New Year morning, Rosh HaSchana 5768, for me His feast (hebr. Moed = defined time) should become this year like a new life. Initially was nothing of that visible on Thursday morning of last week. On the contrary, building noise directly before my flat door (…you shall do no work on this day; a day of blowing the trumpet shall it be for you) and busy business life along the Main street, that leads to ‚my park‘ – the very park, in which I take in the Parashot and Haphtarah of the relevant feast of the LORD on every Shabbat, His Word for me. For a while I laid it next to me on the bench, looked full amazement at His sky, His creation and this day. Tonight I would, first time ever outside a Synagogue, celebrate together with Jews and Christians a feast of God – I was almost lame out of gratefulness. After several minutes I grabbed a piece of paper, wrote this testimony down while crying happily and finished it (with regard to Jom Kippur) with the promise, that I would ask in my thoughts every person on the way home, out of rejoicing over the personally received happiness, „Please, forgive me!“ …His WORD for me was still unopened next to me; only an idea – as it would be virgin like untouched, yet knowing, I had already experienced on my own body – smelled as a foretaste the morning air of autumn, cuttingly bitter and sweet, like angels of the LORD.
From affliction becomes passion. From complete trust, comes divine promise:

Rosh HaSchana-reading Gen 21+22,15-18: (Gen 22:15 KJV) And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. – Then, as 11 years ago, this angel appeared to me and I, like Abraham then, put all my trust in the LORD (dedicated to my only son Patric Steven: „I love and bless you, wherever you live – LA’SHANA HA’BA BE’YERUSHALAYIM“), that was bitter. With the years it became ever sweeter, the more I come to realize and accept, that G-d FATHER already gave in Abraham testimony about Himself, that He would not spare even His own son Yeshua HaMashiach. On the morning of Rosh HaSchana last week pulled me this realization in the flowering, scented green of His park, His possession, that I had not realized His Shabbat so many years with the right gratefulness, to share with him – promise for all mankind! Incidentally, as I was reading anew in chapter 21 of the Rosh HaSchana scripture, including especially and absolutely the people of Ishmael (verses 16-21)!

Conform to my promise, that I would ask anyone I was too meet on my way home in my thoughts for forgiveness, had packed my belongings and passed on the next bench a man of about 60 years of age whom I greeted with a kind „Shana Tova“ , what means in Hebrew something like „Happy New Year!“ He answered with a foreign accent: „Is that not a glorious day?“ and I asked him where is from? He was from Kosovo, already 36 years in Germany, Muslim and praised here in the park the G-d of Abraham, today, the first day of Ramadan! Like myself, he was aware, that in the 7th century Mohammed lead his people, away from G-d and everything that is holy to Him, as it happened three centuries before by Emperor Constantine with the Christians, whose God abandonment lasts till this very day. Together we sat for about 45 minutes, often with a tear on our cheeks and a Hallelujah on our lips, amazed before G-d, who saw everything, what HE had created, and see, it was very good (Gen 1:31).

G-d’s Sabbath International wishes everyone, who loves G-d from their whole heart and soul, a forgiving Jom Kippur feast.

Photographies by Frank Rothert, Cologne/Germany

I believe if we mean it serious with our following Jesus, we will not come around to sanctify the Shabbat. Through the confession to His Shabbat it comes to a healing in our basic relation to the Creator God … What by all means can bring with it physical healing, believe only, so that you may receive it, so it will be yours! Yes, I believe, it has to do with the heartily “reception”, to become a concrete part of His wonderful works – and to thank Him in advance, He is holy! Through thankfulness we will be enabled, “to register” Him, to receive Him! So I receive nowadays His promises for me in faith, that in the spiritual realm they are already fulfilled in love – and thank Him! For instance in Psalm 118:17-18: I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. The Shabbat is His work, since eternity prepared for me. I just needed to receive it, so that this joy could come into existence. This work I will proclaim, especially to the children in all the world – I burn so much for, that I can‘t wait, till He has healed me again. I thank the LORD for the kindling of this longing and desire in me. Thereby I take Him nothing from His holy sovereignty. We live all by grace alone. Shabbat Shalom!

For me as Pastor the Sunday is anyway my main working day, for the glory of the resurrection of Jesus. Naturally I keep the Shabbat, for else I would have no day of rest.

icf, today: FREIRAUM Bonn – Meine Kirche

Some years ago I came to realise that it is fairly strange that God is talking about eternal feasts and celebrations, but in church they were not reflected. I started to ask, to dig and then I found out that they were changed by man, thus God’s word was still true. As I saw that it was difficult to find support I concluded: “What stops me from simply keeping them?” So I started and find that my live did take a turn to the better, in relationship to Him.