The Desert Rat speaks

“The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with Him, WE WILL ALSO LIVE with Him; if we endure, WE WILL ALSO REIGN with Him...” (2 Timothy 2:11,12). There is one King over all the heavens and the earth; allegiance to Him and His Kingdom is true life, eternal life – as the Puritan William Perkins said, “living blessed forever.” Keep your eyes on the King and live.
• “When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM AUTHORITY OVER ALL FLESH, TO GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL WHOM YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM. And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent’” (John 17:1-3).
• “...if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness REIGN IN LIFE through the one man Jesus Christ...as sin reigned in death, grace also might REIGN through righteousness leading to ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:17,21).
• “For as in Adam all die, so also IN CHRIST ALL SHALL BE MADE ALIVE. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For HE MUST REIGN until He has put all His enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:22-25).
• “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. THEY CAME TO LIFE AND REIGNED with Christ for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4).

Mystery

 The Desert Rat speaks...

When the apostle Paul says, “mystery,” he calls us to see Christ in the whole Bible, for He Who was always present but veiled is now fully and finally revealed. Take, read, and see the mystery revealed.

• “Now to Him Who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the MYSTERY which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 16:25-27).
• “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a MYSTERY, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory...” (1 Corinthians 2:6-8).
• “In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the MYSTERY of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth” (Ephesians 1:8-10).
• “By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the MYSTERY of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the MYSTERY which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:4-10).
• “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the MYSTERY which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:25-27).

Small things

The Desert Rat speaks....

“Four things are small on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, but they prepare their food in the summer; the shephanim are not mighty people, yet they make their houses in the rocks; the locusts have no king, yet all of them go out in ranks; the lizard you may grasp with the hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces” (Proverbs 30:24-28).

Lord, give us wisdom (James 1:5; 3:17).
May we take every opportunity to be spiritually fed with the abundance of resources we have at our disposal while we still can.
May we make You, our Rock, our only Refuge.
May we stay unified in the purpose You have given us.
May Your people be found in every corner of this world, no matter how obscure or forbidding – or how bountiful and distracted.
All these things, Father, we ask, that Your name will be “holy, holy, holy” in all the earth.
All these things, Father, we ask, that Your Kingdom come.
All these things, Father, we ask, that Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
All things are Yours for Your glory alone.
Through Christ, Your wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 2:1-3), we ask, Amen.

The Revolters

 The Desert Rat speaks:   

“The revolters have gone deep in depravity, but I will chastise all of them...their deeds will not allow them to return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the LORD. Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, and Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them. They will go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them. They have dealt treacherously against the LORD, for they have borne illegitimate children...on them I will pour out My wrath like water...he was determined to follow man’s command...I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver. I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me. ‘Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him” (Hosea 5:1-6:2).

How does become this “good news”?

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

Look to Him in humble, repentant faith, and be saved “from the wrath of God through Him” (Romans 5:9).
• “He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
• “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to Whom be the glory forevermore. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5).
• “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).
• “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
• “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
• “Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
• “To Him Who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood...be the glory and dominion forever and ever” (Revelation 1:5).

Covenant Faithfulness: No Greater Lesson

The Desert Rat shares on Covenant    

Foundational spiritual truth and commandment: “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:1-9).

Application of this spiritual truth and commandment: “Now then, my sons, listen to me and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her and do not go near the door of [the adulteress’] house” (Proverbs 5:7,8).

Covenant faithfulness to God alone is expressed in covenant faithfulness to our wife alone (Ephesians 5:22-6:4). Both must be unceasingly taught to every generation. It is our highest calling.

Character of the family

From the Desert Rat of Morgan

 I was challenged by this today.

"As the family is the most intimate bond of fellowship among men, it is of the utmost importance that it should be hallowed by religion. All the relations of parents [and] children...are purified and strengthened when the whole household is statedly assembled, morning and evening, for worship of God. There is no substitute for this divinely appointed means of promoting family religion...the head of the family should be able to read the Scriptures as well as lead in prayer...all persons subject to the watch or care of the Church should be required to maintain in their household this stated worship of God. The character of the Church and of the state depends on the character of the family. If religion dies out in the family, it cannot elsewhere be maintained. A man's responsibility to his children, as well as to God, binds him to make his house a Bethel; if not a Bethel, it will be a dwelling place of evil spirits."
- Charles Hodge (1797-1878), Systematic Theology, vol. 3, pg. 706

The Testimony of Christ

  A word from the Desert Rat of Morgan.

The testimony of Christ to the Church: “Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire: (for Mine ears hast Thou prepared) burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required. Then said I, ‘Lo, I come: for in the roll of the book it is written of Me. I desired to do Thy good will, O My God [Hebrews 10:4-10]: yea, Thy Law is within mine heart. I have declared Thy righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I will not refrain My lips: O Lord, Thou knowest. I have not hid Thy righteousness within Mine heart, but I have declared Thy truth and Thy salvation: I have not concealed Thy mercy, and Thy truth from the great Congregation’” (Psalm 40:6-11, Geneva Bible).

The Father’s will is the salvation provided by a single perfect sacrifice for sins for all time – His Son. The Father’s Law pinpoints our guilt and meriting of His wrath before His holiness. It is His righteousness, truth, and salvation that is the theme of the Son’s song to His Church.

The Son’s obedience to the Father is the reason He has a Name that is above every name, the reason that all will one day bow before the Son to the Father’s glory. The Son is the Word of God made flesh to us, the perfect and final revelation of the Father to us. The Son is the only acceptable sacrifice for our sin and the satisfaction of the Father’s righteous wrath against our rebellion.

The Holy Spirit is the One Who formed the “flesh” of the “Word made flesh” in the womb of the virgin. The Spirit is the One Who revealed this song of the Father and Son’s plan for our salvation through David almost a millennium before it became history. The Spirit is the One Who reveals the truth of God to our dead hearts unto life, life, eternal life in the salvation provided by the Father through the sacrifice of the Son, the full expression of love.

Congregation, hear today and believe. He is still speaking through His Word (singing through the Psalm) of the greatest message that there is.

Why God's Children Have Enemies

From the Desert Rat 

“O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chastise me in Thy wrath. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak: O Lord heal me, for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore troubled: but Lord, how long wilt Thou delay? Return, O Lord: deliver my soul: save me for Thy mercy’s sake” (Psalm 6:1-4, Geneva Bible).

This is how David describes his enemies (6:7,8,10) – not as unfair persecutors, but as instruments of God’s anger and wrath. This is not unloving anger and wrath, for David recognizes the Lord to be simultaneously a merciful soul Who hears the prayers of His covenant people for deliverance: “The Lord hath heard my petition: the Lord will receive my prayer” (6:9).

The Lord uses even the enemy to bring us closer to Himself: “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin [in the sense of sinners, see 12:1-3]. And ye have forgotten the consolation, which speaketh unto you as unto children, ‘My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth: and He scourgeth every son that He receiveth.’ If ye endure chastening, God offered Himself unto you as unto sons: for what son is it whom the father chasteneth not? If therefore ye be without correction, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Moreover we have had the fathers of our bodies which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: should we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits, that we might live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he chastened us for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastising for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: but afterward, it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousness, unto them which are thereby exercised. Wherefore lift up your hands which hang down, and your weak knees, and make straight steps unto your feet, lest that which is halting, be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without the which no man shall see the Lord. Take heed, that no man fall away from the grace of God: let no root of bitterness spring up and trouble you, lest thereby many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:5-15).

Even if our enemies are unjust in their actions/accusations/annoyances, we are never without need of correction from God on this side of eternity. It’s not about our enemies, it’s about the God Who’s teaching us to rely on Him and seek Him out more and more. Turn away from self-righteousness/defensiveness in the face of the enemy and seek the One Who purchased you with His blood – this is why God has put these enemies around you. In the name of Jesus, the Lord will hear your petition; the Lord will receive your prayer.

Learn this basic truth of discipleship and divine adoption in Christ and you’ll rest more and more in the love and mercy of God, no matter the hateful noise of the enemy.

From the Desert Rat

  The Desert Rat speaks on ...
... the anti-cross.

  “O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn My glory into shame, loving vanity, and seeking lies?” (Psalm 4:2, Geneva Bible).

Turning His glory into shame. Loving vanity. Seeking lies. I've been there.

“...one thing I do: I forget that which is behind, and endeavor myself unto that which is before, and follow hard toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus...for many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is damnation, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is to their shame, which mind earthly things. But our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, even the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:13,14,19-20).

God, keep me, by the love of the Father, grace of the Son, and power of the Spirit, living Paul’s “one thing” rather than the anti-cross, anti-glory, lying vanity of Psalm 4:2.

What Will Cause the World to Tremble?

The Desert Rat speaks on ...



... a trembling world.

What Will Cause the World to Tremble?

When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became His sanctuary, Israel, His dominion.
The sea looked and fled; the Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams, the hills, like lambs.
What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?
O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs?
Tremble, O earth, before the Lord, before the God of Jacob,
Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of water.
- Psalm 114

Will the world tremble and be moved by our buildings? By our entertainment? Our endless programs (we are a Swiss Army Knife, not a doubled-edged sword!)? Our money, celebrity, political power? Our open doors, open everything? Our willingness to water down everything to build bridges to nothing? Our habits and traditions? Our platitudes affirming what they already believe – that they are the center of the universe, little gods in their own right? What will cause the world to tremble and be moved before the Church? The presence of the Lord, and nothing else.

Keep His Word faithfully without editing or compromise, no matter how unappealing or unexciting this may seem to an unbelieving world that hates that Word and those who hold to it: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s Who sent Me’” (John 14:23,24).

Church, open the Word by the power and teaching of the Spirit and enter in; Spirit, open us with Your sword (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12,13) and enter in. And so, may we be ever in Your presence together now and forever as Your Church.

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!
My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
The bird also has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.
How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.
How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; the early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.
O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
Behold our shield, O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!
- Psalm 84

Prayerful Meditation on Speech

The Desert Rat speaks of our Words...



... a meditation.

Prayerful Meditation on Speech

Lord...
...teach us to shepherd with Your Word, and may we never “upset the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:18).
...teach us to shepherd with Your Word, and may we never “lead to further ungodliness” (2:16).
...teach us to shepherd with Your Word, never speaking things which lead “to the ruin of the hearers” (2:14).
...teach us to shepherd with Your Word, rather than artfully using rhetoric, logic, and oratory to wrestle in vain (2:14).
...teach us to shepherd Your Word, keeping us far from shame as we diligently present ourselves before You in our handling of Your Word (2:15).

“Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.’ Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2:19-21).

In a world of a billion unstoppable words each second in a seemingly unceasing succession of seconds, remind us that when Your Word is spoken there is significance as weighty as Your eternal and matchless glory. May our tongues be so weighted down with Your Word that we cannot lift them apart from Your strengthening.

“He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent” (Proverbs 17:27,28).

Hope Deferred...but Rejoicing in Hope

The Desert Rat speaks of our Hope...



... in Christ alone.


The Desert Rat of Morgan

"They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them" (Acts 16:6-10).

This is during Paul's "second missionary journey." He has been traveling through the Roman Empire "strengthening the churches" (15:41), with the result that "the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily" (16:5). And then block, block, vision.

I don't know about you, but the sequence is not what I have usually experience in my walk of faith. In my experience, it's usually vision, block, block, block, etc.

The Psalms are filled with this great longing for the LORD, and we can relate as the Psalmist sits between a vision and a roadblock:

* "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'" (Psalm 42:1-3).

* "I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my God" (Psalm 69:3).

* "My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word. My eyes fail with longing for Your word, while I say, 'When will You comfort me?'" (Psalm 119:81,82).

* "Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; do not hide Your face from me, or I will become like those who go down to the pit" (Psalm 143:7).

What do we do? Pray against the devil? It wasn't the devil blocking Paul, though his intentions to go into Asia and Bithynia were wholly Kingdom-oriented. Beware lest we find ourselves trying to cast out the Spirit of Jesus in our spiritual warfare! What do we do?

"Now [Jesus] was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, 'In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, "Give me legal protection from my opponent." For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, "Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out."' And the Lord said, 'Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?'" (Luke 18:1-8).

We keep praying in faith and we don't lose heart. It's the second part that gets difficult, doesn't it? After all, "hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Proverbs 13:12). Paul, a man who knew difficulty and roadblocks, commands us to always be "rejoicing in hope" (Romans 12:12). How do we do this? This isn't, of course, the only time Paul speaks of "hope" in this letter to the Romans. Let's look at what else he says about hope, about avoiding a sick heart, and learning to rejoice while we wait between the vision and the roadblock.

We rejoice in hope because of the promises of the One in Whom we have hope.

"In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, 'So shall your descendants be.' Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform" (Romans 4:18-21).

Abraham. Hope against hope. As good as dead. Amazing passage for those between the vision and the roadblock, for this is where the great patriarch pitched his tent for DECADES. What kept Abraham from the "sick heart"? In hoping he "he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured." What was the factor that allowed him to be "rejoicing in hope"? The promise of God.

* He hoped "according to that which had been spoken."
* He hoped because of "what God had promised."

The Word of God had been given to Abraham, and so he was able to rejoice in hope, IN SPITE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES. Everything about the outward reality, the facts of the situation, said that Abraham's hope was impossible. So it is in our lives between the vision and the roadblock. In this valley everything says, "give this up right now, it cannot happen." But God has spoken and the circumstances cannot silence this Word.

To keep hope deferred from becoming a spiritual heart disease, we trust in the Word of God alone, despite all the protestations of outward circumstance. This is the primary means God uses to bringing the one waiting in hope the comfort that sustains the heart:

"For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

The Word cannot be a tree of life to the one hoping unless you read it and are familiar with the God Who gives visions and roadblocks. We should make ourselves familiar with Him not mainly through the testimonies and experiences of others, but through what He has said about Himself in His Word. Read it while you wait. Make it your companion, and learn assurance that allows you to rejoice while hoping.

