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So it would seem that I am back in the saddle.  Soon I will begin posting regularly.  This shall be my ruminations on scripture

I received a review copy of this work while still a minister in a large denomination.

Authors Watts and Milan have complied a solid group of testimonies belonging to some of the most wounded and recovering victims of church abuse.

These testimonies show us what can happen in various denonimations when the men and women of Christ’s church refuse to seek justice, to love mercy, and to walk in humility (Micah 6:8).

Watts’ own testimony, in particular, shows us what can happen in the worst segments of the Pentecostal movement. While there is some notable life in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, there are some very real ugly sides as well, and many of these sides I have seen.

We need to know that there are members of Christ’s own body who share solidarity with us from the process of spiritual abuse.

Granted, Watts is a liberal in many ways, and I am still very much a conservative in many ways,and we have some sharp disagreements about matters of faith, but his soul-bearing is extremely cathartic for those who feel alone and brutalized by the church at large, and even by legitimate Bible-believing, non-cult, denominations. Abuse can happen in even the most Christ believing traditions, as my own testimony shows.

For many of us, we have seen the church is sick and wish to speak the warnings that the Lord has for the church, in order that the church might be whole. Sadly, there are places where the church has rejected that message of correction.

Bottom line: Get this book.

I received a review copy, and was paid no money or compensation in return for this review.

You know, I am a huge gun-rights advocate, with no apologies to those who are not.
However, when I took an Urban Missions course in the city of Chicago, I immediately fell in love. Having only been in one other large city, Los Angeles (also gorgrous in her own right) I never imagined that I, a man from rural Florida, would enjoy the same type of experience, a week in the city. Well, below I wax nostalgic on all the reasons I love thr Windy City, with thanks to Mark Hausfeld for introducing and endearing me to this place.
Reasons I would choose to live in Chicago over any other place in the U.S., except for maybe Florida (in no particular order)
1. Fat Johnnie’s Famous Red Hots
2. The walk along Lake Michigan
3. Devon Avenue-50 Nations in 50 Blocks, an eye-opener for my southern colleagues, and no mistake
4. Navy Peir
5. American Islamic College
6. The cultural diversity
7. The cleanliness of the city. Sure, there is trouble if you go looking for it in the murder capital of the U.S.. There are always difficult spots in every city. That is the nature of sinful, fallen humanity. But during the week I was in Chicago, I walked the 16 blocks down Michigan Avenue towards the financial dostroct to prayerwalk downtown, after 1:00am, and not one person bothered me, mugged me, harmed me, or tried propositioning me for sex. Well, thst is not entirely true. One woman did drive by and make a catcall at me, but, otherwise, no incidents and I felt very safe, confident, amd protected. As a young, ignorant, smalltown southerner, who probably had no usual business walking downtown late at night, I enjoy walking into unknown, unfamiliar, and in some cases dangerous places, armed with little more than a motive to pray. I love prayerwalking downtown Chicago late at night. The later, the better.
8. The opportunity for the church to win the lost with the simple message of Christ’s redeeming affection. It is MASSIVE in this town.
9. Honestly, there is a beauty in the black community of Chicago that I cannot describe and is not readily duplicated or appreciated outside of the city.
theparacleteshammer

There is a phrase in Scripture from 1 Thessalonians 5 that says, “test everything.”
A organization called 119 Ministries has recently been posting several pictures to my Facebook wall.  Some of these pictures seem to suggest that the church believes the law has passed away, or that we are still to follow either portions of the Law we currently do not follow, or follow the law in its entirety.  Many in the Jewish community refer to this as being Torah-observant.  The slant is an argument against the non-Jewish flavor of much of the worship, rites, and observances.  
119 Ministries gets its name from Psalm 119, a text notable for not only being the longest Psalm in the Bible, but for also being David’s meditation on the goodness of the statutes and precepts found in the Law. I have some thoughts on this ministry that I would like to share, perhaps for the purpose of stimulating some discussion among my friends. 
Now, for those of you that know me well enough,  you know that I believe the dividing wall between Jewish and non-Jewish believers has been removed as a result of what Jesus did on the cross.  
You also know that I do no subscribe to “replacement theology”, which, in a nutshell, says that the church has replaced Israel in God’s redemptive timeline and that Israel has forfeited her promises because of her stuborn and unrepentant heart, and because of this unrepentance, God has move on and bestowed his covenant promises originally given to Israel, now to the Church.
But what you may not know about me is that I too, seriously explore the relationship between the Jewish roots of the church and the current practice of the church, and our tolerance of one another as practicing Jew and practicing non-Jew.
You also may not know that I do not use the term Gentile because of the context in which the term is referred to in Scripture.  “Gentile”, in my understanding of Scripture, is not a safe term to use to describe a non-Jewish follower of Jesus Christ.  “Gentiles” are those who do not know God, whose minds are darkened, whose minds are altogether futile.  
This is not a picture of the believer who lives in the light of Jesus, and no, before someone throws that text out, Romans 7 does not apply in the life of the believer, or those who are in Christ.  Ben Aker is correct.   
119 Ministries, publishing one of these images, seems to imply that the church believes the law has been done away with.  Last I checked, no church of which I have ever been part has ever made this assertion.  We may not be under the law, but the law has not been done away with.  Jesus fulfilled the law.  
Now, I am currently exploring a little of what that means.  And I know there are a lot of Sunday School answers on what that means, but I want the heart.  What does it REALLY mean when He said he came to fulfill the law?
The above question cannot be answered in the scope of a single post, so I wont attwmpt that here. But I will say a few things that are backed well in Scripture.
Now, I won’t go off on Judaizing tangents saying that we must keep kosher or any of those other funny ceremonial bits, but I do think there is non-redemptive, dietary value in observing kosher standards, starting with trichinosis, and I also think there is value, if your house has a flat roof, in building a guardrail to keep people from falling off those roofs.  
I also would say there is value, if you own orchards and vineyards and orange groves, in leaving a tithe of the fruit on the branches on the borders of your land so the poor may have access to food at need.  I also say there is value to letting the land lie fallow one year out of every seven, though I do not have definitive proof the Lord will bless you for observing a comprehensive Sabbath in all areas of your life. But I will say this, believers do not keep Sabbath and kosher and tithes because we are required to to fulfill some good standard to get or keep redemption.  Let those of us who do observe these practices do so because we love the Lord, walk in grace, and practice such out of faith according to the dictates of conscience.  By the same token, those of us who walk as non-jews, eat pork, etc., let us not judge such who practice these things accuse them of being legalistic.  The eating of pork and the drinking of beverage, and the freedom we have that we force and superimpose on others can also be rooted in the outflow of a legalistic spirit.
We must be absolutely careful that we do not superimpose out matters of conscience, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, on other believers.  This opens the door of the religious spirit.
 
We need to, in the body of Christ in many places, leave the fundamentals and move on to the greater things, the greatest of which is love.  
The next revival may well not be catalyzed by attention to one standard or another, but by the genuine love and affection we possess one for another, and the genuine devotion we have to the whole counsel of Scripture, whose spirit is charity and motive is affection rooted in the selfless work of the cross.
theparacleteshammer

I have been going through some intense personal struggles in the lasr 12 months. I ask and covet your prayers as I make the transition to whatever the next season in my life is.
Until then, many blessings to each of you who read this. 
In Him,
Theparacleteshammer

I am just glad it is over. Now, a continuation of Bush’s domestic policy and worse.

Jim points out in an excellent review of Roger Olsen’s latest book:

“True enough, Scripture tells us to ‘always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us’ (1 Pe 3:15) but not once does it anywhere urge us to rise in defense of God.”

Whether you agree or disagree with Calvinism, there is a lucid point here.  G-d needs no defense. Period.  

Scripture does not teach us to correct or rebuke the lost, nor does it call us to defend and exhaustively explain G-d and His actions to the lost.  Rather, it commands us to be ready to give an answer that points the unbeliever to our HOPE.

Now, defense of the faith and contention for the faith are matters reserved for when we encounter the proclamation of heresies by those who identify themselves as followers of Yeshua. 

Put another way, it is not the lost and harassed sheep that we are to fight against, but the wolves who come among the sheep.

 
While I was reading 1 Samuel, the L-rd had me stop and ruminate through portions of chapters 9-13.
I came to the following conclusion.  Had Saul obeyed, his house would have had a perpetual rule over Israel.  Benjamin would have been blessed, which was the L-rd’s intent to begin with, in honor of Jacob’s love for the sons of Rachel.  Redemption for Benjamin’s issues in Judges, and a more prominent place in the affairs of Israel.  And the prophecies of Judah would in NO WAY have been affected by this blessing or rulership.
Below are seven places where we see the undeserved favor of G-d toward Saul, and by extension, Benjamin. 
 
