Weekly Bracha 10

This week in the Messianic blogosphere, plus spurious tangentials!

• Hardening Hearts – Messianic blogger Lisa W. ponders free will, Pharaoh, and God’s using men for his own purposes. Some discussion in the comments.
  
  
• Free From the Law – Boaz Michael discusses what “free from the law” means. Oh, and he adds a shameless plug for his HaYesod materials at the end, of course.
  
  
• Sound Familiar? Judgment and Forgiveness – Aaron Eby asks, what did Rabbi Riskin mean when he said that the teachings of Jesus are “very strongly rooted in Talmudic teachings”? He then demonstrates parallels between the Talmud and Messiah’s Sermon on the Mount.
  
  
• Rabbis Interpreting the Gospels – Here’s an interesting one. A (non-Messianic) Jewish blogger writes about rabbinic commentaries on the New Testament, and his discomfort with the idea. Good read. 
  
  
• Kavana, Prayer, and Torah Faithfulness – Messianic rabbi Joshua talks about Yeshua’s instructions regarding prayer and humility.
  
  
• Common Objections, John 1:17 – Do the gospels speak against the Torah? Toby Janicky dissects John 1 and the statement, “For the Torah was given through Moses, [but] grace and truth came through Messiah Yeshua.”
  
  
• Surreptitious Supersessionism – More than a tongue twister. Derek Leman discusses various forms of supersessionism – the idea that Israel has been replaced, or superseded, by the Church – including some subtle forms of this theology.
  
  
• The Devil Is In the Pre-Sales – Sorry, I couldn’t resist posting this one. Apparently, working on Christmas means you’re a Satan worshipper. Oh, and Santa will be offended.
  
  
• Simple Answers to Basic Questions – Obama Osama bin Laden released an audio message this week. Basic format is, “we are attacking you because you support Israel.”
  
  
• Death Threats To Pnina Pie Stopped – The bakery Pnina Pie, an Israeli bakery owned by a Messianic, has been in the news lately. Recently the Israeli courts ordered the Chief Rabbinate to grant its owner a kosher license. Now, its owner reports the death threats against her have ceased now that the anti-Messianic extremist Jack Teitel has been arrested for murder.

Video blogs

• Acts 15 Concluding Thoughts – John McKee on the conclusion of his study of the apostles’ ruling in Acts 15 on gentiles and Torah, and announces his upcoming study on the pastoral epistles. Beware of the evil Oswald Guin in the background, overseeing McKee’s discussion.

Happy weekend!