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Imploding America and the exploding ‘revival’ (Responding to Joel Rosenberg)

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Pete Rambo

Joel C. Rosenburg of FlashTrafficBlog is normally extremely prescient, almost to the point of being spooky. His political analysis is exceptional feeding great insight into fictional novels that have at times been so accurate that one might think him a time traveler. Still, like the rest of us, he is not omniscient.

Today, in a blog post titled Some thoughts on a presidential campaign going from bad to worse to nightmarish, he revealed a couple weaknesses. His recap of the presidential campaign that is increasingly revealing the dregs we have for candidates is terrific and echoes my very, very deep concerns for this nation. Personally, I have thought the American experiment to be over, but the last three months have not only confirmed but chiseled that opinion into stone. I believe Rosenberg would agree. Please take the time to read his post.

Rosenberg rightly calls for prayer, and I am in full agreement. As I read, though, I realized he has somehow missed two very important points that would radically alter his blog post. I’d like to address those in reverse order. He states, Continue reading →

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged Epicenter, falsh traffic blog, implosion, Joel Rosenberg, presidential debate, revival | 8 Comments

Absalom, the anti-messiah and the Valley of Elah.

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Pete Rambo

Biblical history IS prophecy. I used to believe that some of Biblical history is prophetic, but the more I read and study ‘historical’ passages, the more I recognize prophetic pictures confirmed by other passages. As examples, we have explored Joseph as a picture of Yeshua, Elijah and the significance in the End Times series, as well as David and Goliath picturing the end times.

This morning while meandering through various passages I was suddenly and sharply drawn to look at Absalom and David. Almost immediately, verses in the story-line began to pop out revealing two interesting pictures from the historical uprising of Absalom against his father’s kingdom. Now, I have not had time to fully tease this picture out, (I’m just too excited to wait.. I want to share…) so, you get to help as you think this through and add notes in the comment section!!

Absalom is a picture of Lucifer.

^{2 Samuel 14:25}Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no defect in him.

Of Lucifer, Ezekiel says,

“You ^[d]had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
¹³“You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your Continue reading →

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged Absalom, antichrist, Messiah, oak tree, prophecy, terebinth | 11 Comments

Save the date!! BYNA Summit 2017!!

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Pete Rambo

I hope to see you there!!

Posted in A Thought..., B'ney Yosef North America | Tagged Bney Yosef, Exciting, gathering Israel, lost tribes, Mesa AZ, Summit | Leave a comment

A special treat for you!! (Updated link)

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Pete Rambo

Bney Yosef North America has a terrific monthly newsletter that Yocheved has begun putting together. Besides some cool articles, announcements (the next Summit…) and graphics, it also has Torah teaching and even recipes! A special surprise for me is that I submitted an article that I am excited about for the BYNA website, but just saw it near the top of the newsletter… Check all of this out!!! (And, subscribe for future free monthly installments!)

Following is the beginning of the newsletter, here is the link for the whole thing! Please give feedback I can forward to Yocheved! (Interesting aside: The pic below was taken on the last evening of the First Congress in Israel. Next week we leave for the Second… 🙂 )

Bird’s Nest or Beehive? Where do you fit?

Pete Rambo, Operations Director, BYNA

One of the little pleasures I enjoy each Spring and Summer on our small farm is discovering a hidden bird’s nest. This year, inside of an eye-level overturned box in our garage, a Carolina wren took up residence and over several weeks built a nest and raised four chicks. Watching her, particularly in the timeframe after the eggs hatched, was exhausting. I know she was tired!

Like all mother birds, from first light until fading ray, this year’s wren was a flurry of activity. Besides guarding the nest from several area predators, she was gathering food for herself and her chicks. Go. Come. Jamb her beak into open mouths and feed. Go. Come. Repeat. Countless times.

In addition to bird nests, I also pay some attention to the several beehives we have on our farm. Bees are amazing creatures that God instilled an incredible team-working ethic in that never ceases to captivate me. There are thousands of bees in a hive yet every single one is hatched with a particular mission (gift?) that benefits the hive and all are busy utilizing their gifts for the good of the hive. Some are guards, others scouts, and many many workers. They bustle about day and night, guided by some unseen collective thought, working together to accomplish the monumental task of storing up a couple hundred pounds of honey for Winter survival, yet most will not even partake of the storehouse before literally working themselves to death. Their consuming focus is building for the next generation.

I built our first hive and included a glass side so we could see into the hive. Many evenings that first Summer, we would take flashlights out to see what the bees did at night and every time we looked, they were [continue reading]

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged birds and bees, BYNA, newsletter, Summit 2017, Yocheved | 9 Comments

R. C. Sproul, Jr., is only partly right…

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Pete Rambo

Recently, a friend forwarded a short article to me by highly respected Reformed Christian theologian, R. C. Sproul, Jr. Having been raised in a Reformed Presbyterian home and having spent more than ten years as an ordained and seminary trained pastor in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, there was a time when I very much respected Sproul’s voice as a leading thinker and opinion sharer. Today, I am much more careful in holding, particularly, the ‘giants’ against the Word of God before accepting what they say.

Because the article is so short, I will copy it in its entirety before sharing my thoughts on the title and subject. My hope is that we all learn a bit about critical reading/thinking and recognizing error when we see it, no matter the source.

Should We as Christians Celebrate the Jewish Feasts of the Old Testament?

from R.C. Sproul Jr.Jan 11, 2014 Category: Articles

Without question the most vexing challenge faced by the early church was understanding how believing Jews and believing Gentiles ought to relate to one another. The theme gets major play in Galatians, Hebrews, Acts, and is even the root of the issue that led to Paul’s stern and public rebuke of Peter. That so much time and attention was paid to this issue might incline us to believe it was settled. Or it just may prove how deep runs the temptation to botch this up.

Let’s start here—we have peace with God by trusting in the finished work of Christ alone. Add anything to that and you have fallen into a false gospel. You do not have peace with God by trusting in Christ and by being circumcised, or by trusting in Christ and keeping the Feast Continue reading →

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged contortionist, feasts, ivory tower, Ligoneer Ministries, R C Sproul Jr, torah obedience | 6 Comments

L’shana tova!! Happy New Year! (and, we are packing for Israel…)

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Pete Rambo

This evening, according to the Hillel II calendar and the sighting of the moon, is Yom Teruah, or the Day of Trumpets. This day marks the beginning of civil year 5777 in Israel and is the day on which kings were crowned. This day is also potentially one of the most important in the history of the world!!

Without question, the world is holding its collective breath for a number of reasons, all of which tie to the great prophetic pregnancy of the times. In a year of steadily building tension, we currently have the Mideast in turmoil; the United States trading shots with Russia in Syria; Jewish, Hebrew roots and Christian sources looking expectantly for the arrival of the Messiah; the Sanhedrin has been reconstituted and is counting the Jubilees; numerous signs in the heavens; economic meltdown; Islamic takeover of Europe and positioning for the same in the US; etc. Seriously, this is a Jenga tower that is teetering for collapse!

Personally, I am nearly breathless watching things unfold as we are quite possibly living through the most significant time in the history of the world, namely, the redemption of All Israel and the establishment of the Kingdom by/for the Mashiach! For those not familiar with these things, please read Continue reading →

Posted in B'Ney Yosef Congress | Tagged ezekiel, gog magog, Israel, prophecy, rapture, tour Israel | 5 Comments

Pictures for Pondering II

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Pete Rambo

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, the following re-blogged post!! Al and I are YouVersion friends, so I have seen many of these images as he has created them. The questions posed and the connections made open so many glorious doors and windows into the fullness of Yah’s plan for the redemption of the world, that one can not take all of it in with a single reading!

I recommend taking time to ponder and process each image. Re-post them as individual questions/images on Facebook. These are MAJOR conversation starters and for those buried in traditional theology, they are serious head-scratchers!!

Enjoy!!

Connecting the dots in Scripture can be lots of fun – and challenging. The fun part is, the “Aha!” moment presents a different picture from what we have learned all our lives. Do we take that new revelation and run with it, knowing it can make waves, or do we set it aside and hope that it never comes up again?

This second offering of Pictures for Pondering may be a challenge. As with the first edition, posted last spring, these are images from Bible passages prepared originally for posting on YouVersion (the Bible App). The first edition presented some interesting perspectives on the Kingdom of Heaven, Law and Grace, and prophecy, but also some whimsical illustrations. This time there is an attempt at a unifying theme. Part of the challenge is identifying that theme. The other part is investigating it from Scripture to see if it is so.

Good hunting!

Continue at Pictures for Pondering II for many more excellent thought provokers!!

Posted in Guest Post | Tagged Al McCarn, Amos, Hosea, House of Israel, lost sheep, prophecy, two sticks | Leave a comment

Being a light, according to Scripture.

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Pete Rambo

Recently, I was pondering the connection between a few verses of Scripture. I have mentioned how much I like YouVersion, so here is an image I recently posted followed by some comments and a music video (if I can find Troy Mitchell’s Light of the World). [If you are a YouVersion user, friend me. Search ‘Pete Rambo’ in Newberry, SC. My icon is a grey circle picture of Hebrew text.]

Scripture must define Scripture. We do not get to assign value or definition to words, rather, we must rely on Scripture to do so. This is extremely important when taking the words of Yeshua and trying to understand His intent where He Himself does not define terms. (Luke 8:11 is a clear example of Yeshua defining terms.)

As the image above cites, the Torah is light. While the quote says, ‘a light,’ the Hebrew has no article. It says, ‘Torah light.’ This is a simple fact that defines the term ‘light’ in order for us to insert the definition elsewhere. Much like those lovely equations we learn about in sixth or seventh grade, we can now define a variable. Continue reading →

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged inerrant Scripture, Light of the world, new testament validates torah, walk in darkness', word is a lamp, you are the light | 4 Comments

Kelly’s Tallit (Final Pics)

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Pete Rambo

I 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!!

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged Anita Heist, coat of many colors, handwoven, Kelly's tallit, loom, tallitot | 8 Comments

Cheeseburgers in the Temple

Posted on September 18, 2016 by traviswhughey

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 Temple

aka, “Division” in the Kitchen

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 →

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged kashrut, kid mother's milk, Kosher, meat and cheese, Rabbinic, Talmud | 13 Comments

The Star of David

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Pete Rambo

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.

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 →

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged hexagon, Israel flag, magen David, rompha, star of David, Two House | 66 Comments

The Secret to Walking by the Spirit

Posted on September 17, 2016 by Pete Rambo

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.

One 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 →

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged freedom in Christ, Galatians 5, obedience, righteousness of God, Romans 8, walk by the Spirit | 2 Comments

Time to get a New Calendar!!

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Pete Rambo

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!

Tishri 1 is just over 20 days away… Time to order next year’s 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!

Posted in A Thought... | Tagged anti-BDS, art, calendar, Galilee calendar company, photography, Tishri | Leave a comment

Short daily devotionals for Elul, highly recommended.

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Pete Rambo

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.

Posted in B'ney Yosef North America | Tagged BYNA, fruit, heart, mikveh, repentance, Yom Kippur | 3 Comments

Prophecy unfolding faster and faster!!

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Pete Rambo

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!!