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August2 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:6:37-42 SHALL MEN GIVE UNTO YOUR BOSOM - Top and bottom: judgment, condemnation, forgiveness and a beam in one's eye. The difficulty with judging others is that we do not judge ourselves by the same measure. I am going to flip this around however to level that few are comfortable with. Let's take the example of Christians that are for the death penalty. There are many that would use these words against us; "judge not lest thou be judged". Are they not using the very words of non-judgment to judge us by? No doubt they have other words to say about Christians as well, and they are quite public about it too. Hiding behind such peaceable words in order to openly judge another is most "beamish". The measure that most all of us will be rewarded with largely has to do with the amount that we give. If a man or woman is known otherwise to be very giving of forgiveness and compassion and peaceableness, exceedingly so shall we say, the fact that they favor the death penalty in this one particular instance does not mean that there is a "mote" in their eye. Thereto, the man or woman known to be judgmental and unforgiving and slanderous in many more respects except in this particular instance and turns these peaceable words intentionally into canon fodder, here is a case for the consideration of hypocrisy. The law of Moses is filled with not only judgments about those who sin against God and society, it is judgmental against the society that does not execute judgment upon those individuals on behalf of the victims. The very ground it is said often cries out with the blood of the innocent. Prophets bemoan the times when there is no judgment, no one to stand the gap, no one to stand up against the evil. Rightly so. Has Jesus not come to fulfill the law of Moses and the prophets? A disciple is not above his master. He cannot judge and condemn and be unforgiving by his own selfish and hypocritical standard. His one allowance is as a society when the word of God so demands. Those that use the word of God, to which they have not the slightest belief otherwise, to box out those who do believe every word from the very public and very necessary debate over the death penalty are hypocrites of the highest order. This is not to say that there isn't a mote or splinter lacing our debate as well. The faith of our Lord is in the measure that we mete withall. Everyone that is perfect shall be as his master. Jesus has always been able to discern both the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. The measure that He gave has been and forever will be pressed down, shaken, running over from the sincerest of men. What better reward or compliment. Just as He wants experienced in the bosom of His disciples.

November15 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:7:45-8:11 AND TAUGHT THEM - With everything that is going on around Jesus it is good to know that there are still people that want to hear Him and are willing to be taught. Wouldn't you have loved to hear what the teaching was on this day? We are not told what it was and it seems that many times He is "teaching what?" when what we are told about what interrupts it or occurred outside of it. Take the feeding of the five thousand and others, times when He taught all day or three days straight, we know not a word, but we do know what else took place. We do have some of His teaching mind you, the sermon on the mount, the Olivett discourses, weaves of parables etc.. Chances are His teachings were much like those. Perhaps they were exactly those just for a different audience and that is why we are not told about it (we've already heard it). Wouldn't you like to hear Him tell it again and again? There is the chance just as likely that it was something completely different, perhaps reading and teaching from the Old Testament stories or from the Law or from the Prophets. Wouldn't you have loved to hear His take on ancient world history? A walk through the book of Job? Instead, we are privy to what the Pharisee's are thinking, how their minions are processing their reactions. We also have what He taught as a result of these occurrences. This leads us to believe that as important and engaging as the mystery teachings of Jesus were, often times what was going on around them is more of what we need to know; at least right now. I imagine that in Heaven we will have the time and opportunity to catch up to these lessons. There will be plenty of occasion to go over to Joseph's and hear Joseph himself recount his time in Egypt. It will be good to hear Job himself describe what he was thinking. How about an evening with Stephen or Silas or Luther; diner with the Grahms? There will be time for this I am sure, but for now we are faced with the task at hand which is often best understood by the contrary reactions of reprobates. It is a look into the heart of sin, the thoughts of those who seek to entrap, the insults and slander and hypocrisy of those who should know better, the short sighted reasoning's and justifications of the power hungry. The teaching actually is all about the cross and everything that led up to it so that we would be able to know what it means with and beyond and because of it. The faith of our Lord is there early in the morning every next day; He is always back at it. A storm surge of opposition and scheming can be brewing all around Him and you know what He'll be doing and where He will likely be found - teaching. Thank God our Father for that!