Ephesians 6, 2 John 1 and Face Book

Only recently have I made effort to observe Facebook, the social network.  This occurred after my niece, who carries a worthy Ph.D commented to me that if I wanted to know what was really going on with my children, that I would log in to Facebook.  When I tried it several years ago, it did not interest me at all.  My niece however pricked my curiosity.  I started observing last November/December time frame and managed to enjoy a few postings, but for the most part, I was not amused.  

For those who have not experienced this phenomenon, let me just say that it is a venue where people will say things hiding behind their computer, that they would not say to a person’s face.  Very much like the confines of an automobile…that is when a person speaks to the person in the other car, they can’t be heard, so they say things they would never say in hearing distance.  Well, with Face Book, it is even better.  They don’t see you or hear you.  All you know about them is what they tell you.  So, some people tend to forget they are addressing real live persons.  A recent news article stated that Face  Book has been a contributing factor in divorces, especially late age divorces.  

But that is not what this is all about.  What this is all about: some of the stuff that is posted on Face Book to enlighten us is the very stuff that Scripture tells us to get away from.  I stopped joining the conversations on two different threads because both turned out to be arguments, not discussions.  The first that I ceased to be involved with, was very secular and became a burden because I got tired of being challenged to “prove” YHVH rules over all.  Of hundreds of respondents on that thread, only one person spoke up and supported the Word. No big deal, I didn’t belong there anyway.  The second on-going dialog that I stopped responding to was very much scripturally based.  Many people believing in Yahshua and YHVH.  Many very open minded and accepting people to different points of view.  But However Comma when the discussion would get in depth, there was always someone who condemned, argued, and found nothing but fault. A person  unwilling to just participate.  Instead, was determined to berate and condemn others for their beliefs.  Well, I got emotionally put off.  I found this to be more offensive than the secular thread, where I expected the condemnation.  After telling myself that I was finished with Face Book and did not really have the time to research for discussion, etc.  along comes an alarm from many people.   It seems the owners of Face Book were permitting an Islamic type forum that was proposing the death and destruction of all Israel and the Jewish people.  The first time I saw this article was not from Face Book. I received it from AISH.com!  I next saw it and many other writings on Face Book and that is when I decided to vote with my feet.  The best way to take a product off the market is to not support the product. I posted that statement and others agreed with me.  However, I wonder how many stopped using the product (facebook)?   In 2 John 1 verse 8 – 11, we are told ;   8 Watch yourselves, so that you won't lose what you have worked for, but will receive your full reward. 9 Everyone who goes ahead and does not remain true to what the Messiah has taught does not have God. Those who remain true to his teaching have both the Father and the Son. 10 If someone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, don't welcome him into your home. Don't even say, "Shalom!" to him; 11 for the person who says, "Shalom!" to him shares in his evil deeds.  (From the Complete Jewish Bible)

In Ephesians 6 Verses 11 – 13,  we are encouraged to   11 Use all the armor and weaponry that God provides, so that you will be able to stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary. 12 For we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. 13 So take up every piece of war equipment God provides; so that when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist; and when the battle is won, you will still be standing. (again, from the CJB).  

I am not telling anyone to shut down their social networks.  But, I just cannot see any sense in sitting with a computer on, carrying out a serious conversation that does not include seeing the eyes of the other person, hearing their breath, sensing their emotions and feeling their closeness.  This is one of the many reasons why this blog is such a challenge.  No one knows if I am very relaxed, smiling and just had a fantastic meal, or I am pressed, exhausted and just ate a cold sandwich with a hot beer!  I have learned that my curiosity can be my downfall.  I pray to let my curiosity be about the Word, which can be trusted and therefore uplifting.  Nothing good can come from the natural man, only from our Heavenly Father.  Shalom and be blessed beyond measure.

P.S. I am relaxed, physically tired, full of food, and smiling. Yes, the beverage was cold. Thanks for asking….

Love you all, Frankly Speaking a/k/a Pinchas!

Grace, Atonement, Redemption, Sanctification, Salvation

 

available for purchase at:  http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Saving-Grace-Posters_i927948_.htm

Lets see how this sounds;

Through His grace, I have been redeemed by the atonement of Yahshua enabling me to be sanctified and eligible for His Salvation.

Sounds good.  No?  Lets see what it really says.

GRACE:  joy, pleasure, delight, charm loveliness, favor, goodwill.  (See Rev 22:21)

REDEMPTION:  Is collective; To compensate, to make amends for, to pay the penalty of; to rescue and deliver from the bondage of sin and the penalties of God’s violated law, by obedience and suffering in the place of the sinner, or by doing and suffering that which is accepted in lieu of the sinners' obedience. Yahshua fulfilled this goal.  (see  Is 63:9; Psalm 111;  Gal 3:13;  Titus 2)

ATONEMENT:  making up for wrongs done

SANCTIFIED;   made Holy; by the act of Yahweh’s grace by which the affection of man is purified from sin and the world; exalted to a supreme love to Yahweh

(See 2 Th 2. 1 Pet 1.)

SALVATION; this is individual redemption;  this is “the last opportunity” provided by YHVH for us to be delivered from the power and effect of sin 

So, what am I saying:??  To keep this brief, it all starts with an agreement or contract, a covenant; and that permits the transfer of control of motives to another entity.  This control is limited for it only is in force as long as both parties adhere to the contract.  We can walk away whenever we want, but we lose all support and confidence from  the contracting party.  So, if we have violated a portion of the contract and now want to renegotiate,  the other party can re-agree but the details may remain the same. Since we realize we were better off with the  partnership and contract, and we want to regain our position, we make amends and ask for permission to return to the original contract.  The other party is willing to let us back into the arrangement, as long as we adhere to the terms.  This gives us a clean slate and we are now accepted back into the agreement.  We have thus been delivered from whatever encouraged us to default on the covenant.  We may even learn that our partner in this is also partnered with a great many other peoples.  In fact, He managed a one-time collective atonement for all transgressions of His covenant. 

This one-time atonement for all sins is referred to as redemption and is used when applied to a multitude of people.  Those in the multitude are encouraged to make t'shuva -- turn away from their wrong doing and towards our Creator and the covenant -- and seek salvation.  The salvation is not granted until the very end of the contract when the final decision is made that no further willful, intentional, rebellious digressions from the contract have occurred.  We can only be granted Salvation at the end of time, no matter what we do!(Matt. 24:13)

NOW,  how does this sound?  Through His grace I am permitted atonement via Yahshua's taking the punishment for my transgressions. The Father has already sent His only Son to make a one-time atonement for the sins of all men and invite them back into the covenant.  Should I make t'shuvah and continue to abide by the covenant  to the very end, He will grant me full and complete Salvation through the atoning sacrifice which brought me / us redemption as He promised in His Word.

B’Shem Yahshua Mishichenu

Frankly Speaking  a/k/a Pinchas

Becoming a Nation of Priests

This past week I heard in conversation that this blog should be one of direction and leadership; that I should be reaching out to help others and make their journey a bit easier.  Maybe this is true.  It was not on my mind when I was asked if I would like to make the Frankly Speaking series a blog rather than have a monthly meeting for seven months.    I much rather be with a live group so we can interact and I can learn.  Who am I to tell others what to do?  If others don’t seek my input, I work hard to keep my mouth shut.  I am not one for writing blogs, etc.   I strive to write  what I think about during the week.  This can be so boring to most people. 

Now, I am just stating the case as it falls.  My schedule is all wacky and I am so far behind on my usual and sundry tasks that I was about to write that “this week’s blog is a review of last week. Any questions? Send a comment.”   But that would be cold and not really the people-loving me that I am.  The challenge is to be up front in my writings.  At the moment I have an ongoing cyber discussion concerning some really serious matters.  But the content of the discussion is not the issue.  The issue is that the discussion is happening in cyber space when it could be one on one, face to face.  It is the same as trying to guide Frankly Speaking online and not in person.  Several, like in many, years ago I told a few people who are near and dear to me that I would not cave in and join the E-mail crowd.  I offered to equip them with a box of stamped self addressed envelopes and they could type their little email to me, print it out, stick it in the envelope and when they walked out the door to go to work the next day, drop it in the mailbox.  NOT ONE TAKER!

So, here I am, writing a blog that I am now told should be one of direction and leadership.  Here’s the direction:  Get off the internet, get off the cell phone, and go and get up front and personal with those to whom you want to speak.  Stop the multi-tasking.  Turn off the TV when in the presence of others.  Sit the children down at the supper table and share the meal and have a conversation.  How was your day?  What fascinated you most this day?   Yeah, I know;  we can’t travel a few hundred miles or so just because we want to talk to someone.  Then let's back up a bit!  Get off the email and call the someone.  If you love the computer so much, get Skype for you and your person and look at each other when you talk. Basic Skype is free; however, for about thirty-three dollars a year you can have your own number and anyone can call you and when they have Skype you can see each other and it is a great way to visit other families.   A few months ago at our house we had a discussion with a family in Ireland and it was terrific. Just met them that day!    [[[so what if I’m rambling….someone asked for directions!]]]

Here’s the leadership part.  YHVH wants a nation of Priests.  Take the directions above, become a leader and make it happen.  Stop letting other people’s excuses stop you from getting back to real life relationships.  If we can’t establish a meaningful relationship with one another (whom we CAN see), how do we establish a meaningful relationship with our Heavenly Father (whom we cannot yet see)?

 

Shalom for now.  I am turning off this machine to go sit and talk eyeball to eyeball with someone I love.

Frankly Speaking ... a/k/a Pinchas

Separation Anxiety OR Date Night With Our Bridegroom?

Last week, I was heading towards a discussion about the similarities and differences between orthodox Jews and orthodox Christians.  As you may recall, this was based upon a discussion I had with a friend who was raised Orthodox Jew and now attends a Christian church.  This is a tough topic.  Almost as tough as explaining what being a Messianic Israelite is all about.  But with Passover right around the corner, I am mentally rambling about spotting moons, abib barley, the rabbinic calendar, this way versus that way, etc. So hang on for the Jew vs Christian debate at a later time.  We'll get to it, but I'm not there yet.

            Keep in mind, these are **my** thoughts …. Just thoughts I have about what I have seen, read, heard, learned and so forth.   Remember the blog about Unity? If we all are reading the same thing from the same book, why do we get different answers?  Well, try this one on for size… if Scripture tells us to base our calendar of events upon spotting a new moon, how come there are a numerous ways to call a moon new/renewed?   If we are told to make sure the barely is abib at the same time the moon is spotted, how can we gloss over it and follow some man-made calendar?  I do not have quarrel with how anyone does anything as long as they are sure it is from their heart and they are doing the best they can with the heart they have and it, their heart, is Torah inspired.  I do have a concern with the Passover Seder ... you know, the one that was in vogue when Yahshua said He would not drink the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of YHVH comes.  He made this more firm when He pointed out that the cup after the meal is the cup of the New Covenant, ratified by His blood, which is being poured out for ‘them’ (us).  He said this after expressing delight to participate in the Passover Seder  the night before He died.  Yeah, it’s a lot of paraphrasing but I want to share thoughts rather than quote memorized text.  In 1 Cor 10:21-22 we are told that we can’t enjoy a meal of the Master and a meal of demons.  In other words, we can’t have it both ways.  He does not want us to be lukewarm.   This is a **covenantal** meal.  When we participate and when the b’rakhah (blessing) is offered, we just said Yes We Will once again… as we did at Sinai. 

For some, the Passover Seder is a ritual and entertainment.  But the way I read it, since it is the  Seder in which our Messiah took part, I want to take part as though He is with us at that moment.  And I believe that if we let Him in, He IS right there.  When someone ‘new’ has come to experience the Seder do we make sure that they understand what they are about to participate in? Better yet, do we know fully what we are participating in? Do we tell the ‘newbie’ to enjoy the meal but stay away from the elements of the covenant?  And while we are at it, are we taking full advantage of a handy guide to conduct a Seder with all the trappings and trimmings of the ‘traditions of man’ which are soon forgotten?  Or do we follow Scripture alone and keep traditions of man out of it?  Do we ensure that the adults teach the children the truth of why we are doing the Seder that Yahshua did and how Yahshua fit into the picture, using His Word to express ourselves?  Or do we make it a festive party with lots of wine to drink and dancing and laughter and maybe hide and seek something?  Have we gotten to the place where ‘right is wrong and wrong is right’?  Does the tradition become the focal point and no one remembers why it is done?  How DOES someone who just came in the door make sense of what we are doing?   Why do so many of us disagree on so many things yet just go along with the crowd and not research and find some smidgen of truth about the covenant we are making?  For the record, I am personally in favor of spotting the moon and barley, reading from Scripture and having the foods that are written in the Word (lamb, matzah, and bitter herbs).  Aside from being the way I understand the Word, I figure, if I follow Scripture, I won’t have to remember the symbolism of the tradition that fades over time.  Another thing I think about at this time of the year; twice a year the Father directs us on how to regulate our calendar so that our ‘planting’ and harvesting will be on time and our commanded feast days will be observed properly. He keeps cadence by having us keep track of Rosh Chodesh.  It gets to be a ‘monthly’ habit. When we do, counting the omer is no biggie…get the first day right and the rest follow along. Again, for me the heart speaks loud to the heavens above, and He hears our heart.

I guess for some it really doesn’t matter when or how we keep His Feasts, as long as we keep them. Try that with your spouse come wedding anniversary time!  If you think that as long as we remember to say thanks to our spouse at some point in time, then we have shown our love. Between me and you ... I won't try that.

