully. Because without a love affair with God, all that we do becomes meaningless. Without a love affair with God, we lack the motivation and the passion to do his work, and any other meaningful work as well.
Of one thing I am certain - there is today a frantic need for a passionate, hot-hearted, intense, consuming love affair with God.
This is the one and only love affair that will take you to heaven, even before you die!
May the grace of God and the love of Jesus Christ our Lord be with you through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
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2010-09-22
2010-09-20
2010-09-18
ABOUT MEAT BIKINIS, KISSES AND GRAMMY AWARDS
Lady Gaga walked away with no less than eight Grammy Awards the past week. For the awards do she wore a stunningly crafted dressed made of ... raw meat (picture somewhere below). This act of weirdness attracted quite a few people's attention and I received the picture through email several times during the week.
Some of the conclusions reached by my friends was that she must be stinking and she would definitely not have gotten laid that night, smelling like pig or cow or sheep and all. Try kissing your next pork chop right before putting it on the grill to be braai'ed (grilled / roasted / bri'ed) and imagine you'll get aroused by this, to get the picture.
Antie Gaga (not the "gh" but the gluttural afrikaans "gggg" sound) - as we like to call her in our house - makes excellent music. I even used her song, Telephone, in one of our Dynamix services to depict the abscence of listening to God (had to use a video clip made by some American soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan with lots of time on their hands, though, as her own video is a bit - ee - dangerous for church).
But she also like controversy. She wears oureageous outfits, has the most abhorrent hair-do's and I read in a newspaper article somewhere that she was impressed with some XXX-action between two guys during one of her live shows, while the rest of the audience were either watching them going about like hyper-active rabbits or being mesmerised by her stage antics (or both). Apparently our Antie thought this public showing of blue-movie-action was the biggest highlight of her entire career.
Why is it that some performance artists bask in the glory of their strangeness? Tom Cruise broke the springs on Oprah's couch to declare his love for Katie Holmes. Elton John liked his clothes and glasses to be extraordinarily out of the ordinary. Liberace did his piano with glittering diamonds on every finger. Those guys with a lack of voice (Slipknott) wear masks, that will encourage nightmares for weeks to come, to hide the fact that they can't actually sing - and when they do actually sing, it encourages weirdness by their fans: Their music apparently encouraged one South African teenager to pull a Samurai sword on a school friend, and kill him. This boy is spend the next few years of his life in jail, pondering the wiseness of his decision to mimick his favorite band in real life.
You either love these really really weird people who can also sing and dance and act or you hate them. But why?
I found this interesting post - written by Mark Sayers - of thinking on our current culture's mockery of old distinctions and boundaries *(thanks to JR Woodward, the guy who shared the link). Read the original HERE:
Some of the conclusions reached by my friends was that she must be stinking and she would definitely not have gotten laid that night, smelling like pig or cow or sheep and all. Try kissing your next pork chop right before putting it on the grill to be braai'ed (grilled / roasted / bri'ed) and imagine you'll get aroused by this, to get the picture.
Antie Gaga (not the "gh" but the gluttural afrikaans "gggg" sound) - as we like to call her in our house - makes excellent music. I even used her song, Telephone, in one of our Dynamix services to depict the abscence of listening to God (had to use a video clip made by some American soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan with lots of time on their hands, though, as her own video is a bit - ee - dangerous for church).
But she also like controversy. She wears oureageous outfits, has the most abhorrent hair-do's and I read in a newspaper article somewhere that she was impressed with some XXX-action between two guys during one of her live shows, while the rest of the audience were either watching them going about like hyper-active rabbits or being mesmerised by her stage antics (or both). Apparently our Antie thought this public showing of blue-movie-action was the biggest highlight of her entire career.
Why is it that some performance artists bask in the glory of their strangeness? Tom Cruise broke the springs on Oprah's couch to declare his love for Katie Holmes. Elton John liked his clothes and glasses to be extraordinarily out of the ordinary. Liberace did his piano with glittering diamonds on every finger. Those guys with a lack of voice (Slipknott) wear masks, that will encourage nightmares for weeks to come, to hide the fact that they can't actually sing - and when they do actually sing, it encourages weirdness by their fans: Their music apparently encouraged one South African teenager to pull a Samurai sword on a school friend, and kill him. This boy is spend the next few years of his life in jail, pondering the wiseness of his decision to mimick his favorite band in real life.
