Musing – Is the Church a Family?

Hebraic Musing – Is the Church a Family?

Recent breaking news – Chick-Fil-A, a boldly Christian principled company, is under attack in Chicago for their stand on Homosexuality; and the Catholic Church is being confronted by government regulations re: abortion and birth control. Both organizations have taken a valiant stand; but support is fragmented.

My long-time friend, John DeCock[1], dealt with assembling numerous denominational churches into unified fellowships to deal with the challenges on the mission field where the goal is to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And we know the biggest hindrance to spreading the Gospel in the USA is the testimony of in-fighting between denominations and even churches within denominations. John DeCock provided the best explanation I have heard as to why denominations seem to always be fighting and at cross-purposes with one another – “They are brothers and sisters”. 

So why don’t they act as family?

Our son-in-law is on the police force in Springfield, MO. The call that is most dangerous is ‘domestic violence’ because when the officer arrives on the scene, the quarrelling family members stop quarrelling and they team up to take-on the officer who arrived to break up the brawl.

Can the Church and the denominations learn a lesson and team up like a family to resist the worldly forces that are attacking the values of our Church Family (capitals intended)?  Brothers and sisters unite!

Point to ponder

What can or should we each be doing to represent a unified family to the world?

Shalom                                                                                    July 31, 2012

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Author “Hebraic Insights – 95 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    

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[1] John and Thelma are semi-retired missionaries who established churches and ministries in Surinam, Belgium/Holland and Bonaire. John is nephew to Cori Ten Boom, so his understanding of the Church of Jesus Christ is multi-cultural and cross denominational.

Musing – Job’s blessing? He had nothing to lose!

Hebraic Musing – Job’s blessing? He had nothing to lose!

Have you ever looked at Job’s most popular quote and thought of it as a blessing?  "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’." Job 1:20-21  Once Job recognized this, he was free – all fear of failure, embarrassment, pride, expectations no longer had hold on him. Now he, and/or we, can ‘go for the moon’!  We are no longer bound or fettered by those things that hinder us.

This adds meaning to Gal.5:7  Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?  KJV.  Or in the NIV  You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?

Everything we have and that we worry about losing was a gift from HIM in the first place. But we sure can become attached to (a) the things we have and/or (b) who we are.

As I enter the autumn years of my life I find myself freed of many concerns that hindered, fettered and worried me in earlier years. I’m beginning to realize ‘I have nothing to lose’. Self-image is one of the major concerns that changed. My image is no longer near as important as Christ’s image that I am reflecting. Acceptance of Christ by others is far more important than my self-image that I used to be so concerned about.

Point to ponder

What would you do, or what would you do different, if you had nothing to lose?

Shalom                                                                        July 24, 2012

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Author “Hebraic Insights – 95 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 – Can grieving be a good thing?

Hebraic Musing – Can grieving be a good thing?

I’ve been puzzled since March 10^th when my wife left me for the Perfect Husband. Traditional teachings say I should be going through five to ten stages of a grieving process. So why is it I am not devastated by this most major loss? Yet many Christians think the Bible says “Grieve Not” in 1 Thess.4:13; but the whole verse is – But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.  NASB. 

A dear friend sent me to the book Good Grief by Granger Westberg; and after reading it, I am now surprisingly convinced that grieving can be a good thing.  The author states that as a result of good grieving “we come out of our grief experience at a slightly higher level of maturity than before.”  In my case, I’m amazed at the higher level of maturity. Let me share some of my very personal reactions to each of the author’s ten stages of grief:

Stage 1. State of Shock – No shock experienced because, graciously, we could see it coming.[1]

Stage 2. Expressing Emotion – I am a man and I have cried and still cry. Why not – I do miss her.

Stage 3. Feeling Depressed and Lonely – I’m not alone. I have dear friends and family ‘just being there’.[2]

Stage 4. Experiencing Physical Symptoms of Distress – Avoiding debilitating distress by accepting that things will have to change; and not wallowing in depression or disappointment.

Stage 5. Becoming Panicky – Fear of the unknown will cause panic, but I know where she is. However, I am uneasy as it becomes obvious that my future will be different, and I don’t know what that is yet.

Stage 6. Sense of Guilt – Were there things I should have done different? Maybe. But introspection says we did what we lovingly thought best. An interesting example of guilt – my father died suddenly one evening and my mother regretted for years that the last meal she gave him was only a bowl of chili. She’s forgiven!

Stage 7. Anger and Resentment – Typically the reaction is ‘why did this have to happen to me?’  I am comforted in my faith that God is sovereign, so I can and will leave this event in His hands.

