This Is His Show

Posted on February 4, 2020 by ehurst

FYI Administrative trivia first: I’ll be using my ehurst909@gmail.com for this blog. The jehurst@gmail.com account is for the bikepacking stuff.

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I’m walking riding by faith. Unless I’m totally deluded, this business of biking and camping and sharing my adventures is the mission I’ve long believed was my last great adventure in life. This is frankly not at all what I was expecting, but now that it stands in front of me, I embrace it wholly. I’m not looking for anything else; I know my divine mission.

Naturally this will require changes in the pattern of what I post on the two blogs. Also, note that I now have a Facebook account solely to publicize what I’m doing with bikepacking. Sure, it’s nice to keep in touch with family that way, but my interactions on Facebook will be focused on biking and camping in Oklahoma. I’m supposed to promote the idea of exploring my state, and this is how I do that. Of course, that’s the purpose most folks will see, and that’s good enough.

I’m not going to get lost in Facebook chatter about politics and other social commentary. I’ll still post my own thoughts on such things on my blogs, but I won’t even link any of that on Facebook, only the posts about bikepacking. I’ll refrain from “liking” anything that I can’t use to support that public mission. You folks will know why I’m doing this, and I’ll share with you the prophetic contemplations from those long rides, but I won’t promote that on Facebook.

Now that I know what my public persona is supposed to be, that will naturally affect the focus of my contemplations while out on those long rides. Where I stand will affect what I see. I’ll probably write a lot less about what would be ideal in the events around us, and more about how to avoid being fooled by what does happen, and what the liars say about it.

A few years ago I held the bright hope that we could avoid an apocalypse. I’m still sure we did, but only by a hair’s breadth. Things did not go as they should have and could have, so the window of blessing has closed. I sense in my spirit that a few key folks out there simply turned away from the call of God. God showed us how bad it could have been, and folks fled from it. However, we dodged one apocalypse only to blunder into another, in that sense. We will still experience some very bad times.

But crazy as it may seem, my new mission is not ignoring the tribulation. It’s simply how God intends to use me during that tribulation. Frankly, I’m not seeing the whole picture. All I know is that bikepacking around the state is how God intends to use me for His glory. I must do this. I’ll push ahead with whatever resources God provides, and trust Him for all the needs I still see coming, and those I don’t even see. It’s not a question of justifying donations for something that will appear to many as frivolous. It’s a question of inviting folks to participate in something that blesses them. Don’t give unless the Lord moves you.

Here are some mission equipment items you can pray about with me: (1) camping gear, (2) a better bike, and (3) a tablet with a SIM card (cellphone connection) for navigation and snapshot use. Most of Oklahoma has functional cellphone coverage, but a cellphone display simply isn’t big enough for navigation in the open countryside. A good tablet would have far better battery life, too. I’m inclined to look at iPads, even though they are expensive.

Regular sponsorship would be nice, but I’m not asking for a “glamping” lifestyle. It would be nice to sleep in motels and eat in cafes all the way, but that simply isn’t possible. There are whole counties with maybe two ratty convenience stores, and a great many towns with nothing at all. And that kind of isolation is exactly where some of the best natural beauty can be found. Also, keep in mind that there are some areas I’ll never see if I have to ride all the way out there on a bike. I will need to tote the bike out to some areas and ride around after I get there.

Side note: I will be actively seeking chances to chat with folks who live out in the countryside. We shall see what God does with that, but it can make for fascinating stories.

The readers of this blog will be my prayer support team. If you aren’t praying with me, no amount of money from anybody would be of any use. A major question for me is the publicity angle. I don’t have a clear vision yet of what that should be, but I know that this mission isn’t just for the blessing of a faithful few. There is something about this that needs to get a much wider attention. I tend to believe this should show up in the news at some point, for whatever reason — God alone knows. This is His show.

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Come Along for the Ride

Posted on February 2, 2020 by ehurst

I have a vision. Hear, if you will, the burden that the Lord has placed on me.

For the past year or so, I really felt like I had written pretty much all I could say about my faith. I know that my God is sovereign and there are plenty of things He doesn’t tell me. I can be hard-headed and slow to learn, so I would always have something to talk about. But I felt the drive to attempt organizing something of a virtual church, as a basis for some kind of movement that spawned more churches around the world. That didn’t happen. For the time being, it won’t happen. I honestly believe that was a matter of God offering people a chance at something better, and they didn’t take it. That’s not pointed at you, dear readers. You did respond, but a lot of other folks didn’t.

Don’t be angry with them. We can never know the identity of the key people who turned away from this calling. There’s no time for wallowing in sadness about that. The window is closed. I’m moving on to what God says is the new mission. Things have changed and it’s time to move on.

It’s not all that different from what I was doing a few years ago, before I moved from eastern rural Oklahoma County into Midwest City. Back then, I took off on long bike rides, which put me in that odd place where I was wide open to the Spirit’s voice. I was out on the roads, often forgotten back roads typically seen only by locals. I took pictures and described what I experienced. Sometimes I talked to people and it was a blessing.

I’m going back to that. Just when I thought it was about time to wrap up (i.e., de-emphasize) the writing and move on to other, more practical things, that mission is back in full force. Only, this time there will be some changes. Instead of just going out on day rides, I sense this is the right time to include camping and multi-day rides.

It will require sponsorship. That is, with only my own budget, I won’t get very far. If you like the pictures and stories, pray that I gain more resources for this. In practical terms, I will need camping gear. Sometime in the future, I expect my four-year-old bike to break down to the point it requires replacement, and that’s not cheap. I’ll get something one way or another, but the better the bike, the more I can go. And the better my sponsorship, the lighter I can travel.

What I have now is suitable for the period of training up to long distance riding again. I’m not jumping into this project today. I’m not asking for donations yet. There is still too much unsettled, too much of not knowing what I’ll need or what I can use. I have no idea how this will branch out, nor how long this will continue. I don’t want to waste donations on extravagance that serves no purpose. I aim to be a faithful steward.

I’m going to publicize this on the other blog to a much wider audience, and it won’t be robed in terms of ministry. It’s just something I’m doing and they can feel free to participate as the Lord moves them. But it will be a service of sorts, sharing the experience and the results of my contemplations. Keep in mind that I no longer profess to be “in the ministry” as most people think of it. My calling is elder, not pastor. I’m just an aging philosopher trying to share my insights. And I still maintain that I am a prophet of sorts, though nothing like the common image of that, either.

I’m sharing this here to gain prayer support momentum before moving forward. I’m going to start small, obviously, and see how the Lord prospers this thing. I’m going to move the pictures to the other blog. They aren’t the product; the product will be the experiences and how they shape my writing. But the pictures and narratives will be the ostensible purpose that disarms folks who don’t really understand, gives them a place to hang this mission in their own minds.

Again: For now, I’m just letting you know to start praying about this. Keep your money, but I’ll be glad to accept actual camping equipment (lightweight, solo use) that I know how to use. If nothing else, I can practice carrying the load. I have only vague ideas of what I should eventually carry along. If you get some ideas or questions, share them. For example: Yes, this means the computer tech support ministry becomes a very tiny aspect of my future work. It will be marginalized by more important things, though it won’t disappear entirely. This will change the audience on the other blog to some degree. Eventually all of this will come to light there, but right now we are in the preparatory phase. I need to get a lot more riding miles right now.

To them I’ll say, “Come along for the ride.” To you I say the same, but with a whole depth of meaning they won’t grasp so quickly.

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Law of Moses — Leviticus 19:1-17

Posted on February 1, 2020 by ehurst

This is one of the richest chapters in the Bible, showcasing a wide array of moral treasures. We can’t cover it in one lesson, so we’ll be here a while.

A fundamental expression of reverence for God is to revere one’s elders. Don’t get confused by this; the Hebrew people knew one’s elders could be wrong about some things. It wasn’t the intent to make anyone a slave of their elders, but to make one respectful even when it was impossible to do everything the elders demanded. Mind your manners, but obey the Lord. Along with that was the Sabbath observance — seven days without worship makes one week, and makes one weak, as well. These two items were easily the most prominent markers of devotion to Jehovah.

The concept of holiness in this context is devotion to the Lord, an undivided loyalty. Israel never had to worry about offending any other deities; Jehovah was the only God who could touch them. For that reason, they had no excuse at all to play the harlot with idols. Jehovah was a possessive God.

The whole point of a Peace Offering was to share a meal with God and His family. You took the animal to the Tabernacle/Temple, had it slaughtered by the priest, and the guts were offered on the altar to God. The rest was a shared meal with God’s family. You were supposed to make a concerted effort to give away as much as you couldn’t eat by yourself. Feed your own household, and then invite everyone you can find to come and get a serving, as well. In particular you should invite those who are poor. There shouldn’t be any left after a couple of days eating and sharing.

This brings up the next point. Don’t be hyper-efficient in your harvesting of crops. Make sure you or your servants are working hard enough to drop a little now and then. Don’t cut all the way up into the corners, but leave some standing. Leave enough unharvested for your poor fellow Israelis to go help themselves. You don’t have to invite them for supper, but you can leave enough that they can work for it themselves. Treat it like an offering to God.

It should be obvious that you will be honest with your covenant brothers and sisters. Don’t take their stuff for any reason. Don’t hide pertinent facts when dealing with them and don’t try to cheat them by deception. God is watching and knows what’s in your heart.

And what kind of asshole amuses himself by taking advantage of deaf and blind folks? The terminology refers to saying something nasty about a deaf person so everyone hearing can laugh, or tripping up the blind for the sake of comedy. There is no excuse for cruelty. If you can’t bring yourself to help them, just let them be. Again, God is watching.

When it’s your place to judge something, don’t show favoritism to either the underdog or the powerful. What is just is in everyone’s best interest. This is how we build shalom with God. Don’t be a scandal-monger, slandering people behind their backs. Don’t even tell funny stories without first finding out how the main character feels about the whole thing.

You must not hold a grudge against your own people. If they have offended you, clear the air with them. Get it off your chest, but don’t let hatred fester in your heart if you can’t just let it go. Give them a chance to repent. This is your family we are talking about here; if you love yourself, you can’t hate them.

Keep your society stable.

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Ditching the Mainstream Mythology

Posted on February 1, 2020 by ehurst

Starting point: It is impossible for us to know how God regards other people. We can know our own standing with Him, but only if we consciously shift our awareness to the heart. By that same means, we can also know how God wants us to regard other people. Thus, our regard will not reflect any assumptions about their eternal condition, but how they relate to us in any given context.

In that frame of reference, we then say that there are three kinds of people in God’s Kingdom: There are three kinds of people as far as we are concerned. Let’s enumerate them.

1. We have covenant family members. There are people who, with or without formal declaration, give evidence of being committed to divine justice as best we know it. We don’t pretend to be arbiters of divine justice for everyone else, only those whom God places within the feudal domain He grants us. The barriers are high and the investments are substantial, so this is not something that comes and goes easily. We are reluctant to let anyone go into ostracism, so we give them more room to make mistakes and assume the Lord will bring them through to repentance and recovery. We hope the same for ourselves.

2. There are servants who participate meaningfully, but are not fully vested in long term outcomes. They are allies with overlapping interests. They offer a conditional allegiance, which may or may not stand life long. They are helpful and warrant some consideration in what we do in serving the Lord. These are the Good Samaritans in our lives. It is a moral flaw to think in binary terms of “our gang” versus “our enemies.”

3. There are slaves, people we are forced to deal with but whose usefulness is highly variable in our Kingdom service. They don’t care if they serve our Lord’s glory, and may not hesitate to betray any trust we grant them. Conditions may force us to be vulnerable to them in some degree, but we can’t really trust them. They are the machinery of life, but with a measure of free will to cooperate or not. This includes our enemies, in that we can’t ignore them.

Everyone and everything else in our world is scenery, background.

It is the folly of Western evangelical mythology to imagine that there is something wrong with such a frame of reference. We have all been gravely counseled in Western churches to consider every human a possible convert to the Kingdom, and that we are burdened with seeking to convert all of them. This is not a biblical assumption, but a Western one, a false reading of the Great Commission. For the mainstream church leadership, it’s all about selling the product and winning customers to their brand. More is better; this defines holiness for mainstream church leaders. They ignore the New Testament warning that there are some out there who will never join us, and should not be dragged into it.

Jesus Himself warned that there are folks out there who should rightly be regarded as pigs unfit for our pearls of divine truth. We should be able to recognize them as such and avoid provoking them. We should handle people according to their willingness to engage the covenant under which we serve, for as long as they choose to do so. It’s not a question of where they stand with God, but the part they play in our mission. Our mission is to keep our own doors open to others, and to recognize how far inside people will come; nothing we do can affect God’s doors.