You either love these really really weird people who can also sing and dance and act or you hate them. But why?
I found this interesting post - written by Mark Sayers - of thinking on our current culture's mockery of old distinctions and boundaries *(thanks to JR Woodward, the guy who shared the link). Read the original HERE:
Last week Lady Gaga incensed animal rights activists by appearing in an Italian magazine wearing a Bikini made of raw meat. This was the latest effort a long line of media attention grabbing stunts in which various cultural, religious and sexual boundaries were crossed by her Gaganess. However the obsession with pushing boundaries and crossing lines in not restricted just to Lady Gaga, paradoxically it is tradition within modernity. In fact, Peter Gay subtitled his history of Modernist Art – The Lure of Heresy. Our contemporary culture mocks those who wish to maintain age old distinctions and boundaries.
However boundaries are essential to human life. Distinctions and separations are key not only to human life, but to the whole of creation. The piercing truth of this reality was brought home to me recently as I accidentally opened the unlocked door of a plane bathroom to be greeted by the shocked face of a woman – how shall I say? – not expecting to be disturbed. This moment of embarrassment reminded me that boundaries offer us dignity, they make us human.
In his brilliant study of the book of Genesis Rabbi Jonathan Sacks notes that the account of creation begins with a set of separations and distinctions. Sea and sky, light and day, animals and humans, chaos and creation. The most profound distinctions are to be found between God and humans and between heaven and earth, and between the unique personalities of humans. Rabbi Sacks observes that this distinction in unique amongst religious world views, the pagan beliefs which surrounded Israel did not delineate between gods and humans, creation and chaos, heaven and earth.
Therefore the primary sins of humanity are attempts to cross these boundaries and merge these distinctions. Adam and Eve attempt to merge humans and God by eating of the fruit ‘so that they may be like gods’. Cain breaks the distinction between individuals and kills his brother Abel. The builders of Babel attempt to breech the boundary between heaven and earth with their structural monstrosity.
Rabbi Sacks points out that in many ways the story of Babel echoes many of the horrors of the 20th century perpetrated by totalitarian regimes. Friedrich Nietzsche declared God dead and challenged humans to take his place, and thus laid the groundwork for the horrors of the Third Reich who dehumised entire races.
In attempting to transcend their humanity and become the god like uber-mensch ironically the Nazis became less human. We see our culture constantly falling into the same traps, trying to construct our own worlds in godlike fashion, however we cannot but help falling into the trap of dehumanizing ourselves or others in the process. Rabbi Sacks writes
Only when God is God can man be man. That means keeping heaven and earth distinct, organizing the latter only under the conscious sovereignty of the former. Without this there is little to prevent human beings from sacrificing the many for the sake of the few, or the few for the sake of the many. Only a respect for the integrity of creation stops human beings destroy themselves…A world of tov, good, is a world of havdalah, boundaries and limits. Those who cross those boundaries and transgress these limits make a name for themselves, but the name they make is Babel, meaning chaos, confusion and the loss of that order which is a precondition of both nature – the world God creates – and culture the world we create.
Our culture with its craving for the crossing of boundaries and the ignoring of limits reveals itself as truly neo-pagan, not in the sense of a bunch of people with dreadlocks dancing to bad german techo out in the forest, but deeper more dangerous and insidious paganism. A paganism which threatens to dehumanize the whole of humanity, and to uncreate the whole of creation. And so we are back at Genesis one, we need again the spirit of God to hover over the formless, dark chaos of the world. We need God again to breath his life giving breath into us. And we need believers who understand and artfully respect the God given distinctions and limits in the world.
2010-09-17
"Religion is 'marginalised'" - according to the Pope
Written by Robert Pigott and originally published on the BBC's website HERE.
The Pope says that religion is 'marginalised' during his speech in Westminster Hall. The Pope has warned that religion - and Christianity in particular - is "being marginalised" around the world. His comments came in his keynote speech to UK MPs, senior members of British society, and religious leaders at Westminster Hall in central London. Pope Benedict XVI warned that there were some people who wanted to see "the voice of religion be silenced". He returned to the subject in a service at Westminster Abbey, asking Christians to speak out about their faith.
