When I first got into Judaism I was surprised that, as guests invited over to a family’s house for dinner, the prayer occurred after the meal. I’ve asked several Jews about this and have gotten back several responses ranging from the comical to the over-analytical. For example, one Jew told me that you thank God for the food afterwords to factor the rare situation that it was poisoned … in which case you could thank God personally to His face. Some Jews start to recite laws and commandments, which is fine… but then why would God command us to pray after the meal instead of before?

I read on a blog that a Rabbi had been consulted in the matter and answered “It is easy to eat the meal and then forget God’s blessings on a full stomach, so the Jews ate first and then stopped to thank God for the blessing.” I like that. I like it a lot. I’d add to it, though, that many Jews pray before and after the meal. Before the meal, you’re forced to stop and reflect on the goodness God provides. It turns out to be good for digestion, too, since it forces the people at the table to calm down and relax. After the meal, you’re faced with remembering God after being satisfied and brings a nice, formal closure to the event.

Thinking about this also reminds me of the account of Jesus and the ten lepers mentioned in Luke 17:11-19. Ten men with a fatal disease plead with Jesus to help them. Instead of giving them money or sprinkling pixy dust, he orders them to go see the priests. That’s it. But they knew scripture well enough to know what that meant. In Levitical law it states that when someone has disease and goes to a priest, it’s for examination. These lepers knew that a medical examination would be pointless unless they were healed of leprosy. That faith drove them to the priests who announced them clean and clear of the disease.

Only one of the ten came back to Jesus and the LORD makes a point of it.

Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?

We need to be that 10% who thanks God after providing for us. This is especially true since, as His people, we set the example.

Just as important, let’s strive to thank our neighbors and the strangers who do small things for us. How many times have people slowed down in a parking lot to let you cross in front of them, or swept the floor after a meal so you wouldn’t be stepping on sticky crumbs, or opened the door for you… anything big or small should be recognized, appreciated and thanked since they took the time and thoughtfulness to recognize and show appreciation towards you. We need to make our gratitude known, too. A hearty smile with a look in their eyes while you say the words mean much more than mumbling “thanks” while you look at the ground. Don’t forget the classic hand-written thank-you notes and cards. With all the junk mail we get in the post box, a kind letter rekindles a feeling of humanity and warmth.

Praying before a meal instills patience and praying after a meal instills gratitude; these provide critical lessons in life we have the opportunity to practice to perfection three times a day.

In baseball there’s a term called “sacrifice”. A batter deliberately hits the ball in a direction that will likely get caught, but far enough away from the other basemen that members of his team can advance to the next base. There’s also a religious term “sacrifice” which could involve killing an animal or human to pour that blood over something to appease a deity.

Since God forbids human sacrifice, and Jesus constantly referred to himself as the Son of Man (not Son of God), could it be that Jesus was giving us a message throughout his teachings that his death wasn’t for atonement or as a human sacrifice, but rather to advance people to God? Would I be at this point today, seeking out what God wants if it weren’t for someone hanging up for execution nearly 2000 years ago?

So what is spiritual success? For a teacher it’s leading people to God and enlightenment of the truth and a better life. For the individual it’s to live out the truth, to live a better life now and have an even better eternal life later.

How does anyone get spiritual success? John Macarthur Jr. said “Spiritual success requires commitment to others.” but the scriptures indicate it has to do with commitment towards God. People were committed towards the priests during Jesus’ day, but Jesus didn’t condone the acts of those people and even condemned the acts of the priests. Commitment towards the wrong person isn’t a path to success. So that brings me back to my search for God. The key to spiritual success is finding Him and being obedient to what He has to say. More often than not what I hear is theology and philosophy that people taught over the years directing towards self-inflicted suffering, which doesn’t equate to denying one sense to accentuate another. Fasting, for example, for the sake of suffering through it doesn’t get anyone anywhere but hungry. Fasting to deny that physical element of comfort that can impede on our search for the spiritual can make people more observant of the spiritual world around them.

I still have more searching to do… On a final note, is it possible to prosthelytize myself?

This apologetic is not about turning a hand up against Christ, but about the merits of incorporating the Jewish lifestyle with all its blessings and curses as a Christian. It’s a journey of a man towards the God that accepts and loves despite our grievous nature, but also about a God of Law and justice that lays out the rules in life and the consequences of disobedience.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:8-10

Most pastors stop before talking about why we were created. That’s where my journey begins: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Workmanship is the quality of integrity applying to the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture, people, or artisan. We could apply that definition directly here. Those whom God has called are to demonstrate love and righteousness to the the world as evidence of the fruit of the spirit that God provides. In short, we are defined as the goodness of the hand of God on the Earth. It’s important, though, to recognize the pretext because it humbles us and defines our relationship with God.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. – James 2:20-26

What happens to Ephesians 2 if faith is dead? This is not intended to open a debate between Calvinism and Armenianism, but invariably does so anyway. Instead I’m just going to point out three fundamentals presented in these two texts.

• It’s grace through faith that saves us.
  • Faith without works is dead.
• We are created for good works that God has already prepared for us to do.

What I see is an obvious statement. Those who have the faith for God’s grace to save, are also compelled to do good works. But “good” in the human psyche is relative. Fortunately, Christ recognized this when presenting a profound statement to a young (unmarried), wealthy merchant.

Now as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. – Mark 10:17-22

Only God is good. That sets a very high standard. That means for us to do good, we must be as righteous as God. Although this is an impossible achievement from man alone, we have righteousness in faith provided it is demonstrated by our works.

This is how living faithfully is like a ritual. There are moments when after fall short of expectations we’re given the chance to try again (and God is a teacher who tests us). Each successive attempt only emphasizes the righteousness accounted to faith because we have faith that God continues to be our teacher. Righteousness is defined throughout all of God’s word, including the Laws of Moses (2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Deuteronomy 6:25). As we act righteously, denying ourselves for our Creator, we further establish that faith.

It was her first day in the maternity ward and knew only what she was trained for. Contractions were two minutes apart, lasting more than a minute each, and the patient was well over eight centimeters dilated. Ironically, I had read how to deliver a baby in a taxicab in the strange book “The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook” just the night before, never imagining I would actually use that knowledge.

A new nurse rushed in and looked at me. “Are you ready?” she asked. “What?” I questioned what she was asking me to do. “Go get some towels, you’re going to deliver a baby!” As I rushed for a towel, another nurse draped one over my arms. I ran back and gave encouragement to the lady who was already in stirrup position. “You’re doing great!” Honestly, I had no idea how she was doing. A nurse told her to push and just as suddenly I was holding up the head of a newborn. The baby was still half way in her mother until after another push when she suddenly slipped out.

The tiny baby was so slick and slippery I was afraid she would drop out of my hands and onto the hard floor. That’s when the coarse towel suddenly made sense. The doctor came in slamming open the door, still clothed in slacks – had he really been golfing!?

I can’t attest for other cultures, but very few American men will ever have the blessing of delivering their own child. That experience continues to teach, and it’s in that lesson I begin this apologetic. Being born doesn’t happen instantaneously. It takes about twenty minutes to fully deliver a baby. In that event there’s a time when the baby is half in and half out no matter how quickly the delivery takes place. Being born again has similar properties.

Abraham’s rebirth began through faith in God and obedience to Him, but his name wasn’t acquired for 25 years. Through that journey Abram continued to change into a more faithful man. It was this faithfulness that was counted as righteousness, not any acts, but the actions that Abram performed reflected his faith. Moses was 40 when he left Egypt and it wasn’t for another 40 years until God revealed Himself to Moses. Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days. Saul was blinded for for three days. Even Christ was in the grave three days. From the chrysalis of a caterpillar to a butterfly to the metamorphosis of a tadpole to a frog, these periods of changing from one world into the next are reflected in nature as well. The point is that spiritual rebirth isn’t necessarily a sudden event that one can point a date and time to.

In my case, varying events in life – the drama of death to the elation of new birth, the insight of good friends’ late night conversations and the path in my career – each step draws from me a spiritual response just as much as it requires a mental or emotional one. Only die-hard atheists argue that man isn’t a spiritual being. As such there must be a spiritual realm we walk in parallel to our physical one.

Another creative venue is photography. There are some amazingly brilliant works on Flickr and I’ve long enjoyed it, but the 200 picture limit on free accounts caused me to pull back almost entirely. I shelled out the $25 and am going in deep.

I thought about going into portrait photography, but my skills there are so limited. I’ve got to think about new forms of expression, and need to learn work flow. So the skills I expect to acquire from this experience will propel me into new ideas, better management of content and more enjoyment than anything the digital airways has to offer.

This is the second of the “365 days” group entries. Not only do I have to take a picture every day, it has to be of myself. That’s a tough subject because I’ve always hated portraits of myself – and now I have to step out of that comfort zone and take one every day.

This picture was inspired from thinking about biblical times and wishing I were any one of those disciples that surrounded Jesus. Well… maybe not Judas Iscariot, but one of those other ones.

Stone tape theory, also known as residual hauntings, is the idea that a ghost repeats itself. Usually at a specific timed event, such as the anniversary of that spirit’s embodied death, or at the stroke of midnight. Stone tape theory is the idea behind what causes it while a residual haunting is the phenomenon itself. What stone tape theory proposes is that the earth can record certain events if the conditions are right and play them back under some set of special conditions (similar or otherwise).

I’ve been a pretty strong proponent of STT until recently because of a misunderstanding of Genesis 4:10 where Abel’s blood cries out from the ground. But what brought me back to looking at that verse was a recent wandering to Psalm 103:15-16. In both Psalm 103:16 and in Job 7:10, a specific reference is made that the place does not remember the deceased.

As a place, a bed of limestone – even a magnetically charged one – should not remember anything. That means one of three things.

1. People who “see” ghosts are mad, hence the surge of reports reflects the overall human race traveling down the road of insanity.
2. Supernatural occurrences are happening more frequently but being misinterpreted as ghosts.
3. The media is a lying and the supernatural/ghost craze is perceptual, or worse, is another instance of life following after “art” (if you can call anything on TV “art”).

I have to admit, though, a riveting thriller from Ambrose Bierce, Washington Irving or Ray Bradbury gives me pause to think about mortality and the mysteries of a world bound to it.

Call me cynical but everyone is born inherently evil; selfishness, greed, envy, spite, anger, bitterness, arrogance and pride exhume themselves like Hollywood zombies from our rotting hearts starting the day we’re born. It takes extraordinary care, work and divine intervention to draw us away from our own natural disaster.

Perhaps it’s these ghosts in our mind that keep chasing us. We each have our own tell-tale heart. After all, that’s what Stone Tape Theory is, isn’t it? Rocks that tell a tragic tale over and over again until those who hear it go mad.

But there’s more. Charitable works are common during this time of year… but I think these acts are moved more by a sense of the season rather than from the heart. A recent newspaper article introduced me to the concept of Tzedakah. It introduced the Tzedakah box as a Hanukkah event, but asking some of my Jewish friends revealed that this is an on-going, annual affair. Hanukkah involves the children more, but it goes on all year long.

The word “Tzedakah” is roughly translated to mean “Justice” or even more loosely translated as “Charity”, but there’s a difference between Tzedakah and Charity as Rabbi Simmons points out.

“‘Charity’ implies that your heart motivates you to go beyond the call of duty. ‘Tzedakah,’ however, literally means ‘righteousness’ — doing the right thing (even if you don’t feel like doing it).”

Tzedakah is considered to be an obligation, and to many Jews it’s one of the aspects they believe to bring them eternal salvation. Although I believe, as a Christian, that tithing is a crucial part of what God asks us to do, I believe more so that it has no bearing to eternal salvation. It is more of a response to God’s love and providence. God is more interested in the state of our hearts than in our bankroll, though He does take that in consideration. The story of the Widow’s mite reveals this. It takes a dedicated and giving heart to give up so much when you have so little, whereas it doesn’t mean as much for a millionaire to tithe.

Tzedakah boxes are a novel idea – it shows our obligation to the Lord, but also reflects our acknowledgment of what He has provided. I would personally like to set one up at our home all year, where each season it’s dedicated to a specific cause. But I am more concerned about building up a desire to help others within my children’s hearts.

An interesting article reveals one woman’s motivation to teaching her children, and it’s a very pertaining one, but what struck me as even more interesting was the article’s citation of the 2000 Cone/Roper Raising Charitable Children Survey.

Ninety-four percent of Americans believe “parents play a key role in getting children involved” in charity efforts, according to a new poll, The 2000 Cone/Roper Raising Charitable Children Survey. Yet 70 percent of parents admit their children are not involved in any charitable activities.

Although they posted a series of excuses it’s apparent to me in my own life that the real excuse is selfishness. Yes, we should take care of our family and neighbors first, but I think back on how many times I’ve been wasteful or inconsiderate in regards to others who are less fortunate – and there’s always someone nearby who is less fortunate, so it’s not that they’re difficult to find.

I’ll give you two examples that are very similar – and resembles how some life lessons have to be taught more than once.

During a mission trip our church group traveled by rail from northern Mexico to south Mexico City. It was a two day trip and meals were provided by the government operated train route. I remember one of the meals. Tepid chicken that had been obviously unrefrigerated for many hours, cold bean mash and tough egg-shell-laden dinner rolls. Most of us had taken a bite or two, then decided that hunger was a better alternative… after an hour they came back to retrieve what wasn’t eaten.

Half an hour later the train stopped in the middle of the desert. There had been news of a train raid the month before so a couple of us had concern. I just arrived to the back of the car where a few others had gathered when a conductor stepped up with a pile of Styrofoam lunch boxes.

In the distance you could make out dozens of children. Their dirty black tangled hair flowed in the hot wind and their muddy faces beamed and bounced as they ran across the hardened dunes. As they arrived to the train the conductor began passing out our half-eaten lunches. Some children took two or three boxes.

I stood there astonished. The very same food I felt I was too good to eat just an hour ago was accepted with sincere gratitude from these destitute children. We didn’t stop for long. Maybe we were paused for only fifteen minutes. The conductor gave his last two boxes to a little boy right as we began pulling away. As we pulled out of sight I saw another little girl run up. The boy stopped her and gave her one of his boxes and I realized this moment would burn in my heart and mind for all eternity.

Maybe “burn” is too harsh of a word. My heart was warmed by the whole scene, but it also was also seared with conviction.

Many years later I went to DC on a business trip. I usually buy foods that I know I’ll like because it seems wrong to use company per diem on something that might be wasted, but during this trip I bought something new to try – some peanut butter and jelly snack bars.

Oooh they were awful. By awful I mean that I didn’t like them one bit. Maybe it’s good to some people’s taste, and I’m not a finicky eater, but I could only stand to eat a few of them during that week.

I had one last day that was gifted to me by the company to explore DC. That morning, with some guilt-led hesitation I threw out the box with the remaining three bars. An hour later I was wandering about the Smithsonian museums.

“Hey, could you help a fellow out?” I heard a thick voice from a planter built near the street. I only had a $20 bill for emergency cab fare in my wallet, but even if I did have change, was well aware that most of the homeless in DC aren’t really homeless. They beg for a living, though they are fully capable of working. There are a few of them that really are homeless – you can tell by their carts and their teeth. Sometimes you see them digging in the trash for a half-used cigarette or half-eaten sandwich. This one didn’t look like that. He looked washed and groomed, so I didn’t feel any guilt saying “No” … at least not at first.

“Please. I’m hungry. Do you have any food?” … and then the wave of guilt set in. I had to say no again, but this time I remembered how I had thrown away that food earlier that morning.

Years later that memory still brings guilt, if not concern. Why would a reasonably clean looking and groomed young man be asking me for food? Was he a robber who used this tactic to draw victims? A person who just recently fell down on his luck? Or as Hebrews 13:2 points out … what if he were an angel sent to test me?

The point to this is that if I were less wasteful, I could do more for those who are in need. To do so it has to start as a priority to give to others first.

Our society pushes consumerism, not humanitarianism. Other than the ultra-cheesy “I’d like to buy the world a coke, and sing in harmony” campaign, I have yet to see a company advertise the importance of giving to others. Where’s the “bring a homeless man into McDonalds and we’ll buy you both a meal” commercials or the “holiday inn supports the homeless by taking a percent of your proceeds to build shelters” advertisement? You don’t see any because homeless are dirty, nasty, gritty and sick. Showing that on TV doesn’t produce sales.

So what about Tzedakah? As Americans, we aren’t taught that we’re obligated to help the poor, or even our own elderly family members for that matter – there is a gross lack of personal responsibility for
this injustice. I’ve seen others point to welfare and social services while they shrug it all off. It’s sad that our government ever had to make these policies. We should have always been looking after each other.

Many of us point to a dozen other excuses as to why we haven’t been helping out others as we should. When it comes down to it – it’s cowardice, laziness and selfishness … and that’s just speaking of my personal excuses, when I come up with them.

Finally, I have to wonder what type of character it teaches the children when even as adults we don’t acknowledge the poor and the destitute, the lonely and the brokenhearted, the widow and the orphan. Giving is not just for Christmas or Hanukkah; Tzedakah and Charity are never out of season.