Author: eejoseph
J A M with Doctor J 142
So much bruising with no remedy in sight
Fell, falling, failing
If the best expression of divine grace is the ten commandments you are kissing off Yeshua. If the best expression of the kingdom of God law, statutements and judgments you have read Genesis with a hard and impenitent heart, and you destiny is tied up with angels, beings, who like prophets, principalities and powers, are known to foment rebellion. We are sure that Moses and Yeshua are not equals, and since one brought the instrument of condemnation and the other brought humanity grace andf truth. As much as I, or any sane human being, would want to identify with the people who do God’s will, passing myself off as compliant with certain parts of the law is evough false pride to fill all the oceans of planet earth. The poster boy for law and order is the kingdom of Judah, the late Roman province of Judea, and there is no evidence that all the study and debating that attends the Torah and the Mishnah is capable of producing a caring and exemplary nation. The fall from faith in Christ to wallow in Israelite idolatry is so tragic, complete and incredible that Paul asked the Galatians “Who bewitched you?”
Light is love, law was litigous
Three verbs in the perfect aspect inform us of Judah’s plight: rejected, kept, and walked. The direct relationship between Judah’s lies and her straying is established by the hiphil stem of lead astray. The grand annual day of atonement tells us about the ritual and ineffectiveness of the tabernacle service. Its terms also tell us that rebellion and offences contributed to the people’s uncleanness.
Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. Amos 2:4
Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. Leviticus 16:16
Despite all the atoning sacrifices, all the executions of sinners, all the quarantining of unclean persons, and all the pledges to comply with the covenant the later prophets agree that the disease was incurable.
God brought Judah back from captivity, during which the people did not learn the lessons nor change their ways.
12) For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. 13) There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. (Jeremiah 30:12-13, KJVA)
And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. (2 Chronicles 21:18, KJVA)
Finally! Arrest the raiders of decency
The International Criminal Court issued today, May 20, 2024, arrest warrants on numerous crimes, including crimes against humanity. The targets: the leaders of Hamas and Israeli PM Netanyahu.
The absolute prostitution in the mentality of United States appears when it mulls over the idea that it can seem sanctions against the International Criminal Court for its action against Hamas and Israel, when in fact and act the US does not recognize the International Court’s jurisdiction. There you have it: the United States wants the sanction an entity that it does not recognize. Is that like registering babies long before they are born?
Decency is when neighbours stop hating and spilling blood
Not seen but perishable and perishing
On the seen and unseen, the eternal and transient, we have lingers too long in the kindergarten of smooth and sometimes silly conclusions. Paul’s saying about visible and invisible things has been turned into absurd doctrine.
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18, KJVA)
It is not an expression of absolute truth to assign eternity to unseen things, and finiteness to visible things. Many things that are not seen perish. Like the fingers and ears we see, the human heart, though unseen, perishes with the body. In sober reflection of the things we all have to encounter, we acknowledge that there are words unspoken, words spoken, hopes cherished, hopes fulfilled, food eaten and nutrients never seen. We are assured that the heavens (even the countless galaxies) themselves will be rolled up like a scroll. The invisibility of racist policy all over the globe does not mean that racism is eternal. We should not let the spillover from the hidden word of God seduce us into the Pharisee urge to see and show
J A M with Doctor J 140
Pharisee righteousness and a golden rabbit hole
Trying to define righteousness as something we put on or work out is no more legit than James and his Pharisee allies trying to circumcise all people coming to eternal life in Christ. When righteousness never takes its cue from the cross of Christ Wonderland and sheer ignorance are in play. It surely sounds intelligent and responsible to talk about imputed righteousness and leave out the just (the justified) living by faith. People who demand that believers can finish what Christ started are playing games with the most precious gift: faith that results in good cruciform works. Anything else is pure Alice in Wonderland self-righteousness, and likely the result of a demonic doctrine. Believers do not have to show anyone their works in order to be justified. The Christ who justifies unbelievers also works in them to think and to do God’s perfect will.
Gingerly, on the head of a two-faced dog
How do you balance work and home life?
Work is home, and home is my favourite work. Like a lot of people who, due to COVID-19, work from home, I work from home, and all other duties are equally pleasurable, with home inevitably tacked on. I do not know where work begins and life is like a circle. Is that retirement?
Life is Fun, But Not a Joke 