BBC correspondent Peter Hunt described the speech at Westminster Hall as "a rallying call, and a plea - for religion not to be squeezed out by secular society". The Pope was speaking as a sixth man was arrested as counter-terrorism detectives investigate an alleged threat to Pope Benedict XVI's visit. In his speech at Westminster Hall, the Pope called on those in attendance to seek ways to promote faith "at every level of national life". He added: "I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalisation of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance. There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere. There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none."
At the service celebrated jointly with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, at Westminster Abbey, the Pope said: "in a society which has become increasingly indifferent or even hostile to the Christian message", believers were "all the more compelled to give a joyful and convincing account" of their faith. He also shook incense over the tomb of Edward the Confessor - regarded as a saint by both Churches. Following the service, the Pope is travelling back to the home of Papal Nuncio - his official representitive in the UK - in Wimbledon, south-west London.
'Deep friendship'
Earlier, the Pope met Dr Williams at Lambeth Palace - a meeting attended by Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from different parts of the UK. This was one of the most important speeches of Pope Benedict's papacy and he used it to warn the very health of democracy in Britain was being jeopardised by the marginalisation of religion. His essential message was that democracy relies on the use of reason but that human reasoning was being distorted by ideology and changing social fashions. The Pope insisted reason needed to be judged against the unchanging teaching offered by religion - based as it was on "natural law", the fundamental nature of people. This was a dramatic attempt by Pope Benedict to force civic leaders to question the essential working of a democracy they have taken for granted would operate for the good of all. His aim was to halt what he sees as the trend for governments to legislate to try to govern people's beliefs as well as their behaviour. It comes at a time when Anglican moves towards appointing women bishops have unsettled relations with Rome. But the Pope said he wanted to focus on the "deep friendship" between the two churches rather than their differences.
The Lambeth Palace meeting marked the first time a Pope has met the Archbishop at his official residence. It was viewed as an important event more than 40 years after official talks began about possible reunification of the two churches. Divisions remain over Roman Catholic opposition to the ordination of women priests. Meanwhile the Church of England's General Synod left the way open for appointing women bishops at its meeting in July. The Vatican angered many supporters of women's ordination by describing it as a "grave crime" to be dealt with in the same process as sex abuse, though it denied it was equating the two.
Dr Williams said in his opening remarks that the Pope was "most welcome" at Lambeth Palace. He then praised the pontiff's "consistent and penetrating analysis of the state of European society". As the Pope left Lambeth Palace to travel the short distance to Westminster Hall in his Popemobile, thousands of people lined the streets. At one point he stopped the vehicle to bless a baby that was handed up to him.
True happiness
Earlier, the Pope led an assembly of 4,000 Catholic school children in west London. He used his address at St Mary's University College in Twickenham, to say that the safety of children was vital in all schools, an apparent reference to the Church's child abuse scandal. He also warned against the limitations of celebrity and science. The pontiff told the crowd young people were often encouraged to model themselves on celebrities. He said: "My question for you is this: What are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves? What kind of person would you really like to be?' "I'm asking you not to be content with second-best." He went on to say having money or a successful career was not enough to make people happy, but true happiness could be found in God. Tight security surrounded the event, called The Big Assembly, and monks and nuns who had waited in long queues were frisked by police.
Around 100 protesters against the Vatican's record on gay rights, equality and birth control had gathered ahead of his arrival, amid tight security. The Church saw it as an opportunity to celebrate the work of more than 2,000 Catholic schools across the UK, in partnership with the state. But critics said it could fuel hostility to faith schools and serve as a painful reminder of the child abuse scandal within the Catholic Church.
The Pope says that religion is 'marginalised' during his speech in Westminster Hall. The Pope has warned that religion - and Christianity in particular - is "being marginalised" around the world. His comments came in his keynote speech to UK MPs, senior members of British society, and religious leaders at Westminster Hall in central London. Pope Benedict XVI warned that there were some people who wanted to see "the voice of religion be silenced". He returned to the subject in a service at Westminster Abbey, asking Christians to speak out about their faith.
