There is enough noise around us in our cities and our media, visual stimuli and chaotic soundscapes that invade our bedrooms and bathrooms, too many voices speaking out to us, uninvited, arrogant and boastful, mechanically enticing us with words and images. They vie for our attention, our devotion, our time and resources.
Because Arts call forth what's most alive in us, the natural and the spiritual, connecting us to the essence of who we are, and because it sort of bypass any barrier and touches the very skin of our souls, artists are hired to create the marketing tools of what we now culturally refer to as "the Matrix." Our culture is a testimony to the mind-boggling talents we are blessed with, however, the heart and soul of most of the work we are exposed to is to illicite a response from our heart that will make us reach for out wallet. And that is violating an unspoken oath that artists should be made aware of (not only do we have gifts, we are also a gift to our people) because of the sheer power and edge artistic talent gives us.
But Arts could also be used differently. There should be integrity in our craft, and better still, our creative journey should mirror our own human journey because then, we have something of even more value to share. And that is the path I favor.
Friday, January 21, 2005
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Charlotte Night and Day prayer
This morning my wife and I were engaged in day-dreaming about night and day prayer, worship and intercession. We were contemplating going to Kansas City to dive into their dynamics for a month and see where that would take us.
As I turned my cumpter on upon getting up, I found an email from a worship leader from Charlotte, NC, Greg Burnet sending me a very gracious note about a soaking site I created, Soaking.Net.
So of course I wantd to know who that was and what he was up to. Well, he is into 24/7 worship, prayer and intercession! And I am quite interested in how they are moving into that mostly because of the gracious way they seem to be operating.
Then, visiting his site I also found a wealth of links and writings that are of deep richness, and links to 24/7 prayer movements across the world. Definitely a site to bookmark and visit often. I'm starting with Greg's commentary on Theresa of Avila's "Mansions" teachings...
See you there...
As I turned my cumpter on upon getting up, I found an email from a worship leader from Charlotte, NC, Greg Burnet sending me a very gracious note about a soaking site I created, Soaking.Net.
So of course I wantd to know who that was and what he was up to. Well, he is into 24/7 worship, prayer and intercession! And I am quite interested in how they are moving into that mostly because of the gracious way they seem to be operating.
Then, visiting his site I also found a wealth of links and writings that are of deep richness, and links to 24/7 prayer movements across the world. Definitely a site to bookmark and visit often. I'm starting with Greg's commentary on Theresa of Avila's "Mansions" teachings...
See you there...
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Church or Bride? Institution or Kingdom?
There was an article called The Church - Why Bother in Christianity Today January 2005... by Tim Stafford, senior editor.
Hmmmm... Of course I went right to the conclusion... and this is what I read:
"A living, breathing congregation is the only place to live in a healthy relationship to God."
Are you serious? Of course I strongly challenge that statement with a little make-over:
"A living, breathing believing community is the desired place to live in a healthy relationship to God."
So if we took you out of the Church, your faith would die in a short period of time? To what then would you attribute your faith: interaction with Christians through church-going or live relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit? Both are needed, in fact.
Let me try to express a few ideas and thoughts this article triggered. I apologize if my English is weak at times, but hear my heart nonetheless.
Going to church is often a sort of pilgrimage to a place of fellowship with God, so if when you get there they're busy with using this place as a tool for self-importance, flattery and the people are workers joining behind "the pastor's vision" or the denomination's vision... well then you got the Church that needs repentance and change. And that is most of the churches nowadays in the town where I live. I can't know what's going on elsewhere, so at this point, in our case, we're not 'going' to church, although we have a relationship with God that's VERY alive !
The problem we have is our tendency to become like our environment and turn lazy, letting the group decide for us the details of our relationship with God. It's like being part of a group that tells you how to be with your wife during 3 hours, step by step. Of course it "could" be inspiring, but...
Anyways, that's just me talking. I've been out of the regular church-going practice for a few years now, although I've attended church at times for a few hours (worship times mostly). And I have grown like never in my relationship with God, so much that now I can't stand too much of the religious traditions of even the prophetic movement. There are many unhealthy dynamics, and we all have problems, but the worst part is like having a Christmas party where everybody is drunk so they can relate, but you don't drink, so you feel out of it. They are noisy, busy, laughing, drinking, joking, but it's a manifestation of something that has nothing to do with true relationships. It's actually a denial party, where everyone supports the other's denial scheme.
A kingdom and a Bride is the Lord's idea, today's Church is man's definition of it as articulated with all the humanity we have. Faith and a desire to grow should lead us to gather and mingle, but eventually we question the food we eat, and that's healthy.
