My Passover Experience Part 1

It was interesting and it was long.  We began the celebration at approximately 6:30 pm and finished around 1:15 am.


Those are my first two thoughts about attending a Passover celebration.


I may get these items out of order because I didn't take extensive notes.

First, we read about putting the blood on the door posts and the lintel.  We didn't actually use real blood.  Instead we used red felt representing blood.  We put it over the door and on the two sides as well as at the base of the door.


If you've never read the story of Passover, you can find it in the book of Exodus, chapter 12.


The blood was from a lamb and when the Angel of Death saw the blood, he would passover the house.  Otherwise, the angel would kill the firstborn.


My understanding is that putting the blood on the door posts is no longer done in traditional passover celebrations.  


However as a Christian - I find the experience very meaningful.  We are safe - only as long as we are "under the blood" of Messiah Jesus.


More later:
Pastor John

Knowing everything except what's important

I was watching the pilot of John Doe the other day.  I was struck by what he said, "I know everything - except what's important."

He had been standing at the reference desk of a library in Seattle answering question from the crowd.  What's the tallest mountain."  John Doe answers, "Mauna Kea" and the questioner corrects him saying, "No, it's Mount Everest."  John then points out that Mauna Kea begins under the ocean and when counting from the ocean floor, it is 10,000 meters compared to 8848 meters for Mount Everest."


The questions roll on until someone finally asks, "When will I die?" and John has to answer "I don't know."


You see, John knows everything - except the important things like who he is?  John has amnesia.  John has no idea who he is or where he comes from.


He knows he's smart - but he doesn't know why.  He can recite the binary code for MS-DOS operating system but he doesn't know if he likes hotdogs.


John Doe is the archetype of the modern man and woman living in America.  They know so much.  And what they don't know - they can google.  


But - they don't know who they are, why they exist, or where they are going.


In the show, John is searching desperately for answers.


We have the answers in the church.  We just have to share them.


Pastor John

I feel dumb

The continuing saga of trying to learn Korean.

Well, I just finished my Korean lesson. Wow - do I feel dumb. The class is moving on and I feel like I'm standing at the gate. Of course, part of it may be that of the other two students, one is the daughter of the teacher and the other is married to a Korean husband.

Still. I'm trying to figure out the best way to pick some of this up.

Probably I need to memorize the alphabet better. I did work on it this past week but apparently working on it 1 hour isn't going to work.

Goal - spend at least one more hour on alphabet.

Next - I need to memorize the double vowels and double consonants.

I can probably do that as I walk on my breaks at work.

Next - I've got to start doing homework. Waiting until 5 minutes before class is probably not a winning strategy.

I guess this is a lot like everything else in life - if you want to get better at something - you've got to work on it.

Pastor John

Passover

Tuesday, I'm celebrating Passover.

I'm not Jewish - why would I do something like this?

First, because I've been invited by a friend who is Jewish.

One of the things I find disturbing in the church is the tendency to only hang around folks who are Christians.

Let me be blunt - if you are following Jesus and you are only hanging around church people - you are not following Jesus!

You may believe in Jesus. You may be saved from your sins. You may be a good person. You may go to church faithfully. You may go to heaven. But you are NOT doing the things that Jesus did. You ARE doing what the Pharisees did.

Second, because it is a wonderful testimony to God's saving work.

Too often we end up only thinking of God's salvation as getting past the door and into heaven. But it's so much more than that. God is in the business of redeeming people - taking them out of the slavery of Egypt and taking them to the promise land.

In practical terms - it means God is taking us where we are and changing us to be fit for the kingdom of heaven.

Third, because it promises to be fun.

Growing up, I listened to the music of Larry Norman. One line in his songs asks this question: "Why should the devil have all the good music?"

Our faith should be fun, it should be enjoyable.

The first answer of the Westminster Catechism says that the chief end of man is to enjoy God and glorify him forever.

That means if you are not enjoying God - there is something wrong with your faith.

"I was glad when they said unto me - let us go unto the house of the LORD!"

Pastor John

I'm worried

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. - God speaking to Abraham in Genesis 12:3.

Is it true? Did God rescind this promise later? Did the promise switch over and apply to the church instead of the Jewish people?

I believe that this promise to Abraham is true. I believe that it remains in effect today. And that is what worries me. As I see our country condemn the nation of Israel instead of supporting them, I wonder what will happen to our country.

Many have asked why the United States is not mentioned in the book of Revelation. Could it be because our nation no longer matters at that point?

Psalm 122:6 tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Let us make sure we do that - and let us bless the decedents of Abraham so that we might receive the blessing promised in Genesis.

Pastor John

Learning Korean

Peggy and I just got back from Starbucks. I am now a gold members - that probably means that I drink WAY too much coffee.

We were busy studying our Korean there.

We are part of a Korean study group at our church.

Today I learned how to install Korean on my computer. I even managed to type a little Korean.

Life is very interesting.