Shir HaMa'alot:

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Yahweh.
Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
If thou, Yahweh, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
I wait for Yahweh, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: they that watch for the morning.
Let Israel hope in Yahweh: for with Yahweh there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Here's a promising new website: Israelity. A handful of English-speaking bloggers in Israel have joined together to bring us a taste of slices of "normal" Israeli life.

I often read several books at the same time. Er, that's not quite accurate. I'm not that talented. Rather, I often alternate between reading books, so that the time period that it takes me to read a book from start to finish overlaps with the time period it takes to read another book. (Whatever a 'time period' is...and what if a time period is the same as time? Apparently, time can be quite ambiguous word.)

One of the books I'm currently reading is The Chosen People by Don Esposito. I met Don and his wife Petra in Israel a year ago, and they impressed me as being genuine believers in the Messiah. This is Don's most recent book. Check out this quote from the first chapter:

"When looking at the plan of Salvation of Yahweh, it is only logical that we begin where the Everlasting Covenant was established, with Abraham. We must also realize that our Elohim (Hebrew for God) is an Elohim of covenants, NOT religion. Elohim made man in His Own image, yet for the last six thousand years, man has re-created Elohim in his image. Religion is a man-made entity that has been used to brainwash and control the minds of people almost since time began.

Our Elohim is not about religion, but about covenant relationships. A covenant is an agreement between two parties, in which each party has an obligation under the agreement to fulfill. The most solemn of all covenants is the blood covenant. Each person who repents of his sins and accepts the shed blood of Yahshua (true Hebrew name for Jesus) enters into covenant with Yahweh the Father, through the blood of His Son Yahshua. The only way to have eternal life dwelling in you is by entering this blood covenant relationship; yet, how few who have been immersed (baptized) into the Name of Yahshua even know what the agreement is that they are coming under? In a world of religion, most churches want you to just accept "Jesus" into your heart, when in reality the only way to truly have eternal life is to enter the blood covenant with the Father through Yahshua's sacrifice."

Don's website.


In other news, for all you folks out there that love the Homestar Runner and his friends, please view the Homestar Runner Wiki. Lots of fun trivia and info

Rmation.

Shabbat was peaceful.

This evening many bloggers from Saskatoon and P.A. had a mini-convention, and I was there. I had a wonderful time. Becky has a list of all the attendees here.
After all the festivities at the Fox and Hounds, P.D., Jadon, and I journeyed on to 411 Ave.U, and continued the party there with Grant and several females (and I don't mean Sioux). Now, home again, I shall soon sleep. Please excuse me as I abscond.

1. I'm back at the house on Trent Crescent, Saskatoon.
2. This week I went skiing at Kimberley, B.C.! I love downhill skiing! I love mountains!
3. I bought kumquats at a store in Calgary's Chinatown area.
4. I finished reading George Eliot's novel, Daniel Deronda. After I read the final chapter and looked back to the first words, I realized that the book is sooo big! The characters and their relationships between each other are huge and lifelike. Gwendolen...Daniel...they're giants!
5. I talked to Deborah Penner via telephone. What a blessing that was. She's definitely a woman who loves Yeshua. It's so encouraging for me to realize that this body of Christ, this nation of Israel, this kahal goyim (congregation of nations) is huge, and the super-glue that binds us together is the Messiah! Thousands upon thousands of us, and each of us has had a personal revelation of Yeshua, and we're following Him!
6. Yeshua was a son of Abraham. Nothing is more important than this single detail. I know now.
7. I love my family.

Ok folks, I'll be traveling around Alberta and British Columbia for a week, so no blogging for a while.

Note: South Africans are beautiful, special people. Last night reaffirmed that for me.



Something I'm wondering: what's the deal with Lent? Why does every Joe Christian around here give up something for Lent? I admit that there's much physical and spiritual benefit from fasting and self-restraint; however, it's ridiculous for all these "Protestant" Christians to be observing non-scriptural Roman Catholic rituals. Lent has become a fad among post-modern Christians, and even among non-believers! I have a straightforward question for anyone who will listen: Is obeying the commandments of men service to God, or service to the world?

Ok, enough preaching from me. Here's what Paul wrote to the church of Colossae:

If you have died with Messiah to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using) - in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
If then you have been raised up with Messiah, keep seeking the things above, where Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Shavua Tov!

I read the end of Plato's Phaedo to my brother Justice yesterday, and it spawned some thoughts about the differences between the death of Socrates, and the death of Yeshua of Nazareth.
Socrates calmly drank the draught of hemlock, lay down, and died, rebuking his friends for their tears. Yeshua, however, in the days of his flesh, offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto the One that was able to save him from death. "Abba, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not my will but your will be done." As he was dying on the cross, he called in a loud voice the eternal words from Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!"

'But come, Crito, let us do as he says. Someone had better bring in the poison, if it is ready prepared; if not, tell the man to prepare it.'

'But surely, Socrates, ' said Crito, 'the sun is still upon the mountains; it has not yet gone down. Besides, I know that in other cases people have dinner and enjoy their wine, and sometimes the company of those whom they love, long after they receive the warning; and only drink the poison quite late at night. Please don't hurry; there is still plenty of time.'

'It is natural that these people whom you speak of should act in that way, Crito,' said Socrates, 'because they thing that they gain by it. And it is also natural that I should not; because I believe that I should gain nothing by drinking the poison a little later - I should only make myself ridiculous in my own eyes if I clung to life and hugged it when it has no more to offer. Come, do as I say and don't make difficulties.'


Then Yeshua said to disciples, 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'


Rosh Chodesh Sameach - happy New Month!

Two blogs I've been visiting recently: SeekingBinah and Treppenwitz. I have included them among my other links.

Oh Platon! Today I read Plato's dialogue Euthyphro with my 11 year old brother. It's all about finding an ultimate standard for holiness. Some of the finer points were hard for me to figure out, not to mention the difficulty in trying make sure Justice was understanding it. But it made more sense with the second reading. The dialogue ends up going in a huge circle of reasoning, basically because Euthyphro's concept of holiness is connected to his fickle, quarrelsome Grecian gods. When the gods can't agree, how are mortals supposed to know what pleases them? and so forth.


"Be ye holy, for I am holy!" says the God of Israel.

I have discovered the joy of snowshoes. Due to the irregularly deep snow, my joy was made full. Christopher, Colin, and I went on a snowshoe frolic at Cranberry Flats yesterday.

Today I renewed an old friendship with an Ish Elohim, a farmer and father and student of the Almighty. This guy played a significant role in my past spiritual development, but I haven't seen much of him in the last couple years. I drove out to his farm, and we had lunch and a chat. He even gave me a driving lesson, after I got the van stuck in snow. The sun also shines...

What can I write about now?

People are so vulnerable. Me too.

I'm looking forward to a new week. There's so much snow outside. I declare, after a week that seemed like spring, in two days we got more snow than we have all winter. Well, that's Saskatchewan fer ya'. Soon I must go out and shovel the driveway and sidewalk. I really like shoveling snow. It's jolly exercise, and I think, and sing, and breath the open air. This week I want to read, and learn, renew old friendships, and make some new ones. Thank God for this beautiful world.

"Behold the blood of the covenant that YHWH cut with you concerning all these words!"

This week's parasha is full of blood. I can almost imagine Moshe Rabeinu spraying the children of Israel with blood from a big pump-action Super Soaker. OK, that's taking things a bit too far, but the scene at the foot of Sinai in Shemot (Exodus) 24 was literally a bloody mess. Check it out!

On a mostly unrelated note, G Green has a fine collage on the history of ghetto development at his blog. It really is quite informative.

Also, I just finished writing a little somethin' over at Follow The Cloud.

And after a week of thaw, snow is once again pouring down from the heavens over Saskatoon.

Good Sabbath, world.

'Tis a hard and ill-paid task to order all things beforehand by the rule of our own security, as is well hinted by Machiavelli concerning Caesar Borgia, who, saith he, had thought of all that might occur on his father's death, and had provided against every evil chance save only one: it had never come into his mind that when his father died, his own death would quickly follow.

-from George Eliot's Daniel Deronda

How do we be wise stewards of the resources and gifts that the Almighty has bestowed upon us? On one hand there's the the voice that tells me to hold tightly to what I've been given: this is stinginess. On the other hand is the voice that tells me to buy whatever I can, to indulge in the pleasures of life: this is the ugly side of prodigality, it is foolish waste, it is investing in shadows and dust. Both voices are voices of selfishness. The true answer is something on an entirely different plane than these.

This voice, the voice of wisdom, tells me to open my hands, to give freely to others, and to trust the Almighty to provide for all my needs. As Yeshua instructed his disciples, 'Freely you have received, freely give.' Our Father in heaven demonstrates a beautiful prodigality towards all His children. Let us be imitators of our Abba. Let us be generous!

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan nations run after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

-Yeshua