Posts Tagged ‘Adonai’
Sunday, July 13th, 2008
It’s amazing how life ticks by.
Today, my wife and I reached 23 months of marriage and we’re now only a month away from our second wedding anniversary. We’re not getting there without trials. In fact, we’ve had more than our share, it sometimes seems.
From all the health things with mom, to other friends’ troubles, family troubles on her side of the family, our own newlywed adjustments, the loss of a friend at church to the same thing that’s taking the life of my Mom. Too many things to list, it seems at times.
We’re getting through and we’re blessed to have not only faith in common, but the same brand of faith in common. Yet even with all that, we struggle. We have disagreements, misunderstandings, disputes.
Sometimes it seems like it’s all too much.
But then, a moment passes and we find a way to the next moment and somehow we survive. Not without the help of Adonai; not without the help of friends and family. But we make it through.
It means more now, carries more history now than when we first met and started saying it; but it’s as true as ever between my wife and me: we’re blessed to have found each other.
That means more, I think, than any gift wrapped in custom boxes.
Tags: Adonai, custom boxes, my wife, two-year anniversary
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Sunday, April 20th, 2008
The New Covenant writings advise us to pray constantly. That’s a high calling, especially considering most pastors and rabbis spend less than a couple hours per week in prayer.
Prayer is nothing more than communicating with Adonai, so why is it so hard to acheive? While I wouldn’t wager the cash value of any term insurance on the idea, I think it’s probably for the very same reason the Israelites asked Moshe to be their mediator between Adonai and them, rather than speaking directly to G-d themselves.
Although G-d wants to speak to us directly, and Yeshua provides a way for us to do so, it is our own shame and human frailty that makes us hesitant to seek Him out and meet Him regularly, as He wants us to.
Holiness is a high calling, and few of us live up to it, even when we have the power of the Ruach haKodesh. Although we can never live up to Adonai’s perfect standard and therefore need messiah Yeshua, the truth is we can live well above the minimum standard set forth in the Torah. Therefore, we should have no fear of G-d, and ought to be more eager in approaching him in prayer to talk out the events of the day.
Tags: Adonai, messiah Yeshua, prayer, term insurance
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Monday, February 11th, 2008
Natural remedies are all the rage these days. Some of them even work.
For example, my problem with post-nasal drip and congestion has at times been eased by taking a tonic of apple cider vinegar and honey just before bed. Other people look for more complex solutions to things that have no real cure, but which are believed to have important properties, such as how the Astragalus plant is looked to as a source of antioxidant Selenium.
I’m not convinced all of these things work. But then again, I’m not convinced they don’t. Often, natural cures are simply watered-down, less concentrated forms of prescription medicines, and in fact are the place where prescription medicines go for their inspiration, and sometimes even the source of prescription medicines, with the difference being that prescription meds are far more highly concentrated.
Is there much utility to all this? Sometimes.
But what I can say is this: when looking for real healing, I do prefer acknowledging the author of all healing, Adonai. Through Yeshua the messiah, G-d can and often does heal us of afflictions, whether we acknowledge his role in it or not.
I’m not one of those who discounts the value of doctors or medicine, though. Often, those doctors and medicines are the very tools Adonai chooses to use to deliver our healing. Sometimes, he does so by purely spiritual means, as well. Yet no matter the means, the source of our healing is always the same: Adonai our G-d, from whom all blessing flow.
Tags: Adonai, Astragalus, doctors, healing, medicine
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Sunday, January 13th, 2008
First communion invitations are not a concern for messianics, as we do not celebrate such a thing; however, we do celebrate bar and bat mitzvah as our young boys and girls enter their teen years, so there is a parallel invitation need.
Bar mitzvah happens for boys around the time they turn 13; bat mitzvah happens for girls around the time they turn 12. What does this mean? Let’s break it down. Mitzvah is a word that traditionally means “commandment” in both Hebrew and Aramaic, although it can alternatively also be translated as “good deed” or “righteous act,” which are simply shadings of the same root meaning. “Bar” means “son of” in Aramaic and “bat” means “daughter of” in Aramaic. So, in essence, the celebration could be translated either, “son of the commandment,” or, more loosely, “son of righteousness.” Similarly with girls, it would be “daughter of the commandment” or “daughter of righteousness.”
Basically, it is a coming of age celebration, but with a spiritual connotation. From a messianic perspective, it celebrates the age of maturity, when young men and women have studied Torah enough to have their own basic understanding of sin and righteousness, so that they are without excuse. It celebrates the time at which young people must become responsible for their own behavior, choosing what is righteous and pleasing to Adonai over what us unrighteous and sinful.
It is not, as many messianics believe, a full license into adulthood. Children in their teen years are still in need of some direction and assistance in making their way through the challenges of life and becoming prepared for full adult responsibilities; all a bar or bat mitzvah signifies is that no longer can they claim they did not know right from wrong.
Tags: Adonai, bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah, coming of age, First communion invitations, maturity, Torah
Posted in Adonai, bar and bat mitzvah class, Sabbath school | No Comments »
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
A popular Twin Cities jewelry store, Kay Jewelers, uses the following motto: “Every kiss begins with Kay.”
Pardon me, but if it required diamond pendants for my wife to give me a kiss, we might hit our 50th wedding anniversary still childless, because our affection would never get off the ground.
Advertisers drive us to be materialistic and it slips into our prayer lives. Getting my bar and bat mitzvah kids to say one thing they’re grateful for each week is harder than performing a root canal. And even when they think of something – and this is true of most believers, not just kids – too often our gratitude is centered around something materialistic.
So, to lead by example, here’s the thing I am most grateful for today, and it doesn’t come easy saying this.
I am grateful that, even though sick and hospitalized, my mother is still alive. Even though my wife and I have been careful to try and treasure every new day she’s given with us since her stroke last August, I must admit it’s been easy to slowly slip into routine again and take it for granted that she’s still with us.
Thank you, Adonai, that my mother is still alive, for all the days you’ve given her, and however many more remain. Thank you, Yeshua, our messiah.
Tags: Adonai, diamond pendants, grateful, pacemaker, stroke, thank you, thanks, Yeshua
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Thursday, November 29th, 2007
Recently, my wife and I enjoyed a great month, one we’re still in for a couple more days: November.
Now, November is a sore spot for my wife, a month that brings back bad memories for her. Fortunately, Adonai allowed us to get just enough ahead on some key bills, so that we could accomplish two goals we’ve had since we were married over 15 months ago.
First, we went to IKEA and, after passing by a variety of living room arrangements and bathroom vanities and the like, picked out and bought a black wood dining table that can slide out to seat eight or slide in to seat four.
It might seem like a minor thing to some folks, but we’ve been cursed with an old, rickety table all of our marriage until that night. When we finally paid for it and got it home, I’ve never seen my wife so purely happy; she insisted on constructing it herself, and I let her. She did a marvelous job of it, too.
I don’t think it’s materialistic to be happy to finally replace a piece of old, unliked furniture with a brand new piece that makes home feel more … homey. Neither of us got our joy for life out of it, but it was a very satisfying thing to finally reach that goal.
The other goal was not materialistic at all: we finally got to travel to Chicago to visit her relatives there for Thanksgiving holiday. The four-day getaway set us both back about $100 or so, but we’d saved and planned and scrimped and the trip was long overdue and very satisfying for us both. It was good to spend time with Grandma and Uncle John and my wife’s half-sisters/step-sisters, and various other familiar faced we’d spend too little time with over the past two years while we were busy preparing for and settling into our marriage and both of us going through career upheavals.
These bright spots didn’t cure the November blues, but they did provide an oasis of enjoyment in what can sometimes be a bleak month at Casa de Hansen.
For all that, I am thankful this week, Adonai.
Tags: Adonai, bathroom vanities, Chicago, IKEA, November blues
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Thursday, November 29th, 2007
When a believer is finally convinced in what they believe, it would require a New York moving company to get them to budge on their beliefs. While I find steadfast faith inspiring, such unwillingness to be open to new teaching is what keeps some people from missing out on all that G-d has for them.
For the Jewish people, two thousand years of anti-messianic teaching has created a blind spot for the possibility that Yeshua was indeed the promised messiah. Some have even abandoned the messianic hope altogether, which is a shame. Yet that is relatively minor compared to the error of the Christians.
Mainstream Christianity long ago abandoned the Jewish roots of their faith, and it shows up not only in the big issues, but in the details. They exchanged the true name of Yeshua for the less-Hebraic-sounding Jesus. They exchanged Adonai’s own feasts and festivals, declared and established in the Torah itself, for shame pagan holidays like Easter and Christmas. They celebrate most of their holidays with a feast of ham, rather than a kosher menu that Yeshua himself could have joined them in.
Any Christian who says Jewish people are “too stubborn” to recognize the truth of Adonai and his messiah, Yeshua, needs to take a good long look in the mirror; what they see reflected there could easily be found in Webster’s Dictionary as the very definition of the word “stubborn.”
Believe it.
Tags: Adonai, faith, Jesus, New York moving company, Torah, Yeshua
Posted in faith, Torah | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 19th, 2007
There was no such thing as banks or checking accounts back in the times in which the Torah was written. Furthermore, things like online banking probably could only be imagined by Adonai himself.
But the Torah does speak to some issues in banking and the handling of money; it condemns charing unreasonable fees and interest, calling such things a sin known as “usury.” Usury is just that – charging people unreasonable fees and interest for the use of the money you lend them.
While times have changed how such usury practices are defined, there are plenty of banks that I think might drift afoul of this ancient sin. For example, I have a married couple who are friends of my wife and me who overdrew their account by a few bucks and within three weeks or so, lost an entire paycheck to the quickly-accumulating debt and still owed over $1,000.
That’s certainly an example of usury.
That’s why it’s good to be careful in selecting a bank, and while online banking might not be Torah-endorsed, it’s certainly a good idea to take advantage of all the options and features an online bank like WaMu has to offer. While there are many good banks still around, a few I won’t name here are getting very impersonal and heartless.
Tags: Adonai, checking account, online banks, Torah, Usury, WaMu
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Sunday, August 26th, 2007
Poker tables are not a standard part of any self-respecting messianic synagogue. There’s a good reason why. We know there is a biblical prohibition against gambling, for one.
But a more important one, I think, comes from the crucifixtion of Messiah Yeshua. I’m fairly certain Adonai was not pleased with the soldiers who sat at the foot of the cross, gambling for Yeshua’s clothes.
Plus, we also know he wasn’t happy with those who simply exchanged money for sacrificial animals in the temple, casting them out of Adonai’s house of worship.
Not bringing gambling into a house of worship – no matter what shade of Judaic or Christian faith one practices, would seem to be a no brainer.
So, tell me, why again are bingo tournaments held have church services in so many denomonations?
Tags: Adonai, messiah Yeshua, poker tables
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Monday, August 13th, 2007
The main thing on my mind, heart and spirit right now is this: we can chat here all we want about Yeshua the messiah, about our actions still mattering even though there is grace in messiah, about any number of messianic-related topics.
But it’s like I’ve told the bar- and bat-mitzvah kids I’ve been teaching: unless you start allowing what you’re learning here to make a difference in how you live, it’s all nothing more than a big waste of time.
Ask anyone in drug rehab. You could have the best doctors in the world, and unless a patient wants to stop drinking and using drugs, it’s all a waste of time.
Same thing with religion. Too many of us go only because we have this vague feeling that it’s good for us and it’s what we’re supposed to do to get into heaven.
But unless we start practicing what we believe, living it out instead of letting our flesh rule our actions, it’s all wasted time. We’d be better off watching Saturday Morning cartoons.
Food for thought… and action.
Tags: Adonai, drug rehab, messiah Yeshua, Torah
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Tuesday, July 24th, 2007
As Moshe addresses the people of Israel at the opening of the book of D’varim, he recounts for the people all events since their arrival at the mountain of the L-rd. He detailed each incident of the L-rd’s faithfulness and Israel’s rebellion.
Was Moshe doing this to put a guilt trip on the people of G-d? If not, what was his purpose, because it certainly wasn’t to earn some golf equipment for his retirement.
No, what we must remember here is that Moshe is by now an old man. He knows his time to return to Adonai is near, and he desperately wants the people to thrive in obedience to Adonai once he is no longer there to guide them.
I believe with this message, guilt was not the goal. It was a final for of encouragement, tinged with a note of warning, to finally live up to what Adonai wanted from them all along: being an obedient people who act when the L-rd speaks.
What a world it would be if we all merely listened and obeyed, with no theological filters.
Tags: Adonai, golf equipment, Moshe, obediance
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Monday, July 9th, 2007
Entering the promised land was no trip to a bed and breakfast for the Jewish people. Another example of this is detailed in B’Midbar (Numbers) 25:10-19.
Following in the mold of Moshe, and before him even Abraham, Yitzak and Ya’akov, Pinchas, son of El’azar, son of Aahron, steps in between the children of Israel and deflects G-d’s zealous anger at Yisrael’s sinful rebellion and convinces him to forgive and restore the people of Yisrael to right-standing before Adonai.
This thought, therefore, occurs to me.
When is the last time anyone has stood between Adonai and a rebellious group of Adonai-fearers and contended for them. I’m not talking about a five-minute prayer for “those pour unfortunate souls in the church down the street who don’t agree with us on this doctrine or that.” I’m talking about having the L-rd make you aware of his holy and righteous anger at someone and, rather than meekly standing by and saying, “Whatever you say, you know best, L-rd,” actually stepping out before Adonai in holiness and confidence granted to you by Y’shua the messiah, and saying, boldly, “Shall not the L-rd do right?”
That is an admirable kind of courage that many in the books of Moshe seem to possess. Are modern believers so weighted down with the guilt and shame of their own failings that we miss out on the chance to be enough of a friend to G-d that we could turn his wrath against someone else by loving both G-d and those in mortal danger of G-d’s wrath enough to say, “Shall not the L-rd do right?”
Tags: Adonai, bed and breakfast, wrath
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