On the same thought:  If my wife told me she got a deal of a life time ....  She says she has been blessed with a pair of tickets for three fantastic relationship experiences. All we had to do is  meet for dinner on the fourteenth day of the first month between sundown and darkness. Then we are to meet again for a festival a little more than seven weeks later.  To top it off, we go on a week-long camp out after the second correction of the calendar as guided by YHVH in His word.  I may have no idea what she is talking about, but she says she will be there with or without me.  She confided that she knows exactly when and where.  Don’t  you think I would be scrambling to unravel the secret and make sure I arrived on time?  To love someone is to be able to take them for their word. Unless I make an effort to learn what their words mean and what they are talking about, I am disingenuous.

Shalom and love…

Pinchas a/k/a Frankly Speaking

One House, Two House, Whole House, HIS House!

One House, Two House, Whole House, HIS House!

     It has been a productive and blessed week.   Many thanks for the phone calls, side-bar discussions, questions at oneg about the blog ...  not many written comments to share yet ... only  a couple responded in writing last week. Thank you for that.  Actually, I thought I might have been disowned.  I mean, of course we all believe YHVH!  I was rebuffed on Facebook when I mentioned the common “Christian” portrayal of Yahshua  as a Sabbath breaking, pork eating rebel.  But for the most part it has been a productive and blessed week.  Thank you, Abba.
 

Two items seem to keep coming up… and I realize now that I am not the only one thinking about them. 

    The first is the debate about one house, two house, Whole House. Well, for me there is no question.  Read the Scriptures… it can be any or all the above.  When we are just coming into the realization that YHVH, the El of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is for us and we are for Him, then we may realize that we  are a member of HIS House. The House of Ephraim or The House of Judah.  One or the other.  .  After  we have been walking and talking for a while and realize that we are not alone on this journey, then we undoubtedly realize that  the Scriptures are plain and simple… He is calling us back.  Who is ‘us’?  The lost sheep of Israel.  [Remember? Ezekiel 37?  One stick for Y'hudah and those joined with him (among) the people of Isra'el?  And remember? ..another stick for Yosef, the stick of Efrayim and all the house of Isra'el who are joined with him?  And also Math 15:24?  I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel?]    The lost sheep can be the unknowing who are dispersed among the nations, or the ones who hang on and guard Torah.  So, the way I read it, the lost sheep include all Judah and Ephraim.  YHVH is calling us, together.  A motley  bunch of remnants.  And we are being called into His House.  Once we cross the threshold and come inside, and permit Him to be our Elohim, Jew or Gentile, Ephriam or Judah, slave or free, male or female, foreigner or domestic, etc  etc, we are His!  So after we have read the Torah dozens of times, and been told by dozens of people what we read and what it means, then we get fired up and read it for ourselves, actually start understanding it, and then we surrender to His will.  That is when we can take our place in His plan.  That is when we develop a relationship beyond all relationships. We all move at different speeds toward this relationship. Some may be on the spiritual super highway, others may be on the spiritual back road with a flat tire.  It doesn't matter how many years we have in Torah, what matters is how much Torah is in us.   No one owns YHVH; but we are owned by Him; He says we are His people.  I can be on the fringe of one house (I don’t want to identify it as the ‘out house’), or I can identify with a specific house, or I can cross the threshold and be in His House.  One house, Two House, Whole House…. They are all HIS House!  What is the goal?  I want to see His face. My goal is to be in One House with the Father.  My belief is that He has called me and I am with Him and He is with me.   I pray He will grant me understanding and wisdom.  End of debate? I hope so.

    The other thing that popped up this week I am going to let ride for a while … very convoluted thoughts on what is the difference in being brought up in the church to love God and pray to Jesus and being brought up in the synagogue to love Elohim and pray for the Messiah to come?  Met a lady raised as an orthodox Jew and she posed this thought to me.  She has not found the Messiah as I understand Him and she acknowledges that she was raised and trained up to listen to the Rabbis and do as they say.  She says it is not different than being raised in the Christian church and told to listen to the Pastor and do as he says.  She currently attends a Christian church! She also feels both are kind of misleading when it comes to the truth of the word.  I need time to make sense of the thoughts because I know both thoughts are necessary for me to grow spiritually at this point in time.  Let this one ride for a while… my thoughts are too scattered and I want to be very organized and orderly and uncluttered when He grants me my prayer.  Right now I’d settle for a Moshe experience just to see His back and be stuffed in the crevice of the Rock!  Shalom for now ... Pinchas  a/k/a Frankly Speaking