VERY IMPORTANT
I believe this is so important that I am interrupting the daily word in order to send it.
Distress Call
It doesn’t happen often, but when one of my faithful readers and long-time supporters asks to be removed from the community, I want to know why. Yesterday I heard from a friend and reader in Ohio. He said, “I remember one time you said that Rosanne told you that she can’t read your writings anymore because she doesn’t understand them. I guess in a way I am feeling like she was feeling.” He went on the say that the emphasis on the Hebrew background behind the Greek text and all of this etymological concentration makes him feel as if he will never really understand the New Testament. He is distraught because:
- The more he reads, the more distance he feels from the God he wants desperately to serve. He worries that he doesn’t have the right name, the right birthday, the right festivals and maybe not even the right church.
- The more he reads, the more complicated his faith becomes. He used to have a God who spoke compassionately to him. Now he longs for that immediate simplicity but it seems to be evaporating.
- The more he reads, the more commandments and lifestyle changes he discovers and this makes him feel as if he will never be good enough for God. He worries that the standard is just too high and to different to give him the personal connection he wants with his Lord.
With a broken heart, he said, “I see a God that came for the simple and the uneducated. I see a God who came to the simple, the broken and the uneducated and used them to spread love and His word to the whole world. I don’t see this in the community. In the community I see the educated and enlightened feeling sympathy for those who are not in the “know”. I see people who are more worried if someone knows that Jesus’ real name wasn’t Jesus, it was Yeshua, and that God is really G_d, then I see people who are broken by revealed truth and called into action to humble themselves and serve. I see people who understand the Hebrew derivative for a Greek/English participle of a non-delineated sentence, not people who understand the hurt of a 13 year old who almost died from alcohol poisoning and his eighty-one year old Grandmother telling me that she was in the ambulance saying, “This is not happening. My boy is not going to die, is he? Are we weeping over a nation in love with child sacrifice, as Jesus wept over Jerusalem and its blindness?”
When one of our own feels this way, I am quite sure he is not the only one.
Let me try to respond.
I also worry about the potential swing toward intellectualism. I try to balance this with the constant theme of righteous acts. But I can certainly see the tendency. On one hand, I am not surprised. We are at a loss when it comes to understanding the Hebrew way of life in the Bible, principally because we didn’t grow up Jewish. This is culture shock! It’s like being dropped into the center of a village in rural China. We lose out bearings. The language is different. The food is different. The topography is different. No wonder we feel as if the ground has been torn out from under us. After all, the Christian culture has been a part of the home of the West for 1800 years. Re-examining its foundations strains everything about the world we thought we knew. So, when we start to see little glimpses of the real biblical world, it’s pretty easy to grab those slices and talk as if we have a better understanding than others. Of course, that isn’t Hebrew either. Knowledge always leads to action, and in this case, the actions model the heart of God. Compassion, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, delight and hope should be the natural results of a deeper understanding of Scripture. In Hebrew, you really don’t know until you do! Intellectual correctness doesn’t mean anything unless we have malleable hearts listening to the Spirit.
For many who comment on the blog, it is important to be correct about names, words and theological constructs. There is no denying the fact that if you were on the Mount of Olives and asked to speak to “Jesus,” no one would know who you were talking about. But that doesn’t mean God doesn’t see His Son’s name written on your heart, no matter what comes out of your mouth. It’s important to return to the real Hebrew expressions, but it’s not so important that it puts walls between believers. Unity comes first. We are one family. When my children call me “Dad” instead of “Skip,” I know they are still talking to me.
I know that radical cultural shifts cause alarm, discomfort and anxiety. Just trying to eat a kosher diet has already created some raised eyebrows among my friends. Recognizing the pagan background of Christmas is like dismantling a sacred cow. So, the best way forward for me is often the “just live it” way. Just take the bacon off the cheeseburger. Just enjoy the gift giving at Christmas. I don’t make a big deal out of any of it until someone asks. But, of course, I have to write about this stuff everyday, so it’s a bit more upfront than the way I try to handle living with it. My job is to prod a little, encourage a lot and try to dig as deep as I can. But that isn’t everyone’s job. Some of us, some of my closest friends, still have to sit with the grandmother who worries about her grandson’s life. And I need to provide as much as I can for those friends. They are on the other firing line.
More than anything, I want to encourage all of us to stick with exploration with a deep spirit of humility and sensitivity. Some of us are much further along, but the goal is to get there together. Stronger brothers dial it back in order to bring along weaker brothers. As you can see, Paul (Sha’ul) faced the same issues. The clash of cultures can knock people right out of the picture and that would be the greatest tragedy.
I have encouraged all in the community to add to the blog. The intellectuals among us don’t seem to need much encouragement. They are in the flow when they are thinking about all this. But we need to hear often from those who are right in the midst of this shift. We need to hear from the hearts as well as the minds because my friend who asked to be removed isn’t the only one who is struggling with all this.
Well, whodda thunkit? 48 comments (and counting!). Dear brother, I do hope you have read these comments. I have- all 48. As far as I can discern not one person belonging to this small group of “cyber-Christians” (maybe I just invented a new word!), wants to “lose you.” By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you have love one to another. This is our “bottom line.” Do we love Him and do we love one another? I think this was great idea Skip.. a “pause” in the action to stop and reassess where we are and where we are going “together.” I’ll say again- I love this new format, and dear readers (brothers,sisters) I love hearing from you. I want to hear what you have to say, so get those keyboards clicking. These are exciting days to be alive and to be part of the family of G-d.
Testimony time! I have been “saved”/born again since I was 10 years old. That was 46 years ago. I have zero doubt concerning my relationship to Jesus Christ. My friends, I belong to Him. Praise His name. Here’s the deal. Anything alive is growing. This include me. I am forever growing in my love for my Savior and in my love for the body of Christ. I am growing in my hunger for His words, and I am growing in my desire to spend time with Him in prayer. I am finding out the “more” of Christ and how deep is the Father’s love for us. I’m starting to see a worth/value equation of this world vs. Christ. He is the one who is worthy. Yes, you can have all this world- give me Jesus.
Light reveals, darkness conceals. We are the children of light and Jesus is the light of the world. As one brother said earlier the more I learn the more ignorant I seem to be The closer I draw to Him the further away He seems to be, but at the same time I grow in my zeal to perservere and to pursue Him! (This “walking by faith” is some strange stuff!) lol!
Three hundred sixty six times in G-d’s book we have been told: “fear not.” When will these words “sink in?” Relationship is where we place our hope. It is not rules, religion or ritual, but relationship with the unseen yet living God through Calvary’s blood shed on our behalf by the Lamb of God the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have seen tremendous diversity here today. We come from all walks of life, different ethnic backgrounds, sexes and age groups. We however are bound together by the cross of Christ. We all enter His kingdom through the one door- Jesus, -our Lord and Savior, crucified, buried and raised to life on the third day. Praise His name.
G-d’s words have tremendous power. He spoke the world into existence and He will speak again at the final battle of Armeggedon to terminate those who are foolish enough to oppose Him. We need to know His words and that is what Skip does best:–day-by-day, precept upon precept, line upon line, one word or phrase at a time, exposing us to the revealed words of YHVH.
Scatter the seed brother Skip.. G-d promises, in Isaiah 55.11- “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
We have received ample testimony today revealing the hunger and needs of the sheep. I’m already looking forward with great anticipation to breakfast tomorrow morning. What a great way to start the day with a nourishing breakfast from Bethlehem’s bakery! Can’t wait to hear the call to the King’s table- “take,- eat”, “enjoy!”
First, I want to comment about the word intellectual. I don’t consider anyone an intellectual if he or she can’t communicate with their intended audience. I trained in the medical field and could cover some of you up with technical words, but where is the communication if we don’t share the same knowledge of words? Skip hugs us and tries to help us understand the words he uses. I believe that a true intellectual can communicate their thoughts to any audience.
Second, I want to comment that many of you treat Skip’s comments as if they were 100% correct. I’m sorry, but Skip is human also, and his writing is filled with his own personal experiences and prejudices just like mine or anyone elses would be. There was only one perfect man. But I would go into serious withdrawl if Skip’s blog was suddenly gone from my life. He has stetched me far and taught me so much, and I would never want to go back to my previous unlearned state. Be challanged. Be educated. But do it with wisdom and question ideas you don’t understand or disagree with. Walk your own path. God is not trying to tamp us all down into the same mold.