BBC correspondent Peter Hunt described the speech at Westminster Hall as "a rallying call, and a plea - for religion not to be squeezed out by secular society". The Pope was speaking as a sixth man was arrested as counter-terrorism detectives investigate an alleged threat to Pope Benedict XVI's visit. In his speech at Westminster Hall, the Pope called on those in attendance to seek ways to promote faith "at every level of national life". He added: "I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalisation of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance. There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere. There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none."
At the service celebrated jointly with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, at Westminster Abbey, the Pope said: "in a society which has become increasingly indifferent or even hostile to the Christian message", believers were "all the more compelled to give a joyful and convincing account" of their faith. He also shook incense over the tomb of Edward the Confessor - regarded as a saint by both Churches. Following the service, the Pope is travelling back to the home of Papal Nuncio - his official representitive in the UK - in Wimbledon, south-west London.
'Deep friendship'
Earlier, the Pope met Dr Williams at Lambeth Palace - a meeting attended by Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from different parts of the UK. This was one of the most important speeches of Pope Benedict's papacy and he used it to warn the very health of democracy in Britain was being jeopardised by the marginalisation of religion. His essential message was that democracy relies on the use of reason but that human reasoning was being distorted by ideology and changing social fashions. The Pope insisted reason needed to be judged against the unchanging teaching offered by religion - based as it was on "natural law", the fundamental nature of people. This was a dramatic attempt by Pope Benedict to force civic leaders to question the essential working of a democracy they have taken for granted would operate for the good of all. His aim was to halt what he sees as the trend for governments to legislate to try to govern people's beliefs as well as their behaviour. It comes at a time when Anglican moves towards appointing women bishops have unsettled relations with Rome. But the Pope said he wanted to focus on the "deep friendship" between the two churches rather than their differences.
The Lambeth Palace meeting marked the first time a Pope has met the Archbishop at his official residence. It was viewed as an important event more than 40 years after official talks began about possible reunification of the two churches. Divisions remain over Roman Catholic opposition to the ordination of women priests. Meanwhile the Church of England's General Synod left the way open for appointing women bishops at its meeting in July. The Vatican angered many supporters of women's ordination by describing it as a "grave crime" to be dealt with in the same process as sex abuse, though it denied it was equating the two.
Dr Williams said in his opening remarks that the Pope was "most welcome" at Lambeth Palace. He then praised the pontiff's "consistent and penetrating analysis of the state of European society". As the Pope left Lambeth Palace to travel the short distance to Westminster Hall in his Popemobile, thousands of people lined the streets. At one point he stopped the vehicle to bless a baby that was handed up to him.
True happiness
Earlier, the Pope led an assembly of 4,000 Catholic school children in west London. He used his address at St Mary's University College in Twickenham, to say that the safety of children was vital in all schools, an apparent reference to the Church's child abuse scandal. He also warned against the limitations of celebrity and science. The pontiff told the crowd young people were often encouraged to model themselves on celebrities. He said: "My question for you is this: What are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves? What kind of person would you really like to be?' "I'm asking you not to be content with second-best." He went on to say having money or a successful career was not enough to make people happy, but true happiness could be found in God. Tight security surrounded the event, called The Big Assembly, and monks and nuns who had waited in long queues were frisked by police.
Around 100 protesters against the Vatican's record on gay rights, equality and birth control had gathered ahead of his arrival, amid tight security. The Church saw it as an opportunity to celebrate the work of more than 2,000 Catholic schools across the UK, in partnership with the state. But critics said it could fuel hostility to faith schools and serve as a painful reminder of the child abuse scandal within the Catholic Church.
2010-09-15
MIDWEEK DEVOTION: READING THE BIBLE FOR APPLICATION
Written by Andries Combrink, pastor of Centurion West Presbyterian Church.
Does the Bible have something personal to say to you, today?
1. The Bible was written to others—but speaks to you too.2. And, the Bible is about God—but draws you in. We have to look for what the passage says about God and recognise why it is straightforward to you that this passage has relevance for you personally, today.
3. When you recognise an unknown passage as a straightforward passage, it will generalize or summarize in a way that it invites personal application and relevance. Think, for example, about promises of God for all believers, especially those that we came to know as the Gospel promises – about salvation, redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation with God in Jesus.
But now, how to work out the implications for me, of less-direct Passages?
Lets consider two examples to help us understand that every passage holds a message for us. An extreme challenge to personal application is a genealogy or census. These are directly spoken, irrelevant to your life. Your name is not on the list. The reasons for the list disappeared long ago. You gain nothing by knowing that “Koz fathered Anub, Zobebah, and the clans of Aharhel” (1 Chron. 4: 8). But when you learn to listen with an open heart and mind you may find good things taught, even here, for example:
· The Lord writes down names in his book of life – even mine.
· Families and communities matter to him.
· God remains faithful to his promises through long history.
· He enlists individuals, like me, for his saving grace.
· These genealogies form part of the history and background of Jesus. If you are in Jesus, his family becomes your family and God’s promises to them become very personal promises to you!
The second example is Psalm 21: 1. “O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices”? The psalm is not talking about you. You are not a king in the way that David was. But it does connect with you.
David lived and wrote these words, but Jesus Christ most fully lived, is now living, and now fulfils this entire psalm. He is the greatest King, singing this song of deliverance; and he is also the almighty divine Lord. We know from the perspective of the NT that this psalm is explicitly about Jesus. And you, who are in Christ, share in the triumph of your King.
Having made the psalm your own, in Christ, you may now make it your experience too. You could adapt it into the first person, inserting “I/me/my” in place of “the king” and “he/him/his.”
Learning to wisely apply the harder, less obvious passages has a surprising benefit. Your whole Bible now “applies personally.” This Lord spoken about in the Bible, is your God – get to know him better from him dealing with believers that lived ages ago; this history in the Bible, is also your history; these people became your people; this Saviour has made you one of his own, to participate in who he is and be blessed by what he does. Venture out into the remotest regions of Scripture, seeking to know, love and trust God more.
The Bible, as holy Scripture, is the only certain source of God’s words. Paul’s statement that “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim3:16) means that all the words of the Bible are God’s words to us. Therefore if we want to hear our Creator and Lord speaking to us, we must continually give attention to all the passages of the Bible, asking what it says to you, today.
Jesus, after defeating Satan with three quotations from Deuteronomy, declared, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4: 4.)
The Scriptures were food to Jesus. Jesus’ dependence on the sufficiency and potency of God’s Word shows us that every word God shares with us, has meaning and application in our lives. What applies to Jesus implies meaning to me who has been saved by and in Jesus Christ.2010-09-14
YOM KIPPUR
In the Jewish calendar Yom Kippur - or the Day of Atonement - is celebrated this week, with the main festival over the weekend of 17 and 18 September.
Wikipedia has this to say about Yom Kippur: It is one of the holiest days of the year for Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days.
How do Messianic Jews celebrate Yom Kippur?
Sarah, a Messianic Jew, gives the following reason why she and her husband participate in Yom Kippur:
Wikipedia has this to say about Yom Kippur: It is one of the holiest days of the year for Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days.
Yom Kippur is the tenth day of the month of Tishrei. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a book, the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah, and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God (bein adam leMakom) and against other human beings (bein adam lechavero). The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt (Vidui). At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers one's self absolved by God.
The Yom Kippur prayer service includes several unique aspects. One is the actual number of prayer services. Unlike a regular day, which has three prayer services (Ma'ariv, the evening prayer; Shacharit, the morning prayer; and Mincha, the afternoon prayer), or a Shabbat or Yom Tov, which have four prayer services (Ma'ariv; Shacharit; Musaf, the additional prayer; and Mincha), Yom Kippur has five prayer services (Ma'ariv; Shacharit; Musaf; Mincha; and Ne'ilah, the closing prayer). The prayer services also include a public confession of sins (Vidui) and a unique prayer dedicated to the special Yom Kippur avodah (service) of the Kohen Gadol in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
As one of the most culturally significant Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur is observed by many secular Jews who may not observe other holidays. Many secular Jews attend synagogue on Yom Kippur—for many secular Jews the High Holidays are the only recurring times of the year in which they attend synagogue,—causing synagogue attendance to soar, and almost two-thirds fast.
How do Messianic Jews celebrate Yom Kippur?
Messianic Judaism is a religious movement that adds to Evangelical Christian theology some elements of Jewish terminology and ritual. In 2003, there were at least 150 Messianic houses of worship in the United States and over 400 worldwide, often members of larger Messianic organizations or alliances. By 2008, the movement was reported to have around a quarter million members in the United States, and between 6,000 and 15,000 in Israel. Today, there are over 350 Messianic congregations in the US alone.
Messianic Judaism states that Jesus is part of the Trinity, and salvation is only achieved only through acceptance of Jesus as one's savior. Any Jewish laws or customs that are followed are cultural and do not contribute to attaining salvation. Messianic Judaism's belief in the role and divinity of Jesus is seen by Christian denominations and Jewish religious movements as being the defining distinction between Christianity and Judaism.
Many members of the movement are ethnically Jewish, and some of them argue that Messianic Judaism is a sect of Judaism. Jewish organizations and religious movements reject this, stating that Messianic Judaism is a Christian sect. The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled that the Law of Return should treat Jews who convert to Messianic Judaism the same way it treats Jews who convert to Christianity. Mainstream Christian groups generally accept Messianic Judaism as a form of Christianity. (Thanks to Wikipedia for the above).Sarah, a Messianic Jew, gives the following reason why she and her husband participate in Yom Kippur:
"Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a day set apart in God’s calendar of
appointments to deny yourself (deny the flesh), rest and pray—a perfect day to
spend in the presence of the Lord, in intercession. As a member of the “Church,”
we can ask God’s forgiveness on behalf of the legacy of hate toward Israel and
the Jewish People in Jesus’ Name and under the sign of the cross. And we can
pray for Israel—the country and the People scattered throughout the earth. This
is a time that a Jewish heart is tender and turned toward God in teshuvah—true
repentance, seeking forgiveness and a fresh start. Pray that God will answer
every sincere cry that goes up to Him!
"Often, our congregation will gather and fast together for the day, reading through
the deep and reverent liturgies and biblical texts that are traditional and
interceding for Israel and the Jewish People. We then break fast together at
sundown. It can be a very rich experience for Believers.
Considering this day Jewish People around the world are fasting, praying, and
humbling themselves before God—for some perhaps the only time of the year –
what better day to join with all Israel in a biblically-mandated appointment with
God?"
2010-09-11
GUIDELINES FOR CHRISTIAN TWEETERS
These guidelines are not of my own making. The honour goes to Jon Acuff, of StuffChristiansLike.
1. Beware “the boy who cried retweet.” If you retweet everyone, you might as well retweet no one.
2. A photo online is forever. Don’t tweet a picture unless you’re ready for it to exist forever online.
3. If their Twitter profile lists “tickle fights” and “wearing bikinis” as their hobbies, they’re not real.
4. Complaining that someone you follow “tweets too much,” is the peak of Twitter selfishness.
What you’re saying is, “I know you have 200 followers, but I feel like you should have checked with me on the number of tweets I tolerate a day. It’s 7. And you just tweeted your eighth time of the day.”
5. If you’re a pastor, you are contractually obligated to tweet how hott your wife is or that you married up or out of your league.
6. When you write a rude tweet to tell someone they were rude, you create such a forcefield of irony it makes Alanis Morissette’s teeth hurt
7. Worrying about someone hating you is like chasing down a car that gave you the middle finger on the highway. Let it go.
8. Don’t make grand claims you won’t fulfill. I once promised to tweet through a section of the Bible. I didn’t. Epic fail on me.
9. Always, always double check that you’re sending a private direct message not a public tweet. Switching the two is not so awesome.
10. If a tweet gets retweeted a bunch, avoid the temptation to write 47 versions of that tweet. Quit tweeting a dead horse.
11. “Do what you love and you will find someone who loves the same thing; don’t look for love. Don’t beg for love, or suffer for love.”
You know who write that positive message? Snooki from the Jersey Shore show on MTV. Everyone and their grandmother tweets affirmations. Be careful that your amount of positive messages don’t make other people feel negative. I’m not above writing the odd positive tweet myself, but when you rainbow it all day, it can feel fake.
12. Don’t tweet holier than you normally talk. Don’t get seminary mouth all of the sudden when you get on Twitter.
13. Asking for a retweet is a bad way to first introduce yourself to someone. Make friends, not favors on twitter.
14. A smiley face is twitter’s version of “bless her heart.” You can’t tweet a jerk statement and then think ending it with a 
erases it.
15. If you’re married, you have 2 options for your photo: you kissing your spouse or a photo from your wedding.
16. Keep your name short. Your email address might be “GodismykingIpraisehiminthemorning777” but that’s too long to retweet.
17. Twitter has a 2 to 1 sarcasm ratio. For every 2 people who get your sarcasm, 1 person will take you seriously and think you’re a jerk.
18. Sending a link is like sending a piece of your reputation, send it carefully.
19. Don’t be 2 different people on twitter. Tweet the way you live. If you wouldn’t say something flirty in “real life,” don’t on Twitter.
20. Twitter is tone deaf. Be hyper careful about trying to speak subtly on Twitter. Words can be misinterpreted very, very easily.
21. Don’t become a “Christian Provocateur.” That’s great your church is doing a sermon on sex. Just don’t create fake sexy tweets for “buzz”
22. Focus on tweeting something vital, not something viral.
23. Don’t “twudge,” which is just twitter’s version of judging someone’s entire soul based on a 140-character tweet.
24. Don’t create silly words using the tw prefix. That goes for me too, “twudge?” Good grief! It’s so tempting though or twempting.
25. Don’t mistake number of followers on twitter for success on twitter. Measure quality of interactions not quantity of interactions.
26. Twitter is just a medium. Don’t fall so deeply in love that you think it won’t disappear or evolve like every other medium.
27. Resist the temptation to “turn on a speaker” during a conference. Public tweets are great for compliments, but bad for criticism.
I’ve seen this happen with hashtags, the way people can collectively see tweets about a certain subject. As a speaker, I love feedback from people in the crowd about what I’m talking about. But I think you should email or direct message your criticism and publically tweet your compliments. The ability to sway a crowd into a negative space is pretty massive. And let’s be honest, if during the middle of a conference speech you verbally screamed out, “That last point was whack!” your friends would sit somewhere else.
28. There needs to be some international sign that means, “I’m tweeting lines from the sermon during church.”
Right now, people think you’re playing Angry Birds if you use your iPhone during church. Until we have that sign, just do what I do and yell, “I’m tweeting the sermon!”
29. Look at a whole web page before you send a link to one thing you like on it.
A number of times I’ll be about to use twitpic and realize there’s a half naked photo for American Apparel on the page that is hosting the photo. I use the direct link option on image shack. You can’t be held accountable for the whole web, but be careful.
30. Twitter time is different from real time. Responding to a tweet from last week is like referencing the 1840s. Stay current or stay quiet
31. Unfortunately, 140 characters will not allow you to use a Christian email signature like, “In his grip,” in each tweet.
32. Be careful about sending someone an automatic direct message when they follow you. I’ve never had a good experience with one of those.
2010-09-03
IN HOMAGE TO MY TEN THOUSANDTH VISITOR
My dear visitor
I do not know who you are. Yet you are the lucky reader who recorded the tenthousandth hit to my blog.
I really am honored by your visit. In the two years that I am responsible for this blog, I collected a group of readers from all around the world. It would also seem like a loyal group of readers, since the blog's statistics reflect just that.
Naturally, I feel responsible for you all. I will continue to present thought-provoking, and insightful articles and social commentary through the cartoons I find. I will also strive to write better and better posts that will reflect my personal searching for God and knowing Him more intimately.
God bless!
I do not know who you are. Yet you are the lucky reader who recorded the tenthousandth hit to my blog.
I really am honored by your visit. In the two years that I am responsible for this blog, I collected a group of readers from all around the world. It would also seem like a loyal group of readers, since the blog's statistics reflect just that.
Naturally, I feel responsible for you all. I will continue to present thought-provoking, and insightful articles and social commentary through the cartoons I find. I will also strive to write better and better posts that will reflect my personal searching for God and knowing Him more intimately.
