Our Faith Journey: Introduction

Rules, Rules, and More Rules!

When I was younger I remember a time when I began wondering why there were so many rules. I just did not get it! I mean it seemed like there was a rule against anything and everything that was fun. One such rule for my siblings and me growing up was that only two people could jump on the trampoline at a time. The problem with this was that there were three of us kids! Someone did not get to jump, while the other two did. Sure, we came up with games where all three of us could get involved, but I still did not understand why my parents would not let more than two jump at a time. I always had to explain to my friends that only two at a time could be on the tramp...even though I didn’t quite get why. I even remember my great grandma Eva Shively, who was the nicest woman you would ever meet, having rules. One of her rules was that if we were going to get a pop sickle out of her freezer then we had to find someone else to split it with (since they came in packs of two). Why couldn’t we just eat both if we wanted to? Why did there have to be rules against all of these harmless things? Don’t touch the stove...look both ways before crossing the street...etc. I may not have known why my parents said to do certain things, but I did know that they loved me and so I wanted to obey because I loved them. Today I now know why there had to be so many “rules” for me to follow...and it all comes down to a four letter word called love.

You see, when I was younger I didn’t have a clue why my parents said to do or not do certain things. But now that I am older I know that it is because they loved me. They told my siblings and me not to jump with more than two on the trampoline at a time because there was a higher chance of someone falling off and/or getting hurt in different ways. My great grandma Shively didn’t let us have more than one pop sickle because she knew that it was too much sugar for us kids to have at once. These rules ended up being for my own health and safety, even though I didn’t understand why I had to obey them. I now think about Yahweh...the creator of Heaven and Earth...the one who cares about us more than any other person ever could...does His love for us mean that He wants what is best for us...does it mean that He cares about our daily lives...does it mean that He also has rules for us as believers to follow? The answer shouldn’t surprise you, but YES!

Yahweh’s love for us surpasses any kind of love that humans can offer because HE is love. This divine love also comes with divine instruction. How do we then show love in return? By obedience! But don’t simply take what I have to say, but look to the scriptures. In John 14:15 Yeshua says, “If you love me, obey my commandments”. Then again in 1 John 5:3 it says, “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.” There are several verses which say this same thing over and over....and that is loving Yahweh means we will do what he says. There are several things that Leslie and I do that make some people’s eyebrows raise. They wonder why we don’t eat certain foods...why we don’t work on Saturday...why we keep Passover and other Biblical festivals. The answer is: Just like our parents, God is our Heavenly Father who knows what is best for us.

We have decided that we are going to be posting several of our beliefs in a series. We are not doing this to condemn others, but because there are some who have no clue what we believe and really don't feel comfortable coming to us to ask, while there are others who believe that we are trying to be Jewish and/or Legalistic! But nothing could be further from the truth! And so now we ask you brothers and sisters, that you would "...test the spirits, whether they are of God..." (1 John 4:1)

Posted by: Jeremy Gipe

A Holy Hike for Shavuot

Jeremy and I celebrated Pentecost/Shavuot today with our fellowship, The Gathering Place by congregating together for a few hours and trekking out on a 6-mile walking trail through a scenic wooded area, through the downtown of Winona Lake Village, and around Grace College. The comment was made by one that ‘today actually felt like a sabbath, because the streets and buildings were quiet as it was a Sunday and no one was working’. It is true that we are not used to that luxury since we celebrate the weekly sabbath on Saturdays trying to avoid the hustle and bustle of the town. It was very refreshing for all of us, I believe! We were incredibly blessed to have beautiful weather the entire time, and to have such fulfilling conversations with everyone in the group!

Our first topic was a quite predictable one involving speaking in tongues when filled with the Holy Spirit or having the gift of tongues/interpretation. This topic intrigues me so I said a silent prayer that Yahweh would open my ears and clear my mind in order to be ready for this discipling discussion. We talked about how on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out among the people, they spoke in tongues as a sign that the spirit was now dwelling in them. And since this type of tongue is only a sign, there does not need to be an interpretation like there does for the public tongue. It was interesting to relate that to modern day in dwellings of the Holy Spirit and how the sign could be speaking in tongues but that doesn’t mean that all who have the Holy Spirit in them would go on to have the gift of tongues (for a public setting) which would require an interpreter. Interesting stuff!

Bible Verses on my heart:

"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend" Proverbs 27:17

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:4

                                                                           

                                                                                    Posted By: Leslie Gipe

Worldview & Beliefs

A number of years ago, my sister and I went on a mission trip to Mexico with our church youth group. On the last day of our trip we went shopping to buy any souvenirs that we wanted to help us remember this trip. But before we took off into the streets of Mexico, our translators told us that we should never ever pay full price for anything. They said that we need to bargain with the person and get the item for as cheap as possible. As I was walking around to different shops with my sister I couldn’t get this foreign idea of bargaining with people out of my head. Usually I would just go to my local Wal-Mart, look at the price, and then buy the item for what it was marked at. It felt awkward, but I wanted to give bargaining a try. So I walked up to the lady with a firm look and offered her half the price of what the item said. She looked at me and came down in her price a little. But I was determined to get the item for as cheap as I could, so I stuck to my original price. A little frustrated, the lady came down a little more, but I just looked at her and said the price again. She finally just told me no. I was a little bit overwhelmed that she had turned me down, but I heard that if you start to walk away then they will call you back and give it to you for that price. So I gave it a try, but to my disappointment the lady never called me back. As I walked over toward my sister I saw she also was getting ready to buy something. The man gave her a price and I was expecting her to try to bargain with the man, but it must have slipped her mind because she told him that she would be right back after she got the money. As she started to walk away, the man yelled out an even lower price. Excitedly she said yes, but she would have to go and get the money. He must not have understood her because he once again yelled an even lower price to her. She came back to the man and paid him because he had brought it down so low that she had just enough money for it. I couldn’t believe what had just happened! Bargaining was a rich cultural experience, yet it obviously wasn’t my thing. My sister on the other hand thought it was great; she was excited for the next time she would get to do it again. So it all depends on your perspective. As the day went on I looked around at the culture I was in and at how everything was so different from my own. My worldview had changed and is something that continues to change even today.

A worldview is the way in which you see the world and understand the way in which it works. It shapes and guides our lives and helps us to explain the world in which we live. The worldview that we have has been shaped by assumptions that we have made which are generally sub-conscious. With this in mind, our worldviews are going to affect the behavior we have and the way we act towards this world. With all of the differing worldviews today which one should we pick? Can there be more than one worldview that is correct? Like we mentioned in our story earlier, our worldview is constantly changing when we learn new things. It is our belief that the model of the perfect worldview is to have the mind of Yeshua. This essentially means that one would think like Yeshua; love like Yeshua; act like Yeshua; and walk like Yeshua. And on top of this, have the humility, patience, longsuffering and all of the other fruits of the Spirit. Christ would not only be the model but the individual’s worldview would be an exact copy. That is the final target of any Christian Disciple's process of becoming more holy.

Now you may be wondering why I chose this story to talk about all of this and why it really matters. It matters because our God is the Father of TRUTH and Satan is the father of lies as it says in John 8:44,

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

We need to rid ourselves of the lies of the world that Satan has gotten his hands on and turn to truth. We need to change our worldview to look more and more like Christ's worldview.

                                                                                                                          Posted By: Jeremy Gipe