Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Shavuot/Pentecost 5th of Sivan, 5777 - Tuesday 30 May, 2017





Shavuot in the Hebrew language
 means, "Weeks".
Pentekoste, "Pentecost" 
translated from Greek means,
 "50 Days"
marking the passage of time
 from Pesach, "Passover".




Spring flowers blooming in Jerusalem



"Pentecost, coming in late May or early June,
was likely a very beautiful day.
It doesn't rain much in Jerusalem and
indeed it's hard to find even a stray
cloud in the blue sky.

The Festival of Weeks, or Pentecost,
celebrated the early harvest of the spring,
and the major one of the fall to come.
It was a joyous occasion which drew
the Jewish people from all over Israel
and many foreign lands."
"The Spirit of Pentecost"
-Zola Levitt






A Shavuot Love Story


"And Ruth said, Urge me not to leave you
or to turn back from following you;
for where you go I will go,
and where you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people
and your God my God."
Ruth 1:16


Boaz and Ruth
 By Scottish artist James Faed
(1821-1911)



A young widow, and a woman of Moab,
 Ruth refused to return to the
idolatrous land of her birth after the
death of her husband. 

She chooses instead to accompany
her virtuous mother-in-law,
the widowed Jewess Naomi, 
who returns to Israel, arriving in Bethlehem
at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Ruth finds protection from a
kinsman of Naomi's late husband,
 a man named Boaz, who allows her to
 safely glean in his fields so that she
and her mother-in-law have
 enough food to eat. 

Ruth's tender love and devotion to her
widowed mother-in-law and to the
God of Israel wins over Boaz's heart 
 and he later takes Ruth as his wife.

Their son, Obed, was the
father of Jesse, who became the
father of David, an ancestor of
the forthcoming Messiah.


The story of Ruth is a 
beautiful illustration of how the
Kingdom of God would eventually pierce
the darkness of the heathen world
with the Light of the World,
Yeshua Ha'Mashiach.





"And I will ask the Father, and He will
give you another Comforter, that
He may remain with you forever."
John 14:16


The Miracle of Pentecost




Pentecost
El Greco


"And when the day of Pentecost had fully come,
they were all assembled together in one place,
When suddenly there came a sound from heaven
like the rushing of a violent tempest blast,
and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.
And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire,
which were separated and distributed and which
settled on each one of them.
And they were all filled, diffused throughout their souls,
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other
different, foreign languages (tongues) as the
Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression
in each tongue the appropriate words.
Now there were then residing in Jerusalem Jews,
devout and God-fearing men in every country under heaven.
And when this sound was heard, the multitude came
together and they were astonished and bewildered
because each one heard them, the apostles,
speaking in his own particular dialect."
Acts 2:1-6



The miracle at Pentecost arrived on a Jewish holiday,
a time of God's holy convocation, when His
chosen people witnessed amazing signs and wonders
of His presence among them.

What began at the Temple of God in the
holy city of Jerusalem, and was designated for
the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
 would one day sweep away the
mighty and idolatrous Roman Empire
 into the dustbin of history.


"And I have other sheep besides these
that are not of this fold. I must bring and
impel those also; and they will listen
to My voice and heed My call,
and so there will be one flock
under one Shepherd."
John 10:16


The early followers of "The Way"
  were all Jewish believers in Yeshua whom
 often faced terrible persecution and death 
in order to witness about Him in the Near East
   and later, across the continent which would
one day become the nations of Europe,
eventually reaching the New World of America
and later across the Pacific Ocean to the lands of Asia.

Today, thanks to the super technology of
the 21st century, the Good News of the
 Gospel of Jesus Christ has reached even
those who, in the words of the psalmist,
 dwell in "the uttermost parts of the earth".
Acts 1:8













Monday, May 29, 2017

Centennial Birthday



May 29, 1917   -   May 29, 2017



100th Birthday of
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy




Portrait of John F. Kennedy
Jamie Wyeth
(1967)






Sunset and evening star, 
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar
When I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound or foam,
When that which drew out from the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell
When I embark;

For, though from out our bourne of time and place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

Crossing The Bar
Alfred, Lord Tennyson






Our Country



This post is dedicated to the people
of  America and the world.








"Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty!
Come to the waters; and they who have no money,
come, buy, and eat!
Yes, come, buy priceless spiritual wine and milk
without money and without price,
simply for the self-surrender that
accepts the blessing."
Isaiah 55:1





"But whoever takes a drink of the water
that I will give them shall never, no never,
be thirsty anymore.
But the water that I will give them
shall become a spring of water
welling up, flowing, bubbling,
continually within them
unto eternal life."
John 4:14




Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well
Francesco Trevisani
(1656-1746)



"The Holy Spirit and the bride,
the church and the true Christians say,
Come! And let they who are listening
say, Come! And let everyone come
who is thirsty, who is painfully
conscious of their need of those
things by which the soul is
refreshed, supported, and strengthened;
and whoever earnestly desires to do it,
let them come, take, appropriate
and drink the water of Life
without cost."
Revelation 22:17









Lord! while for all mankind we pray,
Of every clime and coast,
O hear us for our native land,
The land we love the most.

O guard our shores from every foe;
With peace our borders bless;
With prosperous times our cities crown,
Our fields with plenteousness.

Unite us in the sacred love
O knowledge, truth, and Thee;
And let our hills and valleys shout
The songs of liberty.

Lord of the nations!
Thus to Thee our country we commend;
Be Thou her Refuge and her Trust,
Her everlasting Friend.

"Our Country"
 Lyrics by R. Nathaniel Dett





R. Nathaniel Dett
(1882-1943)
Canadian Composer/Conductor









Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah



Sword of the Lord




Dear Father in Heaven,
Like Your anointed warriors, Gideon and David
before him, please be our our President's Strength 
and impenetrable Shield, that he
may be used as an instrument for Your glory,
 in delivering our lawless and wicked nation from
the wrath of Your forthcoming judgment.
In Yeshua's mighty name
Amen and Amen





"Listen to Me, you who know rightness
and justice and right standing with God,
the people in whose heart is My law
and My instruction: fear not the
reproach of men, neither be
afraid or dismayed at
their revilings."
Isaiah 51:7





President Trump placing a wreath at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during
Memorial Day services at 
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia





Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but Thou art mighty,
Hold me with Thy pow'rful hand;

Bread of heaven, Feed me
till I want no more;
Bread of heaven, Feed me
till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing waters flow;
Let the fiery cloudy pillar 
Lead me all my journey through;

Strong Deliverer, Be Thou
still my Strength and Shield;
Strong Deliverer, Be Thou
 still my Strength and Shield.

Thomas Hastings
(1830)








Sunday, May 28, 2017

My Times Are In Your Hands





A Psalm of David



In You, O Lord, do I put my trust
and seek refuge; let me never be put to shame
or have my hope in You disappointed;
deliver me in Your righteousness.

Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily!
Be my Rock of refuge, 
a strong Fortress to save me!

Yes, You are my Rock and my Fortress;
therefore for Your name's sake lead me and guide me.

Draw me out of the net they have laid secretly for me,
for You are my Strength and my Stronghold.
Into Your hands I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord,
the God of truth and faithfulness.

You and I abhor those who pay regard to vain idols;
but I trust in, rely on, and confidently lean on the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy and steadfast love,
because You have seen my affliction, You have
taken note of my life's distresses,
and You have not given me into the
hands of the enemy; You have set my feet
in a broad place.

Have mercy and be gracious unto me, O Lord,
for I am in trouble; with grief my eye is weakened,
also my inner self and my body.
For my life is spent with sorrow and
my years with sighing; my strength has
failed because of my iniquity, and 
even my bones have wasted away.

To all my enemies I have become a reproach,
but especially to my neighbors and a dread to
my acquaintances, who flee from me on the street.
I am forgotten like a dead man, and out of mind,
like a broken vessel am I.

For I have heard the slander of many;
terror is on every side!  
While they schemed together
against me, they plotted to take my life.
But I trusted in, relied on, and was
 confident in You, O Lord;
I said, You are my God.
My times are in Your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my foes and those
who purse me and persecute me.
Let Your face shine on Your servant;
save me for Your mercy's sake and
in Your loving-kindness.

Let me not be put to shame, O Lord,
or disappointed, for I am calling upon You;
let the wicked be put to shame,
let them be silent in Sheol
(the place of the dead).

Let lying lips be silenced, which speak insolently
against the consistently righteous with
pride and contempt.
Oh, how great is Your goodness,
which You have laid up for those who
fear, revere, and worship You,
goodness which You have wrought for those
who trust and take refuge in You
before the sons of men!

In the secret place of Your presence
You hide them from the plots of men;
You keep them secretly in Your pavilion
from the strife of tongues.

Blessed be the Lord!
For He has shown me His marvelous loving favor
when I was beset as in a besieged city.

As for me, I said in my haste and alarm,
I am cut off from before Your eyes.
But You heard the voice of my supplications
when I cried to to You for aid.

O love the Lord, all you His saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful,
and plentifully pays back him who deals haughtily. 

Be strong and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for and hope for
and expect the Lord!

Psalm 31




Jerusalem From The Mount Of Olives
Frederic Edwin Church
(1870)







Memorial Day 2017







Calmly at last they take their rest,
Soldiers whose battles all are won,
Heroes whose courage stood the test,
Brave hearts whose day of strife is done.

Peacefully sleep, peacefully sleep,
Sleep peacefully, sleep, O sleep!
Loved and honored, peacefully sleep,
Peacefully sleep, peacefully sleep,
peacefully sleep.

Heroes who won, though sorely pressed,
Soldiers as brave who lost the fight,
Victor and vanquished lie at rest,
In mercy judged by God's clear light.

Peacefully sleep, peacefully sleep,
Sleep peacefully, sleep, O sleep!
Loved and honored, peacefully sleep,
Peacefully sleep, peacefully sleep,
Peacefully sleep.

"Memorial Day"
Elizabeth Lincoln Gould


"Calmly at last they take their rest..."
The graves of our fallen heroes at
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia






Friday, May 26, 2017

To talk of many things... Methuselah, Mermaids, and the Magic Flute


On this last Friday in May,
a bit of humor, whimsy, and enchantment...



The Walrus and The Carpenter
Sir John Tenniel



"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax,
Of cabbages and kings;
Andy why the sea is boiling hot-
And whether pigs have wings."
-Lewis Carroll







One night in late October
When I was far from sober
Returning with my load of manly pride
My feet began to stutter
So I lay down in the gutter,
And a pig came near and lay down by my side;
A lady passing by was heard to say:
"You can tell a man who boozes
By the company he chooses"
And the pig got up and slowly walked away."

"Judged By The Company One Keeps"
Unknown



"And this little piggy went,
"Wee! Wee! Wee! Wee!"
All the way home!"




Methuselah ate what he found on his plate,
And never, as people do now,
Did he note the amount of the calory count;
He ate it because it was chow.
He wasn't disturbed as at dinner he sat,
Devouring a roast or a pie,
To think it was lacking in granular fat
Or a couple of vitamins shy.
He cheerfully chewed each species of food,
Unmindful of troubles or fears
Lest his health might be hurt
By some fancy dessert;
And he lived over nine hundred years.

"Methuselah"
Unknown




"So Methuselah lived 969 years
and he died."
Genesis 5:27



The amazingly ancient Methuselah Bristlecone Pine grows
in an undisclosed location inside the Inyo National Forest
Eastern Sierra Nevada Range, California






"The coming and going, Of music is fleet,
Low laughter or ecstacy, Of lutes, piercing sweet.
Now plaintive, now dulcet!, Now joyous and clear,
Till the rapture of night-in-gales, Is silent to hear!
O marvel of music! O song, passing sweet!
What is lovely eludes us, For beauty is fleet"

"The Magic Flute"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart





"The Magic Flute"
Marc Chagall
(1967)








Twas Friday morn when we set sail,
And were not far from the land,
When a captain spied a lovely mermaid
With a comb and a glass in her hand.

Oh, the ocean waves may roll,
And the stormy winds may blow,
While we poor sailors go skipping to the tops,
And land lubbers lie down below, below,
And land lubbers lie down below.
(refrain)

Then up spake the captain of our gallant ship,
And a well spoken man was he;
"I've married a wife in Salem town,
And tonight she a widow will be"

Then up spake the cook of our gallant ship,
And a red hot cook was he;
"I care much more for my kettles and pots
Than I do for the depths of the sea."

Then three times around went our gallant ship,
And three times around went she
Then three times around went our gallant ship
And she sank to the depths of the sea."

The Mermaid
Author Unknown




Mermaid
John William Waterhouse
(1900)