Perhaps you have heard that there is something of a movement out there of zealous Rightist Christians and Messianic Jews claiming dreams, visions, and prophecies about our current political condition. Among these are those who claim to have predicted the rise of Donald Trump as well as those who claim divinely given insight into the […]
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Dear Rabby is the weekly advice column that comes with our Shabbat Home Discussion Guide, Shulchan Shelanu. In this recent letter, Rabby answers a letter about making on-line Zoom Bible Studies more effective. See if these suggestions work for you! And adapt them for use in your services too! Check this out! Dear Rabby, Down […]
Our gatherings, Consulates of the Kingdom, Embassies of the Age to Come, demonstrating and sharing life living between the Already and the Not Yet should never become static. This brings us to the third and fourth components of our six-part answer to our question about what we, as Yeshua's people, are supposed to be doing. […]
This time of social distancing and sequestering is a time for questions: When will it be over? How will it end? Can we put this virus to sleep so it never wakes up? All sorts of questions. One of the questions which Yeshua’s people should be asking is “How can we do a better job […]
When we gather together again in a post-Corona Virus world, we who claim to honor and serve Yeshua the Messiah will most certainly have a job to do. For now, as best we can, we are doing it virtually, but soon, please God, we will be our Kingdom job actually. This is true whether we […]
Joseph Hellerman's When the Church Was a Family is foundational for anyone seeking to understand or implement household spirituality. His analysis of biblical and historical materials viewed in the light of against the strong group family are thought-provoking, and his call to implement strong-group ecclesiology is provocative, especially because he presents this not as one […]
In Joseph Hellerman’s When the Church Was a Family, his ninth chapter speaks of “Leadership in the Family of God.” Here he goes deeper still into the what and how of modern church renewal in the image of strong-group model. He opens describing a strong-group community which turned out to be deeply cultic, indicating that […]
Here we continue our summary of and comments upon Joseph Hellerman's When the Church Was a Family. Chapter Six considers “Salvation as a Community Creating Event,” using this theme as a platform for considering the limitations and liabilities of individualism and individualist schemas of salvation. He begins by discussing Evangelical statements of faith and how […]
Chapter Five of When the Church Was a Family, “The Church in the Roman World,” notes the high bar of commitment expected of church members, including leaving professions regarded as immoral or corrupt. Churches would routinely see to the financial maintenance, care, and feeding of those obliged to make such choices because of familial solidarity. […]
In the Third Chapter of When The Church Was A Family, Joseph Hellerman looks at how Yeshua imbedded Mediterranean familial assumptions in the group he formed, and how these assumptions are reflected in his teachings. The major thrust here is the difference between belonging to a group in the first century and belonging to a […]
