A Family Seder ~ 2011

The Passover Table is set!

Oh No! Leaven! Let's get it out of the house!

When are we ever going to eat!

Bitter Herbs aka - romaine dipped in horseradish sauce - sin stings Samuel

Parsley dipped in salt water-life in slavery to sin brings many tears

Daddy tells the story of God's covenant faithfulness to His people...Past & Present

I'm not drunk on Passover wine...really I'm not. Breaking the Afekomen

Enjoying the choroset dessert - Apple salad that looks like the mortar used in the bricks
It represents the sweetness of God's deliverance
Lots of Wine for everyone (Fruit of the Vine - in case my Mom is reading this)

Clean Hands

Pure Hearts

God is up to something. Seems that so many of us 'Gentiles' are being wooed back to God's holy days & festivals. As a father I find myself forever trying to 'clean up' the holidays for my kids. Ever get tired of trying to strip the holidays of meaningless fable, carnivoristic consumerism, & theft of God's characteristics bestowed upon Scandinavian saints who break into homes, leave gifts...and steal the glory of Jehovah?

Well, I feel your pain. God has a much better idea. Imagine a holiday that still has much fun & story for all ages to look forward to it months in advance. The whole idea of "Spring Cleaning" comes from preparing for Passover. The Jewish Mommas would deep clean the dwelling to get every trace of 'leaven' out of the house.

Then, just before the Passover Seder could begin, the Jewish Papas would take a candle & search the house with the little ones. Momma would leave a little bit of "Chametz" by the stove. One child would have a wooden spoon & the Dad would sweep the leaven onto the spoon with a feather. Another child would wrap it in a linen cloth & then they would take it outside of the house & burn it. You don't have to be a biblical scholar to get the symbolism: Candle - God's Word, Wooden Spoon - the Cross, Feather - the Holy Spirit, Linen cloth - grave clothes, Fire - Christ's sacrifice - a burnt offering.

We retold the story of God's delivering the Children of Israel with an Outstretched arm. When God stretches out His arm - you don't want to be on the receiving end of it...just ask Pharaoh.

We talked about the bitterness of life, the wages of sin being death. We remembered our baby who we will see in heaven one day. Salty tears still flow at the thought of him or her. But out of that sad valley came three beautiful babies - Samuel Isaac, Benjamin Robert Anthony, & Emma Grace. The blessings & the bitterness - through it all God is faithful.

We've never done this at home before. I've wanted to for years. We almost didn't do it this year but I felt an urgency to celebrate this 'Moed' with my family.

We're going to do it again this Friday with our Church family. The Seder at home was a bit of a dry run. We're going to scale things back & loosen them up a bit for Friday. But we are still going to remember, recount & retell the story of God's covenant faithfulness to His children.

Let me encourage you to give it a try. God knows how to have a holy holiday. It beats the fire out of thinly veiled pagan festivals. Let's get back to the book & back to Celebrating the feasts of the LORD.

Singing Men

This is for my friend Charlie. I haven't posted in forever as most of my daily posts have been on facebook. Thanks for the friendly reminder of my lack of updating.
The above pic is of Zack & Paul at our family new years celebration. The karaoke became a big competition & it actually coaxed them into performing. We had a video of it but it mysteriously was deleted. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out who did that.
If you want to hear Zack sing then go to www.CWWMacon.com & listen to him sing the second section of Psalm 119 entitled "Beth" (the 2nd letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. Zack wrote the music & played the guitar on that recording. It is right on the front page.
He also wrote the music for the section "He". That debuted this past Sunday & it was FANTASTIC! That will be on the web site soon.
Paul Jr. has decided to answer the call to ministry. At least he's heading in that direction. He hopes to attend a Bible College this fall. Finances are a hurdle so please pray for him as he is still attending Macon State & working two jobs.
If you get a chance to check out my last two sermons entitled "A Holy Dress Rehearsal" & "Jesus our First Fruits". Here's my question, "Are gentile believers required to celebrate the feasts?" Before you say no, answer this question by scripture, "Did the gentile believers in the 1st century celebrate the feasts?" - There are numerous references in acts & one stark reference in 1 Cor. 5:8.
We did observe Passover & celebrated Jesus as the fulfillment of First Fruits through his resurrection.
It's a great discussion & study.
Thanks again Chuck! I can't wait to see you in person & have some great fellowship in Christ.