Digging with Darren

Simchat Torah of Arkansas will be hosting a very special weekend with Boaz Michael, Founder and President of First Fruits of Zion on August 23-24. It will be a great time to meet messianic believers from all over the state of Arkansas as we come together to fellowship, to worship the 
Lord and to experience The Commandment to Bless seminar.

Community-wide Shabbat Service

Our weekend will begin Shabbat, August 23 at 9:30 am with a community-wide Shabbat service, hosted by Simchat Torah of Arkansas. Our Shabbat schedule will be as follows:

• 9:30 am – Shacharit (liturgical prayers, reading of Torah, Haftarah & Apostolic Writings)
• 12:00 pm – Potluck lunch (see www.joyoftorah.com/food for food guidelines)
• 1:00 pm – Music & Singing
• 1:30 pm – Drash (Teaching) by Boaz Michael and B’nei Torah Class (for children)

The Commandment to Bless seminar

The Commandment to Bless seminar will be held the following day, Sunday, August 24 at 3:00 pm. There will be three sessions lasting approximately 45 minutes each, with breaks between the sessions. We will close out the day with finger foods and fellowship after the seminar during which time we invite you to participate in the experience of blessing according to the commandment, as well as getting to know other fellow believers. Please spread the word to friends and family so we can make this event a success!

Starting Date/Time	Location & Information
24 August, 2008 Sunday, 3:00 PM For more information, download event PDF: tobless_Sherwood.pdf	Seminar Information Location: Sherwood Bible Church (Hosted by Simchat Torah Messianic Fellowship) 9650 Highway 107; Sherwood, AR 72120 Everyone is welcome to attend. Finger foods and fellowship following seminar. More information: Contact: Jeff Croswell or Darren Huckey Phone: 501-529-4467 (Jeff), 501-339-8151 (Darren)

Yesterday brought to an end First Fruits of Zion’s Shabbat Shalom Shavuot Conference in Hudson, Wisconsin. Today, we are driving back towards Arkansas pondering the events, teachings and new relationships with which we are bringing back with us. Thinking back over the events of the conference, probably the most significant factor of the conference for our family was being a part of the Beth Immanuel community. Shabbat was exceptionally nice, with the ability to have several homes a park and a playground within walking distance from the shul. During the conference we were able to spend time at the homes of Justin Johnson and his family, as well as Brian Tebbitt and his family. It was hard to leave these good friends. In regard to other aspects of the Beth Immanuel community, it was both very encouraging and very depressing to see how advanced their community has become. It was encouraging to see what Hashem is doing, but yet disheartening at the same time to realize the wide chasm between where we are as a community in relationship to Beth Immanuel and the long journey that was still ahead of us.

The theme of conference this year was “Shabbat Shalom.” And although there were lectures on the topic of Shabbat, from my point of view it could have just as easily been called the “Pray In The Spirit Extended Remix” conference. It seemed the primary focus of the conference was prayer and the introduction of the highly anticipated siddur project. And for all those who are anxiously awaiting the new siddur, here’s the scoop:

We were hoping to bring back the Shabbat siddur, but it is still incomplete. In defense of First Fruits, the main reason this has not been completed is because of their deep understanding of their responsibility of creating a resource such as this with excellence. (They compared it to trying to edit Shakespeare without it being obvious – a great analogy. I will explain more about this later.) We were, however, able to experience the first fruits of their labor in draft form in our day to day services during the conference. I plan on sharing more on this later, but need to cover my bases as to what is “shareable” or not. Keep your eyes peeled for more info on this in the next few days…

This past weekend, our Sabbath fellowship hosted Boaz Michael of FFOZ and his family. The culmination of the weekend was the Knocking on Heaven’s Gates seminar held this past Sunday evening. While the numbers were few, the message was challenging and very timely. And while the seminar was great & the words were powerful, the words spoken at the seminar were not nearly as powerful as the ones unspoken. What do I mean by this? Let me see if I can explain.

Just as I stated, the message of the seminar was timely, applicable and powerful. Please don’t misunderstand—they were exactly what we have been needing as a body of believers. The couldn’t have come at a better time. But from my perspective, it wasn’t the message of the words that Boaz shared that were the most challenging. It was the message of that which was unspoken that I heard the loudest. The silent words of which Boaz spoke during this past weekend were deafening. They are still ringing in my ears, almost to the point of nausea. It is these words which have been the double-edged sword of both frustration and anticipation that I expressed in my recent post on Self-Discipline. It is from this soil that all the weeds and flowers in my mind have sprung in the past few days. To put it in a nutshell, the phrase “actions speak louder than words” is more true than we will ever fully realize. Just seeing how Boaz and his family live out their faith day-by-day and hour-by-hour has caused serious pause within me.

I have thought for a long time that I was living out my faith through my actions, and that I was pretty much par for the course. Now I realize that I’ve got to switch my minature-golf putter for a nine-iron, and look beyond the tee. I’ve said for a long time that I thought Boaz had a lot of wisdom, and now I truly know what I mean by that statement—Again, please don’t misunderstand. This isn’t about putting Boaz on a pedestal. It’s about waking up and smelling the coffee (did someone say ‘coffee’???). Boaz just happens to be the catalyst for the metamorphosis (L-rd willing)—Here’s what I mean by wisdom. There are a lot of people out there that have a lot of knowledge. While knowledge is great, I would rather have an ounce of wisdom than a pound of knowledge. Knowledge is impressive, but wisdom is applicable and sustaining. Anyone can amass knowledge, few, however, cling to wisdom.

But what is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? We can get into a huge discussion of the differences, going back to the original Hebrew, etc. but this is not my point. My point is practical and observable. To me, the core difference between knowledge and wisdom is application. Let me briefly elaborate. Was not Solomon the wisest man in all the earth? But was his decision to marry pagan women wise? The answer is obvious. This leads us to a profound question. Why did the wisest man on earth make such an unwise decision? Answer: Wisdom is the application of knowledge. Foolishness is the refusal to apply knowledge. And this is where the unspoken words of Boaz grew in volume. Though he had a message of a disciplined prayer life, seeing his application of his knowledge of a disciplined prayer life this weekend spoke much louder than his words.

There’s an old saying that “those who can’t do, teach.” This was not the case this weekend. This was clearly a “lead-by-example” teaching method that is a standard of FFOZ that I appreciate immensely. I’m going to do everything within my means to rise to the challenge, and become a man of prayer and lead my family by example. Thanks for the challenge, Boaz.

As far as the specifics of the seminar, I’ll be teaching on the topic of prayer this Shabbat again, implementing some things I learned from this past weekend, so I’ll post more on the topic in the near future. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this:

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7, NIV)

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ps. Thanks, Boaz, for standing on your knees in the photo of us together. ;-)

I want to officially welcome Boaz Michael in a few regards. The first is to welcome him to Central Arkansas for his seminar tour Knocking on Heaven’s Gates. The second is to welcome him into cyberspace with his new blog, BoazMichael.Org. Lastly, it’s been rumored that he has officially converted. Yes, I believe he is an official Apple/Mac proselyte now. I’ll be able to confirm this once he arrives this week, and funnel the information back to my Mac blood-brother, Tim Hegg. ;-)

Well, now that I’ve had some fun, be sure to check out Boaz’s blog, especially his newest post on holiness which came with incredible timing in relationship to my last post on Parashat Emor.

Boaz Michael, President and Founder of First Fruits of Zion will be speaking in Central Arkansas. His topic is “Knocking on Heaven’s Gates: Discovering the Appointed Time of Prayer.” This is a FREE event, and open to the public.

Event Description

A fascinating teaching seminar that explores the Scriptures, reexamining them from an historical and biblical perspective, for a fresh understanding of prayer. Prayer is often misunderstood. Too often we have simply assumed that the ordinary model of prayer we hear around us is biblically normal. We are excited to share with you some of the ancient rhythms of prayer we have rediscovered—a rich biblical understanding with practical application that will transform your prayer life and help you to connect with God daily in a significant and transforming way.

Everyone will leave educated, encouraged and challenged to rise to a new life of fervent prayer.

• Learn practical ways to fulfill Paul’s injunction to,“pray without ceasing” and to “pray with understanding”

• Discover how you can participate in the daily moed—an appointed time of prayer
• Understand prayer as a “Service of the Heart”
• See how prayer assists in the process of renewing one’s mind
• Be in one accord, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.” (Acts 1:14)

Date and Time

Sunday, May 21st, 2006
6:00pm – 9:00pm.

Location

We will be meeting at the Burns Park Hospitality House in North Little Rock. Take I-40 to North Little Rock, Exit 150. Follow the map (download the map here) through the park on Military Road to Joe K. Poch Drive. Turn left on Joe K. Poch Drive; the Hospitality House driveway is the next right.

Please download a flier in PDF format (Acrobat Reader) and help spread the word throughout Central Arkansas.

Mark Your Calendars :: Michael Boaz of First Fruits of Zion (FFOZ) will be speaking in the Central Arkansas area on TUESDAY, August 9th at 6:30pm.

We are securing a meeting location now, and will post the details as soon as they are available (and if anyone has a suggestion as to a location, please contact me). I want to encourage everyone to spread the word and round up as many people as we can for this rare opportunity. It will be a free event, and I believe it will be a continuation of the FFOZ speaking tour “Trembling at the Word.”