There Has Never Been a Palestinian State
From a post by Thomas Sowell: “A crash course on history of PALESTINIAN STATE: 1. Before Israel, there was a British mandate, not a Palestinian state. 2. Before the British Mandate, there was the Ottoman Empire, not a Palestinian state. 3. Before the Ottoman Empire, there was the Islamic state of the Mamluks of Egypt,…
The Strange Teaching of The Immaculate Conception
Ask any Protestant Christian what the Immaculate Conception is, and at least in my experience, they will will say it is the “conception of Jesus”. Which is exactly what I thought too, until I researched it. On the way to synagogue every week, I pass by a Catholic church (Ok, since Covid-19 I haven’t been…
Why Does Belief in Yeshua Remain?
As I search for a place to commune, I have reached out to a couple traditional synagogues. I’ve asked, as a believer in Yeshua, if it is still possible to attend their synagogue. The response has been more welcoming than I expected. But, I’ve only reached out to reformed and conservative congregations and for obvious…
Christian Heretics and Orthodoxy
Heresy. What an intense word. It is heretical, from a Christian point of view, to question the concept of a “trinity.” This concept was created early on in the Christian faith to make it easier to understand the person of God, yet it did not make it into Christian doctrine until possibly 400-600 years after…
Torah Portion: Vayelech
The Torah Portion this week is Vayelech (וילך)- “then he went out.” It contains only one chapter, Deuteronomy 31 and it has the fewest verses of any parashah. Let’s dive into Deuteronomy 31:2-3, where Moses is speaking to all of Israel: 2 He said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able…
Torah Portion: Nitzavim
The portion for this week is Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20, and it is titled Nitzavim, or Standing. The title comes from the first verse in the portion. Deuteronomy 29:9 “You are standing (nitzavim) today, all of you, before Adonai your God—the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, all the men of Israel, 10 your children,…
Closing The Congregation
On October 3rd, 2016, some friends and I started a Messianic congregation. We are now closing that part of our lives. I’m not thrilled, and I’m saddened that it didn’t work out. In fact, as we were preparing for my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, I had to wipe the tears during the practice. I loved attending, leading,…
Torah Portion: Ki Tavo
I’ve decided to start covering, maybe weekly, the Torah Portion. For more of an explanation, click here. The portion of this portion I am going to talk about is mostly from Deuteronomy 26. Although the tithing and first fruits section of 26 is interesting and, like chapter 14, it has changed my whole perspective on…
Torah Portions
I’ve decided to start posting some thoughts about the Torah Portion. If you’re not familiar with a Torah Portion, it is pretty simple. Throughout the Jewish world, the Jewish people study Torah year round. It is broken up into a few chapters a week. Every once and a while, there will be a double-portion, but…
The Tree Is More Than Roots
I really dislike the whole concept of Judaic “roots”. Hear me out, its just labeled incorrectly and I hear it in the Church and in Messianic Judaism on a regular basis. Why do we call it the “roots?” Judaism was a flourishing tree before Yeshua came and it is still one today. Do we only…
Why Does “The Left” Support the “Palestine Authority”?
“The Left” are all about equality within different people groups. According to Wikipedia, “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Israel are the most tolerant in the Middle East, and among the most tolerant in Asia.” It is true that I never thought I’d be using that link to promote how tolerant Israel is,…
A Tiny Radical Muslim Minority Video by Ben Shapiro
These are not my thoughts at all, but Ben Shapiro is quite impressive with his astonishingly amazing ability to field questions at the end of a speech. This doesn’t really matter and isn’t really related to the YouTube video below but I’m sure in the immediate future I’ll be referencing more of his videos.
An Open Letter Concerning the Book Stream in the Desert
About this: I didn’t really have a good place to post this. No, this isn’t “messianic-related” but it does have some good talking points about Bible translations. My dad was the editor (updater) of four of the most popular devotional books of all time. I wish he were still he to respond. I know in…
The Restoration: The Seven R’s of Israel
This is one of my favorite things to teach while leading a tour of Israel. But, before I get to the “Seven R’s of Israel“, let me tell you how I got them. In 1999, my dad (Jim Reimann, editor of My Utmost for His Highest, Streams in the Desert, etc…etc…) went on his first…
Yeshua Did Not Come to Contradict Scripture
About this article: This was originally going to be posted on The Christian Post (christianpost.com), but it fell through. This is somewhat redundant because of the Andy Stanley article I wrote. Nonetheless, I figured I might as well post this. There is a new type of teaching that has become mainstream in the Christian Church.…
He Flipped Tables
I have been on a path for 10 year of learning and to figure out what is “of God” and what his original intentional when the scriptures were written. Unfortunately, it is hard because of mistranslated, misinterpretation and even the “church” taking advantage of a population that is illiterate. It has been taken over by…
“Standing straighter” without Torah
This blog post is written to the Christian Church more than to Messianic believers. If you are a gentile and are going to a church and the teaching is sound, that is logical and laudable. I have no issue with that, may you continue to learn more of God’s teaching. I do have an issue…
From to Darkness Into Light
God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” So there was evening and there was morning—one day. — Genesis 1:5 The concept never really hit me until it did in 2009. With Matisyahu having an album called “Light”, I as a fan, bought it. I really started thinking about it. It all…
Most Merry Time of the Year
I saw this on Facebook and I had to stop and think for a minute. How confused is society? How led astray is Christianity? “Did you know that the chopping down of the Christmas tree represents the death of Christ and putting it back up again represents the resurrection of Christ? Did you know that the…
The meaning of Hanukkah in the New Testament
From the roots, all the way to every stems of the tree of Judaism, there is something that can be learned. From the stems of Judaism comes Messianic Judaism and Christianity, including a festival with only one Biblical reference. “Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple”…
Lent
As one might have noticed by reading my blog, I am by no means a fan of jumping on the bandwagon just for fun. In fact, if people are jumping on such a wagon, it makes me question it even more so. Call it skepticism if you will, I do. I have the same degree of…
My son’s Upsherin
Here is the “official” Wikipedia blurb about an Upsherin: Upsherin, Opsherin or Upsherinish (Yiddish: אפשערן, lit. “shear off”, Judaeo-Arabic: חלאקה, ḥalāqah) is a haircutting ceremony observed by a wide cross-section of Jews and is particularly popular in Haredi Jewish communities. It is typically held when a boy turns three years old. The picture I have…
Pictures on Jerash, Jordan on our 2014 Tour
These pictures were taken in May. You can tell a major difference between our November tour pictures and these. They are well lit, the other have shadows because the sun sets around 5:00 and we arrive around 4:00. Nonetheless, the site is quite simple and serene, there are rarely other groups there.
Rethinking with a Jewish perspective
It is all about roots. I’m a relatively nostalgic guy and as loyal as a golden retriever. I like the same stuff I did when I was 15. I still listen to the same bands and rarely add artists to my collection. I’m still somewhat of a vegetarian-no pork or beef in 23+ years. It is…
Pictures from Nazareth, Israel 2015 Tour
Here are some pictures I took in our November tour. My sister taught on the top of the hill, in the rain. Last time we were there it was so windy Kent (a friend and a teacher we brought on the tour to help lead) had to teach sideways so he could read the scriptures.…
Pictures from Jerash, Jordan 2015 Tour
This was the third time I was able to visit Jerash, Jordan. There are some good things and bad things about visiting in November. I like some of the lighting that some of these pictures have, but it also makes them slightly darker than I would want. The other two times I visited was in…
What happened to Dan and Ephraim?
Subtitled: The 14 Tribes of Israel. On our tours we take the group to Tel Dan. It isn’t the most amazing site until you know the Biblical teaching that can take place. It becomes a great object lesson. Tel Dan is in the Northern section of Israel and it is where one of the pagan…
Rosh Hashanah: acceptable paganism in Messianic Judaism
This holiday, named Rosh Hashanah, bothers me every year it rolls around. A lot of truth with just a little paganism is not truth at all. What does God honor when it isn’t pure? After service today I asked a friend “Why do you celebrate Rosh Hashanah?”. His response was logical and acceptable. His response was “Well,…
The Koran is not peaceful
The Abrahamic religions contain a vast array of books, traditions and beliefs. They all stem from the story of Abraham and Abraham’s son of promise. There are three main religions which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are so many sects and denominations, offshoots of offshoots, but these main religions teach very different things. The…
Yom Teruah or Rosh Hashanah
This post isn’t going to have a lot of explanation of the holidays mentioned in the title. Maybe in the future I will write about the spiritual significance of Rosh Hashanah (if any), but this post poses a question to ones who celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Why do you celebrate it? We, as believers, are called…