We are finite. None of us have been granted the resources to help the whole world. It is unavoidable that some folks will remain in the background for us. We cannot compel anyone to come closer than they feel led by the Spirit. It is an audacious lie that God intends to use us to save everyone and make them family. That’s the lie of globalism; the Tower of Babel teaches us that we are meant to be small tribes.

Evangelism isn’t a special project; it’s a necessary part of obedience to Biblical Law. The primary method of evangelism is always simply living to shine God’s glory in every way. The Lord will draw those whom He desires us to encounter. We can formulate our response, but we cannot pretend to know how things will turn out. The admonition to sell your religion arises from a very perverted understanding of the Bible. Simply be as clear as you know how to those you encounter.

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No Sacred Cows

Posted on January 31, 2020 by ehurst

Why I’m discussing this item on this blog should become obvious by the end.

Permit me analyze this article: ‘Is it cold in Argentina?’: Belgian cycling journalist rides into sexism row over pic of female reporter.

Lest you miss the point of the article, the photograph shows the female reporter asking him questions while wearing skimpy clothing. Further, the fabric of her top is so thin that her erect nipples are highly visible. So the cyclist she interviewed later made a comment with a rather oblique reference by wondering what would cause her nipples to be so prominent during the warm weather in Argentina in their summer months, being in the southern hemisphere. He made the comment on Twitter, and part of the response was standard feminist/SJW propaganda.

1. His comment was perfectly normal given the context. What he said was not evil except in the minds of totalitarian busybodies, people looking for an excuse to oppress normal people precisely for being normal.

2. He was a complete fool for not keeping that kind of thing private, unless he had the balls to stand up and make a statement. Twitter is hardly private. This kind of locker room talk needs to stay in the locker room, but it should not be held there by outside forces. Men need to relearn civility, but they should not stop being men. The sexes are not interchangeable; women and men are different. What’s good for the goose is not good for the gander.

3. He should not have caved. It’s not hard to find support from other anti-feminists in order to give effective rhetorical answers. However, I’m sure he was worried about losing commercial sponsorship, so he comes off as a coward in the end. This is not a man who lives by his convictions. He took what he considered a small risk, but his losses were huge.

4. We would normally have no interest in sinners screeching at each other during pursuit of life in a very fallen context, but there are times when we can point out certain events as instructive. In this case, the whole thing needs to be kept in the perspective of heart-led contemplation from Biblical Law. Once again, we see how clearly the world is going to Hell, and this is an example of how and why that is happening.

By the way, a solid rhetorical response would be to dismiss the feminist choice of battleground. Instead of answering directly their complaints, he should have pointed out the obvious issue they were trying to keep from the discussion. What he thinks about such things is none of their business. By the same token, what they think about such things is of no consequence to him, in part because the women involved are of no consequence to him. They are all likely incapable of becoming important to him. He may want to humor slutty reporters for the sake of his job, but he should never take them seriously. The choice to be slutty is not a sacred cow.

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At Last, a Long Ride Again

Posted on January 28, 2020 by ehurst

Finally, I get a break! Between apartment maintenance issues and bad weather, I have been unable to ride for the past two weeks. Instead of heading out to the remote points this time, I decided to simply do the full loop for the sake of exercise. It’s officially just a little over 13.5 miles. Since my last foray, a few signs have been added and all the damage from construction equipment has been covered up. Of course, now new projects are destroying the covers, but that’s another story.

This plaque was added sometime in the past month or so. It explains that the Booya Car is a 1959 Buick LeSabre, who bought it and how it was passed down. The last owner was the artist who wrecked it and turned it into a sculpture, but it had been kept in the family since it was new. At any rate, it’s supposed to be the half-way point, but that’s true only if you start from the marina. The mile markers don’t start there, but begin on the NW corner of the loop.

The bikeway runs very close to the water at a couple of points like this one. All the canebrakes and Pamapas grass are brown during the winter months. It was an unseasonable warm day, pushing toward 70° F. We had a gentle southerly breeze, so the lake was rather placid. It was a nice quiet ride for me. I stopped a couple of times for prayer and contemplation.

One of the things that still resounds in my prayerful times is that somewhere out there in front of me is yet one more mission. I have no idea of any particulars, but the thing takes a large shape in the mists ahead of me somewhere.

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Law of Moses — Leviticus 18

Posted on January 25, 2020 by ehurst

This will not be a typical Bible lesson. On the one hand, the chapter itself is pretty easy to summarize, but one issue is raised that requires a lot of background.

The chapter begins with the Lord giving the context of what follows: Don’t act like the pagan nations. In particular, this refers to the influences of Egypt where they lived for several centuries, nor the Canaanites whose land they were invading. Keep in mind that the Lord has said over and over that the issue with the Canaanites was not the people, but their hideous religious practices. The cities Joshua attacked were a select group of major cult centers; they were never commissioned to destroy every town. Thus, they should have expected some of the local population to continue as conquered subject nations while Israel took over the ownership of the land promised to Abraham.

So the point here in this chapter is to avoid acting like the pagan peoples to whom Israel was routinely exposed. The Egyptians had no problem with incestuous marriages, so the rules here are pretty clear about all the different ways one could violate this taboo, with polygamy, etc. It has to do with what constitutes kinship too close for sexual contact, and presumably marriage. This is where we get our Western notion of “kissing cousin” — anyone who is at least three times removed (third cousin). They are considered safe from this regulation.

Notice that under normal circumstances, a man cannot touch a brother’s wife, but the exception not mentioned here is when his brother dies without heirs. Then a man must marry his brother’s widow and raise up heirs in that brother’s name. Keep it in focus here: This is not simply a matter of marriage and kinship, but each of these negative examples arises from pagan practices either in Egypt or Canaan.

Thus, we come to verse 19 which is often misunderstood and taken out of that context. In order to explain this, we have to bring in a lot of context. My primary source is here. You can probably find this elsewhere. Our biggest problem is that Orthodox Judaism has made a huge confusing mess out of the issue of women’s menstruation. Consequently, Christians who pay no attention to Jesus’ and His condemnation of Jewish folly and legalism have this crazy notion that Judaism is an accurate reflection of the Covenant. It is not. The reference here is to a pagan ritual act.

That link makes note of Leviticus 15 and 20, where the wider issue of menstruation is raised as a matter of ritual purity. It also mentions vaginal hemorrhage, which is handled differently, a much stricter matter. Rabbinical tradition, in yet another attempt to hedge about the Law, as if it needs some kind of extreme protection, refuses to distinguish the two and treats them both as hemorrhage, which is totally unfair to the woman and hard on marriages.

Under routine menstruation, a woman is ritually impure for seven days. All that means is that she cannot enter the Temple grounds. As long as she is nowhere near the Temple, it’s no big deal. If her husband lies in the same bed or sits on the same chair during that seven days, he must bathe and wait until sundown to enter the Temple. Archaeologists have found a ring of pools around the Temple Mount. A man entering Jerusalem and headed for the Temple could stop off and bathe at one of these pools and wait until sundown, then enter the Temple. A lot of men would play it safe and stop to bathe on the principle of some unwitting ritual impurity. This is where we get baptism, by the way.

If he actually had sex with her during her seven days, he had to wait out the week with her. Now as long as he had no intention of entering the Temple, none of that ritual purity business mattered. That is, unless that sex act during her period was a pagan ritual act, something that was practiced in both Egypt and among the Canaanites. Then the both of them were liable to execution, or exile if they happened to escape. That’s the point of the reference in this chapter here.

For those of us who follow the Messiah and King of the New Israel, the ritual purity issue means nothing. And it’s hard to imagine even a Western Christian desiring to engage in any long forgotten pagan rituals. However, Paul made it clear that the issue of sex with near relatives, both by blood and by marriage, is more than a matter of ancient heathen rituals (1 Corinthians 5). It violates Creation itself and threatens shalom.

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Dreaming of the Rule of Faith

Posted on January 24, 2020 by ehurst

We are not here to reform or change mainstream Christian religion.

It is my honest conviction that whatever happens to the mainstream church in the future has little to do with Radix Fidem. It’s not that God can’t or won’t use us to change the way churches do things, but that is not our focus. We are called to follow our Lord in the heart-led way, wherever that takes us. But we should renounce any idea that we are on a crusade to make the churches all better. They are on their own path, and we are on ours.

