In every area of life, but especially as we view ourselves to be servants of God, we would do well to gain clarity on one particular issue – “What is my/our calling?” In other words, considering my identity and the responsibilities to which I am linked by virtue of that identity, who am I called […]
Here is a d’rash (a sermon) I was pleased to deliver at Beth Messiah Congregation in the DC area. I’ve never heard anyone sing HaTikvah at Rosh Hashana, but I believe it is a most appropriate song for this season. I am especially drawn to the line which states, “Od lo avda tikvateinu–our hope has […]
This is the third and last of our current postings on what Jewish speech ethics have to say about our current political and social media communications. But it is one thing to point out problems, and quite another to solve them. While I won’t claim to be providing solutions to the problems we have been […]
Last time we introduced the issue of WHY we should be concerned with verbal hygiene, with watching what we say. Today we are going to look more at the WHAT, that is, what kinds of speech should we avoid. As mentioned last time, this material is part of an early draft of a forthcoming discipling […]
I am working on two books right now. In view of all the invective hurtling through the air right now, and staining the pages of Facebook, I felt compelled to share with you some material from an early draft of what is likely to be the third chapter of one of those books, a discipling […]
These final three items complete the list I have been developing in seven previous blog posts. These last three are not highly developed here, but the ideas are clear enough that you can understand and consider them. Please do! 8. A mature disciple of Yeshua will commit to missional responsibility for the growth of Messianic […]
Commit to familial respect for church bodies where Yeshua is honored, the Bible respectfully taught, and the ordinances reverently administered. It is regrettable that there are many in the Messianic Jewish movement who speak disparagingly and condescendingly of the church. Often the church is dismissed because “they don’t celebrate the feasts, “they don’t keep Torah,” […]
#6 – Commit to respecting and honoring God’s continuing work among the Jewish people and our leaders for the past 4000 years. In other words, surrendering a bias against tradition. In and around the Messianic Jewish world one will encounter a wide variety of attitudes toward Jewish tradition. But if one were to generalize, the […]
Commit to exploring a lifetime of multi-styled prayer, knowing that it is in times of prayer, communication with God, that catalytic changes and events in our life with God are likely to occur. As one reads through Scripture, there are details that are so commonly present that we miss them. One of those details is […]
#4 – Commit to exploring the mystery and majesty of engagement with and empowerment by Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) When it comes to matters of our engagement with and empowerment by the Holy Spirit there are two problems that confront us, and both are in the realm of imagination, which is a tightrope we […]