One man's thoughts about Life, Torah, and Messiah

Well, I have finally decided to go ahead with some certification that is related to my job. Just this last week it was announced that getting Network+ certified will be paid in full by my job as an essential skill. My hope is that in getting this certification, I will be a lot more marketable as far as a job is concerned.

Networking is something that has always interested me, and I know a little about it (just enough to be dangerous!).

Over the last three years, my wife and I have asked ourselves the above question many times. It seems that this road of Torah observance always leads to this question, but often, this question is a bit more specific: “How do we keep Shabbat? How do we demonstrate our love for our brothers and sisters? How can we perform a certain mitzvah?”

The answer is actually pretty simple. We just keep living. Often, an answer will not come immediately, but as we walk day by day with our Master Yeshua, it will eventually become evident. I’m finding more and more that Torah is just one step at a time. I can’t just wake up one day and decide that I’m going to keep all of Torah. It is a gradual process. The process is called discipleship.

In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers, the beginnings of codified Jewish Oral law) 1:6 it says, Joshua the son of Perachia would say: Assume for yourself a master, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every man to the side of merit.

I have been thinking about this quote a lot the last few days. Yeshua told His disciples to go and make other disciples. Well, it almost goes without saying that each disciple has in turn a master. Obviously, Yeshua is the ultimate Master. He is the one that we are to emulate.

However, He also employed a method of discipleship that is centered around imitation and emulation. It is nearly impossible to totally imitate all the Yeshua did, because we are 2000 years removed from the time that He physically walked on earth. I believe that it is the responsibility of everyone to find someone that can be their “master,” or mentor if you prefer the more modern term.

So what should we look for when it comes to finding someone to follow? Paul said, “Follow me as I follow the Messiah…” This is the first criteria for choosing whom you follow. Are they leading you to Messiah? This is a difficult question to answer, as it requires a great deal of personal responsibility to hold your master/teacher/mentor accountable, ensuring that he or she is truly representing and leading you to a greater depth of relationship with the Messiah.

Finding a teacher is not an easy thing to do. In my search, I have been increasingly reminded of the need for prayer and discernment at every turn. Unfortunately, in the Messianic Movement, things have become quite messy. There are many who want to do nothing but push their own agenda. Yeshua said that His Kingdom is not of this world. Therefore, anyone who is pushing their own agenda very likely is not building His Kingdom, but their own.

There is much out there that would distract disciples from following the Torah, getting hung up on minutiae, trying to figure out every yud and dagesh mark. These things will often lead us away from following the Words of HaShem. In choosing someone to be a master to you, it is vital to examine the fruits of his/her life to ensure that it is wholesome, and continuous.

Every Monday morning, I meet with a group of guys for breakfast and Torah study. It is the hightlight of my week!

This morning, one of the guys told a story of a class that he had in college. The purpose of the class was to teach the students to think outside of the box. As part of the curriculum, there was an ecentric music teacher who came to the class with a box of homemade instruments. He passed them around the classroom, and then turned off the lights and told the students to “listen, and play what you don’t hear.”

These are challenging words for any serious follower of the Master. I believe that many times, we do not take our responsibilities as seriously as we should. We don’t listen, and if we do, we wait for others to start playing. Yeshua taught His disciples to go. He demonstrated to them, and to us the importance of finding a need, and then filling it.

This goes right along with what Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 12 when he was discussing the importance of differences in the Body of Messiah. Every person has a specific, God-ordained function. If you don’t know what yours is, Listen, and play what you don’t hear.

What a blessing this Shabbat has been! (Of course, Shabbat is always a blessing, but ya know, every now and then one stands out) We had some friends over for Erev Shabbat dinner last night, and we had an incredible time. It is so cool when HaShem lets you know that you’re not in the fight alone. Let me explain:

My wife and I have spent a considerable amount of time lately discussing the applicability of the gift of tongues in the life of the modern believer. I think that I’m beginning to understand the function of the gift in congregations that met in the first century, but looking back on my own experiences growing up, I often wonder how much of what I saw and experienced was real. Don’t get me wrong here, I long to see the Spirit at work in my life more than ever before, but I’m not about to settle for an imitation.

For me, things MUST line up to Scripture, and if they don’t, then they have to be thrown out. We need to learn how to exalt the words of Scripture to their proper place in our lives, and in order to do so, we must understand how the original recipients of Scripture understood them. After having an accurate understanding of the original context of something, then we can look at how to apply things to our lives. Well, for me, a place of contention has been over the issue of tongues.