"They think your spirit can be with Jesus Christ while your body goes its own way."
Wow... what a comment... so insightful, eh?
"They" : ouch...
"think" : oops...
"... your spirit can be with Jesus Christ while your body goes its own way." : I have never heard this before, anyone experience that? Jesus is with me all the time, and the same, yesterday, today and forever.
"He cannot have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother." Well, the Church was never intended to be our mother, but we are destined to be a Bride, a body. The Church being our mother would mean that we separate ourselves from it and it has a life of its own... uh... oh well, maybe that's really what's happening...
"I can remember saying to kids, 'There's no church to join, there's nothing to commit to, this is only about a relationship with Jesus.' Paul wouldn't preach that message. And the early church didn't."
The Church didn't exist in the beginning, there were gatherings and passionate communities born who cared for their neighbours. Then to say that a relationship with Jesus has no value IF you're not ALSO joined to a contemporary church (they all struggle with their identity anyways but we're not suppose to careabout that???) then yo're NOT really a Christian?
We are encouraged to gather together, but not to worship a denomination or brainwash each other into a comatoze state of believing drones who end up creating a self-serving church congregation going through the motions with a little emotion.
Bono: "I generally think religion gets in the way of God." Yup.
"In an editorial, "Bono's Thin Ecclesiology," CT appreciated Bono's thirst for social justice, yet criticized his lack of churchly commitment." Yes, 'appreciated' BUT if he's not one of us, then, ah well...
Cathleen Falsani: "Any person can stand outside the church and critique its obedience to the gospel. Part of God's call on a Christian's life is to walk inside and die to self by relating to other human beings, both in their fallenness and in their redeemed glory."
Usually, you walk inside and die if you stay too long, period. A vibrant faith will grab you by the soul and yank you out of the church for a while so you can see what life is with God without the glitz of Churchianity.
"Clearly, Bono has chosen to keep his distance from the church, or at least to stay in the shallow margins of the pond, where he can dash for the shore at need."
"He has plenty of company."
What a pharisaic venomous ignorant self-righteous comment.
"We do not need to condemn those alienated from the institutional church, but to help them reconsider. By keeping away from church commitments, they miss out on life essential."
We, them, keeping away from church commitments.
The great flaw in all this is that the author ignores the audience of God as having any valid reality. Moreover, being part of a church can be quite a mess even if we desire to follow righteously the commandements and admonitions of the Lord about social life and discipleship. The author obviously has not been able to show that he understand matters of the heart very well, but looks at things from a traditional external point of view. Looking at the outside reveals problems, the symptoms, looking inside might reveal the real issues that cause the problems in the first place. But that takes time and is a journey in itself, where you got to lay down most preconceived notions of conformity, and even fight with the nagging accusations. But once you make your way out of that forest the true journey continues and will eventually lead you back to a fellowship, however, as a lucid and willing participant, not a consumer that goes there just because he's been scared into church.
"What We Must Preach
"The church is the body of Christ, and it carries his wounds. To know Christ is to share in the fellowship of his sufferings-even if the suffering comes at the hands of the sinners who sit in the pews or preach from the pulpit."
And it does.
"How can we communicate this to unchurched Christians? The only way I know is to preach it. We need to tell them, even if it goes against the grain of our culture. We need to tell them, even if talking so frankly goes against our philosophy of outreach."
Tell them waht?
"If people commit themselves to the church, they will undoubtedly suffer. The church will fail them and frustrate them, because it is a human institution."
Yes, that's what I gathered, the Bride is of God but the Church has been taken over by humans who make it their platform to achieve their own dreams of destiny. Those are the ones you need to speak to. And they are IN the Church, so they're readily accessible, they're not "out there" paddling in the "shallow waters..."
Thanks for sharing this article. The author being Christianity Today's senior writer, on this topic, it sounds more like Christianity Yesterday. He is really not listening to what's being said by what he calls the "unchurched," it would appear he has a view from the inside looking out and cannot comprehend what he sees.
The early church didn't die because of persecution and dispersion. They wanted to keep the teaching of Christ and the meaning of His death and resurrection alive, and baptize as many as they could with water and the Holy Spirit, so the kingdom could advance.
Let the human institution that brags about being "the Church" go away so the kingdom can come! Lord, let you kingdom come to the Church... and please raise some true fathers and mothers in the faith, I'm tired of preachers disconnected from reality who spend too much time building the church they'd like to have, taking away from You the Bride you long for...
