The word is out that the new movie, Paul, Apostle of Christ, is another post-Jewish/post-Judaism portrayal of first century Yeshua-faith. It reminds me of The Passion of the Christ, a profoundly upsetting movie in which the apostolic band had no living connection to Judaism, and the Judaism of the movie was a dead, fruitless religion…
There is an old saying, “familiarity breeds contempt.” Another phrase, attributed to Ben Franklin but perhaps based on a Yiddish original states, “Fish and houseguests stink after three days.” Yeshua put it this way: “a prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house.” A group of social scientists…
In Romans, chapters nine to eleven, Paul speaks of two “fullnesses,” “the fullness of the nations” (11:25) and “the fullness of Israel” (11:12). In verse 12 he says, “if their [Israel’s] transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!” In…
Repeatedly Scripture portrays the coming of the Spirit as a transformational spiritual dynamism. This was foreshadowed in the Older Testament, and it is surprising that so many people don’t notice. For example, right after Samuel anoints a bewildered Saul the son of Kish as the first King of Israel, he tells him where to go…
Here at Interfaithfulness, our mission statement is, “Building bridges where history builds walls,” walls between people, especially between Jews and Christians, and between both and the God of Israel. We help people recognize and repudiate those walls that impair their relationships with each other and with God, and to discover the newness for all offered…
Many times. Make that too many times. No, make that way too many times I have seen people engaged in sharing Yeshua faith with others either as an exercise in one upmanship “I’m right and you’re wrong and let me show you why,” and or, angrily, put-downmanship, “You’re a sinner and right now you are…
In a day when Jews and Gentiles who believe in Yeshua are thinking new thoughts about their relationship to one another, one of the concepts often mentioned is the “One New Man” of Ephesians, chapter two. However this concept is often misunderstood and the label misapplied. By way of definition then, the One New Man…
For me, much of life is a dance between intuition and analysis. And in dancing, someone takes the lead. In my case, intuition is usually the one. Here’s three examples of intuition taking the lead. Perhaps you will see yourself in this account too. I hope so. The first occasion, how I chose my dissertation…
This is a time of year when many of us are thinking of broken relationships, especially but not solely family relationships. And many of us long deeply or even fleetingly for reconciliation with those from whom have been estranged. This is one of the areas where we try and help make a difference here at…
This post is republished from December 6, 2013. It was very popular then, and should also get some good traction again this year. Enjoy! When I was a kid, and there were still knights in shining armor, Maid Marian was kid Marian, Robin hadn’t gotten his hood, and the Sheriff of Nottingham was just learning…