Shma Yisra’el, ADONAI Elohaynu ADONAI echad
Hear, Israel, the LORD (YHWA) our God, the LORD (YHWH) is One Deuteronomy 6:4
The “hear” used here is the Hebrew word Shema, which means not just hear but hear intelligently. When asked of Jesus, what the most important commandment of all was, Jesus quoted the Shema. (Mark 12:28-29). The Shema today is often recited by practicing Jews to protect them from sinning. From what I have heard and read, the Shema has become a stumbling block for practcing Jews to accept Christianity because of our 3 in One God.
Why do you ask did I have to write about the Shema, well Beryl got me started. You see when we were recapping on the names of God last Tuesday, she started with Elohim, the Creator who created the universe and all things around us (Genisis 1:1 and Hebrews 11:3). Beryl then tied in Jesus and the Holy Spirit as creators as well (Colossians 1:16 and Genisis 1:2-3). Why did Jesus answer that the most important commandment was that God was one, not two or three gods? Off I went home to find out more in our 3 in One God.
After all my scratching around, will I ever fully understand the how God is one?
John 4:24 - God is Spirt
John 10:30 - I (Jesus) and the Father are one
John 17:3 - Jesus prays to his Father, the only true God
Acts 5:3-4 - ….filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirt … You have not lied to men but to God
Ephesians 4:30 - the Holy Spirt of God
1 Corinthians 8:6 - one God the Father …. one Lord (Adonai / Master) Jesus Christ (Messaia)
Plus many more……
“… For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” - Romans 11:36
Let Go and Let God
25 January 2007
21 January 2007
A good start
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, …”
Although many did make it, our first family get together this year was wonderful. We had three new faces and I want to take this oportunity to welcome again Melissa, Petra and Rob to our family. I pray that God will bless you through this group as much as He has blessed me by belonging to this family. Those who have not met them yet, get yourselves to the next get together, pronto.
As I said earlier, last Tuesday night we had a wonderful time getting to know the newcomers. We all shared our thoughts about the coming year and at the end after a time of prayer Sandy summed it up with this reading
".. that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God ….”
“… Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
All scriptures quoted above are from Ephesians Chapter 3
Let Go and Let God
Although many did make it, our first family get together this year was wonderful. We had three new faces and I want to take this oportunity to welcome again Melissa, Petra and Rob to our family. I pray that God will bless you through this group as much as He has blessed me by belonging to this family. Those who have not met them yet, get yourselves to the next get together, pronto.
As I said earlier, last Tuesday night we had a wonderful time getting to know the newcomers. We all shared our thoughts about the coming year and at the end after a time of prayer Sandy summed it up with this reading
".. that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God ….”
“… Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
All scriptures quoted above are from Ephesians Chapter 3
Let Go and Let God
14 January 2007
Letting go
It is so good to back behind the computer after some quality time away with my family. How about you? Did you enjoy the break? I pray that God was not left behind when you went away. Last year is down as one of my worst years ever but I feel that this year will be one of my best. I feel that God is moving in my life, moving in a way that I didn’t expect.
Towards the end of last year I watched Plumber Mike and Gary Carter comparing their body curves and it got me thinking about how so busy we are with our outta self, nip here and tuck there, that we forget about the inside. Beauty for real is a inside job. This year will be about the inside. God wants to renew your relationship with him. I don’t believe God has brought you this far just to leave you. We need to let go of last year and let God take us into the new.
Here is a poem, author unknown, called Broken Dreams …
As children bring their broken toys
with tears for us to mend
I brought my broken dreams to God
because He is my friend
But then instead of leaving Him
In peace to work alone
I hang around and tried to help
With ways that were my own
At last I snatch them back
and cried how can you be so slow
My child, He said, what could I do,
You never did let go.
So now is the time to go and let God
Towards the end of last year I watched Plumber Mike and Gary Carter comparing their body curves and it got me thinking about how so busy we are with our outta self, nip here and tuck there, that we forget about the inside. Beauty for real is a inside job. This year will be about the inside. God wants to renew your relationship with him. I don’t believe God has brought you this far just to leave you. We need to let go of last year and let God take us into the new.
Here is a poem, author unknown, called Broken Dreams …
As children bring their broken toys
with tears for us to mend
I brought my broken dreams to God
because He is my friend
But then instead of leaving Him
In peace to work alone
I hang around and tried to help
With ways that were my own
At last I snatch them back
and cried how can you be so slow
My child, He said, what could I do,
You never did let go.
So now is the time to go and let God
21 November 2006
Yo Pimp Daddy
Yo Pimp Daddy’s treads so bananas, he gotta wear deam shades.;-)
Rough translation (Your Mr Cool shoe’s are extremely cool that he got to wear sunglasses)
Okay for those who need an explanation, Plumber Mike came not once but twice with these bright yellow plastic Crocs to homies (and last week’s movie). Mike proudly states that he bought 8 pairs of them for his family in assorted bright colours. Maybe I’m just not cool enough to know what makes Pimp Daddy want to own such bright yellow shoes.
Well his missus sure made it up to us by leading us into 3 more names of God….
"He must become greater; I must become less" John 3:30
Denise covered El Elyon, El Shaddai and Adonai. What stood out for me was Beryl’s last comment before we closed on God, LORD and Lord.
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain … having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better”.
It is not very easy to live these words and to hand over FULL control to the one who knows you so well.
