MINISTRY NOTES
Week of November 15, 2009
Hi Everyone,
Recently a Military Officer, who follows the religion of Mohammad, killed many fellow soldiers on a military base in Texas. Many years ago, when people of that religion killed thousands of people in New York, our President at the time said something shortly after like we are not at war with the people of that religion, which was and is true. Unfortunately, the question is "are they at war with us?" We were not at war with the Japanese, but they were at war with us when they killed thousands at Pearl Harbor. Apparently committed Mohammadanists are at war with us. Some people will say I know or work with nice people of that religion. Just like there are non-committed Christians and Jews, apparently there are non-committed Mohammadanist.
A major difference is that a committed Christian or Jew does not find valid support in the teachings of God or Jesus for killing non-believers. The son of a well-known Christian leader made a politically incorrect comment years ago, after the attack in NY in 2001, that they are an evil religion (he had experience with them in his aid work). A leader in developing non-Catholic Christianity, who even had a denomination named after him, considered Mohammed "a devil and first-born child of Satan". We need to wake up and realize that these committed followers of Satan's religion are following a false god who is called by Jesus in John 8:44 (NIV) "…a liar and the father of lies." Once a Mohammadanist told me they used the same part of the Bible as us, referring to the Old Testament or the Tanakh. That is not true as Mohammadanist changed parts to fit their religion, in one instance by substituting Ishmael's name for Isaac in Genesis 22:2-14. Promoting lies is part of their religion. Only Jews and Christians follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As a Christian, we need to be aware of these deceptions and their evil intentions, while remembering Jesus' admonition in Matthew 10:16 (NKJ) to "…be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." How should a Christian treat a Mohammadanist? Jesus teaches us in Matthew 5:44, we should "pray" for them. Pray that they will know the truth and turn to Jesus as their Messiah and follow the one, true God.
Marriage Workshop Moment
To refresh what you have learned in our Workshop or entice you to experience our Workshop
"Remember, all marriages can be better, if you use what you learned."
Every week you are encouraged to have a weekly date night. It doesn't have to be something expensive. It can be a walk around the park or use a coupon for a buy 1 get 1 free hamburger or what ever you enjoy doing together to have fun. Very important that prior to your date night, maybe the night before, you have you weekly couples meeting.
In your weekly couples meeting you use the Speaker Listener Technique(SLT). You start your weekly couples meeting by saying something about your partner that you appreciate or admire. And your spouse repeats it. Like, "I'm glad I married such a beautiful woman." And then she says, "You are glad you married a beautiful woman." After three statements, you share the floor and your spouse then makes three statements about what she appreciates about you. Then, if you have any issues, they are brought up and discussed using the SLT. And after all the issues are discussed, then still using the SLT you discuss what you will do on your date night. The purpose of the weekly couples meeting is to resolve any issues you have so you can enjoy your date night together without risking any unresolved issues being discussed. Also the weekly couples meeting gives you practice using the Speaker Listener Technique in the good times when you are both calm. Then, if during the week an issue comes up that you need to talk about immediately, you will be better prepared to use the SLT. REMEMBER TO HAVE A WEEKLY COUPLES MEETING PRIOR TO YOUR WEEKLY DATE NIGHT!
Understanding the Message:
What I share in the message is what I believe God wants me to share. All the direct quotes from God are highlighted in royal purple. Of course the words of Jesus are in red. Rather than follow some made up doctrine, remember that Jesus said that every thing He said (Jn 12:49) and everything He did (Jn 14:31) comes from God. All teachings and all opinions should be supported by what we learn from God or Jesus.
Message:
The Importance of God's Name
A few years ago, we had a Vacation Bible School and Connie, who was in charge, came up with an activity where the kids put their names in our chain link fence with styro coffee cups, two days in a row. The kids loved it and it was definitely a low budget activity. At the end of the second day, a mother came to pick up her daughter in a very expensive new car and apparently at her daughter's instructions, her mother jumped out of her car and started taking pictures of her daughters' name written in the fence. Our names are important to us.
God tells us that we are created in His "image"1. We do not have every detail about how we are created in God's image. It is possible that our feelings about our name are one of the ways we are created in God's image. In the 10 commandments, God specifically speaks against misusing His "name"2. Most people think correctly that we should not curse using God's name when we hear that commandment. Also, we need to consider that if we say God said something that He didn't say, we are definitely misusing God's name. The important point is God wants His name respected and not misused.
When David confronted Goliath he used God name as the ultimate threat of power3. What was the first reason God wanted the Temple built? God said, "He shall build a house for My name…"4. Also there is mention about "…the Ark of God to which the Name was attached, the name Lord of Host…"5. God considers His name very important.
What is God's name? God said to the Prophet Isaiah, "I am Yahweh, that is My name…" 6. Yahweh is considered the English rendering of the Hebrew letters. I would suggest that the more correct English translateration is Yahveh. The important question is, if God calls himself by this name, why don't translators use it? The use of the word Lord in palce of the Hebrew word Yahveh started several hundred years before Jesus when Alexander the Great had some Hebrew religious scholars translate the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) into Greek. The translation is reffered to as the Septuagint. Today many Jewish religious scholars think that God's name is so sacred that most people should not say it. They will even write God as G_d remind people that they consider it sacared. Apparently a similar attitude existed when they translated the Septuagint, so the thousands of times the word Yahveh appeared in the Bible in Hebrew, the word was translated "Kurios", in the Greek and "the Lord" in English, which means boss or master or Mr.. So we end up in most English translations using Lord, for example God said to the Prophet Isaiah, "I am the LORD; that is My name…"6.
This is one case where religion has made it confusing. So you have Jesus referring to "… lord of that servant…" and "… Lord your God …"7. Since Jesus spoke Hebrew, probably He used Yahveh when he was talking about God. Also we find both uses in the same verse when Samuel's mother was talking to Eli saying, "Not so, my lord,"Hannah replied, "…I was pouring out my soul to the LORD"8. Translators try to use a capital (L) to indicate Yahveh or a lower case (l) for Adon, which means master, in the Hebrew. Unfortunately in the New Testament, translators have to deal with Kurios on all words and make up their own theological decisions, including using the capital "L" for both God and Jesus, even though in some cases people didn't even know who Jesus was, were obviously using a Hebrew word as a term of respect like Mr. or master, which is still written as Kurios in the Greek.
How do we show respect for God's name? If you pray the prayer Jesus teaches us to pray (aka the Lord's Prayer), Jesus has respect for God's name in the beginning, "…Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored"9. In your private prayers, it is good to use Yahveh, the name God calls himself repeatedly when He talks to His people. Example, "I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt…"10. Another suggestion is to lead your life as one of God's people that reflects favorably on Him. As Jesus teaches us, "… by their fruits you will know them"11.
Let's pray;
"Thank YOU, Yahveh, for helping us to understand how important YOU consider YOUR name. Help us to always give YOUR name the honor and respect You want it to have. Help us to lead our lives in such a way that our lives reflect favorably on YOU and YOUR name. Thank YOU, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Genesis 1:26
2. Exodus 20:7
3. 1 Samuel 17:45
4. 2 Samuel 7:13 (NKJ)
5. 2 Samuel 6:2 (JPS)
6. Isaiah 42:8 (HCSB) (NIV)
7. Luke 12:46 (KJ); 4:8 (NIV)
8. 1 Samuel 1:15 (NIV)
9. Matthew 6:9 (TEV)
10. Exodus 20:2 (NJB)
11. Matthew 7:20 (NKJ)