Articles

Sometimes the debates among followers of Yeshua on the political civil sphere produce a lot of smoke and little light.  I often sense that people do not really engage with the other. Maybe social media is a terrible place for serious dialogue.  I love such dialogue and have never feared to enter dialogue with people who are… Read more »

Israeli chef Assaf Granit has earned a Michelin star for his Paris restaurant, Shabour, getting praise for his “creative cuisine” and his “trademark features” of an “unbridled atmosphere, rough and ready decoration.” Fun fact, Granit’s father has served us as a tour guide for our groups in the past. Granit has a series of popular restaurants… Read more »

I can well remember the first thuds of the Katyushas on July 16, 2006. This was the first day that Haifa and the surrounding area came under sustained rocket attack. I had the door open and was ready to leave for the Tents of Mercy building when I heard an unfamiliar sound – Katyusha rockets… Read more »

My guess is that many believers have had it with the prophetic. They don’t want to hear another person say that God told them something of consequence. I was feeling the same way until I read a verse yesterday morning that jumped off the page at me and I decided to write about it. Ironically, after I… Read more »

It has become common for Christians seeking to recover the Jewish roots of their faith to claim that the Church celebrations are on the wrong dates and therefore these Church dates are of pagan origin. Christians holding to this view seek a return to “God’s appointed feasts” (Leviticus 23). I have generally found that Messianic… Read more »

I recently finished reading a book by Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity, How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement became the Dominant Religious Force in a Few Centuries.  There are important sections with useful information for us all. I first became acquainted with Rodney Stark in 1968 when I was taking the Sociology of Religion at Wheaton…. Read more »

The relationship between the Gospel message and Jewish tradition can be described simply by imagining a ladder with four rungs or priorities: Salvation by Grace Moral Law Ritual Law Religious Tradition Salvation by Grace Yeshua (Jesus) took our punishment on the cross and then rose from the dead to provide eternal life. That message is… Read more »

I recently read an article in an Orthodox Jewish magazine, called “The Problem of Anthropomorphism.”  This word has a Greek root, taken from words used in the New Covenant as well.  Anthropos is human or man.  Morph is form. So, the word literally means “in the form of a man.” The question is a theological… Read more »

The second plague is the plague of frogs. The text has already told us that Pharaoh’s court magicians had been able to track both Aharon’s staff turning into a serpent – although his serpent ate all theirs – and turning water into blood. By duplicating HaShem’s miracles they were saying, “Hey, this isn’t such a… Read more »

I am at a stage in life where I am motivated to read books that have been in my bookcases for years but have not yet been read.  One of those books is by Michael Polanyi, one of the greatest scientists in the last generation (physical chemistry) who branched off into philosophy and art.  His 1958 book, Personal… Read more »