Dealing With Aphids and Other Pests

This year imparticular aphids in the hothouse are worse than ever! Our trick of placing a yellow container of water among the plants to capture aphids didn't work as well this time. The aphids are flourishing after a mild winter and were out earlier than usual. What seems to be working to get rid of them is putting a few pinches of slack lime in a watering can with a spray nozzle. Stir the lime into the water and spray onto the lettuce and spinach plants. After a few treatments the aphids greatly decrease. Bill had transplanted lettuce plants from the hothouse to the outside garden. The plants were 3 to 4 inches high when transplanted. The following morning some of new transplants had been eaten leaving only the stalk! He has sprayed Neep Oil on the remaining lettuce plants which is discouraging what ever was eating them. We only planted, what is equal to,three 40 ft. rows of a variety of potatoes this year. They also are planted in raised beds. The potato bugs are out early again but with less potatoes to care for it won't be such a difficult job to pick off the potato bugs. Gardening without pesticides is challenging and we are always learning new ways of dealing with pests. Planting in raised beds and keeping everything to a managable amount makes the work easier. It is also easier to control both undesireable pests and bugs such as ladybugs which are beneficial to the garden.

Reseeding The Hay Field

Reseeding the hay field every ten years or so is a necessary part of farming.Even when using all natural compost, sea weed and manure, there comes a time weeds start to take over and it is time to reseed. That is what happened this year on our farm. Visible in the side bar of this blog are pictures of Bill and Rex working. The first step is ploughing and overturning the sod ground. Ploughing is hard work for a single horse so Bill ploughs down the sloping field only. He never ploughs from the low end up. Next using the springtooth breaks up the sod clumps. Quite often he needs to stop the horse and straighten the sods so the furrows are neat and straight. Rocks surface and these are manually removed. In other words they have to be picked up and tossed aside. Many generations of farmers poughed sod ground and removed rocks. That is why on old farms you will find stone walls through fields. It was the most convenient place to toss them when picking rocks. Composted manure is spread on the field. Harrowing levels the field and works in the manure. Seed can be broadcast by hand scattering or using a seeder contraption hung around the neck. The farmer then walks the field cranking the handle of the seeder spreading the seed. This field was seed with Clover and Timothy seed. That all done you hope for rain so the seeds can germinate but not so much rain as to wash them away. A few weeeks ago we had the rain after sowing the seed. The first two days a gentle rain fell. The following two it rain two hard and there was concern we would need to reseed. Two weeks have passed and Clover and Timothy are peaking through the ground! However there are some places bare so Bill spread some more compost and scattered more seed.Now we wait for the grass to grow.

Rain More Valuble Than Gold!

It is raining today as it did yesterday also and is forecast to do the remainder of the week. We are so very thankful for rain. The rains so far have been coming down in a gentle manner to water the earth. Torrents of rain would wash away valuble seeds. I hear comments on TV and from people here that don't like the rain as it interferes with their outdoor activities. It is easy to forget how important rain is in a society that is used to shopping at grocery stores. Some people forget all food starts out as seeds in the ground somewhere. Living on a farm we are always aware of the importance of rain. We had an open winter here with very little snow so there wasn't a melt to put moisture into the ground. The ground never froze and Spring has been very dry. As farmers we realize we have to ignore the weather and prepare the ground for planting and plant on time in order to have a successful growing season. If you wait until conditions are ideal it will be too late for plants to grow to maturity befor winter again.The weather can change and warm up very fast and the seeds need to be in the ground in order to germinate. The dry weather did allow Bill and Rex to plough up the old hay field for re-seeding.Bill turned over sods, spring toothed to break them up, harrowed to level the ground, planted Timothy and Clover seed, rolled the ground with a roller and waited for rain which didn't come until yesterday.He also prepared the outside garden beds,stirring the soil, adding compost,and planting them all in anticipation of rain coming on time to gerrminate the seeds. Farmers have to be people of faith because after all the hard work of preparation rain is one thing that the farmer cannot do him-self. We pray to God for rain in due season. Not so much as in a hard rain which would wash away seed; but gentle rains are needed over several days to saturate the ground. For this we are very thankful. Rain also raises the water levels in the ground insuring wells and lakes will be full. Town and city folks get their water from nearby lakes and resivours. Country people depend on their wells and streams to water livestock.Humans and animals as well as plants need water to live. Rain is so essential to all life it is sometimes hard for me to understand why people complain so when it rains and interferes with their activities! The reality is rain is a necessary part of all life and we should be thankful for rain in due season.Rain is more valuable than gold! Without it there would be no life.

Inexpensive Sunken Hot-House

An inexpensive small hot-house can be made using recycled materials. Ours is 11x12 feet outside measurements.All materials,except the cement used, were from re-cycled items. Preferably a hot-house should be located in a sunny area with south, east and west exposure to maximize the use of the sun all day long.In our case this wasn't possible because our home and barn are located close to the road limiting where we could build. Our hot-house is attached to the barn and workshop on the east side. There are south windows,west windows and north ones.One door is on the west side and the other in the work shop on the east side.Both have windows that open for cross ventilation.There is also a window at the top west wall that opens.The windows are recycled aluminum storms which all open. The back foundation of the hot-house is five feet high with atleast three feet below ground.The west and south foundations are not as high . All are cement that was poured in forms. The east foundation is shared with the workshop.The sunken foundation and growing beds retain the sun's heat better.The warmer ground allows for earlier vegetables.Steps down from the doors decline to a brick walkway.Our goal was to grow plants early without auxillary heat.The sun is the only supplier of heat. Last year we let spinach and parsley go to seed and reseed themselves. So we were eating spinach by March this year. Last year it was earlier in February.Another year tomatoe plants started re-seeding and growing on their own.I like no fuss gardening so we will be experimenting more this year. A lot can be grown in small spaces. Our hot house has a grape vine on the east wall. We grow spinach, chard, basil, parsley, tomatoes, green peppers, early carrots, agrula, lettuce and cucumbers on a trellis in this small structure.We also start the mangels for transplant there. With uncontrolable and unpredictable weather hot-house gardening is an effective inexpensive way to supplement your food supply.

-Home At Land's End; Spring, Summer; Winter and Trouble!

It seems nothing ever goes as planned especially the weather! After a mild winter we were having record warm temperatures through March! With 25 and 30C temps. [ 50's and 60's F ] everyone was outside enjoying the sunshine.
I was enjoying letting the wood fire go out as my husband has kept the house VERY warm all winter to the point I was wearing summer clothes to ward off the heat! He is always cold and I am always warm. We are simply polar opposites which requires adjustments while living in two rooms together all winter!

We closed off the rest of the house to save burning so much wood which we did accomplish. I saved wear and tear on winter clothing except when I needed to get warmly dressed to go into other parts of this old house! Problem is I forgot the bedroom was like the North Pole! Coming from the tropic kitchen and living room into the polar bedroom was a refreshing but shocking blast of cold air! Very exhilerating; it was just enough to remind me this is still a Canadian winter despite the tropic temperatures around the wood stove!

With our unusually warm March Bill has been hard at work fixing fences. Normally the effects of ground freezing and thawing helps heave old fence stakes from the ground making removing them easier.

This winter the ground didn't freeze and those old stakes didn't come out easily especilly for a man who only has partial use of his left arm since last September.Seems he has torn something in his shoulder probably from years of hard work the doctor said. He needs physio-therapy but that could be up to a year's wait with a long back log of patients in line before him and therapy personal as scarce as hen's teeth in this neck of the woods or rather seashore! Canada's medical system works but there are not enough doctors for the ageing population here. So my husband sucks up the pain and works on. Farm work is seasonal and things have to be done on time because if one gets behind it is hard to catch up. Whoever called this "the simple life" misnamed it! It is hard work but still a good life.

Bill started some early planting in the garden, burned old grass, and planted early carrots, lettuce, radishes, spinach and chard in the hothouse. It should be renamed "cold house" because we woke up to the ground covered in snow this morning! Hopefully it won't last! The March wind and dropping temperatures were a reminder Winter is still hovering around intruding on an early Spring.

We have been enjoying spinach and parsley since last month as they reseeded them-selves from last year. Now this is the kind of gardening I like that perpetuates its self without a lot of human work entailed! The older I get the more I try to find easier ways to do things.Now if I could convince my husband of the same!

Myda's Trouble is doing well despite her percarious entry into the world. Her breathing and heart rate has slowed to a normal pace and she seems to be thriving. She is full of vim and vigor and is the main attraction in the barn with her wild antics! What ever was her problem she seems to be outgrowing it for which we are grateful.

While Bill has been working outside I have started Spring cleaning and doing a major over haul of the house getting rid of excess things. After almost 27 years in the same house clutter gets out of hand! The way we live re-cycling everything because; " anything might be needed at some time to use for something " attitude is changing. Now I am keeping family things and fewer things we might need for this reason or that in the future.

Problem is when I get rid of something invaribly Bill will ask for the very thing I discarded usually within a week. Once I threw out some magazines that I had kept for 25 years! He was doing research for a paper he was writing on evolution versus creation and guess what he wanted?! " Honey, do you remember those old magazines we had from a "few"?; years ago on evolutuion and creation? Could you get them for me please? I need some information for this article I am writing."

"Trouble" In the Goat Barn !

Every February and sometimes March we look forward to the arrival of new baby goats in the barn.Most births are routine with the mother goats surviving labor unscathed and birthing healthy offspring who amazing stand up and nurse soon after birth.But other times there is trouble of one kind or another requiring a human to intervene and assist the new mother goat.

February 13th. Bill went out to the barn as usual to find our three year old Lucy licking off two big healthy bucks. The two instinctivly nosed their mother's udder finding her soft teats. They eagarly suckled their first warm milk. I love Lucy! She is not a big milk producer but she is "no muss and no fuss" when it comes to birthing babies. She pops them out, cleans them off and has them up and nursing, by the time we get to the barn. I think she likes her privacy too!

Our ten year old goat Sarah is a big milk producer and a one man goat! She likes my husband Bill and no one else. With me and anyone besides Bill she is flighty as a deer and always wary. It was February 15th. about 5:30pm. Sarah began labor. Bill cancelled attending a meeting thinking Sarah would give birth that Wednesdy night. One hour turned to three as the night continued on. No sleep and fifthteen trips to the barn Sarah produced two healthy bucks 10:30am Thursday morning. She needed only a little assistence.

Ironically while Bill was attending Sarah he heard a small blat directly behind him ! There was my twelve year old pet goat Myda with the head of a baby protruding from her! The infant was blating; calling for help! It was in trouble, stuck in its mother! Never have we had that experience before!
Bill gently pulled the new baby from her mother.The only female born this year is a beautiful fawn color with long floppy ears like Myda's.

Trouble was Trouble wouldn't nurse! Yes; we named her Trouble because that is what she is turning out to be! Myda's pride was evident as she deliriously gazed at her newest and last progeny; for this will be her last kid.

We tried showing Trouble the teat. We had to open her mouth and squirt milk in but she wouldn't suck! We gently rubbed her nose with a thumb while rubbing her chin with fingers applying just a little pressure. This sometimes encourages sucking.

Her survival was at risk here but she seemed more curious about everything around her than the immediate need of nourishment. New mother's milk is important to baby goats. The colostrum contains antibodies that help protect the new kids from disease and builds their immune system.They really need this new milk. It was another long night of trips to the barn trying to get Trouble to nurse.

At a day old I suggested I should bottle feed her. Since I hate throwing things away I still had baby bottles from when my grandson used them 23 years ago. After a thorough wash and scalding I filled a five ounce bottle with four ounces of warm mother's milk. Craddling Trouble on my lap, I wrapped my left arm around her and stuck a finger into the side of her mouth. My right hand slipped the nipple in and squirted milk. She wouldn't such at first so I gently nassaged her nose. Just like she had a light bulb moment she suddenly started sucking on her own! That first feeding she barly drank three ounces of milk.

Everyday there after she improved and by three days old she drank 11 ounces of milk. Bill continued to put her to nurse on her mother also. Now at 11 days old she will take hold of the teat and suck if a human holds it out to her. Myda's udder is big as are her teats and hard for new kids to latch on to. Each day Trouble improves her nursing technique a little. When Bill goes to the barn she will come to him and then return to her mother and wait for his help. Not a perfect scenario but a vast improvment!

Trouble loves to play with her brothers and instigates; what else but trouble! All the little ones are nibbling hay now including Trouble.

"All is well that ends well." My Grandma used to say.

Christianity in the Buff - A Strip Search of the Bible

There are so many ideas about religion a person could get very confused about what is right and good or just plain mis-leading.Especially now with the doomsday prophecies popping up all pointing to the end of 2012 for the the world to end; a person really needs to examine what they believe. My husband Bill is a lay-person. The following is what he wrote to help some people gain a simpler approach to understanding the Bible.

"Christianity in the Buff- A Strip Search of the Bible "- written by Bill Rose .

Introduction;

Christianity comes in many styles. There is the formal wear and then the more casual wear. There is the working wear and then the lounging wear. But, what would Christianity look like if it was stripped down to its birthday suit?

Would bare Christianity, stripped of its religious clothing, have any appeal or would it be too bland for the palate of the masses? Would many be reaching for the salt shaker to dress it up? If Christianity is an acquired taste , then the palate may have to be retrained.It sometimes takes a health crises to change our eating habits and to develop new tastes. Will we also need a spiritual crisis to rid us of our religious garb and to acquire a taste for the plain and simple? Could there be an easier way?

This writing will attempt to be that way by reducing Christianity down to its essentials, stripping away its many disguises and answering some of the most important questions ever asked. This not intended to be an "all you need to know about Christianity." It should be treated rather as a framework to understanding the good news of the Bible.

Since only humans have the capability to question their existence, religion is exclusively a human endeavor. It began when man started to deify and appease the forces of nature. Since these deities were far-removed, man evolved religion and religious rituals to bridge the gap between themselves and the divine. Every religion has its own brand, from chants to charms, from mantras to meditations, from penance to pilgrimages,from sacraments to sacrifices.

Unfortunately, the idea of a harsh stern God has carried over into Christianity. The fear of God and His wrath has often been used to scare people into repentance and to whip Christians into shape. But all these efforts to gain access to God only encumber the relationship that God wants to have with man.

What is the nature of that relationship and what does God want from us? Why did God make us in the first place? Why didn't God just settle for a relationship with the animals? He could have saved Himself a lot of trouble. Every Christian should ask themselves these questions. Unless we understand why we are here and what God is doing, our religious road can take many turns. The answer to these questions bring everything else in the Bible into perspective. Without that knowledge, Christianity is just another religion, a balm for the underdog and a club for the oppressor.

The religions of this world cannot answer these questions because they are cut off from the only source, the inspired word of God. Christians recognize the Bible contains the essential information that we need to fulfill our quest. However, the Bible does not contain all the information that we can learn on our own. It does not for instance, tell us the how and when of creation.That is something for science to explore. It does though tell us what lies outside of the scope of science., the "Who and Why". It is this "why" question we will explore.


THE CREATION STORY

The Genesis account has sprouted a number of differing views on creation.There is of course the traditional take of the account, sometimes called the young earth theory. Then there is the progression theory in which the days become eons. Many Christians on the other hand believe that God used evolution as a means of creation.

One very interesting view is the appearance of age theory. This theory suggests that the earth and universe were created already showing age, just like Adam and Eve were created as adults. And then there is the re-creation or gap theory. Except for the traditional view, all these theories try to explain creation in light of science. But, what if the account was never intended to align with science.

A closer look at the Genesis creation account will reveal it was written with form and structure, but not in chronological order. For instance, on day one God created night and day. Yet He did not create the sun, moon and stars until day four. Moreover, the style of writing is more poetic than narrative. The creation account was simply intended to counteract the existing pagan creation accounts and establish who created all these things that others worshipped.

The Bible account begins with these words; " In the beginning God created the heavens and earth." This bold statement is something that science is unable to disprove. While the creation account does not oppose modern science, it does refute the theory that man evolved from animals.The creation account distinguishes between animals and man. It states simply that God made animals after their kind. In other words, they were created to reproduce within their species. On the other hand, man was made in God's image. Moreover, he was put in charge of God's creation. It is a responsibility that Christians need to take seriously.