I’m not going to get into everything here concerning the context of the gift of tongues among the early believers. The point of this post is to say how encouraging it is to meet with other people that are going through the same circumstances, questioning the same beliefs, and often coming to the same conclusions. At this point in my life, I see the power of the Spirit at work in my life by showing me how to live the Torah. He is writing the Torah on my heart.

Yeshua told us, “But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth…” And in another place, “Your Word is Truth….” As a follower of Yeshua, His Ruach, His Spirit, His breath is breathing into me his Torah, the Words of Life.

I believe that a time is coming in my life, as well as in the life of the body of Messiah where we will again see ALL of the gifts of the Spirit in operation as HE wills, and not influenced by the doctrines and mistakes of man. For me personally, I feel an obligation to just walk with the Father day by day, and as He wills, these things will manifest in my life. I don’t feel a need to force anything, and if I never understand what is going on, that is His business. However, that being said, I believe that I have a responsibility to study to show myself approved…rightly dividing the word of truth. I believe that tongues have a valid place in the Body, but as of yet, I can’t say with complete assurance that I’ve seen this gift manifested in the way that God desires. I could be wrong, but I also want to be careful to prove by Scripture these phenomena that we ascribe to the work of the Spirit.

I recently finished an incredible book entitled The Rebbe’s Army: Inside the World of Chabad Lubavitch. In reading this book, I was challenged to re-examine the words of our Master, and give a more concerted effort to seeing His Great Commission fulfilled, no matter the cost.

Just by way of background, this book talks about the Chabad movement, how the shluchim (sent one’s) will go to great lengths to see other Jews keep the commandments of the Torah. The challenge to me was to look at Yeshua’s command to make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. Yeshua taught His first disciples to keep the the Torah, and that command goes the same for us today.

Ever since returning from Kenya last October, I have felt a continuing urge to return. I now believe that my family and I will go there, and live, for at least a year. This probably won’t happen for a couple of years, but I believe that it is the will of the Father that we go, and make His disciples in Kenya. We are very excited about this prospect, and continually look forward to our future in service to our King and our Rabbi, Yeshua.

I have often asked myself the above question, and I continually ask because I desire with all that is in me to live a life of discipleship, devoted to the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua. So the question still remains: “What does it mean to be a disciple of Yeshua?”

First of all, discipleship is a lifelong process. In the context of the First Century Judaism in which Yeshua lived, disciples would follow their master or rabbi, very often committing themselves to the respective master for life. It was the same with the original talmidim (disciples) of Yeshua. When He called them, they followed Him, expecting Him to set up the messianic kingdom on earth. They were deeply committed to His messianic mission.

In the First Century, disciples who followed a specific rabbi would learn everything about him, so that they, in turn could imitate him in everything. For instance, the disciple would learn the blessings that their master prayed, and they would observe how he kept the Shabbat (Sabbath). It was the same with Yeshua and His talmidim. Yeshua Himself taught in Luke 6:40, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”

Discipleship is all about learning how our Master lived His life, and then doing all that we can to imitate His example. For me, that has meant giving up many things in my life, but the exchange has been priceless. I now have a consistency in my walk with God that I’ve never had before. I understand Scripture far better, and also, I have been given far more opportunities to share my faith with others.

My experience in discipleship has taught me a considerable amount concerning holiness. In the greater body of the Messiah, holiness has been understood as being separate from the world, but I don’t think that it has been conveyed as being separated to God as well. How is one separated to God? Well, His Torah is all about being separated to God. There are many things that God tells us to do that are external (e.g. wearing tzitzit, keeping kosher (the food laws and regulations), but if we focus on the external and forget to allow God to write His Torah on our hearts (Jer. 31) then we are in trouble. We become dependent on the external things to save us or draw us closer to Him. The very things that He gave to draw us near (by writing them on our hearts) become the things that push us away. “Our righteousness is as filthy rags.”

Discipleship and holiness go hand in hand. One cannot be a disciple of Yeshua and not be holy. Holiness is not defined by man’s standards of set-apartness; it is defined by God’s standard as outlined in the Torah.

Well, enough for now. Shabbat is coming, and I must get ready. Shabbat Shalom!

Well, I’ve finally done it. I’ve figured out how to do a blog (kinda), and I’m gonna try to keep it fairly current. I hope to have some feedback from my friends in Kenya, especially in regards to topics about Torah and questions that you may have.

I will be sending some video teaching to Kenya, hopefully within the next week or so, and I look forward to the conversations that the teaching will spark. Please be in prayer for the brothers and sisters in Ndhiwa, Kenya, as HaShem is moving in their midst.