The Merriam-Webster word of the day for Monday, July 21st was epigone.  M-W defined the word as:

follower, disciple; also: an inferior imitator

America's founders apparently did not intend for there to be a separation of  God and state... at least in the sense it is being pursued by some today. This is shown by the fact that all 50 states acknowledge God in their state constitutions.

Alabama (1901), Preamble: We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution ...

Alaska (1956), Preamble: We, the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land ...

Arizona (1911), Preamble: We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...

This past Shabbat a question was asked "Can we know what the faith walk of the believers in the first century was like?"

One group emphatically stated "Yes!"

Another group with equal vigor said "No!"

The thought of the "no" group was that we can know about the first century (through Scripture, historical accounts, and archaeology)  but we cannot intimately know the first century like we know our own time.  For better or (more likely!) for worse we are immersed in the culture and society in the time in which we live.  While I strongly agree with those in our congregation who desire to conform their lives to Scripture rather than our culture I found myself in the "no" camp in this discussion.  The abundant minutia of daily living within American culture of the 21st century shapes and colors our thoughts to varying degrees.

Hi, folks!  It's been a busy week including a major technical outage at the Stephenson household (thanks, Microsoft! grrr...) and many preparations for Nathan's bar mitzvah ceremony.  I've published a couple of new articles:

Fox News reports that satellite data has confirmed a theory that solar radiation colliding with the Earth's magnetic field generates a series of "chirps and whistles".  The story briefly explains the science behind the discovery and closes with the observation

Our planet is also known to hum, a mysterious low-frequency sound thought to be caused by the churning ocean or the roiling atmosphere.

About a month ago I met with a group of men with whom I regularly study Scripture.  We were studying Romans 7:7-12

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET." But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.  (NASB)

We discussed the word for "sin" in Hebrew (chata) and that it means to "miss the mark".  Initially the discussion centered around an archery target with a bulls eye in the center and how we shoot and hit all around the bulls eye but never quite hit it dead-center.

There was a moment of revelation in our discussion when I realized there is another way to look at "missing the mark" is to "fall short". 

I put together this brief list of ten reasons I keep Torah:

10. My prayer would not be heard and would be a sin (Proverbs 28:9, Jeremiah 7:8-16).  

9. When Messiah returns those who follow him will be obeying Torah and keeping the festivals (Ezekiel 45:16, Zechariah 14:16, Jeremiah 33:14-18).  

8. There are over 1,089 commands from the Torah in the "New Testament".  

7. If you obey one part of the Torah (such as "love your neighbor as yourself" or "Love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind") you are required to keep the entire Torah (Galatians 5:3).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for Monday, June 16th was obeisance.  They defined it as such:

1 : a movement of the body made in token of respect or submission : bow 2 : acknowledgment of another’s superiority or importance : homage

The Merriam-Webster word of the day for Saturday, May 31st was "impeccable" a word defined thusly:

1. not capable of sinning or liable to sin
2. free from fault or  blame : flawless

Two dear siblings in Messiah, Kevin and Heather Smithson, have created their own blog to keep us updated about their lives and their ministry.  It will be exciting to see their reports on how things are going in the days and weeks ahead.  God is working in wonderful ways in them and through them.

Their blog is at http://reapandsow.christianblogsites.com/blog/