MINISTRY NOTES

Week of November 22, 2009

Hi Everyone,

Regarding the question as to why I use the terms Mohammadanist or the religion of Mohammad or Mohammedism instead of Muslin or Islam. Muslim is an Arabic word that means one who submits to god. Islam can mean the total surrender of oneself to god. As we understand that they are referring to false gods, God tells us in Exodus 23:13 (ICB) "… You must not even say the names of other gods. The names of those gods must not come out of your mouth."

Sometimes I find myself being obedient to God without clear understanding as to why. Frequently in my times of weakness, I will try to make up why or decide what I think is God's reason for telling me to do something. Recently, I was obedient and the only reason I could imagine was that God wanted me to be considerate and reduce email spam for some people who were receiving Ministry Notes. I discovered a greater reason as I was blessed by hearing back from many wonderful people. Our awesome God was wanting to bless and encourage me. I got so blessed that at one point I just found myself bursting out in song, singing Halleluiah. (this word means praise Yahveh in Hebrew and the melody is probably something I made up) God is so wonderful.

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."

One time I stated that I consider it was a bad witness for me if I go to places that promote alcohol, like when they have "Bar" in their name. A man at Church said to me, "You will miss out on lot of good food". That's my problem not his. If a wife is late to work, that is the wife's problem not her husband. If a husband doesn't like to play golf and his wife think he should. That is the husband's concern not the wife. We need to be careful how we talk to our spouse. When we marry someone we marry them as is, we don't marry them to change them. It is important how we talk to our spouse. Avoid character assassination that implies things can't change. For example instead of saying to your spouse, "You are a slob" it is nicer to say, "It bothers me when you leave your dirty underwear hanging on the door knob". Avoid saying harsh words to your spouse. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 5:22 (NIV)"…anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." When you have trouble with name-calling or character assassination, it may be a good time to call time out and discuss the subject using the Speaker Listener Technique.

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. For those who prefer not to take the time to look up a scripture, click on the underlined hyper link to read the whole verse.

Message:

The Seventh Day Blessing

After we have the six days of creation described, we learn that God rested from creating on the seventh day and considered that day holy1. I might mention for those who have heard that God's days spent in creation are longer than normal, please notice that for each of the first six day we get detailed description of "there was evening and there was morning". It is almost like God thought we might consider in the future that the day started in the morning or that He was incapable of creating everything in six days. When the children of Israel were being fed by God in the wilderness, God provided a way for them to rest on the seventh day, from collecting food2. Then, in the Ten Commandments God commanded, "the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work…"3. This was a good for people to have a day of rest but it also was the beginning of religious teachings as to what constituted work. For over 3400 years people have been making up rules. Today, some Jews consider it work to drive a car or if you walk too far, to worship God on the Sabbath, so in some communities they try to live close to the Synagogue. Anti Jewish people may refer to the area as a Jewish ghetto, but it is really devout Jews trying to follow religious rules. Today with tall buildings, some religious Jews consider it work to punch a button on an elevator, so they have designed Sabbath elevators that can be set to stop on every floor on the Sabbath.

In Jesus day which was over 1400 years after the Ten Commandments, they considered it work when Jesus' follower were walking through a grain field and picked some grain off a stalk to eat on the Sabbbath4. Many times Jesus was criticized for healing on the Sabbath5. In response to criticism, Jesus made several statements defending His healing on the Sabbath. One of the best defense of healing people on the Sabbath was when Jesus reminded people that they would help a sheep if it fell into a pit on the Sabbath and then stated that people are more valuable than a sheep8 (don't tell some animal lovers like PETA).

Jesus most powerful point was that "… The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath"6. Religious rules make it seem like we have to live our lives to please the rules and yet the Son of God (Jesus) teaches us that the Sabbath was set up to help us. As you observe the Ten Commandments, other commandments such as not killing or not stealing, etc. are really set up to help people, not just to please God9. Having a day of rest is good. Remember that Jesus said that what He does is what God wants Him to do7 and that statement gives us a different perspective to His healings on the Sabbath. Perhaps the most holy way to treat the Sabbath is to do what God wants. As you do what God wants you to do, there will be times of rest, times of praising and showing love to God, times of healing, times of teaching, times of sharing or witnessing, even times of obedience that you don't understand.

From the early Christian Church, people, who understood what Jesus taught, met on the first day of the week or Sunday10. As you may remember Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week11. Apparently in the early Church, the common expression was to call the first day of the week the Lord's Day12. Today, we find some religious Christians who want to be legalistic like the religious leaders that gave Jesus a hard time. Apparently these religious Christians are ignorant of what Jesus teaches. We need throw out all religious teachings and doctrines and just read what Jesus teaches in the red letters and "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free"13.

Let's pray

"Heavenly Father, thank YOU for YOUR commandments the YOU gave us to help us. Thank YOU for sending YOUR son, Jesus to help us know the truth. Help us to be free of all legalistic confusion and to do what YOU want us to do every second of every day. Thank YOU in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Genesis 1:31-2:3

2. Exodus 16:23-30

3. Exodus 20:8-11

4. Mark 2:23-24

5. Matthew 12:9-13; Luke 13:10-16; 14:1-6; John 5:1-16; 9:1-38

6. Mark 2:27 (KJ)

7. John 14:31

8. Matthew 12:12

9. Matthew 19:18

10. Acts 20:7

11. Matthew 28:1

12. Revelations 1:10; Didache (14)

13. John 8:31-32 (NIV)