Do you ever ask why someone does something? Are you ever curious about why you do certain things? One area we all do things that are different than others…but same among many would be Church. To the non-christian or un-believer the next 43 days of the church calendar are one of those…they do what? Those who ask “WHY DO THEY DO THAT?…well at least they wonder why, we …most Christians just do it by rote, it becomes a habit, just something we do as part of our heritage. I kinda compare our behavior to that of what we do when we read the Bible. I use the term surface read which means not every thing stays with us. I include myself in this observation of humanities efforts to embrace the faith…we tend to miss the big picture. Join us in The Pew as we take some time to look at the liturgical calendar…Whaaat? A liturgical calendar is a cycle of seasons and feast days that guides the prayers and liturgies of some but not all mainline churches. It’s also known as the church year, Christian year, or ecclesiastical calendar.  The liturgical calendar was primarily observed by Catholics, but also by many Lutherans, United Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Anglicans. Note most Methodists follow the liturgical calendar, and some use the Revised Common Lectionary. The liturgical calendar is an annual schedule that commemorates certain days and seasons related to the history of salvation. I may have been a bit repetitive but that brings us to the first three of these dates on the calendar. We will list them in order.

Shrove Tuesday is a Christian holy day that marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and penance leading up to Easter. Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day. Number one on my list is Confession,  Shrove Tuesday is a day to confess sins. We need to talk more about Repentance in our churches these days. It is also the day many of us will allow a little indulgence before the season starts, more about that in a moment. It is a big pancake day because they use ingredients that people gave up for Lent, like eggs, flour, and milk. Now about that indulgence thing. Mardi Gras In France, Shrove Tuesday is called Mardi Gras, which means “Fat Tuesday” which you can do right here state side…in good ole New Orleans. The second on our list would be  Ash Wednesday…Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day that marks the beginning of Lent, a 46-day period of penitence and preparation for Easter. It’s a day of prayer, fasting, and repentance and usually occurs on March 5. Christians receive ashes on their foreheads as a sign of repentance and human mortality and the  Ashes are made from burning palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. Most all churches in many of the Christian denominations will have services on this day. In Old Testament times, people used ashes as a sign of repentance by sitting in them, rolling around in them, or sprinkling them on their heads. For our part here they are used to place the mark of the cross on our forehead. The third on our list would be Lent which Christians celebrate to remember Jesus’s 40 days of fasting and preparation in the wilderness before his public ministry. Lent is a time of self-denial, prayer, and penance that leads up to Easter. We should use this time to reflect on our behavior and consider how to live by Jesus’s teachings. We also should use this time to prepare for Easter by studying the Bible and giving up something we enjoy, such as food, drink, or smoking, as a test of self-discipline. It is also a time we should mourn Jesus’s suffering on the cross. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Eve.

Life Is Good 

jk

Rough on the Porch Today…So much so I have retreated to the office, any port in a storm. I created the Back Porch to be a place where I could ponder some things, keeping it simple and have a venue where I am free to kinda cater to my preferences. The Porch is open to anyone and their opinion. There is one caveat that while not a rule is really something of great importance… civility… in words and attitude is expected… no room on the Porch for  ideologues…Ok to ponder the motivation but important to remember that pondering does not include condemning or dismissing others opinion. Having said that…allow me to offer this ponder.

How did we get this point in our Government? After the President’s speech last night, I was left with a profound sense of disappointment that reason and hope can prevail at the table and all we really can expect is more of this agenda driven behavior from both sides of the aisle. I will admit that one side was past disappointing and more toward disgusting. I am not going to let this become a rant of my personal disappointment but just an honest ponder point… Why, how did we get to this point? One group sat stone faced and belligerent and displayed a 4D attitude  that recked of, Dissatisfaction, Disconnected from reality, Disrespect of their soundings and Disobedient to established protocol all only serving to feed their Hate of anything that stood in the way of their agenda. Those of us that watch the speech…which was the longest by any President other than Bill Clinton… saw a vision of America that was and wants to be again…in sharp contrast to what it has been and is right now. SOooo…

Ponder This…Which do you prefer?

jk

Time is a great motivator of change but some habits never change, one being dissent which is a definite motivator of disagreement. The life of a prophet was not an easy one, the hardships and danger were ever present. We must not overlook the truth that God in his mercy sent the ultimate prophet, His son Jesus Christ, as the means of reconciliation and salvation for all God’s creation. WE are living in a world of divisive dissent of many different forces. The Church is under constant pressure to conform to standards and behavior that are not in any way the will of God. Jesus came among us to bring the light of hope and salvation to a suffering world. It is important to note that Jesus, Son of God came to be among us in the flesh…God incarnate and like us He too would suffer the tribulations of this world and be susceptible to its injustices. There was much opposition to the early church, both from within and without from people, groups and the Roman Government. They tell us, that at the time of Jesus’ ministry there was this thing known as The Pax Romana. The Pax Romana, or “Roman Peace”, was a period of peace and prosperity in the Roman Empire that lasted from 27 BC to 180 AD. This time period included the life of Jesus and the early years of Christianity. More on that some other time. So…one of our Lord’s dissenters, was the Roman Government even in this time of the “Roman Peace”. There are two others which we will look at today.

The Pharisees were a Jewish group that followed a strict interpretation of the law and believed in oral tradition. They were active in Palestine during the Second Temple period, from 515 BCE to 70 CE. The Pharisees challenged Jesus in many ways, including questioning his authority, testing his knowledge of the law, and criticizing his actions. 

They were jealous of Jesus’ popularity with the people and they did not like his associations with people of questionable behaviors. In Matthew 12, the Pharisees criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to work on the Sabbath. They were insistent about asking Jesus about the law…Jewish and Roman law, hoping to trap him into something that could be used against him. They even at one time tried to lay hands on him after he had taught the Parable of the Wicked Tenants… Luke 20:1. They had no success in questioning Jesus’ authority, knowledge or trying to find fault with his ministry. But within the structure of Jewish tradition and law there was another group whose actions could be described as a form of dissent.The Sadducees were a Jewish sect of priests and aristocrats who were active in Judea from the second century BCE until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. They were a conservative group that held power in the Jewish community. These were the political elite of Palestine during the time of Jesus. They were were active in the daily activity of the Temple in Jerusalem and had a working relationship with their local Roman counterparts and they were  dominate in the Temple and the priesthood. They were rivals  of the  Pharisees who opposed their power. The Pharisees first concern was for a greater recognition of the oral Torah. In the end  they did not secure a lasting legacy. The Sadducees as a group ceased to exist after the destruction of Jerusalem, but the Pharisees’ legacy lived on. In fact, the Pharisees were responsible for the compilation of the Mishnah, an important document with reference to the continuation of Judaism beyond the destruction of the temple. In this way the Pharisees laid the groundwork for modern-day Rabbinic Judaism. Because the Sadducees were often more concerned with politics than religion, they ignored Jesus until they began to fear He might bring unwanted Roman attention and upset the status quo. It was at that point that the Sadducees and Pharisees set aside their differences, united, and conspired to put Christ to death.  (gotquestions.com)

Paul used the differences between the two groups to kinda “stay in the game” so to speak. Let’s wrap this up. Jesus had to contend with many things in his ministry but one thing I ran across that I offer for your consideration. The twelve disciples were with him right up until he was arrested, then even they fled or hid in the shadows, one even denying he knew him. Jealousy, fear of losing power and prestige among the people or the Roman Rule or law being challenged, all put Jesus in great danger. Almost forgot… a disciple means follower, eventually the 12 would be known as Apostles. Jesus had many followers, people followed him everywhere…I would dare to call it a “traveling evangelical event”.

Life is Good

Jk

What is Civility? “Civility is claiming and caring for one’s identity, needs, and beliefs without degrading someone else’s in the process.” We try to practice that very thing here on The Back Porch. Seems to me the word used here degrading someone else is rather mild judging from the discourses of the day. I am particular about my beliefs and hold to a reasonable path of conservative thoughts. To be fair and honest I don’t hold with the view that anything in moderation is ok. I don’t particularly hold with  inclusiveness just for the sake of social agendas. If you are wondering what direction this ponder going I will try to set that before you as best I can. Remember Rodney King from years back…  “can’t we all just get along” …or Mr. Rogers and going even farther back…Captain Kangaroo… “be nice”. Now if you remember the movie Road House (1989) … there was a line in that movie that I have always remembered. Patrick Swayze instructs his “bouncers to… “be nice…until its time to not be nice”. Well…it is time not to be nice!

I am 81 but I do still remember my grandparents on my mothers side…Democrat to the core. They loved Senator Kefauver…well any Democrat and they never changed. I was a small kid and I remember Pop, who worked for TVA as a sandblaster and in latter years an independent painter. The painter’s union there in Chattanooga at that time would not allow Pop to join. What did he do? He went ahead and paid union dues anyway…that’s all I remember about that, so what is the point here. Pop didn’t picket or demonstrate, cuss and just generally raise hell…he did something positive to make his point. I remember Speaker of the House Tip O’Neal, President JFK, Senator Humphrey and host of other Democrats and I am a Republican to the core. Gee whizz, I even tolerated Al Gore until he started hugging trees. So let’s ponder this. How did we get to the point that disagreeing with others requires a mouth  that can only spew forth filth and does such damage to the “Kings English” and does not have the capacity to discuss the issues with any degree of intelligence and knowledge of that issue. SOooo… PONDER THIS… Whats going on across that aisle?  

Jk

 How long has it been since you heard one of those Hell &       Damnation Sermons?…Why… I would be tempted to guess about a time a while back, when there were no cushions in the pew and many of those old pews had straight backs. I don’t mean to be harsh, times are different, people are different but somewhere along the way I once heard someone say…”the Lord is the same yesterday, today and will be the same tomorrow!”We spend a lot of time talking about sin, particularly someone else’s…that makes sense because there are none of us without sin…so we ought to recognize it easily. Just what is a sin? I have come to believe that it is anything that separates us from God. Now that leaves a world of bad out there all around us. “Let us go among the  heathens”.…that’s from a movie and was a line spoken by Ward Bond and is really not relevant here…just thought I would throw that in. Now you may not agree but those heathens… that be us!  What is sin, biblically speaking. Sin isn’t just a mistake or poor decision. It is much more than that. Sin separates us from God but He provided a solution in His son Jesus. God defines sin as any thought, word, or deed that breaks his law. God’s law is the absolute standard of what is good and right. God gave humans free will, so humans are responsible for their own actions. Now there are any number of ways to pursue this subject about what is the UnSpoken Truth. I don’t intend to lay out a list of what to do or as is typical of most Christian denominations that list of do nots.  As you have read above the only true standard to define SIN is God’s Law and the best place to do that would be The Word…the written word of God…The Holy Bible. I would like to add this caveat…read and pray over the word…seek an ongoing relationship with God. Scripture tells us that Abram, whom God later renamed Abraham was favored by God…because of the intimate relationship between them. Abraham had the privilege of walking and talking with God and Abraham was obedient to God in all things. Christianity is no easy path and the Bible spends a lot of time speaking about sin because it is a fundamental problem for humans. The Unspoken Truth concerns the fact that there will be a judgement…there will be no exceptions, sin has consequences. 

Sin brings lasting punishment.

Sin leaves humans to rely on their own resources for a solution.

Sin hinders a person’s relationship with God.

 The whole point of this discourse is an old man’s lament to the state of the church today. There is really only one very specific way to deal with SIN. We must confess our sins to receive salvation and maintain fellowship with God and we must strive to “walk in the light” by reflecting God’s perfection in our lives. A simple layman’s view…The need to Repent of our Sins.The Jewish people, God’s chosen people, got entangled in the law…their law and put forth a path of 613 additional laws…

The 613 laws are a set of rules that governed the Israelites’ day-to-day life, ceremonial worship of God in the Temple, and moral rules that summarized all of the Old Testament laws as to how people interacted with God and with each other. These laws were also the constitution of Israel and were necessary for running a righteous, theocratic government under Yahweh. According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments. 

christianity.com+2

God confronts sin with compassion, God offers redemption through Christ, and God calls people to repentance. There are still many churches that preach redemption first and Jesus Christ being the path to that, however,  Social activism is now a big part of many churches today and lessens and obscures the UnSpoken Truth.

Not Everyone Is Going To Heaven

Life is Good

jk

I am of the opinion that if “civility” could be put in a bottle and sold it would be out of business within the first year. I have reached a point where I just read the headlines to get an overall consensus of what is going on. Never…and I pause here to let you ponder over time gone by… never have I ever been so immersed in such a toxic atmosphere as we all wake up to each day. Even Uncle Remus…oh sorry about that I forgot that is considered racist to use that name…well anyway even he would have a hard time singing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” in these times. We have become a nation of “whiners and moaners” and  TSD has become a national motivator of this disease. I am fine with discourse that challenges others actions, has negative opinions…even if their actions are devoid of facts and only favor their agendas. For me civility goes a long way. When they shout, curse and vilify an idea or those presenting it…that to me simply highlights their lack of facts and education of the value of what they are disparaging. I am not going to devote a lot of time to this especially here on the porch…We come here to “Ponder” with no expectation of solving a thing. You know the rules that set up a good ponder, which is kind of funny as there are no set rules for having a good ponder. If you haven’t figured it out yet…It is really about “fellowship”…SOooo…Ponder This… There is a lot of wisdom in The Book of Proverbs. Here are three verses from Proverbs 29 to help  cope with these days ahead.

4 

By justice a king gives a country stability,
but those who are greedy for bribes tear it down.

11 

Fools give full vent to their rage,
but the wise bring calm in the end.

20 

There is more hope for a fool

    than for someone who speaks without thinking. 

Ponder That!!

We continue our series of the 5 W’s of journalism. We have completed Who and Where, this week we will deal with these three in one package. One of the most often studied, spoken and written about events of the Bible is of course the Crucifixion and this week we will examine the What, Why and When of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Find a seat here in the Pew and join us.

We will start with What?… That would be the crucifixion itself and it was meant to inflict the maximum amount of pain, shame and torture possible. It was a public event that displayed the power of the Roman Government as a visual reminder not to cross the Roman Government. Even within the Roman Government crucifixion was considered so horrible, it was reserved only for the worst. We shall note that while the Romans did use it, it was invented by other people. The Romans were credited for perfecting it. There was a standard method so to speak…first the victim was severely beaten, some say so badly that they never got to the cross. Next the victim was forced to carry the large wooden crossbeam to the site of the crucifixion, some have written that it liken that to digging your own grave. I debated with myself whether to go lightly into details or be a bit specific…specific won out. The only way in my mind to understand the magnitude of what they did to Jesus, even though we can not imagine the pain, we can with words visualize it. To further the shame of crucifixion the victim would be stripped naked. After forcing him to stretch out his arms on the crossbeam they were then nailed to it…the nails were placed through the wrists which would keep them from pulling through the hands. The explanation here is that in those times the wrists were considered to be part of the hands. By placing the nails here it would put pressure on the large nerves running to the hands…thus causing excruciating pain. The beam would then be raised up and fastened to an upright beam. The upright beam would often be left in place after the crucifixion. With the crossbeam in place they would then nail the feet to the upright beam. Placing the feet one on top of the other and nailing them in the middle of the arch on each foot, allowing for the knees to be slightly bent…also to inflict more pain. The placement of the arms and feet and the point where the nails were used caused the body after some time to slump, this put pressure on the lungs and eventually they were unable to breath. After great pain and suffering they died of asphyxiation.Crucifixion was finally outlawed by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century.

Why was Jesus Crucified? The simple reason was according to the Bible, Jesus was crucified because he was charged with claiming to be the King of the Jews, which was considered a threat to the Roman Empire. But as Paul Harvey would say here is the Rest Of The Story. I sometimes refer to it as a political hit job. Jewish authorities arrested Jesus and charged him with blasphemy for claiming to be the King of the Jews. As to When this happened, the gospel writers weren’t concerned with precision and timekeeping was approximate in ancient time

however the Gospel of Mark says Jesus was crucified at the third hour (9 AM) and died at the ninth hour. (3 PM) To answer the question as to when it is generally accepted Jesus was likely crucified in the spring of either AD 30 or AD 33, most likely on a Friday. The traditional date is AD 33. 

To close this out I refer you to an excellent article by Mary Fairchild. Here is the url…. https://www.learnreligions.com/timeline-of-jesus-death-700226 

Life is Good

 jk

Raining now and the forecast predicts it will be with us for a few days. What is going on?… The Chiefs lose, Travis Kelce talks retirement and of all things Taylor Swift gets booed at Supper Bowl. Now if that was not enough there is the possibility that the Gaza Strip could somehow become prime real estate. Consider this about Gaza… two rather mundane means of transportation in ordinary times for ordinary people would be donkeys and camels. You know what that means… somebody, somewhere  will soon attempt to control the market for camels and donkeys. We must not forget that that The Gulf of Mexico is now officially The Gulf of America, which means, somebody, somewhere will make a fortune printing new maps. I also might add that yes, the Gulf of Mexico is considered saltwater, with a salinity level comparable to the North Atlantic Ocean, usually around 36 parts per thousand salt…The name change won’t affect the content. Did you know that the average American drinks about three cups of coffee per day, or roughly 1,095 cups per year. Now why is that even part of this blog? Well it is personal…considering that my town is adding two more major players in this coffee shop thing… at least we will have somewhere to go, sit and drink coffee while we ponder why anyone would pay $5 for a cup of coffee. Eggs are $1.39 – $1.89 a dozen in Mexico while here in the USA about $4.00 a dozen. This adds meaning to that saying “don’t spill the eggs…” Chuck Schumer encouraging people to report fraud, waste, threatening behavior toward others… Pogo reminds Chuck “that be us”. SOooo…here is your Ponder for the day…Ponder these things.

We continue this week looking at those five W’s… In the Gospel of John, “the Word” refers to Jesus. The term “Word” is a translation of the Greek word logos. In the above verses from John, “the word” …is connected to God the creator of all things. Another key verse is John 1:14…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…This is a powerful statement…We have seen… We have seen His life giving light and walked with him and heard His voice. So this simple three word statement that Jesus is God incarnate who has walked among us bringing us life and hope, is a verification of the gospel truth. There is more to this question of Who?. It tells us that Jesus is fully divine and fully human, we might elaborate and write that Jesus is God’s perfect revelation of himself. As I was doing some reading prior to writing this blog I came across an article written by James M Hamilton Jr. of a very interesting thought referencing John 1:14. John writes “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Mr. Hamilton points to these three words “dwelt among us”. He offers to us this consideration.

I wanted to be sure I got this right…so I have quoted it as written in his article…

 “John uses the cognate verb for the noun used in Greek translations of the OT to refer to the tabernacle, thus recalling the way God dwelt in the tabernacle in the midst of the people of Israel, and this is the first of a number of ways John will communicate how Jesus fulfills the temple and its ministry” 

This wonderful notation reminds me of the fact that at Christmas the fact of the birth of Christ was in reality God among us…what a wonderful thought. 

So consider this…Jesus was present at the creation of all things, the word became flesh, it speaks to the eternality of of the incarnation… God Among us. Myself, I am overwhelmed by these revelations. As I wrote last week…These were real people, real places, and a real God… Come back next week and join us in the Pew.

Life is Good

jk

Sources:

Sources:

https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-did-john-mean-when-he-called-jesus-the-word-john-1/ 

biblegateway.com 

It has been said that it takes a village to raise a kid… yesterday I had to go to the dentist…it would have helped to have had such at my disposal then. After loading my chair into car…wheelchair…and a walker my daughter and I set out on our mission. This was the first time to the dentist since my surgery and Amy had planned it well. I will try to keep this short. Unload our stuff and in we go. It was a good thing they put me in one of the larger rooms…the transfer from my chair to the dental chair required the dental assistant, my daughter and my best effort to not fall, it went rather well for my first time on strange ground. Got my teeth cleaned and then the news that I had three cavities. Oh but the joy doesn’t stop there. All three and I will pause here………all three were under three different caps or crowns, whatever. I had this sudden sensation that someone had their hand in my back pocket. Well we go back next week to take care of those cavities. Now for those of you who are new to the porch who might be asking…what is up with this guy? Does he think that he is the only one who has ever had a cavity? Better yet he is not the only person in a wheelchair, I saw a few at Walmart just yesterday. Well the answer to these questions would be no. My reason for sharing this with you is due to writers block! Now guess what? All of this has brought me to a proper Ponder. As we age things happen with our health… I will call them life changes… mine seemed to occur , the health ones, about every 10 years and I have referred to this as “Through the Decades”. As with all good Ponders we are not here to think about it, or even find a solution for it…  just kick “it” around a bit. I am 81 years old and I have noticed some health changes at the start of each new Decade. I started my decades count at the beginning of my 30’s. In the 30’s I was subject to weight gain, cholesterol, high blood pressure and sugar number starting up. I welcomed the next my  decade my 40’s with back and knee problems that escalated with time. Rolled right into the 50’s with escalating heart problems which in the last of my 50’s required open heart by-pass surgery, four by-passes to be exact. I had at this time found myself pondering this “decades thing” whats next? Happily entered the next decade retired and the 60’s, well a mixed bag but no decades punch until of right at the end…heart acting up again. The decade of the 70’s hit me at the halfway point, by-pass surgery again…counting what they repaired and some new ones, I now had a total of seven bypasses. Now the 80’s slap me with knee surgery…torn tendon, right knee. Went sour on me and now I am confined to a wheelchair. So the Ponder this week…This decades thing, is it worth a Ponder or just a part of life?

Jk