Trumpet Blasts

I felt like the Lord gave me a new insight this past Yom Teruah. This time when I heard the trumpets blown at the service, I was struck by the fact that there were numerous trumpet blasts and not just one. The way that we typically talk about Yom Teruah (day of blowing) is that it is a way to train our ears to hear the trumpet blast when Jesus (Yeshua) will return. However, the Scriptures say He will return at the last trumpet. I believe we are in a period of time where we are hearing multiple trumpets being blown, calling people to repent and turn to the Lord. We do not know when the last trumpet will be blown, so we need to be ready when the final call is made and the Lord returns in the air. Today is the day of grace. Turn to the Lord now before it is too late.

A Personal Passover

Can I share a "God moment" with you? I was driving to Vancouver last March and was asking the Lord some questions. One of the things I asked was "Are you punishing me?" As soon as I asked the question, I saw a Highway Patrol car, so I looked down and saw that I was driving 80 mph in a 70 mph zone. I was sure I was going to be pulled over. As I was pass the car, I kept watching my rear-view mirror. The patrol car pulled onto the highway, and I figured it was coming after me. Then it turned on its lights and pulled over the car three lanes away. The Lord spoke to me in the moment and said, "See I am not punishing you. You deserved to be punished, but I do not delight in punishing you." I cried (and slowed down).

Be Still

Observing Yom Kippur this past week had a way of focusing me that I did not expect. I woke up on Thursday morning hearing the Lord speaking over and over to me, "Be still and know that I am God." I lay frozen in my bed for quite a while. While I lay under my cozy blankets, I experienced a peace and calm that was wonderful. Although the phone calls that had gone to my voicemail earlier that morning plagued me a little, I realized that those calls could wait until the next day. Since then, I have felt a sense of calm that I haven't had for a long time. It is a realization that God is in charge and I need to trust Him. If I get fully stressed about a situation, it does not change what needs to be done to accomplish the task. Why do I work myself into mental exhaustion? What is the benefit?

One of the things that I have realized from observing God's appointed times is that I am more open/able to hear what He is saying on those days because distractions are nearly gone. The best part is that He speaks, wants to communicate with us, and desires good things for us. Blessed be His Name.

Speaking the truth

The period of time between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur is know as the "Ten Days of Awe." This is a time of introspection; a time to examine ourselves and ask the Lord to show us areas of sin. This year has been particularly interesting in that I am encountering some emotionally intense situations. When emotions rise to the surface, underlying motives are sometimes more readily identified. I have also been observing how delivering the same message in even slightly different ways can produce dramatically different results.

There are a few Scriptures that I have been mulling over lately.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." (Pro 27:17 ESV)

"but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Messiah; from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love." (Eph 4:15-16 HNV)

"For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Heb 4:12 HNV)

Sometimes, truth is cutting, but if it is spoken in love and humility, it is easier for the recipient to accept and incorporate the truth into his/her life. If both the truth teller and the truth receiver remain humble, the sting will be lessened. It is the difference between gently removing a sliver from the hand of a person who is remaining still, and brusquely pulling the sliver out of the hand of someone who keeps moving around. In both cases, the sliver may be removed, but the amount of emotional and physical pain present in the process will be significantly different.

Clean, purposeful, pruning hurts and may not be pretty in the moment, but the results are beautiful.

From the Archive

Because tomorrow at sundown begins another Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing), I thought I would repost something I wrote a couple years ago relating to this day. It was one of those "aha moments" for me in the desert. Maybe it will speak to you as well.

I had a memorable experience as I was making my way back to the US from Kenya. I needed to get to Nairobi from the remote area where I had been, which was about 16 hours by land vehicle, but only about 3 hours by plane. A Mission Aviation Fellowship plane made a stop every Tuesday and Friday at Korr. The missionary I was visiting had one of the ambulance drivers take me to catch the 6-seater propeller plane. He drove me two hours in the sand and heat to Korr.

I was told that the plane could arrive anytime between 11 am and 1 pm (typically). We (the ambulance driver and I) got to Korr a little before 11 am. For the first 20 minutes or so, the driver took care of a couple errands and I visited with someone I had met a year earlier. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know exactly where the plane would land, and I didn’t want to be preoccupied with something else when it came. My driver assured me that we would know when the plane arrived. Nevertheless, I told the driver that I wanted to wait close to the airstrip. He drove me to a Catholic compound, which was right next to the airstrip and where there was some shade. We sat and waited. I looked in the direction of the "runway," or where I was told it was. It just looked like a flat open space of sand right next to another flat open space of sand. Cattle were walking along a path near it.

As I sat in the dusty heat in a Toyota Land Cruiser ambulance waiting for the little propeller plane to appear in the clouds, I began to doubt. Airplanes in the northern desert of Kenya are not a common sight. The only things I saw in the sky were a few clouds, birds, dust, and the hot sun. I kept watching the sky while I listened for an airplane. I started to wonder if it was really going to come. You never know in Africa what type of delays can take place and there is no fast or reliable way to communicate a delay in that part of the country. What an unlikely place for an airplane to land--in the middle of the desert. Still, there shouldn't have been much reason to doubt since I arrived in the same place two weeks prior in a plane operated by the same organization. It was only 12:20, so it was still within the expected arrival time, but for some reason, I was really starting to worry. How long would I wait? What if it got to be 2, 3, or 4 pm and it hadn’t arrived yet? At what time would I decide to quit waiting? Then what would I do?

I started thinking about how much faith it required for me to believe that the plane would actually arrive. It was much more difficult to believe it here in the desert than at “real airports” where monitors list the expected arrival time and gate agents assure customers that the plane is coming. This time I was trusting the word of a person I talked to a week earlier on a satellite phone.

As I sat there and looked at the sky, I realized that it was just a few days before Yom Teruah or Day of Blowing (Sept 2006), where we look forward to the day when the trumpet will sound, the whole world will hear it, and the Lord will return in the clouds. I was actively listening & looking at the sky waiting for a plane...do I wait and watch as intently for the Lord to return? Do I believe God's Word that the Messiah is coming again? How often do I grow impatient and start thinking that maybe He really isn’t coming?

Suddenly, the driver said, "It's coming. I hear the plane!" I didn’t hear anything. But as I listened I started to hear it. The driver heard it much sooner than I did because his ear was trained to hear the plane. In a similar way, I want my ear well-trained to hear the Lord.

I was reminded of these verses:
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2Pe 3:8-14 ESV)

3 days and 3 nights

It was probably 10 years ago when I was plagued with a question that I asked everyone I saw (including pastors and theologians). The questions was this, "If Jesus died on a Friday how can you reconcile the fact that Jesus said 'Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so must the Son of Man be in the heart of the Earth.'" No one that I asked at that time had a satisfactory answer for me. The responses were either that Jesus was speaking figuratively, or else you had to do some fancy way of counting partial days and forget about the nights.

A year or so after I first had the question, someone pointed out to me that in John it is noted that Jesus died the day before a "Special Sabbath" and not on the 6th day of the week. Now, there was some hope for me to be able to reconcile this seeming inconsistency. Naturally, my next question was, "Why does the church so dogmatically say that He died on a Friday then?"

It wasn't until I started attending a Messianic congregation that I was finally able to see how the Christendom has made a lot of things fit the stories that it wants to tell. Well-meaning believers swallow the stories without checking out the facts. The Scriptures never say that "Palm Sunday" happened on the first day of the week. The "Last Supper" was not eaten as depicted in the paintings and did not happen on a Thursday. Jesus death could not have been on a Friday if we take His words literally. The time of the resurrection was during Passover, not set according to the vernal equinox (as is the case with Easter). Yet, if someone who is just reading the Bible points out these inconsistencies, he/she is labeled as a trouble-maker or as someone who is trying to stomp on tradition. I think tradition is fine if it does not contradict with Scripture.

It seems to me that remembering Jesus death and resurrection at the time of Passover is a logical thing to do. Why not actually be reminded that Jesus is the Passover Lamb? Why not eat the Passover meal? Why not use the Biblical calendar rather than a pagan calendar to remember His death and resurrection? Instead, the church has decided to remember a day based on the cycle of the sun rather than the moon , serve up an Easter ham rather than lamb, and promote a fictitious bunny who brings children candy in eggs that represent the goddess of fertility...I am confused.

Feast of Dedication

Tonight is the beginning of Hanukkah, which is an 8-day festival also known as the "Feast of Dedication" or the "Festival of Lights." Up until a few years ago, I was very ignorant about this holiday. I had the perception that it had little meaning and was somehow a Jewish imitation of Christmas. You can imagine that I was pretty shocked to find out that Jesus (Yeshua) observed this holiday as is recorded in John 10:22-23 ("Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade."-NIV). Hmm...was there a reason why he was at the temple at the time of this feast? If He recognized this festival, then maybe I should find out what this holiday means.

The word Hanukkah means "dedication" or "consecration" in Hebrew. It marks the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes, and the miraculous supply of oil occurring at that time. According to what was recorded, there was only enough consecrated oil to burn in the Temple for one day, but miraculously the oil burned for eight days. This was just enough time to press, prepare, and consecrate fresh olive oil for the Temple Menorah. God supplied the oil for the dedicated temple.

This is a good time to examine ourselves and rededicate ourselves to His service. We need to receive fresh oil, so we may burn as lights in this dark world. The best part is God freely gives the oil of the Holy Spirit to those who ask. All He needs is a dedicated vessel that is ready to receive this precious oil. It truly is a miracle. It reminds me of the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25), and how we need to be ready with our lamps burning brightly when the Son of Man appears.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Cor 6:19-20 NIV)."

Appointed Times

A few weeks ago, one of my cousins sent me an email asking me my opinion on this topic, which is what spurred me to write about it. My intent is not to trample on dearly held traditions, but to cause you to think about what has been lost through the centuries.

