Living with a Spiritual Dimension-by Linden Malki

There are several different ways we can live our lives.  One is to live a purely single-dimensional life; with no interest or concern with anything outside of what is obvious and completely self-centered. Anything that cannot be seen, touched, or comprehended with basic physical senses is not real and not worth the attention. We live in a world with a lot of people like this. Whatever they don't understand isn't important; this can even extend to the point of not caring about anything or anybody that doesn't do anything for them. This can also extend to intellectuals who insist that only what they can prove or imagine is real, and those who judge everyone by their own image. They also often want someone or something outside of themselves to make them "happy."

There are people who know that there is a good chance that there is something beyond the obvious, but have a tendency to want whatever it is to follow their own desires. If they believe in something outside of themselves, they usually think that it can be manipulated for their own benefit. Whatever "God" they believe in, they are trying to control by following all the rules and saying all the right things, and feel they are entitled to get what they want. They often talk about "love" and helpfulness, but it's on their own terms.  Some of them become angry if their expectations are not met on their terms.

The best example we have of a God who cares about us and wants the best for us is the God of the Bible. The first thing we notice is that God does communicate with people, but from His own space. The entire Bible lists examples of His interaction with His creatures--us!  We read that "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things...".(Hebrews 1:1-2) but we are not supposed to live life on our own knowledge and strength, but that " I can do all things [i]through Him who strengthens me. "(Philippians 4:13).  We are created to live in a multi-level universe; that there is something that we cannot imagine  that has been prepared for those who commit themselves to a relationship with God.  If we admit our own inability to live up to His plan, and turn our struggles over to Him, amazing things can happen.  He can remove the weaknesses, sins, and temptations of this world--I have seen this happen in my own life.

Jesus is the breakthrough of God into our lives--from His birth, His baptism, the times His disciples--and His enemies--saw God connect with His human self, and then His death, Resurrection, and return to His Father. This is Life that is above and beyond the basic world that too many people think is all there is. 

Presents and Presence--by Linden Malki

Why do we give presents at Christmas? It's something that we've all grown up with, and a good part of our economy is tied up with this custom. Everywhere we go, we see decorations and posters and billboards; and the special music is everywhere--some of it religious in theme, and some of it isn't, but it all has a "holiday" message that saturates our culture for a month, and then it all gets packed up and put away for the next 11 months. We all know people who really get into the flavor--they literally totally redecorate their house inside and out, from the lights on the roof to the decorations on the lawn; one of my friends warned me, as we were invited to a Christmas event, that "Christmas threw up at her house." I've had friends, and even people I barely know, beg to borrow money so their family can "have a Christmas", and they can go overboard buying more stuff they don't need or appreciate.

Yes, there are good things about celebrating Christmas--it is a reminder each year that God sent His Son to live as one of us for a short time, and teach us Who God really is, and how to live a life in a relationship with Him. If we learn the lessons that He came to teach, and catch a short glimpse of His Glory, and His love, this can be eternally important to us. If we use this reminder in His name, and show His love and generousity, this can be one of the most important times of the year. I find it interesting that we can go overboard in remembrance of His coming, and yet in a few months, almost let the truly important event of His life go almost unrecognized, But then, babies are sweet and cute and easy to deal with; and an execution and then a Resurrection are supremely important but not "fun".

Even the emphasis on giving has a place--if we remember the lessons that we are offered. The response of "wise men" from outside the Jewish culture that had become ingrown and legalistic, who were given a notice that came from a God who reaches out to all people, is a wake-up call for us. Even the stories of followers like a man called to His service, four hundred years later and hundreds of miles away, who demonstrated with his life that we need to be open to the needs of each other and willing to meet them without wanting personal credit or glory, caught the imagination of a many people in many even farther away places, and Nicholas, bishop of Myra, is still an example of how to give--in recognition of need and in the Name of Jesus, without personal credit or return. Even the distorted and exaggerated stories of St Nicholas, remembered as Santa Claus, remind us that giving is an important part of life in God's world, and it is truly more blessed give than to receive.

Sharing the First Fruits--by Linden Malki

The earliest mention in Genesis of bringing the "first fruits" to God is in the very beginning of the story that became the history of God's people is Cain and Abel, as they bring their results of their first harvests as offerings to God. One thing to notice is that they had more than they needed to feed themselves and their family.  In general, this is true of most of what we do to provide for ourselves--we do usually have the skills and the provisions for more than we need, and we can share our harvests and what we can make with our hands with others. The results are that we can trade with each other to all benefit from the variety of what we can grow and what we can make, and we can give from our harvests and our skills to be able to support those who spend their time and efforts to lead the community in serving God and taking care of each other.

As the earliest communities were formed, usually based on families and their neighbors, included in the guidelines for actually making the community work properly were instructions to bring a "tithe", defined as ten percent, to a central location to where those who cared for the religious observances and the charitable needs of the community had the resources to do their jobs. I can't help noticing that as part of the intelligence that we were endowed with from the beginning were not only language skills, but math skills as well. I've noticed that when archeologists uncover the remains of ancient settlements, they often find collections of clay tablets engraved with records much like the paperwork that we still find necessary to keep a community organized--census data, records of taxes and payments, records of the goods and services produced by members of the community, and even copies of "homework" assignments of the students that are learning how to maintain the records.  We find that people are required to give of what they grow and produce as an offering to God, and  His designated representatives. Some of these are sacrificed in recognition that God does provide what is needed for food to be grown and materials to be used for building and other needs. Some of this production is designated for those charged of caring for the spiritual, educational charitable and organizational needs of the community.

 From the beginning, most communities have recognized their responsibility toward those who care for the needs of the community, and support of the religious and social/political authorities have been seen as a religious and social duty. Part of the instructions believed to have been given to the people by God include certain days of the year to be set apart for recognition and celebration of God's provision for His people. The Jewish and Christian communities no longer include actual sacrifices, (but the Islamic annual pilgrimage to Mecca, and the Passover celebration the small remaining Samaritan community in Israel still offer animal sacrifices). We do celebrate special occasions with special foods and meals, and we do consider regular donations of food and money as required support of the religious and social communities. 

The Special Days We Share as His Family

This time of the year is especially full of occasions to gather--as families, friends, fans of sports teams, shoppers, audiences of all kinds of events and activities.  Many of the things we do during this holiday season has to to do with celebrating historical and religious traditions, and how often do we stop and think about the origins of those traditions? There are more things to celebrate and remember; events in our own family history, our community, our nations and our world. Some are happy memories, some are things that we remember with the idea of never repeating the underlying events.

There are many cultures in our world, and there are different stories and different occasions that become the backbone of our gatherings. Most people in our own "western" culture have a background of a seven-day week, which goes back about four thousand years to a small group of families who believe their ancestors were called by God to follow a set of instructions for living life at its best. The central part of the tradition was a relationship with God, and the growing memories of events that shaped our history and our lives. We have records of people like Abraham, Moses and David that shaped a nation of people who worshiped a God who created us all, and wants us to know and remember what He has done over all these centuries.