Regards,
Andre
Hmmmm... Of course I went right to the conclusion... and this is what I read:
"A living, breathing congregation is the only place to live in a healthy relationship to God."
Are you serious? Of course I strongly challenge that statement with a little make-over:
"A living, breathing believing community is the desired place to live in a healthy relationship to God."
So if we took you out of the Church, your faith would die in a short period of time? To what then would you attribute your faith: interaction with Christians through church-going or live relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit? Both are needed, in fact.
Let me try to express a few ideas and thoughts this article triggered. I apologize if my English is weak at times, but hear my heart nonetheless.
Going to church is often a sort of pilgrimage to a place of fellowship with God, so if when you get there they're busy with using this place as a tool for self-importance, flattery and the people are workers joining behind "the pastor's vision" or the denomination's vision... well then you got the Church that needs repentance and change. And that is most of the churches nowadays in the town where I live. I can't know what's going on elsewhere, so at this point, in our case, we're not 'going' to church, although we have a relationship with God that's VERY alive !
The problem we have is our tendency to become like our environment and turn lazy, letting the group decide for us the details of our relationship with God. It's like being part of a group that tells you how to be with your wife during 3 hours, step by step. Of course it "could" be inspiring, but...
Anyways, that's just me talking. I've been out of the regular church-going practice for a few years now, although I've attended church at times for a few hours (worship times mostly). And I have grown like never in my relationship with God, so much that now I can't stand too much of the religious traditions of even the prophetic movement. There are many unhealthy dynamics, and we all have problems, but the worst part is like having a Christmas party where everybody is drunk so they can relate, but you don't drink, so you feel out of it. They are noisy, busy, laughing, drinking, joking, but it's a manifestation of something that has nothing to do with true relationships. It's actually a denial party, where everyone supports the other's denial scheme.
A kingdom and a Bride is the Lord's idea, today's Church is man's definition of it as articulated with all the humanity we have. Faith and a desire to grow should lead us to gather and mingle, but eventually we question the food we eat, and that's healthy.
"They think your spirit can be with Jesus Christ while your body goes its own way."
Wow... what a comment... so insightful, eh?
"They" : ouch...
"think" : oops...
"... your spirit can be with Jesus Christ while your body goes its own way." : I have never heard this before, anyone experience that? Jesus is with me all the time, and the same, yesterday, today and forever.
"He cannot have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother." Well, the Church was never intended to be our mother, but we are destined to be a Bride, a body. The Church being our mother would mean that we separate ourselves from it and it has a life of its own... uh... oh well, maybe that's really what's happening...
"I can remember saying to kids, 'There's no church to join, there's nothing to commit to, this is only about a relationship with Jesus.' Paul wouldn't preach that message. And the early church didn't."
The Church didn't exist in the beginning, there were gatherings and passionate communities born who cared for their neighbours. Then to say that a relationship with Jesus has no value IF you're not ALSO joined to a contemporary church (they all struggle with their identity anyways but we're not suppose to careabout that???) then yo're NOT really a Christian?
We are encouraged to gather together, but not to worship a denomination or brainwash each other into a comatoze state of believing drones who end up creating a self-serving church congregation going through the motions with a little emotion.
Bono: "I generally think religion gets in the way of God." Yup.
"In an editorial, "Bono's Thin Ecclesiology," CT appreciated Bono's thirst for social justice, yet criticized his lack of churchly commitment." Yes, 'appreciated' BUT if he's not one of us, then, ah well...
Cathleen Falsani: "Any person can stand outside the church and critique its obedience to the gospel. Part of God's call on a Christian's life is to walk inside and die to self by relating to other human beings, both in their fallenness and in their redeemed glory."
Usually, you walk inside and die if you stay too long, period. A vibrant faith will grab you by the soul and yank you out of the church for a while so you can see what life is with God without the glitz of Churchianity.
"Clearly, Bono has chosen to keep his distance from the church, or at least to stay in the shallow margins of the pond, where he can dash for the shore at need."
"He has plenty of company."
What a pharisaic venomous ignorant self-righteous comment.
"We do not need to condemn those alienated from the institutional church, but to help them reconsider. By keeping away from church commitments, they miss out on life essential."
We, them, keeping away from church commitments.
The great flaw in all this is that the author ignores the audience of God as having any valid reality. Moreover, being part of a church can be quite a mess even if we desire to follow righteously the commandements and admonitions of the Lord about social life and discipleship. The author obviously has not been able to show that he understand matters of the heart very well, but looks at things from a traditional external point of view. Looking at the outside reveals problems, the symptoms, looking inside might reveal the real issues that cause the problems in the first place. But that takes time and is a journey in itself, where you got to lay down most preconceived notions of conformity, and even fight with the nagging accusations. But once you make your way out of that forest the true journey continues and will eventually lead you back to a fellowship, however, as a lucid and willing participant, not a consumer that goes there just because he's been scared into church.
"What We Must Preach
"The church is the body of Christ, and it carries his wounds. To know Christ is to share in the fellowship of his sufferings-even if the suffering comes at the hands of the sinners who sit in the pews or preach from the pulpit."
And it does.
"How can we communicate this to unchurched Christians? The only way I know is to preach it. We need to tell them, even if it goes against the grain of our culture. We need to tell them, even if talking so frankly goes against our philosophy of outreach."
Tell them waht?
"If people commit themselves to the church, they will undoubtedly suffer. The church will fail them and frustrate them, because it is a human institution."
Yes, that's what I gathered, the Bride is of God but the Church has been taken over by humans who make it their platform to achieve their own dreams of destiny. Those are the ones you need to speak to. And they are IN the Church, so they're readily accessible, they're not "out there" paddling in the "shallow waters..."
Thanks for sharing this article. The author being Christianity Today's senior writer, on this topic, it sounds more like Christianity Yesterday. He is really not listening to what's being said by what he calls the "unchurched," it would appear he has a view from the inside looking out and cannot comprehend what he sees.
The early church didn't die because of persecution and dispersion. They wanted to keep the teaching of Christ and the meaning of His death and resurrection alive, and baptize as many as they could with water and the Holy Spirit, so the kingdom could advance.
Let the human institution that brags about being "the Church" go away so the kingdom can come! Lord, let you kingdom come to the Church... and please raise some true fathers and mothers in the faith, I'm tired of preachers disconnected from reality who spend too much time building the church they'd like to have, taking away from You the Bride you long for...
Regards,
Andre
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
:: TSUNAMI ::
The scope of this tragedy is quite horrific... the hurricanes last summer... and now this... But this one is closing the gap between tragedies and apocalyptic disasters(read Avner Boskey's report).
Yes, many muslim nations have now pledged to give...
This whole tragedy is bringing face to face 2 of the most polarized cultures... one was the first on the scene to help the other, disregarding religion or race... It will be interesting to watch how anti-West mulahs and terrorists will spin this one.... and how the rest of the world will enact being "part of" a world that's marked forever with this tragedy. Somehow, words of hate and acts of violence just don't have much of a future in the acid test of humanitarian outreach of that magnitude... something suddenly seems quite archaic, misplaced, inappropriate, even obscene...
I'm not sure but is there much anti-US protests around the world right now?
Yes, many muslim nations have now pledged to give...
This whole tragedy is bringing face to face 2 of the most polarized cultures... one was the first on the scene to help the other, disregarding religion or race... It will be interesting to watch how anti-West mulahs and terrorists will spin this one.... and how the rest of the world will enact being "part of" a world that's marked forever with this tragedy. Somehow, words of hate and acts of violence just don't have much of a future in the acid test of humanitarian outreach of that magnitude... something suddenly seems quite archaic, misplaced, inappropriate, even obscene...
I'm not sure but is there much anti-US protests around the world right now?
A PERSPECTIVE ON THE RECENT ASIAN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI
by Avner Boskey
"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven – a time to give birth and a time to die . . . a time to uproot what is planted . . . a time to tear down . . . a time to weep . . . a time to mourn . . . a time to search, and a time to give up as lost . . ." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-6)
The shocking earthquake which occurred more than six miles below the ocean floor off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia has brought staggering death and destruction to over 150,000, as well as dislocation and disease to possibly 5 million more. The world stands horrified and mute at the scale of human tragedy and disaster.
A human disaster of biblical proportions
An American reporter, Michael Dobbs from the Washington Post was swimming in the ocean and nearly killed in the tsunami. He said "The speed with which it all happened seemed like a scene from the Bible – a natural phenomenon unlike anything I had experienced before. As the waters rose at an incredible rate, I half expected to catch sight of Noah's Ark. Instead of the Ark, I grabbed hold of a wooden catamaran..."
www. freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308957/posts
A British tourist James Scoffield described his experience in the port of Tricomalee: "The wave came out of nowhere. People were running, screaming. I saw bodies littering the streets, floating in the pools. . . I am not a religious man but this is a disaster of Biblical proportions."
www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2004600538,00.html
Another British tourist Al Howard described the city of Banda Aceh shortly after the tsunami hit. He said "Everything was flattened. It was like a nuclear bomb had hit the place. I've seen bodies before but nothing like this. We lost count. The destruction was of Biblical proportions."
