Weekly Bracha 51

Oh yes! Another fine bracha for the even-finer Kineti blog readers. The gems worth reading from this past week (or two) in the Messianic blogosphere:

• The Christ Who Makes Men Whole – A moving sermon from 1948, delivered by Bishop Marvin A. Franklin, grandfather of Messianic scholar J.K. McKee. McKee explains:

  Here is a sermon that my great-grandfather put together that we found as we have been packing for the big move. It was given in 1948 only two weeks after the establishment of the State of Israel, but it is obvious that a major theme on his mind was post-World War II and the impending Cold War.

• In Righteous Memory – Dwight A. Pryor, founder of the excellent Hebrew roots resource Center for Judaic-Christian Studies, passed away last week.

  “My strong conviction is that the Lord is restoring the Hebraic foundations of the Church so that together we all can move forward in greater faithfulness and maturity in the service of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. Toward that end we should be Father-focused, Christ-centered and Spirit-saturated. We should stand with and pray for Israel. Our teaching should strive to be biblically balanced and theologically sound.”

  -Dwight A. Pryor

• Prayer for the Restoration of Zion – Messianic Jewish pioneer Rabbi Yechiel Tzvi Lichtenstein’s (1831-1912) prayer for Israel’s restoration, some 70 years before Israel became a state again. Quite moving:

  O L-rd, in accordance with all of your acts of righteousness, let your anger and wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Our Father, our King, lift a banner to the peoples to return Israel to its pasture. Gather us together from the four corners of the earth to our land, and plant us within its borders on the mountain of our inheritance. Bring us to Zion, your city, with singing and to Jerusalem, your holy city, with eternal joy. Build it in your compassion and let it remain perched and inhabited in its place. Establish your Holy Temple in it and gladden us in your House of Prayer. Return your Dwelling Presence to Zion, your city, and send us Yeshua our Messiah a second time. Let him reign upon the throne of David in Jerusalem, your holy city.  Lift up the horn of the salvations of your people Israel in the house of David your servant – salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, just as you have spoken through your prophets. O L-rd, hear!  O L-rd, forgive! O L-rd, listen and act!  Do not delay, for your own sake, our G-d, for your name is called upon your city and upon your people. Hurry, HaShem, to help us! Ransom your people Israel from all its iniquities and from all of its troubles, for the time to be gracious has come, for the appointed time has come. Amen.

• Forced Paganism – With St. Valentine’s Day coming up tomorrow, Messianic rabbi Dr. Michael Schiffman posts his rather amusing thoughts on the holiday.
• Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls – Examining the Melchizedek Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the book of Hebrews, showing the idea of divine, priestly, sin-forgiving Messiah was an early Jewish concept, not one that developed in later Christian theology.
• Did Christ Abolish the Law? A Review – Looking at Ephesians 2’s, “Christ has broken down the middle wall, the enmity in his flesh, the law of the commands in ordinances, having done away…”
• Circumcision and non-Jews – Looking at Maimonides’ (a prominent medieval Jewish scribe) take on non-Jews receiving circumcision. And was Paul against it? Or just against converting to Judaism?
• Tomb of the Prophet Zechariah Found? Israeli archaeologists unveiled on Wednesday the remnants of a newly discovered Byzantine-era church they suspect is concealing the tomb of the biblical prophet Zechariah.
• Canons of Jewish and Christian Scripture – On the subject of the canon of Scripture and its interpretation,

  Many Jews and Christians are nonetheless at a loss when it comes to articulating a sense of God’s involvement in the life and worship of those who read many of the same texts they do, but within the framework of a religious metanarrative incompatible with their own. It might be admitted by all that the God who speaks in scripture speaks to Jews and Christians of whatever persuasion when Genesis, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and the Psalms are read in worship. Whether the scriptures are heard rightly, of course, is a separate question.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the bracha. Happy week, fine blog Messianic blog readers!