MOVED!

Hey All!

I've officially moved on over to a Wordpress blog (I'm still learning, but it has some great features to utilize!)-- so come visit me:

NEW blog-- gracefilledsaltseasoned.wordpress.com

Jewish Teaching Doesn't Command a Welfare State

Letters to the Editor in today's Wall Street Journal. I agree...and it frustrates me when Judeo-Christian values are distorted to prop up welfare state initiatives.

I am a proud Jewish conservative who took part in the Sept. 12 march on Washington. I take exception to your Sept. 14 letter writers, responding to Norman Podhoretz's "Why Are Jews Liberals?" (op-ed, Sept. 11), who use the Jewish religion to explain their extreme liberalism.

My religion teaches that the highest form of charity is giving a person independence (work) so that he or she will not have to depend on charity. Creating a government that makes people dependent on a nanny state from cradle to grave is far from what my ancestors had in mind.

Rita Lilie, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

It is true that social justice and compassion are deeply rooted in Judaism, but not in the way modern liberal thinking would have you believe. Giving charity is a Jewish tradition, part of a large body of commandments in the Torah called mitzvahs. What the secular Jewish world seems to misunderstand is that mitzvahs are responsibilities incumbent upon each and every Jew, and are personal ones. They are not responsibilities that can be delegated to an agency, like the government. One cannot perform a mitzvah by having the government take one person's property and give it to another. That is not charity or a mitzvah, even though it may make a liberal person feel good.

And there is no argument in the Torah that requires that all people be made materially equal. On the contrary, the Torah recognizes and promotes the value of individual excellence and achievement and requires that those who achieve make provision for those unable to achieve, but the requirement of equality of result is not found in the Torah. The Torah demands personal responsibility from all Jews at whatever station they hold in life. Thus, socialist and statist arguments, while often espoused by secular liberal Jews, represent a misunderstanding of the Torah and Jewish values.

Paul C. Ross, Rydal, Pa.

All of the letters essentially state that Jews are liberal because the religion teaches concern for the poor and disadvantaged. I agree but strongly contend that the policies suggested and currently being enacted by the government will in the long run do just the opposite.

Over the past 150 years classical liberalism and free-market capitalism revolutionized economies and did more to improve the conditions of the poor than any other competing system. Many of the current proposals are undermining the economy and will adversely affect all segments of society.

A basic religious teaching is that we should learn to control our appetite for immediate gratification in order to gain extended benefits.

Abraham Irwin, Passaic, N.J.

Nowhere does the Bible instruct us to tax others and rely on government to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. In fact, the able-bodied are required to work for the aid they receive. The Book of Ruth says the poor are to gather the after-gleanings left in the field, not wait idly for someone else to do it for them.

If the modern welfare state operated this way, the result would be less poverty and a lower cost to society.

Ken Powell, Munster, Ind.

My Enemy, My Brother

Isaiah 49:5-6
And now the LORD says— He who formed me in the womb to be His servant to bring Jacob back to Him and gather Israel to Himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength-
He says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

I've mentioned Joel Rosenberg before, but he's doing amazing things for the LORD so he's totally worth mentioning again :)

Check out the foreword he wrote for My Enemy, My Brother. In Joel's mass email today, he wrote:

We all know how dangerous it is when a Palestinian boy becomes a Radical Muslim and a devout follower of jihad. But have you ever stopped to consider just how beautiful -- indeed, miraculous -- it is when a Palestinian boy becomes a Revivalist and a devout follower of Jesus instead?

A fascinating new book, My Enemy, My Brother, has just been published that was written by a Palestinian man who was born and raised in Jerusalem. You're not likely to hear about it on the Today show or Good Morning America. But I commend to your attention. I have known the author, Hanna Shahin, for nearly two decades, and I can tell you first hand that his is an extraordinary and must-read story.

