Recently, we have been considering boundaries and dishonor as we build toward an understanding of the role of protocol in removing shame and restoring honor. The reason for pursuing this topic is it’s relation to recognizing the sins of our fathers and making amends. It also involves our humbling. Leviticus 26 says,
40 ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me—41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity,42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land.43 For the land will be abandoned by them, and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their iniquity, Continue reading “Remnant Road hosted excellent conversation with Hebraic Native American leaders. Must listen!!”
Decades of broken promises, stolen land and injustices culminated in the late 1880’s. Bison herds, a staple of Lakota survival, had been hunted to near extinction and the government refused to prevent poachers from entering Lakota lands to kill the few remaining animals. Many tribes were teetering on the edge of starvation. This led to mounting frustration, common to all Native Americans in the Plains and western mountains, producing a healthy environment for the teachings of Wovoka, a Paiute prophet and healer.
In early 1889, Wovoka claimed to have seen a vision of the Messiah foretelling the future restoration of the Native Americans and the
ejection of the European trespassers. As part of this vision, he relayed a dance, slow and somber to a single drum, called the Ghost Dance. Wovoka’s promise of restoration and redemption began to sweep the Plains and was quite unnerving, particularly the dancing, to the settlers pushing in from the east. It did not matter that Wovoka was teaching the tribes to walk at peace, cease lying and stealing, etc.
On December 15, 1889, in a heavy handed effort to quell this Messianic zeal, US Government officials decided to arrest Chief Sitting Bull and a dozen or more other chiefs. When they arrived at Sitting Bull’s residence with 40 Native American Police, a crowd quickly gathered to protest the action. A scuffle ensued and a few shots were exchanged killing Sitting Bull, eight supporters and six policemen.
The below linked article is a must read in the continued dialog between Dr. Adler and Al McCarn. Please read, digest and ponder. May Abba be glorified as He works out His plan of restoration in the world!!
Currently, I am conducting some market research to better understand Christian and Messianic attitudes toward Israeli products. Specifically, this research is to help guide a team of Messianic believers who feel led to help Israeli agriculture producers to be more profitable and extend the reach of their businesses.
Please take a couple minutes to answer a few quick questions, and leave some feedback. Also, for broader coverage in this endeavor, please consider sharing this post on your Facebook page. We need as much input as possible.
I love Malachi 4 and have written multiple times about this highly significant and prophetic chapter that is only now being fulfilled. One phrase I have written about before is “…he shall turn the heart … of the children to their fathers…”
Here is a terrific and peaceful explanation that will totally bless any who take the time to listen and ponder. I recommend finding a quiet place and hearing this message.
Deu. 19:14 “You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God gives you to possess.
Over the course of 25 year of marriage and numerous moves, especially while were still in the military and shortly thereafter, we purchased and sold
Not my plat….
multiple residences. In the real estate transaction there was always a plat, or written/drawn record of the surveyed boundary markers that was filed in the local county courthouse. With each purchase, I would go out and find the physical markers on the ground so that I knew exactly where the boundaries of my property were. The markers would be metal spikes in the pavement, rebar driven into the ground and flags or PVC markers.
In ancient times, property markers might be a physical feature such as a huge well established tree or a large immovable rock, or the markers might be a pile of stones or a fence line. While some were considerably less mobile than others, Scripture warns of moving markers that are established by the ancestors.
In Israel, there were a number of instructions from the Father about boundaries and land ownership. Besides the important verse cited above prohibiting the theft of a neighbor’s property by moving markers, there were certain prohibitions against selling property to other tribes and even to other families within one’s own tribe/clan. Only under certain rare conditions could property be transferred, and that by legal means with the elders at the gate. Continue reading “Understanding boundaries…. Protocol part 1”
My sincerest apologies for not having written more in the last couple weeks. The combination of having a too full plate, work and travel as well as just plain ‘hitting a wall’ has had me on a bit of a writing hiatus. My head is full, as I shared yesterday with the western South Carolina fellowships that gathered to hear an update on B’ney Yosef North America, but I have not been putting pen to paper. Several dedicated readers laughingly chided me on taking a break.
A reminder for all, the archives are a rich source of topics delving into the Hebraic. I even go back and read articles from time to time and glean still more from the exploration into the Word, church history and how Christendom ever wandered so far from the Way. Many of those articles serve a great resource to help others who are just starting this journey.
I hope, in the next couple days, to begin tackling a huge topic that affects all of us, but particularly the North American continent. The subject and its implications deserves a book, but I may only be able to apply a couple posts at this time. Never-the-less, it will set a foundation for us to walk out together another area of repentance as we repair the breaches.
While some may think the following thought is aimed primarily at my brothers in the church, I would offer that most Messianic and Hebrew roots believers have never left a denominational mindset… Please read on.
Jn 17:20-23 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
‘Denomination’ is rooted in ‘division,’ as in, ‘denominator.’ Denominations define themselves against each other based on minor differences of understanding or belief, often rooted in the teachings of a single man. Think: Calvin, Wesley, Arminius, etc.
American/Western business mindset has taken the whole process a step further to take the ‘church as business’ model and craft further special ways to add value to their ‘name brand’ and thus attract more members/followers to increase offerings to pay for the new building project. Continue reading “Denominations, by definition, will fail”
I received a somewhat cryptic text yesterday morning from a dear friend and regular reader.
By definition, moving a large group ‘by their hosts’ requires organization and leaders. Exampled here in picture are Americans troops marching down the Champs-Elysees upon the liberation of Paris.
It said,
Bney thought on second exodus-last parsha in 6:26 says they left out in their ranks… not as a mish mosh….. There was leadership in place.
The single criticism I have heard most often of B’ney Yosef is that it is not our job to become organized. The Mashiach, according to general criticism, does everything. We don’t need to do anything, we simply need to, in the words of another good friend, “decide what flavor ice cream we want.”
While I have long been convinced that the Messiah doesn’t magically snap his fingers and make everything better, I am increasingly understanding that the transition from this age to the Messianic age will require a considerable amount of sweat on our part and a willingness to work. Hard. And, that includes the hard work of humbling ourselves and coming together to walk in unity! And, coming together requires organization.
Recently, Al McCarn and I have been having a really good running conversation discussing some changing thoughts on the nature of the Millennial Kingdom. As we continue to study and grow, we continue to re-evaluate the traditions we inherited from our fathers and try to bring them more into line with Scripture. I will reserve the Millennial discussion for another day because it will be quite long and I have more to sort out. Suffice it to say that I am experiencing another paradigm shift…
In our most recent exchange, Al said something very profound that immediately brought clarity to that portion of our conversation. He said,
All this time we [Christendom] have focused entirely on getting to the Kingdom. If this is so, then our focus should be on how to BE the Kingdom. It’s the greatest paradigm shift of all.
(brackets and emphasis mine)
Wow! That is a mouthful and enough of a thought to make one’s head explode. I think back over decades of living in Christendom and the last six years as a Torah-keeping believer in Yeshua and I can tell you, the statement rings true!!
acting with hostility against Me— 41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be abandoned by them, and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their iniquity, Continue reading “Remnant Road hosted excellent conversation with Hebraic Native American leaders. Must listen!!”
While some may think the following thought is aimed primarily at my brothers in the church, I would offer that most Messianic and Hebrew roots believers have never left a denominational mindset… Please read on.
11:3 Restoration 