Rosh Hashanah

      Years ago I visited the head waters of the Mississippi River. I grew up on the banks of that mighty old man and often sat on the bluffs of Memphis just to watch it roll along. It is a force of nature. Its headwaters begin many miles up that river in Minnesota in a place called Itasca. Growing up I used to read about David Livingstone and his quest to find the headwaters of the Nile. Livingstone spent his life as a missionary in Africa where his heart was buried before his body was sent home (That can either be gross or romantic). I would go with him, in my mind, as he searched for the source of the Nile.
        While visiting Colorado a few years ago I saw the first dam on the Arkansas River. It was a beaver dam but a dam none the less. Why am I fascinated with the "headwaters  of rivers"? I am not sure, except it might have to do the beginning of great and mighty rivers that affect so many people and cultures. The rivers begin in small creeks end up carrying hugh boats in commerce to all parts of the earth. The waters of the Arkansas River start half way across our continent and end up in a confluence with the Mississippi. It reminds me of the water flowing as a small creek from behind the altar that ends up being a river that Ezekiel swam in (Ezekiel 47). This represents God's kingdom.
      Tonight starts the Rosh Hashanah. This is the Jewish new year. The literal translation is "head of the year". Like the head waters of a river, this day begins the flow of this year. It traditionally starts off with the blowing of the shofar. In our tradition (The Living Word Fellowship) we equate the blowing of the shofar with prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:1-5). We believe that in lifting our voice like a trumpet what flows out of our prophecy can become a mighty river of God flowing and affecting many peoples and nations of the earth. Needless to say this is an important time of year for us.
       Our Jewish brothers feel that this day, Rosh Hashanah, is the anniversary of the human race's head waters, the creation of Adam and Eve. We join with them in believing that what God created and started when he created us male and female, and what His thoughts and intents were for His creation will prevail. This year we will see fulfillment to what God voiced when all the earth was created "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31 KJV).
        Happy Rosh Hashanah.