God the Holy Spirit wrote the Scriptures. They are written to tell us about the God Who is our Satisfaction, Comfort, Love, Joy, and greatest Peace. When we get separated from this Word, hope deferred can make our hearts sick. When we are in His Word, reminding ourselves of Who He is, we can rejoice while waiting on hope. Don't get self-centered in reading Scripture, though. We are meant to get lost in the glory of Christ not by "finding ourselves" (the pop-psychology word of this generation), but finding Him and finding that He satisfies all we could ever need. Make your Scripture reading about getting lost in His glory and greatness. Rejoice in hope. It is a hope that cannot disappoint.

We rejoice in hope because we have the One in Whom we hope.

We don't just have His Word. We have Him.

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us" (Romans 5:1-5).

I remind you that our God is One God, but He is Three Persons, all equally 100% God and the same in essence. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This thing is a profound mystery confessed by the Church for two millennia. Men anchored to the sod of a fallen world in every generation have tried to redefine this Triune God into something that can be put in a box, but a God Who can be completely comprehended in this world is not much of God, is He? We hold to the God taught by the Scripture, Who is One and Three. No one has seen the Father at any time. The Son came and went. But, to insure that we do not lose heart and grieve as orphans in this world, God the Holy Spirit has come and will never leave His Church. We have the Book He has Authored, and we have Him.

Rejoicing in hope is not something we can do without the work of God the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is a supernatural assurance that hope will be fulfilled and rejoicing in the comforting presence of the Comforter while we wait, worship, and serve during this time between the vision and the roadblock. It is He Who teaches us the Word He has written and causes it to be food to satisfy us while we wait on the banquet to come.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

We persevere for a high but unseen hope.

We dream BIG because it is not our dream, but the God Who gives light and goodness in His gifts. We dream as big as God Himself.

"For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him Who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it" (Romans 8:20-25).

Big dreams, longing for the dream of God to see "the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth" (Ephesians 1:10)...and in our lives. We long for what we cannot see, but we have been told about it in the promises of God's Word, and have God the Holy Spirit Himself within us to enable us to hold on to this dream too big to be grasped by the human heart unassisted.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

We have faith that our hope will be fulfilled, and so we persevere, we endure to the end with faith in hope ever-growing through the nurturing and strengthening power of God the Holy Spirit Who dwells in His Church.

Difficult days may come when the groaning in our spirits seems louder than usual, but we endure to the end with faith and hope in the One Who has promised, the One Who is with us, and the One Who has caused us to hope in great and glorious (humanly impossible and even incomprehensible) things.

Consider and Ponder.

xtnyoda, shalomed

The Desert Rat has spoken to the longing by some for 'unity'...

I shall let the Rat speak...

How Disunity Can Be of God

"Why do there have to be denominations?"
"But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God. But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you" (1 Corinthians 11:16-19).

I've heard two different pleas for unity lately, one in a letter to an editor in a state newsmagazine, and another from a keynote speaker at a national convention. We've all heard lots of pleas for unity, and it's usually a unity that means "accept everything from everyone" or "let's unite under my authority and/or viewpoint." I gotta say: I'm not always interested in unity.

I'm not interested in unity with those who minimize a deep, biblical understanding of Jesus, eternal Son of God and son of man. I'm not interested in anything less than His utter Sovereignty. I'm not interested in unity with those who regard the Bible as merely man-created or outdated or live a pragmatic denial of its truth by their lifestyles and choices. I'm not interested in unity with those who think "conversions" fulfill the Great Commission rather than disciple-making. I'm not interested in unity with those "Christians" who think they can have a vibrant faith apart from the Body of Christ. I'm not interested in unity for the sake of unity unless it is a unity under Christ the Head of the Church with His Word and Spirit being the final and absolute authority.

Christ creates division. He is the Ultimate Catalyst. When He says, "blessed is he who does not take offense at me" (Matthew 11:6), it's because there's a real probably that you will be offended by the real Jesus! It takes a supernatural intervention in your heart for you NOT to be offended at Him. He is the Offense, as is the message of His cross (1 Corinthians 1:23). Are you blessed, or have you tried to tame the Lion of the Tribe of Judah?

"There must be factions among you..." From the solid standing of the Rock of the Word, I will love you, answer your questions, work for your good, etc. But I will not leave this place in which I stand. I will not argue with you, will not hate you, will not slander you, etc. But I will not join you if you stray into a swampland in Babylon. And I will not allow you to poison the flock I have been commanded to shepherd.

Approval comes through God in Christ, revealed by the work of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the Church, and His singular instrument of working in the midst of His Church is His Word. That is the approval manifested by division.

There will be unity when people gather before God to be taught by Him, not to re-make Him into a mirror image of our contemporary sensibilities and desire to be the center of the universe (Isaiah 2:2,3). The "swords" and "spears" will be beat into "plowshares" and "pruning hooks" not when humans come together in their own strength and wisdom, but when they are utterly and completely conquered and subdued by the LORD (2:4).

Want unity? Be consumed by the Offense.

The Desert Rat has spoken to the looming trade deficit, the "green" god mania, and energy dependence/slavery to those who really don't like us very much...

... but... I shall let the Rat speak...

The U.S. Trade deficit jumped to $40.2 billion in December 2009.

Why? Because petroleum imports have accounted for OVER HALF our trade deficit since the last quarter of 2007, and the prices jumped last October. We're not running behind just because of "made in China " labels. We're running behind because we won't responsibly use the resources we have right here on our own sovereign territory.

And the people from whom we buy oil aren't our friends.

Sad, and horrifying. Can you imagine the security and economic boost it would be if we started building refineries and/or nuclear plants? Crap, let's build solar panel and wind turbine farms, too - I love the environment. But what in the world are we doing to ourselves by relying on Chavez and the Arabian royal family? Over half the trade deficit is oil? Did you hear me? Why isn’t T. Boone Pickens (not to mention Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, or whoever else) screaming his rich head off about this?

I am a reasonable environmentalist.

I love our National Parks, National Forests, and National Wildernesses. I think 10-20% of the land in every state should be National Wilderness (no roads or motorized vehicles allowed). I think polluters should be held accountable and punished severely. I’m all for a forward-looking exploration of new energy-providing technologies. But what good are these sentiments when we have a trade deficit that means we’re sending more money across the borders than what we bring into the country? It’s horrifying enough that foreign states own so much of our exponentially-growing debt, and therefore are our masters. But we’re not doing the most basic and beneficial thing to look toward a turn-around!

Oh, and a comment to the non-rational earth-worshiper: this cactus-hugger’s taking the term “environmentalist” back.

It doesn’t belong to you, so I’ve got a personal goal of stealing your god and putting it back in its correct place, protected, nurtured, yet dominated place. And another thing: do you think the Middle Eastern countries and the likes of Venezuela are going to be more nature-minded in their petroleum exploration, extraction, and processing? Do you think they care about your earth-god’s cleanliness? Seriously? If anyone is to provide responsibly-extracted petroleum product, it’s the most advanced and morally-sensitive nation on the planet: us. Think of the example we could be to the world in safe and responsible extraction and refining processes. OR we can whore ourselves out to a people that are already laughing at our weakness and enslavement to them.

The next time you fill up, remember. We’re not destroying the environment for that tank of gas: people who hate us are.

And they’ve enslaved us to bankroll that destruction. The next time you get concerned about what “made in China” labels and lost overseas jobs are doing to us, remember that we have huge, wealth-glutted potential jobs sitting under our feet, but we’d rather rely on people content to see our Secretary of State begging them for better prices (I won’t even mention a President that bows to them).

Well, a rare political note from the desert rat.

I’m going to go skulk back into my remote arid canyon and hope you big-city people will wake up and realize what weak, defenseless slaves in denial we’ve become in the name of “green.”

The Desert Rat has responded to a brother from the other side of the dispensational fence...

UPDATED

Said brother challenged the Rat's idea of the Church being a replacement for some prophecies in the OT concerning the Temple reconstruction and the Zadok priestly line...

Doing what rats do.

Well, I scurried out to watch the sunrise in the glory of all lands this morning, and lo! I had cactus mail, delivered from the mysterious ether.

"What of Ezekiel chapters 40-48 and the temple? Different in several ways to any other temple, no mercy seat, no ark, no high priest, etc. In your replacement theology, how do you 'figure' these truths away? What of the eternal promise to the sons of Zadok? And what part of the church is in the house of Israel and what part is in the house of Judah?"

Well, I've got to be honest. I had no idea anyone ever read these sermons to the rocks and cacti, mountains and sky. And a fellow believer, no less, just as put off and offended by my holistic view of the Bible (including eschatology and ecclesiology) as I am of his/hers. Sarcasm is a really bizarre phenomenon...but while it is the lowest form of wit, it is the funniest (while being the lowest form of wit, it is the highest form of intelligence!). I'll try to keep it to just the barest of answers (though there is no frivolity in that!). Oh, and I'm a lousy debater, so I'll answer the question, cast it carelessly to the ether, and end it here. That way you, dearest fellow disciple, can claim a victory in defeating any challenge to the reigning eschatology in pop-Church America.

I love Ezekiel, and have for a long, long time. One of these days I'll lead a group through a study of it, which in my mind will be akin to group bungy-cording with collected shoelaces. It'll be great! At that time I'll do a verse-by-verse exposition of Ezekiel 40-48, and maybe I'll put some of it online. I've always thought it very interesting that Ezekiel dates the vision as "fourteen years after the city was taken" (40:1), and then describes the visionary Temple as "a structure like a city" (40:2). He's also told to "see with [his] eyes, hear with [his] ears" (40:4), while giving a prophecy to a people who probably won't believe him - the prophecy itself is to be a sign to them of their own disobedience (2:1-3:11). What makes us think 40-48 must be built? Perhaps it's a monument to the way things could've been if obedience had been present, but instead 40-48 is a sign of their disobedience.

The futurists' (this includes you Dispensationalists) last stand is Temple Mount. Every aspect of your eschatology must have a fourth Temple (after the Temples of Solomon, Cyrus, and Herod). Without it, you're on indefinite hold. Sigh. I wish this would shut up the speculators, the endless parade of experts saying the end is just around the corner. What edition are we in with the "Late Great Planet Earth"? Oh well. To throw Matthew 24/Mark 13/Luke 17 & 21 into the future rather than the A.D. first century you have to have a Temple, so anti-Christ can desecrate it. We'll ignore the fact that it happened almost 1,940 years ago. No worries. I have no doubt there are a lot of Dispensationalists financially supporting those fringe loony Jews in Israel (a very small minority with no political power in that secular State) who are breeding red heifers and drawing up schematics based exactly on Ezekiel 40-48.

I call the second Temple Cyrus' since he claims it by decree, mandates its construction, and provides the finances (2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1:2-4).

The plans to the Temple are conditional (I'm trying to speak your language!). In 43:11, Yahweh tells the great prophet, "If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the house, its structure, its exists, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes, and all its laws. And write it in their sight, so that they may observe its whole design and all its statutes to do them." Remember in Cinderella when the evil step-mother says, "if"? That's how I typed it. They had two chances to build this very Temple, didn't they (Cyrus' and Herod's)? Ezekiel writes out these plans in their presence, three or four decades before they'll have a chance to build them. They don't. There is no ark mentioned in Ezekiel's plans because the ark disappeared with the destruction of Solomon's Temple, never to be seen again (unless you can break into that warehouse in Area 51). Don't ever forget that the heart of Cyrus' Temple and Herod's Temple was empty.

I would suggest to you, fellow disciple, that the plans in Ezekiel 40-48 are conditioned on the people's shame. Apparently there was not enough shame! OR Ezra-Nehemiah, in building Cyrus' Temple, did try to build Ezekiel's Temple, but the people's concern with resettling the land proved more important (they are constantly tearing clothing in leading the people to repent, and a few decades later in Malachi we see things have degraded already). Zechariah-Haggai did, after all, have to twist their arms to get them to even finish the thing.

The presence of God leaves Solomon's Temple in Ezekiel 10. The last verse of Ezekiel promises that the Temple of 40-48 will have God's presence. When does it return? Not for Cyrus' Temple, or Herod's. When does God's presence return in a way similar to the event at the dedication of Solomon's Temple? Pentecost, when God returns to His Temple, so much more than a building. His glorious and beloved Church. Stephen, in the most incredible God-perspective giving of Jewish history, quotes the O.T. as they're picking up stones, reminding them (with their own Scriptures) that God can't be contained in a building (Acts 7:46-50). Are we really going to argue, given the trajectory of the N.T., that God's plan is for another building? Do we wink knowingly at each other over Jesus' naivety in insisting that the Father wasn't looking for worshipers in Jerusalem, but worshipers in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24)?

I don't see the "eternal promise to the sons of Zadok" in the Bible. The post-exilic priesthood was certainly to be led by the Zadokites, but "eternal" doesn't enter into the discussion. Zadok was high priest under David. Zechariah and Haggai's emphasis on Zerubbabel (the governor) and Josiah (the high priest, a descendant of Zadok) certainly point to a restoration of a Davidic ruler and Zadokite priesthood. So at least that part fits pretty good with Ezekiel's instructions to the Exiles. There were high priests from the Zadokite line at least until the Maccabean period. By the way, great resource book: "From Joshua to Caiaphas: High Priests After the Exile," by James C. VanderKam (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2004). It's scholarly, and not written from the viewpoint of either of our eschatological camps, so it's actually worth reading (yes, there are topics aside from eschatology that are important).

There was no "mercy seat" or "ark" in either Cyrus' Temple or Herod's Temple, since the ark of the covenant disappeared with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. So I don't think we can say Ezekiel's visionary Temple is "different in several ways from any other temple." With this criteria, Solomon's Temple was the oddball.

Just because Ezekiel doesn't mention a high priest doesn't mean one wasn't intended for this Temple. Besides, what was the role of the high priest? Isn't the primary role entry into the Holy of holies on the Day of Atonement to pour blood on the mercy seat? With no mercy seat/ark, this became a largely political/symbolic role in the post-Exilic period.

This is not "replacement" theology. Jesus, the perfect Israel, contains the people of God in Him (read Galatians some time). He became the remnant. In Him all the promises and blessings of Abraham are fulfilled. I'd mention Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:11-22; Colossians 3:11, but I know the counter-arguments of Dispensationalists very well. Sophistry.

And I know the last question of yours wasn't serious. But in case it accidentally was serious, the goal of God is a restoration of His people in Ezekiel 37.
I used to be a Dispensationalist. I had the Clarence Larkin book with all the charts, the Walvoord compendium, the Left Behind series. I loved it. Dispensationalism cuts up the Bible in a scrapbooking theology that re-arranges events separated by centuries, throws 90% of them into the future (the Church is just a place-holder in the middle of the really cool story, Yahweh and Israel), and creates a fantasy world with all the drama and narrative of Narnia (without - sigh - the talking animals). Then the rat heard his pastor one night after Bible Study mention Acts 2:16, where Peter applies Joel to the events of Pentecost, not with double-meaning, not with a gap of millennia, but to his day. I quietly starting re-reading the Bible after that, throwing away (in some cases burning) my Dispensationalist stuff, leaving the safety of the charts and the psychotic excitement of imminent eschatology. I left behind (haha) the double-covenant and the insistence on imposing hyper-literalness on Hebrew poetry and thought. Most of all, I stopped believing this current day and time are the most important in all of the history of the world, things can't get much worse, and the anti-Christ (what a sham) is about to take over the United Nations with his charisma...of course, anti-Christ is not mentioned in Revelation or any "prophetic" material, so he is only a ridiculous straw-man for the end-times experts.

You can insist on two returns of Jesus (the rapture and then the end, separated by the seven-year Tribulation), but if I suggest a coming in A.D. 70 to judge God's enemies (so-called "Second Temple" Judaism of the A.D. first century) and an unknown coming the future, I'm unorthodox. I remember an issue of "The National Liberty Journal" (which I used to read) about five years ago that declared a person heretical if they didn't believe the modern State of Israel played a role in God's eschatological/soteriological plan ("The New Last Days Scoffers," by Dr. Edward Hindson, May 2005). I embraced heresy proudly at that point (at least heresy as defined by Dispensationalists). We can both point to different Church Fathers who seem to support our views. We aren't going to convince each other. So I suggest we both just walk away at this point...not stopping in 10 paces for a duel, but just keep walking.
Well, back to the quiet (and cold) desert. I'm harmless out here, so don't worry about it, okay? Do say a prayer for those small congregations who must endure the rat's teaching...

"Dear, damned, distracting town, farewell!
Thy fools no more I'll tease:
This year in peace, ye critics, dwell,
Ye harlots, sleep at ease!"

"A Farewell to London," 1715
Alexander Pope

Following is the first of a two part article concerning the Church...

... and this coming from The Desert Rat of Morgan.

The Glorious Church, Part 1

What's heaven going to be like? Gold streets, celestial buffet lines, mansions on hilltops? Who told you these things? Where in the Bible are these things promised or described for you? Maybe not where you've always thought...

Prophetic books like Revelation very often gives us the keys we need to make correct interpretations (so we don't have to rely on the imagination of specialty teachers or today's newspapers). In the case of the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21-22, the keys help us understand not a future heaven, but a present reality for Christians: "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away'" (Revelation 21:2-4). What do these verses tell us?

* The New Jerusalem is not heaven, but comes down from heaven.

* It is compared to a bride adorned for her husband.

* It fulfills the promise of God's presence with His people.

There are elements in these verses that sum up everything God has ever promised in all of Scripture.

A few verses later the apostle John says, "one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, 'Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb'" (Revelation 21:9). He's going to show us "the bride, the wife of the Lamb." Who is called the bride throughout the New Testament? The Church (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-33; Revelation 19:7,8)! So, as we go to the next verse, we are told we are going to see "the bride, the wife of the Lamb." What do we see? "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God" (Revelation 21:10,11). The "holy city, Jerusalem," is the Church, which has the glory of God and is given from heaven (not created or built by men). In all the descriptions that follow, we are not being given a picture of heaven, but a highly figurative picture of "the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).

So why the architecture and all the physical details (Revelation 21:11-22:5)? Remember the original recipients of Revelation (it wasn't written primarily for us). A.D. 1st-century Christians faces incredible opposition from the religious establishment of Jerusalem, which spread its desire to eradicate Christianity all over the Roman Empire (read the book of Acts). In addition to this, the Roman Empire got in on the action in the years leading up to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the descent of the Empire into chaos in A.D. 70. The Church is described in such glorious terms of unmatched architecture to show them who had the real Temple of God: the Church. If you think the New Jerusalem is a literal cube with 1,500 miles per side (21:16), you've been watching too much Star Trek (most of it would extend into the vacuum of space and need to be pressurized; no problem for God, but do we seriously think He would communicate this to comfort persecuted A.D. 1st-century Christians?). By the way - it's literally "12,000 stadia." 12 x 1,000. Every number in Revelation is symbolic. All of this figurative architectural detail is to assure the Christians that no matter what is built on Temple Mount in Jerusalem or on the various hills throughout the Roman Empire, there was one Temple of God, and it was them.

* The Church has both the authority of the apostles (Revelation 21:14; cf. Ephesians 2:19-22) and the blessings promised to the patriarchs of Israel (Revelation 21:12; cf. Galatians 3:14,29).

* There is no need for a Temple cult: the only sacrifice ever needed has been made (Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10; 1 Peter 3:18).

* There is no need for the lights of heaven to signal feasts and rituals (Revelation 21:23; cf. Genesis 1:14): it is all accomplished in the work of Jesus Christ, and the only sign we need is His glory.

* We have all the light we will ever need, "for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb" (Revelation 21:23). This glory, this lamp we were given out of heaven on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Church, never to depart (Acts 2:1-4,16-21). This Spirit is the Spirit of truth, Who teaches us, reminds us of Christ's words, and guides us (John 4:23,24; 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 4:6; 5:6). We have no need of other light that the Spirit and truth (the Bible).

The apostle Paul gives us another witness to this assertion of Revelation. Paul never uses the term "Temple of God" or "House of God" unless he is referring to the Church (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21). Even his warning of a "man of lawlessness" in God's Temple makes more sense in the original context of the letter if we realize he is warning that Church of an apostasy that will arise within it, not of the violation of a distant Temple that has no personal significance for his largely Gentile audience (2 Thessalonians 2:3-9). Jesus Himself refers to His own body as the Temple (John 2:14-22). Not to add another metaphor, but...the Church is that body (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 1:22,23; 4:12).

The bride's job is to clothe herself in the works of God (Ephesians 1:10; Philippians 2:12,13; Hebrews 13:20,21). "Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" (Revelation 19:7,8). How has she made herself ready? By clothing herself in that which was given to her. She doesn't create her own righteous acts, inventing them out of her own creativity, marketing plan, morality, or business model. They are given to her (clearly in the letters of the apostles). By the way, the marriage feast is the destruction of God's enemies at the hand of Christ, the bridegroom - not a the Church (Revelation 19:11-21)...I'm sure there's an unimaginable celestial buffet, but that's not what Revelation speaks of here!

Consider: "And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:22,23). Jesus is head over all things, and head over the Church. The Church is Christ's body, and Christ fills everything. These verses are stunning to me. Twice Paul calls the Church "all things." What does that mean? Maybe I should digress a moment. In other places Paul says that all things belong to believers, even things we may not want, like death (Romans 8:32; 1 Corinthians 3:21-23). This means that even the unbelievers have a purpose in God's plan for believers (Proverbs 16:4; Romans 9:22,23). All of reality exists for one purpose, to bring about God's purpose for the Church. What is God's purpose for the Church? Conformity to Christ (Romans 8:28-30). God loves His Son more than anything in the entire universe. I would even say that God loves only His Son, and we experience God's love solely by our place in the Son (Romans 8:38,39; Ephesians 1:4-6). The apex of this creation is the Church, because it is being made into the image of Christ by the work of God the Holy Spirit. Even the things outside the Church exist as contrast to what the Church is and the character of her Lord.

Get this scriptural teaching firmly in your mind, and it will radically change your view of the Church and how gullible you are to the "end-times experts," i.e., snake-oil salesman (I think reading Revelation 21:9-11 as it demands to be read requires that we re-visit our interpretations of all of Revelation...and the New Testament...and the Old Testament!). God's presence is here, now, and real in the Church with His people. Instead of trying to re-create the "good old days" or investing all our hopes in tomorrow, we have God Himself here and now - maybe we should stop insulting Him by wishing for so much more. Maybe we should stop ignoring Him by staying away from the entity where He has promised His presence. Maybe we should stop treating the Church like it belongs to us or our denomination, or like it is something we have built for ourselves with our own ingenuity and efforts.

Thank God for His glorious Church!

Consider and Ponder

xtnyoda, shalomed