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

As today is the first day of the New Year, 2016, I am finding myself thinking about the first day of my new life in Christ, and the way that came about, back in May of 1995. It was the day that I said “yes” to a question that I had never been asked before, but was written on my heart for all of my life on earth, as it turned out.

Job 22:25-26 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver; For then you will have your delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

As I have mentioned in several previous blogs, I was raised nominally Jewish by my parents, both European Jewish Americans who were more free thinkers than religious, but who had raised me to live by the Golden Rule. I was I suppose, one of those classic “I’m a good person” people who had a vague idea that as long as I was not a “bad person” I would likely go to Heaven, or wherever “good people” go when they die. That said, although I thought of myself as a “good person”, I often found myself loathing certain characteristics about myself, and realizing that I had as much darkness as light inside of me, and that often, I did not do bad things overtly because I was afraid of the earthly consequences.

I had been Bar Mitzvahed, as a 13 year-old, although then it was more about the social implications of “coming of age” and less about the recognition of becoming a man under God, Whom, although I believed “in”, with Whom I had no discernible relationship. I, like most people, and especially young people, didn’t really “get” what religion was about because of the hypocrisy, historically, of those people who claimed to be religious. I was kind of neither fish nor fowl, spiritually speaking.

Later on, as a hippie in College, I studied Comparative Religions and found even more so that I disliked religion, not so much for what it espoused, but how each one seemed to place itself in the position of being THE way to God or Gods or What/Whomever. The hypocrisy of most religious people seemed even worse in Western Religions than in the Eastern ones, including Judaism and Christianity. In the East, it seemed to be about self-realization and in the West, about self-satisfaction. For this reason, I had become pretty cynical, and took many opportunities to talk others out of their religious affiliations (not even thinking of it as faith at that time).

My mom passed away in 1988 and so in the years just prior to my heart conversion to Yeshua H’amashiach, I had started to go to Wilshire Boulevard Temple on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, to say Kaddish for my mom. It seemed that when I was in Temple, I had a feeling of peace that seemed to have little to do with the words from the pulpit, and much to do with the fact that I was there seeking some kind of relationship with God, although I only realized that later.

So… fast forward to May of 1995. I was working in a search firm in Simi Valley. There was a guy named Tony who had become a friend who had started working there in January of that year. He was a funny guy. He looked and sounded like Joe Pesci, and it turned out that he had actually been a legbreaker for the Mob in his previous life. Tony was raised Catholic (or cat-lick as he said), but had left his former occupation and “given his life to Jesus”, as he said, a number of years before I met him. He was one of these guys that loved to kid around, and we used to pass the time together doing voices and characters on the phone and breaking each other up. Although I had only known Tony for about six months, one day he said to me, “John, I want to take you out to lunch. I have something very important that I want to ask you, no fooling around”. This was very unusual coming from my friend, but as he and I had become close, and I knew he really loved me, I said “sure Tony” and we went.

Well, as you can guess, the question he asked me that day had to do with his friend Jesus. I might have guessed that this was going to be the topic of his conversation, although I didn’t at the time, but what I couldn’t have guessed right then was what my response would be. This was his question (I will never forget it). “John, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Living Son of God who died on a cross for your sins because you can’t stand before a Holy and a Righteous God without a Savior?” Now you may think that this Jewish wiseguy (me) would find it easy to just brush that question off, but here is the way it went down…

First, my brain went numb. Then my inner heart started screaming inside my chest “Yes. Yes. You know you believe that”. Then I went into something that I can only describe as a total epiphany. (defined as “a sudden and profound understanding of something”). The Lord revealed Himself and I did the only thing I could do at the moment. I said “yes, I believe that.” Upon uttering those words something happened that I have never been able to explain. I was taken back through my entire life in glimpses that made me realize that not only did I NOW know and recognize Jesus as Lord, but that He had been an active participant (the MOST active participant) in my life from BEFORE I WAS BORN.

I am going to go into greater detail about that journey next week. Suffice it to say, that the word “yes” that I spoke that day was the single most profound and wonderful moment of my life and I have never looked back except in wonderment at what the Lord has done with this wretched sinner who is now a citizen of Heaven all because of the power of “yes”.

Matthew 21:28-29 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.”

Matthew 5:37 – Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’’

In His Grip of Grace, with Love,
John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

About a year after I moved to Simi Valley, the Holy Spirit led me to a Men’s Bible Study at a large local church called Discovery Church.  As it happened, when I arrived the first Saturday, I was astounded to find that the place was packed to the rafters, about 45 men at 7 tables, at 7 AM no less! Now you probably can’t imagine how excited I was to see this kind of turn out for a Men’s Bible Study. I had come from a Church in the San Fernando Valley where I had led the Men’s Ministry one Saturday a month and whenever I would suggest that we meet more frequently, the Pastor would tell me that “it isn’t fair to the men’s families to take them away more than once a month”. Now in fairness to that Pastor, because his traditional time for the once-a-month Saturday was 9 AM, that might have been true, because by the time they got home it was 11:30 or Noon, and half the day was gone. However, if you get the men to come at 7 AM, they get steeped in the Word of God and then come home to their families around 9 AM when the kiddos are just waking up. The family then gets a husband and dad who is on fire with the Holy Spirit for the rest of the day. Brilliant! So, I was enthused when I got to this 7 AM Study to say the least. At the end of the teaching at this Bible Study, we were asked to go around each table and get prayer requests from each other so that we could pray during the week. Now, irrepressible me, filled with the Holy Spirit, I had to insist that my table take prayer requests and pray right then and there! Well, these were the right group of men at the right time, because that practice spread like wildfire from table to table to God’s Glory, and in the following weeks all the men at all the tables were praying in the Spirit and the men started seeing the kinds of miracles of answered prayer that only happens when the Body prays fervently and effectually for each other in community with the Spirit of the Lord. About two months later, I was asked to be a teacher, in regular rotation, and I really got to know a great number of these men who I came to think of as my fellow soldiers in Christ’s glorious Army of saints. One in particular, was a giant of a young man named Bill, who came up to me after a study that I taught about the Love of God. He was in tears and said that he was touched by the lesson and we exchanged cell numbers. I began meeting with and discipling Bill regularly and watched his growth in joy, as he overcame some huge generational struggles in the early time that I knew him and went on to become the most amazing servant of God! His ministry is his work as a Contractor with the men he hires and in AA where he attracts and disciples men through their struggles with drugs and alcohol. His love for these men and tenacity always humbles me. I am so proud of the man of God Bill has become! I feel about Bill as the apostle Paul must have felt when he said: 1Cor 4:15-17 “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.” Last night I hosted Abundant Life’s 2nd Thursday Bible Study at the Samaritan Center and I asked Bill to teach the lesson. Bill brought a few of the guys with him that typically meet at one of their homes on Thursday nights, including some of the Discovery Church Men’s Bible group. It was a great blessing to see that one of them was my good friend Gary, who has also grown up mightily in the Lord, and was a blessed addition to this group. Bill taught on the Holy Spirit, and he had prepared masterfully not only the outline and supporting scriptures, but questions for the flock that comes on these evenings to go deeper in the Word and be edified. Now I will say, that I have found that teaching and ministering to homeless people, the love is always amplified because of Jesus’ own love of the poor and when we are obedient to take our time and gifts to their table, as it were, they always eat and drink with gusto and bless us all. That said, I was struck by the beautiful balance between the working men and the homeless folks at the table and how the love of Christ was so palpable as everyone gave their input through the Holy Spirit throughout Bill’s teaching. We prayed for each other afterwards and we could all feel how our Father in Heaven was glorified as His sons and daughters, in grateful obedience to His Word, went boldly before the Throne of Grace for each other. What a blessing it is to be anointed by the Most High God to be a tree where many birds can nest and to see the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s Presence blooming on so many of the soldiers He has called. I am blessed and humbled by these men who you have sent me Lord, and those in the flock who have received Your Word and Truth in Love. C.S. Lewis said it best. “For a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of the Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends “You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” I thank God for Bill and Gary and all those soldiers with whom I am serving in His Love to form a mighty cadre here on earth. I will save the Army of God for a future blog. To all the beloved, in His grip of Love, John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

For those who may not know Simi Valley, California, it is a quiet bedroom community Northwest of Los Angeles, where many police, firemen (and women), FBI, DEA and other law enforcement types make their homes. It is also a community which happens to be one of the most prevalent centers of prescription opiate abuse and heroin use by teenagers in the U.S.A. The story I am about to tell is a praise report because this is one of the great things Jesus is doing in Simi Valley.

I have a good friend who was an associate pastor at one of the large “groundcover” churches in Simi Valley when I first met him. When I say “groundcover” church, I am referring to a very large (2000+ members) church where the pulpit is called a “stage”, the congregation is called an “audience” (making the pastors actors, I suppose), and the act of worship is known as “singing songs to God”. These churches are large and spread out as far as the eye can see, but they don’t grow very deep (like ground cover). They are “seeker sensitive” and the Word that is taught is more about how having a relationship with God makes you a better person, and less about how our lives should be about glorifying our beloved Savior and the Father and accessing the power of the Holy Spirit to awaken a world that desperately needs Jesus. Becoming a better person then becomes the effect of our relationship with God certainly, but it should never be our sole motivation, and to put a fine point on it, I have found that when God is most glorified in the purposeful praise and worship and acts of His people, then they (we) are most joyful.

Having said this, I do believe that anyplace that Jesus is acknowledged and His Word taught, He will use for His Glory in drawing His children to Himself. 

Anyway, back to my friend. He is a pastor trained in a seminary, and like many, he was taught to color in between the lines of the Gospel story, teach the standard Biblical messages, and learned the “business” of religion, with little or less emphasis on relationship with God or other people. This is the type of pastor that you typically see in bedroom community churches like the one described above. Now admittedly, this is my own biased impression, undoubtedly with many exceptions, but it is based on pastors I have known and heard about from other believers who have been turned off by hypocrisy in the churches they have attended.

Then something happened to my friend. The Senior Pastor left the large church in Simi Valley where he worked, and then shortly thereafter, my friend left also, and went back to the Midwest, where he was originally from, and took a Pastor role there. It did not work well for him and his family, and after about a year and a half, he returned to Simi. Since we were friends, and I had become a prayer partner to him before his egress, when he returned, he contacted me and we met for coffee. During our meeting, he seemed very downcast and was desperately seeking another pastor job in town. Not being a fan of “professional pastors”, I suggested to him that he might be happier if he took a regular job and sought God’s leading for a ministry within that context (being a car salesman, for instance, gives you the opportunity to speak subtly into many people’s lives). He was chewing on that thought when the Holy Spirit hit me with something specific. I asked him “why do you think the Lord led you back to Simi Valley and what is the thing you are most passionate about, that you would do even if you weren’t being paid”? I saw the light come into my friend’s eyes then and he said “John, I love the skater kids in Simi so much”. He told me how his son was a skater and how he had a lot of friends who did drugs and were in and out of jail, and how sometimes they used to come over to his house for a meal.

Then, all of a sudden, he remembered that when he was a poor kid growing up in a small town, that he was a lot like those kids, always getting into trouble, and getting hassled by the local law, and how there was this wonderful lady who used to open up her home a couple of times a week for him and his friends and she would make meals for them, and bake cookies, and read scriptures from the Bible and they would all listen and enjoy the Word of God. Right then, we looked at each other and we both felt the Holy Spirit and we prayed for what would become his ministry. I came to find out later that my Pastor at Abundant Life Church had also been speaking love and truth into my friend’s life since his return from the Midwest. God always orchestrates these things, I have found.

My friend and his wife shortly after our meeting, started a ministry called “Journey Home” which did exactly what that lovely saint from back in his hometown did. They open their home several times a week to kids (ages 13 to 21) who are at risk, to give them a safe place to hang out. My friend reads scripture to them and answers their questions about Jesus. He has services on Sunday nights for the kids and their parents and other adults who want to support the ministry, and on Monday nights, he has a service just for the kids. As of last Monday, they had over 50 kids and the place was packed. My friend has led dozens of these kids (whom he loves, and who love him) to know Christ and begin to walk intentionally with Him. He even has a couple of FBI guys who are on fire for the Lord, men of God that attend these meetings and speak into the kids lives. Also, one of his good friends, a younger man whom he had discipled, has expanded the ministy by starting up a Wednesday night service for younger kids (ages 9-12) and that is also growing by leaps and bounds. God is being greatly glorified through the power of obedience and faith in Simi Valley!

Now my friend is being courted by the City Hall crowd and just became a partner with the local anti-heroin task force group “Not One More”. Many local churches are beginning to support his ministry, and most importantly, the Lord is supplying all of his and his family’s needs, through His incredible provision, so that my friend does not need a “pastor job”. The Lord sent ravens to feed Elijah in the desert, and He will always provide for His true servants. Here is a link to my friend’s ministry. http://simivalleyjourney.org/ I encourage you to support this ministry. By supporting local ministries like this with our prayers, our time and our donations, we, the Body of Christ, can have an incredible impact in our communities, in pushing back the darkness that is encroaching everywhere. If the world is getting darker, then we just have to shine brighter. Jesus told us that we would do the things He did and greater things than these. I have chosen to believe that the reason is simply that there are more of us.

Blessings of His Joy and Strength to all the brethren.

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Let me start this blog off, by saying that now that “Thanksgiving Day” 2015, is past and the leftovers are in the refrigerator to be scarfed, or not, at a future date, I find that I am more grateful than ever, for the work that the Lord has done in Christ Jesus and that He is still doing in me and those around me who are submitted to Him, through the power of His Holy Spirit, and whom I am blessed to say are my spiritual family.

The day before Thanksgiving, three days ago, the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission had their Great Thanksgiving Feast at their new facility in Van Nuys. An entire city block on Tyrone Ave. between Victory Blvd. and Gilmore Street was cordoned off, and gracious hosts Ken and Laurie Craft and their amazing staff and incredible army of volunteers served a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings and gave away a mountain of clothes, backpacks and blankets to over 1000 homeless and hungry of our friends that were bussed in from Sunland/Tujunga, Sun Valley, Winnetka and North Hollywood, and to many of the local residents in Van Nuys that had need.

As I am blessed every year at this meeting of many tribes, I was able to greet, bless, pray with and love on, hundreds of folks that I see separately and only occasionally throughout the year, and many whom I have not seen in many years, as well as meet many new friends among God’s elite, the poor. There were so many memorable moments packed in the three hours I was there that it felt like being on an incredible ride at the greatest amusement park in the world with every moment packed with revelation and joy and love between the saints. I had brought three of my good friends from the Simi Valley flock to enjoy the party and they felt all that love as well.

One moment that stands out in my mind was when one young lady threw herself at me out of the crowd and hugged me fiercely. It took me a moment to recognize her, but it was my dear friend Sandra, whom I had not seen for at least three years. She looked wonderful and her eyes shone with joy as she told me of all the great things the Lord had done to her, with her and through her in those years since we last had been together. Sandra had been a volunteer with the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission for a number of years before they stopped serving meals in the Valley, and although she herself was very poor, and on and off homeless, she always served with a whole heart. Sandra would often translate the Word for me in those days. She was a very good ambassador of the Word to those in the flock who were Spanish-speaking, and it blessed them and me to know that they were getting the benefit of God’s revelation in real time, as the rest of us who speak only English.

Sandra was SO happy. She told me that she now had two jobs, was living in a nice place, her grown children and grandchildren were doing well, all were going to church and serving in the community, and she had regular interaction with the Holy Spirit and spoke of the miracles that He was doing in her and through her. I told her how proud I was of her and her continued dedication to the Lord and His people. She told me that all the years of translating God’s Word had let His words live in her in a very unique and lasting way, and she thanked me for allowing her to be my translator in those days. We both cried a bit at the goodness of God.

Another moment that stuck out was seeing my Sunland/Tujunga friends whom I hadn’t seen for almost two years. I had had a very close and fruitful interaction with this flock on two separate occasions, each lasting about a year, between 2009 and 2013. The first year they were a very unruly and dysfunctional flock, much like the early years of Sun Valley, in that they were extremely abusive to each other and the neighborhood that “hosted” them, and they were addicted, angry and prone to idolatry, fornication and Spiritism (witchcraft) through pernicious generational curses that had remained unchecked because most of the local pastors in that area, were more interested in their Sunday-sitting, tithing flock (with some notable exceptions among those churches, including a beautiful saint who had herself been homeless but became a shepherd among them after the Rescue Mission pulled back). The second time, two years later, I found them much improved, but still many were lost to drugs and alcohol, although they, by then, knew and loved Jesus and listened more attentively when the Word was given. When I saw this group, about ten of them, at the Feast last Thursday, I was amazed to see that all of them were clean, sober and most importantly, evidencing the fruit of the Spirit. We had a truly joyful reunion as they all told me what God had done, and was doing in their lives and in the rest of the flock in Sunland that had survived (a number had died in their addictions). We all prayed and gave God the Glory.

When my buddies and I left Van Nuys, we were all glowing with the Joy of the Lord and on the drive back we were all excited, loving each other and brimming with gratitude for the greatness of God. Two of my friends, themselves homeless, are encouragers of the flock in Simi Valley, and I know they will spread the love they experienced at the Feast throughout the holidays to the rest of the flock at the Samaritan Center.

Again, let me express my gratitude to the Father of Lights through Whom all blessings flow, and for the opportunity that He has given me to know, be a part of and love the Family/Israel of God, the called according to His purpose, my friends both poor and well-off, who love Him and love each other. May this apply generously, with my blessings, to all who read this blog and agree with the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ Name.

In His Love, Beyond Imagining,
John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi