Why Your Pastor May Not Be Your Friend

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April 23, 2014 – Dave Hodges

The Common Sense Show

April 23, 2014

The times we live in are perilous. Our way of life is under direct attack and Armageddon could be thrust upon us at any time. There, I do not have the time mince words and I will be clear, there is an overwhelming chance that your pastor is not your friend.

Pastor Greg Tucker

I recently condemned pastors who support and lead churches who “enjoy” the 501-C-3 tax exempt status offered by the IRS. This prompted Pastor Greg Tucker to publicly criticize my stance on this issue and he demanded to know what pastors I was attacking. This article will make it clear who I am attacking and why the vast majority of you who are reading this words need to leave your church if you truly value the salvation of your soul.

Pastor Tucker has seen fit to take me to task for my comments regarding my advice for all Christian believers should leave their church if that church is a tax-exempt 501-C-3.  Pastor Tucker said “…Not sure which pastors you are implicating, but I would suggest not including ALL pastors in your expression as you have in this article”.  Pastor Tucker, let’s be clear. I am implicating all pastors of 501-C-3 churches. Are you such a pastor who is endangering the salvation of your flock? 

From Pastor Tucker:

“Point of emphasis…Not sure which pastors you are implicating, but I would suggest not including ALL pastors in your expression as you have in this article. This is a wrongheaded assumption. This pastor for one has spent the last two years bringing my leaders  congregation along in developing a watchful eye of what I see coming; occupying (words of Jesus) our space; time in the way He leads us to do so. So to lump me as a pastor in wrong headed assumptions like you have here is a big mistake. For me it invalidates your message. Makes me raise the question, “What other wrong headed assumptions are you building your argument on?” And I’ve been an avid reader of your posts for some time now–but will reconsider this, maybe I was the one making a wrong-headed assumption myself about you; your message. Disheartening to say the least–not all pastors; churches fit the picture you paint of us; you should acknowledge such. Tactics like these are nothing but fear peddling for the sake of instilling fear as opposed to standing your ground in the strength, power; might in Christ Jesus.”

Pastor Greg Tucker

Is your church a friend or foe? Is your church is a 501-C-3 tax exempt church? Is your church an agent of the government? If your church leadership does not condemn anything controversial, no matter how antithetical to the word of God, you are not worshiping in a Christian church. If your church is a 501-C-3 tax exempt church, your church leadership has already been taught to educate the flock to follow the will of the government, no matter how heinous the actions of these people may be. Does the following sound like your 501-3-C pastor?

Romans 13 Does Not Equate to the Divine Right of Kings

Does your pastor command you to follow the will of the government because it is your Christian duty to do so under Romans 13?

The modern interpretation of Romans 13 is pure blasphemy.

To read the rest of this article, go to http://thecommonsenseshow.com/2014/04/23/why-your-pastor-is-not-your-friend/

 

Omer Count

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We are in the 1st week of seven weeks of the counting of the omer. Today is the 5th day of 50 days in the counting of the omer leading up to the biblical Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). (Lev 23:15-16)

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Why Count the Omer?

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It’s a biblical command:

And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to YHVH. (Lev 23:15–16)

Other than the fact that YHVH commands us to do so, why do we count the omer each day as we count down 49 days or seven weeks to the Feast of Weeks (Heb. Shavuot) or Pentecost? What can we learn from fulfilling this command?

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  • We are counting down with excitement and anticipation the 49 days until Shavuot, which is the anniversary of our forefathers receiving YHVH’s instructions in righteousness (the Torah) at Mount Sinai. For us, it’s like experiencing the joy of receiving the Torah all over again for the first time.
  • We are counting down with excitement and anticipation the 49 days until Shavuot, which is the anniversary of our forefathers receiving YHVH’s instructions in righteousness (the Torah) at Mount Sinai. For us, it’s like experiencing the joy of receiving the Torah all over again for the first time.

    Each person individually is to participate in the counting of the omer, since the Torah commands us to “count for yourselves” (Lev 23:15). This teaches us that each individual is to count down with anticipation the days toward Shavuot — the anniversary of the day that YHVH gave his Torah to Israel. Each person should be excited about receiving the Torah — YHVH’s divine instructions on how to live abundantly both physically and spiritually. YHVH gave his people 49 days to prepare themselves to meet him on this momentous occasion. The children of Israel met YHVH at Mount Sinai and were given the Torah, and the early book of Acts believers met YHVH in the upper room on the day of Pentecost when they received the Holy Spirit and had YHVH’s Torah written on their hearts. We celebrate this anniversary each year when we count the omer. This further teaches us that as the counting of the omer is an individual experience, even so, obedience to the Torah is an individual experience. Each of us must obey YHVH’s commandments, and YHVH will eventually judge each of us individually on how obedient we were in keeping his laws, which will determine our level of rewards in his kingdom (Matt 5:19; 16:27; Rev 22:12).

  • We are counting down with anticipation seven weeks until Shavuot, which is the anniversary of the disciples of Yeshua receiving the power of the Holy Spirit (Heb. Ruach HaKodesh) on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. On this day, the Torah was written on their hearts thus empowering them to love Elohim and one’s fellow man more fully by keeping his Torah commands both in the letter and in the spirit (heart and mind).
  • We are counting the omer in anticipation of the late spring wheat harvest in the land of Israel, which occurs at Shavuot. Most of us aren’t wheat farmers, but there’s still a spiritual lesson to be learned from this. The wheat harvest is a picture of the spiritual harvest of souls during this age, and our need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and equipped with its powerful gifts to more effectively reach out to those around us with the message of the gospel and the kingdom of Elohim. Yeshua has commissioned us to help bring that spiritual harvest of people into his kingdom.
  • The counting of the omer is about spiritual refinement. When the children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt, they became defiled with the ways of that pagan nation. At Shavuot, the Israelites become a holy nation before YHVH and become the bride of YHVH in a spiritual sense.  On Passover, the Israelites came under the blood of the lamb, which is a picture of their sins being cleansed by Yeshua, the Lamb of Elohim. This was accompanied by their putting leaven out of their homes, which is a biblical metaphor for sin — something we must put out of our lives. On the next day, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they left Egypt — called the Exodus. This is a picture of leaving  the world and sin behind as we set out on a journey to meet Elohim and to become his holy and righteous people. It’s about going from spiritual slavery to sin, the devil and this world to become Elohim’s chosen people.

Here is the blessing for the counting of the omer:

Baruch atah A-donai E-loheinu Melekh Ha-olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al S’firat Ha-omer.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.

To help you count the omer, print off a monthly calendar that conveniently has each day of the omer count listed on it. Go to http://hoshanarabbah.org/calendars.html

 

New Video: What Is the Second or Greater Exodus?

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The Bible talks about an end times exodus of God’s people that will make the first exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt look small and forgettable. This will be an exodus from enslavement to the Babylon the Great world system and will be the greatest spiritual revival in the history of the world to bring Elohim’s people back to him and back to their promised inheritance in the land of Israel. In this video, learn how this event relates to the second coming of Yeshua the Messiah.

 

Chag Sameach!

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Happy last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot) — a high holy day Shabbat (Sabbath) to you all!

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We are in the first week of seven weeks of the counting of the omer. Today is the second day of 50 days in the counting of the omer leading up to the biblical Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). (Lev 23:15:16)

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Blog Scripture Readings for 4-20 through 4-26-14

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Kedoshim — Leviticus 19:1 – 20:27 
Haftarah — Amos 9:7–15
Prophets —Isaiah 62:1 – 66:24; Jeremiah 1:1 – 2:37
Writings — Job 13:1 – 19:29
Testimony — Acts 19:1 – 22:30

Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. If you have general comments or questions on the weekly Scripture readings not addressed in a blog post, here’s a place for you to post those. Just use the “leave a reply” link below.

The full “Read Through The Scriptures In A Year” schedule, broken down by each day, can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.” There are 4 sections of scripture to read each day. One each from the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and from the Testimony of Yeshua. Each week, the Torah and haftarah readings will follow the traditional one-year reading cycle.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 4/20 through 4/26/14.

 

What Is the Second Exodus & When Does It Occur?

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The children of Israel left Egypt on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and crossed through the Red Sea on the last or seventh day of this feast. This was the first exodus. But there’s more!

The biblical prophets speak of a greater or second exodus to occur in the last days where YHVH’s people who’ve been scattered throughout the nations of the world will be set free from their spiritual, economic and political enslavement in the nations, which are under the control of Babylon the Great. There is much to learn on this subject, and it’s an important subject to study, since it affects your spiritual destiny.

The following article is a comprehensive analysis of this topic, which explores all the biblical scriptures on the subject of the second exodus. It’s a long one article, but try to stay with it and read it to the end. It will help you to understand end times Bible prophecy in a way that only a privileged and enlightened few do. You have never read anything like this before. It will help you to understand where you personally fit into end times Bible prophecy!

A Look at End-Times Bible Prophecies Relating to the Second Exodus

By Ya’acov Natan Lawrence

The Issue in People’s Hearts

The Bible clearly teaches that the ten tribes of the ancient northern kingdom of Israel (known biblically by various names such as the house of Israel, Samaria or Ephraim) were exiled among the nations of the world because of sin (1). At the same time, the biblical prophets and Jewish sages over the past 2000 years have predicted that in the end times (at the coming of the Messiah), through a series of supernatural events, these tribes will be regathered and return to the land of Israel to be reunited with their Jewish brethren who are descended from the southern kingdom of Judah (2). Furthermore, there is clear biblical and historical evidence that the ten northern tribes of Israel collectively known as Ephraim are largely to be found among the Christian peoples scattered across the earth. I have attempted to prove this point from biblical, linguistic, archeological, historical and rabbinic Jewish sources in a previous work (3)) .

In these last days before Messiah’s second coming, more and more redeemed believers in Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) are discovering a new-found love for the Jewish people and the land of Israel. At the same time, they are awakening to the need to return to the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith by adhering to a more Torah-centered lifestyle and spiritual walk. It then follows that some are coming to the fundamental truth taught Continue reading →