Does It Really Matter?

Honoring Thy Parents

2010-01-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

Definition of Honoring: 'To show respect'

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The verse Honoring thy mother and father has impacted my life in way of restraint…meaning that I am careful in what I say or do so I do not dishonor my parents in anyway( I failed this commandment as a child). The story I am about to share is an excellent example of this.

A couple of years ago God called my wife and I into the Messianic Movement (I use that term lightly) I was very excited because I saw this as an opportunity to learn the scriptures at a deeper level...going from milk to meat...anyways I was so excited that I called my dad and told him unfortunately for me he did not share the same excitement...he got rude and very Anti-Semitic...I was crushed and still am.

Just before Christmas I mailed him a copy of my book that the Holy Spirit and I wrote hoping that it wouldgive him some understanding of what it is that my wife and I have been doing and studying...perhaps this book would be the very thing that would bring down the wall that had divided us, unfortunately this would not be the case, if anything the wall got higher and thicker and the comments from him got much nastier so by mutual decision we have parted ways, I believe not for good but for now, as God told me the other day, "This is just the beginning".

I have only know my father for the last 20 yrs and because I am proud to be his son in 1996 I changed my last name to his and I for the longest time I did whatever I could to please him, this included doing my best to obey the commandment, "Honor thy mother and thy father". My dad has always had mean streak to him and usually he will lash out first before thinking his thoughts through. Many times I have to bit my tongue especially in this most recent incident.

Final Thought

I have learned few things through this whole experience:

1. Is that no matter how negative a parent maybe to their child they are still "The Parent" and;

2. There are no guidelines or stipulations when it comes to honoring thy parents and;

3. How a child treats a parent will come on them through their own children.

So the question remains does God really want us to honor our parents especially if they are abusive or come across as being unfair....'Does it really matter?'

Deuteronomy 5:16 (King James Version)

'Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.'

Salvation

2010-01-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

“Definition of salvation: To be saved from sin”

Salvation is the process that takes place when one receives Jesus as their Lord and Savior. An example of this can found in the book of Matthew 19 when a tax collector has Jesus over his house for meal and during the visit the tax collector repents of his wrong doing’s and to show his sincerity he pays back four times the amount that he stole and gives half of what he owes to the poor and Jesus responds by saying in vs9a ‘This day is salvation come to this house….’

For me having salvation is the best gift I could have ever received. Having Jesus in my life has truly been life changing and each day that passes keeps getting better. Even through all the suffering, and persecutions I have endured I know He is with me for the entire journey, but the best part is that I will be spending an eternity with the very man who died on the tree for me; for all of us, how exciting is that!!

But here is the thing there are tons of people who call themselves Atheist and see salvation as a waist of time, why?

• Because there is no way that one man would come and die for us;

• They don’t believe in God or Jesus or anything that pertains to them.

• They see God as being violent; inhuman towards humans and who in their right mind would sacrifice their own child for the sake of others and who would want to follow such a violent God.

• Then there are people (who will remain nameless) who believe there are many paths to God and salvation in Jesus is not necessary.

Final Thought

To me salvation means everything without it we are all lost and truly destined for hell (Literally) but as you already read to some it doesn’t serve a purpose in their lives, so the question remains does salvation in Jesus matter, does it matter to God, does it matter to us, ‘Does it really matter’?

Introduction

2010-01-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Introduction

On Jan 01 2010 I was reading an article from one of my Israeli websites. The article was about the history of New Years Day, how it started, by who and what happened on that day, here is short version of that article: (If you wish to read the article go to: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/4011)

• New Years was started by the Julius Caesar in 46 BC;

• It was a time of drunkenness, orgies and the massacring of thousands of Jews;

• He chose January as the month to have New Years after a pagan god called Janus who was the Roman god of doors and gates, and had two faces, one looking forward and one back so it only made sense to him that through this pagan god would be the door into the New Year.

My first immediate response was to send this article out to my friends and family but a question came to me, “If Christians really understood the history of pagan holidays like Christmas, Easter and New Years day would they continue to celebrate them? After many Christians have been celebrating pagan holidays like Christmas, Halloween, Easter and New Years for a very long time. Then another question came to mind ‘Does it really matter?’

In this blog the plan is to talk about various things found in the scriptures like:

• Drunkenness

• Sex

• Money

• Forgiveness

• Healing

• Salvation

• Pagan Holidays and much more.

• And to address that very question ‘Does it really matter?’ what or how Christians / God think about these issues.

Happy Reading!

JM.