Breaking Traditions

05/25/2026

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05/25/2026

The Feast of Shavuot is the Jewish celebration of Torah, while Pentecost is the Christian rememberance of The Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. But many do not realize that these two events are one in the same. This misunderstanding came about after the destruction of Herod’s Temple in 70 CE as the Jewish Sanhedrin changed the Biblical dates of this feast given in Leviticus 23:15-16. This devastation changed their world and their religion, as their lifestyle would never be the same without a Temple.

Shavuot is the commemoration of God giving Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai around 1,300 BCE, exactly 50 days after Passover season and specifically the Feast of First Fruits of Barley. Over 1,000 years later in the first century, exactly 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection on the Feast of First Fruits of Barley, the Holy Spirit descended upon the first Jewish Christians. All Jewish males were required to come to the Temple for this feast, and Jesus had told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for this event, which explains why they were in “one accord in one place”. The Jewish people were doing their traditional duty, and the disciples were eagerly anticipating Jesus’ promised helper while they all celebrated God’s Holy Word.

“And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Exodus 24:15-17

“And when the day of Pentecost/Shavuot was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4

I pray that all God’s people, whether Jew or Gentile, break old traditions and realize that we must worship God in both Spirit and Truth. Let us agree that God’s Holy Torah/Law is necessary to learn and teach our children, as this moral law reveals how to live a peaceful life in harmony with others. Only with His Word can humans be in one mind and one accord about anything! Let us also agree that we need God’s Holy Spirit to dwell in us and not just with us so that we can survive in this sin cursed world. We must cry to God for the fire of His Holy Spirit to refine us for our mission to spread the Good News. With both God’s Word and God’s Spirit we can effectively share the hope of salvation found only in God’s Son, Jesus our promised Messiah.

04/28/2026

Hebrew is a fascinating language, believed by Jews to be the “Holy Language” of God. Archaeology states that Cuneiform, the oldest known writings ever found on earth, is actually believed to be an ancient form of Hebrew. Therefore, ancient Semitic Hebrew is historically the oldest language known to mankind.

Hmmm…

Genesis 11:1-9 teaches that after the great flood, people came together to build the Tower of Babel in an attempt to reach the status of God himself. These wicked people were acting in defiance of their creator, intending to overthrow Him and designate their own man-made gods to rule. We read that God responded by confounding their only language of Hebrew, leading to confusion and division, causing mass chaos, which happens to be the meaning of Babel!

It is interesting that Archaeologic evidence, in agreement with the Bible, shows Babylon as the origin of all root languages as well as the worship of false gods, the occult, and Astrology. Nimrod and his wife Semiramis were historically among the first humans to be worshipped as half man, half god beings in Babel.

Genesis 11:10-27 continues to tell us the lineage of Noah through his righteous son Shem and ten generations to Abram/Abraham, who is known as the Patriarch of the Nation of Israel. Abram lived in the land of Ur, near Babel. Jewish legend teaches that Abram’s father Terah was among those who worshipped false gods and worked as an idol maker.

Genesis 12:1-3 “Now God said to Abram, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.'”

God had called Abram to “come out” of the occult, false god worshipping civilization and to “cross over” the Euphrates river to worship Him in the promised land as the one true God and creator. Abram obeyed, and God blessed him tremendously.

Jewish fun fact… To “come out and cross over” is actually the definition of the word Hebrew! See Strong’s Concordance ot:5676 and ot:5674

What can we learn from God’s “Holy Language” of Hebrew?

What false idol worship and sin would God call us to “come out” of and separate ourselves from?

What river of decision and obstacle do we need to “cross over” to follow Him and His Torah-Law?

God is calling all who will step out in faith to become a Hebrew, to stand up for His word and live a life of righteousness that can only be found through accepting the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. The blessing of living in His “Promised Land” is in store for all who choose the path of obedience to the only true God, the God of Israel.

04/15/2026

Leviticus 23:15-16 gives the instructions to “Count the Omer” beginning the day that they wave the First fruits of Barley to God for an offering. Seven weeks, or 49 days are counted as an ascension, a rising up to prepare for the Feast of Shavuot and the giving of the Torah. The “Omer” is a measurement used to determine the amount of Barley in a sheaf and is used symbolically as the Spiritual measure we offer to God.

Specific prayers and devotions are focused on during each of these forty-nine days. The seven "Divine Attributes" of God are paired up with the seven "Emotional Attributes" of the human soul.

God's Devine Attributes:

Week 1- Love Week 2- Strength Week 3- Beauty Week 4- Victory Week 5- Splendor
Week 6- Foundation Week 7- Sovereignty

Man's Emotional Attributes:

Sunday- Kindness
Monday- Restraint
Tuesday- Harmony
Wednesday- Ambition
Thursday- Humility
Friday- Connection
Saturday- Receptiveness

Psalms 67 is read every day during the 49 days of devotions.
“God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.”

I pray Christians consider “Counting the Omer” in preparation for what God has next. We should begin counting on the day of the Feast of First fruits, the day Jesus rose from the tomb. We are commanded to count 49 days while offering the emotional attributes of our soul to the attributes of God who created us. God will take our fleshly emotions and transform them by His Holy Spirit into the image of our Messiah Jesus Christ. Then we will be more spiritually mature and ready for a supernatural outpouring of God on the 50th day, the Feast of Shavuot, known to Christians as Pentecost!

04/05/2026

“The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh” Exodus 7:5

We read in the Exodus account how the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob brought the Israelites out from the bo***ge of the Egyptians through great judgements. The Creator God redeemed His promised people by delivering ten plagues that specifically demonstrated the futility of every false god and goddess their culture blindly worshipped.

The number ten is symbolic of complete responsibility, and while ten plagues are recorded, the gods and goddesses they discredited were numerous.

The narrative begins with Moses and Aaron presenting a staff to Pharoah that miraculously becomes a snake and swallows up his Priests’ snakes. Their snakes were representations of Egypt’s protector goddess Wadjet, the daughter of the sun god Amon-Ra.

Moses turned the water of the Nile into blood that brought judgment upon Osiris, the god of economy and commerce. Osiris was believed to be the very source of the river, as the Nile was his “blood stream”.

We see the overpopulation of frogs, judgement on Heket, the goddess of fertility and all of her helper gods. Ironically, harming one of these amphibians brought the death penalty!

Geb, the god of the dust, was blamed for a lice infestation that even Egyptian Priests could not heal! The Priests, being unclean, were unable to pray to their healing gods, who were inept anyway.

All the people experienced the first three plagues, but after this, only the Egyptians were affected.

Kephri, the scarab beetle and supposed god of creation, was judged with swarms of flying insects that he had no control to roll away into a ball like he did his dung.

Many animals died as Hathor, goddess of love, worshipped as Pharoah’s mother, was deemed unable to protect her species. Even Ptah, their pet Apis bull god died during this plague.

Isis was ruined as the human sacrificial ashes of her altar were blown upon the Egyptians, causing them to break out in boils and sores. She had been revered for her ability to resurrect her husband, Osiris, from the dead, but unfortunately, Isis and her minion gods could not help their parishioners with a rash.

Sekhmet, the fire breathing protector god, and his affiliates were judged as hail rained down as fire destroying everything in its wake.

Seth, god of storms and protector of all crops, could not prevent the swarms of locusts from devouring their fields. Seper, god of the grain, was likewise incapable of preventing destruction.

Three days of complete darkness showed the complete incompetence of Amon-Ra, the sun god and giver of life, as he had absolutely nothing to give!

Then sadly, we come to the death of all the firstborn of Egypt, which brought judgement of the firstborn of Osiris and Isis, Horus. He was incapable of offering comfort to his humans.

Lastly, we read of the death verdict of Pharaoh at the Reed Sea crossing after God had given him ten chances to repent! Pharoah had been erroneously worshipped as the human reincarnate, personification of the resurrected Horus, holding all authority over Egypt. Yet, regrettably, Pharoah lacked the ability to save himself.

“Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh.” Exodus 12:12

May we allow the only God of all heaven and earth to open our eyes to any false gods in our lives, as we repent and give all our worship to Him, and His resurrected Son, Jesus Christ!

04/05/2026

Jews today commemorate the Feast of Passover by retelling the story of their Exodus from Egypt, and their deliverance made possible by the blood of a spotless lamb. They adhere to strict dietary rules while they clean all leavened food from their home! They revere the day as a High Holy Day, as they long for the future coming of one in the Spirit of Elijah to prepare the way of their Messiah who is yet to come.

“Jesus said… I tell you Elijah has come already, and they didn’t recognize him… then the disciples understood that he spoke to them about John the Baptizer.” Matthew 17:11-13

Christians celebrate this first day of the week as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the First Fruits of those who will rise from the dead, our Jewish Messiah who came as a suffering servant. He is the Passover Lamb who cleans us and takes away the sins of the world! We can place the blood of this spotless sacrifice on the threshold of our hearts and allow Him to deliver us from the bo***ge of sin. Let us rejoice in the future redemption of our Savior who will return as a Reigning King and catch up all who believe in Him and present us to His Father in Heaven.

“But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.” 1 Corinthians 15:20-23

03/24/2026

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03/24/2026

Confucius searched for The Way.

K’ung Ch’iu was born in 551 B.C.E. and died in 479 B.C.E.
He practiced Daoism, the atheist religion of harmony, and ancestor worship. He taught the Golden Rule; “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.” (first recorded in Leviticus 19:18 of the Torah, written by Moses in 1688 B.C.E.), along with the cultivation of knowledge, and the Ruism theory of ethics called “The Way” teaching:
Yi- Doing the right thing at the right time to achieve righteousness for self,
Li- Doing the proper thing at the proper time to attain core ethics of daily behavior to build the ideal society,
Ren- Using the Five Basic virtues of generosity, sincerity, diligence, kindness, and seriousness that will lead one to attain Yi and Li, thus perfectly fulfilling one’s responsibilities toward humankind.
His teachings refer to heaven and hell, but do not focus on the importance of the soul.
Confucius’ body is buried in the Kong Lin Cemetery in Qufu, Shandong Province of China.

Buddah searched for The Truth.

Gautama Siddhartha is believed to have lived and died around 500-400 B.C.E., near modern day Nepal and India. Historians do not agree on dates due to the various legends surrounding his life. He referred to himself as Buddah, the Awakened one. He taught that the universe is the product of Karma- the law of cause and effect. (first recorded in Job 4:8, circa 1843-1703 B.C.E.)
He taught the Four Noble Truths; The truth of suffering, The truth of the cause of suffering, The truth of the end of suffering, and The truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.
Buddah wrote The Eightfold Path to show others the steps to reach the end of suffering: Right understanding, Right intent, Right speech, Right action, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness, and Right concentration.
He taught that there are Six realms of spiritual beings: Gods, Demigods, Humans, Animals, Ghosts, and Hell beings. These are reincarnation destinations based on Karma, and Nirvana is the ultimate goal of being released from all suffering.
Buddah was cremated and his ashes were scattered at the eight places where he learned each step of the Eightfold Path.

Muhammad searched for The Life.

Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim was born 570 C.E. in Mecca, Arabia and died 632 C.E. in Medina. Muhammad is the founder of the Islam religion and the proclaimer of the Qur’an.
Muhammad taught on Six major beliefs; One God, Angels of God, Books of God which include the Torah (written by Moses in 1688 B.C.E.) along with The Qur’an, Prophets of God, Day of Judgement resulting in either heaven or hell according to works, and the Divine Decree- the ultimate predestination of God for those who attain good works in order to earn eternal life.
He authorized the Five pillars- acts of worship required to establish good works: The declaration of faith in God and Muhammad as his prophet, Prayer five times a day, Charity, Fasting, and Pilgrimage to Mecca.
Muhammad is buried in The Sacred Chamber in Medina, modern day Saudi Arabia.

While each of these teachers referred to, and alluded to some Biblical Truth, none of them claimed to have found what they were searching for!

During this Easter season let's look to the only man whom history proves is no longer in the grave. Let's focus Jesus who is the only Way of salvation, the living Truth of God's Word, and the promise of eternal Life with our Heavenly Father!

03/16/2026

Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17, has been a day of festive celebration that involves drinking, pinching and pranks of lucky leprechauns since the death of the bishop in 461 A.D. His adventurous life began at the age of 16 when he was kidnapped from his British childhood home and held as a slave for six years in Ireland. During this time of being forced into heathen paganism, he became more certain of his parent’s teaching of Jesus Christ. He managed to escape his captors but was drawn to return to preach the gospel to the Pagans after becoming a Catholic Bishop.

The early Celts worshipped many mythological gods and goddesses that were brought from Greece around 2000 B.C.E. “The Three Morrigans”, “Triple Mothers”, and “The Three Brighids” are all names of the goddess of war, healing, and magical powers. This goddess was worshipped for having three aspects of a single deity and was symbolized by the shamrock. The three leafed plant was used as a healing herb to cast off evil spirits and give the enlightenment of truth. Saint Patrick used this three-leaf clover to demonstrate the truth of God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Son, converting many Celts to Christianity.

Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland, but this is most likely referring to the wickedness of the pagan cult being cast out by the preaching of Jesus Christ, because snakes have never existed on the island.

The drinking associated with Saint Patrick’s Day comes from traditions of the Catholic Church. The council of Nicea of 325 A.D. ordered the observance of the Lent fast for forty days prior to Easter, but upon the desire to celebrate the death of Saint Patrick they made an exception for March 17, allowing congregants to overindulge in drinking during the festivities!

Leprechauns have long been known as tricksters, possibly dating back to 860 A.D. during the time of Viking attacks on Ireland. People used the schemes of mythologic beings to play tricks on the Danes and went to great lengths to hide their gold and valuables from raiders.

“Wearing of the Green” and parades became popular in the 17-18th century of descendants who wanted to show their Irish pride across the world on March 17. It is believed that sneaky Leprechauns cannot see you if you are wearing green and will pinch you if you don’t!

As far as “The Luck of the Irish”, let’s not forget that “luck” is only a word used by those who do not acknowledge the Blessings of God!
May we learn from Saint Patrick the ability to trust in God during hard times. May we pray for our enemies and find ways to share with them the loving gospel of Jesus Christ. May we reveal the evil tricks of satan, and enlighten them with the truth of the only creator, healer, and miracle worker that is exclusively found in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
Read 1 John 5

03/10/2026

“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.” Exodus 12:15

When God called Moses to redeem the Israelites from Egypt, He instituted the Passover which included a special Sabbath, the High Holy Day of The Feast of Unleavened Bread. He commanded His chosen people to clean out all of the leaven from their entire house to prepare the Passover meal. For seven days they were not permitted to eat leaven in their bread! This leaven was the gradual acceptance of paganism which had infiltrated their lives while living among the Egyptians. God did not want them to take any of these practices with them into the Promised Land.

“The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.” Exodus 12:34

Since the Exodus around 1,500 B.C.E., this Spring-cleaning tradition has spread around the world with the migration of the Israeli people. Rabbis have continued to encourage Jews to take this commandment very seriously, as their souls are in danger of being cut off! This is why they spend the entire month before Passover to remove all leaven and take extra steps to burn even the smallest crumb that might cause defilement of their souls.

Does the condition of our souls really depend on the cleanliness of our house? Where could any small piece of leaven-containing food possibly be hiding in our homes, condemning our souls? Under the couch cushion? Under the bed? Don’t forget the oven, under the oven, and anything that may have fallen in the crack beside the oven! The refrigerator and freezer must be cleaned, and the pantry… yes, even the prepackaged leavened food must be removed from the house before sunset that begins the Passover. This is required in order to participate in the Passover celebration of liberation!

The good news is that Jesus declared our souls depend only on the cleanliness of our hearts and the acceptance of Him, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”! John 1:29
Jesus was crucified and buried just before sunset that begins the Passover and the special Sabbath, the High Holy Day of The Feast of Unleavened Bread.

“It was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near.” Luke 23:54

Jesus bore the punishment of our sins and took them to the grave!
I pray that you accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and allow Him to cleanse your heart from all leaven-sin, even the little crumbs of sin that have fallen into the hidden crevices of your heart that separates you from God!

“Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:7&8