Many people have concluded that very few human beings can be trusted to enter our homes. Outside of family, friends, and acquaintances, even fewer people are worthy of that intimate invitation. Read the newspaper, watch the news on television, or read about the daily happenings via the internet, and it will not take a person long before he or she gets up from the comfort of the couch to lock all the doors and close the blinds.

It’s true that there is much to be careful about in our world today. Just a couple of years ago, a young boy went into an abandoned house in a town near Fayetteville to “check it out” and was discovered dead. He was killed by the people who were illegally hanging out in the abandoned house to take their drugs and do whatever worthless air thieves do.

I can’t help but get a little sickened and insensitive when I stop to consider what God’s plan is for this world and its people, only to look around and see the complete opposite in so many places. After all, as Peter told the followers of Jesus, “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9 NIV).

As Marvin Wilson points out in his book, Our Father Abraham, the ancient Jews held hospitality as one of the most important virtues. Among the customs observed by the ancient Jewish people was the practice of placing a napkin over the threshold of a doorway to signal to travelers and to the poor that guests were free to enter. They would also use a flag to signify that a meal was being served, and anyone who happened by was welcome to come in and sit at the table to share in the family meal. One of the Mishnaic statements made by the sages was, “Let your house be open wide, and let the poor be members of your household” (Mishnah, Avot 1:5).

There were also proper courtesies that were expected of the guests. Guests were to leave some food on their plates, offer a special prayer for the host after the meal, and they were to cause the host no anxiety. Anyone who caused anxiety to the host was considered to be unworthy of being a guest.

It appears that many Western strangers would fall into the category of being unworthy. Many of us have no “stranger etiquette.” Too many of us want to put our feet on the couch, eat the last biscuit, answer our cell phones in the middle of the meal, and grab the remote control after dinner. The thought of praying a special blessing for the host, eating modestly, and giving peace to the host are all foreign ideas to many of us.

Sure, I think we could do a lot better at welcoming strangers. I also think we strangers could do a much better job of being worthy of the welcome.

Forever learning,
Johnny

© 2007 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

Discussions about God in the last few centuries have not been without the input of those who have decided that God is whatever they have chosen God to be.

N. T. Wright speaks about this in his book, For All God’s Worth, when he writes of those who use their own intellectual reasoning to “decide” what God is and what God is like,

“The God I Want? Left to myself, the god I want is a god who will give me what I want. He – or more likely it – will be a projection of my desires…At the more sophisticated level, the god I want will be a god who lives up to my intellectual expectations: a god of whom I can approve rationally, judiciously, after due consideration and weighing up of theological probabilities. I want this god because he, or it, will underwrite my intellectual arrogance. He will boost my sense of being a refined modern thinker. The net result is that I become god; and this god I’ve made becomes my puppet. Nobody falls down on their face before the god they wanted. Nobody trembles at the word of a home-made god. Nobody goes out with fire in their belly to heal the sick, to clothe the naked, to teach the ignorant, to feed the hungry, because of the god they wanted. They are more likely to stay at home with their feet up” (23-24).

Can we, without arrogance, truly define God?

For those of you who have children, you know the responsibility of being in charge of their safety, especially when driving. For those of you who have or have had teenagers, you know the feeling that drives a nail through your heart when one of those you have protected for over a decade says to you while you’re driving them to wherever, “Mom/Dad, be careful.” It’s like a slap in the face from the child you have lived years and years protecting, and now they have the gumption to tell you to be careful with their safety.

Kids giving driving lessons to their parents! Can we get anymore disrespectful?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all children recognized and respected the roles of their parents, rather than trying to take them?

In His dust,
Johnny

© 2007 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

“To claim to have fellowship with God, and at the same time to walk in darkness, is to speak and act a lie” (1 John 1:6).

To offer a very quick word study, let’s look at three important words from the text I referenced above.
Fellowship, as it is used in this passage of Scripture has the contemporary meaning of partnership.
Walk refers to going about in a constant state.
Darkness in this sense of the word means: not easily seen; not clear or distinct: Not easily understood; vague.

John is teaching the readers of this letter that they cannot claim to be partners of Jesus Christ and mope around like they have nothing to excitedly share with the world. It’s no different than if a married man or woman claims to be married, but walks around like they have no one with whom to enjoy life.

I believe that this passage of Scripture, among others, affirms the love language of Jesus. Maybe you have read the book, The Five Love Languages. If so, then you will know that Dr. Gary Chapman teaches that people respond to five basic love languages, and often a mixture of at least two of them. Chapman refers to the five love languages as gifts, touch, acts of service, words of affirmation, and quality time.

So, how do we speak Jesus’ love language?

The best way to strengthen our relationship with Christ is by serving and looking out for others. Jesus taught his disciples, “Whatever you do to even the least of God’s children, you have done it to me, the King.”

Marvin R. Wilson wrote in his book, Our Father Abraham Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, “The Bible’s vital humanism teaches us to regard God’s passion for human beings. It calls God’s people to bear responsibility and care for each other. The Hasidic masters taught that the eventual goal of social justice is the fullest realization of…repairing the world.”

When we are busy repairing the world, we are making great investments in our relationship with Christ. If Jesus has a love language, it is not gifts, words of affirmation, quality time, or touch; it is the acts of service we give to his sheep, which covers them all. In essence, the way to love Jesus is to love others.

Forever Learning,

Johnny

© 2007 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

Genesis 2:18, 20 tell us that woman is created to be ezer kenegdo. Rabbi David Freedman points out that the word ezer (ay-zer), which is often translated “helper” more literally means “power” or “strength” which is the same rendering that it is given in other parts of the Hebrew Bible. He also explains that kenegdo, which is translated “suitable for him” is better translated “one equal to him” which is found in other ancient Hebrew writings.

The clarity of understandings provided by the original Hebrew meanings of this passage help us to understand that woman was not created to be merely a helper for her husband, but a powerful partner with her husband. It is that powerful partnership that gives her, who is often called to have children, the ability to accomplish the incredible task of being a mother.

And motherhood is often accompanied by the tendencies to harbor guilt. This guilt is reinforced by the fact that some lies are so old that people have a hard time accepting that they are not true. Mothers are going to have to start throwing away some of these lies. Among all of the expectations that God places on mothers, perfection is not one of them. Many mothers live with years and years of guilt that are placed on them by the world. Guilt has a way of ripping the strength out of the amazing creation that is the female.

We all do well to recognize and appreciate the amazing power that women bring to all kinds of relationships. I am wonderfully blessed by the powerful partner that God has given me in my wife.

For those mothers who have a tendency to be self-punishing because of the struggles of motherhood, I will close with a couple of quotes.
“If it was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called labor.” –Anonymous

“Sunshine without rain is the recipe for a desert. –Arab Proverb

Forever learning,
Johnny

© 2007 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

According to Abraham Cohen, in his book Everyman’s Talmud, the Jews of Jesus day believed that there were seven heavens or expanses between earth and where YHWH dwelt. They also believed that a holy beast or seraph lived on top of each of the levels of expanse, pulling a fiery chariot and singing praises to God. The Jews believed that it would take five hundred years to travel through each one of the heavens. 3500 years of travel meant that God existed at an impossible distance to reach.

However, they also taught that God was only a prayer away. The sages would contrast the difference between idols and YHWH by explaining that though God may appear to be far away, one must only enter a synagogue or go behind a column and pray in a whisper and God will hear the one praying. “Can there be a god nearer than this, who is as close to His creatures as the mouth is to the ear?” The sages would say that an idol appears close because it is born on the shoulder and placed in the house of the owner, but the owner can cry to it until he dies and the idol will never hear him. The idol appears to be near, but it is an eternity away from the one who prays to it.

When God gave Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai, he gave him two tablets. This is very important, because when two nations made a pact, there would be a weaker nation called a vassal and a stronger nation called a suzerain. The pact between the two nations would begin with a reminder of who the stronger nation is and what they have done for the weaker, followed by rules that must be followed which include blessings for obedience and punishments for breaking the covenant. Ultimately the suzerain would provide protection for the vassal in return for some kind of payment, such as taxes.

There would be two copies of the covenant made on tablets; one would be kept by the suzerain and one by the vassal. And each would take their copy and keep it in their most sacred place.

When God made His covenant with Israel, he told Moses to keep both copies and place them in a box called the “ark of the covenant.” The important message here was that God’s most sacred place and Israel’s most sacred place would be the same place. God would not dwell 3500 years of travel away from his people, but would dwell among his people.

The Ark of the Covenant was to be taken everywhere that the people of Israel went, which signified God’s constant presence with His people. Along with God’s presence, His teachings were to be kept in the box, and were to be taught to every child of every generation. By teaching every generation to live in the will of God through his commandments, and by carrying God’s presence with them, God would be with them forever.

Jesus said, “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Jesus told his Jewish disciples that they were to carry the teachings of their Rabbi, Jesus, to every person, Jew and non-Jew. They were to make disciples, which meant that they were to teach people how to live and be like Jesus. And he said baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptizing means to immerse someone in something. In this case, the disciples were to immerse their new disciples in God. In order to immerse them in God, they would have to cover them in the Body of Christ, which is where God now dwells, as the Church represents the new Ark of the Covenant where the instructions of Jesus are to be kept and his presence is to be carried.

Fever learning,

Johnny

© 2007 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

Studying the writings of scholars such as David Bivin, Ron Moseley, and Marvin Wilson has taught me so much about the culture of Jesus’ first century world. Sometimes I am a bit sad when I remember that there are millions and millions of people who died without ever having the same textual, archeological, and cultural information that is now available concerning firust century Jerusalem.

One person came to the place where I lead worship last Sunday after hearing my teachings on a CD and said to his wife after worship, “I have gone to church for many years and have heard many teachings from the Bible. I have always seen Jesus in black and white, but after hearing Johnny teach, I am beginning to see Jesus in living color.” I felt the same way after a wonderful man who came to fix the air conditioner in our home left a CD of Rob Bell with me and said, “I’ve gone to church my whole life with my dad who is a Baptist minister, and I have learned more about who Jesus is in the last six months from Messianic Jews than I have ever learned in my whole life.” I listened to the teaching on the CD he left and I have been on a passionate, fulfilling course of knowing Jesus ever since.

Many times I have asked professors of theology and other Christian studies where I can find good materials for getting inside the world of Jesus. They usually told me of some new Bible handbook or a good commentary, but none of these was exactly what I was looking for. It wasn’t until I was introduced to the Hebraic perspective of the Scriptures and the Jewish world of Jesus that I was able to get a good look inside the texts of the Bible.

One particular individual was so profoundly affected by the lack of historical and cultural knowledge of Jesus’ world that he even wrote a very widely read book entitled Why I Am Not a Christian, and his name was Bertrand Russell.

One of his reasons for not being a Christian is directly related to my most recent post. Russell says in his book that Christianity came out of the Roman Empire at a time when the early Christians naturally adopted the belief that individualism was ideal and that each individual’s perfection had nothing to do with this world. Russell goes on to point out the contrast between the good life obtained by individualism that he associated with the early Christians and Plato’s Republic. Russell points out that Plato’s version of the “good life” was dependent upon the whole community, not an individual. Russell then states the need for valuing the community in order to raise funds for curing cancer, and the need of foreign trade to prevent the starvation of half of Great Britain.

And he goes on to say,

“The important point is that, in all that differentiates between a good life and a bad one, the world is a unity, and the man who pretends to live independently is a conscious or unconscious parasite.” pg. 74

Bertrand had stumbled upon the ancient philosophy of the Jewish world, but because centuries of Christians had been separated from that culture and immersed into a Hellenized version of the faith long before Bertrand Russell’s life and death, he lived and died basing his understandings on the misguided commentaries of non-Jewish Christian writers.

Had Bertrand Russell lived in our day, he may very well have experienced the teaching that the Kingdom of Heaven, as taught by a very Jewish, unity advicating Jesus, was and is in fact the “community” of God doing the will of God on earth.

If Russell could write a book today, it is possible that he would have been a co-author with one of those great scholars whom I mentioned earlier.

Forever learning,
Johnny

© 2007 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved