Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Tu B'Shevat (Launch Date) Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity

Though Michael James Stone may not mention it, We here at Broadcast Christianity are praying for his speedy recovery as all of us together prepare for the 2010 launch date.

That will occur on  Jewish Year 5770: sunset January 29, 2010 - nightfall January 30, 2010.

We are asking all those who seek to Proclaim, Promote, and Preach Jesus freely, to add another P to that list.

Plant.

As a New Venture, Plant a Tree and pray we may be as a planting of the Lord, Trees of Righteousness on this day forward till Jesus Return again soon. In honor of that we included a note about The “Jewish New Year” for Trees.

If you read below, you will see why we chose this as our “Starting date” as “tithing” is figured from this date. We as a ministry do not ask ever for funds but freely give what we freely receive and ALL goes to the Lord. (This also keeps us free from entanglements).

It is the reason we treasure volunteers. We provide opportunity for them to serve God as His Plantings and Seedlings, not ours. As they Follow Jesus, they do as He says. We are merely the containers.

#Michael James Stone and Last Call will be phasing in slowly as his health returns and God leads Him. We are pleased to post what we receive from Him and all volunteers. God Bless All and May He Reveal Himself to you.

-Staff

Tu B'Shevat 

Level: Basic

When you come to the land and you plant any tree, you shall treat its fruit as forbidden; for three years it will be forbidden and not eaten. In the fourth year, all of its fruit shall be sanctified to praise the L-RD. In the fifth year, you may eat its fruit. -Leviticus 19:23-25

There are four new years... the first of Shevat is the new year for trees according to the ruling of Beit Shammai; Beit Hillel, however, places it on the fifteenth of that month. -Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1

Tu B'Shevat, the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shevat, is a holiday also known as the New Year for Trees. The word "Tu" is not really a word; it is the number 15 in Hebrew, as if you were to call the Fourth of July "Iv July" (IV being 4 in Roman numerals). See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about using letters as numbers and why the number 15 is written this way.

As I mentioned in Rosh Hashanah, Judaism has several different "new years." This is not as strange a concept as it sounds at first blush; in America, we have the calendar year (January-December), the school year (September-June), and many businesses have fiscal years. It's basically the same idea with the various Jewish new years.

Tu B'Shevat is the new year for the purpose of calculating the age of trees for tithing. See Lev. 19:23-25, which states that fruit from trees may not be eaten during the first three years; the fourth year's fruit is for G-d, and after that, you can eat the fruit. Each tree is considered to have aged one year as of Tu B'Shevat, so if you planted a tree on Shevat 14, it begins its second year the next day, but if you plant a tree two days later, on Shevat 16, it does not reach its second year until the next Tu B'Shevat.

Tu B'Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah. I have found only one reference to it in the Mishnah, and the only thing said there is that it is the new year for trees, and there is a dispute as to the proper date for the holiday (Beit Shammai said the proper day was the first of Shevat; Beit Hillel said the proper day was the 15th of Shevat.

There are few customs or observances related to this holiday. One custom is to eat a new fruit on this day. Some people plant trees on this day. A lot of Jewish children go around collecting money for trees for Israel at this time of year. That's about all there is to it.

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When You Die(So earthly minded no heavenly good) by Michael James Stone

When You Die

(So earthly minded no heavenly good)

By Michael James Stone

I have seen the death of those in faith and those without hope. It is often tragic, rarely like the movies, and most often messy. Few families prepare for it and many more bring it up only after the fact. Those who have nearly died, or have, often have stories to tell. Some good, some bad, some weird. The bible does in fact tell us people have been dead before and raised from the dead and/or revived to tell about it. And I don't mean Jesus only.

Saul consulted a witch to call back Samuel the Prophet from the “grave”. He carried on a conversation with Saul who was in fact dead. We know Samuel cursed Saul for doing this, telling him you don’t talk to the dead. If you are doing that, you are wrong, you are in sin against God.

Some modern popular books tell us of people who were revived who saw a great light. Some other books describe Hell like a Dante’s Inferno. Only the Bible describes Heaven and few people take that literal and I really can’t figure out why.

Why are people so earthly minded they are no heavenly good?

You are going to die.

Deal with it, it is not the end of existence. You will continue on. One reason Jesus came to us was to remove the fear and sting of death. The sting that makes you think the things you see now are the only things there are in the Universe. Even God laughs at that one. It’s like an ant, you, telling the Sun it doesn’t exist.

The ant enjoys the benefit of the sun, the effect of the sun, the warmth of the sun, but in its ant world, it has no time or ability to really understand solar dynamics the cosmic significance of the sun. It only relates to the Ant World it knows. In its world it is pretty powerful. It doesn’t care about the sun.

Take away the Sun, the ant dies.

You are going to die.

Three times through illness with Crohn’s Disease I faced death from “well intended” doctors trying to cure me. Once in surgery my heart stopped, and once I was given the wrong blood which nearly killed me. Recently I experienced the death of a mother and a mother in law. One died messy, one dropped dead suddenly. Both were tragic.

The mother in law had decided to stop chemo and died. It took a long time, it was not pretty. My mother dropped dead, literally, probably a brain aneurism. Two women, two different stories, both dead. Is there life over?

When you die, is your life over?

Reading the Book of Revelation, a lot of people get into Prophecy, End Times, Last Days, and “Disasters”. They get excited about judgment, wars, Armageddon and “The Second Coming of Jesus Christ”. They “get into” all the earthly stuff, they forget the heavenly scene. How many times have you heard a person describe the End of the World? How many times have people called the Book of Revelation the book of gloom and doom?

When you die, will you say,

Oh Bummer,

I wanted to live longer, do more, live more?

I can’t wait to die.

After this I looked…., Behold,  a door was opened in heaven…,

You know, I never hear people talk about this in Revelation very much. Oh sure they talk about it, but “get excited”, “look forward to” or “plan to be there?” No. In fact, most of the time, I can’t get a decent conversation going about living forever. It’s almost like an Alcoholic who relives his past by saying over and over again how "bad“ the past was, they almost relish the bad and add a footnote, the good.

Or worse, a person says,

Occupy till I come,

Don’t get so heavenly minded your no earthly good.

Right….,

I look forward to dying

and oh that the day would find me dead.

Morbid? or Faithful?

Paul said in a few short words that He had been to heaven and he frankly couldn’t describe it. Thank God John wrote Revelation and did factually and actually describe it in detail. Literally. He wanted us to know we have a Hope and Assurance but more than that, a confidence that this world you think you live in is really as foreign land a land as can be for a Christian and you need to get the Hell out of here. Literally. Get out of here. Hell is about to cut loose on the world, and so will God’s judgment.

You need to be Heavenly minded because you are no earthly good.

You can’t save a whale, an endangered species, a Republican, Democrat, or climate change. It isn’t your world to do that with. We gave that up with Adam and won’t get that back till Jesus comes again. But it is a world full of people Jesus died to remind that God exists and he made all people to live forever. All People, you and me. And yes, you will see God.

The question is whether forever in heaven or hell.

With the world preparing itself for Hell, and it is. I wonder if Christians who want to save the world realize, the World and it’s ways are in fact hell bent.

The world we know today, is hell bent on destruction and is no earthy good. And one day there be no good on earth, then God will judge. Each day that passes, the World moves without hesitation to corruption, destruction, and judgment.  The days now are numbered.

Heavenly minded no earthly good?

Earthly minded no heavenly good?

Or hellishly minded no godly good?

You are going to die.

I look forward to it.

Michael James Stone

Last Call Digest

This material was brought to you by Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity. Last Call Digest, is a ministry of Michael James Stone, volunteers, and people dedicated to the Love of God and Salvation of Souls. It is an aggragate of Christian Material selected to Bless you and Prepare you for each and every day you read them. May God Bless You as You Do!! Reading these Devotions will help you to prepare daily for life, living, and your Lord. You will hear God Speak To You thru them.  Jesus  is Coming Very Soon.

Last Call

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