Tisha B'Av
The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying:  Thus spoke Yahweh, Master of Legions, saying: 'Judge with truthful justice, and perform kindness and mercy towards one another.  Do not oppress the widow and the orphan, the stranger and the poor, and do not think in your hearts of wronging one another.'  But they refused to heed, and they turned a rebellious shoulder, they made their ears hard of hearing.  They made their hearts like hard iron, rather than hear the teaching and the words that Yahweh, Master of Legions, had sent by His spirit through the earliest prophets, and there was a great rage sent from Yahweh, Master of Legions.  And it happened that just as He had called, but they did not listen, 'So will they call out and I will not listen,' said Yahweh, Master of Legions; 'and I will cause them to be storm-tossed among all the nations that they did not know.  After that the land became deserted from any who come and go; they made an exquisite land into a desolation.   Zechariah 7:8-14

Which is in fulfillment of Yahweh's warning in Deuteronomy 11: Beware for yourselves, lest your heart be seduced and you turn astray and serve gods of others and prostrate yourselves to them.  Then the wrath of Yahweh will blaze against you; He will restrain the heaven so there will be no rain, and the ground will not yield it's produce; and you will be swiftly banished from the goodly Land that Yahweh gives to you.

Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of the 5th month, is a day of fasting and mourning.  It was on this day, so many years ago, that the spies returned from reconnoitering the Land of Israel, and the people wept, because there were giants in the Land.  For this sin of not trusting Yahweh, they had to wander in the wilderness for another 40 years, and nearly that entire generation died without seeing the Land of promise.  This is also the anniversary of destruction of both the 1st and 2nd temples, along with many other painful events in Israel's history.  As I see it, the most important thing to remember on this day is the sins of  our forefathers, in order that we may avoid repeating their mistakes.  The heart cry of all Israel on this day must be Lamentations 5:21: "Bring us back to You, Yahweh, and we shall return, renew our days as of old!" 

Our Father in the heavens, please turn us again toward you.  Encourage us to repent.  Yeshua, may Your life be evident in my life.  I just want to obey You, Yahweh, and to be Your friend. 

And there's hope!  "Thus said Yahweh, Master of Legions: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will be for the House of Judah for joy and for gladness and for cheerful festivals.  Love truth and shalom!"  Zechariah 8:19

 

Arguing doesn't acheive anything.  Real action does.  I want everyone to understand the truth of the Scriptures, but the most effective way I can do that is to show the reality of the gospel in my life.  And that is something that's hard to do over the internet.  Every now and then I try post a comment on someone else's website, usually in an attempt to point out anti-Torah sentiment for the sin I believe it to be.  I did it again today, on Jordon Cooper's website.  Dozens of people will probably read my comment now, and totally misunderstand what I wrote, for the simple reason that they know virtually nothing about the real Joel.  Still, it's fun to just let out a good ol' fundamentalist rant now and again.  I'm thankful to Jordon for putting up with my comment, along with everyone else's.

Shabbat.  The moon says it's the 6th day of the 5th month.   Tisha B'Av, the 9th of the 5th month, is only three days away.  This is the fast day in memory of the destruction of both the first and second temples, among other events.  It is traditional to read the book of Lamentations on this day.  For my brother Judah the destruction of the temple is an event of massive significance, and it is for me as well.  But what does it really mean for Israel?  After all, the temple only existed for a fraction of history.  And yet the temple, and "Temple Mount," continue to be at the forefront of everyone's thoughts to this day.  I know more about this issue than I'm letting on, but I still have much to learn.  Perhaps I'll study the temple for the next few days, and post my discoveries.  I have time now, because I quit my job. 

Well, it's high time I post again, so here's one of my favourite poems from one of my favourite poets; the late, great G.K. Chesterton:

The Song of Right and Wrong
 
Feast on wine or fast on water
And your honour shall stand sure,
God Almighty's son and daughter
He the valiant, she the pure;
If an angel out of heaven
Brings you other things to drink,
Thank him for his kind attentions,
Go and pour them down the sink.
 
Tea is like the East he grows in,
A great yellow Mandarin
With urbanity of manner
And unconsciousness of sin;
All the women, like a harem,
At his pig-tail troop along;
And, like all the East he grows in,
He is poison when he's strong.
 
Tea, although an Oriental,
Is a gentleman at least;
Cocoa is a cad and coward,
Cocoa is a vulgar beast,
Cocoa is a dull, disloyal,
Lying, crawling cad and clown,
And may very well be grateful
To the fool that takes him down.
 
As for all the windy waters,
They were rained like tempests down
When the good drink had been dishonoured
By the tipplers of the town;
When the red wine has brought red ruin
And the death-dance of the times,
Heaven sent us Soda Water
As a torment for our crimes.

And there you have it...

As for me, I have one final day of work tomorrow, and then I'll be off for new adventures.  I'll keep ya'll informed!

Shabbat again!  Thank you Father!
 
For the last three evenings I've been gathering with members of the Torah-submissive community to hear Terry Fehr speak.  Terry's been intensively studying the Scriptures for the past few years, and his area of expertise is chronology. 
 
I told my employers that I'm going to be done working for them at the end of next week.  So what happens now?      For now I sleep.  Shabbat Shalom, world.

"Have you no homes to go to? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves." -Declan de Barra, lead singer of Clann Zu.

I went to the Teargas show at the Unitarian Centre last night. The lineup: No Birds, Parades Against Parades, Fractal Pattern, and Clann Zu. All the groups demonstrated some fiercely good musicianship. I'm quite fond of the special music scene we have in Saskatoon, and I'm continually impressed by the work that Steve and Jim, the Teargas guys, are doing.

I had a wonderful Shabbat. On Shabbat Evening I slept outside on our trampoline. I awoke before the sun rose to hear birds singing and to see the waning moon high in the Eastern sky. Then I had a long prayer time in the backyard after the sun rose. In the afternoon the local Torah-submissive community had a gathering. It was good to see all of those folks.

Last night my family was at the Johnsons' house, and we "played Torah". It's this wonderful game where participants act out the words of the Torah. Once you've acted out the words, it makes it easier to remember them.

it's a wonderful evening for love
breeze is gentle and no clouds above
if i find the girl i've missed for so long
i won't need to write another single word to this song

she is out there
my father knows where
but i don't
so i have to trust
i must i must

it's a beautiful day for love
to love is to give
to give is to die
and to be raised to new life
new life in Christ
to live-love-largely to the whole-wide-world


Shabbat Shalom !

I went to see Aaron Neville and his quintet (featuring Charles Neville on horns) at the Bessborough gardens today. It was an amazing concert. I was thoroughly entertained.

Sola Scriptura! Our faith is based on the Word of God, and nothing but the Word of God, so help us God. If we want to be obedient, then we have to study the whole Bible, from the Torah to the letters of Paul, and then not fail to keep every last eternal word. If it really is the Word of God, then we have to be zealous to obey it, and not ignore the "hard teachings", or follow the doctrines of men. We see the example of Pinchas in this week's Torah portion. In the first part of Numbers 25, we read about Israel's descent into immorality, and how Pinchas Ben Elazar was zealous to keep God's word. He knew that the fornication and idolatry that many Israelites were committing was sin, and he also knew that the punishment for these sins is death. And so he acted, killing Zimri and Cozbi, and then the plague upon Israel was stopped. Would to Yahweh that we could all be so zealous for the truth, eh! And so it is crucial to meditate and learn His Word, so that we can be faithful to obey. And may the Spirit aid us in our weakness, and teach us every good thing.

Kevin Johnson has returned to Saskatoon!

I've been enjoying life so much lately. It just gets better and better. I'm thankful to my Father in Heaven for his lovingkindness.

I get a long weekend, thanks to my kind boss. Starting today, four days off!

Last night I went to Kiwanis park with my family to hear Megan Lane play on the Jazz Festival free stage.