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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.
Ezra is frequently described as the Second Moses because as Moses brought the Law to the Israelites after the Egyptian captivity… Ezra brought the Law back to God’s people after the Babylonian captivity.
In Ezra 7:10-11. Ezra self describes his method.
First he set his “heart” to study the Law.
This is important because with just the brain and not the heart we could just be robotic in our understanding of God’s Law… reciting God’s Law and teaching God’s Law intellectually and without feeling.
Secondly as a teacher Ezra needed to know his material and he “studied” it.
You could spend your life “reading” the holy scriptures and might achieve some superficial understanding of it but true depth of understanding comes with “study”. Reading and thinking. Turning it over in your brain and examining it from all angles.
Thirdly, Ezra “practiced” and lived what he studied.
Some have said that experience is the greatest teacher. A teacher without experience is a pretender. Depth is achieved through a lifetime of putting scriptures into practice. A teacher who has never been married or raised children (for example) is scarcely qualified to teach on those subjects.
Fourthly, with his heart in the right place and with knowledge achieved through study and having practiced what he learned then and only then was Ezra equipped to teach.
Ezra was said to have studied the Commandments (Mitzvot), the Statutes (Chukkim) and the Ordinances (Mishpattim).
The superficial reader of the holy record might conclude that those are all the same thing… They are not.
The “commandments” are God’s Law found in the first five books of the Bible.
The “statutes” are a a subdivision of the Law that are commandments which defy human logic… like not mixing wool and linen.
The “ordinances” (Exodus 21-24) are a subdivision of the Law that contain civil and religious laws.
Although Ezra would have been familiar with the historical books, the Psalms and Prophets and the other Writings. His emphasis in rebuilding God’s people was the first 5 books of God’s word… Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy… The Torah or Pentateuch.
Of course in todays world all of those commands are greatly simplified in Jesus Christ. But still as teachers we need to not only know Jesus Christ but also all of the other writings God inspired men to write that culminated in Jesus coming into the world.
Ezra was a great teacher. Let’s consider and follow his method… having our hearts right, studying God’s Word, living what we learned and then sharing with others.
