Blessings to you all ~
Lisa and family

2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living a life of trust. Test yourselves. Don’t you realize that Yeshua the Messiah is in you? – unless you fail to pass the test.

As we continue through this time of introspection and repentance, we need to be honest with ourselves and put ourselves to the test. Both aspects of this are difficult and uncomfortable – being honest with ourselves and putting ourselves to the test. Where do we fall short? Where do we need to do teshuvah? Where do we need to go and make things right? And once we have our list, what are we going to do about it??

Do we realize that even a slight change in course will radically alter our final destination?

We listened to Daniel Lancaster speak about The Lost Teachings of Yeshua on our way to visit a congregation. I wish I knew how to upload mp3 files so I could share it with you all. If you’re interested in me e-mailing it to you, let me know. It was a good teaching from last year during this season.

Here is a copy of the Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah cards that we put together and gave out to our friends and family.

The Feast of Trumpets

Most Christians don’t know very much about the fall holidays that are outlined by God Himself in the Old Testament; The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah or Yom Teruah), Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot). Each of the Biblical holidays teaches us about our wonderful relationship with our God. His whole redemption story is portrayed for us in these festivals. Paul wrote that these holidays “are a shadow of the things that are to come” (Colossians 2:16-17). The spring festivals so clearly teach us of life as a child of God and the first coming of His Messiah. The fall festivals also have much to teach us about His second coming and the world to that is to come.

The Feast of Trumpets is the New Year of the civil calendar, and begins the High Holy Days in the seventh religious month (corresponding to September or October). It is celebrated with the blowing of the trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25). The Feast of Trumpets is a powerful prophetic look at the final days and Messiah’s return. Hebrew eschatology teaches that on the Day of Atonement after six thousand years are complete, the Day of the Lord will come. On that day the shofar will sound and the righteous will be resurrected (Revelation 3:7-11).

Several years after our family began studying the Hebrew Roots of our Christian faith we began to observe the Biblical holidays. After all, with our faith firmly placed in God and in His Messiah, we recognize that we are wild olive branches grafted onto the cultivated olive tree, both of which are nourished by the heritage of Abraham our father (Romans 3-4, 9-11).

It is traditional to eat apples dipped in honey at the Feast of Trumpets and to wish one another a sweet new year. As we celebrate this wonderful holiday season, we want to extend our blessings to you, our friends and family. May you be blessed in this upcoming year, may our Father reveal Himself to you in new and exciting ways as you walk before Him every day.

L’shanah tovah

One of these resources is the Homeschooling Bible Curriculum from Anne’s School Place.  There are three years worth of studies that take you through the whole of Scripture in chronological order.  But more than that, there are organized daily readings, weekly memory verses, regular Bible drills, suggested coloring pages that go along with the daily readings, and suggestions for vocabulary and grammar type lessons (in order to better understand the words used in the Bible) and much much more!  If I could start over with my children, I would very likely choose this Bible curriculum as part of our homeschooling program!

WOW!

Foundations 1:  Preparation for Christ

A 3-Year Plan to studying the Bible.  Foundations 1 examines the Old Testament, preparing your children for the coming of Christ by presenting them with a clear picture of God’s nature and character, as well as the nature and character of sinful mankind.  They will learn about the necessity of the Law and about God’s plan to provide a Savior from sin.  They will have a clear understanding of the place of Israel in God’s plan.  The goal is to lay a firm foundation in their lives for understanding Christ as presented in the New Testament.

This is the lesson I have in my hot little hand.  Just a simple browsing through this book gives me such great ideas for kids, but mine are just too old for dress-up and coloring pages.    Still, there are lots of great suggestions for older children as well and I think I’ll be benefiting from many of them.  I really appreciate how things are broken down by weekday with suggestions for each days lesson. This is always a helpful treat for a homeschooling mom.  Preparation for lessons can be fun and it sure is helpful when we have a clear view of just what we’re preparing for that day!

Here are a few more quotes from Anne’s School Place:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

• Study the Bible chronologically, beginning with the Old Testament. A firm foundation for biblical understanding will be laid.
• Teach your children how to study the Bible for themselves, using inductive and deductive methods.
• Through daily use, teach your children how to handle their Bibles, understand what it means, and apply it to their lives.
• Commit large sections of Scripture to memory, hiding it in your hearts so your family will not sin against God.
• Children who begin studying the Bible in first grade will have thoroughly discussed God’s Word four times before they graduate from high school.
• A variety of activities for multiple ages means that families will read together, study together, and grow together… making life easier for Mom and simplifying your homeschooling day.

I think that this three year plan would be a wonderful addition to any homeschool family’s curriculum package.

Well, it seems that He’s doing it again!!  It’s so exciting to see all of these seemingly completely unrelated things coming together and meshing so perfectly with what has been growing in our hearts/minds over the last many months.  We have not sought these things out (we didn’t know where to look).  I find it absolutely AMAZING how HaShem simply drops things into the laps of His children at times!

The phrase “breathing new life” seems so accurate.  It is as if He has been breathing new life into areas of our lives and that as we inhale and exhale we’re breathing that new life as well.

We are called to be a set apart people:  set apart from the systems of the world, set apart from ungodly religious customs, set apart from ungodly desires and passions.  We are called to be set apart FOR the One True G-d.  Because of this, we will look different than the rest of the world but we should be living for His joy only.  It should be our desire to bring Him joy in all we do, and in doing so we find joy unspeakable!  Oh how we’ve found this to be true!!

The latest edition of Messiah Magazine, the books that have been recommended to us and we’ve read, the movies we’ve watched, the people we’ve visited with, the audio sermons we’ve listened to, the simple choices we’ve each made on our own all seem to be pointing to the same theme – though that theme doesn’t have the “right words” to describe it just yet.  Soon.  It’s coming.  Here are some words that seem to shine a tiny light in the direction that I’m talking about – but remember that the “right words” haven’t hit me just yet and it’s hitting us from every angle very fast right now so we’re trying to “be still and know” as we digest all that Father is giving to us.

Family first, multi-generational families, modesty in ALL areas of life, vision, direction, Fatherhood, Motherhood, Manhood, Womanhood, leadership, submission, honor, simplicity, deliberate lives – very deliberate.

I know that many, if not most, of my readers know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.  But have you noticed that it’s everywhere all of the sudden?  Or are our own eyes just now being opened?

How exciting!!

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)

Today as we prepare for Shabbat we will also be discussing the significance of the Ascension of our Master. Shavuot is coming, soon.

From Esther 9

This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And on the fourteenth of the month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness…
So the Jewish people accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, the Jewish people established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.

The festival of Purim is the remembering of the events that surrounded Queen Esther in Persia as recorded in the Book of Esther. Purim is a minor festival, meaning that it is not one that was commanded at Mt. Sinai and recorded in Leviticus 23 but it is a festival, like Hanukkah, that came to be an honored tradition. There have been many times what HaShem has rescued His people from certain annihilation. Purim is one of those times. The holocaust that we think of today took place during World War II yet the persecution that the Jewish people (and others) underwent was not something new. There has always been an evil spirit that is out to steal, kill and destroy anything that is cherished by HaShem and anyone who sets himself or herself apart to serve Him. Purim is a festival born from a time when HaShem intervened and His children were miraculously spared – it is a time to remember and rejoice.

The remembering part is sometimes overlooked. We are to remember the hardships – the bad things, the threats and curses that were called down upon us. We do not remember these things to be sadistic or depressing, but to remind ourselves that when we feel persecuted, others who have gone on before us have suffered as well, often much more than we can imagine. We draw strength from knowing that we are not alone. We also draw strength in remembering just how BIG our Father is, He can – and did – defeat the enemy when it seemed that there was no way for salvation.

In the past our family as spent the days surrounding Purim considering all of our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted today. We think of, and pray for, our brothers and sisters living in areas where they are sought out for destruction simply for their heritage or their faith. Be they Jewish, Christian or Messianic – we do our best to recognize the persecution that continues today in places where the Messiah, and G-d Himself, are in exile. We also consider those who have been so oppressed that only HaShem can intervene – in places like North Korea or China (or other such places). The day of The Fast of Esther is the day we will be focusing on the persecution, the almost certain annihilation and the fear that our brothers and sisters have had to live with over the years, and presently. We will be reminded of the resolve, steel character and faith that these people have displayed, and that is being displayed even today. What role models these people are!

Purim is a three day event. The first day, called the Fast of Esther, is a daylight fast day – it is observed on 13 Adar. The second day, 14 Adar is the Feast of Esther. The third day, 15 Adar is called Shushan Purim. This year we had a leap year which meant that the month of Adar came twice – Adar I and Adar II. Last month saw a small recognition of Purim from the 13th to the 15th. Our family went to hear a Holocaust survivor speak of her experiences at the local university. This month is when Purim is recognized in it’s fullness because it is the final month of the year, one month before the Passover which is in the first month of the Biblical year. Of course, there are always disagreements as to which month the “real” Purim should be celebrated, Adar I or Adar II. What would life be without some sort of disagreement or discussion to keep us on our toes?

So we fast on the 13th of Adar, feast on the 14th of Adar. The 15th day of Adar is Shushan Purim which is the day that the Jewish people in Jerusalem and in Iran (formerly Persia) celebrate Purim. You see, it took two days for the people to defend themselves in the capitol city of Sushan so their rest did not come until the 15th day. Still, Shushan Purim is recognized by those living outside of those “walled cities” as well.

So what else do we do on Purim? Celebrate, of course! Plays are always fun for the children (and adults get a good kick out of them too!). There are many plays to choose from if you do a simple search online. One big theme is to aid in the blotting out of the name of the bad guy, Haman. Every time his name is mentioned in the play, or if your play script is the Book of Esther itself, we are encouraged to boo and stomp and hiss when his name is mentioned. In this way the name of our adversary is ‘blotted out’. Likewise whenever the name of the faithful servent Mordecai is mentioned we are to cheer and applaud and shout for joy upon the hearing of his name. This always gets the kids excited – especially the younger ones.

We eat special Purim treats and send gifts to others on this day. It’s interesting to note that this is the only festival in Scripture where the giving of gifts is mentioned. It is customary to give gifts of holiday treats to one another. For those who enjoy baking (either the baking or the eating), this is quite a treat.

Another Purim event is to pay the half shekel Temple tax by paying a silver half dollar to your local congregation, since there is not a functioning Temple today. We were instructed that every man was to pay half a shekel for the support of the Tabernacle/Temple services. It is in this way that every Israelite participated in, and was represented by the regular evening and morning sacrifices. It is also in this way that every Israelite participated in, not only the worship services, but the upkeep of the Tabernacle/Temple. We will remember a time when Kefa (Peter) was questioned by the ones who collect the Temple Tax, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”. When Kefa questioned the Master as to what should be done, he was instructed to look into the mouth of a fish where Kefa found a whole shekel – enough to pay for both the Master and Kefa. Yes, the Master did keep Torah and He instructed His students to do the same. There have been teachings that say that Yeshua was not in Jerusalem at Passover to pay His share of the Temple Tax and this is why the Temple Tax collectors were seeking Him out, but this shows an unfamiliarity with the halacha (ways) of not only the Jewish people but our Master as well. Yeshua not only was in Jerusalem at Pesach, but He paid the Temple Tax on time. If He did not do these things (the paying of the Temple Tax, attending Passover in Jerusalem.) He would not have been the pure and sinless One, He would not qualify to be our Atonement.

In my Purim entry from 2006 I had just found out that the people of Iran still honor Queen Esther and Mordecai and that their tombs are still honored today. The Tomb of Esther & Mardecai – Hamadan, Iran and Esther’s Iranian tomb draws pilgrims of all religious stripes are two interesting links to look over, they are wonderful bits of information to add to any Purim celebration. I’ve also found this article that talks about Purim in Iran, dated in 1997. It was interesting to read, as well.

May your Purim be a true celebration and may your remembering be deep and lasting.

——-

Purim Edition of Torah Family Magazine
Purim with BiblicalHolidays.com
Voice of the Martyrs

The Shepherd’s Lament
Now I lay me down to sleep.
Exhausted with those doggone sheep;

My only wish is that I might
Cause them not to lamb at night;

I wouldn’t mind the occasional ewe,
But lately it’s more than just a few.

Back to bed, then up again,
At two o’clock and four AM.

They grunt and groan with noses high,
And in between a mournful sigh.

We stand there watching nature work,
Hoping there won’t be a quirk,

A leg turned back, or even worse,
A lamb that’s coming in reverse!

But once they’ve lambed, we’re glad to see,
There efforts didn’t end in tragedy.

There’s no emotion so sublime
As a ewe and a lamb that’s doing fine.

I’m often asked why I raise sheep,
With all the work and loss of sleep.

The gratification gained at three AM,
From the birth of another baby lamb –

How can you explain, or even show?
‘Cause only a shepherd will ever know!

- D.L. Salsbury, DVM

Tulip and her ram lamb, just born.

Tulip inspecting her new baby.

Sarah and her twin ram lambs.

Today Eliezer and Miriam each had one of their ewes lamb. Today was day one with two ewes successfully lambed and 13 more to go. After last years tragedies we’re more than thrilled at the successful day these two ewes have had.

We were struck with just how blatantly corrupt the church was and just how manipulated the people were under her rule. The idea of never really being able to know what the Scriptures said but learning from statues and paintings, having to take the priest’s word and be subject to him for your forgiveness and everything else that mattered is a difficult one for us. It was good to get through this time in history for a few reasons: we’re tired of all of the fighting and death “in Jesus’ Name” and we’re tired of being so sickened by all of it. We’re tired of reading and watching documentary-style productions that tell us about how depraved our ancestors were, and how deprived they were of the Truth of the Scriptures.

We’ve been studying the history of our forefathers. On one side we’re the persecutors, we’re the church. I do not know for sure whether or not my actual ancestors were Christians beyond the second and third generations back in my family, the ones who immigrated to the USA. But once my family became Christian, the heritage of the church became my heritage as well. Our history contains those who blindly obeyed what the Church taught them with no way to know if they were being told the truth or not. Our heritage through the church contains some horrendous things, things that make it hard to sleep at night and painful to think about. It has been hard to study this history – from Constatine through the Inquisition, it has been a very hard pill to swallow. There have been many prayers that HaShem would forgive and restore – and forgive.

Yet on the other side we’ve been learning about another set of ancestors – those some may call “the remnant”. As we have grown in our understanding of Scripture and the heart of our Father, we have begun to identify strongly with the persecuted believers who were often called heritics for keeping the Sabbath, the festivals, dietary laws, family purity laws, etc. This is now our heritage as well. We’ve been learning about how there seems to have always been a group of faithful believers – believers who have worked hard to keep the Torah yet remain faithful to Yeshua and His teachings. We’ve learned about those who were burned at the stake, boiled in oil, slaughtered along with their families and those who were run out of their homes and businesses with only the clothes on their back, the “lucky” ones were able to take some of their belongings with them as they were sent away to live who-knows-where. We used to try to imagine what it would be like if we were living in those days and if we had the same faith then that we do now, but now it’s just too painful to imagine ourselves living then. We’ve been learning about our brothers who have been slaughtered and persecuted simply for being born or practicing the ways that HaShem laid out in Scripture, ones who did not compromise and ones who simply could not see how the Jesus of the Church is in any way related to the Creator of the Universe.

We are more than ready to leave this time in our history. We are more than ready to begin to study a period of time when the Truth of the Scriptures began to be available to the people and they began to actually study it and apply what they’ve learned. We are ready for the Reformation!

In thinking about this transition that we’re ready to begin to study, I can’t help but wonder what our heritage will look like in another 200 years. Scripture speaks of a time when the Children of HaShem will return to Him, a time when He will receive them back. In order to return, we had to have walked away and gotten lost. Scripture speaks of a time when the Torah will be returned to the people and when non-Hebrews will seek out those who have the Biblical heritage, the Hebrews, and beg to be taught the ways of HaShem. Personally, I believe we are seeing those days in our lifetime.

We have seen a time when the Scriptures are being returned to the people and a time of casting off the traditions of man in order to find and live out the ways of the Word (not world). Nothing happens over night, not if it’s going to be lasting. It has taken time for the traditions of man to be tested against Scripture and repealed, and I believe that we still have a long way to go. But we’re moving ahead and this is good news!

There have been great men and women who have gone before us, who have paved the way for us so that we might have an easier walk. Many have suffered, far beyond any suffering we have experienced. And we, too, will pave a way for our children. My hope is that as we continue to grow in our understanding of the whole of Scripture that we will become a light in the darkness, a light that accurately reflects the glory and the brilliance of our G-d. My prayer is that our children will continue to learn and grow and that our future heritage will only increase in it’s brilliance as our decendants shine ever brighter for our Master.

The Reformation is continuing with us, with you. We are continuing to reform our ways and our faith to reflect the Words of Scripture, the heart of our Creator, the ways of our Master. May we, and you, be strengthened as we continue on in the reformation, the drawing near to our Master. May He be glorified and blessed!

So we know what holiness is. We are in control of our holiness. What about righteousness – what does that mean? Righteousness is the right-standing before HaShem. Righteousness is equated with sinlessness. We remember that our righteousness is as filthy rags. We remember that it is the righteousness of the Messiah that is imputed to us so that we can be considered righteous via HIM and Him alone. There is nothing we can do to affect our righteousness. Our ability to stand before the Most High is based on the righteousness of our Messiah. We are covered by His blood.

Our own holiness is in our hands – we can be covered by His blood and yet choose to live an unholy life. But it is our responsibility to be holy because of His righteousness.

“Do not yoke yourselves together in a team with unbelievers. For how can righteousness and lawlessness be partners? What fellowship does light have with darkness? What harmony can there be between the Messiah and B’liya’al? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement can there be between the temple of G-d and idols? For we are the temple of the living G-d…”

In this passage we are given a series of opposites. Light is the opposite of darkness. The Messiah is the opposite of a false god. A believer is the opposite of an unbeliever. So righteousness is listed as the opposite of lawlessness (sometimes translated as wickedness or another similar word). This makes complete sense once we understand what righteousness is. How do we learn what sin is? The Torah tells us. HaShem is faithful to us to explain to us what is sin and what is righteousness. The Torah is our tutor to teach us and lead us down a path that brings our Father glory and joy.

So what is lawlessness? It can also be translated as Torahlessness. The Greek word is anomia, meaning without law. What, Biblically speaking, is the law? It is the Torah, the Word of G-d as given through Moses. When a Pharisee, such as Shaul (the Apostle Paul’s Hebrew name), is writing a faith-based letter to a group of Believers in Corinth it stands to reason that his use of the term anomia would be in reference to the Torah. When speaking Biblically, any reference to “Law” is a reference to Torah. Sometimes he uses “law” to reference the Written Torah, the very Word of HaShem, while other times he will be referencing the Oral Torah, the teachings and traditions of the sages.

In many traditional churches today we hear that we are “free”. What are we free from? We are told that the Law is done away with and that we are free from it, that it is a burden. I am afraid that there are many who believe that the Word and Will of G-d Most High is somehow a burden or somehow too hard for us and that His Word prior to the ministry of our Master is different than His Will after the ascention of the Master. In reality, nothing changed. The teachings that say we are free from the law are teachings of anomia. I’m afraid for what the spiritual implications and the long-term theology this anomia teaching is having on our loved ones.

If we are saved by our faith in Yeshua the Messiah, we are grafted into the lineage of Abraham. We are instructed in the Scriptures that we are to be holy because our Father is holy. This instruction is so often repeated throughout Scripture that I wonder if it is the most often repeated phrase throughout the entirety of Scripture. Knowing what holiness is helps us to “be holy” but somehow we have seemed to confuse holiness with righteousness. If we can understand the difference between the two and have a solid understanding of what righteousness really is, I believe that we will understand our need to be holy based on the gift of righteousness that we have been given through the Messiah. It is NOT anything we can do, but it is being under our Master’s righteousness that saves us. We need to be holy because we are saved.

After morning chores the kids and I sat down to breakfast and listened to the introduction lesson of the Matthew series through Bereans Online. Mr. Spurlock is doing one lesson each week and I have stored the first several lessons on my iTunes so we can, hopefully, do two lessons a week while we read together and use The Visual Bible Matthew series to reinforce what we’re reading. Since the kids have classes outside of the house regularly, our schedule at home isn’t as free as it once was so we will be happy to take it slow. We used to read one chapter every morning and cycle through the Gospels and Acts but the structure of our home changed at one point and we haven’t been able to get back to our morning readings. I’m hoping that this will help us get back on track. I always enjoy Mr. Spurlock’s teachings.

Also, a friend of mine loaned me the book Torah Rediscovered: Challenging Centuries of Misinterpretation and Neglect. I have heard that people have really enjoyed this book and have had good things to say about it. Many of the resources listed at the Amazon site that are related to this book I have already read so I’m looking forward to being able to read it myself.

As far as our homeschooling goes, we’re entering the time just prior to the reformation. We will be focusing some of our studies on others who have left the traditional church to worship HaShem according to His word. These take various forms at different times and are all well worth studying: the Waldenses, Luther, the Sabbath Keepers of Transylvania, the Puritans, the Separatists, etc. So often we, as humans, have a strong desire to point to someone and say, “I’m one of them” and that feeling is always stronger when we feel alone and persecuted for our beliefs. While each of these groups may not directly represent what we believe as a family, they are among those who blazed a trail through the “traditions of man” and deeper into the truth of Scripture. Each generation needs to blaze deeper and deeper into the Truth at the same time each denomination seems to be based on one or two truths. Rather than divide over one or two truths we need to come together and share those truths with other believers to gain a more balanced whole. At least, that’s my opinion.

I’d be interested if any of my readers had any resources to recommend. Please do so! I love resources!

Yeshua’s statement as recorded by Matthew, “For I tell you, from now on you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the L-RD.” (Baruch haba b’shem ADONAI), tells us that His return will not take place until His brothers proclaim this about Him.

How will this be? Hebrews/Jews who today do not accept Yeshua crying “Baruch haba b’shem ADONAI”? What must take place before this can happen?  This is wedding terminology – this is what you say when the bridegroom is coming for his bride.

First of all, I believe that the most important thing that needs to take place is that Yeshua be represented properly and accurately before all men. He has not been properly represented for a very long time – since the majority of the Church has consisted of gentiles who were without a strong foundation in the Torah. You see, as the group of believers grew there came a time when those in leadership were not learned in the Scriptures, their understanding was greater in their own customs and the pagan understandings of the day. (see Paul and the Early Church Fathers and The Growing Split between Synagogue and Church in the 1st Century by Christopher O’Quin at the end of this article) Just like us today, we tend to have a better understanding of current media than we do of Scripture. How can lawless and unlearned men represent the Lawful and Wise One? Young (newer) believers are discouraged from becoming teachers for good reason. However we accepted young teachers – teachers who were young in their understanding of the whole of the Scriptures and began to mix their own understandings with the Holy Word. Because of that, Yeshua’s Name/Reputation began to look very gentile and very anti-torah and then very anti-Semitic. There is no wonder at all that His brothers would reject Him.

Why is Yeshua not recognized as the Sent One – the Messiah? The answer is that for almost 2,000 years Jesus/Yeshua has been recognized by His brothers as a false prophet. Why is that? It’s because we, as believers, have not worn His reputation – His Name – properly. We have taken His Name in vain. We have misunderstood who He is and what He did and then we have taught these lessons out of context and completely backwards at times. We have done some horrid things in the name of Jesus, things which the true messiah would have NEVER called good or righteous or in any way honoring to the Father. We have misrepresented Him in the very same way that He has been misrepresented to us. We have inherited lies and have been guilty of passing those lies on to our children and grandchildren. The Messiah spoken of in the Torah and the Christ preached on Sunday mornings don’t line up – we messengers have mixed things up. We need to admit our responsibility in this, turn from it and seek forgiveness. We need to make changes to our daily lives and to our understanding of Who He is, why He came and what it is that His coming affected.

Let’s Look at Yeshua’s family
Yosef/Joseph, “a righteous man” (Matthew 1:19) which is to say he was a Tzaddik. Tzaddik means righteous or just. To be called a tzaddik is an honor. Miryam/Mary is called a “highly favored one” (Luke 1:28) when the angel visited her to reveal to her HaShem’s plan for her life. She submitted herself fully to HaShem even though it would “ruin her life” to be known of as the young lady who was found pregnant before she was married. Yosef/Joseph wanted to do right by his betrothed wife, Miryam/Mary, when he learned that she was pregnant and put her away quietly. He did not want to dishonor her or to ruin her future any further. When the angel of the L-RD came to assure him that Miryam/Mary was indeed pure and that the child was conceived of the Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh he decided to continue on with her as his wife, knowing that there would always be whispers and stares. Later another angelic visit would have Joseph and his young family steal away in the night to avoid the death of the young child, Yeshua. Yosef/Joseph was quick to obey the messenger of the L-RD without question, and Miryam/Mary was as well. These are traits of righteous people.

We see that Yosef and Miryam ensured that the baby Yeshua was circumcised on the eighth day and that they attended the Temple when the days of Miryam’s purification were complete to offer the prescribed sacrifices. We read that Yosef and Miryam attended the Pesach/Passover festival in Jerusalem as a family at least once, whether or not they went every year as a family we do not know. These are deeds of observant and righteous parents who were leading and teaching their children the ways of the L-RD. Of course this is the case, if we stop and think about it for a minute. Would HaShem really send His Son to be raised by anything less than obedient parents?

Ya’akov/James, the brother of Yeshua, inherited his father’s status as a Tzaddik. Church history as well as Jewish history recalls Jacob (James) as “James the Just” (see Passover and the Death of James). Jewish born 1st century historian Hegesippus writes regarding James,

“James drank no wine or intoxicating liquor and ate no animal food; no razor came near his head; he did not smear himself with oil, and took no baths. He alone was permitted to enter the Holy Place, for his garments were not of wool but of linen. He used to enter the Sanctuary alone, and was often found on his knees beseeching forgiveness for the people…”

It is understood through both the Apostolic Writings and through other historical documents that the family Yeshua grew up in was indeed a righteous and observant family. The fruit of their lives bear this out as well. Even the Talmud holds Yaakov HaTzaddik in high regard.

What do we do now?
How do we begin to accurately portray Yeshua as other than a false prophet? We begin to walk in His footsteps. We do what He did – we keep Torah in light of Yeshua as the Messiah. We do what He said and what He did. We need to begin to view our Master through the lens of Scripture instead of the lens of tradition. I believe, strongly believe, that when the world begins to see followers of the Master living lives that are set apart, unique, and obedient that they will sit up and take notice. Not only will the world sit up and take notice, but our Masters brothers will too.

One reason that His brothers do not recognize Him is because His followers say that they believe in the Holy Scriptures and yet their lives don’t bear it out. You see, many of them test everything against the Scriptures as their fathers have taught them to do. When they test the theology and actions of believers against Scripture, we often come out sorely lacking. They can not see the “signature” of HaShem in the lives of most believers, generally speaking. Sure there is love (sometimes) and patience (sometimes) and charity (sometimes). But there isn’t anything that sets apart a believer from a non-believer except for maybe a bumper sticker or some popular catch-phrase. It is by our love and by our fruit that others will know that we belong to the Master. We are to carefully inspect the fruit the lives of those we consider leaders and teachers. When the fruit does not line up with what HaShem has outlined, what else are they to think?

If we are ever to hear “Baruch haba b’shem ADONAI” from the mouths of the Masters brothers regarding Him, we need to begin to portray Him accurately. We need to get back to the basics of Scripture and test our theories and teachings against what the very Word of G-d says. There will come a time when we will find ourselves sitting up late at night rethinking everything we’ve been taught. And that is good! We need to test everything against the Scriptures so that we do not find ourselves as one who has been deceived. Nobody wants to be misled and nobody really wants to mislead. But it happens. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living G-d, we must be careful to wear His Name and the Name of His Son with care. When the Torah was found in the days of King Josiah his response upon hearing the words of the Torah were: “Oh, ADONAI must be furious with us since our ancestors did not listen to everything that was written in this scroll that concerns us.” We need to repent of our wandering away even though we did not know how far away we had wandered. Then, and only then, I believe the message of the Master will begin to be taken seriously. It will be a difficult task but the Word of the L-RD never returns void and He is zealous for His treasured children – all of them. We need to be zealous for HaShem and His reputation. We need to get back to accurately representing Him and His Son. Father, forgive us for straying so far…

Paul and the Early Chruch Fathers

The Growing Split between Synagogue and Church in the 1st Century

Numbers 15:25-31
‘So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the LORD, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.

‘You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them.

‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people. ‘Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.’”

Wow. A way has been provided from the early days, a way of covering sin and of forgiveness. It has always been the will of the Father that we have a relationship with Him and He knew that in our weakness that we would fail. He provided a way for us to be covered and forgiven. How blessed we are!

He makes this way available to all. There is one law for the native born Hebrew and for the one who sojourns with them. If we are grafted in to the lineage of Abraham by our faith in Messiah then we would be considered “native born” just the same as any other adopted child would be fully and legally part of the family. But for those who feel that some other situation has taken place, do we sojourn with the Hebrews in our worship of G-d the Father? I think so. So then we would fall into the category of those who dwell among them. Either way, there is one law when it comes to unintentional sin.

So what do we do though? We have no temple and no priestly family officiating. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Yeshua is our High Priest in heaven who ministers on our behalf. He is our spotless lamb offered on our behalf who has been resurrected and has ascended to the Father. He has entered into the heavenly Tabernacle (the original, not the shadow that we had here on earth) and has ministered in the Most Holy Place and after completing His work He has taken his seat at the right hand of the Father. Yeshua has filled the atoning sacrifice full and has completed this in a better way because He has done so in heaven. That does not necessarily invalidate our need to obey here on earth though. When we sin, we need to follow the instructions as given in the Torah. But we get stuck because we have no Temple or Tabernacle. So what are we to do? We rely on prayer, teshuvah and the grace of G-d that we are covered by the blood of the Spotless Lamb who came to take away the sins of the world.

This can be a hard teaching, I know. We are not free to sin because we are covered. We are free to live holy and righteous lives. But because we are fallen we will eventually sin (every day) and we need to somehow be covered so that we can again rejoice in the presence of our Father. It is by the blood of the Messiah, through Him, that we are brought near to HaShem.

BUT what about those who intentionally sin? He shall be cut off from his people because he despised the Word of the L-RD and sinned presumptuously. The Word of G-d is not to be taken lightly, not to be made some trifle thing. Wow. That’s a heavy statement – from the mouth of the Creator of the Universe, the sovereign G-d Himself. Intentional sin has no remedy as prescribed by the Torah. The writer of Hebrews tells us that “if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but only the terrifying prospect of judgment, of raging fire that will consume the enemies.” We must live carefully! Look at what happened to one man when he did not live carefully:

Numbers 15:32-36
Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” So, as the LORD commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

He was really cut off from his people, wasn’t he?

We say that we believe the Bible and that we do what it says. But when we are confronted with things we don’t like, for generations we have simply disregarded those things and have said, “Oh, those were done away with at the cross”. May it never be! Some will say, “Those old laws were hard”. Are they? What is so hard about any of them? If you believe that, please let me know what commands you consider hard. I’m not asking to be mean or condescending, but I honestly can’t think of a single command that is hard or burdensome. I would truly like to know what some consider hard commands that grace has done away with. I simply don’t understand this line of thought.

Our G-d is a fearsome G-d. He is sovereign. He is just. He is righteous. He is holy. He is to be worshiped rightly. He is merciful and gracious. Because He is good, He has given us the instructions we need for how to worship Him, how to live our daily lives, how to approach Him, etc. It’s all right there in the Scriptures. It’s time that we take a good hard look at what He said and consider why it is that so much of these things we consider “done away with”. Yeshua was not a false prophet. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living G-d!

What is a prophet? In todays western world we equate a prophet with someone who can foretell the future, or someone who speaks mysterious messages that they say are from G-d.   However, Scripture calls a person who does such things detestable and calls the practices witchcraft.  What were the prophets of old like and how is it that they came to be known as prophets?

The Hebrew word most commonly translated “prophet” is the word “nevi” which means “proclaimer” from the root “navi”. The Scriptural definition for a prophet is accepted as being found in Deuteronomy 18:18-22

I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. If you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the L-RD has not spoken?’ when a prophet speaks in the name of the L-RD, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which the L-RD has not spoken: the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.

“…I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.” This then means that a prophet is one who proclaims the words of the HaShem as He has commanded. A prophet will not speak his own words but only the words of the Father.

The prophets of old spent their days calling the people back to a worship of the True G-d, calling to people to repent – to do teshuvah. These prophets were persecuted for their messages, yet they kept bringing them to the people. They spoke of judgment for their disobedience and lack of zeal for righteousness. It always hurts when someone announces our weak spots or shines the spotlight on our sin – it’s never fun but it is always necessary. The great prophets of blessed memory, whom we persecuted and even killed, have been proven to be true prophets because their testimony and their messages have been tested found to be true.

Scripture records for us false prophets too. There have always been those who tickle the ears of the hearers and tell them what they want to hear, a message of peace and comfort and no guilt. There were prophets who told the people that nothing bad would ever happen to Jerusalem and the Temple because HaShem had protected them before and He would hold true to form and do it again. He surely would not allow His chosen people, the priests among the nations, to become the booty of pagans! Who wouldn’t want to hear a message like that “in the name of the L-RD”? But these prophets were not speaking the true words of HaShem, He had not spoken to them. We also read that the people asked the true prophets to be quiet so that they could continue to listen to the false prophets. These false prophets either died in the siege or went into exile along with their brothers. They were wrong and their message was quickly proven false.

We are told not to listen to false prophets and even to stone them. Deuteronomy 13 and Deuteronomy 18 tells us what to do with a false prophet. Even if what this prophet or dreamer of dreams says comes true, if he encourages the people to follow other gods or their ways he is a false prophet. This kind of a prophet is sent to test us, to see if we will hold true to our Father or if we will forsake Him. This false prophet is to be put to death, no matter who he is.

But who actually would follow a man encouraging the worship of another god? What if they teach that this new god is HaShem, but that now He has changed and we can approach Him any way we want to, we can worship and serve Him any way we choose, we can worship Him like those other people worship their gods, the old way is done away with because He changed? Would that be the same as worshiping a different god? I think so. In the Tanakh, the children of Israel often asked, “How have we forsaken You?” They did not realize that they had exchanged the truth for a lie, that they had done away with the practices of HaShem and replaced them with the practices of the world around them and in that, HaShem was displeased.  Somehow and somewhere false prophets hadn’t been dealt with properly and their messages had made their way into the hearts and lives of the people.  How cunning, how deceptive the ways of the enemy are.  Nobody started out allowing their children to pass through the fire, nobody actually started out calling on the name of another god, nobody actually sought out diviners or sorcerers or magicians.  All they did was incorporate something new here and there, change this thing a little, do this instead of that.  Syncretism.

There have been many people who have led well meaning people astray from the One True G-d, not because they encouraged them to worship a god of another name but they have encouraged them to incorporate the worship of other gods into their daily lives.  Syncretism.  In this, I believe that the Creator of the Universe is not honored or pleased. I believe that one who leads others into these things would be a false prophet because he would be teaching things that are not of G-d, words that did not originate from the mouth of HaShem.  He would be teaching things that are contrary to the commands of the Creator of the Universe, even though they seemed so harmless.

False prophets are sent to test us, to test our steadfastness. Things that are easy, fun, new and exciting are not always things of HaShem. He is good and what He does is good, we are to learn His decrees. There is not one thing in His commands that are burdensome. But there are new things, exciting things, bright and shiny things that come up and try to woo us away from our First Love. If we can be succesully wooed, we have failed the test. If we follow a leader who leads us away from HaShem then we were not truly devoted to serving Him. We need to be strong in our devotion to Him and fully committed to Him, even if it means we don’t have all the bright and shiny practices of those around us. This doesn’t mean that we can’t sing new songs and use electric instruments or incorporate dramatic skits into our corporate study times, not all things new are evil.

Now, here is the major point of what I’m getting at.

Why is Yeshua (Jesus) regarded as a false prophet? There are those that claim that it was right that He die because He was a false prophet. There are those who are well pleased that they have not fallen away to the teachings of this ‘false prophet’. Do you know why? Because we believers have represented Him wrongly! Over the years we have said that He changed the Torah, that the laws of G-d no longer apply because now we have grace. This, then, would mean that Yeshua did away with what HaShem said He intended to last forever. Yeshua Himself said that “I did not come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fill it full. Till heaven and earth pass away, not one stroke of the pen will be wiped from the law.” He did NOT change anything or do away with anything. NOTHING G-D SAID WAS DONE AWAY WITH AT THE CROSS!! If it were, then Yeshua is indeed a false prophet, by the standards as set out by HaShem. And if He were a false prophet we should not follow Him because He was sent to test us.  If He were a false prophet then He couldn’t be the spotless lamb offered up in our place and there would be no atoning sacrifice brought to the heavenly altar.

How do we know that He was not a false prophet? Yeshua is the very Word of HaShem, the Word made flesh. In His day the multitudes, who knew Torah, called Him a prophet. Yochannan the Immerser was considered a prophet and yet Yochannan considered Yeshua to be greater than he was. When Yeshua taught in the synagogues it was noted that He taught with authority (see also Matthew 7:29, Mark 1 ).  He did not teach in the name of another man, though He validated many teaching of other men with His teachings.  He said He only spoke what the Father gave Him to say.  Yeshua said that He only did what He saw the Father do. The words He spoke about Himself – His death and resurrection and the destruction of the Temple and other things have been proven to be true. Specifically He knew that Peter would deny Him and that Judas would betray Him. He spoke of Peter’s death. There are many specific things Yeshua taught that have come to pass just as He said they would. Along with that, He never taught contrary to the Torah or the Prophets. What He spoke came true and He did not lead people away from HaShem, but always pointed others to the Father calling them to live righteous and holy lives – He called people to do teshuvah. But He is more than a prophet. He is Messiah the son of Joseph, the suffering servant. He is Messiah the son of David, the conquering King. But that’s another topic…

So – either Yeshua is a false prophet and therefore He is not the Messiah, or we misunderstood something over the years (inherited lies) and He is indeed the Messiah of HaShem. We cannot have a Messiah who did away with the Word of G-d and still be the True Messiah. These are the instructions of the Most High Himself. We need to carefully inspect what we have placed our trust in and make sure that we have not been misled.  We are to test all things against the Word of HaShem.  Remember at judgment we are told by our Master that many who call on His Name will find themselves in shock that they are not recognized by Him. They will cry out their justifications for being written in the Book of Life yet His reply is “Depart from me I never knew you, workers of lawlessness ” We need to be like the Bereans who tested EVERYTHING against Scripture. There we will find the true Messiah, the true Yeshua/Jesus.

Awake, you sleepers, from your sleep! Rouse yourselves you slumberers, out of your slumber! Examine your deeds, and turn to G-d in repentance.

Remember your Creator, and don’t be like those who are caught up in the daily round, losing sight of eternal truth.

Don’t waste your year in vain pursuits that neither profit nor save. Look closely at yourselves.

Abandon your evil ways and thoughts, and return to the L-RD, so that He might have mercy on you!

In Scripture, prayer is often equated with the offerings that are made twice daily. There are references in Scripture to our prayers being as incense, as bulls of our lips, and other references that to us can be rather vague unless we understand the sacrifical/worship system of the Tabernacle/Temple.

Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Revelation 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

The incense is offered with the morning and afternoon offerings that are made every day. It is one of the things that is listed as “perpetual” and “throughout your generations” and “forever”. The incense as it burned created a cloud of smoke that filled the tabernacle, and later the temple. It is a reminder of HaShem dwelling among His people in the pillar of cloud. It is a sweet aroma that rose up to the Father. Just as the incense is a sweet aroma, so are our prayers. Regular and liturgical prayers accompanied these continual sacrifices each and every day.

But with no Temple for the past almost 2,000 years and no way to make sacrifices without the Temple or Tabernacle, the people do the same as the people of old did when they could not be in Jerusalem. They prayed. Daniel prayed every day at the begining of the day (evening) and at the same times as the daily offerings would have been upon the altar. Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. We also read of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, offering incense at the Temple and the people praying along with him in Luke 1:9 to 11.

Our Master, Yeshua, prayed often and we read of Him praying early in the morning, in the afternoon time as well as in the evening. Prayer was a major part of the lives of His followers as well. We read of them praying at the time of the morning offering in Acts 2 when the Ruach HaKodesh was sent to those in the upper room. We read of Peter and John going to pray the afternoon prayers at the Temple when they happened upon a lame man who was to be healed (Acts 3:1). Even the first Gentile to be immersed in the name of Yeshua and to receive the Ruach HaKodesh was praying the afternoon prayers as recorded in Acts 10. At this same time, Peter was praying on the roof top in another city and received his vision instructing him to go to the home of this righteous gentile.

All of this to say that there are apointed times of prayer and worship that the Father set out early on, in Numbers 28. This is part of how He instructed His children to worship Him. There is no secret to how He wants us to go about our worship of Him. He tells us very plainly early on what it is that blesses Him and brings glory and honor to His Name. We are not left to ourselves to come up with something that we think will bring Him joy.

What is more, Yeshua’s students asked Him to teach them to pray like John had taught his students to pray. It was not uncommon for teachers to instruct their students in prayer and often those prayers indicated which school they were from. It wasn’t that they were being instructed to pray differently than the liturgy of the Temple but it was in addition to the liturgy of the Temple. So when Yeshua taught His followers to pray the prayer we all know well, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name…” it was a prayer that was both a model for all prayers but was a prayer that identified His followers with Him. It is thought that this prayer was intended to be prayed at the end of the regular prayers. This is one way to pray “in His Name” because it is in His reputation that we are praying, we are His, His student/follower.

Personally, I have struggled with the subject of prayer for a very long time. I have always felt that my prayers were shallow and selfish. I would have a hard time staying focused and my mind would wander from these imortant issues I wanted to bring before His throne to things like grocery shopping or my chores for the day. I would get frustrated when my prayer list would include all manner of requests for myself and my family and yet I had a hard time entering into His presence with thanksgiving and praise without being distracted. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It isn’t that He didn’t answer my prayers, He did! But it just felt like something was missing.

As we have studied and learned more about these appointed times of prayer and the system of worship that HaShem outlined for the Tabernacle/Temple, our understanding has grown quite a bit. We have learned that as we approach our Father we can use the model of the Tabernacle as a guide for our prayers. We enter into His presence through our prayers by first setting ourselves aside, washing and cleansing ourselves (both physically and in asking for forgiveness), we praise and glorify His Name and bask in His goodness, then we bring our petitions before His throne. We visualize ourselves approaching the King of Kings in a reverent and respectful manner. After all, we wouldn’t approach an earthly king unprepared or in a hurried manner, would we?

So in recent weeks DH has led our family in daily prayers – the Maariv (evening – after evening Bible reading), Shacharit (morning) and Mincha (afternoon). We have been using the outline found here. But in addition to that, our spontaneous prayers are not neglected. Whenever we are reminded of a situation or a person, we do our best to pray. Liturgical prayer is not in place of spontaneous prayer, but in addition to it. After all, we are instructed to pray without ceasing. These times of prayer as a family have been amazing. I would encourage others to consider doing the same.

There is a conversaion online that I’ve been following which compares following the Torah to music theory. I woke up the other morning with the thought that prayer is like music. Let me tell you what my thought was.

I have a few musically talented children. When they were young they would enjoy playing songs on the piano as they passed by it. Mary Had A Little Lamb, Hot Cross Bunns, Old McDonald Had A Farm, etc. Of course at first they didn’t play too well but after a few tries they got the hang of it. They could play these songs whenever they felt like and they would often try to play other songs they could think of. As a parent, I loved hearing this. I love music and I love hearing my kids experiment with it. When they were a bit older we started them with piano lessons. It was there that they learned the names of the keys and where they go on the staff. They learned about things like whole notes, half notes and rests. The early half of the week after their lesson, their practicing wasn’t very beautiful. But by the end of the week they had practiced their assignments and could play them well.

Now, years later, we have some amazing musicians. One son thinks with music – his whole world is music. He plays spontaneously and he plays by ear amazingly well. There are pieces that others have said, “He’ll never learn that. It’s too hard to do without a teacher and proper music.” But he plays them because he has the songs on CD and hears them. Wow! We have another daughter who plays the most beautiful music but she reads the music rather than play by ear. Both children play with their hearts and the music is moving. One reads the sheet music and does not deviate from the notes as they are printed while the other can’t stand to read the sheet music, though he will and he will make mistakes quite often. Either way, it is sweet music to my ears and it brings joy to my heart.

Prayer is much the same. As we go through life we pray spontaneously and it is nice for our Father to hear, I believe. Sometimes He may chuckle as we struggle with something (focus, maybe) like I would chuckle as my children would play when they were young. Then as we learn more about the “music theory” of prayer, I believe our prayers take on a whole new dimention. We may pray the liturgical prayers in a rote manner at first but like music, once we get the hang of it we begin to play beautiful music with our hearts. We have noticed this take place in our lives. At first we may focus on saying the right words and then progress to really thinking about what those words mean as we say them. Then, at some point, we’re almost in tears as we pray – tears of joy or of praise or anticipation. I know that I have been overcome at times over during the HaMazon prayer after meals. I can only imagine how we may respond as we begin to memorize and really ponder these liturgical prayers and all they mean.

For those who may scoff at our family adopting traditional liturgical prayers, understand that we are learning to make beautiful music in the ears of our Father. We will still play our music spontaneously because we are commanded to pray without ceasing. But our lesson times and our theory practice times are teaching us so much, and growing new and deep things in us. I believe that these times honor our Father, our Creator, our Master.

Some resources we have found to help us on our journey are these:
Knocking on Heaven’s Gates DVD from First Fruits of Zion
Prayer resources from Bereans Online
FFOZ downloads about prayer and other topics
Lessons for Children from Torah Resource, scroll down the page as these are near the bottom of the page.

* In my prayer practice, I have also added the Ten Commandments just before finishing my prayer time with the prayer the Master taught, often referred to as the Lord’s Prayer.

For a followup to this article, see Prayer and Worship, Offerings and Sacrifice

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* edited to add link and short paragraph

I wrote about the Didache here a bit ago and included links to download a copy of the writing itself as well as some other articles about the Didache. This is a wonderful book to read!!

I also wrote earlier this year, after some had asked, and shared the blessings and prayers we use. In this, I included the HaMazon that our family recites.

I thought I’d share this in the event anyone was interested. If nothing else, I hope it encourages others to look at the Didache and read it. I have really enjoyed it and I think you will too!

So, readers of mine, do you have regular prayers before or after meals or blessings that you’d like to share? I’d be interested to see/hear what others do in their homes.

3056 logos log’-os from 3004; something said (including the thought); by implication, a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ):–account, cause, communication, X concerning, doctrine, fame, X have to do, intent, matter, mouth, preaching, question, reason, + reckon, remove, say(-ing), shew, X speaker, speech, talk, thing, + none of these things move me, tidings, treatise, utterance, word, work. see GREEK for 3004

To make a long definition short, Logos means “thought, reasoning, motive or word”. It is not difficult to see what this word means beacuse we understand that our own words reflect our thoughts, our reasoning and motives. We know that Yeshua said in Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45 out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. We know that our words are stored up in our hearts and in our minds so that they reflect our own thoughts, reasoning and motives.

As it is written in Genesis, G-d spoke and there it was. He created with His Word. He did not need to use His hands and feet, He did not need to physically do anything other than simply speak. Words carry power! Proverbs says “Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue“. We have all been victims of the careless words of another and we have all been guilty of speaking those words ourselves. We have all experienced just how powerful words are, both for good and for bad.

Now, because there is a growing debate over part of this subject I need to make myself clear. Has Yeshua always existed? Yes. Is He G-d made flesh? Well, that depends on how you define Yeshua as being G-d. Has G-d ever not had thought, reasonong, motive or word? If there ever was a time when He did not have His own logos then there would be a time when Yeshua, being the embodiment of His Word, did not exist. But Yeshua has always existed with G-d because He is of G-d. Just like my words are mine and reflect me, they are part of me. My words are an extension of myself. What you are reading is an extension of who I am. In like manner, Yeshua being the embodiement of HaShem’s words is part of HaShem. Colossians 2:9 tells us that “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form“. The word used here Deity is the word theotes which means:

2320 theotes theh-ot’-ace from 2316; divinity (abstractly):–godhead. see GREEK for 2316

and the referenced word 2316 means

2316 theos theh’-os of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with 3588) the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very:–X exceeding, God, god(-ly, -ward). see GREEK for 3588

So what does that mean? It means that what dwells within Yeshua is the fullness of divinity, or the fullness of deity. I believe that if the author were to mean “the full and complete being of HaShem” then they would have written HaShem or YHVH rather than divinity. Of course Yeshua is divine, for He is of G-d Himself. Being fully divine, yes! Being fully of HaShem, Yes! But HaShem being fully Yeshua, no. I think this often causes confusion and frustration among people.

So before I get put out of community with other believers for some heresy, understand that I do believe Yeshua is of G-d and that He is fully divine. But I do not believe He stands or sits in the place of G-d and I do not believe we are to worship Him above G-d. He is of G-d, the embodiment of the heart (thoughts/reasoning/motives) of G-d. He is wonderful and magnificent. But none is to be placed above G-d – ever. Yeshua sits at the right hand of G-d the Father, not in His seat. Yeshua worshiped the Father and taught His students to do the same. I would encourage my readers to just read the book of John and note where Yeshua speaks of Himself being the embodiement of the word/thought/reason/motive of HaShem. There is no mystery, it is very clear. Then after reading John, pick another book and try reading it in that light as well. Life is so much easier when we simply read what the words say and don’t try to put something between the lines that isn’t supported.

Yeshua is the embodied word/reason/thought/motive of the One All Powerful and Righteous G-d, Creator of the Universe. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” And what exactly did He speak? What He spoke became flesh and dwelled among us to reveal His light (give life) to us – His creation. “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Okay, back to where I was – “We have all experienced just how powerful words are, both for good and for bad.” Proverbs speaks a lot about the use of our words. If we read Proverbs we will find that sometimes we fall into the category of fool, scoffer, wicked, or some other such status all from the use of our words. The heart of man is deep and sometimes something unlovely comes from it. This is when we need to take captive every thought and submit it to Yeshua – the Word. If we do this then our words will not reflect every thought but they will reflect what is truly in our hearts and what has been filtered through our hearts/minds. In this way our words are an accurate reflection of us.

It is the fool who speaks rashly, as Proverbs tells us. “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” There is much talk in Scripture about making rash vows and speaking before thinking. I know this because I, myself, have too often been guilty of speaking recklessly. And on that note, there is a blog entry written by a friend, that speaks of getting a taste of your own medicine. I have been reckless with my words more often than I care to admit. Yet my Father allows me to taste my own medicine, to be given my measure for measure, so I can see what kind of injury I have inflicted on others around me.

Our words reflect our hearts, I cannot make that statement clearly or often enough.

Our words can be used for good or for evil,

She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Prov 31:26
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Prov 10:11

spoken rashly or with much control,

There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing. Prov 12:18
He who restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Prov 17:27

well thought or no thought at all,

The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, But the mouth of fools spouts folly. Prov 15:2
He who guards his mouth and his tongue, Guards his soul from troubles. Prov 21:23
Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him Ecc 10:12

bringing injury or healing.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Prov 18:21
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Prov 16:24

G-d is careful with His words. By them His servants are warned, instructed and corrected. If we truly want to reflect our Father in Heaven, we must use our words as carefully as He does. If Yeshua is the embodiment of His logos, and we claim to walk in His ways, then we need to be watchful of our own words. Words can properly be used for rebuke and instruction and those times can hurt, but they bring life. We must not speak words that bring death and destruction to others, for that is not what our Father does. His words bring light and life, so must ours.

Now, because we’re human and we fall oh so short, what do we do when we’ve fallen into the pit of rash, evil, or foolish words? We must do teshuvah, or stop, turn from our sin and back toward the right path, ask forgiveness, and not return to that sin again. Teshuvah means to turn away from one thing and toward another, it often means the same as repent.

A brother offended {is harder to be won} than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a citadel. Prov 18:19 When we have offended a brother or sister, we need to make it right. We need to humbly present ourselves to them and ask for their forgiveness, acknowledging the wrong we’ve done and the hurt we’ve caused. Yeshua teaches us that we should not even present our offerings to HaShem if we are aware that a brother has something against us without making that thing right. Often times we say, “That’s not what I intended” or “I didn’t mean to hurt you” and with those words we hurt more. Those words are justifications for our own foolishness or hurtfulness. In effect we are saying “You have no right to be hurt because that’s not what I meant by my words.” But it matters little if we speak rashly and thoughtlessly. The bottom line is that when words are used, they either bring life or death. When we spread words of death, we are responsible for the outcome – intentional or otherwise. The process of restoring relationships is humbling, to say the least. But, Hinei ma tov u-ma nayim shevet achim gam yachad! Oh how sweet it is when brothers live together in unity! (Psalm 133) Hinei!

And what do we do when we are the “brother offended”? “He who conceals an offense promotes love but he who harps on it can separate even close friends” Prov 17:9 tells us. We are to forgive as we are forgiven. Forgiveness promotes love. But what do we do when the offender doesn’t ask for forgiveness, or even recognize that they have offended us? We forgive them. Forgiveness doesn’t depend on the offender asking (or begging) for forgiveness. We need to forgive and let it go, not giving in to the same sin and using the “measure for measure” principle. That is HaShem’s job to dole out, not ours. Vengengance is His, not ours and it is much sweeter when He is in control. We need to forgive, for if we do not forgive then we will not be forgiven. OUCH! Matthew 6:14-15 tells us “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” And we know that Yeshua instructed Peter that we must forgive often, “even seventy times seven” times.

When we’ve been offended we need to determine if it is wise to let the offender know that we’re offended. Sometimes it’s wise just to let it go and forgive them in peace. For concealing an offence promotes love. Other times it is a loving thing to do to let the offender know “Hey, that hurt”. But be gentle as doves and as wise as serpents. It is not always wise, or right, to give vent to every little insult. But if a friendship has been breached, unity requires that the breach be fixed and that will require working it out together. Hinei ma tov u-ma nayim shevet achim gam yachad! Oh how sweet it is when brothers live together in unity! Hinei!

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 and Matthew 12:34
Create in me a clean heart, G-d, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

May we walk in His ways, using our words wisely and in a careful way. May our words properly reflect Who it is that we serve and Who it is that indwells us as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And when we fall, may we bring Him glory and honor by humbling ourselves and doing teshuvah – restoring unity among fellow believers. May we wear His Name in such a way that it brings Him glory, honor, pleasure and joy!

This What Really Happened In The Middle East presentation is interesting to watch. For those like me who are still in the “dial up age” it does take a while to load, but those like me know how to deal with those kinds of things. LOL

I find it interesting that we, as humans, are so willing to believe whatever we hear and so rarely check the source of their new found knowledge let alone the facts of the new information itself. If we simply look at the facts of how the land of Israel went from Turkish control for centuries, to Brittish control for a time and then given soverignty, we see a different picture than what we hear in the media (both western and middle eastern). This is true for almost every topic – the truth does not lie in the reporting of the media or popular culture. Truth must be searched out and it is often different than the stories we hear. This is true of Scripture, of G-d, of politics and of every other topic I can think of.

Terrorism is not a new thing, it’s been recorded as long as there have been records. Ruling a people with fear or frightening your neighbors to get them to submit is not a new idea, it is a very old idea. Terrorism reflects what is in the heart of every man because peace is not something that the human race can obtain by their own efforts. We Westerners are shocked about terrorism and how barbarric humans can be. I’m not so sure that our “civilized” culture is any less terror-ridden, it just looks different here in the West.

Watch this presentation and see if there is any new information in it. If there is, check it out to see if it’s true or not. If you disagree with anything mentioned in this clip or find false information, leave me a comment so I can search it out myself. For as far as I know, this clip contains true and factual information that I have learned from a variety of other sources. Let me know what you think.

As far as “the resistance” being unified, look at this current article and tell me that all Arabs and all Palestinians are of one accord among themselves. “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand” and I just wonder how this will turn out…

Let me copy something from the Scriptures, including Strongs Numbers and I’ll emphasize a particular number. These references are from the KJV.

Lev 19:19 Ye shall keep 08104 my statutes 02708. Thou shalt not let thy cattle 0929 gender 07250 with a diverse kind 03610: thou shalt not sow 02232 thy field 07704 with mingled seed 03610: neither shall a garment 0899 mingled 03610 of linen and woollen 08162 come 05927 upon thee.

Deu 22:11 Thou shalt not wear 03847 a garment of divers sorts 08162, [as] of woollen 06785 and linen 06593 together 03162.

First of all, Leviticus 19 as listed here is a bit different than what I had been studying from. What, in the version I had been using most, read as “mixed fabric” the KJV says “linen and woolen”. Why is this? The Strongs Number here is 08162 which is this:

8162 sha`atnez shah-at-naze’ probably of foreign derivation; linsey- woolsey, i.e. cloth of linen and wool carded and spun together:–garment of divers sorts, linen and wollen.

Both can be correct explanations, but one is more clear. When I went to see where in Scripture this word is used, I found that this word seems to only be used in these two verses in all of Scripture. So we are told not to mix wool and linen specifically. It doesn’t seem that mixing other fibers is a bad thing but keeping the wool and linen mixture holy for the High Priest is a significant issue. If we all wore clothing made of this material it would not set the High Priests garment aside as anything special, or holy.

When we found this out we talked about how it would affect our lives. It was an interesting fact to learn, to say the least. Standing in the kitchen on a cool day Miriam said, “So regular old sweatshirts are okay then?” This has been the biggest problem for our family as we’ve tried to implement our decision of no mixed fibers. Well both sweatshirts and socks have presented a dilemma.

Does this change our idea of the object lessons contained in the “Do Not Mix” thread? Not really. There are plenty of Scriptures that tell us not to mix the holy and the common and our worship of Him with the ways of the world. That object lesson remains unchanged.

Are we disapointed in our family decision to cut out all mixed fiber clothing? Not at all. It was a nice and refreshing thing to make a bold move and it has been a good reminder every time we come across new clothes to look at the tag and remind ourselves about mixing and maintaining holy things as holy. We don’t regret it at all. But we do find some similar parallels to teachings of Yeshua in His days on earth.

A big problem Yeshua had was with the teachers of the day making their own interpretations of Torah as important, if not moreso, than Torah itself. He pointed back the true Torah and established a boundary between the True Word (that is Himself) and the traditions of men. Many say He abolished or changed the Torah when in fact, He did not. But that’s another topic. For us, we see how those things have come about over time and how necessary it is for someone to bring the truth to light. It is not bad to go beyond the command in most cases, as long as other commands are not being broken. But it is very important to be able to establish between the actual command and the traditions surrounding it. Until someone points these things out, how do we know?

Now that we have found this bit of information we feel free to make a slight change if we want to. We are allowed to wear mixed fibers as long as we don’t wear the sacred mixture that is designated for the High Priest alone. And honestly, we don’t know if we could even find a wool and linen mixture in the clothing stores. We are free to do so, but that doesn’t mean we have to.

See, the Torah is not a heavy burden! Yeshua said that His burden and his way was light and easy. It truly is! Even when the pendulum swings a little too far in one direction it is still easy and light. The pendulum generally comes back to the middle and our life adjustments reflect that, or at least it should be that way.

Remember, we are on a journey. As we grow we learn and apply more and more. Sometimes we need little course adjustments but those are okay!! Like DH has said oh so many times before, “You can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving!”

My Pop was born in Texas in 1924. He grew up in Louisiana, where he met my grandmother at church in 1938. They had been together ever since, for almost 70 years.

My Pop didn’t come from a wealthy family. His father instilled in him a strong work ethic, seeing to it that he didn’t spend his days sleeping away or lounging around, but getting up early to get a job done. And just getting the job done wasn’t the final requirement, it had to be done right. He doesn’t seem to have ever shied away from a job and there doesn’t seem to be a task that he couldn’t excel at. One of his jobs was as an attic fan installer – in Louisiana! I have been in the attic of our home on a hot summer afternoon and have felt like suffocating, but we live in the Pacific Northwest. I can only imagine being a young man and installing attic fans in the southern states. And of course, this job came after he spent time working as an ice cream hawker. No matter the job, he did his best. As an adult he always saw to it that his family was well taken care of.

In Boy Scouts my Pop played a bugle in the Drum and Bugle Corps and was able to travel to many places. He also learned to play the trumpet in high school and that won him a scholarship to LSU where he studied chemical engineering.

After graduating from college he became a Naval aviator during World War II. He and my Nana married while he was in the Navy and after his honorable discharge he got a job at the Richfield Oil Company as a laboratory technician. His career concluded, 39 years later, as Senior Vice President of ARCO.

When I think of my Pop I think of a man with peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self control. I saw a good natured man who was quiet and calm, gentle and kind – often with a chuckle or a smile. I saw a highly intelligent man. This was a man who had a strong positive presence about him, dignity and confidence. He was a true southern gentleman.

I didn’t get a chance to know my Pop as well as some children know their grandparents but I do remember many times that we were able to spend together. I was always so proud to be his only granddaughter. I remember thinking how neat it was that he had his shop above the garage with that neat ladder. Oh I was so impressed. I remember how orderly and clean his shop was and how pleased and proud I was that this was a trait that my Pop had. I remember following him around when I was young and hearing him chuckle about things and thinking that he was a good man, a happy man. I also remember times when I was glad that he could deal with an irritating situation and not get upset. I was always impressed with the things he would make or how he would make things to work together so seamlessly. I don’t think there was anything he couldn’t do, and do it well. I have always admired my Pop.

Real heroes are everywhere. Many people mistake a popular person for a hero but real heroes aren’t found among the famous people in our popular culture. Heroes are found, most often, within our own family. Our heroes are those who have served our country, served their family and have lived an honest life with dignity. Heroes are the people who aim high and work hard to achieve their goals when it seems that so much is stacked against them. Heroes are those people who can tackle life with confidence, dignity, peace, love, gentleness and self-control. Heroes are those who don’t give up even when things are difficult, and they most often come away victorious.

My Pop is my hero, and not just mine but he is a hero to my husband and children as well. My children have inherited a musical talent and we are working hard to instill in them the same work ethic my Pop had. The virtues as listed in Galatians 5 of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control are traits I saw in my Pop. This is a man among men. A real life hero. My hero.

Amazing. Simply amazing!

The Word, the Torah. Yeshua is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). He is the essence of the very breath and thoughts of G-d. He is the Torah embodied and sent to us. We cannot accept Yeshua without accepting Who He is and What He embodies. He is a reflection of the heart of G-d.

We celebrate the giving of the Torah to the children of Israel and to all who sojourn with her (Exodus 12:49, Numbers 15:29). We rejoice as those who willingly come under the headship of our Master Yeshua and with faith like Abraham trust in the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are grafted into the promise and we become fellow heirs. Amazing, simply amazing!

There is a saying that goes like this: “Familiarity breeds contempt”. What does this mean? It means that we often take for granted the good things that we are familiar with, the things that somehow become common. Living in the world we do we take for granted that so much of our culture is based on Torah. Granted many, if not most people don’t recognize G-d’s Torah as valid or necessary or applicable to anyone outside of a Hebrew heritage. But our western culture is still very much based on the values as set forth in the Bible. We tend to take for granted what the Torah has to say because we are so familiar with it. We tend to take the entirety of Scripture for granted because in reality, we have several copies on our bookshelves and maybe even a movie or two based on parts of the Bible.

Something happened yesterday that made us weep for joy over the Torah and the simple fact that HaShem has given it to us. We were watching a video on the Maya Indians in Central America. The archaeologists were discussing how this group of people simply vanished and went on to describe some of their cultural practices. We were horrified, to say the least! To see depictions carved in stone of the things they did in order to appease their gods brought us grief and shame. Not because we participated in those practices or agreed with them but simply because they happened and grieved the heart of G-d. Let me explain a little…

We learned about the public blood libels that the leaders of the communities performed – such as piercing their genitals, tongues and other various body parts. That was disturbing. Then we learned about what is thought to have been a standard course of treatment for a captive – to have his/her fingernails pulled out was the start of the torture with the final act being beheading. Why? To appease some god with human blood and sacrifice. The people seem to have lived in great fear, the archaeologists said, based on their housing arrangements and the way the walls were constructed. This culture thrived for over 1,000 years and then vanished. Shalom said that he thought they vanished because G-d had had enough of them and wiped them out. It is not easy to find remains in the rainforest and it would be easy to wipe out the memory of a people group in that location. History shows that this seems to be what happened. We have studied a little about various people groups in Central and South America before and often times we are faced with a similar thought – these people lived in total fear and knew nothing about G-d. They had no regard for human life, so it seems, and the spiritual oppression they seem to have lived under was incredible.

You see, these people were not given the Torah and they did not live in a region where the effects of the Torah were felt, the Light of the World did not shine in their part of the world in any way. This was an example of what man is like without G-d, the One True G-d. Left to ourselves we will live in fear and treat our brother with contempt and cruelty. Without the Torah we would never know that we are created in His image (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:1) and that to mistreat another man is to dishonor G-d (James 3:9). We would never have the opportunity to live in peace and without fear (Numbers 6:26, 1 John 4:18). The Torah tells us how to honor G-d and how to treat man. Without the Torah we would never know how to bless His Name, bring Him honor and glory, to magnify Him in any way. We simply would not know Him at all let alone all the benefits that come to us through the Torah.

Yeshua taught what was common knowledge in His day in Matthew 22:34-40. He was asked what the greatest commandment is and His response was Shema Israel! Love the L-RD your G-d with all your heart, your soul, your mind (which He inserted due to the Greek influence on the people), and your resources. The second command is like it and that is to love your neighbor and yourself. The entire Torah and all the teachings of the Prophets hang on these two things. There is no better way to sum up the entire Torah. Each command is a way for us to honor Him and honor our brother. Each command reveals a part of His heart. Each command is a piece of His heart.

So as we celebrate the marriage of Israel and all who sojourn with her to the Great and Mighty G-d with the giving of the Torah, we rejoice like we never have before. We have seen a glimpse of what life would be like if we were a people completely removed from Him and His Word.

Psalm 147:19-20 says

He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his laws and decrees to Israel.
He has done this for no other nation;
they do not know his laws.
Praise the LORD.

We stand in awe of the simple fact that He would take notice of us, call us to Himself, hear our cries and save us. He has asked us to become His bride and has promised that Yeshua will return for the Bride soon. Oh my heart and my mind cannot contain these thoughts!

Thank you, Father, for your Holy Torah. I stand with Israel and all who were with her that day at Mt Sinai and reply, “I, too, will hear and obey everything the L-RD has commanded!” Blessed be His holy Name, forever and forever.

Regular unleaded gas costs $3.45 today and tomorrow it will likely cost more. We live in a county with two oil refineries and still our gas costs more here than it does in the larger cities. Energy is costing more, everything from the propane which runs our furnace and hot water tank to the electricity that runs everything else.

Milk prices have gone up also. A little while ago it was less than $2 a gallon, which was more than a gallon of gasoline. Today milk at the local dairy costs $2.35 and at the grocery store it costs closer to, if not over, $2.75. Everything at the grocery store is costing more these days. When the price of fuel goes up, so does the price of consumer goods.

So what can we do to lessen the impact of rising costs on our family? This is a thought that has been cooking in my mind for quite some time, several years. I’m sure it’s a thought that cooks in the minds of most wives and moms as well as most husbands and dads. How do we make our dollar stretch in the most efficient ways?

We started raising our own meat several years ago. This was born out of a desire to raise our kids with a particular lifestyle. We wanted to be on a small farm and raise our kids with all the benefits of farm/rural life. We have raised chickens and sold dozens of eggs a week to friends and neighbors in the peak seasons. Then we eat the chickens. With the beef and lamb we sell what we can and pick a few for our own freezer. It’s a lifestyle that we love. The benefits of these things are quite substantial. We know what we are eating, what went into it while it was alive and that it was healthy when it was butchered. Besides, it costs less for us to raise our own meat because we grass feed. Grass is free. We can “eat like kings” every Shabbat without having to pay a king’s ransom. But the benefits far outweigh these aspects listed. There are also opportunities to learn how to raise and care for the animals, limited veterinary experience, unlimited science opportunities, etc.

We have also grown a fair share of vegetables in our back yard garden. Not only do they taste better but the cost is simply a packet of seeds, some gas for the rototiller, and a lot of elbow grease. We love it. It reduces blood pressure and stress, we use it for it’s abundant science opportunities and we often have excess produce that we can share with friends and neighbors. This year Miriam and I are planning to learn how to properly can. But we planned on doing that last year as well and it simply didn’t happen. Not only do our vegetables taste so much better because we can pick them at their peak of ripeness and eat them right away but we know what kind of things went into the soil and on the plants themselves – no chemicals, just compost (which is another perk of having sheep, goats, cows and chickens around). The only price is time.

So having a good chunk of our diet covered in this way affords us the ability to buy more spendy, yet better for you, foods at the grocery store. I make my own bread now after we hit a financial tight spot a few years ago and I remembered that old bread machine in the cupboard. We haven’t gone back to store bought bread since! Not only do we not prefer it but it’s cheaper to buy the ingredients in bulk and make it on my own than to buy loaf after loaf of bread. Then Shalom read that those trans-fats that have been making the news are found in very high rates in baked goods – breads and cookies, etc.

So what else can we do to cut costs here at home? We built our own home and moved into it just 3 years ago now. Everything is insulated well and sealed well. The house stays cool in the summer because of the trees on the west and south side (which also protect us from the harsh winds in the cold months) and because of the larger covered porch that wraps around the house. Very little of the main floor gets direct sunlight and in the summer that means less heat. We have no trees on the east side and that is nice for winter sun. All of our appliances are the “energy saver” kind and we have lots of windows which let in a lot of light, we rarely have a light on during the day. There are a few rooms, like bathrooms, with no windows though. I do my best to use a clothes line to dry our clothes when it’s dry, but in the Pacific Northwest it’s not dry as often as it’s wet. Also DH and Shalom struggle with bad allergies certain times of the year so things dry in the dryer during those weeks. I’m thinking of getting a good sized portable clothes ‘tree’ to put up in the basement for the wet months. We do our best to heat our home primarily with wood, which is also free. But we do have a propane furnace as back up. Sometimes our back up is our primary, we’re working on keeping the wood shed full.

I do my best to keep my trips into the larger town in our area to once a week, at the most. I also try to keep our trips to the smaller closer town to as few as possible. This is one area that I really want to cut way back on, especially since gas prices keep rising. Besides the price of gas, I really prefer to be at home.

These kinds of thoughts have propelled me to become obsessive at times about things like solar energy, water barrel systems and even considering the future hybrid vehicle (though for a larger family, I don’t think those little cars would be a good investment). I’m not nearly as concerned with “saving the earth” as I am saving my family in terms of their health and our costs. My opinion is that the people who work to ‘live off of the land’ tend to care more thoughtfully for the environment than those who consider it an industry. I don’t buy into the global warming idea, mostly because the evidence shows that there was farm able land in Greenland not too many centuries ago and that pollution is shown to have been at higher rates in Southern California centuries before now due to various reasons. People forget the facts when emotion gets involved. The earth has cycles and we’ve simply not been keeping records for a long enough period of time to be able to accurately determine if our nature trends are indeed harmful or if they are simply part of the cycle, as I believe they are.

Our situation is a unique one. We live on property that my parents bought when I was a baby. The old house is about to fall over, as are the barns. But because the property was in two parcels we were able to acquire one parcel and build there. The thing is that the property is in a family trust. This means that the property can’t be sold very easily and not for a very long time. We will have to determine what to do with the land after my dad passes away and who will stand to inherit our house after we pass away. This means that one of our children will likely live in our home as adults, maybe even our adult grandchildren. This is one of my primary thoughts as of late. What can we do now to help our future generations who will live here? Knowing what it costs to run our house today, which isn’t a lot, I wonder how much it’ll cost in 10 years or in 30 years. Never mind the kids, will we be able to afford it when DH retires?

I’ve thought about getting solar panels to run the well pump and the septic pump. Those are why we have a generator for the winter months when we tend to have several power outages. We can stay plenty warm and even cook on our wood stove. It’s the flushing of the toilets and having drinking water that is the second closest necessity/connivence that I like having available. I’ve also thought of running the freezers in the garage off of solar panels too since they tend to be the largest power suckers. I’m also thinking of seeing if DH will install solar-tubes in the bathrooms and upstairs hallway. We wanted to do this when we were building but at the time they cost more than we were willing to spend. Now we wish we had been more willing. Very few rooms really need light and even though those rooms have those compact fluorescent bulbs, we have a hard time reminding a child to turn off a light in the middle of a bright and sunny day even if it is in the windowless bathroom.

Another thing I’m looking for is a good (though inexpensive) wood stove to put in the basement. The basement is insulated quite well and stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We used the Quad-Lock system (styrofoam lego looking material) when we built the basement for the very purpose of having a well insulated basement. Before we even had the furnace installed in the house the basement was maintaining a warmer regular temperature than the old farm house we lived in at the time – even with the wood stove and heat pump running! Back to the wood stove – this would help keep the house warmer in winter and cut back on the furnace more but it would also warm it up enough that my indoor clothes line (in the basement) will dry the clothes faster. Eventually the basement will be living quarters with two bedrooms, full kitchen and living room. This will make for a third separate living space – the daylight basement suite, the in-law suite and the main part of our house. This will be able to eventually accommodate us and two of our kids/families in the future (if it works out that way). We could also rent the spaces if we find we need the extra income.

Okay, back to my conservation. We’re trying to conserve our finances, our health, and our property all in one. Knowing that some initial investments cost more but expect to yield long term results make them very appealing. Whether it’s higher quality food or something like solar panels to power specific power hungry or necessary parts of our home, trying to do it with least financial cost is truly a task. But it seems to be a task that I enjoy because like I said, it’s a thought that seems to be constantly cooking in my mind.

I think that this mindset honors HaShem, too. He created the earth and man to care for it. Man is the peak of the pyramid but that doesn’t mean that the lower levels of the pyramid don’t need proper care. We need to care for what He has given us to be stewards over – the land, the animals, finances and our families.

This is Miriam with DH and I. I have a feeling the picture will turn out grainy because I had to crop it.

It was a wonderful event. Both Miriam and her dad cried. It was a sweet time. She cried while giving her testimony and talking about lessons learned when one of her favorite ewes died when she was 10. DH cried when he was talking about her growing up and becoming an adult. I, of course, was whispering to them “Take a deep breath, and just read…”, handing them tissues and squeezing their hands – just trying to help them get through it. But even our other kids shed some tears – they were happy for her but they were also remembering the loss of the sheep she’s suffered as well as realizing “Wow! She’s like a grown up now!”. After the ceremony (and my reminding the guests that “These are tears of joy, in case you’re wondering. This is a joyful celebration!” LOL) the kids enjoyed a time of dancing, one of Miriam’s favorite past times, while most of the adults did what adults do best – sit and talk. She opted not to receive gifts but to collect donations for an organization that expresses her heart – Heifer International She collected enough to purchase a lamb for a family somewhere and they will pass on the first of their lamb crop to another family. These families will get training from Heifer Intl. as to how to properly raise the animals, how to use their wool and milk (and meat) not only for themselves but to sell them and gain an income for their families. Rather than a hand out, it’s a hand up.

Because several people asked about the requirements our family had for our kids and how we came up with the format we used, I thought I’d post two PDF files with the requirements we have for our kids and the order of service we used. I have been scouring the net for a while looking for suggestions and ideas while at the same time we wanted to implement some ideas that we had on our own. This is what the end result is.
Bar/Bat Tzedek Guide
Order of Service

Congratulations Miriam! You are a wonderful young lady and Dad and I love you very much. We are both very proud of you.

Exodus 12:13-20
“The blood will serve as a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over [Hebrew: pasach] you – when I strike the land of Egypt, the death blow will not strike you.

“This will be a day for you to remember and celebrate as a festival to ADONAI; from generation to generation you are to celebrate it by a perpetual regulation

“For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread [Hebrew: matzah] – on the first day remove the leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread [Hebrew: hametz] from the first day to the seventh day is to be cut off from Isra’el. On the first and seventh days, you are to have an assembly set aside for G-d. On these days no work is to be done, except what each must do to prepare his food; you may do only that. You are to observe the festival of matzah, for on this very day I rought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you are to observe this day from generation to generation by a perpetual regulation. From the evening of the of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day, you are to eat matzah. During those seven days, no leaven [Hebrew: seor] is to be found in your houses. Whoever eats food with hametz in it is to be cut off from the community of Isra’el – it doesn’t matter whether he is a foreigner or a citizen of the land. Eat nothing with hametz in it. Wherever you live, eat matzah.”

Wow. There’s quite a bit in this short bit of verses! There’s words like “generation after generation by a pertetual regulation”. In other words – forever and ever and ever and ever. But that’s not what I came to write about today.

Leaven – what is leaven? Leaven is a substance, such as yeast or baking powder, that causes fermentation and expansion of dough or batter. When one adds yeast to flour to make bread, it is primarily the yeast that causes the fermentation process and produces the rising of the dough. The fermenting process is like the rotting process, it is a form of decomposition. Now isn’t that lovely?

Often in Scripture leaven/yeast is used in a word picture to represent sin. Not always is leaven used to represent sin, but often. Why is it that yeast/leaven is such a good word picture for sin? We read that the wages of sin is death in Romans 6:23. If we choose sin, there will be a decomposition process that begins in our lives. Decomposition generally happens with death. We know that sin separates us from HaShem to some degree and we know that this separation is not good for us and does not please or glorify Him. I don’t know of any other substance that is such a good representation in word pictures and parables for sin as yeast/leaven.

The Torah refers to two different forbidden items in the above passage though. One is seor and the other is hametz. Seor is what is added to bread when there is no yeast available. This is how sour dough bread is made. What they would do in the old days was to take a piece of leavened dough and set it aside before cooking. This bit of leavened dough contained enough leavening in it to be used in the next batch of dough. This was done when yeast was not readily available and it worked quite well. This is where we get the phrase in Galatians 5:9 and 1 Corinthians 5:6 that “A little leaven leavens the whole lump”.

The second word, hametz, refers to dough that was mixed with a leavening agent. Hametz is considered a grain product such as flour made from wheat, spelt, barley, oats and rye.

If we use the leaven as sin word-picture and apply what we have learned above, we read that we must clean our houses and remove all leavening and anything with leaven in it. Not only that, we must refrain from consuming such items for a week. After that week we can bring leavening and leavened products back into the home and eat again – with new leaven. Why on earth and what does that mean??? Why would that be in the Bible anyway?

Well, let’s look at this a little. Aside from the simple fact that this is what we are instructed to do “forever” and based on that alone we should obey, but there has got to be some object lesson here for us! After all, our Father has given us tremendous object lessons in Scripture and He has instructed us to teach our children through them that they might teach their children through the same object lessons. What a great Father we have!!

The search for leaven is a time for spiritual soul searching. This is a time for us to look in our own hearts and lives for any sin that would be lurking in any hidden parts. We are to conduct a thorough examination of our hearts and dilligently search through our ways and thoughts for sin. We then need to confess them and turn from them resolving not to allow that same sin back into our lives. The word for this is teshuvah. Teshuvah implies turning from one thing and toward another. We are to examine ourselves for sin, confess it and expell it, then turn from it back toward HaShem. This is repentance.

In traditional homes the mother and the children conduct a thorough cleaning of the house. Every nook and crany are cleaned, everything that contains leaven is to be consumed or destroyed prior to Pesach (Passover). The afternoon before the Pesach meal the father of the home inspects his home, usually with the children in tow. As the priest of the home he is to inspect and ensure that the home is indeed clean and free from leaven, as Scripture has commanded. He will search with a candle and a feather, searching every deep and dark recess of his home. This is often a time of fun for father and the children (don’t kids enjoy learning when there is fun involved?). Usually some pieces of hametz are ‘hidden’ for father to find and he will sweep them into a wooden spoon and ensure that all crumbs are removed with the feather. After the home is inspected the spoon, feather and candle are wrapped in a linen cloth and burned prior to sunset – just before the Pesach begins. In our family each person keeps a private list of the sins they’ve discovered and have done teshuvah from. When the spoon and leaven is wraped and burned everyone adds to the bundle their own lists. Our personal “leaven” is burnt up along with the leaven.

Do you see the symbolism here? The father searching with the candle and sweeping every dark corner of the house is like the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) shining His light in our hearts and searching for sin. When sin/leaven is found, it is carefully removed. The burning of the bundle is generally done at the same time as the afternoon offering would be taking place, if the Temple were standing today. It is at this very time that Yeshua died, when He said “It is finnished!” What was finnished? The Passover Lamb had been slain – Yeshua died at the very time that the Passover lambs were being slain in preparation for Pesach! He was the pure and spotless Lamb whose blood was shed so that we would be passed over and not perish because of our sin. But that’s not leaven…

Back to leaven. This next week is when our leven cleaning kicks into high gear. We have already gone through our pantry and looked for what foods we have that need to be eaten or donated before Pesach. Starting Monday the kids will begin a thorough cleaning of their bedrooms and we’ll all start working on the basement. Everything will be cleaned – the windows will be cleaned, the trim will be dusted (even above the windows), the closets and dressers will be cleaned out and everything that has an “under” or “behind” will be cleaned. Why? There shouldn’t be any leaven in the bedrooms, right? That’s not the whole point! The point is that while the cleaning is taking place we are thinking about what areas of our lives need to be cleaned out and where we need to do teshuvah. We will clean the whole house and leave the dining room and kitchen for last. In the days prior to Pesach we will clean out the cupboards and drawers, pull out the fridge and range to clean under and behind them, we’ll get out putty knives and begin to scrape the cracks in our floors. This is where people laugh at us or give us that shocked look. (remember, we’re peculiar and fanatical) Our floors are made with 2 X 6 tongue and groove car decking.

Our Floors

Our entire main floor is done this way. It looks beautiful! But the boards separated a bit to create the cracks in the floors and what do you think gets stuck in there? Other than dirt and dog hair, crumbs! This will be our third year in the house and our third experience cleaning our floors this way. I thought that it would get old and the kids would get bored, but that hasn’t been the case. We all get putty knives and pull out the good old vacuum. Miriam and Shalom have been the only ones to participate in this event so far and both of them are looking forward to it again this year.

Let me tell you a story that might help explain this a little better. Reb Ysrael ben Eliezer, on the night of the serch for leaven, did not sleep but spent the entire night with a candle in hand, searching the floor of his tiny home for leaven. Of course there was no leaven in his home, but it was his heart he searched.

Just as we carefully clean our homes of leaven and we do not spare even the smallest crumb, we must also search our hearts, our actions and our lives for any sinful act or attitude that must be removed. But believers must beware of spiritualizing the commandment into irrelevence, though! Yes we know that we must search our hearts and lives, but that does not negate the command directly from G-d to search our homes and be leaven free for a week. This week is called “The Week of Unleavened Bread”.

I understand that most of us weren’t brought up with this understanding and only some of us will actually do this. It is hard to change! But I do have to tell you that when we begin to apply these things into our lives our lives change dramatically. This has been true for me and my family and I know it has been true for others I know. For those who have never participated in this, give it a try. What could it possibly hurt? After all, He did tell us to do it and there is great reward in obedience. What reward? His pleasure!!