Dilbert. Speaking truth?

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Pete Rambo

dilbert sabbath

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Which ordinance of God is “unrighteous?”

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Pete Rambo

I carry my Bible practically everywhere I go.  (ALWAYS ready to make a defense for the Truth of our Messiah and His Torah…)  In my Bible case, I keep a little yellow note pad to jot ideas or thoughts to pursue, or comment on, or write about.  Maybe a book, a thought, a verse, etc…  Some days, like today, are particularly fertile and I wind up adding four or five new ideas or thoughts to develop for this blog or for personal study.

Recently, I posted one of the most popular posts I’ve written.  It was short, to the point and something I thought I was the only one who had overlooked…  But, something connected.  Well, this goes very well with that post…

We enjoyed the day in the company of some Messianic friends and, as I love to do, I cruised a few of the books they had laying around.  I found a little gem Continue reading →

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R. Shapira Discussing Yeshua’s Name in Rosh Hashanah Liturgy

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Pete Rambo

I really can’t tell you how much I enjoy listening to R. Shapira explain the presences of Yeshua and His identity in Jewish literature.  It is a whole world of new wonders as Messiah is revealed and present with brother Judah…  now being revealed!  Here is an amazing video with beautiful views into Person of the Metatron and His presence in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy recited by every observant Jew!!

Here is part 2!! Continue reading →

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Whose Calendar are We Celebrating?

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Pete Rambo

Does Scripture have to say anything about the Creator’s thoughts on time and seasons? When does HE think the year begins?

We could spend a good bit of time digging out the details, but a simple reading of Scripture would demonstrate that tonight is NOT HIS plan…

14 Then God said, “Let there be [a]lights in the [b]expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15 and let them be for [c]lights in the [d]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.  Genesis 1:14-15

Later, our Father tells us exactly how to ‘read’/understand what season and what month are the beginning of a year… Continue reading →

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Chewing gum for the brain…

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Pete Rambo

As I have mentioned before, I am reading/enjoying/re-reading J. K. McKee’s The New Testament Validates Torah.  Frankly, this is the single best systematic addressing of Torah for the Messianic.  I believe more and broader scholarly works will emerge as time passes, but it will be hard to top this 400+ page work!  EVERY Messianic believer needs this on their shelf, and any pastor wanting to understand or get a comprehensive look needs to read this book.

Advertisement aside, there are so many terrific quotes on every page.  I want to share three from pages 91-93.  The first two are cites of other authors and the last is his.

Take the time to read and ponder each!  I’ll list the original sources from McKee’s footnotes.

What would we think of a presidential candidate who assured his voters that he would only UPHOLD the requirements and FULFILL the goals of the Constitution and never ABOLISH our country’s customs and laws, yet two years after his election, plunged the country into complete anarchy?  Would this be FULFILLMENT of the Constitution of ABOLITION of the Constitution? Continue reading →

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Distinct? Or, United? (God in a box.)

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Pete Rambo

In a recent online conversation, several Christian pastors were trying to force me to subscribe to their particular understanding of the nature of Yeshua and how they believe the Godhead fits together.  Predictably, because I didn’t use or agree with their particular choice of words, they define me a ‘heretic.’  (Can’t you just feel the love?)

The sticking point was the word ‘distinct.’  They desperately wanted me to declare unequivocally that there is a strong ‘distinction’ between Yahweh and Yeshua.  Frankly, there was a time I could do that…  then I started to read the Scriptures a little god-in-a-boxmore carefully and a different picture began to emerge….  A picture that normative/historical Christianity doesn’t care for, because it undermines some of their cherished doctrines/traditions.

If you want to view the conversation firsthand, it starts in the mid-170s, and is a bit like riding a merry-go-round.  Just be careful not to ride the shark or the wolf.  😉

A specific quote of mine from #185,

As I explained before, my reticence is that I believe the Mystery is greater than the box we try to put Him in. I also believe that historic Christianity, particularly under the influence of Roman Catholicism has dwelt mightily on the distinctions Continue reading →

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What did the Early Church Fathers REALLY do? *edited*

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Pete Rambo

Excellent, excellent series.  May be the best investment of an hour this month!!  Pieces of church history your seminary trained pastor may not know…  Some of this I didn’t know and I have seminary paper hanging on my wall…

**Edit: Please note, Melissa Coles was kind enough to track down links to sources verifying much of this video series. They are in the comments section! Thanks, Melissa!

Parts 2-5 follow… Continue reading →

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Blessed is the man…

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Pete Rambo

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord,
And in His Torah he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.  Psalm 1:1-3

Marinate.

 

 

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An Indictment Against Pastors and Leaders! And, a warning!

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Pete Rambo

Lately, I have again had the ‘privilege’ to be drawn into an online discussion with a number of pastors and elders from the Reformed Christian tradition.  It usually ends the same way…  They judge me through the lens of their doctrinal statement and refuse to take into account passages of Scripture counter to their paradigm.  It is the equivalent of ‘adding or subtracting from the Word of God.’

One great irony in the whole deal is that Christendom exactly mirrors the Jewish leaders at the time of Messiah’s first coming.  Speaking generally (it would take a truckload of ink to enumerate), the traditions of men supersede huge passages of prophecy in Scripture.  We won’t follow that trail, but it explains why this passage in Ezekiel perfectly describes many of today’s pastors:

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets Continue reading →

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Some pictures are too funny NOT to share…

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Pete Rambo

otd shepherd

Enjoy!

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Yeshua as you’ve never seen Him!!

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Pete Rambo

Yeshua as you’ve never seen Him!!.

Excellent Shabbat message from Exodus 3.  I explored much more deeply the connections of Yeshua and the Angel of the Lord.  This has major ammunition in addressing the false charge that keeping Torah is denial of the Messiah!!

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No Running!!!

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Pete Rambo

Pool rules 8975As a child, I LOVED visiting the pool.  Maybe a neighbor’s pool or summer camp, etc.  Hot and humid South Carolina weather made the cool clear waters a wonderful respite.

Most pools we visited had some form of posted rules.

  • No running!
  • No diving!
  • No rough-housing, etc…

Often, breaking these rules led to the dreaded ‘time-out.’  All my friends playing and me sitting by mom or the life-guard watching… mournfully.

Had I been a more rebellious sort, I might have found that continued rule-breaking would lead to greater and greater penalties.  Possibly, even, not being invited back.

In my immaturity, my view of the rules, or ‘law of the pool,’ was that it was restrictive.  It seemed to needlessly curtail all the ‘fun!’  Pushing someone into the pool or chasing someone with a ‘rat-tail’ towel was a game!

As I grew older Continue reading →

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Zac Bauer on Duck Dynasty Flap

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Pete Rambo

Excellent summary and addressing of national symptoms exposed by Duck Dynasty Flap.

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“Which is the attitude of maturity?”

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Pete Rambo

I have recently been involved in another “HRM” ‘drive-by shooting.’  But, it is not the first “love” Messianics have received from that blog.

So, pondering some of the comments and wondering about the general lack of desire to really dig in and understand why Messianic/Hebraic studies are growing by leaps and bounds, and what that reveals about lacking elements in Christendom, I continued reading J. K. McKee’s terrific scholarly work, The New Testament Validates Torah: Does the New Testament Really Do Away with the Law?

In an extended quote, McKee so eloquently defines exactly what the crux of the differences are between Christian and Judaic perspectives on the Torah: (pgs 65-66) Continue reading →

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A Great Irony in Christian Theology…

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Pete Rambo

So, let me get this straight…

Israel was free when they were obedient to God’s Torah, but sent into bondage when they repeatedly disobeyed it, but Christendom is ‘free’ when they ignore God’s Torah and ‘in bondage’ if they rightly choose obedience?

Say wha…?

Here is the TRUTH:

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8

For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law (Torah).  Proverbs 4:2

Got Torah?

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