Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Israel at War - Time is closing down soon

Israel is at War!
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/gaza2008primer.html

2009 has not even began and we are seeing war.

This is now the season to revisit Bible prophecies. You may wish to begin with Matthew 24.

Trust no one, especially the media. Deception is a major trend in these last days. JESUS in his Mount Olives prophecy tells us to be extremely careful about what we hear and what we see.
He says take heed that no man deceive you (Matt. 24:4), for many deceivers will be out there.

However, many will come "in my [JESUS's] name" (Matt. 24:5).

Satan knows that we will not be deceived by people who are not Christians/Jews. He knows that we will listen to people based on what they profess. He knows that we will not listen to people who are not of our same denomination, beliefs or religious persuasion. So he is going to use someone in the Church or synagogue, even an entire Christian or Jewish movement to deceive us.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Reasoning on JESUS's birthday

I just had a talk with a Jehovah's Witness (JW). A pleasant discussion at that. She wanted to give me literature, but I declined saying that I had so much to read and so little time. I therefore offered her the opportunity to summarise one of the articles for me.

She asked me which one, and I decided to choose the article on "When was JESUS born?"

I told her that I already know that he was not born on the 25th of December but I would be interested in hearing the exact date if they had it.

She disappointed me by telling me that they did not have the date, but could show that it was not on December 25th.

We then went on into a discussion about the morality of birthday celebrations.

I agreed with her that it was not moral to celebrate JESUS's birth on the 25th, the same day as a pagan god. However, I disagreed with her about the immorality of celebrating a birthday or a life any at all.

I reassured her that while G-d did not command Christians to celebrate the birth of JESUS - the fact is that JESUS birth was celebrated, and by a number of individuals.

The JW went on to ask why was there not a continuous celebration by his disciples and followers until more than 100 years after.

I then went on to share with her that if they were following the Jewish calendar, which was lunar, they could not regularly have a set day to celebrate a birthday. The day would fluctuate too much.

However, since we today are following a pagan calendar named after Greek and Roman gods, our timing is such that a set day and set time can be commemorated each year.

I also suggested to her, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, that if we were following the Jewish calendar, where there is a timing and season for each activity, then there would be no need to celebrate birthdays. (The JW lady conceded that we are no longer under law, hence no need to follow the Jewish calendar. So I told her that if we are not following the Jewish calendar, hence there is no problem or law against celebrating birthdays via the pagan calendar.)




We left on peaceful terms, and I actually felt blessed from the conversation since we spoke about the Almighty G-d together and his Son. I also left with the realisation that if celebrating birthdays on a pagan calendar is immoral, what is more immoral is to not follow G-d's calendar. Further, there was no command to not celebrate birthdays, but there were explicit commands to keep G-d's sabbaths and convocations.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Jamaica is a Pagan Nation

When I was growing up, I believed that Jamaica was a Christian nation. All the wealthiest persons in Jamaican society and the people who were established seemed to be Christians or at least attend church services on Sunday.

I saw the Anglican Church as Jamaica's official church, noting that many schools were operated by the Anglican diocese. I attended Anglican preparatory and then high school, so you cannot blame me for coming to that conclusion.

I even believe that when I attended university, that even university had a Anglican chapel.

My awakening to the paganised Jamaican society came in my adult life. Attending the local university definitely exposed me to the pagan aspects that coexisted with the Christian ethic that guided the nation. I encountered:
  • a Satanist attending one of my class
  • secular lecturers
  • Anti-Christian lecturers
  • Sexual promiscuous class mates who were unbelievers and who questioned the Church and Christian ideals.
However, my eyes have been fully open now to the pagan elements that dominate the people of Jamaica.

Just walk on the street on a Sabbath (Saturday) or Sunday - the two days when people are to be in church. On the streets, you see people selling, idling, gambling and smoking, with no regard for G-d.

Tattoos, Shirts with skulls, shoes with skulls, belts with skulls, Posters with girls in skimpy clothing, girls on the street with skimpy clothing, men with cigars and ganga, men playing dominoes, loud objectionable music playing, bars with men and women, men and women in betting lines (for LOTTO tickets, horse betting and others).

This is what I see when I walk through Jamaica, on a day of worship (Saturday or Sunday). (More prevalent on the Saturday than the Sunday, as more church goers are seen on a Sunday and less selling and commerce on Sunday.)

It grieves my spirit to see that people just live without regularly attending church services, and in enjoying pleasures of sin, transgression and iniquity. I believe there are more bars/pubs in Jamaica than churches. There are also so many persons gambling.

While we have much religious freedom in this country, we also have much moral ills in the society. The ordinary man on the street is pagan and secular.

Pray for this nation.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Holy Convocation

Holy Days of God
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

The above slideshow is very interesting. They have replaced G-d's holy days in Leviticus 23 with their own version.

Anyway, I want to share with you a message I received on the Leviticus 23 passage. You can determine for yourself what to make of it. Below are the details.

Name of Fellowship: United Church of God
Location: Olympia Crown Hotel on 53 Molynes Road, Kingston 10
Date: November 22, 2008
Messenger: Lee Burke

Topic: Holy Convocation

"Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap."

Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.
(NIV): Ecclesiastes 11: 4 & 6
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecc%2011:4,6&version=31

There are no excuses for missing the holy convocations of God. In fact you are to make ample provision and preparation each week in order to attend.

The LORD has a requirement of us, but we attempt to make excuses. He requires us to meet at certain times of the year, but we excuse ourselves from those meetings. We do not attempt to plan and prepare to make those appointments.

When it was first given to Israel, G-d sought to teach the people that they need to prepare in advance for the Sabbath (Exodus 16).

G-d has ordained a purpose in the convocations. He has designed them for us to get right perspective on life.

The Psalmist in in Psalm 73 - if he did not go into the sanctuary (in verse 17), may have given up on the way of G-d. But because of how G-d designed holy convocation, the Psalmist gained understanding and right perspective from attendance.

In Acts 15:21, the apostles in deciding what requirements were necessary for the new Gentile converts, expected them to attend the sabbath readings at the synagogues in whatever town they were. At the sabbath holy convocations, the Torah or the Law was read, and people would learn G-d's law and requirements through these readings.

The holy convocations provided training in the Law of G-d and his requirements. Missing those convocations, meant missing out on the lessons that G-d would have us know that day. The Law is read on Sabbaths to keep us informed. When we are informed we can better do what G-d requires of us. On judgement day, we will have no excuses for disobedience, as we had ample opportunities to attend the holy convocations to be informed of G-d's requirements.

It is very important that we study the Torah/Law. JESUS taught that the Law spoke about salvation and about him (Luke 24:44-47). In fact, the scriptures (Law, Prophets and Psalms) contain the basic tenets of the Christian's gospel:
  • The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
  • repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
The Holy convocation or assembly provides opportunity for the believer to be meet others who can encourage the believer to do good and love. The believer also is required in the assembly to encourage others to do good works and to love (Hebrews 10:23-25).

There are those with the habit of missing the assembly, which G-d has designed for us to know the ways of life and to understand our purpose for existence and his purpose for our lives.

These convocations are where G-d wants us to be at the appointed time - to work upon us (Exodus 31:13). G-d uses these appointed times to set us apart and to sanctify us, making us different from the world.

When we miss the Sabbaths as a people and a nation, we miss the opportunity for G-d to work on us and we open up our world and our nation to evil (Ezekiel 22:24-31).

It is for our benefit that the Sabbaths were instituted, and as such we have a great responsibility in making it a delight (Isaiah 58:13-14). We must look forward to it, plan for it and prepare for it, and ensure that we take the time to make it a delightful day.

Conclusion:

There are no excuses for disobeying G-d in not observing the Sabbath and attending the holy convocations.

In fact, G-d expects that we will prepare for it each week, putting in place provisions and preparations to keep the appointments. G-d expects us to make the effort to meet the appointments. In addition, we must see to it that we make the effort to make the appointment interesting and delightful.

Readings on Genesis: Chapter 1

After reading chapter one of Genesis, we can see that the LORD caused all life to proceed out of water.

Before he spoke over water to bring forth life out of it, His Spirit hovered over (or moved on the face of according to KJV) the water.

This is a perfectly expounds the symbolism of baptism. That after being baptised, one is to expect a new life to proceed out of the individual who was baptised.


Other things to note:
  1. Light came out from Darkness
  2. Day came out from Night
  3. Dry Land (Earth) came out from Waters (Seas)
  4. Trees, Fruits, Grass and Herbs came out from the Earth (Land)
  5. Life (Sea creatures and birds) came forth out of Waters (Seas)
All life came out of and is nourished by water. G-d's anointing touched water, thus giving water life giving and sustaining power.

When one is baptised, the Holy Spirit comes down and touches the water in which one is dipped, giving the person the potential for new birth - just as in the day of creation.

Also to note:

G-d created lesser and greater lights. He however ensured that instead of starting the day with sunrise -and with the sun, the greater light, he started our day with evening and with the moon, which is the lesser light.

Thus we find throughout the Bible/Torah that G-d used the lesser light to indicate to man the times and seasons for worship. G-d used the moon, the lesser light as the basis of his calendar.


Two revelations have I received regarding this subject:

  • The reminder to men that our greatest glory is to come and follow the night. The new beginning of all things is to follow the end of the world. When Adam fell and it seem as if mankind story went into darkness and into an end. However, a new beginning and regeneration is to follow when the Son of G-d and man shall appear to put an end to sin and death - and darkness and evil and usher in a new age.

  • G-d always seeks the humble and lowly to do his purpose. He chose Jacob over Esau. G-d chose Israel over other nations because Israel was the smallest, poorest and weakest nation to keep his timetable and calendar in the earth.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The purpose of life for all humanity

I follow in the footsteps of Wisdom to analyse the purpose of life for all humanity. In Ecclesiastes 1:13, the Jewish philosopher, sought to do a similiar thing. He investigated the purpose of life as given by G-d. Like him I have done the same - and my answer is:

G-d has given man life, and specifically you and I life, for us to discover what contributions we must make on earth in the time given.

The playwright Shakespeare once wrote that "all the world is a stage"! How true it is! The earth is an arena, where each individual enters and exists. G-d has given each individual a unique contribution to make in the arena. Some make their contribution and then exit. Others make little contribution, less than their potential and exit.

One must determine what unique contribution one has or possesses to bring to humanity. What has G-d given you that you can contribute with your life in the time slot that he has assigned you to.

Thought or Take home point:
"God has given me both life and a time slot on earth to give a significant contribution to human society."


Life A Journey On Train
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: life inspirational)

Hebrew - the language of G-d?

Today I read the 28 October 08 FFOZ eDrash commentary on the - "Parashat Hashavuah": Noach - נח : "Noah"
Torah readings from : Genesis 6:9-11:32.

It told me that the Jews believe that the original language that God used to speak the world and all creation into existence was actually Hebrew. The commentary went on to indicate that when God restores all things, that mankind will return to speaking Hebrew.

Zephaniah 3:9 was also cited for reference!

See the below link for FFOZ eDrash commentaries.
http://www.torahportions.org/this-week.html

spiritual autobiography

Officially, I have served in two fellowships.

From 1983 to 2003, I faithfully attended and served in Worldwide Church of God.

Worldwide Church of God, originally founded by Herbert Amstrong, who is known by Evangelical Christianity as a heretic. I don't believe he was though. He sincerely preached the Old Testament and its relevance to modern Christianity. His message was eventually rejected by his spiritual successors.

His successors eventually sold Evangelical Christianity to me as teenager. I studied Billy Graham's evangelism course and later Dr. James Kennedy's Evangelism Explosion. I even joined Inter-School Christian Fellowship (ISCF), an organisation for Christian students. I later went to University, where for a time I attended the University and College Christian Fellowship (UCCF). After hearing them referring to a particular church group as a cult, I was no longer committed to the group.

After a year, I joined Advent Fellowship. This is a Fellowship for Students who were Seventh Day Adventists. This lead me to become a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and even to become a vegan. Thus I served in the church for a number of years.

I married a Baptist young lady, who was a believer in the Charismatic movement, which lead us to questioning each other's foundation. Eventually we met persons who believed in the Hebraic roots of Christianity, which helped me to rediscover truths that I left from Amstrong, and questions that were not answered in any of our denominations. In fact, Amstrong came closest out of all to addressing those questions.

This saw me returning to the roots, visiting both Church of God International and United Church of God. Despite the truths taught, both organisations still omitted other things that I had learnt from the various spiritual movements that God had exposed me to.

I also became involve in visiting the Jewish synagogue and subscribing to both a Judaism mailing list and a Messianic Jewish mailing list. These also helped me to recognise some of the biases that I learnt in my Christianity. It also helped to correct my learnt misconceptions about Jews and their beliefs.

See my slideshow below for more information

Who am I? What's my affiliation?

You are perhaps skeptic about who it is that is writing these reflections. You perhaps wonder what religion am I a part of, and what spirit is behind my writings.

First, let me introduce myself as a believer in the Bible! Both Old Testament and New Testament. From that you may deduce that I am a Christian. Of which I am.

However, I see myself as a Gentile called into Jewish traditions. Just that the one who called me into Jewish traditions is JESUS! JESUS and his early followers were Jewish and they have sought to get all non Jews to believe in the G-d of the Bible. Without JESUS and his disciples work, I would not know either the LAW or the grace of G-d! Knowledge of G-d would be hidden from me.

As such, I more see myself as a Judeo-Christian.

Ebenstein and Ebenstein in their book identify Judeo-Christian values as being those ideals about justice based on equality under the law and the respect for life and the rights of others - which comes out of monotheistic beliefs.

I am therefore a believer in what both Judaism and Christianity represents. In fact, I see no conflict between Jews and Christians. They both have the TRUTH! The problem is, that they have been divorced, and need to remarry! One has the Old Testament, and the other the New Testament. However, God only has one Testament! The Two are suppose to be one.


References:

Ebenstein , William & Ebenstein , Alan O. Great Political Thinkers: Plato to the Present, 1951. Fort Worth , Tokyo , 1991.

See bellow for my spiritual autobiography

The purpose of my blog

Today, I took stock of my life. In fact, G-d has consistently been sending me the message that time is short and I will have to give an account for my time here on earth.

As such I decided to meditate on if I was ready and prepared to die and face my Creator. I recognised that if I died tonight, there would be two things that I would have regretted.

  1. that I did not record any of the songs that the LORD gave me.
  2. that I did not publish the insights that G-d has revealed unto me.
As such, I have decided to start this blog, to share with the world a public record of my reflections, and the spiritual ideas that have been revealed to me via the listening of sermons, sermonettes or through the quiet times of reflection during my personal study, or via conversations with other human beings. So this begins the journey.

I hope you will all be blessed by the sharing from my soul to yours!