Aloha Friday Message – August 20, 2021 – Love and Marriage

August 20, 2021

2134AFC082-21 – Love and Marriage

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

     Ephesians 5:28-32 – 28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.

Revelation 21:2 – 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Some of us “of a certain age” will remember a 1955 song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen called “Love and Marriage.” We may also remember it was recorded by Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, and Peggy Lee. When I was in the fifth grade, I was “volunteered” to participate in a musical dance number  with seven other students to that tune at the Denver Coliseum as part of the Denver Public Schools Folk Festival (I think that was the name) which featured groups from elementary schools in the Metro Denver Area. It was one of those childhood experiences that I dreaded because I was so clumsy and shy, and never could remember all the steps. I can still visualize the colored spotlights and hear the music echoing across the crowded floor. Even today when I hear that song on TV or the radio, I’m swept back to that moment when I finally got to escape from the lights and noise, find my parents, and get out of there. Still, the lyrics are fixed solid in my mind – especially the phrase “like a horse and carriage.” They do indeed go together.

We have quite a few phrases like that in our idioms – go together like bread and jam, bread and butter, cheese and crackers – and sometimes the phrase goes the opposite direction as in goes together like oil and water or like cats and dogs. Marriage has always been one of those states in life that attracted me. Although I was extraordinarily shy, I remember wanting to “get married.” Naturally I had no idea how complicated married life could be. I just thought it was always going to be wonderful. My parents seemed very happily married, and we spent lots of time with families from our church who seemed happily married. The moms and dads loved each other, they loved their kids, their kids loved them, and we all loved each other. It seemed like being married was the most natural goal for every boy and girl. As I grew older, the luster of that conclusion tarnished and faded. I remember the first time I heard about one of the couples we knew and visited often getting divorced. It was incomprehensible to me. Why would anyone want to do that? It saddened me that something I cherished so deeply could turn out to be so painful to my childhood friends and their parents. That sadness also strengthened my determination to get married and stay married.

Since marriage and family life was something like “The Prime Directive” for the Christian families we associated with, we heard about it often in Sunday School Lessons and sermons. Some of those messages connected marriage to the relationship between God and the Church – more specifically the Church as the Bride of Christ. Here are some examples of what came up:

     Revelation 19:7-8 – 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; 8 to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure” — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Revelation 21:2 – 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:9 – 9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.

Revelation 22:20 – 20 The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

2 Corinthians 11:2 – 2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

This takes us back, then, to our Key Verse today at Ephesians 5:32 – 32 This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Sometimes it is difficult to follow the Apostle Paul’s comparisons. Here he is saying the relationship between Christ and his church is like the relationship between a married couple; they go together like a horse and carriage, bread and wine. In fact a successfully married couple can and do live as one because they were made by God for each other. As the Apostle Paul says, it is a union prepared for us and preferred by God. He instituted marriage and approves it. The reunion of humanity with God is seen as the marriage of Christ as the Bridegroom and the Church as the Bride – another perfectly natural fit prepared for us and preferred by God. We continue the comparison with this:

29 For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are members of his body. Christ loves and nurtures his Bride the Church. And who, what, and where is The Church? That’s us, folks. We are the Church. We are the Bride. We love and serve the Bridegroom and look forward eagerly to eternity with our Spouse. We are, in this correlation, “one flesh,” one bread, one body, one cup of Blessing, one hope, one faith, one Spirit, one baptism, serving one Lord and Savior of us all just as a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. In this same chapter we find some words to which certain sectors of modernistic thinking have vociferously protested. As you read this, you will know what I mean. I will attempt to clarify the intent momentarily.

Ephesians 5:21-24 – 21 Be subject* to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24 Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

* hypotassomenoi I submit, put myself into subjection e.g., properly, “under God’s arrangement,” i.e. submitting to the Lord (His plan). Note: It is a voluntary submission, not forced, because we can choose to rebel.

This passage, and others like it, are bandied about in today’s Cancel Culture with rancorous vigor – perhaps justly in some times and places, but nonetheless result in a fallacious argument because the rancor is derived outside of context. In the fifth chapter of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul is admonishing the membership of The Church in Ephesus as a model or image of the worldwide Church. There were some problems there, and he sought to correct them by emphasizing the principle of Unity in Service to Christ and to each other as the Church. His advice centers on mutuality. Read Ephesians 5:21 again carefully: Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. It does not say Be subject to one another out of gender dominance. The Apostle Paul says that wives defer to their husbands, but not – as any husband can tell you – without expressing her views, needs, wants, and expectations. In like fashion he adjures husbands to care tenderly for their wives even as Christ cares for his Church. A very similar passage is found in Colossians 3:18-21 – 18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart. The tone and purpose of mutuality is the goal. The intentions and actions of domineering subjugation are antithetical to the Apostle Paul’s “Rules for Christian Households.” Why is that important and what does it have to do with The New Jerusalem and the Bride of Christ?

Today’s dissident voices might say, “God would never make us live in a patriarchal society where males are considered intrinsically superior.” Perhaps in feminist theology that is true, but such theology is of Worldly origin, not Divine origin. In our Scriptures, God (here again I am citing “Trinity” as God) presents as male. Without that, pretty much none of the content of Scripture has any coherence or meaning. Perhaps some among us don’t like that outcome and want to rewrite that content to better suit our choices in life – and we are perfectly free to do so because we have been given the remarkable Gift of Free Will. That means we are also perfectly free to be completely wrong. If we were to go through the Bible cover-to-cover, we could find hundreds of incidents where that was the outcome – the participants defy God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan (the APP) because they believe they are right and God is wrong. Now, to me, that sounds ludicrous; but then I remember my own sinfulness and realize I, too, can be just that stubborn, just that stupid, just that forgetful that God made the rules that govern the universe and I had nothing to do with creating it. What a pretentious little doofus I would be if I thought I was God and could change the way Life works! Come to think of it, I might have tried that a few times with disastrous results. For me, Life works so much better if I just stick to the APP. Here’s an example.

My childhood dream of being married came true! I have had the same wonderful, beautiful, talented, supportive, and One True Love for 19,116 days as of today. Most of those days have been wonderful days, a few have been troubled by illness or other unexpected changes, but – whatever came to us – we always tackled it together. It is, was, and always will be just the three of us – Jesus, Crucita, and me. As I see it, that’s even better than a horse and carriage. It’s more like that surrey with the fringe on top. The reason is simple – PRIORITIES. We know in whom we believe,(↔ Music Link) and we know we are right because he is Right. Some of the folks that listened to Jesus chose not to believe him and so they dismissed him as a mere novelty and walked away. That’s the content of Sunday’s Gospel in John 6:60-69(↔ Click Link). It is a continuation of the Bread of Life Discourse. I encourage you to go back and reread John 6:48-60, but this time with the “foresight” of what came afterwards – the meaning of The Bride of Christ, the powerful image of Divinely Instituted Marriage, and the importance of knowing and believing in The APP well enough to trust and obey our Creator who has given us who believe in his only begotten Son (↔ Music Link) the Gift of Eternal Life by the union of Christ and his Bride, the Church. It’s a marriage made in Heaven. We stay in that union because there is nowhere else to find Eternal Life. It’s a Love thing.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – August 13, 2021 – Just Say YES

August 13, 2021

For the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2133AFC081321 – Just Say YES

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

     Luke 1:35-38 – 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 ” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:41-45 – 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

All of this led to this exquisite moment in history when Jesus was soon to be sleeping Away in a Manger. That “YES” from Mary can be likened to the point where the two loops in this infinity symbol cross. Everything that had been planned in the first loop came to fruition in the second loop and infinity never changed. It just kept going and everything that was there is still there. That’s the whole idea behind Contemporaneous Concomitance. Nothing is begun until nothing is unfinished so that everything is completed once everything is begun.

All it took to get it working like that is one simple – but very great – YES. It reminds me of another very simple but very great YES by Abram. God told him to go to a place Abram had never seen, and he said YES. He kept doing that until there was a whole Nation of his descendants. Later God changed his name from Abram (father) to Abraham (father of nations). Looking back at that infinity symbol, I see Abraham is also standing right at the pinch between the two sides of forever. That means two of my good friends are right at the moment of change – Abraham and Mary.

I thought about how to approach this weekend’s readings and decided to tackle the Catholic-Christian and non-Catholic-Christian similarities rather than differences. Catholics know that some non-Catholics think we are idolaters, that the Pope is the antichrist, and that we have no concept of what’s in the Bible because we never study it. Truthfully we don’t worship statues, but we do surround ourselves with images of people we love. We do refer to the Pope as the Vicar of Christ, which merely means he has the responsibility to carry out the obligation given to Peter by Jesus “feed my lambs” … “tend my sheep” … “feed my sheep.” Jesus was passing on to Peter the shepherding responsibility he instituted in his own ministry. As for the Bible, there are 6-9 Scripture passages used in daily Masses, the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church includes literally thousands of Scripture references, and many Parishes (including ours) have structured, in-person Bible studies as well as Religious Education Classes (Crucita and I have been catechists most of our married lives), and faith-based, live-streaming educational and entertainment resources. I think where things get really unclear is deciding what to do about Mary.

If you are any kind of Christian at all, you know Mary’s story. She was likely just a teenager betrothed to an older man – probably not greatly older – when she had a visit from Gabriel. After a brief exchange, she began carrying the fetus that would grow up to be Jesus of Nazareth, the Only Begotten Son of the Living God. There are contentious debates about her perpetual virginity, and of her Immaculate Conception so that she was conceived and born without the stain of original sin. “She couldn’t possibly deliver a child and remain a virgin, and no one but Jesus is sinless, That’s biblical.” Maybe that’s how it works in someone’s book, but in my book, the whole thing is a miraculous mystery. I have no idea how the Trinity made her pregnant. I don’t have to know. I just know that God asked her if she would allow that, and she said YES: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Her presence in the Bible, in the history of Jesus, in the history of the Church, and in God’s eternal and Absolutely Perfect Plan (the APP for Eternity), teaches us Mary is real, essential, and undeniably Apostolic. Along with Abraham and Mary, we are part of the Family of God (↔ Click Link please), and like almost every real family we have a Father, a Mother, a Son and an incredible number of adopted siblings. That is mysterious, miraculous, but certainly not impossible For nothing will be impossible with God. Not all readers will follow that link, so I’m going to pull just a segment out of the context of that message because I want to be consistent in what I say:

It seems too impersonal to write someone off because they disagree with me about how my relationship with Jesus works. “Of course I have a personal relationship with Jesus,” I tell them. “In fact, I have a close, personal, and deeply satisfying relationship with the whole family – Father, Son, Holy Spirit, our Blessed Mother, and all the Angels and Saints.”

Perhaps it is unkind to respond that way, and I confess I have taken the wind from the sails of an occasional evangelizer by saying, “Yes I’ve accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. Have you accepted Mary as your personal Mother?”  I believe a personal relationship with Jesus is a very good and doable idea, and I do continuously reassess the relative distance between us.  It is the Trinity, however, to whom I gravitate. When I say, “God,” I mean “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” When I say, “God bless you,” I am asking the Trinity to bless you. They are, after all, three distinct Persons all in one Being. Because I am created “in the image and likeness of God,” I can see the same patterns in me.  This is why I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.

I have a small statue of Our Lady of Fatima in our bedroom. It reminds me of how much I love Mary because I know how much Jesus loves her. There are religious pictures and crucifixes in every room of the house. These are family pictures and remembrances that bring comforting, warming, hope to my day-to-day struggles with pain, with sin, with confusion about what’s happening outside my Christian life. Sometimes I wonder what is happening inside our Church when I hear some in the upper hierarchy saying it’s OK to distribute the Eucharist to people who are obviously, publicly, and unrepentantly living in grave sin. I rest my heart in the hope I have in Christ Jesus. I do not hold my Peace – I let loose on things like that from time to time (it’s a miracle I have any of my mind left! I’ve hurled so many pieces of it at others that exasperate me!) – but I am held in Peace. In our own right we are weak, but he is strong (↔ Music Link – it’s a POWERFUL one!) . When we hold our peace, we are held in peace. Many years ago I wrote a song called “Man of Peace.” It was so long ago that I can no longer remember all of it. However, this little scrap has existed for well over fifty years, and it still speaks to me.

I am a man of Peace. I own no other name.
I stand before you, gird about with gifts of Love.
You ask me of my Peace, and how I hold it so.
Good listener, I do not hold my Peace.
I am held in Peace.

It’s a mysterious miracle, or a miraculous mystery – take your pick – but the bottom line is we really never should be lonely even when we are alone because our entire Family is with us whether we’re walking in that long lonesome valley, or taking a seat on that slow train a-comin’. When I read Mary’s Canticle (song, often called “The Magnificat” because that is the first word of Mary’s Canticle in Latin), I identify with her lyrics:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

  • ●●

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
This reminds me of Our God our Help (↔ Music Link)

In my heart, my mind, my soul I hear her speaking those words and to me they are the soothing words of a mother sharing her life story – my Mother. No matter where I am, the Hope I have in my eternal Family is “the Light that drives away the darkness and draws me and everyone I meet to God’s Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, and Eternal Salvation.” And how did I come to possess that light? John 8:12 – 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Jesus is Hope. Jesus is Light. Jesus is All because he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 – 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. (↔ Music Link) I have, you have, we have that promise because Jesus took on every sin, every moment of pain, every abandonment and turned it into Glorious Praise to God Our Father.  Jesus did that …

F O R  O U R  S A K E.

Like they say in the movies, he took a hit for you. He took thousands of hits for us. It is explained in the post for August 11, 2006: The story of the Dart Test and the effect of taking out our hurt on others. Jesus ends up taking the hurt for us. Check it out at this link.

Get together in Church again with your family this weekend and with your Family every day. You, too, will be held in Peace as your “soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; [your] spirit rejoices in God [our] Savior.  Then you will know the meaning of “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” When God asks – and he will – just say YES.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

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Aloha Friday Message – August 6, 2021 – Enough Already!

August 6, 2021

2132AFC080621 – Enough Already!

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

    John 6:43-45 – 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

Exodus 15:24 – 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Do you ever have something you just have to “get off your chest” and then you hold back until that “something” explodes all over you and everyone around you? Yeah, me too, and generally it’s something over which I have no direct control and it’s nothing I caused. Take today’s post for example.

I don’t know how often you use the Scripture links I put in these messages, but if you do check them occasionally, you’ll know they usually display three parallel versions for you. Well, today that’s not happening (try it, you’ll see), and it really sorta ticked me off. I want you to be able to see a passage from more than just one point of view. Let me say again that the whole point of these essays is to help all of us [1] read the Bible more often, and [2] understand in new ways what we read. Naturally, being the loud-mouthed nerd that I am, I found the Contact Us link and let them know my reaction to the changes they had “forced” upon me. None of us like to be pushed into something we don’t expect or appreciate. We grumble, gripe, moan and groan, maybe even have a tantrum. “How dare they/you?” Then I read a story by Kathleen Basi. Here’s a quick synopsis:

She was in the soccer-mom van with her kids and stopped at a red light. On the median stood a man in camos and he held a sign saying  “HOMELESS—HUNGRY—ANYTHING HELPS.” The kids in the back were chattering away about something as Kathleen wrestled with whether or not to roll down her window and pass a couple of bucks to the guy. “But he might just use it to get drunk or stoned.” Well, yes, but he also might use it to get a cheeseburger off the Dollar Menu. Then the commotion in the back of the van changed. The kids were all yelling “Hi! Hi! Hi!” and waving at the man. His face lit up with a big, generous, warm smile and he waved back. The window went down, the money went into a gloved hand, and Peace filled the minivan. Kathleen said, “In that moment, Jesus’ words about becoming like children rang in my mind: ‘Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven’ (Matthew 18:3). It was in this moment that those words made sense for the first time. My children are better Christians than I am, I thought.” She had just experienced one of those “Close Encounters of the Sixth Kind” (Click This Link) She got to make eye contact with Jesus by looking into the face of the poor. There are a couple of things that I see here, besides the obvious point that we don’t need to rationalize being generous in the name of Christ. Take a look at Jesus’ first requirement for entry into The Kingdom: “… unless you turn …”

There it is again – that recurring theme of repentance. We see it so often we tend to gloss over it, but maybe that’s not very smart. If God is known to like grass because he made so much of it and made it so versatile, we should probably take the hint that his multitudinous references to repentance in Scripture are a pretty good sign he thinks it’s important. Given how easily we forget his preference for repentant sinners, we should probably wake up and pay more attention. Usually, though, we just ignore it – we even grumble, gripe, moan and groan, maybe even have a tantrum. “How dare you expect me to be perfect!? You gave me this free will and all it does is get me into trouble.”

Oh, Belovéd, none of God’s gifts get us into trouble. It is our sinful nature that does that. In this case that pronoun “our” refers to all of the earthlings throughout history up to this very day. Even those who are zealous for the Lord or those who readily do his will quickly and well are sinners. They can – and do – often find themselves under the domination of truly wicked people, governments, and even repugnant religions. Nonetheless, their passion for serving God strengthens them in truly remarkable ways. In the Church’s decision to focus on John Chapter 6 – the Bread of Life Discourse – we take a good look at Elijah (the name means “YHWH is my God”). In today’s Key Verse from 1 Kings 19, Elijah is running for his life from the evil queen Jezebel, the wife of the defiant King of Israel, Ahab. In the previous chapter we have the amazing story of Elijah taking on the 450 prophets of Ba’al and 400 prophets of Ashera and challenging them to a duel of fire. The idolatrous prophets would prepare an altar, stack it with wood, slaughter a bull, and lay the pieces of the bull on their altar. Elijah did the same. Then the false prophets for Ahab and Jezebel were to call upon their deity to set their offering ablaze with fire. They worked at that all day, even bloodying themselves with knives and swords to “appease” their deity, “but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.”

Elijah rebuilt the Altar of the Lord. He laid his wood upon it. He slaughtered and divided the bull. He had them dig a deep trench around the Altar. He had them pour huge amounts of water over the meat, the wood, and the altar until the trench filled up and overflowed. Then this happened as we read in 1 Kings 19:36-38 – 36 At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. The people of Israel agreed that there is only God the Lord, and Elijah took away all the wicked prophets and had them killed. When Jezebel heard what Elijah had done she swore to do the same or worse to him.

Eventually it was she who came to a very bad end. She was thrown out a window by the servants of King Jehu, her body was trampled by horses, and then – as Elijah’s successor Elisha had prophesied – “The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and no one shall bury her.” She never had enough power or wickedness or vile plans to satisfy her. Elijah, on the other hand, was pleading for God to take his life because he was sure Jezebel would put an end to him. His prayer was like our saying, “Enough already!” God’s response to that prayer was, “Hold on. I have something better in mind.” And so we read that Elijah was given rest, food, encouragement, and spiritual nourishment. He took the food the angel provided – a hearth cake and a jug of water – along with the blessing of spiritual strength from God and walked forty days and forty nights from Beer Sheba in Judah.

It was a long trip and took a long time. The language in this tale is, of course, prophetic, so “40 days and 40 nights” is Prophet-speak for “a long time” and he probably traveled about 200 to 250 miles through some pretty rough country on foot. He “threw in the towel,” but God said, “Not yet.” Elijah eventually got to hop onto a fiery chariot that swung low and took him to God.

Today we have so much to complain about! We even complain about complaining! We grumble and mumble and grouse and gossip and whine and pitch fits and protest and carry signs and pillage, rob, loot, and destroy – and we expect to be rewarded for that. Oh, you don’t really do those things yourself. We see it on the news or on Facebook or some other social media outlet. We would never behave like that! We would never challenge authority, or criticize the decisions of our elected leaders (who are there by the permission of God). We wouldn’t get bent out of shape because our grocery store or COSTCO stopped stocking something we’ve truly enjoyed for a long time. We would never say, “That’s it! I’m never going there anymore!” When we are tested or tempted, we don’t ever say to God, “That’s enough already!” Then perhaps later we see a skin-and-bones three-year old covered in flies accepting a drink of clean water after none was available for days. Or we might see terrified refugees fleeing for their lives before a band of violent religious fanatics determined to wipe out everything and everyone that is not lawful in their view. We might see the collapse of a building with hundreds of people inside, many of whom died. We might see a loved one ravaged by disease, or lying broken after a tragic accident that was not caused by them. “I complained because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” Belovéd, at times I wonder if God’s answer should be “Quit whining and asking to be freed from this trial! Ask me for strength to endure this moment so you will be cleaner than before. Try to see that this blessing is the next step to the purity I can see growing in you.” Then, like little children, we might say “Hi! Hi! Hi!” and look Jesus in the eye long enough to say “Right behind you Lord. Thanks for the heads up!” Talk about your OMG moment!

We have spoken before (↔ Click Link for examples) about those short, seeming directionless exclamatory prayers we use every day. “Oh, my God!” is one of them. Another one – presented here – is “That’s it. I’m done!” We need to think twice about that one. Oh, I am certainly not saying that we should just hunch up and get beaten like an obstinate mule (although we can be obstinate) by those who seek to do us harm  (person to nation to worldwide included). There are absolutely times when we have to stand up and speak out – see something, say something. THEN DO SOMETHING. Remember this:

James 2:14-16 – 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? Same thing goes for anything we see that is not nurturing for body, or mind, or spirit. Do we truly have Faith, Trust, Grace upon Grace? Or instead is our living based on satiation or Satisficing (← Check it out!)? Look beyond whatever distracts us from God’s will (including the assertion of our own will). We must not nourish our souls with the junk-food empty calories of selfishness. Love demands that we must turn to God to know and satisfy our True needs, not our temporal and carnal wants. If all we can do is grumble against whomever or whatever because we feel empty, maybe we should reexamine the value of fasting from those things that cannot make us wholly Holy.

God reveals his own fatherly heart and parental Love in Christ Jesus so that – having sent the Son as the fulfillment of the Original Promise after the Original Sin – we have access to God the father and eternal life when we are attracted to the Father by the Son as the Son is both drawn from the Father and sent to his chosen. It is the working of that “irresistible affinity for God” I often speak of. It is not violent or forceful; it is only the gentle tug of Love calling us out of the muck and mire of sin. We can resist and grumble all we like, but if we once relent in our struggle to preserve the status quo of our sinfulness, we enter into the Brightness of his Light. It was not the manna, or the quail, or the water that took Israel to the Promised Land. All of those were the Gifts of the Greatest Giver. He was really all they ever needed to make the eleven-day trip from Egypt to Canaan. All their grumbling was of no use whatsoever. They had Bread sent down from Heaven. So do we.

That is something I really need to think about more often.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

URGENT: PLEASE PRAY FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE HORRIFIC FIRES WORLDWIDE AS THE DELTA VARIANT SPREADS. BE WISE AND REDUCE THE RISK FOR BOTH.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – July 30, 2021 – Bread on the water

July 30, 2021

2131AFC072821 – Bread on the water

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

     Ecclesiastes 11:1 – 1 Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will get it back.

Deuteronomy 8:3 – 3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord*. (*or by anything that the Lord decrees)

     John 6:35 – 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Matthew 5:6 – 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Well, once again we have a passel of verses in our Key Verse section, so let’s see what the Lord has in mind for this coming Sunday.

We are going to be tooling around in the Gospel of John for awhile, specifically in John 6:22-59. This section of the Gospel of John is referred to as The Bread of Life Discourse and is part of Jesus’ teachings at the Synagogue in Capernaum. That discourse is a key factor in God’s plan for Salvation. Let’s begin by backing up a bit and looking into the reason bread is important to the Lord.

Bread is so common that we easily take it for granted. We somehow got the idea that ancient earthlings domesticated grains and then started making bread. Actually the chances are much better that it was the other way around sometime during the “winding down” of the Stone age 10,000 to 20,000 years ago during what is referred to as the Epipaleolithic time. In 2018, crumbs of leftover toasted bread were discovered in a 14,000-year-old archeological dig in Shubayqa 1, a Natufian hunter-gatherer site located in northeastern Jordan. The bread was made from crushed wild grains and roots of tuberous plants. It most likely looked like what we now call tortillas – flat, flexible, and nutritious – and other flatbreads commonly used around the world even today. Some archeological discoveries in the Fertile Crescent Tigris-Euphrates Valley, Egypt, and even Mesopotamia date as far back as 22,000 years ago – about 10,000 years before domestication of grains into cereals that could be farmed. It is a staple part of human food intake that affects every part of the world where cereal grains can be raised.

Those grains – like wheat, spelt, corn, barley, millet, rice, and even the pseudocereals like quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, and chia – are crushed into flour after removing the indigestible fibrous husks and stems. When God created these cereal grains – all of which are forms of grass – he had big, immensely-long plans in mind. It is assumed that grass is God’s favorite creation in the Plant Kingdom because he made so much of it in so many wonderful forms. He even designed the animals that could benefit the most from this versatile and plenteous food – including us. After Jesus fed 5,000+ people with bread and fish, then walked across the water on the Sea of Galilee to the shock of his Disciples (See John 6:1-21), the people who met him there wanted to see more miracles and get more bread. The early Church would have understood these accounts as pointing toward Jesus being a “new Moses” leading his followers out of The World and into the Promised Kingdom of God, and – as in the manna in the wilderness – giving them the “bread come down from Heaven – himself. The people heard him say “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” They understood this in a literal, worldly sense and wanted free-and-easy bread like they had just received – even if it was barley loaves, the bread of the poor. But, wait! There’s more (of course)!

Let’s pick up on Matthew 5:6 – 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Eating bread and fish – if that’s all you had – could be life-sustaining, but a little boring, too. Jesus was always teaching his Disciples and other listeners that God will supply all that they need, but first they need to give God what he requires – their love and obedience, their contrition and repentance, their lives and their faith. He constantly points them toward the greater blessings – the blessing of giving rather than receiving, the blessing of Peace rather than fear, the blessings of God rather than the praises of earthlings. What is the food that Jesus brings into the world? It is to do God’s will as in John 4:34 – 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” We are fed when we do as he told us in Matthew 6:33 – 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. What is the bread we should be seeking, the drink we should request? It is the righteousness of God’s presence in every moment of every day. God is always lavishly extravagant when we keep our priorities straight. We receive Grace upon Grace, Blessing upon Blessing, and the Joy of Peace that surpasses all understanding when we rely on him rather than on anyone or anything else. And yet, Belovéd, how easily we forget!

Let’s pull in another Key Verse from today – Deuteronomy 8:3 – 3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord*. (*or by anything that the Lord decrees) Even then, even now, even forever it seems, we just never learn. It really is very simple. Love God, love neighbor, love self, repent and believe the Gospel, Trust and Obey. What God says is sufficient, what God does is awesome, what God expects is planned to the minutest detail: BE LIKE ME BECAUSE I AM. We are to be righteous, to be perfect, to be godly but not godlike, to be who and what God made us to be. If we are hungering for bread that does not satisfy our hunger, for water that does not slake our thirst, it is because these are not what Jesus is asking us to pursue. Again, Matthew 5:6 – 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Where do we find that righteousness which alone satisfies our deepest hunger and thirst?

It is found in God. It is found in always being lavishly extravagant with our bread and our Bread. We share our material lives with others so that they will see the spiritual lives that sustain us. We share our Spiritual lives powered by the Bread of Life so we can sustain others in good stewardship of all of God’s greatest stuff. And that is why we have that Key Verse from Ecclesiastes. Who would be foolish enough to just go throw bread out into the stream or the lake? Well, unless we’ve gone to the Park to feed the ducks, that’s kind of a silly and wasteful way to use bread. Now, that verse says that the bread will return to us (certainly not after the ducks have gotten it!), so what’s the deal here?

Some interpret that verse as an admonition to be practical in our business dealings. Taken in context, that make some sense – increase your profits by sending your material goods out for trade beyond your closest circle of customers – and if you do that in a responsible and timely manner, your profits will benefit from that risk. I believe there is more to it than that. God never stops inviting us to try to be like him. Think of that bread on the water as your material gifts given with his lavish generosity without any thought of being paid back. Remember the measure by which we give is the measure by which we receive? I see that verse in Ecclesiastes as telling us to be more generous than we believe possible and, when we do that, the return on that “investment” will supersede all our expectations.

Belovéd, let’s give it a try; let’s go ahead and put our bread upon the waters and see if God will send it back to us 10-, 30-, 60-, or 100-fold. Let us hunger and thirst for righteousness and be fed with the True Bread because, as it says in John 6:50-51, – 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Compared to that 14,000-year-old bread, the Bread of Eternal Life sounds like something that we should much prefer – the bread and water of Righteousness. He became our righteousness so that through him we can become God’s righteousness. This entire immensely-long plan was set in place to do one simple thing: Reunite us with God and restore us to original innocence by removing original sin and all its consequences – including hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Come on, Belovéd, let’s go to the Water and share the Bread of Life (↔ Music Link).

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – July 23, 2021 – Jesus would go

July 23, 2021

2130AFC072321 – Jesus would go

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

     John 6:13 – 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Today I want to give you a bit of Local History along with biblical greatness.

Pictured above is the double-hull voyaging canoe called Hokuleʻa. The word Hokuleʻa translates as “Star of Gladness.” The man shown here is Eddie Aikau. He was born on Maui and later moved to Oʻahu. In 1968, Eddie was the first lifeguard posted to the North Shore of Oʻahu. During his tenure there not one life was lost, and Eddie saved at least 500 people. He would go out to rescue even in the worst conditions, sometimes swimming through or over waves twenty-feet high to save a life. He was also an exceptional surfing champion and was well-known for challenging the biggest of waves when other surfers decided to just watch the surf rather than ride it. Sometimes when watching big wave, people would say, “Br’ah (pidgin for Bruddah, Brother), that’s too big for me, but ‘Eddie would go.'” In 1977, he won the esteemed Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. In 1976, the Polynesian Voyaging Society successfully completed a 2,500 mile journey from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti. The objective was to show that the trip could be made in a canoe based on an ancient design and guided only by the stars, the sea, and the animals in and above the sea. There were no “modern” navigational instruments aboard. (That is still the case today.) In March of 1978, another voyage to Tahiti was planned, but early on in the journey, one hull started leaking. There was also a powerful storm. The canoe soon capsized, turned over, and began to break up about 7 miles off the coast of Maui. Eddie volunteered to paddle out on his surf board to get help on Maui. A coast guard plane later spotted the wrecked canoe and the other crew members were rescued. Eddie was never seen again. “Eddie would go” took on an even deeper meaning. Eddie never backed down from the tough challenges when it came to using his formidable skills to save a life. And that is why I want you to understand how I mean it when I say “Jesus would go.”

In Sunday’s Gospel reading, we have the story of the feeding of the five-thousand (plus women and children). The Gospels record 37 of Jesus’ miracles, and this is the only one that is in all four Gospels. You can find the accounts of this miracle in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:1-14). In Matthew, Mark, and Luke the narrative says that Jesus took “the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.” (See Matthew 14:19) Jesus went to them with food for their journey, and the Disciples participated in the miracle.

Jesus and the Disciples were tired and hungry after another long trip across the Sea of Galilee. Somehow people had figured out where they were headed and they got there before him. The Apostle John mentions that the eight-day Passover Festival was near. When Jesus and his Disciples disembarked, Jesus saw the vast crowd and realized he would be going up the mountain to help them. In this account, he also asks Phillip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” Jesus already knew what he was going to do, but Phillip’s answer shows that he thought feeding that vast crowd would be as impossible as scraping up a year and eight months worth of wages to buy bread – in short, impossible.

The mention of the Passover is important, because Jesus knows he is now on his way to Jerusalem. Awaiting him there was a tidal wave of suffering and death. The Disciples did not understand this. As the journey continued, he told them how he would be captured, tortured to death and die, and then return to them on the third day. They still did not understand. Someone needed to face the most horrifying, painful, degrading death for the completion of God’s plan of Salvation, and Br’ah, Jesus would go. It was too much for any of them … then. Later on, they all were martyred with the possible exception of the Apostle John.

No matter how tired, or hungry, or cold, or hot, or wet, or dry or any such thing, Jesus would go to bring the Good News. And, up until that night in Gethsemane, so did the Disciples. His path was too big for them, but Jesus would go. Even though he knew what was coming upon him, he went. We’ve often said here, “There’s no Easter without Calvary.” The question we might want to ask ourselves would be “Will I go?” Can I make it all the way to Calvary without chickening out? Can I be baptized with the baptism Jesus and his Disciples received? Will I go when I am needed? And here’s another important part of that discernment: Will I be a participant in the miracles along the way?

Double-check the Key Verse for today. What happened to the loaves and fishes? There were 12 basketsful left. How much is a basketful? Well, based on the Greek work used – κόφινος kophinos {kof’-ee-nos} – it would be a small- to medium-sized basket like one would use for a shopping bag or picnic basket. This is in contrast to another type of basket in Scripture called a σπυρίς (spuris) {spoo-rece’} which is a large flexible basket used for carrying provisions on a journey, perhaps lashed to a donkey. It is the type of basket used to help the Apostle Paul escape from Damascus when the Disciples lowered him over the wall. There was a twelve-fold blessing on that day. God had often promised a ten-fold increase, but twelve is significantly more. It also represents the Twelve Tribes of Israel, all of whom can be “fed” in spirit by the atonement of Christ.

You may recall that in another miraculous feeding, there were 4,000 fed, and there were seven loaves with a few small fish. The leftovers filled seven baskets full. See Matthew 15:32-39 and Mark 8:1-13 for the details. In this miracle, Jesus has preserved for us the distinction God was planning to reconcile together in Jesus through his death. The seven baskets represent the seven Gentile nations who would also be “fed” in spirit by the atonement of Christ. Thus, in these two miraculous events, we see that Christ has gone forward toward his death in Jerusalem, and along the way he has provided for the entire world to be strengthened in his Spirit by receiving his Body and Blood. God also provided for the Disciples to be participants in that. In the same way that they took the miraculously- multiplied food and passed it forward to the crowds. Personally I believe that in the groups of families seated on the grass in both occasions, family members shared the bread and fish with each other.

It is exactly what we are supposed to do with the Gospel: Be fed and feed others by passing it forward. Belovéd, there will be a 12-fold blessing for that. When we do such things, when we have compassion for others and act to relieve their suffering, to redeem their lives from the waves of death, destruction, and destitution, then we are like Eddie. It’s not too big for us. Eddie would go. Jesus would go. Fill in the blank here with your name: “________ would go.” Will you, will I, will we be the one? You know it’s not just “the other” that needs to be saved through heroic compliance. We have responsibilities for ourselves in our service to God.

We know that God promises an increase when we honor him with our tithes. Let’s look at Malachi 3:10 – 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. What is the purpose of this tithe? God says, “so that there may be food in my house.” We give of our lives so that others can be fed. Your church-offering envelope is the gift wrap for your gift back to God and his community – you congregation, your Parish, your church on Earth. Do you remember this one? Part of our mission is to provide for others to be fed – spiritually, of course, but also mentally, physically, and emotionally. We feed not just ourselves, our family, or our “church family. We are to feed (and clothe and shelter and safeguard) GOD’S FAMILY. WHEN (if?) we do that, God blesses us with an increase 10-, 12-, 30- or even 100-fold. Now folks, that’s a bargain! But wait! There’s more!

What we get back is measured out with unsurpassed generosity! We will go to Luke 6:38 for an example. Jesus said, “38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Just think about the times when, at Jesus’ command, others would go. Here’s one I particularly love. It’s in Luke 5:4-7 – 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. Jesus not only told the Apostle Peter to “keep on fishing,” but also told him “Go farther into the deep water.” Peter did not say, “Br’ah, that’s too far and too deep for me.” Instead he did as Jesus commanded. Jesus said “go,” and obedience brought blessings beyond measure. That is the wage of obedience – Life. We also know the wage of disobedience. Here are two verses that show us how that works out: Romans 6:23 – 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Thessalonians 2:15c-16 – they displease God and oppose everyone 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins; but God’s wrath has overtaken them at last. Remember, as with the measure of graces for obedience, the bigger the measure used for sin an even greater measure will be returned. You might ask, “Is that really the way it goes?” Here’s one more for us: Proverbs 11:24 – 24 Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want. When God says, “GO,” we must go where and how he sends us; when we do all ends well as in Deuteronomy 1:8, 11 – 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that I[a] swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.” 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times more and bless you, as he has promised you! But we all know what happened. Aaron chickened out and gave into the murmuring mixed multitude by creating the odious Golden Calf. A journey that should have been only eleven days long (from Egypt to Canaan) became a 40-year excursion that wiped out a rebellious generation. Instead of going forward in faith and charity, they basically lost everything except the Love of God and his promise to provide for them in the end.

Their chastisement should be a lesson for us. What is the measure of the sin in our lives, in the lives of our Nation, in the lives of our World? Jesus would go where God commands. Who’s next to step up, dive in, and go? What wealth of blessings will come from going?

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – July 16, 2021 – The Grace of Faith

July 16, 2021

2129ACF071621 – The Grace of Faith

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

    Ephesians 2:8-10 – 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Ephesians 2:15-16 – 15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. Here’s another way to understand that: 15 He canceled the detailed rules of the Law so that he could create one new person out of the two groups, making peace. 16 He reconciled them both as one body to God by the cross, which ended the hostility to God. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Aloha pumehana, a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! Warmest Aloha, and may God bless you, Belovéd! Thank you to all of you who helped us pray my brother, John Edward Todd, home. We appreciate your kind condolences and thoughtful messages. If ever there was a man who was fully prepared to meet his Maker, it was John. All the Todd boys are pretty much task-oriented, and he never lost sight of his destination; but, also made sure there was time for helping someone else along the way. He was in no rush to get past an opportunity to do good things. It’s true he was a bit of a rascal, and a hard-headed one at that. I think as a teen he took aim at getting into more mischief than the rest of us put together. We’ll miss his humor, his caring heart, and his unshakable faith. In fact, John was a terrific example of how essential faith can be. Sometimes he reminded me of a gentleman I knew at Corona Presbyterian in Denver. His name was John Stookey.

John was really tall – especially from that vantage point of a shrimpy 6 year old. He and his wife, Gracie, sang in the choir. John sometimes spoke at special meetings. He was, for a time, the leader of the Corona Governing Body – it was called The Session – and he would talk about how the church was getting along. One particular occasion he told the congregation, “I have been greatly blessed in my life because God has given me Grace to keep me humble.” The look of love exchanged between them – John and Grace – was like a brilliant flash. They knew he meant the Grace of God as well as his dear Gracie … and so did we. John and Gracie shared their trust in God by sharing their faith with us. As you can tell, it was a lesson that has lasted a lifetime. In that lesson we could switch today’s title around and call it “The Faith of Grace.” What of Grace, though?

The Apostle Paul wrote “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.“Just for a quick review, let’s think about that word, Grace. We’ve said in the past (↔ Click Link) that it is a gift, a grace, an unmerited favor from the heart of Christ to our hearts. The word we find used in the New Testament for Grace is χαρις charis {khar’-ece} “It is that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech, good will, loving-kindness, and the Gift of Salvation. It speaks of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns us to Christ; how He keeps, strengthens, increases us in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles us to exercise of Christian virtues.” (Paraphrase from Strong’s Notes 5485) Another term we often use in these pages that also means merciful kindness is unwavering or steadfast love. The gift of Grace, the charism divinely bestowed on every living soul, but not accepted by some, awakens us to the astounding Power of God’s Love gifted to us from the dawn of creation and consecrated for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That wholly Holy Gift of Love illuminates our lives with “faith to move mountains” if only we accept the Grace of God and the faith in Christ Jesus that restores us to salt and light instead of flesh and corruption. Remember this: Romans 8:9 – 9 But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. New American Bible (Revised Edition). Every time you accept the Gift of Grace, it blazes up like a beacon (↔ Music Link) as Faith. It breaks my heart when I look out into the World and see fewer and fewer souls who are ablaze with the Light and Love of God! I hear things like, “What good is faith? It never got me anything, and God never answered my prayers.” We’ve stated previously James 4:3 – 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures; and James 4:7 – 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. IT’S NOT THAT HARD!! How many times have we written here “Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift?” That’s all there is to it. It would be nice if we all remembered to tell God “thank you” when we receive the Grace of Faith, but often we just never think of it. Giving thanks not a “rule” we have to follow; it is a JOY, and charism, that happens when we really think about who gives us Grace and what it does to, for, with, and through us. Before Jesus threw wide open that Heavenly Gateway to the Presence of God, there were only Jews and Gentiles, and there was enmity between them and against God. God obliterated that difference and quelled the enmity in the Body and Blood, and Soul, and Divinity of Christ so that there is no other necessity than to gratefully accept the Gift.

We do well to consult the Prophet, Joel, who told us in Joel 2:12-13 – 12 Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. And there it is again! REPENT! THE END IS NEAR! Perhaps that is something the Apostle Paul had in mind when he counseled Timothy: 1 Timothy 6:11-12, 16 – 11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this [material passions]; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 16 It is he [Christ] alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Grace has been given to us in unlimited measure, and we know it through the Faith we share. If, for any moment, or for any reason, we should ever wonder about that, just bear this in mind: 2 Corinthians 13:5 – 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!

Check your beacon. Is the Light still on? How do we know that Light is shining? What are we doing with the Grace of Faith? Let’s go back to the Letter of James for an insight. I’m going to use the NABRE again because I get a kick out of how this passage is translated (my emphasis additions). James 2:18-20 – 18 Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. 19 You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. 20 Do you want proof, you ignoramus (kενός – kenos {ken-os’}) that faith (πίστις – pistis {pis’-tis}) without works (ἔργων – ergon {er-gōn’}) is useless (ἀργή – argē {argay’})? When and if we accept the Grace of Faith, we don’t hide it under a basket (↔ Music Link). We use it to make the World a better place. “You have faith, I have works.” Our world has many, many people who do not believe in Christ but who can point to their good works as a demonstration of how it is possible to do good things without attributing them to Christ’s Law of Love – Love God and love your neighbor. “I don’t have to be [religion] to do good things. It is natural for people to do good things for others.” James replies that faith is not a “work.” Faith (pistis) is always a Gift from God; it cannot be manufactured or contrived up by human enterprise. We see this over and over in Scripture, particularly in Paul’s letters:

Romans 4:16-17 – 16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 – 11 To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the Grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith is always a gift from God given exclusively to those who are redeemed in Christ. It is always the work of God and never the work of any earthling. It comes from hearing his voice (Romans 10:17 – 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.) which persuades us to seek God’s salvation – the preferred state for all of God’s Creation which is unity with him. Those who rely on some sort of contrived “belief system,” even if they don’t get hung up in esoteric rituals and secret knowledge, are like the Gnostics (↔ Click Link) who are trying to use human effort to “produce” saving Grace. Ain’t gonna happen, folks!

Lastly we have works. Good deeds that, for some, arise out of the goodness of their hearts. This question of good works without faith in something is a dichotomy that often sends my brain running in circles. A dichotomy is the division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory sets of information; for me the dichotomy is that many good things done by people who are irreligious or antireligious are significantly more generous and effective than those done by people who are religious. How can that be? James gives some insight into that. Doing a good deed is always a good thing whether you attribute that motivation to do-good to the Universe, the Force, the Intelligent Designer, or even random chance. It is noteworthy to realize that the motivation for this kind of charity always arises from within the self; it is self-centered and – even though it purports to be done in the service of social justice – it is always self-serving. It is at all times a better thing to serve social justice as an effect of love, and because all good things come from and through God (James 1:17 – 17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.) it is just plain silly to take credit for something you didn’t – and couldn’t – do without Grace from God – even if you don’t acknowledge him in any way whatsoever! My favorite way to say thank you is to honor the giver by accepting the gift, and then using the gift. My Spiritual Director, Fr. Blane Grein, taught me I can make my whole day a prayer-without-ceasing by giving A Morning Offering (↔ Click Link). Please give it a try – copy and use ad lib. Here’s a song to get you started: Take My Life.  (↔ Music Link)

Is there any goodness in the World? It comes to us in and through God by the love of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Is there truth in any religion other than Christianity, or the Abrahamic Faiths? Whatever truth can be found in any religion or self-made “belief system” comes to us in and through God by the love of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. As we continue through Ordinary Time, I want to continue this discussion about how and why we are stewards of God’s gifts, gifts that cannot be denied, cannot be manufactured by us earthlings, and – in the end – glorify God because they begin and end in him. In fact, everything – including you and me – begins and ends in God when we acknowledge HE is indeed GOD.

James’ point is this: You can have good works without faith – any fool can do that. BUT you cannot profess to have Faith and refuse or avoid doing good works. That’s not faith; it’s just an air-head’s blather. It’s like having an isolated cogwheel with nothing to engage it. It’s like having a candle with no wick (↔ Click Link). Belovéd, we have Faith in the Grace that Grace is ours to keep and Faith is ours to share. Like Mr. Stookey said, God has given us Grace to keep us humble, and humility is the prerequisite for accepting all that is Good. Three of the four readings this Sunday are about shepherds and sheep. God wants Good Shepherds to take care of his children, the sheep of his pasture. If we are going to follow Jesus, we will need to serve him (↔ Music Link) and our neighbors; if we are to feed his lambs, if we are to care for his ewes, we need the Grace of Faith in us to do the compassionate work of making Grace visible to everyone for whom it is available – and that would be everyone.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

 

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Aloha Friday Message – July 9, 2021 – The Heart of the Matter

July 9, 2021

2128AFC070921 – The Heart of the Matter

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

A pile of keys outside an antique shop in Eton.

Mark 6:7, 12-13 – 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 12 So they [The Twelve] went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

John 13:1-2a – 1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.

John 13:30 – 30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) I will begin today by asserting that it is an overwhelmingly powerful Grace that calls us away from a life of sin to a Life of Service. What a blessing it is to be numbered among the Disciples even after many centuries. When I reflect on events like we will hear about this Sunday – the first­ dispatch of Christ’s followers into the first mission of revival – I just wish that we really could take a look back in time and see what it was really like. While we do have “contemporaneous concomitance” (↔ Click Link) to think about, there certainly are some reasonable conclusions we can come to without too much drain on the brain. Take a look at the passage up there from Mark. Take notice that it says, “The Twelve.”

The twelve went out, the twelve came back. I imagine they were a bit dubious when they set out (can you imagine Peter and Thomas being paired off and going out to spread the Gospel?), but by the time they got back they were hopping with excitement. “Jesus, you should see what happened in Beth-Shemesh.” “Aw, James, that’s nothing! Wait ’til you hear what Judas and I did in Chorazin!” I can just see Jesus’ gentle smile wrinkling the corners of his eyes as he listened to their account. Wisely, he called them away for a little rest so they could unwind and talk themselves out enough to realize what an extraordinary blessing they had received by blessing others with the Power of the Living Word of God. I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt – and I can’t wait to go back! There’s nothing like seeing a stony heart melt into tender flesh as the Love of Christ takes hold through the Holy Spirit.

Now, did you catch the little unexpected clue in that account? Hint: Who went to Chorazin?

That’s good work, ʻŌmea. Judas was one of The Twelve. Judas was one of the first missionaries for Christ. Judas was someone Jesus called “friend.” Yes, that Judas was the same guy that hung himself three years later. WHAT HAPPENED TO Judas? Here’s where the Key Verse image for today provides another hint. When you see that many keys, it means there’s going to be nearly that many Scriptures presented (who made that groan?).

Let’s begin with another Key Verse from John 13: The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas … to betray him. Sometime, somehow, somewhere between their starting place (perhaps Bethany?) and the location of the Cenacle, Judas slipped out of the role of Disciple and into the role of betrayer, and it happened in his heart. We’ve commented in the past about the importance of “first mention” in Scripture as the establishment of a “type,” something that points to further development of a biblical concept. The first mention of “heart” is in Genesis 6:5 – 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. Do you remember what happened after that? Noah and his family built, stocked, and sailed in the Ark. Eight people survived that; no one else did; the Ark was closed (↔ Click Link) to all but the righteous. As for the “impure of heart,” THEY DIED. So did Judas, “he went off and hanged himself,” and it seems perhaps the body wasn’t discovered for a time because in Acts 1:17-18 we read Luke’s “autopsy report” saying 17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong [swelling up], he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. Let’s just refresh our memories about that, please.

Matthew 27:1-10 –1 Early in the morning all the chief priests and the elders of the people reached the decision to have Jesus put to death. 2 They bound him, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate the governor.
3 When Judas, who betrayed Jesus, saw that Jesus was condemned to die, he felt deep regret.* He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, and 4 said, “I did wrong because I betrayed an innocent man.”
But they said, “What is that to us? That’s your problem.” 5 Judas threw the silver pieces into the temple and left. Then he went and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked up the silver pieces and said, “According to the Law it’s not right to put this money in the treasury. Since it was used to pay for someone’s life, it’s unclean.” 7 So they decided to use it to buy the potter’s field where strangers could be buried. 8 That’s why that field is called “Field of Blood” to this very day. 9 This fulfilled the words of Jeremiah the prophet: And I took the thirty pieces of silver, the price for the one whose price had been set by some of the Israelites, 10 and I gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

* Judas did not repent, he felt regret – metamelomai met-am-el’-lom-ahee. Properly understood it means to experience a change of concern after a change of emotion and usually implying to regret, i.e. falling into emotional remorse afterwards. He did not repent. He did not seek and accept forgiveness. He “solved his problem” his way. He took the coward’s way of suicide. The Apostle John does not use the word metanoia – the 180º turnabout we call repentance in his Gospel referring to Judas’ death. He says Judas felt regret. Jesus knew how all this would turn out, and – although the actual details were obscure – all of Israel knew that the Messiah would come and would be betrayed by one considered a friend. That’s where Judas’ actions tie in with Sunday’s first reading where God calls Amos to prophesy and Amaziah, Priest of Bethel, kicks him out of town.

Amos blasts Israel – especially the Northern Kingdom – for their intolerance, lack of true justice in their religion, and the corruption of the government. For Amaziah he delivers this in Amos 7:17 – Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’” Prophesy is always the Word of the Lord spoken to the People of the Lord calling them to obedience for the sake of his benediction. Disobedience always brings condemnation and correction. Think back to what we saw in Acts 1:17-18 – [Judas] was allotted his share in this ministry. Now we combine the prophecy in Psalm 41:9 – 9 Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me with John 13:18 (↔ Click Link for full context) – 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’; here we see the uniformity of prophecy. “As it is spoken, so let it be done.” Personal grief – regret – is not repentance. Here is something from the Apostle Paul to clarify that: 2 Corinthians 7:10 – 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.

Ephesians 1:3-7 – 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

Let us look, therefore, at word of prophecy from the Lord himself: Matthew 18:6 – 6 As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone [millstone*] hung around their necks and be drowned in the bottom of the lake. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible. The one who entices another to sin instead of correcting them or catching them as they fall is complicit in the sin committed plus commits the sin of merciless abandonment. Here is an outcome of that sort of sin as explained quite clearly in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 – 27 This is why those who eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord inappropriately will be guilty of the Lord’s body and blood. 28 Each individual should test himself or herself, and eat from the bread and drink from the cup in that way. 29 Those who eat and drink without correctly understanding the body are eating and drinking their own judgment. 30 Because of this, many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few have died. 31 But if we had judged ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. 32 However, we are disciplined by the Lord when we are judged so that we won’t be judged and condemned along with the whole world. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible. If you, if I, if we, if they receive communion while in a state of mortal sin (like publically advocating capital punishment, abortion, eugenics, euthanasia, sexual deviance, and other illicit acts) – they are condemned, but the person(s) enabling that sin are complicit in their condemnation. THAT is some heavy sin, heavy as a *millstone tied around one’s neck. Judas sat down at table with Jesus ready to betray him. Was he there for the institution of the Eucharist? Did he “receive unworthily?” I’ll let you read the Gospel account and make your own decision. I’ve made mine.

Luke 22:14-23 – 14 When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21 But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. 22 For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!” 23 Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.

“Honestly, Chick! All you ever do is rant about repentance! Can’t you think of anything else to write about?” Until God stops talking about it, I am bound to keep saying it. Am I the one with my hand on the table? Have we taken the Body and Blood treacherously as a betrayal of his Love? Have we allowed, encouraged, or permitted others to sin? I tell you from inside my deepest soul that if my Pastor had clear evidence of my living in mortal sin and did not offer Reconciliation or did not refuse me the Eucharist if I rejected Reconciliation, I would expect him to stop me for the sake of my soul and his. The prophecy against treachery may apply to all who partake of God’s mercies, and meet them with ingratitude.

Think of the two sons in the parable in Matthew. One says he will go to the fields, but does not. The other refuses, but goes. Matthew 21:29 – 29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. What is stopping us from changing our minds about changing the World? Remember this: Matthew 21:32 – 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him. Here’s a little musical prayer to make your heart all better. It’s called “Into My Heart.” (↔ Music Link) We must invite Jesus in, not allow Satan in. It is, after all, not what but Who is in our heart that matters so the heart of the matter is that we must choose to repent and believe (and share!) the Gospel. Please add this to your daily prayers:

Jesus, Meek and Humble of Heart, make my heart like unto your heart.”

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Aloha Friday Message – July 2, 2021 – Prophet and Loss, too

July 2, 2021

2127AFC070221 – Prophet and Loss, Too*

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. (And check out the BONUS at the end!)

     Ezekiel 2:2, 5 – 2 After he said this, his Spirit took control of me and lifted me to my feet. 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

2 Corinthians 12:9b – 9 But he replied, “My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am. Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Mark 6:6a – 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. (NRSVCE)

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I will begin today by acknowledging two special events in our lives. The first is the holiday instituted to honor the founding of the United States of America through The Declaration of Independence wherein we find “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As an “Air Force brat,” a Veteran, and a proud American I ask that you reread that document, and please recommit to using this ↓↓ OFTEN.

Secondly, a shout-out to my brothers Dan and Dave who were – as the song says – Born on The Fourth of July. My filial Love to these two wonderful men! Now, ʻŌmea, let’s find what this old man has in store for you today.

     This image represents Ezekiel, the visionary Prophet of God. Our El Shaddai-Olam gave him many extraordinary visions, tasks, and prophetic messages. You can get an idea of the structure and content of this exceptional poetic message collection here. He was a remarkable Priest and Prophet who lived during the Exile to Babylon (occurred about 722-538 BC). He was active from around 600-650 BC. He spoke whatever God told him to speak (there is another Prophet we will meet today who does that same thing), but the people refused to listen to him (or to the other guy either!), and so the natural consequences of sinful disobedience caught up with them. God told them to repent and behave. They didn’t. They died – except for a remnant taken from their homeland for some reconditioning. You may remember Ezekiel as the guy who prophesied over the dry bones, and who lay on his side for 430 days; his message foreshadowed the destruction of Israel because their behavior is so repugnant. This is followed by God’s promise and fulfillment of the restoration of his People. It is a reiteration of the entire message of Salvation: Turn to me with Love and I will make you Great among the Nations so that all will know that I AM God.

Being a Prophet was risky, hard, and probably quite frustrating – one of those jobs something like herding cats. One reason it is so difficult is because most people have no idea what a Prophet is, what the work of a Prophet must be, and don’t understand that men and women, boys and girls, any and all can be called upon to prophesy. Let’s take a look at Joel 2:28 – 28 Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. The Apostle Peter refers to this in Acts 2:14-19 (↔ Click Link for context). We tend to think of prophesy as “foretelling the future,” in fact in the Old Testament, the persons who prophesied were referred to as “seers,” someone who sees God’s will, someone who is clairvoyant, can divine the future through supernatural powers. Later, though, prophecy was developed by God as a tool for him to communicate his plan, his will, and his Love to us. Let’s do a quick review of this idea of prophecy.

Originally posted under Aloha Friday Messages at https://aloha-friday.org – The Moon Beam Network at 1410AFC070714 – First Friday of Lent –There are words in the Bible that are translated as “seer,” and the persons associated with that word (usually the Hebrew חֹזֶה (cho-zeh) {kho-zeh’} or רָאָה (ra’ah) {raw-aw’}) are recognized as persons through whom God sends messages. We see this in 1 Samuel 9:9 (In former times in Israel, anyone who went to consult God used to say, “Come, let us go to the seer.” For he who is now called prophet was formerly called seer.) The Old Testament word for prophet is nabi (nabiy’) {nah-bee’}. There are some disagreements among scholars about the origin of that word, but one that is well-accepted is that this noun comes from the verb noba’ meaning to “bubble up,” “boil over”,” as in “to pour forth an abundance of words,” such as those who speak within divine inspiration. It is by and through the power and inspiration of God that a prophet speaks, and a prophet can’t help but speak when and what God commands any more than a boiling pot can stop bubbling. And that is the key. Those who have Divine Inspiration are True Prophets. The converse is that those whose “inspiration” is self-generated are the False Prophets. How then can we tell the difference? If we look at the verses following Jesus description of wolves in sheep’s clothing, the answer is clear. (See Matthew 7:15)

The answer is, “by their fruits you will know them.” And here’s where we run into trouble because these days there’s a lot of fake fruit on the table. The fake fruit comes to us through the tireless work of the Prince of Lies, the Devil, and he uses a few seeds of Truth and a ton of manure to raise a crop of bad advice. He wants us to change the names of things because it suits his purposes and not God’s. Anything that does not suit God’s purpose is, well, wrong; but Satan tries to convince us it is right to make these changes because “it is right to do this; you will be like God when you do.” Does that sound familiar, something you might have read recently in Genesis? And so we take something we know is wrong, call it by something we know can’t be right, and PRESTO! What was wrong is now right. Marriage is no longer sacred, family is no longer a community of love, amorphous “spirituality” is true religion, and God is me because I am God. Beloved, there are seeds of truth in what the World is telling us about these things, but to believe them, one must overlook the ton of manure that comes along with them. We have to be careful what we swallow and how many grains of salt it takes to get it down.

Originally posted under Aloha Friday Messages at https://aloha-friday.org – The Moon Beam Network at 1719AFC051217 – Stones and Thrones – As Prophets, we are graced with the opportunity to speak The Word of the Lord in our hearts and minds as well as in the hearts and minds of others – our families, communities, churches, and workplaces – through example and testimony. In Numbers 11:29, Moses scolds the Israelites, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” We are the recipients of that Spirit of the Living God. In the Spirit of Prophecy, we teach our children and each other as witnesses to “The Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (See John 14:6)

Today we have many people – as God himself decreed – who speak from within God’s voice. Not often do we hear, “Thus says the Lord God,” but we do often hear things like, “God is expecting us to understand that …” These modern-day prophets speak out to us about the same things the Apostle Paul warned about: Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers – every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, vaunted pride, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters insolent, haughty, gluttonous, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die – yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. (See Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 5) To that list we must shamefully add murders of millions of innocents – babies, elders, political enemies, ethnic pogroms, and intentional destruction and failure of stewardship for our only home, Earth.

ʻŌmea, we can – must – rest in that all-sufficient Grace. “It’s so hard!” Only if you resist the Grace and Love of God will it be hard. Why fight it? We each have a built-in irresistible affinity for God. We cannot fight that. The answer is to have the faith to be weak so that Jesus’ power is manifested in us. Be weak, not strong. (↔ Music Link) Oh, my Belovéd, there is only one thing we need to remember when it comes to that moment: Jesus loves me (↔ Music Link), loves you, loves us. “I am weak but he is strong.” (↔ Music Link) The Bible is the Living word of God, so that means it speaks to us of God, God’s will, God’s way, God’s Wonder and Might, and God’s perfect integrity, Endless Mercy and Eternal Salvation through Christ our Lord. Forget that, deny that, fail to learn that, never hear that and we lose everything … ev-ery-thing – and we also lose the community of everyone who knows and believes God as a faithful follower of Christ who lives according to biblical precepts and Scripture, Apostolic Tradition, and the Magisterium. We must listen to the Prophet Ezekiel who was rejected in his own place. The Apostle Paul was beaten, stoned, whipped, tortured, reviled, and still he said he’d do it all For the sake of Christ, (↔ Music Link). And who else was rejected in his own place? Jesus of Nazareth went through that in his home town, and – like a True Prophet – he spoke only and all that God gave him to speak. According to Luke 4:16-30, his neighbors and fellow citizens were ready to kill him at the beginning of his ministry. “29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

ʻŌmea, is there a Prophet speaking to you today? Do you hear in your heart the irresistible affinity for God’s love and is it telling you as we learned in Isaiah 30:21 – 21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” That word we hear is The Word. When we trust in the Lord, and we do his good will, what a glory he sheds on our way. Listen to the Prophets and we gain All that is Good. Shut them out and we lose that; but, God will still give us Blessings because he Loves us. My dear friends in Christ, let’s all go together to that Heavenly shore, walking closely together (↔ Music Link), arm-in-arm, heart-in-heart, hands holding onto Jesus as he speaks only and all that God gives him to speak. As we walk this lonesome valley, we shall listen and we will know a Prophet walks among us, too, so that we experience no loss. Perhaps Jesus will be gladdened by our stronger Faith!

*The sequel to 1841AFC101218 – Prophet and Loss

Jesus teaching at the Synagogue in Nazareth.

“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

BONUS (↔ Music Link)

Aloha Friday Message – June 25, 2021 – Garments and Graces

June 25, 2021

2126AFC062521 – Garments and Graces

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

     Mark 5:28 – 28 for she said, “If I but touch his clothes*, I will be made well.”

Matthew 9:20-21 – 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak*, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”

* Talliit טַלִּית [taˈlit] is a Jewish prayer shawl, a covering worn as a cloak over the shoulders with two corners in front and two corners in back. At each corner there are twisted/braided threads called Tzizit – צִיצִית usually white threads and blue threads.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord. Today we will take a deeper look into a familiar story and hopefully gain some insights that will enhance our understanding of the content. In this Sunday’s readings we have two “plot lines.” The first is about a twelve-year old girl at the point of death. The second is about a woman who has been gravely ill for twelve years. The combination of the stories would have been very edifying for the members of the early church, especially those in Jerusalem. So let’s begin with a Spoiler Alert – SHOCKER! Jesus was a Jew!

Now why would that be important in understanding this passage? It is something we don’t really think about much because “it seems so obvious.” We should also remember that the people who became Apostles and Disciples also referred to him as Rabbi (teacher) or Rabbouni (Master Teacher). In the popular modern images we see of Jesus in the media like films and TV, Jesus is dressed a bit like the ragtag fishermen he called. I want us to envision him in the Synagogue or Temple, and extend that to his travels.

Although the New Testament is written in Greek – and Jesus had at least conversational expertise in it – he taught as a Rabbi in Aramaic and Hebrew when in Synagogue or Temple. While there he would wear a Tallit (tall-EET), a garment worn by men and women with very specific characteristics and purposes. It is primarily woven of fine white wool. The warp threads are tied off around the edges to make little fringe-like tufts. The blue-dyed wool is generally woven in horizontal stripes. The blue color represents royalty. Sometimes there is a prayer (in Hebrew) woven into the pattern. In this illustration, you’ll see that I added some ovals around the tassels hanging from the corners. Those are called Tzizit (sounds as it looks TZT-zit). One might think of it as a shawl – indeed it is; it is a prayer shawl that can be pulled up over the wearer’s head while praying. Jesus wore a Tallit like this because all Jewish men were required to wear one. It was positioned so that two corners were in front and two in back. For the Biblicist folks, Tallit and Tzizit won’t be in your KJV or NABRE per se. However, we have evidence of it in this passage: Numbers 15:37-40 – 37 The Lord said to Moses: 38 Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments* throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. 39 You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes. 40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God. So scroll up and take a look at that note I inserted after our Key Verse. Here is an image of a set of Tzizit for a closer look. These devices were attached, as God had directed, to the four corners of the Tallit. Everyone had them, everyone knew what they were, everyone knew what they represented. When the woman with the twelve-year hemorrhage reached out to Jesus’ garment, she reached for his Tallit and held onto one of the Tzizit on the back. This is how the early Church would have understood this message. Sometimes we hear it was “the hem of his garment” and think of a long robe hemmed at the bottom. Sometimes we think it might have been the warp-tufts of his tunic (nope – woven in one piece from top to bottom). Her hope, her faith, her understanding of her role in life as a Jewish woman would have made the Tzizit the thing to touch. And what it touch it must have been! Here’s how it happened as reported by Luke in Luke 8:46-47 – 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” 47 When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.

Twelve years of suffering ended instantly! And yet somehow Jesus knew what had happened. This in itself seemed incredible because Jesus was in the middle of a large and noisy crowd. Jesus had just crossed from Gennesaret to Capernaum. In Gennesaret he had cast out the demon horde called Legion. Now, as he moved along the shore and into the town, a Synagogue official named Ya’ir (God enlightens) come to Jesus to beg for his daughter’s life – he asks Jesus to come lay hands on her. The crowd jostles and jabbers all around him, and then POW! A woman in that mass of people gets complete healing after twelve years. Jesus tells her “Daughter, your trust has healed you. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” In Jewish tradition, twelve is the number indicating completion, perfection, control. There were twelve sons of Jacob and twelve sons of Ishmael and from those sons were formed twelve tribes of the two nations. There are twelve months, twelve hours of day, twelve major constellations. And at the end of twelve years of suffering there was complete and perfect healing because of her faith – her trust in Jesus was “paid in full.” Now Jesus follows Ya’ir, and as they start off, someone from Ya’ir’s household breaks the news to Jesus that the child is on his way to see has died. Now it is time to pay attention to the girl’s age.

She is twelve. Coincidence? Not likely. Remember what we just said about the importance of the number 12. This child was at the age of her bat mitzvah, the coming of age for Jewish women. At that age the young woman is ensconced in the community and is subject to all Jewish Law. It is a time of completion, the “end of childhood” and the beginning of adult responsibilities – including the wearing of a Tallit, knowing the prayers, and going to Synagogue as an adult must. As they near the house, the professional mourners and some of Ya’ir’s family and friends are causing quite a commotion because of the child’s untimely death. Jesus tells Ya’ir, “Just trust and believe. She is not dead. She is only asleep.” They laughed at him, but he took the parents and Peter, James, and John (three witnesses for Truth, remember?) and went to her bedside. He took her hand and spoke in Aramaic saying “Talitha koum” – little girl, arise. She recovered immediately and completely, then got up and walked around. He cautioned the parents and witnesses to tell no one what he had done and told them to give her something to eat. What does this combination of episodes tell us?

A woman who had reportedly spent nearly all her money on useless cures from physicians put her faith in the powerful witness to The Law and God’s Holiness called a Tzizit, and after twelve years of suffering on a long road to what surely must have ended in death, she is restored to perfect health. A child who was ready to become a Jewish woman at her bat mitzvah is near death, but is restored to perfect health because of the faith of her parents. It both cases, the investment of faith is “paid in full” (↔ Click Link) with a miracle. For the woman, the girl, the parents, and the Rabbi this meant that at the next service in Synagogue, everyone would be dressed like this because everyone would be offering God the beautiful sacrifices he most desires – adoration, thanksgiving, praise, justice, and kindness. Now we have one additional incident involving the number 12. It’s also a very familiar story. Can you guess what it is? Here’s a hint: It involved the Holy Family in Jerusalem. I think you got it! Yes, Jesus was twelve years old, the last year of preparation before his bar mitzvah. It was at that age when he realized and accepted that his mission in life was to do the works of his Father. He got his first Tallit after that. And on the corners of the Tallit were the Tzizit.

The Graces these Jewish women received were not in or on the garment, they were not in the words of love and encouragement spoken to the parents. The Graces were in the Faith they all possessed, faith that Jesus could and would bring everything to perfect order again so that everything and everyone moved ahead twelve-by-twelve. If we will remember these stories with that in mind then we, too, will shall be holy to our God. ʻŌmea, it is precisely for that that he created us to be.

Remember him this way: Mark 6:53-56 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) – 53 After they had made the crossing, they landed at Ginosar and anchored. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized him 55 and began running around throughout that whole region and bringing sick people on their stretchers to any place where they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went, in towns, cities or country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the tzitzit on his robe, and all who touched it were healed.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – June 18, 2021 – A Novel Graphic

June 18, 2021

2125AFC061821 – A Novel Graphic

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Job 38:8-11 – 8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— 9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, 11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?”

2 Corinthians 5:14 – 14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.

Mark 4:36-39 – 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Today I’m going way out on a limb and I’m going to help you see what I mean instead of read what I mean.

    Mark 4:36-39 – 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.

They “took him … just as he was.” How do we take Jesus? Where do we carry him? Would Jesus be able to rest in the turbulence of our lives? Are we not sure of the answer? Then we can rest assured that he will take us as we are. (↔ Music Link) And what about the guys in the other boats. Can you imagine what they thought when the storm suddenly stopped?

     Job 38:8-11 – 8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— 9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, 11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?”

If you know how bad a basilisk is, you know that what’s devouring our world, our Peace, and our Sanity is far worse than any legendary creature in mythology. It is the real, living, voracious Power of Evil – coming upon us like a tsunami and carrying away much that is precious while leaving behind much that is heaps of wreck and ruin – material, physical, and spiritual devastation. But we have a God who can control the sea, the weather, the things that go bump in the night, and HE has given us HIS deliverance from whatever the Foe stirs up.

    2 Corinthians 5:14 – 14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.

How we gonna get there if we don’t go and leave? I know, you know, we know “No matter how you struggle and strive / You’ll never get out of the world alive.” But what does it mean “all have died?” all in Christ have died with him in the baptism of his death on the cross, so all live in him because he died for all. He’s coming back. Could be tomorrow, could be a thousand years from now, but he is coming back. He said it, we believe it, and we’re stickin’ to it.

     Revelation 19:11-14 – 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

The bride and groom in a Jewish wedding were crowned with small diadems or coronets. This Kingly Groom on a white stallion is “crowned with many crowns” (↔ Music Link) for the Bride of Christ, the Church. It will not be a pleasant visit for those who have made of him an enemy, a mockery, or insignificant.

Luke 15:10 – 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

For those who have kept the Law, for those who have loved God above all and Neighbor among all, there is great rejoicing in Heaven. On that Last Day, will there be time for the wicked to say, “What shall I do to be saved?” We are told that on that day, what we have done will judge us, and we may be held wanting (Read the fifth chapter of Daniel, but especially Daniel 5:24-28 – 24 “So from his presence the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: mene, mene, tekel, and parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: mene, God has numbered the days of[a] your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; 28 peres,[b] your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

That’s no fairytale, and it did come true. It can happen to anyone who rejects God’s gifts, disrespects God’s power, or exploits his children.

     Another lesson from my old friend, Abraham. What was his answer when God spoke? “Ready!” always obey immediately. “If you haven’t got time to do it right the first time, when will you have time to do it over?” Now substitute these words for “time”: inclination, will, Love, Faith, and discernment. See what I mean? WE choose God or WE choose N0-God and in NO-God there is NO Good. Better then to pray for wisdom (See Proverbs 9:10 (↔ Click Link)

     “Why worry when you can pray?” (↔ Music Link) Many of us prefer to worry. It’s like we don’t want to “bother God” with our trivial pursuits. Well, we’re just not listening, because he already knows everything we do before we do it, so what’s the point of avoiding him? Pray-in-faith-believing is a reeeaaly good strategy. Think about those Disciples in the boat with Jesus. NOW we know that when things get all story in our lives, we just go to Jesus and say H-E-L-L-L-L-P! They hadn’t learned that yet (although the did have plenty of reasons to understand it). They panicked. We do the same thing sometimes. We must remember that this Jesus, ths God the Creator without Whom nothing was made – John 1:1-5 (↔ Click Link).

     Look, remember Genesis 1:31 – 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Like we often say, “It’s all good.” If God can create and control the Universe – of which each of us is a miniscule part – then probably he can handle anything stupid we can come up with. Is that too blunt? I have a good deal of expertise in “stu-ped” and there’s nothing better as an antidote than

REPENTANCE. It is always the best way to win in a battle with Satan. Just remember to put on the Full Armor of God (↔ Click Link) and then …

WE have the Gift of Life, and the gift is only useful if we use it for others.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Psalm 116:12-19 (12-14 excerpted) – 12 What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of Salvation and call on the name of the Lord, 14 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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