God bless!
2010-09-01
WE SHOULD NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF OUR CORE PURPOSE
It's amazing how times change.
In 1998 I resigned my position as pastoral aid of a large congregation in the fast-growing suburbs of Centurion. The dream I, and a few friends, pursued, was to plant a church geared towards people who did not fit in the traditional church any longer, yet they weren't charismatic. More specific, we dreamed of reaching out to young people in their twenties or early thirties who left the church and needed Christ. We had a big missional vision.
Nobody took notice of our plant. Apart from the gossip and malicious rumours (e.g. I heard that we were driving out demons from everybody coming to our services), we were left to struggle with this vision and its practical implication on our own. To be honest, we were largely influenced by Bill Hybels' story of Willow Creek. I was very involved with the Willow Creek Association at the time and, looking back, had some sort of loose support system in them.
I can recount hours' worth of stories from those four years, good ones as well as sad ones. In the mean time, life moved on and these days I find myself back in a traditional DRC congregation, being one of the pastors for the past six years.
Tonight I read of the DRC pastor who recently resigned his pastorate and started a church in a bar. His first service in the aforementioned facility was reported on extensively. He even reached the seven o' clock news on national television. Times indeed have changed ...
I am glad that we have a support structure in place - albeit mainly here in the Cape - that intentionally develops missional ministries that can be seen as new church plants. We do so with the backing of church ordinances and the sort of red tape you normally associate with traditionally reformed churches.
My personal vision for planting churches that reach unchurched people haven't really changed - apart from the fact that I now know I am not a church planter, but a researcher and possibly enabler of people who get called to plant churches. Of this I am not even sure, yet.
What I am sure of, is the reality that the denomination I am serving as pastor has caught vision to intentionally reach out to "the lost" with the biblical model of planting mission stations as new congregations. Yesterday I sat in a board meeting of our synodical commission and heard one of the leaders of this commission share the vision of an Acts 2-functioning church that succeeds in bringing in the people who God is saving daily. He said: "We must never loose sight of our core purpose - which is to introduce people to the crucified and risen Christ."
I am completely with you on this one, Braam!
In 1998 I resigned my position as pastoral aid of a large congregation in the fast-growing suburbs of Centurion. The dream I, and a few friends, pursued, was to plant a church geared towards people who did not fit in the traditional church any longer, yet they weren't charismatic. More specific, we dreamed of reaching out to young people in their twenties or early thirties who left the church and needed Christ. We had a big missional vision.
Nobody took notice of our plant. Apart from the gossip and malicious rumours (e.g. I heard that we were driving out demons from everybody coming to our services), we were left to struggle with this vision and its practical implication on our own. To be honest, we were largely influenced by Bill Hybels' story of Willow Creek. I was very involved with the Willow Creek Association at the time and, looking back, had some sort of loose support system in them.
I can recount hours' worth of stories from those four years, good ones as well as sad ones. In the mean time, life moved on and these days I find myself back in a traditional DRC congregation, being one of the pastors for the past six years.
Tonight I read of the DRC pastor who recently resigned his pastorate and started a church in a bar. His first service in the aforementioned facility was reported on extensively. He even reached the seven o' clock news on national television. Times indeed have changed ...
I am glad that we have a support structure in place - albeit mainly here in the Cape - that intentionally develops missional ministries that can be seen as new church plants. We do so with the backing of church ordinances and the sort of red tape you normally associate with traditionally reformed churches.
My personal vision for planting churches that reach unchurched people haven't really changed - apart from the fact that I now know I am not a church planter, but a researcher and possibly enabler of people who get called to plant churches. Of this I am not even sure, yet.
What I am sure of, is the reality that the denomination I am serving as pastor has caught vision to intentionally reach out to "the lost" with the biblical model of planting mission stations as new congregations. Yesterday I sat in a board meeting of our synodical commission and heard one of the leaders of this commission share the vision of an Acts 2-functioning church that succeeds in bringing in the people who God is saving daily. He said: "We must never loose sight of our core purpose - which is to introduce people to the crucified and risen Christ."
I am completely with you on this one, Braam!
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