Welcome

If you have stumbled here by accident let me first insist that there really are no accidents in life. If however, you came on your own free will then please by all means open your hearts and your minds to the "New Wine" that God has prepared for you!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Mysterious King


Do you have any mysterious people in your family? A strange character or shadowy figure that appears briefly at a family reunion who you can’t place and do not know exactly how they are related to you. King Melchizedek’s name appears in just three places in the bible, but what the New Testament Bible writers infer about this mysterious fellow is quite intriguing. 

In Genesis 14 after Abraham and Lot part company and go their separate ways, trouble appears in the Holy Land. As the chapter opens a battle is brewing between 4 Kings from the North and 5 Kings from the South. Just as an aside, this is the first mention of war in the bible. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is captured in Sodom as the battle nears an end. His entire family, their workers, livestock and belongings become spoil of war. Abraham receives word that Lot has been captured as the victors head home with all their prizes. Abraham was able to arm 318 of his workers and pursues the Kings from the North. The 318 men would have only been men capable and trained to fight.  All others including women, children and older men would have stayed back to care for the household. This one detail points out just how much wealth Abraham possessed through his business of raising livestock.

God delivers the kings from the North into Abraham’s hands and Lot’s entire family is rescued from their fate. Now, seemly out of nowhere, appears King Melchizedek, a mysterious figure with no mention of a family line. He is referred to as the King of Salem which would have been an earlier form of the present city of Jerusalem.  King Melchizedek not only congratulates Abraham on his victory but also brings out bread and wine. Melchizedek is described as a priest of God Most High. He pronounces a blessing over Abraham and then seems to vanish from scripture for about a thousand years.  

The next mention of Melchizedek is in the book of psalms. It says in psalm 110:4 that when the Messiah does finally appear he will occupy a different kind of role than the Levitical Priesthood. “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” Melchizedek was both a King and Priest. The Levitical priesthood was set up by God to allow the Israelites a way to atone for their sin through annual ceremonial animal sacrifices. We now look back in retrospect to the fact that Jesus Christ became The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Once Jesus died on the cross all sin past, present and future was cancelled or paid in full. So Jesus becomes our priest forever and will bear the marks of the crucifixion in His body forever. The wounds in His hands, feet and side will be the only man-made things in heaven.

In chapter 14 it’s also recorded that Melchizedek brought out bread and wine. Now these elements have always pointed to the Messiah, who will bring in a New Covenant of grace and mercy. Where the bread represents the body of Christ and the wine represents the blood of Christ. Here on the night of the Last Passover while Jesus was with His disciples He took the bread and the wine and made a covenant with humanity. The proposition was really a marriage proposal where Jesus invites the whole world into a New Covenant with Him. He took the bread and poured the wine and then bought us with a price. By Melchizedek bringing out these same two elements He is reminding us, rather pointing out to us that there would be One coming who was not only worthy but capable of redeeming the world.

The book of Hebrews is really the key that unlocks the door that separates the Old Testament from the New Testament. In chapter 7 the writer of the book uses the only scriptures he had in the Old Testament to illuminate us on The blessing of the New Covenant where our new Priest and King has no more need to offer anything for our sin. Hebrews 7:19 “For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and its unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.”

The appearance of Melchizedek in Genesis chapter 14 is called a “Christophany” or an appearance of Christ on earth in human form. Jesus himself seems to hint at this as He confronts the Jewish leaders of His day as they are questioning His authority. Jesus says in John 8:56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” It’s truly wonderful that God would give us glimpses of Jesus in the Old Testament. I can’t wait to meet all the saints when I too one day arrive at the greatest family reunion in the history of the world!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Father Abraham


At least three of the world’s largest religions can trace their heritage back to one of the greatest patriarchs of the bible, Father Abraham. Islam looks to Abraham as the father of Ishmael, the golden, who was born out of Hagar their Egyptian handmaid. Men and women of the Jewish faith look to the birth of Abraham’s son Isaac, as the promised crucial link in the Messianic chain that will one day produce their Messiah.  Christians rejoice and believe that Jesus’ is the promised Messiah and His Messianic thread can be traced back to father Abraham as well.

It is a great encouragement to me to see prophecy concerning Jesus Christ in the Old Testament books of the bible. As we begin to read chapter 12 in the book of Genesis, God starts to shift His focus and intent away from the world and begins to single out the family line of Shem, one of Noah’s three sons. Abraham, a descendant of Shem, is a man of faith. As a son of Noah’s he would have had firsthand knowledge of God as he helped his father work on the ark for 120 years. And then, when the rain finally came, he watched as God shut the door of the ark. There is always a remnant of God’s people who, while not being perfect, believe in or have faith in God. It’s only after civilization starts to move away from the ark that they begin to forget about God and begin to trust in themselves and their own abilities.

There has always been a remnant of God’s people who continue to trust in Him.  Abraham is one of those men who relied on God, who trusted in God to guide him through life’s dark valleys and struggles. God decides to make a covenant with Him beginning in Genesis 12:2-3 where God promises Abram, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great;  And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” God goes on to tell Abram in Genesis 13:15 “For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” 

All of these promises to Abraham have come true since Moses wrote them down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Israel is one of the oldest surviving nations to date. They have survived several attempts of genocide against their people and still survive as living proof that God keeps His promises! On May 14th, 1948 the world witnessed as Jews were re-gathered into the Holy Land and the people of Israel were once again recognized as a nation. Abraham is one of the most recognized personalities on the earth; his name is great and he is revered as the Father of many nations. He is foundational as God begins to build the nation of Israel through his family line. Abraham is cherished by at least three major world religions; Islam, Judaism and Christianity.  Through Abraham’s descendants God blesses all the families of the world by giving us His One and only Son, Jesus Christ.

The more you study your bible, all the pieces of God’s plan will begin to fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle and your faith will be begin to grow.  God’s living word will start a fire in your heart. These tender sparks will begin to ignite larger tinder and soon grow into huge flames that will fan out and spread to your family, neighbors and the community in which you live. We were never designed to walk through life alone. I encourage all of you reading these words to find a place somewhere in the spiritual community of Alpine. A famous preacher once stooped down and drew an 18” circle in the dirt. People that were standing close by and listening to the preacher watched him as he explained that true revival will start inside that circle. Needless to say the crowd continued to stare down at the empty circle in the dirt wondering what the old preacher was talking about.  Finally, the preacher stepped into the circle himself and explained that revival must first start inside of us.

Community is a great word picture of the body of Christ. It’s a bigger circle made up of all denominations of people who put Jesus on the throne where He belongs. There are at this moment many godly men and women meeting and praying weekly for God to start a revival in the city of Alpine. Denominational walls of separation are beginning to be torn down, brick by brick, as the body of Christ begins to feel the influence of God’s Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian leader in Alpine and would like to see the body of Christ in Alpine come together, please contact Joseph at (619) 546-3324. If you are a believer in Christ and want to join us in spirit,  then step into this 18” dirt circle and let God’s spirit light your fire!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Rebellion in Babel


I absolutely love living in Alpine, California. Our property borders the Cleveland National Forest where there are no street lights to obscure our view of the night sky. Some nights when there is no moon light we can see the edge view of our own Milky Way galaxy. I remember as a small child at six grade camp, being able to observe Saturn through an 8” tracking telescope and how much of a thrill that was to gaze upon its rings. On another occasion I was also able to see a couple of Jupiter’s moons, Haley’s comet and the surface of the moon through my own 6” tracking telescope. So it’s hard not to come to the same conclusion that King David did when he wrote in psalm 19 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork”.

After the worldwide flood, as civilization begins to grow, people begin to move further away from the area where the ark came to rest. God commanded Noah and his three sons to be fruitful and fill the whole earth. As Noah’s descendants traveled westward, they came into the area known as the Fertile Crescent. There they began to settle and build cities in the plain of Shinar. This area was very fertile due to the annual local flooding from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These early settlers, instead of obeying God and filling the whole earth, decide to stay in one place and build a great city. Listen to what is probably the voice of Nimrod as he declares to the people in Genesis 11:3 “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth”.

Once again people are in rebellion against God and His command to fill the whole earth. They begin to build a very large city and ziggurat. These massive brick structures were not alters to God but were observatories where these ancient people looked for answers in the sky. In fact, there are many ziggurats in the plain of Shinar that have survived to this day.  We know that most if not all ancient civilizations worshipped the sun, moon and stars in some form instead of the One, True and Living God that created them. History has recorded that human sacrifices were offered on the tops of these pagan monuments even to the point where children were sacrificed to molded gods of bronze. 

The story line in the book of Job was written about this period of time, when a man was still the priest of his own family. Towards the end of the book of Job in chapter 38:4 God asks Job “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” and goes on to ask in verse 31 “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?” How did the writer of Job know that the Pleiades were a cluster of stars? Or that they are gravitationally bound with one another because of their close proximity in our galaxy?  In fact, two of the eight stars that make of the Pleiades are actually a binary star system revolving around one another. Since the telescope would not be invented for another 3500 years how did the writer of Job know so much about astrophysics?  God goes on to ask Job “Can you bring out the “Mazzaroth” in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?” 

The Mazzaroth pre dates the Babylonian Zodiac and is thought to be a system for re-telling the story of God’s plan for salvation. Some theorize that God wrote His plan of salvation in the stars using the constellations on the ecliptic.  The Theory explains how God used the names of each star along with their apparent brightness to teach His plan of salvation to Adam and Eve’s descendants. Many will disagree but scripture teaches in Psalm 147:4 “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.”

It’s because of man’s rebellious nature that God conceived a plan to redeem His creation even before the foundations of the earth were laid. He loves us so much that He gave up His own Son, who humbled Himself to the point of death on a wooden, Roman cross. As we wait for the second coming of our Messiah, mankind will continue to build skyscrapers that touch the sky and launch manned spacecrafts to land on distant planets. Scientists will continue to search for the answers to life but for me the answers have always been right in front of us “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork”. Selah!