Now that the 21^st century is well into it’s 16^th year, it is becoming increasingly more evident that the enemy of our souls, the prince of the power of the air, the god of this age, satan, to whom has been given power over the unbelieving world, has been ramping up for an ever greater assault on seeker and believer alike.  As the darkness encroaches ever more brazenly, we see the world reacting to the tune the enemy is playing, fear.

Now I have to ask why it is that there are some who profess their religion as Christianity who are in the forefront of this fear-fest, reacting to every news report, rumor, political-pandering from the Left or Right that comes from dubious or downright suspicious sources, with terror, anger, judgment, violence, or all of the above.  The Christian Religious Right is screaming that we must “fight fire with fire” and “make America great again” while the Christian Liberal Left is celebrating the LGBT life options as if homosexuality and sexual re-assignment are not put in the same sin-category by God Himself as Adultery, Blasphemy, Idolatry and Fornication.

Politically, this can be seen as Left and Right thinking. Obviously this reactive thinking pits these two ideologies against each other, thereby pitting people (including Christians) against each other.   But please believe me when I say this in the authority that is directly from the Source of all Truth AND Love… THIS IS A LIE FROM THE PIT OF HELL.  Politics and Religion have become two sides of the same accursed coin.  They both fall into divisive categories, pitting God’s children against each other.

Let’s call it like God sees it!  The Right and the Left extremes are the lieutenants of satan.  The people that follow them are pawns of the evil one.  It has always been satan’s lie to men that they can be self-reliant and don’t need a relationship with God.

The extreme Political Right worships money through self-interest and self-reliance (NOT God –reliance) Jesus calls this idol Mammon and says you cannot serve Him and also this idol.

The extreme Political Left worships sexual idolatry, claiming their “rights” to live whatever way they want without being “accountable” to God or other people, up to and including passing their children through the fire to kill them that they might continue to wallow in their own dark desires.  These acts were and are abominable to God and His Word says as much.

Now let me be clear that as a shepherd to a poor flock, and a leader in men’s Bible Studies my friends (Jesus’ friends) come in every shape, size and color, every sexual orientation, and every condition of health, wealth, politics, religion and intelligence. I will always personally love the sinner (whatever the sin) but I will add God’s Truth to the mix by calling their sin (and mine) for what it is, sin.  We who really are followers of Jesus are called to speak the truth always, and in the Grace and Love of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord revealed to me a long time ago through the book of Job, that while satan is surely the enemy of our souls, he is also just another card in God’s glorious Deck (call him the Joker), to be allowed to put us through temptations and trials to get us to the Valley of Decision, where our decision is our own choice.  When we choose to say yes to our own evil desires, we invariably go through more trials, but when we say yes to Jesus, the lover of our souls, we may still go through trials, but find that through them we have grown and are better equipped to resist and overcome when satan comes around again with the next temptation.

Here’s what I believe about the true Body of Christ, God’s Israel, the Called according to His Purpose… If we have confessed the Lord Jesus Messiah, as our personal Lord and Savior, and take up our cross daily as He asked us to do, and put on the full Armor of God through the washing of His Word and submission to His Will every day, then we have power in this place that is far greater than those who follow the lies of the prince of the world or those who are just sitting on the fence waiting for something they don’t understand to save them.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. – 1 John 4:4

With this power, in Christ Jesus, given to us through the Holy Spirit, we are able to RESPOND in the spirit instead of REACT in the flesh to what is happening around us.

Let me break this down…  The nature of the flesh is to REACT to circumstances that happen constantly around us.  The flesh only knows two ways to REACT.  Fight or flight.  When something perceived as “bad” comes along we can either run from it to flee or run towards it to fight it.  We see people do these things every day.  When something scares them, they either go into denial (hide from it) or they look for a weapon to fight against it.   Left-flight and Right-fight.

While it is true that we are here on earth in the flesh, our true nature is spirit and is perfected in Christ Jesus.  We do not have to REACT in the flesh!   As walking followers of the Lord, as His servants in whom the power of the Holy Spirit lives, we are able to RESPOND in the spirit!  We are not called to look down upon each other, or to build walls against each other and certainly not to hate each other.  We are called to submit to God in all things, and in His Love, to submit to one another while bringing His Truth to light for the edification of all the world!

People are NOT your enemy.  Brethren I implore you.  Do not be deceived.  We are ONE in Christ Jesus.  To have fellowship with God and fellowship with each other is why we were created.

Please read and meditate upon these scriptures below in this order and let the Holy Spirit speak to you of the hidden things of God…

2 Timothy 3:1-4
But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

2 Timothy 4:3,4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, they will turn their ears away from the truth

Isaiah 5:20-21
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight.

Proverbs 4:27
Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.  

Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Romans 12:19
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  

Matthew 5:38,39
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

2 Timothy 1:7
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

2 Corinthians 4:1-3
…As we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.  But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 

Ephesians 2:1-4
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  

Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

1 Corinthians 16:13, 14
Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.  Let all that you do be done with love. (My personal Battle Commission)

These are perilous times beloved.  We are called to be the Light and Salt in this dark and tasteless world.  Let us pray without ceasing.  When we see, hear or feel something that our spirit tells us is wrong, let us not fear it, let us not hate it, let us not ridicule it or be disgusted by it.  Let us instead PRAY down the walls of the enemy with whatever faith we have in the Love AND Truth of the Living God remembering that we are ONE in Christ Jesus!

In His ever present Grip of Grace,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

It is Memorial Day 2016.  It’s a great day to remember, think and write about my dad, Bernard Raskin, Staff Sergeant, Communications, 507^th Regiment, 82^nd Airborne, Normandy on D-Day, 101^st Airborne, Battle of the Bulge, American hero.

This blog is a perfect place to remember this man as he not only lived his life as a friend, mentor and inspiration to many in his worldly persona as a free-thinking, secular Jewish man for the preponderance of his 94 years, but because he gave his life to the Lord Jesus, Messiah, three weeks before he died.

My dad Bernie had many laurels in the world, and yet was one of the most humble, inclusive, friendly, caring and egalitarian people I have ever known.  Here is an excerpt from his obituary from 2008.

“Bernard was born in Seattle Washington to Henry and Mary Raskin, on September 24, 1913.  Bernie was a Journalism graduate of CCNY in New York City and fought bravely in World War II with the 507th Regiment, attached to the 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day and the 101st Airborne at the Battle of the Bulge.  Bernard was awarded both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

A gifted publicist and writer, Bernard was Vice President of Public Relations for the National Maritime Union, and the Editor of it’s weekly paper, The Pilot, throughout much of the 50’s,60’s and 70’s and was also active as a public relations officer in the early days of the AFL-CIO. He had interacted with Mayors, Governors and Presidents, and had notably been a part of a delegation of American Labor dignitaries to Communist Russia to meet with then-Premiere Nikita Kruschev in 1960.  His brother, A.H. Raskin was the Op-Ed page editor of the New York Times, and a noted authority on the American Labor Movement.

In his retirement for the past thirty years, Bernard was a poet, play-write and humorist, and was active in writer’s groups in both Del Mar and in Newhall California, where he participated in many publications at Mira Costa College and the Newhall Senior Center.”

As I was blessed to be this man’s only son and his best friend in the last 10 years of his life, I can attest to my dad’s honesty, integrity, genuineness and will say without irony that he exhibited most, if not all of the Kingdom qualities that Paul describes in the “called according to His purpose” as those that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit imparts.   These are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control.  Bernie Raskin exhibited all of these before he ever became a professed believer in the Lord Jesus.

I have eluded in past blogs, to my heartfelt and experience-tested belief that the “called according to God’s purpose” are the called even before they say “yes” to Jesus through the heart-agreement and verbal assent with the Holy Spirit that lives, albeit in some dormant until that day, within them.  The angels bear them up, and the Lord opens doors for them for peace and not for evil, and they do good works prepared beforehand for them just as do those of us who have come to faith and received our salvation by calling on the Name of Jesus.  (Psalm 91:9-12, Jer. 29:11, Eph. 2:10, Joel 2:32)

Many that we walking believers meet in our daily lives are those very “saints before the fact”.  My dad was one of those who really could be called a good person who loved his neighbor, cared for the poor, and was a humble and meek true gentleman who had integrity in all of his business and personal affairs, giving freely of his talents and abilities to those whom God put in his path.

For years, my dad professed to be an atheist, but when pressed, he would always allow that he was really more of an agnostic, one who did not know if there was such a thing/person as God, but who would always want to do the right thing by his fellow man regardless.  I believe now, having walked with the Lord for over 20 years, that God bears with those undecided “future saints” in their unbelief, because they have love for their neighbor, as did the Samaritan man in Jesus’ parable.  Is it because God, in His transcendence, who foreknew the saints, and resides with them in His glorious Sabbath rest even now, knows us before and after our heart conversion on earth simply as His saints? (Romans 8:28-30)  I like to think this is so, although knowledge of that is too high for me.

My dad, who lived with me for the last 8 years of his life, always listened intently to my stories of God’s healing and restorative miracles among my poor flock with tears of gladness and true hope.  Yet, when I asked him if he wanted to become a believer in Christ in truth and with his mouth, he would always gently decline, citing his loyalty to those who died in the concentration camps of the holocaust as his primary reason.  I find this to be an overriding factor in the decisions of many secular Jewish Americans in refusing to open their hearts to Messiah.  I have spoken of this in previous blogs and will go deeper in future ones, but suffice it to say that this is a world-constructed wall of the enemy that we, the Body of Christ, must make it a daily practice to come against and pray down.

In any event, to the Glory of God and my father’s eternal benefit, he had a conversation with my beautiful wife Donna, whom he loved, when he was well into the beginning stages of what was to be his demise, about the love of God and how accepting Messiah as his Lord and Savior did not negate his identity as one of God’s Chosen People, but simply solidified it in the act of using his free will to choose Him back.  Two weeks later, after his last transfusion, literally minutes before receiving his final death sentence from his Hospitalist, to my joy, my dad asked me what he could do about “my Friend”.  I smiled at him and said “you mean Jesus?” and he said “yes”.  I then led him gently to the Lord and gave him some scriptures to meditate upon which he began to do when the Hospitalist knocked on the door, asked me into the hall, and told me that my dad had 2 weeks to live.

Three weeks later, my dad died in my arms.  He was in a medicated coma, but the last time he looked at me I said to him, “Dad, I know how much you love me and you love looking into my face.  Just know that when you take your last breath and leave this place, you will be looking directly at the One who loves you even more than I do and who is far more beautiful.  You will be looking into the Face of Jesus, the Lover of your soul.”  Moments later he was gone.

Happy Memorial Day to all of you who served.  May you all know the love of the Living God in peace forever.

In His Love Abundant and Unchanging,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Well… the Word of God says that it “rains on the just and the unjust”.  The storms of life do happen to everyone.   This saint just found out something this week that rocked my physical world.  As a commissioned Executive Recruiter, for the past 20 years, I have been blessed to have been successful enough for us to maintain our very comfortable lifestyle and it has afforded us the privilege of giving hospitality to the saints and supporting a good number of worthy and Godly enterprises and missions in our neighborhood and around the world.

This Monday, doing a bit of forensic accounting because of a glaring discrepancy in my “draw balance”, I discovered this earth shaking truth.  My trusted partners in NY had changed my commission structure without my understanding or buy-in seven years ago and it had slowly but surely eroded my income. The total was, suffice it to say, a LOT of money (six-figures).  It is to my shame and regret that I did not catch this discrepancy sooner, but Donna and I are standing on God’s Word that Joseph spoke to his brothers “you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” Genesis 50:20

The last couple of years have been hard for my business.  New technologies that help large corporate HR departments recruit employees while frustrating relational recruiters like me, and the current trend toward “in-house” recruiting vs. using contingency recruiters, have begun eroding my long-standing client base.  By the time a search goes out to me, it is generally because it has been so picked over that almost every viable candidate in the reasonable geographic perimeter has been contacted.  Nevertheless, I have always said that I am at the “cutting edge of God’s Will” as a commissioned recruiter who is also a volunteer pastor, doing the Lord’s work and calling every minute of the day.  In this He has always been my “Just In Time” God and delivers the right candidate at the right time, with just enough lag-time to remind me that it is He not me, who provides the increase.

So… the combination of the possibility of losing a huge piece of earned income coupled with the decline in normal business is like two barrels of the same shotgun facing us.  Here is why we are not worried…

I am equally yoked with a strong woman of God who stands in the midst of this storm with me in the same faith and trust that I have in our Redeemer Who lives.

Donna and I serve a God who loves us and who has promised us “a future and a hope” Jeremiah 29:11

Although it rains on the just and the unjust, when it rains on the unjust it may wash out their house, but when it rains on the just, it simply waters our crops.

We have great friends, soldiers and saints, who are joining us in fervent prayer for God to be glorified in the outcome of this trial.

Should we be left holding this particular empty bag, (and the dialogue is still going…  I believe my partners to be “honorable men” who made an error of judgment affecting us all, so pray with us dear friend that they will yet do what is right in God’s eyes), the Lord’s promise remains that if He has called us to this fire, He will not withdraw His hand and will keep us in the midst of the flames as He did Amaziah, Hananiah and Mishael (more popularly known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, their detestable Babylonian names).

We are excited to see what the Lord will do with and through this hard set of circumstances.   If nothing else, it is a great opportunity for us to walk it out, in the light of the Lord and the Power of God in faith believing, before the Family of God and unbelievers alike, to the victory of the Lord, bringing Him Glory and His servant’s joy.  In other words, it gives us the opportunity to model what we have preached for so long, that God is faithful, He is great and greatly to be praised, come what may!  We get to walk it like we talk it.

In His Loving Grip,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

In previous blogs, I have mentioned my passion for the work that I have been specifically called for and privileged to do as a “Field Lieutenant” in the glorious Army of God.  It has been my joy, over the years, to be able to identify, raise up, and strap the Armor of God on many of His called who may or may not have known who they were/are in Christ Jesus prior to this contact.   Many of these soldiers were raised up from the homeless flock, and many others from the various Men’s Ministries that I have been associated with over the Spirit-activated years of my life.

One of the greatest gifts that God has given me to facilitate His Will is the ability to “see” these future servants/soldiers of God in the Spirit, through meeting their eyes on first contact.  I have thought about how to describe this sensation that always precedes what the Holy Spirit is about to do in awakening these saints to their Kingdom nature.  It is like this, I think… There is an immediate sensation of recognition that goes both ways upon meeting these individuals (both men and women), as if we have met before.  Because I have asked diligently, for many years, for the Spirit of God to sensitize me in my spirit to what His Spirit is desiring to do in me, I believe that this ability is a gift, given through the Holy Spirit, to bless many to the Glory of the Father.

Romans 8:29

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

What I have come to believe is that how this works is that we recognize each other as citizens of Heaven who have known each other before and are together in eternity even now.  How these folks take that first meeting is also like a “shock of recognition” as many have told me afterwards.  It makes sense, when you think about it, because although we are currently wearing these bodies, walking through this dark place (ideally being a source of light and salt here), simultaneously (in a way we cannot now understand) in the eternity in which Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, we are in our perfected Bodies with Him and with the entire Family of God, His Israel, in the perfect Sabbath who IS Christ Jesus.  In this sense it is “now forever” in Christ Jesus, and when we are aligned with His perfect Will through our true submission and obedience, we are truly His Hands and Instruments of His Grace right here on earth!.

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

There is unspeakable Joy in raising up soldiers to the Lord and being in the spiritual battles with them that our Commander-In-Chief, Jesus calls us into together.  These battles are the very trials that the world sees as trouble to be avoided at all costs, dire illness, separation between friends, division of doctrine through Pharisaical (demonic) religiosity, loss of income, etc.; these are the very filters that test and purify the saints and soldiers and those under our protection.  We battle together, an elite cadre, soldiers tested in training (His Word) and on the battlefield (prayer and support of those in need), working together, locking our Shields of Faith to make an impenetrable Wall of Protection, and we see the miracles of God’s promise on a daily basis.

James 5:15

“And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

We who are battle-tested and who have served together, even if only in one vigil/battle have a bond that is greater than human friendship and loyalty.  We are united in Agape Love, because we have done the Will of the Father together to the Glory of God the Father! Hallelujah!

Deuteronomy 30: 11-14

“For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.  It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us ,that we may hear it and do it?’  Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’  But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

Leviticus 26:8

Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.

1 Chronicles 19:13

Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”

Psalm 31:24

Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord.

Our Battle Commission

1Corinthians 16:13,14

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.  Let all that you do be done with love.

In Love and unspeakable Joy, to all who read this, His blessing,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Wow.  Interesting day.  So today (as it happens what the Catholics call Maundy Thursday, Christ’s day in the garden of Gethsemene) was the day that I had purposed to apologize corporately to the flock and volunteers for my inappropriate political diatribe of last Thursday (see the last blog “My Bad… Really”).  I had gotten a call yesterday from my friend Bobby, a saint who was homeless and now works part-time managing the Food and Care shelter at the Lutheran Church where the feeding in question resides.  At first, when I saw the call from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, I thought perhaps that I was going to be dismissed as itinerant volunteer pastor for my faux pas.  Bobby, as it turned out however, just wanted to be sure I was “all right” after the incident last week.  I assured him I was, and was somewhat relieved.

So, after arriving and greeting our friends, and praying with a woman who felt she was being haunted by the spirit of her abusive father, who, she revealed, was a self-hating Jew turned Baptist who hated all Jews (I got a bad chill just typing that), I got up to give the Word.  I apologized as I had purposed I would, and was beginning to give the Word, which is the story of “The thief on the right” of Jesus, to illustrate God’s amazing Grace and Mercy upon those who even after an entire life of sin, repent and receive Him in their hearts, when something very strange happened.

A man, about my age, dressed rather self-consciously like a European immigrant, whom I had seen numerous times at this feeding, and who never responded good or bad to the Word or to me personally, all of a sudden gave me “the finger” when I mentioned the name Barrabas, whom the Jewish crowd preferred to be spared when they called for the death of Jesus Messiah.  I was taken a bit aback, but finished the Word, which was well-received, and then went over to where this man was sitting.  I squatted down to eye-level, smiled at him and asked “why the finger?”

He then launched into an angry and impassioned diatribe about how I had no idea who Barrabas was and how dare I say such a thing about him, and that I should be ashamed of myself for “lying”  to the people about Christ when it was the Church and Christians who murdered 6 million Jews in Nazi Germany.  I responded kindly that no real follower of Jesus would ever condone, let alone enact such a heinous act against their fellow man and that it was Nazis, not Christians, who did that, and just because a Nazi wears a belt-buckle that says “Gott Mit Uns”  (God with us) does not mean they know Jesus.  He flabbergasted me then by saying that he has heard all that before and he doesn’t believe it because HE USED TO BE CHRISTIAN.  He then asked me if I knew what “Lashon Hara” was.  I admitted I did not and he harangued me for being a Jew who does not know his own culture.  I admitted that I knew Torah, but not so much Talmud, and asked if he would enlighten me, to which he replied sarcastically, that it would take more than 5 minutes.  I then gave him my phone number and suggested that we get together for an hour or two or however long he thought it would take for me to understand.

He sneered, said again that I was a liar, and refused my hand of fellowship.  One of the ladies that overheard this exchange said she was amazed at how gracious I was in the face of his abject hatred and anger.  I only said, “it is exactly what my Lord did, how else could I respond”.

I prayed for him all the way home and my heart was still heavy, when I received a voicemail from him which said, I was a “smarmy, self-righteous little prick, and the gathering swine and the devils are welcome to me”.  After looking up lashon hara, which is Hebrew for “evil-speaking” or slander, I sent him back a text.

This is it, word-for-word:

Hi Steve. Thanks for the information. I see that your position is that I have slandered the good name of Barabbas. It is an interesting position.

I don’t know where you stand on Solomon, whom the histories of the Old Testament tell us divided Israel with his idolatry, (or is that more lashon hara?) but his word in Proverbs 22:24 may sum up your current state of disaffection.

You may say whatever you like about me, I’m a pretty big boy and I can deal with it, but I kindly caution you to be careful about how you categorize and slander God’s beloved, the poor.   I should also say that I find it strange that you would deign to eat with those you call pigs.

In any case Steve, if you ever care to have a one-on-one conversation about this, I’m still open to it.  John

Some day, huh?  The devil is a liar and was from the beginning.  I will continue to pray for Steve.  I find it incomprehensible that he was ever a follower of Jesus, but in any case, my prayer is that one day he will become one in truth and in deed.

In head-shaking wonder but unbowed in Christ Jesus.

In His Love always,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

So today I have to out myself for a really stupid and inappropriate thing I did that did NOT reflect the Glory of God and undermined (somewhat) my credibility (to some people) as a witness and Servant of the most High God.

On Thursdays, I give the Word and minister to the flock at a Lutheran Church in the West San Fernando Valley.  This church has been very faithful, over the years, to provide frequent meals and access to food and clothing to our friends the homeless, and other under-served and struggling folks in their neighborhood.  As they are part of the Lutheran Social Services organization, they do accept money from the Federal Government, among other key donors, to provide their good works, and they are under some regulation about “being coercive” in regards to giving the Word of God before serving meals, on the premise that it causes people to “have” to listen to preaching before they are “allowed” to eat.

To this church’s credit, they have never caused me the slightest concern about giving God’s Word to their “clients”, but rather have joyfully encouraged me over the years, to continue to give His Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.  These folks get it, and they have seen the same miracles I have seen of restoration and healing of the “least of these”, Jesus’ friends, over the years.

That said, the one notable exception to this general rule, is the gentleman who kindly prepares the meals and brings the very good food, hot and ready, to our friends.  He was raised Catholic, and has indicated many times that he is not a fan of the preaching of the Word, and feels that it should definitely NOT interfere with the serving of the food.  Over the years, we have reached an amiable détente, where I arrive early, give the Word as soon as possible, and try to get out of his way when he is ready to serve his lovingly prepared meal.  Sometimes, however, the Holy Spirit drives me to go a bit longer than he would like, and he is unhappy.  He usually expresses this to others, not directly to me, but he has voiced his displeasure to me on occasion.

This brings me to my repentant confession.  Last Thursday, the Lord gave me the subject of humility, and it’s importance in God’s Kingdom and in Kingdom people’s lives.   Usually, as I am driving to the feeding site (about a 30 minute drive from my home office), the Lord is marinating my mind on the subject and by the time I get there, I have scripture and direction which the Holy Spirit will then deliver from my obedient mouth.  USUALLY.  So… here I go, and give my usual greeting to our friends, “Grace to you, and Peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.  AMEN?”  THEN, all of a sudden, out of my mouth comes an indictment of our entire political system as an example of a decided LACK of humility in our nation’s current media-frenzied society.  And… who do I pick out specifically?  The poster child for arrogant self-interest, parading as a legitimate political option, Donald Trump.  Oy.

I did springboard off of that diatribe with some very beneficial and scripturally-based encouragement about what it means to be truly humble, and how the people of God can access incredible power and the wisdom to use it, direct from the Source, when we are truly humble and not self-serving or self-TRUMPeting (sorry I couldn’t resist).

Well, apparently I really crossed the line that time.  Right after I blessed the food (and the hands that prepared and would serve it) I then took some time to pray with two of my old friends who had lost their puppy to an insensitive and money-driven veterinarian and were angry/heartbroken, when my friend the cook came over and asked if he could have a moment of my time.  I said sure, and we walked off a little ways, and he turned to me two inches from my face, fists clenched, and said “Listen John, I am REALLY angry with you.” To which I replied, “Okay,what did I do?”

He then laced into me, rightfully so, about bringing politics into a public forum where I have influence.  I let him vent, because he really WAS angry, and when he was done, I hung my head for a moment and then looked him in the eye and said “You are absolutely right.  I had NO right to do what I did.  It was wrong and I humbly apologize.”  To his credit, he accepted my apology.  This coming Thursday, I intend to start my sermon with the same apology to all of the volunteers and my friends.

It occurred to me later, that the Lord had likely orchestrated this scenario so that my friend the cook, and others whom He will prepare to hear next week’s Word, would get a case-in-point example of God-driven humility.  This is not to blow my own horn however, because I was absolutely in the wrong on this one, and the cook was righteous in his indignation, and in his faithfulness to take me to task in a way that enabled me to see my error and apologize/repent.

Now… all that said, the Lutheran Church where I am trusted to bring God’s Word to the flock was a highly IN-appropriate place to speak out on this subject, but this blog is the perfect forum.

I am truly appalled at those in this country who call themselves, and may even believe that they ARE Christians, who would support an angry bully like Donald Trump.

Here is what Solomon says…

Proverbs 22:24

Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go.

Can you imagine what a narcissistic and emotionally unavailable monster like “the Donald” would be capable of with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin if he was challenged to a political pissing match on a world stage?   Their chest-bumping could lead to the death of MILLIONS before one or the other was able to declare themselves “the winner”.  The current support of this fascistic “millionaire” (most of his billions are debt) by people who claim that they follow the “Prince of Peace” is both ludicrous and truly frightening.  It is the beginning of a march toward Hitler-ism with Muslims taking the place of Jews in the very near future if we do not KNOCK THIS JINGOISTIC B.S. OFF!!!!

There.  I said it.

It is not that Trump does not have the right to run as a candidate, it is just the fear-based thinking and knee-jerk voting of those who claim faith as their center, to back and encourage this person who has no compunction about inciting his rabid followers to violence against dissenters that has me boiling.

I would like anyone who is reading this blog who disagrees with my position, to feel free to leave a comment enlightening me as to why they think that Donald Trump would make a viable candidate for President of the United States.  I promise I will respond.

In His Grip of Grace and Perfect Truth, with humility, in Love,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Sometimes being a true Believer and walking follower of the Lord Jesus requires professional courage as well as personal commitment.  Today I came across an article posted on a professional Board on LinkedIn, a web site on which I have a strong professional presence as an Executive Recruiter.  I have never hidden my faith or passion for the homeless in my professional life and it has never harmed me, but rather enhanced my standing in the Healthcare community.  As further proof of this, for the past 20 years I have put a scripture (Prov. 16:3) on my Signature line on every outgoing email to clients and candidates.

Here is a link to the original article on LinkedIn, and my response posted this morning.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/former-homeless-mans-perspective-homelessness-san-francisco-wilson?trk=pulse-det-nav_art

My response on LinkedIn:

I applaud your compassion and your bravery in writing and posting this perspective Jeffrey.  It is a rare thing to see this level of sincerity and understanding in the professional community.

As a Volunteer Chaplain to several San Fernando Valley (L.A. County) Rescue Mission’s Homeless Outreaches and the LAPD Jail Ministry “The Nehemiah Program” (where many of the detainees who seek prayer and counsel are homeless individuals), I have seen miracles of restoration and healing among the various striations of the homeless community, including the mentally ill, through coming to have a true relationship with the Lord and His Body.

In our current society, the economic bubble has a very thin membrane for most people and bursts easily as this writer and many of the responders have noted.  For those of us who follow the Lord Jesus in truth and in deed, (both faith AND works that are the fruit of faith) mercy and grace as it has been given to us, must certainly be passed on by us to those that God places in our lives, even if it is only a “chance” encounter on the street.  In the Kingdom of God there are no coincidences that are not orchestrated in some way by God, and our love must be for others as His Love is for us all.  (Rom. 8:28, 1John 3:16)

It has been my experience that many of those who find themselves living in their cars after years of worldly successes, are there for the same reasons that the people of Israel found themselves in captivity in Babylon.  They are being given an opportunity to truly see and acknowledge the Grace of God without the distractions of position and wealth.  Those that hear the Word of God preached in power at a homeless feeding, when they themselves are the homeless, very often hear the Word for the first time, though they may have been sitting in pews in rich churches (regardless of denomination) for many years.

God does not desire religious affiliation, but rather true relationship with Him and others from His people.  Many of those homeless (among hundreds, perhaps thousands) that I have met and ministered to in the past 20 years, have returned to “normal” life (jobs, income, homes and ease of living) with a new understanding, relationship, dedication and yes, joy in the Living God who gave them life, loved them, died on a Cross for them, and called them to Himself to love others.

Many others, the more “hardcore” homeless, among them the mentally ill and emotionally crushed (including PTSD veterans), have been raised up from addiction, depression and other forms of dysfunction, to become blessings to their community, although still homeless.  Somebody has to clean the streets of it’s recyclable garbage, and be there to guide those who daily become homeless to safety and show them where the food, clothing and shelter resources are.  I have personally been blessed to be allowed to raise many of these up myself, and remain available to them as shepherd, teacher and friend.

I didn’t mean to dive so deep, and not all who read this will understand or appreciate this perspective, but for those who do, please check out my website at www.whatisjesusdoing.net.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey’s advice to have a kind word for, or to give a small monetary helping hand to those less fortunate than yourself, is surely good counsel to those of us blessed and/or lucky enough to have good jobs and homes at the moment.  Oh, and while you are at it, shake their hand and look them in the eye.  That is the greatest gift of all to someone who is struggling with the impact of becoming homeless and marginalized by “society”.

So…I have included this as a blog to my friends.  If I can be out there in my professional life, so can you.  Go, and may the Lord go with you!

In His Constant Grip of Grace, with Love, in truth,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Today at Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission Noon lunch for our homeless friends, after I gave the Word, talking about Gideon, and how God’s people need to “go in this might” that we have in Christ Jesus, a wiry man I had not met before, came up to me and began asking pointed questions. His first question was “do you really believe everything that is in that book?”, as he pointed to my NKJV Bible.

I looked at him for a moment, considering him, and before I could answer, he said “why are you pastors all so closed-minded?” To this I replied, “Why do you say that?” Then he said it’s about faith isn’t it? To which I said “Yes” and was about to explain the nature of faith as “the evidence of things unseen”, as the Apostle Paul said, when he jumped ahead of me and said “Faith is the absence of reason”. He then began to explain his position that if he believed that there was a giant diamond in his backyard and he and his whole family dug for years to uncover it, to no avail, only because he had faith that it was there, was that reasonable? To this I said “no, but let me ask you a question…” Why do you think that having faith in a created inanimate object like a diamond, or for that matter, in it’s existence in your backyard without proof, is the same as faith in the living God of the universe, who created , sustains and inhabits His creation, and Who speaks to all who seek Him?”

He looked at me confused for a moment (just a moment for he was a very intelligent man) and then switched gears by saying, “so you don’t believe in evolution, and that nothing pre-dates Adam and Eve?” At this point I had to enlighten him as to what I do believe, which surprised him, by saying, I don’t disbelieve in the theory of evolution, but it is irrelevant to this conversation because God can create a universe any way He wants, and if a day to God is as 100,000,000 years to us, then that is His business not mine. “ He was surprised by my answer, and then said that “all” the pastors he had spoken to before were absolutely dogmatic about the strict 6 day creation concept. I only then said that that surprised me.

I then asked him a few questions and found that he had been raised Jewish and had gone to a conservative Hebrew school. I then said that he must believe in God then. He did not answer that, but began again talking about how Christians seem to always talk about faith but he did not believe that faith in God meant anything. I found that a strange position, but in love, we agreed to disagree until further conversation.

I then asked if I could tell him some things that I do believe in faith, given that my position is that “faith is the absolute belief in that which is IMPOSSIBLE to know”. He then said “well, if it is impossible to know, then how is it reasonable?” (I told you he was intelligent). To this I answered “aha!” and launched into what I like to call the “The Exploding Paint Cart Theory” also known as the “There Is No Michelangelo” theory, which is very like his own position. I use this when people tell me they don’t KNOW there is a God so they don’t BELIEVE there is a God. They usually say something like “I believe in the Big Bang”.

It goes like this… One day the Pope and his advisors decided to paint the interior of the Sistine Chapel. They hired a bunch of painters who brought in an enormous wooden paint cart with hundreds of colors of paints and they spent the first week looking around and doing a little touching up on the walls. Come Friday, they pack up the paint cart and put it In the center of the Chapel, lock up and go home for some vino and a relaxing weekend. Now come Monday morning, they return, unlock the doors and “HOLY SMOKES”!, there are splinters and paint everywhere, splattered around the walls, and when they look up, they see the now-famous painting “The Creation of Adam” in all of it’s artistic perfection. Now since there is no Michelangelo, (history, like the Bible, is a liar you see) it just kind of… well… HAPPENED (like the Big Bang).”

So then I asked him if that seemed reasonable to him. He said well… no, but… and kind of trailed off. At this point I said, so can we agree that there is a Creator, if not exactly on HOW He created?” At this point, he was kind of flummoxed and only said, “I believe in science.” At this point I felt that we had come to a place where this conversation would have to “be continued” as the old serial episodes used to say. He asked if I was at HOTV every Friday, and I said “yes” and we agreed to talk more next week.

If anyone is reading this blog, I ask that you would pray for this man’s heart to open, and he would come to faith. His name is Bruce. More next week…

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

In Love and truth, through Him alone.
John Henry Raskin Roadhouse Rabbi

When I left off at the end of “The Power of Yes (Part One)”, I promised to continue the story of the internal journey that this servant went through in the very moment my friend Tony asked the question “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only living Son of God and that He died on a cross for your sins because you cannot stand before a Holy and a Righteous God without a Savior”?

They say that when you are about to die, (or maybe when you are, in fact dying) that your life flashes before your eyes.  When I said “yes” to that pivotal question that came out of the mouth of a man that I knew loved me (and that this love came from the Source of all Love as I later knew to be true), the Lord immediately took me on a supersonic journey back and then forward.

The first thing He brought to mind was a moment that I remembered I had relived once before when on LSD in the 60s.  He took me back to a moment when I was just under one year old, and as I remembered it, it was the first time my parents had left me alone with someone other than them (I believe it was my dad’s mom, Mary, who was an austere and very quiet woman who died when I was about two).  I remembered vividly being disconsolate and afraid as I was screaming my lungs out for someone to come to help me but nobody came.  In my infant mind, as the adult me remembered it (aided by the Holy Spirit of course),  it seemed like hours and I became sure that no one would EVER come to help me and that I was to be forever alone.  I remember looking up at a mobile that was hanging over my crib and crying, screaming, when all of a sudden an incredible supernatural peace OVERCAME me.  I literally felt the presence of God calming me and letting me know that I was HIS, I had nothing to fear, and that the eyes which beheld the mobile hanging above me were only temporary, but the SIGHT was eternal.  This was the only way I could fathom with my newly formed brain what He was telling me silently, but that feeling never left me, that I was an eternal being who belonged to my Heavenly Father.

He then took me on to a moment when I was about four years old and my parents took me to downtown (Manhattan, where I was born) on Christmas Eve to see the store windows (Macy’s, Gimbels, Bloomingdale’s, etc. all had displays for Christmas to attract customers), and I remembered thinking, as I observed people smiling, and greeting each other and saying “Merry Christmas” in a warm and friendly way that was very different from the day-to-day demeanor of New Yorkers, that a Baby had been born 2000 years before, that had somehow changed the world.  That feeling really never left me, but lay dormant for my entire life until this day, in May of 1995, at the age of 43.

The Spirit then showed me many moments in my life where I would surely have died by my own foolishness, but “His angels bore me up lest I should dash my foot upon a stone”.  Other moments He showed me were even more amazing in that He brought to my mind and revealed actual people that had helped me in specific dangerous situations, and showed me that they were a part of what I instantly now understood to be the “Family of God”, the “Called according to His Purpose” who had been given Spirit instructions to be at the right place, at the right time to help this clueless sinner who would one day (this very day as I came to realize), so that I might live to see the day when my earthly eyes were finally opened at the word “Yes”.

I just realized that there needs to be a Part three to this blog.  So I leave you here with these words from the Apostle Paul.

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. – Romans 8:30

In His Eternal Grip of Grace, with Love,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

I was going to finish my testimony this week, “The Power of Yes”, but yesterday, at the feeding at Our Redeemer in Winnetka, something amazing happened that affected me so powerfully that I had to blog it. This is a story told to me yesterday by a man named Patrick who stopped me before I gave the Word, to give me a mighty praise report to the Glory of God, about an encounter that he had with me 5 years earlier and the amazing things the Lord has done with and through him since.

Being an evangelist and shepherd to a poor flock is a high calling and a great responsibility. It often requires responding to late night calls for prayer or assistance and to those who are faint of heart or poor multi-taskers, the triage of spiritual and emotional need that is required in the emergency room of Homeless gatherings can be pretty overwhelming. Other times though, it is as if time itself slows down and one particular individual is revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Patrick was such an individual. As he reminded me yesterday, five years ago, at that very same feeding in Winnetka, he was homeless and drug-addicted and had “out of the pride of his heart”, as he put it, refused all help from friends, relatives, churches, the Government and all manner of “do-gooders”, and so he found himself literally starving. Funny, you may think, that someone with so little self-respect as to fall into helpless addiction could display such high-handed pride. Ah… but the “pride of life”, as John the Beloved calls it, along with the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh, is the devil’s greatest stronghold in the unrepentant human heart. Some fellow outcasts had finally convinced Patrick that day five years ago that going to a hot lunch at Church and enduring the message from God was preferable to starving to death, and so he went. He said that his friends also convinced him that day by telling him that the preacher wasn’t a “Bible-beater” and might have some cool things to say.

Patrick reminded me how we met. He said, he had found himself listening to the Word I preached that day about the Prodigal Son and found himself in tears, realizing that the Love of God was real and he had separated himself from that amazing Grace by the hardness of his own heart. He realized for the first time that all his life he had pushed away the very people who were truly his friends and that he could be a member of the “Family of God” if he only said yes.

I have mentioned in past blogs that the Lord commissioned me as a “Field Lieutenant” shortly after I began homeless ministry, and it has always been, even above evangelist and pastor, my favorite role. In this capacity, I am allowed to “see” beyond natural sight, into the soul and spirit of men and women who may not even yet fully believe, but who are surely the Called, as is revealed to me by the Holy Spirit. This is a gift from God and one that once revealed, becomes my responsibility (and great honor) to reveal to them their true nature, in Christ Jesus and then to pray the Armor of God on them, “welded on with the Blood of the Lamb”.

To make this long story somewhat shorter (my Pastor tells me my blogs are too long!), this is exactly what happened that day with Patrick. He gave his life to the Lord that day and immediately began thinking differently. I pulled him out of the feeding, prayed with him, and after strapping on the Armor, I gave him a Gideon Bible and highlighted some scriptures (as well as telling him to read the Gospel of John at least 10 times prayerfully).

After Patrick reminded me of all this, he told me that in the intervening 5 years, he had become clean and sober, gotten food stamps and SSI (he does have a real disability) and has a roof over his head. He spends his days riding though the Valley on his bike looking for homeless folks to help as he himself was helped, by speaking of God’s Love to them and letting them know where the food, clothing and social services are. He told me that just the day before yesterday, when it was pouring rain in the San Fernando Valley, he was riding his bike in his multi-layered “rain suit” as he called it. He was heading to a Church where he had been helped by a caretaker once, and happened across a homeless kid in a T-shirt begging on a corner a block away, soaked to the skin and shivering. Patrick led him over to the Church and found the caretaker who had become his friend. He got a plastic garbage bag from his friend and a scissors, and cut a head-sized hole in the bag. Then Patrick took off one of his sweatshirts and gave it to the boy, put the Hefty-bag raincoat on him and took him to get a cheeseburger while gently leading him to the Lord. Patrick said he would try to bring this kid with him to the meal the following week.

All this to say, the Great Commission makes us all “commissioned officers” in Christ’s glorious Army as we are all saints in His service. I have discipled many soldiers over time and have forged some wonderful relationships along the way, but this story of how one brief, intense encounter with the Living God can change a life, I hope, will give us all resolve to be ready for that next encounter.

Matthew 28:18-20 – And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

In Perfect Joy, with His Love,
John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi