The Smell of God

The portion of the Torah for this week is a section that contains many commandments pertaining to justice and holiness. It is impossible to miss the idea that these commandments are flowing from the mouth, from the very character of the God of Israel.

“'Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. “ (19:3)

“'Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. “ (19:4)

It’s interesting that the Lord doesn’t add that tag to only the commands pertaining directly to Him.

" 'Do not steal. " 'Do not lie. " 'Do not deceive one another. 'Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. “ (19:11-12)

" 'Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. “ (19:32)

“'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” (19:33)

These are just a few examples among many. Whether the command pertains to idolatry, sexual purity, ethics, respect for others, hospitality or general human dignity, it is nearly always follow by “I am the LORD your God” or “I am Adonai.”

God spells it out to the letter for the Israelites at the covenant made at Sinai- what to do, what not to do and what should happen if you do what you’re not to do. Although some of this may be blurry to us now, considering our place in history and cultural context (and identify as Gentiles), God was clear and direct about what it would look like to live inside His kingdom, to come under his authority and protection in a covenant relationship.

Love God. Love neighbor. If we were to squeeze, crush and grind the Law, Prophets and life and teachings of Jesus we would extract these essential oils. This is the fragrance of the kingdom.

“But thanks be to God, who in the Messiah constantly leads us in a triumphal procession and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of what it means to know him! For to God we are the aroma of the Messiah, both among those being saved and among those being lost;  (I Cor. 2:14-15)

How can we carry this aroma if we don’t know what God requires? If we are selecting our own principles of righteousness based on tradition, upbringing, intuition or anything else, how can we be sure we actually smell like Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel? How can we be sure it’s not…something else.

Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law; He came to fulfill it. And fulfill it, He did. He embodied  what it means to live inside the kingdom of God, which means living according to the Law of God.Jesus won a victory against Satan himself by declaring that man does not live by bread alone but by every word proceeding out of the mouth of God. The Law given to Israel proceeded directly out of the mouth of God to Moses and the people.

We are to be filled with love (according to how the Lord defines love). We are to do justice (according to how the Lord defines justice). We are to welcome the foreigner- the refugee. We are to remain sexually pure. We are to keep a Sabbath, a day of rest. We don’t steal, or cheat or slander one another. We are to be the aroma of the Messiah, both among those being saved and those being lost, for He is the LORD our God!

We are called to smell like the Messiah. But first we have to know what he smells like. For he and the Father are one, as we too are to be one. The Father spelled it out that day at the mountain. And Jesus lived it out. Let us smell like him, that all would be drawn in to the Kingdom. Sometimes these oils are squeezed out through suffering, through patience, through challenge, but may I, may we continue in the pursuit of knowing Him, and in knowing him knowing His Law, that we might bleed the smell of our Lord.

Sad Plants

Poor sad plants, yearning to breathe fresh air...
Soon! Very soon! Please just hold on a little bit longer. I don't want frost to hurt you.

If all I had to eat for passover '11 [5771] was charoset...dayenu!

lil peanut

ouch?

the foreign section

sometimes you just got to.

brother from the same mother

gigglefest

roni roni...

cousins

espresso makes mondays welcome.

Aradhna and the Bhutanese in KCK + Jane's Walk

Not to infringe upon Big Cass's music project, but I recently found out about a group I am pretty excited about. Aradhna is a band that fuses traditional Indian devotional music (bhajans) with Christ-centered themes.

The show is in KCK among the Bhutanese refugee community. Let me know if you are interested in going (though KLers would have to sacrificially miss soccer).Give it a listen!

Also on the event front, an event some mutual acquaintances have organized:

News Blog

I (along with the help of several others) am in the process of compiling news sources for a news blog that we think would be a really helpful resource for people. With all the noise out there and all the funding corruption of news sources, as well as an obvious difference in world view from most news sources, it's hard to know what to read and what to believe. The goal would be to feature news stories that are significant to Messianic G-d Fearers, Chrsitians with a love for Israel, and United States citizens in general, as a filter for people who don't have time to read it all.

I started a little site for practice, subject to change of URL, format, etc. Feel free to check it out:
http://shofarsofar.tumblr.com/

I'd love some comments on source recommendations or suggestions about the project in general.

