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As a song leader I occasionally like to sing two songs to prepare the hearts of the congregation in their participation in the taking of the Lord’s Supper.
I start with “Silent Night, Holy Night” It is a song about the birth of Jesus Christ that is both mournful and hopeful.
The birth of Jesus was set in a scene that was humble and solitary… Just Jesus and his parents in a small corner of a small town.
Jesus’ birth was celebrated first by Shepherds and then by Wise men from the East accompanied by celebratory gifts. Even the stars in heaven witnessed his birth.
The events accompanying Jesus’ death were frightful and demonstrative… earth quakes, the buried dead coming to life, the sun’s illumination turned off and the tearing of the veil in the Temple that separated Israel from God.
His death scene was completely different from his birth scene. A quiet manger scene verses the scene of being raised on a cross on top of a hill for all of Jerusalem to see. Surrounded by those who hated and despised him.
The two common denominators of Jesus birth and death were his complete sin free innocence and the presence of his mother Mary.
I follow “Silent Night, Holy Night” with “Up from the Grave he Arose”
He lived like no other… born in humbleness and humility. Killed in agony and rage. Raised in triumph and glory.
I love the sentiments expressed in “Silent Night, Holy Night” and “Up from the Grave he Arose” and hopefully leading those two songs helps bring the participants closer to Jesus Christ so we can live like no others.
In the Veterinary business it can be very difficult to find a Veterinarian to add to your practice. In fact there are recruiters you can hire to find you an Associate… they charge $30,000.
It made me wonder what would we be willing to pay to “recruit” a new convert or to add a member to the congregation (if you could do that)
Of course I have written two books based on my Uncle Rob’s Blog. Those books are not free to me. I have to pay every time I order some.
I keep some of those books at the church building and if a visitor from the area comes to services I give them a copy. I inscribe my name and phone number inside the front cover. I’m not ostentatious about being an author. I usually tell recipients that its best use is as a sleep aid. Lol.
I keep some books in my truck and at my office in case I run across someone who indicates a little “spiritual” inclination.
Examples…
We have several regular visitors who attend. Recently one said… “I’m really enjoying your book… it is really well written”
I gave a young member a copy who couldn’t afford one. The next Sunday she told me she cried over an article. Which one? “Good News About Alzheimers”
I was at the scrap yard and a woman came up to me and started talking to me and for some reason hugged me. I asked… how are you doing? She said very well spiritually. Anyway we talked for a while and she followed me to my truck and I gave her a book.
The other day a client who I have known for a long time came in with his dog and both volumes of my book. He had bought them and wanted them autographed. Then he added that he had read both books twice and was amazed at how I could write what I wrote. I have known him since before his wife left him for another man and broke his heart. He added that he was a believer but didn’t attend anywhere.
My Uncle who lives out in California says they use my books as a basis for their Bible class in the denomination where he attends.
I could add many more examples.
Here’s what I know for a fact. Not everyone reads the books I give them. Not everyone appreciates the content… but some do. It’s kind of like sowing the seed… you just keep giving away books and hope that some good is done.
Those books do cost me something but I would pay a whole lot more to help someone find Jesus Christ.
I knew a Preacher/fellow Elder who I worked with for over thirty years. To my best recollection he never paid me a compliment. That is until the day he left and then over a phone conversation he paid me a compliment that may be the best compliment I have ever received and it brought tears to my eyes. That was very encouraging.
On the other hand I know people who give out compliments like giving out candy on Halloween… everyone gets one. I had led singing one Sunday morning and had a fellow tell me what a great job I did. That felt good until a few Sundays later a Song Leader led singing who I thought did a particularly poor job and yet the same fellow who paid me a compliment gave the other a guy the exact same compliment… “great job song leading” All of a sudden the candy didn’t taste so sweet.
I’m not saying to only give out compliments every thirty years nor am I saying to continuously give out compliments. But what I am saying is make those compliments real and special. Pay a compliment when it is deserved and provide some details like…
- that prayer you led stirred my heart.
- that prayer brought tears to my eyes.
- the songs you led were inspiring and touched my heart
- I learned something in class today that I had never ever thought of. Thank-you.
- you are going to be an excellent Elder some day and I can’t wait.
Compliments can be very encouraging when given properly and are a great tool for stimulating spiritual growth. When given improperly they can be meaningless and empty.
When Ezra came to Judea to bring the Law of Moses the first thing that happened was that he heard a report of rampant sin… the intermarrying of Jews with the gentile people. He immediately dropped down to pray and to seek guidance on how to remedy the problem.
When Nehemiah heard a bad report about the people and Jerusalem, he also dropped down in prayer and resolved to remedy the situation by rebuilding the wall.
God was with Zerubbabel and King Darius and God was also with Nehemiah and King Artaxerxes. However, King Darius was much more active at protecting the Jews than King Artaxerxes was.
King Darius warned and threatened the surrounding governors with punishments like “impalement” while in King Artaxerxes time the surrounding Governors were given a free hand to intimidate and persecute the Jews. A discrepancy it seems.
Ezra was ashamed to ask King Artaxerxes for troops and protection on the trip to Jerusalem. But King Artaxerxes provided officers of the army and horsemen to accompany Nehemiah. Maybe because Nehemiah was an official of the court and Ezra was just a Jew?
Ezra (and others) successfully got the Jews to commit to only marrying other Jews and to get rid of their Gentile wives and children. You might think with that great cleansing of sin that God would make them prosper but alas it was not so.
Nehemiah came along and found that the Jews were again intermarrying with the Gentile girls and in addition found that the rich Jews were oppressing the poor Jews… charging them interest on loans, confiscating their properties and enslaving their children. Nehemiah was successful in correcting those sins and again you might expect with this turn to righteousness that the yoke of Persian domination might be cast off and Israel might be free and prosperous once again but alas… not so.
Ezra and Nehemiah were acting on the premise (faulty) that God was going to restore Israel to its former prominence and throw off the yoke of foreign domination and give them a King like King David. Their actions were to accomplish that goal. But it was never to be.
No one, including Ezra and Nehemiah, understood the great “mystery” that God was going to reveal. That there would be no earthly kingdom, there would be no earthly King and they would always be under the domination of foreign powers regardless of how “pure” (racially and spiritually) they were.
In the future they could marry whoever they wanted to. They could eat whatever they wanted to and they could worship wherever they wanted to (to name a few things). True freedom.
It becomes easier to understand the backlash against Jesus Christ and the Jews disappointment when you understand those deeply ingrained beliefs based on the Law of Moses… it’s blessings and its curses.
We all are depressed when our expectations come up short but must be resilient enough to change as God reveals new information to us and our understanding is clarified.
Ezra’s prayer (in part) from Ezra 9:6-15.
“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great…
…Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor?”
The question arises about this prayer whether or not it was inspired by God or was it just a historical recounting of a prayer from Ezra’s heart?
Ezra prays this prayer to validate Shecaniah’s suggestion that they make a covenant with God to correct the sin of the holy race who had inter-married with the pagan peoples of the land. (Exodus 34. Deut. 7)
In the prayer Ezra suggests that if they don’t divide these families then God would destroy Israel totally not leaving any survivors.
That was a false conclusion and could not have been inspired by God. God had guaranteed a remnant that the Messiah would come from and it would occur during the reign of the Roman Empire and nothing Ezra did or had left undone could change God’s plan.
Ezra didn’t understand that and his prayer reflects his misunderstanding.
That begs the question was Shecaniah’s proposal to divide families to correct the sin of marrying outside of their race his idea or was it inspired from God?
Nothing in the text suggests that it came from God… Shecaniah wasn’t filled with the Holy Spirit and he didn’t have a dream from God. It seems that his proposal came from his own reasoning.
Both Ezra and Shechaniah were righteous men well versed in the Law of Moses and may have drawn conclusions from their study based on their own reasoning and not from the direct inspiration of God.
For your consideration.
Julie and I were eating at a restaurant and preparing to go to our grand daughter's Choir event when I got a text from Ray Torno that his youngest son Steven had passed. Apparently he had laid down to take a nap and when his son went to wake him up he was gone. His son found him.
In my old age I find myself increasingly emotional and when we got that news I didn’t feel much like eating and got a little teary in the middle of a restaurant surrounded by strangers. Steven was about a year older than my son and we watched him grow up at church. He frequently spent the night at our house and was almost like a part of our family.
I’ve lost a father and a brother and I guess if you asked me which hurt the most I guess I would say losing my brother. I think about him and miss him every day. But I’ve never lost a child or a wife and don’t know that pain. I could only imagine getting a phone call with the news that I had lost my son.
During the choir concert while I listened to the singing I started texting all those that I could think of who the Torno family was important to. Among those were Kollin and Leslie Stone and then I got this text from Kollin…
"I’m so sorry to hear about Steven’s passing. He was too young. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll lift up his family in my prayers tonight. I was thinking about reaching out to you earlier today before hearing about Steven.
I’ll try to keep this short, but won’t be able to: the 2 year old, 85 lb lab/pit mix we rescued as a stray puppy attacked Leslea last night. No warning, 2 years of being a sweet dog. Came out of nowhere. They were sitting on the couch watching tv. I was in the room & pulled the dog off her.
She had facial reconstruction surgery this morning. It is bad but could have been worse. Her eyes are undamaged. Several lines of sutures on forehead, around nose & on cheek. Cadaver skin on nose, where damage was worst - exposed cartilage. Lots of puncture wounds on left hand & face. Maybe some nerve damage.
I’ve stayed with her @ the hospital. She’s recovering & may require additional surgery. She’s being very well taken care of - this is an excellent hospital. She’s actually in the burn unit where they specialize in injuries like this.
We put the dog down this morning. It was our son Sawyer’s dog, so he’s had a really difficult time blaming himself, then having to put his good ‘friend,’ down. He’s a mommas boy & they are very close.
I’ve been praying, among other things that she heals to the extent that she is not self conscious about her appearance and gets depressed. Sawyer has left the church but is a believer. The church is already coming to our side & I’m hoping he’ll reconsider his negative attitude towards ‘all those hypocrites.’
Leslea is being discharged tomorrow.
Thanks for all you let the Lord do through you, Rob.
Of course any prayers for Leslea’s recovery would be greatly appreciated. For Sawyer, too.
Take care my brother”
Kollin asked me to share that with the congregation. Leslea Martin Stone grew up with Steven Torno and the families were very close until they moved off. That was a double whammy.
I was scheduled to do announcements at Church yesterday and dreaded doing it because I knew I would lose my composure… I just didn’t know how bad it would be. I saved Stevens announcement for the very end but in the middle of the announcements I shared the news about Leslea and surprise, surprise, surprise... I choked up. I didn’t anticipate that.
At the very end, while saying a few things about Steven, I couldn’t look at the audience and I had to stop a few times and gather myself but I got through it without openly sobbing (that had happened already on the way to church).
In retrospect I’m glad that the announcement fell on me because it needed to be an announcement with feeling for the families sake.
Today is my birthday and its a sad one.
No Church News article today. I’m just not feeling it.
Rob
Ezra the scribe came from Babylon to Judea to restore the Law of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) to the people.
Although not specifically stated his obvious goal was to rebuild the people so that God would bless them and restore the Nation as it was in the days of King David and King Solomon. He was motivated.
He honed in on Exodus 34 and Deuteronomy 7. The people, among other things, had violated the commandment not to intermarry with the peoples of the land (Canaanites, etc.) which led to idolatry and which led to their destruction and captivity.
Then Ezra hears the report that even now the people are repeating the exact same sin of intermarriage and he had a visceral and demonstrable negative reaction.
Keep in mind that the King of the Persian Empire had empowered Ezra to be a Judge and to punish offenders of the Law of Moses and the Persian Law with Death, Banishment, Confiscation and Imprisonment (Ezra 7). And the text sites in the case of intermarriage with gentiles that he threatened those punishments Ezra 10).
The violators responded by vowing to put away their Gentile wives and their half jewish children. Keep in mind that God did not command them to do this, they chose to do this of their own volition.
It looks like Ezra was a book, chapter, verse guy. The Holy Text said no intermarriage and the text didn’t provide any exceptions. It was clear and to the point and that’s the Law that Ezra taught and would impose.
Here are some things to consider…
- Pretty soon after entering the promised land an exception is made for Rahab the Harlot.
- Deuteronomy 10 says that if you are fighting the enemy and capture a beautiful woman you could, under certain conditions, keep her for a wife. Hmmm.
- The scriptures are replete with examples of Jews/Israelites who married non-jewish women and most of them were not seduced to worship Idols.
- No pre-exilic prophet ever condemned the practice of intermarriage. Not even during the day of one of the most prominent violators… Solomon.
- Deuteronomy 23 states that if you make a vow before the Lord God almighty and violate that vow then you are guilty of sin. Presumably that includes a marriage vow made to God and your spouse.
Jesus Christ had 3-4 Gentile women in his lineage.
I respect Ezra for wanting to correct the behaviors of the people but I don’t think he stated the whole case to them (of course I wasn’t there).
I don’t know the motivations of the Jewish men who got rid of their wives and children. It may have been a heart felt conviction but in the back of my head I wonder if they had any concern that Ezra could punish them with death, banishment, confiscation or imprisonment… because if Ezra didn’t then he would have been violating the command of the King of Persia who was inspired by God to restore the people of God.