"What are the Biblical Holidays?" Five years ago I probably would have responded, "Christmas and Easter." If someone would have asked me "Can you find any verses in the Bible that say to celebrate those holidays on the specific days when they are celebrated?" I would have likely responded, "No, but..."

Did you know that there are seven holidays for which God gives specific days and specific instructions on when/how to observe them? Yes, I can give you several specific Biblical references. Start with Leviticus chapter 23. A common response I have heard is, "Oh, those are the ones in the Old Testament, so we don't have to do them anymore." My next question is, "Does that mean the Ten Commandments have also become irrelevant ?" Didn't Jesus (Yeshua) say that he did not come to abolish the Torah, but to fulfill it? It is pretty clear from the Gospels that Jesus (Yeshua) observed these holidays.

The following are the appointed times listed in Leviticus 23 (they can also be found in other places in the Scripture):
-Shabbat (Sabbath)
-Passover (deliverance from slavery in Egypt and also deliverance from sin by Jesus death)
-Yom Habikkurim (Feast of First Fruits--the day that the grave was found empty)
-Shavuot (Pentecost--50 days after Yom Habikkurim)
-Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing or Rosh Hoshana)
-Yom Kippur (Day of Atonment)
-Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)

The Shabbat is an appointed time that occurs every week, the next three take place in the spring, and the last three take place in the fall. They give us a picture of God's Divine plan (there is much that could be written here).

Last Sunday was Shavuot (Pentecost). It was not until 4 years ago that I found out that Pentecost was not just something that Christians observe, but it is a major Jewish festival as well. It is remembered as being when the Law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then about a couple thousand years later, the Holy Spirit was poured out on Shavuot as recorded in the Book of Acts. Isn't it amazing how God uses His appointed times to do remarkable things?

So, why do many Christians think that it is so wrong to celebrate these feasts now? Most people cannot anwer this question, they just have this "feeling" about them. Constantine and others around his time decided to try to strip Jewishness from Christianity, so they replaced the Biblical Feasts with Christmas and Easter, which coincided with existing pagan holidays. Now you might say, "Is it wrong to give/receive Christmas gifts and listen to Christmas music?" I don't think so. The thing that I notice about these holidays, which don't have any specific guidelines, is that they have morphed into things which are barely recognizable as remembering the birth and death of the Messiah. They have been replaced with lights, candy, and imaginary creatures. There is no Biblical outline for how they are to be celebrated, so it has been left up to humans to define.

There is so much depth and richness to celebrating the feasts that the Lord specified in the Scriptures. By ignoring them, we are missing out on learning more about His nature and character. I look at it this way, many people are settling for instant coffee when they could be having freshly ground and brewed gourmet coffee.

Waiting for a plane

As I sat in the dusty heat in a Toyota Landcruiser ambulance for a little 6-seater propeller plane to appear in the clouds, I began to doubt. Airplanes in the northern dessert of Kenya are not a common sight. Actually, in the village where I was waiting, one plane lands and takes off only two times a week (Tuesdays and Fridays). The town was about a 2 hour drive in the desert from the village I had been visiting. I was looking in the direction of the "runway," or where I was told it was. It just looked like a flat open space of sand right next to another flat open place of sand. The cattle were walking along a path near it. I guess the people around know that they should chase any animals away when they see the plane.

I was told that the plane could arrive anytime between 11 am and 1 pm (typically). You never know in Africa what type of delays can take place and there is no fast and reliable way to communicate a delay in that part of the country. I got to Korr at a little before 11 am, and we began waiting. I stopped to see someone I had met a year earlier, so I visited with her for about 20 minutes. Then my driver drove me to wait near the airstrip at a Catholic compound where there was some shade. We sat and waited. I kept watching the sky and listened for an airplane. I started to wonder if it was really going to come. What an unlikely place for an airplane to land--in the middle of the desert. There really shouldn't have been much reason to doubt since I arrived in Korr two weeks prior in a little plane operated by the same organization. But for some reason, I really started to wonder. How long will I wait? What will I do if it doesn't come? I started thinking that it really takes faith to believe that a plane will actually arrive. At other airports, a person sees the little monitor telling the arrival/departure times of the plane. We know that those times are obtained through radar tracking and communication with the pilot. I am usually fairly confident that what I see posted on the screen is fairly accurate (unless the word "delayed" is posted behind the flight). This time I was trusting the word of the person I talked to a week earlier.

I realized that day was just a few days before Rosh Hoshana (Sept 2006), where we look forward to the day when the trumpet will sound and the whole world will hear it. I was listening & looking at the sky waiting for a plane...do I wait and watch as intently for the Lord to return? Do I believe God's Word when He says He is coming again? Suddenly, the driver said, "It's coming. I hear the plane." As I listened I started to hear it, but he heard it much sooner than I did. His ear was trained to hear the plane. I want my ear trained to hear the Lord. What a great lesson to learn in the desert.