and permit me to respond/clarify, if you will be so kind. Thank you!
First, though, I must give "props" to my "main men"... Gumby and Little Toe: the greatest of love and peace to you both... and thank you for you kindness. Truly, they will not be forgotten! 'Toe, you are true Israelite for a certainty, one who has the "law" written on his heart... and I love you for it! Gumb... no, no "shining knight" has distracted me (and actually, I have been given some pretty good gifts over the past few years or so, but yours are, of course, awesome ... and most welcome - thank you!!). My "life" (i.e., new house, old job, health, etc.) required my "attention", and so I asked leave to take a break until sometime after the new year. My Lord was gracious and allowed me to "rest". However, a "season" is fast approaching for some, and so I have been sent to "work" again... and I look forward to it!
Now, for the rest of you dear ones... and please forgive me for not naming you individually, but I simply can't remember who posted what:
1. I am a "girl". Truly.
2. The WTBS' event will be held the evening of Sunday, April 4, 2004.
3. The admonishment regarding eating and drinking was NOT only for men, for with God, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor freeman, male nor female, but rather ALL of these are "sons" of God through Christ, and ALL can be ONE person in union with Christ.
Galatians 3:26-28
4. How often one eats (i.e., whether yearly, monthly, weekly or daily), depends solely on how often one wants to be "in union" with Christ. The Israelites, et al., ate daily... so as to LIVE daily: after the quail, the manna was all the sustenance they had. So that as they ate, they lived. Since I wish to be in union with Christ DAILY... and live by spirit DAILY... then I eat and drink... daily. The admonishment to me from my Lord is that I should feed my spirit before I feed my flesh. Now, is this to say that you should do so, too? By no means! YOU... must do whatever it is that the Spirit directs YOU to do! I cannot answer for you... nor you for me. And I cannot and do not "judge" you. My ONLY debt to you... is to LOVE you. Wish I try to do to the best of my ability.
5. While it is true that a "passover" meal can be eaten prior to the partaking (and there is aboslutely NOTHING wrong with this - it is to be commended!), this is not "law" by means of Christ. For if it were, one would not be able to partake with other "brothers" on a daily basis. Paul was speaking about "when you come together" to eat it. It is not a "ritual" as religion has made it: it is a means of sustenance for the spirit! Eating means taking from the "leaves" of the Tree of Life... and drinking from his "cistern". To ritualize it, would diminish its purpose and make it simply routine, with no true meaning.
6. Due to MY debt, to God, Christ and my fellowman (for I am a "sinner", indeed, a foremost one!) I stated the message given to me by my Lord, in its entirety, just as he gave it to me... exactly... including the salutation and conclusion. Just as I heard... I wrote. I owed him that... and I owe YOU that. Thus, I stated to WHOM I was sent... BY whom... for what purpose... and in what capacity. Thus, I gave it... just as he directed me. I did not turn to the left, nor to the right. If that, well, stumbles you... upsets you... concerns you... chagrins you... irks/ires, even angers you... then I apologize, but must also ask you to look at yourself and ask yourself... why? Why did the message "bother" you? Was it meant for you? If not, then you have no reason to take offense, do you? If it was... how is it that you take exception with it? Was there something deceitful, malicious, untrue in it? Why, then, did you take offense?
I did not speak ill TO you... or about you. Indeed, I greeted you with love and a wish for peace... and I ended with that same wish for peace for you, as well as by confessing to you that I am a slave of Christ... and thus, by connection, your servant. I bear you no illwill, but only spoke the truth to you... just as such truth was given me BY the Truth (John 14:6)... whether (in the case that you ARE Israel, the Household of God) you hear... or refrain.
Dear ones, as many here already know (because they have bothered to get to know me rather than judge me WITHOUT knowledge...)... I am on no "pedestal". I have not been put on one, nor have I put myself on one. I am NOT an exalted one; rather, I am merely a good-for-nothing slave, doing the will of my Master, just as he reveals such will to me... which will can also be revealed to you. I am not better than you, by any means. And I cannot give you ears, I cannot make you hear, I cannot grant you wisdom or knowledge or understanding. But there is only One who can... and it is to him you MUST go if you wish these gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
If, then, you do NOT hear... or do NOT understand... then I say to you, go to the One who can grant it to you. And if you do not WANT to hear or understand... then I say to you that your skeptical and harsh words are expected, for "A slave is not greater than his master": if those who did not hear, could not hear, did not understand and/or did not WANT to understand persecuted the Christ, indeed, accused him of madness and demons and all sorts of improprieties... then who am I to expect anything less? I was asked to pick up a "torture stake", not take a stroll through a rose garden! I am his servant, and so, just as he was received... or was not received... so it will be with me also, as it has been with all those who have gone before me... and who will come after me. Indeed, some will hear and get the sense of it; others will not. So be it.
But that does not change who or what I am, nor does it change my obligation to YOU... to speak the TRUTH to you... about who and what I am... and who it was that sent me... whether you hear... or refrain.
Again, I bid you all the greatest of peace... and... if you "wish" them... ears to hear. May God will that it be so.
Your servant, as I am servant to ALL those of the Household of God, Israel, and a slave of Christ,
SJ
P. S. If I missed something, please forgive me, and if you would be so kind, restate it and I will respond, if my Lord permits. Oh, and regular 'ol water crackers (Carr's, for instance) will do just fine (Just no yeast - "leaven". Otherwise, our Lord does not expect us to go all out, for it not the "bread" itself, but what it symbolizes: his flesh! Again, peace to you!)
