Gideon's Name Change

Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built.  So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.”  But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.” (Judges 6:25-32),

I have been pondering Gideon's call as a Judge/Leader of Israel.  Gideon seems to have had a less than stellar pedigree (at least in human terms).  He wasn't from the right tribe, he wasn't the first born son, etc., etc.  Gideon's only claim to leadership? He heard from Yahuweh!  Once hearing from the Almighty, Gideon tore down the altar of Baal and destroyed other symbols of pagan worship.  He was so fearful of the consequences to his family, that he performed his deeds of destruction at night.  When it was discovered that Gideon was the man who caused the Baal worship problems, he was branded with a moniker that means in essence "Troubler of Baal". 

We are living in a day when once again, there is a need for the men and women of the Creator to stand up and be counted.  First of all the pagan 'high places' must be torn down in our own lives.  As we take a stand for righteousness expect friends and family members to reject your ideas and opinions.  Don't be surprised when you are branded as "living under the law" or misguided, etc.  Such is the cost of leadership in the day in which we live.  If our Heavenly Father did not believe you could handle the call that is on your life, He wouldn't have given it to you.

The Joseph Connection

 

The following is an excerpt from an article by the same title from our website.  As with all of our material, this article is a 'work in process.  changes and additions are made as appropriate.  See the complete article at www.house2life.org.

 

Joseph was sold into slavery.  He had to endure hardship in

order to become fulfilled in his destiny.  His hardship became

his training ground.  He found himself in a foreign land, subject

to unfamiliar customs and culture, and yet prospered under

Yahuweh’s providential hand.  It was in the midst of the

foreign prison that Joseph accepted his responsibility to

become salvation for Egypt and Israel.   I submit to you that

the church (especially in the United States of America) has

been in a prison and is about to be released.   Just as Joseph

was kept in prison by the lies of others, we too have been

bound by the lies of our forefathers (Jeremiah 16:19).  At this

juncture, it would be tempting to bemoan the fact that we

have been in prison.  It is far more productive, however, if we

begin to examine what we are to do with our new found

freedom. 

The church has settled for a religious system that misses the

mark of the ‘high calling’ of our Messiah.  We must repent of

the sins of the past and learn to live responsibly to the freedom

given to us through the blood of Yeshua.  Our houses of

worship must be “seeker-sensitive” only to the degree that the

seeker is looking for eternal life and not simply entertainment. 

Our evangelism methods must move from models that are

concerned with census figures to relationship structures that

are governed by Scripture alone.  Leadership must accept the

challenge to build the Kingdom instead of building their local

congregations.  Now is the time to take the gospel outside the

four walls of the physical buildings and into the marketplaces

of society.  Church leaders must release their people to do the

work of the ministry.

Shalom

An Anchor Bolt

Every once in awhile, it is extremely important that we, as believers take a hard look at what it is that makes us believers. We are so fractured and disjointed that I am amazed that the Body of Messiah can even function. Were it not for our supernatural Head, function would be quite impossible. My personal study, over the past week, has led me to take inventory of my own doctrinal positions. Because we examine subjects that have become somewhat controversial it would be easy to draw conclusions that may not be true.

An Anchor Bolt is an extremely important piece of the building construction puzzle. It is the connection point between the foundation of a building and its framing. It has one end set in concrete and the other attached through framing members. The anchor bolt keeps the building intact during storms and adverse situations. The anchor bolt's placement and frequency of use by and large dictates the type of structure on top of the foundation. If the anchor bolts are inadequate, the building will fail.

The Anchor Bolt I want to address today is our salvation through the blood of Messiah. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. " (Ephesians 2:8,9). Much of what we teach (here and other ministry outlets) has to do with obedience in one way or another. I remind myself (and you) that my obedience can NEVER gain me an ounce of favor with my Heavenly Father. Personal obedience is for MY benefit alone. My obedience (or lack of it) does not help or harm my All Sufficient Creator! I don't obey to be saved...I obey BECAUSE I am saved.

I realize that a myriad of doctrines have used this anchor bolt as a launching pad and many of those doctrines are diametrically opposed to each other. That does not change the point, and in the words of an old church hymn, "my anchor holds, and grips the Solid Rock!"

Shalom

The Restoration Process

 

The following is an excerpt from a series of studies that is just now becoming available via my web site www.house2life.org.  Although not yet ready for download, there is still some provocative reading there.

