11:3 Restoration

Help an orphan have a home…

^{James 1:27}Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

fam — Nick, Courtney and Kori with super soft Prissy!

There is no better way to ‘visit an orphan in their distress’ than to provide them with a loving Godly home!!

Dear friends, Nick and Courtney Rebovich, are all about spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom and modeling, in every way, their love of Messiah Yeshua! They came into this walk about the same time we did and our paths crossed at a Messianic fellowship in Prosperity, SC. Their contagious fire motivated all of us to dig deeper in the Scriptures and take our King at His Word.

In time, they, along with their beautiful daughter, Kori, were moved to begin facilitating a home fellowship in Greenwood, SC that has grown to the point it now needs to multiply into two fellowships. In addition to homeshooling and helping to coordinate many aspects of the Messianic community in Western South Carolina, she also participates in prison ministry and outreach to the needy. But, they have a heart for more!!

As I have previously written, our fellowships are brimming with children and over the last year the Rebovichs have felt a growing desire from Abba to Continue reading “Help an orphan have a home…”

URGENT!!! Global prayer event for Israel in a couple hours!!

Praying Together TODAY! – http://wp.me/p5ofGX-h4

See the post linked above. On it is a link to http://tikkunolami.com/ with a countdown clock and downloadable prayer guide with 10 Psalms of David for the protection of Israel!

Join in!! And, pass the word. QUICK!!

[Update for those that cannot download the Psalms to be prayed, they are: 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137, and 150]

Puzzling Theology

I love jigsaw puzzles. There is something both compelling and satisfying in assembling the pieces of a puzzle and watching a picture slowly emerge.

A few days ago a co-worker brought a puzzle to work and many in the office helped assemble the 1000 piece seaside scene over the course of a week. While the social dynamic of passersby stopping to add a piece or two was interesting, I pondered the unspoken pattern which was naturally followed by all of the participants. First the corners and border were put in place, then major obvious parts of the image before the less clear and detailed pieces were assembled.

I’ve put puzzles together with many groups and the largely unspoken pattern is almost always followed. Start with the most obvious and work toward the less clear. Continue reading “Puzzling Theology”

“If you do your part…” (part 2)

Or, ‘What is a pushkan?’

Yesterday, I gave a little background from a discussion over the weekend at the North Georgia National Shabbat gathering. Tzefanyah led off the discussion with the statement, “If you do your part, God does His…”

Nearing the end of the discussion, Tzefanyah asked that a box on a chair off to the side be passed forward. Once he received it, he began relating a little of the history of the ‘pushkan,’ a Yiddish word meaning ‘box or can.’

While the history of a collection box for specific purposes can be traced all the way back into the repairs made on the first Temple, the charitable acts the idea is based on goes back even further to our father, Abraham. It was from this long history of collection for various charities in every synagogue that the idea developed for a ‘pushkan‘ in every home before the founding of modern Israel to help fund the effort.

And, that is where Tzefanyah was going. Continue reading ““If you do your part…” (part 2)”

“If you do your part, God does His part…”

I was raised as a Calvinist leaning believer who later attended seminary and became convinced of TULIP, the five points of Calvinism. Central to all of that is the supremacy of God and His Work while man only responds to His Spirit. Now, this is over generalized, but it is the central element of good Reformed Presbyterian Calvinism.

A statement like “If you do your part, God does His part” would make my skin crawl!! Seriously, the ‘Arminian‘ idea that man can initiate action with God was anathema! (I attended a seminary that was not denominationally affiliated and was about 40/60 Calvinists to Arminians, and countless lively lunchroom and classroom discussion erupted over the differences in the two schools of thought. Sometimes, VERY lively.)

The pursuit of Truth that led me out of the pulpit and into a more Hebraic understanding of God’s Word brought me to a place where I see the responsibility of man in a whole new light. So, yesterday, when Tzefanyah’s opening comment at National Shabbat in North Georgia was, “If you do your part, God does His part,” I understood what he was saying.

As I began studying the Scriptures with newfound clarity, I began to notice ‘if-then’ statements all over the place. Because logic and/or basic computer programming are no longer taught in schools, I offer a quick explanation Continue reading ““If you do your part, God does His part…””

I will send for many hunters….

I’m sitting in a deer blind with my youngest son, Silas. He’s crazy about

hunting, but me not so much. I got that out of my system in the army…. LOL. Anyway, in the quiet, I am thinking about other hunters.

Yesterday, the world witnessed the next step in the rise of the hunters. ISIS in Paris.

Terrorist acts just like this are coming to the whole planet. With thousands of known ISIS operatives already in Europe and likely as many in the US, it is inevitable…. But, why?

The prophet Jeremiah tells us exactly why. Continue reading “I will send for many hunters….”

Thy Kingdom come…

Early this morning I was greeted by this email from Ephraim and Rimona Frank, of Israel. Parts of it really resonated with me and I immediately wanted to share it, but I had to head to work.

Ephraim makes (or echoes) three very important points that we all need to take to heart:

A divided Kingdom cannot stand
A uniting Kingdom will be intentional to that end
Justice, mercy and compassion must be central in our efforts

I would be so direct with my readers to ask, ‘what specific steps are you taking to build community and foster unity within the Body of Messiah and with our brother Judah?’

Make today count!

Shalom Fellow Israelite,

Last night when we met at Kibbutz Merchavia in the Jezreel Valley with Craig and Jan O’dell and others from the Gates to Zion congregation to celebrate the coming 9th month. Craig shared with us a scripture from Zechariah that was actually uttered on the 9th month. We all really felt the impact of the Spirit telling us that it is a word for today’s redeemed body of Yeshua, especially as we move toward the restoration of our national identity. “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:24-25). I might add a nation divided against itself also will not stand.

“Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of YHVH of the Armies came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev… “Thus says YHVH of the Armies: ‘Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother’” (Zechariah 7:1; 9-10).

Tragically our ancestors refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. “Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the Torah and the words which YHVH of the Armies had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath/anger came from YHVH of the Armies” (Zechariah 7:11-12). We know that this behavior displayed by our ancestry can and does get passed along in the generations, unless there is some serious repentance and heeding in obedience to these words from the prophets. Continue reading “Thy Kingdom come…”

Plans for December 25th?

Most of the world has a pretty good idea what they will be doing December 25th, but I don’t. Since we stopped celebrating that holiday, due to its myriad pagan rituals and connections, we have spent the last several December 25ths with friends doing various things.

Last year, a group of friends helped us with finishing a barn, the year before we hosted a bunch of Messianic friends and I taught a cheese making class, etc…

Well, it is time to start thinking about what we will do this year. While we could simply stay home and do nothing, and I am fine with that, I know many other recovering former Christmas celebrants who need some activity as a way of avoiding the day’s traps. So, I am pondering co-hosting a shofar making class in a friend’s shop…. Is there anybody in the SC area that would be interested in a day of fellowship and shofar-making??

And, if you are not in this area, maybe you can plan a December 25th gathering for a bunch of Messianics to do something other than what the world will be doing….

The time to make plans and preparations is now…

Shalom!

The Holy Spirit and Lawlessness

Does the Holy Spirit lead us into lawlessness? Indeed, can He?

This morning, while reading Ray Gardner’s Study Notes on Genesis 24, I came across the following quote. The last paragraph struck me. My notes follow.

Eliezer = El is my help (s#0461 אליעזר )
Eliezer (type of Holy Spirit) was sent to take a bride (The Bride of Yeshua) a chaste virgin, who would leave her family and all that she possessed to marry a man she had never seen. Isaac (type of Yeshua) was born through a miracle of יהוה. She would come to him by faith, believing all she had been told about him. She fell in love with him by hearing about him from Eliezer (type of Holy Spirit). She would make a difficult journey on a caravan of 10 camels (10 commandments) and she would marry Isaac (Yeshua) the day she first saw him. All that his father (type of יהוה) possessed has been given to Isaac (Yeshua). (Yeshua said the Father has given all things unto my hand John 3:35) The land that Isaac (Yeshua) lives on is given to him by יהוה. The father has said he can not take a wife of those who worship idols and live sinful lives. The decision is in the hands of the bride not Eliezer. By her own words she committed to become his bride.

Continue reading “The Holy Spirit and Lawlessness”

Let the children (NOT!!) come unto me….

I received an email that touched a bit of a nerve. Commenting on the pictures of our recent Shabbat gathering, my emailer lamented that the fellowship/group she gathers with has few children which are not much appreciated. Among other things on the blog that struck her, she enjoyed seeing so many happy little faces, and we have a bunch of them.

Mazie Grace at our recent Shabbat under the pecans…

While I do not know her situation, I suspect it is much like a story I’ve heard multiple times from other fellowships: ‘Children don’t like to study, they are a distraction, too much noise, short attention spans, etc…’ In their haste to belly up to the table of Truth, they have forgotten the most important task they have: training the next generation.

How sad.

I don’t really want to get on a soapbox, but I would remind all readers that the building block of a nation is family, and family includes children. Our Messiah said, ‘Let the little children come and forbid them not…’ We should go to great lengths to make our fellowships very family friendly. [The idea of ‘Sunday School’ and separating the children into a little groups is entirely contrary to Scripture and the Hebrew culture. Sunday School is a modern invention that dumbs down our little ones and fosters cliques and isolation…. but, that is yet another soapbox.] Continue reading “Let the children (NOT!!) come unto me….”