Post subject: Sighted Moon News Letter 5843-025 501

Sighted Moon News Letter 5843-025

27th day of the fifth month 5843 after creation

August 11, 2007

My Dearest Brethren,
As you all may already know I have much to say and I am doing it through the weekly News letters. There are times that I feel I have nothing to say. Those of you who know me do not how that could possible be. Yet it is true.

Last week as I prepared the News Letter #5843-022 about giving thanks and Coveting and Endurance and Encouragement, I felt it was not well done. But I sent it off as it came from my heart and I did not know what to make of it. Did I convey those thoughts I was feeling? Did the reader get the message or am I way off the mark?

Since that time I have received two responses. Both have tear-ed me up as they indicate they understood those things I was trying to convey.
I am forwarding on to you all, one such response. I have not asked for permission to do so. I hope he will understand, because his response adds so much more to those things I was saying. So much more. If I stick to my planned schedule then this letter would not be sent out for two more months. So I am sending this one out especially for this one e-mail to share with you. I have asked the writer of the following e-mail to write some articles that I may share with you all. I think highly of much of his teachings. I have read his letter four times and still find it full of wisdom.

One point I would like to clear up in case it is misunderstood. Although the following E-mail may suggest that I was referring to those members in New England only, and in part I was. I was also thinking of some groups in Ontario, Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Israel.

Shabbat Shalom Family
Joseph F Dumond
Subject: Last Week’s Newsletter
From: “Craig Peters”
Date: Sat, August 11, 2007 2:28 am
To: admin@sightedmoon.com
Priority: Normal
Note: The attach is formatted in MS Word, but identical in content to the letter below.
8.10.2007

Dear Joe,

This letter is a response to your newsletter from last Shabbat, not the one for this week (8.11.07).
Thanks for your concern over the division among those believers in New England and for the insight you shared on the matter.
All that you wrote was relevant and necessary. People so often forget many things across the years of their spiritual sojourn:
1. Many forget where they ‘came from’
2. Many forget how they progressed and become high-minded all too soon.
3. Many forget some of the groundless, needless, and carnal things they used to do/believe/say before learning more of the truth.
4. And as you said, many forget who YHWH used along the way to teach them more and to assist them along the way.
5. Consequently, those who only think they have progressed spiritually (1Corinthians 8:2, contrast Proverbs 30:1-3), then become legends in their own minds, and not only are they largely shut off from further learning, they also lose the childlike approach, the childlike hunger, and the childlike thirst (1Peter 2:1-2, Matthew 18:1-4) which are essential for anyone who hopes to enter the Kingdom.
6. All of the above “amnesias” are all too often fostered by blind, or inappropriate allegiance to a man (or to a woman) and to his (or to her) teachings. Jeremiah 17:5-6, 9 Modern day congregations abound with this problem, especially because false shepherds use Scripture to keep their flocks under their thumbs and under their â?oauthorityâ? so they can remain the boss-man overlord and perpetuate a man-made organization to keep those dollar$ rolling in via tithe$ and offering$. Ezekiel 34:1-4
* * * * * * * * * *
In defense of believers who sometimes feel the need to “move on:” many (and very likely, most) who have placed themselves in positions of leadership over others have also failed to progress in what I call “fasting-derived humility.” (This last phrase is based on many clear Scriptures.) I have had to quietly walk away from a number of such associates in times past. (Hosea 4:17 > Matthew 15:14 > 2Timothy 3:5) Yet I still remember and pray for those people, and for many years, those petitions were offered with a very heavy heart and feelings of great loss over the separation. Waking away is never easy when we truly love and care about others. There is an old saying in America, “Blood is thicker than water.” To this I have added, “Yes, but the Spirit is even thicker than blood:” we are the closest to others when we are close to them spiritually, but this can also lead to hurt and pain which are much deeper and which last far longer. Psalm 55:12-14 In our current situation, as we look across the pitiful landscape of divided believers, the sheep are at so many different places in their walk, and often lacking the tools to make true, spiritual progress. They are easy prey for those leaders who do not have true authority, and such sheep will typically recognize (see the last half of John 5:43) and wrongly exalt, the false shepherds, while failing to see, recognize, or honor those who do posses some measure of true authority. In such a present state of affairs, separation can be Spirit-led.

However, it is very unlikely that anything can be said in defense of those who take other believers to a court of law. Sha-ul wrote it is better to suffer wrong than to do such a thing. 1Corinthians 6:1-7 Suffering wrong in a case like this would be obeying the words of Yahushua and would be tantamount to turning the other cheek toward those who have offended. Matthew 5:39 We can safely say going to a court of law (against fellow believers) is not turning the other cheek.

You are also thanked for the wisdom with which you wrote of this matter in that you did not reveal names or locations. For those of us who are not directly “in the mix” thank you for letting them remain as they should: anonymous. We can still pray effectively without knowing unnecessary details, being assured YHWH knows the hearts of all those involved.
Until all believers begin making significant progress in fasting-derived humility, there cannot be, and will not be, true unity. Carnal man simply cannot discern truth even when it is set before him on the pages of Scripture, and only prayer with fasting can deal the ultimate death blow to the pride which fosters and perpetuates spiritual blindness. Idolatry (seen today in many subtle forms) is the cause of spiritual blindness. Isaiah 44:17-20, Jeremiah 50:38, Ezekiel 14:4,7

You closed your newsletter with such appropriate words about reaching out to others. This may have been the most powerful part amidst everything you wrote. As recorded in Matthew 25:34-36, Yahushua spoke to us of:

1. Giving food to the hungry, 1Corinthians 4:11, James 2:15-16.
2. Giving drink to the thirsty, 1Corinthians 4:11, Matthew 10:41-42.
3. Taking in the stranger, 1Corinthians 4:11, Hebrews 13:2.
4. Clothing the naked, 1Corinthians 4:11, James 2:15-16.
5. Visiting the sick, Ezekiel 34:1-4, Matthew 8:5-17.
6. Coming to those in prison, Hebrews 13:3.

While all of these things are important acts of righteousness in the
literal, physical realm (Galatians 2:10), they also have their spiritual
counterparts:

1. Giving food to the hungry. John 6:47-58, 21:15-17, Acts 6:2,4
2. Giving drink to the thirsty. John 4:9-36, 6:47-58, 7:37-39
3. Taking in the stranger, Psalm 147:2/Isaiah 56:2-8, Acts 28:23-28, Romans
1:14-16, 9:24-26, Ephesians 4:17, 2:11-22.
4. Clothing the naked. Revelation 3:17, 16:15
5. Visiting the sick. Ezekiel 34:1-4, Mark 2:16-17, Luke 5:30-32, James
5:14-15
6. Coming to those in prison. 2Timothy 2:25-26

Regarding this last point, when visiting others in “prison” Yahushua, our Example, was actually blessed to let the prisoners go free. Mark 7:32-35, Luke 4:18, 13:12,16, Acts 10:38 Once more, this brings us back to fasting and prayer, for it was through fasting-derived humility that Yahushua was empowered to fulfill and to proclaim the true fast of YHWH: the power of Ruach ha Qodesh worked through Yahushua the Messiah to “let the oppressed go free” and to “break every yoke.” Isaiah 58:6 Yahushua broke every yoke of physical and spiritual oppression, even letting prisoners go free from their bondage to death.

Perhaps because we have failed to do more of these things in the physical realm, we have also failed to see and to do their spiritual counterparts. Luke 16:10
However, we see that these principles work across and between the physical-spiritual line: by doing any and all of the above, there will certainly be many opportunities to fulfill their spiritual aspects. Scripture does not really differentiate between the physical and spiritual realms as we have done above, and I think this is because they are all important and interrelated. If we walk with YHWH continually, all of our ministry will be spiritual, even if we are ministering to the physical necessities of others. YHWH clearly places great importance on meeting our physical needs (James 2:15-16), but He ever wishes to take us farther into those things which relate to worshipping Him in Spirit and truth. John 4:24, Matthew 6:33 > Romans 14:17 His ultimate desire is to bring us to that point of wholehearted trust which says: ‘ Though He slays me, yet will I trust Him. Job 13:15 If we are trusting in the sovereignty of YHWH, even though He allows us to die, then other hardships (hunger, thirst, persecution, and the like, 1Corinthians 4:11-13, 2Corinthians 6:4-10, 11:23-28) will not stop our spiritual progress either.

May YHWH bless His people to be rich in good works and to love others because He first loved us. 1John 4:19

Shabbat shalom akki (my brother),
Craig