Christians, please help me understand…

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Pete Rambo

I have four boys, most of whom are teenagers.  We do not have a communication problem, so I can tell them what to do and they understand perfectly well.

chore chart 004If I tell them clearly, once or twice, to do something, should I have a reasonable expectation that they will do it?  What if I clearly give them the same instructions five times?

Suppose I give my sons the exact same instructions eight or even NINE times and I NEVER tell them anything different?  Do I have a reasonable expectation that I have been very clear?  If they continue to disobey me on the matter, do I have a right to discipline them?  Can they plead ignorance?  What if the babysitter tells them otherwise?  Whose instructions take priority?  Does the babysitter have authority to overturn my instructions?

See?  This is the dilemma I am in, now.  I was that wayward teen Continue reading →

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Prophetic attack on peace? Odd…

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Pete Rambo

If I am not mistaken, this is the second time in recent months when doves, released from the Vatican, were attacked by ravens.  Is this an ominous prophetic sign?  Other recent strange happenings at the Vatican have included it being struck by lightning.. twice, as well as other signs.

Here are a couple pics and a link to one article about this…

peace being attackedAnother article had the following pic: Continue reading →

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I can’t hear what you SAY, I watch what you DO!

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Pete Rambo

My father had some wise sayings that have stuck with me.  One he often quipped at the right moment was,hypocrisy-1

“What you DO speaks so loud, I can hardly hear what you SAY!”

This he would use as a scalpel to expose hypocrisy when actions did not match professed belief.

It is interesting that Yeshua used the positive and negative of this, more than once, to make His point.

One such example, from Luke 7:18-23, Continue reading →

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Yeshua in Exodus 23

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Yesterday’s post, Diminishing God’s Law, considered the connection of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 with the following chapters that begin expanding what each commandment means.  If you missed it, I recommend it as well as the first couple comments that further reveal exactly what I was seeing.

As I read and pondered, I saw something else that is very important in this Torah Portion, #mishpatim.

About a month ago we were pondering Yeshua as the Lawgiver, the One who met the people and Moshe, the Redeemer who saved Israel, and the Covenant Maker.  That again was revealed in Exodus 23:20-23 in a prophecy/promise.  Let’s read the verses then make some connections, Continue reading →

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Diminishing God’s Law

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Pete Rambo

The Torah portions the last couple weeks have been taking us again through the middle 10 commandments.42chapters of Exodus and the giving of the Ten Words from Mt. Sinai.  So, two days ago, as my family and I read and discussed chapter 23 in our daily Bible time, (portion #mishpatim) I noted with interest how vss. 1-9 all deal with bearing false witness, thus explaining/expanding the Ninth Commandment.  As we flipped back and forth it occurred to me that textually, there is not a break in Yahweh’s giving of the 10 Words and the following expansion.

I said nothing and pondered through the day, several times returning to re-read the larger section and note that the ordinances that begin in 21:1 were given on the heels of the Ten Commandments with no discernible break.

Were they all given at the exact same time?  Continue reading →

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Happy Anniversary!! We are one year old today!

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Natsab is one year old, today!anniversary_060

A few stats and highlights, as well as favorite posts, coming up.

First and foremost, I want to thank our Father, Yahweh, for encouraging me to jump into the blogosphere and write about the things He has been teaching me in His Word and through many other teachers that have blazed a trail.  I am super thankful for the friends and family that have supported and encouraged me in this endeavor.

In fact, without many of you as regular readers, I would have long ago conceded to the idea that my efforts were in vain.  Thank you!!

Early January 2013, I toyed with the idea of writing to help me process and as a way to share/explain what I was learning.  Never having blogged or kept a journal before, I was afraid I’d run out of things to say…  My wife, bless her, is right.  That was just a dumb fear…  I’m never at a loss for something to say.  LOL! Continue reading →

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All I said was…

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Pete Rambo

all I said!!

Hilarious!!  Ever been here before?  Combat has nothing on some encounters with Christendom!!

Maybe that guy ought to break out his Bible and show them that at LEAST seven times in the Torah is explicitly says…..  NAH!  RUN!

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Correcting Our Paradigm

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Pete Rambo

The correct priority of Scripture is sequential.  We should start at the beginning.  Paul tells us that a later covenant cannot Gs NTscontradict an earlier covenant.  Neither can a later scripture contradict an earlier one.  If there were such a contradiction, it would mean that one of the scriptures was wrong (in which case it isn’t Holy scripture) or that God had changed His mind (in which case He is inconsistent and fallible).  The correct priority of Scripture starts with the Torah.

D. Thomas Lancaster, Restoration, Pg. 52

Christendom’s opinion is precisely opposite the above quote from Lancaster.  I can’t tell you how many times it has been expressed or implied that ‘we can’t understand the Old Testament without the New.’  In fact, the very structure of seminary courses, the pattern of preaching habits and the plethora of theological books reveal that Christendom spends roughly 85% of their time in the last 1/3 of the Bible with little or no understanding of the first 2/3rds apart from a few prooftexts.

Yeshua on the other hand, spoke nothing of Himself, but continually pointed to the Tanak Continue reading →

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A couple of terrific books…

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Like many of you, I spend a fair amount of time reading and learning.  There is so much!!

