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  • B"H



    Shlomo, please do post on this.  Post on both - the attitude of the non-Jew regarding Israel and the relationship of Gentile believers to Jewish believers!!  This is on my mind very much of late, regarding the latter topic, especially.


    I want to know what, not for vanity's sake, but for Truth's sake, what position in Christ we Gentile believers have, and also how that differs from the position Jewish believers have.


    John


    Thanks for prompting me to address this John. I have been thinking a lot about this topic, as those who know me are well aware. I don't know if my response will exactly satisfy you, but if not then we'll try it again.


    At this moment I don't have time to write much at all, but I wanted to respond and let you know that your inquiry was important to me. This much I will say in closing. The major difference between Jewish and non-Jewish believers is not regarding who Jesus (Yeshua) is, but regarding the place of the LAW (Torah). This greatly affects the culture and lifestyle of the various disciples. You mentioned the position of Gentile and Jewish believers and I don't think there is any difference there. This is part of the mystery of the Gospel that Paul says was hidden in times past, but revealed to the Apostles and Prophets of his time. The book of Acts records the growth and expansion of the Church and the work of the Holy Spirit to include non-Jews into the People of GOD.


    I'll write more on this later, but in a nutshell this is the eseence of what I want to say. According to Acts 15, GOD wants the Church to understand that Jewish believers and Gentile believers are to be accepted as equal brethren in one body. Unfortunately, throughout Church history this dynamic of the One New Man has seldom if ever been actualized.


    More to follow shortly,


    Shlomo

  • B"H


    Xanga Frustration


    In truth that title should read My Frustration Over Not Being Able to Follow Through on Writing Here More Often. I think the shorter title works too though. About two weeks ago I had this really strong desire to share a few things about what happened to me at a congregation I was a part of. The problem that arose as I tried to actually write the post was one of not wanting to uncover certain people and very likely hurt someone, maybe even plural. I couldn't think of a way to tell the story that would be helpful to anyone. I have made lots of mistakes and done lots of bad things, but I don't see how merely telling thoses stories will help anybody.


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    Tomorrow (Saturday) may prove to be a day of revelation for me/us regarding this new congregation that we have been considering lately. They are hosting a conference on Israel this weekend. As I understand it, the focus is supposed to be on the place or the attitude of the non-Jew regarding Israel. This is not exactly a topic I find very compelling these days, but it is close. I'd rather explore the relationship of the Gentile believers to the Jewish believers, but that will have to wait for another day. I have my fears that this conference is going to expose a certain amount of anti-Judaism which may be resident within some of the members. I don't mind dealing with this, in fact, I think it's part of my calling. What does bother me though is when some of my fellow travelers either can't grasp the insidious nature of anti-Judaism or worse, think that this position is actually right. I think that I'll have to write a post stating my understanding on this topic.


    I like the few people that I've met at this new congregation, but once the issue of our Jewishness gets put on the table I'm not so sure that the feelings will remain mutual. I'll let you all know how things turn out.


    Peace and blessings,


    Shlomo

  • B"H


    PRELUDE


    Disillusioned. Is this a good or a bad thing? Years ago I heard a teaching that deal with this topic. Because I love to play with words, this was right down my alley. Usually I have thought that being disillusioned by something, or someone, was not good. The speaker, possibly PDH, but I'm not certain, said that the focus should be on the word illusion. Who do you know that wants to live in or under an illusion? Better to have truth, right? This being the case then, we should all seek to become disillusioned as much as we can.


    In the post that is soon forthcoming I'm going to share my thoughts and some of my feelings regarding my life and some of the things that I have experienced over the last several years.


    Stay tuned.


    Shlomo

  • B"H


    Heads Up


    A bit later I will be posting a very different type of entry. It's a sort of look behind the scenes of my life. I have hesitated a bit because it may change the opinion some people have of me, but being odd or strange has never stopped me before.


    I know I am often a tease with these type of hints and promises of big bold posts that then never are written, but this one is for real. Stay tuned.


    Shlomo

  • B"H


    PURIM: The Feast of Lots


    Last night we had people over for Shushan Purim. ???? How's that? Well, since we don't live in a walled city or one that was walled during the time of Esther, it wasn't really valid, but since we couldn't celebrate on Monday then last night was better than not at all.


    Once again my lovely wife made delicous food for everybody. This wasn't exactly a sit-down meal, more like a nosh with deserts. There was stuffed pitas baked in the oven, some home-made pizza type things and small squares of bread with lox and cream cheese and dill. For deserts of course we had hamantashen. There was also cakes that were made and store bought. Very yummy for sure.


    Most of the evening was taken up with people gathering in small groups here and there, engaged in their own separate conversations. After most of the eating was done I pulled everyone together so we could tell the story and yell and shout at Achasverous, Vashti, Esther, Mordechai and Haman. (Story, what story? Hmm, for those who don't know I suggest you read the book of Esther. It tells the story of GOD's protection of the Jewish people during one of the many dark times in our history.)


    We had a very diverse group of folks this year. There was a fair spread of ages too. Most everybody seems to have had a good time.  We ended the evening on a really great note. Several of our friends broke off from the main group and really blessed us by doing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. It's fun to entertain and have guests over, but there's also a lot of work that goes on to make it all happen. When people pitch in to help out it really makes one feel that community is more than just talk and theory.


    Blessings to all for great day,


    Shlomo

  • B"H


    To those who know her, today is Andi's birthday. I want to send a special shout out to her and I would encourage all who know her to do likewise.


    Shlomo

  • Staying Current - a renewed attempt

    B"H


    I haven't fully reached my goal here yet, but I can say I have improved. After several months of struggling with how much content and what manner in which to share, I think I can now make more regular posts. I have also taken to using MS Word or some other word processor when composing long posts. It seems that at least 5 or 6 times I've created what I thought might be a real gem, only to have it disappear into cyberspace before it could be posted.  


    While I still miss the format of a message board, I like the creativity that seems to always be awaiting me here. I sometimes think of topics for a new post and some clever layout while I'm on the road or away from any type of computer. I hate when that happens, because I seldom can remember them with the same intensity or emotion later on.


    I have several "promised" stories and fft (food for thought) entries pending. Some of them are so old they may raise more questions than they're worth at this point. I hope that those of you who are still subscribers don't find my sudden increased activity a great bother. If you do however, you know how to remedy that.


    Blessings,


    Shlomo

  • B"H


    Last night was wonderful! The occasion was a party for me, Ezra and our dear friend Sandy. We had about 15 or so people in attendance. My lovely wife Penninah fixed a really great meal. We had Hawaiian chicken - sort of, cubed steak with broccoli, white rice, tossed salad, and a host of sweet deserts too. (Shall I torture you with a list?)


    Besides the great food, we had a nice time of warm fellowship. I love to sit at my dining room table and pontificate on this or that subject, but in order to gather an audience I need my wife's great food.


    Shortly I'll share a little about some of the particulars of the evening. Overall though, I think that everyone who came had a nice time and no one left hungry except by choice.


    Blessings,


    Shlomo

  • B"H


    Who Is Bob?


     


    Introductory Remarks.


    I have discovered that I like language. This is not a new discovery, but it’s important nevertheless. When I was in school I struggled with English and so I concluded that it was not my strong suit. I still don’t think I’m all that good at grammar and composition, but there are certain aspects of language that I find very fascinating.


    As I mentioned in a previous post, this entry may seem odd and convince some that I am truly strange. Others may have already drawn this conclusion for different reasons, but in any event the final outcome might be the same. I don’t mind these things though. I try to live my life based on the wisdom of Dr. Seuss. I believe it was he who said, "Live your life true to yourself, because those who matter, don’t mind and those mind, don’t matter."


    The Setting.


    Years ago we used to live in a complex of townhouses. It was a quiet neighborhood as our apartment was upstairs near the end of a cul de sac. One day my wife and I were quite puzzled as we listened to these two young boys playing out in the courtyard. They seemed to be engaged in some sort of antiphonal chant and they chided each other and called back and forth, "You don’t know Bob!" "No, you don’t know, you don’t know Bob!" This strange vocal exercise went on for somewhere between 30 – 45 minutes. Just like the enticement of forbidden fruit, when they finally stopped chanting I was curious beyond description. A few days later I saw their mother outside and I approached her with this question, "Julie, I heard the boys playing a few days ago and I was wondering, who is Bob?" She looked quite stumped and said she had no idea what I was talking about. Neither her husband nor her brother was named Bob. Since they had been at this for such a long period of time and they were only 4 or 5 yrs old, I figured she must have heard them, at least part of the time. I tried repeating their odd chant in my own awkward way, "You don’t know Boooob!" Somehow my perseverance paid off. At this point Julie laughed and said I had heard the boys wrong. Apparently they had recently seen some type of public service announcement on TV against underage drinking. The slogan from the ad that the boys picked up on was, "We don’t go to bars!" Being that they were only 4 or so and drawing out the word bars (pron = baaaaarrrs), it seems my wife and I both made a reasonable mistake in our interpretation of their chanting.


