“We are no longer under the Law…” Are we?

I’ve heard this phrase my whole Christian life… “We are no longer under the law!  Jesus came to ‘do away with’ the law!”  But is this true?  This is something I feel is at the root of what is wrong with Christianity… I am finding that many Christians are also finding this to be true as well.  I believe Christians coming back to the Law of God (the Torah and its commands) is not just the NEXT great move of God in the world, but THE great move of God in the world as we are closer and closer to His coming.  You’ll enjoy this video… in fact you can go to www.testeverything.net to watch many more videos.  The Scriptures are clear… WHY didn’t I see this before?  Why don’t more Christians see it?  We simply can not pick-and-choose that which we feel applies to us from the “Old Testament”… we must either dismiss it all or obey it all.  I’m choosing to obey.  How about you?

 

You can watch the 8 minute video here:

 

Planning/Preparing for the Sabbath

We have been observing the Biblical Sabbath (Friday sundown until Saturday sundown) for about 6 months now.  It has been such a blessing to our family!  Recently, a friend who has also realized the need to observe the true Sabbath sent me an email asking me how I prepared for it since she was having trouble getting everything done.  I’m posting here what was my email response to her so it might help others:

“I will tell you that observing the true Sabbath takes planning & preparation.  Did you know that in Scripture Friday (daytime) is called “Preparation Day” because it is just that?!

Here are some helpful hints I’ve learned in our 6 months or so of observing Friday sundown to Saturday sundown Sabbath:

1. Get EVERYTHING you can get done done by Thursday night (that is, if you work full time outside the home or work on Fridays during the day).  I had to write a schedule for what rooms I’d clean what days, and I make sure all the laundry is done by Thurs. evening as well.

2. Use a crockpot & if you don’t have more than one crockpot, buy an extra or look for extras at your l Goodwill or garage sales.  I have found 2 or 3 about $3 each at the Goodwill.  =)  Use a crockpot any night of the week, put something in it before leaving for work in the morning & it’s ready when you come home. It’s a great time saver & will be great for your hurried weekends even if you don’t use it through the weekdays.

3. Buy a crockpot recipe book OR there are great websites devoted to crockpot recipes that are easy.

4. Start planning your menus ahead of time.  You can do this for the whole week if you like (there are some great websites on this) or at least plan well for Friday & Saturday.

5. You might also look into taking one day (say, a Sunday afternoon or evening) to cook ahead & FREEZE things.  You can find many websites that tell you great ways to do once-a-month cooking.  I don’t do this, but many who observe Shabbat do.  I do this in smaller doses.  Like, if I’m cooking a lasagna one night during the week, I cook two instead, it’s not very much trouble at all… and then I freeze one.  They can keep in the freezer for months!  If you do this once a week, you’ll have several frozen meals on hand when you need them for Friday night or Saturday day.

6. If you don’t feel you should cook at all on Saturday (some folks find this to be work, some do not consider it as such, I’m not telling you what to do, just telling you that you need to decide this for yourself) then look into crockpot cooking for breakfast.  You can find neat meals like egg casseroles, baked oatmeal,etc. all for the crockpot!

7. Learn to keep PLENTY of things on hand that make for easy meals without a lot of cooking for Saturdays.  I always make sure I’ve made chicken salad, have cold cuts, etc. on hand for easy sandwiches on Sat. afternoon if you don’t have anything planned for the crockpot.

8. Learn to adjust your thinking.  By this I mean, if you go to church on Sunday, that’s fine, but realize that it’s a WORK day, not a REST day.  =)  When I’m not at church on Sunday, I’m working on the house, laundry, etc.  This was an adjustment for me, because when I first started observing the Shabbat (sorry, this is the Hebrew word for Sabbath if you’re not familiar) I wanted to rest on Saturday, then also found myself resting & churching on Sunday, then I felt REALLY behind on Monday & the rest of the week.  Use Sunday (especially if you don’t have a job that requires you to work on Sunday) to WORK around your HOUSE!  If Yahweh worked on Sunday, so should YOU! 

So, here’s what my week usually looks like to give you an idea of how I do things (this is MY schedule, my 2 girls have their own schedule to clean their own rooms & do some other small household chores like take out the trash, refill toilet paper, etc.)  But here’s my schedule:

MONDAY
1. Before work, lay out some meat in the fridge or sink to thaw OR throw something in the crockpot & set on low, then throw a load of laundry in the washer & head off to work
2. Home from work, prepare dinner with meat I’ve laid out to thaw while kids do chores OR do some chores of my own if I have something already ready in the crockpot
3. Throw the washer laundry into the dryer.
4. Eat dinner with family
5. Clean up from dinner
6. Clean the one room of the week that I’ve chosen thoroughly (for me, it’s the master bedroom on Mondays and I spend about 30 minutes really cleaning it well, like dusting, sweeping, changing sheets, etc. – the things that go beyond the normal pick-up you might do everyday) and my kids finish their chores or work on homework
5. Take a shower/bath
6. After my bath, I go get the dry laundry & put it away
7. Then I do a general picking up of my main living areas (living room, etc.) – not a thorough cleaning, but a picking up.  This is where you get your hubby or kids to help.  This is about a 15 minute process, no more.  Just make it look presentable.
8. Read – Bible, other books, etc.
9. I pray at night for my main prayer time since kids are in bed & I have alone time.
10. Start the process over the next day!

Each day of the week I deep clean one room (vacuum, dust, etc.): MON: Master Bedroom, TUES: Living Room/Hallway, WED: Kitchen/Dining Room, THURS: Bathrooms & extra if necessary for Shabbat, SUN: Spare Room/Computer Room & Spot check the kids’ rooms.

On Fridays, it’s the same, I have also planned earlier in the week for what I’m going to fix for Saturday meals as well.  Then before sundown Friday, I try to put something in the crockpot for Saturday breakfast and Saturday lunch (if we’re not eating coldcuts or something refrigerated).  Our routine for Friday nights is to watch a family movie, play board games, etc. after we’ve eaten our Shabbat meal.  I also make bread (Challah) on Fridays, so I do that fixing once a month & freeze those loaves as well so I just lay it out Firday morning, then we have fresh baked bread Friday for Shabbat.  On Saturday during the day we do things as a family and we do some kind of Scripture study/discussion like Torah reading/discussion, or watch a pertinent video (some kind of preaching from a Torah teacher like Jim Staley, Rico Cortez, or others online – many places offer free online Shabbat services Friday evenings or Saturday mornings).  I usually lay out meat or have another crockpot with soup or something else for our Saturday night meal.

Then on Sunday, if you have church in the morning & evening, that’s fine, but WORK in between.  Go out to eat, use a crockpot, or cook, whatever you want to do.  We have only one service in the afternoon, so I do sleep in a little, then I get up & WORK (clean, do laundry, or anything I’m “behind” on), go to church, many times we eat out on Sundays even if it’s cheap like Taco Bell, then come home.  I’m usually done with most of my work & I use the evening time to PLAN MY MENU for the next week.  I also go to the grocery on Sundays (or any other night of the week that I think will work better.)

I hope this helps.  If you work outside the home, observing Shabbat can be trying because we’re so BUSY… but it is worth it.  We have realized tremendous blessings in our home since observing it.  It does require planning & organization, though.  The main things I had to get through my head was not to rest again on Sundays.  If you rest Saturday AND Sunday, you will fall terribly behind!  LOL

I am Israel!

I have to share… I love Todd D. Bennett’s book series “Walk in the Light” and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to grow in their understanding of the truth. I’m now reading “The Redeemed” – it’s the 5th one I’ve read of his, ALL are good, but I had an AH-HA moment last night.

