Two weeks of pergatory really. My daughter has been visiting, which is wonderful, but I've been in so much pain I haven't been very good company much of the time. My jaw, face, neck and shoulders have just been so painful it's been close to unbearable. It has almost been to the point of "what's the point of living" a few times, which is a dangerous way to think. Only a few steps to the smoking barrel. Good job I don't have a gun. Anyway, we celebrated my birthday over the weekend, but it's actually tomorrow (Tuesday). I got a super cool Epson printer, that will print shots from my recently acquired Sony digital camera, which I really like. It also prints on to CD and DVDs as well, no less. Should be fun, if I live long enough.
We're still struggling with our church, a large Evangelical Free Church. Both Mrs E and I need a new challenge or experience, we're sure, so we may soon have to go "church shopping", which is always difficult. We wish there was someplace where the Jewish aspect of the faith was majored, alongside the rock truths of Christianity. I'm learning more and more that the Jewish side of Yeshua (Jesus) is vital to know to gain the greatest understanding of the Scriptures, as the Jewish aspect really brings the verses alive in a way that the Greek scholars miss. Plus, I think it's a fair assumption that some, or all of the New Testament was spoken in Hebrew, and maybe even first written in Hebrew, before the Greek text was used as the universal language of the day to reach as many of the goyim (nations) as possible. The vast majority of the authors were Jewish anyway, and that would be their world view, not the current Greco-Roman philosophy that has permeated, and watered down, the western Christian church. Placing this mindset on top of the original Jewish world view, in my opinion, has ruined many parts of the chuch as we know it. Someone was telling me about a Council that was called early in church history, where they decided to take as many Jewish refernces as they could from the New Testament. Perhaps they thought that was a good thing to do to reach as many goyim as possible, or maybe they were just anti Semetic. Who knows. However, this seems to me be be like a slap in the face to the Jewish people, and perhaps even the Lord Himself, who thought Jewishness was so important He gave them the Torah, Writings, and Prophets, then He Himself became one of them, in the tribe of Judah, to share His lifegiving Good News. We should be reverential to the former covenant books, from Moses to Malachi, and not major on the New Testament only. My Jewish friends call the New Testament the Amputated Bible. Enough said. I wonder when the 144,000 Jewish evangelists come in the end times, that their message will be even more powerful because they will present it from their Jewish world view. I have volunteered to be one of them, but I don't have my marching orders yet.
We're still struggling with our church, a large Evangelical Free Church. Both Mrs E and I need a new challenge or experience, we're sure, so we may soon have to go "church shopping", which is always difficult. We wish there was someplace where the Jewish aspect of the faith was majored, alongside the rock truths of Christianity. I'm learning more and more that the Jewish side of Yeshua (Jesus) is vital to know to gain the greatest understanding of the Scriptures, as the Jewish aspect really brings the verses alive in a way that the Greek scholars miss. Plus, I think it's a fair assumption that some, or all of the New Testament was spoken in Hebrew, and maybe even first written in Hebrew, before the Greek text was used as the universal language of the day to reach as many of the goyim (nations) as possible. The vast majority of the authors were Jewish anyway, and that would be their world view, not the current Greco-Roman philosophy that has permeated, and watered down, the western Christian church. Placing this mindset on top of the original Jewish world view, in my opinion, has ruined many parts of the chuch as we know it. Someone was telling me about a Council that was called early in church history, where they decided to take as many Jewish refernces as they could from the New Testament. Perhaps they thought that was a good thing to do to reach as many goyim as possible, or maybe they were just anti Semetic. Who knows. However, this seems to me be be like a slap in the face to the Jewish people, and perhaps even the Lord Himself, who thought Jewishness was so important He gave them the Torah, Writings, and Prophets, then He Himself became one of them, in the tribe of Judah, to share His lifegiving Good News. We should be reverential to the former covenant books, from Moses to Malachi, and not major on the New Testament only. My Jewish friends call the New Testament the Amputated Bible. Enough said. I wonder when the 144,000 Jewish evangelists come in the end times, that their message will be even more powerful because they will present it from their Jewish world view. I have volunteered to be one of them, but I don't have my marching orders yet.
