My friends Brad and Tara have a new baby boy! Halleluyah!

Well, the cosmic Shemini ended last night and Sukkot has ended for another year. I really enjoyed camping at Pike Lake for the last four days. It was quite relaxing.

While I was there I suddenly realized with fresh emphasis that the community of believers in Saskatoon, as well as our friends that joined us from all over Canada, are my family. I love all of them dearly. When it was time to pack up and go I didn't want to leave and be separated from them.

Israel taught a Hebrew class every morning, and then before lunch everyone would dance for a couple of hours. There was often gatherings for teaching, scripture reading, music, and dancing in the afternoons and evenings. Then before we went to sleep we would sit around the campfire and be together for awhile.

One night Owen and Ashley drove out to the camp. They're a young couple in our community that are getting married soon. Everyone sat around the campfire and shared anecdotes about them, and some of the married folks shared good advice and wisdom about marriage. Then we prayed for them. It was a really special time.

Another major highlight was having the Whelan family, Jim, Sharon, and their three sons, play music for us. Wow.

It seemed like our community solidified in a new way. It will be interesting to see what Yahweh has in store for us in the years to come. He is doing a good work.

Give thanks to Yahweh for He is good, His love endures forever!

(Pictures from Sukkot are here).

I'm going camping for the final half of Sukkot, so I won't be posting until sometime next week. Shalom.

Jewish believers in Messiah Yeshua in the city of Arad, Israel, have been coming under intense persecution from local Ger Chassidic Orthodox Jews. The police and government of Israel haven't been doing very much to stop it, either. I showed my younger brother some Israeli news footage of what these Chasids are doing, and he said they were acting like Nazis. He came up with that on his own. And he's right. The Nazis ridiculed people on the streets and burned their buildings just because of what they believed and their ethnic origin. That's exactly what these Chasids have done.

Read this account of what's happening in Arad.

Another account.

One more account.

Yeshua, our Master, please give protection and wisdom to Your people in Arad.

This morning I went running before the sun rose with my friends Grant and Yisrael. We ran by the Saskatchewan River just northeast ofSaskatoon. As we reached the halfway mark at a hilltop and turned around to run back to the car, I noticed a unique phenomenon. As I stood facing south I turned my head left and saw the rising sun, then right and saw the setting (almost) full moon; both of them were barely above the horizon. It was like stereo. Like a mirror image. Izzy started recounting the story that he loves to tell about how the sun and moon act like lover and beloved, taking turns chasing and catching up to each other throughout the course of every month.
It was a lovely morning.

Now I'm going to build a sukkah with my father. (Does anyone reading this blog not know what a sukkah is? Go ahead. Ask me. Leave a comment.)

The Day...is almost here.

Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries, and will atone for His land and for His people.
Deut.34:43

"Our beloved sister, Joanne Regier, passed away Sunday, Sept. 11th, 2005, after a courageous battle with cancer. Our prayers and thoughts are with Kent, Daniel, Jordan and Dante during this sad time."

Joanne has fallen asleep. We trust that we shall be reunited with her when the shofar sounds.

Grace is false, and beauty vain;
A woman who fears Yahweh, she should be praised.
Give her the fruits of her hands;
And let her be praised in the gates by her very own deeds.
Proverbs 31:30-31

I like this picture. It's Avi ben Mordechai and Nehemiah Gordon's dog celebrating Yom Teruah in Jerusalem. For more pictures of the new moon of the 7th month, go here.

living skies

living skies
Originally uploaded by Sibboleth.

It's Yom Teruah (day of shouting, or blowing shofars). Happy new month, happy new year. Yeshua's coming!

So last night I was reclining on the grass by the river listening to No Birds playing their music, when, unexpectedly, Tyler Shendruk and Jotham Gan walked up. I hadn't seen either of these guys for a whole year. Later we all went to Amigos to hear our friend Luke Goetz play with his band 'The Deep Dark Woods' (fabulous music by the way). There we all were, I, Luke, Tyler, and Jotham, standing in a circle face to face. So what? the reader may ask. Well, we all went to the same church for many years, and were in youth group together for half a decade. Suddenly, in one fateful evening, we were reunited. It was just really special for me, and that's why I'm rambling on about it so much.

Today was a good day. I rose early and went running with five men and a pitbull. Then I played music and praised Yah with some brethren. Then I worked outside all day in the warm sunshine. I came home and ate two hamburgers. Baruch Hashem!

No Birds and friends are playing a show at the Vimy Memorial on Saturday evening (Sept.3). Link.

As David wrote: "Shema Yahweh koli ekra, v'chaneini v'aneini." "Hear my voice when I call, Yahweh, be gracious to me and answer me." I really agree with this prayer from the depth of my soul:

"Lord, sort through this mess of fabric scraps on my bedroom floor. I can't see what matches what and how to put it all together, but You know. You see the beautiful product in this mess on the floor. All I see is one disaster on top of another, but you see something wonderful. Help me to see, help me pick up the right pieces and throw the junk away, because I want to be who You created me to be and I don't want to mess this up on my own.

Help me to know that I know that I know that You truly do care for me. Because I know it in my head but sometimes I don't know it in my heart."

Originally posted by Melanie.