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/29/161210
Thailand's Prime MInister Thaksin Shinawatra declared on national television, "Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before". The director of Sri Lanka's National Disaster Management Center N.D. Hettiarachchi said, "I think this is the worst ever natural disaster in Sri Lanka". Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy's National Geophysics Institute said the shaking had disturbed the Earth's rotation."All the planet is vibrating'', he told SKY TG24 TV. Geologist Gianluca Valensise of the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology said that "this felt more like an omen".
Bread for the World President David Beckmann, quoted in The Washington Post, Dec. 29. 2004, said "This is a disaster of biblical proportions . . ." US House of Representatives (Dem - Queens) Joseph Crowley said that this disaster was one of "biblical proportions".
Something major and of earth-shaking importance is happening.
A geological disaster of planetary proportions
Geologist Gianluca Valensise of the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology explained, "It has been calculated that the energy released on Sunday was 23,000 times that of the explosion of the nuclear bomb at Hiroshima . . . The whole world resonate(d) like a bell that has been struck . . . A big piece of the planet's mass has been moved around. This actually altered the axis of the earth's rotation" www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6759529.site/newsweek
Enzo Boschi of Italy's National Geophysics Institute likened the quake's power to detonating a million atomic bombs the size of those dropped on Japan during WW II. David Booth, seismologist at the British Geological Survey, said, "A big column of water has moved, we're talking about billions of tonnes. This is an enormous disturbance."
The U.S. Geological Survey put the earthquake's magnitude at 9.0 on the Richter Scale. This makes it the world's fifth largest quake since 1900 and the largest since 1964, when a 9.2 quake hit Prince William Sound in Alaska, also causing tsunamis. Kerry Sieh, geologist at the California Institute of Technology said that "Sunday's was one of the biggest earthquakes in the region in the past 200 years . . . It causes the planet to wobble a little bit, but it's not going to turn the Earth upside down".
The quake occurred at a spot where the Indian Ocean geological plate rubs against and is forced beneath the Eurasian plate. Indonesia is located over part of a network of fault lines called the "Ring of Fire", one of the world's most quake-active spots. 95% of the earth's seismic activity is released in the "Ring of Fire".
A biblical disaster of spiritual proportions
How are we to understand and interpret this unprecedented disaster in light of the Bible and God's heart?
Tears
The first stop on our journey must be shock and grief. Empathy. Compassion. Tears. Agony of soul. "And should I not have compassion of Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" (Jonah 4:11) The human tragedy is massive and nearly incomprehensible.
Giving Aid
"What can we do to help?" might be the next step. Concrete steps could include: contributing to a disaster relief fund; praying for the survivors; taking an ongoing interest in long-term help for those scarred and orphaned by the quake's aftermath.
A Heart Exam
It will be necessary to take a heart exam as well. Are judgmental attitudes rising in our own hearts against the Asian peoples, or the Moslems? Remember Yeshua's words in Luke 13:1-5: "Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered and said to them, 'Do you suppose that the Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
The sobering thing about disasters is that they are a wake-up call to all who hear. It would be missing the mark to conclude that Indonesian babies are guiltier than other nation's babies, or that Swedish tourists are more worthy of condemnation than tourists of other nations. A wake-up call is meant to bring a sober spirit to the fore. It is meant to bring the fear of God to center stage. The world is being called to account by God to sit up and take notice – to take notice of the God of the Hebrews who is also the Sovereign All-powerful Lord of history.
"Ascribe to YHVH, O sons of the mighty . . . glory and strength, .. . the glory due to His name.
Worship YHVH in holy array.
The voice of YHVH is upon the waters.
The God of glory thunders, YHVH upon many waters.
The voice of YHVH is powerful.
The voice of YHVH is majestic.
The voice of YHVH breaks the cedars . . .
The voice of YHVH hews out flames of fire.
The voice of YHVH shakes the wilderness. . .
The voice of YHVH . . . strips the forests bare and in His Temple everything says 'Glory!'
YHVH sat as King at the Flood.
Yes, YHVH sits as King forever!" (Psalm 29:1-10)
The Fruit of Repentance
Wake-up calls are God-sent opportunities to get things right with Him. They bring our lives to a screeching halt. They cause us to look deep within and to ask ourselves if there is any wicked way within us (see Psalm 139:24).
