A Book Review of "And Now For Something Completely Different" by Matthew Martin

I was in the process of trying to get one of my personal essays published when I came across a website called Bookcrash.com.  If you know me on a personal level, then you are probably rolling your eyes at this point, due to how frequently I mention this site.  But if you are a believer in Christ and thirst for knowledge and to read the word, then this is a no-brainer of a site.  They will send you a free Christian book from a myriad of titles.  The only catch is that you must blog a 200 word review of it and put a review on a bookseller's website within two months of receiving the book.  I received my first book about a month ago and I am now ready to write the review.  I will let you know if the rest of the process is as simple as starting it up was.

The free book I received from BookCrash was "And Now For Something Completely Different" by Matthew Martin.  It is subtitled "A verse by verse study of the book of Hebrews."  I am not ashamed to say that I was more than a little excited to receive this book.  There were three main reasons for my excitement.  The first was that I was eager to start my deal with BookCrash. The second reason? I couldn't ignore the tie in to Monty Python.  I was hoping the author had a cool sense of humor to keep the book interesting.  The third reason is best summed up by a co-worker who recently said to me, "what is the best way to get to know someone? By spending time with them. It is the same way with Jesus.  The best way to get closer to him and know him better is by praying (speaking to him) and reading his word." He was so right.  So I opened the book and began reading.

My disappointment with this book was almost immediate.  The intention of the author was not what I struggled with.  Upon beginning the book I had no opinion one way or the other as to his argument. " The Christians to whom this book is written needed assurances that the Christian way is not only the better way but the only way available for them to have a right relationship with God." 

What I took exception to was the manner in which the author attempted to spell all of it out.  Martin literally breaks the entire book of Hebrews down verse by verse and attempts to spell out each verse.  While the book has some great moments, and I feel I learned quite a bit about the book of Hebrews that I didn't already know, most of his breakdowns are so choppy and wordy that I often found myself confused even after a second reading.  I consider myself to be of average intelligence so I wasn't sure if I just wasn't smart enough for this book, or if was just bad writing.  In addition, there was NOTHING Pythonesque about this book. 

I don't really recommend this book, though I'm not mad that I took the time to read it.  I love breaking down the bible to try and better understand it and this is exactly what the author tries to do.  If you are still interested in this book you can ask me to borrow it, or you can find it here:

Completely Different Book Link

The Good Samaritan

         

Hey again, I figured if you were to read this blog, you ought to know a little bit about the author writing it. So before we talk about why this post is being written, I'll give you a little bio about myself. My name is Evan and I was raised in a small town called Denville. While I was growing up I loathed those Sunday mornings where my mother would drag me to church. Eventually through her persistence, she convinced me to go to a youth group held one Sunday night. The games we played there were so much fun that I wanted to learn more about the whole experience.  Later I joined a Christian drama school; the plays we performed aimed to glorify God. I later found out that the reason I was having so much fun was due to God. This gave me the desire to take it upon myself to learn who this God character was, and it turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to me. Here I am now, 20 years old, looking to spend the rest of my life teaching the word of God through his and my own ministry. I am hoping that I can start some of that ministry right here with you readers. So thats me, hope you enjoy the rest.

        So, onto why I'm writing this in the first place. Tonight some friends and I went on an "adventure" (that’s what we call it anyway). It was kept secret of where we were going until we got there. An hour later we end up at the World Fair in Queens. For those who don't know where that is, its the scene from Men in Black where the Space Ship is disguised as a tower. It was cold, about 35 degrees but we were more than dressed for the night in warm jackets.  Anyhow, we spent a couple hours there walking around and on our way back we see a man. As it was midnight in a strange neighborhood, a couple of friends were skeptical of the man in fear he'd hurt us. As we got closer we saw what appeared to be a dog, so we lost concern as we thought it may just be a man walking his dog. Again we got closer and this "dog" gets clearer. It turns out that it is an orange waste bag full of cans. This was not a man walking a dog, this was a homeless man. I insisted we walk over and give him a couple dollars. I had no cash on me so I asked a friend for a few bucks just to get him a meal. A friend refused, insisting that this homeless man could have been crazy or dangerous.  We simply avoided him and continued on towards home. I felt conflicted when I got to the car, but I just hopped in and buckled my seat belt.

       On the ride home, about 10 minutes down the road, I started talking to my friend in the back seat about how we should have given him a few dollars. He brought up the whole debate on why you shouldn't give the homeless money because they could misuse the money for items other than food or clothes. I told my friend that if I had food I would have given him food, but unfortunately all our group had on us was a few dollars in cash. So I felt as if it would have been the right thing to give this man some money, in hopes he would buy a warm meal with it. My friend responded that he believed most people are not good and wouldn't have spent it on food or necessities. He suggested that if I didn’t have money to give him, why wouldn't I just have given him my jacket. This statement tore me up. I'm luckier than most and have 20 jackets to my name; why couldn't I give up just one to help this man through a cold night. What hurt me the most was that I hadn’t even considered this as an option. I spent the rest of the ride trying to figure out what I should have done; I prayed for answers. A passage from the bible popped in my head, Luke 10:25-37, about the Good Samaritan. For those who don't know, here it is below.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

I found it in my heart that my friends and I made a mistake. We as Christians cannot just pass by people because of who they are or who they appear to be. Whether homeless man, or an enemy of a Samaritan, we are called to have "mercy on him" and take care of others. From this day on, I will help heal the man who fell into the hands of robbers, the homeless on the street, or any who find themselves in need. Jesus calls us to go and do likewise!

But I tell you, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

I was feeling really sorry for myself last night. 

 I'm a restaurant manager and it had been a rather tough evening.  More went wrong than went right. To top it all off I had to deal with a phone call from an irate guest.  This woman was really a piece of work.  I knew who she was almost immediately as she began to explain the issues she had with her experience at our restaurant the previous Friday.  I remembered her because she had told us at the front desk when she walked in that we had better not put her near any children because she planned on being very offensive.  Most of us assumed she was being tongue in cheek.  Just in case she wasn't kidding however, I searched the restaurant for tables not near children.  As luck would have it, we were pretty full up with families with multiple children that evening.  We hoped perhaps once again that she was kidding, that would prove not to be the case.  It was so bad apparently, that a guest from a nearby table asked to see me during the night.  She wanted to tell me that I needed to know that 1) the table by her and her children was using extremely offensive language and that the only reason they didn't ask us to do something about it was because they only had to deal with it for a little while and were leaving and 2) everything they had overheard them saying about their server was a gross exaggeration and that they had the same server and she was wonderful.  

So now that you have the background, I'll continue the story.  

So this woman, we'll call her Jane, begins to berate my staff, particularly her server for that night.  She begins to over exaggerate the time the whole experience took, ( I know this because we researched the time from seated to check closed), and name a multitude of things that they were unhappy about.  

It's not as if my staff that night didn't care.  When they asked to see a manager, the manager went over, listened to their gripes, tried to create a report with them, gave them a 20% discount for "not receiving the experience they had come to expect from our restaurant," AND invited them back in for a meal consisting of what we server for first course and fourth course, for four people (the amount of people in their party) on us good for the next 60 days.  She made some sort of snarky comment about how far away they live so he added an additional 30 days for them to be able to return and redeem the offer. 

So Jane continues to yell at me over the phone.  I really do my best to put myself in her shoes and attempt to defuse the situation.  I try using all methods I've learned over the years as a restaurant manager, and when those failed I tried to just be real with her.  It was however, to no avail.  In the end, I reached by breaking point and got too real.  I even went so far as to let her know what the other table had said about her table and the comments they were making about their server.  She threatened to bash us on social media sites and we hung up the phone probably with both of our nights ruined.  

I sat there fuming. What a wench.  What a horrible excuse for a human being.  Why I am in this industry? Why do I put myself through this.  Woe is me for being in an industry where I have to deal with those kinds of people.  Thankfully I work for an amazing company that prides itself on customer service, and more often than other restaurants, I get a good deal of very happy people wanting to express their gratitude for their experience.  That doesn't take away from the sting of a rather vehement person.  A single pissed off guest can ruin your day more than a single happy person can make it.  I went to bed feeling really upset about my day.

I woke the next morning not dwelling on the experience the night before, but it was niggling at the back of my mind.  I sat up and said my morning prayer.  It is the same one I have been using for the past six months. "Heavenly Father, allow me to be an instrument of your love and your will today.  Use me as as you will.  I submit to you."

Then it hit me. What a dummy I'm being.  I shouldn't be feeling woeful about my job.  I should be AMAZINGLY thankful! 

Matthew 5:44 (NIV): but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

I had been so obtuse.  Was I even paying attention anymore to my prayer? I am luckier than I ever realized.  God put me in a position with greater opportunity than most have to be able to an instrument of love.  That was what I was missing last night.  I didn't approach this situation with God's love in my heart.  

So going forward there will be no self-pity.  No wondering why I am forced to deal with these hurtful people.  I am thankful.  Thankful that God the Father has blessed me with so many opportunities to love my enemies and pray for those who would persecute me.  It doesn't mean that I'll be perfect.  I myself am still a work in progress, allowing the holy spirit to work through me and improve me every day.  But if I continue to focus on this lesson, I can't lose.  

Lesson Learned.  Amen. 

Dayenu

I wrote this very personal article a few weeks back.  I really felt God calling me and putting these words on my heart to express.  I also felt the need to share it.  I tried to have it published.  Unfortunately, no one is biting.  So, I figured I would just publish it on this blog.  

Dayenu

By

Mark J Garmise

                As the father of three children I don’t always find myself with time alone during the day.  My wife is a stay at home mother and home schools our children.  I work as a restaurant manager to pay the bills, and due to my schedule, my alone time is usually late at night. I think, watch T.V., meditate, play games, read, or what have you, before I head to bed.  The daytime however, is a different beast all together.  My mornings are often filled with the yells of playful children and the crying of a new born baby.

                On this day however, as I stepped into the shower, I found myself quite alone.   My wife and my children had run off together on an errand.  As the hot water began to pelt my body, I felt the need to worship my Lord and Savior Jesus.  I can’t say what in particular triggered this, maybe the sheer silence of the apartment, but it was clear that God was laying this on my heart. 

                Before I tell you about my prayer, I think it is important to tell you about my friend Brian.  Brian is a relatively new Christian, but filled with the Holy Spirit.  Brian’s spiritual growth has been fast, and from what I have observed, very intense.  One of the ways in which Brian worships is in tongues.  He believes in his heart that God wants us to pray to him in tongues.  He brought 1 Corinthians 14:5, “I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy.  For prophecy is greater than speaking tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened,” to my attention the other day to show me and implored me to give it a try.  I did try to pray in tongues, but it just didn’t feel right to me.  That is not to say that one day God may not show me how to worship in this manner, but I didn’t feel it at the time. 

                Back to the shower.  As I opened my mind and heart for prayer, I once again thought of Brian and praying in tongues.  I began to pray.  Not prayer based on asking for forgiveness, not prayer based on asking for God’s blessings, but truly a worship filled prayer.  I praised God for his love, his grace, and his sacrifice.  That is when it happened.  I began to let the words flow without a filter.  Letting whatever words God was putting on my heart to be given voice through my prayer.  It wasn’t tongues.  Every word was something that could be found in an English dictionary, but I gave up control of these words to Him. 

                I began to repeat the same word, in different phrases over and over.  It was some form of the word satisfy.  Either “Lord, allow me to satisfy you.” Or “Jesus let me give all glory to you today and fill you with satisfaction.” It caused me to lose my momentum.  Satisfy? When I was in elementary school, if I got a “satisfactory” on my report card, it was NOT a good thing.  It meant I was just doing enough to get by. They tell you in high-school that a C means the same thing, “satisfactory,” or “meets expectations.”  But meeting expectations is NOT a good thing.  We are taught that we should be getting B’s and A’s and exceeding expectations. 

                So I went and looked up the word satisfy. Merriam- Webster’s online dictionary defines satisfy as:  “to cause to be happy or pleased.” Or “to provide, do, or have what is required by someone.” What an aha moment!  Society has been trying for so long to make satisfaction seem like such a negative thing.  We don’t want to satisfy, we want to do more!  We want to overachieve.  Strive for that extra.  Push yourself to that next level. 

                As a Christian, I know that the next level is eternal life with my heavenly father.  He isn’t asking us to go above and beyond.  He isn’t asking us to push ourselves to the very brink to achieve the unattainable.  God just wants us to do the job he set forth for us in his word.  All we have to do is satisfy him, please him.  He has given us a set of directions.  He has given us a handbook to follow.  If we please him, if we do what is required of us, then he will be satisfied.  He will be pleased. 

                As all of these thoughts were cascading onto my heart, like the water onto my body, I flashed to the Passover ceremony that my family performs every year.   There is a section called Dayenu.  Which roughly translated is, “it would have been enough,” or “it would have been sufficient.” In other words, it would have satisfied us.  It is an oral tradition in which the leader of the Seder reads lines from the Haggadah (the book everyone reads from during the dinner) and those around the table respond to each line with “Dayenu.”  It sounds something like this:

If He had brought us out of Egypt and had not carried out judgments against them

DAYENU

If He had carried out judgments against them and not against their idols

DAYENU

If He had destroyed their idols but had not smitten their first-born

DAYENU

It continues like this for around 14 verses depending on the translation.  What is important is that all of these things are miracles.  Miracles that God performed for his people.  After each one, the members of the family proclaim that they would have been satisfied.  Satisfied at being freed from slavery? Satisfied, not elated? Overjoyed? Yes! Satisfaction is powerful.  Satisfaction can mean all these things.  So I tell you this, when you seek out the Lord, and you do his will, and you accept him as your lord and savior, and follow his word, then come judgment day, Dayenu.

                I’d like to end with a prayer.  I will be saying these words as I type them and I hope you can read them and raise them up to your Lord and Savior as well.   Dear Lord, in all things I do today allow me to give all glory to you.  Allow my actions, my words, and my thoughts to satisfy you.  Amen.

                God bless.  

