Song of Moses

I had just sat down at the old piano and played a  few songs to get my mind focused on entertaining the diners who would soon begin to stream into the Apple Shed.  A lone man was sitting over by the  window.   He looked to be in his late 50's,  was outdoorsy looking, and was no one I had seen before.  "Is there a song you would me to play for you?"  I asked.   In an accent I could not identify he asked if I knew "Amazing Grace".   I have learned that the world has adopted that song as its own so am careful not to assume that the requester is a Christian.  Other patrons began to fill the tables. I made my way to this man's table and asked if he were visiting.  His reply: "I came to Tehachapi to go fishing today and thought this restaurant looked like one with local flavor".  "You are right. This restaurant has been here for many decades and draws local folk as well as travelers who find it on the internet, swing off Highway 58 and stop by. Tell me, what is your country?"  "I am a Hebrew from Israel, married for eight years to my Navajo Indian wife who is also a Christian. We live on a reservation in Arizona. I am an electrical contractor for a new Wal Mart being built in Oildale in Bakersfield and have been here two months and have one more to go.  I stay in an apartment in Oildale and try to get out and about on the weekends."  All of those answers sparked more interest so I invited the gentleman to move to a table closer to the piano so we could chat in between sets.  "Gideon" is his name.  He was born and grew up on a kibbutz in Israel. As did many survivors of the Holocaust his parents fled to this communal way of life after their escape from the ovens.  Most Hebrews are actually atheists.  "I was taught to despise Jesus but even as a child, it didn't seem right. When I came to America I was made aware by the Spirit of God that only He could have created such beauty.  I met Christians who loved me to Jesus".

As I continued to play the diners' requests, I knew I was to invite this man to come to my home. Gideon's reply to my invitation let me know I had listened to the Holy Spirit: "I will call my wife and see what she thinks."  "When she answers, let me talk to her".   I did and her response was:  "Really? Oh, that would be very good." ...and so he came,  he slept,  we breakfasted and I learned much more about this man who loves Jeshua.  I took Gideon to "The Living Room",    a small fellowship that I knew would bless him. 

In the late 60's and early 70's a revival was sweeping our nation. Oh, dear lord, send another!  In Bakersfield where we pastored the Spirit was moving through schools, businesses, neighborhoods and whole families. Our church sent six high school graduates to live for a year on a kibbutz in Israel. Debbie and Phil were two of those. They came home,  finished their schooling, married and returned to Israel to live and minister on a kibbutz. They led so many to Christ that they were required to leave Israel.  By God's Holy Plan they were led to Kitali, East Africa where they established a training school for pastors.  Thousands of Africans have graduated from that school and are dispersed throughout Africa.  About ten years ago Ted was invited to Phil's seminary to teach.  Of course I went along.  I was not going to miss seeing our two "kids" who had never been to seminary themselves being used of God to live out II Timothy 2:2.  Read it if you will, and note that there are four generations in one verse. This verse is the focus of every ministry Ted and I have ever spearheaded.  It still is.  Last Thursday, for the second week a brand new member of the Body of Christ came and blew our socks off with her passion for God's Word. The wonder of the transforming power of God in people once lost in darkness but now living in the Light of Emmanuel, God WITH us keeps me from asking God to take me Home.  As I near the end of my life on earth, my body is slowing down but His Spirit in me is being renewed every morning.

On the 19th of this month many of us including Gideon will attend Phil and Deb Walker's fund raiser for International Christian Ministries,  their mission started years ago.  Stephen Maori, humble Bishop over a million or so East African Christians will be speaking. He, his wife and children came to be with us for a few days some years ago.  All around our dining table were the Maori's and all ten of our family who lived here then.  Lexi, Dee and Brent's precious daughter remembers. She attended the fund-raising dinner last year, hugged Stephen and went back to see him as the rest of us waited in the car.  She will go again this year and take her good friend, a student at Stanford.  I have faced the reality that I cannot go back to Africa but I have six grandchildren who have been infused with the life-giving Gospel.  The dear Lord gave me Isaiah 59:21  to claim for them many years ago. 
In Israel and many places in the world this is the lie that is believed:  If one is not a Hebrew or a Muslim, then one is believed to be a Christian.  That means that Hitler is believed to have been a Christian!...and that is the lie that the Spirit of God revealed to a little boy named "Gideon" on a God-distaining kibbutz in Israel.  Jesus is showing up in dreams to countless lost people, including Muslims. The Arm of the Lord is not shortened!   As the world becomes oh, so dark, the Light of Jesus beckons ever brighter as hope in man's efforts fades.  Do not lose heart.  Get out of the saltshaker and sprinkle!  Gird up your loins and go and make disciples, for Lo, He is with us always, even until the end of the age!

                                    HEBREW HYMN: SONG OF MOSES

ASHIRA, ASHIRA L' ADONAI
KI'  G'O GA' A
SUS  V'ROCHVOS, SUS O'VROCHVOS
RAMA RAMA BA YAM

I'll sing, I'll sing unto the Lord for He has done mighty deeds
I will exalt Him, I will exalt Him; The Lord in majesty

The Lord is my strength and my song and He has become my salvation
His right arm does valiantly; He has destroyed the enemy

Adonai is the Man of War,  The Lord of Hosts is His Name
Pharoah's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea.

I'LL SING, I'LL SING UNTO THE LORD
FOR HE HAS DONE MIGHTY DEEDS
I WILL EXALT HIM, I WILL EXALT HIM
THE LORD IN MAJESTY

                                    I AM THAT I AM

Love, Jo