Podcast Episode: Understanding Faith: Beyond Belief and Action

Podcast Episode: Understanding Faith: Beyond Belief and Action
Olive tree with extensive exposed roots illuminated by sunset light on rocky hillside
A twisted olive tree with glowing roots stands on a hillside at sunset

Pip: There’s a light switch somewhere in this metaphor, and whether you flip it turns out to be the whole argument.

Mara: That’s actually the opening image from a post by cj on The Way of the Rabbi. Today we’re working through what faith actually requires — the Hebrew and Greek roots, the tension between belief and action, and what Paul’s warnings in Colossians have to do with how we read scripture now.

Pip: Let’s start with what faith is, and what it isn’t.

Understanding Faith: Beyond Belief and Action

Mara: The post opens with a distinction that shapes everything that follows: belief is intellectual, faith is active. Belief alone, as the post puts it, gets you nowhere if it is not active.

Pip: And to make that concrete, the post gives us the light switch. You can believe the switch works, believe the lights are functional — but if you don’t flip it, the room stays dark. Belief without action is just standing in the dark with a correct opinion.

Mara: The Hebrew word for faith is אֱמוּנָה — Emunah — and the post defines it precisely: “It means a steadiness, as in a steady walk of obedience. A steadfastness, faithfulness in keeping the ordinances of God.”

Pip: So Emunah isn’t a feeling or a declaration. It’s a gait. The way you actually move through the world.

Mara: And then the post turns to the Greek counterpart, pistis. The argument is that pistis carries a different weight — “faith without power, faith without substance, a mental understanding without an outward expression.” That’s the lens through which James’s line about faith without works gets reread: James is combining two Greek words to express one Hebrew truth.

Pip: Works here is ergon — occupation, undertaking. So James isn’t adding a checklist to faith. He’s saying faith and its expression are inseparable. You can’t have one without the other showing up somewhere.

Mara: The post then moves to Paul’s warning in Colossians, and this is where the argument gets pointed. Paul writes: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to the human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Messiah.”

Pip: The post reads that warning not as a release from God’s instruction but as the opposite — a caution against Greek philosophical culture and man-made tradition displacing Torah observance.

Mara: Right. The argument is that when Paul mentions food, drink, festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths in that same chapter, he’s defending those who keep them, not dismissing the practices. The post draws a direct line from that first-century tension to the present: the same argument about which observances are binding is still being made today.

Pip: And the post ends where it began — back to Emunah. Not perfection, but a steady walk. The question it leaves open is whether you want human tradition or God’s instruction.

Mara: That question is the whole episode in miniature.

Pip: Flip the switch or don’t — but the post is clear that calling it faith while leaving your hand in your pocket is a category error.

Mara: The roots of these words carry the whole argument. Next time, we’ll see where that steady walk leads.

Understanding Faith: Beyond Belief and Action

Understanding Faith: Beyond Belief and Action

What does it mean to have faith, to truly have faith? Often faith and belief are incorrectly considered interchangeable. Belief, is intellectual. It is said, “that even the demons believe and tremble.” Belief isn’t the problem. Many say they believe in an afterlife, even belief in a higher power. That belief gets you nowhere if it is not active. That is where faith comes in. When I enter a room I can believe the lights work, that the switch works, that if I flip the switch it will turn on the light; But, if I don’t actually flip the switch nothing will happen. Or the oven, I know that the oven will cook my food but if I do not turn it on nothing will happen.

When we read about faith in the Tanakh, (Old Testament) we see it as active obedience. Hebrews 11 gives us a quick account of the pillars of Faith. The writer makes it a point to say, by Faith, “By Faith, Noah . . . in reverent fear constructed”, “By Faith, Abraham, obeyed . . .”. The word Faith in Hebrew is אֱמוּנָה – Emunah. It means a steadiness, as in a steady walk of obedience. A steadfastness, faithfulness in keeping the ordinances of God.

The Greek counterpart is πίστις – pistis. The Greek culture was known and is still known for its philosophers, and artisans of various types and skill. Just take a look at any capital city and for the most part you will see a Greco-Roman influence. Rome simply adopted the majority of Greek culture. So when the Apostles wrote their letters, mostly in Greek the word they had for faith was pistis. Having no other real viable choice. Pistis, is faith without power, faith without substance, a mental understanding without an outward expression.

Perhaps this is why James writes pistis, without works is dead. Works in this greek context is Ergon and it means occupation, employment, undertaking. So James is combining two Greek words in order to present one Hebrew truth, Faith is active, it requires action, one cannot say they believe and not show it by their undertakings.

Paul is recorded in Acts as telling those in Ephesus about being watchful for ravenous wolves coming into the flock and deceiving many. Just before that warning he talks about his lifestyle, how he conducted himself and told those under his care to do likewise. He said that he was instructed both the Jew and the Greek (gentile). Now what do you think ravenous wolves would look like? Would you say that they would draw men unto themselves to practice ways foreign to God or do you think ravenous wolves would teach obedience to God?

Before you answer Pharisee, remember Yahoshua (Jesus) called out the Pharisees for teaching the doctrines of man. The message has always been one of repentance, a turning from disobedience to obedience. Turning from the ways of man to the instruction of Elohim. Some will point out Colossians 2:16 and say they aren’t required to keep the ordinances of God any longer. They do so without considering the culture in which this letter was being written. It was a Greek philosophical culture mixed with a sect of Judaism bound in mans traditions. Both equally astray from אֱמוּנָה – Emunah, Faith in YHWH.

Just look at Pauls warning earlier in that same chapter. “Therefore, as you received Messiah Yahoshua your Adonai, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the Faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to the human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Messiah.”

So when Paul is talking about food and drink, or festivals and new moons or Sabbaths he is drawing a contrast between the culture and God’s instruction. He is actually calling on those who would be otherwise chastised for keeping them to do so without condemnation. The Pharisees who were surely to judge the gentile for keeping them and the pagan culture around them for keeping what was considered a “Jewish thing”. Sound familiar? It should because it is the same argument being made today. Sadly, the greek influenced church is the pagan voice today.

Think about it, Paul warns not to be taken captive by philosophy, a major part of Greek culture. Deceit, something Yahoshua also warned about in Matthew 24:4 essentially saying, “Don’t let anyone deceive you.” According to human tradition, now let me ask you, are Christmas, Easter, Sunday, a human tradition or a Scriptural one? In contrast are the Feasts of Elohim; Passover, First Fruits, Pentecost, Atonement, Trumpets, Tabernacles, Sabbath, are they God’s instruction? The Church will fight tooth and nail for human tradition while calling God’s Feasts a thing of the past. Do you think that is according to the elemental spirits of the world?

Certainly not according to Messiah who was the Passover Lamb, the Word (Torah) made flesh, Adonai of the Sabbath, Light of the World, The Way, The Truth and The Life . . . all of which the Torah is described. He is the First Fruits, He is both the Torah revealed to Moses at Mt. Sinai on the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost as well, through Him the gift of the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost, a.k.a. Feast of Weeks. He is our Atonement, He is coming with a Trumpet blast, He is coming to Tabernacle with us for a Millenia. Are you seeing a pattern?

The devil is a copycat. He has mimicked and attempted to mirror celebrations but he cannot duplicate perfection which is what Torah is. God’s Word is true and He calls us to walk in its light. It isn’t about perfection it is about Faith, Emunah. A steadiness, as in a steady walk of obedience. A steadfastness, faithfulness in keeping the ordinances of God. Do you want human tradition or God’s perfect instruction? Only you can answer that question.

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

Podcast Episode: Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

Pip: There is a particular kind of morning ritual that starts with Scripture and ends with a question you cannot easily shake — and cj has been living inside one of those.

Mara: This episode follows a single extended meditation on what it actually means to live by God’s instructions — the tension between hearing and doing, between belief and action, and what Ezekiel and James have to say about where loyalty really lies.

Pip: Let’s get into the faith journey itself.

Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

Mara: The question at the center of this post is whether faith is something you hold or something you do — and whether the two can come apart without consequence.

Pip: The post opens with a daily recitation cj has built into morning Scripture reading, and the passage from Ezekiel 33 that it unlocked: “Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?”

Mara: That imperative is the hinge. Ezekiel’s point, and the post’s point, is that past righteousness does not bank credit against future sin — and past wickedness does not foreclose future restoration. The ledger resets on the direction you are currently moving.

Pip: Which is either deeply liberating or deeply unsettling, depending on which direction you thought you had locked in.

Mara: The post is careful to distinguish obedience from performance. The framing is direct: “Obedience isn’t works, it’s covenant.” Forgiveness is a promise, but it is tied to the orientation of the heart, not the accumulation of good deeds done while continuing to do as you please.

Mara: James gets quoted at length on exactly this point — the mirror illustration, where a hearer of the word walks away and forgets his own face. The post identifies the “perfect law of liberty” James names as Torah, God’s instruction in righteousness, and cites Strong’s definition of liberty as freedom from corrupt desires so that the soul acts freely in alignment with God’s will.

Pip: So liberty, in this reading, is not freedom from the law — it is freedom through it.

Mara: The post also draws on Acts 15, where the Jerusalem council’s guidance to gentile believers is framed as a beginning, not a ceiling — a first set of steps into a process of ongoing instruction read every Sabbath. Faith here is explicitly described as progressive, growing, active.

Pip: The closing question lands without softening: how are you seeking, how are you growing — because faith, the post says, is not stagnant, not passive, and not finished.

Mara: The through-line is that hearing and doing are not the same thing, and the gap between them is where the real work of faith lives.

Pip: The kind of work that apparently starts before breakfast, with a statement that challenges you before the day has a chance to.

Mara: Read the post in its entirety: Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey at thewayoftherabbi.com

Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

A statement that I have begun to recite after my morning Scripture reading has both challenged me and encouraged me. The statement goes like this: “The reading of the Word of Yahweh. Blessed be the Name of Adonai and the Word made flesh Yahoshua Messiah. Blessed be the hearer and the doer of His Word.” In this statement I give praise and honor to the Father, and His Son, as well, I challenge myself to not be a hearer only but a doer of His Word. When passages are read that challenge me, this statement, challenges me. When passages are read that encourage me, this statement, encourages me. For example today as I read Ezekiel 33 I was both challenged and encouraged. Let me explain.

First let’s look at the passage I want to highlight. It is Ezekiel 33:10-20 and 30-33.
“Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’ Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares Adonai Elohim, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ Therefore, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked man cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous man be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins.’ If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right— if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity—then he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live. Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this. Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.””

30-33 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from Yahweh!’ So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain. Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice. So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Within the spaces, between the lines, in the sound of each letter, i am challenged to repent and to seek truth and righteousness in my life. i am equally encouraged. In this that IF one repents of any wickedness, sin, forgiveness is a promise. It isn’t based on the amount of works one can do or how good a performance one puts on. It is about the heart and where loyalty lies. Will you choose your way, saying to yourself, “I am good, because I believe, so my deeds do not matter therefore I will do as I please.” Or, will you choose His Way, the Father’s Instruction, saying, “Oh Adonai Elohim, forgive me of my sin and hear my prayer, that I may walk according to Your Instruction. Write Your Torah on my heart and my mind that I can walk in the light of Your righteousness.”

This message is woven into the fabric of the Apostles letters. Forgiveness, repentance, faith, righteousness, sin, living in instruction. Obedience isn’t works, its covenant. Paul writes to the Philippians, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Messiah Yahoshua has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Messiah Yahoshua. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

This is a progressive faith, a growing faith, an active faith. It is what the Apostles were getting at in Acts when they talked about the gentile coming to faith in Messiah. What is it they were to do? How were they to assimilate? Well, it is a process, one taken in steps through instruction. “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

James writes, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” The perfect law, is Torah, God’s Instructions in righteousness.

Strongs makes this statement regarding ‘Liberty’; “freedom from the dominion of corrupt desires, so that we do by the free impulse of the soul what the will of God requires”. This is liberty, liberty from the fruitless acts of humanity into the fruitful works of righteousness. As the world seems increasingly out of wack, bizarre events happening in increasing measure, it is vitally important that you align yourself on the side of Yahoshua, the King of kings. As we pray, “Our Father in Heaven, Holy is Your Name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. . .” This is the Way.

Growing in faith isn’t finding loopholes and ways to continue in sin. Rather, growing in righteousness is seeking with your whole heart, how to Love Adonai with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. How are you seeking? How are you growing? Faith isn’t stagnant, it isn’t passive, it isn’t perfect, it is growing.

This is the way of the Rabbi, will you walk in it?

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: The One Story: God’s Covenant and Instructions

Podcast Episode: The One Story: God’s Covenant and Instructions

Pip: One book, not two — and apparently that page between Malachi and Matthew has a lot to answer for.

Mara: cj’s recent writing on The Way of the Rabbi goes deep into what holds scripture together as a single story, and what that means for how we live inside it. Let’s start with the covenant itself — and what the text actually says about sin, Torah, and obedience.

The One Story: God’s Covenant and Instructions

Pip: The central claim here is that the Bible was never meant to be read in two halves — and that the dividing line most readers take for granted has quietly done real damage to how people understand who they are and what they’re called to do.

Mara: The post frames the whole of scripture this way: “It should be read as if it was written to you and your family from your dad. Because, every word of it, was inspired by your Heavenly Father.”

Pip: That reframe matters practically. If it’s a letter from a father, you don’t skip chapters or treat half of it as superseded fine print. The whole thing carries weight, and you read it looking for coherence, not contradiction.

Mara: And the coherence the post argues for runs straight through the question of sin. John’s definition from 1 John 3:4 is quoted directly: “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” The post is careful to note that the word translated as law is better rendered Torah — instruction.

Pip: So lawlessness isn’t just moral chaos in the abstract. It’s specifically being without God’s instruction — which reframes repentance too.

Mara: Exactly. Repentance, the post argues, has always meant returning to the Father’s ways. Not a one-time transaction, but an ongoing orientation. Romans 6 gets quoted at length on this point — the logic that dying to sin means you can no longer live in it.

Pip: There’s a pointed moment where the Pharisees come up — not as rule-obsessives, but as people who added to and subtracted from Torah while performing compliance. That’s the irony the post lands on: the accusation of legalism often comes from people who also claim you should obey God.

Mara: The post closes with a direct question to the reader — what exactly are you practicing? It’s less a rhetorical flourish and more a genuine diagnostic. The instruction, the covenant, the door — all one continuous thing.

Pip: One story, one covenant, one set of questions you actually have to answer for yourself.

Mara: The kind of reading that doesn’t let you stay comfortable at the page break. More of that territory next time.

Read the whole post here: The One Story: God’s Covenant and Instructions

Podcast Episode: Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Podcast Episode: Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Pip: Peter had a vision involving a sheet full of animals, and somehow it became the most consequential real-estate dispute between clean and unclean in all of scripture.

Mara: Today we’re looking at a piece from cj that works through Acts 10 — Peter’s rooftop vision, what it actually meant, and what Israel had quietly forgotten about its own calling to the nations.

Pip: Let’s start with the vision, the pigs, and what Peter finally understood.

Peter’s Vision and the Nations

Mara: The post opens with a question that Acts 10 has been answering for centuries: what does it mean for something — or someone — to be called unclean, and who gets to decide?

Pip: And the anchor is Peter’s own words, once the vision lands. The setup is Acts 10:28-29, where Peter explains himself to Cornelius’s household: “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for.”

Mara: So the vision was never about dietary law. The sheet full of animals was a teaching tool — the real subject was the Gentiles standing at Peter’s door.

Pip: The post takes care to show how Israel arrived at this moment. The Torah was clear about welcoming the stranger — Leviticus 19:34 says to treat the foreigner as a native and love him as yourself. Exodus 12:49 and Numbers 15:16 both establish one law for native and stranger alike.

Mara: But somewhere between Sinai and the first century, a protective instinct calcified into total separation. Contact with Gentiles became a purity issue requiring Temple sacrifice and ritual cleansing. That’s the tradition Peter is carrying when the vision hits.

Pip: Which is why the Spirit’s staging is so deliberate — three times the sheet descends, three times Peter refuses, and then three Gentile men knock on the door. The number isn’t coincidence; it’s the lesson repeating until it sticks.

Mara: The post traces the original purpose back to Exodus 19:5-6, where Israel is called “a kingdom of priests” — priests exist to mediate between God and others, not to wall themselves off. Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6 frame the Messiah as the fulfillment of that priestly, outward-facing calling.

Pip: So Yahoshua isn’t dismantling Israel’s structure — he’s restoring what Israel was always supposed to be doing.

Mara: Peter’s conclusion in Acts 10:34-35 makes it explicit: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” The apostles in Jerusalem respond: God has granted the Gentiles “the repentance that leads to life.”

Pip: A kingdom of priests that forgot it had a congregation — and needed a rooftop vision to remember.

Mara: The post is careful to note what the vision does not revise. The animals on that sheet were still unclean as food — the point was the people at the door, not the menu.

Pip: Isaiah 66:17 gets cited as a prophetic bookend: judgment still falls on those who eat swine’s flesh. The dietary instructions, the post argues, were not the thing being cleansed.

Mara: What shifts is the wall between peoples. What stays is the Torah’s instruction — and the post frames both as consistent expressions of the same God calling humanity back to His ways.

Pip: One vision, one sheet, one centurion — and the whole architecture of who belongs gets reexamined.

Mara: The thread from Sinai to Acts to Isaiah 66 is longer than it looks. There’s more to follow here.

Read the full post here: Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Peter’s Three Little Pigs

“Now I know not to call any man common or unclean.”

Once upon a time there were three little pigs. They were traveling the country side selling their wears. “Come and buy my brother, kill and eat him. He is fat and juicy and will make a great sandwich.” Said the oldest of the three pigs. The brother didn’t flitch but seemed to accept his fate. “Today, just moments ago on your rooftop you saw a vision and in that vision, we three pigs came to knock on your door. “‘Rise up kill and eat,’ the voice said. And now here we are your lunch has arrived.” The man who opened the door invited the three visitors in and after exchanging a few shekels, bought the portly brother. He prepared him and the entire household partook in the kingly feast of the fatted pig.

This amazing story is found in Acts 10. Let’s have a look. We find Peter, on the rooftop in prayer. He is seeking wisdom from Adonai, as we all should do. Now as we all do, he became hungry. In that time of prayer and using that urge of hunger Adonai gives Peter a vision. What is the vision, what does it entail? Before we get there we need the back story. We need more information to put into context what is unfolding within the words, and lines, and spaces of the page.

Although the Tanakh (Old Testament) instructed Israel to be a welcoming people, a light to the world. Overtime they cut themselves off from the nations. Rather than obeying the commandment to not assimilate into the cultures around them, adopting their practices and worshiping their gods. They took the extreme approach and had nothing to do with the nations around them. To do so made one unclean and required sacrifices and offerings at the Temple, ritual cleansing. Let’s look at three passages that talk about Israel and the foreigner together.

Leviticus 19:34
You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am Yahweh your Elohim

Exodus 12:49
There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.

Numbers 15:16
One Torah and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.

This is what Israel had lost sight of and this is what Yahoshua (Jesus) is restoring. Not just reconciliation to the Father but of humanity itself and the order designed from the beginning of Israel. Isaiah writes:

Isaiah 42:6
“I am Yahweh, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, and I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations.” (Granted these first two passages are about the coming of Messiah Yahoshua but it was through Judah a tribe of Israel in which Elohim would fulfill the promise of Israel being a light to the nations.)

Isaiah 49:6
“He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.'”

Isaiah 60:3
“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Let’s take it one step further back. In Exodus 19:5-6 Elohim begins to layout the purpose of Israel. “‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.‘” What is the role of priests? One of reconciliation, healing, instructors of the Way. But something went drastically wrong.

Now fast forward, Israel is broken apart the northern tribes are mostly scattered. Some have regathered and are known as the Samaritans of which many lessons were taught by Yahoshua. However, the Southern Kingdom, in part remains. Made up of mostly Judah, Benjamin, and some of the tribe of Levi as they were spread out throughout Israel not having any land of their own.

What a mess. There was a separation that remained as part of the curse pronounced against Israel for not obeying the instructions, the Torah, of Elohim. And at this point although there was an attempt to do so it was lost in man made traditions of which the Pharisees and religious leaders were very proud. This is what Peter knew and he would struggle with it for some time. His awakening however begins or continues, with this vision.

Acts 10:11-16
“And he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Adonai, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.’ Again a voice came to him a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’ This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.”

As you could imagine Peter is greatly perplexed, he doesn’t know what to do with the vision. Then the Spirit said to him, “Behold three men are looking for you. Get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” Who were these three men? They were gentiles, men sent from Cornelius a centurion and a believing Gentile. He was instructed by an angel of God, “Cornelius!” He responded, “What is it, Adonai?” And the Angel said, “Your prayers and offerings have ascended as a memorial before God. Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter.”

The men explain who they are to Peter in this way. “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.” So we have Peter having a dream about unholy things and then three ‘unholy gentiles’ come knocking at the door. Sent by a Centurion named Cornelius, who just so happened to be a God-fearing man, who had a vision to call Peter to his home. Do you see the correlation the reason for unholy and unclean things to be lowered before Peter. Can you see why God chose this visual as a lesson?

Let us hear from Peter his interpretation of the vision. “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for.” (Acts 10:28-29). Later in that same chapter (V34-35) Peter says this: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”

After these things Peter reports to the Apostles in Jerusalem. In closing the apostles said; “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18). Much more can be said concerning this and all of it reflects the heart of God towards all the nations and tribes and tongues and people coming to know God. It is a calling back to God’s instruction the same instruction that calls Israel a light to the nation, still calls swine unclean and not meant for food. That has not nor will it change, it was unclean in getting on the Ark. It was unclean in Leviticus. It was unclean in Acts. And it is unclean now.

To drive this point home a bit further let’s look at Isaiah 66 a prophetic chapter looking at the second coming of Messiah and the Kingdom that follows. Isaiah records this in verse 16-17; “For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by Yahweh will be many. ‘Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the center, Who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice, will come to an end altogether,’ declares Yahweh.”

What is my motivation? It is to point to the Word and show anyone who will listen, that God from the fall has been calling mankind back to Himself and His ways. Will you choose to listen and obey the instructions of Elohim? This is the way of the Rabbi.

You are loved,
cj

Profound Life Advice: Stay Teachable and Discern Truth

Profound Life Advice: Stay Teachable and Discern Truth

my grandfather was a minister. He served the Church in many capacities, pastor, evangelist, director of interracial evangelism, conference superintendent, and editor of the denominations preachers monthly magazine, ‘The Sermon Builder’. He was also an author of several books. Finally he was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and above all a servant. my grandfather gave me a lot of great advice over the years but one particular bit of advice stands out over the rest.

i was in my early 20’s. We had just been discussing life and what the future holds for me over a game of Rummy. We played Rummy a lot my grandfather and i, and it was over those games many profound conversations took place. i wish i could remember them all. However, the one i believe he wanted me to take to heart, to make a part of who i was and who i was becoming was this; “Don’t ever think that you know everything about anything so that you remain teachable. However, know your stuff so that you can discern truth from lies.”

In a world of A.I. and content being created faster than anytime in known human history, no advice is of greater importance. Especially, if you are a follower of The Way. If you call yourself a Christian. If you want to follow Jesus it is absolutely imperative that you heed the advice of my grandfather, especially that last part. “However, know your stuff so that you can discern truth from lies.”

The Church, perhaps more so than anytime in its history, must be discerning. Why? Because the deception talked about in Revelation and by Yahoshua (Jesus) in Matthew 24, is without a doubt approaching. We must be like the Berean’s in Acts 17 (v11-12). “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.”

Paul reiterates this to a young preacher named Timothy. In a letter to him he gives the following advice: “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yahoshua. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.“

We must know the Word inside and out. We must take the notes from the messages we are being taught and search out the Scriptures to see whether or not what is being taught is truth. The “All Scripture” that Paul is referring to is the Tanakh, what is known unfortunately as the “Old Testament”. i say unfortunately, because, ‘Old’ gives the impression that it is outdated or unnecessary and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. It is in fact where we test things. Does it lineup with what the Father has already revealed?

It is important to remain open-minded however even more so it is important to remain rooted in Scripture. “Don’t ever think that you know everything about anything so that you remain teachable. However, know your stuff so that you can discern truth from lies.”

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: Light vs Darkness: The True Meaning of God’s Instruction

Podcast Episode: Light vs Darkness: The True Meaning of God’s Instruction

Pip: If you’ve ever wondered whether “let your light shine” was secretly a Torah study prompt, cj at The Way of the Rabbi has thoughts — and citations.

Mara: This episode works through one sustained argument: that light and darkness in Scripture are symbolic language for Torah and the absence of it, and that the stakes of misreading that language are higher than most churches acknowledge.

Pip: Let’s get into what Isaiah 5:20 is actually saying — and who it might be aimed at.

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Light vs Darkness: Torah as the True Instruction

Mara: The post opens with a familiar cultural reference — Isaiah 5:20 and the idea that good is called evil and evil good — then immediately pivots: the argument is that the church has been reading this verse too narrowly, missing that it describes the rejection of Torah itself.

Pip: And the verse lands hard in context. The setup is “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,” and the post defines evil through 1 John 3:4: “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” — where lawlessness means outside the Torah.

Mara: That definition does real work here. If sin is lawlessness and lawlessness means outside God’s instruction, then calling Torah obsolete isn’t a minor theological quibble — it’s the very inversion Isaiah is warning against.

Pip: The post goes further and names the problem directly inside the church. It argues that mainstream Christianity rejects Torah while claiming Paul as the authority for doing so — and then quotes Peter pushing back on exactly that reading.

Mara: The quote is pointed: “the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” That’s 2 Peter 3:16, and the post uses it to argue that Paul has been systematically misread, that he upheld Torah, taught it, and instructed Timothy to hold fast to it.

Pip: So the light-darkness imagery isn’t decoration — it’s load-bearing. The post walks through passages from John, Ephesians, and 1 Peter and asks the reader to substitute “Torah” for “light” in each one.

Mara: The substitution exercise is the heart of the argument. “He that follows me shall not walk in darkness” becomes “he that follows me shall not walk outside of instruction.” The post’s claim is that Yahoshua as the Word made flesh makes this reading not just poetic but literal.

Pip: And the bitter-to-sweet axis from Isaiah 5:20 gets the same treatment — Psalm 119:103, Hebrews 6:5, the honey imagery — all pointing to Torah as something to be tasted, not discarded.

Mara: The post closes with a direct challenge: “Did God change so we wouldn’t have to?” It cites Isaiah 29:13 and Matthew 15:7-9 on lips-versus-heart worship, and ends with a single question — are you following the instruction of the Father, or the commandments of men?

Pip: That question doesn’t resolve neatly, which is probably the point.

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Mara: The through-line here is that language carries theology — and that reading light as instruction rather than sentiment changes what obedience actually looks like.

Pip: Next time, we’ll see what else that thread pulls on.

Read the Post: Light vs Darkness, here.

Podcast Episode: Prepare for Deception: Strengthening Faith in Troubling Times

Podcast Episode: Prepare for Deception: Strengthening Faith in Troubling Times

Pip: If you have ever wanted someone to tell you that the aliens are actually demons, that your family might turn on you, and that Psalm 3 has something useful to say about all of it — cj has your episode.

Mara: This one goes deep into spiritual preparedness: what deception looks like in the current moment, where Scripture points when faith is under pressure, and how an ancient psalm becomes a framework for holding on.

Pip: Let's start with the deception itself.

Prepare for Deception: Strengthening Faith in Troubling Times

Pip: The post opens with a provocation — we are not just in another rough patch of history. The argument is that the sheer convergence of events, from geopolitical chaos to the mainstream normalization of UFO disclosure, marks something qualitatively different, and that the primary threat is not physical but spiritual.

Mara: The post draws on a reframing of Matthew 28:19-20 to make the preparedness case concrete: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

Pip: The move there is to take the word "baptize" back to its root meaning — to saturate — and apply it inward. Preparation is not stockpiling information about UFOs; it is becoming so thoroughly grounded in Scripture that a competing narrative cannot displace it.

Mara: And the warning is specific. Matthew 24:4 is cited directly: "See to it that no one deceives you." The post frames the coming pressure as something that will reach into personal relationships — family, friends, even church community — not just the broader culture.

Pip: That is where Psalm 3 enters, and it earns its place. David writes it while his son Absalom is actively trying to seize his kingdom — betrayal at the closest possible range. The post reads "Selah" not as a footnote but as a deliberate pause, a moment of sorrowful reflection before the turn.

Mara: The turn being: "But You, Yahweh, are a shield about me. My glory, and the One who lifts my head." The post uses David's arc — distress, pause, declaration — as the emotional template for anyone whose faith is being tested from the inside out.

Pip: Colossians 2:8 gets woven in as the doctrinal anchor alongside it — the warning against being taken captive by philosophy and tradition rather than Messiah. The structural argument is that Scripture, read whole and taken seriously, is the only preparation that holds.

Mara: The post closes on Psalm 3:5-8, which lands the practical note: "Salvation belongs to Yahweh; Your blessing be upon Your people." Rest, steadiness, and the refusal to stay in defeat are presented not as temperament but as theological conviction.

Pip: Which is a harder sell than it sounds, and the post does not pretend otherwise.

Mara: The thread running through all of this is really about where you anchor when the ground shifts — whether that is geopolitical noise, personal betrayal, or something stranger.

Pip: Selah, as they say. More from The Way of the Rabbi next time.