I couldn’t agree more. I am often mistaken, frequently in error in living and struggling just like everyone else. In some sense, Today’s Word is just one man’s personal journey (with a bunch of on-lookers). Maybe what I write sometimes helps. Maybe not. I only hope that when it doesn’t help, the reader doesn’t say, “Well, there’s nothing here for me to think about. I’ll just stick with what I already know.” Hey, I am just like you all. Just trying to understand. Trying to learn how to pray again. Trying to live a life of obedience. Trying to figure out why I so often fell alone.
My friend Terry sent me this: “We live in a time where people are convinced that the choice is between believing easily, or not believing at all….that when people run into deeper things, or difficult things, that are taught in the scripture, they have this sort of filter: either I can easily believe it, or I am not going to believe it at all. Now that is a cruel way to teach people.” Why? Because some things that we’re told about God, and about God’s way in the world are difficult to comprehend…and yet they are still worthy of believing.
If the Hebrew language is necessary to be a faithful believer in Jesus (or Yeshua), why didn’t God have the New Testament autographs written in Hebrew instead of Greek?
Hi Harlold,
I don’t think anyone is arguing that we need to know Hebrew to believe in Jesus.
An illiterate person could believe in Jesus and behave according to the will of God as well as any intellectual.
–If the Hebrew language is necessary to be a faithful believer in Jesus (or Yeshua), why didn’t God have the New Testament autographs written in Hebrew instead of Greek?–
Howdy Harold… we don’t need to “throw out” the Hebrew baby with the “Greek” bathwater!- It’s not either /or, it’s both! If any man- Jew, Gentile, Mongolian, wall street tycoon,painter or plumber, be in Christ- he/she is a new creation. It’s not about me, it’s not about you, him or her.. but it is about us! – Together (all of us who are followers of the Way, regenerated through the precious blood of the perfect Lamb), we make up a small part of a much larger whole. This surge of interest in the O.T. is however, very enlightening and encouraging. Day by day, we are “peeling away the layers” and discovering the hidden treasures buried within G-d’s book. Sometimes (most times!) you have to dig to find the gold!.
We (together) are like kids at Christmas, delighting in the revelation (unveiling/unwrapping) of the words of YHVH within the incredible life-giving, life-sustaining blessing book we have been gifted with.
“It’s all good!” lol!- “see you at the Table!”
It seems to me “Ohio” that you don’t have anyone to really communicate and chew things over with. from my perspective, the blog and all that it offers does not replace a face to face friendship and community. but if that is not possible for you Ohio, then the next best thing is to pick a person or two from the blogs and just have one on one communication with them as well as reading the blogs. i am fortunate in that i have a community in my own city and a few friends at different places along this journey with whom i can chew the fat of scripture and what it all means and share about where we are up to and what we have concerns and questions about. on top of that i have this ‘blog’ community for more advanced learning – or should i say for a different level of understanding and knowledge than what i get from my other friends. it is a very good situation because it rounds me out a lot more and helps me to realise and remember that we are all at different places in our journeys and have different capacities of learning and processing.
i also find that my relationship with YHVH is quite different now – i don’t know if that is good or bad but i do know that ‘losing’ what i had before was not easy and i wondered about my ‘spirituality’ at the time. but i think the most important thing is to walk your walk and not try to be like anyone else Ohio.
let me know if i can help you in any way. but please do not leave this community. just add to it so that you get more of your needs met in a good and healthy way. keep walking Ohio, you will get there at the end – just like the rest of us (i trust). shalom christine (adelaide sth oz)
Since I can’t respond to all these comments (thanks everyone), I will try to add some summary remarks. First, I so much appreciate these posted replies (and the ones I got off line). My concern was not about me but about those who no longer find Today’s Word useful. I want to serve as many as I can, so I don’t want to push anyone away intentionally.
Second, I am only me. I can’t do anything more than what God sets before me – and if it is helpful today for you, then be blessed. If it’s not, well, then today wasn’t a winner. There’s always tomorrow. This is a journey, not a destination. If someone wants to get off the train, I just want to be sure that person wasn’t thrown off.
Third, my greatest concern for the body at large is this: our faith often depends on the philosophical bias of our worldview. If we don’t carefully examine that worldview, we live with naive beliefs. It is possible to live that way – and God certainly understands devotion no matter what cultural issues are involved, but I believe that God EXPECTS us to grow toward a deeper life of obedience and that means asking questions and finding answers according to the Kingdom He established. As far as I can tell, this Kingdom stands in opposition to a lot of the Christian view of the world, perhaps unintentionally now because so much of our beliefs are based in a long tradition, but nevertheless, it is a clash of kingdoms. My concern is that I want to live the way He wants me to live – and that means investigating the ways of Torah because that’s the way my Master lived. This is Kingdom warfare. Much of the Christian worldview has incorporated elements of a kingdom that is not God’s Kingdom and I want to be aware of that so I can know what to do. That doesn’t mean I want to become Jewish. It means I want to be true to the Kingdom I find in the Bible. So, I have to look at everything, right down to the words used to translate this Kingdom information into my native tongue. What I find often disturbs me and I have to make choices, but what I can’t do anymore is simply ignore what I find.
As for Today’s Word, it’s really not a teaching effort. It’s just a personal journey. You are reading my mind – disturbed, confused, enlightened, humbled, convicted, etc. The reason Today’s Word wanders around Scripture is because I wander around Scripture. I am trying to put the pieces together too, and sometimes along the way I run across something really interesting and I write about it.
Finally, what matters is getting to the end together. I have no desire to rush ahead and shout, “I’m first!” So, my heart aches when I hear that someone finds all this difficult or worse, unintelligible. That pains me – and depresses me – because I want to be of service. But Roderick reminded me that I can only be me. I reveal, unpack and expose what’s there. What you do about it is up to you, not me. Sometimes what is there is very complicated, very intricate and very deep. Sometimes it’s not. But that’s the nature of the Bible – God’s words. I would never expect them to be ordinary. After all, they reflect the author. So, I am likely to get really excited about something quite esoteric, then step back and say, “Wait. What does this mean for me today?” and plod along for awhile. You are invited to read what you want, leave the rest for another day, or trash it. How you respond has nothing to do with my words but it has everything to do with what my words reveal about God’s words.
More than anything I want to help. If the time comes when I am not doing that, then find another helper. That’s OK too. By this time I realize that Today’s Word is not for everyone. It is not a universal antidote for confusion. It’s just one thread of God’s fabric.
I love everyone of you. I think what we are doing together is important – and a blessing. I invite you to follow or lead, as the case may be. I just want the company.
Dear Skip,
re: Your reply at 8:58 Jan 14 More than anything you DO help!
This is such an exciting adventure to me. For years I have read the OT with questions about why we ignored the parts we did not want to do. (I like bacon,!) Why did so many pastors and teachers talk about the Ten Commandments and tithing, but they forgot the healthy life styles info (there goes the pork), relationship, financial info, etc. I thank God that He sent a savior so that I would not be condemned to a life cut off from Him because I just could not keep every single bit of my life within the boundaries. However, I have long sought a deeper understanding so that I could take advantage of the loving things God has prepared for me. (Is that a little selfish?)
You have been the best breath of fresh air in my life in the longest time. Sometimes I have felt that I was on the east side of the hurricane it was so scary and new. BUT–I have enjoyed riding out the storms with you. (For those who don’t experience hurricanes, the east side is where the spin off storms/tornados occur.)
I truly love it that you wander around Scripture. I enjoy a mind that works that way.
I am so thankful you have Patrick to assist you. After all you have a job similar to Moses’. You are trying to help us into the “Promised Land” of Scripture. We are sometimes a neat little mob of travelers and other times we wander, scatter, or balk at what we read. Now even Moses needed assistants. Patrick is an able assistant and a great compliment to your abilities. I thank God for his faithfulness in working with you.
I think the main thing in all our lives is to live in such a way as to honor God. You are enabling me to do that a little better each day, dear Skip. Yes I know you are just an ordinary man. That’s o.k. I only know one truly extra-ordinary man and He loves us both. Just keep the good words coming as God gives you strength. We will all be better for them.
For those who have suggested that community might be experienced differently in the local area, that is a good point. I think those of us who have both are indeed wealthy beyond measure.
Shalom,
This outpouring of communications, in the hopes of convincing our brother in Ohio to “stick with it”, is quite uplifting … praise The Lord!
The brother’s struggle is not unique however … certainly there are plenty of TW readers who have experienced similar battles. Let’s face it … it is indeed frightening to come to the realization that “theology”, “religious practice” and “the very way” as handed down to us is “off the mark” and in many instances opposite to the way given by Our Lord.
Perhaps traumatic rather than frightening is a better description!
I suppose what Ohio views as complexity within the mitzvot (commandments) …. I and others see as simplicity and at first represents little more than “the need to choose”. The choice is between upholding theological tradition versus obedience to some very non-esoteric and straightforward behavioral characteristics responsive to the gift of Salvation. But certainly within this very simple choice is the greatest of battles waged!
Ultimately (in my experiences) I have found that opposition to the Hebraic roots of our faith stem from the fact that His (The Lord) Way, as originally given to us, stands in opposition to our self determined way. We people under the guise of interpreting the “will of G_D” simply want to determine our own way.
So is there confusion? Yes indeed there is confusion and its name is Babylon! Is there a battle being waged? Yes indeed and the battle is against powers and principalities!
Our beloved brother Skip is fighting the good fight and doing so with the greatest of all weapons … The Truth … The Light … The Word! But this is not about Skip it is about personal choices!
This out pouring for you our brother in Ohio is a witness to the power of our Lord. The body should stand up to protect its own … the body should fight for its own … so I like many others at TW exhort you to trust not in us but in Him. To listen not to us but to His Word … surely He will never turn away a willing heart that is listening for His voice.
May He protect and bless you while you are being tested and wherever your journey takes you!
I haven’t commented before but I often read the comments and can relate to the confused, unhappy, person’s comments. I feel that way sometimes but keep reading, struggling, praying, and growing through my wrestling with the concepts in the Daily Word. I appreciate the prospect for growth and spiritual development that even the toughest challenges (esp. dietary!) present each day. I realized just how much a part of the community I am when I lost my files briefly and thought I couldn’t catch up with my readings. So, thanks for the site and I hope the disheartened will keep reading because we’re all at different places on the road and it is so vital to have fellows traveling with us.
I only wish I could show you where I’ve been and where I am today. Let’s just say for the sake of brevity. “There has been some changes.” lol!! (and brothers and sisters- there has been some bumps, some bruises and (gasp!) some scars.. (sometimes from “friendly fire!”). This I can promise from the authority of G-d’s word- “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1.6) “The zeal of the LORD will perform this..” Hallelujah! Like clay in the hands of the Potter, -LORD,- here am I, send me!
So far, no one has answered my question as to WHY God caused the New Testament autographs to be written in Greek rather than in Hebrew if Hebrew is the language preferred (or essential) in understanding God’s mind and will. To say the answer is “not either or, but both” is to surrender the premise.
Harold, i have read some scholars that would say that some of the NT was actually originally written in Hebrew and later tranlated into Greek (Flusser, Lindsey, etc.). If that is true, that poses a whole new set of questions then doesn’t it? Regardless of what the NT was written in, general exegetic principles teach us that to explain a past culture or any of its writings we must understand the way that culture lived. How they understood life. This helps us from reading into a document and misinterpreting it. We do this with American History all the time. How many things do you see today that people use a past event and take it completely out of context to make their point. If we do it in our culture with our own history, do you think its done in interpreting the scriptures?
As Matt already mentioned, it’s quite possible that the NT gospels were written in Hebrew first, then translated to Greek. Take a look at The Hebrew Gospel of Matthew.
But my own personal thought — based on nothing I’ve read anywhere — is that it’s possible that any and all original Hebrew NT manuscripts could have been destroyed somewhere along the line by the powers that be as Christianity began to take over The Way. Like I said, just my own personal thought. No scholar I’ve read has ever suggested this.
You always were a sinister guy. 🙂 Yes, I think this is entirely possible, given the animosity the developed between the Christians and the “messianic” Jews and between the Messianic Jews and the rest of the Jews. Battles on all fronts. If the Church under Rome wanted to be sure that there was no connection to the Jewish “Law”, what better way than to eliminate all the documents that could tie the two together – and then promote a “new” Israel. We have historical evidence that the early fathers began promoting this idea about 150AD and that they were pushed to form a canon from WITHIN due to the need to separate themselves from Jewish rabbinic thought. Destroying the evidence of a solid connection would certainly help the cause, wouldn’t it. But then you would have to believe in conspiracies. 🙂
Sorry I missed this one before, Harold. I believe, and find substantial support for, an original Hebrew Matthew. I can imagine that Luke was originally in Greek, but I cannot imagine an original Greek gospel of John unless John is deliberately being obtuse. His vocabulary and metaphors are all Hebrew. Even his structure deliberately follows Genesis. BTW, so does Matthew’s (and even Greek scholars admit this). The earliest church historian, Eusebieus, mentions that one of the church fathers actually saw the gospel of Matthew in Hebrew. Anyway, the idea that God “caused” the New Testament to be written in Greek raises a whole lot of questions about the doctrine of inspiration, canonization and ecclesiastical history that go beyond this comment. But they are serious questions. See MacDonald, The Biblical Canon.
Bivin, Flusser, Young, Hegg, and others suggest that Matthew wrote in Hebrew. His Greek reads like translation, especially in its use of Hebrew idioms which are woodenly translated in Greek and only work in Hebrew. If he were writing in Greek, why include them? But besides that point, we know that Jesus did NOT teach in Greek, so every time we have His words, they have been translated even if the original gospel was in Greek. And that means we have to know what He said IN HEBREW if we are really going to understand Him. Otherwise, we are left with what the Church tells us He said from the Greek text. So, in my view, no matter where you come out on the original language of the gospel, you must still read Jesus in Hebrew. You can’t avoid it. He isn’t Plato.
“As for Today’s Word, it’s really not a teaching effort. It’s just a personal journey.”
Hi Skip,
Well for me, you are the teacher and I am the student.
That’s just how I see things.
The first time I received a TW, 7 -8 years ago, I thought it was just some Christian junk mail, but I read it anyway.
I was struck on the one hand by your writing ability and on the other by the content of your message, which was very powerful.
In short, the title was Icon and the theme was “God is pounding the impurities out of us,” in case you are wondering why there is so much unnecessary pain.
At the time, I could not see how anyone could argue that the Bible could be compared in terms of literary value with the Odyssey.
If you take Shakespeare out of the equation, I thought, the Greeks wrote the best epic, tragedy, comedy, and philosophy.
At the same time writers like Shakespeare, Hawthorne, and Melville seemed to be finding some meaning I couldn’t see in the Bible.
So I signed up to receive the daily message to learn more about the Bible.
Because I was not on the blog, I always assumed you were a “Christian”.
In any case, you answered many questions of mine that I could never find answers to, because I could not see the Hebrew meaning of letters, words, and “pictures”.
When you showed me that level of meaning, many things started to connect.
Just “finding meaning” is a source of pleasure to me and now I have a much greater appreciation of the Bible with it’s “codebook” Torah.
I think we all have some desire to know the truth, and some fear about learning the truth, because there is a “price to pay.”
About the time I started to learn more about these truths, God really started pounding the impurites out of me and so this has become a personal journey.
Unfortunately, I probably still have a lot of impurities to be pounded out 🙂
Me too. That’s why it is a journey, not a destination. BTW, I remember that one on Icon. It as pretty good. I remember writing it and thinking, “Well, this is just about me. Getting into shape as He sees fit.” It’s a delightful pain.
Skip,
There are days when ‘Today’s Word’ is out of reach and I can empathise with a lot of your community that are not the intellectuals. There are days that I’ve read and re-read the daily word and just walk away scratching my head. Even though it’s above my level of understanding for now, I store then away and have found myself going back to them and gain new insights each and every time I read them. Has it overwhelmed me, no not in the least bit, it makes me appreciate God’s word even more as each day I find something new. God didn’t call me to be Jewish, but I’m one of the adopted, thankful to gain new insight into my family history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus
Although Skip has tried to clear up this issue for me, I still don’t understand what the issue is.
My understanding is that Jesus spoke Aramaic to the Jews, who spoke Aramaic. The Aramaic language is a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. It was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean.
Western Aramaic- The dialect of the Jews (Jerusalem, the Talmud and the Targums) and the Syro-Palestine dialect.
Please read the article posted on my site – The Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. It will dispel the usual Aramaic view.
Okay. Thanks Skip!
Hi Skip,
I don’t see anything about Matthew on the website? How about a hint…
Sorry, try this.
Hebrew Gospel
Got it. Now I remember the issue. Thanks!
even though it is WAY out of my league, i am grateful for your work, Skip, as it has inspired me to dig deeper, walk closer and honor our heavenly Father through righteous acts.
Hopefully it’s not ALL way out of your league
Hi all,
Glad to hear that most everyone is finding something worth while. I appreciate all the encouragement. My only concern was for those who were feeling that I was getting too scholarly and too esoteric. It was a good reminder. I probably needed it.
Now, on the other hand, if we are going to talk about really deep things, then most of the talk will be deep – and probably difficult since we don’t have 5000 years of Hebrew culture to hold us up. We have to learn life all over again. So, if you asked me to explain the Special Theory of Relativity, you would expect that it would be complicated, although my job would be to explain it in the least complicated way I could. I am very glad that we get to explore the complicated, but if something is just too much, then wait for tomorrow. I will try to touch lightly more often.
However, all this said, if the reason that we are having trouble dealing with the material is that it is challenging our past ways of thinking about things, then I won’t let up for a second. Truth is more important than a headache.
So, on we go. If you need to leave, that’s OK. God only takes each of us as far as we are able to travel at any particular time. But feel welcome leaving or staying or coming back. Here is a place where you can think and wrestle with anything without being told that it is inappropriate to mention.
All of you have made my life sooooo much better. Thanks.
Skip
And now I will write for tomorrow, on Psalm 32, with maybe a little less technical stuff.
Hey everyone, it’s me Tim (aka “Ohio”) I’ve been following the comments and I wanted to reach out and respond to all of you because I felt it was the least I could do and also because I wanted to.
Let me first say that I was surprised to see so many comments. When I first let Skip know that I was unsubscribing from TDW I knew that I would be back, as I told him I just needed a break. I found myself in an odd spot, one that I have been placed in before by God. I told Skip that I have a daily pray, more of a plea to my Heavenly Father for Him to “break me. For Him to break my will and my plans so that His will and His plans would be accomplished through me and not my own. For Him to empty me of myself so I can be filled with Him. Make me see with Your eyes and feel with your heart, Oh Lord.” This prayer I pray faithfully and daily and it is my true hearts desire, and because it is I find Him answering it, not all at once, thankfully, but little by little. And when He does, I find my spirit in the state of conflict of what I see with my eyes and feel in my spirit.
For the past 15 years I have worked with “at-risk” kids. Eight years ago God lead my wife and I to move from Long Island, NY (where we were born and raised) to Lebanon, OH. Six years ago God lead me to receive a Masters Degree of Biblical Counseling from Masters Divinity where I first met Skip. I was inspired and challenged through his teachings and I was glad, and still am, that they made me feel uneasy and rattled my cage enough to cause me to, at times, yell, scream, cry, drop to my knees, laugh, and every other emotion there is. I even had the blessing to bring Skip out to speak to the church that I was attending. And over the years it has been a huge blessing for me to financially support Skip as well.
Four years ago God had me leave my full time vocation and step out in faith to start a ministry to equip and train lay leaders in churches to start their own mentoring ministries to serve the at-risk & fatherless kids in their communities. He clearly told me that “My Church (the people not any building) needs to be the catalyst for change in the youth of today.” So in faith and total dependence on Him my wife and I stepped out…and Skip was there to talk to me, counsel me, slap me around a bit and encourage me. I consider Skip a friend, teacher, mentor and guide.
I provide this all as a backdrop for where I am know. Earlier I said that I am at conflict of what I am seeing with my eyes and seeing with my spirit. Working with churches and the body for the past four years God has shown me things that I did not want to see. He has shown me selfishness, greed, pride, egotism, racism, corruption and more…WITH IN HIS BODY!!! You might be saying, “Why does that surprise you?” and in the beginning I would agree with you. It would anger me but I would laugh it off and even poke fun of it. But now…now I don’t get angry, I don’t laugh it off or make fun of it. Now it pains me. I look at “His Body” and I don’t see His resurrected, reborn beautiful body, I see His sin infected, scared, cut, bleeding body hanging on the cross. I see the sin of His people that has ploughed through His Body and left it battered, bruised, bloody and hanging on a cross. Now instead of getting angry at His body I drop to my knees and plead for forgiveness.
