3Ds Vision

I’m a blog-lapsarian.  Yes, I am.  My last post is dated May 26, 2010.  Hmmm… I know the Lord has decreed it as such so I won’t bother to get into whether it was pre or post-fall.

Much has happened since then—Spain won the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Wikileaks, the H1N1 influenza pandemic was officially declared over by the WHO, the Yankees imploded against the Rangers as Cliff Lee & some guy named Colby Lewis were absolute buzzsaws, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island, we baptized 10 folks at Maranatha, Owen went from white to high-green belt (even Bethany’s now a yellow belt), we celebrated Maranatha’s 1yr anniversary, I entered my 5^th decade of life, and today’s (April 5) my beautiful wife’s *33^rd* birthday (the Kwaklings & I made her breakfast in bed).

This past weekend was a blast at Maranatha.  We held our first Spring Conference with Pastor Joe Thorn from Redeemer Fellowship as our guest speaker (stoked about his upcoming book, NOTE to SELF), and the time was replete with biblical, gospel-rich teaching, seriously fun fellowship, corporate times of prayer devoted to “the God who is there,” and some serious Italian food from the Ciccione family (not mafia-run).

Joe geared his messages towards our 2011 focus on the 3D’s:  Doctrine | Discipleship | Devotion to Prayer.  With baseball’s opening day just behind us, I’ll stick with that theme and simply say that Pastor Joe connected in a major way on all five teachings he presented; he simply hit each one out of the park—listen for yourself.  The brother can bring it with passion for Jesus and compassion for people.  He is a bona fide church historian, theologian, pastor, church planter… challenged, convicted, inspired me as a church planting pastor.

The week didn’t start off with much promise as we discovered the retreat center we booked had double booked the weekend and for whatever reason, chose to hand us the short end of the stick.  Tis not a good thing to have 70+ people registered for a retreat and no retreat center.  So a day and a half was spent desperately calling and emailing an assortment of venues, and by His grace alone, there wasn’t much anxiety.

Eric & David, our retreat operations men, tackled this obstacle head on with much aplomb and in a short, two-day span, tweaked our “First Annual Spring Retreat” to a “First Annual Spring Conference.”  And in God’s providence, Satan’s ploys to befuddle and discourage actually led to changes that enabled more people to attend!  Far greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world… So serious kudos to God, David & Eric, and also to NJ Manna Church and North Shore Baptist Church for making their church facilities available (cost-free!) on ultra-short notice.

I am confident the time spent together worshipping as a family of God, a local church on mission, will prove to be fruitful as we seek “to make much of Jesus” in the Greater Fort Lee area.  Beyond the conference context, the fam’ was able to spend time with Joe and Katherine (his eldest daughter) showing them some NYC sights.  The weather left much to be desired but we made the most of it.  Really appreciated Joe’s chill winsomeness and his encouragement to me, my family, and my flock… I gained a great friend.

Sixteen Candles?

So we’ve “endured” 16 Sundays… Our locations have been a posh (at least to my standards) hotel ballroom in Fort Lee, a beautifully renovated warehouse-to-worship center (thank you Grace Redeemer Church in Teaneck), and now finally our new home for the last four weeks, Fort Lee High School.

Projectors have malfunctioned; rain/windstorms have induced blackouts; computers have crashed; worship leaders have gotten sick (but they haven’t puked on ‘stage’ yet); a dog has visited; preachers (mostly me) have told the congregants that they’re not needed by the Church (and especially by God).  And yet our small, growing community of faith that desires to celebrate the transforming work of the Gospel of Jesus in our lives, as it takes its licking, just keeps on ticking.  All this only possible because of His steadfast love for us—therefore we will continue to hope in Him (Lamentations 3).

This past Sunday I preached a tough sermon on Ephesians 5:1-14 entitled, “Adoration in Actions & Associations.”  I say tough for a couple of reasons:  1) my parents attend Maranatha and who the heck likes to talk about anything related to sex & sexuality when your parents are within earshot?! 2) ours is a hyper-sensual/sexual and hyper-consumeristic society.  And when you put those two ‘hypers’ together, you get a commodification of absolutely everything imaginable via the vehicle of sex.  Sex sells… it always has and always will.  But in the past, sex sold itself by offering self-gratification and pleasure at whatever rate the prostitute or pimp charged.  Nowadays, sex is utilized to sell everything from automobiles to Zippo lighters.

And I fully realize that propriety may vary slightly from one society & culture to another, but the overall hyper-sensuality/sexuality of society has created an environment that some refer to as ambient pornography—it’s just all around and in the ‘air’ we breathe.  Sadly, our children are not being protected from the fallout and their lives are being emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, AND even physically affected.  When the onset of puberty for young girls is beginning earlier and earlier as they suffer the influences of the insanely risqué fashion fads that have invaded their television programs and pressured them to live up to the sexual fantasies of ‘adultescent’ male, ‘kid-dults’ who can’t keep their eyes and hands off.

It is so sad to see the young affected in such harmful ways.  When the children of our generation in our society lose their modesty, their ability to blush, and most importantly their purity, it is a sad & tragic testimony.

We have been duped by the selfish, self-gratifying, self-indulgent, hyper-sensual ideals of hyper-consumerism and entitlement.  Our understanding of sexuality and application of it has been grossly distorted.  How so?  Well, turn on ESPN at 9pm and just watch commercial after commercial after commercial of Viagra and Cialis and hookup websites that promote the ideas that you are entitled to mind-blowing & mind-numbing, scintillating sex when and where and with whomever you want it.  We’ve come to harbor such unreasonable and ungodly expectations that deceive us and steal away our joy in our wives and husbands and lives.  Have you checked your spam folder lately?  Have you noticed who might be following you on Twitter?

So while 21^st century America isn’t much different at all from the pagan society of 1^st century Ephesus in terms of the sexual immorality at the heart level, the dangers of our day & age arise in the immediate accessibility, availability, and anonymity of indulgence.  I can rip out my HTC Hero—and in a manner of seconds, I can access any porn-site in the galaxy.  That is frightening.

But it’s certainly not contained to our own, U.S. of A.  The online pornography industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that reaches even into the darkest areas of the world.  The other, ‘Christian’ Korea, one of the most wired societies in the world, has skyrocketing rates of porn addiction—it is epidemic in proportions.  Sexual immorality has been the culprit for the disintegration of families in this tiny, peninsula nation that has become hyper-westernized at a rate much too hard to handle.  The divorce rate has been surging for some time now and now ranks among the world’s highest.  The birthrate, on the other hand, has plummeted to the ranks of the worst in the world.  What’s the story?  Well, there are a few factors to consider but to put it in a nutshell, whenever a nation experiences rapid global, economic growth there comes with it influences that seem to erode the moral foundations and fabric of said nation.  Not to say that South Korea was getting it all right before its economic rise to power, but the proof is in the pudding.  Korean women are pushing off marriage because Korean businessmen have been cheating on them for decades now—always known, just ignored.  But how does this result in women marrying later in life?  Well, Korean women are simply taking the measures to fend for themselves by establishing careers so that when their husbands cheat on them, they can seek divorces since they now can support themselves.  Hence, women marrying later in life limits the child-bearing years.  Moreover, in a society that has erected the idol of achievement & success in education into an artform, children are too expensive to be had.  A sad commentary on such a ‘Christian’ nation…

But let’s get this straight, God is not anti-sex; the bible is not anti-sex.  Sex is what it is because God created it.  The Christian God is a God who loves more intimately then we can ever fathom.  And since we are made in His image, He has given us this gift of sexual intimacy to of course, procreate (but that isn’t even such a given nowadays), but to also enjoy and treasure and guard.  So yes, the bible is extremely pro-sex… but within the confines of a covenant marriage relationship.  God desires for us to live in complete freedom from the temptation and deception of sexual immorality.  Society may disparage the Christian understanding of sexuality as repressive and archaic—too prude and obsolete to accomplish any good.  But many who have lived through the sexual revolution of the 60s & 70s will testify that a full-blown, no holds-barred approach to engaging in free, promiscuous sex will never satisfy.  Here are some choice quotes from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity:

“Chastity is the most unpopular of the Christian virtues.  There is no getting away from it: the old Christian rule is, ‘Either marriage, with complete faithfulness to your partner, or else total abstinence.’  Now this is so difficult and so contrary to our instincts, that obviously either Christianity is wrong or our sexual instinct, as it now is, has gone wrong.  One or the other.  Of course, being a Christian, I think it is the instinct which has gone wrong” (p.90).

“Once critic said that if he found a country in which such strip-tease acts with food were popular, he would conclude that the people of that country were starving.  He meant, of course, to imply that such things as the strip-tease act resulted not from sexual corruption but from sexual starvation… But the next step would be to test our hypothesis by finding out whether, in fact, much or little food was being consumed in that country.  If the evidence showed that a good deal was being eaten, then of course we should have to abandon the hypothesis of starvation and try to think of another one.  In the same way, before accepting sexual starvation as the cause of the strip-tease, we should have to look for evidence that there is in fact more sexual abstinence in our age than in those ages when things like the strip-tease were unknown.  But surely there is no evidence.  Contraceptives have made sexual indulgence far less costly within marriage and far safer outside it than ever before, and public opinion is less hostile to illicit unions and even to perversion than it has been since Pagan times.  Nor is the hypothesis of ‘starvation’ the only one we can imagine.  Everyone knows that the sexual appetite, like our other appetites, grows by indulgence.  Starving men may think much about food, but so do gluttons; the gorged, as well as the famished, like titillations” (p.91).

“They tell you sex has become a mess because it was hushed up.  But for the last twenty years it has not been hushed up.  It has been chattered about all day long.  Yet it is still in a mess.  If hushing it up had been the cause of the trouble, ventilation would have set it right.  But it has not.  I think it is the other way round.  I think the human race originally hushed it up because it had become such a mess” (p.92).

So right after I stepped away from the pulpit this past Sunday, as usual, my mind was immediately flooded with better ways I could’ve expounded the text and better points of application I didn’t proffer and better illustrations to illustrate—God’s way of keeping me humble!  Too bad preachers don’t have DVR abilities…

So much more to be said… but in a nutshell, we are to put off sin & put on Christ, we are to put to death (mortification) & God brings to life (vivification) by the power of the Holy Spirit in the midst of a community united by the love & the power of the Gospel.

Back in March, my precious wife organized a surprise 39^th for me and some folks from Maranatha blessed me with a collection of funds for a new MacBook.  Well, I decided to go PC simply for economic reasons… but I might reconsider.  Why?  Whoever thought that choosing between a PC and a Mac might have implications on sexual morality?!  This article by Dr. Mohler is a must read!

This is good and glorious and good for my jaunts into NYC.

We served the community the other week with bottled water and our hopes are to serve the greater Fort Lee area with Living Water…

Some Cultural Enrichment for the Kids…

All I gots to say is he gets his moves from his mother…

I grew up listening to the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel and other 60s/70s bands.  When I encounter kids who have no idea who the Byrds are, I cringe.

Thanks Uncle Bobby & Auntie Taylor for the BandHero gift.

See What Happens?!

As a parent, I often lack in my compassion towards my children.  I am a deficient ‘long-sufferer’ especially when dealing with discipline issues.  Just the other night right after family devotions and right before bedtime, I was far too harsh and sinful in my disciplining of Owen, our little guy who just turned 4 on February 16.  I did not model the Father’s love to him and my daughters as he received my angry tirade and spanking.  It makes me sick to think of the fear in his and my daughters’ hearts as they sadly watched their little brother receive an unjust spanking.  In this busy season of church planting, all the more I need to not only watch my doctrine, but I must be vigilant in watching my life and fighting the all-too-easily hidden, ‘respectable’ sin of neglecting to be a godly father, pastor dad.

The palpable, supernatural grace of God was evident in that almost immediately after my sin, as I lay down next to him, I asked him to forgive me and asked if he loved me.  In his emotionally exhausted state, he turned toward me and gave me a hug and said “I forgive you daddy and I love you.”  Snoring ensued soonafter… but what a reminder of how I need to be childlike in my faith and forgiveness.  And how I need the Spirit’s strength to cultivate this fruit in my life!  “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.”  Solomon’s sagacious words may repulse many a parent in our day and age of self-esteem-ocentric parenting, but his words ring true when heeded wisely and with compassion.

When Owen was two years old, I got into the sinful habit of pontificating these cold and calloused words whenever he hurt himself:  “See what happens?!”  Now there’s something to disciplining a child when he/she continually hurts herself because of disobedience.  If your kid keeps stickin’ stuff in the electrical outlet, you had best discipline him fast and furiously in love.  But I must sadly confess, my “see what happens” were not so much out of a compassionate concern for his well-being as they were for my sinful desire for comfort on demand.  It got to the pathetic point that whenever he did hurt himself, I’d look over at him with unfatherly eyes and sarcastically blurt out, “Owen, what’s dad gonna say?”  To which he would tearfully reply, “See what happens…”  Believe it or not, this chapter of sad parenting devolves all the more.  One day, at the tender age of 2 years and a few months, Diane observed Owen hurt his shoulder against a portion of the kitchen wall that slightly jutted out.  In fear of not wanting to reveal his accident, Diane overheard him tearfully mumble to himself, “See what happens…”  That was a crushing, but yet compassionate and convicting blow of discipline from my Father in heaven—discipline that I dare not despise or take lightly.

What a great sinner I am, and what a great Savior He is.  Grace upon grace…

Yesterday, there was a USA Today report that the wife of prosperity televangelist Benny Hinn has filed for a divorce.  Yes, his prosperity gospel teachings are absolutely poisonous, and he is being and will be held accountable for his great sin.  But let’s not approach Hinn’s situation with my sinful “See what happens?!” heart posture.  Rather, let’s pray for the Hinns—for Gospel reconciliation to permeate their lives and radically revolutionize him.

Oh What A Night… Late January 2010 (the 31st to be exact)

Two nights ago, North Shore Baptist Church had a Sunday night meeting that served as a one-night spectacle celebration of what church is all about.  In a two-hour period (6-8pm), those gathered witnessed the transforming effects of Christ upon individuals and a community.  For anyone reading this post who doesn’t really get church or understand its purposes, or for those of you who are justified cynics of the ‘institution’ of church because of an absolutely horrible experience where there might have been rampant spiritual abuse by church leaders, please know this:  the bible clearly reveals that the church is all about life in Christ—new birth, new life, new desires & affections, new relationships, new community, and even a new mission… all in Jesus Christ.

So what took place?  First, Maranatha Grace Fort Lee was officially commissioned as a North Shore church plant (North Shore’s fourth!).  Soonafter I was ‘ordained’ into pastoral ministry.  Next was the presentation of fourteen new North Shore members.  And finally, there were four baptisms.  It was a very full night; it was a joyous celebration of God’s goodness, grace, and faithfulness to sinners through His Son’s bride, the church.

The core members of Maranatha had the opportunity of signing a church charter…

that read as such:

Established on the 31^st day of January

in the year of our Lord Twenty-Ten.

We, the undersigned, do hereby establish this church,

which shall be known as Maranatha Grace Fort Lee.

We covenant to make much of our Savior & Lord Jesus

by living for Him as a church that seeks to be a city within the city—

a community of believers who are in the world,

not of the world, but for the world,

through our obedience to the Great Commandment

and the Great Commission.

It was an emotional night for Diane & me as so many who have invested into our lives were present to encourage and bless.  Far too many names to mention amongst family, previous families of God (churches), Maranatha folks on mission with us, and dear North Shore folks we are ‘leaving’ behind.  But above all, Jesus again deserves thanks & praise over and over again.

The next morning, the whole fam’ was back in Bayside at North Shore helping pack 45+ suitcases of clothing, medical supplies/drugs, toys, volleyballs, books, and bibles for the Jamaica Missions Outreach (www.ns-bc.org).

Blogger’s Slump?

It’s been over a month since I’ve posted… hmmm, and my last post wasn’t much of a substantial post although the free John Piper audiobook is real substance.  Hopefully this bi-vocational run will end soon…

So earlier tonight after work, the Kwak ladies went across the Hudson to church for Janice Cheng’s bridal shower—our dear friends Harry & Janice are getting married on December 19th!

Owen & I stayed home and got some father/son bonding action goin’ on. Growing up, I didn’t have many bonding opportunities with my father so I’m doing my best to be there for my little guy and sweet gals.  I think he shows some promise… he definitely has some ups

This past Sunday at North Shore, our small Maranatha Grace Fort Lee worship team was afforded the opportunity to lead God’s people in worship at their 9am & 11am corporate worship gathering.  All I gots to say is Letterman may have his Shaffer, Conan may have his Weinberg, and Leno may have his Eubanks, but I’ve got three young guys who are not only quite musically-inclined but really embody some crucial characteristics:  humility, unity, servanthood, brotherhood, and flexi-vaila-daptability (This last one is especially invaluable in a church plant context.  And btw, if you’re a godly gal and you can sing real well and wanna be on mission in Northern NJ, please contact us!)

These guys teamed with the excellent and gracious North Shore worship team and pulled a “John the Baptist.”  Nope, they didn’t don camel’s hair & leather belts (they actually might’ve had leather belts on).  Rather, they were up on the stage preparing and facilitating the way to worship our Savior.  They skillfully led with guitars, voices, keyboard, drums (traditional & djembe) and deflected our voices and songs and thoughts towards Jesus, the Lover of our souls.  It was a wonderful, worshipful, responsive time of expressing our affection & adoration unto the King eternal, and I look forward to doing the same with these guys “having my back” west of the Hudson.

“Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!  Praise befits the upright.  Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to Him with the harp of ten strings!  Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.” <Psalm 33:1-3>

Invaluable Freebies…

I love bargain-hunting.  In fact, I can be downright ultra-frugal to a fault at times.  Diane is a frugal monster as well—she saves us loads of money every time she goes grocery shopping as she is a master coupon finder/clipper!

Desiring God Ministries makes life too easy for “cheapos” like me.  Why?  Because this ministry offers nearly all of its resources for nada.  Sermons, articles, many of Dr. Piper’s books in .pdf format, audio-books, etc.  This ministry has pioneered & paved the way for many other ministries to emulate.  Praise the Lord for Dr. John Piper and his staff at Desiring God, for they have helped me keep a close watch on my life and my doctrine.

Here’s his classic book, Desiring God, free in audio format.

A Few Good Men Who “Get It” & the Potency of Prayer…

So two Sundays ago (10/4) we met at Dan & Rich’s place in Cliffside Park for our third ‘VC2′ meeting. It was a wonderful time well spent. How so? I’d like to take a moment to point out two remarkable aspects of the meeting…

First of all, we met at Dan & Rich’s place. What in the world is so remarkable about that? Well, let me briefly introduce these guys to you. Daniel is a 23 year old paralegal, and Richard is a 27 year old HR specialist; both work in Gotham City.

Daniel is a lifelong Flushing/Bayside (Queens, NY) boy who recently made a move 20 miles west to the Fort Lee area to be a part of the Maranatha mission & vision. He’s a ‘PK‘ (pastor’s kid—being one myself I tend to have a softplace in my heart for ‘em) who eye-witnessed the events of September 11, 2001 from a few feet away as a sophomore at Stuyvesant High School. I had the privilege of serving as a pastor-in-training at his father’s church, the New Covenant Baptist Church, from the mid to late 1990s. Rev. Hi Seon Lee & his wife are godly folks who had a profound influence on Diane & me during our time at their church. Well, getting back to Daniel…somewhere along the way, after some tough rebellious years when, as he was attempting to ‘find’ himself, God found him first and saved him and made him His own.

Richard has been a Fort Lee BRIDGEMAN (there’s an inside joke there somewhere) since the tender age of 12 when he became what we’d refer to as a ‘parachute kid’—a child who is sent to a foreign land where he/she completes his schooling while being under hired or extended family guardianship. This is the “ultimate” in the boarding school experience. One would be surprised to know that this is quite common amongst Korean internationals who can’t bear to see their children ’suffering’ under the grueling Korean educational system that puts all the marbles in placement exams at every level: middle school, high school, and college (the SATs pale in importance when compared to these exams). Well, Rich was a parachute kid who’s been on his own since then but never really alone. And as God has always had His eye on the sparrow, He’s always had His loving hand upon Rich. Rich is yet another undeserving sinner who has been saved by God’s absurd grace. And as he has been saved from sin and saved to mission, Rich is another young man of God on board with us at Maranatha.

So what is so remarkable that we held the meeting at their place? C’mon, a bachelor’s pad for a church meeting?! Yes, that’s right. But isn’t that nearly oxymoronic?! Of course it is… but not when the grace of God is at work. What I mean is these guys are living self-less, counter-cultural lives as they reach out to the younger (and older) brothers (and sisters) at North Shore Baptist & Maranatha Grace Fort Lee seeking to serve and disciple and mentor and reach those who have yet to experience the Savior’s saving love. Their small apartment in Cliffside Park is a place they have vowed to use for His glory through hospitality, and mind you, they have already more than lived up to their word. As we live in a day and age when men between the ages of 18 and 29 are lacking direction, commitment, personal responsibility, and independence thereby putting off growing up for as long as they can so they can enjoy living off their parents, these guys have bucked the ‘adultescence/kidult’ mentality and trend. They have sought to heed the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 4:12-16 who exhorted his young protégé with these words:

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

<Rich & Dan moving in to their place in Cliffside Park>

Maranatha needs godly men who are willing to “sharpen(s) another” and “stir up one another to love and good works”. Men who will compassionately and courageously help one another mortify (“put to death therefore what is earthly in you…”) the sin in their lives. Men who will become faithful, godly husbands and fathers. Such are the “Men With Chests” that God calls to lead His bride, the local church.

The second aspect of the meeting that was encouraging was the commitment to prayer. The meeting began at 5:30pm with dinner (arranged by the guys), then songs of worship (again, arranged & led by Dan & Rich), my teaching (longer than anticipated), and then a time of prayer. We began sharing prayer requests at 8:30 and actual prayer commenced at 8:45pm. My suggestion was for three people to pray for any of the shared requests and then for Harry Aufiero to close us.

Now why would I want to limit the prayer time? Well, my simple intentions were to be sensitive to all those who needed to wake up early the next Monday morning for work, but of course, I mentioned that we should allow the Holy Spirit to lead us during this time. This was more than obligatory, but I fully expected prayer to end with three people and then Harry. To my utter surprise and joy, the prayer time went on and on until 9:30pm with many more than three lifting up shared requests in prayer and then Harry finishing the time up. That was a great sign that this mission would be one covered with prayer.