In August 1999 Bob Jones, a prophetic brother in America, prophesied that America would receive two wake-up calls, and that the Lord would unsheathe His sword if America would not heed the wake-up calls. 9/11 was that first wake-up call. God intended it to move hearts to repentance. For a few months churches were full. But eventually across America a strong nationalism subtly edged out biblical repentance, and a deep turning back to God did not come to pass. Can it be honestly said that there is more prayer and intercession taking place in America now than there was just after 9/11? Could it be that a second wake-up call is coming to America?
The tsunami is a wake-up call to the nations of the world to turn their hearts back to the God of Israel – to repent of materialism, cruelty, pornography, abortion, murder, anti-Jewish hatred, etc.
Isaiah points out that at the end of days geological judgments are going to get heavier and not lighter:
"Behold, YHVH lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. . . The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty . . . For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard, and it totters like a hut, for its transgression is heavy upon it. . . " (see Isa.24:1-21).
Birth Pangs Among the Waves
Like a burning trumpet, the voice of YHVH is ringing out at Christmas time, heralding the onset of a birth – or at least, of birth pangs. Yeshua the Messiah spoke to His disciples about the end of days and taught: "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among the nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Luke 21:25-26).
The roaring of an Asian tsunami and its deadly waves are part of what Yeshua had in mind when He prophesied these things. These events, He said, would bring perplexity to all who witness them. And this perplexity really is happening all across the world today. Yet Yeshua gave us believers in Him a special promise: "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near!" (Luke 21:28). We are to take courage and draw renewed confidence from this bold declaration. And we are to look heavenward with unconcealed expectancy for Messiah's soon return: "And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27). That is what Yeshua wants from us. That should be our heart response to His words.
This return, the Second Coming of Yeshua, may be 5 or even 50 years down the road, But it is fast approaching! Yeshua used the term 'birth pangs' to refers to the period of time immediately preceding His return (see also Matt.24:8). In the natural, birth pangs come after a full term pregnancy. A pregnancy lasts for 9 months, and then there are sudden and powerful contractions of the womb, lasting between 2-48 hours on the average. Birth pangs are a clear and indisputable sign that the pregnancy is just about over and that the arrival of the baby is next on the agenda! We are right now in that time of birth pangs, and God's baby is surely on the way!
The final harvest of the nations is what is next on the agenda. The full repentance, regathering and restoration of Israel is next on the agenda. Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to intercede. Now is the time to roll up our sleeves for the work at hand. Yeshua invites us to not be bent over with fear or anxiety, but to straighten up and to rejoice greatly. We are about to see what prophets and angels have longed to behold (see 1 Pet.1:101-12)!
A Warning
In Pharoah's day, YHVH declared, "Thus says YHVH the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me! For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. But indeed, for this cause I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power, and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth!" (Exod.9:14-16).
God declares unashamedly that He was the Author of the ten plagues, and that they came to the earth from His hand. But Pharoah responded to God's judgments with ambivalence. First he repented and permitted Moses to begin the Hebrew exodus, but then he refused to obey what God required of him. Pharoah was given the opportunity to acknowledge and obey God, yet eventually he hardened his heart and refused to believe that Almighty God was guiding the whole process. In the same way there are many people who are chewing on the events since the tsunami, who are considering whether or not God has anything to do with the "desolation wrought in the earth". It is important for all who love the God of Israel and His Messiah Yeshua to acknowledge that the God of the Bible has indeed shaken this planet in times past. We need to also recognize that He is truly shaking His rebellious planet once more. So let's make up our minds to follow this earth-shaking God whatever the cost.
As we move closer to the day of His return, let's remember what Peter struggled with toward the close of his earthly life: "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking ... saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation!' .. . The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any one to perish but for all to come to repentance . . .Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in shalom, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord (ed. as something which will lead to) salvation" (2 Pet.3:3-4, 14-15)
In Messiah Yeshua’s love,
Avner Boskey
www.davidstent.org
"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven – a time to give birth and a time to die . . . a time to uproot what is planted . . . a time to tear down . . . a time to weep . . . a time to mourn . . . a time to search, and a time to give up as lost . . ." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-6)
The shocking earthquake which occurred more than six miles below the ocean floor off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia has brought staggering death and destruction to over 150,000, as well as dislocation and disease to possibly 5 million more. The world stands horrified and mute at the scale of human tragedy and disaster.
A human disaster of biblical proportions
An American reporter, Michael Dobbs from the Washington Post was swimming in the ocean and nearly killed in the tsunami. He said "The speed with which it all happened seemed like a scene from the Bible – a natural phenomenon unlike anything I had experienced before. As the waters rose at an incredible rate, I half expected to catch sight of Noah's Ark. Instead of the Ark, I grabbed hold of a wooden catamaran..."
www. freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308957/posts
A British tourist James Scoffield described his experience in the port of Tricomalee: "The wave came out of nowhere. People were running, screaming. I saw bodies littering the streets, floating in the pools. . . I am not a religious man but this is a disaster of Biblical proportions."
www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2004600538,00.html
Another British tourist Al Howard described the city of Banda Aceh shortly after the tsunami hit. He said "Everything was flattened. It was like a nuclear bomb had hit the place. I've seen bodies before but nothing like this. We lost count. The destruction was of Biblical proportions."
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/29/161210
Thailand's Prime MInister Thaksin Shinawatra declared on national television, "Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before". The director of Sri Lanka's National Disaster Management Center N.D. Hettiarachchi said, "I think this is the worst ever natural disaster in Sri Lanka". Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy's National Geophysics Institute said the shaking had disturbed the Earth's rotation."All the planet is vibrating'', he told SKY TG24 TV. Geologist Gianluca Valensise of the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology said that "this felt more like an omen".
Bread for the World President David Beckmann, quoted in The Washington Post, Dec. 29. 2004, said "This is a disaster of biblical proportions . . ." US House of Representatives (Dem - Queens) Joseph Crowley said that this disaster was one of "biblical proportions".
Something major and of earth-shaking importance is happening.
A geological disaster of planetary proportions
Geologist Gianluca Valensise of the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology explained, "It has been calculated that the energy released on Sunday was 23,000 times that of the explosion of the nuclear bomb at Hiroshima . . . The whole world resonate(d) like a bell that has been struck . . . A big piece of the planet's mass has been moved around. This actually altered the axis of the earth's rotation" www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6759529.site/newsweek
Enzo Boschi of Italy's National Geophysics Institute likened the quake's power to detonating a million atomic bombs the size of those dropped on Japan during WW II. David Booth, seismologist at the British Geological Survey, said, "A big column of water has moved, we're talking about billions of tonnes. This is an enormous disturbance."
The U.S. Geological Survey put the earthquake's magnitude at 9.0 on the Richter Scale. This makes it the world's fifth largest quake since 1900 and the largest since 1964, when a 9.2 quake hit Prince William Sound in Alaska, also causing tsunamis. Kerry Sieh, geologist at the California Institute of Technology said that "Sunday's was one of the biggest earthquakes in the region in the past 200 years . . . It causes the planet to wobble a little bit, but it's not going to turn the Earth upside down".
The quake occurred at a spot where the Indian Ocean geological plate rubs against and is forced beneath the Eurasian plate. Indonesia is located over part of a network of fault lines called the "Ring of Fire", one of the world's most quake-active spots. 95% of the earth's seismic activity is released in the "Ring of Fire".
A biblical disaster of spiritual proportions
How are we to understand and interpret this unprecedented disaster in light of the Bible and God's heart?
Tears
The first stop on our journey must be shock and grief. Empathy. Compassion. Tears. Agony of soul. "And should I not have compassion of Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" (Jonah 4:11) The human tragedy is massive and nearly incomprehensible.
Giving Aid
"What can we do to help?" might be the next step. Concrete steps could include: contributing to a disaster relief fund; praying for the survivors; taking an ongoing interest in long-term help for those scarred and orphaned by the quake's aftermath.
A Heart Exam
It will be necessary to take a heart exam as well. Are judgmental attitudes rising in our own hearts against the Asian peoples, or the Moslems? Remember Yeshua's words in Luke 13:1-5: "Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered and said to them, 'Do you suppose that the Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
The sobering thing about disasters is that they are a wake-up call to all who hear. It would be missing the mark to conclude that Indonesian babies are guiltier than other nation's babies, or that Swedish tourists are more worthy of condemnation than tourists of other nations. A wake-up call is meant to bring a sober spirit to the fore. It is meant to bring the fear of God to center stage. The world is being called to account by God to sit up and take notice – to take notice of the God of the Hebrews who is also the Sovereign All-powerful Lord of history.
"Ascribe to YHVH, O sons of the mighty . . . glory and strength, .. . the glory due to His name.
Worship YHVH in holy array.
The voice of YHVH is upon the waters.
The God of glory thunders, YHVH upon many waters.
The voice of YHVH is powerful.
The voice of YHVH is majestic.
