Recently I read a great book that describes building a truly loving community.   The authors call it a “hesed” community using the Hebrew word that has been translated covenant love, steadfast love, loving-kindness and more.  The book is The Other Half of the Church by Michal Hendricks and Jim Wilder.  They call their vision… Read more »

Many years ago, Bob Wright, an apostle leading a network with which we were close in the 1980s, gave some profound insights into training people for congregational leadership.  Previous to this time, I had come to the conclusion that I Timothy 3 and Titus 1 standards for elders required them to have a good marriage and… Read more »

Over many years my convictions have not changed in regard to the priorities of giving for Christians who want to support Israel. The greatest support from Christian giving goes to humanitarian causes in the Land through organizations that do not confess Yeshua. This by far outstrips all other giving. One organization is the recipient of… Read more »

I have written extensively about this subject, especially in my book Jewish Roots which is a Biblical theology from a Messianic Jewish point of view.  I have also written several published papers on this topic.  Here I want to make a few foundational statements so that my readers can fix these as principles for their evaluation of the… Read more »

Some of you have asked me to tell my version of how the journey of “Tikkun” began. After Patty and I got married and served initially in the Chicago area, we were called to Beth Messiah Congregation just north of Washington D.C. (the congregation that gave birth to Tikkun). I became the senior leader of… Read more »

The last issue of the Jerusalem Post Weekend Supplement contained a full spread on near-death experiences with a minor theme on those who experience realms beyond this life.  It also touched on reincarnation and the memory of past lives.   David Brinn was the author.  The article in general was quite open and did not deny the possibility that… Read more »

I was quite pained when a professing follower of Yeshua pushed back on me and questioned my support for traditional marriage and family values and its importance to lifting people from poverty.  The arrogance of some of the young woke so-called Evangelicals is quite astonishing to me.  They asked what is a traditional family?  It was as if… Read more »

Not long ago, I reviewed the A Young Peoples History of the United States.  This was the short simpler version.  Now I have finished reading the long and very tedious full history.  My reason for reading this was that my daughter told me that his young people’s edition was being widely used in high schools.  This would explain the anti-American… Read more »

David Weinberg, the Vice President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, writes some very good columns most weeks in the Jerusalem Post.  This week’s column entitled Is Banning the Bible Next? The Terror of “woke” Cancel Culture that Knows no Bounds, is an excellent column.  In it, Weinberg notes the power of the easily offended, who are also… Read more »

Some of my Facebook followers have been informed about the Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel from this page and perhaps from their own reading.  The election coming up again brings the issue of the conflict of the Ultra-Orthodox Jews with the rest of Israel society to the fore.  Ultra-Orthodoxy is not monolithic though it appears to be to… Read more »