A few words …

Up early today. A couple of calves have chosen today to make their entrance into our slightly snowy terrain. Nevertheless a beautiful winter day.

For those celebrating today my best wishes go out to you and I echo the angels in Luke, "Peace on earth and good will to men."
For those of us in the HR, Messianic world sadly today is a day of controversy and often anger. I am still seeing posts calling Christmas trees idolatry. Some enterprising wag has recorded a song to the tune of "O Tannenbaum" and titled it "Idol-a-tree, Idol-a-tree." So uplifting.
For those of you enjoying this day and celebrating with family the rest of this may seem bizarre and superfluous. Perhaps it may help some who are struggling with this issue.

First, celebrating Christmas today is not a hold-over from celebrations in ancient Rome for Saturnalia and Mithras. The date December 25 was believed to be the birthday of the Messiah about 100 years before December 25 (Not even the date for Saturnalia which is a few days earlier) became a prominent day in Sol Invictus worship. Many scholars are even questioning now if Sol Invictus was ever that dominant in Roman religious life. Even if there is a date connection this proves nothing. Laura Bush was born on November 4 a few years before I was. When I celebrate my birthday I am not secretly celebrating Laura's birthday it just happens to coincide with mine. Remember the old canard--correlation does not equal causation.

Second, there is no such thing as "accidental paganism." A person doesn't unknowingly worship a foreign god, because worship is intentional. In the book of Joel chapter 2 we are told that whoever calls on the name of the Lord (YHWH) will be saved. This reasoning would lead us to believe that all German speakers are saved because they say the term "Ja" all day long every day. (Yah is a Biblical shortened term for YHWH.) They even say it with the "Y" sound so they are definitely in.😀 Watch some swimmers and divers--they enter the water in a very similar pattern to a Jewish Mikveh. I suppose they are now "closet Hebrews?"

The priesthood that God sets up in Israel in the Torah is very reminiscent of the Egyptian priesthood with its sacrifices and the use of a chest called a palanquin. Because pagans do some things similar to those practices enjoined upon Israel by God we have no fear that the Levitical worship was pagan or in any way touched by paganism. Intent is powerfully involved in worship. It is not everything but it is the main thing. Of course, the uppermost issue is obedience to God's commands.

The children of Israel complained and God sent serpents into their camp. To be saved from dying from the venomous bites God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. Those Israelites who looked up at the bronze serpent were saved. Later Hezekiah had to destroy the serpent because the Israelites were burning incense to it. It was built on God's order, the people were to look at it to be saved, but it was not to be worshiped. Yeshua (Jesus) even tells us that he will be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness. What we do with something may be more important than what we are doing. (Not always true--some actions are wicked regardless)

After Naaman was healed he was distressed that he would be called to accompany the Syrian King everyday in the worship of pagan idols. Elisha assures him it will be ok. God will know that he realizes who the true God is.

Certainly, Israel was to tear down the altars of the Canaanites and enjoined not to worship God in the way of the heathen. Some of this is not easy to work out. What in our lives today become the "high places" that so grieved the Lord? There are actions that are always proscribed in scripture but they may not always be called idolatry or paganism. Sometimes it is just plain unregenerate human nature showing itself.

Finally each person should follow the dictates of their own conscience in the celebration of Christmas. There is plenty wrong with what goes on at Christmas just as there are a lot of wonderful things--generosity, singing praises, taking care of the needy, and family events. Frankly, I can't stand the silliness--elves, Santa, reindeer, etc. It's like going to McDonalds before you go home to have Thanksgiving dinner. You will have no room for the important things. In any case, I suggest we be careful in condemning our brothers and sisters in areas where we don't know intent nor are we totally aware of God's views of the behavior. As we celebrate (or not) Christmas let us grant each other charity and good will.

About Christmas

This time of year brings out a couple of things I would like to address quickly. First Christmas. For some their favorite time of year and for others a misguided, descent into ancient paganism. The pagan origins of Christmas are touted almost everywhere you look. You can find it in Encyclopedias and current magazines and from all kinds of writers. Many agree that we know that Yeshua (Jesus) was not born on December 25th or this time of year.

I have done some research. No, you can't say he wasn't born this time of year. We just don't know. Early Christians didn't even like celebrating birthdays and while they speculated on the date of His birth they didn't celebrate it. The earliest date proffered was in the Spring around the time of Passover. Some link it to the Fall at the time of the Fall Feasts in the Bible. Because of the belief in a thing called Integral age many believed he was born and died on the same date which is also believed for Moses and King David. We know his death was at Passover so that must be the date he was born. Then it was posited that his conception was in the Spring so his birth would have been in late December. The earliest mention I have seen of this was by Julius Africanus who believed his conception was around Passover and wrote this in the early 200's.

There is no record of celebrating the birth until the time of Constantine. This just means early Christians speculated on the date of his birth but really didn't put a lot of import into setting aside a date to celebrate. I believe it is total nonsense to think this date was picked to correlate with the celebration of Sol Invictus, the sun god. Certainly Aurelian mentions December 25 as a date to celebrate Sol but it was not the main date for its celebrations and early Christians had picked the date far earlier.

Also, later in the 5th and 6th century we find the church coopting pagan celebrations to help accelerate the assimilation of different cultures into Christianity. However, in the first 3 or 4 centuries of the church Christians would not have touched anything even faintly resembling paganism. When many Christians left the faith to save their lives under the persecution of Diocletian one group would not allow them to repent and return. These people were called Donatists after their leader Donatus. The Donatists celebrated Christmas on December 25. If the celebration were tied to Mithras or Sol Invictus there is no way the Donatists would have endorsed it.

All these words to say "celebrate Christmas the way you like." If you don't celebrate at all, fine. Don't be certain of everything you have heard and remember for most things they can be used for good or for ill. I can't stand all the elves and Santa as I think it detracts from celebrating the Messiah's nativity. Remember you don't have to do what you think is wrong but condemning others is not apt to help either. Have a wonderful day.

Birthday Thoughts

​It has been too cold to run outside (down below zero one day) but this morning was around 17 so I thought I'd try it. The treadmill is just plain boring. Anyway I stepped out the door at 5:45 am standard time. As I ran past the dairy Kara and Jenna were feeding the baby calves. Kara shouted "Good morning, grandpa! Happy Birthday!" I shouted back, "Thanks but now I am old!" (69 today) She retorted "Not yet, grandpa!" That made my day.

The sky was brilliant with stars in that spectacular way you only see in the clear desert sky. Orion has shifted westward until it approaches the western sky and the Big Dipper has similarly shifted until it is just a little north of straight east.

Everything in the sky seems to move around. Even the sun and the moon have predictable patterns but they are in the same place only once in a while. There is an exception. Growing up, my brother James pointed out to me that if you look at the two stars in the middle of the handle on the Big Dipper you can follow straight over to the two stars on the side of the Little Dipper. When you follow the handle on the Little Dipper at the end you find the North Star or Polaris. Polaris stays in the same place in the sky (at least to the naked eye.) If you use time lapse photography and point your camera at the North Star overnight, your picture will show concentric circles of light inscribed by the traveling stars. Amazingly the light I could see from Polaris this morning had been traveling for about 400 years.

We talk about everything revolving around some point i.e. "his world revolves around his work." It is amazing that so many dazzling and big heavenly bodies that immediately draw our attention are not reliable sources of direction because they keep moving. There is nothing wrong with these other lights but their location must be described in comparison to the one that doesn't move.

We all need a point in our lives that is constant and unmoving. I am glad I have found mine. We need a rock, a foundation, a fortress that cannot be moved. Without this, even the beauty of life and creation becomes chaotic. "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." Amen.

Avoiding Friendly Fire

Avoiding Friendly Fire
Letters from the MIA Shepherd's Council


By John Conrad

          Nothing stirs the heart like stepping on to the soil of Israel, the land YHWH calls his own possession. The heart trembles as it touches our shared history. A beauty, sometimes serene other times savage, pierces the senses. One sensation, however, is inescapable - this land is under attack. This is contested territory.
We are fellow travelers on this holy path leading to the restoration of all things. Even as God's physical land is under attack, so also is the place of our spiritual call. Satan and his minions resist every step we take to seize our inheritance as Israelites. The apostle Paul describes it this way Eph. 6:11, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (NASU)

        To be effective in this battle, we must be aware of the identity of our enemy or our efforts will be wasted and possibly even counterproductive. In recent history, the story of Pat Tillman serves as a stark reminder of this fact. Pat was a talented football player. After the devastation of 9-11, he turned down a professional football contract with the Arizona Cardinals and signed on to serve in the U.S. military. In 2004 Pat died a hero's death-cut down in a hail of bullets in Afghanistan. After his death, the military was not forthcoming with details about his gallantry. Later, the truth came to light. The hail of bullets that killed Pat Tillman sprayed from the guns of his comrades--not the enemy.

       We will not win the war we are fighting if we are confused as to whom we are fighting. We cannot afford to reproduce the Pat Tillman story within the ranks of Israel. In many places in scripture, our bodies are likened to the Body of Messiah. The body fights infectious disease with a marvelous immune system that recognizes the enemy (bacteria, viruses, foreign substances) and makes antibodies and mobilizes killer cells to destroy the enemy. It takes some time for this entire mechanism to come into full production. This is why recovery from a common cold takes around 2 weeks. That is how long it takes to recognize the attacking virus, mobilize the phagocytic (killer) cells and produce antibodies against the invaders, and then allow the cells of the body to be healed and return to normal function. The destruction or crippling of this system renders the body extraordinarily susceptible to attack and renders us vulnerable to otherwise innocuous invaders.

       This awesome system so perfectly orchestrated by our creator becomes frightening if it loses its specificity-the ability to discern what is good and what is bad. This is the origin of juvenile diabetes. The immune system attacks the Islets of Langerhans (the part of the pancreas responsible for insulin production) and destroys the cells. Over time the function of the pancreas becomes compromised to the point that little or no insulin is produced. This wreaks havoc on the body as glucose (the energy unit of metabolism) cannot enter cells and the entire metabolic system is ambushed. Without intervention death is the result. When a person becomes diabetic, they are much more susceptible to serious infection. When the body attacks itself, weakness results and weakness in the body renders it vulnerable to fatal attack.

        Another facet of medicine today speaks to the body of Messiah. This is the area of organ transplantation. My brother-in-law was diagnosed with leukemia over 10 years ago. Leukemia is a derangement of the production of white blood cells. The treatment given him was to irradiate his bone marrow and kill the stem cells that were producing the malignant white cells. Then he received a bone marrow transplant from his brother. Fortunately, the transplant was successful and his new bone marrow began to produce healthy leukocytes (white blood cells). Suddenly, he became very ill. The new blood cells recognized his body as foreign. They formed antibodies and killer cells against his own tissues, particularly his liver. He only survived because of YHWH's miraculous intervention through continuous and sustained prayer.
There are important lessons here. We must recognize the cells of the Body and clearly distinguish them from the enemy. Otherwise we fire our ammunition and destroy the fellow soldiers who are our allies in the fight to gain our inheritance. We must also lose our immunological memory or we end up recognizing the body as foreign because it is not familiar to us. As Paul tells us in Romans 11, the "wild branches" are grafted into the trunk of the olive tree. We are all transplants. Our call is to put on the Messiah and transform our thinking to the "mind of the Messiah" so we no longer further the schemes of the devil. My brother-in-law's transplanted bone marrow could not "lose" its memory, so it declared his liver as the enemy. Sadly many of us, because of our experiences and lifetime hurts, are out there spraying potential allies with venom and destructive fusillades. For some the "church" is the enemy, others "Rome" is the enemy, others "tradition" is the enemy, and on and on. It gets so silly that if someone associates a wholesome practice with any of these "enemies," we immediately turn our full cannon fire on the practice and anyone even close to it.

      The author of disease is the author of division. A divided body is easy to attack and conquer. The apostle Paul recognized this when he stood before the Sadducees and Pharisees and proclaimed in Acts 23:6-7, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!" As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided." (NASU) The conflict was so great between the two groups that it undermined their purpose to convict Paul. This was wonderful for Paul, but devastating to the purpose of the council (which, of course, God sought to frustrate). The lesson for us is this: don't get so busy fighting over your differences with other believers that Satan and his demons escape the line of our fire.

       The apostle Paul hammers this point home in 1 Corinthians 11:28-30, "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." (NKJV) Here Paul states that the failure to recognize or discern the Lord's body brings sickness and death to us when we partake of the Yeshua's life in communion. We need to pray for a gift of discernment to differentiate between friend and foe. The call is to heal, to restore, to lift up. We are in a fight. Fight the good fight. Today let Satan experience the sting of our warfare. No more casualties in our cause due to friendly fire. Let us join with Yeshua who says in John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."


© 2006 Messianic Israel Alliance 

Weightier Matters

WEIGHTIER MATTERS
by Dr. John Conrad


A single woman went to a pet store and bought a parrot for companionship. She looked forward to having the parrot talk to her and simply spice up her day. At first, the parrot seemed bored. It perched listlessly in the corner of the cage so she bought a different cage in a brighter color. This didn’t stimulate the parrot so she purchased glittering, colorful toys and creatively arranged them in the cage. Still the parrot moped and stared lifelessly into the distance. Repeatedly, the woman went back to the pet store, buying colored perches, toys to play on, and anything she could think of to tickle her parrot’s fancy. Sadly, the parrot grew more and more quiet. Finally, one day the woman went in to check on the parrot. It lay on its side breathing its last. With one final effort it croaked, “Lady, don’t they sell bird feed at that pet store?”

This silly story reminds us of an old adage. People with enough to eat have lots of problems. People who don’t have enough to eat have only one problem. The story of the parrot is a parable of the Messianic Train. Many of us are enamored with the Train, but we forget where it is going. We spend more time fluffing the seat cushions and decorating the windows than we do making sure the train has fuel, is functioning properly and, most importantly, headed in the right direction. Because of misplaced priorities we often find ourselves ending up at the wrong destination. Like the woman with the parrot we major on minors and minor on majors.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting theothers. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:23-24)  

In this passage the Greek word translated “weightier” is barus Strongs 926. It means heavy, of great moment. In other words, important or most important. So Yeshua’s comment informs us of the most important of God’s instructions to His people.

A quick review of Yeshua’s statement in Matthew 23:23 reveals it to be a restatement of Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does Yahweh require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Another way to understand Yeshua’s pronouncement would be to constantly view our keeping of the small matters of Torah through the lens of justice, mercy and faithfulness. When our method of obeying Torah sabotages justice, mercy or faithfulness it needs to be discarded.

Our ability to discern the weightier matters is directly related to our ability to see the goal. The end or goal of the Torah is the Messiah. Romans 10:4: “For the Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” “The end” here is the Greek word telos which means goal. It is like saying at the end of this road is Salt Lake City. At the end of Torah is Yeshua. If our Torah observance does not lead to Yeshua we have jumped the tracks. Since God is love, Paul makes the obvious statement in Romans 13:8 that “love is the fulfillment of the Torah.” We make a huge mistake when we argue about minor details of Torah when the need in the person’s life is to know Yeshua. Like the parrot, they may be surrounded with the apparatus of Torah observance, but they die because they are not connected to the vine and its life-giving nurture.
A simple way to evaluate our actions is to ask several questions:
1. What is the goal of my behavior?
2. Who will be helped or hurt?
3. Will the Messiah be lifted up by my actions?
4. Does this action reveal or display God’s love?

People are drawn to genuine justice, mercy and faithfulness. I often wondered why my Swiss grandparents converted to Mormonism in the late 1800s. When I read their testimonies some of the reasons became abundantly clear. When my great grandmother read her Bible it stirred up many questions in her mind. When she took these questions to her priest he rebuffed her angrily. She was told it was not her place to read the Bible and she was to accept what the church and its officers told her. Conversely, when the Mormon missionaries came to Switzerland they patiently listened to her questions and did their best to answer them. They prayed with the families and told them that each of them could approach God through Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah) on their own because of His sacrifice. The idea that an individual could pray and reach out to God on his own was revolutionary and life-changing. It was only a short time before the families converted and were baptized. This story does not testify to the correctness of Mormon doctrine, but to the correctness of showing love and mercy.

I’ve been told many times that we (Ephraim) must provoke Judah to jealousy with our observance of Torah. This is a recipe for a contest--someone wins and someone loses -- it is a competition. It is like a game of tag.”You trimmed your beard -- you’re out! Your tzitzits are the wrong blue, the incorrect length, you’re out! You pronounced Yeshua (Yehoshua, Yahshua) wrong -- you’re out! You followed the rabbinical calendar for the observance of the feasts -- you’re out! Or you didn’t follow the rabbinical calendar for the observance of the feasts -- you’re out!”

On the other hand, it would be helpful to refrain from saying that the church doesn’t keep Torah. Sadly, many churchgoers eschew Torah in their speech, but while they disdain many provisions of Torah, they try their utmost to be just, merciful and faithful. Our wearing tzitzit, celebration of new moons, Feasts, Sabbaths, observance of clean and unclean foods springs from our commitment to be faithful. Our obedience should not be a hammer to smash the church. A loving example of Torah obedience will ultimately be much more effective.

A couple of years ago, we held a Seder for a group of people in Missouri. Several families didn’t come because they were horrified by the “un-Biblical” Jewish traditions they had identified as part of the Seder. A teacher had been in the area warning people about all evil traditions -- both those perpetrated by the church and those from rabbinical Judaism. Anyone keeping these traditions would be hopelessly compromised by them. However, nothing in the Seder could be construed as thwarting justice, mercy or faithfulness. While straining out a gnat they had swallowed a camel. An opportunity to develop friendships and fellowship with other Israelites had been thwarted by silly, unfounded fears. When they had a chance to gather with the Messiah, they had opted for scattering with the enemy. Unintentionally, they had made their understanding of Torah the goal, instead of Yeshua and His love.

Another clear obstacle to true Torah observance is the human tendency to judge what we see or sense with our five senses. Isaiah 11 makes it clear that the Messiah will not judge by what he sees or what he hears. He will judge by righteousness.  Samuel would have picked several incorrect candidates from Jesse’s sons to be the next king of Israel. Yahweh had to remind him that He did not look at the outside of a man, but at his heart.

This means sharing Torah requires a deep spiritual connection with Yeshua. Our goal is to bring people into a relationship with their Messiah. This relationship is lived out in a life that follows the precepts of Torah. It is important not to fall prey to the idea that Torah consists of the externals; tzitzit, Sabbaths, Feasts, and diet. It is our connection and love of our Messiah that motivates us to keep His commandments. We don’t wear tzitzit to let people know that we are Messianic. We wear them to remind us to love Yahweh with all of our heart, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

I’ve never forgotten a young man who had come into a strong Messianic understanding. He considered himself very magnanimous because he accepted to some degree any who kept the 7th day Sabbath. Now there is no question that the 7th day Sabbath is an eternal Biblical principle. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered he was hiding his chewing tobacco habit (disgusting) from me and the fact he was sleeping with his unmarried girl friend. I know of another Messianic with a long, untrimmed beard, side curls and tzitzit down to his knees. He enjoys internet pornography rationalizing that “men will be men.”

I will briefly touch on another sensitive area. In Messianic circles we often honor speakers with exciting teaching abilities or those given to sensational prophetic statements. We display a total lack of discernment when we do not hold our leaders to the weightier matters of Torah--justice, mercy and faithfulness. We need discernment to listen to that which is true. When statements are made based upon faulty research, or bent to fit a particular point of view, we become politicians espousing a partisan line and not teachers of Torah.
Another point comes from Rabbi Shalom Arush, who counsels many troubled marriages. One of the precepts he stresses is that if one of the partners is led to become Torah obedient this must become a very good thing for the other partner. Otherwise, the partner will view Torah as destructive. We must ask ourselves--has the Torah in my life made me a better spouse, a better son or daughter, a better parent, a better employer, a better employee, a better member of the Messianic fellowship? Have those living around you sensed your humility, your desire to serve and your fervent love for Yeshua? Or did they turn away because you reeked of religious arrogance and self-righteous certainty?

Torah is the DNA of our Messiah -- it is His genetic material that He has planted in our hearts. It is the seed of the Kingdom. When it is nurtured and grown in the proper environment it yields love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As Paul reminds us, none of these qualities are against Torah; none violate it. I would go further and say that when these attributes do not characterize Torah-keeping folks, the seed has been corrupted. Yahweh makes an astonishing pronouncement in Isaiah 1:12-14 “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.”

Why does He reject all these activities that He commanded Israel to do for Him? Because they had neglected the weightier matters of Torah. He pleads with Israel, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16-17)

We have been so blessed to be a part of this restoration in this day. Torah is not bondage, but rather life. This revelation transforms us. Let’s make certain that in our holy pursuit of Torah that the foundation of Yeshua is built in well. That the important things have truly been given the credit they deserve. For many their introduction to Torah will be the lives we live before them. May the Messiah and His love be revealed in us, I pray.




Printed in the MIA Herald, Sept 2011.