Something is Wrong Here: A Meditation on Genesis 3

Something Is Wrong Here: A Mediation on Genesis 3

The World as It Is

The opening message of the Bible is that God so loved that he created a very good world. We learn that God created women and men in his own image for the purpose of love and fellowship. We learned that From the Beginning God was and is loving, gracious and supremely good toward all his Creation. That is comforting and essential to know. That is however the world that was.

Moses tells us that the Story did not end in Genesis 2. Israel, like you and I, had experienced a world that is, at times, ANYTHING but good, friendly and loving! They had experienced the horrors of slavery: the beatings, the molestation, the toil in some one else’s vineyard, the loss of children sold to other slave holders. Israel's world was a frightening place indeed. They knew the existence of pain, suffering, and misery -- just as you and I do. Israel's question was something like this (it may even be one that you have entertained before): "If the world was created so good and God intended to be with us From the Beginning, then why all this slavery? why all this misery? why all this hate?" Sound like familiar questions.

Genesis 3 answers these questions. Moses explains that Something went Wrong in God's good world. That something is humankind! Humans went wrong! That is what Genesis 3 is all about, Genesis 3 tells us What went wrong in God's world.

The “Fall” Into Misery

Adam and Eve had been placed by Yahweh in a beautiful garden called Eden. Eden was a virtual paradise. God himself, in fulfillment of his intention from the beginning, walked with the first human couple in the cool of the day. Eden was in fact the first temple in the Bible, a place where deity and humanity come together in shalom. What a joyous place to be. Moses tells us that Man rebelled and sinned against God. We (and I say "we" for we ourselves did it in Adam) rejected Yahweh as our Lord. We sought to establish ourselves as our own god. That is what went wrong. When Sin (with a capital "S") entered the picture disaster struck God's good world. The destruction was the same as when Pearl Harbor was violently wrenched from sleep from the sounds of bombs. It destroyed what God had intended: the fellowship and holy love between him and his creation. Graffiti was smeared across God’s beautiful and loving world.

In our text in verses 1-6 we read of three temptations to Eve: 1) "You must not eat from any tree in the garden;" 2) You will not die" (v.4); 3) You will be like God" (v.5). These temptations employed by the Serpent are basic to his tactics against God's People to this very day and the results are just as deadly as ever. Eve's first temptation starts off with dissatisfaction with God's commands. James tells us that the Tempter uses what is already in us to lead us to sin. So Eve thought God's command was unfair and unreasonable. The Serpent seized upon her desire and used it against her. Notice the exaggeration of God's loving command: God had given ALL to Adam and Eve except one Tree. Satan's tactic is to get us to believe God is depriving us of something good.

Satan's second tactic is to get us to believe that God is not serious! God had declared that if the first Human couple disobeyed they would die. Satan tries to get us to believe "God would not punish you for this, would he?" Surely obedience to this command is not a matter of life and death. Satan's third tactic is, perhaps the root of them all, pandering to human pride. Humans believe they are autonomous. Man believes he is an entity unto himself. Thinking it is My way or the Highway! Brothers and sisters that is the basis of EVERY sin! It is automatic rebellion against the Lordship of God.

Eve caved in to the Serpent. She fell to the nonsense that God was somehow depriving her of something valuable and important (in spite of the fact that From the Beginning God has been good and loving). She was tricked into believing God was NOT serious about obedience to his commands. She asserted her autonomy in direct rebellion to God -- that is what pushed her thoughts of rebellion into action. So she took the forbidden fruit and ate. The text says, "She also
gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it" (v.6).

The picture that Moses paints is so authentic and true to our own experience with temptation. He paints a picture on not only how we sin, but of the subtly of Sin. For we see also in v.6 that the forbidden fruit looked "good." Eating it looked like the right thing to do. And how characteristic that is of our sin against God. Few of us set out deliberately to do evil. Most want to be "good" people. And sin often looks like the right thing to do; it looks like the "loving" thing to do; or the proper thing in that particular situation. Sometimes it looks like the least painful thing to do. The only difficulty is that the act is a violation of God's command and therefore brings unforeseen woe.

Eve did what she thought was right even in her rebellion. But before we get to critical of the Mother of all the living we should notice the Man!! The whole time that grotesque Serpent was beguiling his Wife, Adam is standing RIGHT THERE. I never noticed that before. I had pictured in my head of Eve eating alone then tracking down her husband to give him some of the Fruit. But the text says Adam was "WITH her!" (v.6b). Men often joke about women leading men astray and doing so since the beginning. But men, nowhere in Scripture is guilt laid at the feet of Eve for leading the Human race into damnation -- Adam alone gets that honor!

One scholar argues that the first sin was not eating the fruit at all. Instead he argues that the first sin was Adam's failure to protect his wife from the onslaught of the Serpent. Think about it. When God commanded Adam not to eat of the Tree in 2.17 Even was not even created yet. Men are supposed to be the spiritual protectors of their families and Adam failed miserably. Adam failed to love his wife enough to intervene when she -- who is standing by his side -- is wrestling with the Serpent. That is why Adam is blamed for the Fall of the world and not Eve. Paul says, "For sin entered into the world through one man, Adam." Love means I am willing to take responsibility. Adam failed. Oh, how many men today are doing what Adam did in their families!! Their wives wrestle with spiritual warfare and to often husbands, like Adam, sit on the sidelines and do nothing while the one they claim to love is lead to the slaughter.

Why is the world like it is if God created a good world? Moses says man departed from God. Adam failed to be the spiritual leader in his family, so Eve had to wrestle with life and death issues alone. With no one to help Eve made the wrong choice. Worse that than Adam never wrestled at all -- he simply went along for the ride. In fact the only thing we read that Adam took the lead in was in passing the blame on to the wife he failed to protect. That rebellion against God brought drastic consequences.

Man did have a new knowledge. Did Humans gain a knowledge not known before? No. We did know of sin and its consequences, God had revealed that to us. Francis Schaeffer notes, insight fully, it was only experiential knowledge gained:

"It is only the knowledge of the child whose mother says, `Don't go near that fire because if you do you will get hurt. You will catch fire and be burned. But the little child goes on in disobedience, falls into the fire and spends the next three days dying in agony. The child has learned something that it wouldn't have known experientially if it had listened to the knowledge given by its mother. But what knowledge!" (Genesis in Space and Time, p.83).

Yes, humankind did gain knowledge. But what horrible knowledge. We now know what it FEELS like to be a sinner. We now know what it FEELS like to be alienated from the One we were created to experience fellowship with. That is a knowledge that has been passed down from our First Parents down to us to this very day. We now know what it FEELS like to be afraid of God. Humans now know they are on a different side than God. What knowledge!? Something is definitely wrong here!! Who wants that kind of knowledge?

Something Good in the Future

The world is cursed due to our sin. Death and misery and hate enter the picture. Pain in child birth, toil to eke out a life are now familiar to us. Here in Genesis 3 we have Humankind's declaration of War on God. We read here why the world is like it is and why Christ Jesus had to come to restore us to the place God intended From the Beginning.

God did not destroy Adam and Eve. Instead in his infinite mercy he spared them. We read that something took their place -- a substitute. Something died to provide clothing to hide their shame. God could have destroyed them. He would have been within his rights to destroy them. But God did not create Humans to destroy them rather he created them to be objects of his love and fellowship. Rather than destroy, God set in motion his eternal plan to redeem the world he knew would rebel -- that testifies to his love. We read in v.15, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he shall crush your head and you shall bruise his heel." This text testifies to the fact that God was prepared.

From the moment Adam sinned God had a way to restore that fellowship for which we were created. Genesis 3.15 is the kernel that culminates in the Cross of our Savior. There Satan came to the Tree again. There Satan cast all his hate against the Son of the Most High. There Satan thought he gained a great victory again. But Christ turned the Tree of Death into the real Tree of Life! Christ shattered the Serpent and his power through the great victory which is the Cross. There he reversed the curse set in motion by Human rebellion.

Moses tells us why God's good world is in a mess. But Moses also says our good and great God has a plan. He has a Son. Our Father is making a way for his children to come home again . . . He is making "all things" new once again. That is the story of the rest of the Bible.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Evil Prayers on Grace Notes

Evil Prayers on Grace Notes


I have an article published on Grace Notes, a site edited by Dee Andrews.

http://gracenotesministries.org/

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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PG-13 Rant: Corporate Murder or Could it be they just Didn't Give a Damn ... In Memory of Edith Isabel

Ok, folks I apologize for the expletive in my PG-13 title but at the moment it is the only word I can think of. Eugene Peterson once noted that cursing was once holy language before it degenerated into mere profanity. I am not using mere profanity however. But I am upset!

I was crusin' through MSNBC reading the latest headlines and came across "Woman dies in ER lobby as 911 refuses help." The story is dated 7:43 am, June 13, 2007. Here is a link: HERE

Edith Rodriguez was in the emergency room in the inner-city of Los Angeles, she was in obvious pain and was bleeding from the mouth. The doctors, nurses and staff of Martin Luther King, Jr-Harbor Hospital let this woman, one of God's creatures, die. Her boyfriend/husband even called 911 from within the ER! They refused to help. Later a second call to 911 came from the same ER from a total stranger seeking aid for this poor woman. They still refused to help her. When they finally got the nearby Police officers to "assist," they decided to arrest her for a parole violation! Edith Rodriguez died as the Police were taking her out of the hospital.

Folks there is something screwed up in this land. We worry our little hearts that Paris Hilton might be exposed to a staff infection because she has to go to a jail session and yet we simply could care less about a woman who is bleeding to death in the ER. How is it possible that trained doctors and nurses could be so devoid of humanity?

The head of the county Department of Health Services said this was "fundamentally a failure of caring" ... but it is "getting better." What a bunch of baloney. What happened in that ER was more than a failure to care ... it was a failure to even give a damn!!!!! The Doctors, the nurses, the staff in that ER are responsible for the death of an innocent woman who simply had the misfortune of being at an inner-city hospital. I am going out on a limb here but is this not simply corporate murder? If it was Paris Hilton in that ER she would have been rushed through so they could x-ray her broken fingernail.

This is America, the United States, the richest, by far the most powerful nation on the planet, how could this happen? It happens because our national values are simply and utterly screwed up. We will spend almost 600 billion dollars on weapons this year ... but a poor woman gets arrested in the ER rather than the care of a fellow human being.

Though speaking explicitly of pay, James 5 speaks prophetically to our situation. I have altered the wording only slightly:

"Look! The care you failed to give the poor who mowed your lawns is crying out against you. The cries of the maid have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent people, who were not your enemies" (Stoned Campbell paraphrase of James 5.4-6).

Dear God of the Oppressed ... have mercy upon us. Father help us to care.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Heaven (14): The City of God, Rev 21-22, Pt 2

Heaven (14): The City of God, Rev 21-21, Pt 2

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven” (Revelation 21.1-2, cf. v.10 and 3.12).

Beginning

In our previous post we explored the some of the positive imagery of the word “city” in the ancient world, including in Scripture. City is a major image in Revelation 21 where the term occurs 10x. We noted how the city offers refuge and gives permanence to the unsettled, both great values in the ancient world (no less today I would imagine).

A Named and Significant People

Yet we learn of more wonderful graces of the City of God. The promise made to the disciples in Philadelphia which we cited in our previous blog, also promises: “I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name” (Rev 3.12). We should also note in Rev 22.4 that the inhabitants of the city a promise is made, “they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

In the New Jerusalem, the City of God, we will be people with a name. This is of enormous significance in the social context of the time and more importantly in the drama of the biblical narrative. The story beneath the surface is that of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. In that sad episode we see what humanity has always done, sought a name established on its own grounds and achievement. “Come, let us build for ourselves a CITY, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a NAME for ourselves” (Gen. 11.4). Here is the source of much of humanities rebellion against the sovereign of the universe. We desire, in fact we crave, and ironically we need worth and status. We want to matter, to count, and to be thought of as unique. This motif fills our contemporary culture from the ego driven athlete to the politician who seeks the lime light to the preacher who yearns for the “big” pulpit.

In the midst of this human activity comes the word of divine grace: “I will give you a special and holy name!”

In the City of God we are freed by grace from our senseless egos. We are given a name. In the City we are shown to matter to God because he has pursued us and makes us his own. We are released from building towers and reputations. Significance is a gift. We have “little strength” (Rev 3.8). So he invites us to the liberty of being named by him.

Thus in the City of God, Jesus places upon our foreheads a name that signifies that belong to him. We are no longer resident aliens, anonymous folk, in the world stage. We are secure, safe and valuable as residents of the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven to the new earth.

Restoration of That Which Was Lost

The City is a place of gracious refuge. The City is a place for aliens to find residence and a permanent address. The City is a place where we are named and find we “belong.” Yet I believe the greatest of all things we shall have in the City of the New Jerusalem is that we shall see the resurrected Jesus.

This is the height of intimacy with our Abba. In the City we regain what was lost in Eden. In the City we have what the entire biblical narrative tells us that God is attempting to restore. Since Genesis 3, Yahweh has been in costly pursuit of his human creation to bring us back into his holy Presence. We see it in the smoking pot. Jacob feels his grip at Peniel. The great I AM was in the bush. The pillar of cloud and fire was with Israel in the wilderness. The glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle and Temple. With each of these movements Yahweh progressively restores and reclaims his intimate relationship with the Creation that he loves. Finally, we read that God crossed the ultimate bridge and “tabernacled” in creation itself … he encased his limitless Self in the finite flesh. He did this we are explicitly told to redeem “all things” in heaven and earth, things visible and invisible. He became flesh in order to redeem creation … we humans are after all simply “earthlings!” Yes, Earthlings … of the earth. Adamah. Paul assures us that God had gained that great cosmic victory through redemption of blood.

We wait for the fulfillment of our hope. That hope becomes reality in Revelation 21 and 22. The purpose of God since Genesis 3 is fulfilled in Revelation 21 and 22. In the City of God, the New Jerusalem, what we have by faith now will become sight. That glorious face that was hidden from Moses, the one that David longed to see in Ps 27 … the intimacy that Adam (the Earthling) experienced in Eden … we will see! This beloved is the entire point of the Bible. The point of the Bible is not baptism, the Lord’s Supper, a cappella music … the goal of the Bible is the restoration of fellowship and life in the Presence of God. In fact baptism, Lord's Supper and Lord's Day all point to and proclaim that greater goal of God ... they serve the goal.

In the City of God, that comes down out of heaven, we will be experientially the bride. And one wonders, because we are living in the City of God, which comes down out of heaven, if this helps make sense of passages like Revelation 5.10, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Conclusion

In the City of God we have all the hopes and dreams of God and the righteous fulfilled. I think John has given us a powerful vision. It is a vision that ties in with many other themes and passages in the Bible. It is the vision of the Resurrected People, filling God’s wonderful Resurrected Creation, enjoying unimaginable fellowship with the Resurrected Lord. In short the New Jerusalem brings back what was so tragically lost. It is not a mere return, rather it everything is made even more glorious than before. I long for it. Come, Lord Jesus.

Shalom,

Bobby Valentine

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Heaven (13): The City of God, Rev 21-22, Pt 1

Heaven (13): The City of God, Revelation 21 & 22, Pt. 1

Initial Thoughts

I am concluding my reflections on the biblical teaching regarding heaven. Repeatedly I have argued that the Christian hope consists of the Resurrected Lord, Resurrected people in holy communion on God’s Resurrected Earth. That this theme runs like a river throughout Scripture is, in my view, simply plain. The Enlightenment, neo-platonic, glasses we have worn for quite some time has obscured this river but with the coming of the setting of the delusions of Modernism the topography of Scripture is being set in bold relief once again.

I have thought long and hard about the best way to present these last few posts on the new heavens and new earth. Should I do a post that lays out the manifold ways in which Genesis 1-3 is the substructure of John's text? That in itself is an eye opening experience. I may come back to that but I have chosen a different course for the moment.

A very helpful study related to my themes in this post is Gregory K. Beale’s book The Temple and the Church’s Mission (IVP 2004; Beale is also the author the New International Greek Testament Commentary on Revelation). An incredibly shortened version of this study can be read online in “Eden, The Temple, and the Church’s Mission in the New Creation” located at http://www.etsjets.org/jets/journal/48/48-1/48-1-pp005-031_JETS.pdf We have explored the themes of resurrection and the liberation of creation from bondage as the renewal of all things in accordance with the prophetic hope of Israel.

The purposes of salvation in the biblical narrative are many and varied. Several are found in Ephesians: we are saved to be holy (1.4), we are saved for the praise of his Glory (1.6). Another fundamental purpose of “redemption through his blood” (remember what redemption means) is God intends to bring “all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (1.10). Clearly echoing Colossians 1.15-20, Paul reminds us that redemption is cosmic in scope. God intends to undo the effects of the Fall.

Redemption is such a powerful word … and there is a locomotive of freight being pulled with that word. We need to embrace it in all its biblical fullness. It is an exciting and promising word and paints a grand vision for disciples of Christ. Yet in modern settings Christians have let pagan ideas color their view of what that redeemed life might look like. Thus in a conversation this past week I was confronted with the question “Will heaven be … boring!?” The cartoons of angels floating around in the clouds strumming their harps, in a white robe does indeed sound … boring! But Scripture never paints “heaven” in such terms. Scripture speaks of the Christian hope, thankfully, in concrete terms.

Paul and other biblical writers “invent” words from time to time. Not often but they do on occasion. But when it comes to heaven the writers do not do that. Rather than coming up with a new term like “abcd” what ever that might refer to, they speak of a “new earth.” I know what “earth” is! Something about “heaven” will be so much like “earth” it is called a “new earth.” John in his Revelation also uses concrete words: he uses the word “city.” I also know what a “city” is. In fact he calls it the “New Jerusalem.” These visions help us grasp the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer we wrongly taught we could not pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Reflections on “City”

For many western Christians the word “city” is a negative word. Because of the Agrarian Myth that has infused American culture, and Churches of Christ in particular, “rural” has been seen as almost a spiritual ideal. Cities are stereotyped as cesspools and the like. In the Ancient World cities were often seen as a haven however.

First, the city is a refuge for the weak and endangered. Immigrants tend to flock to cities because they can gather with kinsmen and feel “safe.” Cities also provide haven for all kinds of folks … odd and not so odd. In the Hebrew Bible cities were places of refuge. The Torah called for the establishment of six “cities of refuge.” To be outside the city was wilderness, frontier, danger, revenge style justice. In the city divine justice was, ideally, to prevail. Even those accused of killing found haven and safety within the walls of the city. Within the walls grace could be found. Civilization was in the city (interestingly in Latin the word civilization has its roots in the word for “city”).

These images of the gracious safety of the city find there way into Revelation 21. Verses 12-14 speak of high walls, twelve strong gates and solid foundations. This language intends to convey the idea that the New Jerusalem is a city that is protected and unshakeable. Isaiah in a picture of the future glory of Jerusalem uses similar language in 54.11-14. In particular Isaiah sees that the children (i.e. people) of Zion will be live in shalom (v.13).

The city provided ancient people with safety and a measure of freedom from fear. Theologically, Yahweh had designated cities to be set aside as places of mercy and grace, that is of “refuge.” The New Jerusalem will be a place of safety, refuge and shalom.

Second, life in the New City of God, life is blessed with a sense of permanence. In the letters to the Seven Churches, Jesus corrects and exhorts. The church in Philadelphia however is only given words of praise. Their reward is: “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it” (Rev 3.12). Philadelphia, a city rocked with earthquakes, often fled its streets. But Jesus promises these disciples a solid and permanent place in the “New Jerusalem which is coming down out of heaven from my God” (3.12). A place of refuge and place of permanence is the gift of the New Jerusalem to all followers of the Lamb. Like Abraham, we are resident aliens in a fallen age, we are looking for a “city with foundations” … a place of rest and permanence.

The End

In our next installment we will look at two more facets of “city” and what the new earth, new Jerusalem, will be like.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Book Announcement: A Gathered People

Book Announcement: A Gathered People: Revisioning the Assembly as Transforming Encounter by John Mark Hicks, Johnny Melton & Bobby Valentine (Leafwood Press, 2007)

I can now officially announce my book project that John Mark, Johnny and myself have been working on for the better part of a year. A great deal of thought, prayer and even sweat went into the writing of this book. A Gathered People focuses primarily upon the theology of corporate worship that Christians engage in together. The book examines (in a lively style I hope) in considerable detail the sweep of biblical teaching on worship in the canon: Hebrew Scriptures and Greek. We argue that worship is not something that is compartmentalized but rather encompasses all aspects of the disciple. However we also argue that there is something unique in the Christian experience about the Gathering of God's People.

There is a sweeping view of Christian gatherings from the second century through the Reformation and then a deep look at how assembly has been understood within the Churches of Christ for a century and a half. The book closes with some critical reflections on contemporary application of what we have learned ... and what does it mean to have assemblies shaped by the Gospel.

Here is a quick look at the chapter titles:

Introduction: 'Sacramental' Encounter?'

1) A False Dichotomy: Life and Assembly in God's Story

2) Assemblies in Israel: We Shall Assemble on the Mountain

3) Christian Assemblies: Gospel, Word and Communal Table

4) Assembly in Christian History: Word and Table as Historic Liturgy

5) Assembly among Churches of Christ: Our Formative History

6) Gathered to God: Divine Presence in the Assembly

7) Contemporary Gatherings: Assembling Worthy of the Gospel

Epilogue: "Why Didn't You Talk About ...?"

I believe this book has something important to say and that is why we wrote this book together.
There will be some, no doubt, that hate the book with a passion, there will be some that read it carelessly and reject it out of hand. Some are hesitant to do any theological reflection and thus miss some thing that are quite important we believe. I pray that both the Five Acts folks and the Edification Model folks will read with an open heart and open mind. In the future I may offer a tidbit here and there about the book.

The book will not be physically available until September but Leafwood has put it on prominently on page 3 of their new catalog for 2007-08. The book can be preordered directly from the publisher at www.leafwoodpublishers.com or 1.877.816.4455

I look forward to future dialogue based on the argument of A Gathered People.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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A Trip to the Land of Beer and Cheese

Trip to the Land of Beer & Cheese
I arrived home yesterday evening (Monday nite) from a trip to my old stomping grounds in Milwaukee. The primary reason for the voyage was the honor of performing the wedding of Lorna Dolhun to Jerry Seidner.

I had a marvelous time. I was greeted at the airport on Friday by Vivian Karbiner and we ate at Famous Daves BBQ for lunch. That evening we had rehearsal and a number of us went to Sarapheno's pizzeria and laughed for many hours (... the color black was in there somewhere). While there it rained!!! I had not seen rain in quite a while. Took it easy on Saturday morning, had the wedding at 2 pm. Lots of folks from Southside there and we visited for a long time. I visited with Jan, Wayne, Rick, Brenda, another Brenda, Monroe & Julia, Nathalie, Dennis & Marlene, Scott & Christine, Jim & Lori, Al Gray, Tom & Judy, Jason & Leslie, Tom, Mary & Lou, Cliff & Sandy, Ben, Ed, John & Elizabeth, Brad & Linda (thanks for the salsa), J. R. & Katie, Juan & Diane, Brian, Dan & Laurie, Harold & Kay, Otto, Michael & Julie, Daryl & Nina, Bethany, Adrian, Latanja, Dan & Jeanna, Bruce & Karen, and Hank & Vivian. And more ...

After the wedding I took my shoes off and walked on the grass ... I hadn't done that in some time either. That evening went out and had a great steak (huge!). I was so glad to be able to. preach for Southside on Sunday (2x) like the old days. I did a lesson from Philippians called "The Joy of the Lord." I was thankful that they put up with me. After morning worship there was congregational picknic in Root River Parkway. I had a brat (hadn't had one of those in a while either). Later Sunday evening a good number of us met to play Sheepshead. As usual I lost but I won't say just how bad the score was (just say if it was golf I would be a grand champion). And to top the day off I had some homemade peanut butter pie. Emm was it good.

It was a good weekend. I won't tell you about the flight home on monday. Suffice it to say that it was the single worst flying experience I have ever had ... but I arrived safe at home in Tucson about 8 hours later than I was supposed to. It was good to see Rachael, Talya and Pamella.

I will be praying for Southside as they begin their new journey with a new man named Jeff. Take good care of them Jeff ... they are great people.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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