Repost: Tassels

Our Pastor spoke on these same concepts today, so I thought I’d repost this article from May 3, 2006. Tassels

Read Numbers 15:37-41

The LORD said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. 40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.’ “

God tells Moses to tell the people that they are supposed to put tassels on the corners of their clothes so that they can be constantly reminded that they are supposed to live like God has told them to. Anyway, if you were a Jew in those days, you’d see people wearing these tassels all throughout the day and when you saw them, you remembered that you were one of God’s people.

The Hebrew word for “corners” is “kanaf” and the Hebrew word for “tassel” or “fringe” is “tzitzit.”

Many Jews wear a prayer shawl today in order to keep this commandment. The tassels today have 5 knots in them representing the 5 books of the Torah (Our first five books) and the four spaces between them represent the four letter for God’s name YHWH. Along the shawl there are also 613 knotted strings to remind them of the 613 laws of the torah.

Now check out Malachi 4 – But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.

The Hebrew word translated “wings” is “kanaf.” Now what do you think?? This means that the verse could be translated “The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its ______.” (Tassels.)

Now because of this there was a legend that people began to believe about the coming Messiah which said that there would be some kind of mysterious almost magical healing powers in the tassels of his prayer shawl.

Now read Luke 8 – As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Pretty cool huh? Did you catch it? The woman believed the legend and actually touched Jesus’ “tzitzit,” His tassles, His “kanaf.” In her actions she was proclaiming that she believed He was the Messiah. This is why Jesus was so quick to say “Your faith has healed you!” Her action alone was a huge expression of faith.

Kasen Sings with Daddy

The other night I was reading to Kasen before he went to bed. He chose one of his “song” books and so I started singing. For the first time, he decided to join me and sing along. Miranda captured the moment here. Pretty funny stuff. It was actually kinda hard for me to keep singing ’cause all I wanted to do is laugh. I especially like the way he pauses before his last note.

Kasen Singing with Daddy from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

Prayer & Groans

mikeA friend of mine, Michael Chapman is going through a tough time right now – watching his mother die. She’s been whispering to someone while she’s in a out of consciousness over the past few days. Mike wrote a blog describing it and shared this quote:

In his book, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, Frederick Buechner says this about prayer: “Everybody prays whether we think of it as praying or not. The odd silence you fall into when something very beautiful is happening or something very good or very bad. The ah-h-h-h! that sometimes floats up out of you as out of a Fourth of July crowd when the sky-rocket bursts over the water. The stammer of pain at somebody else’s pain. The stammer of joy at somebody else’s joy. Whatever words or sounds you use for sighing with over your own life. These are all prayers in their way.”

What a beautiful way to describe prayer. It reminds me of Romans 8:26, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” He knows our hearts and hears our prayers even when they’re not spoken, but the even better news is that He “groans” for us too!! I also love the imagery of the phrase in the quote saying the . . . . . “that floats up out of you.” Could that be the Spirit at work within us? I hope so.

Sometimes I close my posts with a prayer. Today, I’ll just say that something seems to be “floating up out of me” as I think about Mike’s mom, Jan. Maybe that’s the best prayer I can offer.

Harvest

I read a blog by Alan Danielson this morning that brings home a concept that’s been rolling around in my head for a while.

stickychurchHere’s a quote: “Often we think that a great harvest is when masses make a decision for Christ, but Osborne (in his book, Sticky Church) challenges that mindset. Farmers don’t celebrate and call it ‘harvest’ when seeds sprout tiny green buds for the first time. It’s not ‘harvest’ until the plants have grown to maturity and produce fruit.”

Yes!! That’s exactly how I’ve been feeling. The church has grown to be obsessed with hype and big events that engage people in first-time decisions. No, I’m not knocking first-time decisions. I’m just saying that all too often that’s also the end of our efforts. The farmer image captures it very well – the larger celebration should be at the end of the harvest and our efforts should be consistent throughout the growth process!

PS – If this one concept is this powerful, I need to read this book.

Back from the Future

Just Call me Marty McFly
Just Call me Marty McFly

Yes, I went back in time last night. (or at least it seemed like it.) Miranda and I had driven to Nacogdoches for a wedding (congrats Deana!) where we stayed in a very nice old hotel called Hotel Fredonia. Our friends Josh and Shana were sharing the room with us. Anyway, Josh and I took a little walk ’cause Miranda had to feed Kesleigh. We walked down an old road made of bricks and came to a Dolorean – you know like Doc and Marty McFly drove. The silver one with suicide doors. (It was missing the Flux Capacitor.) From there, we walked on up the road and found town square and an old clock. I’m pretty sure I even saw an old theater down the street like the one in the Back to the Future films. Anyway, it was just a fun little experience that I thought I’d share. Especially since I had a great pic to post with it.

36″

I wore a pair of shorts with a 36 waist yesterday!! I can remember exactly, but it’s probably been at least 10 years since I was in a 36. Right before we left for our vacation last week, I went to get some more shorts. The first 36s that I tried on fit great!! I was excited. Too bad the next pair I had to go back to my regular 38s. Oh well – at least I’m moving in the right direction. It’s now week 14 of this lifestyle change and the scale said I weighed 229lbs this morning. When I started, I was 240lbs and my goal is 190lbs. I’ve still got a long way to go, but according to Andy Stanley, it’s “direction that determines destination” and I’m moving in the right direction. In all honesty, I figured I would have weighed much more this morning, ’cause last week was vacation. I ate all kinds of “bad” (and good) things and I didn’t get the exercise in that has become my routine.  I was happy with 229lbs.

Another milestone occurred during this vacation. I actually showed up at the beach and got in the water with no shirt. I have worn a shirt for years when I swim ’cause I’ve always been too ashamed of my big belly. (And it always feels awkward to have my shirt off when I’m doing youth ministry stuff around pools, etc.) I think I’ll still wear a shirt for youth stuff, but I crossed some sort of line this past week that I think is notable. Of course, I still don’t look all that different than I did when I started, so maybe this has more to do with me not caring what other people think anymore – of course the fact that there were other guys on the beach who were fatter than I helped too.

Here are the pics this week:

Week 1 - 240lbs - Yuck!
Week 1 - 240lbs - Yuck!
Week 14 - 229lbs
Week 14 - 229lbs

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True Fear

KasenMiranda asked a simple question. “Where is Kasen?” I didn’t know. We had been home for a few hours from our vacation and were relaxing on the floor of the living room. Kasen had been right there with us just minutes before. We yelled for him. . . No answer or any noises from other parts of the house. We got up and started looking. There are only a couple of places he could be – the living room, the kitchen, his room, our room. (He can’t open doors yet and we keep the rest of them closed.) In a matter of seconds we had searched the whole house – panic was quick to follow. Miranda and I both were yelling his name. I checked behind the closed doors. And then the closets. Fear escalated. I remembered a story of a friend who had climbed in a trunk (Caylin Brashear) and I checked our trunk – then Kasen’s toybox. Miranda was screaming with a voice I had never heard. Shrieks. Her breathing had an unnerving “ohhh. . .” sound. She met me in the hall and screamed, “the pool.” Kasen loves the “poo” – maybe he could be there?.?. but logically, he couldn’t get the back door open. Could someone have come in the house and taken him? Could he have somehow gotten a door open? My mind raced. I was desperate. . .I ran outside slamming my face into the patio door. No. . .he wasn’t in the pool. . . Heart racing, I ran back inside.

Miranda was holding him and yelling to me that she found him. Evidently, he had been laying in his bed the whole time with his covers over his head. We had each been in his room multiple time during those moments. He likes to take Kesleigh’s binky and then run and hide getting his little oral fix ’cause he knows he’s not allowed to have one. Evidently, that’s what he had done and probably fallen asleep. Or maybe he didn’t answer our calls ’cause he was hiding.

Either way, it couldn’t have been more than 3 minutes total. But it was enough. Enough to realize how quickly things can go downhill. Enough to realize how great our love for our children is and how quickly it can turn into fear. This kind of experience changes a man.

As I look back on it I wonder, “Where was my faith during these moments? What happened to trusting in the Lord? Why did I panic so quickly?” I am a weak man. Sinful. Even at my best, I am still very frail. I need God.

Prayer: Lord, take care of my children. You have given them to me for a few years and I truly want to be a good steward. I want to be a great father and a good example. I want to protect them. I want to represent You to them. All of these things are noble thoughts, but the bottom line is that I can’t do any of these things near as well as You. Lord, cover them with Yourself. Protect them when I fail them. Hold them close and keep them safe. Lord, in the same moment that I pray for their protection, I also pray that You will ultimately use them in mighty ways. May they be arrows (Psalm 127) that break into enemy territory taking ground for Your kingdom. May they understand You and the strength they have in You so well that they are willing to follow You into situations that may even seem dangerous to others. May they be in Your hands at all times, with or without me, in every situation – that’s the safest place to be. AMEN.

Gulf Shores Pics & Videos

family 03smWe had an incredible time on our vacation to Gulf Shores this year! We spent the week with all the Mathews family and even got to spend a couple of days with Gran. (We went up early.) We spent most of our time on the beach or in the pool, (Kasen liked the pool better.) but we also went to the local zoo one day. We decided that if we ever go back, we’ll plan on a special outing at the zoo ’cause they offer an experience where you can play with monkeys for an extra $10. (We were too late to sign up this time around.) Anyway, I posted all the videos below and here is the link for all the pics from our trip: http://cornphotos.shutterfly.com/5456 (Some of them look professional.)

Beach Feet from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

Kasen running on the Beach from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

Kasen Swimming from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

Kesleigh Swimming from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

Kasen Pulling his Wagon from Steve Corn on Vimeo.