What about Joseph? Pt. 2

Continuing on....



Let's see, where were we? Oh yes! In walks the Angel of the Lord.



Now to most of us living here in the 21st century this sounds like a scene from a Hunter S. Thompson novel. Angelic apparitions in the middle of the night? Really? But, let's not forget this all took place in a time and culture when religion, faith and every day life itself was based on 4000 years of God visiting the Hebrew people on a regular basis in many forms including many accounts of angels coming as messengers, judges and executioners. Not to say that Joseph probably wasn't shaking in his tallit(prayer shawl, there's your Hebrew lesson for the day). And after 400 years of God being silent to His people, the nation of Israel was surely desperate to hear from their Sovereign Lord. So, even though a visit from an angel was frightening and wonderful, the news Joseph received was that his wife Mary would give to birth to Jesus. The Savior the Hebrews had been promised for generations was now going to be given to Joseph and Mary to care for and raise according to the Jewish tradition.

So, here it is. My question to you.

What would you have done if you were Joseph?

Leave you comments at the end of this post or email me gabe@crossroadscom.org

Make sure to check back frequently to see new comments and feel free to retort. I would like for this page to become and outsource for your opinions, beliefs, doubts, fears, prayers and anything else on your heart. Somewhere out there someone may be feeling the same way you do right now. Know that you are not alone and through the faith and lives of others I pray that each of us can grow in an Undignified Faith.

God bless,
J. Gabriel
Barbarian Disciple

p.s. Check back tomorrow when I finish the post about food. Good stuff for you to chew on there.(Pun intended) Also, I will begin diving into what it means to truly become Undignified for the Lord. 2 Samuel 6:21-22

What about Joseph? -Intermission

I'm going to stray from the story of Joseph for a bit but don't worry we will revisit him shortly. Right now I want to talk about food. Why? Why not? I love food and I'm willing to bet so do most of you. Take a moment and think about the role food plays in your life. For me it's been my life for many years. I started working in the restaurant biz when I was only 15. Except for a few brief moments I've been there ever since. What can I say I love everything about it.

Food doesn't just sustain life it is and intricate part of it. Think about it. Growing up, when did you spend the most time with your family. I can wager most of you were sitting at the dinner table, at a restaurant, church pot luck etc. Food ties us together. When you call on a friend to spend time together what's the most common thing to do. "Hey, let's get together for dinner", or at the office, "let's do lunch". That's only the tip of the iceburg. Someone gets married what do we do? Eat. Someone dies (especially if you grew up catholic right Dad?) we all bring food. Birthdays, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, promotions. The list goes on and on. But one common factor? You guessed it. Food!

It really seems so simple at first. I mean, we need food to live so therefore we eat. But is that all there is to it? Take a look at all those examples above of times we join together as a group and "break bread". Is it really just a matter of simple life support. I think there's so much more to it than that. The reasons meals are so important to us, I believe, are as vast and varied as the foods we eat.

I am going to go deeper into this one a little later tonight. I don't think we've even scratched the surface. For now I will leave you with it to chew on so to speak. Please leave your comments. I would love to know your opinions about this and anything for that matter. Hopefully we can all learn a little. More so, I hope that everything you find here will encourage you, give you hope or at least bring a smile to your face. I look forward to every day in the hopes my and your faith will become more Undignified for Him.

Who knows, maybe we can all get together for dinner sometime. I do love to eat. :)

Many blessings,
TOGL
J. Gabriel

Urgent Prayer Request

Brothers and Sisters,

This is a call to arms. Please if you don't read anything else on this page read this. Let today be the day that we as children of the Living God stood up and answered the plea of man who believes in the power of prayer. Please, it will only take a moment of your time. If you can forward this, tell your friends, small groups etc. It is my hope that weeks from now, if not sooner, I will be able to share the testimony of this man as God moves in the midst of this trial. Prayer does change everything. Please take a moment and become part of God's blessing for this young couple. Then witness the Awesome power of our God. Thank you and God Bless

Become Undignified! 2Sam6:22

THIS COUPLE NEEDS OUR PRAYERS. PLEASE read this. IT MUST BE TERRIBLY DIFFICULT TO BE IN IRAQ WITH A SICK WIFE AT HOME.