When the Bible says we are made in God's image, it does not mean that our physical features are exact replicas of God's externals. After all, God is spirit. He is neither defined or confined by physical features. Nevertheless, we share many of God's emotions.Man can be moved by the beauty of a sunset or a beautiful piece of music.We can be moved to express affection or to express sorrow. And in a limited way, man shares God's creative abilities.

But these physical traits are only the beginning of what God wants to share with us. Our physical creation was just the start of the process of making us in His image. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:49; "And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven." God wants us to share in His glory. Jesus referred to this in His prayer just prior to His arrest and trial. He said," Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."[John 17:24] Years later Paul wrote in Romans 8 verse 17, "Now if we are children [of God] then we are heirs--heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory."

There are many other scriptures in the New Testament that confirm God's desire to make us in His image and to welcome us into His family.In that same prayer in John 17, Jesus talked about the intimate relationship that He had with His Father and His desire to include us in that embrace. In speaking of Jesus, the apostle John wrote in John 1:12, " But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." And in Ephesians 1:4-5 Paul wrote, "For God chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will."

So it is clear that from the very beginning God wanted mankind to be His family and share a close and intimate relationship.But didn't the first man and woman already have that status at creation? The traditional view is yes and the Garden of Eden story is the evidence of their fall from that exalted standing with their creator. But is there more to the story?


THE GARDEN OF EDEN STORY

The story of the Garden of Eden is one of the best known stories in the Bible. It is the subject of numerous jokes and cartoons. It is also the source of the universally accepted Christian doctrine of the fall of man. Most Christians treat the story as a narrative. But what if the story was intended as a parable, which by definition is a story with a side by side or parallel meaning? Could God be telling us something here that we otherwise could not know?

In this story Satan is symbolized as a serpent. The serpent was a common symbol of evil and had qualities similar to Satan. And considering that the name Adam in this account is the exact same Hebrew word for man, it is safe to assume that Adam in the story represented all mankind.

The symbolism does not stop there. The two trees are also symbolic. One of those trees was called the tree of life. There are many references in the New Testament to Jesus as being the way to eternal life. John 1:4 says, "In Him was life and that life was the light of men". "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life." [I John 5:11-12].So this tree of life represented trust in and reliance on Jesus Christ, our creator [John 1:3 & 10].

The other tree that is a vital part of this story had a strange name. Just like the tree of life, it was not a common everyday fruit tree.It was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and it was a deadly tree.We could call it the tree of death. Just as the tree of life represented dependence on our Creator and His character, the tree of death represented independence from God's guidance and reliance on human nature alone to decide what is good and what is bad. So right from the beginning God gave man a choice. human nature or God's nature, death or life.

The fact that man had a choice shows that man did not already possess eternal life. This is confirmed by verse 22 of Genesis 3. God said that because man had chosen to be independent from Him , he must not be allowed to eat of the tree of life and live forever. It is clear then that the first man and woman were subject to death from the very beginning. In that respect they were no different than animals. The difference is that God had something better in mind for us.

That brings into question one of Christianity's most cherished and widely held beliefs, that the opposite of eternal life is eternal life in hell. This does even make sense logically. It is like saying the opposite of light in one room is light in another.

God told the first man and woman that if they chose to live apart from Him, they would die. Satan scoffed at the idea. Was God talking about physical death? Genesis 2:17 seems to indicate immediate death, yet Adam and Eve lived a very long time. Since eternal life was something they had to choose and they were not created with it, Adam and Eve were already on a collision course with physical death. Therefore the death spoken of in Genesis 2:17 had to be spiritual death for all eternity.

How does this view square with the other scriptures on the subject? One of the best known scriptures is John 3:16. The Greek word that is translated "perish" is in direct contrast to eternal life.Another well known scripture makes that contrast very clear. Romans 6:23 says; "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

The sin of Adam as mentioned in the fifth chapter of Romans, was less about eating some forbidden exotic fruit and more about total rejection of God's way of life. When Adam and Eve chose to live their life independent from their Creator, they rejected eternal life. The absence of life is death, just as the absence of light is darkness. After rejecting God's direction and opting to go it alone, God gave them their wish and literally told them that they were on their own. And that is where the story of the Garden of Eden ends. But there is much more to this story.

The story of the Garden of Eden gives us insight in how our adversary the devil thinks. What could have motivated Satan to get involved in the first place? Satan knew he had already blown his chance to be part of the God family. And he must have known that man was destined to replace him. His thinking must have been, "If I can't have it, no one will have it." His attitude showed up later when Adam tried to pass the buck. Today, Satan is still broadcasting those same attitudes. But these insights into human nature are in sharp contrast to what this story reveals about God's nature, His way of thinking. It tells us about His long term strategy for bringing mankind into His family.It gives us the framework to understanding the rest of the Bible. It explains why there is so much suffering in the world. It keeps us centered on our purpose in being and prevents us from going down rabbit trails that lead nowhere productive. But all of this is missed if the Genesis account is taken literally. Could this be part of the reason Christian beliefs cover such a wide spectrum?

The most important lesson that this story teaches is that God wants us to trust Him. The story is all about trusting God and the consequences of not. It illustrates one of the most profound scriptures in the Bible, Proverbs3: 5-6, " Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths." Adam and Eve believed Satan's lie that they didn't need God, that they could figure things out for themselves. Instead of trusting God, they leaned on their own understanding.

The consequence of their choice was to reject God's guidance and to forfeit the gift of eternal life. In other words, they were on their own. And this explains why there is so much suffering in the world today. Alone, without God's direction, mankind has been messing up and putting his foot in his mouth ever since. The story of the Old Testament is the story of man struggling alone without God's input, making bad choices and suffering the consequences.Some of the saddest words in the Bible are found in the last verse of Judges, " In those days there was no king over Israel and every man did that which was right in their own eyes."

Could not all of this heartache been prevented? Surely God must have known the thoughts that Satan was putting in Adam's and Eve's head. Satan told them that God was holding out on them, that they didn't need God. Why didn't God step in before this went so far? We know from the book of Job that Satan can only operate within the boundaries that God permits. If this was a part of God's plan from the very beginning, the idea of a disappointed God going into damage control is absurb.

The answer to the question of why God did not intervene is all about making man into His image. It is all about adopting man into His family, the kind of close intimate relationship that Jesus spoke of in John 17:20-26. He prayed for those who would believe in Him, that they might enjoy the same unity and oneness that He has always experienced with the Father. That unity comes from complete trust. Trust is a mutual feeling of affection and confidence towards one another. Without trust there can be no relationship. But, feelings of affection and trust cannot be forced, nor can they be programmed in as instinct is in animals. They must come by choice. God is creating children, not robots.

This story of the Garden of Eden tells us much about the nature of God. It teaches us about the love of God and patience of God. In the story God allowed Adam and Eve, who represented all mankind, to really mess up. He stepped back while they exerted their independence. God knew that mankind would only learn to trust Him after man had exhausted all his attempts to do things his way. God was willing to wait. He knew from the very foundation of the world what it would take for man to understand the depth of His love. God knew He would have to demostrate His love by coming down to man's level and submitting Himself to His own creation. He knew that He would have to absorb the consequences of man's mistakes. But none of this could happen until God first let man go. So the story of the Garden of Eden is the story of God letting man go his own way. This is; " not the story of the fall of man". Rather, it is the story of the beginning of the process of making man in God's own image. That is why the proper understanding of this story is so vital to understanding the rest of the Bible.

THE NEED OF A MAKEOVER

What God declared very good in the last verse of Genesis one was only the physical creation of man. In I Corinthians 15, verses 45-46, the apostle Paul wrote," And so it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being.'The last Adam became a life giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterwards the spiritual." In this passage Paul was talking about the resurrection. He said that flesh and blood would not be a part of the resurrection. Instead he said that we would exchange our physical bodies for spiritual bodies[verse 44].

That poses a very important question. If it was God's purpose from the beginning to create us to be like Him, to be spirit members of His family, why did God even bother with the physical? Why didn't he simply bypass the physical altogether and begin with the spiritual? The answer seems obvious. God wants us to be part of His family because we choose to be. He doesn't want rebellious children. So God is giving us a choice. His way or the goodby way, life or death.

When God created mankind, He gave us human nature. Human nature is not entirely bad. After all, didn't God declare His creation good? It is human nature that separates us from animals. Animals have their own nature. But, human nature is not complete. It is not complete because God created us to have His nature.

Paul contrasts our human nature with God's nature in the eighth chapter of his letter to the Romans. In verses 5-8 Paul wrote, " Those who live according to their human nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit [ God's nature] have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The human mind is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace, because the human mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the human mind cannot please God.

In I Corinthians 2, verse 11, Paul said this, " For who among man knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him?" In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." And in Isaiah 55: 8&9, God says , " For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

It is clear then, that without God's nature, His Spirit within us, we will never achieve the purpose for which God created us. This is the lesson that God was teaching throughout the whole of the Old Testament.The creation of the nation of Israel, rather than being an end in itself, was simply a means of getting that lesson across, that life without guidance of the Holy Spirit would only result in death. And that was despite all the blessings of a gracious God.

WHY THE OLD COVENANT?

Our Bible is divided into two sections. There is the Old Testament and then there is the New Testament.They can be more accurately called the Old and New Covenant. Since over half the Bible comes under the heading of Old Covenant, it is important that we understand its purpose, its makeup and why it failed.

A covenant is an agreement between separate parties. God made more than one such agreement throughout the Old Testament. There was the covenant that He made with Noah. Later God made covenant agreements with Abraham, Iaaac and Jacob. The covenant that God made with the fledgling nation of Israel is the covenant that we know as the Old Covenant.

Of all the people in the world at that time, why did God choose these people to associate His name with? God was first of all honoring the covenants that He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was also using these people to hold up His name to the other nations. Less understood is the fact that God wanted all people to know that human nature alone would not produce happiness, peace and fulfillment.

What happened in the Garden of Eden did not happen unexpectedly. Similarly, God knew that if He gave man enough rope, he would find a way to hang himself. And just as He started man out in a garden paradise, now He fed and protected the new nation of Israel. He didn't want them to have any reason to come back later and say, "If only you would have given us a chance!"

The Old Covenant agreement that God made with the new nation of Israel was a purely physical agreement. It was physically doable, if they had the will. God stated His part of the agreement and made very clear the people's part. As His part, God promised to provide them with land, security, prosperity, health and long life. For their part, they were to keep His commandments.

The Ten Commandments are the codified summary of the terms and conditions of the Old Covenant. They are referred to as "the covenant". [Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13]. Because they were based on God's spiritual law of love, many of the principles are applicable today. But, it is important to emphasize that they were not a spiritual law. They were humanly achievable. Moreover, the Ten Commandments were a temporary code designed exclusively for the nation of Israel.

This view is very different from the popular view that assumes that the Ten Commandments are God's great moral and spiritual law, separate from the cvil and ceremonial laws, which were later abolished under the New Covenant agreement. They forget that the nation of Israel was a theocracy. It was government by God through His representatives. There was no separation of church and state. The moral, spiritual, civil and ceremonial laws, were a package deal.

Why did the Old Covenant fail? The writer of Hebrews in the third chapter, quoted from Psalm 95. There the reader is told not to ignore God's voice as their ancestors had done, despite all the miracles they witnessed. The reason they went astray is that they did not know God's thoughts and His ways. In other words, they were being led by their own human nature rather than God's nature.

The prophet Isaiah asked his hearers why they were spending their time and money on what does not satisfy. The he told them to seek God while He is in their thoughts. He told them to forsake their ways and turn to their Lord and He will have mercy on them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Then in verses 8-9 of Isaiah 55, he gets right to the root of the problem. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." So in these few verses Isaiah uncovers man's problem and discloses the solution.

The prophet Jeremiah also forecast a new kind of covenant that God would make with those who would turn to Him.It is addressed to the houses of Israel and Judah, but the writer of Hebrews applied this prophecy to Christians. This covenant was going to be different than the former covenant. Under this covenant God was going to wipe their slate clean and instill His thoughts into their minds.This was going to be a total makeover and the start of a new kind of relationship.

Many years passed before these prophecies were fulfilled. During that time Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews went into captivity. It was not a glorious time in Jewish history. But good news for all nationalities was just around the corner.


JESUS THE MAKEOVER ARTIST

The gospel of Matthew states that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy about a virgin bearing a Son called "Emmanuel", which means, "God with us."John's gospel begins," In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And in verse 14 it says,"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Jesus is God in the flesh. He is God with us. In this, the Christian God is unique, meeting man at his level. Other religions keep their god at a distance.

When Jesus came to live amongst us, He took on all the limitations of the physical body. He literally became God with us. Why did our Creator take the drastic step of lowering Himself to man's level and submitting Himself to the resentment and fury of His own creation? The answer is that God wants to win our hearts and minds. God wants more than our obedience. He wants our affection. God could enforce our obedience and many Christians look upon the Father as the great enforcer. But, God knows that if He has our affection, He will also have our obedience. Jesus' death on the cross was the greatest demostration of love that the world has ever seen. Such a display of love invites a response.

At the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus announced in Nazareth that He was the fulfillment of yet another of Isaiah's prophecies. He said that God's time of waiting was over. He said that He came to preach good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners and the oppressed, and recovery of sight for the blind. Jesus was talking about releasing mankind from man's way of thinking.

Jesus' message while He was here on earth is best summed up in the Sermon on the Mount. He began with, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for their's is the kingdom of heaven." Eugene Peterson's Bible in contemporary language renders that verse this way. " You're blessed when you are at the end of your rope. When there is less of you there is more of God and His rule." In short, that is what God has been doing since creation. He has been letting mankind reach the end of his rope because He knows that only then will man reach out for His direction.

The entire Sermon on the Mount as found in chapters 5 through 7 of Matthew was probably a collection of Jesus' teachings. Jesus was introducing a new order, a new way of thinking.The Beatitudes became the "new attitudes". This new order would turn man's value system completely on its head. As Jesus later said in Luke 16, " What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." Jesus said it was more blessed to give than receive.He said we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Even king David, a man after God's own heart, didn't understand this concept[read Psalm 69, verses 22-28]. In short Jesus was introducing God's way of thinking as opposed to man's way. [Isaiah 55: 8&9 ] God's way is the way of life. Man's way is the way of death.

Jesus focused a lot on the "way". He said that broad was the way that leads to death but narrow the way that leads to life. He said that He was the "way", the truth and the life.Even Jesus' handling of the Sabbath day shows us that the "way" was more important than the day. Later on, the Christian life was referred to as the "way". [ Acts 9:2, 19:9)

For the entire span of man's time on this earth, God had let man alone to follow his own way, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All that time God had withheld the tree of life [Genesis 3:24]. Now Jesus was reintroducing the tree of life. Jesus was that tree. He was the "way of life". Jesus said that no man could come to the Father but through Him. All of man's quests are obtainable through Him alone.

Only Jesus can make us over in God's own image. This is more than just a facelift. This is a complete change. When we have had enough of the consequences of doing things our way and surrender our way for His way , Jesus begins working on us from the inside out. We will start to see things through His eyes. His thoughts will become our thoughts and His ways will start to become our ways.

As our relationship with Jesus grows we will become more of the family unit that Jesus talked about in John 17. We will become the children of God. In I John 3:1-2, the apostle John wrote, " How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

When Jesus as a human being was on this earth, He was limited in the number of people He could reach. But, when Jesus was crucified and went back to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit who would impact countless thousands of people all over the world across two millenniums.


THE CHURCH

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for what was coming. In one of the most misapplied passages in the Bible, Jesus told his disciples not to be troubled by the events that would happen in the days and weeks that lie ahead. He said that in His Father's house there were many dwelling places.Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for them and then He was coming back to receive them to Himself.Was Jesus really talking about preparing a place for them in Heaven?

This conversation began in chapter 13 of John's gospel. Jesus told them He wouldn't be with them much longer. He said that where He was going ,they couldn't come.What was this place Jesus was preparing for them? The same Greek word for "house" is translated "household"in I Timothy 3:15 and was applied to the church of the living God. In Hebrews 3:6, we are told that we are God's house. And in I Peter 2:5, Peter wrote that we are being built into a spiritual house.

It is clear from the rest of chapter 14 of John what Jesus was talking about. He told them in verse 18 that He wouldn't leave them as orphans; that He would come back to them. He said that they would see Him but the world wouldn't. In verse 23 Jesus told them that God would make His dwelling place with them. He told them again not to be afraid, that He was coming back to them. He told them that the Father was going to send another Counselor, the Holy Spirit. In chapter 16, verse 7; Jesus told them that unless He went away, the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth wouldn't come.

The Holy Spirit did come just as Jesus said, seven weeks later on the day of Pentecost. And this began the Church. The church began with an impressive display of power. The wind was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew word for wind can also mean breath and spirit. And fire is a symbol of the divine presence. God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and later descended on Mount Sinai in fire.

Unlike Jesus' birth, over three thousand people from all over the Roman Empire witnessed this event. This begs the question, "How did all these people fit in the upper room and in the narrow surrounding streets?" When it says they were all together in one place, it probably was the temple area known as Solomon's Portico. That was the scene of much of Jesus' teaching [Matthew 16:55, John 10:23]. There was a large crowd present because it was the day of Pentecost. The message that Peter preached that day was of the beginning of a new age and a new relationship with God by faith and grace. [ Joel's prophecy, Acts 2:17-21}.

The response that day was tremendous. Many of the Jews from away were so excited that they were reluctant to return home and they soon went through their savings for the trip. The local people then opened their homes to these fellow Jews and shared what they had, including meals. The breaking of bread referred to sharing a meal, not to taking communion.After all, the disciples themselves were still processing all that had taken place. Instituting something new was farthest from their minds.

The teaching opportunities that followed the day of Pentecost were not orchestrated. There was no big advertising campaign. Instead, God by way of the Holy Spirit, set up these timely events to gain maximum exposure. And just as the returning pilgrims took the good news of Jesus Christ back home with them after Pentecost, the persecution following Stephen's murder further spread the gospel as the Jerusalem church scattered. The spreading of the gospel and the expanding of the Church really was the work of the Holy Spirit.

It is important to understand what the Church is. Paul taught very clearly that the Church is the body of Christ and we are that body,Jesus being the head. Therefore, the Church is the body of believers in Christ. It is made up of all those who have surrendered themselves and their way of thinking and opened their minds and hearts to receiving Jesus' way of thinking. The Church then is not a man made institution, governed by a constitution and supported by a menbership roll.

Therefore, when we use the word "Church" we must differentiate between the physical entity and the spiritual counterpart. When Paul said in I Corinthians 15 that the physical body preceded the spiritual body, he touched on a pattern that God has followed from creation. If there is a physical church, there is also a spiritual church. In the same way, physical marriage is a pattern for our spiritual marriage. Physical circumcision has been replaced by spiritual circumcision. The physical Sabbath rest is a shadow of our spiritual rest in Christ.And just as we need physical food, we need spiritual food.

This pattern is important to understand because it permeates all that God is doing. The old physical covenant has been replaced by the new spiritual covenant. The exclusive physical Israelites have been replaced by the inclusive [ of all nations of people] spiritual Israelites who comprise the spiritual temple, making the physical temple redundant. All this leaves one to wonder why all the interest today in restoring the ancient nation of Israel and rebuilding the temple. Are they going to bring back the physical sacrifices as well?

The early church had no recorded membership roll. They were expecting Jesus to return during their lifetime and viewed themselves as sojourners. These early Christians remained tightly connected to their communities, friends and relatives, and it was through these connections that the church grew. The church did not stand out from the culture around them, except inwardly they were being transformed by the Holy Spirit. Paul encouraged the church to comply with the customs of the day.

The early church was not highly structured. That came later with the emergence of the professional clergy. Instead, the entire membership was involved in the work of the church. The various offices were there to help each member flourish and to enhance the health of the church as a whole. The early church was modeled after the local Jewish synagogue and, up until they were forcibly banned around 80 AD, it was there that they met on the Sabbath day. Nowhere throughout the New Testament is there an example of the church meeting on any other day or in a building specifically built for that purpose.

The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ has not changed in two thousand years. But, life styles and customs have. What are the implications for the church today and what about the future?

EXPOSING ALL

A quick look at the Christian Church today might lead one to say that God likes variety. However, a closer examination would reveal that many Christian beliefs and practices simply do not mix. Many have drifted a long ways from the early church. That is why it is so important that each one of us examine our own beliefs and practices to see if they conform to God's purpose for our being. It is easy for a person to get sidetracked by unfounded convictions. The writer knows because he has been down that road.

The weekly day of worship has turned into a rabbit trail for some Christians. And yet, Jesus' treatment of the Sabbath day shows us that He was far more concerned about the "way" than the day. He even told the Samaritan woman at the well that the Father was seeking those who would worship him in spirit and in truth, rather than in a specific location. When the writer of Hebrews in the fourth chapter spoke about a Sabbath rest for God's people, was he thinking about the rest that Jesus said He wanted to give to all the weary and heavy laden? Paul certainly indicated in Colossians 2, verses 16-17, that the Old Testament Sabbath was but a shadow of the real thing. The relationship that God wants with us is twenty-four seven, for all eternity. This much we do know, that the weekly Sabbath is a temporary thing because all time as we know it will cease the moment we take our last breath. Why sweat the little stuff?

Clinging to a specific Sabbath day is only part of the larger issue of rules and required behavior that can divert us from a genuine relationship with God to an assumed relationship. Besides creating a false sense of righteousness, it leads to judging and disunity. Jesus rebuked the Jewish establishment of His day for this very thing.

