TODAY, September 17, 2011, I attended Foster Church to hear first a song and music program featuring songs about "Trusting Jesus" and "What a Friend We have in Jesus," (not unusual, of course, in a Christian Church of any denomination). The song leader read some verses from what he called his "favorite chapter of the Bible, Matthew 6" and afterwards Pastor Bryan Aalborg preached on the subject of Christ's Second Coming, featuring quite a few dates and wrong guesses of when this was supposed to occur and why it might be that Christ spoke in Matthew 24 and Mark 13:32-37 in such non-specific terms that every generation has expected this coming during their life-time. It was while the song-leader was reading his favorite part of Matthew chapter 6 that something quite unusual was happening in my mind.   It was like I had two invisible angels, one sitting or standing beside me, each interpreting these verses from a different viewpoint than the original simultaneously so that in the few minutes it took to read the verses I had three versions of these verses.      

The TRINITARIAN "Jesus is God" version, assumed to be the correct one by this reader at the Foster SDA Church.

The ESSENE "Jesus is an Essene Messiah" version, available to me because of my studies and visits to Qumran and Dead Sea but NOT available to the reader of these texts being read today at Foster.

The NON-RELIGIOUS, "Real World" life-as-we-experience-it God of Nature and Creation that we must obey to survive on this earth as human beings version that we all understand (outside of church).

     So that you, my reader, can share my experience, I'm using the above color scheme and an appropriate "angel" to recreate these 3 versions.  Verse by verse!

Matt. 6:25 "Therefore I (Jesus as God) say unto you, Take no thought  for (don't worry about) your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat (food), and the body more than raiment (nice clothes)?

Matt. 6:25 "Therefore I (Jesus as an Essene Messiah) say unto you, (as an Essene, one of those under my care)  (Don't worry about) your life (here with the Essenes), what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the (contemplative religious) life (here with the Essenes) more than meat (food), and the body more than raiment (nice clothes)?

Matt. 6:25 "Therefore I (Dr. Bob Holt, md, speaking for ordinary people in an ordinary world) say unto you, (someone NOT an Essene, one who must take care of yourself AND your family)  (DO worry about) your life (unless you're in a monastery), what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; (avoid junk food, plan for healthy meals) AND ALSO for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the (healthy, happy) life more than meat (hamburgers and Cokes), and the body more than raiment (expensive clothes)?

Matt. 6:26 "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sew not, neither do they reap; nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not better than they?"

Matt. 6:26 "Behold the fowls of the air (if you are an Essene): for they sew not, neither do they reap (TRUE, true, they aren't clever enough); nor gather into barns (although squirrels and pack rats do); yet your heavenly Father feedeth them (so long as they're not fussy about what they eat). Are you not better than they?" (mostly because you CAN sew, and reap, and gather into barns!)

Matt. 6:26 "Behold the fowls of the air (especially so when planting corn, for by not putting out scarecrows, or a substitute, YOUR crop will be gone before it even starts to grow!): for they (the crows) sew not, BUT THEY DO reap; but DON'T gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them (but YOU may go hungry!.  (Say to yourself) Am I not better than they?"

Matt. 6:27 "Which of you by taking thought (meditating) can add one cubit (18 inches) to his stature?"

Matt. 6:27 "Which of you (Essenes) by taking thought (meditating) can add one cubit (18 inches) to his stature?" (The Essenes paid a lot of attention to physical appearances, making horoscopes depending on these physical characteristics.   The message here is, you can't change your FATE.)

Matt. 6:27 "Which of you by taking thought (meditating) can add one cubit (18 inches) to his stature?" We do know how, in modern times, to do all sorts of cosmetic surgery, but most can't afford much of it unless movie stars or millionaires. However, as most of us know, this statement is wrong in a much more profound way in the REAL WORLD outside of church and cute Bible sayings.  By NOT taking thought (worrying, planning) we can add many inches to our waist and shorten our lives, and bring on a multitude of diseases we need not experience by planning, and then executing, a better LIFE STYLE.

Matt. 6:30 "Wherefore, if God (the Holy Trinity) so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to morrow is cast into the oven (burned up, as in Hell Fire), shall he not clothe you (his favored children, who worship Him as His Son, part of the Trinity), O ye of little faith?"

Matt. 6:30 (Jesus, Christ-Messiah of the Essenes, says )"Wherefore, if God (Yahweh-Jehovah) so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not clothe you, (His favorite children, who obey all His laws to the minutest detail)  O ye of little faith?" And it's my job, as your Messiah, to see that you're well taken care of!

Matt. 6:30 "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not clothe you, O ye of little faith?" This is as you will note, a question -- And questions can be answered in the negative.   Looking at what happens to the grass, you should PLAN AHEAD, "take thought", worry.  Winter is coming.  You need more than these light summer clothes.  You'll need coats, heavier blankets, and some fuel.

Matt. 6:31 "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?"

Matt. 6:31 "Therefore (if you are an Essene, and live in the Qumran Monastery) take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?"

Matt. 6:31 "Therefore (if you are NOT an Essene, and DO NOT live in the Qumran Monastery you'd better) take some thought, perhaps a lot of thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?"

Matt. 6:32 "(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."

Matt. 6:32 "(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." To the Essenes, their "heavenly" Father was the High Priest at the Qumran Monastery -- but he delegated the responsibility for bestowing these needed things to others.

Matt. 6:32 "(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."  But He has decreed that under normal circumstances, without working for them you won't get them!

Matt. 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God (a Trinitarian Christian church), and his righteousness (by Faith); and all these things shall be added unto you."

Matt. 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God (join the Essenes), and his righteousness (study and copy the Dead Sea Scrolls); and all these things (food, white clothes, and a place to sleep) shall be added unto you."

Matt. 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things (an occasional free meal, food stamps, a mat in a shelter, some used free clothing) shall be added unto you."

Matt. 6:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (and perhaps Jesus will come tomorrow, and you'll own the whole world, and the worriers and planners will have nothing!)

Matt. 6:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." So long as the Essene monastic system continues, and the tithes and gifts keep coming.

Matt. 6:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."  Provided, of course, none of the tribulations constantly being predicted by Christian ministers and would-be prophets actually occur.

Mark 13:32-37    "But of that day and hour knoweth no man,             no, not the angels which are in heaven,                  neither the Son, but the Father.     Take ye heed, watch and pray;              for ye know not when the time is.     For the Son of man is as a man               making a far journey,                     who left his house,     And gave authority to his servants,              and to every man his work,                      and commanded the porter to watch.      WATCH ye therefore: for ye know not              when the master of the house cometh,      at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing,              or in the morning:      Less coming SUDDENLY he find you sleeping.      And what I say unto you               I say unto all,  WATCH!"

Page 2 will be about Pastor Aalborg's Sept. 17, 2011 sermon --

WATCH!