Ministry Adventures with Cathy

At sundown on Sept. 20 th the shofar was sounded at synagogues worldwide to call Jewish people to gather, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), and to make amends with their fellow man.  Jewish tradition teaches that three books are opened in heaven at the outset of Rosh Hashanah.  If their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, they may be inscribed in the book of life – for one year.  Ten days following Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people then seek to make amends with God.  They plead with God at Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, for forgiveness.  The books are then sealed – and so is ones fate…for one year. God requires a blood sacrifice for the atonement of sin (Leviticus 17:11).  The sacrificial system ceased with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.   The ultimate sacrifice had already been made – Jesus.  How are sins forgiven today at Yom Kippur?  During our weekly Bible study at a Scottsdale retirement community, ...

I love autumn!  I mentioned my passion concerning this season last month.  Autumn, in my mind, encompasses the end of July through November.  I wait upon this time of the year with much anticipation.  But, what does autumn mean?  It’s “a period of maturity verging on…DECLINE”!   That’s cheery!?  I guess this is why we have labeled autumn “fall”.  Color has drained from the leaves, they’ve dried out, and fall from their host in a wistful dance to the earth.  The beauty of autumn ends in death throes.  Oh my! As I’m writing, I’m thinking that “fall” is not such a grand name for a season!  It’s precarious!  “Autumn” can be looked upon rapturously because its meaning remains hidden, for the most part, in the splendor of such seasonal drama.  Don’t you think?  But, “fall”?  Who thought to label this crossroad in time “fall”?  You need to know that I’m prone to FALLING. . . When I was five yea...

Conversations along the way…. As I sat down at the conference table in the library of a retirement community in north Phoenix, the left side of my head began to pound.  Praise God, HE carried me through the afternoon Bible study.  Amidst Lenny’s constant k'vetching (Yiddish for complaining ), God remained in control!  Of course, that’s Who God is!  He is sovereign!  Lenny is Jewish and has had issues with me since first I taught at this facility.   The expressing of his issues, however, always presents more opportunities to share the Gospel.   I told the group that gathered that we were going to talk about "The People, The Book, and the Land" and focus on Abraham and Moses.  Lenny loudly announced, as he’s known to do during every study, “She’s not Jewish!”  This time he added, “And you need to know that there are many interpretations of the Bible.”  I asked him, "What is your authority? ...

The evening of May 25, 2017 I was studying the photos posted on my January blog, “Bronx Connections.” My mother, sister, and I are displaying our Easter finest in one of the pics taken on Park Avenue by the railroad tracks that ran alongside our apartment building. The railroad tracks were exposed but below street level. We did not live on “the” Park Avenue in Manhattan. Godiva Chocolatier, the Ferrari store, and LePain Quotidien (Belgian cuisine), among other noted establishments, lined Manhattan’s Park Avenue. Our “Park Avenue” in the Bronx was crowded with apartments in varying conditions, Rite-Aid, and a Salvation Army Thrift Store. But, it was “our” Park Avenue and the memories are lovely. When I was fixated on the blog photos, my mother’s health was failing. She began declining rapidly on May 24th. On Thursday, 5/25, my mother was comatose. My sister assured me that she didn’t need me to travel back East. I've always needed to be sensitive toward my sister’s d...

Do you know that the counting of omers is currently progressing? What’s an omer? Good question! Why should omers be counted? Who’s counting the omers? And, why is this relevant? In Lev. 23:15-21, concerning the Feast of Weeks, God told the children of Israel to count the days after the Sabbath during Passover week, from the day that they had brought the sheaf of the wave offering (the omer) to the priest (that day was the Feast of First Fruits, the day that Jesus rose from the dead)…they were to count seven Sabbaths, bringing them to the fiftieth day. Are you pondering, calculating, computing? What occurred fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection? Several years ago in May, a few weeks following Resurrection Sunday, I stood in the midst of an outdoor mall in Central Phoenix waiting to meet a friend for lunch. Pottery Barn caught my eye. (I absorb all that Pottery Barn has to offer and then travel to the thrift stores to find similar décor items) That day I was carrying about ...

“Why would God allow six million Jews to die?”  Four minutes into our discussion regarding Passover, my new Jewish friend immediately focused on the Holocaust.  Has this question been posed to you?  How did you respond?  And why am I addressing the Holocaust in this blog?  Firstly, please realize that the raising of this question is not unusual.  Secondly, the Jewish community annually observes Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Remembrance Day 13 days following the beginning of Passover.  And so, this observance occurred at sundown on April 23 rd through sundown on April 24 th .  At the first Passover in Egypt, the Passover lambs functioned as a substitutionary sacrifice, dying in place of the people. “Holocaust” means disaster, catastrophe, burnt offering.  God is omnipotent – He is all powerful; God is omniscient – He is all knowing; God is omnipresent – He is everywhere present/all is within His presence.  God is eternal – He never had a ...

What gives with Passover?  Is it significant?  Please allow me to begin answering this question by sharing with you that when we, as believers in Jesus, gather in church to worship, when we assemble at Bible studies and dig into God’s word, when we spend time with God during “quiet times,” when we share Jesus with those who don’t yet know Him, we are doing so because of Passover!  The body of Christ is in existence today because of Passover.  The Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote in I Cor. 5:7, …Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  What am I saying?  Passover, the first feast that God gave to the children of Israel, focuses on redemption through the shed blood of the Passover Lamb.  And, that Passover Lamb is Jesus!  Passover is the foundation of our faith.  Passover points to the death of Jesus.  Jesus was crucified on Passover. At the first Passover in Egypt, God said, For I will pass through the lan...