May 19 2017

Torah Commentary – B’har (On Mount Sinai), B’chukotai – The Heart of the Matter – SCRIPTURES FOR May 20, 2017

Torah Commentary

B’har (On Mount Sinai), B’chukotai

Leviticus 25:1-26:2; 26:3-27:34

Jeremiah 32:6-27; 16:19-17:14

2Corinthians 7-13

The Heart of the Matter

For our culture, many of the instructions of Leviticus seem quite foreign to us. There is even a debate whether most of these Scriptures pertain only to the time when we have entered the Land. “Buying and selling of crops, allowing the land to rest on the seventh year and redeeming our poor relative from slavery”, you have to admit, are not things most of us spend our waking thoughts pondering today. When it comes to food storage many people consider storing food for the winter. Wrap your head around storing supplies for three years to take your family through the Jubilee. Due to the difference in culture, we can get lost in the relevance of these verses for our day and read through them way to fast. A quick glance may cause us to miss the heart of the Scriptures.

Torah is about relationship with HaShem, family and the people we are called to interact with on a daily basis. The mysteries and wonders of Torah are awesome, but if we miss the theme of relationship, we miss the heart of the matter. Torah is teaching us through practical day-to-day life instructions how to love our Creator and how to treat one another. This principle is brought out again in Leviticus 25:14-17. Here Scripture speaks of selling property to a neighbor while considering the amount of how many years remaining until the Jubilee and the return of said property. On the surface we do not see the point of the instruction, because in our society when we sell an item to someone, we do not expect him or her to bring it back in seven years. All transactions are typically final. What can we learn in this instruction? The heart of the instruction is in verse 17, which tells us not to take advantage of one another in our transactions.

Let us put some flesh on this principal. Back in the days when I sold real estate, I did not like to sell property to or for friends. Sadly, more often than not, it turned out to be a disaster. I found that no matter how hard I tried, the “friend” was much harder to work with than a stranger off the street. They usually wanted special favors and in the end could not believe why I did not turn my entire commission over to them and call the transaction a favor based on friendship. This was an example of taking advantage of a friendship, which is what Leviticus warns us against. (Click to Article)

May 6 2017

Torah Commentary – Acharei Mot(After the Death), K’doshim(Holy Ones) – Searching For Life – Day 8, Month 2, 5777; 4 May 2017

Torah Commentary

Acharei Mot(After the Death), K’doshim(Holy Ones)

Leviticus 16:1-18:30; 19:1-20:27

Ezekiel 22:1-19

Romans 3:19-28; 9:30-10:13

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

2 Corinthians 2:1-11

Galatians 3:10-14

Hebrews 7:23-10:25

Searching For Life

Life is an interesting word. The dictionary defines it as,”The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.” According to this definition life is just going through motions which will allow someone to know if we are an animal, plant or just a rock. Simply put, if it moves, grows and reproduces, it has life, if not, it’s a rock. Another definition for life is, “The period between the birth and death of a living thing.”

As I consider these definitions in light of the words in Leviticus 18:5, which explains we will have life through obedience to Torah, the dictionary definitions appear to pale in comparison of how I feel our Creator desires us to have life. If we throw into the mix the words of Yeshua in John 10:10, “I have come that you may have life, life in its fullest measure,” the definitions really lose value.

What is the difference between the book definitions of life and what most of us desire as the Scriptural definition of life? I believe it comes down to one word, purpose. Consider the word purpose for a moment. Is it possible for us to have life, but never find purpose? We all know the answer is a resounding “yes”!

When we reflect on an example of life without purpose our minds may envision a homeless person on a street corner. He or she wakes up in the morning the same as the rest of us, breathes the same amount of air as we do and in truth goes through many of the same motions to sustain a level of life. Is simply sustaining life all that our Creator intended? Obviously, not! Would you say, when compared to the homeless person on the street corner, we have achieved the Scriptural definition of life in its fullest measure by reading the Torah each week, eating clean and observing the Feasts? I’m not sure I would.

Ask an honest question of yourself. Do you feel you are walking in the Scriptural definition of life? Now I am going to go where only the truly insane go. Comparing your life of Torah today with your life in a church in the past, do you feel you have more life now or just more knowledge? I wish I could get a show of hands here.

If my conversations with people through the years are any indication to the answer of the above question I would say most of us feel we have more knowledge than life. If you are the exception, please do not become offended. Maybe you have found the keys to abundant life and should be the one writing instead of me. For all the rest, please read on.

Leviticus 18 promises we will have life through observing His laws and rulings. Yeshua says we will have abundant life through Him. Is the key to life in joining these two verses together? If so, is there a verse which combines their meaning? Look at Psalm 40:7, “In the scroll of the book it is written about Me.” This verse is our key to the equation. It is all about Him. (Click to Article)

Jan 22 2017

Scientists use mathematical calculations to PROVE the existence of God

SCIENTISTS have ‘confirmed’ the existence of God after proving a mathematician’s theory which suggests that there is a higher power.

Two computer scientists say they proved that there is a holy supreme force after confirming the equations.

In 1978, mathematician Kurt Gödel died and left behind a long and complex theory based on modal logic.

Dr Gödel’s model uses mathematical equations that are extremely complicated, but the essence is that no greater power than God can be conceived, and if he or she is believed as a concept then he or she can exist in reality.

Or as Dr Gödel put it through his equations: “Ax. 1. {P(φ)∧◻∀x[φ(x)→ψ(x)]} →P(ψ)Ax. 2.P(¬φ)↔¬P(φ)Th. 1.P(φ)→◊∃x[φ(x)]Df. 1.G(x)⟺∀φ[P(φ)→φ(x)]Ax. 3.P(G)Th. 2.◊∃xG(x)Df. 2.φ ess x⟺φ(x)∧∀ψ{ψ(x)→◻∀y[φ(y)→ψ(y)]}Ax. 4.P(φ)→◻P(φ)Th. 3.G(x)→G ess xDf. 3.E(x)⟺∀φ[φ ess x→◻∃yφ(y)]Ax. 5.P(E)Th. 4.◻∃xG(x)”.

You get it, right?

But two computer scientists have used computers to run such complicated which they say confirms that the equation does indeed add up.

The point of the researchers’ argument was that they were not directly trying to prove the existence of God, but rather to showcase the power of computers. (Click to Article)

Sep 17 2016

Torah Commentary – Ki Tetze -“When you go”

Torah Commentary

Ki Tetze “When you go”
Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19
Isaiah 54:1-10
2 Kings 10-12

A Single Focus of Life

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ summary to the people before his death. Each thought, instruction, and word can be traced back to previous books of Torah. This week is no exception.

In Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people to make four twisted cords which are to be placed on the corners of their garments. This of course is a reference to Numbers 15:38-41. The four blue cords, or fringes, are to remind them of the Torah, its instructions, and Who gave them those instructions. The blue cords are very similar to a modern wedding ring. The ring does not make you married; it makes a statement that you ARE married! (Click to Article)

Sep 16 2016

Progressively Regressive Sexuality: A Return to Pagan Morality

How often have you heard sexual progressives claim that those of us who hold to traditional sexual morality and marriage are “on the wrong side of history?”

But as one new book points out, it’s the proponents of the sexual revolution who are embracing a sexual morality that history left behind millennia ago—in the dusty ruins of the Roman Forum.

Yes, today Western civilization is undergoing a dramatic cultural shift. In just a few short years our society has fundamentally altered the meaning of marriage, embraced the notion that men can become women, and are now promoting the idea that grown men should be welcome to share a bathroom with women and young girls. Not unexpectedly, we’re also seeing movement toward the normalization of polygamy, pedophilia, and incest.

It’s precisely in times like this that we need some historical perspective. Which is why Lutheran pastor Matthew Rueger’s new book, “Sexual Morality in a Christless World,” is a timely godsend. In it, Rueger shows how Christian sexual morality rocked the pagan world of ancient Rome. The notions of self-giving love, sexual chastity, and marital fidelity were foreign, even shocking to the people of that time. (Click to Article)

Sep 16 2016

Yes, Jesus is Your Only Hope

We live in a time when “tolerance,” “diversity” and “inclusivity” are considered by many cultural virtues that supersede all others. This popular relativist notion disregards something far more important: Truth.