    A Language Lesson I Learned


    Although I was mistaken in my quest to discover this person named Bob, I did spend a bit of time thinking about how the meaning of a phrase or a sentence can be changed by the emphasis on different words. Here’s a simple case in point (CIP). The Scriptures say, "Let him who stole, steal no longer. Working with his hands the things that are good" Now consider how the meaning changes with only a few punctuation marks being moved. "Let him who stole, steal. No longer working with his hands …." As I pondered this phrase I thought I heard, "You don’t know Bob," this simple lesson emerged.


    You don’t know Bob = A B C D


    A. YOU don’t know Bob


    B. You DON’T know Bob


    C. You don’t KNOW Bob


    D. You don’t know BOB



     




    1. Personal Exclusion




    The emphasis here is on the fact that the subject of the sentence, YOU, is excluded from the action of knowing Bob. Bob may indeed may be knowable, but others know him, not YOU. As an individual, YOU may like Bob and YOU may even want to know him, but presently, such is not the case. This act of exclusion leads to a series of unspoken questions regarding the ability of the individual to truly know this person called Bob.






      • Can I know Bob?



      • How could I go about to make his acquaintance?



      • Do I need an agent to introduce us?





    B.   Present Tense Emphasis





      Now the focus of the phrase is on the present tense. You DON’T know Bob. True friendship requires a lot of hard work. One who would have a friend needs to be a friend. Being a friend means listening, learning, giving, serving and simply caring. I’m not a good friend if I don’t stay current in the relationship. If two individuals don’t talk or work together or interact in any meaningful way currently, their relationship will surely decline. If this goes on for very long, it could easily lead to the conclusion that the friendship is dormant. Whatever else we might say about dormancy, we surely know that a sleeper isn’t much help to anyone. How can someone be regarded as your best friend if you don’t see them or speak with them for an extended period of time? Indeed, maybe at one point in time you may have known Bob, but right now, you have no idea what he’s up to or going through.




    C.  Quality of Relationship





      You don’t KNOW Bob. This emphasis speaks to the issue of intimacy. The issue is not the fact that YOU know various things about Bob; where he was born, what he looks like, his likes and dislikes, etc. The real issue is that YOU have a personal relationship with Bob. You know him and he in turn knows you too. If you two were seen together in some setting, would Bob acknowledge that he knows you and is your friend? You can’t just study Bob like a science project. If you really know him, then it is assumed that there is some degree of exchange or reciprocation in the relationship. My Mother used to say, "It’s the same distance from my house to yours as back." If we are truly friends then sometimes I will call you and sometimes you will call me. If one party is always extending themselves more than the other, then these two are not really friends.




    D.  The Uniqueness of the Individual






    You don’t know BOB. In the whole world there is only one YOU. This is true of each individual, of course, including Bob. You may know someone who is ‘just like Bob,’ but it’s not the same, because there is only one real Bob and no one can take his place. Similarity can never substitute for authenticity. Bob is one of a kind and only he can be the real deal in this relationship.



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    I could go on and on, and perhaps I have already overstated my point. Language is very fluid as a medium whereby we exchange our thoughts with others. There are many shades of meaning and nuances of thought that can shift quite easily by means of precision or imprecision in speech or writing. One should always hope that the others to whom we speak or write might seek out the meaning of what we are saying within the context of who we are. This of course presumes some type of relationship. (This is my segue into a new post on who we are, as believers together in GOD’s world.)



    An interesting and very useful twist to this phrase, "You don’t know Bob," would be to consider "You don’t know GOD." Any thoughts or responses?



    Blessings,



    Shlomo


     

  • B"H


    A DAY GONE BY


    I hope no one gets upset, but yesterday was my birthday. I probably should have written something about it then, but we didn't plan any special activities and I had to work last night anyway. This weekend we are planning a joint party for Ezra, our friend Sandy and me.


    So, I'm 54 now. One more year and I will have reached the speed limit.  My friend Mickie once remarked, "Since none of us can stop the aging process we should all try to get as old as we can." For the most part I like my age. I say, for the most part, because I could really do without the aches and pains and other limits that I now experience. I'm grateful for the many friends I have made over the years and all the experiences I've had, both the good and bad. I feel that the LORD has invested heavily in my life by means of these things and I pray that I'll be faithful to wisely use His resources as a good steward.


    If anybody has any thoughts or comments, feel free to respond and I'll post them here for everybody.


    Blessings,


    Shlomo