Nov 23, 2011
Posted on Nov 23, 2011 in Miscellaneous, Mussar | 6 comments
Over the last few weeks I’ve been consistently delving into the ancient practice of mussar each morning. This has been a huge source of inspiration and discipline for me. For those who are not familiar with mussar, in very simplistic terms it is a practice within Judaism that has been developed over the last thousand years to develop and hone ethical traits within a person, using the Bible as its fountainhead. It began to reach widespread popularity with the works of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter in the 19th century. The primary text I have been using thus far has been Everyday Holiness by Alan Morinis.
This morning, as I began the next chapter, which deals with Gratitude, I came across something that made me reflect back on a conversation I had recently with a friend of mine. The text reads as follows:
The Hebrew term for gratitude is hakarat ha’tov, which means, literally, “recognizing the good.” The good is already there. Practicing gratitude means being fully aware of the good that is already yours.
The last sentence in this quote is what got my attention, particularly the statement that we must be “fully aware of the good that is already yours.” In my recent conversation, my friend was sharing with me what he recently learned from his church. He said that he learned that everything we need has already been given to us, because of the work of Christ on the cross. Therefore, if we need healing, we just need to thank God for it and claim our healing, because we have actually already been healed by Jesus; we just need to claim it.
This type of teaching is typically called “Word of Faith,” and is prevalent among many charismatic churches. These two concepts sound like quite similar. They both seem to be centered on recognizing a reality that does not presently exist. However, if we look carefully at the differences between Hakarat ha’tov and Word of Faith, we will see that they are quite distinct. The first distinction is that the former looks backward, while the latter looks forward. Also, the former focuses on the blessings (whether obvious or seemingly hidden) one has already received, while the latter focuses on the blessings one will be receiving. The former says, “I thank you, Lord, for the financial blessing you gave to me in my time of need.” The latter says, “I thank you, Lord, for the financial blessings you will give me in this time of need, because I already possess them in Christ.” Again, the former is thankful for the previous reality, while the latter is thankful for the future reality.
The difference between the two may not seem significant. However, the fruit of the two lines of philosophy should be fairly apparent. The one who practices hakarat ha’tov is instilled with a sense of gratefulness and humility that his past needs have been supplied, and is assured that whether or not his present needs seem to be met (according to his perception), he has something for which he can already be thankful. The one who practices Word of Faith, however, is prone to presumptuousness and insolence in that he feels that his needs are an entitlement. This tends to allow one to walk before the Lord without humility and expect him to satisfy our own desires, rather than being thankful for that with which He has already blessed us.
I’m not saying that my friend is arrogant. I am saying, however, that this type of theology typically lends itself toward this mentality and I have seen it far too many times. We must remember, that although Jesus gave us everything, we should still be content and gleeful to be dogs who eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table, rather than demanding our share of the loaf. Let us “Count our blessings, name them one by one. Count our many blessings, see what God has done” and live a life filled with thankfulness, rather than presumption. Let us be truly thankful in this season of the many things our Heavenly Father has done for us without any expectation of what blessings we may or may not receive in the future.
Oct 30, 2011
Posted on Oct 30, 2011 in Book Reviews, Miscellaneous | 2 comments
The Tehran Initiative
by Joel C. Rosenberg
480 Pages
Tyndale House Publishers
The Tehran Initiative by Joel Rosenberg is an action-packed, fast-paced, political thriller written from an evangelical Christian perspective. I received a complimentary advance copy from Tyndale House Publishers.
I have to be honest. I have heard many of my friends speak of Rosenberg’s books for the last few years, and always with a passion. However, until this point, I have never read anything of his, primarily because reading fiction has not been a priority in light of all of the biblical studies with which I try to keep up. Reading The Tehran Initiative has definitely given me an appetite for more Rosenberg works.
In The Tehran Initiative, Iran has just successfully completed its first nuclear tests, there have just been presidential assassination attempts, and the Islamic Messiah (the 12th Imam, or the “Mahdi”) is garnering alliances across the Middle East and abroad in order to build the ultimate caliphate, a one-world government united under the umbrella of Islam. Under the direction of the Mahdi, Israel (the “Little Satan”) is on the brink of nuclear extinction or at the minimum a second holocaust, along with the United States (the Great Satan). CIA agent David Shirazi is pulled deep into the midst of the swirling chaos and comes face to face with his greatest fears, and begins to wrestle between his Islamic upbringing and the persistent Christian influences of those he has encountered.
Even though The Tehran Initiative is a novel, it will definitely make a person want to learn more about the current events in the Middle East and the global Islamic agenda. If you enjoy a fast-paced, plausible, reality-based fiction novel with an evangelical perspective, Rosenberg is your ticket.
If you would like to hear Rosenberg speak first-hand about The Tehran Initiative, follow this link:
http://tyndale.com/The-Tehran-Initiative/9781414319353
Sep 26, 2011
Posted on Sep 26, 2011 in Archaeology, Dead Sea Scrolls | 1 comment
Today, Google and the Israeli Antiquities Authority / Israel Museum officially launched the Digital Dead Sea Scrolls site. This is a watershed in DSS studies. By making these hi-res (If you’re thinking like 20-50 megapixels, think again. Try a whopping 1200 megapixels. Whoa…!) multi-spectrum images freely available to the public online for the first time ever.
With the launch of this site I believe that DSS studies will take off like a parabola curve. This site is making available to both scholars and laymen alike what has previously never been accessible to more then a select few specialists. It’s been over 60 years since their discovery and they are finally making their way to the public arena. I’m sure Hershel Shanks is dancing a jig right about now.
Right now they are offering 5 of the most important (and complete) scrolls, but I’m sure more will follow. Currently available is: The Great Isaiah Scroll, the War Scroll, The Temple Scroll, The Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll and the Community Rule Scroll. They even have English translations of the text as you scroll over the different sections. You can zoom in incredibly close and see the fine details of the text and the scroll. It is quite impressive. Be sure to check it out!
Sep 9, 2011
Posted on Sep 9, 2011 in Personal, Site Changes | 4 comments
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had various problems with my site. It started with Google blacklisted my site because of malware coming from another site on the same server. It eventually ended up infecting my site, and causing my site traffic to drop to the level of non-existent while I was trying to figure out how to track down and fix the infected files (see the screenshot above).
This morning, I sent out a tweet that I was having trouble, and within a minute or two, my friend Cotton Rohrscheib replied and sent me a link to a site that would scan my site and tell me exactly which files were infected so that I could deal with them. (Up to this point I had used several other sites to scan mine, all of them giving me a clean bill of health.) I was able to get things fixed within a matter of minutes.
Thank you, Cotton for your help! And for all of my visitors, please accept my apologies for the scare you’ve been getting while trying to access my site. I’ll try to keep this from happening in the future.
Many blessings to you all, and may you have a wonderful, peace-filled Sabbath!
Aug 12, 2011
Posted on Aug 12, 2011 in Downloads, Miscellaneous, Yeshua | 2 comments
Yes, I have another wallpaper image for the iPhone for download. This one is great for your Login page. My description is as follows:
This wallpaper for your iPhone contains three spikes, a crown of thorns, and the name “Yeshua” (Jesus) written in a beautiful script as well as in Hebrew, contrasting the earth-tone, harsh elements in the background.
Be sure to tweet this page or post it to Facebook for others to enjoy. Blessings! And if you like this, you might want to check out my previously posted Torah themed wallpaper for the iPhone.
Download: Yeshua iPhone Wallpaper (1.2MB)
