Month: January 2024

Where I Am At…

I have been writing and speaking over the last several years about a myriad of topics, most of which revolves around faith and the problems I have encountered in my own journey. I will confess that I am far from knowledgable, or even wise, when it comes to faith in God above and the actual faith-walk that the so many people seemingly claim themselves to be on because they attend a Christian church and acknowledge the Holy Bible as the core source of their profession and belief. In fact, if you’ve been following my writings and podcasts, you will see that my own personal progression in learning and studying what this religion is all about has shifted from one belief system into another and subsequently, another. My journey has taken me from new age paganism, through old-school Lutheranism, into the world of reformed theology, and into the world of Messianic Judaism. Where to next? The question really is this: where do I actually stand in my beliefs?

Well, to begin with, I have tried to point out in the past that there are quite a variety of structures and methodologies within the framework of belief in the canonical book called the Holy Bible. Many call these divisions in belief practices “denominations.” And within each of those denominational groups lie a multitude of smaller groups that can even differentiate themselves one from another. For example, within the denomination of Baptist there are many splinter groups that, though they all call themselves “Baptists,” do tend to be quite different from each other. And each group seems very confident that their ideologies of how faith and worship and understanding of the God of the Bible are the only correct way. So many of their practices may differentiate (sometimes) quite drastically from the other splinter groups under that same title group. Now, you add to this the hundreds of other denominations that all profess belief in the Holy Bible and you can see how this extreme diversity can sometimes be overwhelming and confusing and cause people to just walk away from religion all together! I have been at that brink numerous times and can say with certainty that I don’t have the answer to the age old question: “Which one is the right one?”

I will state this though regarding my basics in belief: There is a supreme being, God, if you will, who is the creator and ruler of the universe. I say that with conviction and confidence because I cannot explain away how all things, including human beings, just came into a perfectly operating existence without the design and perfection of a being of greater power and intelligence. Primordial ooze or cosmic explosions just don’t put all things into a perfect balance of operation. I also contend that our planet could be no closer or further away from the sun without causing complete damage to the entire ecosystem, and that all the other stars and planets of the universe are definitely in a fixed and perfect placement. There is no easy explaining how all the human parts work in perfect symbiosis with each other part in order for our existence to sustain and continue. This life that we see and experience is no by-product of an accident or evolution. No. The universe is working and existing because of that supreme God. So…I do give full credit to the Bible in answering the most basic of human questions regarding the beginning of all things and how they came to be. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

With that being said though, the struggle I have most is with all of the other details. I’ve read that book several ways and at several times and have, over time, come to alter some of my understandings of various topics of study. Either because I’ve fallen under the spell of someone’s slanted interpretations and teachings and conclusions regarding what the book is telling us, or, I had read things with too much naivety and ignorance in mind and heart. Essentially I have had to wipe my slate clean from those influences…whether good or bad. But at the core, I have always stood on the belief that this book, comprising of 66 individual writings from approximately 40 authors over the course of approximately 1500 years, is divinely inspired by God above. And though I may have faltered at times to see clearly what He is trying to say in parts, I am also certain that many areas are very clear and concise (such as don’t murder or worship other “gods”). But as to the exact manner of how our deity worship and daily walk is supposed to be practiced…I don’t have the exact definitive answers. Since most of the believers in the Bible all agree in unison that the God of the book is the supreme being and creator of all things, how is it that there is so much contention and disagreement about many of the details? Or worse yet (for me anyway) is how can so many learned and intelligent people who have solely devoted their entire lives to the study of this one book all seem to walk away with such a wide range of understandings and interpretations and conclusions?

The only solace I can find in my struggles reading this Bible is that if the countless “experts” are having a difficult time grasping and concluding exactly what the authors of these writings are trying to convey to the people of earth, through the supposed very words they believe that God the creator of the universe gave them to share, well, then I really cannot beat myself up too much! Again, this is where so many people like myself struggle and where so many get to a point and just give up. They walk through life knowing that God exists, that His word is the Bible, and that He is calling us to live a good moral life. Yet, there are also many details given from above that call us to worship this God of the Bible and, yet, nothing but chaos and divisions abound.

No religion on the planet has created more controversy, division, outrage, chaos, and even violence, than has belief in the Biblical deity above. And, to an extension, this includes Islamic and Jewish believers, since this is the same deity they also claim. It seems that as much as God above has extended His words to the denizens of this planet in one form or another, so has the disputes and conflicts as to what He is saying, and to whom, been. God spoke, people listened, then argued with each other as to what He said. This has gone on for countless centuries and is still very active today! I will not side with one faction or another simply because I am standing on the outside, looking in, trying to get back to the original source without the sway or influences of man. It seems to me that, like so many other good things, humans have this great tendency to muddy the truth and stir in dissensions. I’m trying very hard to avoid that. I’m trying hard to just read what we have been given and base my conclusions on…the very words alone!

Thus…why I seem to be in a state of evolution (if I can use that word in a Biblical conversation). This is why my “walk” has seemingly shifted from one path to another. This is why I appear to have started at one point, turned around in the journey at times and have gone back to the very beginning to start again. This is why I seem antagonistic toward “denominations” in my writings and podcasts. I just want to be as right as possible without being seen as someone who is just blending in with everyone else. Just because “everyone else is doing it,” doesn’t meant that it is right! The more I look at His words, the more I see that man has injected too much of himself into defining His words and has even overtaken the initial words given by this supreme being to the point that what I read in that Bible and what I see so many people doing…all seem to be in great contradiction to one another.

Everyone has an opinion, an interpretation, of what they think is the correct way of walking with the God of the Bible. Even within so-called like-minded groups (or denominations), there seems to always be disagreements and discord between the believers. But, I think we also know that will always be, no matter how black and white the writings are on any subject matter. I, for one, am not in a mood or place that I want to be in concert or conflict with the others as to how they walk this faith. I am going to just keep on asking Him to show me what He is trying to say…in hopes that He gives me enough to walk in faith His way.

Amen

Rest Stops

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” ~Jesus (Matthew 11)

So…an invitation from Messiah. We are often invited to a variety of things throughout our lives. Whether it is to family events, work meetings, social gatherings, religious groups, or just the myriad of other settings where we are given the opportunity to participate with others, the invitation is the request to “go” and be part of something outside our normal day to day. Sometimes the invitation is tempting and exciting. Sometimes it is something that taxes our heart, soul and mind. There are times when the invitation is a blessing, while other times we view it as a curse. No matter the invitation, we are being called to do something. 

I, for one, am not the most adventurous person these days when it comes to participating in gatherings. I’ve found that as I’ve grown into my “older” years that I tend to enjoy more quiet routines rather than I do large crowds. So when an invitation comes my way I always have to take a deep breath, gather my priorities, and respond accordingly, often outside of my comfort zone. But there are many times that I also find the invitation turns out to be a blessing in disguise. I may end up going somewhere and really enjoy myself. It may be that the gathering I attend turns out to be the very thing my soul needed! And yet there are those rare moments when you take an invitation in the light of “this should be fun” only to later realize that you will spend the next several days or weeks in regret of accepting the invite. 

One thing I do notice most is the importance to take time out of our routines for the sake of others. If someone has offered you an invite, they obviously took the time to think of you…to request your presence…and that they value your time with them. You might not want to go, but it isn’t always about what you want now, is it? In life, we often have to do things for the benefit of others. This is what that whole ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself’ concept is about that Jesus was telling the crowds when he was quoting the two greatest commandments given from God above. Obviously, if they are important to God, they should be important to us…right?

Yet, as humans, we can also get to a point of feeling over-burdened when we are bombarded with lots of invitations, or for the sake of clarity, demands on us that are being made quite regularly. Between work and family and social commitments, we can easily become overwhelmed with too many requests for our attention. Overloaded, we can reach a breaking point and a variety of responses or reactions can occur. Sometimes those reactions can be adverse and even have a negative affect on our mental, emotional, and even physical well being. From mood disorders, anxieties, depression, ulcers, and other potential ailments, being overwhelmed can take us out of the game, so to speak, and cause us to shut down. There has to be a balance. There has to be a lighter load.

When we drive our car a lot, we depend on it to daily keep us moving to the necessary destinations. In order to do that, we must maintain the engine and other mechanical parts by routine oil changes and tune ups, keeping good tires on it, and being attentive to other aspects of the vehicle. If we drive it hard and don’t take care of it, it could very well break down and that will cause even greater issues. The same goes for humans. If we don’t maintain our bodies, our minds, and even our spirits, we can neglect ourselves to the point where something breaks down and we are out of commission. We, like our vehicles, can only go so long, so far, without a break for rest and maintenance. Driving long distances, for example on a road trip, we often need to stop and fuel up, stretch our legs, rest our bodies and our cars. This is so important! If our minds cloud, our joints ache, the vehicle starts to make weird sounds, or gas levels get too low, we are going to be out of commission. Those rest stops along the highways and byways are there for a reason! We all need to take breaks!

The Jews in Jesus’ day were burdened. They were over taxed, over worked, and were being pulled in a multitude of directions by demands from not only the Romans, but also the various religious leaders of the day. These people were originally called by God above to keep the Torah, His instructions or commandments, that He gave Moses in the wilderness. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. But the leaders of that time had added so many extra duties, rules, and other things, that it was near impossible to keep them all. They were so overwhelmed by all the demands from so many all around them that folks were at a breaking point. Like the overload of invitations and burdens, if they didn’t find relief, take time to maintain and rest, they would break down. Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah, came to free them, and us, from that!

His first words were to “come” to Him. In order to fix a problem we need to go and get the remedy. It is a first-step action on our part. We are already laden with a burden, a yoke around our necks, that weighs us down and makes our daily walk difficult. And if we keep going the way we have been going and don’t get rest, don’t get some relief, don’t get the proper repairs needed, and lighten our load, we are going to break down! Yet, here, Messiah is telling us that He will exchange our heavy yoke for His, that His yoke is light compared to the demands and weight the world currently is laying on us. He is also offering us rest…in Him! He also says that we are to learn from Him. At this point He is telling the people that He came to turn us away from the world’s ways, from man’s ways, and point us back to God’s ways. That the world’s ways were the heavy burden and yoke! He tells us exactly what we need to know…from God Himself. He is giving us the freedom to walk away from man-made rules and simply follow God’s ways. 

Can you imagine how you would feel if you were in a position that required you to do, for example, one hundred various tasks every day at work, but you discover that more than half of those tasks were not only unnecessary for the end result, but that they were also not even part of the original job description? Now, can you imagine how freeing it would be if you were to get a new boss that did away with all those extra, unnecessary duties? Well, that is what Messiah is telling the people, telling us. He is telling us it is ok to stop, rest, get rid of the unnecessary baggage and walk in the freedom that He offers us! He is not saying that we can sit back and do nothing. He’s not saying that we don’t need to follow God’s Torah, His commands. Nor is He giving us the green light to start living life and faith in any way we want to. No, He is telling us to cast aside the ways of man and follow Him…who, followed God’s instructions perfectly.  This is an invitation that should not be a burden, but one that we can readily accept and be blessed by! 

It’s ok to take breaks. We all need them. And what is more freeing is when we can lighten our loads so as to allow us a better life balance! We need those rest stops along the way on our journey. We need to take time for necessary preventative maintenance. And most of all, we need to put aside all the excess commands, demands, and baggage that gets in the way from our having a proper relationship with God above through His Son Yeshua (Jesus). When faith through God’s instructions (Torah) is muddled and clouded by the many added “ways and means” that man has heaped on over the centuries, people tend to become overwhelmed with superfluous things and the excess heavy load causes them to loose sight of God and His original Words. It was happening in the days of Jesus, and it is definitely happening in the world of “churchianity” today. 

Folks, there are so many schools of thought and practices that people think are necessary to follow in order to properly worship and walk with Yahweh Adonai (our Lord God above), but are in fact all overflowing with unnecessary additional doctrines and decrees that man conceived and/or invented so as to fit their personal ideology of what they believe faith in God above should be. That is why there are so many faith practices and orders of religion existing out there. Jesus knew this when He said in Matthew 15 (quoting Isaiah 29) “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and respect Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings commands of men.” This was happening back then, and it still happens today! And yet the Bible is very clear that there is only one way to the Father above, and that is through His Son Yeshua (Jesus) and His keeping of the law (or Torah) perfectly. The Bible also says clearly that we are to follow Him, copy Him, walk in His ways as His disciples! Are we following Jesus and His ways or are we following the rules, precepts, and doctrines of man?

“For, let this mind be in you which was also in Messiah Yeshua, who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus (Yeshua) every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Messiah is master, to the glory of God the father. (Philippians 2:6-11)

I hope that it is obvious that there is the way of Christ Messiah and there are the ways that man has prescribed and defined when it comes to walking in the footsteps of Yeshua (Jesus). We cannot straddle the two worlds, because the two worlds are quite different (if you read the Scriptures). The yoke of men is quite confusing, burdensome, and often weighs down people to the point of giving up. The yoke of following Messiah is clearly spelled out and given in His Word. He helps us on that walk all the way and it brings us peace and joy and happiness! So, let us therefore walk in the freedom He has invited us to…by following Him! And “let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking to the Prince and Perfecter of our belief, Yeshua (Jesus)..”!

Amen

Snowballs to Avalanches

Breaking News Alert! We are ALL victims of a diabolical plan to destroy humanity! 

Pretty bold statement! And actually one that is not necessarily too far off from the truth! We are all, in one form or fashion, participants of a plan that was set in motion long ago to bring the fall of mankind and destroy humanity! Now, if you have been reading any of my writings or listening to my podcast “Things I Preach To Myself About” these last few years, you’ll know that this obviously has something to do with God and the Bible and something with spiritual battles. And, I would say you are right…for the most part! Like a snowball that is rolling down hill, the initial attacker of humanity that started this destruction plot long ago really doesn’t have to do much anymore these days. Oh, sure, maybe a little “house-keeping” duties here or there to keep folks in line within the scope of the operation, but, for the most part, he doesn’t have to actually push the snowball anymore. In fact, it is our own power and energy (or, in laymen’s terms: our own naivety and ignorance) that keeps the rolling motion going! As the snowball rolls down, it gathers more snow to it and becomes larger and subsequently its own weight keeps that downward motion happening! Thus, the destruction of humanity is almost running on auto-pilot! 

Do you remember the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”? A boy is watching sheep and yells that there is a wolf attacking, though no wolf was involved. The villagers all came running to render aid. No wolf. Later the boy does it again, and the villagers run to help. As before…no wolf. This happens several times with the same “no wolf” results. Eventually a real wolf approaches the boy and he begins to call for help again. But, the villagers are tired of the lies and deceit and do not come. The boy and sheep are attacked and the story ends. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. 

Well, in the grand scheme of our destruction, we are easily fooled and swayed in much the same way as the villagers with repeated lies and deceptions. Growing up, our parents, religious leaders, and to an extension the education system, were supposed to be the primary source of our learning. Learning about life, morals, history, manners and mannerisms, culture, and interactions with people. We learn by seeing, by hearing, and by doing. We ‘trust’ that the information we are being given is the truth and we readily accept it that way. But what happens when we get older and discover that what we were taught, what we were being told all along, was not exactly the truth? What is our reaction, then, to finding out that the very people we held in trust have either twisted the story or flat-out lied to us? The ormal reactions are anger, hurt, sadness, and even despair. But one of the biggest results is causing us to distrust. Like the villagers, we become filled with doubts and suspicions about almost everything we are told and inevitably lose our confidence and faith in the source. Regaining trust is no small task. Once the trust has been broken, it takes a lot of time, effort, and energy in order to gain back even a small amount! 

This very thing happens to so many that either grew up in religious families who regularly attended so-called ‘churches’, or became believers in the Bible through a ministry. A person becomes “saved” and begins attending a church group and starts what is called a ‘discipleship’ program. This is essentially an education system to take people with little to no knowledge of the faith and fill them with hopefully Biblical knowledge to strengthen their faith and walk as a believer. The Jewish people in the Tanakh, the Old Testament, would have weekly readings of the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) and would go through the entire Torah once a year. By the time they were adults, they had memorized most of the writings and knew the words intimately. In more modern times people would join Bible studies for a deeper learning of the words they heard weekly from church pulpits. But, as with many subjects, over time, disputes of definition and understandings would arise and people would simply break off and gather with other like-minded people and start their own groups. This would continue through the centuries and even occurs today. This is how we have ended up with so many “denominations” of belief. Group A would believe a particular way about the Bible and group B would think them wrong and start their own group. Before you know it, people in A or B would grow disillusioned with the beliefs and start another group…and so on and so on! 

Over time, folks within their respective group would either continue to embrace their understanding or they would discover flaws in the beliefs and leave. But what happens when a person realizes that the lies and deceit actually goes all the way back to the beginning? Before there were  “groups” or denominations that had started splintering off from one another? Well…that is where our trust becomes shattered and the damage is done. The enemy’s plan of destruction now gains another victim. Once someone discovers that there is so much misinformation, so many lies believed, so much deception that has just been accepted over the years, that in most cases they just…quit. They toss everything that they once held in high esteem out and close the door. This is how the villagers ended up turning their back on the boy and left him to his doom. Those who completely walk away from God and His Word are now the shattered souls who have become the success story of the devil himself. These are the people who have grown cold and complacent to any and all talk of religion or belief in a higher being. These are the folks who, like the villagers, will not respond anymore to the call of God because their heart and soul have been decimated. And…they are not alone. They were once inside that rolling snowball, that has over time now become an avalanche, with all the others, but have left…preferring to be out in the cold alone, rather than continuing on with the continuing lies and deceptions. 

But…there is a remnant. Not all that have jumped out of the rolling, growing avalanche of destruction have given up seeking God above. On the contrary, there are a growing number who have walked away from the mainstream of deceptions and are starting over…but this time from the beginning. They are turning to the real truth, but not man’s version. Many are realizing that the devil has had a plan of destruction since the beginning and he is using man’s great weakness of being easily swayed by the masses as a catalyst to keep his plan ‘rolling’ down hill! Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden and yet were deceived by the devil. How much easier is it to sway people today who don’t walk and seek Him diligently? Instead of believing God’s words, they simply believe what the supposedly learned men tell them. Instead of walking in obedience and spirit, they simply walk the already smooth and paved path that so many others are walking. “Follow the crowd!” It is always so much easier to go with the crowd! The snowball was simply the start…the devil speaking and challenging man to question; ‘did God say…?’ And for most who don’t know what He says…they are easily drawn into the ever-growing avalanche of man’s version of faith! Man’s ego and pride keep the momentum rolling downward. 

So the question remains: where are you…right now? Are you part of the avalanche? Did you jump on when it was a smaller snowball and, because all your family and friends are rolling, decide to stay? Do you answer the question “did God say” with answers that have readily been formatted in simple form from a pulpit or do you gather the answer direct from the Word? The devil’s plan to take out humanity is simple: keep people believing lies! After all…the Bible does call him the “father of lies”! And, if someone should happen to look out away from the deception, the devil will create diversions and distractions to keep them from the truth! We are bombarded daily with so many diversions and distractions from the world around…all brought right into our minds, hearts and even souls from our phones, tablets, computers, and television/radio. We see the elevated preachers and teachers that so many readily accept as telling the truth and, because of their position, are never challenged. People strive to live simple, easy beliefs so that they can focus more of their attention on everything else going on. Their priorities are to live their best life now and carry a pocket-sized version of God so that they feel comfortable within their “faith”. After all, everyone else is doing it…right?

Matthew 7, Jesus says: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” It’s obvious that the direction (down hill) that most are on is not the right one. If the right gate is small, it tells me that it is not an easy gate to find in the first place, and that we must be diligent to seek it out ourselves…because most, including the learned leaders, haven’t obviously found it themselves. If they don’t know the right way to enter into the Kingdom, you probably don’t want to be in that group. And the path being narrow means that there isn’t much room for deviations on the journey. In that case, most (again with most) who tell you that there are a lot of “ways” to the Kingdom obviously don’t know the true way. Again, you probably don’t want to be in that group! We might think that what we are being told is truth, because so many are readily buying into their narratives, but just looking at that verse from the Messiah, who came to point people to the “right” way, shows me that the vast majority out there are going the wrong way. 

So all that being said, here we are in the beginning of another calendar year…2024. Perhaps it is time to say goodbye to the old and start new. Start from the beginning. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war (live our lives) according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations (cast down imaginations) and every lofty thing that rises up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Messiah…” (2 Cor 10). 

We are to put aside man, the flesh, the history, the lies, the deceptions, and all that is currently rolling downhill according to the devil’s plan to destroy humanity, and we are to cling to the truth and hope that God above has given us from the very beginning. We put aside every weight and hinderance…which includes man’s plans, man’s religions…and conform our life to God’s plans…alone! We are not to follow the world (which is currently going downhill in the avalanche to destruction), but God alone! It’s ok to trust and believe again! Just believe in Him and His Word.

Amen