Are You a “Lot’s Wife?”

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Genesis 19, The story of Lot and us. Is Lot a picture of the typical modern born-again believer whether Christian or Messianic Israelite? I believe so. In saying this, as a pastor and having been a watchman on the spiritual wall for many years, I see very little if any differentiation (broadly speaking) between Christians and most Messianics, for the spiritual condition of both groups is fundamentally the same.

Primarily what differentiates the two groups is the nomenclatures each group uses and the outward religious trapping or externals each uses to identify itself. What about Torah, you may ask? Don’t Messianics obey the Torah and Christians do not? My response is that there is not a huge difference between the two—at least not from the Creator’s perspective who looks at hearts, and not merely superficiality of outward appearances and religious trappings.

In reality, both born-again Christians and born-again Messianics follow Torah principles to one degree or another. The only difference is that the former group does not claim to follow Torah, but teaches that it was “done away with,” but in fact, to a certain degree, Christians do follow the “moral” principles of the Torah and tithing. On the other hand, Continue reading →

 

Binding and Loosing

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Matthew 16:17–19, Bind … loose. Yeshua clearly gave the authority of the Sanhedrin (the ruling body of Jewish leaders in Ye­shua’s day) over to his apostolic disciples.

No longer do we need to look to the authority of the religious Jewish leaders for determining how to obey YHVH, nor for making rulings pertaining to religious service. First, there is no Sanhedrin today to tell us these things. Second, in Matthew 16:17–19, Yeshua clearly transferred to his apostles—the church leaders of that time—the authority of the Sanhedrin to make judicial rulings and decisions about spiritual matters pertaining to his kahal (the congregation or church). This authority would include making determinations about the biblical calendars.

No longer, does the kahal of Yeshua have to wait for a Jewish Sanhedrin to form to tell them how to follow the Word of Elohim with regard to the biblical calendar or any other subjects for that matter. Today, the spiritual apostolic leaders of the saints can simply teach and do what the Bible says, and heaven will honor or endorse their decisions (called “binding” and “loosing”)! That’s what Yeshua says in Matthew 16:19, and this is exactly what his apostolic leaders did in Acts 15 at the first apostolic council.

 

Are You Still a Democrat?

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“Come out of her my people!”

Here is a brief video by Bishop E. W. Jackson about the spiritual and moral dangers of being involved in the Democrat Party. Who is this man? According to Wikipedia,

Earl Walker Jackson Sr. (born January 13, 1952) is an American pastor, businessman speaker, author, and political activist. He was a Republican Party primary candidate for the United States Senate in Virginia in the 2012 election. He is the founder and current president of S.T.A.N.D. (Staying True To America’s National Destiny), a conservativenon-profit organization dedicated to restoring America’s “Judeo-Christian” ethics. He is head pastor at Exodus Faith Ministries, located in Chesapeake, VA. Jackson has appeared as a commentator on national news networks such as C-SPAN, Fox News and MSNBC.

Earl Walker Jackson Sr. was born on January 13, 1952 in Chester, Pennsylvania. He eventually joined the United States Marine Corps where he served for three years. Following the Marines, he entered the University of Massachusetts Boston and graduated in 1975. In 1978, he graduated from Harvard Law School and continued to practice law in the Boston area for 15 years.[1] While in Boston, he appeared on several radio shows on WHDH Boston, as well as having a nationally syndicated talk show, “Earl Jackson Across America.”[2] In 1996, he joined with the Christian Coalition to head “The Samaritan Project,” an outreach program that distributed $500,000 to churches that were victims of arson. In 1998, he was consecrated a bishop and went on to establish Exodus Faith Ministries. Currently, Jackson is involved in Hampton Roads politics, serving as a member of the Chesapeake Police Advisory Board, a Trustee of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, and a Trustee for Lead Hampton Roads. He has made media appearances on ABC’s Good Morning America, Politically Incorrect, Hardball with Chris Matthews, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, ABC Radio Network, and NPR.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._W._Jackson)

May YHVH Elohim raise up more spiritual leaders like this man! Now, here’s the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfrd8vRBla4&feature=related

 

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 10/28 through 11/3/12

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Parashat Vayera — Genesis 18:1 – 22:24
Haftarah — 2 Kings 4:1–37
Prophets — Judges 1:1 – Judges 8:35
Writings — Psalms 22:1 – 28:9
Testimony — Matthew 14:22 – 18:35

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 Scripture Reading 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. By the end of next Sukkot, you will have read all scriptures from Genesis to Revelation!

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 10/28 through 11/3/2012

 

Do You Have a Sunny Disposition? If not, get ready…

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Matthew 13:43, Shine forth as the sun. The reward of the resurrected righteous will cause them to shine forth like the sun or stars (Dan 12:3), and like Yeshua (1 John 3:2), whose face shines like the sun (Rev 1:16), for he is the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2), who will be the light of the New Jerusalem shining in place of the physical sun (Rev 21:23; 22:5; Isa 60:20).

Paul speaks of the resurrection of the saints or their glorification that will occur at that time, and he also likens the saints’ appearance to the stars. As stars have different levels of brightness, so too will the saints (1 Cor 15:41–43) in accordance with their levels of rewards based on their level of obedience to the Torah (Matt 5:19; 16:27; Rom 2:6–11; 2 Cor 5:10; Eph 6:8; 1 Pet 1:17; Rev 19:8; 22:12–15).

Hebrews 2:10 says,

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

The word glory in this verse means “majesty, excellence, dignity” as well as “the splendor or brightness of the stars.” Perhaps Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 2:9 makes more sense in this light.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Hopefully this word of encouragement from the Word of Elohim will help to brighten your day.

 

Messiah Yeshua—the Servant of Elohim

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Matthew 12:18–21, Behold! My Servant. The nation of Israel was to be YHVH’s servant to be a spiritual light to the Gentiles (Isa 49:6 cp. Deut 4:5–6), yet Israel failed in their YHVH-ordained mission to evangelize the world. Therefore, YHVH raised up Yeshua out of Israel to be that Servant instead. This is why Matthew applies this prophecy to Yeshua in this passage.

Furthermore, Matthew in applying Isaiah’s prophecy to Yeshua’s first coming sees him not as fulfilling his kingly role (in Jewish thought, Messiah Son of David, the Conquering King [e.g. Rev 19–20]—of which the life of David was viewed as a prophetic prototype), but his servant role (in Jewish thought, Messiah Son of Joseph, the Suffering Servant [e.g. Isa 53]—of which the life of Joseph was viewed as a prophetic prototype). At Yeshua’s second coming, he will come as the Conquering King of kings and Lord of lords to defeat his enemies and to establish his kingdom on the earth.

Matthew 12:23, Son of David. The popular expectation of the Jews in Yeshua’s day was that the Messiah would come to fulfill the role as the Conquering King Messiah to liberate them from the tyranny of the Romans and to re-establish a sovereign Israelite nation. Even the followers of Yeshua thought this (e.g. Matt 20:21; Acts 1:6). Therefore, the Messianic expression Son of David was a euphemistic title reflecting this expectation.

 

The Heavens Declare

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Psalms 19:1-3

The heavens declare the glory of El; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

 

You  gotta see this!

Louie Giglio – Nature Singing to God

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB835wkz1Tc&feature=related