Thursday, September 27, 2012
Confused and Hungry at Wednesday Night Church (on Yom Kippur)
Yes, I was at church on Yom Kippur. Went to the men's group. I don't know if it was the hunger or what but I shared information about myself freely when asked. I think they got the impression that I had never heard the gospel message because several guys started talking about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins. And I realized "Whoops, they must think I'm not a Believer." And so I mentally reviewed what had been said to try to ascertain where they got that impression. Was it that I had mentioned that I didn't hear G-d when I prayed (as in an actual voice)? Was it that I hadn't been to church in a long time? Was it that I met my wife at Messianic Synagogue? Was it that I had said I didn't understand the discussion question in our workbook that asked "In what ways are you investing in eternity?" Was it that I had said I didn't understand the idea of laying up treasures in heaven, how it seemed puzzling given we wouldn't need to buy anything?
I thought to myself "It must be that bit about the discussion question" They must've gotten the wrong idea when I said I didn't understand the question about "investing in eternity".
And then a gentleman started asking me a series of puzzling questions:
"You believe Jesus in heaven, right?"
I thought about it for a moment. "I think so...yes?"
"He's not in the physical realm, correct?"
"Well, yes, he must be...He's flesh and blood..."
"Let me ask you this: is He still in the tomb?"
"I don't know...I believe He's G-d..."
"No, no, no. Is He still in the tomb?"
"G-d is omnipresent..."
"Is He in the tomb?"
"Yes. He's G-d and G-d is omnipresent so--"
"Did He ascend?"
"Yes."
"Where did He go?" Now the gentleman was smiling. But I found this all to be very confusing.
"I..."
"He went up to heaven, didn't He?"
"Not exactly. He left His Spirit."
"But they couldn't see Him anymore could they?"
"Well, I can't see G-d in this room but I know that--"
"But He disappeared, didn't He? He's not with us, is He?"
Mercifully, at this point, our time was up. Everyone had to go pick up their children. I sighed as I left the room because I didn't understand what that gentleman was talking about. I chalked it up to being tired from the Yom Kippur fast.
Maybe things will make more sense next time when I have some food on my stomach. : /
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Lol, enjoy. I have had some of the same experiences, it is ok, just be an example to your brothers, and when you see something open up, take the opportunity, you might end up getting kicked out, or recommended to attend the church membership program, where they will indoctrinate you(been there done that), but either way, you never know who you are reaching... I say that, having seen many of the people I had discussions with in the past, are now Messianic, and they were usually the ones with the most opposition.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what a discussion of immanence and transcendence had to do with your salvation. Was the church Baptist? They really emphasize death, burial, bodily resurrection and ascension as core doctrines. Perhaps because he felt you didn't understand those "fundamental issues" at least to him, you couldn't truly understand salvation.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, just for kicks and grins, I respectfully disagree with your view that Jesus is now omnipresent. Every time we see Him in the New Covenant, even after His resurrection, He is immanent, in a localized body and point in time. There is insufficient evidence (in my lowly and completely irrelevant opinion) to support the idea that He was temporarily in a body but He's "all better now" and back in an omnipresent condition.
But that's just me.
Why can't He be both? Transcendent AND immanent? : )
DeleteThis is something I was thinking about the other day. Yeshua healed people who were far away--and we know that the virtue to do this originated from Him. So it's possible... But, hey, who knows, right?