30 N, 90 W.

I just watched a film from 1989 of the Neville brothers in concert in New Orleans. In his opening remarks Charles Neville talks about how New Orleans is "30 degrees north of the equator, 90 degrees west of the rising sun, 6 feet below sea level."

Today it's 6 feet below the sea.

...is it a sign of the judgment?

Read this.

When I was at that youth camp in Oklahoma this summer, a girl named Sady was there. She sang us some of her songs; they're really great songs. I found out today that she has some music online. Go listen: http://home.myspace.com/keziyah.

The waning moon of the 6th month. Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, is only a week away!

I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse; and you shall choose life, so that you will live, you and your offspring - to love Yahweh, your God, to listen to His voice and to cleave to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, to dwell upon the land that Yahweh swore to your forefathers, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov, to give them. ~HaTorah

So what have I been up to lately...
Yahweh gave me a job. A good job. Todah rabah, Abba! I've been working at a straw bale house half an hour outside Saskatoon. The house is built but there's some finishing work to do. Neil Driedger made this awesome spruce floor on the second storey, and I got to help with nailing, sanding, and varnishing it. I also used a draw knife for a few days on some pine logs that are going to support the roof of a porch beside the house. The man I'm working for, Paul Belanger, is really special. I'm learning a lot from him.

Has anyone ever wondered about the origin of the abbreviation "O.K."?

OK is a quintessentially American term that has spread from English to many other languages. Its origin was the subject of scholarly debate for many years until Allen Walker Read showed that OK is based on a joke of sorts. OK is first recorded in 1839 but was probably in circulation before that date. During the 1830s there was a humoristic fashion in Boston newspapers to reduce a phrase to initials and supply an explanation in parentheses. Sometimes the abbreviations were misspelled to add to the humor. OK was used in March 1839 as an abbreviation for all correct, the joke being that neither the O nor the K was correct. Originally spelled with periods, this term outlived most similar abbreviations owing to its use in President Martin Van Buren's 1840 campaign for reelection. Because he was born in Kinderhook, New York, Van Buren was nicknamed Old Kinderhook, and the abbreviation proved eminently suitable for political slogans. That same year, an editorial referring to the receipt of a pin with the slogan O.K. had this comment: “frightful letters... significant of the birth-place of Martin Van Buren, old Kinderhook, as also the rallying word of the Democracy of the late election, ‘all correct’.... Those who wear them should bear in mind that it will require their most strenuous exertions... to make all things O.K.”
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

SHABBAT SHALOM, OK?

The people are with Gush Katif and the Shomron!
A popular slogan in Israel right now as the pullout from Gaza is about to begin. It's a fine slogan, and I'm in full agreement. I support the Jews in Gaza and the "West Bank" and their right to live in the land promised to them by Yahweh, the God of Abraham. However, here's an even better slogan:

Yeshua the Messiah is with the people of Israel!

Take heart, oh Israel. Although these events seem sad, we can know that Yahweh will be glorified. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.

I made some changes to the list of links on the right. First, my dear friend P.D. of "The Mensch in the Moon" reknown has started fresh with a new blog, "התנצרות", or "Hitnatzrut". Also, my new friend Melanie, who I met in Oklahoma, has a blog too.

As for me, I'm undergoing an internal journey of intense magnitude. I'd like to share everything with all of you, but it's supper time, and my family's waiting. Bye!

Happy new month!
A group of us saw the new moon last night near Asquith, Saskatchewan. Witnesses also saw the moon in Jerusalem. Thus we are beginning the sixth month of the year according to the ancient Israeli calendar that Yeshua followed.
We are starting the special forty day period that precedes Yom Kippur. These forty days are traditionally a time of repentance, teshuvah, and a time to seek after the Holy One with all our might. A beneficial tradition is to read Psalm 27 every morning from now until the end of Sukkot (the feast of Tabernacles). Hope to Yahweh, be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, hope to Yahweh.

"Hope to YHVH and safeguard His way, and He will raise you up high to inherit the earth." Psalm 37:34

"For if you observe this entire commandment that I command you, to perform it, to love YHVH, your God, to walk in all His ways and to cleave to Him, YHVH will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will drive out greater and mightier nations than yourselves. Every place where the sole of your foot will tread shall be yours - from the Wilderness and the Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, until the Western Sea, shall be your boundary. No man will stand up against you; YHVH, your God, will set your terror and fear on the entire face of the earth where you will tread, as He spoke to you." Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11:22-25

"So it happened: The sun set, and it was very dark. Behold - there was a smoky furnace and a torch of fire which passed between these pieces. On that day YHVH made a covenant with Avram, saying, 'To your descendants have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River.'" Bereishit (Genesis) 15:17-18

An inheritance of the whole Land of Israel is a promise from YHVH to Avraham's descendants.Let us not forget the Israeli settlers in Gaza, threatened with losing their homes and livelihood! Pray for them. Oh YHVH, please make Shalom upon all Israel!

A friend of mine in Jerusalem, Moshe Kempinski, writes:"Many of us believe that the expulsion could yet be blocked. Some have told us that we believe that because we want to. Others with some deeper insight have told us that we believe that because we need to. They may all be right. On the other hand, there may be a deeper sense of vision that directs our souls. It is that deeper sense of vision that gives us the right to believe what we believe and empowers us to act according to that belief. We are walking a delicate balance, between attempting to repair the "sin of the spies" while at the same time not recreating the sin of Rehavam and Yerovam (Jeroboam) in splitting up the tribes. We need to clearly declare our allegiance to G-d's promises and His vision regarding this land, while at the same time not disengaging from the rest of our nation during the struggle. This will not be as easy, as the forces purporting to represent law and order seem bent on achieving the opposite. Yet, we cannot allow them to still the cry. Even if we, G-d forbid, turn out to be wrong regarding the immediate direction of the divine plan, we will have emerged from this struggle a stronger and more faith-driven community. That is the ultimate victory against those with no faith and against those with faltering vision. Whatever HaShem has in store for us in the near future, the searing passion ignited by this war of wills and priorities will eventually refashion this people of Israel into the vessel they are meant to be."

Amen. YHVH is restoring His people Israel, and this disengamement from Gaza is part of His plan. We can trust YHVH, for we shall inherit the Land of promise.

I want to draw everyone's attention to a true story; the story of a 14 year old Israeli girl who was arrested and jailed by her government a month ago. Her crime? Telling a policewoman that she had every right to stand on "every inch of the Land of Israel". Read the full story in this letter from her father. It's important that people learn about what's really going on in Israel.

Of course, everyone's heard about the Jew who killed four Arabs on a bus in Shfaram today. Sad news. Remember what Yeshua says: "Love your enemies; pray for those that persecute you." Yeshua, teach your nation Israel to love.

Yesterday my Dad and I went fishing at a small lake several hours east of Saskatoon.

We didn't catch any fish, but we had a good time paddling around the lake in the canoe. Also, I found some saskatoon-berry bushes on the shore. Yummy!

When the sun started getting low in the west, we drove to my aunt and uncle's house to spend the night. I caught this lovely photo of a grain terminal silhouetted against the sunset, just east of Tisdale, Saskatchewan.
Here is my aunt's house:
Right beside the yard is the Carrot River. After a good night's sleep and a visit with my uncle, aunt, cousins, and my cousins' young children, my Dad and I drove back to Saskatoon.
Shalom ya'll!