Professor Says Vanderbilt Suppressing Christian Student Groups Amid Shutdown Threats

Does this not speak of the state fundamentalist Christians in the United States today! We are in the Last Days!

Professor Says Vanderbilt Suppressing Christian Student Groups Amid Shutdown Threats | Fox News:

The Question of Disease

I was sent an e-mail earlier today with the question of disease.  The inquiry was:

"Why are there painful illnesses and how should a Messianic Jew [or Christian] deal with it?"


As a man who suffers from a serious liver disease on top of Type 1 Diabetes, Chronic Pancreatitis and Migraine Headaches I found myself drawn to answer this question on the ministry blog.


As to why God allows us to suffer through various conditions the answer is simple, we did this to ourselves.  I am not referring to you per se, instead I am talking about the first man and women, Adam and Eve.  It was their sin that brought death into the world.  At this time  I would like to direct you to a blog article written by a friend of mine named Kasey.   Her article explains why we have diseases better then I could.  You can find that article at:  Lessons from Ivy.  


But as to how we should handle our diseases is an answer I can provide.  The Epistle of James reads,

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."

James 1:2-8 (KJV)

What Ya'akov (James) is saying is that we must each deal with our illnesses in a fashion that brings about patience.  It is our patience that brings faith in our lives, a stronger faith in God that He will hear our prayers.  Verses 6-8 state that we need to be true to our faith, true to the belief that God will hear our prayers.  It is our  unwavering and steady faith that gives a public testimony to Yeshua.  But this testimony is only valid so long as we remain pure:  spiritually, emotionally and physically.  As soon as we break out testimony in one area, we break it with all of them.


Now I understand it when those who suffer painful illnesses ask why God chose them to suffer.  I know personally how angering it is to hear from a fellow Christian that God does not want us to be ill.  That fact of the matter is that we are ill.  We just need to remember that having patience and a strong faith as to why God has us dealing with pain will bring about a stronger conection between us and Yeshua.

Universal Life Church (ULC)

I just went through a very disturbing experience.  This afternoon I spoke with the Universal Life Church, an internet-based company that offers faith based ordinations.  Today I spoke with ULC in hopes of finding out about their ordination process.  What I went through in a telephone call with their bishop was horribly unreal.


The first detail that this bishop wanted to know was if I were baptized or n?  I asked him why is that important as it is faith not works that brings salvation.  This man became very argumentative about the baptism.  Finally, I told him that I was immersed in August of 2000 by my former Messianic Rabbi.  The quick and unBiblical argument was that a rabbi could never baptize you.  What?  I told him that of course a Christian clergymen can baptize me and the bishop's arguments were not in cohesion with Biblical Doctrine.  He stated that the rules of baptism are Christian rules.  In other words he was preaching the doctrine of man concerning baptism.


Our second argument came about as the bishop tried to determine if I was confirmed.  Confirmed?  I told him that members of Baptist churches are not confirmed.  He argued greatly and we had another spat regarding confirmation in Systematic Theology.  As I recall Baptists are not confirmed.  Babies sometimes are, but only in the sense that the family confirms how the child will be spiritually raised.  Catholics not Baptists confirm.


The phone grew worse and worse.  In the end, prior to my saying "God Bless you" this man called me a scam artist...a scam artist.  As a Jewish Christian evangelist, minister and preacher I am quite used to be persecuted emotionally, spiritually and physically.  But the ignorance of this so-called bishop truly angered me.  


This ordeal once again just proved to me of the non-validity of internet ordination.

Eternal Father, I thank you for the mighty opportunities I have had in serving you.  I beg your forgiveness for looking off of the Biblical path.  Adonai, I pray for the ULC, this bishop I spoke with and anyone who ends up working with this organization.  I pray that all of these people may look to the truth that lies in the Word of God and releases their hold on man made doctrines, even Christian ones.  I pray this in the name of Yeshua haMashiach.  Amen

U.S. Scrambles To Ease Tension As Israel's Ties With Allies Erode

We definitely need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

U.S. Scrambles To Ease Tension As Israel's Ties With Allies Erode | Fox News:

Israeli Ambassador Flees After Egyptians Ransack Embassy in Cairo

Another sign of the "Last Days" as a friendly neighbor of Israel turns against Zion. 


Fox News, Egyptians Ransack Embassy

May Adonai Elohim protect the Holy Land now and always.

The State of Faith in America

Those of us (and I am including myself) continue to be shocked and amazed by the anti-Christian Evangelical moves and reactions by our dear President Barak Obama.  If you don't know to what I am referring to then read the following FOX News story,

Evangelicals Left Off National Cathedral 9/11 Program | FoxNews.com: 

So what can we devise from the above story?  It is simple, the President continues to support a religious policy of EVERYBODY.  This policy states that there is equal footing to God whether you are a Jew (Believing and non-Believing), Christians (and to Obama a Catholic is Christianity), Hindus, Buddhists, or Muslims.  This is in keeping with his previous religious views.

The point I am trying to make is that:  1, all Christians are not Catholics; 2, all religions are not equal; and 3.  You cannot have a true religious ceremony without someone who can and does represent Yeshua haMashiach as the one true Lord.

It is a travesty that in a country where 3/4 of the population defines themselves as Christians cannot have their view spoken for.  Thus, it is up to us, as true Christians to speak the words that will lead a Lost soul to Christ.  It is up to us to make that symmetry, OBAMA IS NOT OUR SPIRITUAL REPRESENTATIVE.  Perhaps if we speak loud enough someone in Washington will get the idea.

