When Life Overwhelms You (Cause we all have these days from time to time)

Stop.

Pray. Cry out to God for help. Pour out your frustrations before Him.

Pause. Take a breather. Give your mind a chance to relax.

Pray. Ask God for the strength to continue on. He knows what you're going through. Trust Him.

Start. But, pace yourself. Remember, your Father is with you. Rest in His peace.

Pray. Thank your Father for His help. Thank Him for His grace.

And finally, remember the sun is the most beautiful when it shines in through the clouds of life--and rainbows only appear after the storm.

Thank you Father, for helping me through the business of this week. Thank you for giving me the strength to get done what needed to be done. And thank you for giving me rest. Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who gives man rest.

Carousel of Thoughts

Photo Credit: Aral Tasher

Sometimes one can't write because he doesn't have anything to write about. Sometimes it's because he has everything to write about. Seems that every so often, like clockwork, my thoughts evolve into a carousel of ideas and questions spinning around and around, faster and faster, until finally they blur into nothingness. Perhaps that's where I reach my breaking point. Anyway, that's where I'm at today. The thoughts run round and round and I just don't know what to do with them. I suppose I could share a few of them here.

What follows is a semi-coherent rant; I make no guarantees as to how interesting or intelligible it may be.

Of Man and God

Judaism focuses on one revelation: Mt. Sinai. Christianity focuses on the other: Jesus Christ. Messianic Christianity is faced with the unique problem of reconciling these two focus points in a way that upholds both in the lives of believers today.

Revelation

I mentioned in an earlier post that Messianic Christianity is founded upon two great points in history: the giving of the Torah and the resurrection of Yeshua. I want to focus in on that point here and take a look at just how important these two events are.

Most of us tend to start the discussion with the Bible. The Word of God is our "absolute", the standard by which we judge everything else, the foundation upon which we build our religion. Having grown up with the Bible, we sometimes forget that it is the answer to a question, a response to our need for the life in God. The Bible is not simply a given that we are simply expected to adhere to. It is the Revelation of God in a dark confusing world. The Word of God is not normal. It is not natural. It is a breach into our universe, a violation of natural law, an intervention in the course of humanity.

Messianic: A Philosophical Definition

In the last post I focused on the theological distinctives of the Messianic movement. I tried to stay very general and objective so as to be inclusive. Here, I want to talk about the philosophical side of the movement, which by very nature is much more subjective. While our theology may be a mess, we have a unique way of viewing the world that I believe has merit.

Messianic: A Religious Definition

Those of us in the Hebrew Roots / Messianic / Torah Observant Believer / [insert other name here] movement seem to some difficulty in the area of labels. Many seek new labels (or to go label-less) as current ones don't seem to fit or come across as too restrictive. It's part of our identity search as a relatively new movement. Meanwhile, the labels we do have sometimes seem to elude definition. Just what is a "Messianic," anyway?

A New Name

Shalom! For those who have been following "Chasing After The Ruach" for a while, I suppose a bit of explanation is in order. This is in many ways a continuation of that blog. This will be the new home of my various ramblings and personal thoughts on life, faith, theology, and stories.