1)”He shall save my people from the hand of the Phillistines.” (1 Samuel 9:16)
Recall that 1 Saumel 8:13 said that “the hand of the L-rd was against the Phillistines all the days of Samuel’s life”.  9:16 above was the intended consummation of 8:13.  Saul was meant to completely save Israel from the Phillistines, completing the work and continuing the blessing that was begun in Samuel’s life.
 
2)” He it is who shall restrain my people.” (1 Samuel 9:17)
Saul was meant, as the successor to Samuel, to restrain the people who constantly gave themselves over to their own depravity.  He was intended as a sanctifying influence.
 
3) “For whom is all that is desirable in Israel? “Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?” (1 Samuel 9:20).
Fulfilling Samuel’s instructions, information, and warning regarding kings, the seer said that the best of Israel would belong to the king.  The hand of the L-rd’s favor and blessing would be upon Saul’s house.
 
4) “What was kept is set before you.”  “It was kept for you until the hour appointed.”
Samuel gave Saul the priest’s portion of the meat offering.  Remember David’s interaction with the priestly portions later, when on the run from Saul, and David’s offerings in Second Samuel. David’s heart was different all his life, and G-d knew it, and thus gave him a special grace, which He began to also do for Saul, showing His favor in the transition from governance by seers and judges to the kingship.
 
5)”You will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.”
Had Saul allowed the transformation to fully consummate, and allowed himself to be changed, and humbled himself to the L-rd, he would have been turned into a man after G-d’s own heart. G-d would have allowed Saul to step into the priestly role with a proper grace-empowered heart, had Saul allowed G-d to move in and father his heart.  This is what David did.  He allowed G-d to father him and father his heart.  Saul, unfortunately did not take advantage of this. Rather, he hardened his heart toward G-d and so the Spirit of G-d departed from him.
 
6) Saul was anointed and called of G-d (1 Sam 10:1).
The gifts and callings of G-d are irrevocable (Rom 11:29). This is something David understood, which is why he handled Saul the way he did, even when Saul was murderously chasing David. Had Saul walked and counducted himself as the anointed of the L-rd, he would have lived in a manner much different than he did.  He walked as a defeated, fearful, fleshly individual, when he ought to have walked as a victorious individual who understood that “the battle belongs to the L-rd” (1 Sam 17:47).
 
7) Two Loaves intended for worship at Bethel were given to Saul.
This was a confirmation of the Word of the L-rd through Samuel.  This, along with 4), was G-d’s way of showing his honor of the office of the king, and his honor of Saul’s place in that office, in place of Hophni, Phineas, Joel, Abijah. G-d seeks to honor his children, and he seeks to honor the men whom he selects. But the real question is whether they will honor him or not.
 
Yet, despite all these incentives lavished on Saul, and despite G-ds amazing love, Saul still acted like he was an orphan, and acted like a man impoverished of soul and spirit.
 

Saul’s destiny:
“He it is who shall restrain my people.”
Saul’s response:
“He burned the offerings and sacrifices.”
Can G-d’s destiny for a person be thwarted?
Had Saul been obedeint, and the house of Benjamin ruled over Israel temporally, that would not have stopped the Messiah from coming through the line of Judah. G-d’s blessing would have flowed on another tribe, which, from the text of 1 Samuel 9-10, was His original intent, to bless both sons of Rachel.
G-d had a destiny for Saul, but instead of obeying, Saul rejected that destiny for his own fleshly pursuits and jealousy. This caused the downfall of his portion of the house of Benjamin. Saul’s obedience might have resulted in the redemption of the house of Benjamin. Following the book of Judges, it seems to me that this was the Father’s intent.

Jim writes:
“Jesus wasn’t a Liberal Catholic nor a Conservative Protestant when he walked the dusty roads of Galilee.  He was a first century Jewish man who lived in a world where the very notion of ‘capitalism’ as presently practiced was unheard of.  So stop hijacking Jesus and making him your poster boy for your liberal Catholicism or moribund conservative Protestantism.
“Leave Jesus out of your ridiculous debates.  He doesn’t care!  He says so!

Εἶπεν δέ τις ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου αὐτῷ Διδάσκαλε, εἰπὲ τῷ ἀδελφῷ μου μερίσασθαι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὴν κληρονομίαν. 14 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ἄνθρωπε, τίς με κατέστησεν κριτὴν ἢ μεριστὴν ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς; 15 εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς Ὁρᾶτε καὶ φυλάσσεσθε ἀπὸ πάσης πλεονεξίας, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ περισσεύειν τινὶ ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ ἐστὶν ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ. (Luke 12:13-15)

“So just stop making Jesus in your own image. It’s sickening.”
The above passage in English, says,