Why was there two Ancient Bibles?

Recently I was asked why there were two ancient Bibles, the Septuagint (LXX) and the Masoretic text?  I thought about these inquiries and I decided that instead of individually answering these questions I I would answer them both with a blog post.


Back in ancient Israel (322 B.C.E.), the Jewish people of Israel began moving to Alexandria, Egypt.  These ancient Jews moved west to Alexandria for several reasons.  Some moved because of the continued turmoil in Israel,  This exodus west was after the Babylonian Exile and some may have felt safer there.  With the new Persian overlord Cyrus taking over Babylon in 539 B.C.E. many Jews continued to have the freedom to return to Israel, in particular Jerusalem.  Yet,  some Jews may have felt vulnerable in the Holy Land.  Though it was 200 years after Cyrus's rule the memory of exile and destruction by both the Assyrians and the Babylonians where fresh in the minds of Jewish population.  Remember it was only three generations removed from the return of Babylonian exile.  Grandparents would be sharing the stories of exile with their grandchildren.  Another reason for the Jewish population moving to Egypt was because of the economic conditions in Zion.  Drought and famine may have existed.  The final reason for the shift of Jewish homes, and I feel this is the greatest reason, is because that is what God intended.  Thus there where three Jewish centers in the ancient world; Jerusalem, Babylon and Alexandria.


But because the Jews of Alexandria lived outside Israel two things happened.  First they became Hellenistic, or in other words they culturally became a hybrid of Jews and Greeks.  The second thing that happened to these Greek-like Jews is they lost their ability to speak and read Hebrew and Aramaic.  It was because of this that we had two ancient Bibles.

The Septuagint (from the Latin word septuaginta meaning seventy) was a Greek version of the Bible created during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (ca. 285-246 BCE) in Alexandria, Egypt for Diaspora (dispersed) Jews.   It was here that seventy Jewish elders gathered together to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek.  The same books of the Bible where all placed in the LXX with the addition of the Apocrypha (ie. Tobit and the books of the Maccabees).  The other Bible, the one used in Israel and Babylon, the Masoretic text, remained in it's original language, Hebrew and Aramaic.  The same books remained in this Bible version.  The Apocrypha was not included.


The Jews of Alexandria held mixed views of the LXX.  Some thought the Bible was too Greek and took away from the original text.  Other, including historian Philo of Alexandria believed that the LXX was divinely inspired.  It was the LXX that later became the base of today's Christian Bibles.


Thus we come back to the question:  Are both Bibles or just one version the true Word of God?  The answer is simple, both Bibles are the inspired Word of God.  The LXX, which became the Christian Bible (including the King James) was and is the version that has led more people to Yeshua then any other Bible.  The Masoretic text is the Bible that remained in Israel and is thus the Bible Jesus would have used.  God used both versions for His great plan of salvation.


Well, I hope that answers the questions that were posed to me.  


Blessings.

Sharing the Good News

The Apostle Paul

Over the past few years I have had the distinct opportunity to lead hundreds of people to salvation through Messiah Yeshua.  Whether I am working a gospel tent at a fair, distributing tracks on the street, conversing with someone on Facebook, preaching at the pulpit or just giving testimony through my daily habits I have always shown the way to Christ through the "Roman's Road."


Of course there are many ways one can lead someone to Mashiach; some use pre-printed tracts while others simply stay in their Bibles.  For myself, I utilize the Scripture alone, except when I am engaged with a Jew, Muslim or a member of a false Christian cult (ie. Seventh-Day Adventists). Yet there stands a pertinent question; do those of us who evangelize in the name of Yeshua need the Bible at all to preach the Good News?

Several years ago, while in Bible College, I wrote a paper called, "To Die Without Messiah."  In this paper I explained that the term "Gospel" can have different connotations.  For many people sharing the Gospel strikes up images of a stern-faced missionary visiting some of the remotest regions of Earth.  The goal of the missionary was simply to pass out copies of the Bible to  every heathen he came across.  But what many people forget is that sharing the Gospel is not defined by the onion skin pages of a Bible.  What is important to remember is that Gospel can be shared by simply talking about, as well as living by it.

Thus we come back to the original question; do we need the Bible to share the Gospel?   And the answer is no, we can lead anyone to Yeshua, by simply knowing the meaning of the Romans Road.  People can even be saved through the manifestations made through nature (Romans 1:19-20).  As for those of us who have the distinct joy of speaking Jesus-like conversations in hopes of sharing the Gospel, well, most of us have learned that we can lead someone to salvation by simply paraprasing the Good News.


So my question for you is are you sharing the Word of God or are you forgoing this commandment with the excuse that you do not have the important verses of Scripture memorized?  We need to keep in mind that every Christian has a responsibility to pass on what they have gained.  If you would like some evangelism tools to aid in your witnessing then be sure to visit The Road to God Ministry website.  My mentor always relays a wonderful view of Biblical missiology, he says that not everyone was called to be an evangelist, but every Christ told everyone to evangelize.  Well said!

Eternal Father, I continue to thank you and praise you for the continued joy in my life.  Adonai, I pray that I may continur my ministry wor in your name.  I pray that today I may lead one person to you.  Amen.

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Elohenyu, Adonai Echad.

Baruch shem kivod malchuto l'olam va-ed/