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Life comes full circle for singer Carol Rogers
A good portion of my life is spent interviewing and profiling artists and creatives of one type or another. It's a good challenge for me to try and give readers an authentic representation of the subject and his/her persona, spirit, character, and voice without reducing them to stereotype or generic personality. I really strive to have you feel and hear the individual as I come to know them. My encounters with these talented folks are often rich experiences for the lively give and take that happens as I more or less give them free rein to be themselves. I want them to express themselves without holding back or self-censoring One of my more recent experiences along these lines was with singer Carol Rogers and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. She is all positve love, light, and energy and she has a distinctive way of expressing herself that is poetic and soulful, earthy and esoteric, all at once. I believe I've captured her many colors in this new cover piece for the September 2015 New Horizons. Look for it at newstands or call 402-444-6654 for a free subscription to the monthy paper. Make the call and you'll have the issue with her story and every forthcoming issue sent to your home or business.
NOTE: For the same newspaper, New Horizons, I profiled Carol's mother, singer-pianist Jeanne Rogers, and some other Omaha black women in music. Jeanne was the music director and pianist at one of my regular places of worship in Omaha, Church of the Resurrection.
Here is a link to that earlier story on my blog-
Life comes full circle for singer Carol Rogers
©by Leo Adam Biga
Soon to appear in the September 2015 New Horizons
Since putting down Omaha roots again after years away pursuing her music career, free-spirited singer Carol Rogers is sure she's exactly where she's supposed to be.
This hipster hails from a revered musical heritage family that's done great things with their craft. Like her brothers Donnie, Ronnie and Keith, she made a name for herself here but enjoyed her biggest success elsewhere. Her big break came earning a spot singing and recording with Brazilian star Sergio Mendes. It meant performing in English and Portuguese across myriad musical styles. Her virtuosity has inspired some in the biz to call her "a vocal god."
Her stage persona and song interpretation can be sweet, salty or sultry. She can scat, sing jazz, R&B, soul, blues, country, pop, rock, even heavy metal. She once covered "Rage Against the Machine."
Her association with Mendes put her in the company of celebrities and dignitaries. That heady period fulfilled a lifelong desire to feed the beat-of-a-distant-drummer leanings she's always felt.
Despite growing up surrounded by the sounds of Motown's black divas, Rogers said, "I used to think I was Doris Day. I would come down the stairs, 'Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be,' and my brothers would wait for me at the bottom of the stairs to pummel me with, 'Who do you think you are? Wake up, you skinny chicken head, wake up.' So I kind of lived in a fantasy land. I never really saw myself like everyone else looks at themselves. I like to do things differently. I kind of was a hippy without the drugs because I liked the way they dressed."
"Even as a young woman I couldn't look like everybody else. To this day I feel most comfortable when I have on lots of colors."
Her funky sensibility extends to a window treatment in her home that has a gingham curtain with a paisley print against a red wall, though she said she's self-conscious enough to wonder if visitors think "I'm decorating like a crack-head in a brothel." At the end of the day, she said, "I just want to celebrate and excite as I go and come."
It's why after dying her hair she's let it go gray, proudly wearing the beauty of her age in dreadlocks that frame her queenly features.
"I began to embrace my gray. It's a crown of righteousness if it's accompanied by good works."
Her righteous energy found expression in a Ladies Sing the Blues concert at Loves Jazz & Arts Center when she arrived in character as an elder negotiating a walker to the stage. Once there, she shed costume, wig and prosthetics to reveal her youthful, high-octane self and sleek legs. She then proceeded to tear up the joint with a full-throated, hip-swaying, table-topping blues performance in the spirit of Big Mama Thornton and Shemekia Copeland.
"Coming in with the girls, I knew I was going to break it down into something completely different," Rogers said. "Yeah, I'm an entertainer. I think that's what makes me different from other folks. I'm not afraid to put on fake boobs and a fake butt and act a little silly. I want to explore my uniqueness as an entertainer and to never compromise my professionalism.
"I don't fit into anybody's mold and I will not acquiesce."
During the kinetic A Happening concert she did at Carver Bank with new age musician Dereck Higgins she adorned herself in head band and glitter to help affect just the right groovy mood for this retro rave.
She feels certain her bohemian spirit is divinely directed, saying. "God was deciding my mind frame to think outside the box."
The family matriarch who made music a family inheritance for Carol and her brothers is their mother Jeanne Rogers. She was a woman who did her own thing as well. Jeanne sang with area big bands and gigged as a jazz pianist-vocalist. A talent for music didn't fall far from the tree, as Carol and her brothers have all made a living in music and joined their mother as Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame inductees.
Carol's four children "all have voices," too. Bethany, a recording sound engineer by trade, is especially gifted. Mom proudly watched her daughter "tear it up" one Sunday at One Way Ministry Apostles Doctrine Church, where the family worships.
Even when Jeanne became an Omaha Public Schools educator and administrator, she never left music behind. Indeed, she used it as a tool to reach kids. Carol, who as a girl used to accompany her mom to school to help her and other teachers set up their classrooms, followed in her footsteps to become a teacher herself, including running her own "kindergarten school of cool" that all her kids went through.
Carol, 61, also grew up under the influence of her grandmother Lilian Matilda Battle Hutch, She remembers her as an enterprising, tea-totaler who on a domestic worker's wages managed buying multiple homes, subletting rooms for extra income. She sold Avon on the side.
"She could see opportunity and she was on the grind all the time. They called her 'The General' because she'd rifle out her demands – You comn' in? I need you to go in the backyard and weed some stuff.'"
When Jeanne developed dementia, Carol's trips back home increased to check on her mother and eventually take charge of her care. When Jeanne could no longer remain in her own home, Carol placed her in nursing facilities. She rests comfortably today at Douglas County Health Center. Carol's since come back to stay. She and two of her kids reside in her mother's former northeast Omaha home.
Carol with her mother Jeanne
As a homage to her educator mother, Carol has a kitchen wall double as a chalk board with scribbled reminders and appointments.
"Chalk is how she relayed things," Carol said of her mom.
Both sides of a living room door are also chalk boards, only Rogers calls them "blessing boards. She has guests leave inscriptions and affirmations on one side and she writes scriptural passages on the other side. She calls it "seasoning" the door.
There in her home, one August morning, Rogers recounted her personal journey as an artist and a woman of faith who's been born again. She recalled growing up in a bustling household on Bristol Street where she couldn't help but be immersed in music between her siblings rehearsing and her mother and her musician friends jamming. That 24-7 creative hub imbued her with a love for performing.
"In the summertime it was just crawling with people because my brothers had instruments. In the basement they were always practicing. It got so I couldn't study without a lot of noise. I still sleep with noise. If you didn't get home in time and there was food you didn't eat because the people who were in the house ate. It was first come-first served. That used to make me mad.
"But there was music. Folks would come. A typical weekend, Billy Rogers, not any relation, would come and jam. Everybody who was anybody came in and jammed. I didn't know who they all were, all I knew there was always noise."
The Rogers' home was the place neighborhood kids congregated.
"My mother would boast that kids' parents would say, 'Why is my child always at your house?' Because they're welcome and there's music. And so that's just the way it was. That's the way I remember the house. I didn't have to go looking for people or excitement – it came to the house. There was always something going on."
Her mother grew up near enough the old Dreamland Ballroom to hear the intoxicating rhythms of the black music greats who played there.
"That's when she got bitten by the jazz bug," Carol said. "She would go to sleep hearing the music playing at Dreamland."
Carol enjoyed an even more intimate relationship with music because of the nightclub atmosphere Jeanne orchestrated at home.
"Oh, these jam sessions that mama would have. All I know is we would have to be whisked to bed. Of course, we could hear them at night. They would never go past 10 or so. Occasionally she would let us come down and just watch, which was a privilege. There'd be Basie Givens, who she played with forever, Clean Head Base, Cliff Dudley, the names go on of all the people who would come in. And they'd just jam, and she'd sing and play piano.
"It was a big party and to-do thing at the house. I would go to sleep hearing her and her friends play the jam sessions. Coming downstairs in the morning there was always somebody crashed out on the floor.
As a girl, Rogers was aware of the racism and discrimination that confined African-Americans to Omaha's Near North Side.
"I didn't venture past 72nd (Street) much."
But she also saw how music broke down such barriers.
"Music was colorless and it brought everybody together. White folks would come into the neighborhood to play at my mother's house. Italians, Jews were coming in. It was like a United Nations. Anybody could play, you came in."
The diversity she was exposed to at home and at Omaha Central High School helped prepare her for the cultural smorgasbord she found with Mendes on international tours and in cosmopolitan Los Angeles.
It took a lot to finally get this restless singer to come back home to stay. She went through a stage when life was a series of gigs and parties. Then she settled down to raise her four kids as a single mom, eventually making her living as a much-in-demand vocal instructor.
She still works with artists today.
The truth is that even though Rogers is settled here now, there's still a part of her yearning to go off somewhere. It's why she's in Rio de Janeiro this month working with an aspiring performing artist.
Now that she's back home, she's gigging at different venues around town. This is where it all started for her. Some of her earliest musical expressions came performing in youth Show Wagon concerts in Omaha city parks and in talent shows at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. She starred in Central High Road Shows. She appeared at Allen's Showcase in North Omaha. She made her first television appearance on KETV's Black on Black community affairs program.
"I wanted to be Diana Ross," she said. "I wanted to stand up and sing, 'Baby, baby…' Yeah, that was my dream."
She never found the solo career she craved but she did tour the U.S. with C.W, McCall in the wake of the "Convoy" hit record. Chip Davis later of Mannheim Steamroller fame, was the producer-composer-arranger. Playing red-neck honky-tonks with McCall she couldn't be out front with her big personality because African-Americans weren't always welcomed. Receding further into the background and having her spirit dampened was killing her.
She quit C.W. McCall and returned to Omaha, where she was the area's most requested studio background singer for records and commercials, but she once again found the city too stultifying for her free spirit. This caged bird not only needed to fly but to soar far away.
She went out to Calif. to audition for Stevie Wonder but never really got a fair shake, not even meeting the famed artist. Dejected by that experience, she despaired what to do next.
"I was very depressed here because I knew I had to do something else. I said, I need something more. A true story: I was lying in bed knowing I should go to church – I hadn't been born again at the time – when God's voice told me to go back to California. There was no doubt in my mind who had spoken to me. I immediately put everything I wanted in my Volkswagen and left and and I haven't had to look back. That mission was successful."
She managed a face to face audition with Sergio Mendes, who needed singers for an upcoming tour. It came down to her and another girl and Carol won the spot. Rogers said it worked to her advantage she didn't realize just how big a star Mendes was before trying out.
"Naivete was the angel's wings I floated on with him. I had no idea how huge he was, otherwise I'd have panicked. I auditioned in the latter part of June 1976 and on July 4 he called to say, 'If you want the job, it's yours.' I put the phone down and screamed."
She said she reminded him that she'd earlier sent in an audio tape of her voice that he never acknowledged, to which he responded, "I never even listened to it and per that tape I would have never hired you."
As the whirlwind touring commenced, she said she soon discovered like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.' Whew! But I was ready." During nearly 25 years working together, she and Mendes became muses to each other.
"We fit because I was ready to totally immerse myself into something. I was fascinated with black people speaking another language. The ability to immerse myself in something and travel the world and get paid for it, well, it was a great education, it was a Ph.D."
She got the adventure she sought but like many who get what they ask for, she found that career success alone didn't complete her.
"I went through some things in L.A. Severely depressed for some years. Working top dollar but depressed because something was missing – I was separated from the Lord. I was still traveling with Sergio when I was reborn in 1980 coming off a long tour in Japan.
"I baby sat a friend's house and I needed something to read, so I went to a bookstore and got Billy Graham's book, How to be Born Again. I read it and knew that when Jesus went to that cross he died for me, too, It absolutely blew me away. I spontaneously started writing Christian songs."
The words and music came flowing out of her as if supplied by a higher source.
"You see, when you're first born again the Lord sojourns with you and he talks to you. Today, my faith is now seasoned with trials and rejoicing in trials."
She found great satisfaction teaching at a prestigious L.A. performing arts school. At a certain point she developed a sort of alter ego for her teaching role – Mama O.
"Mama O came about when I needed an identity to separate me from the students. Everybody respects mama, so I decided I'm going to be Mama. And Mama what?. So, Mama O, in deference to my time in Brazilian culture.
"That got to my psyche so powerfully that I felt more powerful as a teacher. I'm not just Carol Rogers, no, I'm Mama. When Mama tells you to do something, you better do it. Mama won't loan you no money, because I'm not that kind of mama. Mama might give you a little lecture because that's what mamas do. But Mama's going to show you how it's done and Mama's going to ask you to do it exactly."
She said that bigger-than-life persona is "the rock side of me, the metal side of me." Since relocating back to Omaha in 2013, Rogers said, "Mama's a bit quieter here because nobody believes her. After I start teaching again (which she plans to do at the collegiate level) I would like to be called Mama O again."
Even with work and faith, the L.A. scene became trying.
"California became my Canaan experience. Friendship is hard to find. Backsliding is very easy. But if you're called and you know you're born again, nobody can pluck you from God's hand. Now, the deeper story. Everything closed for me in my life. You know when God closes a door but opens another? That's exactly what was happening to me."
She said though she was "a favorite, award-winning" teacher at the school where she taught, she endured a backlash from administrators because her forceful personality made her stand out. Students asked for her specifically.
"Kids would come thousands of miles from Europe, India, Japan and say, 'We want Mama.' They called me Mama. They were told, 'Well, she's taken, you can't have her.' I said, 'Fix it, give me some more hours.'"
The young singers she worked with on all aspects of performance represented many vocal-music styles and Rogers determined she wouldn't teach something unless she could do it herself.
"I had to do it all, even heavy metal. How can I tell to do something if I don't show you I can do it? I was adamant about that and it set me apart from my contemporaries at school and for that reason the director of the school said, 'You're an easy target, we want everybody to be alike. But you stand out like a sore thumb.'"
As her situation there became tenuous, she was touched by students siding with her. But each time she spoke out, tensions only increased. She felt like the administration wanted to dampen her originality in order to make her conform.
"When my job began to become corporate, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't exercise my God-given uniqueness."
So, she left, and in 2013 she finalized her move to Omaha.
"I didn't want to come back to Omaha but I knew i had to come back for my mom because I became her guardian. I needed to be here in all of the Midwest's mystery and awe and hummingbird moths and thunderstorms. I was telling my daughter during a beautiful thunderstorm that the lightning was God's paparazzi.'"
She said she never imagined her two children living with her would ever take to Neb., but they have.
"They both marvel at the thunderstorms and the cicadas in the trees and the squirrels and wild turkeys running around. My oceans are the cicadas at night, the diminuendo and the crescendo."
It's not just her family who's fond of Midwest living.
"If I describe this place to my Calif. friends – 'Everything I need for a taco is running around free ' they think it's paradise."
She's disheartened though Omaha now suffers from inner city woes like persistent gun violence that didn't really exist back in her day. Like many from her generation, she longs for a return to the It-takes-a-village-to-raise-child culture she grew up in.
With some perspective now, she feels things worked out the way they were supposed to in bringing her back home to be with her mom. She never forgets the inspiration for her life's journey in music.
"Mom gave us music and she gave us a house full of it all the time."
Seeing her mom's mental capacities diminish has been difficult. Seeing her no longer recall the words to songs she sang thousands of times, like "My Funny Valentine," cuts deeply. No one is prepared for losing a loved one, piece by piece, to the fog of Alzheimer's. All Rogers or anyone can do is be there for the afflicted.
"I'm glad I'm close by for her sake to remind her she's loved and hopefully, even though she doesn't recognize me, give her a familiarity."
As if dealing with her mother's odyssey were not enough, Rogers no sooner got situated here than the home she inherited from her suffered a disaster while she was away.
"I came back to find the pipes burst over the winter. The water in the basement was up to my knees. Then the tears began to roll because I'm thinking, You don't know how much insurance will pay off. That winter was so terrible that they couldn't get to me for five days. By the time they got to me this place stank of mildew and mold."
There was insurance but it didn't come near to covering the damage.
"I didn't know what i was going to do but I knew God didn't bring me this far for nothing."
She attributes providence with bringing the home from disaster to rebirth and the blessings that came with it.
"A Christian couple to whom the Lord has given many gifts love my vocal ministry and they gave me $50,000 to put this house back together. The demolition guys came in like piranhas and took everything down to beams and joists. I could see the attic from downstairs."
She was put up at a Residence Inn for five months while the heavy work was done. The result is essentially a brand new home.
"Everything is new," she said. "As the guys were installing the appliances I was crying. Why? Because God has granted me favor beyond favor. The Lord impressed upon my heart the scripture that says, 'In Christ, all things become new.' It just doesn't mean your spirit – you can get some new stuff, too. That's OK."
She's given the home a Biblical name.
"I call my home Lazarus Resurrected because by the time they got to it, it stank, but Jesus resurrected it. My mission statement of this home is to serve. Just like my mother's house did but with a little bit more decorum. Can't just anybody get in and out of here.
"And once music begins I'm sure I'll have more people coming through. Inevitably the basement will become my kick-it space like it was once before. I'll be able to put instruments down and not fear water finding it's mark again."
Playing hostess will be new for her, she said, "because in L.A. I was too busy to have company. I'd come home after driving to and from and would want to collapse. So I'm learning hospitality and welcoming it. I look forward to it because this house is blessed, it's anointed. It's blessed me. It was an inherited blessing from my mother, it has to continue and it will. My kids are here."
She feels blessed, too, whenever she takes the stage.
"In this day in age when you're inundated with the electronic ability to insulate yourself, I never ever count it anything less than a privilege to be heard by a live audience. That being the case, I have to prepare. I'm not so fast at learning things anymore, so it takes a long time to prepare these days,
"Yeah, it's a privilege to be able to share my feelings and my life experience through my singing. Sometimes my nerves derail me but usually that means I needed to pay a little bit more attention to details."
Just as she's most alive when she freely expresses her uniqueness, she helps voice students find and nurture their own uniqueness.
The student she's working with in Brazil has all the necessary vocal chops, Rogers said, but needs confidence in herself and in her ability to perform in front of live audiences. Rogers draws her own vast experience to try and get students to look at performing as a collaboration or communion. She likens it to a figure eight.
"The band is behind me and at the apex is me and then the audience is in front of me. Everything they do when I'm on stage comes through me and it's just a circular exchange of credibility – we believe you, we give you our energy. And the band's supporting me. What a privilege to have people backing me. They've got my back.
"To be in front at that apex, sharing it and feeling it come back to me through them is such a high. That is what I really concentrate on. It's cathartic, especially as I've learned to sing the blues."
Hanging on a wall of her home is a metal artwork depicting an after the club scene with unmanned band instruments and overturned chairs. It doesn't take much imagination to picture her at the apex with a hot three-piece band behind her and a live wire crowd in front of her.
Rogers still records from time to time. On a 2011 visit to Omaha she met local jazz pianist, composer, arranger Chuck Marohnic at Countryside Community Church when she insinuated herself into a piece he was playing. He immediately asked her to be one of the singers from around the nation lending their voices to his Jazz Psalms Project that features original music for all 150 psalms in the Bible's Book of Psalms.
"I'd never been asked to do something like this before," she said, referring to jazz arrangements of scriptures. Ironically, her mother introduced jazz tinges to traditional hymns at Church of the Resurrection in Omaha when she was music director there.
For the Jazz Psalms Project Rogers said, "We did everything live. Oh, what a high. And the guys were great, including Chuck at the piano. It was absolutely amazing all of us playing together."
Upon return from her coaching stint in Brazil she'll no doubt grace various nightspots with her unique talents starting in the fall.
It's a good time for Carol Rogers. She's more comfortable in her own skin than she has been in a long while.
"Being home has helped. Having two of my kids here has helped. Also seeing God work miracles, ah, that'll make you get your head right."
This ever curious searcher just wants to keep creating and stretching herself. Her exploration, she said, "never done."
Just don't ask her to stay in the shadows.
"I want my light to shine."
Follow the artist at http://www.carolrogersmusic.com.
A NOTE FROM NORTH OMAHA SUMMER ARTS' Pamela Jo Berry
A NOTE FROM NORTH OMAHA SUMMER ARTS' Pamela Jo Berry
As I was being interviewed for KMTV Channel 3 at the North Omaha Summer Arts Crawl, I could hear and see the artists and the community coming together, and the answers to the questions they asked could not begin to describe the beauty that I felt or saw. I was blessed to be in that position.
The true facts are that the North Omaha Summer Arts Crawl is Metropolitan Community College, Church of the Resurrection, Trinity Lutheran Church, Parkside Baptist Church, North Heartland Family Service and this year – the Washington Branch Library – opening their doors to allow art to bless the community.
It is the artists giving their time, not only sharing their beautiful art, but also interacting with the community
It is the community coming out to meet the artists and experience their art in different forms – visual, literary, performance, music and, this year, fashion.
It is the volunteers that make wonderful food and give direction and stay around to help manage each venue and then help to clean up.
It is all of the people that gave resources and contributions.
It is all the people that took pictures of the event.
It is all of the managers and the pastors that said yes.
And for me it is a lot of prayer and listening and guidance.
Thank you all for making the North Omaha Summer Arts Crawl a good thing in North Omaha,
Pamela Jo Berry
Exclusive excerpts from my new book with Father Ken Vavrina- Crossing Bridges: A Priest's Uplifting Life Among the Downtrodden
Exclusive excerpts from my new book with Father Ken Vavrina-
Crossing Bridges: A Priest's Uplifting Life Among the Downtrodden
The new book I did with beloved Omaha Catholic priest Father Ken Vavrina is now available for pre-orders at-
It releases August 26 in conjunction with the birthday of Mother Teresa – the late nun and humanitarian he variously knew as his inspiration, boss, colleague and friend.
NOTE: The Bookworm signing for Sept. 2 had been cancelled – look for announcements about a new date.
The book is the story of this beloved priest's life and travels – simple acts that moved him, people that inspired him and places that astonished him. Father Vavrina has served as a priest for many years and has served several missions trips to help the needy. Father Ken worked with lepers in Yemen, and was ultimately arrested and thrown in jail under false suspicions of spying. After being forcibly removed from Yemen, he began his tenure with Catholic Relief Services, first in the extreme poverty and over-population of Calcutta in India, and then with warlords in Liberia to deliver food and supplies to refugees in need. Father Ken also spent several years working with Mother Teresa to heal the sick and comfort the dying. Father Ken has spent his life selflessly serving the Lord and the neediest around him, while always striving to remain a simple, humble man of God.
From the book:
"The very first bridge I crossed was choosing to study for the priesthood, a decision that took me and everyone who knew me by surprise. Then came a series of bridges that once crossed brought me into contact with diverse peoples and their incredibly different yet similar needs."
In addition to his overseas missionary work, he's also ministered to many diverse communities in Nebraska, including Native American reservations, Hispanic parishes and inner city African-American congregations. He is a long-time social justice champion and an outspoken equal rights advocate.
From Father Ken:
"I pray this account of my life is not a personal spectacle but a recounting of a most wonderful journey serving God. May its discoveries and experiences inspire your own life story of service."
©2015 Kenneth Vavrina
NOTE: Father Vavrina contracted malaria in Yemen and he's dealt with malaria attacks ever since. He describes one in the book that ;anded him in the hospital
Exclusive excerpts from my new book with Father Ken Vavrina: Crossing Bridges, A Priest's Uplifting Life Among the Downtrodden
Exclusive excerpts from my new book with Father Ken Vavrina-
Crossing Bridges: A Priest's Uplifting Life Among the Downtrodden
The new book I did with beloved Omaha Catholic priest Father Ken Vavrina is now available for pre-orders at-http://www.conciergemarketing.com/#!online-store/c1dbb/!/Crossing-Bridges-A-Priests-Uplifting-Life-Among-the-Downtrodden/p/52473405
It releases August 26 in conjunction with the birthday of Mother Teresa – the late nun and humanitarian he variously knew as his inspiration, boss, colleague and friend.
Father Ken will sign copies Wed., Sept. 2 @ 6:pm @ The Bookworm, 90th & Center Streets. I will be there, too. Hope to see you.
The book is the story of this beloved priest's life and travels – simple acts that moved him, people that inspired him and places that astonished him. Father Vavrina has served as a priest for many years and has served several missions trips to help the needy. Father Ken worked with lepers in Yemen, and was ultimately arrested and thrown in jail under false suspicions of spying. After being forcibly removed from Yemen, he began his tenure with Catholic Relief Services, first in the extreme poverty and over-population of Calcutta in India, and then with warlords in Liberia to deliver food and supplies to refugees in need. Father Ken also spent several years working with Mother Teresa to heal the sick and comfort the dying. Father Ken has spent his life selflessly serving the Lord and the neediest around him, while always striving to remain a simple, humble man of God.
From the book:
"The very first bridge I crossed was choosing to study for the priesthood, a decision that took me and everyone who knew me by surprise. Then came a series of bridges that once crossed brought me into contact with diverse peoples and their incredibly different yet similar needs."
In addition to his overseas missionary work, he's also ministered to many diverse communities in Nebraska, including Native American reservations, Hispanic parishes and inner city African-American congregations. He is a long-time social justice champion and an outspoken equal rights advocate.
From Father Ken:
"I pray this account of my life is not a personal spectacle but a recounting of a most wonderful journey serving God. May its discoveries and experiences inspire your own life story of service."
©2015 Kenneth Vavrina
NOTE: Father Vavrina contracted malaria in Yemen and he's dealt with malaria attacks ever since. He describes one in the book that ;anded him in the hospital
Here's what makes it all worthwhile…
Here's what makes it all worthwhile…
And here, dear friends, is ultimately why I do what I do in spite of the sparse pay and the insecurity that comes with being a writer. It is a mashup of two heartfelt emails sent me by a young, then-aspiring filmmaker named Bryan Reisberg who shared how impactful my Alexander Payne book has been for him. As you will read below, since first writing me he found financing to direct his screenplay Big Signficant Things. More recently yet he's informed me that the film premiered well at the South by Southwest Film Festival and that he found a theatrical distributor for it. His pic is now showing in select theaters this summer. He may even come to Omaha with it before the year's out. Reading how my accounts of a world-class filmmaker inspired this talented young man to recalibrate his own approach to film and to get his vision from page to screen is perhaps the greatest compliment I've ever received. Credit must also go to Alexander Payne, for his insights that I shared with the world.
File this one under you never know how your words or work or actions affect someone. Thank you, Bryan, and I look forward to meeting you one day.
Dear Mr. Biga,
I'm writing to thank you for your wonderful book.
You don't know me but I'm a young filmmaker in NYC and I purchased your book on Alexander Payne I think back in November of 2012. I was always a fan of Alexander Payne's work, and was simply searching for anything I could find on him. I wanted to write and tell you that your book has helped me immeasurably as a filmmaker.
I read your book a few months ago when I was finishing a screenplay, with the hopes of turning that into my directorial debut. I immersed myself into your articles, and then further into Payne, his inspirations, references, and then dove headfirst into classic American and Italian Cinema from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. The started the most focused and intensely rigorous academic study of film I've done, and it was nearly 4 years after graduating from college. Probably because I was working towards a physical film.
I graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2009 and work with my friend and production partner, Andrew D Corkin, whose last feature film he produced was 2011's Martha Marcy May Marlene.
I imagine now, being a bit older than I was while in film school I have much more of an interest in the academia of filmmaking.
Your articles and interviews became a critical (and previously absent) entry point to discover and dig deeper into learning more about directors, films, and film history. I came to not only respect and admire Payne as a filmmaker, but also as one of the best teachers I've ever had. And I can say that to date, starting with your book, what I've learned about the craft and history of cinema has been unparalleled and invaluable.
Well, since reading your book, I've completely changed how I watch films, what I watch, and it has given me such a wonderful tool and jumping off point to film that I don't feel I've ever had before. And since reading your book, and working on developing this first film, as of 2 weeks ago, we're fortunate to have gotten this project, my first feature, fully financed. We head down to Mississippi in 2 weeks to prep, and then shoot in the month of May. It's pretty surreal, since I'm sure you know that indie film financing is very difficult…
…I was fortunate enough to have my screenplay financed so that I could direct my first feature, BIG SIGNIFICANT THINGS, which I completed back in May of 2013.
And it was just announced that my film will have it's World Premiere at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival. Mark Orton, who I'm sure you know did the score for NEBRASKA, is composing the score for my film.
I wouldn't be here without Alexander Payne and your book. Well, maybe I'd be here, but I wouldn't be nearly as (hopefully) knowledgeable and skilled as a filmmaker.
So I just wanted to extend my gratitude, and thank you from the bottom of my heart.


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The Florida judge overseeing the controversial case of George Zimmerman, accused of second-degree murder in the February shooting death of Trayvon Martin, reluctantly ruled that the defendant could be released on a $1 million bond while awaiting trial — albeit with an array of new restrictions. As soon as the news broke Thursday, with Zimmerman still in jail trying to raise bail money, death threats against him resumed.
Contributing to the delinquency of a minor has long been considered a crime. Parents who have permitted teenagers to drink liquor at parties in their homes have been charged with this crime. Adult seducers of under-age teenage girls have also been charged with this crime. But in schools, where pornographic sex education is used to introduce children to premarital, recreational sex, the crime of contributing to the delinquency of a minor is permitted.
RIO DE JANEIRO – A scandalous publicity stunt that saw Rio's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue turned green for the United Nations Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development backfired big time, UN critic and environmental realist Lord Christopher Monckton told The New American in an exclusive interview under the monument after the "sustainability" summit ended. And the Marxist-minded "environmental religion," as he called it, failed spectacularly in its ongoing effort to displace Christianity.
When former Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo Méndez was lawfully impeached by united lawmakers in late June, Latin America's powerful socialist leaders denounced the move against their comrade as a "coup" against "democracy." Despite the fact that the impeachment by a democratically elected Congress followed constitutional procedures and was endorsed by the nation's Supreme Court, the outcry against the ouster and Paraguay's new leader is still growing.
Having taught economics at a number of colleges for a number of years, I especially welcomed a feature article in the June 22nd issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, on how economics courses with the same name can be very different at different colleges. It can also be very different when the course is taught by professors in the same department who have different approaches.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has reassured the electorate that he agrees with the Supreme Court's ruling that the infamous "individual mandate" that is the cornerstone of the Affordable Health Care Act — i.e. "ObamaCare" — is a tax. He also says it's constitutional. In his own words from his July 4 interview with CBS's Jan Crawford: "The Supreme Court has the final word. And their final word is that ObamaCare is a tax. So it's a tax. They decided it was constitutional. So it is a tax and it's constitutional. That's the final word. That's what it is."
The commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force declared Wednesday that the IRGC has prepared comprehensive contingency plans to attack 35 American military bases in the region "within minutes" of an American military strike on his country.
On July 2, social media service Twitter released its first ever "Transparency Report" revealing the alarming number of requests it has received from the government of the United States to delete tweets and disclose information about its users.
Our latest "Freedom Index," the third for the current (112th) Congress, shows how every U.S. representative and senator voted on key issues such as raising the national debt limit, reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank (a corporate-welfare program), and developing our oil and gas resources.
The recent public-employee union controversy in Wisconsin is part of a global phenomenon, and every U.S. government unit will face the same crisis. Governor Walker stood up to the teachers' union in his state by saying that he wouldn't back automatic pay increases for teachers and other public workers that had increased state costs.


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As Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane prepares to announce a shortlist of possible sites to host Australia's radioactive waste, challenges facing the goal of responsible radioactive waste management remain
A year ago this week a small group of Traditional Owners of country in the Northern Territory won a big victory
Land clearing in Queensland threatens biodiversity and threatened species - it urgently needs proper environmental regulations to be followed
Ancient Indigenous rock art on the Burrup Peninsula in WA has been de-registered it as a sacred site
Newman's legacy was to reverse, wind-back and dismantle more than a decade of environmental protection.
Against the backdrop of Australia and India squaring up in the World Cup cricket, the two nations now face a test with much graver consequences.
The opportunities, employment options and services that remote Aboriginal communities provide our wider nation are being ignored.
Fukushima remains a profound human, economic and environmental tragedy
Declaring mining agreements a success in Aboriginal communities after reviewing less than two percent of agreements seems a stretch.
South Australian royal commission into uranium mining can't become a taxpayer-funded nuclear industry promotional platform
The importance of the environment in the recent Queensland state election is beyond doubt
The potential fallout from the lifting of uranium bans in Queensland will have repercussions well beyond the election. The toxic legacy of uranium lasts longer than the promises of politians.
Come and talk with us!


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Polyester swim cap from Maru swimwear in a choice of colours. This porous swimming cap is lightweight and ideal for using to keep long hair out of the way of your goggles when swimming. Can be used under latex or silicone caps to prevent the hair being pulled.
This was purchased for friends and family to use in my pool, mainly to keep hair from the filters. It seems to do this effectively.
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AB: Yes. After Terence died, I went back and got all our records. Because we had moved so much, I was able to see the way different hospitals in different parts of the country charged for the same thing. And there were wide variations. More interesting, though, was that because my employer was sold during a time that Terence was undergoing intensive treatment, I was able to see what the charges were for the exact procedure when nothing had changed but the insurance company that was paying.
So, one month, his CAT scan was paid by UnitedHealth and it cost my employer $2,586.60. Three months later, after the sale, the new insurer, Blue Cross, paid $775.68. And at that time, Medicare was reimbursing $250.94 for the same procedure. It was the same hospital, same patient, probably even the same machine. The only thing that had changed was the insurance company. What's that all about? It didn't mean a ton to me, because my employer was picking up the tab. But now that co-pays are getting so much higher, it's going to mean that people are going to be paying wildly different amounts for the same thing, often not knowing why -- or even knowing in advance how much it was going to cost.
Terence's medical records by Amanda Bennett collection
JB: That's interesting and indeed relevant to our national current health care conversation. On a personal level, how helpful was it to turn your investigative eye on this, Amanda? Did it help you heal?
AB: I loved doing it! Writing is what writers do when something happens to them. I felt like I was doing something useful. I totally felt that he was supporting the project - he was so into learning everything he could about everything that I felt him cheering me on. And also, just selfishly, as you point out, he was a piece of work. So doing the book gave me an excuse to spend an extra year with him -- going through photos and videos and all his projects and piles of things and letters and notes. It was fun.
taken in Philadelphia by a Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer,a great friend of ours in China by Amanda Bennett collection, taken by Neal Ulevich
JB: Because the two of you were so focused on the fight, you didn't really get to say goodbye as you might have wanted. What was that like?
AB: Well, it was really sad. I wouldn't have wanted to give up the fight, but I wish that we hadn't been presented with such a stark choice -- either fight or give up and go into hospice. I think that if we had been able to think of both things together -- that we were going to fight AND that sooner or later everyone dies and we need to think about how that's going to happen -- we could have made some better choices. It might have affected only the last week or so, maybe. But that was a pretty important week.
JB: Agreed. How has your book been received?
AB: It's been amazing. So many people have written -- and all their letters start with personal stories: "My mother"... "My husband"... "My wife"... "My brother"... It seems that my experience has been a very common experience. It's also been good to see how many professional organizations -- cancer communities, hospices, hospitals, medical schools -- are looking for insight. I've spent a lot of the past year speaking to groups like that and finding that everyone is looking for a way to make this experience better for everyone.
Thanksgiving, 2007, three weeks before Terence died by Amanda Bennett collection
JB: Do you have plans with this going forward?
AB: Yes, I'm hoping to continue to help people think about this issue, to speak to groups, to help particularly with places that are trying to promote price transparency and more honest end of life discussions.
JB: Since Terence died, you've found love again. Yet, Terence is still very much a part of your life. Is that hard? Do you ever feel disloyal to one or both of them?
AB: Not at all. In fact, quite the opposite. I feel incredibly lucky that somehow lightning struck twice - and I have been able to love two such extraordinary men in one lifetime!
JB: Good for you, Amanda! What haven't we touched on yet?


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Making money writing magazine articles is getting more and more difficult. Editors don't have time to nurture writers. Magazines, now considered brands, live or die based on the percent gain over last year in ad revenue, print circulation or Internet visitors. Each article must conform to the formula and support the brand. Queries straying ever so slightly from the brand positioning are rejected. How can a writer be successful in this new reality?
-WH Magazine Media News, May 2012
If you're interested in creating a lucrative cache of writing credits in magazines and newspapers, then this workshop is for you. What will you learn?
Take home a dozen query letters that were successful in achieving publications in national markets such as Draft ("America's Favorite Beer Magazine"), GO (AirTran Airways' in-flight magazine) and Dog Fancy, to localized pieces for The Durham News.
Free coffee and tea included.
Workshop to be hosted by: Tara Lynne Groth – Tara Lynne started freelance writing five years ago with no connections in the publishing industry. Her writing business consistently outgrew itself and she resigned from her salaried job in 2010 to run her writing business. www.taralynnegroth.com
Hi, Tara. I have been longing to come but broke my foot and ankle 6 weeks ago only this morning getting cleared to walk on two feet. My cast is off!!! I have a boot and one crutch! FREEDOM!! I did not RSVP as i did not know if I'd be able to drive, etc. BUT I CAN! Is it too late to get into the lecture tomorrow? Please?
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Our Vision
Our vision is to have a place of worship and training. Bringing both, the new convert and those already growing, into service in the Kingdom. We strongly believe in the commitment to the local assembly, which affects the local community. Our goal is to build upon the foundation of the Law and the Prophets, a strong ministry from strong families. Teaching discipline, obedience, accountability, and...
Tenants of Faith
Hebraic Ministries or Hebrew Roots: We Believe: That the Scriptures consist of both Old and New covenants, and as such, one does not do away with the other. It is in this capacity that it is; Holy, Inspired, Authoritative, Infallible, The- Word of YHVH. There is one Almighty. Revealed by His Name as YHVH. In the incarnation of our Savior, Yahshua the Messiah. His virgin birth, sinless life, suffering and...
Introductory Hebrew Classes in Salem Oregon
Hebrew classes are currently suspended as we search for our new ministry location! But we will be starting back as soon as possible. Below is an outline to help those who are ready to begin their journey learning the language of Yah! Hebrew Outline
About Us
David Mathews, pastor of Manna from Heaven Ministries, has been in the ministry for over 30 years. He currently teaches cutting edge messages of Torah via weekly Shabbat meeting! He continues to serve the Father along with his wife Brenda of 20 years and their 6 children, 3 still currently at home. Brenda Mathews, wife of Pastor David Mathews, has been in the ministry for 20 years serving alongside her...
Register Now For Sukkot!
Got to Manna.events to register for Sukkot! Watch the Promotional video! Radio show: Join Nitza and she interviews David Mathews of Manna from Heaven Ministries and Jamie Louis of Fishing for S.O.L.E. (Sons of the Living Elohim). Discussion includes: – Jubilee Sukkot 2015 hosted in Lebanon, Oregon by Manna from Heaven Ministries – What is Sukkot? – Information about some of the brothers, in...
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Introducing Emet en la Torah Ministries
Manna from Heaven Ministries introduces Emet en la Torah Ministries:Read More
As a Messianic congregation, having also an upbringing in the western church community, we want to welcome those visitors to our website who may also be currently members of either the gentile church or the orthodox assembly. To those who are new, we will be using the Hebrew names of both the Father (YHVH -Yahweh) and Messiah (Yahshua), rather than the more common titles of, lord, god, or Ha-Shem (The Name), or, the Greek rendering of, "Jesus", as well as, the hybrid name of JeHoVaH.
The use of the more accurate Hebrew names is not meant to cause confusion or division among those seeking the Truth, but, our attempt to be as scripturally accurate as possible.
Manna From Heaven Ministries was founded on September 15, 1999. We are a Messianic congregation in keeping with the example of the early church as defined in the New Testament. Along with a balance of Integrity, Maturity, and Discipline, we pursue the attributes and character of YHVH that His Word mandates for the Set-Apart ones.
We would hope that our common desire for relationship with the Father and our love of Torah (The Word) will be sufficient to enable those who disagree regarding the use of His Name, to overlook that point of issue, and strive to search the Scriptures to see if what we are teaching is indeed, Truth.
We have a multi-racial congregation that welcomes anyone wishing for an exciting, exuberant relationship with Messiah. Our objective is to offer to the community a fellowship motivated by the Love of Yahshua, to minister the full counsel of His Word.
It is that mission alone that will minister to the spiritual and physical needs of the Bride preparing for these last days.Read More
7th Month Festivals 2015 by D. Mathews
The 7th Month festivals. 2015.
Lev. 23: 24 – 44.
- The festivals begin on the first of the 7th month. I personally believe it coincides with the sighting of the sliver of the moon. This is in keeping with what is found in Gen. 1: 14, indicating that the stellar luminaries are for signs, H#226, אוֹת 'owth, a sign or signal, banner or mark, a token or proof. A sign must be 'seen' to be understood. Therefore, the 'Dark Moon' which lasts anywhere from 1.5 to 3.5 days is an unstable measuring point.These signs regulate seasons, H#4150, מוֹעֵד mow`ed, appointed place, time or meeting, a sacred season or festival. The word mow`ed comes from the root of H#3259, ya`ad, indicating to point out or define something. It can also mean to espouse a wife. If we look at the two-letter root, the Ayin-Dalet, it hints at a witness or testimony, whether written or oral! It would seem then, that these signs must be either heard or seen in order to properly fix a date or time. This would seem fitting since the first festival of the 7th month is Yom Teruah – the Day of Trumpets or shouting/blasting! Following this logic, a sign for an espoused bride that is also a testimony would be considered a Ketubah and in this case, one written in the heavens! In fact, the root of Ketubah, katav, means 'visible signs written down'.
Incidentally, the Hebrew wedding custom required a contract or Ketubah be given and accepted by the prospective bride. This is the first stage of a binding 'engagement' called kiddushin. This is followed by a period of waiting where the husband goes to prepare a place for his bride. (John 14:1-3) The next stage, 'nisuin' begins with the wedding ceremony where the Ketubah is read. (At the close of the Shmittah cycle the entire Torah – Ketubah is read during Sukkot) The Sages teach: From the moment the Ketubah is handed over to the bride, she must safeguard it and make sure it doesn't get lost; according to the laws established a man cannot live with his wife for even one hour without a Ketubah in their home. Yom Teruah pictures the Bridegroom returning with a shout and the blast of the Great Shofar!
Read More
Ki Tetse 2015 by D. Mathews
Ki Tetse 8-29-15
When You Go Out.
Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19
The Parsha begins with the imposing of measures to curtail the lustful passions of a military man who has taken a female captive. The Sages agree the criteria established here is in hopes that the man will overcome his lust for the female by a forced waiting period as a means of preventing further consequences. This connection is quite obvious when juxtaposed with the following directives concerning the 'hated' wife and the rebellious son produced from the union. It is as if the two are presented in order that the lustful man may see what often results from his sinful desires. The Sages teach this Parsha deals with the carnal nature and the future consequences of failing to subdue the rebellious flesh, leading to the taking of a hated wife, producing rebellious children. These lustful passions cause one to turn from the First Wife or First Love a euphemism of The Torah/YHVH. *Remember that one's wife is considered his cistern, fountain; spring of living waters…to take another is to reject that fountain!
Though this part of the text seems innocuous on its surface, however, as with every Torah portion it has far-reaching ramifications. Let's look.
What follows is intriguing because this Parsha contains more of the 613 (74 total) mitzvoth than any other; yet, the lustful, carnal, religious leaders of Israel are blinded to them as they walk through this scenario during the life of Messiah.
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadRead More
Shoftim 2015 by B. Scott
Shoftim 2015
Shoftim/"Judges", covers Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9, and begins with the command to place judges and officers in the gates. It launches us into an important, yet divisive and touchy subject, how to judge in the house! To be quite honest, seldom has their been a balance in this area – the pendulum either swings too far one way or the other (with no one willing to judge, therefore all manner of issues are allowed in the house, or individuals become so judgmental that they become cynical and lose the heart of Torah.) It's interesting to note, that the judges were stationed at the gates of the city in biblical times. This was important because to see the judges at the gates functioning as they were supposed to, was a sign to all those passing through that that city was a Torah observant place! Can the same be said of our own houses?
Deuteronomy 16:18-20
Judges: Strong's #8199 shaphat שָׁפַט to judge, govern, vindicate, punish;
ש = To burn, consume (therefore to purify, or change)
פ = Vessel, the mouth (from the heart, the mouth speaks, something that affects your tongue/mouth, therefore deals with your heart!)
ט = To enclose, something hidden within
To judge from a Hebrew definition means to burn/consume (therefore purifying and changing) the vessel that comes before you from the inside out; it is not about proving who's right, it's not about airing out the dirty laundry for all to see, but deals with us learning how to handle situations in such a way that the integrity of the house is not compromised – that the individuals that come to the gates walk away a more fit vessel to be used for His purpose!
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadRead More
Re'eh 2015 by D. Mathews
Re'eh – 8/15/15
Deut. 11:26 – 16:17.
- The title of the Parsha, Re'eh, H#7200, רָאָה ra'ah, is a Hebrew word that is very intriguing! It is usually translated as; Behold, to see, look at or inspect. However, it is far deeper than that, indicating to observe, give attention to and thus to distinguish or perceive and understand. It can also hint of providing for oneself. Another obscure, yet pertinent meaning is seen in Gen. 1: 9 where the dry land 'appears – Re'eh': In other words, to suddenly be separated and thus, distinguishable from its surroundings. The living Waters birthed the Dry Land. Much like the Breath or Word/Living Waters of YHVH formed the dry land into the Adam!
These subtle, yet important differences are not seen in the English. It should be no surprise that this word is so powerful that it is used in Gen. 22: 14 (by Abraham) as a descriptive name of Elohiym: יֵרָאֶֽה׃ יְהוָה YHVH Yire'eh. Why? Because YHVH provided, saw Himself, was Seen by Abraham as "The Lamb" the Word, the sacrifice who must die, be cut off in order to bless – restore to life! YHVH was seen as the Dry Land made Alive. The written Torah made flesh – Yahshua! We'll see it a bit plainer below:
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadRead More
Looking Inside the House of Bethany – Brenda Mathews
Looking Inside the House of Bethany
Matthew 26:6-7 – "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper. There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat."
- Jesus: of Hebrew origin (Strong's #3091) יְהוֹשׁוּעַ Yehoshu'a, means
- a) Yahveh is salvation
- b) It's a two part Hebrew word – 1) Strong's #3068 יְהֹוָה Yehovah, meaning "the existing one" and 2) Strong's #3467 יָשַׁע Yasha' meaning to save from moral troubles
*Moral means relating to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.
- c) Conforming to the rules of right conduct – Have we been taught right conduct as Yahweh sees right conduct?
*Troubles – to disturb the mental calm and contentment of, distress, or agitate.
*Disturb – to interrupt the quiet, rest, peace, or order of, to unsettle or hinder
*Hinder – to hold back; the enemy can hold you back!
Daniel 10:12-13 – "Then said he unto me. Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
But the Prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the Kings of Persia.
*Yahweh will not put on your more than you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13 – "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.")
- Bethany: Strong's #963 bathanea, Bethany = "house of dates" or "house of misery or depression"
*Palm trees or date palms can be seen in the book of Exodus.
Exodus 15:27 – "And they came to Elim where were twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees, and they encamped there by the waters."
- Elim – Strong's #362 אֵילִם Eilim, means "palms", second encampment of the Israelites after the exodus
- Twelve – which is considered a perfect number, symbolizes God's power and authority, serving as a perfect governmental foundation; it can also symbolize completeness of the nation of Israel as a whole
*The number 2 is a part of the number 12 and it means to do again, to repeat, it means something different or change of an attitude or character
*Change is good because we have been taught wrong! Malachi 3:6 – "For I am the LORD, I change not"
C.) Wells – Strong's #5869 'ayin עַיִן means physical eye, spring, fountain
Genesis 3:5-6 – "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes (#5869) shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
- The beginning of moral troubles
- Yehoshua' came to save from moral troubles (the distinction between right and wrong)
Luke 16:8 – "And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light."
- Light – Strong's #5457 Phos ("fos") have the power of understanding especially, moral and spiritual truth
As I was praying and asking the Father what was Adam and Eve doing, the world says it was an apple they ate. David's taught that it wasn't an apple, the Hebrew language says it wasn't an apple.
This is my story. If you look on the fruit and vegetables you buy from the super market there is a number on them and to me it looked like a strong's concordance number. The number on the apple was 4016 – Red Delicious Apple.
*Strong's #4016 mevushim מְבֻשִׁים private parts, his privates, male genitals; literally "that excites shame"
Deuteronomy 25:11-12 – "When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets (#4016) then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her."
*Strong's #4135 mul מוּל means to cut short, to cut off, to circumcise; Abraham was commanded to circumcise both himself and his offspring as a sign of the covenant made between him and God (Gen. 17:10-14)
Now Strong's #8598 tappuah is the word that is used when talking about an apple in Hebrew.
- Means Apple, an apple tree
- The bridgroom is described as an apple tree among the trees of the forest (Songs 2:3)
- Palm Trees – Strong's #8558 תָּמָר Tamar
- Palm tree, date palm, Bethany
- It refers to a water loving date palm tree found around springs (Exodus 15:27)
- A desert oasis where the date palm flourishes (Psalm 92:12)
- The righteous flourish as the date palm
- Its branches are a symbol of victory (Rev. 7:9)
- John 12:13 – "Took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord."
This is from a website article – "The Benefits and Uses of Date Palms".
Date Palm – "the Tree of Life": You may be familiar with date fruits that are nutritious and healthy, but do you know that date palms, the tree that produces date fruits, is the oldest fruit bearing tree on earth?
And do you know that date palms are also the source of medicine and building materials for the Bedouin Arabs that live in the desert?
Medicinial Uses of Date Palms:
- Unripe dates as fertility foods
- Dates to restore health –dates are rich in Vitamin A and C, fiber, calcium, iron, phosphorous, sulfur, potassium, copper, magnesium and manganese.
Date Palm – the Tree of Life, what made me sick
In August of 2009, the Muslim feast of Ramadan was held, and during that time Egyptian fruit sellers named their best dates of the year after President Barak Obama in tribute to the American leader for his outreach to the Muslim world. Dates are traditional food for Ramadan.
Date Palms are a symbol of victory
Amazing secrets about Dates
*The remarkable thing about date palms is that every tree is usually fertilized by hand. The male and female flowers grow on different trees.
Let's look at Tamar – Strong's #8559 תָּמָר
- The daughter-in-law of Judah
- She married Judah's son Er who died childless.
- "Onan, Judah's second son, died at the hand of LORD because he would not raise up seed for Israel through Tamar." So he died childless.
*Genesis 1:28 – "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply"
- Perez – means breach, a break, a tear, a breaking up. I believe he broke the curse or the Spirit that was trying to hind the Messiah from being birthed
- Tamar is connected to Tadmor (Tadmor – Palm Tree). We will be camping at Tadmor for Sukkot this year in Lebanon, this is no accident!
*Isaiah 29:17-18 – "Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?"
*Genesis 49:22 – "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall."
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
*Book – Sefer
Tamar is also connected to Ithamar, whose name means coast of palms
*His name in the Hebrew literally poses the question, where is the one without blemish, perfect, and complete?
*He was involved in building the Tabernacle and keeping records about it (Exodus 38:21)
*He directed the work of the Merarites and Gershonites as they cared for the wagons transporting the Tabernacle(Numbers 7:8)
Numbers 7:8 – "And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the Priest."
- Wagons – Strong's #5699 'agalah means cart, wagon; from strong's #5696 'agol meaning round; but also connected to #5697 'eglah עֶגְלָה a calf, a bullock, steer, or heifer
So why is that so important? Listen to this story!
Genesis 45:26-27 – "And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived."
To prove to Jacob that Joseph had sent these messages, Joseph directed his brothers to say that the last topic he and Jacob had studied together was that of eglah arufah the calf whose neck was broken in expiation of an unsolved murder (Deut. 21:1-9)
*The word 'agalot/wagons can also be translated as calves, thus alluding to that topic.
Therefore it is written further in this verse, "And he saw the agalos/wagons that 'Joseph' had sent", it does not say Pharaoh had sent (Rashi)
The word revived – during the years of Joseph's absence Jacob was in grief and the Divine spirit had left him, for it rests only amid joy. Now that Jacob was happy again, he was revived spiritually (Rashi, Rambam). Therefore in the next verse, he is called Israel, the name that stands for his spiritual nobility!
Deuteronomy 21:6 – "And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley. And they shall answer and say, our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it."
So it is safe to say that the absence of Ithamar and the Tabernacle is a grief to us and the Divine Spirit has left us, because we are no longer Israel as a whole. Don't go away, there is more!
We are still in the house of Bethany!
Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper.
- Simon – Strong's #4613 Simon (Semon); Simon the leper, so called to distinguish him from others of the same name
*To set apart, to distinguish between right and wrong
From strong's #8095 Shimon שִׁמְעוֹן means "heard", Hebrew origin; from Strong's #8085 shama' שָׁמַע to hear, listen, to obey
- Leper – Strong's #3013 lepis (lepes); a scale, this word occurs only one time in the Greek
Acts 9:18 – "And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales (#3013) and he received sight forwith, and arose and was baptized."
Acts 9:8 – "And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him unto Damascus." – Saul had leprosy!
Saul means "desired"
- The Jewish name of the apostle Paul
- The name of the first king of Israel
- From the Hebrew root Strong's #7592 sha'al and #7586 sha'ul meaning to ask or asked
People sometimes sought information by asking the Urim and Thummim (Numbers 27:21). Urim = Lights & Thummim = Perfection
1 Chronicles 13:2-3 – "And David said unto all the congregation of Israel. If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the Priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us:
And let us bring again the Ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul.
- Ark – Strong's #727 'aron אָרוֹן ark, a box, chest; ark of the covenant, this word also refers to the chest for collecting money and offerings (2 Kings 12:9)
- Enquired – Strong's #1875 darash דָּרַשׁ to seek, to enquire of, to examine; its most important theological meaning involves studying or inquiring into the Law of the Lord (Ezra 7:10)
Ezra 7:10 – "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, to teach in Israel statutes and judgment."
John 12:1 – "Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead."
- Six – is connected to the word in Hebrew (Strong's #7893) shayish שַׁיִשׁ from an unused root meaning to bleach or whiten; alabaster; also man was created on the sixth day
- Lazarus – means "Whom God helps"; Lazarus was dead for four days, there was no help in the house of Bethany
- Remember one of the meanings of Bethany is house of misery or depression
*The word that is used for house of misery or depression is 'aniyah עניה
But Strong's #6041 'ani עָנִי means poor, afflicted; refers to those who are suffering, in a state of poverty, oppression, misery from various causes, from being poor, needy (Exodus 22:25)
But if you look at Strong's #6043 'anayah עניה = Yahweh has answered (name of a priest who helped Ezra and signed the covenant with Nehemiah)
Remember Lazarus means "whom God helps", Ezra means "help" or "one who helps"
Psalm 121:1-2 – "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."
If you read that verse in the Hebrew, it could also say "from whence comes my Ezra, my Ezra comes from the Lord"!
So what was Ezra famous for? For the rebuilding of the Tabernacle/Temple!
Ezra 7:6 – "This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the King granted him all his requests, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him."
Ezra 7:21 – "And I, even I Ar-ta-xerxes the King, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily/thoroughly."
The pattern is clear to me that the exiles have a big part in the rebuilding of the Tabernacle. They cannot build it without the exiles and that is our connection to the land!
One of Ithamar's descendants, Daniel, returned from the Babylonian exile under Ezra (Ezra 8:2).
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Devarim 2015 by B. Scott
Devarim/"Words", Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22 begins the final book of the Torah (Deuteronomy, also Devarim) and seems from the surface to have the overall tone of a farewell discourse from Mosheh to Israel as the 40th year of wandering has finally arrived and it is now time to enter the Promised Land. Yet upon closer inspection, we find that the entire book of Deuteronomy is being structured in the exact same format as an ancient covenant treaty with a preamble, historical prologue, covenantal obligations, blessings and curses, and a concluding section. The generation at Sinai that accepted the terms of the contract have died off, it's now time for the wilderness generation to declare their allegiance. Now, for the past 40 years they have been living the Torah (living out the covenantal obligations), so it causes us to ask the question why then was it so important that immediately before crossing the Jordan and before Mosheh passes that the final moments are spent once again repeating the terms of a covenant that they obviously know?
Deuteronomy 1:1-3
Words: Strong's #1697 dabar דָּבָר speech, word, speaking, thing, one who has a cause (in a legal sense); hence from this root stems dibrah (#1700) דִּבְרָה cause, reason, in order that, for the purpose of, for the sake of in a forensic sense – relating to, used in, or suitable for a court of law
ד = Door, the overhang where the 2 lines intersect interestingly its called "the ear"
ב = House & ר = Head/Chief One; could it be that in order to have legal cause and right to access the door to the house of the Chief One (House of Yahweh – to enter the Promised Land), would only be granted to those who would lend their ear, hear His devarim/words?
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Balak 2015 by B. Scott
Balak/"Devastator", Numbers 22:2-25:9, is quite a unique parshah, not only is there a talking donkey, but it is one of the few times in Torah that the viewpoint is not from Israel's perspective, but instead Israel seems to take a backseat while the narration is told from the viewpoint of others, lending insight into how the minds of Israel's enemies works! This is quite an important lesson because it seems that the more we look into this, the enemies' tactics have not changed. This then lends some valuable insight into our own circumstances and what traps to look for and how to avoid being compromised. The portion makes it very clear that Balak and Balaam were unable to curse Israel (and from the previous parshah it's evident that a militaristic approach also would end in failure). It seems to make one point quite clear, the tactics of the enemy are futile, lest we ourselves choose to open doors and allow the camp to be compromised!
The first clue we find is in the placement of this portion – the 40th portion of the year. The number 40 symbolizes a period of testing, trial, or probation – already foretelling that this encounter with Balak is a test!
40 = מ water, chaos, womb; the number 40 is connected to something being birthed from the womb because there are 40 weeks of gestation until birth (hence the reason there was 40 years in the wilderness until Israel was birthed from the womb of the Word/Midabar). The placement of this parshah emphasizes that its time for something to be birthed – the seed of Yahweh that's been planted within Israel's womb is about to be brought forth!
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Chukat 2015 by D. Mathews
Chukat – Ordinance
Numbers 19:1–22:1
- This particular ordinance has a unique position in rabbinical circles. For years its true meaning lay shrouded in mystery, its understanding beyond the grasp of even the most devout, yet because of the renewed efforts of the last few years to restore the Temple and its services, the particular rituals of this commandment have become the focus of a national movement, taking on more significance than ever, for without it the Divine service of the Holy Temple cannot be renewed (partial quote in italics from the templeinstitute.ord/red_heifer/introduction). What is so intriguing about this commandment and why is it more important to the Temple service than ever in history? Or is it? Can it be truly understood by Judah and Ephraim alike? Walk with me a bit further…
Here is another source quote that gives the sum of religious Israel's limited understanding of this holy ordinance: ["the ashes of the red heifer rectifies humanity's most basic flaw: despair. The despair brought about by the loss of the Temple and the Divine Presence amongst us"]
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Korach 2015 by B. Scott
Korach/"Korah" covers Numbers 16:1-18:32, and is dedicated to the rebellion of its namesake. This parshah seems to make one point very clear – Yahweh will not tolerate rebellion in His camp! Remembering that the wilderness journey becomes the pattern for a larger future exodus, this passage then seems to be a warning to later generations of the dangers of rebellion, a warning to be careful lest we fall in the same trap as Korah! In fact, Ezekiel 20:38 seems to hint at this very fact – "And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am Yahweh." What exactly is Korah guilty of though, along with those who join with him, that would cause Yahweh to deal with it in the quick and severe manner that He does? Understanding what Yahweh views as a rebel seems to be quite important!
*Rebel: Strong's #4775 marad מָרַד to rebel, revolt, be rebellious; מ = from, out of, a sense of origin & רד = root meaning to wander restlessly, to roam, it infers a sense of no direction or purpose; rebellion is birthed from and originates when we have no sense of direction or purpose and wander and roam restlessly and aimlessly!
It's no accident that the term Torah itself comes from the root yarah meaning to shoot something in order to hit a mark! Torah is what provides a sense of purpose and direction, it outlines the mark we're to aim for (Psalm 119:105 – "NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."). It's with the removal of His Word/Torah that we find ourselves falling into the category of the rebels!
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Shelach Lekha 2015 by D. Mathews
Shelach L'cha 6-13-15
Numbers 13:1–15:41.
- This Parsha is monumental! It recounts in vivid detail the turning point in the lives of the generation who came out of Israel. Let's revisit some of the events taking place and see how they relate to our generation today!
First of all, it would seem that like our Forebears, a Great(er) Exodus lies before us. Many have already awakened and multitudes yet remain who will "Come Out Of Her". If so, we must learn from the early mistakes. Are there reasons to believe these Parsha's fit our current daily lives?
FYI: This is the 37th Parsha and it centers on the group of Israelites who left Egypt yet continued to complain wanting to return to Pharaoh. Let's look at one recent event: The last leg of the Horse Racing Triple Crown saw a winner called; American Pharaoh – for the first time in 37 years! The horse is owned by Ahmed (Highly Praised – another name for Muhammed) Zayat an Egyptian born Jew! He won the last stage at Belmont: Bel = Baal, Mont = mountain. It's all about coming out of her! And many say these Torah portions have no modern relevance today!
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