All this to say that when I asked Skip to remove me from the list, I just needed a break from what I saw with my eyes as His Body quibbling over using the right name or the right spelling, instead of what I see with my spirit of a body, His Body, of believers seeking to know Him more through His word.
So I apologize and ask for your forgiveness to any of you that I may have offended, especially you Skip. I also want to thank all of you for the encouragement, support, and the slap in the face to rattle my cage and help me to see with the right set of eyes.
Thank you all for being on this journey with me and when I stopped on the path to rest and told you all just go ahead without me, many of you stopped and offered to carry me. For this I am grateful.
Hey Skip, do you have room for one more at the table?
Tim, aka “Ohio”
PS: Then again I can blame it on too much, Chambers, Spurgeon, Blackaby, and Moen all at the same time.
PSS: BTW…Roderick was the only person that, as my wife were reading his comments, made her yell at the computer (Pardon her…she said she was sticking up for me). Call me strange but it makes me think that I should pay attention to what he posts more often.
Hey Tim, no apologies needed. I was just concerned about you. Glad you have decided to stick around.
I love this community….I love the depth in which we seek to know Jesus…and His Word. I love the challenge and conviction it brings…it is personal and real. I love the written responses from the members of this community. I am stretched in my mind, and stretched in my confession of sin. I find Grace abounding and faith increasing through this community. I see Christ in and through this body of people. I see brokenness and pain and sorrow and grief. I see servants of the Living God, and true hearts knit together for the cause of Christ.
I am rarely able to comment in the blog due to my responsibilities in life; i.e. raising as child as a single mother and working more than one job to do so. AND, the time spent pouring out and investing in other lives that is never seen by this community and even those who live closest to me. That is what may be hidden in the “distress call.” Never feeling adequate before Christ, and never being able to do enough for those in crisis around you. One simple smile, a contribution of $10 here and there, one drive to the hospital and sitting by ones bed for hours to read scripture, one quiet prayer in the wee hours of the morning for a friend dying of cancer, one broken heart and the ministry of the cross to help someone through it, one grueling year leading to another grueling year without anyone noticing, except Jesus. Not a spoken word except that Jesus is Lord!
I believe that this community may spend valuable tme communing with one another taking the text of scripture and allowing it to drive a sharp sword more deeply into the heart so that one may be transformed into the image of Christ…it is all worth doing. I also believe that this community is doing the works of God that none can see in this written blog. Because we drink and eat of His manna, does not mean that we don’t take it to heart and become partners in the world to make a difference.
There are many horrible crimes and sin that run rampant in the world today, and many soldiers of the living God alone (yes, seemingly alone) in their daily work making some affect to it all. All for the glory of God…and none for the world to see.
Press in , I say, press on, I say, and let the conviction…the stretching of the soul and the mind be driven to know more and more of Jesus so that we may be radical in our workmanship on this earth until the day He comes for us.
I love you and feel intimate with these body of followers although I could not identify you if I saw you across the street, I can identify with the cry of our hearts in this communication. May the “distress call” really mean “I want more of you, Jesus…..I just can’t get enough of Jesus!”
Thanks, Skip, for allowing yourself to be an instrument of the Spirit of God….be encouraged dear brother. Let all of us making a “distress call” be found by Jesus and held in His loving arms and to know that He knows is enough.
Skip,
I my humble view truth is truth and that is why I am daily encouraged by your efforts via this venue. I can see the struggle within the lines you write however, the truth you bring to light regardless of how it is viewed is still truth, which is why I “feel”, enlighten on a daily basis. I do not consider myself an “intellectual” even if I have “Dr.” or “P. Th. D.” attached to my name – I struggle with your “Hebrew and Greek,” and a lot of the concepts you bring to light HOWEVER, that is why I love you so much; you have been given a gift and you share it! I see the “issues” however, I am continually encourage to check my “Greek” thinking, to dig deep into “Sola Scriptura,” and to seek truth and for that I am in your debt.
Dr. Ray A. Pearl
I really loved stumbling across this looking for another TW…… it is such a great read and a reminder for us all to be in community.