Transitioning from congregations to communities

I received a somewhat cryptic text yesterday morning from a dear friend and regular reader.

By definition, moving a large grouip 'by their hosts' requires organization and leaders. Exampled here in picture are Americans troops marching down the Champs Elysees upon the liberation of Paris. — 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.

Following is a terrific article by Ephraim and Rimona Frank about what this transition might look like. Continue reading “Transitioning from congregations to communities”

Stumbling Toward Jerusalem

Our home fellowship had a rousing discussion yesterday as we dug into the Torah portion (Lev. 9-11) and the Haftarah (Ez. 36:16-38). In the midst of the Haftarah, I had an ‘a ha!’ moment. Walk with me as we consider something very important in the restoration of Israel.

^{Ezekiel 36:22}Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

²³And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

²⁴For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

²⁵THEN will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

²⁶A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

²⁷And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

²⁸And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

While I have often focused on the knowledge that God is going to do this for HIS name’s sake and this closely parallels the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31, which we’ll discuss in a minute, this time as we read Continue reading “Stumbling Toward Jerusalem”

There’s still room at the Summit!!

There’s Still Room at the Summit! – http://wp.me/p4cMjG-14a

Check out the above linked article and flyer. I have had the privilege of helping to plan and prepare for this history making event. Some opportunities only come once in a lifetime. I believe this one… Don’t miss it!!

Sowing and reaping….

I have just started reading Angus Wooten’s Restoring Israel’s Kingdom, a book that promises to deepen my understanding of who I am and what my Father’s business is.

In the comments on the cover credit (artwork of the two sticks being made one, Ez. 37:15ff), I saw a neat paradigm shifting idea: the house of Israel was scattered into the nations for disobedience. If they were sown as Israelites, what makes us think they’ll be harvested as anything other than Israelites?

In fact, the Scriptures attest, over and over, that God’s intent is to restore the whole house of Israel. See Acts 1:8; Ez. 37:24ff; Deu. 30; Is. 2:1-5; Eph. 2:12, etc…

If God will harvest Israelites, what might they look like?? Hmmmm…

Got Torah?

http://bible.com/1/gal.6.7.KJV

Ten Lepers Cleansed: Another Perspective

Not long ago, I shared a post concerning the Good Samaritan and a different perspective I had never seen. In fact, like The Good Samaritan Parable, there are many events and parables in the life of Yeshua that point to the Two Stick Prophecy and the restoration of All Yisrael in one way or another. I was reminded this morning of another that is likely much more familiar to us. Here are my thoughts on some of the details..

^{Luke 17:11}While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing ^[a]between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; ¹³and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. ¹⁵Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, ¹⁶and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? ¹⁸^[b]Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith ^[c]has made you well.”

A couple obvious connections pop out, but be patient. Let’s start from the top! Every detail matters. Continue reading “Ten Lepers Cleansed: Another Perspective”

The ‘New Covenant’ is NOT with Gentiles…

The provocative title is true and intended to get your attention. Simply, the New Covenant is NOT with the Gentiles. That is not to say Gentiles can’t enter in, because Ephesians 2 and Romans 9-11 teach that they can, however, they immediately stop being Gentiles and become a part of Israel.

Until one understands this and the attendant implications (Torah to be written on their heart), they simply do not understand Scripture nor can they correctly assemble prophecy. Hard to swallow, I know.

Study it out. How many eternal promises are there to Israel? To the ‘house of Israel?’ To the ‘house of Judah?’ To ‘Ephraim?’

Christian doctrine ignores these glaring pieces precisely because they do no understand them. I was a pastor. Seminary trained. I nor my professors understood these things, yet in His mercy, Abba is restoring the ancient paths (Jer. 6:16-19) and recovering His flock.

Dare to ask God to open your eyes to ALL of His Word.

http://bible.com/100/jer.31.31-33.NASB

Who are the Dry Bones of Ezekiel 37?

A theme that has been coming up over and over in recent reading and study is Ezekiel’s Dry Bones. Last weekend in our study of Genesis 47:28- 50:26 we again ran into the Dry Bones. (Long story…)

Christendom has been feeling some of the same call in a broad sense as exampled by this terrific Lauren Daigle song, ‘Come Alive.’ ….but, who are the Dry Bones?

37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. ²He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. ³He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” ⁴Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ ⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. ⁶I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Continue reading “Who are the Dry Bones of Ezekiel 37?”

Global Reading of Shema Prayer Announced for Monday

Yesterday, I received an email alerting me to a global initiative to pray the Shema at 9 p.m. Jerusalem time (2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). I encourage readers here to participate in solidarity with Brother Judah as we call on the Holy One of Israel.

A personal note on the Shema: while this is a recitation of Scripture and a declaration of our Elohim (God), this has also become a commandment that I make into the spiritual realm that surrounds me as I declare to All Israel to Shema, HEAR!! As often as you pray/declare the Shema, remember that you are making a statement to All Israel and the spiritual realm around you as well as our King hears and presses this forward to the ears of those yet deaf!

Here is a link to the article on Breaking Israel News:

Global Reading of Shema Prayer Announced for Monday Amid Growing Crisis Around World

Ephraim’s Shifting Paradigm by Ken Rank

Good friend and fellow sojourner, Ken Rank of United2Restore, has written a terrific article that sums up a lot of history and the quandary that Christendom is in as they try to reach the Jews. But maybe, just maybe, we’ve been looking at this all wrong because we have used the wrong lens (paradigm) to understand Scripture.

This is a terrific read that is well worth your time and may challenge your thought process in several important ways! Enjoy!

Ephraim’s Shifting Paradigm

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Ken Rank

Most historians believe that a good solid understanding of history is the best guide in terms of understanding the future. History often stands as a beacon of things to come because humanity has not always excelled at not repeating its mistakes. And so it has been between Christian/Jewish relations for the last 2000 years. Where these two peoples should stand more united against their common foes, they remain at odds usually over poor conclusions, bad definitions, and false assumptions. This has been a two –sided coin in terms of fault, but it also might be safe to say that the coin lands on one side more often than the other. Though the Christian means well, his evangelical paradigm brings with it a line in the sand which he uses to determine who he can and can’t call brother. Couple this with the fact that most Christians tend to live out of the “New Testament” (NT) and don’t study the Tanach or “Old Testament” (OT) as much, it then becomes easier to understand why these two people who have far more in common than they realize seem to stand at odds with each other more often than not.

Whether Christians realize it or not, Christianity began as a sect of Judaism.[1] There was a Jewish rabbi, a teacher, whose name was Yehoshua[2] (Yeshua being the short form, commonly known today as Jesus) and he had many followers. He taught from the Torah (the law, God’s instructions), and he was believed to have walked out the contents of the Torah to perfection, as intended by the author. The book of Acts declares that as many as 20,000 or more Jews believed that Yeshua was messiah[3] and, though this may come as a surprise to some, many people now believe that the Jews were not necessarily his main target audience. While his message and work would appear to apply to all, the weight of his message was aimed specifically at the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel.[4] What has been widely misunderstood for a very long time is just who the lost sheep of the House of Israel are.

Continue reading “Ephraim’s Shifting Paradigm by Ken Rank”

How to: Building Bridges with the House of Judah

Lately, I have had multiple interesting articles/emails come across my desk regarding the building of bridges between Jews and non-Jews. The sources have been both Jew and non- with perspectives that have been varied, but a largely unified message:

Sensitivity in language and culture when speaking to or about Jews concerning things of Scripture.

Like most of you, I came out of Christendom and have a considerable amount of ‘Christianese’ in my vocabulary that means one thing to me and something altogether different to those of Judah. We may be well meaning, but our terminology, lingo and expectations can be heard as decidedly antisemitic. Friend and fellow blogger, Peter Vest, recently published a post titled, Unintentional Antisemitism: Why Christian Institutions and Ideologies are Antisemitic Despite the Philosemitism of Individual Christians. It is a short but instructive read about underlying expectations of Christendom upon Jews that have negative consequences.

Another recent source is a forwarded email I received from OvadYah Avrahami of Kol Hator titled We need to delete the word ‘conversion’ from our vocabulory. He writes, Continue reading “How to: Building Bridges with the House of Judah”