Tough times don't last... Tough people do !!!My name is Gary Hogan. Some of you receiving this know me, some do not. My wife, Cindy, is 32 years old and has just been diagnosed 3 Days ago with stage 4 cervical cancer and her chances for survival are Very slim. She was pregnant with our second child and had miscarried Recently at 3 months, and now we know why. This is a request for you to for ward this e-mail to everyone you know asking for prayer. The more people that pray for her to be healed, the better.Pray and forward. It only takes a second to hit 'forward'.Please do it and don't delete this, your prayer can, and perhaps will, Save her life. Please pray and ask everyone you know to pray for the HEALING of Cindy and the removal of all cancer I n her body, so she may enjoy all that life has to offer, and to continue to be the wonderful mother to our 5 year old son, Michael. The power of Prayer is unsurpassed. I want the whole world to have her in their prayers the next few weeks. God will hear our cry. Please do not be offended by my plea.. This is only a request for your help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this and helping with our request for healing! No words can express the power we have when we each do a little to come together.

Regards, Cindy's in-love husband
- Gary Hogan, Iraq

Thank you, and please send it to the far reaches of our world.

What about Joseph? Pt. 1

So, let's put the fun stuff aside for a few, shall we? This Sunday we are doing a skit at church that includes me playing Joseph, Jesus' earthly father figure. After much contemplation and prayer I've decided it is humanly impossible, at least for me, to even begin to fathom what this man must have endured. I mean let's think about this for a minute. For starters consider the culture that Joseph was a part of. The Bible states, "Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man". -Mat 1:19a NIV It also says, "She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David." Luk 1:27b NLT. It's easy to derive from this that Joseph was a Jew. A Hebrew directly descended King David himself. This speaks greatly to the characteristics that Joseph would have embodied. Being called righteous was not something that would have been done flippantly. The Jewish faith is one steeped in ritual and discipline meaning Joseph must have been a deeply spiritual and faithful follower of our Creator.


Now, you have a man, disciplined follower of the Jewish faith, who is engaged, betrothed and married to Mary. She then comes to him, in whatever manner it happened, and tells him that she has conceived a child through the power of the Holy Spirit. Then he is faced with the decision of what to do next. By the law he has every right to allow her fate to be decided by the elders and members of the surrounding community. According to Jewish law that would mean nothing less than a stoning....to death.

Instead, feeling compassion for Mary, resolves to divorce her quietly. Saving her from certain death and saving he and his family from a disgrace that would certainly ruin a family of his culture and time.

No one knows why Joseph chose to save Mary from the impending doom that would fall upon a Jewish woman who became pregnant by someone other than her husband. I like to think that deep down God was already preparing him for the Good News he was about to receive.

In walks....the Angel of the Lord!

"But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."- Matt 1:20-21 KJV

Now I don't know about you but that right there would seal any deal for me. I don't care what my family said or the elders or the high priest. Shoot, Caesar himself could of showed up and told me to divorce Mary and I would have intently laughed in his face. I mean come on. The Jewish people have been visited by Angels and even God Himself throughout their rich heritage. Do you really think Joseph is just gonna walk away. Especially since this child, this miracle was the Savior God had promised the Hebrews for generations. I think not.

To be continued.....

Winter Wonderland

Faced with the loss of my job and not knowing what to do next I did the only logical thing I could think of.....I went sledding with my dear new friend Mike Weeks. Pastor Mike for those of you from CrossRoads. What an incredible man of God. He is such a blessing to me. He has helped me learn to enjoy life again and not get so caught up in the day to day. I know God created this friendship for and intent purpose and I look so forward to seeking out and achieving whatever that may be. Not to mention the fun we will have along the way. Mike if you read this know that I love you. Through you God has blessed me. You helped make what could have been a dreadful day instead be filled with hope, joy and let's not forget tuna casserole and ice cream. And to Tiffany and Megan thanks to you to. The time spent with the three of you today will forever bring a smile to my face.

So there you have it folks, today I lost my job, strengthened friendships, regained some things that were lost and came one step closer to the One who makes it all worth living.
Jesus Christ, my savior and King.

Many blessings,
J. Gabriel

The Start of a New Day

Well, today is the beginning of what I pray is a new horizon in this life I have been blessed with. I don't really know where to go from here. All I know is God has never failed me. He is always by my side. I'm looking for a new job. Not really sure what I want to do. I've managed restaurants for so long I thought it would be what I did for life, but now I'm not sure. I just want to be in a place where I know whatever I'm doing is somehow in some way benefiting the Kingdom. Somewhere along the way I lost that and I want it back so badly that it burns inside of me. Ever felt that way? If I'm not doing it in His name then what's the point of doing it at all?

Anyway, more on that later. I just wanted to tell each and everyone who reads this that I hope and pray that this day you are blessed and that you seek to be in His blessing every day. I look forward to updating this page daily in the hopes that maybe just maybe one person can be encouraged and find hope in the One who gave His life that we may live ours to the fullest.

Bless each and everyone of you for you are children of the King and you are loved more than you may ever now. Please feel free to contact me for any reason your heart may find. I will make a place for comments, prayer requests and anything else you need.

J. Gabriel Brangers