My sister and her husband gave me an unexpected visit the other weekend and we decided to eat dinner at Tre Konor, a Scandinavian restaurant near Foster and California owned by a Norwegian man and his Swedish wife. The cozy mom-and-pop bistro is about all that’s available for authentic Nordic fare in a city that still teems with those of Viking descent.
After our dill-laden seafood-fest—including tuna, crab, shrimp, salmon, smoked salmon and rainbow trout—my sister wanted to show off for my brother-in-law the North side’s 5200 block street Leland Avenue. He tried to muster a little excitement at the sight of the green sign bearing our family name but it was obvious it held no real charm for him.
One of the things I’ve always treasured about Chicago is its incredibly strong Norwegian heritage. A lot of Scandinavian-Chicagoans aren’t even aware that only 60-some miles southwest of the city is Norway, Ill., recognized as the first permanent Norwegian-American immigrant settlement in the Midwest. The Norsk Museum, once an old Norwegian Lutheran Church, sits at the center of the tiny, unincorporated community that is only a hop, skip and a jump from another Norwegian farm village by the name of Leland!
I’ll never forget the afternoon some 15 years ago when Naperville’s Mayor George Pradel drove us to Leland so we could see just what it was like and, after eating at their downtown diner, we moseyed into the Leland police station where Pradel introduced himself as a Naperville cop and the officers kindly gave me two official Village of Leland police patches to sew on my jacket if I chose. I still have them as mementos.
All of LaSalle County in the Fox River Valley, where Norway and Leland lie, was, in fact, a major migration point for Norwegian pioneers who had first sailed to America in 1825 aboard the Restauration. An excerpt from an old historical book posted online by the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society reveals:
“The century that has passed since the migration of six Norwegian families from Orleans County, New York, to LaSalle County, Illinois in 1834 has seen the emigration of over three-quarters of a million Norwegians from the old homeland to the New World, and has witnessed the establishment of countless Norwegian settlements throughout the United States and Canada, particularly in the region drained by the upper reaches of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. That this latter region should have become a veritable New Canaan for Norwegians was perhaps both natural and inevitable considering the fact that Norwegian emigration to America became considerable at the time that the westward movement of the American population rounded the lower end of Lake Michigan. The migration of the pioneer Norwegians to Illinois in 1834 was a part of the greater migration of thousands of families both native American and foreign-born, westward to Illinois and beyond.”
In Chicago, whole neighborhoods were built by Scandinavians and I like to think the man Leland Avenue was named after, Henry Leland, could have been a relative of mine. It wouldn’t surprise me since Leland is an old, old Norwegian name that is not common at all.
When my church was first established in 1900, under the name The North Shore Congregational Church, it was decided it would be located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood only at the corner of Sheridan Road and Wilson Avenue, only a long block from where Leland intersects Sheridan.
If you go to the website http://uptownhistory.compassrose.org/ and click on the left-side link “Leland” you can actually view an old black-and-white photo of the intersection of Leland and Sheridan where the North Shore church tower is clearly seen in the distance.
In her book about North Shore’s history, church member Matilda B. Carse writes, “The North Shore Congregational Church was the first church organized for Christian worship and work in the territory, more than a mile square, extending from Graceland avenue to Argyle avenue, and from Lake Shore to Clark street. An excellent class of people, of moderate means, were making their homes here, and readily responded to the first call for a church.
From Carse’s book, we’re told the 86 charter members quickly grew within six months “so that when the Council was called on Nov. 8, 1900, the charter membership showed the unusual list of 136 names, from 46 different churches, and eight denominations, and 26 on confession of faith. Prominent members of the Council expressed the opinion that seldom, if ever in the history of Chicago, had a church been organized with such strength at the beginning.
“The little store where the services were held, at length became too crowded, and the building was enlarged by an addition of 18 feet to accommodate the audiences.
“After a careful search for the ideal location for the new church (every possible site from Montrose boulevard to Lawrence avenue having been investigated), it was unanimously voted that the corner of Sheridan road and Wilson avenue was the strategic point. Accordingly, by vote of the church, the Trustees were authorized to purchase this site for the sum of $14,500.”
In a promotional ad inside the Chicago Tribune newspaper written years later, the church at 1011 Wilson Ave., was identified as “Home of Radio Show We Preach Christ Crucified. This building is located on a busy corner, 4600 North, in Chicago. More than 250,000 people pass the corner of Sheridan Rd. and Wilson Ave. every 24 hours. In our church services as well as in all of our Radio Broadcasts, we are true to our slogan:
We Preach Christ Crucified
We Praise Christ Continually
We Proclaim Christ’s Coming”
(Editor’s Note: To be continued . . .)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Foundation lineage
A survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that more than 10 percent of Americans think Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. Imagine if the same bunch had been asked about Noah’s sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. They probably would have been confused with the Three Stooges.
In the thick of an old Bible study on Genesis 9, prepared for Grace School of the Bible, Jordan stops to reason, “There are probably people scratching their heads about now, saying, ‘What is he talking about?!’ and that’s too bad because, folks, these are the kind of things that are the foundation that all the muck and mire of human depravity has covered over and no one understands!
“There are very few people looking for answers; most people are just looking for problems to make money off of. There are lots of sensationalists, but for the honest people looking for answers, these are the roots that you HAVE to go back to.”
Jordan repeatedly makes the point that if the characteristics associated with each of Noah’s sons were allowed to scripturally function within the context of nationalism, as God established it, there would be peace and harmony in the earth.
“But that tells you just why there’s no peace and harmony, doesn’t it?” says Jordan. “One group constantly seeks to go into the other group’s area and say, ‘I should be ahead of all the others!’ ”
*****
Shem is the progenitor of the nation Israel and Abraham is a descendant of Shem.
Jordan explains, “Who did God belong to? He said, ‘I’m the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; I’m the God of Israel,’ and Shem and his lineage were given the responsibility to look after the spiritual issues of life. God’s Word is committed to Shem. God’s Son, when He comes, comes through the line of Shem.
“Anytime Japheth or Ham get to messing with religion they make a mess of things. Just check it out. But when Shem does it—all of the great world religions come from the descendants of Shem. It’s fascinating.”
*****
Genesis 9:27 says, “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan (Ham’s son) shall be his servant.”
“There are three needs man has—spiritual, physical and intellectual,” says Jordan. “Shem is charged with meeting the spiritual needs; inner spiritual strength. Ham is charged with meeting the physical needs and skills to carry out the purposes. His focus is on technology.
“Descendants of Ham have been the great influencers of human history in inventing and technology. In fact, the first great world civilizations were brought about in Egypt and Babylon and those, you’ll see as we get on down in chapter 10, are Ham’s descendants. Nimrod, one of Ham’s boys, establishes Babylon and Egypt and those are the great cradles of civilization.
“Japeth meets the intellectual needs. He’s the one who gives direction and purpose to things. Japeth is the facilitator, he’s the expander. He’s the one who takes religion and develops it into a system of coordinated thinking. He develops theology.
“If these (three races) work together like they’re designed, Shem has the truth of God and an understanding of God’s commission to him. There are a people to spread that out and teach it and populate the earth with it.
“Ham and his descendants come along with the technology to help man in his dominion in the earth and to work out and help man get the job of world dominion accomplished, and they’re the originators.
"Then Japeth comes along and sort of takes the two and holds one by the hand and the other by the hand and brings them together because Japeth is the facilitator. He’s the expander.”
In the thick of an old Bible study on Genesis 9, prepared for Grace School of the Bible, Jordan stops to reason, “There are probably people scratching their heads about now, saying, ‘What is he talking about?!’ and that’s too bad because, folks, these are the kind of things that are the foundation that all the muck and mire of human depravity has covered over and no one understands!
“There are very few people looking for answers; most people are just looking for problems to make money off of. There are lots of sensationalists, but for the honest people looking for answers, these are the roots that you HAVE to go back to.”
Jordan repeatedly makes the point that if the characteristics associated with each of Noah’s sons were allowed to scripturally function within the context of nationalism, as God established it, there would be peace and harmony in the earth.
“But that tells you just why there’s no peace and harmony, doesn’t it?” says Jordan. “One group constantly seeks to go into the other group’s area and say, ‘I should be ahead of all the others!’ ”
*****
Shem is the progenitor of the nation Israel and Abraham is a descendant of Shem.
Jordan explains, “Who did God belong to? He said, ‘I’m the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; I’m the God of Israel,’ and Shem and his lineage were given the responsibility to look after the spiritual issues of life. God’s Word is committed to Shem. God’s Son, when He comes, comes through the line of Shem.
“Anytime Japheth or Ham get to messing with religion they make a mess of things. Just check it out. But when Shem does it—all of the great world religions come from the descendants of Shem. It’s fascinating.”
*****
Genesis 9:27 says, “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan (Ham’s son) shall be his servant.”
“There are three needs man has—spiritual, physical and intellectual,” says Jordan. “Shem is charged with meeting the spiritual needs; inner spiritual strength. Ham is charged with meeting the physical needs and skills to carry out the purposes. His focus is on technology.
“Descendants of Ham have been the great influencers of human history in inventing and technology. In fact, the first great world civilizations were brought about in Egypt and Babylon and those, you’ll see as we get on down in chapter 10, are Ham’s descendants. Nimrod, one of Ham’s boys, establishes Babylon and Egypt and those are the great cradles of civilization.
“Japeth meets the intellectual needs. He’s the one who gives direction and purpose to things. Japeth is the facilitator, he’s the expander. He’s the one who takes religion and develops it into a system of coordinated thinking. He develops theology.
“If these (three races) work together like they’re designed, Shem has the truth of God and an understanding of God’s commission to him. There are a people to spread that out and teach it and populate the earth with it.
“Ham and his descendants come along with the technology to help man in his dominion in the earth and to work out and help man get the job of world dominion accomplished, and they’re the originators.
"Then Japeth comes along and sort of takes the two and holds one by the hand and the other by the hand and brings them together because Japeth is the facilitator. He’s the expander.”
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
My Three Sons
Noah lived 350 years after the Flood and it was through his three boys that God established the nations. Shem, Ham and Japeth are the progenitors of the races of people who fill the earth.
“The theologians use a word that I’m not real comfortable with but they call it a ‘federal headship,’ ” explains Jordan. “They talk about one person representing everything. Now Adam did that. ‘In Adam, all did die.’ In Christ, ‘all are made alive.’ If you’re in Adam, death. If you’re in Christ, life. And that’s the idea.
“Hebrews 5 talks about how Levi paid tithes in the loins of Abraham. When Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, the writer of Hebrews says Levi, who is the descendant of Abraham, was actually paying the tithes. The idea there is the head of the race represents everybody else that comes along. We’re all coming from them.”
The contribution of each one of the boys is different and distinct but they were intended by God to be blended together into a harmonious, organized way of life to produce the highest form of civilization possible.
Jordan says, “As soon as one of the groups has ascendancy above the other the balance is put out of whack and then what happens in Scripture is there is a momentary excelling. One of them will step out in front of the others and be superior to him for a moment. It will look like there’s a great leap ahead but it flames out just like that. And suddenly it just crashes.
“Now you know what goes on today. There’s not one nation on the face of the earth that doesn’t have racial strife. Without one, the other two aren’t all they ought to be and more often it’s one (prong) stepping out and trying to take over. In the Millennium, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back, the three will work perfectly.
*****
On an individual level, the threefold framework is represented by spirit, soul and body. If a person’s spirit is not feeding on the Word of God and being nourished, and is instead out walking in the flesh and not the spirit, his/her Christ life is a wreck.
When it comes to representations of the threefold division through Noah’s sons, the Bible is loaded with them. One great example is the three gifts the wise men brought at the birth of Christ—gold, frankincense and myrrh.
“Nobody knows how many wise men there were—there might have been 50 of them for all we know—but they only brought three gifts,” says Jordan. “Those three gifts represented Shem, Ham and Japeth. They represented the offices of the Lord Jesus Christ and they represented mankind in the threefold division that God had made.
“When the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, did you ever read how they put the inscription over His head in three languages? Same thing!
*****
In Genesis 9, we’re told that when Noah got drunk from the wine of his vineyard,
“Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
[23] And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
[24] And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
[25] And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
[26] And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
[27] God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
Jordan says, “It was Ham who had messed up with his daddy so why didn’t God curse Ham? Well, look at verse 1. It says ‘God blessed Noah and his sons.’ Well, you can’t curse somebody God’s already blessed. And besides that, you remember when Saul, upon seeing young David out there where Goliath was, asked, ‘whose son is that?’
“The greatness of the father is attributed to the son and the activities and the blessings of the son were attributed to the father. You see, the greatness of the son had to come from the dad.
“You understand why it says ‘the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children,’ and the only way to curse Ham, and only Ham, was to say, ‘Hey, God’s blessed you but your descendants out here is where the fruit of this thing’s gonna be done.’
“Now that’s what tells me that these prophecies are not individual. If it would have just been an individual thing about Ham, Shem and Japeth, he would have said Ham. But he didn’t.
“Ham was Noah’s youngest son so God takes Ham’s youngest son, Canaan, and He curses him so there’s no mistake that this is going to be on Ham’s descendants all the way down to the least one.
“But it’s important to understand why Canaan. Who occupied the land of Israel when they went into it? It was the Land of Canaan. The Canaanites were up there in that land, and when Israel was told to go in there and exterminate the Canaanites, and pull them out because they didn’t belong in that land, they understood about why that was to be done based upon the curse back there (in Genesis 9).”
*****
Throughout time, people have misunderstood Canaan’s assignment as “a servant of servants” to be a dishonorable job.
Jordan explains, “To be a servant can be a position of great honor and great bearing. You remember Jesus said if a man wants to be the greatest, let him be servant of all?
“What does it mean to be a servant of servants? Well, you know what it means to be a king of kings, don’t you? You’re the best king of all the kings. If you’re the Lord of lords, you’re the best lord of all the lords, right?
“This (verse in Genesis 9) was to say Canaan’s going to be a servant par excellence. He’s going to be a servant better than anybody else who tries to do be a servant. He’s going to render extraordinary service to mankind. He’s going to be able to go out and get the job done.
“You know, we live in a generation where people who labor with their hands aren’t looked on so wonderfully. But you know it’s a great thing to be able to go out and get a job done, isn’t it?
“That’s what Ham’s descendants are going to be—people who are skilled in accomplishing things that have to do with technology. They have to do with skilled performance and developing means to accomplish the job. It’s a great need among mankind. Man needs physical skill. He has these needs of accomplishing the thing.”
(Editor’s note: To be continued . . . )
“The theologians use a word that I’m not real comfortable with but they call it a ‘federal headship,’ ” explains Jordan. “They talk about one person representing everything. Now Adam did that. ‘In Adam, all did die.’ In Christ, ‘all are made alive.’ If you’re in Adam, death. If you’re in Christ, life. And that’s the idea.
“Hebrews 5 talks about how Levi paid tithes in the loins of Abraham. When Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, the writer of Hebrews says Levi, who is the descendant of Abraham, was actually paying the tithes. The idea there is the head of the race represents everybody else that comes along. We’re all coming from them.”
The contribution of each one of the boys is different and distinct but they were intended by God to be blended together into a harmonious, organized way of life to produce the highest form of civilization possible.
Jordan says, “As soon as one of the groups has ascendancy above the other the balance is put out of whack and then what happens in Scripture is there is a momentary excelling. One of them will step out in front of the others and be superior to him for a moment. It will look like there’s a great leap ahead but it flames out just like that. And suddenly it just crashes.
“Now you know what goes on today. There’s not one nation on the face of the earth that doesn’t have racial strife. Without one, the other two aren’t all they ought to be and more often it’s one (prong) stepping out and trying to take over. In the Millennium, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back, the three will work perfectly.
*****
On an individual level, the threefold framework is represented by spirit, soul and body. If a person’s spirit is not feeding on the Word of God and being nourished, and is instead out walking in the flesh and not the spirit, his/her Christ life is a wreck.
When it comes to representations of the threefold division through Noah’s sons, the Bible is loaded with them. One great example is the three gifts the wise men brought at the birth of Christ—gold, frankincense and myrrh.
“Nobody knows how many wise men there were—there might have been 50 of them for all we know—but they only brought three gifts,” says Jordan. “Those three gifts represented Shem, Ham and Japeth. They represented the offices of the Lord Jesus Christ and they represented mankind in the threefold division that God had made.
“When the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, did you ever read how they put the inscription over His head in three languages? Same thing!
*****
In Genesis 9, we’re told that when Noah got drunk from the wine of his vineyard,
“Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
[23] And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
[24] And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
[25] And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
[26] And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
[27] God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
Jordan says, “It was Ham who had messed up with his daddy so why didn’t God curse Ham? Well, look at verse 1. It says ‘God blessed Noah and his sons.’ Well, you can’t curse somebody God’s already blessed. And besides that, you remember when Saul, upon seeing young David out there where Goliath was, asked, ‘whose son is that?’
“The greatness of the father is attributed to the son and the activities and the blessings of the son were attributed to the father. You see, the greatness of the son had to come from the dad.
“You understand why it says ‘the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children,’ and the only way to curse Ham, and only Ham, was to say, ‘Hey, God’s blessed you but your descendants out here is where the fruit of this thing’s gonna be done.’
“Now that’s what tells me that these prophecies are not individual. If it would have just been an individual thing about Ham, Shem and Japeth, he would have said Ham. But he didn’t.
“Ham was Noah’s youngest son so God takes Ham’s youngest son, Canaan, and He curses him so there’s no mistake that this is going to be on Ham’s descendants all the way down to the least one.
“But it’s important to understand why Canaan. Who occupied the land of Israel when they went into it? It was the Land of Canaan. The Canaanites were up there in that land, and when Israel was told to go in there and exterminate the Canaanites, and pull them out because they didn’t belong in that land, they understood about why that was to be done based upon the curse back there (in Genesis 9).”
*****
Throughout time, people have misunderstood Canaan’s assignment as “a servant of servants” to be a dishonorable job.
Jordan explains, “To be a servant can be a position of great honor and great bearing. You remember Jesus said if a man wants to be the greatest, let him be servant of all?
“What does it mean to be a servant of servants? Well, you know what it means to be a king of kings, don’t you? You’re the best king of all the kings. If you’re the Lord of lords, you’re the best lord of all the lords, right?
“This (verse in Genesis 9) was to say Canaan’s going to be a servant par excellence. He’s going to be a servant better than anybody else who tries to do be a servant. He’s going to render extraordinary service to mankind. He’s going to be able to go out and get the job done.
“You know, we live in a generation where people who labor with their hands aren’t looked on so wonderfully. But you know it’s a great thing to be able to go out and get a job done, isn’t it?
“That’s what Ham’s descendants are going to be—people who are skilled in accomplishing things that have to do with technology. They have to do with skilled performance and developing means to accomplish the job. It’s a great need among mankind. Man needs physical skill. He has these needs of accomplishing the thing.”
(Editor’s note: To be continued . . . )
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