The voice of YHVH breaks the cedars . . .
The voice of YHVH hews out flames of fire.
The voice of YHVH shakes the wilderness. . .
The voice of YHVH . . . strips the forests bare and in His Temple everything says 'Glory!'
YHVH sat as King at the Flood.
Yes, YHVH sits as King forever!" (Psalm 29:1-10)
The Fruit of Repentance
Wake-up calls are God-sent opportunities to get things right with Him. They bring our lives to a screeching halt. They cause us to look deep within and to ask ourselves if there is any wicked way within us (see Psalm 139:24).
In August 1999 Bob Jones, a prophetic brother in America, prophesied that America would receive two wake-up calls, and that the Lord would unsheathe His sword if America would not heed the wake-up calls. 9/11 was that first wake-up call. God intended it to move hearts to repentance. For a few months churches were full. But eventually across America a strong nationalism subtly edged out biblical repentance, and a deep turning back to God did not come to pass. Can it be honestly said that there is more prayer and intercession taking place in America now than there was just after 9/11? Could it be that a second wake-up call is coming to America?
The tsunami is a wake-up call to the nations of the world to turn their hearts back to the God of Israel – to repent of materialism, cruelty, pornography, abortion, murder, anti-Jewish hatred, etc.
Isaiah points out that at the end of days geological judgments are going to get heavier and not lighter:
"Behold, YHVH lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. . . The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty . . . For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard, and it totters like a hut, for its transgression is heavy upon it. . . " (see Isa.24:1-21).
Birth Pangs Among the Waves
Like a burning trumpet, the voice of YHVH is ringing out at Christmas time, heralding the onset of a birth – or at least, of birth pangs. Yeshua the Messiah spoke to His disciples about the end of days and taught: "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among the nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Luke 21:25-26).
The roaring of an Asian tsunami and its deadly waves are part of what Yeshua had in mind when He prophesied these things. These events, He said, would bring perplexity to all who witness them. And this perplexity really is happening all across the world today. Yet Yeshua gave us believers in Him a special promise: "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near!" (Luke 21:28). We are to take courage and draw renewed confidence from this bold declaration. And we are to look heavenward with unconcealed expectancy for Messiah's soon return: "And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27). That is what Yeshua wants from us. That should be our heart response to His words.
This return, the Second Coming of Yeshua, may be 5 or even 50 years down the road, But it is fast approaching! Yeshua used the term 'birth pangs' to refers to the period of time immediately preceding His return (see also Matt.24:8). In the natural, birth pangs come after a full term pregnancy. A pregnancy lasts for 9 months, and then there are sudden and powerful contractions of the womb, lasting between 2-48 hours on the average. Birth pangs are a clear and indisputable sign that the pregnancy is just about over and that the arrival of the baby is next on the agenda! We are right now in that time of birth pangs, and God's baby is surely on the way!
The final harvest of the nations is what is next on the agenda. The full repentance, regathering and restoration of Israel is next on the agenda. Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to intercede. Now is the time to roll up our sleeves for the work at hand. Yeshua invites us to not be bent over with fear or anxiety, but to straighten up and to rejoice greatly. We are about to see what prophets and angels have longed to behold (see 1 Pet.1:101-12)!
A Warning
In Pharoah's day, YHVH declared, "Thus says YHVH the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me! For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. But indeed, for this cause I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power, and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth!" (Exod.9:14-16).
God declares unashamedly that He was the Author of the ten plagues, and that they came to the earth from His hand. But Pharoah responded to God's judgments with ambivalence. First he repented and permitted Moses to begin the Hebrew exodus, but then he refused to obey what God required of him. Pharoah was given the opportunity to acknowledge and obey God, yet eventually he hardened his heart and refused to believe that Almighty God was guiding the whole process. In the same way there are many people who are chewing on the events since the tsunami, who are considering whether or not God has anything to do with the "desolation wrought in the earth". It is important for all who love the God of Israel and His Messiah Yeshua to acknowledge that the God of the Bible has indeed shaken this planet in times past. We need to also recognize that He is truly shaking His rebellious planet once more. So let's make up our minds to follow this earth-shaking God whatever the cost.
As we move closer to the day of His return, let's remember what Peter struggled with toward the close of his earthly life: "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking ... saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation!' .. . The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any one to perish but for all to come to repentance . . .Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in shalom, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord (ed. as something which will lead to) salvation" (2 Pet.3:3-4, 14-15)
In Messiah Yeshua’s love,
Avner Boskey
www.davidstent.org
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