Why Go to Church?

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Hebrews 10:25, Not forsaking the assembling. The following is a brief study on the importance of being in spiritual fellowship with other redeemed believers.

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What do the Scriptures say about the necessity of believers assembling together?

Torah commands Israelites to assemble weekly on the Sabbath (Heb. Shabbat) and at the seven annual feasts, which are set-apart convocations (Heb. miqrai kodesh) and appointed times (Heb. moedim) (Lev 23:2).

Consider this: How can one properly obey the Torah without assembling weekly on Shabbat and the biblical feasts? To not be part of a congregation (a community of redeemed Israelite believers in Yeshua) and to not assemble on YHVH’s regular appointed times is to disobey the very heart and core of the Torah!

Keeping Torah is a community affair. Those who are independent and act like Robinson Crusoes and Lone Rangers are not fulfilling the requirements of the Torah. Torah was for the nation of Israel, and Israel was meant to be a united community, not a bunch of scattered, selfish, and narcissistic individuals each looking out for himself and doing what was right in his own eyes irrespective of other members of the community.

The Testimony of Yeshua (the New Testament) record shows us that the first century kahal (church) was a community. The apostles expected that redeemed believers would be attending a congregation each Shabbat (Acts 15:21).

The kahal is like a human body; in fact, it’s the spiritual body of Yeshua (Rom 12:4–5; 1 Cor 12:12–30). All the parts cannot function properly unless they come together. Shabbat and the feasts are YHVH’s appointed times when this occurs.

In Acts 2:42, we find listed the main purposes of the spiritual community of the redeemed.

The local congregation is Continue reading →

 

Preparing for Yom Teruah

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This video shows you how to prepare spiritually for the fall biblical festivals, and for the second coming of Yeshua (Jesus) to which they prophetically point.

 

What Is Biblical Repentance?

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Though a subject the modern church rarely teaches on, repentance from sin forms the bedrock of the gospel message and is one of two words that characterized the message that Yeshua himself preached. Without true repentance, there is no salvation, according to the Bible. Learn all about repentance from this video.

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 8/25 through 8/31/13

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Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelekh — Deuteronomy 29:9 (10)* – 31:30
Haftarah — Isaiah 61:10 – 63:9
Prophets — Micah 6:1 – 7:20; Nahum 1:1 – 3:19; Habakkuk 1:1 – 2:20
Writings — 2 Chronicles 3:1 – 13:22
Testimony — Hebrews 10:1 – 13:25; Revelation 1:1 – 1:20

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 8/25 through 8/31/13.

* Verse numbers in parenthesis refer to the verse number in Christian Bibles.

 

YHVH’s Covenants: Who Is at Fault and What Is Vanishing Away?

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Hebrews 8:13, Ready to vanish away. Many who read this verse assume that the writer is saying that the Torah-law was ready to vanish away ergo the law has been done away. This belief is orthodox Christianity! But is this what the author is saying here? Read it again? Is he saying that the law is vanishing away or the covenant is vanishing away? The latter! What is the difference between the two?

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The covenant was nothing more than a contract between YHVH and the people of Israel that he made with them at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–24). Think of a modern contract (e.g., buying a car, a house or agreeing to pay for services rendered). A contract is nothing more than an agreement between two or more parties. Then you have the terms of the contract. If one party fails to keep up his end of the agreement, does that mean that the terms of the contract are evil? Not at all. It means that one party failed to keep his word and the contract was then voided.

The same was true with the contract of the “Old Covenant” that YHVH made with the Israelites. The terms were that if they would worship him and obeyed his Torah-laws, he would bless them, and if not, he would punish them. They agreed to these terms three times (Exod 19:8; 24:3,7), yet they ended up not keeping their word and worshipping false gods and breaking his laws again and again. After hundreds of years of unfaithfulness, they finally totally abandoned YHVH. The covenant was broken for good. But did their unfaithfulness to his Torah-laws mean that his instructions in righteousness were evil, or that their hearts were evil? Logic dictates the answer to be the latter.

To say that the Torah was evil and needed to be obliterated (or done away with) is like saying when you get a speeding ticket, the speed laws should be eliminated. Of course, this is absurd, and so it is to say that the laws of YHVH need to be eliminated because the people violated the covenant thus rendering it null and void.

Here are some more observation on the subject of the Old Covenant vanishing away and giving way to the New Covenant: Continue reading →

 

Back from Backpacking — Feast Your Eyes!

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During the past few days, I have been backpacking with several of my kids in the high alpine country of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. These are some photos we took from Jefferson Park, which lies at the base of 10,499 foot tall Mount Jefferson. Please join me in giving YHVH the praise and glory for creating such spectacular beauty for us all freely to enjoy!

Mount Jefferson from Bays Lake where we camped.

Mount Jefferson from Bays Lake where we camped.

 

Alpine glow on Mount Jefferson as the sun sets.

Alpine glow on Mount Jefferson as the sun sets.

 

My son Jared drinking from a stream that flows directly off of Mount Jefferson's glaciers.

My son Jared drinking from a stream that flows directly off of Mount Jefferson’s glaciers.

Mountain meadows in Jefferson Park at 6000 foot elevation.

Mountain meadows in Jefferson Park at 6000 foot elevation.

 

Meadow wildflowers in Jefferson Park, Oregon at the 6000 foot elevation.

Meadow wildflowers in Jefferson Park, Oregon at the 6000 foot elevation.

 

Natan on the side of Mount Jefferson at the base of a glacier near the 7500 foot level.

Natan on the side of Mount Jefferson at the base of a glacier near the 7500 foot level.