 

Restoration- res·to·ra·tion

Function: noun

: the act of restoring or the condition of being restored: as a : a returning to a normal or healthy condition

It is a fact of human nature that we will not change until the change is perceived to make us more comfortable than the state in which we currently find ourselves. 

Understanding this most basic of human behaviors causes us to realize that neither truth or the lack thereof is sufficient to motivate us to change.  We are “Comfort Creatures.”  Unless a restoration has a direct appeal to ease our level of comfort, most times it will not be given a second thought. 

A primary responsibility of the individual(s) called upon to undertake restoration is to create a sense of discomfort with the current state of the article needing to be restored.  This is true whether we are talking about a priceless work of art, a building that needs remodeled and updated, or the Church of Jesus Christ (Assembly of Ye’shua the Messiah).  Scripture tells us that Messiah is returning for a Bride that has thoroughly prepared herself for His coming. Everything we do in service to the Messiah must be in relationship to the love that is exhibited between our Heavenly Father and His Bride.  Ephesians 5:25-27 says; “Husbands, love your wives, as Messiah also did love the assembly and gave Himself for it, in order to set it apart and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, in order to present it to Himself a splendid assembly, not having spot or wrinkle or any of this sort, but that it might be set-apart and blameless.  

Knowing that most of the Body of Messiah is in a state of lethargic comfort, we realize that promoting restoration will be met with great skepticism.  Therefore, at the risk of being labeled “troublemakers” we undertake our first task, which is causing dissatisfaction with the status quo.

 

Shalom

Success...on His Terms

Moses had just passed away and Joshua was now in charge of the Children of Israel.  Obviously he is struggling with the tremendous responsibility that he has inherited. Look at what Yahuweh says to him. 

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9)

Notice the encouragement "Be strong and of good courage."  Apparently the Almighty thought the statement important enough to repeat it three times in the same number of verses.  As our responsibility increases, our desire to 'tuck tail and run' increases to the same degree.  In this case, our Loving Heavenly Father not only gave the encouragement, He gave the instructions on how to accomplish His will.  He told Joshua to meditate on His laws (Hebrew word: Torah which means His teaching and instruction).  The word success in verse 8 is the only time we see this word in the entirety of the King James version of Scripture.  I believe that adds to its poignancy all the more.  We are in a day when believers are going to be called upon to exercise courage.  We must be examples of success.  the prescription for that success is still the same.  Meditate in and practice ALL the teachings and instructions of the Creator of the universe.  He made it all...He knows how it works!

 

Shalom

Old Eddie - A lesson in History

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.

Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier.  Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp.

Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.

Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts....and his bucket of shrimp.

Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.

Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly.

Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds.  As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, "Thank you.  Thank you."

In a few short minutes the bucket is empty.  But Ed doesn't leave.

He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place.  Invariably, one of the gulls lands on his sea-bleached, weather-beaten hat - an old military hat he's been wearing for years.

When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.

If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like "a funny old duck," as my dad used to say. Or, "a guy that's a sandwich shy of a picnic," as my kids might say. To onlookers, he's just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.

To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant ....maybe even a lot of nonsense.

Old folks often do strange things, at least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters.

Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida. That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better.

His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero back in World War II. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.

Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were.

They needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle.  They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft.

Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull!

Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal - a very slight meal for eight men - of it. Then they used the intestines for bait. W ith it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait......and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued. (after 24 days at sea...)

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first lifesaving seagull. And he never stopped saying, "Thank you." That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

PS: Eddie was also an Ace in WW I and started Eastern Airlines .

Thanks to whomever emailed this to me...

 

Shalom

Check it Out...Please!

Yesterday, I spent a considerable amount of time researching  my passion, end times prophesies.  I am amazed at the propensity of so-called religious leaders to put out information/predictions and expect people to swallow it hook, line and sinker.  The sad thing is many if not most people do.  I include those preachers who are preaching a warm fuzzy massage, as well as those who are putting forth a doom and gloom future.  How do we sort it out?  The answer is in the pages of Scripture itself.  John 4:1-3 gives this warning:  

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,  and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.  And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

Because of the condition of the world, people are looking for answers.  Because of the condition of mankind, people are willing to get their answers from any and every source that makes them feel a little better.  Remember it is the desire for personal comfort that causes us to be open to deception.  The Bible teaches that teachers will be held accountable for what they teach (James 3:1) but you, as an individual will be held accountable for the information that you act on.  Whether it comes from a televangelist, your local pastor, an angel or me, please check it out for yourself (Galatians 1:8,9).

 

Shalom