It’s impossible to avoid some overlap in what we say or promote. The mainstream churches don’t get everything wrong. That’s why some of us belong within their institutions. But we generally regard the mainstream organizations as human agencies with some faith tacked on. Faith is there, but it does not rule.

While we believe the Bible is clear on what it takes to bring a rule of faith, we know that path is culturally impossible for Westerners: forming heart-led feudal covenant families. Everything about that is alien to Western society. There is a shocking difference between the biblical path and what is generally possible in our world. We don’t expect to see any churches forming that way anytime soon. That’s not meant to discourage anyone from trying, but to be aware of what a monumental task it is in the current context.

However, I am equally convinced that the current context will change dramatically in the next few years. We are in for serious tribulation. It bears watching and praying to be nimble enough to seize the opportunities for shining divine glory, while also being wary of false trends that mean nothing. Somewhere ahead of us stands the time and place where our message is more likely to be heard.

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No Divided Loyalties

Posted on January 20, 2020 by ehurst

We are stateless vagabonds on this earth.

One of the most powerful images from the Old Testament is that of the wilderness nomad. The nation of Israel was called upon to maintain the symbolism of living in tents long after they settled in Palestine. It was a critical part of the celebration called Booths, just after their New Year. Even the Temple was built to resemble the layout of the original Tabernacle in Exodus.

When the Kingdom of Israel was dissolved on the Cross, the symbolism remained. In the New Testament this is carried forward in the expression “not of this world.” We are forever visitors and not residents. Our only real home is in God’s Courts above. This is the essence of how we handle persecution. There is no real vested interest in the things of this world, nor it’s nations and kingdoms.

There’s nothing wrong with feelings of nostalgia and favor for the people where you were raised, or where you live now. Just don’t get trapped in the feelings. Recognize those emotions for what they are: a natural outgrowth of human comfort in nesting. We have no real home on this earth. We can wear the colors and cheer our favorite sports teams, but we don’t really belong. In the final analysis our sole loyalty is to Christ.

Christ was rejected by this world. He said we should expect the same as a part of following Him. We must take up our own crosses. In the moment of crisis, our convictions will drive us to different answers to the problems. They will eventually turn on us. As tribulation rises, true believers are always distinguished in this way.

This is the mindset of Christians in persecution.

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More on Leviticus 17

Posted on January 19, 2020 by ehurst

Blood paves the way for fallen people to enter the presence of God.

If it were your own blood, you would be dying, shedding your mortal existence to enter God’s Presence. But while you yet live, you can offer the blood of proxies. Animals are not fallen, and God accepts their innocent blood in the place of ours. Jesus was unfallen, but His sacrifice was once and for all. It is His blood that brings us into the Presence while we live in this world.

The blood of innocent sacrifices is sacred, because it symbolizes their life force. Their lives are sacred in a certain moral sense — “sacred” means devoted to God. The lives of those who are at peace with God are also sacred. This is why the blood of Abel cried out to God. The blood of Cain would not have cried out.

However, this does not refer to objective facts. These things are noted as moral truths contextual to our lives. Cain was in a position to know that Abel was innocent of anything that demanded his blood at his hands. If your obedience to Biblical Law brings opposition, it could be necessary for your mission to take someone’s life. You are the only one who can discern that.

You may not know if an aggressor is at peace with God, but they have placed themselves in the kill zone, so their lives are forfeit. God defines your kill zone in your heart. You may still reverence their remains as worthy competitors, based on what you know. Then again, some enemies clearly deserve to have their carcasses left for carrion. The context will tell your heart.

The lack of objectivity here infuriates our fallen world. We have no answer for them if the explanation of Biblical Law exceeds their grasp. We aren’t required to justify ourselves to them, but we should be aware that a secular or pagan world will demand consequences based on their false understanding of things. Much of what we do is a matter of discerning God’s tactics for the context, whether to defy the world or to play along, and how much.

The issue with eating meat in our modern society is far removed from the context of Leviticus 17. The whole point is to bear reverence for blood as the symbol of life. Not all human life is sacred to us; that is the meaning of the Fall. Biblical Law explains how that works. However, all non-human life is sacred because it is not fallen. Living by this Law of God is how we honor the blood of Christ.

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