During the 1967 war, as the fighting between Jordanians and Israelis was at its most intense in the battle for the Holy City, Hanna begged God to save all the members of his family from death, and if God did that, he promised to serve the Lord in full-time ministry for the rest of his life. In a series of gripping events that Hanna shares in the book, the Lord heard that prayer and answered it in an amazing way. In time, Hanna went on not only to become a minister of the gospel, but one of the most influential Revivalists in the region, using the power of radio broadcasting to beam the good news of Jesus' love and mercy to untold Muslims and nominal Christians throughout the epicenter.

It was my honor to write the foreword to this book at Hanna's request, and I have posted it on my weblog to give you a sense of the man and his message. I hope you will take a look at it, and pick up a copy of Hanna's book from Amazon or your favorite Christian bookstore, as well as consider sharing one with a friend.

Excerpt from Joel's foreword....

The book you hold in your hands is, at its core, a love story – one of the most beautiful and powerful I have ever read.

It is the story of God’s extraordinary love for a Palestinian boy in Jerusalem, a boy who grew up lonely and sad and afraid until one day Jesus Christ personally reached out and took this little boy into His arms and told him, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

It is the story of a young man who becomes transformed by Christ’s love, a young man both called and compelled to share the good news of that powerful love and amazing grace with his fellow Palestinians, and eventually with the entire Arabic speaking world.

I'll certainly read this...let me know if you pick it up, too!

Sovereign LORD

Over the last few months, I have become much more aware of the sovereignty of the Lord. I want to share some of the stories that stand out as a testimony in my life to the absolute and supreme power of God.

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

I love planning. I hate surprises. I like to think out the consequences of any decision, create alternative plans and think a few steps ahead. When I was younger, my mother would praise this attribute in me—being a planner is not a bad quality.

But this often manifests itself as a desire to “be in control” of my life. I am not in control though— the Lord is the only one actually “in control”. Proverbs 19: 21—I can make plans all day, decide my steps—but ultimately the Lord's will prevails.

Some might throw up their hands in distress and frustration—but this gives me great comfort. My own heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) but the Lord is holy and perfect. Psalm 119 speaks a lot to burying our hearts in the will of the Lord—

Verse 2: “Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.”

Verse 7: “I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.”

Verse 10: “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.”

Verse 11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Verse 30: “I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.”

Verse 32: “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.”

Verse 34: Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.”

Verse 36: “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.”

Verse 58: “I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.”

Verse 69: “Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.”

Verses 70, 111, 112, 145 and 161 also pray for the condition of our heart. Over 15 times in ONE Psalm, man’s heart is mentioned—must be pretty important.

This truth—that my heart is deceitful against the Lord-- was shoved in my face while in London. Anxiety and a fearful heart grip me. I have become an expert at orchestrating my situation so as to avoid fear. I purposely live in a “safe” neighborhood with the police station literally around the corner. I carry pepper spray and have it prepared in my hand when I have to walk a block from the metro to my place at night. When both my roommates are out of town at the same time, I either ask a girl friend to come over and stay or I leave and stay with someone else. The first thing I do when I go home is check my shower to make sure there is no one in it. I have become an expert at creating a superficial safety net.

But in London, I was stretched and pushed to the limit. While ministering one day on the street, I felt threatened, I felt vulnerable….and that night I didn’t sleep at all. I was paralyzed in fear. All I could think about was getting on a plane and going home. And this was only day four of our trip.

Through prayer and submission of my heart to the Lord, I had to start the process of learning to let go of my very superficial control. I am learning to pray about my deceitful, fearful heart—and to bury it in Word of the Lord. When I have those moments of ugliness—when I feel that fear coming on—I go straight to praying the name of Jesus and opening my Bible—usually to a Psalm.

Trusting in the Lord's sovereignty means bending my fearful heart to Him because we are sanctified by Jesus-- John 17: 15-19,

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."

You are called BELOVED

A few months ago, I bought this necklace for myself with this verse (in Hebrew), " Ani L'Dodi Ve-Dodi Li," from Song of Songs 6:3 which translates, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."

