Kelly’s Tallit (Final Pics)

Posted on September 23, 2016 by

img_20160922_192832325_hdrI owe Chana an apology.  About eight or nine weeks ago she completed and mailed Kelly’s handwoven tallit.  Busyness, health issues and a few other minor complications got in the way of my promised final pictures.  Well, yesterday evening, I used my limited camera skills to snap a few in our newly painted living room.  After taking the pics, I have to say I really like the location and the way they turned out.

Lighting could have been a little better, but the picture behind adds so much depth and richness to the subject and reason for the tallit.

Made entirely of linen and colors changed very often to assemble the beautiful pattern, this is a one-of-a-kind tallit that will last for decades or more.  Truly, a very special and functional piece of wearable art.  Thank you, Chana!!

Here are a few more pics of Chana’s beautiful work.  May Abba bless her hands as she ministers in this special manner!!

 

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Cheeseburgers in the Temple

Posted on September 18, 2016 by

Dear readers, here is a terrific article by good friend, Travis Hughey.  he takes a subject that has baffled many and in a few short paragraphs boils it down to a solution that makes total sense.  I was so excited when I got to the end of the article!!  Read it and tell us what you think!

Cheeseburgers in the Templecheeseburger

aka, “Division” in the Kitchen

By Travis W. Hughey ©2016

I’ve been meaning to write something for quite sometime on this topic as I have a bit different perspective than most on the whole “boiling a kid in it’s mothers milk” thing. As with all things Judaism, rabbi’s over the centuries have demonstrated a penchant for over complicating the plainly simple. I cannot make any assumption on the motive to do so, just an observation of the trend. Recently a friend of mine, Zach Bauer (New2Torah) mentioned doing some video’s on understanding Torah by it’s agrarian roots. I agree, it’s high time we step back and take a close look at the life of ancient Israel to understand fully the text from which the metaphors used by Rabbi Yeshua teach us so much.

So let’s take a look at this prohibition of boiling a kid in it’s mothers milk thing. First the three references in Torah concerning this supposed “practice” Continue reading →

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The Star of David

Posted on September 18, 2016 by

The Star of David, or more appropriately, the Magen David is an unmistakable symbol that is immediately associated with Israel and the Jews, .  Recently, the symbol has drawn fire from a prominent unnamed Messianic ministry that I usually appreciate for their many quality Scripture teachings, however, their recent foray into this symbol has irritated me because it tarnishes their credibility.

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Two days ago, I received a quality email from dear friends in Israel, Ephraim and Rimona Frank, concerning the subject of the Magen David.  I want to share that email followed by a few thoughts.

Shalom Fellow Israelite,

Regretfully over the past several years subtle anti-Semitism has been creeping into, and growing within the Hebrew Roots movement (being a self-defeating oxymoron). One of these expressions, which directly affects the Jewish people and the State of Israel, is the interpretation or meaning given to the Star of David (the “magen David” as it is called in Hebrew, “the Shield of David”). Among the numerous symbols used in the world there are, for example, the symbols of the written languages, that is the letters, but what renders each of them its meaning?

So let’s view the “Shield of David.” It is Continue reading →

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The Secret to Walking by the Spirit

Posted on September 17, 2016 by

What does it mean to ‘walk by the Spirit’ and how does one do it?

Gal. 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

a_walk_in_the_woods_by_moonlightrose44One of the great questions in Christendom is ‘how does one walk by the Spirit?’  The answer from Scripture is really quite simple, however, millennia of errant understanding and wrong interpretation of Scripture create a convoluted maze that avoids the simple answer from the text.  What I will attempt to do for you, dear reader, is to begin to unravel this Gordian knot and provide you with a very sharp knife that will bring clarity on this subject enabling you to know exactly what to do to ‘walk by the Spirit.’

We will return to Galatians 5, a most often misunderstood passage.  First, let us consider a parallel Pauline passage from Continue reading →

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Time to get a New Calendar!!

Posted on September 10, 2016 by

A dear friend recently sent me a link for the Galilee Calendar Company, an Israeli based company that has beautiful, well laid out calendars that include all the information we need…  weekly Torah portions, High Holy Days, Israeli holidays, Hebrew lunar and Gregorian solar dating, etc!!  Add to that a selection of options with beautiful pictures or art from Israel and this is a real winner!

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Tishri 1 is just over 20 days away…  Time to order next year’sfeatures_rotate_450_5 calendar!  Besides contacting the Galilee Calendar Company directly, you can order from their Amazon.com store and have it in a couple days!!

Bless this Israeli company and hang useful art in your home to help keep you on track each week with the portions, Holy days and other useful information.

Blessings!

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Short daily devotionals for Elul, highly recommended.

Posted on September 10, 2016 by
Mikveh in the Galilee. Photo by Yocheved

Mikveh in the Galilee. Photo by Yocheved

The month of Elul and the first ten days of Tishri, as we approach Yom Kippur, are traditionally used for heart searching and repentance on a deeper level before we approach our King.  The BYNA Prayer Coordinators along with Elders Barry Phillips and Ed Boring have put together a dynamite daily devotion that I have really been enjoying in my email each day.  Now it is published on the BYNA website, however, if you will sign up for their emails, you will get these daily directly in your inbox.

40 Days of Repentance: “Fruit of an Unrepentant Heart”

If you are just getting started, you will want to catch up to where we are today.  (Today, September 10, 2016 is Day 8.)

I hope you will join me in this series and sign up for daily email updates on this terrific series.

Blessings.

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Prophecy unfolding faster and faster!!

Posted on September 9, 2016 by

I woke this morning to an email from friend, Hanoch Young, announcing a terrific new article in Breaking Israel News by Dr. Rivkah Lambert Adler.  Guys, you have GOT to go read this article that pulls together some neat pieces and people.

Recently, I posted the Ari Abramowitz radio program about Torah keeping non-Jews and have written before about friends in Jordan, with at least one dear couple from that community as personal close friends.  Here, the several pieces come together, but most exciting is that this article portents an increasing speed of recognition and visibility for the global non-Jewish Torah keeping community.  Just as we saw in yesterday’s post  about Scott Hillman’s denominational leaders being willing to take a closer look, here we have Jews taking a closer look…

Folks, the ‘tectonic shift,’ is underway!  The article is from a decidedly Jewish perspective, but Parham makes a solid and true statement that Yeshua is our Messiah and that is non-negotiable!!  Check this out!!

Many Christians “Thirsting for Torah”, Striving to Live Bible-Oriented Lives

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Update on Scott Hillman and some thoughts…

Posted on September 8, 2016 by

Truly, we serve a magnificent God and are blessed to be alive at a most amazing time in history.  I can honestly tell you, right now is as pregnant for prophecy fulfilling times as the first century was when Yeshua

came.  We are most definitely seeing the unfolding of Biblical history/prophecy!!

 

The sheer volume of hits and interest in following the Scott Hillman story attest to the times we live in.  The original video I put up, less than three weeks ago, has garnered more than 22,000 hits, three times more than the next most viewed post on my blog.  A couple follow-on posts have also drawn quite a bit of attention, particularly the prayer request yesterday.

Scott and his wife are still processing yesterday’s meeting with District Leadership, but he sent me a short email expressing praise to our Father and his joy that “the council was very fair and we had a great and lively discussion.”  He continued that they expressed a commitment to understand River of Praise Fellowship and their commitment to Yehovah’s Torah!

This, dear reader, is monumentally good news!  That a denominational leadership council would be willing to even consider understanding a position that runs counter Continue reading →

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Please pray for Scott Hillman!! Details…

Posted on September 6, 2016 by

Act 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

August 20, 2016 I posted a video of Scott Hillman, one-fifteenAssemblies of God pastor, giving a humble and articulate defense for why he began to keep the paths of righteousness our Father laid out in the Torah.  That post has received more than 22,000 hits in the last 15 days making it the single most electric post this blog has ever hosted.

The visibility, while good and honoring to our King, has brought a great deal of scrutiny and pressure to Scott, his family and his congregation.  Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 7, 2016 at 1:15PM edst, he is to appear before the Tennessee AoG State Board to answer questions.  Apparently, they have also received a lot of unwanted questions and pressure.

Scott is very solid and articulate and has been on this walk for about four years.  Continue reading →

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An open letter of apology to family and friends…

Posted on September 5, 2016 by

Dear family and friends,

I owe you an apology.

More than four years ago, I took a sharp sudden turn in faith and practice.  I was a respected seminary trained pastor occupying a pulpit in your community.  As such, I was a trusted shepherd.  I began asking some hard questions of Scripture and of the church fathers.  Our Father, by His Holy Spirit, began to answer and His answers were exciting and scary all at the same time.

As I learned, I began to share with great zeal those things I was seeing in Scripture, truths that ran contrary to things I had learned in church and in seminary.  My tone was often shrill and unloving.  Certainly, I did not exhibit the compassion I should have.  I am sorry.

At times I was quite angry Continue reading →

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Israel Inspired: What’s the Story with these Torah Observant Gentiles?

Posted on September 5, 2016 by

As Jeremy returns from his cross country tour, he and Ari discuss the historically unparalleled phenomenon of Torah studying gentiles who love Israel and the Jewish people. What is at the core of this movement? What is the motivation? Tune in as Ari and Jeremy address both the harmony and the tension that this revolution is bringing to the world.

I just listened to a recent episode of Israel Inspired with Rabbis Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel titled, What’s the Story with these Torah Observant Gentiles?  WOW!!!  What a great and encouraging listen!  Highly, highly recommended.  The show made my eyeballs sweat a couple times!

We continue to have evidence, over and over, that Abba is doing something amazing in our day.  These two gentlemen not only acknowledge it, but are asking some of the very hard questions that need to be asked?  Who are we?  Why is this happening?  What do they, the Jews, do with us?

This is a MUST listen episode.

Enjoy!

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An Abomination in Jerusalem! Rachem!

Posted on September 1, 2016 by

Scripture promises that it will happen, and we’ve seen the stage being set for at least a generation, but reading that in the next few weeks a one world religion will be revealed in the Old City of Jerusalem is a dash or cold water.  Truly, we are living in latter days.

There a has been a marked acceleration in both good and evil as the parallel sides of this great cosmic battle prepare for a major showdown.  This next stage in history will herald the coming of the Prince, spoken of by Ezekiel the prophet and foretold in numerous other passages.  But, like birth pangs of a woman, the arrival of the Anticipated brings with it much change and pain.

I received an email yesterday alerting me to Mekudeshet,  a 19 day event in Jerusalem starting on September 4 that is intentionally designed to blend the world’s three major monotheistic religions.  With blended worship services and a series of events titled “Seven Ways to Dissolve Boundaries” as well as numerous musicians and artists performing ‘sacred’ pieces that span global religions, this is surely bound to infuriate a Set Apart Creator.  And, it takes place during Elul in a year that is so full of prophetic indicators that I can only consider it another portent of the nearness of the Mashiach.

Here is one video with information that I think valuable, though the title is a bit provocative and I hold some of the conclusions with an open hand.

The event will close with a dedication prayer service in the Valley of Hinnom, the same place that infants were sacrificed to Molech.  Is it an invitation for demonic Continue reading →

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Important preparation for the wilderness…

Posted on August 30, 2016 by

Recently, while having a conversation with Al McCarn about the sequence and timing of the return of the exiles, we turned to Ezekiel 36.  As I read the middle verses in that chapter something leapt off of the page and smacked me in the head!  I suddenly had new clarity!!

The Messianic and Hebrew roots communities have a great deal of division that stem from brothers dividedseveral specific items.  While I won’t discuss the sin of Jeroboam and our penchant for division as a root curse, I do want to share what I saw that significantly altered my understanding of Yah’s timing in cleaning us up and bringing us home.

Within the Messianic and Hebrew roots communities there is a significant amount of division.  A significant portion of those divisions come from differences of understanding or practice of minor theological points.  We divide over the calendar, how to observe feasts, how much credence to give the rabbis, how little credence to give church fathers, degrees of kosher, etc.  A lot of these are quite stupid reasons to divide, particularly if the division is acrimonious.

Many of the reasons we divide stem from our rebellious spirit and that is wrong and not within the scope of this discussion, but there is another reason many divide.  Many pursue Torah as if pursuing perfection according to their own definition or understanding and disassociate with any who may not fit their very narrow understanding of Scripture or practice.

But, what if we do not have to be perfect?  Continue reading →

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Pics from SC/GA National Shabbat

Posted on August 28, 2016 by

Yesterday’s National Shabbat in western SC, bringing together about 350 Messianics from across half dozen states, was incredible.  Our house is still recovering from all the Davidic dance.  The last set, geared toward the teens with some high energy tunes, including the Kol Hamesameach (Wedding/War Dance) and the Chasidic Nigun, particularly wore out my 49 year old self.  Whew!!  If anyone has posted YouTube videos of the last set, please shoot me a link.  I’d love to post!

Here is a gallery of images.

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The Greater Exodus: less than a year away?? [Updated]

Posted on August 28, 2016 by

I just listened to a most electrifying teaching by Laura Densmore that rethinks the traditional interpretation of Daniel 9:24.  There is a high, very high probability that Christendom’s interpretation has been wrong.Daniel-Unsealed-Kindle

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.

Laura brings together pieces of Dan Bruce’s recent book, Daniel Unsealed, as well as history and Scripture to present a compelling case for understanding that we are in the 69th week of a third fulfillment of Daniel’s Seventy Week Prophecy.  Presented in the two part video and slide series below, Laura Continue reading →

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