My heart is torn and My compassion is stirred

Heart compassion

Wednesday 03/02/22 

Series: Thru the Bible

Message – My heart is torn and My compassion is stirred

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My heart is torn and My compassion is stirred

The Book of Hosea

Hosea 11:1-12,

“(1) When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.  

(2)  The more THEY called them, the more they departed from Me. 

They kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.” 

When it says, “The more THEY called them, the more they departed from Me” it would clearly be referring to the idols of Baal, but the NET translation explains that a more accurate rendering would be “But the more I summoned them, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baal idols and burned incense to images.”

Since idols do not talk, IF the first translation is accurate then it is either metaphorical, meaning that their lust to run after other idols drew them away OR that the demonic spirits surrounding pagan Baal worship enticed and tempted them to be unfaithful to God. But I suspect while all three are likely true, it would be more in keeping with the style of Hosea to make this about God and Israel, rather than introducing a third and foreign element.

“(3)  It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them in My arms, but they never knew that I healed them.  (4)  I led them with human cords, with ropes of kindness. To them I was like one who eases the yoke from their jaws; I bent down to give them food.”

Ephraim is often set forth as preeminent among his brothers. There are many speculations as to why.

He was one of Joseph’s sons – Joseph being the favored of His father Jacob (Israel) and who more than all his brothers honored God, and was himself a prophet. God prospered him and made him fruitful in Egypt. Ephraim was Joseph’s second son, but God had Jacob bless Ephraim with the blessing of the firstborn -calling him doubly fruitful.

Here is the account of that – 

Gen. 48:11-20, “(11) Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, but now God has allowed me to see your children too.”  (12)  So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground.  

(13)  Joseph positioned them; he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father.  

(14)  Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.  

(15)  Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked – the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,  (16)  the Angel who has protected me from all harm – bless these boys. May my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”  

(17)  When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.  

(18)  Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”  

(19)  But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”  

(20)  So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you will Israel bless, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.”

A quote from Wikipedia about Ephraim

As recorded in the Book of Joshua, the territory allocated to the Tribe of Ephraim was at the center of Canaan, west of the Jordan, south of the territory of Manasseh, and north of the Tribe of Benjamin. The region later named Samaria (as distinguished from Judea or Galilee) consisted mostly of Ephraim’s territory. The area was mountainous, giving it protection, and also highly fertile, giving prosperity, The territory of Ephraim contained the early centers of Israelite religion – Shechem and Shiloh.These factors contributed to making Ephraim the most dominant of the tribes in the Kingdom of Israel, and led to Ephraim becoming a synonym for the entire kingdom.

So the words Ephraim and Samaria are essentially synonymous. Also, Ephraim is to all of Israel in general and to the Northern Kingdom specifically what Judah is to the Southern Kingdom.

What we are about to read is a condition in the heart and mind of God with which both believers and theologians are often uncomfortable.

People want God to be both transcendently different from humanity in His incorruptibility and omniscience AND human enough in His emotions to be relatable and comfortable. In most places in scripture we see these two aspects of God, but there are times when on the surface of it, it appears as if God is less and/or different than He is typically represented in scripture.

Here we see God experiencing an inward dilemma. A possible conflict of mind and emotion.

I do not personally have any trouble with this at all.

Let’s read it and then reflect upon what it tells us about God.

“(5)  Israel will not return to the land of Egypt and Assyria will be his king, because they refused to repent.  (6)  A sword will whirl through his cities; it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates, because of their schemes.  

(7)  My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to Him on high, He will not exalt them at all.  

(8)  How can I give you up, Ephraim

How can I surrender you, Israel

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim

I have had a change of heart; My compassion is stirred!  

(9)  I will not vent the full fury of My anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man, the Holy One among you; I will not come in rage.” 

The two names Admah and Zeboiim, are cities which like Sodom and Gomorrah were completely destroyed.

You remember how God called Israel on record and the earth and sky to give testimony to the fact that certain outcomes could be expected of Israel from God contingent upon their obedience or rebellion to God and His law.

Deut. 29:10-29, “(10) You are standing today, all of you, before the LORD your God – the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, every Israelite man,  (11)  your infants, your wives, and the resident foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water –  (12)  so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the LORD your God is making with you today.  (13)  Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  (14)  It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath,  (15)  but with whoever stands with us here today before the LORD our God as well as those not with us here today.  (16)  “(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled.  (17)  You have seen their detestable things and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.)  (18)  Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the LORD our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.  (19)  When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” This will destroy the watered ground with the parched.  (20)  The LORD will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger will rage against that man; all the curses written in this scroll will fall upon him and the LORD will obliterate his name from memory.  (21)  The LORD will single him out for judgment from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.  (22)  The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the LORD has brought on it.  (23)  The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD destroyed in his intense anger.  (24)  Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the LORD done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger all about?”  (25)  Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.  (26)  They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship.  (27)  That is why the LORD’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses written in this scroll.  (28)  So the LORD has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”  (29)  Secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.”

So here in Hosea, God is facing a decision of what to do with His people.

It says God has had a change of heart, due to His compassion being stirred. This implies that God was unaware that He was, in the end, going to side with compassion – effectively calling into question His omniscience as well as the immutability of His character and judgment.

While some translations go some distance to soften the blow of these words, I believe in the end there is no getting around what we are witnessing and so we have got to grapple with it.

From a literary standpoint this is either emotional discomfort and tension in God’s heart OR it is a reversal of a precious decision due to reconsideration.

Going with the view that this is emotional discomfort and tension:

  • The KJV translates it “mine heart is turned within Me”
  • The RSV and the NRSV “My heart recoils within Me”
  • The NASB “My heart is turned over within Me”
  • The NLT “My heart is torn within Me”

Supporting the volitional reversal of previous decision:

  • The NET & NJPS has “I have had a change of heart”
  • The NIV says “My heart is changed within Me”
  • And the TEV has it as “My heart will not let Me do it!”

I, on the other hand, do not believe this HAS to be an either/or prospect. God is NOT just an intellectual mind, nor is He solely an emotional being. I believe that because He IS BOTH, that BOTH play their parts in the decisions He makes.

The words “My compassion is stirred” is used several times to describe the arousal of the most tender affection. The NRSV translates it as “My compassion grows warm and tender.” The two words IS and GROWS appear like a real-time response rather than a cold and factual foreknowledge.

The REAL question to me is NOT if this is an emotional or a logical decision, but rather – one what level can we say that God actually makes decisions at all. If he knows everything, even His Own decisions before He makes them, can He really be said to make them at all?

Now, those who are familiar with the hypothetical science of temporal physics are also likely familiar with the concept of temporal paradoxes or causality loops

A causality loop is a paradox of time that occurs when a future event is the cause of a past event, which in turn is the cause of the future event. So, both events exist simultaneously in spacetime, but their origin cannot be determined.

Put simply – this is the proverbial chicken and the egg question.

It is analogous to a ripple appearing in a pond which causes the pebble to be thrown in which in turn causes the initial ripple. It is very confusing.

Just for fun I have a poem I learned regarding temperal physics and it provides an illustration and is entertaining to boot.

It goes like this…

There once was a lady name bright

who traveled much faster than light;

She departed one day, in a relative way

and returned the previous night.

So here you have a girl who decides to go somewhere traveling at speeds greater than light. When she returns, it is the day prior to her trip which is when she made the decision to go on the trip in the first place. So if she had not taken the trip, it may never have occurred to her to take the trip, making the trip itself the initial cause and the thought a result of it.

So how does all of this fun stuff apply to this situation here with God?

Well, conseptually…if God knows everything, then when the time comes to make a decision, we have to ask…is He actually making a decision or is He simply doing what He already knew He was going to do from eternity past?

Now this is the kind of stuff I really enjoy, but I know I am largely alone in this interest so I will not allow myself the enjoyment of working through the various possibilities & implications of all of this, however, what I WILL say is this – 

Assuming God knows from eternity past, all the decisions He Himself will ever make, does that foreknowledge of His Own decisions, require that when He confronts the events which need a decision – that He actually thinks and feels them in real time? 

In other words, the fact that God may have known from eternity past that when this situation here in Hosea with Israel came up, He would make the decision to have compassion, does that mean that He would not have to actually experience the emtion or the decision making process when it occurred? 

I believe that because God is Who He is, He has to make the decision consistent with not only Who He is, but How His heart responds to the situation WHEN IT HAPPENS.

So far as I know, nothing about God’s foreknowledge of events, divorces His heart and mind from experiencing the events AS THEY OCCUR.

As such, God was faced with a decision to make. At first the decision was a judicial one – Israel MUST come to ruin, but can Israel come to ruin and God be true to His Own heart regarding His people? 

Ultimately the question is, can God do something which is in conflict with part of His character, but which is in keeping another part of His character?

I believe that God, in His wisdom, has always found a way to be equally true to all parts of His being while being just and merciful to His creation.

There are a lot of “I WILL” statements here in these verses which I believe are the results of having reconciled His justice with His compassion and it is out of this decision that God declares what He will do.

A few examples from these verses are…

  • I will not carry out my fierce anger…
  • I will not destroy Ephraim
  • I will not come in wrath

Hosea 11

“(10)  They will follow the LORD; He will roar like a lion. 

When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.  

(11)  They will be roused like birds from Egypt and like doves from the land of Assyria. Then I will settle them in their homes. 

This is the LORD’s declaration.  

(12)  Ephraim has surrounded me with lies; the house of Israel has surrounded me with deceit. But Judah still roams about with God; he remains faithful to the Holy One.” 

I am only speculating here, but I have considered the possibility that one of the things which is unique to God, namely His foreknowledge of people, nations and their decisions, makes it not only possible for Him, but perhaps even necessary for Him to include in His judgments not only what  people ARE doing, but what they WILL do.

I have for a long time believed that Enoch, Abraham, Moses, David & Elijah all came to faith in Jesus, due to His being revealed to them out of their devotion and faith in God. It says Abraham’s righteousness was imputed to Him because of His faith. This may have been a “right standing with God’ regarding just the trust he placed in God regarding the land of Canaan and the birth of his son Isaac, but it is certainly implied that his righteousness was more inclusive than that. Is it not possible that certain people placed faith in Christ BEFORE He ever came and as a result received the same righteousness we do by faith – since with God His promise is as certain as His actions?

Then why not go one step further and at least include in our sphere of speculation that God may deal with a people like Israel with mercy, NOT due to the actions they are committing at the present alone, but also those they WILL make in the future if they were to continue as a people?

I honestly do not know, and if it were truly important that I did know, God would reveal it with clarity in the scriptures, but I find it worthy of consideration.

Hosea 12:1-14, 

This part of the prophecy was delivered about the time of Israel’s seeking the aid of the Egyptian king. So, in violation of their covenant with Assyria God exhorts them to follow the example of perseverance and prayer which resulted in God’s favor. Since God is unchangeable, He will show the same favor to Jacob’s posterity..

“(1) Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and violence. He makes a covenant with Assyria, and olive oil is carried to Egypt.  

(2)  The LORD also has a dispute with Judah. He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways; He will repay him based on his actions.  

(3)  In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and as an adult he wrestled with God.  (4)  Jacob struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor. He found him at Bethel, and there He spoke with him.  (5)  Yahweh is the God of Hosts; Yahweh is His name.  

(6)  But you must return to your God. Maintain love and justice, and always put your hope in God.”  

Here God appears to be remembering the infancy of Israel and the first awakenings of devotional love from those who would become His people and we know for CERTAIN that God takes this into account in His future dealings with people. He often does WHAT He does for the sake of the forefathers.

Now, I love finding little treasures in scripture and this is one of them. While I cannot say for certain of course, it seems to me that this is the place where Jesus got a near identical phrase He used in His teaching of the woman and the unjust judge. “Men ought always to pray and not lose heart”-Luke 18:1.

“(7)  A merchant loves to extort with dishonest scales in his hands.  (8)  But Ephraim says: “How rich I have become; I made it all myself. In all my earnings, no one can find any crime in me that I can be punished for!”  

“(9)  I have been the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again, as in the festival days.  

(10)  I spoke through the prophets and granted many visions; I gave parables through the prophets.  

(11)  Since Gilead is full of evil, they will certainly come to nothing. They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal; even their altars will be like heaps of rocks on the furrows of a field.  

(12)  Jacob fled to the land of Aram

Israel worked to earn a wife; he tended flocks for a wife.  

(13)  The LORD brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet, and Israel was tended by a prophet.”  

This is a reference to Moses who used to shepherd sheep in Midian and then was placed in the role of shepherding God’s people in the wilderness.

“(14)  Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and repay him for his contempt.”

Hosea 13:1-16, 

“(1) When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal and died.”  
The idea here appears to be that due to Ephraim’s size and status in Israel, when that tribe “spoke” the people respected and revered them. When Ephraim sinned however, their actions led Israel into sin.

“(2)  Now they continue to sin and make themselves a cast image, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. 

People say about them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.”  

In the translation notes for this past part of the verse it says, “There is a saying about them: “Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!” Apparently making this a derogatory statement.

“(3)  Therefore, they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, or like smoke from a window.  

(4)  I have been the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, and no Savior exists besides Me.  (5)  I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.  (6)  When they had pasture, they became satisfied; they were satisfied, and their hearts became proud. THEREFORE they forgot Me.”  

This is often the case with people in general, not just God’s people. When we increase in wealth, power and position, we tend to start believing it came through our own wisdom and effort and we turn our hearts towards our possessions instead of the God Who gave them.

This was God’s warning in the wilderness as was recounted to the second generation before entering the promised land in Deuteronomy 6.

Deut. 6:1-25, “(1) Now these are the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that the LORD your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed  (2)  and that you may so revere the LORD your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments that I am giving you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days.  (3)  Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number – as the LORD, God of your ancestors, said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.  (4)  Listen, Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!  (5)  You must love the LORD your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.  (6)  These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,  (7)  and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.  (8)  You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead.  (9)  Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.  (10)  Then when the LORD your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build,  (11)  houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – and you eat your fill,  (12)  be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery.  (13)  You must revere the LORD your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name.  (14)  You must not go after other gods, those of the surrounding peoples,  (15)  for the LORD your God, who is present among you, is a jealous God and his anger will erupt against you and remove you from the land.  (16)  You must not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah.  (17)  Keep his commandments very carefully, as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to observe.  (18)  Do whatever is proper and good before the LORD so that it may go well with you and that you may enter and occupy the good land that he promised your ancestors,  (19)  and that you may drive out all your enemies just as the LORD said.  (20)  When your children ask you later on, “What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the LORD our God commanded you?”  (21)  you must say to them, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way.  (22)  And he brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family before our very eyes.  (23)  He delivered us from there so that he could give us the land he had promised our ancestors.  (24)  The LORD commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day.  (25)  We will be innocent if we carefully keep all these commandments before the LORD our God, just as he demands.”

Hosea 13…

“(7)  So I will be like a lion to them; I will lurk like a leopard on the path.  (8)  I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs and tear open the rib cage over their hearts. I will devour them there like a lioness, like a wild beast that would rip them open.  (9)  I will destroy you, Israel; you have no help but Me.  

(10)  Where now is your king, that he may save you in all your cities, and the rulers you demanded, saying: Give me a king and leaders?  

(11)  I give you a king in My anger and take away a king in My wrath.  

(12)  Ephraim’s guilt is preserved; his sin is stored up.  (13)  Labor pains come on him. He is not a wise son; when the time comes, he will not be born.” 

God allows Himself a statement regarding the future salvation of Israel through Messiah 

“(14)  I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting?” 

Paul cites this as a result of the New Birth under the New Covenant…

1Cor. 15:51-58, “(51) Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed –  (52)  in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  (53)  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  (54)  Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  (55)  “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”  (56)  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  (57)  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!  (58)  So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Hosea 13…

“Compassion is hidden from My eyes.  (15)  Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come, a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. 

His water source will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder the treasury of every precious item.  

(16)  Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.”

Hosea 14:1-9, 

God encourages a change of heart in Israel through Hosea and offers promises consistent with their repentance

“(1) Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled in your sin.  (2)  Take words of repentance with you and return to the LORD. 

Say to Him: “Forgive all our sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips.  

(3)  Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will no longer proclaim: Our gods! to the work of our hands. 

For the fatherless receives compassion in You.”  

(4)  I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger will have turned from him.  (5)  I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.  

(6)  His new branches will spread, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.  

(7)  The people will return and live beneath His shade. They will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.  (8)  Ephraim, why should I have anything more to do with idols? 

It is I Who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing pine tree; your fruit comes from Me.  

(9)  Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them. 

For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”

Blessings!

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!