Musing – Is ‘just being there’ a ministry?

Hebraic Musing – Is ‘just being there’ a ministry?

"Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was." —Job 2:13

This verse reminds me of the story/lesson Arliss Freeman, my Escondido pastor’s wife, told years ago. Here is how I remember it: Little Mary was two hours late coming home from school and her mother was obviously upset, concerned and ready to discipline Mary. So her mother started the discipline process by asking “Why were you so late, what kept you?”  Mary responded “I stopped at my friend Suzy’s house and Suzy’s favorite doll was broken. We tried and tried to fix it but couldn’t. So I just sat with Suzy and her broken doll and we cried together.” 

Having gone through the funeral process for my wife of 52 years, I can vividly relate to the ministry my family and I received recently from all the friends that came by our side. Many tried to say things of sympathy, humor, wit, empathy, etc.  All I remember is that they were there. ‘Just being there’ was the best ministry we received.

A neighbor, retired pastor and chaplain at our hospital shared that his ministry was sitting with the family in the Surgery waiting room with the family members while patient was in OR (Operating Room). He did not have any set prayer; he felt his ministry was ‘just being there’ with the family.

Worthy of note – traditional Jewish mourning custom is to ‘sit shiva’; which basically means to go through a seven (shiva) day period of mourning with the family – just being there.

In High School, our group had a favorite, catchy, smart-alec question – “Are you unafraid of a conversational pause?”

Thank you friends for ‘just being there’ during our period of grieving.

Point to ponder

Why do we feel we have to say something
when the other person is thankful that we are ‘just being there’?

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                                 June 26, 2012

Author “Hebraic Insights – messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”

Author “Biblical Marriage” (published  June 2012)

Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings” blogging available at  www.InsightsByYosef.com
To be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net    

Musing – Are we facing an economic crisis? Or a moral/cultural implosion?

Hebraic Musing – Are we facing an economic crisis? Or a moral/cultural implosion? 

The news is awash with economic challenges and election news is economy driven. BUT the pattern in other news articles in recent weeks ought to raise an even greater concern. Have you read recent articles about cannibalism, mommy porn in Time magazine, a porn book as best-seller, gay marriages, right to life issues, teen pregnancies, shrinking church attendance, increasing teen suicides – to name a few? What in the world is going on? One of many scriptural examples in 1 John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

•“Cannibals In The News: Five Bizarre Acts Of Human Flesh Eating In One Week” is a headline in Huff Post. And yes, I glanced over two of these articles in my daily news reading.
•“Church attendance” – While 40% claim to go to church, the actual attendance is closer to 20%; and declining! And teens are finding church to be irrelevant while teen suicides are increasing.
•“Fifty Shades of Grey” novels a.k.a. “Mommy Porn” have become the recent best-sellers! We no longer gasp at ‘costume malfunctions’!
•“Mommy Porn” on the front page of Time magazine, and defended by the editors.
•“Gay Marriage” -- President Obama finally revealed his stance; or his politically motivated position.
•“Abortions” -- Americans have aborted more than 53 million babies; far more human beings than the Nazis murdered during the Holocaust. And now our President and many in House of Congress have gone on the record in support of sex-selection abortions.
•“Teen pregnancies” -- the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of the Western industrialized world and 79 percent of teenagers who become pregnant are unmarried. About 820,000 teens become pregnant each year; 34 % of teenagers have at least one pregnancy before they turn 20. 

I repeat – What in the world is going on? America grew and prospered as a Christian nation built on a foundation of Judeo-Christian beliefs, laws and practices. As we look at the list above, we realize that the foundation is crumbling fast, especially recently. And since it is the people allowing it to happen without calling on God, what can or will stop us on this ‘slippery slope’?

 Point to Ponder 

How to prepare ourselves and those around us to deal with the ‘world’ to come? 

Yosef a.k.a. Joe Brusherd
Author “Hebraic Insights – messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”
Author “Biblical Marriage” (published June 2012, see Amazon.com)
Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings” blogging available at www.InsightsByYosef.com
To be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net

Definition of the “slippery slope” argument (definition from pg. 250 “Hebraic Insights”) 

Definition of the "slippery slope" argument is essentially that, if you make any exceptions to a rule, or if you make rules that depend on fine distinctions, pretty soon people will be ignoring the original rule entirely. If you allow exceptions to a rule, it creates a slope away from the absoluteness of the rule which people will slide further and further until they will not obey the rule at all. Have you heard the following statements? - If you give people an inch, they will take a mile. - If you let your camel put its nose into your tent, pretty soon the whole camel will be in the tent. A study of “slippery slope” logic points out that, when making laws that are exceptions to the rule, one needs to remain aware of the underlying absolute rule. Failure to do so will make the slope slippery.

Points to Ponder 

Question: Where are the absolutes? 

Answer: In God’s Torah, which is not well taught in most of our traditional Christian churches today. 

And Torah teaching is definitely not found in our public school curriculum.

Musing – What are we focused on?

Hebraic Musing – What are we focused on?

When asked “Are you satisfied with what you have?” many people say yes, but in their heart of hearts the real answer is no. They wish they had a different car, house, spouse, income, job…  Thus too many of us are living with disappointment with life; and sometimes that disappointment causes us to do things we regret. And we find ourselves doing things that God wishes we didn’t do.

Adam and Eve had it made!  God walked and talked with them and they had an awesome garden of fruits and veggies to choose from. They were okay until they began to focus on what they did not have. Satan’s temptation presentation is rather short in scripture, but in reality it probably took a period of time for Adam and Eve time to focus on what they did not have.

A few months ago we celebrated the feast of Purim and read the book of Esther. Haman is a key character, the bad guy, and we enjoyed ‘boo-ing’ at every mention of his name. What was the source of Haman’s problem? He was a blessed man; honored by the king; wore the king’s signet ring; drinking buddy of the king; family man; and possessed a sizable estate. What was his problem?

Haman (BOO) displayed his attitudinal problem when the king called for him in Esther 6:6-7 When Haman (BOO) entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?” Now Haman (BOO) thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?” And when Mordecai (YEAH!) became the one being honored, Haman (BOO!) became focused on something that was not his.

Interesting note – Haman in Hebrew is spelled  /mh  Hei Mem Nun.  In Genesis, when God accuses Adam and Eve of sinning, the forbidden or the ‘not yours’ item is also spelled and pronounce ‘Haman’.

What did Adam and Eve and Haman have in common with us?  Like them, we focus to often on what we do not have instead of enjoying what God has given us. And we Americans have been blessed with so much, why do we focus on what we don’t have?

Point to ponder

What would life be like if we were happy and thankful
and appreciative of the things we have,
instead of focusing on that which we do not have?

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                                             June 12, 2012

Author “Hebraic Insights – messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”

Author “Biblical Marriage” (published  June 2012)

Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings” blogging available at  www.InsightsByYosef.com
To be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net    

Musing - What will cause God to say ‘Enough’?

Hebraic Musing - What will cause God to say ‘Enough’?

Is God justified in being angry with His people if they:

            1. Worship idols?   and
            2. Disobey His commandments?   and
            3. Ignore the warnings of His prophets?

Our Bible study just analyzed 2 Kings 17.  God had to deal with the disobedient Northern Kingdom, Israel.  In vs. 7-13 They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.  The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. …. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger.  They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, “You shall not do this.”  The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”   NIV

In 17:18  So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.  

And finally in 17:23 …So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria,…

Points to ponder

Do we worship idols? 
(That depends on how you define…)

Have we disobeyed His commands and teachings? 
(What have we tolerated that God calls murder and/or abomination?)

Are we heeding the warnings of today prophetic voices?
(Or has the E-generation taken over?)

Shalom

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Author “Hebraic Insights – messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”

Author “Biblical Marriage” (published  June 2012)

Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings” blogging - www.InsightsByYosef.com
To be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net