Bring them all Home

Rabbinic Echoes

Part 3 Grace and Truth the Jesus

From the day Adam sinned in the garden, and even before that, it was the plan of God to redeem fallen man. God's total activities, even before the foundation of the earth and culminating with the death of Jesus Christ is to bring back his creation (Heb, 2:10, Eph. 1:10).

The execution of God's plan began before he laid the foundation of the earth

Ephesians 1:4 Major Goal

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. That's the goal. That's the primary aim of God. To bring back his creation at whatever cost.

God chose them and now he has the onerous task to bring them safely home. This was not an easy task in the light of the serpent's determination to devour the seed of the man. He will not be able to so, but has been continuously bruising the heel.

But from the Garden to Golgotha, God has been carefully and meticulously nurturing, and guiding his people to the desired haven with instructions, guidance, overtures of love, rebuke amd chastisement and correction.

Some refused correction and perished in the process and others, benefited therefrom. Some found Grace in the eyes of the Lord and others didn't. Come with me and follow the story of God's amazing everlasting Grace in redeeming mankind.

Jesus - The heart of the Law

The Church Fathers

Apostolic Clarity

Part 4 The Final Call

Cultural Noise

Sanctified but Struggling

Understanding and Knowing God

And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. (Dan. 11:32). Sometimes we are confused, sometimes bemused at God's dealings with his creation. Whom he accuses and home he excuses, to whom he's merciful and from whom he withholds mercy, whom he pardons and whom he punishes. We need to know our God. Take the journey with me in exploring God's multi splendored characteristics and how he strategies all for the sake of fallen humanity.

God's Roommates: The Contrite

For thus saith the High and Lofty One who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. First, establishes His identity. He says, "I am the and Lofty One." God is no ordinary, lowly being. The writer uses a Hebrew figure of speech to emphasize God’s supreme character. "High and Lofty" is a deliberate redundancy. If you want to look at God, you must lift your heads because God is “high and lofty.” Thus, the psalmist emphasizes, “I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help.” inhabits eternity. He is not a “Johnny-come-lately” God. God Himself says in Isaiah 43:, “From eternity to eternity I am God.” This emphasizes His sovereign rulership and. God is in charge. His authority and ownership are unchallengeable. “Yea, before the day was, I am He, and there is none that can deliver out of My hand; I will work, and who shall turn it back?” Not only is His place identified, but His name is also identified. name is Holy. But God, the High, Holy, Lofty, Sovereign God, does live by Himself. He says, "I live there with him that is of a contrite humble spirit." Do you want to know who will ascend into the hill of the Lord and who will dwell in His Holy Place? It is him that is of a contrite and humble spirit. Ever wondered how a murderer and adulterer like David could be called “a man after God’s own heart”? Because he had a contrite spirit. God wants “to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Have you sinned sore against God? Read Psalm 51, and you will hear the voice of a broken and contrite man. God says, “That’s my man.”

The Irony

The Little Bird or The Five Blind Men of Industan

Church as Covenant not Court Room

There were six men of Hindustan,
to learning much inclined,
Who went to see an elephant,
though all of them were blind,
That each by observation
might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant,
and happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
at once began to bawl,
“This mystery of an elephant
is very like a wall.”

The second, feeling of the tusk,
cried, “Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an elephant
is very like a spear.”

The third approached the elephant,
and happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
thus boldly up and spake,
“I see,” quoth he,
“the elephant is very like a snake.”

The fourth reached out an eager hand,
and felt above the knee,
“What this most wondrous beast
is like is very plain” said he,
“‘Tis clear enough the elephant
is very like a tree.”

The fifth who chanced to touch the ear
said, “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
deny the fact who can;
This marvel of an elephant
is very like a fan.”

The sixth no sooner had begun
about the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
that fell within his scope;
“I see,” said he, “the elephant
is very like a rope.”

So six blind men of Hindustan
disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
exceeding stiff and strong;
Though each was partly in the right,
they all were in the wrong!

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

I lived first in a little house,

And lived there very well;

The world to me was small and round And made of pale-blue shell.

I lived next in a little nest,

Nor needed any other;

I thought the world was made of straw, And covered by my mother. One day I fluttered from the nest,

To see what I could find.

I said, "The world is made of leaves:

I have been very blind."

At last I flew beyond the tree,

And saw the sky so blue;

Now, how the world is really made

I cannot tell - can you?

So I invite you to flutter from your nest to see what you can find. I hear some say:

I was born a brethren and I will die a brethren

I was born a catholic and I will die a catholic

I was born a PNM and I will die a PNM.

Let's explore the elephant, it's bigger than the tail or the ear.

Or, we may choose to stay in our little nest and know no other, and think the world is made of straw and covered by our mother.

Outside of Jesus Christ himself. arguably, the best gift that God gave to man turned out to be man's biggest obstacle in finding his way or maintaining his way into the sanctuary. That is woman and sex. Man's first sin involved a woman. Many of the great sins of the Bible involves sex. Come with me as we explore man's struggle with sex and the sanctuary and God's determination to bring them home.

Return to the Garden by Way of Golgotha

The site adresses the question of how does God, a thrice Holy God maintain his sanctity and his sanity while dealing with weak frThe site adresses the question of how does God, a thrice Holy God maintain his sanctity and his sanity while dealing with weak fragile man, through their stumbles and their fumbles, whom he created in his own image and likeness: One clue is found in Psalm 103:14 He knows our frame he remembereth that we are dust. KJVagile man, through their stumbles and their fumbles, whom he created in his own image and likeness: One clue is found in Psalm 103:14 He knows our frame he remembereth that we are dust. KJV

Part 2 The Desert Law, Lust and Longing

The challenge: modern believers wrestling with sexual ethics, grace, and church culture.

The origin story (your brother’s dare, your pastoral wrestle).

The heartbeat of the book: not legalism, not license—but love, covenant, and truth wrapped in grace.

Christians in the 21st century are facing a moral dilema. How to mesh Sexx and the church. Sex is a gift from God. Its one of the best that God has given to mankind. If so we should be free to use and enjoy it to the best of our capability. Yet this seem to run afoul of the Mosaic Law, the early church fathers, the Apostolic dictates and modern pastoral requirements