Monthly Archives: May 2017

JUST A REMINDER – this coming sunday – June 4th – is Shavuot or the Feast of Pentecost. We will be co-hosting the celebration of this Biblical Holiday with the Donaldson’s at their home in Lincoln County. If you need directions, please text, call or email us for that info. (859 582 5525 prodigal_101@yahoo.com) The day will be an ‘all day dinner on the grounds’ sort of event. Their will be a potluck noon meal. We ask that each family would bring a main dish/entree and either side dish/salad or dessert, drinks on ice, and chairs for your group if you can. Be sure and dress comfortably for the outdoors. We anticipate perhaps 100 folks or so in attendance. All are welcome and invited. If you have any more questions, please give us a holler, See ya’ there . . .

Question?? Why do we constantly condemn people for speaking ‘the names’ in English when we cannot even agree, in this camp, on how to say ‘the names’ in Hebrew? Everyone has a different pronunciation of YHVH’s Name and will state they definitely know THIS is the correct spelling and pronunciation of it. Then, someone else comes along and says they definitely have the correct spelling and pronunciation and it is a totally DIFFERENT word. And THEN someone else comes along and has ANOTHER transliteration of HIS name in Hebrew and they are correct. You get the picture…..This goes on and on….and by the way, the same thing happens in the HR camp concerning ” the correct” spelling and pronunciation of Yeshua’s Hebrew name. So who is correct ? Everyone is, of course, just ask them. So isn’t it a little hypocritical to say people aren’t speaking the English word for ‘Yeshua’? /Jesus correctly when NOBODY in this camp can agree on how to properly speak the name in Hebrew? By the way, English is not the only language that has translated HIS Hebrew name. Most all languages have a translation of His Name within their given/spoken language.
YHWH gave the languages and within each one is a name set apart, with in that language, with which we can call upon Him. Once again, it is not just the English language that has translated His name. Even in the Hebrew we have translated His name and can’t agree which one is the correct one.
The bottom line is it doesn’t matter if you have the correct pronunciation, in Hebrew, so just choose one and use it and stop bringing condemnation to everyone who pronounces HIS NAME a little differently ( in Hebrew) or happens to speak another language besides Hebrew.
We are severely sidetracked….R

Rev.2:4….” But I have this one thing against you, you have left your first love.” Let us not be found here….

Ok . . . here we go . . . case in point . . . On another site, a lady of catholic background was witnessed to, became born-again and was baptized as a believer. By the wording in her post, you could discern she was also new to the English language.  Now, 6 years into her walk of Salvation, she has been overwhelmed by those on social media that are telling her ‘the Name’ on which she called – the name ‘Jesus’ – is ‘pagan’ and counterfeit and now, by her own confession, she is more confused than ever.

It has been asked why we seem to ‘defend’ teachings of the church or the use of certain words or names and at times find fault within our HR camp of believers. We are not here to intentionally defend or find fault with anyone’s teachings or beliefs, but rather we are here to promote proper balance and to disseminate the Truth of The Word and ‘let the chips fall where they may’; not that we desire anyone to get hit by falling  chips, but ‘Iron sharpening Iron’ will always cause some sparks, hopefully creating more Light than heat.  We must always remember, not everything we taught and learned in ‘the church’ was wrong, and not everything we teach and promote in this HR/Messianic/Restoration Camp is correct and vice versa.  And one of the things none of us ever want to be a part of is sowing seeds of doubt or confusion .

Most of us in this ‘Camp’ came out of ‘the church’ and called upon Jesus to save us from our sins and bring us into relationship with our heavenly Father. And now, in our newly acquired knowledge, we have come to the conclusion that that word – Jesus – is somehow false and pagan and leading people astray. But have we stopped to consider the logical conclusion to that line of thought.

Many years back (when we were much less seasoned in this new walk)  Rhonda and I were asked by a married couple if we would re-baptize them. They were born again, filled with the Spirit and baptized in Jesus’ Name. And now that they understood His ‘True Name’, that desired to be baptized in the Name of Yeshua.  We agreed, but later, after much thought, we regretted the action.

Matthew 28:19 records Yeshua’s Words this way – ‘ . . .baptizing them in the Name of The Father , and The Son and the Holy Spirit.’ We who came out of ‘the church’ understand the phrase ‘The Son’ to be a reference to Jesus or Yeshua Himself.

Now here’s where it gets sticky. When we bring someone to the point of questioning the validity of their salvation or even believer’s baptism, because of the wrong spelling, pronunciation or language of a word or Name, we have started them down a very slippery and dangerous path. I mean, if my baptism in Jesus’ Name was not valid, well then what about my Salvation and my relationship to our Father? What about my eternity and my sinful past? Are my sins truly forgiven, or, if I die tonight, will I go to hell?

You see, it’s one thing to share with folks about the Hebrew and the Name His Momma called Him and what that Name truly means. But it is another thing altogether to cause someone to doubt their relationship and salvation and potentially cause them to stumble and question or worse to doubt their salvation. Who wants to be responsible for that?

In Luke 17 Yeshua warns the disciples concerning causing ‘the little ones’ to stumble. Not only can that phrase refer to physical children but can it not also be used to refer to ‘babes’ or ‘little ones’ in the Faith? Yeshua said obstacles would come, but woe to those by which these obstacles come. We must be careful what words we speak and how we speak them and when and to whom. Who wants to be responsible for causing someone like this ‘6-year old in the faith’ that we mentioned above to stumble?

It is true that ‘Yeshua’ is the Hebrew word for the moniker of the promised Messiah of Israel. As best we know, it is what His Momma called Him. But His ‘Name’ is much more than that word by which He is addressed. His Name is His Power, Majesty, Authority, Reputation, Sovereignty and Legacy.

There are and always will be errors in the teachings of man. The word ‘Jesus’ is not an error. If it is, then what does that say concerning the ‘coming to faith’, Salvation and baptism of the majority of believers?

In Acts 2, it says ‘they (from every nation under heaven) all heard in their own language . . .’ Where did the languages come from? They came from God. (Gen 11:6-10) It is difficult for us to imagine that our Father would create languages without setting a set-apart name within each one by which to call on Him (and that is what we did) . . .

“MOTHER’S DAY’

‘Add To or Take Away’ what from what?

As we travel down the road of our faith walk, there are many questions that present themselves along the way that may not seem to have a cut-and-dried, ‘chapter and verse’ answer. And yet, as we study the Scriptures under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, things can become clear under the light of His presence and the dots begin to ‘connect themselves’.  No, we are not advocating ‘reading between the lines’.  For since there is literally nothing ‘between the lines’ but blank space, that leaves the door open for just about anything to wander in, if you get our drift.

One set of questions that comes up from time to time falls under the heading of ‘Adding to and taking from’.  But adding to or taking away what from what? That might not sound like good grammar, but it’s a legitimate question. Is it ok to observe celebrations that are not commanded in Scripture? Is it a sin to observe Purim? What about Channukah? Is 4^th of July and Thanksgiving evil? What about the secular ‘new year’? If you’re married,  ignoring a birthday or anniversary could possibly cause bodily harm. And what about Mother’s Day or Father’s Day? Are they a violation of The Word?  And of course, the biggie, is it wrong to worship on Sunday? So what CAN I do and what ACTUALLY constitutes, from a Biblically contextual perspective, ‘adding to and taking from’? Well, let’s look at What The Word Says.

First, let’s find the passages that give us this directive.  In Deut 12:22, Moses is giving last minute instructions and reminders to the people of Israel before they enter the Land of  promise. He makes this emphatic statement  – ‘whatsoever I have commanded you, do it; adding nothing to it nor taking anything away.’ It should be clear from the passage above that the subject that is not to be ‘added to or diminished’ is the body of commandments given by God through Moses. We also see a similar edict in the book of the Revelation, chapter 22, verses 18-19. But as we read this passage, we realize it is specific in this case to the prophecies in this Book of the Revelation. But the shadow of this theme is still present and relevant – ‘do not add to My Word or diminish it’, says our Father. But again the question presents itself – what constitutes ‘adding to or taking from’?

” So you shall observe to do just as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.” (Deu 5:32) ” “You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong days in the land which you shall possess.” (Deu 5:33) ” “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it,” (Deu 6:1)

As we look at these passages, we see the command to ‘not add to or take away from’ is in direct reference to the body of commandments and directives by God to His people. This is a very simple concept and yet we have somehow complicated it beyond reasonable comprehension. We have expanded this directive to the extreme point of making it ‘unlawful’ and ‘sinful’ if we do anything that is not expressly mandated in Scripture. On the other hand, when we impose and enforce as Scripture such customs, traditions and practices that are not directed in The Word, we have ‘added to’ and have violated the very Word of God we purport to follow.

For examples . . . is there anything Biblical wrong with worshiping on the first day of the week, or any other day for that matter. The answer is simply ‘no, it is not wrong’. The error enters in when we attempt to impose and enforce that practice as a Scriptural mandate, or present any other day as a substitute for the Biblical sabbath.  In that, we have just both added to and taken from. Is there anything Scripturally wrong, sinful, for observing secular or national holidays? As long as these customary celebrations are not pagan in their conception and have not become idolatrous in our observance, the Biblical answer to that question is ‘no, it is not a sin’. Remember, ‘Sin’ is transgression of God’s Law. (1 John 3:4) If God’s Law does not prohibit a particular practice or custom, then no one else has the right to prohibit or forbid that practice or custom. If God’s Law says something is sinful, we do not have the right to allow or dismiss it as permissible.

If a woman chooses to wear a head-covering,  there is nothing in Scripture to forbid or prohibit that choice. But when we impose and attempt to enforce that tradition as a Scriptural mandate, we are in error and in violation of The Word. If we desire to acknowledge Purim or Channukah or Thanksgiving or July 4^th  or Israel’s Independence Day, is the recognition of any of those dates or events a sin? No . . . unless we impose and require that observance as part of someone’s supposed ‘Biblically mandated walk’ . . . then, at that point, the requiring becomes ‘sin’ because we have just ‘added to’ The Word of God. On the other hand, if we condemn and demean folks and pass judgment on their motive and agenda and heart for their observance, we have once again violated Scripture.

You know, from a practical standpoint, the Bible does not tell me to brush my teeth, press my clothes, or that it is permissible to eat with a fork or drink my tea with a straw. Therefore, because there is not a direct command to do these things, is it a sin to do them? No, it is not. And, on the other side of this coin, if I tell you that to be acceptable to God, you must do these things, that requirement that I have attempted to impose would be a sin, a sin of addition.

The Word is not too burdensome  . . . until man gets involved.

So, we said all that to say this –

Yom Ha-Em HaSameach – Happy Mother’s Day!

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. (which is the First commandment with a promise)  (Exo 20:12, Eph. 6:2)