Mar 14, 2010
Posted on Mar 14, 2010 in Personal, Site Changes | 8 comments
Well… blogging has not been a priority at all for me over the last year or two. However, I’ve been enticed by a few people, including my wonderful wife, to get back at it… at least on some level. Over my absence, I have been working to provide for my family, and keep from being viewed as an “authority” on any topic (for which some seemed to think). I am not an authority and do not claim to be. There is much I do not know, and as each day passes I find myself more and more in the negative balance of knowledge.
I hope that you will be able to enjoy my posts, but realize I have a 99% chance of being wrong on anything about which I write. I write, however, in order to express my observations and insights for the present moment, and these perspectives can changevery rapidly. There are many things about which I have blogged over the last half a dozen years with which my perspective has changed. I have almost removed these posts many times, but have kept them so that 1) I can remember my journey, and 2) you can possibly see it as well.
Not only are there outdated posts, but several broken links. I really apologize for this, but I just don’t have the extra hours in the day to go through each post / page and find everything that’s broken. So… please help me on this. If you click on something that interests you, and get a broken link (or content that is unexpected), please send me an email and let me know, so that I might have some kind of an idea of priority for fixing these things. Thanks in advance!
In case you’re wondering, the event that spurred me to pull the trigger was the opportunity to be a part of the Messianic blogosphere in relationship to the J-BOM (Jewish Book Of the Month). I am nearly ready to post my first review, and I look forward to participating in the Messianic community each month in this continuing dialog.
May Hashem bless you, and may He give me strength to not fall short at the task at hand. Your prayers are certainly appreciated.
Apr 21, 2009
Posted on Apr 21, 2009 in Personal | 0 comments
This past week was an emotional roller coaster. We had the sudden & unexpected passing of a loved one, the birth of a nephew and a bar mitzvah all within just a few days. These are the times I am thankful for family & friends. Thank you to everyone who has sent their condolences by email or through Facebook (btw – if you’re on Facebook, please look me up). Although the death was difficult, I believe this may be a catalyst to bring about some long term fruit for the glory of the Father. I’ll try to post photos of my new nephew and of the bar mitzvah later today or tomorrow. Blessings & thanks for your prayers…
Apr 10, 2009
Posted on Apr 10, 2009 in Personal, Pesach | 1 comment
Invariably, no matter how hard and long we clean in preparation for Chag HaMatzot (the Feast of Unleavened Bread), somewhere around the middle of the week, we open a cabinet or the freezer and there’s a whole package of hamburger buns or something ridiculous like that. This year things are already a little different.
We’ve found a couple of small things that we had forgotten contained vinegar (a type of chametz/leavened food that we have chosen to remove during this time), such as our Ranch dressing that we had mixed up before we had started purging our home. Since it wasn’t labeled, all we thought about was what was in the mix contents. We didn’t think about the mayo that was added to it!
But there was something that was even larger that I, personally found. The actual day of Pesach, I found about three loaves of puffy, white bread in my heart. I allowed my zeal for observing the feast at a higher level than those around me spoil the spirit of the feast. The entire daylight hours of Pesach for my family ended up being a burden, and not a joy. I allowed a conflict of observance to get under my skin and sour our Pesach experience. Fortunately, I was able to work through this with my family prior to our second seder, confessing my sin and asking forgiveness from my family & friends.
I am admitting this publicly, because we need to confess our faults in order to get rid of them, and I also need a reminder for the following years so that I don’t allow it to happen again. I need to remember that we must continually look into the “Law/Torah of Liberty” (James 1:25;2:12), not falling prey to the “leaven of the Pharisees”—hypocrisy. I wanted to be strict in the minor areas, while allowing the larger, more weightier matters of the Torah (love, compassion, etc.) to fall by the wayside. May Hashem use this as a life lesson to draw me (and hopefully others) to the heart of His commandments. I am thankful for a loving and gracious family. Truly love does cover a multitude of sins.
Apr 6, 2009
Posted on Apr 6, 2009 in Personal, Yeshua | 0 comments
I was privileged to speak at a small, Pentecostal church in Oklahoma over the weekend. I was given total freedom as to the teaching topic and three speaking sessions (two on Shabbat and their Sunday morning service). My topic was “Becoming and Making Disciples of Jesus.” I spoke on the necessity of making disciples, rather than converts and emphasized the importance of knowing our rabbi. I introduced them to this person in the illustration, using it as a springboard for looking into the Jewishness of our Master and his teachings. It was a really good weekend, filled with positive feedback and interaction. The members of this church were warm, loving and accepting and hungry for the Word of G-d. Please pray for our brothers and sisters who have just been exposed to this life-long journey of rediscovering our master.
Nov 3, 2008
Posted on Nov 3, 2008 in Miscellaneous, Personal, Torah, Yeshua | 0 comments
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply…”
(Genesis 1:28)
This passage gives us what the sages identify as the very first commandment in the Torah: And although we do not negate the literal meaning of the commandment, our Master gave us a similar commandment just before he departed this earthly existence, saying:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19,20, ESV)
Making disciples of the Master is a means of bearing fruit and multiplying. In order to be a fruit-tree, the tree must produce fruit, which is capable of producing other fruit-bearing trees. A disciple is not a true disciple, unless he is giving birth to other disciples, who in turn will give birth to other disciples. Disciples do not bear sterile fruit. Disciples bear other disciples who have the ability to reproduce exponentially.
There are several reasons my posts have been lacking over the last few months. However, one of them has been that I have been investing my time into trying to figure out a plan of how to make disciples for the Master in my local community. As a means of starting to fulfilling this mitzvah, I thought about starting a weekly study of the parasha at an introductory level, gearing it towards people who didn’t know anything about Torah, and were still plugged into their local churches. I immediately thought of Torah Club, Volume 1 from First Fruits of Zion as the perfect methodology to facilitate this. It’s organized, well-written, thought-provoking and intentionally geared towards those newly coming to an understanding of Torah. Although this won’t necessarily “make” disciples, this will prepare people to become disciples as they study the Scriptures with a fresh understanding.
A couple of months back, Boaz Michael shared with me his vision of beginning to share Torah with non-messianics on a local level. He had a plan to develop local Bible studies across the country called “Torah Portions,” based off of the weekly Torah portion. This immediately sparked within me, and I knew this was an affirmation of what I had in my heart.
This past week, I started this weekly Torah study, introducing people to the Torah, some for the first time. We meet at an office building in the middle of town, making it accessible to everyone and keeping it from having any sort of denominational association. Tonight will be our second meeting. I’m finding out that this is a great way to fulfill a deep desire within me to share Torah with others, and help to nurture disciples of the Master.
I want to encourage you to do the same and share Torah with your community. Start a Torah Club group and teach from your heart the things the Father has been showing you in your studies, gently allowing the eyes of others to be opened to the wondrous things of the Torah. Don’t wait for the “right time” or for someone else to do it. Step out and begin cultivating an environment for discipleship within your city, community or church.