I Am Second

A friend of mine shared this video with me. It's about a Kansas City tattoo artist of Eastern European Jewish descent who encountered Jesus in the middle of extreme brokenness. Whispering Danny - I Am Second

But second of all, after looking up the organization, I'm thinking, "Why don't I know more about this?" It seems really interesting. Am I just behind the times? Evidently there are billboards about it o I-35 that I might recall having seen.

There might be more on this to come.

just this, for now.

Ashes and Flames
John Mark McMillan
[click title to listen]

You and I meet
On the shores of the broken
You swallow the ocean
I swallow my pride
Only to see
The way that I need you
Is more than I knew
I ever could

In between the ashes and the flames
Is a cry an awkward silence
Could never contain
And the falling of my hammers
And the writhing of my pain
Is just not as real as the way
That you're calling my name

I can't help thinking
That the way that you want me
And the ghost that haunts me
Are one and the same
'Cause you stand at my window
At night while I'm sleeping
There's not a promise I'm keeping
That could ever repay you

In between the ashes and the flames
There's a song that burns brighter
Than radio waves
About the remnants of my idols
And the shadow of my shame
About how they scatter like the rain and I can't stop crying
'Cause you won't stop calling my name

Calling my name up from the ashes

the scene from the window

Yesterday, out the window of the church I saw a caucasian black-haired woman in her 20's or early 30's was very intentionally plodding down the road, visibly upset, followed by a man considerably shorter and darker than her who was gesturing dramatically. He was followed by a beige Ford, inching slowly behind them both on the shoulder of the frontage road that runs parallel with the church and the highway.
The man seemed to be fighting for the walking woman's attention, sometimes grabbing her arm or trying to catch up with her, but she would yank her arm away or push him back.

Something was clearly wrong.

This scene continued for about 20 yards or so (although I am a very poor judge of spatial things). Finally the man caught up to the woman and instead of talking to her from behind her, barricaded himself in front of her, seemingly pleading that she stop and listen.

For a while there was a lot of back-and-forth. He was presenting some sort of argument that she was visibly rejecting what he was saying by pushing him away when he got close to her or touched her. Then a middle-aged woman emerged from the car that had been following them and stood nearby.

After some time, I saw a staff member of the church slowly walking toward the scene of the drama, although when he got close the couple didn't seem to take much notice and kept arguing. The staff member began to talk with the woman that was driving the car.

 The gestures of the couple indicated that the fight was escalating until finally the woman violently pushed the man away, buried her face in her hands and bent over as if in wrenching pain. The man stepped back. All the activity seemed to freeze as the woman cried.

L-rd, please be there with her. Be there with him, with them. Bring calm to the storm. Peace, in the name of Jesus. My spirit was moved to intercede, knowing there was nothing else I could do. All the while my mind was wondering why in the world I was seeing this.

She cried and cried, and then turned her back to everyone, stepped behind the car and began to wretch. The man, seemingly silenced by what was happening to her simply put his hand on her back, likely not knowing anything else to do.

Soon two police cars showed up and officers imposed themselves upon the scene, signaling to the church staff member that he was ok to leave.

As he slowly walked back up to the hill I slowly walked away from the window. I didn't know the reason for the chaos, but it wreaked of betrayal and pain and my heart hurt to watch.

I later found out that the woman had confronted the man, her husband, at the college up the road and had accused him of cheating after she found out he had been talking with another woman over the course of a few weeks. Evidently, up the road from what was visible from the window where I was, the woman had thrown punches at the man, which he took willingly without retaliating. She had also tried to jump the chain link fence on the side of the road that leads up to the highway. Both the husband and the woman's mother had been following her in concern for her safety.

I don't know whether the woman's accusations of her husband were founded on anything true, or if they came from a pattern of paranoia. I don't know if this woman had a history of anger and self-destructive behavior. I don't know the kinds of things that had happened to her and her family throughout her life to get her to this climactic point. But I do know that if my pain and storm of emotion were to lead to such a public display, to be so upset that my body vomits out the toxicity...it doesn't really matter what caused it because it's very real to me. Heartbreak is very real. I know how it feels to feels to feel so wrecked that you try to run away from everyone and jump out of your own skin. I guess I don't know exactly how she felt, but there was some basis for empathy.

I don't really have a conclusion. I'm still wondering why this whole thing happened right in front of me, but I could feel it from the window. I hope the woman and the man are ok and that the peace of the L-rd breaks in.

Love Wins review by Miller

Check out this review of this controversial new book by Rob Bell, recommended to me by Lauren Blake.