The central story we share at this time of the year is a celebration of His stepping into our history and forever changing our lives. Historically, we have agreed to celebrate this at a time of the year that we note the renewal of our physical seasons. We believe that the birth of a specific Baby, two thousand years ago, forever changed our relationship with God, our Creator; and that even though He suffered and died, He came back to life on one spring day and offered to connect us with God in a new and special way. Our lives cycle around a seven-day "week" that is based on a celebration of His Life, and one special day when we come together as His family to share our experiences in His life--the Day that He came back from death to Life, the Life that He offers us for Eternity. 

Old as the Universe, and yet New to each of us!--by Linden Malki

There are three faith traditions based on the relationship of God the Creator of the Universe to His creatures. All three are based on a call of God to a person or persons to follow Him. Two of them describe this calling in terms of a set of rules to obey, so that they may be part of a community that has the favor of God. The third one, while it does have principles by which its followers are called to live, is based not on obedience to rules but a relationship with a Person. What we know about this Person is based partly on a tradition passed down from people who knew Him and lived with Him, partly on the Story of His death and Resurrection, but the most important things we know about Him come from our own experience of Him in our lives.

We are coming into the season of the year that has become the traditional celebration of His coming, as a human baby who was born to be a very special and unusual person. A few people were told Who He was, and from the beginning that knowledge brought both rejoicing and fear. That is still true; there are those who recognize His promise of life, not only in this world but beyond it, in His presence. There are also those who fear the disruption of their lives if they were to take His word seriously. He said and did things that were both recognizable to those who had heard of God, and upsetting to those who thought they knew everything they needed or wanted to know of God.  He could be gentle with children, and welcoming to those who were outside of the ancient Jewish tradition. He could be scathing with those who claimed to have a monopoly on God, who were judgmental and unforgiving to those who fell short of what they thought were God's standards. He had little patience with those who expected God to send legions of angels to crush the occupying Roman empire and restore their dreams of running the world.

Jesus came with a message and a promise to the whole world, not just those who bragged of their promised vindication, but of all the world that would recognize God's power, offered not as a crushing imperial slavery but available as a gift which had to be opened to be used. He told a small group of men that responded to His offer of a new life that they would be responsible for reaching out to all the world, from Jerusalem (which tried to bring God's kingdom by force and was destroyed in the process), to Samaria, where remnants of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had hung onto their version of the prophecies and who recognized and welcomed Jesus' refugee followers, to the world outside who had heard of the Jewish traditions, and the wider world that was totally outside of that culture.  We have the stories; we have the instruction book; have we opened our lives to Him and His Spirit, and His calling to a new life?                                       

     

The Price of Leadership--by Linden Malki

The list of qualifications that St Paul gives Timothy is very demanding--but it is not only a good checklist for leaders, but for each of us. (Think how much more smoothly life would be if everybody was like this.!) It is interesting that from the beginning of Jesus' ministry, He called a group of men to be with Him and learn from Him. They did a fairly good job of living up to Jesus' requirements, though they did miss the point a few times, and of course one of them was a phony and troublemaker. Peter had a tendency to have a self-control deficiency, but he was willing to stop and straighten out.  But there were things that Jesus taught that needed to be part of any teachings that were shared with others. The early Church was wrestling with the calling to preach the existence and authority of God, the teaching and life of Jesus, and the obligations of members of a community of believers to God and each other. The tradition of meeting as a community goes all the way back to the family of Jacob, who became a community that had been touched by God and chosen to teach others what this meant.

The coming of Jesus changed the nature of this community, from one whose basic identification was a family, to one that adopted anyone who was willing to accept the calling to identify with Jesus as Lord, and connect with God the Father, and His desire for personal relationship with all people who would respond to His message. The last human words we have on record from Jesus is a command to go and welcome all who were willing into this relationship, beyond the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This new community as commanded by Jesus, reached out not only to those who were familiar with this God. but to their relatives in Samaria and then to the wider world.

This calling got a mixed response; there were those who embraced the opportunity to have a relationship with their Creator, and those who rejected it. We have seen through the centuries the havoc caused by those who take this position in a wrong direction, of personal failure, greed, abuse, and other sins that can destroy the community and be a misleading and dangerous witness to the world.  We, who are committed to God's Word and His people, need to hold our leaders accountable and pray and support them in their calling. 

Come Before Him with Song! --by Linden Malki

Music has been part of life for as long as we have existed, as far as we know. We are created with the capacity to make sounds, and use the sounds to communicate with other people, as well as animals. But beyond the gift of communication, we are also blessed with voices that can create harmonious sounds, that can express many different feelings, usually pleasurable. We can make pleasant sounds with all sorts of things--things that we can bang on, things that we can whistle with, strings that can be tensioned, tuned and plucked or bowed. And, more than that, we have the ability to hear and appreciate.

We also have the ability to recognize and appreciate the sounds made by other creatures--especially birds, but also other animals.  And there are evidences that animals can respond to music as well as our voices and the sounds of other creatures. We also respond to noises of inanimate objects--big things like the ocean, as well as little tiny things like a clock ticking.

We also realize that God has used the wonder of sound to interact with His creation; He uses the ability He created in us to make not just sounds but music, and voices that can be controlled and combined to make both simple music, like a child singing "Jesus Loves Me", and wonderful soaring music like the "Hallelujah Chorus."  We also can use music to tell a story. One of the first musical stories that that has been preserved is Moses and Miriam's song celebrating the defeat of the Egyptians in the sea.  This not only reminds us of the event, but it combines the story of God's action with praise and thanks for the God who showed His power in the lives of His people.  We read: "Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said,I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted;The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him." (Exodus 15:1-2) We also have songs of David, Solomon, and many other writers and singers. Solomon's Temple was a place of singing--we find  among the musicians on staff in the Temple grandsons of the prophet Samuel; and the longest single Book in the Bible is a songbook. We have stories of children praising God in song, and all sorts of people in all sorts of places. We should thank God that He gives us the gift of song--that can then return to Him in our Praise!
                                                                                                           

TELLING THE STORY--by Linden Malki

As we've been studying about being real, there are several things that need to happen. We need to be real about ourselves; who we are, who God created us to be, and how our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others that we come into contact with see us. We need to be real about God--who He is, how we learn about Him and experience Him, and how our lives are changed by our relationship with Him. And if we know God and what He has done to change our lives, we have a story to tell. It may be drama, like my great-great uncle who was a merchant seaman who was shipwrecked in an Atlantic Ocean storm and miraculously rescued--and went on to be converted from a nominal Swedish Lutheran to a Baptist missionary who set up the first believers' baptism in Sweden, and organized the first Baptist church in Sweden, and was imprisoned and then banished for preaching outside the state church. On the other hand, some of us were raised in solid Christian families and grew, as Jesus did, "in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man." Our story may be one of obedience and growth, which is not always as easy as it looks. We may have grown up in a family of faith, and rebelled, and had to be rescued and restored. And we may have grown up in a family whose  relationship with God was nominal and not healthy.  And it might have been totally without faith or knowledge of God.