I wear it almost everyday as a reminder of just how infinite the Lord's love is for all His children (Romans 9:25-26), including me, that He would look past all my sins, mistakes, disobedience and He would lovingly choose to call me BELOVED (Romans 5:8).

Tenth Avenue North has a song, Beloved, that connects Biblical truth in a powerful way with how much the Lord loves us.  I encourage you to listen to it and reflect on the words of the song...

Real Liberty: Freedom in Christ

Listening to the continued debate over health care reform, I came across an article on HotAir featuring Bishop Harry Jackson warning Christians that universal, government run health care is immoral. See Bishop Jackson's interview below:



This interview reminds me of a note on a friends Facebook, "I am free in Christ. I don't owe a single natural liberty to any military or politician." I think this is the heart of what Bishop Jackson is referring to in his interview comments...our freedom in Christ.

Romans 8:1 explains we are set free because of Christ Jesus-- He freed us from the law of sin and death. Because of Jesus, we do not live under the condemnation of the Old Testament law-- instead we live with Christ as co-heirs (Romans 8:17-17).

But in this freedom, we are not to squander it away. Galatians 5:1, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

What is the yoke of slavery that we are to avoid? Anything that works to separate us from our relationship with Jesus. Romans 8:38-39 explains that nothing, absolutely nothing, "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in ALL creation," can "separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

It is a form of bondage against our relationship with Jesus to be beholden to anyone other than Christ.

As Galatians 5:1 explains we are to use our freedom in Christ not to indulge our flesh, but "through love serve one another." It is not men or a government that we are working for, but the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24).


John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Life is lived to the full with Jesus Christ.

Come... and DIE

Now that I’ve been home for almost two weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to process and talk through some of the things that the Lord taught me. I want to share the praises, the prayers and the work that the Lord is doing in the South Asian communities of London. I am sure that this entry will be one a few about what happened while on mission.

First, I want to start with something that happened in one of our morning sessions.

We had the opportunity to ask the long term missionaries serving in London questions about their life, how the Lord called them to London, etc.

One of the women on our team asked an older, married mission couple: “What are your hopes and prayers for our generation?”

Her answer was simple and direct.

COME and DIE.

I thought about this the rest of our time there, and it’s been on my mind as I’ve walked back into life in D.C.

I’ve come to Jesus, but am I ready to die to Him? And what does it mean to die?

So far, I’ve been able to break about this idea of dying in two parts:

1) Jesus calls us to die and become a new creation in Him

2) Jesus calls us to literally be ready to lay down our lives for His glory.

1.) Dying and becoming a new creation in Him.

In Romans 12: 1-2, Paul writes for us to no longer conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by renewing of our minds so that we can test and approve God’s will—and to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God.

In 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21, Paul writes to the church of Corinth, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” We are NEW creations with Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit actively lives within us.

Lastly, 2 Corinthians 5: 15, “And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.” It stands out to me that we no longer live for ourselves but for HIM. Oswald Chambers writes, “God’s friendship is with people who know their poverty. He can accomplish nothing with the person who thinks that he is of use to God. As Christians we are not here for our own purpose at all— we are here for the purpose of God, and the two are not the same.”

2) Lay down your life and glorify God.

“Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:6) Jesus suffered and died—walking with Him involves being obedient.

And Jesus tells us in John 15:20, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”

Jesus calls us in Mark 8: 34, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow Jesus. Three steps. Are you trying to follow Jesus without denying yourself? Are you trying to follow Jesus without taking up your cross?

Christy Nockels “Life Light Up” song sums it up….

I may live and I may die
Either way you’re glorified
Bless the day I give my life away

Jesus denied Himself by going to the cross and dying for us. Has anyone ever said, “I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that I haven’t already done myself?” That’s what Jesus tells us. Are you ready to follow Him even if it hurts?

Romans 8:16-17 tells us that the reward is GREAT..."if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory."