genesis 6:5 then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 11 the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 so God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. so does any of this sound at all ‘up to date’? 8 but noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. i wonder what this looked like; how did he find grace in the eyes of the Lord……..was he living a holy spotless life (?) or was maybe, even in his weekness, even just saying “help, Lord!…if you are out there………” it’s kind of like heavens appraisal of lot (who we view as a total weak-kneed wimp)…….lot was seen as righteous in a wicked place………could there be hope for us? could we muster a ‘righteous’ cry for help? 13 and God said to noah, “the end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. can we hear God’s warnings, as He spoke through joel, jeremiah and the rest…….can we hear today and believe He may be getting ready to visit our land with judgement, even if we are experiencing some level of blessing and favor? can we maybe hear and believe we can be a ‘voice’ for Him………could we blow the trumpet? 14 make yourself an ark……………..15 and this is how you shall make it……………… could He be telling us one form of preparation is to build an ark; the ark of our hearts being formed according to His heavenly pattern? (rememeber, once the rain comes, it’s too late to build the ark. the virgins without oil in their lamps in the gospel of matthew are warned, we need to get it ahead of time, it seems: maybe part of the motivation it is for us is to have our ‘arks’ prepared, is for the benefit of others, so they know where to go for salvation in the storm to come……) 17 and behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh…….18 but I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark….oh yes, an incredible loving God is warning us and giving us ‘the pattern’ in which to build so we and our family’s can survive the coming storm…..the coming judgement that will remove all that hinders love……. 22 thus noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. genesis 7:1 then the LORD said to noah, “come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. so what made noah righteous…….weakness in crying out and willingnes to trust God and build according to His pattern for living (like sermon on the mount etc) rather than the pattern of the world which leads to death…….16 so those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in…..for some reason when it says ‘and the Lord shut him in” just wrecks me……it’s not like a prison…….it’s like loving arms surrounding noah, so he and his household would make it….not just suvive but be available to be fruitful and multiply (that is ruling and reigning with the Lord in the redeemed earth. wow!) 23 so He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. they were destroyed from the earth. only noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. only that, that fascilitated love remained…………God is so good, He is not on trial! so here is another thing that struck me about noah and us……..can you imagine first of all, how boring and tedious it must have gotten to daily work on a ‘boat’ for a coming disaster that you have no grid for and do it faithfully for 125 years………and be a potential embarrassment to your family, neighbors and friends (like noah, “get a job” or “hey shem, your dad is such a freak, what does he do for a living?”) and then the inner conflicts……..when is this storm or whatever it is coming……? what if i don’t get it done in time? or the real inner struggle that we have as we are honest with ourselves and the Lord; this thing i’m building can’t possibly float, i have no idea what i’m doing (i want to live whole heartedly, but i’m so weak, i feel like such a hypocrite most of the time………will i ever really change…….am i really considered righteous before the Lord because of the blood of Jesus……….will i make it?) it also occured to me, that though noah didn’t know when the judgemnet was coming, the Lord brought it when the ark was done……….or as in God’s sovereignty; He helped noah get it done on time….and according to the pattern…………so let us build according to the pattern and the very building of the ark of our hearts will be like a trumpet blast to those around us of the judgement that is coming……….noah was a forerunner and a messenger……….as he built the ark according to God’s pattern it was a work that went on day and night………he was a faithful witness and so are we……….keep building! allow yourself to be fascinated with Jesus…… His grace is with you and many are depending on you, even if they don’t realize it now……..many critics are watching you and hoping you are in a cult so they don’t have to examine their own hearts and theology, but some day they will see and either build the ark or or be rescued by one or…………….there will be a great falling away………
chocolate’s boat
chocolate’s rest
genesis 2:1-4 (amp)
1 thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 and on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3 and God blessed (spoke good of) the seventh day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done.
4 this is the history of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens—
what if……..just what if, we all began to celebrate the sabbath that God ‘hid’ in the cretion; as a testimony to Him in creating the heavens and the earth and all that is in it…………….is the ‘one’ we are so familiar with just a creation of men or God………………what a staement to the rest of the world if believers had a biblical sabbath (not in practice but acknowledgement) wow!
chocolate being crushed
Chocolate’s view 05/05/09
this article is presented here in it’s normal style; please read it and pray; our nation on this and many issues (like infanticide and other killing we are prescribing for our children in the womb) is moving into scary territory and believers and citizen alike need to cry out………….
The “Two-State solution” is just another form of “The Final Solution”
AIPAC, the alleged lobby for Israeli interests, has decided to mount a vigorous campaign to urge Congressmen to pressure President Obama to pursue the so called “two state solution” (as if he needs to be pressured). While AIPAC may have noble intentions and hope to find a way to soften the growing tensions between the US and the Jewish State, this particular effort can only bring harm to all involved, including the US.
Gary Cooperberg will be speaking in the USA between June 21-30th. He is prepared to go anywhere to speak out about the real dangers which confront all of Mankind today. If you would like to invite him to your area please feel free to contact him at gary@projectshofar.org. Don’t wait until he is fully booked.
George Bush hailed the concept of a two state solution as did Prime Minister Olmert. How quick we forget the two state solution mandated by the league of nations partition plan. That plan could well have spelled the end of the newborn Jewish State. It was only a miracle that averted that clear disaster. Ideologically nothing has changed. Any plan which calls for Israel to compromise on her homeland in any way is part and parcel of the overall plan to destroy the Jewish State completely.
We want so much to believe that peace is possible that we close our eyes to reality. The Arabs have openly stated that they have no intention to recognize a Jewish State of any size or shape. Their concept of the two state solution is to divide Israel into two pieces. One piece will become an exclusively Arab state, and what remains will be a “democratic” state which will include Arabs as well as Jews. In other words, it will be stage one in the plan to destroy Israel. Should they succeed in this step it will not only create a new Arab enemy state in the region, but that state will be situated upon half of what is now Israel and thus make Israel that much more vulnerable to attack.
Prime Minister Netanyahu knows this full well. But he hasn’t got the courage to stand up and be honest about it. He claims that he has an obligation to uphold former agreements. But the very purpose of democratic elections is to allow the people to express their opposition to government agreements and elect a new government which will change direction. Netanyahu has that mandate but refuses to exercise it. Instead he chooses to play word games in which he hopes that he can create conditions which will not allow full statehood to our enemies. It is a very dangerous game which is destined to explode in his face.
How can we expect any nation in the world to oppose the plan to tear apart our homeland if our own leadership (and opposition) declare their support for it? One is hard put to find any body courageous enough to simply say, “NO”! The Big Lie called “Palestine” is the most effective propaganda stunt in history. It has created a fraudulent, hither-to non-existent, people for the sole purpose of negating Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. It has been so effective that just about every member of the Knesset accepts the lie as fact! So how can we complain about pressure from the nations of the world?
Although the lie is a fabulous success, and so powerful as to intimidate the majority into accepting it, the people of Israel, and even the people of the entire world, have a vested interest in exposing that lie and declaring the Truth. The State of Israel is not a private project exclusively for the benefit of the Jewish People. It is the fulcrum upon which genuine peace on Earth will eventually be established. It is part and parcel of a G-dly process which is designed to bring peace to all of the nations of the world. Were it possible to destroy this tiny Jewish State then the entire world would revert to chaos… but it is not possible. Thus all of the efforts and so called “peace” plans which involve territorial compromise on Jewish Land are not only destined to fail, but push the achievement of peace farther away.
All nations which involve themselves in such futile efforts will earn Divine Punishment. Even the Jewish State itself has brought suffering upon her own people by trying to deny our Divine obligations. Those obligations will be fulfilled no matter how hard we try to escape them. Just as Jonah had his whale, our Jewish leadership will find themselves acting against their own will to fulfill Biblical prophesies.
There is only one peace plan that is guaranteed to work. The Jewish State must be redefined as the only homeland of the Jewish People. While others may be permitted to live here with us, if they are willing to accept our exclusive sovereignty and obey our laws, only Jews should be given citizenship. Those who claim that any part of Biblical Israel belongs to them must be treated as enemies, not peace partners. And Jews from all over the world must be encouraged to come home and participate in fulfillment of Jewish Destiny which includes complete Redemption for all of Mankind.
Project Shofar is dedicated to spreading these truths wherever it is possible to do so. It is sounding the alarm, to Jew and Gentile alike,to open our eyes to the G‑dly process that is presently underway, and work to support it. We dare not stand idly on the sidelines.
If you would like to support the concepts espoused by the Voice from Hebron, and the physical work of Project Shofar, click here to make a donation.
Or, you can send a tax deductible contribution to:
Project Shofar, Inc. – P.O. Box 181191 – Casselberry, FL 32718
Thank you for your support of Project Shofar!
chocolate education
i just heard allen hood (one of the leaders and teachers at ihopu [www.ihop.org]) in his introduction to the daniel class: “when your mind grows faster than your heart; you lose discernment (what is God saying today[this is even a great definition for discernment]) perception is the gift of God; God rewarded daniel and his friends for their diligence and faithfulness with revelation and knowledge; discernment and wisdom; knowing the signs of the time; wisdom and understanding prepares you for the calamity of the hour so people need what you have to say; God gives the invitation to consecration, and only God can give perception as the reward or we can choose the lust of our flesh and end up with dullness in the hour of need; will we embrace wisdom and prepare?…………….wow!!
chocolate and ananias and saphira
“it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” mark 10:25 we must soberly realize that we are the rich man. the average middle-class american has a standard of living greater than 95% of the people who have ever lived on the earth throughout history. the comfort, convenience, abundance, safety, and security that are intrinsic to our lives surpass all but the kings of antiquity. “by any objective criterion, the 5 percent of the world’s people who live in the united states are an incredibly rich aristocracy living on the same little planet with billions of very poor neighbors. combined with the rest of north america, europe, and japan, we comprise an affluent northern aristocracy. our standard of living, compared with that of more than 2.8 billion very poor neighbors living on two dollars or less per day, is at least as luxurious as was the lifestyle of the medieval aristocracy compared with their serfs… according to the united nations human development report (2003), the richest 5% of the world’s people receive 114 times as much income as the poorest 5%. In fact, ‘the richest 1 percent receive as much as the poorest 57%’! a mere twenty-five million americans (the richest twenty-five million) enjoy as much income as the poorest two billion people in the world combined.” (ronald sider, rich Christians in an age of hunger [w publishing group, 1997], p 26) we should tremble to realize this includes Jesus and His disciples. we possess more, eat more, have more clothes, work less, and have greater comfort than the Incarnate Lord. (stephen venable, life of mystical communion; eschool, www.ihop.org) are ananias and saphira anywhere in the room……………….?
chocolate’s gift
to be born again is to have one’s very subsistence in love infinite both in its quality and duration. Jesus Himself is salvation; He is life; He is the forgiveness of sin; apart from being joined/found in Him; there is no salvation…………it is not a set of beliefs……….union! stephen venable, mystical life of communion; www.ihop.org (ihopu, eschool) the foregoing changes within our individual lives are accompanied by a dramatic change in the realm in which we live. to become a Christian is to enter the newness of the age to come, and to experience to some degree the new powers of the kingdom of God affecting every part of our lives. to be “in Christ” is to be in that new realm that Christ controls. this means that every action in our lives can be done “in Christ,” if it is done in the power of his kingdom and in a way that brings honor to him. paul speaks the truth “in Christ” (rom. 9:1; 2 cor. 2:17; 12:19), is proud of his work “in Christ” (rom. 15:17; 1 cor. 15:31), reminds the corinthians of his ways “in Christ” (1 cor. 4:17), hopes “in the Lord Jesus” to send timothy to philippi (phil. 2:19), rejoices greatly “in the Lord” (phil. 4:10), and “in the Lord” commands, beseeches and exhorts other Christians (1 thess. 4:1; 2 thess. 3:12; philem. 8). he says, “i can do all things in him who strengthens me” (phil. 4:13). paul also writes to believers about their actions “in Christ.” he reminds the corinthians, “in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 cor. 15:58). it is “in the Lord” that children are to obey their parents (eph. 6:1), wives are to submit to their husbands (col. 3:18), and all believers are to be strong (eph. 6:10), be encouraged (phil. 2:1), rejoice (phil. 3:1; 4:4), agree (phil. 4:2), stand firm (phil. 4:1; 1 thess. 3:8), live a godly life (2 tim. 3:12) and have good behavior (1 peter 3:16). “in the Lord” they work hard (rom. 16:12), are made confident (phil. 1:14) and are approved (rom. 16:10) wayne grudem, systematic theology, (grand rapids: zondervan, 1994), p 843-844. we need a radical reorientation of our identity. right now, regardless of emotions, distractions, troubles, or needs, as a born again believer you are in Christ, in the Father, in the Spirit and as we will focus on tomorrow, the Spirit is in you. mistakenly we are waiting for the experience to confirm the truth of our union, when it is the truth of our union that actually prepares us to experience communion. actions and experience always flows out of an understanding of identity. yet most of us struggle with the exact opposite perspective. we are trying to act a certain way and experience certain things in order to merit the security of our identity. there are many other things that we do to position and posture ourselves to touch the heart of Jesus and tenderize our souls. however, unless our foundation is our union, all of our disciplines and practices will be attempts to merit communion instead of simply being choices that foster the exchange of love. though the renewal of our minds and our hearts is a process, we must begin the journey of turning our attention to the testimony of the written word and allow the Lord to dislodge and dismantle the portrait of Him we have held for so long. so deep was His desire to be reconciled to humanity that it moved Him to take on flesh and offer His body to suffering and death. now, forgiven and joined to Him, He inhabits our very being through the Holy Spirit. yet here we find the foundation and starting point for all of our seeking and longing. in order to enter into the deep communion our hearts so crave, we must understand that we are in Him, He is in us, and that the relationship into which He has drawn us is a resounding statement of the affection in His heart toward us. stephen venable, mystical life of communion; www.ihop.org (ihopu, eschool) though in times past revelation was comprised of many streams, God has now made Himself known in one rushing torrent. the risen Lord stands as the locus of all Divine disclosure. in this light we can understand why not only salvation narrows to the Door (john 10:9), but why the stream of the knowledge of God narrows to the man Christ Jesus. when confronting Jesus we must reckon with this radical, extreme singularity. in this light the pandemic of burn-out and disillusionment within the body of Christ becomes less enigmatic. one can invest themselves with great fervor in religious activities but their spiritual growth will be stunted and their heart unsatisfied if their pursuit is not an overtly relational one centered on the man Christ Jesus. when we gaze upon the beauty of the Lord we are not staring into an empty abyss, we are looking into the face of a man named Jesus. when we seek to listen to the voice of God we are drawing near to a real man with a particular tone to His speech, Who not only preached, but laughed and sung hymns with His friends. stephen venable, mystical life of communion; www.ihop.org (ihopu, eschool) all things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. matthew 11:27 “that is why, in prayer, we need to have all our senses awake, though of course we must not have anything “fleshly” (i.e., anything profane, closed off from God) on our minds. in thought and imagination we should put ourselves into the situation where our senses can apprehend the audible word of God; if we persevere in this concrete hearing it will yield the most concrete possible encounter with God. the universal validity, for all time, of this unique, concrete encounter, is more than adequately guaranteed by the fact that it is God who thus makes his appearance.” hans urs von balthasar, prayer, p 165-6.
chocolate’s hunger
will we finally stop running, turn, and dare to believe that we were truly made for Him and that He is committed to satisfying us? thirst is not a deficiency in your experience. the more alive you are, the more you will hunger voraciously. ashamed of its existence or afraid of its consequences, many in the church have sought to repress their desire for more or feed it with inferior passions to the point that they are numb to its existence. most of you in this room, after having your heart stirred and then looking around at your life and at the church, have thought, “perhaps I am asking for too much.” though our experience may seem a compelling argument to the contrary, to want too much is an impossibility. as created beings we cannot have a desire or longing that is beyond His reach. we can try to fulfill it in a wrong way, but by nature we cannot desire something He did not intend to be filled. indeed, we often want far too little. it is not enough to simply be stirred by ideas, we actually have to brush up against the heart of God. nor is it sufficient to be absorbed in the things of God. reading books, attending conferences, and listening to teaching may all be potentially edifying uses of time and may be filled with many, many references to “God” but can result in virtually no enlargement of the heart if it does not result our vision being set specifically upon communing with Christ in the inner man with ever diminishing distraction. in this light, the pandemic of burn-out and disillusionment within the body of Christ becomes less enigmatic. one can invest themselves with great fervor in religious activities (including prayer meetings) but their spiritual growth will be stunted and their heart unsatisfied if their pursuit is not an overtly relational one centered on the man Christ Jesus. (stephen venable, mystical life of communion, ihopu eschool [www.ihop.org])
promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.
we are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is
offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot
imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
c.s. lewis, the weight of glory, (san francisco: harper collins, 2001), p 26.
chocolate’s mystery, walking
i want to begin by asking all to forgive me for the inadequacy i will have in communicating the following as well as the utter shallowness and incompleteness of what i want to try to communicate; so it is more like taking a popsicle stick to dig out the grand canyon, so i in no way am saying i have ‘figured’ anything out; i just submit it to you for consideration and meditation upon the Word of God: both the written and the One Who is the Living Word of God! the mystery of God; hidden for the ages in the heart of the Father; incomprehensible by flesh and blood and all that is created in heaven and earth……….not angels nor men. so in the fullness of time determined by the overflow of His heart; He had His Son born of a woman (a jewish woman; miriam), to become a jewish Man and walk among us; Immanuel, God with us; the Word made Flesh; the Only Begotten of the Father………and declare and live the mystery of God which He ordained before the ages of our glory; before the foundation of the whole world; Him Who was in the bosom of the Father; He has declared Him (the mystery) john 1:18 since the beginning of time men and angels have longed to look on the mysteries of God; those things hidden in the heart of the Father; He wanted us to know them so much; to be able to comprehend them; though mere flesh and blood could never approach Him to know or understand them in our natural understanding and sinful state…………….so He sent His Son to reveal to us and in us the mystery of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; God’s plan; His power and His Personhood; the revelation of the Splendor of His Majesty; the Greatness of His Power and the Brilliance of His Wisdom: of this salvation (mystery) the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow (the unfolding of the mystery). to them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven— things which angels desire to look into. 1 peter 1:10–12 and more of paul’s words: Ephesians 3:8-12 (nkjv) 8 to me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. so there it is; do we have any idea Who He really is? or get this; who we really are………. get out your popsicle stick and start digging………………you have for all eternity; you will never exhaust the posibilities……………………….“holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! (isaiah 6:3)……….to them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. colossians 1:27 dig! His invitation has gone out in the Person of His son; His heart is open and revealed…………. i just wanted to add something that stuart greaves, one of the leaders here at ihop said: “the grace of God has touched our hearts (invited us), but we have to say “yes!” to walk in the invitation of God. God will touch us with His power and influence, but He will not violate the dignity of the human spirit to make free choices. somewhere in the struggle of temptations, the pleasure of sin, our not yet renewed minds, demonic activity and oppression, God will exercise the brilliance of His leadership, but we must say “yes” by our own choice to become voluntary lovers out of the human race called the Body of Christ. the human spirit is so dignified because we have the power to make life and death choices that matter in time and eternity. the reality of choice dignifies love.”
onlychocolate
chocolate’s single foot
in the jewish talmud there is a story about a famous jewish scholar, hillel, who was asked by a pagan who was interested in learning more about God, “teach me the entire law while standing on one foot”. in response, hillel stood on one foot and said, “‘and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might’ (dueteronomy 6:5), and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ (leviticus 19:18); the rest is commentary: go and learn!”……………………then some years later, the jewish Man from nazareth in response to a similar question, (34 but when the pharisees heard that He had silenced the sadducees, they gathered together. 35 then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37) said: “you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 this is the first and great commandment. 39 and the second is like it: ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” matthew 22:34-40 (nkjv)………..as the man said: “the rest is commentary: go and learn!”
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on October 7, 2009 at 1:30 pm Leave a CommentTags: commandment, commentary, heart, Hillel, Jesus, jewish, law, Lord your God, love, Nazareth, pagan, parisees, prophets, sadducess, talmud