Shalom!Baruch atta adonai elohenu melech ha-olam
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe
I had an experience with Adonai when on my way home from work. I heard the term “Roman Catholic Church” on the radio and it started a series of events that left me stunned. I had a spectrum of emotions running through me.
I had to think about this one..Yeshua HaMashia was not Roman..Nor Greek.. He was Jewish. I started like a true geek going on Google for more information. (Its funny seeds are planted, watered and harvested. More on this later.. ) Anyway in the meantime my wife ,which is my best friend and true life companion, told me about a pastor who came down from Portland Oregon. He had a message that was unlike any other that we were accustomed to. My wife introduced me back into the church after much prayer and supplication. The church we started attending was Christ Temple in Irving TX. It was truly the Lord who gave me grace to even go there. I was raised with very confusing religious background. My paternal Grandmother was a devout Catholic woman. As a boy I would go to mass with her as it seemed that no one else would. I particularly liked Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday but I was very scared on the church as there were the traditional statues of Jesus on the cross bleeding and such. I was also very scared of the chants and other elements like the stained glass and periods where people would recite things on command.
The other side of the coin were my Maternal Grandparents beliefs. The entire family is Jehovah’s Witness. It was quite a bit different from the Catholic Church that I attended with my grandmother. The Kingdom Hall which is another term for Church was air conditioned, very clean, very well lit with almost no decoration. The people were very nice and welcoming and there were kids my age. I do not recall seeing any kids in the Catholic Church but then again we’re talking almost 30 years ago. I remember playing tag outside after service but definitely not before as my mom didn’t was me to get sweaty. The service was comprised of singing what amounts to a hymnal sung to a track from the 8 track player in the sound booth. It was mostly a piano with an occasional other instrument which oddly enough I cannot recall. Then a there was a lesson out of the Watchtower magazine and a bible lesson out of another magazine. I believe it was the awake magazine both published in New York at the Watchtower HQ. After it was said and done the Elder who lead the congregation would dismiss and the kids would bolt and go play while the adults discussed whatever it is adults discussed at that time. Possibly the Bicentennial, Jimmy Carter, Fajita cookouts or who knows??
Anyway enough background. Either way as a 10 year old boy I was bored out of my mind. I would try to sleep but then I would get pinched or yelled at. Then I would act up and try to play under the chairs or pew depending where I was. For the most part if I made it that far then I would get escorted to the bathroom for a whipping, ear tug or pinching.
Things were so much different where my grandfather pastored. He would just sit all the kids on the front row and give anyone that wasn’t front and center “the eye”. My feelings is that no church had anything to offer me but boredom and pinches. about 21 years later the Lord would reel me back in. I have to rememeber that the Lord can use anyone that is willing..or not. Ill tell my story about how the Lord used Howard Stern but that is later on down the line.
Fast forward to 2001. I found myself attending church at Christ Temple which had just come out of the auspices of UPC or United Pentecostal Church. I had “miraculously” not run out when people started going off speaking in tongues. I honestly thought that they were foreigners and has just reverted back to their language to pray out loud. I told my wife that I thought the man that came and prayed for me was speaking Slavic or possibly Russian.
Anyway I learned later that it wasn’t Slavic or Russian but that the man was praying in tongues (even though he was a recent immigrant). I got to learn about the Lord and the gifts of the spirit and all of the charismatic side of things. And the best part is that they had a full blown band, choir and comfy pews and cold air conditioning which was really nice. I started learning that people from other backgrounds also attended this church, mostly Baptists. I now think about how weird it was for me to attend Dallas Baptist University and not contemplate anything Baptist. I just went to school and did my own thing. Anyway I learned that in certain denominations you gain stature by being as powerless and poor as possible. Where if you had nice home a new car and or nice clothes you were a crook or going to hell for some other reason. I couldn’t understand that one. My family must have been really holy in one of those churches as were have really been down and out a time or two.
All good things must come to an end. My wife, son and I grew and learned in the church. Supposedly we got to know some important people in some important places. I don’t know about all that. I am struggling to remember their names but they started TV, radio stations, wrote books and all of that. We met this very real couple at Christ Temple in the beginning and they planted seed and watered. I spoke to my Pastor Lilly and Mark yesterday and reminded them that they are now reaping what they sowed in us 8 years ago. They listened to the voice of the lord and with a couple of questions helped us with a place to live. I had just started back to work after being laid off and they “pounded us” (churchspeak for a ppoun of flower, a pound of sugar a pund of pasta- Groceries that is..)The Lord moved alot in all our lives. We made some great friends. We got real with each other. We celebrated each other’s accomplishments and sorrows. We eventually bought a home. They bought a home, many people we know bought home as promised by the Lord when he spoke to us and said that there was a time of prosperity coming. We were really far from Christ Temple and we were led to help with a church plant which we did and it was successful. We felt that it was time for us to leave there and we did. We wandered in the desert for about 3 years and we went back with Mark and Lilly after they founded a church in Denton.
The good stuff: Before going to Denton with Mark and Lilly my wife found a pastor who had a teaching that we had never heard of before. He was the pastor from Portland Oregon named Larry Huch. He taught that we had our heritage stolen from us. Heritage being our Jewish Roots. We learned that the enemy (churchspeak for devil) had arranged for the Romans, Greeks and others to strip away the teachings, symbolisms, customs and commandments that were given to us by our Lord our father. When I try to explain to someone as to why learn about our Jewish roots I tell them not go look in the Bible but look in a history book. That personal revelation is what will start the transformation. Funny how things work. Mark and Lilly taught us these things about 8 years ago. It was radic al thinking for its time. Im not so sure that we wouldn’t be thrown out of the church we attended at that time if they found out. Mark held Seders and taught their symbolism. Lilly told us about the wonders of Israel. The very seeds they planted back then are being harvested now. Its been 8 years and 2008 is the year of new beginnings. Make no mistake. This is not part of the prosperity message that is currently being preached on TV and radio. My belief originating from the deepest place in my soul is that wehn we restore the church with what was stolen from it by the Romans, Greeks, English and so on then we can have a church that is that biblical bridge between our Jewish brothers and us Gentiles. I would like to see an tremendous influx of Messianic and Jewish families to help us bridge that gap as well.
No where in the bible does it say to quit doing these things. (Shabbat, the feasts, wearing a Tallit affixing a mezuzah)
The argument I get is that Jesus came for deliver us from the law or that he fulfilled the law and that is true but it still does not release us from the law. We must still follow the 10 commandments; observe the Sabbath and feasts along with the other rich symbolism and tradition. I like Mark’s sermon about the bondservant. A bondservant still serves his master because he loves his master and his master loves him. (About to ask for an offering- Just kidding that’s later)
Whew thats alot for my first blog entry.. I have much to go. Much to teach.. much to preach I know i was all over the plac but I was really in the spirit trying to type as fast and coherently as my hands would let me.
Shalom!
Tomorrow ill start with the one of most important elements of our Jewish roots. Google Shabbat
Tags: Adonai, Blessing, Challah, christianity, Church, Family, Hebrew, Heritage, Israel, Jesus, Jewish, Jewish Roots, judaism, Messianic, New Beginnings, Religion, Revelation, Shabbat, Shalom, Yeshua, Yeshua HaMashia
This entry was posted on April 8, 2008 at 1:37 am and is filed under Blessing, Christ, Christian, Gentile, Jesus, Jewish, Jewish Roots, Shabbat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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