Christians who have grown up with rules often point out that without rules to govern our conduct we will slip into licentiousness. The apostle Paul addressed this whole question of freedom from the yoke of legalism and the descent into indulgence in the fifth chapter of his letter to the Galatian churches. He suggested in verse 15 that legalism was opposed to love and encouraged tearing each other apart. He said that the solution was to live by God's Spirit. God's nature will control our nature as we start to see things through His eyes. When our thoughts give way to God's thoughts and our ways to God's ways, rules will be unnecessary [verse 18]. We don't need a map of rules because we have a personal guide, the Holy Spirit.

In verse 22-23, Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit. He reiterates that these fruits are not the products of rules.Then in Colossians 2:23, he states very clearly that the rules are worthless in restraining sensual indulgences.

Some would argue that rules are necessary to spell out the difference between right and wrong. But Hebrews 5:13-14 says that mature Christians have progressed beyond the milk of rules. By digesting spiritual food they have trained themselves to discern good and evil. Leaning on rules only impedes maturity.

Good parents know this when it comes to their children. When children are young they need rules to protect themselves from harm. Our role as parents is to train and guide them in right conduct until they are mature enough to make right descisions. As they come to understand our values and our concerns, we relax the rules.

The role of the church is very similar. Mature Christians take on the parent role for the babes in Christ, nurturing them until they are able to discern right from wrong. But these Hebrew Christians were unable to fulfill their role as teachers because they themselves were still tied to rules.

Closely connected to rules are rituals. Rituals are multiple layers of clothing that can slow down and even hinder our walk with God. Some Christians prefer more layers than others. Is our God big on formalities and rituals? Does He want a prescribed form of worship and repetitive prayers? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said we are not to use meaningless repetition when we pray, hoping to be heard for our many words. Is He impressed with our penance and sacrifices? On at least two different occasions Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Does God take pride in our magnificent Cathedrals? Unlike His disciples, Jesus was not dazzled by the temple's splendor.

Does God want us to constantly seek out a new spiritual high? The apostle Paul, who himself had experienced inexpressible things, urged the Corinthian church to excel in spiritual gifts that build up the church. He said that the greatest gift of all was love.It is important that we examine our own rituals and spiritual practices. Are they beginning to replace and masquerade as the real thing? Do our rituals make our relationship with God a stiff formality or an estatic encounter? These are questions only individual Christians can answer.

One very heavy garment that nearly every Christian has come to accept as standard attire is that God's grace expires at death. It is very heavy to bear for those whose loved ones have never shown any interest in Jesus Christ. The prospect of these loved ones suffering eternal torture is to horrible to think about.

The good news is we can cast off this harsh attire. It is neither in keeping with God's nature, nor can it be supported by scripture. It is the farthest from God's mind to inflict anyone with eternal torture. And why would death be a barrier to Jesus' ability to save? After all, Jesus' had already conquered death and now lives outside of time and space.Many people live and die without ever knowing the love of God. Can they consciously reject someone they never knew? And for those who do, the consequences are clear,eternal death, not life in a torture chamber.We can be certain that the fate of those who die without ever knowing the only name by whom we can be saved, is consistent with God's mercy and kindness. Some forgotten author wrote, "But men made God's love too narrow by false limits of their own, and they magnify His vengeance with a zeal He will not own."

There are other costumes that some Christians have been duped into wearing. One of them is the health and wealth gospel. Whether deliberate or from ignorance, the Old Covenant promises of prosperity, security, health and longevity are added to the New Covenant. The better promises of the New Covenant are a right standing before God and an eternal inheritance. Jesus did not promise His followers a life of ease [ John 16:33]. The New Testament makes it very clear that God is far more interested in our relationship than our physical well being.

Another very popular costume is end time prophecy. Some ministries drape themselves in it. Scriptures are being stretched and shrunk to fit. And it can all be exciting stuff. But, all of these end time prophecies are focussed on physical events. And because God's purpose for our creation goes beyond the physical, it would be safe to say that God is far more interested in our relationship with Him than in saving our fleshly necks.The purpose of prophecy is to encourage us to hang in there, that no matter what happens, God is in charge. He simply wants us to trust Him, that He knows what He is doing.

And that is how this writing will end. just like it began, with God giving mankind a choice, to trust Him or trust in man's own descision making. He is giving us the same choice today. We can trust God and what He has in store for us, or we can trust in the many layers of traditions, doctrines and practices that man has piled on over the years. These layers often hide from view pure religion which is to look after the most vulnerable and to keep oneself undistracted by the world's values. [ James 1:22]

Paul told the church at Ephesus to no longer live in the futility of their thinking , giving themselves over to sensuality. Instead, he advised them, " to be made new in the attitude of their mind and to put on the new self, created to be like God in tue righteousness and holiness." [Ephesians 4:23&24].

This change in thinking comes from the Spirit of God living in us, leading and controlling us [Romans 8:9]. This transformation is instigated by the Holy Spirit who launches us on our journey of trust and reliance upon God.He clothes us with Christ [Galations 3: 26-27].
With Christ's clothing we don't need additional religious clothing. We don't need to recite some formalized religious prayer to be accepted by our God. The Holy Spirit already knows our heart.

In this journey we will learn to stop leaning on our own understanding. We will look to our personal guide, the Holy Spirit for our direction. We will become the kind of person God is looking for, "a person simple and plain, reverently responsive to what I say."[Isaiah 66:2], Eugene Peterson's " The Message". We don't need the cloak of religion. We don't need to dress up Christianty. It is very palatable as it is.