I already UNDERSTAND this teaching, but Todd Bennett just seems to speak so clearly to me when I read his words. This is something I feel I could say to someone else who may not understand Torah is for all mankind. I just want to share an excerpt from his book – I hope it blesses you just as it blessed me last night:

“You see, anyone could sojourn with Yisrael as long as they agreed to obey the Holy One of Yisrael – just like anyone could live with Avraham and enter into the covenant if they were circumcised and followed the Ways of YHWH. The Assembly of Yisrael always included non-native Yisraelites and the Torah was never considered to be the exclusive domain of those who had the right genes – i.e. full blooded offspring of the man named Yisrael. The Torah was for all mankind, as it was from the beginning. Remember, Adam was not a Hebrew, a Yisraelite, a Jew, or a Christian – he was a man created in the image of YHWH. After the sin of Adam and Hawah, it was then necessary to restore individuals and mankind back into a right relationship and standing before the Creator. YHWH was always concerned about the individual and when He established Yisrael as a nation, it did not mean that He forgot about those who came prior to Yisrael nor does it mean that He was not concerned about the other nations that surrounded Yisrael. In fact, He established Yisrael to reveal Himself to those very nations. Therefore, anyone who wanted to enter into this covenant relationship with the creator could do so provided that they observed the terms of the covenant – which was the Torah. There were plenty of non-native Yisraelites who had joined Yisrael and were redeemed from Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)”

Maybe it’s because I’m getting ready to observe my first Passover… but I had always thought that all the miracles God performed for “the Jews” were for them only & were for us “Christians” to simply learn from.  But it is so much more than that!  I many not be a Jew by birth or bloodline, but I AM ISRAEL too!  These were MY spiritual descendants… Passover is MINE this year with a complete understanding & I am thankful to Yahweh for revealing this to me.

Doing Things God’s Way

Our family has recently decided to eat God’s way, as outlined in the “Old Testament.”  You know, no pork, no shellfish, only clean animals, etc.   I have always been taught that the “Old Testament” and it’s laws & guidelines were only for the Jews & not for “Christians” of today because “Jesus” (whose Hebrew name was Yeshua) “did away with” those laws by “nailing them to the cross.”  My husband & I have determined this is simply NOT the case.  It is a lie that all of Christianity has been told for centuries.  The fact is that Jesus & all His disciples obeyed ALL of these OT laws.  The only laws Jesus broke or taught against were the rabbinic laws the Pharisees (& others) had *added* to the written Scriptures that forced followers to go above & beyond the actual Scriptures.  For instance, the Scriptures tell us not to work on the Sabbath.  Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  The rabbis  said he broke the law.  He explained that he did not… healing & doing God’s work on the Sabbath would not be considered “work.”   This type of thing.  This is how Jesus  came to FULFILL (give a perfect understanding of) the LAW!

 

ALL of God’s holy Scripture are for ALL His people in ALL generations.  Period.  Jesus Himself said (words in parenthesis are my own), “I have not come to abolish (make void, wipe out, or replace) the law but to fulfill it (make perfect, give a perfect understanding).”  He said not one little jot or tittle (or the tiniest of laws) would be abolished until Heaven & Earth have passed away.  Last time I looked, that they’re both still around!  =)

 

I have absolutely determined that these rules & laws apply to ME in THIS day & age.  Why would the “churches” we attend teach us the 10 commandments are still valid but none of the other commands in the OT?  Why do we pick & choose the laws which we think still apply when other laws in the OT aren’t obeyed?  Church leaders tell us some ARE & some AREN’T for today or are only for the Jews – but many of these commands the words “forever” or “in all generations” attached to them.  Forever is FOREVER, folks.

 

We also see in the OT and beyond that those who join themselves with Israel by accepting/following their God were also required to follow these laws & commands.  The truth is, if you serve the One God of Israel who was reincarnate in the man Jesus the Messiah, this IS THE SAME GOD OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE… you simply believe Jesus was the promised Messiah & Jews do not share that same belief.  The God is still THE SAME!!!  If this is your belief, then you have, indeed, joined yourself with Israel by believing in & accepting their God & you are then bound by the same laws according to Scripture.  It’s like going to a foreign country & saying, “I want to be a citizen of this great country… but do I have to obey the laws of this land if I become a citizen?”  OF COURSE YOU WOULD HAVE TO – but remember, no one is forcing you to move there or become a citizen, it’s of your own free will.  If you love the country, you better love the country’s laws because they will apply to YOU.

I don’t like to simply point folks to ANOTHER website, but during my research, I have f0und many great websites with lots of great information.  However, there’s one called Challenging Mainstream Christianity that I have found particularly thought-provoking that I want to share with you.

Note:  If you are happy as a lark where you are in your religious standing & have NO desire to seek a deeper understanding, this site won’t be for you.  But if you are honest & feel you need to do all you can to make SURE you walk as closely with God as you possibly can, this site is for you.  Be forewarned, it will CHALLENGE you, that’s the point.  =)

 

http://www.therefinersfire.org/challenging_christianity.htm

 

You can click on so many interesting articles here you will be reading for days on end!  =)

 

Now, if you found yourself really interested in learning more, I have found a particular author’s books to be VERY well written, not too lofty, easy to read, interesting, & VERY HELPFUL!  His name is Todd D. Bennett.  Here’s his website where you can download his e-books:

 

www.shemayisrael.net – click books.

 

You can also find all his hard copy books at ebay & amazon – sometimes used for a cheaper price.

YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU READ THEM!

Even CHEAPER Laundry Soap!

Ok, so I’ve used the Duggar’s recipe for laundry soap for some time now with great results.  They use a bar of Fels-Naptha grated up & then cooked up to make it liquid before adding it to the mix (you can find the recipe in the “Make-It-Yourself Recipes” section of this blog) but I’ve found a way to make the laundry soap even CHEAPER!

Instead of buying Fels-Naptha (which I do love, by the way) I save all those little slivers of soap from the sink & bathtub – you know, the ones that no one wants to use because they’re so small & difficult to handle?) and I put them in a pint jar with some water.  I only need to make laundry soap about every 2-3 months, so I always have enough soap in this jar to be about equal to a regular bar of soap.  The bonus:  since the soap pieces are soaking in water, they are already dissolved & I found I don’t have to cook them.  I just fill the pail with hot tap water, add the 2 powdered ingredients, then add this “soapy water” I’ve accumulated.  VOILA!  It works like a charm!

Note:  Although the laundry soap recipe states any kind of soap can be used, I find only the Fels-Naptha makes it “gel” – all other soaps simply make it a liquid.  Both work the same, but if you’re used to seeing the gelatinous soap, this will be runnier, but just as potent.  =)

Rethinking “Christmas”…

For the past few years we have been reconsidering the whole “Christmas” thing…

Last year we told our family we didn’t want to exchange gifts, but we did the rest of the traditions.  We decided the presents weren’t what the holiday was supposed to be about.  This worked out fine last year.

Since then, we have been praying & thinking more on the subject.  Then we set out to really learn what the Christmas holiday was  about.  Seems it’s not a “Christian” holiday at all.  Surprised?  So was I.  It is not only pagan in its traditions, but in it’s entirety.  The tree, the balls on the tree (all phallic symbols of a pagan god, by the way), the date of the 25th (the birth date of all pagan sun gods, by the way), Santa Claus (which we never did in our home anyway) and the list goes on & on.  Jesus wasn’t even born in the winter!  Scholars have always told us that… and it’s true.  He was likely born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is in the Fall.  So why was the 25th of December randomly chosen?  It wasn’t.

So we have opted for no Christmas celebrations anymore due their overwhelming pagan sources.  No presents, no tree, no caroling.  To appease my family who already thinks I’m strange for being so “Christian” and doing things “by the book” we are going to still go to their celebrations & celebrate with them… but making it clear to them we don’t celebrate in our own home.  I figure, if I had a friend of any other religion that celebrated a holiday I wouldn’t be opposed to attend their celebration if asked, so I feel this falls under that category.  We aren’t participating in the gift-giving,  however.  My parents are brokenhearted.  I am wondering why this is so.   It’s not like we’re denouncing Christ or anything!  We just want a closer walk with Him.   It makes me wonder about their Christian sincerity honestly… the holiday really is just about the presents with them.   Why else would they even care if we weren’t celebrating?

In addition, we have decided to start celebrating all the real Biblical “holy days”/holidays that the Messiah celebrated.  Those would be the 7 Biblical feasts and a couple of minor ones.  The same ones the Jews still celebrate today!  No, we’re not “turning Jewish” as my daughter asked, but even after Jesus was born, lived, died, resurrected, then ascended into Heaven, his followers STILL celebrated all the Biblical feasts!  I figure, this means we should as well.  You know, JESUS was a JEW.  His APOSTLES were all JEWS.  None of them had the “New Testament” at the time & ONLY obeyed the TORAH and its teachings!

After all, the only real “Christian” holy days are the ones listed in Scripture.  All the others are, indeed, man-made.  The Scriptures warn repeatedly about not doing things out of man-made traditions, don’t they?  We never did celebrate the traditional Easter, Halloween, etc. so this wasn’t a big jump for us.

If you’re interested in watching a video that tells more about when Jesus’ actual birthdate likely was, you’ll like this one:

(Note, it’s “plan of salvation” mentioned at the end is NOT all the Scriptures say is required!  So feel free to stop it at the 5:40 minute mark or so.)

Starting Your Own Sourdough Starter

After eating at Cracker Barrel & eating their wonderful sourdough bread, I thought surely I could do this myself at home!  I have seen the sourdough bread mixes at the store, but I like all bread from scratch better… so I did some investigating.  It really is pretty easy to start your own starter!  You can keep it going as long as you like, it seems. 

Also, I found you can do a LOT with the dough, not just make bread.  You can make crackers, tortillas, tortilla chips, cakes, cinnamon rolls, crepes, gingerbread, even doughnuts!  The possibilities are endless!

Here’s the website that helped me the most:  http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm

HAVE FUN!

Money Advice from Proverbs

Proverbs gives us some very practical instruction on the use of money, but like all advice that’s difficult on our fleshly desires, often we’d reather not hear the truth! It’s more comfortable to continue in our habits than to obey God’s word & learn how to use money wisely.  Here are some things the book of Proverbs has to say about money:

Advance the cause of righteousness & don’t squander money – Prov. 10:16
Be generous – Prov. 11:24,25; 22:9    
Place people’s needs ahead of profit – Prov. 11:26
Be cautious of countersigning for another – Prov.6:1-6; 17:18; 22:26,27
Don’t accept bribes – Prov. 17:23
Help the poor – Prov.19:17; 21:13; 22:9
Save for the future – Prov. 21:20
Be careful about borrowing – Prov. 22:7
Be sure you know the person well enough before vouching for his credit – Prov. 11:15
Don’t make loans to strangers – Prov. 20:16
If you pledge to give, follow through – Prov. 25:14
Don’t make yourself poor by always paying a strangers debts – Prov. 27:13

Money Quote:

“You are only poor when you want more than you have.”     ~Unknown

The Influence of a Mother

“Who knows not that the springs of an empire’s prosperity lie in its domestic constitution, and in well-trained families? Even one such family is a contribution to the majestic flow of a nations greatness. Can such families exist without a woman’s care, oversight, and wisdom? Has it not grown into a proverb that home has ever been the nursery of great men, and their mothers their instructresses? It may be said, as a general principle, that woman is not only the mother of the body, but of the character of her children. To her is first entrusted the instruction of the mind, the cultivation of the heart, and the formation of the life. Thought, feeling, will, imagination, virtue, religion, or the contrary moral tendencies all germinate under fostering influence. The dominant direction which is to determine the whole course of life lies concealed in the first years of infancy, and these belong to mother.” 

    ~ John Angell James, Female Piety 1860