I Think We Can All Agree – This is Cool

I know some of you Hebrew Roots/Messianic Judaism types will be conflicted with the whole Monk business . . . but don’t ya just get shivers hearing King of Kings and Lord of Lords and Hallelujah with that amazing music just the same?

In Messiah,
– JGIG

(Click HERE to learn more about Handel’s Messiah.)

Comments Policy

Comments are welcome at JGIG!

A few of the comments I’ve received at JGIG lately made me realize that a comment policy was long overdue.  Unfortunately I did have to go to moderated comments last year when some abusive stuff came through =o( .  So here’s the scoop:

1.  Please comment on issues related  to a specific post.  Some like to vent their frustration with this blog by picking a post and letting loose with an ad hom tirade, not addressing ANY points in the post on which they’ve chosen to ‘comment’.

2.  Some who are in the Hebrew Roots/Messianic Judaism streams of thought like to pontificate on their entire belief system in the comments section.  Comments are for discussion.  If you have that much to say, start your own blog.  I’ve gotten comments here as long as 6000 words.  Seriously.

3.   Think of commenting as a conversation.  Would you talk for 6000 words non-stop in a conversation?  Well, maybe you would, but don’t do it here.

4.   Dissent is welcome here.  Dissenting comments will be approved.  Even ad hom stuff will  be approved.  Just keep it of a reasonable length and at least loosely related to the content of the post on which you’ve chosen to comment.

5.   Obviously no abusive language or vulgar personal attacks will be entertained here at JGIG.  There is no profit for anyone in reading that stuff.

6.   No plagiarizing.  If you want to quote something or use another source to make your point, that’s fine.  Just cite your source.

7.   Comments building on the content of the post and edifying comments will be approved =o).

8.   Encouragement to the author will also be approved =o).

9.   Note that this entire post (not including the cartoon) is less than 300 words long.

Thanks, guys.  This information can also be found on a ‘Comments Policy’ page in the sidebar for future reference.

– JGIG

Hebrew Roots Movement – Humor Break

Discerning the errors of the Hebrew Roots Movement can be a heavy subject.  Let’s lighten things up a bit, shall we?  Following is a bit of satire my husband put together several months ago as I was in the thick of researching the HRM.  I found the following to be a fun read and thought it appropriate to post here on the heels of “Messin’ With the Word” . . . 

The Results Are In!

Dearest Wendy,
 
Great news!  The results are in!  Feel free to forward this to your mom’s forum friends.  Or not.
 
I’ve been in a bit of a quandary about those pesky Bible verses that just seem to keep popping up.  You know the ones.  They don’t quite mesh with our world view or our ability to give or receive love. And those verses where they encourage us to confess stuff or accept discipline!  Whew!  And then there’s that part about the “front” of the book not seeming to line up with the “back” of the book.  What is one supposed to do? It causes us to walk around with a dissonance in our hearts that just won’t go away.  So, “Huh”, I said to myself, “there must be an answer.  Surely my Creator would want me to ‘have life and have it the way that is most comfortable for me.’  I mean, what is right in my eyes never fails me, right?”

We all know how difficult some parts of the Bible can be.  So I’ve decided that instead of adapting my life to Scripture, or better still, letting the Holy Spirit lead my life, I’m just going to edit the Word as I see fit.  Well . . . therein lies a bigger issue!  What sort of marker is appropriate for the job?  Well, honey, your Dear Husband is on the job!  Did you know that Office Depot stocks TWENTY-FOUR BRANDS of markers??  That’s right!  Twenty-four!  Woo-hoo!

My initial choice was of course the “Mean Streak.”  Seemed fitting.  The problem was it comes in yellow and some other completely inappropriate colors.  I mean, come on, we’re looking for complete coverage!  (On a side note there is something appealing about yellow, for some reason.)  [Update: The Mean Streak does now come in black!]
 
So, to jump right to it…  the winner is, after hours and hours of testing (just kidding), the Sanford Sharpie Magnum in Black!  This puppy can cover!  And with its wide tip I can blot out entire paragraphs of scripture in just a couple of passes.  Don’t like the stuff about speaking in tongues?  Gone!  Can’t seem to reconcile the “women speaking in the congregation” stuff? Blammo!  Just can’t stand the Apostle Paul at all?  Toasted!!!  Best yet, I have seen this thing completely remove from my Bible all the references to the Blood of Jesus and living a life of faith in Him!  Pow!  Freedom!  Who knew it could be so easy?  Please keep in mind that this coverage doesn’t come cheap.  These bad boys run $3.29 a piece.  But guess what, the ink is toxic!  Perfect.
 
For those budget-minded blotters out there the choice-du-jour would of course have to go to the Eberhart Faber 3000 Chisel Point Permanent in Black.  Great editing at only  $.59 a piece!  Be warned – more strokes are needed, but when you’re on a roll what’s a few more passes? 
 
Honorable mention would have to go back to the Sharpie brand with their “Click-It” line of retractable markers.  A great little product that allows you to edit almost anywhere.  Please be advised that the tip is tiny compared to the winning choices so care will need to be taken to get full coverage.
 
I hope this has been helpful.  I am so excited to know that even though Jesus said that “His burden is light” and we should “take up our cross and follow Him” that with a mere swoosh I can do it the way I want to do it.  Yeah!  What peace.
 
One word of caution.  These are PERMANENT markers!  They seem to work best for some reason.  I just marked out some stuff and got carried away – I marked out something about “your sins are forgiven” and now I’m not sure what to do.  Oh, well.  No worries . . . 
 
Love,
Your Dear Husband

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The American Concept of Harvesting

With all the news stories about farmers not growing this in order to grow that in order to make the other . . . well it got me to thinking about the farm “industry” in this country vs. the small local farmers.  And that made me think of this . . .

The American concept of successful harvesting is for a farmer to climb up into the big air-conditioned cab of their combine, fire it up, crank up some tunes, and proceed to mow down the fields before them.  There is little contact with the ground, and the harvest is swift.  The crop is shuffled off to the next stage in production (cleaning, sorting, inspecting) and then arranged neatly in attractive packaging for sale at market.

Hmmm . . .  do you see any elements of the above paralleling some [mega] churches and formula-based movements out there?

The Sacred Sandwich (Ya gotta check this out)

So I was sitting here last night with my sore throat and wheezy cough not being able to sleep and was just poking around the blogosphere when I stumbled upon a funny link at this site. 

I followed several of the pointing fingers to more funny stuff, but the site offers so much more than satire.  The site is The Sacred Sandwich and I encourage you to go and check it out. 

[Acting as your waitress] May I suggest that you start with the “Our Declaration” page followed by clicking on the teeny-weeny “Is This a Joke?” at the bottom of the sidebar on that page.  Click then on The Sacred Sandwich at the top of that page and move on to “Food For Thought” on the sidebar.  

There you will find Appetizers of the Gospel and Devotions, Entrees offering Bread of Life, The Sacred Sandwich, and Our Meat Dishes, and finally Beverages including Water of Life, Sincere Milk, and The Hard Stuff. 

In the midst of the feast of classic teaching, condiments of satiric comedy (and great comedy always contains an element of truth – and this site pulls it off pretty well) are offered for extra flavor and punch.

If you’re one who thinks that poking fun at the Church is irreverent or inappropriate, you might want to skip The Sacred Sandwich.  If you do choose to indulge, do check out all of the items on the sidebar, as there is more classic teaching to be found therein. 

I’ll be visiting The Sacred Sandwich from my sidebar on occasion.  Won’t you join me?