Mishpachah Yeshua Newsletter
A Newsletter To The Family Of Jesus From Restoration Ministries
The Hebraic family is not simply an individual or private matter.
Rather, it is an institution in which the whole community has a stake.
Thus, the Hebrew word “mishpachah,” meaning family, not only refers to parents and children,
but to the whole extended family worldwide in the body of “Yeshua”—our Jesus.
[click here for a printable copy]
August 2000 Topic: Hebraic Restoring
Dignity
Dear friends,
Sue and I have just returned from our
four-week, 4600-mile journey. We've had a wonderful opportunity
to visit many Native Americans, both during the Many
Nations/One Voice Celebration in Calgary and on several
reservations during our return trip to Flagstaff. We're very
excited to see how open the Native peoples are to the truths of
the Hebraic restoration.
Particularly affirming were the Native
grandmothers who understand the plight of their people and have
seen no hope for the future. Many were openly critical of the
false relational divisions created by denominationalism on the
rez (reservation). After listening to what we shared and why
God sent us, they warmly received us and asked us to return to
help their people.
One grandmother in particular stands out. We met Norma Blacksmith, a Lakota, on the Pine Ridge, SD reservation. She had such love for her people and was using Demolishing Strongholds to help many become free. Also, each week she goes to the high places using DS to bind the spirits that plague the reservation. Because of her efforts we found a great deal of freedom to share on the rez. After spending two days with her and hearing of her loving courage for her people, I said to her, "If Mike Dowgiewicz were physically born again, he would come back as a Lakota woman named Norma Blacksmith." She was honored by my words and prayed for Sue and me that we would return soon.
The Love in Restoring Dignity
Our desire is that through our endeavors,
dignity will be restored to the Native people. The Hebrew term, Ahavat haBriyot [ah-hah-vaht’ hah-bree-oat’], means giving the
love and dignity to which every person is entitled. This is the
basis for Jesus’s words, “So
in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,
for this sums up the [Torah] and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12). Tolerance, understanding and
compassion are part of the respect each of us desires and are
responsible to give. We are all made in God’s image and
any defaming acts or words are an attack on Him. [More on this
later.]
“Turning the hearts of the fathers
to the children...”
Beginning with our time in Calgary, the
Lord began to show me how He could best use Sue and me in the
future. I met with our Board of Directors on the way back and
received their permission to pursue the direction God had given
me.
Currently, the vast majority of ministry
on the rez is to the youth. Sadly, we encountered nothing being
carried on, other than alcohol programs, to restore the men,
especially the older men, to their rightful places. In the eyes
of many Anglo missionaries, Native men are held in incredible
disdain. In essence, the Bureau of Indian Affairs began so many
decades ago to destroy the Native culture, and the church has
been a willing ally.
We have begun to develop specific
ways to restore Native men. The biblical foundation is from
Malachi, "Turning the hearts
of the fathers to the children..." The potential of restoring dignity to the men
encourages me a great deal. [Some of you who have been with us
since our retreat center days may remember that church leaders
asked me in 1986 to involve myself in the restoration of
men.] In the intervening years there are two things that have
hindered our progress:
1) Ministries that draw men away to big
"groupie" events but have done little to enable a man
through adequate role models to live as a man of God with his
family.
2) The overwhelming amount of church
ministries to youth and singles that by-pass the wisdom of
older men, or compensate for irresponsible fathers through
their programs.
By failing to equip men to take their
rightful places with "hearts
toward the children," our land
has been smitten with a curse: generations of rebellious youths
and adults. Sadly, these methods have been exported to the rez,
annihilating whole families.
Fortunately for us, some ministries have
seen the fruitlessness of their decades of work on the rez.
Hopefully one of these will cooperate with us to see a time
when the Native people themselves are ministering to and
raising up other Native people. In our travels we have not
encountered one ministry that has turned their work over to any
Native people. I believe there were several who were affronted
by my questions, such as, "After 50 years, why are you
Anglos still here in leadership?"
Sue and I ask you to pray with us for God
to give us wisdom in rewriting our materials to better suit
Native experience. Also, that more Native people might join us
to share this message with their own culture. The Lord gave us
a visual image as we observed the extensive irrigation canals
in Phoenix two months ago: As Sue and I fulfill the Lord's word
to "Share this message", we are like the Salt River
bringing water to the head of many canals. We are to give the
Hebraic truths to those we meet at the head of each canal, but
are not to go down the canal. Those who are in relationship
downstream are to carry these truths with them.
Iniquity of the mouth—
Lashon hara
During my first deployment to Vietnam I
asked the Executive Officer of our ship to assign me as the
Morale Officer. Our ship spent long periods at sea off the
coast of Vietnam, and keeping up morale was something I thought
I could do. One thing that destroyed morale was false rumors.
When-ever I heard about a rumor, I’d follow the trail
back to the person who started it. I’d bring him before
the Executive Officer who would then deal with the man
appropriately. It did not take long for those who started
rumors to realize I’d pursue them. All rumors
stopped!
Years later, when I began to read the
Bible for the first time, I came across, “then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly...” (Deu. 13:14). I remembered my time as Morale
Officer. In my 23+ years of following Christ, I've met only
three other men who, when they hear something bad being spoken
about another person, inquire and investigate thoroughly.
Lashon hara [lah-shone’ hah-rah’] literally means “tongue
of evil” in Hebrew. It refers to gossip, backbiting,
rumor mongering, slander, and other misuses of speech. Lashon hara is the
opposite of ahavat haBriyot, mentioned earlier. The sin of lashon hara is
weighed equally with the sins of idolatry, sexual immorality,
and murder in ancient Jewish texts. In previous newsletters
we’ve shared these definitions:
GOSSIP: Sharing detrimental information
about someone with those not part of the problem or the
solution.
SLANDER: Telling part of the truth, or
error, with intent to hurt.
Frequently we find the stronghold of
jealousy at the root of lashon hara. Symptoms are: spiteful, gossip, slander,
betrayal, critical nature, judgmental, suspicious.
The Lashon
hara of Ephraim
Many years ago the Lord impressed on me to
study the tribe of Ephraim. They were lukewarm in keeping
God’s commands and became experts at lashon hara, especially
against those who fully obeyed God. [We see this same pattern
among many churched people today.] The Ephraimites failed to
obey God’s command: “Nor
did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the
Canaanites continued to live there among them” (Judges 1:29).
As a consequence to their disobedience,
the Ephraimites bad-mouthed those who did obey God. Gideon,
after winning the great battle against the Midianites with only
300 men, is met by the Ephraimites: “Now the Ephraimites...criticized him
sharply" Judges 8:1).
Jephthah, returning from a mighty battle
against the Am-monites, was falsely accused by the Ephraimites: “The men of Ephraim called
out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah,
‘Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us
to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your
head’" (Judges 12:
1).
When King Hezekiah wanted to renew the
celebration of the Passover, he sent word to all Israel to come
and celebrate in Jerusalem: “The
couriers went from town to town in Ephraim... but the people
scorned and ridiculed them” (2Chr.
30:10).
The Psalmist describes the fear which
plagues the lukewarm when warfare comes: “The men of Ephraim, though armed with
bows, turned back on the day of battle; they did not
keep God's covenant and refused to live by his law. They
forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them” (Psa. 78:9-11).
Hosea goes on to describe the lack of
staying power and the half-baked attitude produced by
lukewarmness: “What can I do
with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is
like the morning mist, like the early dew that
disappears” (Hos. 6:4) and, “Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim
is a flat cake not turned over” (Hos. 7:8).
Avoiding Lashon
hara:
The Influence of Wisdom
It may be easier to fly to the moon than
to ever fully conquer participation with this sin. Yet, we
must, because it is this sin that has produced so many
destroyed relationships, sullied so many reputations, and left
all of us feeling vulnerable.
Consider your own walk with Jesus: Does
your mouth reflect your heart? In your home, is bad- mouthing
confronted? Do your ears tolerate bad reports about others?
These are tremendous times of loneliness
and isolation among God’s people. Many run to Christian
conferences like groupies hoping to fill this void. Confi-dence
in Christian relationships to bear the load with each other is
at an all-time low. The evil of the heart-mouth combo has dealt
not only faith communities but many families a death blow. The
culprit? Your tongue:
“The tongue is a small part of the
body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest
is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a
world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the
whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is
itself set on fire by hell” (Jam.
3:2,5,6).
Your tongue often reflects a deeper issue.
During your life pilgrimage you have three positions which
affect your relationship with others: influence, authority, or control:
1). The Bible
strongly encourages us that wisdom is the means to influence. All of us should seek this path. “The wisdom that comes from heaven is
first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive,
full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (Jam. 3:16).
2). Authority comes with positions that have the
responsibility to include or exclude, to commend or correct
others. Not everyone will have authority over others.
3). Control is a desire to have evil power over others. Often,
in this culture, control comes by obtaining negative
information about another person and using it to manipulate or
even destroy him/her. “For
where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find
disorder and every evil practice” (Jam. 3:17).
Exposing Lashon hara
Symptoms of people controlled by lashon hara:
• Focus on their own rights
• Wrong expectations about others
• Use people for personal ambitions
• Distrust & apathy toward
leadership
• Need for detailed instructions
• Lack of follow-through
• Conflicts in priorities
• Sympathize with and encourage
discontent in others
• Easily take up offenses for others
• Magnify reports of discontent
• Create an inability to restore
[From Institute in Basic Life Principles]
• Are you a wife who calls her mother
to belittle and complain about her husband? Sue and I have seen
the Christian landscape strewn with divorces that could have
been saved if lashon hara had ceased. This isn’t a new problem: “Likewise, teach the older women to be
reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted
to much wine, but to teach what is good” (Tit. 2:3).
• Are you in a small group with a
‘seemingly needy couple’? We have encountered
married couples who destroy small groups by using the group to
air their problems about each other. Neither really wants help.
They are trying to recruit people to take sides with them
against their spouse. Deal with them as you would a divisive
individual: “Warn a divisive
person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have
nothing to do with him” (Tit.
3:10).
• Are you in a second marriage in
which the spouse of the first marriage is negatively brought
up?
• Are you a closet psychologist,
always robbing people of dignity by inferring motivation? The
epitome of control is to imply a motivation without asking the
person why he/she does something. While speaking at a
mission school, an Anglo teacher complained that the Indians
didn’t respect the whites because they were never on
time. I asked a Native man to come forward to explain his
motive. The teacher withdrew his complaint.
• Do you use racial or sexist slurs?
• Are you a meddler where you
haven’t been invited? Jesus was asked, “‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the
inheritance with me.’ Jesus replied, ‘Man, who
appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’” (Luke 12:13,14). Jesus refused to meddle. Peter
warns, “If you suffer, it
should not be as a murderer or thief...or even as a
meddler” (1Pet. 4:15).
• Do you bad-mouth your parents? If
you do, you will find it very difficult to relax in
relationships, especially with people in authority over you.
Lashon hara(ing)
God
God is also an object of the bad-mouthing
of His people. Many fail to receive answers to their prayers
for several reasons, and as a result begin to speak with doubt
about God and His character.
The most common reason for prayers not
being answered is unconfessed sin: “If
I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have
listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in
prayer” (Psa. 66:18,19).
Second, wrong motive for the prayer: “When you ask, you do not receive, because you
ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your
pleasures” (Jam. 4:3).
We have noticed that some of the worse
complainers are people who refuse to tithe. God commands all of
us: “‘Bring the whole
tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see
if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out
so much blessing that you will not have room enough for
it’” (Mal. 3:10).
People who have accepted God’s “challenge”
are wonderfully blessed. But, like the Jewish people of old,
there are those who refuse and use lashon
hara:
“‘You have said harsh things
against me,’ says the LORD. ‘Yet you ask,
“What have we said against you?” ‘You have
said, “It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by
carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners
before the LORD Almighty?’” (Mal. 3:13,14).
As we travel and meet new people, we find
you don’t have to be with them long to discern
God’s blessings on the righteous ones: “And you will see the distinction between the
righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those
who do not” (v.18).
These are the people with whom Sue and I are most comfortable.
Their lives show a genuine interest in giving dignity to
others. It’s easy to talk “God-talk” with
them—you know, the things of the Spirit.
If you seek a life of righteousness and
avoid lashon hara, you can have confidence approaching our Lord: “Then you will call, and the Lord will
answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: ‘Here am
I.’ If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the
pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves
in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will
become like the noonday’” (Isa. 5:9,10).
Our Mode of Native Ministry
Our desire is that we would bring Ahavat HaBriyot—love and dignity—to the Native people. We want
to respect the “protocols” of each group and
cooperate with the older people to affirm their rightful place
among their people.
I pray that each of you reading this
letter will do all you can to restore the dignity of the
op-pressed and to guard the dignity of others through avoiding lashon hara. I pray
that you would have the loving courage to investigate, probe,
and expose those who destroy with their mouths.
May each of us use our mouths and lives to
glorify the Father through His Son.
Mike & Sue Dowgiewicz
