Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Musing – Why do people go to church?



Hebraic Musing – Why do people go to church?
I have heard various reasons given like the ones below.  At first, I thought they obviously apply to the “other guy”; but then realized some of these reasons often apply to me too!   We are told in no uncertain terms “Do not forsake the fellowship of the Saints.”  Here are some not so “tongue in cheek” reasons “other” people give for attending church:
·         Family expectation – Mom and Dad insist I go.  I go to be sure my children go. Our family always goes together.  And where else will my children learn morality?
·         Blessings – God will bless me if I attend faithfully.  On the other hand, I might be cursed if I miss a Sunday, or worse if I stop attending.
·         Entertainment – Our church has great music and I love singing those songs; it’s a fun time.
·         Have to belong – (I actually heard this statement in Europe 25 years ago from a non-attender.) “I have to belong to The Church in order to get baptized, married and buried.” 
·         Love & Respect – Church is the only place I get respect; people there say they love me; besides, our family needs a church life in order to be respected in my social circles.
·         Social life – We do things together at church and those people are my friends.   I like hanging around with them.  I know the fellowship at the “Lodges” around town is better and one could have a social life there, but then my church friends look down at that “drinking crowd”.
·         Business networking – Church is where I get to know business owners and workers who help me with home projects and career networking.  In fact, many of my customers come from church connections.
·         Memories – I remember the fun days I’ve had with these people.  I remember the awe I had in my childhood while thinking of great things God had done.
·         Political persuasion – These people think like I do and how could I possibly worship with those in other churches who believe and vote for that “other” party that I can’t tolerate?
·         Patriotism – At least in church I can express my love for the USA and what we stand for without having to always be “politically correct”; and I get some meaningful political perspectives.
·         Distinctiveness – By attending my church I separate myself from folks of different denominations, races, nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds.  I’m not comfortable with “those” people.
·         Dating and mating – I can find a good girl, or guy, to date; and I may find the right mate from those at church.   That is a good reason for attending and I keep looking around for the right one.
Have you seen any of these reasons becoming the focus for some folks?
Points to ponder
Why do I go to church?  Have I really thought it through?
What would happen if I actually stopped attending church?
 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…” Heb. 10:25
What is the context around that verse?  There’s the real reason to go to church.

I’m so glad I’m a part of the Family of God                                           October 27, 2015       
Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,   Author:                                                            
Note – Inspired by Steve Sheely’s column, Pastor of Rolling Hills Baptist Church (SBC)

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Musing – Are we paying attention to Conjecture or the FACTS?



Hebraic Musing – Are we paying attention to Conjecture or the FACTS?
The church has been paying a lot of attention to predictions of The End Times.  We conjecture about the significance of the four blood moons and eclipses, Jonathan Cahn’s book “The Harbinger”, etc. Here are a few familiar Biblical warnings that we easily recognize and then conjecture as to when and how:
·         Daniel 12:4   “Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”
·         Matthew 24:37   “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
·         1 Timothy 4:1   “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”
·         Revelation 13:17   “no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark,”
Meanwhile there are actual happenings, FACTS, not being fully revealed by our news media.  Below is a message in its entirety from Geert Wilders, a Dutch Member of Parliament, describing the factual situation in Europe.  To be safe, I sent the message to a trusted, well-informed friend living in Belgium to check the veracity and he said “I see absolutely nothing in it with which I disagree.”  Furthermore he said “The facts are not in doubt. What is in doubt is how long God still puts up with all this before HE pulls the plug.  
This is longer than my customary one page ‘musing’ but the Spirit has prompted me to be a Watchman. Please read it carefully and thoughtfully.  It’s also attached in a  .docx file.
Points to Ponder after reading
Who else needs to consider these FACTS?
Chazak, Chazak, v’Nit chazak!   (Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened!) 
Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,   Author:                                                            October 20, 2015    

The Lights are Going Out All Over Europe   By Geert Wilders, Dutch Parliament Member
Dear Friends,
Thank you very much for inviting me.  I come to America with a mission.  All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic.
We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe.  This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West.  The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe.
First I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe. Then, I will say a few things about Islam.  To close I will tell you about a meeting in Jerusalem.
The Europe you know is changing. You have probably seen the landmarks. But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass-migration.
All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen. And if they are, they might regret it. This goes for the police as well. It's the world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby strollers and a group of children. Their husbands, or slaveholders if you prefer, walk three steps ahead.  With mosques on many street corners. The shops have signs you and I cannot read.  You will be hard-pressed to find any economic activity.  These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious fanatics.  These are Muslim neighborhoods, and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city.
There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe With larger congregations than there are in churches. And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region.  Clearly, the signal is: we rule. 
Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam, Marseilles and Malmo in Sweden. In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods.  Mohammad is the most popular name among boys in many cities.
In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims.
Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'. Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin.
In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin. The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity.
In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels, because he was drinking during the Ramadan.
Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II.  French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya, Israel.  I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories about Islamization.
A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe. San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now.  Bernhardt Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.
Now these are just numbers.  And the numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate. But there are few signs of that. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France. One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks.  The British  Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British  Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate   Muslims demand what they call 'respect'.  And this is how we give them respect.  We have Muslim official state holidays. 
 The Christian-Democratic attorney general is willing to accept sharia in the Netherlands if there is a Muslim majority.  We have cabinet members with passports from Morocco and Turkey.
Muslim demands are supported by unlawful behavior, ranging from petty crimes and random violence, for example against ambulance workers and bus drivers, to small-scale riots. Paris has seen its uprising in the low-income suburbs, the banlieus (suburbs).  I call the perpetrators settler’s. Because that is what they are.  They do not come to integrate into our societies; they come to integrate our society into their Dar-al-Islam.  Therefore, they are settlers.
Much of this street violence I mentioned is directed exclusively against non-Muslims, forcing many native people to leave their neighborhoods, their cities, their countries.  Moreover, Muslims are now a swing vote not to be ignored.
The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the prophet. His behavior is an example to all Muslims and cannot be criticized.  Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem. But Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a pedophile, and had several marriages - at the same time. Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed. Mohammad himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza.  If it is good for Islam, it is good. If it is bad for Islam, it is bad.
Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion.  Sure, it has a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins. But in its essence Islam is a political ideology. It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the life of every person. Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life.  Islam means 'submission'.   Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is Sharia.  If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies.
Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam 'the most retrograde force in the world', and why he compared Mein Kampf to the Quran. The public has wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian narrative, and sees Israel as the aggressor.  I have lived in this country and visited it dozens of times.  I support Israel.  First, because it is the Jewish homeland after two thousand years of exile up to and including Auschwitz.  Second because it is a democracy.  And third because Israel is our first line of defense.
This tiny country is situated on the fault line of jihad, frustrating Islam's territorial advance.  Israel is facing the front lines of jihad, like Kashmir, Kosovo, the Philippines, Southern Thailand, Darfur in Sudan, Lebanon, and Aceh in Indonesia.  Israel is simply in the way.  The same way West-Berlin was during the Cold War.
The war against Israel is not a war against Israel.  It is a war against the West.  It is jihad.  Israel is simply receiving the blows that are meant for all of us.  If there would have been no Israel, Islamic imperialism would have found other venues to release its energy and its desire for conquest.  Thanks to Israeli parents who send their children to the army and lay awake at night, parents in Europe and America can sleep well and dream, unaware of the dangers looming.
Many in Europe argue in favor of abandoning Israel in order to address the grievances of our Muslim minorities.  But if Israel were, God forbid, to go down, it would not bring any solace to the West.  It would not mean our Muslim minorities would all of a sudden change their behavior, and accept our values.  On the contrary, the end of Israel would give enormous encouragement to the forces of Islam.  They would, and rightly so, see the demise of Israel as proof that the West is weak, and doomed.  The end of Israel would not mean the end of our problems with Islam, but only the beginning. It would mean the start of the final battle for world domination. If they can get Israel, they can get everything.  So-called journalists volunteer to label any and all critics of Islam as a ’right-wing extremists' or 'racists'.  In my country, the Netherlands, 60 percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II.  And another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat.  Yet there is a greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing.  The lights may go out in Europe faster than you can imagine.  An Islamic Europe means a Europe without freedom and democracy, an economic wasteland, an intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military might for America - as its allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic bombs.   With an Islamic Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage of Rome, Athens and Jerusalem
Dear friends, Liberty is the most precious of gifts.  My generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives.  All throughout Europe, American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and whose memory we cherish.  My generation does not own this freedom; we are merely its custodians.  We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe's children in the same state in which it was offered to us.  We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams.  Future generations would never forgive us.  We cannot squander our liberties.   We simply do not have the right to do so.
We have to take the necessary action now to stop this Islamic stupidity from destroying the free world that we know.
Please take the time to read and understand what is written here, please send it to every free person that you know - it is so very important."

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Musing – Is there a Difference between a Child’s and an Adult’s Bible Study?



Hebraic Musing – Is there a Difference between a Child’s and an Adult’s Bible Study?
The story of the Noahaic flood is well known as – God did not like that “the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence” (Gen 6:11) so He wiped out the people.  And since God found Noah to be righteous, he and his family were saved. Very picturesque!  Even the children can follow that; but are they ready to understand the word “corrupt”?
How would we define corrupt?  Our “Adult” Sunday School class started this lesson about The Flood by delineating the sins we find prevalent and/or out of control in our society today.  The list included –

  • ·         Increasing Violence & senseless Killings
  • ·         Loss of respect for Life – abortions & euthanasia
  • ·         Drugs and mind-altering Addictions
  • ·         Promotion of open Sex (out of wedlock)
  • ·         Promotion & acceptance of Homosexuality & Polyamory
  • ·         Divorce, breakdown of Marriage
  • ·         Lack of Truthfulness & outright Lying in the media, textbooks, education, etc.
  • ·         Loss of Respect for elders, politicians, parents, teachers, God, etc.
  • ·         Intolerance of Judeo/Christian beliefs and of those who hold to such beliefs

Sounds like a rather clear definition of “Corrupt” and the Sunday school message was clear as to why our righteous Father God had to take action.
A child’s Bible study portrays God as loving and caring for His people.  The Flood story should help a child recognize consequences for corruption and misbehaviors. However, the “why” is typically not taught to children. Instead, the child gets caught up in imagining animals, ark, logistics, etc.
An adult study considers that while God loves, He also judges.  As a Loving Father God, He has to take action.  Good parents know that if you do not enforce consequences for misbehavior, the corrupt conduct gets worse and kids learn it is okay to be corrupt; and things get progressively more corrupt.
Our Almighty Father God then has to have consequences if behavior is judged to be corrupt.  So, how will God judge our current society?  How long will He tolerate the rampant sins delineated above and the lack of respect He is receiving?
Yes, I know these are challenging thoughts, but are we standing our ground, especially with the younger generation?   Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.” Eph 6:11. NIV    God states His case very well in Psalm 7:11 – “God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.”  NIV
Points to Ponder
Are we “getting away with murder”?
If we are disgusted with today’s corruption, how do you think God feels?
Are we to be watchmen and prophets? 
                  Or have we become watchers and partakers?
When will we receive His judgement and suffer the related consequences?
Shalom Mishpochah (Family)                                                 October 13, 2015       
Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,   Author: