Happy Birthday Yeshua. Part Three

So far we have established that the Jews were indeed looking for the Messiah around time of 6-7 AD. To nail down the exact year of Yeshuas birth, we have to study the Jewish rite of passage into adulthood, the Bar Mitsvah.

Every child, in order to enter into adulthood must go through the rite of Bar Mitsvah (Males) or Bat Mitsvah (Females). According to Jewish law, when Jewish children reach the age of majority,thirteen years for boys and twelve for girls, they become responsible for their actions, and become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, a son or daughter of the commandments or law. Prior to this, the child's parents hold the responsibility for the child's adherence to Jewish law and tradition. After this age, children bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics and are privileged to participate in all areas of Jewish community life.

In Matthew 5:17, Yeshua stated that he did not come to destroy but to fulfill the law.

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."

With that said, Yeshua would have became a Bar Mitsvah in 6-7 AD thereby qualifying himself as the Meshiach or Shiloh. This was publically declared by the holy men of Israel when they went through the streets of Jerusalem tearing their clothes and declaring that the sceptor had been taken from them and Shiloh had not come. Indeed the Meshiach had come and was fulfilling the law by becoming a Bar Mitzvah at the same time. At this time, Yeshua would have been thirteen years old. Counting back thirteen years, we come to 6-7 BC, which would have been the year of his birth.

Next time, we begin to establish the actual month of his birth.

Thank You For Your Prayers

I apologize for not posting for the last few weeks. My wife has been in the hospital with double fungal pneumonia. Sounds gross. However, my wife is home but still on oxygen. I praise G-d for her improvement and all your prayers. G-d Bless you all in the name of the most high. I ask for your continued prayer.

Shalom,
Keith

Happy Birthday Y'shua. Part Two

Continuing with our discussion about the birth date of Yeshua ha Mashiach, Jesus Christ, here are some more facts. Trust me they may not appear important, but I promise I'll put it all together during the last post on this subject.

About 6-7 AD, the Holy Men of Jerusalem tore their clothes, putting on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly,

"Woe unto us for the scepter has departed from Judah and the Messiah has not come!"

Babylonian Talmud, Chapter 4, folio 37

In Bereshit (Genesis)49:10, Israel prophesies over his son Judah saying,

"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Here the Word of G-d states that the scepter of Judah or the ability to administer and enforce the law would not be taken away from them until Shiloh, the Messiah, had come.

Because Rome had taken away the right of Israel to enforce the death penalty, the priests believed that the Word of G-d had failed them. The Scepter of Judah had indeed been taken away from them. However, were they correct in believing that the Messiah had not come?

Shalom

Happy Birthday Y'shua. Part One

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the Throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever."

Isaiah 9:6-7

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

Micah 5:2

Two important verses to remember in order to secure your position as to the actual date that Yeshua was born. Please notice that I emphasized the important facts within these verses.

Over the next few days, we will state only the facts concerning this controversial subject. Remember, it is only by G-ds Holy Spirit and your relationship with him that you arrive at the truth. This is written in Acts 17:11.

"... in that they recieve the message with all eagerness of heart, but searched the scriptures to whether those things were so."

Therefore, be in prayer and supplication about it. I believe this an important step in tearing down the walls of traditional thought and paganistic christian teachings and getting back to basic biblical truth taught by G-d and his Holy Spirit.

Shabbat Shalom in the Messiah, Yeshua

Yom Kippur

Yom Tov (Good Day)

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, the Highest Holy Day of two Jewish High Holy Days, the first High Holy Day being Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur falls ten days after Rosh Hashanah on the 10th of Tishrei (September-October) and begins at sunset today.

I know...what about Pesach and other feasts? Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are considered High Holy Days because they are strictly religious and not associated with other earthly events such as Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost).

The purpose of Yom Kippur is to bring about reconciliation between us and between individuals and G-d. According to Jewish tradition, it is also the day when God decides the fate of each human being. This is important to remember for our next blog entry.

Although Yom Kippur is an intensely holy and solemn day, it is viewed as a day of rejoicing, a day where we are reconciled to our enemies and G-d. If we have observed Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, (Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur) properly, we will have made peace with others and with God by the end of Yom Kippur.

The three essential components of Yom Kippur are:

Teshuvah (Repentance and forgiveness of our sins)
Tefilah (Prayer, specifically for ourselves, friends and enemies)
Ta'anit (Fasting, in order to purify ourselves)

It is a day that we rededicate our lives to G-d. Some say that we should do this everyday. True. However, how many of us do? Unfortunately, too many of us get bogged down in our day to day and forget the reason why we are here. Therefore, if you are one of us that need that yearly reminder, then use Yom Kippur as that day of reflection. The day to realign yourself with G-d. However, it's not beyond our capababilty to make everyday Yom Kippur.

Gemar Chatimah Tovah.(May your final sealing in the Book of Life be good)

Shabbat Shalom (Sabbath Peace)

Happy New Year

As the day closes tomorrow and ushers in another Shabbath, it brings with it the beginning of the new year. Rosh Hashanah means "beginning of the year". Rosh Hashanah also is the beginning of the Fall Feasts. Within scripture, we know it as Yom Teruah, the feast of trumpets or the feast of shofar blasts. It is also the half way mark of the religious calendar.

Tomorrow also marks the beginning of the ten days of awe which culminates at Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Yom Kippur is followed by Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, the actual birthday of the Messiah towards the middle of the month.

Many believe that since the spring feasts were prophetic of the first coming of the Messiah, the fall feasts are also prophetic of his second coming. Over the holiday season, I would like you to join me in studying these feasts and their implications and meaning to the true body of Christ.

Shana Tova

One of the Moments that Changed my Life.

“The greatest discovery for any Christian is finding that the Bible is not just simply 66 books penned by 40 authors over thousands of years, but an integrated message system, which bears evidence of supernatural engineering in every detail. The amazing part is that all of it points to one person and that is Jesus of Nazereth"

Chuck Missler
Koinonia House Ministries

Everyone has a moment in their life that they can point to that changed them forever. Mine is the moment that I heard the above quote. The bible went from a single dimensional boring book full of stories and laws to a living and breathing multi-dimensional reflection of the one who created it.

Thank you my Lord and my G-d for revealing this to me through your servant.

"He's Everything to me
He's more than a story
More than words on a page of history
He is the air that I breathe,
the water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
Oh He's everything, everything to me"

Avalon

Prayer, Praise and Worship. Part Three

Praise and Worship

Praise and worship is simply lifting up your love and adoration to God while acknowledging his deity and position and submitting yourself wholly unto him.

To praise G-d, we must proclaim his beauty, holiness, righteousness, etc. This can come in the form of singing and / or spoken word or living holy.

Our stature should be subservient in his presence. Kneeling, holy hands lifted high, sprawled out on the ground, etc. We can even dance for his pleasure in celebration of his glory. We can praise G-d by living out his love to others. Praise and worship is giving everything unto G-d

Once again, like prayer, it needs to flow from your heart and soul. It should be your words, your actions, not someone elses. G-d rejoices when you praise him from the heart.

You don't need someone else and you don't need a band. The best praise and worship that can be given unto G-d is when you let yourself be you.

By the way, if you want to read a good blog about Worship, please go here:

http://ideasoftimreligion.blogspot.com/2008/08/iv-worship.html

Be sure to read the comments. They are really good. They include comments from a Messianic Jewish Rabbi that goes by the name of Sh'ma Y'srael Goyim. It is amazing the chills you'll get when reading all the comments in context. I must admit that his comments and the responses to him left me in tears. This shows that the body of Christ needs the men and women of G-d to stand up and fill the gap right now. I hope I didn't embarrass you Sh'ma.

Prayer, Praise and Worship. Part Two

WARNING
The truth here within could offend certain Christians

Is There An Exact Method To Prayer?

I know. What about the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11? Well, my answer to that is found in Matthew chapter 6:9. The disciples came and ask Y'shua to teach them how to pray. Y'shua responded.

“After this manner
therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.”

“After this manner…” Otherwise, here is an example of what a prayer is like. He did not tell them to recite this prayer, word for word, every time. Remember, prayer is talking with G-d, not just saying words into the air.

Think about it. What would happen if, every morning, you came down to breakfast with your wife or husband and said the exact same words day in and day out. He or she would either sign you up for some therapy or start phasing you out. G-d does the same thing, because your heart is not in it.

Don't ramble on and on as fast as you can, filling every space with father-god or something to that effect or with a tone of voice like you're making a speech. Don't use packaged prayers. Don't use formulas such as A.C.T.S. It's ok to include elements of these, if they're from your heart. Honestly, how would you feel about the sincerity of your significant other if he or she constantly refered to a formula to ensure they included certain things about their feelings towards you.

In other words, just talk to G-d the way you talk to your best friend. G-d is the best friend you could ever have. When your done, sit back, relax and let him talk to you. Open you heart, mind and spirit to him. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Now, chances are, you are not going to hear an audible voice, not to say that it is not possible. G-d can and will communicate with you anyway he deems fit. Anyway, you will receive a message from G-d every time. G-d answers prayers.

Prayer, Praise and Worship. Part One

PRAYER

As you already know, Prayer is simply communicating with G-d. What you probably are not aware of is that it is a two way communication. It is easy to talk to G-d, but we need to talk with G-d.

As Christians, we normally conduct our prayers in a manner where G-d can’t get a word in edgewise. We ramble on without any desire to hear what G-d has to say. I prayed that way for years. Thinking back, I kind of wonder if G-d was sitting there saying, “Yada, Yada, Yada.” Of course, he wasn’t, but I wouldn’t blame him if he did.

In reality, G-d is a great listener and loves to hear from you. However, as I said before, prayer is a two way street. To get the full benefit, you have to be willing to sit there and listen too.

G-ds Creation Reveals the Absurdity of Evolution

As my two week vacation is winding down, I’ve had a chance to sit down and evaluate some observations. Last week, while I was in Sequoia National Park, one of the rangers made a comment that I have heard before but never ran it to its logical conclusion. He indicated that a fire is required to release the seeds of certain pine cones. He went on to say that the pine cone had evolved to this point in order to prevent the animals from eating the seeds, thereby allowing the tree to propagate.

(INSERT THE SOUND OF SCREACHING BRAKES COMING TO AN ABRUPT HALT)

Come on……What kind of an idiot does Satan think we are?

First of all, I have to interject a premise of evolution for clarification. There is a thing called adaptation. This is where evolutionists believe that a species will evolve or adapt to their environment.

So what you are saying is:

1. The Sequoia tree began its life.
2. Animals decided to eat the Sequoia seeds.
3. The Sequoia decides to create a cone that only the heat from a fire can release in order to prevent the animals from eating the seeds.

Alright I’ll give the possibility of the adaptation part. However, the Sequoia lives for thousands of years. As a matter of fact, there is one Sequoia, I was able to touch that has been alive since before our savior walked upon this earth, 2300 years. Adaptation takes many lifetimes of a species in order to adapt to its environment. As with most species, there just isn’t enough time, even if we give the evolutionists the 15 billion years as the age of the universe.

Finally, notice that the ranger said, “The Sequoia Tree DECIDED….” When asked for clarification, he said that is what he meant. This is the most absurd part. Trees do not have any cognitive power. They simply respond to DIRECT stimuli. They don’t look down and see that an animal is eating its seeds and DECIDE to change it reproductive habits, especially one that requires a source such as fire to facilitate.

My favorite part is fire helping wood, which reveals that G-d has a sense of humor, but that's for another time.

The Remnant of G-d.

In every generation, since the fall of man, the earth has been the temporary dwelling place of a small group of true believers. These believers, who through faith and faith alone, spent their entire lives developing a true loving relationship with the G-d of the universe, the G-d of all creation. Placing all of their faith in this supernatural G-d, they relied completely on G-d for the salvation of their souls from the wages of sin, which is death.

Daily, they communed with the one whose existence goes beyond the restraints of our time and space. This group knew that in order to grow stronger in this life and have life after the here and now meant spending time on their knees worshipping the one and only G-d that truly deserves adoration. In dedicating themselves to and communing with G-d, they received a unique and free gift, unhindered access to the throne room of the universe and life everlasting in the presence of G-d. They are the future kings and priests of the new heaven and earth. They are the Remnant.

The Remnant knows without a shadow of a doubt, that they will spend eternity in the presence of G-d. They know that this life is but a whisper in the breath of the creator. They work for G-d, not because they have to, but because they want to. This begs the question of a lifetime. Better yet, of your lifetime.

Are you part of the Remnant of G-d for this generation?

Shabbat Shalom

Elders, Bishops, Head Pastors. Are they biblical? Part Three

Next, let’s first take a look at the supposed office of bishop. Man has built the office and a whole denomination out of two words, bishop, episcope, episkopos. Now let’s look at what the words actually mean.

Overseership, office, charge, the office of an elder, the overseer or presiding officers of a Christian church.

Look, imagine that, an elder. A bishop is an elder. Bishop describes a characteristic of a elder. Elevating an elder above his normal position within the body of Christ goes against the word of G-d. Therefore bishop is a trumped up by man word, not an office ordained by G-d.

Head Pastor or Senior Minister.

Once again, let’s look at what the word means. Pastor????????? Wait a second, pastor isn’t in the original manuscripts. Ask any sholar what pastor means and they will tell you shepherd. OK, lets look at the scriptures, more specifically the brit hadashah or New Testament. Pastors or specifically, shepherds are the overseers of the Christian assemblies. Wow……can we say elder? Of the 18 times it appears, 16 times it refers to…………the Messiah. Imagine that. One time it’s a verb not a noun which brings us to our conclusion and the verse that has cause the body of Christ so much pain and hardship, Ephesians 4:11-12.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

First of all, let’s strip away the words that are not actually in the verse, just for clarification.

And indeed, he gave apostles, prophets and evangelists and shepherds especially teachers for the make complete the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Eph 4:11-12

Apostles, Prophets and evangelists to the Body of Christ are those with a mission external to a specific assembly of believers. Shepherds and teachers are those within a specific body with an internal mission to oversee, complete the saints for the work of ministry and building up the body of Christ.

Elders are not those 4, 5, 6 etc men that you vote into “office”. Not to say that there aren’t some elders within that group. True elders are mature spiritual leaders, men and women. They are the ones that shepherd or pastor the flock by following the true HEAD PASTOR and shepherd and bishop of our souls, G-d.

With all that said, Yeshua foresaw the “head pastor” debacle and said this:

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine.

John 10:11-14

Doesn’t that sound like a whole lot of supposed “head pastors” within the Body of Christ today?

Final conclusion. The extra offices of Bishop, Head Pastor, Cardinal etc. are not biblical and should be purged out the Body of Christ.

Elders, Bishops, Head Pastors. Are they biblical? Part Two

Who are the legitimate leaders and who are the imposters?

When G- led the Apostles to plant churches, who did they ordain?

“Confirming the souls of the disciples, [and] exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” Acts 14:22-23

When Sh’aul (Paul) and Barnabas wanted a decision concerning circumcision, who did they go to?

“… should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.” Acts 15:2

Who received them?

“And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and [of] the apostles and elders…” Acts 15:4

Who considered this important matter?

“And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.” Acts 15:6

Consistently throughout the rest of the bible, who was it that received Paul into their midst, that Paul sent letters to and Paul called into a meeting with?

Elders, Elders and Elders.

There is no doubt that the Apostles were leaders. That goes without saying. However, right there with the Apostles were the Elders.

Isn’t it interesting to note who’s conspicuously missing?

Elders, Bishops, Head Pastors, etc. Are they biblical? Part One

One the continuing problems within the Body of Christ is the establishment of a hierarchy from which men attempt to rule over the flock. They do this even though Y’shua says in Rev 2:6:

“… thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

And in Rev 2:15:

“So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”

Here in these two verses, we have Y’shua stating that he hates the deeds and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. But who are the Nicolaitans? Let’s look at what the word actually means as quoted from the Schofield Reference Bible.

"From Nakao, to conquer and Laos, the people or laity. There is however, no ancient authority for a sect of Nicolaitans. If the word is symbolic, it refers to the earliest form of the notion of a priestly order, or clergy, which later divided an equal brotherhood into priests and laity. What in Ephesus were deeds (Rev. 2:6) had become in Pergamos, a doctrine (Rev. 2:15)."

The Nicolaitans were and are those who divide the flock into the laity and those who rule over them with unbiblical principles and/or doctines.

Search The Scriptures

“Search the scriptures;
for in them ye think ye have eternal life:
and they are they which testify of me.”

John 5:39

Here Y'shua, Jesus indicates that the scriptures testify of him. Strong concordance lexicon defines testimony as, “ to be a witness, to bear witness, i.e. to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something, or that he knows it because taught by divine revelation or inspiration.”

Anytime the scriptures are mentioned in the B'rit Hadashah, New Testment, it is referencing the Tanakh or Old Testament.

Are there testimonies in the Tanakh, Old Testament that speaks of Y'shua?

For had ye believed Moshe, Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

John 5:46

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw [it], and was glad.

John 8:56

And he shall send Y'shua, Ha Massiach, Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moshe, Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

Acts 3:20-22

"God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began”

Could this be what Jude was talking about in which he states that Enoch prophesied about the second coming of Jesus? Jude 1:14-15.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:18-19:

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass,
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,
till all be fulfilled.”
Jesus is telling us that the Old Testament will be literally fulfilled. However, is there more to the scriptures than meets the eye that will also be fulfilled?

A jot and tittle are the Hebrew equivalent of our dotting an i and the crossing of a t.

The rabbis in Israel have a quaint way of expressing this. They say

“We won't really understand the Scriptures until the Massiach comes. But when He comes, He will not only interpret the passages for us; He will interpret the very words; He will interpret the very letters; He will even interpret the spaces between the letters!”

To fully understand G-ds Word and draw close to G-d, we must dig deep, deeper than most traditions take us into the full counsel of G-d.

Is There Proof of G-d?

There are plenty of people who will say, “I don’t believe in G-d”, followed by “Show me the proof." Well….the answer to the question, "Is There Proof of G-d?", really depends on your perception. Sounds like a cop out, doesn’t it? But it’s true. How willing are you to look at evidence without giving credence to your prejudice? It’s hard. It all depends on how close you are to G-d. The closer you are to G-d, the more he reveals himself to you. In contrast, the further away, the evidence looks like a believers wild imagination.

In conclusion, we can try to show our perceptual evidence to those who don’t know G-d but chances are, they will turn a deaf ear or blind eye. In reality, we can not prove G-d to others because there is no concrete evidence. It doesn’t help when most of the evidence resides within the Word of G-d, and you can’t honestly perceive it correctly unless you have first received the gift of the Holy Spirit. We can just share what he’s done for us and let the Spirit of G-d take it from there. Keep being that lighthouse.

One of the hardest things in life, is to have a gift to give and realizing not everyone wants it.

Why Are People So Mean?

Is it me or has people in general been getting meaner. Whether if it’s on the highway, in line at the bank, or just walking down the street, people seem to have an “I could care less about you” attitude.

When I was growing up, it seemed like people would bend over backwards to give others the right of way or lend a hand. Some say it’s just the world we live in, but I say that Satan knows his time is almost over and he’s stepped up the spiritual warfare.

As Christians, we need to start pushing back and pray harder and show Satan that we are not going take it laying down, unless the laying down is on our face before the throne of G-d. Remember, if Satans time is short, so is ours. Praise G-d.....for we are going home soon.

In the meantime, let's fight back with acts of kindness and love…..and smile. Show everyone who lives inside of you.

PRAY HARD……WEAR SOME HOLES IN THOSE JEANS.

Atheism: An Act Of Faith.

The Word of G-d says it's all about Faith. Faith is relying on a fact concerning something or someone. In Christianity, Faith is relying on the fact that there is a G-d and that he gave himself as a sacrifice in our place because of our sins. I know a lot of faithful believers who have searched out the truth and believe this with all thier heart. However, there are those who appear to have a faith greater than ours......that is the strong faith that Atheist have in Atheism.

Most Atheists, that I have either corresponded with and have met, have a strong, almost blind, faith in their beliefs. A faith, so strong, that they are willing to fabricate their own background in order to create a facade of scholarship. They distort definitions and deny plain truth. All this, in an effort, to prove themselves correct. I'm not talking about the areas where G-d is concern and faith is required, no, but plain unadulterated scientific truth. Where the truth is black and white, no denying it. But yet they will twist it delibrately in a concerted effort to prove Atheism is the way, the truth and the light. A great example of this can be found in the comment section of a fellow believers blog on "The Fine Tuning of the Universe". A very good blog. You can check it out the blog at:

http://vessel-of-clay.blogspot.com/2009/07/fine-tuning-of-universe.html

What it comes down to is this: Is this the kind of faith that G-d wants us, as believers, to have. No.... A Resounding NO. G-d says it perfectly here in Acts 17:11.

"Receive the message with all eagerness of heart, but search the scriptures daily to whether those things were so."

He wants us to have an informed faith, not a blind faith as most Atheists do.

An informed faith results in assured comfort while a blind faith causes you to do unjust things to boost a false and prideful existence.