Simon Peter, Building our Foundation

Mark and I have been hosting a bible study for some time now and have had success with it. Earlier this month Mark came up with the idea to maybe start a blog. I for one have never really blogged before, and this will be my first time blogging. I was hesitant at first to preach my thoughts to strangers, but I was encouraged by friends to do so.  We have another bible study tonight, and we and starting a new series on the apostles. Tonight we are starting with Simon Peter. I thought I knew a good deal about the disciples that followed Jesus, however I continue to be surprised about the amount of new information I learn whenever I research their lives. Simon was a an ordinary person, described as physically normal; short, no outstanding characteristics, and seemingly nothing to elevate him above others. Despite having seemingly no outstanding characteristics Jesus chose Simon to follow him (Mark 1:16-18).  Early in their travels Jesus renames Simon to better fit his characteristics. Jesus chose the name Peter, from the Greek Petros, meaning rock or stone. Later I found out that the name was given to Simon because Jesus calls upon Peter to be the rock on which the foundation of his church and his preaching will be built (Matthew 16:18). Simon, being a humble fisherman from Galilee, became the leader of the disciples after Jesus ascended into heaven. 
Funny to think we are all just fisherman looking to get our big catch, but Jesus has called us to be the Peters of this world; Pick up the cross, deny yourself, and follow me(Jesus). Be the stone in which to build his ministry! Breaking Christian telling you to all be the Christian Jesus calls you to be. Be Peter!

Down below is a copy of our bible study tonight
Go through it with a friend or alone and engulf yourself in Peters life and ministries.

God Bless!

Apostles
Simon Peter

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day:
Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Opening Prayer

Who is “Peter”?
    The son of John (or Jonah or Jona),he was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee.
    His brother Andrew was also an apostle.
    Originally a Fisherman, Goes on to become the First Pope
    Simon is named Peter, from the word Petros meaning rock or stone

Simon Peter’s History from Scripture
30AD
Jesus asks them to follow Him. – Mark 1:16-18
Peter casts his net in the deep ocean after being told by Jesus to do so. He tells Jesus that they have tried all night to do so and without success. When he did as he was told, they caught a great number of fish. –Luke 5:4-11
31-32AD
Peter tries to walk on water, but he failed. – Matthew 14:28-29
Peter makes a pronouncement of Jesus.– Matthew 16:16
Jesus tell Peter that he will build his church on him. – Matthew 16:18
Peter rebukes Jesus. – Matthew 16:21-23
Peter witnesses the transfiguration of Jesus and the appearance of Moses and Elijah on a mountain.
33AD
Jesus makes a prediction that Peter will deny Him three times before a rooster crows. – Matthew 26:34

Peter and the others were sleeping while Jesus was praying in The Garden of Gethsemane. – Matthew 26:40-46
Peter takes his sword out and cuts off the ear of a servant. – Matthew 26:51
The prediction of Jesus comes true when Peter denies Him three times. – Matthew 26:69-75
Peter gathers at a mountain in Galilee to see Jesus. – Matthew 28:16

34-48 AD
By default, Peter becomes the leader of the remaining disciples – Acts 1:16-26

Now filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter gives a message to the people in Jerusalem. – Acts 2:14-36
John, along with Peter, encounter a man who had never walked since birth, and Peter heals him and the man is able to walk. – Acts 3:6-8
One of the ruling parties of that time, the Sadducees, take John and Peter into custody. – Acts 4:3
Peter, John with him, are told by the Sadducees to stop telling people about Jesus. – Acts 4:18
Peter and John are sent to Samaria to teach them about the word of God. – Acts 8:14
Peter travels to different places to teach and to encourage other believers in Jesus Christ. He also visited Lydda. – Acts 9:32
God uses Peter to bring a little girl back to life. – Acts 9:40
Cornelius, a Roman centurion, summons Peter to his house in Caesarea. Peter at that time was staying in Joppa. – Acts 10:1-6
For the first time, Peter realizes that God shows no partiality when it comes to those receiving His word. – Acts 10:34
Cornelius for the first time hears through the words of Peter about Jesus Christ. This the first account that the Gospel is also meant for non-Jewish people  – Acts 10:37-48
James, the brother of John, is killed by the sword by order of Herod, who intentionally wanted to cause trouble for the church. – Acts 12:1-2
When Herod realized that what he had done had made him popular with the Jews, he had Peter arrested and put in prison. – Acts 12:3
An angel of the Lord God takes Peter out of prison. – Acts 12:7-8
Paul confronts Peter’s behavior when he is in the presence of non-Jewish believers and Jewish believers. – Galatians 2:11

64AD
    Peter is crucified upside-down, felt unworthy to be crucified in the same way Jesus was.
How can we be like Peter in our daily lives?
Challenge:
Closing Prayer