Yet, and to borrow from Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?”

Jesus is truth. Either that or, as C.S. Lewis famously observed, He is a liar, a lunatic or the “Devil of Hell” himself.

Christ was both tolerant and intolerant – utterly exclusive and wholly inclusive. He said in no uncertain terms: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Let’s break that down. (Click to Article)

Aug 19 2016

Va’etchanan -“And I besought” Hear O Israel!

Torah Commentary

NOTE: In order to be in line with Israel. we are skipping a Torah portion this week. Sorry for the confusion.

Va’etchanan “And I besought”

Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

Isaiah 40:1-26

Ya’akov 2:14-26

Hear O Israel!

You don’t have to be around the Messianic Movement long before you begin to hear a prayer known as the Sh’ma from Deuteronomy 6:4. In quite short order you can even learn it in Hebrew and be singing it in harmony with others as you face Jerusalem to declare this wonderful truth. How many though can recite or even sing the Sh’ma, but do not know what it means or represents? The answer may be surprising.

This verse begins with a small but fascinating word, used to name the prayer, which is translated “hear.” But the English word “hear” does not come close to a proper interpretation. The word really means to “hear with an understanding which produces action.” The very thought that a person could hear an instruction but fail to do it is foreign to Hebraic thought. Instead, the possibility of “hearing” and not “doing” is a Greek/Western idea. Simply put, if you hear a message on Shabbat, but do not go away from the meeting and put the practice of Shabbat into your life, then you did not truly hear or “sh’ma” the teaching. (Click to Article)

Aug 10 2016

Muslim Father Killed Daughter and Threw Her Down a Well, But Jesus Caught Her and Restored Her Life

The Power of the Gospel of Yeshua- Jesus the Messiah, Saves

MIDDLE EAST (ANS – August 1, 2016) — She was born into a strict Muslim family in the Middle East. Because she was born in the Muslim month of Ramzan, her parents named her Ramza.

“I was a religious girl from my childhood,” she told Bibles for Mideast (https://bibles4mideast.com/). “I was always in front of the line for the Islamic practices for reciting the Koran, doing prayers five times a day, and fasting on the month of Ramzan.” (Click to Article)

May 7 2016

Torah Commentary-Acharei (After The Death)

Torah Commentary

Acharei (After The Death)

Leviticus 16:1-18:30;19:1-20:27

Ezekiel 22:1-19; Amos 9:7; Isaiah 66:1-24

2 Samuel 4-6

Preparing For Home

In this Torah portion as well as next week, many of the instructions we will consider as pure common sense. The reason is because most of us have been raised in cultures which are at least, to some extent, based upon Scripture. Though many countries are walking away from His Word, the foundation is still there in our lives. Are these instructions written to us just so we may have a nice life, or is there a greater purpose?

Two times in these Torah portions, once in 18:28 and then in 20:22, we are told of a reason greater than ourselves, and that is His Land. The reason Yah gave the instructions to the Hebrews of old and the reason He is restoring them to us today is not just about us. It is about the land we are being called back to, the land we will one day call home, the land of Israel. Read the two verses referenced above. Do they say to keep the instructions so you will be blessed? No. They say to keep the instructions so when we enter the land it will not vomit us out. (Click to Article)

May 7 2016

PART ONE—IT STARTED THE NIGHT TOM HORN DIED AND APPEARED BEFORE GOD

Many years ago I, Tom Horn, died and woke up in heaven. Contemplating my surroundings, I wondered where I was, where I had come from, how long I had been here, and why I had no memories of getting here…whereverhere was.

At that moment, I knew this was no dream; it was too vivid to be anything less than real. In fact, it felt realer than any previous reality I had known.

I barely became aware of this supernatural backdrop when I abruptly found myself standing somewhere before a spectacular pillar of light (or was it a throne?). It was so bright, so intense and penetrating—glistening with vibrant streams of silver and blue and gold emanating with the most unexplainable yet awe-inspiring presence—that I could hardly keep my eyes open or my face toward the radiance.

And I was urgently exclaiming something I couldn’t possibly understand: “Please, Lord, don’t let me forget. Please don’t let me forget! IT’S TOO WONDERFUL!” (Click to Article)