Our next meeting is this Saturday, October 17 at our place (7pm). Please come out and meet Dan & Rich and some other godly young (and not so young) men & women who have embraced this call to be on mission in Fort Lee.

True “Chesed-ism”

Yesterday was Yom Kippur, literally “the Day of Atonement”.  And as I was returning from Chestnut Ridge, NY where the kids were tie-dying it up and having a ball at a homeschooler gathering, I drove through the village of New Square, NY which is situated right above the NJ/NY state border.  New Square is a small town with an interesting history (here’s a Wiki-link).  What’s most interesting to note is that it’s an all-Chasidic (derived from ‘Chesed’ and also ‘Hasidic’) village.  So how did I end up in New Square?  Well, in all honesty, I kinda got lost as I was tried to make my way to tutoring in Fort Lee.  But as I noticed many Chasidic individuals and families walking around the ‘un-sidewalked’ streets, I was tempted to pull over and ask three questions:

1. Have you read Isaiah 53 lately?  Or perhaps Isaiah 55 or Micah 5 or Zechariah 9, 11, or 13?  Psalm 22?
2. How do I get to the Palisades Interstate Parkway?
3. Would you like a ride from a circumcised Gentile? (I don’t mean to be crude—there is a method to my ‘mad-crude-ness’)

The origins of the Chasidic movement go back to 18th century Eastern Europe during an age of great persecution of the Jewish people.  Many felt that most expressions of Jewish life had become too “academic” and that any emphasis on spirituality or joy was sapped.  It was then that the founder of Chasidism, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, devised a new way of Jewish devotion and life that highlighted a reconnection of the Jewish people to God in all facets of life—actions, speech, thoughts, dress, etc.

The irony exists in that every year the Day of Atonement was observed, there was always a real, palpable, terror-laden fear that the High Priest’s sacrifice would not be accepted and that he would be struck down.  Hence the rope worn around the waist of the high priest—to pull him out of the Holy of Holies, should he be smitten.  But there were grave ramifications that went beyond a dead Hebrew holy man.  Within the sacrificial system and Aaronic priesthood, an unaccepted sacrifice meant that the sins of the unclean children of Israel would not be atoned for.  This was a horrific, stultifying reality for the Israelites.  Where is the joy in this?

Now consider the joy in this…

“Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the Garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.  Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out not for our condemnation but for our acquittal.  Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing whither he went to create a new people of God.  Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount, but was truly sacrificed for us.  And when God said to Abraham, ‘Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me’ now we can look at God taking His Son up the mountain and sacrificing Him and say, ‘Now we know that You love us because You did not withhold Your Son, Your only Son whom You love from us’.  Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved so we like Jacob only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.  Jesus is the true and better Joseph who at the right hand of the king forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.  Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.  Jesus is the true and better rod of Moses who struck with the rod of God’s justice and now gives us water in the desert.  Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent Sufferer who then intercedes for and saves His stupid friends.  Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.  Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk His life but gave His life to save His people.  Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so we could be brought in.  Jesus is the real rock of Moses… He’s the real passover Lamb… innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the Angel of Death will pass over us.  He’s the true Temple, the true Prophet, the true Priest, the true King, the true Sacrifice, the true Lamb, the true Light, the true Bread…” <Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church>

True joy and devotion flows from the true Giver of Life who made the only way for all of hopeless humankind.  Chasidism, Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Kabbalah, New Age, etc. etc. etc. offer no hope and certainly no joy; they are simply pathways to moralistic failure and doom.

I have much to learn about Judaism and all its sects and movements.  Why is it important for me to learn about Judaism?  Well, besides the fact that the Old Testament is an essential history of God’s chosen people, the Israelites, our missional context is an area with a sizable Jewish population.  I need to pray more for our missional context.

Now back to packing…

My new friend, Thessaly Weaver…

Last day of miscellaneous summer fun…

They used to call me Bruce… many also used to call me Wong or Kwon… But I digress.

This is neat.