Stage 8. Resisting Returning – People try to help by not mentioning PeggyMom for fear of stirring up the grief cycle, but actually it is healthy to acknowledge her quirks and uniqueness that made her special. Comments about her help keep her memory alive and lovingly show a shared burden.

Stage 9. Hope Comes Through – With family around I am finding that other experiences and relationships in life are still very meaningful. After all, Jesus tells Christians to look forward, not backward.

Stage 10. Struggling to Affirm Reality – Over the years, the many losses we have survived and the growth we experienced losing a 10 month old daughter and being with loved ones suffering tragedies had already molded me into a different person. My faith in the sovereignty of Almighty God has grown with each of the past tragedies. Yet it is now clear that the best is yet to come. The future is still exciting, although unknown.

Point to Ponder

We have all suffered many losses in life,
so how can proper grieving strengthen us instead of debilitating us?

Shalom Aleichem

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                                             July 10, 2012

Author “Hebraic Insights – 95 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    

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[1] See Hebraic Musing - The Harbinger and a Locomotive analogy. May 1, 2012

[2] See H.M. – Is ’just being there’ a ministry?  June 26, 2012

Musing – What is meant by the term ‘Messianic Judaism’?

Hebraic Musing – What is meant by the term ‘Messianic Judaism’?  ¹
July 3, 2012

Many in the ‘Messianic’ movement have been asked this question. My observations tell me that ‘Messianic’ and/or ‘Hebrew Roots’ fellowships face the challenge of defining themselves, especially to the satisfaction of existing and potential congregants.

In the foreword of my “Hebraic Insights” book, I share the challenge -- “My leadership role with a Messianic fellowship resulted in finding ourselves in a bridge position in our faith walk. Jews traditionally have difficulty with Christians, and sometimes even more so with Messianics. Many traditional Christian fellowships are not comfortable with Jewish teachings and especially their emphasis on the Old Testament. Some Christians even think that the Old Testament no longer applies. So we find ourselves on the bridge between the two. Frankly, I encourage both Jews and Christians to join us on the bridge.”

Let’s look at a few of the issues encountered on the bridge between Hebrew Christians and Messianic Jews:

1. Hebrew Christians could be a reference to traditional Christian believers who have become interested in the culture of Biblical times, beauty of the Hebrew language, richness of Torah teachings, exuberant Hebraic music, the role of Israel in eschatology, etc. – or any combination of these interests.

2. Legalistic Hebraic Christians could be a term to describe those who go a step beyond the above and start applying the legalistic aspects of the Torah and Midrash to their lives. For example wearing a Tallit or a Kippah because they feel required to obey Torah; instead of wearing it because Father God suggested it.  Another example of legal vs. voluntary compliance would be in the reasons for compliance to a kosher diet.

3. Charismatic Messianics defines many ‘Messianic’ congregations. They are well-grounded Christians celebrating and enjoying lively music and fellowship and diligently searching for their Hebraic roots.

4. Jewish and Christian Messianics celebrating together in a congregation about 50/50 Jewish and Gentile would be the rarest of the congregations because of the many dynamics and diverse backgrounds involved.

5. Messianic Jews, sometimes referred to as “Completed Jews”, comfortably enjoy their Jewish traditions, feasts, Sabbaths, diets, customs, etc. while giving full recognition to Yeshua HaMashiach as their Messiah.

These five categorizations are gross oversimplifications because in reality the pressures of people’s contradictory belief systems become divisive as these congregations try to define themselves. For instance, many Christians feel a Jew should get saved and join their church – Baptist, A of G, or whichever, and ‘convert’ from Jew to Christian.  That group tends to have difficulty acknowledging that Jesus was a Torah obedient Jew who spoke Hebrew and/or Aramaic, not KJV English. Sorry, but why ask the Jew to drop their beautiful heritage?  And once on the ‘bridge’ one begins to find out how many steps/issues are involved in crossing the bridge -- Legalism vs. guidelines; observance vs. respect for the Torah; dealing with 613 OT commandments and agreement as to which are still applicable; pressures and queries from your traditional Christian friends; and on and on. Exploring new topics and being challenged to re-think and accept changes in our doctrinal and denominational thinking is admittedly unsettling. But ‘the truth shall set you free’.

Welcome to the bridge.    BTW – Where are you on the bridge?

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 reply to  Yosef1@cox.net    

[1] Inspired by a posting on April 30, 2012 by Derek Leman
www.derekleman.com/musings/2011/10/24/types-of-messianic-congregations/