out with the old, out with the new

Using the term "Old Testament" for the Hebrew Scriptures seems like a big mistake. The word "old" makes that 2/3 of the Bible sound obsolete, replaced by the NEW Testament. It also makes it much easier for Christians to misuse the 2nd half of I Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (NASB).

They forget what Yeshua says in Mathew 5:18 - "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished" (NASB).

Doesn't that verse make the point clear that God's Word does not change? And remember the Law that Jesus speaks of is the Torah, as that was the only body of Scriptures that was available at the time.

Could it be that even the naming of the Hebrew Scriptures "old" was part of the plan to divide Jews & Christians, anti-Judaic, could we even say anti-semitic in nature? Could it also be that when Christians believe and live as if the Torah is passed away, that they are missing a crucial piece of what God has for them in terms of revelation of His Word, instructions for their lives, and blessings for themselves and their children?

Think about it: when you read Genesis and Exodus do you read them as history, stories that are there for examples for us, but that hold little bearing on our lives? Or do you read them carefully, personally, because those books contain truths (small and large) by which we should live?

Do you sense the same God-breathed Word in the "Old" Testament books as you do in the Gospels and Paul's letters? Does Hebrews 4:12 hold true for the "Old" Testament: "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (NASB). The Gospel of John and Leviticus should be equally alive, active in our lives, sharp, piercing us, judging our thoughts and intentions.

B'rit Chadashah is the Hebrew term for the New Testament, which literally means New Covenant. Maybe a better way to refer to these two parts of the Bible is to leave the old and new out of it and simply use the terms Hebrew Scriptures and the Apostolic Writings. And read both parts as ONE testament to ONE God who is unchanging and desires that EVERY person on earth spend eternity with Him.

Chayei Sarah - the life of Sarah

This week's Torah portion with New Testament (let's call it Apostolic Writings or B'rit Chadashah) reading:

for Nov 3, 2007 / Cheshvan 22, 5768
Chayei Sarah
Gen 23:1-25:18
1 Kings 1:1-31
Matt 1:1-17; 1 Cor 15:50-57

Readings courtesy of Hebrew4Christians.com.

Image from chabad.org

Fearfully and wonderfully made?

I was listening to a podcast of a call-in radio show this morning about abortion and wanted to pass on some facts*:

Suction Aspiration
The method of abortion most commonly used in first trimester abortions. A powerful vacuum suction tube is put into the dilated uterus. The suction tears the soft baby apart and removes it from the uterus.

Dilation and Curettage (D&C)
The dilation of the cervix which permits the insertion of a sharp surgical instrument will be used to dismember the baby's developing body.

Dilatation and Evacuation (D&E)
Used after 12 weeks, this method is identical to the D&C method except that forceps are used to twist and tear away the body that now has calcified bones.

Salt Poisoning (Saline Injection)
Used after 16 weeks. A long needle is inserted into the mothers abdomen into the baby's sac. The baby breathes in swallowing the deadly toxin and is poisoned. The mother delivers a dead or dying baby.

(The corrosive effect of the salt solution often burns and strips away the outer layer of the baby's skin. This exposes the raw, red, glazed-looking subcutaneous layer of tissue. The baby's head sometimes looks like a candy apple. Some have also likened this method to the effect of napalm on innocent war victims. This technique was originally developed in the concentration camps in Nazi Germany. (source: Abortion and Social Justice, NY: Sheed & Ward, 1972) Read about Gianna Jessen, who survived a salt poisoning abortion. - from http://www.abortiontv.com/Methods/themanyways.htm )

Prostaglandin
Hormones, developed by the Upjohn Pharmaceutical Co., are injected into the amniotic sac to induce contractions. In an article about this method, one of the complications listed was 'live birth'.

Hysterectomy
Similar to a Cesarean Section, this method employed by abortionists almost always results in a live birth. The baby is left to die by neglect or direct art.

Dilatation and Extraction (D&X) - Partial Birth Abortion
By pulling on the baby's legs with forceps, the legs arc delivered, followed by the torso, arms and shoulders. The baby's head 'usually' remains inside the uterus. Using blunt-tipped surgical scissors, the baby's skull is pierced where a suction catheter is inserted to extract the 'skull contents.' Fetal brains and organs are used for fetal 'tissue' experimentation.

Listen here: http://www.apologetics.com/audio/09_29_07.mp3
or listen on your ipod: type in apologetics.com in itunes and look for the 09/29/07 show








more information on abortion
NOTE: Some of these sites contain graphic, but very real, images
The Silent Scream
Who is Roe: CNN story about the plaintiff who won the landmark pro-choice decision, Roe v. Wade, 1973
Abortion Methods
Different Types of Abortions

*information from: abortionfacts.com

breaking the silence

The album For Zion's Sake and the March of Life (previous post) is about breaking the silence of the holocaust. In relation to this, our Rabbi spoke of this generation's silence: abortion. About 6 million Jews were killed in the holocaust-horrific. But how does abortion compare?

Worldwide abortions from 1920-2006: 804,000,000 reported abortions, estimated 929,000,000 total abortions. We are nearing 100 MILLION abortions! Estimated current global monthly average: 1,202,000 abortions. Statistics from: Johnston's Archive.

Interesting to note countries with the most abortions:
China- 303,466,603 abortions
Russia- 292,513,720 abortions
Japan- 67,116,644 abortions
United States- 47,241,423 abortions

Is this not a tragedy? Could it be the great silence of our generation? And a silence that should be broken? Who will God hold accountable if we don't break the silence on abortion?

More information:
Human Life Issues
Pro Life America

for Zion's sake I will not be silent

Ted Pearce visited our congregation last Shabbat. He is an anointed musician and servant of God. He spoke about a church led by TOS Ministries in Tubingen Germany. Here are some facts from the site Galilee of the Nations who worked with Ted Pearce and many other artists to create the album: "For Zion’s Sake, I will not be Silent."

1) 70% of the Church’s members had parents or grandparents that were Nazis in World War II.

2) TOS Church members frequently visit the Holy Land and partner with many Israeli Ministries to show their unwavering love and support for Israel.

3) Pastor Jobst Bittner literally built the TOS Church building over the train tracks that took the Jews to the Dachau death camp in World War II. You have to visibly and physically cross the tracks before you enter the front door of the Church, challenging all people before they enter to remember what happened in the Holocaust to the Jews at the hand of the Nazis.

Ted told us about "March of Life" last April in Germany. From his site: "We covered 180 miles and visited the sites of 9 concentration camps ending at Dachau as Holocaust Remembrance Day began. That night we held the "Concert of Life" at a church in Munich Germany and officially released the music video "The Forgotten People"

Here is the video "For Zion's Sake I Will Not Be Silent" with captioned photos taken along the walk.

I could say much but I will let the videos above do the speaking.

If you are in Dallas next week (I wish I was) you can see for yourself what this is all about: TOS Ministries from Tubingen, Germany and Ted Pearce Ministries 3 Evenings of Strategic reconciliation October 31—November 2, 2007 at Baruch HaShem Messianic Synagogue.

Ted Pearce on myspace

the earth baptized

Still thinking about Noah . . . did you ever notice that during the flood the earth was baptized? Maybe that seems obvious but it never occurred to me, not the way it did recently.

Genesis 7: 17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. (NIV)

Notice that more than 20 feet of water COVERED the mountains--the highest points on earth. The entire earth was baptized, rebirthed, like a baby in a womb, surrounded by water, and then released to come into the world. And even more amazing, the waters "lifted the ark high above the earth" and in so doing the people and animals in the ark were saved. And Yeshua was later "lifted" on the cross (another ark) so that He could lift believers from sin and death.

Before He began His ministry, Yeshua, Himself was baptized ~ John 1:29-34. And in Matthew 1 John the Baptist says: 11"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (NASB)

Baptism is a spiritual cleansing, a rebirth. I first heard the Hebrew term for baptism a few months ago: mikvah. Throughout the Bible, God commands that people be cleansed for various spiritual reasons. Here's a thought-provoking and maybe even controversial discussion of mikvah from Chabad.org.

Baptism or mikvah has a place in our lives today. Find a lake, the ocean, some body of water (the Sea of Galilee in the picture above) and immerse yourself in the healing waters. Repent and be cleansed by water; be cleansed by His Word; be cleansed by His mercy and grace.

what's your ark made of?

I've been thinking a lot about Noah since rereading that Torah portion. Read the building of the ark and flood story. God told Noah to build an ark and through that ark He brought salvation to 7 people and He destroyed the earth, of which He reasoned: "Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth" (Genesis 6:11-12). Does this sound like the earth we are living in?

The ark carried those 7 people and many animals to life. Centuries later there was another ark and that is the cross of Yeshua: the vehicle also made of wood but more importantly that "ark" was an act of complete submission to God and in a sense to creation, the sacrifice that is able to lead ALL to salvation. Noah's ark carried the seed of Yeshua (Yeshua is in the lineage of Noah's son Shem); and that "seed" carried the cross (the ultimate ark) for us. And so like Noah we enter an ark--Christ--and even more amazing, He enters us and lives in us--in our ark, temple, tabernacle, body--we are of His seed.

If Yeshua is not your ark, then you are probably building one. We all build something to live for, rely on, enjoy: whether it's a philosophy, a hobby, an object, a relationship. So what's your ark made of and will it withstand not only the waters that come into our lives but the fire that will come someday?

On a lighter note: for more about Noah and for some laughs, watch the movie Evan Almighty.

Noah's Ark ready for floods in Holland

Week 4 Torah portion: Vayera ~ And He Appeared

Please post if you have newly begun reading the Torah portions? What do you think?

This week's readings: And He appeared . . . Vayera
Genesis 18:1-22:24
II Kings 4:1-:37
Lk 1:26-38; 24:36-53;2 Pet. 2:4-11

The He doing the appearing to Abraham is God--think about that. Amazing?

Shavua Tov! (Good Week!)

Do you want to know a secret? Well do you?

Many verses of Scripture are abused by twistings and misinterpretations. Deuteronomy 29:29 is one such verse. And in addition to a twisting, this verse often suffers omission and it is that omitted part that holds a directive and a treasure for believers.

Deut 29:29 "(1)The secret things belong to the LORD our God, (2)but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law." (NIV)

The first part is the often twisted piece. It is often tossed around when someone is questioning why God would allow something to happen, particularly a bad something. It was tossed into my life when my father died at 47. A Pentecostal/Word of Faith Pastor who had visited him at home just days prior to his death first said to my confused, grieving mother that perhaps my father died because he doubted his faith. When she responded with incredulity, he then said, "Well the secret things belong to the Lord." Great. I am glad that God has secrets, that He knows much more than we do. But...

I think in this instance I would have much more appreciated the pastor reminding us: "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones" (Psalm 116:15). [Of course I did not know that verse then--as it was my father's faith through his illness and death that brought me to Yeshua in 1995--but that is another story.]

Now to the second part of the verse, often omitted or glossed over in Christian teaching which if we omit its truth, maybe we should omit the entire Old Testament--including the much-quoted Psalms . . . Anyway, this verse is stating that what God reveals to us and what He's given us in His Word are such that we might live according to those things. That we might choose life and follow Him (Deut 30:19-20). As mentioned before, when "the law" is mentioned, it usually refers to Torah. So could this verse be saying that God has revealed to us things and given us knowledge so that we would follow Torah?

I think the answer is YES. And it appears that the "but" which begins the 2nd part may even add more weight to this argument. Could we think of it this way: yes there are things that we don't know, that we don't understand, God's secrets. BUT the things that you know, that God has made clear, do those things. And what can be more clear and a more beautiful experience than following God's instructions as Jesus did in His earthly life? What will you do?

Shabbat Shalom

The 4th commandment (which Catholics have made the 3rd--more on that later) reads:

(Deuteronomy 5: 12-15) 12 ‘ Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (NKJ)

Did you ever think that in keeping the Sabbath, each week we get to symbolically experience the Creation? God created for 6 days and then rested on the 7th as a teaching for us so that we would understand His command. Think about it. Read Genesis 1-2:3

It seems some are confused as to what the sabbath means. Here is a dictionary definition:

Sabbath - O.E. sabat "Saturday," observed by the Jews as a day of rest, from L. sabbatum, from Gk. sabbaton, from Heb. shabbath, prop. "day of rest," from shabath "he rested." The Babylonians regarded seventh days as unlucky, and avoided certain activities then; the Jewish observance may have begun as a similar custom. From the seventh day of the week, it began to be applied c.1410 to the first day (Sunday), a change completed during the Reformation. The original meaning is preserved in Sp. Sabado, It. Sabbato, and other languages' names for "Saturday." Hung. szombat, Rus. simbata, Fr. samedi, Ger. Samstag "Saturday" are from V.L. sambatum, from Gk. *sambaton, a vulgar nasalized variant of sabbaton. ~ Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

I've been keeping the Sabbath since July and it has been a blessing in so many ways. There is so much meaning in this God-appointed day. One of the elements of the Sabbath is the candle-lighting before sunset on Friday. In case you are interested you can sign up to receive candle-lighting times and search thru the other resources on hebcal. This the current week's email:

Candle lighting for Friday, 19 October 2007 is at 5:41pm
This week's Torah portion is Parashat Lech-Lecha http://www.hebcal.com/sedrot/lechlecha.html
Havdalah (72 min) for Saturday, 20 October 2007 is at 7:10pm
These times are for: Warwick, RI 02889 GMT -05:00 (U.S. Eastern)

Shabbat Shalom!

this week's Torah reading: Lech Lecha ~ Go forth, yourself

Week 3

Lech Lecha (all readings together)
Go forth, yourself

Genesis 12:1 - 17:27

Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16

Romans 4:1-25; Galatians 4:21-5:1; Hebrews 7:1-28

Share your experiences if this is your 1st or 99th year (or anywhere in between) participating in the reading cycle.

explanation of the Torah reading cycle

Are you complete?

Some Christians believe that Jews' eyes are veiled because they don't see Yeshua as Messiah, sometimes alluding to Deuteronomy 29: 2-4 ~ And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders. Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear." (NASB)

But could it be that many Christians' eyes are veiled because they can't see Messiah Yeshua in Torah? These believers view Torah as law, a burden, legalistic, an unscriptural method to salvation. And if following Torah were any of those things, it would be unscriptural. But believers who do follow Torah know that Yeshua is the atonement. Following Torah is about santification, about a deeper walk with God.

So as some Christians see a complete Jew as one who accepts Yeshua, can we also see a complete Christian as one who accepts that being Torah-observant is Messiah-like, Christ-like?

What do you think?

I want to be like Daddy

How many children look up to their fathers, particularly boys? A five year-old takes his father's razor and pretends to shave. So his father puts shaving cream on the boy's face and the boy feels like his dad. A fireman's son wants to dress like a fireman and on and on. Children want to be like their fathers and fathers love it.

So how much more would our Father love to see us following His perfect instruction in the Torah--even if we don't do it quite right? Walking in His steps is a beautiful experience: the in-pouring and the out-pouring.

But really isn't it less about what WE get out of this? Isn't the believer's goal to manifest the glory of God wherever that believer goes?

Is that you, Yeshua?

Do you look into your wife or husband's eyes, a friend, a boss, a co-worker, your child, a stranger and see Yeshua? Do you listen to the voice of God and obey when you hear His quiet voice within you say things like: "Go give that person a hug." "Buy that guy a cup of coffee." "Help that woman unload her car." "Stop and play with those children."

What a different place we'd live in if we didn't ignore the still, small voice inside of us, even when we think: "I don't have the time right now." "Wait that sounds ridiculous." "They will think I am crazy."

Consider this:
Matthew 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (NIV)

This passage needs to truly come to life so that we can see EACH person we meet as Yeshua, Himself, cloaked in human flesh, yearning to see His glory poured out from you to "one of the least of His brothers."

Instructions not Law

This bears repeating: Torah means "teaching" or "instruction", not Law. Believers in Yeshua who closely study and folllow Torah do not do so to earn salvation or attempt to be "right" in God's eyes. We can never be right in God's eyes without the Messiah.

Closely studying The Hebrew Scriptures greatly increases understanding and appreciation of the New Testament because Torah is the foundation of the entire Bible. Following Torah can bring a believer into a deeper, more personal relationship with God because he or she is living as God instructed His people to live, even before He designated people as Hebrews: Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah . . .

Consider this article: Is the Torah in Force Today? by Brian Stephens

The Perfect Sacrifice

God instituted animal sacrifice as a way for His people to atone for sins. The sinner (that would be all of us) would have to acquire and then take the animal to the temple to be killed. Imagine having to watch an animal die or kill it yourself because of what you've done? That animal is innocent; you are guilty. Then imagine doing this over and over again. That temple was literally full of blood.

But repeated animal sacrifices never "removed" sin. Instead, God used those acts and that history to prepare hearts for Jesus. Yeshua was killed once and for all. He is the perfect sacrifice.

This week's Torah reading: Week 2 - I didn't mention last time: the complete Torah portion also contains a reading elsewhere in the Old Testament--this week and often, in Isaiah--also I have included the New Testament reading. Noach is the Hebrew for Noah.

Noach

Gen 6:9-11:32

Isa 54:1-55:5

Mt 24:36-46; 1 Pet 3:18-22

Reading the Torah

The Jewish tradition is to read a weekly Torah portion and in so doing, in one year you have read or reread the entire Torah. Each year of this reading cycle enables the believer to learn more and see new insights into God's Word. And so in our pursuit, the best way to test what relevance the Torah has in our lives as seekers is to read it. But read it as you never have before--as if every letter pertains to you and see what you discover.

Consider this thought: "To read the Torah at any level beyond "Sunday school," one must have a sense of the whole when one reads the parts. To comprehend what happens in the exodus and in the revelation at Sinai, you have to know what has happened in Genesis 1. Like some films that begin with a sweeping shot that then narrows, so the first chapter of Genesis moves gradually from a picture of the skies and the earth down to the first man and woman. The story's focus will continue to narrow: from the universe to the earth to humankind to specific lands and peoples to a single family. (It will expand back out to nations in Exodus.) But the wider concern with skies and the entire earth that is established in the first portion will remain. When the story narrows to a singular divine relationship with Abraham, it will still be with the ultimate aim that this will be "a blessing to all the families of the earth. "Every biblical scene will be laden--artistically, theologically, psychologically, spiritually--with all that has come before. So when we read later of a man and his son going up a mountain to perform a fearful sacrifice, that moment in the history of a family is set in a cosmic context of the creation of the universe and the nature of the relationship between the creator and humankind. You can read the account of the binding of Isaac without being aware of the account of the creation or the account of the covenant between God and Abraham, but you lose something. The something that you lose-depth--is one of the essential qualities of the Torah." read entire article by Richard Elliot Friedman

And so here's a challenge: begin reading the Torah today. I will post each week's reading. This a great time to start as we have begun a new Torah reading cycle. So let's begin mining God's Word, in the beginning . . .

Genesis 1:1-6:8
if you use the above link, you can change the reading to different translations

Are you a New Testament believer?

Many Christians will say something like: "We don't follow the Old Testament. We are New Testament believers." But in the same breath they call themselves "blood-bought, Bible-believing Christians." Ironically, these kinds of Christians are often called "Bible Thumpers" and the joke isn't event accurate, for they only "thump" about a third of it ;)

Even if believers don't use the term "New Testament believer," the typical Christian belief is that the Law is passed away--and the Law, as discussed before, refers to what Christians call the Old Testament. But these same believers will quote Psalms (a book of the Old Testament) all the time. Consider these verses:

Psalm 40:8 - I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." (NIV)

Psalm 119:7 - I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. (NIV)

Psalm 119:39 - Take away the disgrace I dread, for The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. are good. (NIV)

Psalm 119:72 - The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. (NIV)

Psalm 119:97 - Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. (NIV)

Only a few examples but isn't it interesting how the Law keeps getting referenced? Anyway, if someone says, "I am a Bible believer" doesn't that mean the entire Bible holds truth for his daily life?

Holidays or Holy Days

Over the centuries Christians have replaced God-made festivals with man-made days: Christians celebrate Easter instead of Passover and First Fruits; Pentecost instead of Shavuot; Christmas instead of Sukkot and Chanukah.

Leviticus 23 discusses the feasts of the Lord. Check out this commentary, with Biblical text of Leviticus 23, that relates the feasts to Yeshua.

Don't think only theologically about this. Think practically. God appointed these holidays. Does it make sense that believers make up different holidays when the One who is perfect, the Creator, our Savior set apart days that He would fulfill?