Here are a couple books I have recently finished that are well worth your consideration!

tltT FriedmanFirst up is a fantastic little volume that is chock full of thought trails.  They Loved The Torah, by David Friedman, Ph.D., is possibly one of the best simple, concise defenses from Scripture dealing with first century believers and Torah.

While Dr. Friedman could have expanded this into a huge tome, he wisely kept it under 150 pages for a very fast and easily absorbed read.  As such, he introduces the reader to a wonderful overview of Torah observance by Yeshua, Peter, Paul, James, some priests, believing Pharisees, etc.  In short, there is not one instance of Torah denial or denigration anywhere in the New Testament.

As a professor of history and former college dean (if I remember correctly, I do not have the book in front of me), Dr. Friedman does a wonderful job of turning up passages that I had previously overlooked.  To his credit, he exposes Continue reading →

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AltJT: Test your Jesus Theories

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Since we are reblogging a few good articles today, I thought to share this one as well!

AltJT: Test your Jesus Theories in the book of Acts, and what we can learn about Paul’s Torah observance by Judah Gabriel Himango over on Kineti L’Tziyon.

I have to tell you, Judah hit an absolute homerun here and he confirms some of the same things I have been doing.  Namely, holding thoughts/theories/etc against the Book of Acts!!

He begins…

Author and blogger Lois Tverberg has a great idea: test your “Jesus theories” in the Book of Acts. Let’s call it the Acts Litmus Test for Jesus Theories. AltJT.

AltJT goes like this: your ideas about Jesus are probably colored by your very existence in a foreign culture 2000 years removed from Jesus.

Therefore, to test whether your ideas about Jesus have any merit, you should find evidence of it in the actions of Jesus’ disciples and the early Christian community.

Where can we find evidence of the actions of the early Christian community?

Well, it just so happens we have a book for that: Acts, i.e. The Book of Recorded Actions of the Disciples of Yeshua.

Continue at Kineti L’Tziyon

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The Virgin Birth EXPOSED!!

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Remastered with additional graphics.  Worth watching about every four to six months!!

Rabbi Kaduri’s prophecy/connection mentioned in this, as well.

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The Word — or The Spirit?

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Fantastic article demonstrating the inseparable nature of the Torah and the Spirit!! Well worth the read!!

goodnewsfromadistantland's avatarCold Waters to a Thirsty Soul

One of the most important questions Believers are asking today is:

“Has the Holy Spirit replaced the Law [the Torah] as our guide to righteous living?”

boxing Today, one common assumption within traditional Christianity is the idea that the Torah was the standard of truth in the Old Testament, but now the Holy Spirit is the standard in the New Testament.

Many hold the idea that the Torah and the Spirit are at odds, and cannot be reconciled.

However, the Scriptures reveal that the Torah and the Holy Spirit are not at odds with each other — rather, they are in complete unity! They have always worked together, hand in hand, throughout history.

OUR GOD IS ONE

The Holy Spirit does not replace the Torah, the written Word of God.

The Spirit of God cannot contradict the Word of God [who is the person of Messiah – John 1:1-14]. Our God…

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Yeshua Believing Torah Zealots in the Book of Acts??

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Messianic Judaism is not a new thing.  In fact, major threads of Church history would like to hide or ignore the fact that there has always been a thin thread of Torah-keeping believers in Messiah.  While never perfectly kept (can anyone?), it is fascinating to study the hidden or marginalized elements of history to find groups and movements true to the written word over the traditions of men.  (Look up Waldensians, Seventh-day Baptists, Hussites, etc as examples in the last 1000 years.  The thread is present in the dark ages, though much harder to trace.  Yet, the promise of a remnant is always fulfilled.)

Apart from recent decades and the growing return to the Torah by believers in Messiah of all stripes, there was a time when a significant portion of believers in Messiah were also Torah-keepers. Continue reading →

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Who Baptized the Apostle Paul?

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Pete Rambo

So, Yeshua appears to Rabbi Sha’ul (Paul) on the road to Damascus.  This is the first step we see in a series of events wherein Sha’ul, one of the greatest evangelists in the history of the world is ‘captured,’ and turned toward the Messiah.

Acts 9:1-20 records the amazing set of events in the first several days.  Among those events is recorded the story of Hananyah, the one to whom Yeshua appears, sending him to pray that Sha’ul of Tarsus receive his sight.

Before we read the story, I have to ask you, if you were about to assign someone to meet with Rav Sha’ul, the one you have selected to be the greatest emissary in the history of the world, what qualifications would you have for this mentor?  Would you select a mentor that was confused or not walking properly?  Would you select a mentor that didn’t know what you wanted?  Or, would you select a mentor that was believing and acting rightly?

I would bet, and it would be a very safe bet, that Yeshua chose a mentor Continue reading →

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What ‘Word of God’ was Yeshua referring to?

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Pete Rambo

In the same manner Christendom likes to equivocate on the meaning of ‘commandments,’ it is not uncommon to find them altering the plain meaning of ‘the word of God,’ in the text.

Consider this text and what it means,

But he replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”  Luke 11:28

In this context, what is ‘the Word of God?’

Yeshua uses this same phrase in Luke 8:21,

But he replied to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

What exactly is ‘the Word of God’ that Yeshua is referring to? Continue reading →

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