Rough translation (Your Mr Cool shoe’s are extremely cool that he got to wear sunglasses)
Okay for those who need an explanation, Plumber Mike came not once but twice with these bright yellow plastic Crocs to homies (and last week’s movie). Mike proudly states that he bought 8 pairs of them for his family in assorted bright colours. Maybe I’m just not cool enough to know what makes Pimp Daddy want to own such bright yellow shoes.
Well his missus sure made it up to us by leading us into 3 more names of God….
"He must become greater; I must become less" John 3:30
Denise covered El Elyon, El Shaddai and Adonai. What stood out for me was Beryl’s last comment before we closed on God, LORD and Lord.
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain … having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better”.
It is not very easy to live these words and to hand over FULL control to the one who knows you so well.
01 November 2006
Noise
Praise be to God for all this lovely rain and for those who were inconvenienced by the rain while sitting in traffic, more praise for God being so good to grant you some silent time with him. And for those still stuck in traffic and reading this, shame on you for only thinking about yourself, switch off, and start have a conversation with God. You will be surprised.
Wow is all I can say about Rob Bell’s short but silent DVD “Noise”. I can even say it backwards - wow.
What a fresh and innovative approach. Those who missed Tuesday night get the DVD that is all I am going to say. I will let Rob continue from here …
Why is silence so hard to deal with?
Why is it so much easier for us to live our lives with a lot of things going on all the time than to just be in silence? We’re constantly surrounded with “voices” that are influencing us on how to think, feel, and behave. Movies, music, TV, Internet, cell phones, and a never-ending barrage of advertising. There’s always something going on. Always noise in our lives. But maybe there’s a connection between the amount of noise in our lives and our inability to hear God. If God sometimes feels distant to us, maybe it’s not because he’s not talking to us, but simply because we aren’t really listening.
Wow, again. How many times have I just rattled off my issues to God and not stopped to listen to what he has to say on the issues. How many times have I asked God for help and while he is showing me, I get the idea, push God aside try do it again on my own while God just stands there and says “.. but I have not finished showing you…”
To really HEAR God speak to us jumble the words of LISTEN and you’ll get….
wait for it …
SILENT
Yes wow again.
Wow is all I can say about Rob Bell’s short but silent DVD “Noise”. I can even say it backwards - wow.
What a fresh and innovative approach. Those who missed Tuesday night get the DVD that is all I am going to say. I will let Rob continue from here …
Why is silence so hard to deal with?
Why is it so much easier for us to live our lives with a lot of things going on all the time than to just be in silence? We’re constantly surrounded with “voices” that are influencing us on how to think, feel, and behave. Movies, music, TV, Internet, cell phones, and a never-ending barrage of advertising. There’s always something going on. Always noise in our lives. But maybe there’s a connection between the amount of noise in our lives and our inability to hear God. If God sometimes feels distant to us, maybe it’s not because he’s not talking to us, but simply because we aren’t really listening.
Wow, again. How many times have I just rattled off my issues to God and not stopped to listen to what he has to say on the issues. How many times have I asked God for help and while he is showing me, I get the idea, push God aside try do it again on my own while God just stands there and says “.. but I have not finished showing you…”
To really HEAR God speak to us jumble the words of LISTEN and you’ll get….
wait for it …
SILENT
Yes wow again.
25 October 2006
On a hot summers evening
On a hot and balmy Tuesday evening, five homies met at the home of their ring leaders, Andy and Sandy. With their numbers so few they debated whether to start or postpone the deed. During the deliberation they were join by two more who were delayed due to security reasons. So with their numbers bolstered, Sandy led the group in exploring the names of God. And what an evening it turned out to be. Shortly after the start Denise gave the group some sage words “God lets your test be your testimony and your mess be your message”, which set the scene for the discussion of the names of God - Elohim and Jehovah.
“The seed for a great miracle lies not in difficulty, but impossibility”
“The seed for a great miracle lies not in difficulty, but impossibility”
18 October 2006
The Best Question Ever
We have just finished the series “The Best Question Ever” in the light of our Past experience, Present circumstances and our Future hopes and dreams (by Andy Stanley). Other than the music I think we all enjoyed the DVD.
We’ve all made some pretty dumb decisions in our lives and for me there are chapters in my past that I’d like to rewrite. The last Tuesday was about letting go of the paint brush and letting God guide us. We are all proud (talking about me again) and very scared to just hand over the brush. In light of my past hurts and failures, my present circumstances and the future that God has promised me, what is the wisest thing to do? Do I have to wait for God to pry open my fingers? Trust is easy to say but to just let God take control is not easy - Janis gave us that example of Charles Blondin taking his son across the Niagara Falls in a wheelbarrow via tightrope.
Sandy shared with us the wonderful experiences of Emmy, the Taxi and the Rastafarian. Sorry but I can never do this story any justice so for those who missed I will ask Emmy to tell the story
We’ve all made some pretty dumb decisions in our lives and for me there are chapters in my past that I’d like to rewrite. The last Tuesday was about letting go of the paint brush and letting God guide us. We are all proud (talking about me again) and very scared to just hand over the brush. In light of my past hurts and failures, my present circumstances and the future that God has promised me, what is the wisest thing to do? Do I have to wait for God to pry open my fingers? Trust is easy to say but to just let God take control is not easy - Janis gave us that example of Charles Blondin taking his son across the Niagara Falls in a wheelbarrow via tightrope.
Sandy shared with us the wonderful experiences of Emmy, the Taxi and the Rastafarian. Sorry but I can never do this story any justice so for those who missed I will ask Emmy to tell the story
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