unity – 11:3 Restoration

Instructing God in righteousness…

The other day my wife, Kelly Clayton Rambo, showed me a meme that was on her Facebook page. I read it and immediately stated the corollary back to her…

“Righteousness, even if contrary to the traditions of men, is still righteousness, regardless of what everyone else thinks!”

While I have no idea who Russell M Nelson, the assumed author of the quote at left, is, I do know the quote is true. Scripture says so in multiple ways, but the most significant is,

Whatsoever thing I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add to it nor take away from it.
Deut. 12:32

See? The two initial statements above, Nelson’s and mine, state in part the same truth. Let’s look at them in a little more detail.

“Sin, even if legalized by man, is still sin…” Man can’t change God’s Law by ignoring, overwriting, legislating or even erasing it. His Law is eternal and unchanging. To paraphrase God about some of His prophecies, ‘If you can make the sun stop coming up, or the sea cease to rush to shore, then you may be able to change the Torah.’ Murder is still murder, regardless of what the general populace believes, the government legalizes or how many copies of the Bible you burn. Murder (or, insert any other action condemned by God) is sin. Period.

The corollary for this is also true. Righteousness is righteousness, even if you don’t like it. Maybe people who keep the Feasts of the Lord, something He commands on multiple occasions, rankle you. Maybe it really irritates you that they choose to ignore, or even point out the verifiable pagan roots of some holidays. So? Keeping them is still righteousness, whether you like it or not. Same for Shabbat. Same for God’s everlasting dietary restrictions in Leviticus 11.

What is particularly interesting is when ‘believers’ don’t like a fellow follower of the Word because that follower actually does or believes what the Word clearly teaches. Imagine: someone studies the Word and sees that going to Jerusalem for the feasts is a commandment and begins to actually keep it while others, who may not understand or be convicted of that commandment, tear them down or separate from them. Does that action in any way undermine or change God’s commandment? No, it just exposes the sin and rebellion in the heart of the divisive.

How about a believer who separates from another because believing what the Bible says about a matter is ‘bad for public perception or public relations.’ Division and shunning is better than truth? Really? Pray tell what you think the Father’s opinion is of that course of action. I don’t see a single example of righteous men suppressing truth that ended well. In fact, the righteous in Scripture, prophets, apostles and the Messiah Himself, were willing to die for the hard truths, traditions and customs of men be damned.

Bottom-line: Sin is sin only if God says that it is sin. Righteousness is defined by Scripture, therefore, if Scripture calls something righteous, then we can’t call it otherwise. And, if God never calls something ‘unrighteous’ then we can’t either.

This really is simple stuff, yet people get wrapped around the axle. Do Bible stuff in Bible ways. Everything else is just religion and ‘religion’ is man-made rules for self-righteousness which, if based on man’s self made rules, is, by definition, sin!

So, do we instruct God in righteousness, or does He, the Lawgiver and Judge instruct us?

Meditate.

Denominations, by definition, will fail

shattered 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”

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”

Paradigm shift: BE the Kingdom v. TO the Kingdom

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!!

In general there has always been a focus on head knowledge Continue reading “Paradigm shift: BE the Kingdom v. TO the Kingdom”

Steps Toward Unity (and community…)

Recently, I have been distracted from regular posting by a couple books and a major page I am writing titled How to: Messianic. (Watch for it…)

Anyway, two items of interest have come across my vision in the last hour that I wanted to share because both are ‘action steps’ toward unity in the Body and are building blocks toward community.

First, my second and third sons just came back from an awesome week at Camp Yeshua. A friend shared a video with us giving a taste of what the week was like. As I watched, it

occurred to me that 375 Messianic teens from all over the country building relationships and tearing down some of the division in the Body is a terrific step in the right direction! I know my second son has Continue reading “Steps Toward Unity (and community…)”

When division = growth…

Much has been said lately within the Messianic community of our need for unity and the need to learn to walk at peace with brothers who may not see eye to eye on non-essential issues. We’ve written a couple times on this topic, including Learning to Color Within the Lines and Shooting Ourselves in the Foot. Clearly, the usual thoughts on ‘division’ are contrary to ‘unity.’

Another topic recently broached is the need for the Messianic community to study and further understand home fellowships as a model for growth and community building, particularly as it seems that persecution is on the horizon.

One article I wrote on the topic, Church as We Know it is Over, presents the thought and promised some continuing articles. As I have further pondered the topic this week, I have to admit that my thoughts have remained in an area that in my mind does not seem to be the most important part, yet I am compelled to explore it…. Continue reading “When division = growth…”

Shooting Ourselves in the Foot….

Perhaps the very warmest memory I have of our recent trip to Israel was the incredible peace and unity at the First B’ney Yosef Congress. I really do not remember a single theological debate or discussion. Surely, between 135 people, Jew and non-Jew, representing 12 different nations from all over the planet, there had to have been some theological differences, but I saw zero manifestation of disagreement. Our focus was how to be used of Abba to begin taking steps to bring the Kingdom back together.

Since being back, I have had the joyous task of visiting several congregations and fellowships to report on what we did, discussed, and plan going forward. One such report to a Sunday school class I have been guest teaching for the last five months was recorded and posted on this blog as part of the ongoing series. Then, this week in that same class I posted the video of us beginning to tackle some of Paul’s seeming ‘hard verses’ concerning obedience to the instructions of our Father. As part of the introduction to the next couple lessons, I shared several resources for the new Messianic to consider. More than the lesson itself, it was the resources I mentioned that generated discussion, primarily because neither of the authors (Tim Hegg and JK McKee) agree with the so called ‘Two House movement/theology’ in exactly the same way most attendees of the First B’ney Yosef Congress see Scripture.

***Now, I am NOT calling out anybody or pointing any fingers!***

What I do want to do is make a few observations that will be of value to the larger Messianic Movement, and especially of value for any who are seeking peace and unity for the sake of the Kingdom. Continue reading “Shooting Ourselves in the Foot….”

Tzitzits in a snap?

Here’s a quick/fun post… The other day I used tzitzits as a case study for how we can learn to keep commands and allow others to interpret commands for themselves within the lines Abba has given us.

A friend sent me a link for a website advertising “Tzitzit in a Snap.” Neither he, nor I have any affiliation and I do not normally promote businesses, but I thought this interesting enough in the wake of our previous discussion that I decided to share it.

(Personally, I was drooling all over their attache case… LOL! Very 30’s Casablanca-esque… I have no need of one, but it sure is purty.)

The tzitzits at left are a pretty classic example of one person’s interpretation that fits the spirit of the command, but might ruffle some feathers… Do we learn to walk at peace and let people be obedient with ‘different colors’ while still ‘coloring within the lines,’ or do we demand that they fit our box? What do you think of these?

Discuss.

Blessings, Pete

‘Unity’ does not mean ‘Homogenous’

We have the luxury of having milk goats and therefore, fresh milk. One of the interesting things about fresh milk is that the cream rises to the top. Most know this, however, the dairy industry has virtually erased the examples from our refrigerators by taking some cream off the milk, then homogenizing the rest.

The process of homogenizing is a bit violent in that the milk is processed in such a manner that the fat globules in the remaining cream are broken up to such a degree that they will remain suspended in the milk rather than rise to the top. As such, every tablespoon of milk, from top to bottom in a gallon will look exactly the same. supposedly, consumers like this.

Me? I know better. I love skimming cream off of the top of a couple quarts of fresh milk for my coffee, or to enrichen some delicious dish. Mashed potatoes with fresh cream… (Now, that is ‘the bomb.’)

Recently, I’ve had several conversations concerning the divisions in the Hebraic movement. There are so many divisions that it is hard to fathom Yeshua’s final prayer with the disciples. He prayed for, among other things, unity!! He prayed they (us) would be ‘one.’ Echad!

Yet, a cursory look at Christendom and we find little unity… even less among the Hebraic. The Adversary must be delighted! (But, I digress.)

Does ‘unity’ mean ‘homogenous?’ Let’s consider the definitions and some Scripture.