Musing – Are Rituals good or bad?

Hebraic Musing – Are Rituals good or bad?

There was no ‘musing’ last week because Irene and I celebrated our wedding on the 13^th and just returned from our honeymoon – an enjoyable, purposeful and meaningful ‘ritual’!

God clearly does not want meaningless rituals. Let’s start with a concern that God expressed through His Prophet Hosea.  Ephraim has built many altars, but they are not to worship me! They are altars of sin!  Even if I gave her ten thousand laws, she'd say they weren't for her-that they applied to someone far away.  Her people love the ritual of their sacrifice, but to me it is meaningless! I will call for an accounting of their sins and punish them…  Hos 8:11-13  TLB   And He had Isaiah say something similar.  "Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?  Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?" —Isaiah 58:5 NIV 

The Jews have many rituals or customs that seem weird to Christians, like mezuzahs, phylacteries, worshiping on Saturday, and on and on the list could go. However , is the Jewish dedication to rituals much different than the customs traditional church-goers go through without understanding why, or the scriptural reason behind the rituals. How often is the blessing with holy water, making the sign of the cross, genuflecting, lifting our hands, receiving communion, anointing with oil, speaking blessings, going to church, etc. done without even thinking of why we just did it?

May I submit that rituals and customs are inherently good because they have been established to remind us and draw us closer to Almighty God?  But rituals and customs can be bad or meaningless when we do them without understanding why or without using them as a way to acknowledge God or to think about our relationship with Him.

Point to Ponder

How might our relationship with God improve
if we slow down to think about what our rituals represent?

Why was it established in the first place?   Or…

What is the scriptural reason for this ritual?   Or…

Is there an underlying meaning for the other person’s strange ritual?

Shalom                                                                                    October 23, 2012

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Musing – Have methods of warfare really changed?

Hebraic Musing – Have methods of warfare really changed?

Stratfor Intelligence service pointed out the evolution of warfare methods in the world, but their description of modern warfare sounds strangely familiar to Christians. Here is an excerpt from Insurgency and the Protracted War, June 28, 2012, from Stratfor, an intelligence reporting group. (Full Report available on request)

One of the basic tenets of modern Western warfare, as articulated by theorists such as Carl von Clausewitz, is the desire to destroy the enemy in quick, decisive battles that break the enemy's ability -- and will -- to fight. In contrast, one of the basic doctrines of insurgent warfare, as articulated by theorists such as Mao Zedong and Vo Nguyen Giap, is to decline decisive battle when the odds are not favorable and to live to fight another day. The insurgent wants to prolong the battle and create a drawn-out, grinding war that will gradually wear down the stronger enemy while insurgent forces build up enough strength to fight a conventional war and defeat their opponents. Western military leaders, then, seek to quickly resolve a war, while insurgents seek to prolong it by any means -- even if this means ceding control of territory until they can amass the strength to take it back.  

Since Satan knows he has lost the big war, I could not help but see the relationship between this method of warfare and the warfare described in Ephesians. 6:12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.   And Satan’s tactics are disclosed in 1^st Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  

While the Stratfor report may be educational by helping to understand modern warfare throughout the present-day world, I do see the similarity to Satan’s methods of warfare which is some 6,700 years old.

Points to ponder

Who is really behind the warfare and disruptions in today’s news?

How is the ‘insurgency’ trying to take us down?

Shalom                                                                                    October 9, 2012

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Musing - Are you dedicated to YOUR calling?

Hebraic Musing - Are you dedicated to YOUR calling?

Paul called us to stay dedicated to the end of the race in 2 Tim. 4:7-8  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness,....NIV  

What was it that allowed these four noted men of God to stay the course?

- Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery, and he did

- Noah was called to build an ark to save mankind, and he did

- Joseph was called to lead and ultimately to save them from starvation

- Paul was called to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles

What was it that kept these men devoted to their calling all the way to the end?

Answer - it was THEIR calling, and they were focused on THEIR calling, THEIR mission; almost to the exclusion of other callings. Do we see Christians and even pastors following other people's programs or callings?  Many seminars we attend represent someone else's calling, program or anointing; not necessarily yours or my calling. Does that mean Christians and pastors get frustrated and burned out because they are trying to fulfill someone else's calling or anointing?

Pastors, leaders and Christians -- your calling is from the King. If you are not sure what it is, have you asked Him?

Points to ponder

To what calling has God called YOU to?

What is YOUR mission or calling?

Have you written out YOUR calling?

P.S.  If you are concerned you might not be qualified, see the addendum below.

Shalom                                                                                                October 2, 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    

Addendum

What is your excuse?    God Can Use You!  The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember...

·         Noah was a drunk

·         Abraham was too old

·         Isaac was a daydreamer

·         Jacob was a liar

·         Leah was ugly

·         Joseph was abused

·         Moses had a stuttering problem

·         Gideon was afraid

·         Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer

·         Rahab was a prostitute

·         Jeremiah and Timothy were too young

·         David had an affair and was a murderer

·         Elijah was suicidal

·         Isaiah preached naked

·         Jonah ran from God

·         Naomi was a widow

·         Job went bankrupt

·         John the Baptist ate bugs

·         Peter denied Christ, Peter denied Christ again, Peter denied Christ for the 3rd time

·         The Disciples fell asleep while praying

·         Martha worried about everything

·         Mary Magdalene was, well you know

·         The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once

·         Zaccheus was too small

·         Paul was too religious

·         Timothy had an ulcer...AND

·         Lazarus was dead!

SO...no more excuses now. God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren't the message, you are just the messenger. Share this with a friend or two... God can use who He wants in any way He wants to.  I am so glad that He has use for me and you who believe in Jesus the Christ

author unknown

Musing – What is the purpose of marriage?...and an announcement!

Hebraic Musing – What is the purpose of marriage?...and an announcement!

Why am I so anxious to re-marry after having lost my wife to the Perfect Husband earlier this year?

This announcement is a preface to this Musing.  Irene and I will be married October 13th at First Baptist Church of Downers Grove, IL. We were sweethearts at J.S.Morton High School in Cicero, IL, 58 years ago. We lost track of each other for 57 years and meanwhile we each have had awesome marriages. Alas we both had our loved ones go home to the Lord early this year. Irene found my e-address in the alumni directory, sent me a 'what's happening' e-mail and it quickly became obvious that God has arranged this wedding in His perfect timing. I am trying to find an adjective stronger than 'incredible' because there is even more to this incredulous story.

The challenge we both faced is the issue of loneliness. What is the cure for loneliness?  Jesus said “Be servant of all” in Mark 9:35.   Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

I am struck by Jesus’ admonition to serve one another and this all had to do with the question of who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Since marriage is all about sharing (a lesson we were supposed to learn in kindergarten), I wonder if sharing could be the cure for loneliness?  Rabbi Eckstein summarized a rabbinical midrash from Rabbi Haim(1):

Many years ago, someone wrote a cute, but telling, version of heaven and hell. The Lord shows a man hell. The man sees a room where a group of people sit around a huge pot of stew, but everyone is famished. Each person has a spoon, but none of them have elbows, making it impossible to get the soup into their mouths. The suffering is horrible.
Next, God shows the man heaven. The room is exactly the same – big pot of stew, plenty of spoons, and no elbows. But here, the people are well fed and happy.
“I don’t understand,” the man says to the Lord. “Why are they happy here when everyone in the other room was miserable”?
The Lord smiles and says, “Because here, they have learned to feed each other”.

Q. - So why am I anxious to re-marry?
A. - I need to share my life; and I am thrilled at the opportunity to serve someone as close as a spouse.

Point to ponder

Why does sharing make us feel so good?

Shalom                                                                                    September 25, 2012

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd