Sick at Heart

Today Minnesota voted to legalize homosexual marriage.

It isn't that we didn't see it coming, but some of us optimists really hoped that reason would prevail and the good people of this state would vote against immorality.

IMMORALITY.

What an ugly word.

CONDEMNATION.

Terrifying.

Come let us reason together, says the Lord.

As a spirit-filled believer, I grieve at the moral unmooring of our society.

It used to be, not so long ago, that right was right, and wrong was wrong. No longer.

It's okay to kill----a baby in the womb.
It's okay to have sex---outside of marriage.
It's okay to lie and cheat----if you are a politician.
It's okay to make war and punish righteous people---when they don't agree with you.

It's okay to mock someone---if they have "intolerant" beliefs.

Right?

Well, I say "wrong."

And we who love God will see the wrath of God poured out on all men, but those who BELIEVE. God is just. God does not change.

God is beyond your comprehension.

God condemned a third of the angels to everlasting punishment.  I heard someone say that He will save a third of mankind.

Some would say that that seems a generous number. Man has truly rejected God. We have done what is evil in His sight.

Oh, and one thing; I'm talking about the God of the HOLY BIBLE. The inspired and inerrant Word of God. Not the god you make up in your mind with everything you like. God is God.

Maker of the Universe. Creator. Savior. Lover of souls. Just and Merciful. Yahweh, Age to Age. Revealed in Scripture.

We are in awe. We are amazed at His long-suffering patience with us. God is so good.

The Greening

This week has its insanity aspect: guests, son home from college, new temporary job for him, teaching a class about bees to 200 students, final classes for Margaret, huge garage sale for Scouts that I'm helping to organize, final party/social event for the chorale, and EVERYTHING ELSE.

Spring comes and the energy returns.

I made a cheese danish last night that I shouldn't have: it's just too good. I've never made anything like it before, but I think I'll do a Repeat sometime soon. I'm not sure what possessed me to make it. Drooling over a photo, perhaps.

Ed is learning a new skill: video editing. I think it will serve him well, since he SO enjoys that sort of technical endeavor. He gets to edit our pastor's sermons now. Such power!

It's really just the coughs and pauses, but it's learning.

Yesterday, this class I taught on bees, was really well attended. The concern for bees was well taken. I am always amazed at how little people know about bees, but then I remember how little I knew before we became beekeepers.

It just happened that yesterday the bees were again headlined in the news. Very serendipitous. Of course we all should know that bees are in trouble.

I explained our current dependence on bees and their pollination, the threats to their existence, and the life cycle of the hive.

We stood outside at the park nearby with our sample frames, some with dead bees, some with honey. The children were fascinated, as they should be. Bees are truly fascinating.

Such incredible creations.

Someone is power-walking by the house right now. He is certainly inspired by the lush green of the grass we now have. I need to get going. I'm purging the house today for the garage sale. It is not a job for the faint of heart.

Fortified with cheese danish and my morning caffeine: Off I go.

Seeing Dimly

Wow, what a day. It's Monday, and it's a really busy week, but somehow things really took a downward pitch today.

We were reading about Samuel's response to Saul when he offered a sacrifice that was in rebellion to God's plan this morning.

Samuel said, "To obey is better than sacrifice."

He also said that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Hmmmmmmmm.

Off I went my merry way to my book club where we discussed the book, "Molokai."

Here's where it went downhill:
I stated that the book was supposedly historical fiction, yet the characters were acting like they were from 2000, not 1890.

My friend (who is a believer) said that the titillating parts were completely unrealistic and unnecessary. (I agree.)

And I got the biggest outburst I've ever received for my opinion at book club: "______________ your ___________!!!!!!!!!"----said someone who I'll call J.

Wow. Up until now I've felt we could all share our ideas and thoughts on the book with little fear of being verbally attacked.

After turning a shade of embarrassed pink I tried to be gracious.

I didn't walk out. One of the gals said something soothing to J, "So, tell us how you REALLY feel, J!"

After a few titters we resumed a quieter discussion, and as it unfolded I was blessed with a thought: she's not rejecting me, she's rejecting what I believe. She knows I am a believing Christian.

It really helped me get  through the discussion, but after coming home I have been smarting, licking my wounds, and feeling sad.

I realize that my beliefs about God are different from what most people believe. I believe in the God of the Bible, a just and loving God, who means what He says, who is beyond my comprehension, but who makes perfect sense.

I believe that mankind is separated from God, evil, and only by His Grace through Jesus Christ are we saved. We can do nothing to earn our salvation, we can only believe, put our trust in Him and repent (turn away) from sin.

The Gospel.  I believe it, with all of my heart, and if someone else believes in a different sort of God, that is their prerogative.

But I will still love, still share, still try to be Christ-like, gracious, accepting, even as the message of Christ's Word is rejected.

Welcome to the last days. The lights are dimming all around us. We must be light in this ever-darkening world. It's a calling.

Discerners Anonymous

Once I had a conversation at a women's gathering that ended up as a love-fest between several women who identified as "discerners." 

I took one of those Myers-Briggs type tests long ago that identified strengths and spiritual aptitude (okay, it was a spiritual gifts test) and I had the not-so-surprising-to-me gift of "discernment" as one of my "strengths."

What was so funny about the conversation at the gathering, years later, was the bond of fellowship we discovered in being mutually eschewed by people without that "gift."  Priceless. All of us felt our discernment was unwelcome, unwanted, and worthless to no one but ourselves.

Can you say humility?

Oh, well, because it just happens to be in our make-up, and God obviously had SOME purpose in giving SOME people that gift, it must have SOME meaning for SOMEONE. Right?

Well, even if it didn't, we ARE called to practice our spiritual gifts, whether or not they are appreciated.

Discerners are the nay-sayers. We are the ones who check out the facts. We listen, have our ears to the ground. We put pieces of the puzzle together. We read copious amounts, listen, and judge. Yes, that is a part of discernment; judging.

No WONDER we get a bad "rap!"

We build trust in few, we watch and observe.

Above all, like counterfeit finders, we acquaint ourselves with Biblical Truth, and measure what we see against it.

And what do we get for our "discernment?"

We get judged. We are disliked. We are pilloried. We are labelled judgemental. We are mocked and made fun of.  We listen to people justifying ANYTHING we might be discerning about. We hear their arguments, and feebly attempt to assuage the contempt.

No wonder we need a support group!

It's funny any of us stand a chance at practicing our discernment!

But because we are simply discerners, we don't just cease to be. Despite the reactions we plow on, weighing, watching, and pointing out danger. We don't quit, because we love. We care. We follow a higher calling of obeying God rather than man. We risk the pain, because we want the ones we love to be "in the fold." We care too much for their souls to leave the words unspoken.

We really aren't curmudgeons, wringing wet rags on people's "fun."

We are truth tellers.

If we step on your toes, it's only out of concern, and we'd rather your toe be put out of joint than your soul damaged.

So we risk. And we bear the scars. And we look to our beautiful Lord and Savior to heal those wounds.

And we fear one thing: that we would be accused of being silent and have the blood of someone unsuspecting on our heads.

So try to understand.

In Response to an Article on Yoga

I'm copying and pasting this response to an article in Sojourners about yoga.

This gentleman had a great response.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

"How can Christian believers be SO naive. The kind of yoga that Jacobs learned in India denies the gospel of Jesus Christ. It denies the divinity of Christ. To them, embracing Jesus as "just a good teacher" is their way of attracting westerners (with $$) to come to their ashram. They encourage you to embrace your OWN divinity. Jesus is NOT the way, the truth and the life, but only a shining light for us to find our OWN divinity. It is a subtle and attractive deception that easily lures the ignorant and naive Christian to repeat the story of Genesis 3 where Satan encourages Eve to rebel and be her own autonomous god , saying, "“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”.
The goal of all yoga is to obtain oneness with the universe. That's also known as the process of enlightenment, or union with Brahman (Hinduism's highest god). The word "yoga" means "union" or "to yoke." It is based on the philosophy of pantheism. It is a mystic and ascetic Hindu discipline for achieving union with the supreme spirit through meditation, prescribed postures and controlled breathing, etc. The goal of Jesus was to heal us from the mistake of thinking that we could DO something (like Yoga) to bring about union with God. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus" - 1 Timothy 2:5.
Jesus brings a union that Yoga cannot.
Yogi authority Gopi Krishna writes:
"All the systems of yoga...are designed to bring about those psychosomatic changes in the body which are essential for the metamorphosis of consciousness".
Psychosomatic means "The constant and inseparable interaction of the psyche (mind) and the soma (body)."
The Bible says that our transformation comes from Christ alone.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Our transformation comes from the Holy Spirit, not Yoga.
"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" 2 Corinthians 3:18.
The article says that Jacobs took to "Kundalini Yoga." In Hindu mythology and occult anatomy, the goddess Kundalini is thought of as a female serpent lying dormant at the base of the spine. Arthur Avalon comments that "kundalini is the Divine Cosmic Energy in bodies." She represents the female half of the divine polarity in man. While lying at the base of the spine, she is separated from Shiva, her divine "lover" and masculine counterpart, who resides in the brain. When aroused by yoga practices, she uncoils, travels up the spine toward her lover, opening the alleged psychic centers called chakras in the process. When the crown or top chakra is reached, the union of Shiva/Shakti occurs, supposedly leading the practitioner to divine enlightenment and union with Brahman. "Traditionally she is known as Durga the creatrix, Chandi the fierce and bloodthirsty, and Kali the destroyer. She is also Bhajangi the serpent. As Chandi or Kali she has a garland of skulls around her neck and drinks human blood."
Kundalini arousal is not, as commonly thought, restricted to hatha yoga practice. Even yoga authorities have said that all yoga is ultimately kundalini yoga and that yoga is meaningless without it. Have you ever seen anyone who is in the process of experiencing a Kundalini "awakening" or "arousal?" The "union" one experiences here is NOT with God.
1 Timothy 4:1 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."

2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." 

Nothing was said about physical therapy or making any connection with yoga. When you do physical therapy, do you do so with a goal of attaining "spiritual health?" Does your physical therapy help you to cultivate "compassion and consciousness in relationship with God and others?" Is your physical therapist a "yoga prodigy" who teaches you how to have a "Kundalini arousal?" that is "highly spiritual" , "more traditional and spiritually authentic?" No? Maybe you are just getting physical therapy and it really has nothing to do with yoga? Then, why call it yoga? Why not call it physical therapy?



The problem with Yoga is that you cannot separate Yoga from it's spiritual roots. Imagine treating Baptism and Communion as an Underwater Therapy and Wine Tasting business! Envision a Fitness Rabbi, Diet Pope and Gaming Imam! Picture Hot Baptism (at your local gym), Power Mass and Gentle Genuflecting! How about a 200 hour Certified Communion Teacher greeting students with Hallelujah and denying any Christian connection? How about marketing Baptism pants to display one’s physical accomplishments! Silly, ain't it?
The roots of Yoga are found in Hinduism. Hinduism is not like a recipe ingredient that can be extracted from yoga. Professor Subhas Tiwari of Hindu University of America. “The simple, immutable fact is that yoga originated from the Vedic or Hindu culture. Its techniques were not adopted by Hinduism, but originated from it… The effort to separate yoga from Hinduism must be challenged because it runs counter to the fundamental principles upon which yoga itself is premised…“Efforts to separate yoga from its spiritual center reveal ignorance of the goal of yoga.“ (HinduismToday.com – 9/1-3/09). Christian yoga is an oxymoron.
What are some of the positions that are taught in yoga and where did they come from?

Yoga teaches that each posture reflects a mental attitude, whether that attitude be one of surrender, as in a forward bending asana, or the strengthening of the will, through backward bending postures, or the creation of a physical prayer or meditation with the body, as in the practice of the Lotus position.

Surya-namaskar or "salute to the sun" posture, used at the beginning of most classes, pays homage to the Hindu sun god.The Sanskrit word surya means sun. Namaskar is the Hindi word for Namaste, from the root nam, to bow. Namaskar means salutation, salute, greeting or praise. Namaste literally means, " I bow to the divinity within you.” In other words, there is no need for God because you ARE God!

Savasana (the Corpse Pose)-The Sanskrit word shava means corpse hence this is the Corpse. The shava-asana is also known as the mrta-asana. It is suggested that you start and end each yoga session with this pose.

Bhujangasana (the Cobra or Snake Pose) - The Sanskrit word naga means snake or serpent. The naga-asana is also known as the bhujanga-asana. The Sanskrit word bhujanga, which also means snake, is derived from the root bhuj which means to bend or curve. "This posture increases the gastric fire; it destroys all diseases and by constant practice leads to the awakening of Kundalini." - The Gheranda-samhita II.42-43.

The so-called "Praying Hands" gesture (putting one's palms together with fingers pointing upward) is a mudra (Hindu prayer gesture) which pre-dates Christianity? This is closely linked with the Hindu "Namaste" greeting ("I bow to the divine within you") and other Eastern religious practices.

Nataraja-asana - The King of the Dance Pose - The Sanskrit word nata means dancer and raja means king. Nataraja is another name for Shiva (Hindu God), the Lord of the Dance, whose cosmic dance is the creation and destruction of the world.

Garuda-asana - The Eagle Pose - The Sanskrit word garuda means eagle. In Hindu mythology Garuda is known as the king of birds. He transports the God Vishnu (shown with a bow and arrow in the illustration to the left) and is said to be eager to help humanity fight againt deamons.

Catholics face a more formidable skeptic. In 1989 the Vatican issued a document saying the practice of Eastern traditions like yoga "can degenerate into a cult of the body," warning Catholics against mistaking yoga's "pleasing sensations" for "spiritual well-being." It was signed by then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. In a 2003 document the Vatican further distances itself from New Age practices, including yoga.

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

“6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth“ (2 Timothy 3:1-7).

Don't be gullible."

Jeff Iversen

Little Beggarman

Northern Lights Chorale

I'm playing the flute.

Did You Know?

Please consider this article if you have "The Message" in your home.  It's the best summary I've seen to date.

http://www.crossroad.to/Bible_studies/Message.html