Tag Archives: Jesu

Paradigm change…..

Paradigm is a word that I always say is one of my favorite words to use, mainly because it is event changer! lol

I use this word for alot my illustrations in biblical senses and also in just real life occurrences. This blog I hope gets you thinking about the subject of “Paradigms”, in mainly the subject of what it actually is, and then also of if you see ‘it’ in the scriptures of the Bible.

I read alot. When I read a book that is telling a story of say a historical narrative, there are always ebbs and flows of that historical story, especially of a long one. Sometimes in the story there is a ‘Major’, or ‘surprising’, or ‘unsuspecting’ occurrence that you would of never seen coming. It is this ‘thing’ that We will be talking about.

Let’s start with what I consider the obvious one of ‘different’ boundaries in objectives that are set out for us. This one, I am talking about is the differences we see in the bible, in that, it is divided into two parts, The Old testament, and the New Testament, It is here that I believe that it is the source of misunderstanding of what it is all about. The old testament, is a story of a people under a covenant to God, The New Testament is a story about a new covenant to ‘all people’. (Note-using ‘testament’ and ‘covenant’, is key to ‘hearing’ the right story in the bible. These two words mean different things, they are not interchangeable. We must use ‘covenant’ to ‘see’ the story right.)

The old covenant had boundaries, They were for the people of Israel, they had laws to abide with, their identity was shown in their ‘eating preferences’ and of the males being circumcised, and They kept Saturday as their ‘Holy’ day of God. This covenant was the description, the identity, the sign that they were of God’s people. Upon seeing an Israelite in the market shopping for food, and their selections did not include pork and sea crustaceans, meant that they were of Jewish belief. If you did not any of your friends on friday eve, meant that they were celebrating their ‘sabbath’ in worship. It was these things that were identity markers of the Israelites in that day.

Let’s now identify the New Covenant’s identifiers. Now first I am going to show the ones that are being used in our christianity model that is prevalent today. I will then suggest something different, and righteous. Let me just start out by saying this is sorta foggy from an outside perspective looking in, but let’s give it a try. I would like to start from the street angle first. I am not sure we can ‘identify’ a ‘christian’ (as opposed to an Israelite of the old covenant) it seems that the ‘christian’ has blended in with the rest of the crowd to as they were led to believe that if I mingled with them, I would be able to ‘be’ at their level and to talk to them about ‘Jesus’ and lead them to salvation. This is a problem. But there are a few that you can tel with mannerisms or subtle talking that can deduce a ‘difference’ from the normal society. There are no markings on a ‘christian’ to distinguish that they are one. They have no selective eating habits so to speak, unless it is one of preferences. The one that is still used for identity, is the one that they ‘see’ as Holy is the ‘Day of Sunday’ as God’s Day for worship.

Standing at a street corner and looking to identifying a ‘christian’ now is very hard. Unless it is a Sunday and you are standing on the church corner.

God chose identity markers for the Israelites for a special reason. Because they stood out, they ‘were’ different to other people’s eyes and ears.

It is still relevant for the ‘New Covenant’. Our current model is not of God’s identity markers. It is of ours.

God chose one identity, It was the “Holy Spirit”, this then would be producing the Love of God, and Love to others.

Let’s look at this and why.

The Promise of the Spirit

           28      “It will come about after this
     That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
     And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
     Your old men will dream dreams,
     Your young men will see visions.
           29      “Even on the male and female servants
     I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The Day of the LORD

           30      “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
     Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
           31      “The sun will be turned into darkness
     And the moon into blood
     Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
           32      “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD
     Will be delivered;
     For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
     There will be those who escape,
     As the LORD has said,
     Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Joe 2:28–32.

Now, if we were walking down the street of downtown ______________, You would be astounded at these people who were filled with the Holy Spirit and their wonders and ‘Life’ that they had of their God. Their ‘identity markers’ were not of a physical or action of the flesh but one that was coming from inside their being showing what their God is!

Maybe we should rethink the Paradigm that we ‘think’ is supposed to identify us to the world, and just let the Holy Spirit of the Lord do the talking for Us!

So, What do you say? Ready for a Paradigm shift!!

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The Law(are we still ‘doing’ it?)

This subject is one that has been studied countless ways. What is it? What does it include? Is it the 10 laws? Is it 613 laws? Is it the laws of today? Does it include the gentile’s?

At the surface of this question it has many facets to it. We could talk or discuss it for months, but let’s take a different approach to this subject. Let’s go below the actual question and let’s discuss what is the intention of the law by God given to the nation of Israel.

The nation of Israel was the focus of the law, it was because it was given to them because of their selected appointment by God to be for the interest of all the world to stand up and look at God’s people as the light of the world. Israel was being called by God to be the influence that brings all of the world back to Him.

God had laid out his plans for the whole world to worship him as their creator and their God. It was an attempt to ‘show’ the world that God was God of All. God’s people were wandering away from Him and His Kingdom in their journey to know him, their was mingling with the world around them, which was taking them away from Him.

It is then that the God of Israel, put the ‘Law’ into the hands of man to follow and to ‘do’ them right. This was to be a effort by man to come to Him. It was to be a test, a test of man to see if he ‘could’ do the ‘Law’. This is also known as the ‘works’ of the law. It depended on man, and man alone.

No notice the words that were used in the former paragraph in the description of action to ‘do’ the law. The action is all on man. it is of his effort, that it is based on. God’s hand is not in this. God said that if they(Israel) followed the law that God would provide for them and take care of them.

This was an agreement with things on both sides of the table, but it started with man(Israel),and also gentiles in that if they couldn’t do the moral thing of the law that it would still fail as a mankind attempt of following God. This was a huge attempt for man to prove itself on God. But they failed.

Their ‘works’ or ‘doing’ the law failed. It was not because it was impossible, but it was not possible because they were mankind and they were not ‘Holy'(not of God,because of their idolatry of man itself) They were incapable of ‘doing’ the law.

Let me tell you of a secret of mine. I sometimes will do something when I read things in my studies of Theology. I call it the ‘opposite’ view, when I see something that says “You are to do this when this happens”, I will suggest to myself that let’s look at this if it is in the opposite light. So let’s use this ‘opposite’ view here.

The opposite of ‘works’ or ‘doing’ is not doing it at all or not personally working at something, like letting someone else do it, because I can’t. (unable,not capable)

So, now let’s plug this in to the equation from above. If God’s desire was have ‘His’ people to be the image of Him, like He created Him for, then this was God’s actions that have created this to be in motion. It was God’s ‘work’, and only His ‘work’, there was no subcontracting out to man to try and help him out. It was all on God.

The ability of man to follow law(s) was a mute attempt, because they were ‘man’, It was only an execution by God that was to be made. It would be by the power of God only to do this.

Now, let’s take the next step forward, albeit a dangerous one in most eyes of christianity. Let me just put it in form of a question.

Are we still doing this same thing as christians in the form of our ‘idea’s’ on how we should be Christlike?


Should we not stop ‘working’ or just ‘doing’ things that we ‘think’ is the right way to do things in our christian life, but instead letting God ‘build’ His Own Church!!

Let go and Let God.

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