N.O. Words

I'm all questions and no answers when it comes to the New Orleans situation. And my questions don't even seem worth asking. You've probably got the same questions. I don't have any great words to say about this. I doubt there are any.

A few words

In about 2 weeks I will be celebrating Yom Teruah, better known as Rosh Hashanna. Rosh Hashanna means head of the year, even though it's the first day of the 7th month. Throughout the Bible this day is usually called Yom Teruah, which means day of shouting. It is the day of the last trumpet. Shavuot (Pentecost) is the first trumpet, Yom Teruah is the last trumpet. Rabbis say that Rosh Hashanna was the day that God created Adam. It is the day that man accepts God's kingship. Later in the month are the biblical holidays of Yom Kippur and Sukkot (Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles). As I've said before, the spring festivals (i.e. Passover) point to the first coming of messiah. The fall festivals point to his second coming.

Would some Christians mind enlightening me? Jews needed Passover to point to Messiah (the shadow pattern thing) right? But it most obviously pointed backwards to the exodus to help them remember what God had done. Why dont Christians keep the Passover pointing back to help them remember what God did both in the exodus and on the cross? And why dont Christians keep the fall feasts which point to the second coming?

By the way, not eating milk and meat together, women not braiding their hair or wearing jewelry, and not eating leaven on saturday are not commands found in the torah. The first one is a rule that rabbis have made up, the hair and jewelry is from Paul, and Unleavened Bread is during the week of Passover.

And the torah does lead to Jesus. That's the whole point.

To do list

I have things to do, but is there enough time left to do them?

I have truth to seek, but will I ever be sure that I have found it?

I have things to say, but can words convey the meaning?

I have people to love, but will I know them when I see them?

I Gotta Outgo

So I went to Starbucks yesterday morning (after I went running and saw two pretty white horsies off in the distance.) to try out my wireless internet card thing (which I can't get to work with my computer anywhere except for at the school because my explorer is set to work for the school network and I dont know how to change it). And I noticed that the barista guy was way outgoing and friendly and upbeat, the way I should be at Central Market. And yesterday at work I got my performance review thing (and a raise) and was reminded that I need to engage the customers (talk to them).

I'm really working on the whole not caring a lot about what other people think of me. It holds me back from doing a lot of things. I'm afraid of looking dumb because I don't already know everything about everything. I thought I had more of a point to this post, but that's all I'm writing.

Cover a Multitude

I keep being reminded that I need to tell people not to sin, and that when I see people sinning, I should tell them to stop. But it's kinda uncomfortable when some of the things I believe are sins other people don't think are sins. It's tough enough when we both agree that what they're doing is wrong. But then when it will lead to a debate about scripture and whether this is right or wrong and why have they never even heard this before. So I've pretty much kept my mouth shut, except for on my blogs and when people ask me about what I believe. Still I'm torn, because I know there's a better way. But I'm not doing everything right. I feel like I have to stop sinning completely before I can tell anyone else what is right or wrong. So I wait for them to open the door. When they realize that I believe a bit differently they ask questions at the beginning. But then they stop. It's like they want to know sorta what I believe, but not why. I prefer the debating to the apathy; not because I have a desire to argue, but because it shows that they care; and the Bible as our standard for faith and practice is something we should care about.

John the Baptist got the whole scoop on what I believe a couple weeks ago at work. He drilled me in between customers. And we even moved on to the debate portion. But he hasn't talked about it since. He just resumed quizzing me about the Bible as he had before, i.e. what's John 17 about? He did quite a few yesterday. He would just say a chapter, and I would tell him the subject. He did it, in his words, "to see if he knows what he thinks he knows." He is impressed that I know the Bible pretty well, because so many people don't. He said he's gonna start quizzing me on the Old Testament now. He says he knows it better than the New. We'll see what happens.

Plan B

"We are the all singing all dancing crap of the world" We can preach, we can teach, we can love. We sow seed, we water. The person will either grow in God or fall away. Give up trying to change people. A teenager's life appears to be transformed and a few years later she falls back into worse despair than she was in before. A girl's prayer request every day for years is that her daddy will get saved; he comes to church and everyone rejoices; but the family is still not perfect, and years later she's shacked up with a guy who's nothing but trouble. The youth pastor's pet is a pervert. The pastor's kid is a pot-head. Teach good doctrine, teach the best doctrine you know, people will believe what they want. You can live in an area where there are 8 churches within 3 blocks and over 20 good size churches within a mile radius and still be living in the biggest dope dealing complex in south Dallas. Of course probably very few of the churches have any sound biblical teaching. Motivational speakers seem to be replacing pastors. Are church families too disconnected and dysfunctional? Shouldn't someone have seen the warning signs? What is a shepherd for, anyways?! When your church building looks like a football stadium it's probably kinda hard to keep track of all the sheep (and more than a few goats and wolves surely blend into the flock as well).

This life is supposed to be more than just waiting to get to heaven. It's more than handing out tickets for people to wait in line for heaven. I can't change anybody's mind. I can't change anybody period. Someday I'll give up trying. Then I'll be who I'm supposed to be.

The Kingdom of God

In Numbers 25, Phinechas, Aaron's grandson, thrusts a spear through a couple of fornicating idolators. God praises him for being zealous/jealous for God's honor, and stopping God's wrath. Yet even with God's wrath halted, 24,000 people had died.

The Kingdom of God. God as King. Rebellion against a king is treason and deserving of death. God had a lot of people killed in the days of Moses, Joshua, and the Judges. He used natural disasters, plagues and people to wipe out lots of people. In the prophets we see that God would use nations to punish nations.

I believe God is still the same. He can use war and nature for his own good and just purposes. Everybody dies sometime. God can decide when and how. I think we miss some of the messages he is sending by means of wrath, because we like to think that he's not like that anymore. When terrible things happen I think we should point the finger at God and ask "Why?" He might have an answer that we should listen to.

"Hear O Israel, YHVH our God, YHVH is one. Blessed be the Name of his Glorious Kingdom for all eternity." It is recited three times a day by observant Jews. In doing so, they are to be accepting God's reign in their lives. Agreeing to live as obedient servants to YHVH their King.

"The Kingdom of God is within you." Am I in my mind a slave to God's law? Am I still in my flesh a slave to sin? Am I trying to serve two masters?

With my mouth and my heart I pledge allegiance to God alone. The blood of patriots (and rebels) may give us a temporary superficial freedom, but the blood of Messiah gives us true freedom.

YHVH Nissi. The LORD is my Banner. (anybody remember the childrens church song "his banner over me is love"?)

Cuz this is just crazy!

read more about the picture here.

read more of what I've written about the Shema (Hear O Israel) here, here, here, and here.

5th of July

In case you were wondering, I had a good 4th. I got up before 6 am. and went to work at 7:15. I got off at 1:30 and went home and had a nice afternoon of quiet time. I called my mom and told her happy birthday. I spent the evening with Joy. You can read about the fireworks and stuff in her post, cuz she wrote so wonderfully and I gotta go. I just paid a bunch of bills. Yippee!

Discriminate

“Hey! Hey, man.”

I guess he’s calling me. So I get back out of my car and see the black man walking towards me in the apartment parking lot.

“Jimbo” he extends his hand.

“Joshua” we shake hands.

“Do you play guitar?”

“A little bit.”

“I don’t mean to sound racist or anything . . .”

I was unaware of the stereotype that black people have that young white males play guitar. John the Baptist at work, who happens to be of a darker skin tone, also assumed that I play guitar. But, maybe it’s not that I’m white, maybe I just look like a guitar player.

I was working next to someone from SAGU the other day. I gave a customer her change, $7.24. I told my coworker, “Her change was the same as my birthday, seven twenty-four!”

A couple of customers later a woman bought a six pack. Her total was $7.24. I told my coworker, “Wow, her beer cost the same as my birthday, seven twenty-four.”

He said something like, “Then you have an evil birthday.” His comment was based on the idea that beer is just plain bad.

We talked for a while and he held firm that he planned to never drink beer. But he said that he would probably have wine at his wedding… and dancing.

There is a stereotype in this subculture that beer drinkers are bad people.

Saturday, I mentioned to someone that I went to “church” that morning. He asked if I was Seventh day Adventist. I’m not.

In the A/G bylaws under “Legalism” they state that you shouldn’t add conditions to salvation, such as resting on the seventh day.

When people find out that I keep Sabbath and don’t eat pork they label me as “legalistic” (well, first they ask me if I’m Jewish) and they usually assume that I’m trying to earn my salvation by works. I'm not trying to earn my salvation. I'm trying to obey God.

Stereotypes and double standards. A/G bylaws state that you shouldn’t press your opinions concerning the seventh day onto others. But they also say that you should tithe the way they want you to tithe.

Why are wine and shrimp okay, but beer is bad?

I wonder if Jimbo is good at basketball. But he was kinda short so he’s probably more of a football player.

weekly

Been workin. John the Baptist tried starting theological debates with me. All the stuff he wants to argue about is so pointless. let's talk about something that has to do with our every day lives.

tonight i'm making dinner for joy and some friends. last week we had the mooy's over. i'm so grown up. ha. if you want me to make you dinner next week, email me, call me, or leave a comment.

Juneteenth

Joy doesn't want me to write about work. But all I've been doing lately is working and hanging out with her. So, with the exception of Joy, I don't have much to write about.

Juneteenth is coming up soon. I hadn't even heard of it until a couple semesters ago in MESA (Multi Ethnic Student Association). It's the celebration of when the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the slaves in Galveston, Texas in 1865, two years late.

Listening.

There's this new guy at work. His name is Jacob. He's just a bagger for now. He is short and has grey curly hair and a moustache. He has a peculiar way of moving. He reminds me of my high school Bible teacher. He also has an accent and reminds me of Robin Williams in "Jacob the Liar". I asked him were he is from and he said Russia. I asked him his last name and he said that it is too long and confusing. But I asked him again and he said it and I was able to repeat it. He was impressed by my name saying skills. He's a cool little man.

Last night, when it was getting close to closing time, the manager turned off the air conditioning. It was deafeningly silent. I noticed that there wasn't music playing like there usually is. I heard the beeps of the registers. Crinkling of bags. Carts rolling. Quiet voices. It felt like the air was thin, not full of all the extra noise. I noticed the people in the store. I wondered for a moment how the world would feel without traffic, tv's, radios, and all the background noise that we filter out of our conscious minds. Maybe we've gotten so used to filtering that we also filter out people. Voices and faces flow in and out and they seem as meaningless to us as blowing air. "Maybe we crash into each other so that we can feel something."

Andy & Crash

The wheelchair guy came into work the other day. He actually called himself the wheelchair guy. When I asked him his name, he said it is Andy. He dropped off one load of groceries, then he went and got a few more things and came back. Alice helped at the very beginning, but then she left me to help him by myself. I think she's starting to trust me. I am getting better at my job. Andy is really a kind and funny guy. He asked me about school and life. He was the best customer I've had in a while. I hung his bags on the handles of his chair. I got to slide the pen between his stubby fingers so that he could sign the receipt for his credit card. I look forward to seeing him again.

Last night I saw "Crash." Sandra Bullock has a small role in it. She plays a snobby rich person (kind of like a lot of the women who shop at Central Market). I went by myself. It was the first rated R movie I've seen in a long time. And it was definitely rated R. I enjoyed the movie though. It was what I expected. It's a movie about racism. I saw it at a theater that is usually full of black people, but I think that all five of us watching Crash were white. A day in L.A. There's no big plot. It's a bunch of small intersecting stories. We follow people of various skin tones and nations of origin as they interact with people of different races. There's no good guy or bad guy. Everyone's a little good and a little bad. Prejudices are justified and ripped down. Before I saw the movie I expected it to be (for those of you from SAGU) a "Paul Alexander movie" and I still think it is. And it's such an intense movie. I'm still shaking. Seeing "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" tonight will be a welcome change of pace.

I'm more excited about Micah's graduation than I was about mine

Last night Joy and I went to a banquet for the seniors. Micah got a bunch of cool awards. The art teacher really likes him so he got a whole bag of art stuff. If you've been to his site you can tell he's a good artist. This morning I went to his graduation rehersal, since I'm going to be handing his diploma to him tonight. It's all so exciting.

I really like Real Live Preacher. Check out this article.

Road Trip

Joy and I drove through the night and came to this wonderful town in Colorado. We made it in 13 hours. Then we took some nice naps. Looks like we're gonna be pretty busy with all my little brother's graduation stuff. I'll post when I can. I'm so tired.

The Past Few Days

At work, many people have been coming back after taking a leave of absence. One such person is “John the Baptist.” I have heard a lot about him from other people. They say that he is very dogmatic, if you don’t believe the same as him, then you’re wrong. They say that he is condescending. I haven’t had a lot of interaction with him, but I don’t think he’s that bad. People said he tries to start theological arguments with people, but he hasn’t started any with me though I almost wish he would. I would rather not hear what other people have to say about John. I want to get to know him myself. What I do know about him is that he attends a small christian college, the name of which I do not remember. He tries really hard to push the products that we are supposed to be pushing. “We have these cookies on sale for 99 cents. You should buy at least one.” He is a preacher, not a pastor. He made a big deal about it when I was in the service office. He’s taking Hebrew. When he mentioned that, my manager told him that I know Hebrew. I hadn’t told the manager that, I figured Ben must have told him, but he said he was just saying that and didn’t actually know that I knew Hebrew (did you follow that?). So anyways, John asked me if I knew what my name means in Hebrew. I told him it means “the LORD saves.” He asked me the same question several times in various ways, I tried to give him the answer he wanted giving him the answers Yehoshua, Yeshua, Yaweh saves, Jehovah saves. Then he asked me what my name is in Greek. (He doesn’t know that I also know some Greek). And I finally figured out what he was wanting me to say, and I decided to make it difficult. I said Iesous. Then he said, “Now say it in English.” Then I said, “Joshua” (hehe) pause... “or Jesus.” There ya go. He just wanted to hear me say that Joshua is the same as Jesus.

The other night I got an extra roommate. Jacob is from Kansas/Oklahoma. He’s interning at a Spanish radio station down here. Ben’s been out of town for two weeks. It’s kind of nice having someone else in the apartment, especially at night. Jacob’s cool. We went driving the other night so that he could find his way to church and work. We took a detour through Dallas. And he was just flabbergasted at the big ole buildings. He was like a little country boy in the big city (I guess he pretty much actually was).

Last night I saw Lemminy Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was one of those that I kind of liked but kind of didn’t. It was sort of what I expected. I like the style, but the story could have been better. It seems like they tried to pack too much in, but left a lot out. Okay, enough of my critique of a little kid’s movie.

Wednesday night I leave for Colorado for my li’l brother’s graduation!

Catch Up

I was going to post friday, but Blogger was down for the 45 minutes that I was on the net that day.

I've been listening to early Beatles. Great stuff.

Sunday my fellow torah people and I celebrated Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks/ Aka Pentecost). We had fajitas and stuff. It was fun times. So on Shavuot, Jews commemorate the giving of the Torah. As believers in Messiah, we rejoice in the Torah as well as in the great things LORD did by his spirit after Messiah's resurrection. Shavuot has all kinds of meaning for the past and the future, but I'm not going to go into that right now, but Shavuot is the completion of what was begun at Passover. The two feasts are linked in many ways. Passover is celebrates our freedom from slavery to the world. Shavuot celebrates our freedom in slavery to LORD.

You know about the manifestations in Acts 2. Exodus 20:18 says the people saw the thunderings and lightning and trumpet and smoke. Nearly everywhere else the word for thunderings is translated as voices. Nearly everywhere else the word for lightnings is translated as torches. The Rabbis have a teaching (that goes back who knows how long) that "voices" plural means that God spoke in the 70 languages (tongues) of the 70 nations of the world. 70 is just the number they use, but the point is that they taught that God gave the Torah in every single language, so we can assume that the Torah is for everybody. Because of the word "torches" and the fact that the verse says the people saw voices, the Rabbis say that God's voice broke into sparks or tongues of fire that rested on the head of each person at Mt. Sinai. I just think it's interesting how the rabbis' description of the first shavuot and the apostles' experience at the first shavuot after messiah's ascension parallel.

Onto a different subject. My car got broken into on sunday night. When I left for work monday morning I found that a little window on the back door had been broken out and my stuff was thrown around, but nothing was taken. this morning i saw that my door lock had been messed with a big rectangle's knocked out. But I'm OK. It'll be alright.

A Whole New World (not really)

I'm in my new apartment. I have been for a few days now. I found this really cool library surrounded by a nice big park about 10 minutes from the apartment. It almost feels like home. So I'm at the library. My next big feat will be to check out the laundry room at the apartment complex.

Graduation on Friday went well. It was surprizingly exciting walking accross the stage and getting my diploma. I was a zombie through the whole day because I was on Benedryl so that I wouldn't sneeze through the entire ceremony. Some of my family came down to see me graduate. We all had dinner at my apartment afterwards. The ceremony was just at the wrong time. If we had eaten before, it would have been lunch. By the time we ate it was 9 pm.

I went grocery shopping this week. I spent way too much money. I'm the only one in the apartment for a while since Ben is back home with his family for the week.

Unpacking is crazy. I have so much junk.

Moving Day

I got the key to my apartment this morning and started moving in. I have my very own bathroom. After days of wetness the sun came out this afternoon. I went to mapquest today and found libraries and stores in the area around my apartment. I don't know what my internet connection is going to be. But I will blog somehow, for all 3 of you who sometimes read this. Tomorrow, my family comes down, and tomorrow evening I walk accross the stage and graduate. Fun times. Write ya later.

Did You Check Aisle 14?

Today a Dallas police officer walked in the store and asked me, "Where do you keep your shoplifters?"

"Excuse me?"

"Where do you keep your shoplifters?"

I directed him to the office of the managers and he eventually made his way upstairs where there were two forty-something women who had been caught shoplifting.

On a different note, I decided that I really like Jones Soda. From the creative labels to the great tasting flavors, I just really like it. And it just so happens that, like so many cool things, Jones is based in Seattle, WA.