Most of the people Jesus interacted with were Jews, who more or less knew the traditions of their ancestors' interactions with God. He usually was pretty low-key in His dealings with them--asked the people He had healed to not talk about it. There were a few exceptions: He sent out messengers, but there message was one of a coming event, not a lot of information about Jesus Himself. There was the Samaritan women in John 4, who had a religious background that had separated from the Judean tradition 700 years earlier, but shared a basic knowledge of 'God, and Jesus was very upfront with her, and spent several days in her village. The most dramatic incident was in Mark 5, Luke 8, and Matthew 8, when Jesus, in the Greek area east of Galilee, encountered a man seriously possessed by demons. When Jesus told the demons to leave the man, they asked if they could go into the pigs instead of banishment, which Jesus allowed. When Jesus was leaving the area, the now sane man asked to go with him, but Jesus sent him back to tell his story to his friends and family. His story, as well as the Samaritan woman's, were spread in their home areas, and Samaria and also the Greek Decapolis areas were open to the Gospel when Judeans were persecuting Jesus' followers.

As obedient followers, the best stories we have to tell are based our own experiences with God, and our compassion and willingness to show God's love to those we encounter, who are thirsty and open for the Word of God.

The Starting Point...by Linden Malki

                   

Jesus had an advantage when He talked to Jews--some things were already part of the culture; Moses had covered some of the ground that the Gentiles were not familiar with. (However, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah and Zechariah, and Daniel--at least! had challenged their countrymen with the idea that part of their calling was to acquaint the rest of the world with their God.) The writer of the epistle to the "Hebrews" starts at the beginning: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see...By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible...
 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:1,3,6)  This is where it has to start! Anyone who does not believe in the existence of God is not going to pay attention to the rest of the story. Then, when we are willing to accept the idea that there is a God that created everything, and that He actually cares who we are, what we do, and that it is worth the time and effort to not only believe, but to follow what He says.

In the political climate that is currently accusing everybody they don't agree with of being a "Nazi", I ran across a very interesting discussion of why Hitler was aggressively trying to wipe out Jews, as well as Christians and a whole bunch of other people that he didn't think should be allowed to live. One thing that comes out in his writing is that he didn't respect Jews as well as Christians for being committed to an ethic that values all people and forbids the wholesale wiping out or enslaving of anybody and everybody who doesn't agree with his Norse pagan ideals of strength and dominance.  (The total death toll of this attempt is now estimated at 12-20 millions.)

We often hear somebody who doesn't want to pay attention to the traditional morals and ethics justify their opinion by saying "Jesus never said anything about...." , not realizing that He didn't have to say anything about teachings that were already accepted and understood in His culture. For example, He begins His discussion with Nicodemus by recognizing that Nicodemus is already an expert in Jewish law and tradition, and so He just needs to take him to the next step of developing a personal and essential relationship with God.  We have this story because we also need the same thing: to be "born again" as a child of God, committed to a personal relationship at a level higher than the external law and traditions.                   

The Best Matchmaker: God! by Linden Malki

We were created to live in relationships! One way we know how important this is, is to realize that almost every living creature depends on a relationship to reproduce--but we are each different within a an amazing individuality, and then realize the even greater variety of combinations of couples and singles within a community, not to mention an entire world, we realize how incredible our Creator is. The earliest story we have about how people are made to live together is the very first description that shows the first two people were not created to live alone, but with each other. The ideal is for this to be happy, but the difference in people and circumstances doesn't always work that way. One of the major concerns in most of our lives is to find a partner that we can live with (and ideally love, but that doesn't always work). One of the things I have found amazing with my family and friends is the surprises that God has for us in this journey--and the importance of paying attention.

God can do amazing things if we give him the chance! One of my sons got stood up by a date and left with a picnic lunch for two, and decided to call a high school friend that had been mentioned as someone he should get back in touch with--and eventually married. His brother went to college at Chapman University in Orange County, and met a girl from Seattle--where most of my family lives. One weekend he and his dad and I went up there for a family wedding and she was also in Seattle for the weekend--so we wound up meeting her up there. The cool thing about their eventual wedding in Seattle was having lots of my family there.  One of my daughter's cousins got a job with one of my customers, met a guy there who introduced my daughter to his brother--who she is still married to. And I wound up marrying a man that I met on a Dutch freighter between New York and Beirut--whose family there knew a cousin of mine who was a missionary there that Dad and I were visiting with Dad's brother. That was the surprise that got me to San Bernardino, where one of my Dad's best friends was the associate pastor of what was then Calvary Baptist Church. God's surprises are a lot better than our own plans!           

Families--the best and worst of life--by Linden Malki

Families can be the most wonderful and comforting place to live; or they can be the most terrible and painful environment that can be imagined. We can even see this in Scripture; what we have in the words of God are both the most beautiful and also the most depressing stories that we find in any literature. The Bible is honest; people have not changed in the millenia since the beginning. If we pay attention to the world around us, we find both the best and the worst.

I grew up in a neighborhood that had them both. My own family was not perfect (whose is?) but we got along relatively well and pretty much dealt with issues as they arose. My parents both grew up in Christian families, went to church regularly, were taught right from wrong and watched for opportunities to help people whenever we could. Our extended families were also raised in churches and get along with each other pretty well (in most cases). I thank God for watching out for us and blessing us in many ways.

Not all of our friends and neighbors were as fortunate. There were families on our block whose idea of raising kids was to shove them out the door in the morning and then step outside and cuss at them periodically; and not pay any actual attention to what they were doing. My mom did keep an eye out, so I avoided the worst of what was going on, but I realized later that I did learn too much too young about some things. Some of the families did pack the kids off to Confession on Saturdays, so they had some acquaintance with God; and my dad scooped as many of them as possible for VBS at our church. A few of them had parents who were involved in churches; and the only one that I am still in any regular touch with is one of them.

We mostly live around a similar mix of people; some healthy families and some totally dysfunctional, and everything in between. What can we do about it? We can live lives that demonstrate the best of what God intends for His people; we can watch for opportunities to show care and concern and words of wisdom (without being judgmental); and we can pray for those that are put in our path.

Our Relationship with Ourselves--by Linden Malki

We are learning that we are all different, and react differently to the stresses of our lives. That's something that we need to remember when we are trying to relate our own pain with someone else.  There are very few people who get through life without pain; but the first thing to remember is that life changes. Each of our days is unique; while we go through many of the same trials, each one of us experiences it differently. That doesn't mean that we can't learn from each other! In fact. one of the advantages is that we can learn from someone else who may have had something similar but discovered different lessons and insights that can help us cope--and share insights that may help someone else in their pain.

Some of us think we need to take over others' issues and solve everybody's problems, and then feel guilty when that doesn't happen the way we think it should. Sometimes we get hung up on the idea that nobody appreciates everything we do; however, we can fall into the trap of doing what we think we ought to do, and may or may not realize that our answers don't necessarily match the actual needs of the situation.  And we may need to face the fact that we can't do everything for everybody; that we see everybody else's shortcomings without seeing that the problem just might be our own lack of understanding ourselves. One of the biggest traps we need to recognize is that our own "feelings" are not a good gauge of the real world.

Yes, there are cases that require professional medical attention. But the most powerful therapy, in many cases, is  prayer and the willingness to listen and allow Him to change our life. One of the most important things to appreciate is that every day is a new day, and each day is a new opportunity. "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him." (Lamentations 3:22-25) This book was written in the days after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, and the Judean people scattered from Egypt to Iraq. However, they did persevere and maintain their relationship with God. They did survive in exile. Their nation was restored in about 400BC, only to be scattered again in 70AD, and there were communities of Jews in North Africa and Iraq as well as many parts of the world, until they were finally enabled to re-establish their nation within the last century.                                                       

How Real is your image? by Linden Malki

If someone were to meet  you for the first time,  do you form an immediate impression of them, or do you think first of their impression of you?  How aware are you of the impression you make on others? The emphasis in last week's study was the negative reactions we evoke in others--either deliberate or unconscious.  Even a blank face means something--often indicating the detachment of an Observer. ( It is interesting that the assumption is that the impression will be negative.)  What also is happening is that while the other person is evaluating you, you are evaluating them as well, and you are both judging each other and planning your own next reaction.  And to make it more fun, your reaction to each other might be immediately positive or negative; and you have the choice.  We can get hung up on a first impression, or we can withhold judgement while we watch for context--and try to guess what the other person is thinking.

Another type of reaction is to react positively, which is sometimes appropriate and sometimes not. Of course, usually it is more likely to get a positive reaction.  This is usually a good thing; if the other person has a positive attitude as well, you are off to a great start. If you can get an idea how their mind works, you can try to work with this rather than against it.

The more you get acquainted with how your own mind works, the more likely you are to recognize the similarities and differences with other people, and use this knowledge to make the most of whatever opportunities you have to work together--or recognize that you are not going to work together well without patience and goodwill. Part of the point of getting acquainted with your enneagram is to recognize ways to work with others--or recognize when that's not happening. We are not limited to the styles with our high scores; but we can learn different approaches to situations and people; some styles work well with seemingly opposite people; some don't work well with similar types. It is also helpful to watch our friends and co-workers for what they do well and what they do well to avoid!

We are all made in His image--but with different facets showing. Part of the process of recognizing our spiritual gifts and individual styles is praying for our eyes to be open to our calling, and to those who we can work well with in His church and His world.                                                         

Why can't we all get along?--by Linden Malki

We all value different things! This is the basis of most personality analysis programs, to recognize what we value, what we expect of others, what we are willing to offer others, and what we don't want. The Enneagram is one tool that can help us clarify and understand what we find important, what annoys us the most, and what we are willing to do about it. Another similar tool is Gary Chapman's "Love Languages", which help pinpoint what we like and expect of our relationships, and what we do not care about. In the real world of conflict, I think there are at least three things going on.

One is the content of the disagreement or hard feelings--what was said or not said/done or not done that set off the reaction. Often it is not clear or not understood why someone took offense at something that happened (or didn't happen), and someone else didn't see why it was important. Chapman describes five things that can be easily misunderstood in a relationship: the value of words, works, things, time and touch. In addition to whatever triggered the conflict, people have different ways of expressing their displeasure. Some people yell, some people clam up, some sulk, some leave the scene, some nag. Some people won't explain why they are angry, some people tell everybody.

Then if you recognize what is happening, there is the opportunity to do something about it. If you're ready to settle, compromise is a Good Thing.  An apology and asking forgiveness can be a growth experience. Agreeing to drop it is another possibility, especially if there is the commitment to actually let it die and not dig it up when somebody's being crabby. Some things can't be fixed, and have to be lived with (and hopefully learned from.) What is not pleasing to God is letting them simmer on the back of your life forever; this can become a generational cold prickly thing and take the joy out of your life. A grudge can poison your relationships for a long time.

What I have learned is obvious, but we don't always think of it. Prayer is a great healer! And I don't mean telling God how horrible someone is, but shut up and listen for His wisdom. He can give the strength to deal with the tough stuff, and the grace to let it die. He really is smarter than we sometimes give Him credit for!

God's Wisdom is better than our conflicts!--by Linden Malki

God's Wisdom is better than our conflicts!      Sept 22                                     

God didn't create our lives to be easy. Apparently we need to learn from Him, from His world, His word, and each other. The main command that Adam and Eve had to deal with wasn't objectively difficult, but their curiosity got the better of them. We can assume that Cain and Abel were informed of the requirements for an acceptable offering by God, but only Abel paid attention. The conflicts that resulted in our racial history were results of reality that didn't match the ideals we thought we could get away with. We have always faced the issue of our perceived needs vs the needs and realities of our lives and the lives of the others we share a planet with.

Have you ever known someone who grew up with an absence of pain and frustration? I recall a cousin who as a child was totally indulged--I was at their house at dinnertime once when he was about three, and he decided he didn't like the supper his mom had for him, and she actually ran to the store to buy what he demanded and cooked him a new supper. They were at our house at about this same age, and he was picking up stuff in the house (my mom didn't childproof a house, she houseproofed the child; I had learned very young to not get into anything without specific permission, which also meant they could take me anywhere).  When my mom tried to say something about this behavior, his mom's reply was "oh, let him play, if he breaks it I'll pay for it." Mom told me later that she was about ready to spank not the kid but her sister. He developed diabetes, which turned into a good thing because my aunt had to put appropriate limits on him.

God is like this: He gives a lot of rope, but also the information to deal properly with it. If we listen and learn, we will avoid a lot of the conflicts of life. If we don't learn in this life, we will have a harder life than we need, and pay for it in the

long run. He has given us good advisors, and when we still didn't listen well, He sent the wisest Teacher, who paid for our unwillingness to learn with His life. He will help us learn the smart answers from the evil and foolish advice if we ask; and we may be surprised at some of the ways we learn. Historically, we have paid for our stupidity with conflicts and pain;each one of us has our own lessons to learn in our own ways. It still comes back to the advice of a wise missionary aunt who told me when I was about to get married, that things worked better when we put God first.

Relationships--we are not alone! by Linden Malki

John, in his vision of God reaching down to Earth and preparing the end of time as we know it, tells of Jesus at the door of His church, knocking for His people to answer and invite Him in to fellowship. This invitation is not for strangers, but for people who should already know Him. There are those who claim to know who He is, and what He requires, but He is still remote and not involved in their daily life. He had already spent two thousand years speaking to those who would listen, but even after another two thousand years there are still those who know about Him, and may even spend a lot of time talking to Him and but don't actually listen to Him.  There are times when He approaches us, and we realize that we are not walking alone; and there are times when we need to stop and clear our cluttered minds, and do it His way from the start rather than having him straighten out the mess we made on our own.

He also wants us to know ourselves--it's easy to take other people's valuation of us, which can be anywhere from dirt underfoot all the way up to too good to be true. St Paul advised the Romans: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." (Romans 12:3) This applies in the other direction as well; we occasionally see the poster that says "God doesn't make junk". This is true, He doesn't, but we don't have to look around much to see that we can do that on our own. Jesus said to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." So if we keep our eyes on Him, He will have His eyes on us, and we don't need to worry who we are because He knows us better than we do.

And He gives us a world--a creation that is wild and beautiful, and that helps keep us "grounded". We should be constantly aware of the beauty of the world, and our place in it, the incredible place He made for us to live; and we also need to be aware of the world of people, those who He put in our lives for us to relate to as His sons and daughters, both for good and for challenges. We need to be aware of our blessings--a God who wants to be in relationship with us; who made us and blesses us; and a beautiful world that is full of His children, for us to share His blessings with!

Do we recognize God's call for us and our world?--by Linden Malki

Isaiah had it easier--he didn't question the vision he was given of God's calling. He did have a choice, however; God did ask, rather than demand. Jonah didn't get the choice; he tried to run the wrong way but got sidetracked by a fish. Noah was already in an obedient relationship when he was called to build an ark. Abram's father Terah got halfway to where God wanted him to go, but Abram heard God's promise and followed it, to become the father of a nation.  God spoke to Jacob, to Moses, to Joshua, to others in many different ways, but with a common message: I want you to know Me, and be committed to My Word. 

We are called as individuals, but we are also called to community. When Moses was called, he was called not to serve God by himself alone, but to go and call his extended tribal families to not just listen, but do something. They were offered an escape from a life of servitude, to a land where Abraham had originally been called. Their call was not only to go somewhere, but to be a demonstration of God's plan for the creatures that He had created. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah and others recognized God's call to all the nations, but it didn't happen in their day; in fact, what did happen was the development of a very ingrown society, that recognized God's works but saw them only applying to their own "chosen people".

What it took to break out of this impasse was Jesus, who didn't limit His message to His own society, but went out of His way to respond to Samaritans, Greeks, and even Romans, the despised imperial overlords. As Jesus' story spread beyond His own people, we see all sorts of different people responding to the call that Jesus brought. We also see followers of His followers who responded to call, recognizable as from the same Source as that originally given to Noah and Abram/Abraham. We see it coming to people like St Patrick, St Boniface, Martin Luther, and others down through generations, and we see it coming to each of us as well, if we are open to His call to live His life and pass it on!

FIRE:Connecting with God--by Linden Malki

The first mention of fire in Scripture is in connection with worship: the instruction given for the offering that God required of Noah after the flood.  We can see several points of it's being a "burnt offering"; one is that it is destroyed in the process, and the smoke rises upwards toward God. In some cases, the roasted offering became food for the priests and for those celebrating Passover.  We can probably assume that the original Passover celebrations, if any, happened at Shiloh or Jerusalem. After the split in the Kingdom, there appears to be a revival of Passover celebrations at the time of Hezekiah and later, Josiah. It appears that the celebrations were observed more regularly after the Second Temple was built under Nehemiah. A central part of the celebrations was the sacrifice of the Passover lamb (or young goat) until the destruction of the Temple in 70AD.

It is interesting that this tradition lasted up through the whole of the Old Testament period, until the second Temple was destroyed.  The decision was made by the Jewish leadership to discontinue the offerings until the Temple was again available. When the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, was recovered in the 1967 war, a small organization of religious  Jews began preparing for the reestablishment of the sacrifices and other traditions, even though the Temple area is still under the control of the Muslim authorities and not available to Jews.

The traditional Passover sacrifice, however, is not dead. When the Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 700 BC, there were still Samaritans living in the original area of the cities of Samaria and Nablus, maintaining their old traditions. At their largest, under Roman rule, it is estimated that there were about  million Samaritans still holding to their traditions, similar to but not identical to the Jewish communities.  There are about 800 left now, overlapping the line between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank.  Their annual Passover celebration still maintains the tradition of  sacrificing a young sheep or goat per family in a communal fire pit as part of the Passover meal. They also attract visitors interested in observing this 3600 year old celebration.   
                                                                                                                 
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We may Hide, but God Seeks--by Linden Malki

The first reaction to the first breakdown between God and His creatures is that they hid. Why they thought that would accomplish anything is not clear--it seems like such a trivial thing. They knew, however, that the bite of the fruit wasn't the point--the issue at hand was obedience.  This was also the point of the offerings that Cain and Abel made--Abel had made the effort of doing what God had asked, and Cain apparently didn't bother, and then took it out on Abel--and then tried to avoid admitting it,  and was banished; he was marked and then banished from God's presence.

There were times that God hid Himself from people; in cases where people had rejected Him the relationship was destroyed.  Most often, though, it was God who chose  the people who He had plans for: Noah, whose contemporaries were so disobedient to God that He made that separation permanent; and the Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph who were called to be the ancestors of a nation. God revealed Himself to Moses and Joshua, and they were called to lead God's people out of captivity to a Promised Land (with a few glitches on the way). The next few centuries were tough, as the people were learning to become a nation; there was a century where the tribes did build a thriving society, and then it fell apart. The Northern tribes rebelled. and were absorbed by the Assyrians and a whole string of later empires, and only a few Samaritans kept a thin thread of knowledge of God alive to this day.  The Southern Kingdom, where the royal line of David lasted a few more centuries, with their relationship marked by high and low times; to a point where the words of God that had survived in hiding were found in the Temple, and kept the traditions and laws alive. What is amazing is that as forgetful and evil that people have been, God has never allowed them to be totally lost, without hope. The survival of the Jews through the Greek and Roman centuries and then exile for 1900 years, and the survival of the Church from a few followers who spent various stretches under persecution to a community that has touched a good percentage of today's world, are reminders that God has not forgotten His people, no matter how rough times have been. 

We need to remember that God has never forgotten, even when we as human beings have treated each other badly and have been forced into hiding, both as communities and as individuals. It may be tempting to just lay low, not make waves; and that has been appropriate in some times and places. In this past century, both the Jewish community and the Church have been driven into hiding in some times and places; but it looks like God's not through with us yet. 

Seeking His Perfection in an Imperfect World --by Linden Malki

Even Jesus had to deal with people who hated him--so we shouldn't be surprised when people are unhappy with us. Sometimes everybody knows why somebody has it "in" for us; sometimes we have no idea what the issue is.  There was a girl in our high school youth group that I had been good friends with for several years, and somehow I started hearing from other people that she was trying to sabotage me for no good reason that I could ever find out.  At a recent high school reunion she was my friend again..  This seems to be life in this world; we can't please everybody all the time.                                                                                                                           

There are different attitudes behind different people.  There are some people who have no idea of right and wrong; and if we get in their way we can't predict the result. Sometimes we can apologize and clear the air; sometimes there is no way to explain why something is unacceptable to someone who doesn't have the concept. About all we can do is stay out of the situation as much as possible and pray hard (and privately)against the evil we see.  And of course be open to the other person to mellow out and listen--it can happen. One thing that doesn't help is arguing--this sets up a defensive reaction that can make things worse.                                                                                                               
                               

Another kind of person we can have to deal with is someone who does "know the rules", but is determined to do it themselves. On one hand they can be very judgmental about other people, but convinced that they've got it all together by themselves and don't need anything from anybody--not even God. (Remember those Paul mentions in Galatians 2 who were so sure they could be justified by the Law?) Sometimes we find these folks inside the church, so sure they know what everybody should be doing; and sometimes we find them on the outside;,convinced that they don't need us.

What makes the difference between the self-sufficient believer and the one who is truly justified in Christ is accepting the knowledge that we cannot live the "good life" on our own; that it requires our dependence on Christ and the presence of the Spirit to forgive each other and truly know His forgiveness. Yes, we are still living in an imperfect world, and will be imperfect on occasion, but we have the answer in Jesus's sacrifice and the power that we have in Him to truly seek forgiveness for our own missteps and to truly forgive those who have tripped us up. 

Memories of Groups in my Church Experience--by Linden Malki

I grew up in an American Baptist church in Spokane, Washington, and the first group I recall specifically was a 6th grade Sunday School class, taught by my mother. She had been a teacher before she married, and she was really determined that we should memorize basic Scripture passages. I had no choice-and Psalm 23, the nativity passage in Luke 2, the Easter passage in Matthew 28, and the Beatitudes,  are still with me.  The other group experience from that church is high school Baptist Youth Fellowship, which was basically run by us kids; we had adult advisers, but the studies, activities, music, and mission projects were our responsibility. At that time, there was an active local interchurch youth group that did fellowship events and local projects, one of which was a community Easter sunrise service in a large park. This was organized and run by a bunch of us high school kids (we did draft a local pastor as the main speaker) with minimal adult supervision.

When I came to San Bernardino, it was with a brand-new husband who was already attending what was then Calvary Baptist Church, and the associate pastor at that time turned out to be a pastor who had been in Spokane before I was born, and one of my father's best friends. This was when the Sierra Way facility was just being finished, and my older daughter was one of the first babies dedicated here.  This was before the Children's building and Fellowship Hall were built, and the offices and nursery facility was in the quadraplex at the north end of the property. Child care was done by a rotation of moms and volunteer high school girls, and a good way to get to know each other. I also got involved in a women's weekday Bible study group, which lasted several years until one summer when most of the moms moved or had other life changes. 

When my kids were in grade school, I was asked by Betty Jo Graves, then Sunday School Superintendent, to teach a third grade class, which led to becoming involved in children's ministry and youth ministry for some years; teaching, drama, and music, up through the years that my younger son and Chris Reinhard were in our high school group. Pastor Paul Reinhard came back from a sabbatical in 2005 with a vision for small-group ministry, and we developed a program of home-based Life Groups, which have now become the Sandals Community Group ministry. The group that I am currently involved in grew out of the midweek worship service we did before the Sandals merger, and is a valuable resource for keeping on track with God's vision for our church family.     

God's School for His Children--by Linden Malki

Jesus was basically raised "in church".  He went to  synagogue regularly, and the major pilgrimage holidays most years. He collected a group of students/mentorees at the beginning of his ministry, and after his resurrection, he spent time with the "family" he had developed. His last words to his followers, when he was preparing them for his return to his Father, were for them to first, spend time in prayer with each other, and then to build a fellowship to continue his mission on this earth. This is the pattern for what became the "church" as his Word broke out of its dependency on the Jewish community.

We can see the plan--the Jerusalem church stayed centered on a core of people from the Jewish community. We can see the kicking and screaming as the Peter and Paul and Barnabas and others brought reports of the Gospel breaking out of its kindergarten.  One thing that happened is that James, Jesus' brother and the heir to the leadership of the community, was pushed off of a parapet of the Temple and clubbed to death at the bottom. Then when the political situation in Jerusalem was getting rough, that little group remembered Jesus' warnings about the disintegration coming, and followed the instructions to get out of town.  Where they went was Pella, a Greek city on the other  side of the Jordan valley, one of the Decapolis cities. Religiously, it is said to have originally had only the Gospel of Matthew, and was known for its care of the poor. It was conquered in 635 by a Moslem army, but as late as 2002 there was still a Roman Catholic bishop there (that part of Jordan had a fairly large minority of Christians when I was there in 1963, but I don't know how they have done since. That area has always been somewhat isolated from the mainstream church).

We also can watch the stories of the spread of churches throughout the world--this has always been a major connection that God has made with His children. We need the support of others on the same path; to keep each other accountable and engaged. It can be easy for a church to get off track; pay more attention to the surface piety of the people but don't see the reality in attitude or real life. We are part of a global family, but we need to be connected with the realities of growing spiritually in a world that does not support healthy relationships with each other and with the most important Relationship  in our lives.                                                                           

Dealing with the Power of Evil--by Linden Malki

The Apostle Paul says a scary thing in his discussion of sin and death in Romans 7: that even when we know God and His Law we are still subject to the possibility of sin.  In fact, he goes on to say that the Law itself brings knowledge of sin, in that we become aware of it as something that we are responsible for but will still fail in our own efforts.
This is when we find ourselves in a situation where we are aware of the laws that we still find ourselves on the wrong side of, but we can recognize that we do have His Spirit available to make us aware of both the nature of sin and that we have the power available to overcome it. Even when we don't live up to the Law, we do have the recognition of where we have messed up, and the knowledge that we are forgiven.

We are supposed to recognize evil when we see it, and to recognize that we are not called to overcome it on our own. Step one is recognition: what we don't recognize we can't deal with. We can get ourselves in trouble because we are not even aware that the problem exists, and it's a battle that we lose because we did nothing.  The next step is awareness that the Law gives us a tool to recognize it. If we deal with it with our own best efforts, we may make some progress in dealing with it. and it may even lead to pride in our efforts. We are still dealing with it on our own strength. There is another step: recognizing the evil power that may be involved, and this means it  needs spiritual power.If we don't have a relationship with a source of spiritual power, we are helpless.  Evil wants us to think that we are helpless. If we have the power of the Holy Spirit in our life, we have a source of power to call on, but if we don't apply this power, we're still behind the curve. What will answer the question is to stop trying to deal with it on our own, admit that we are powerless on our own, and give it to the Spirit that can handle it.

Sometimes we forget that evil is real; temptation is real, and sometimes the best answer is to not try to handle it on our own; walk away and leave it alone.

God's Freedom--by Linden Malki

It sounds simple. When the idea of "freedom" crosses our mind, the the first thing we think of is being able to do whatever we feel like doing. The problem is that we don't have control over everything that is involved with what we do.  This was brought home one afternoon about ten years ago, one fine afternoon one of my nephews jumped on his motorcycle to visit a cousin in the Hemet area. What he didn't know about was the truck in a dip on Hiway 74, and the effect of a few drinks on his reflexes. He never made it home.

The subject of "freedom" is more complex than it seems.  If we are not free to do whatever we want without consequences, is there a "freedom" that is worth seeking?  I think there is, and it is related to our last few weeks' studies.  We know that God offers us a relationship with Him that offers us freedom from sin if we accept it.  One of the benefits of this relationship is the presence of His Spirit in us; and this offers us opportunities to serve and witness in ways that we can't do on our own. This gives us the freedom from the limitations of our human strength, and the power to love people--and God--that we can't do on our own. and the wisdom to avoid the pitfalls that we could trip over on our own.

The underlying gift here is one that is often referred to as "moral freedom"--the gift that transforms our human, limited  will into one that is based His perfect will--so that we can truly "will as we ought." His Will offers us security as well as freedom; like the gate to the complex where I work, open and welcoming for the most part, but if required it can be secured against the problems of the world.

God's Mountaintop--by Linden Malki

"There are many roads to the top of the mountain"  is a commonly heard statement when people are discussing religious beliefs. The idea seems to be that we can choose our path, and somehow get to a place of our own ideals by our own efforts. As Christians, we believe that we don't get to a mountaintop by our own effort. We read in Scripture that God is reaching down to us, and He will bring us to His presence "‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. Our response is to accept His free gift--and commit to following Him.

This offer gives us the power to be His children; and we don't have to keep struggling to find a path to Him.  It also means that we are given the ideals and the strength to follow Him in His power, not our own; that the good works He has for us come with His strength and ability. When we accept Him, we have the forgiveness bought by Jesus in His love, and also the indwelling Spirit in our lives.

This also gives us the gifts of His Spirit, which come in a variety of special experiences.  We can experience His Word through studying and reading, and we find that there is something new for us every day. We can make a point of listening for Him, and we will find answers to issues that we are dealing with in life. We get taken care of--not according to our desires, but according to His best for us. i have had amazing things happen in my life; things that are beyond my wildest expectations. I have had mountaintop experiences, sometimes in answer to my needs, and sometimes an unexpected breakthrough that gives us a new understanding of His Creation. I've had  answers to glitches in life that are like little sprinkles of His love. I have had amazing people drop in and out of my life; some of them have brought experiences that have cost pain, but something that I've needed to learn. Some of them have brought opportunities to serve Him and His people in special ways. Sometimes it's like a visit from St Nicholas, who was himself a great servant of God.  I am grateful for gifts of words and music, that He has given me to use to bless others, to enable children and teens to share His stories, and to enable  His people praise Him in songs.
Living on His bedrock, His solid mountain, gives us both the underlying base of His presence. the overflowing surprises of His Spirit, and the most amazing horizons!                                                 

God's Story--by Linden Malki

God is a story teller!  We have the evidence of the Bible, which has stories in almost every book.  There are also historical records, which also include stories of people, some of who we don't have any other information about. The Bible has people constantly poking their heads out and turning into a story. This tells some things about God: He cares about individual people, and He thinks in stories. This is not just seen in the Bible;  every culture that we know anything about has its own repertory of stories.
We are told that we are created in the "image of God."  I suspect this is a recognition of the idea that our minds work, obviously in a much more limited way, like the Mind of God.  Jesus said "The King dom of God is like....." everyday things that we take for ordinary, but that demonstrate the likeness of our minds with His.  I find it interesting that we can recognize the humanity, the weaknesses and the strength of people we see in the Bible, and also in other literary works, from a wide variety of times and places. We think we can fly, but too often we crash and burn. He lets us try, and picks up the pieces. We can imagine things that are out of our everyday existence, and He lets us tap into His Mind. And He reminds us that His creation is still incredibly bigger and weirder than we imagine--or can imagine.
He tells us what is good for us, and what it bad. He gives us the choice, but it has consequences. The story is always bigger than we realize, but He allows us to reach for the stars. The world He put us on is bigger than we imagine, but fragile in ways we don't expect and can't predict; there is always more to learn.
God spent 2000 years working with a family that became a nation, but when it was time for them to go the next steps to a more challenging relationship with Him, the nation that was called to be His pilot program wasn't ready for the next chapter. They wanted to do it themselves; and were not ready to move up a step to a more challenging but more rewarding relationship with Him. God's story is always bigger than we know; bigger than we can know. Paul was called to tell the next chapter; and we're still trying to learn to stretch our minds an
d hearts into His Story.

Unending Wisdom--by Linden Malki

At a senior adult Bible study group, a lady came up to the group leader and said, "I want you to know that I still have the faith I had as a small child." The group leader said she had to bite her tongue to avoid answering , "Oh, you poor thing!"  I remember talking and praying with my kids as children, and being amazed at the questions they asked; they had come up with most of the classic questions that we don't have answers to, like "Who made God?" by the age of six. This is one of the times in our lives when we are asking the hard questions, and being disappointed that nobody on this earth has the answers. I love talking to these kids, but we don't want them to stay "stuck" at that spiritual age. It can happen, however, that people get  "stuck" in an early stage of Christian knowledge.  I have heard comments from folks who feel they had the kindergarten level of belief down pat but needed to go on to first grade.
The Jewish community realized during their captivity in Babylon, 2500 years ago, that they needed to make a special effort to keep their knowledge of God alive even without the city of Jerusalem and its Temple. This is where the Jewish synagogues got their start;  the community could gather to pray, to read, to study, and to keep the traditions and their relationship to God alive in a pagan environment. Even after many of them were able to return to Judea and rebuild the temple, they still maintained the synagogues as a source of study and celebration. We know that Jesus normally went to synagogue services on the Sabbath, and he was often asked to read the Scriptures to the gathering.  The Jews of the Greek and Roman periods were, as far as we know, generally literate, especially  the men. There are passages in Acts that have the Temple establishment dismiss Jesus' followers as uneducated, but I believe that they were being classed as not being professional scholars like they (and St Paul) were.  Today, Jewish boys (and girls, if they want) are expected to be able to read Scripture in public by the age of 12 or 13. This has evolved into the Bar Mitzvah event, where those being welcomed as being responsible for their own religious life recite a passage of Scripture in Hebrew, indicating their status as adults.
We have the interesting story in Luke about a trip to a major celebration in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12 years old. I suspect that included in the event was the equivalent of a Bar Mitzvah, We do know that he passed the "test" with flying colors, and the head priests and scholars at the event were so impressed at his knowledge of Scripture that they wound up discussing it with him for three days.  (When Mary and Joseph finally figure out where he was, his answer was that he needed to be "about His Father's business".)  He had apparently had the lessons that were normal for his time and place,  but He also had a direct line into the Source of wisdom, which He kept open until the end of His time on earth. He didn't make a big show out of His mastery of Scripture, but  He did have it at His fingertips as needed. Our challenge: do we keep this connection open as well? I recall my grandmother still reading her Bible to the end of her long life (she lived to be 93, with mind completely clear).  No matter how often we read it, we will keep finding new insights and challenges it--and it will keep us growing in faith as long as we are open for it.

The Younger Brother--by Linden Malki

Jesus told a story about a man who had two sons; one of whom asked for his inheritance and blew it; while his older brother stayed home, worked hard, and knew he was a better son than his brother.  Jesus was looking around at his older brothers as he told this story;  the people he had grown up with, who saw themselves as the good, obedient sons of God. In fact, these good guys kept reminding Jesus that they were the sons of Abraham and Moses.
The early Church had to deal with this attitude as well; many of the Jews who had followed Jesus also lived as the obedient brothers and looked down on the outsiders who pushed their way into the fellowship without bothering with the Law. They took seriously their position as God's chosen people, as it is written in the Torah: "You are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession." (Deuteronomy 14:2) They had been scandalized first by the casual way Jesus occasionally pushed the Law beyond what they saw as the limits, but when his followers welcomed not only Jews but Gentiles to have a relationship with God without any effort to observe the Law that they had lived by for generations. They remind me of the older brother in the parable; he did everything right, and is promised his inheritance--but he watched his younger brother, the one that blew his share of the inheritance, get the party and the fatted calf.
This was a problem in that original organization. When Jerusalem appeared to be on the crosshairs of the Roman army, the original church based in Jerusalem watched James, Jesus brother killed, and they fled across the Jordan into the hinterland.  Eventually, that church faded out, but its younger brother flourished all around the Mediterranean, and is now almost everywhere on earth. Paul used the metaphor of adoption to explain what had happened here; they were the other brothers that God reached out to and brought into His family even without the Law. It may sound easier, to not have to deal with the traditional Law, but it demands not just the superficial obedience that the Jews had finally figured out, but adoption also means that we are also given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will live in us and keep us in the right relationship with God the Father.
Adoption is a very old practice; we see it as early as Moses, who was raised with advantages that his birth parents couldn't give him, but he ultimately was the redeemer of his original birth family (and incidentally, the younger son.) I have two grandchildren who are adopted children, and they are delightful young people who are greatly loved.  As adopted children of God, we are also greatly loved, and owe God our greatest thanks for bringing us into His family.

What is Truth?--by Linden Malki

We live in a society that claims to be obsessed with "Truth" but tosses around accusations and judgments as if yelling louder made a difference.  Jesus was arrested and put on trial because the authorities of His day were afraid that the fragile balance of power they had been balancing on would collapse if He was taken at His word. The man on the spot, Pontius Pilate, whose main interest was keeping the lid on the simmering pot that was Judah, listened to the accusations, asked this one question: "What is Truth?" and washed his hands of the situation. It is ironic that he is primarily remembered for being the man on this particular spot.

People love to quote (or misquote) Jesus'  teaching that "the Truth will set you free."  Most people don't know the context of this statement.  The actual beginning of the teaching is "If you are my disciples, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free". The Jewish "experts" replied that they were Abraham's decendants and had never been slaves. They seem to have forgotten what they had been commanded to remember: that they had at one time been slaves, and had been set free--to be witnesses to the world of the power of God. They did not know that they were being set up to be witnesses to Jesus' words that  He was "the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and no man comes to the Father without Him."  What they had thought was a conflict between their tradition and Jesus' words were actually an opportunity that they missed, similar to what Paul tried to explain to the Galatians: that the conflict between the traditional Jewish law and the promise of grace and salvation brought by Jesus would explode into a movement that would eventually be preached to the whole world.

In one way, this is a truth that needs to be shouted to the world, but it also has its place in each individual family: we are also to witness to the Truth of salvation brought by Jesus to each household; that the truth needs to be not only taught but witnessed to by parents, especially fathers, who are called to be the guardians of truth in their families. The family is under attack in the world we live in today, and we are called to stand for truth in each generation--the truth that sets us free to live in the grace of our Heavenly Father.

Growing Under Pressure--by Linden Malki

We are fortunate that we not only have Paul's Letters to the  churches, but background on Paul himself and also the men and women who were part of the team that changed the world. Paul, after his encounter with Jesus spent some time in Damascus, but then after a short time in Jerusalem, where he spent time with Peter and James (the brother of Jesus, who had assumed leadership of the Jerusalem church,) and then disappeared for several years.  James himself was martyred in Jerusalem in 62, shortly before the Roman conquest. He was thrown off of a parapet of the Temple wall and clubbed to death at the bottom.  The church there took the warnings of Jesus in Matthew 24 seriously and fled to Pella, across the Jordan River .

When a church began to grow in Antioch, Barnabas knew that Paul was the man that was needed, and where to find him.  Over the next few years, Paul was on the road (or boat) in Asia Minor, and then  Greece, and then Italy.  The first journey was with Barnabas and his nephew John Mark; and then they were recalled to Jerusalem.  There, the church was in a major discussion about the question of the relationship between the traditional Jewish law and the call to faith in Jesus and His salvation through faith. Peter was there as well, and he had had his own vision from God about the issue of the food laws and God's acceptance of faith without requiring the traditional Jewish law—but Paul later called Peter out for being intimidated by Jews who claimed to follow Jesus but insisted on requiring following the old law as well.

Over the years, Paul travelled  not only with Barnabas and Mark, who later were founders of churches in Cyprus., but also with Silas, who as with Paul when they wound up in prison in Philippi. Silas wound up assisting Peter, was possibly in Rome when Peter and Paul were martyred under Nero. Timothy was sent to Ephesus, where he was eventually martyred.  Luke joined Paul in Troas, and travelled with him back to Jerusalem and then Rome.  He is said to have lived to be 84, and is said to have been buried in Thebes, Egypt.

Paul was blessed with other associates as well, who worked with him, travelled with him, wound up in leadership of churches all over the eastern Mediterranean, and many were themselves martyred.  Churches were pressured, but most survived. And Jerusalem itself was conquered and destroyed, and Rome itself was eventually sacked as well. The stories of the early churches were chronicled and kept, and it has been said that there are records still available to us with enough references and quotations to reconstruct virtually the entire New Testament, in the same words that we have in our hands.