Contemporary, mainstream religious services follow a worship model known as “Seeker Sensitive”. Seeker Sensitive worship was established some 40 years ago by Pastor Bill Hybels and his church “Willow Creek” outside Chicago, Illinois. I almost guarantee you all have seen it you’re just not familiar with the term. The following is a quote from a 2008 Charisma Magazine article describing seeker sensitive worship:
“Since 1975, Willow Creek has avoided conventional church approaches, using its Sunday services to reach the unchurched through polished music, multimedia, and sermons referencing popular culture and other familiar themes. The church's leadership believed the approach would attract people searching for answers, bring them into a relationship with Christ, and then capitalize on their contagious fervor to evangelize others.”
The model established a hip, trendy, rock concert type service that caters to your emotions. Modeling modern concerts, it’s a stage show with special effects, lights, stage presence, a Las Vegas type of show! It’s extremely entertaining and there’s no tickets to purchase! Seeker Sensitive worship caters to the worshipper- trendy hip clothes, specialty coffee, hip atmosphere, all created to place you, the worshiper at the center of the action. After an extensive four-year review of their seeker-sensitive approach to church growth for three decades, Willow Creek Community Church now gears its weekend services toward mature believers seeking to grow in their faith-discipleship. With great transparency Senior Pastor Bill Hybels said:
"We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
In other words, spiritual growth doesn’t occur when congregates are dependent on elaborate entertainment and programs. Spiritual growth and maturity only occur through Torah based, biblical mandated practices of prayer, scripture reading, and repentance. Ironically, these basic disciplines do not require multi-million-dollar facilities and hundreds of staff to manage. Hybels said they successfully filled seats but failed to disciple people! People weren’t transformed to the Kingdom of God; in fact they weren’t challenged to change at all. Seeker Sensitive attempts to conform God to peoples tastes and desires vice transforming them into the Kingdom of God! Despite Pastor Hybels transparency and brutal honesty this style and expression of worship continues, it is now mainstream! Most Pastors desire to be Rock Stars and grow their congregation into a mega Churches and if you follow the pattern, you’ll do it but you won’t make Talmidim.
What’s the difference between a Seeker Sensitive service and a modern concert? Nothing! They all fill the seats, they’re all financially successful, they all cater to your personal desires, they all entertain and powerfully connect to you emotionally but none of them transform you to the Kingdom of God, you’re not Discipled. Several years ago, I had several conversations with people who’d been bruised and hurt in previous congregations. They’re now attending a hip, seeker sensitive, emotion-based service because the music spoke to them. Throughout the numerous conversations I never heard the words “healed” or “transformed”! All I heard was how awesome and charged the music is! Though this is widespread among believers today, it’s a demonic set up, it’s a distraction from becoming a true Talmidim, a true follower of Yeshua!
We must pray and seek divine discernment as we keep and celebrate the Fall Feasts this Month. We will not celebrate the feasts as a traditional synagogue, or a church, or as a Seeker Sensitive congregation but as a new creation, the bride of Messiah preparing for the wedding feast (Sukkot).
II Corinthians 5:17. Therefore, if anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation - the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new!
We see the spiritual source of this seeker sensitive spirit in Daniel, who’d been fasting for 21 days when the angel appeared to him and said we heard you on the first day, but it took 21 days to fight through the Prince of Persia to get to you. We understand that this reference to Persia is a spiritual one denoting a principality that the angel was fighting and only got through with the help of another angel Michael.
Daniel 10:20. Then he said, "Do you know why I came to you? Although now I must return to fight the prince of Persia; and when I leave, the prince of Greece will come;
After this period the Prince of Persia Principality came the principality of Greece (Hellenism) which has gone from the time of the Maccabee's through to today which is exactly what we are battling! Where was the theatre invented? Greece! What is seeker sensitive? Hellenistic entertainment just like Greece and Rome, in fact as I’ve said before our sanctuary is based upon that model, the audience wrapped around the entertainment. The prince of Greece will be defeated, no matter how hard the battle:
Zechariah 9:13. For I have bent Y'hudah as my bow and made Efrayim its arrow. I will rouse your sons, Tziyon, and make you like a warrior's sword against your sons, Greece."
As in Ephesians 2, the “One New Man” or “One New Humanity” Congregation that’s centered, focused on unity, Echad, and equality between Jew and Gentile, black and white, male and female, we must overcome the grave misconception that being in One Accord will reflect or look like any form of Hellenistic or Talmudic practice or expression of worship. We are not here to be hip, to be entertaining, to wow you emotionally, to cater to your coffee preferences, to give you a warm emotional fuzzy, or host a weekly worship concert. We are here to fulfill the biblical mandated transformation of individuals into Talmidim of Yeshua. We are going back to the future, to the Messianic expression of worship and Faith Yeshua celebrated. We are commissioned to make Talmidim, to lead people into heavenly transformation.
What I have come to understand is that what God is doing through us will not fit into an old Greek Wineskins or an old Persian wineskin. What God is doing today cannot be compared to anything that currently exists because there is nothing like it. What God is doing requires a New Wine Skin, a teaching that Yeshua Himself gave us 2,000 years ago.
Luke 5:29-31. Levi gave a banquet at his house in Yeshua's honor, and there was a large group of tax-collectors and others at the table with them. 30 The P'rushim and their Torah-teachers protested indignantly against his talmidim, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?" 31 It was Yeshua who answered them: "The ones who need a doctor aren't the healthy but the sick.
Let me put this into modern terms. Modern day Pharisee’s ask: Why do you keep Shabbat while we keep Sunday? Why do you abstain from Pork and Shellfish when we eat ham and have clam bakes? Why do you stay steadfast to the Feast Days while we celebrate Easter and Christmas? Yeshua explains to the Pharisee’s in a Parable:
Luke 5:36-39. Then he gave them an illustration: "No one tears a piece from a new coat (himation {him-at'-ee-on}: Cloak, Garment, a mantle [a symbol of authority or leadership]) and puts it on an old one; if he does, not only will the new one continue to rip, but the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 Also, no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and be spilled, and the skins too will be ruined. 38 On the contrary, new wine must be put into freshly prepared wineskins. 39 Besides that, after drinking old wine, people don't want new; because they say, `The old is good enough.'"
Contemporary Theology is vexed by these Hebrew idioms because they make no sense in Hellenistic study. The fact that it’s wine not grape juice is a foundational tenant in daily, biblical life. In fact, the grapevine and its primary product, wine, are mentioned more than any other plant in scripture. We find the word "wine" mentioned in the Bible over 300 times. Archeological evidence reveals that Israel was a major and significant grape growing and wine producing region with thousands of ancient wine presses discovered throughout Israel. Its natural then for Yeshua to teach using a parable concerning wine since it was and is a central theme and focus of scripture and biblical culture. So those who teach its grape juice are even more out of touch as this parable won’t make sense.
The general consensus in Christian Commentaries, Expositions, Concordances, and References is this: The old wine, old wineskins and the old coat are all symbols of Judaism, Torah, Tanach, and Israel whereas the new wine and the new coat are symbols of Christianity and Grace.
This theology is the root issue that results in the habitual battle and division between Christianity and Messianic Judaism. This is why we have had such a vast separation for over 1,700 years. This is why there’s no unity between Jewish and Gentile believers. Contemporary interpretation, theology teaches that the Old and the New are incompatible, that Judaism is incompatible with Christianity (Ironically Judaism teaches the same!). The old is worn out, obsolete, no longer valid, and done away with. So, by default, this teaching makes the Church a new and separate entity, not a patch that weaves the Old to the New Covenant. The New Covenant has erased and replaced the Old. This results in Suppersessionism (Church Replacement Theology) and Anti Semitism within the greater body of Messiah. Yeshua’s statement in verse 39 makes contemporary theological interpretation impossible to reconcile to scripture:
Luke 5:39. Besides that, after drinking old wine, people don't want new; because they say, `The old is good enough
Yeshua’s statement creates a significant flaw with the commonly accepted interpretation of this parable. It reverses the meaning assigned to the new wine. If the Gospel were represented by the new wine, then Yeshua’s words would mean this: “Judaism is a good, Mature wine worth drinking and the Gospel is cheap dollar wine that no one wants”. We know this is not true, therefore, the interpretation is wrong. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common error in modern theology. This is exactly why new wine skins are required, because the old won't accept the new!
The Pharisees Yeshua was talking to in Luke Chapter 5 knew exactly what Yeshua meant. They were very familiar with this Hebrew idiom of new and old wine. How would we know this? The Pharisees wrote extensively, and their writings are found in the Talmud and Mishnah. By comparing Luke 5:36-39 with the well-known Pharisaic proverb found in the Mishna; Avot 4.20, a light of revelation is unleashed as the true meaning begins to unfold before our very eyes.
Pirkei Avot 4:20
“He who studies as a child, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to ink written upon a fresh [new] sheet of paper. But he who studies as an adult, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to ink written on a smudged [previously used and erased] sheet of paper.
“He who learns from the young, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to one who eats unripe grapes, and drinks unfermented wine from his vat. But he who learns from the old, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to one who eats ripe grapes, and drinks old wine.
This Avot passage is comparing different types of teachers, disciples and teachings. We now begin to see a surprising result, a similarity between the Hebrew Idioms of Avot 4 and the words of Yeshua in Luke 5. In Avot, the vessels for containing wine are not institutions, religious movements or teachings. The skins or cloth represent individuals. The patch or the wine is the teaching that the individual receives, consumes or contains.
Now apply this profound understanding to Yeshua’s statement in Luke 5:
New garment = uneducated students
Old garment = previously educated students
Patch = teaching
New wineskins = uneducated students
Old wineskins = previously educated students
New wine = new teaching
Old wine = previous teaching
Every great move of God in the last 2,000 years has resulted in those with whom God was using to be thrown out of or removed from the current religious base and system. Yeshua, Sha’ul, Luther, John Fox, John Wesley, Evan Roberts, William Seymour, Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Coleman to name but a few. All were shunned by the contemporary religious establishment when God moved. The old refuses to accept the new. Yeshua sums this up and puts this all together in:
Matthew 13:52. He said to them, "So then, every Torah-teacher who has been made into a talmid (Matheteuo {math-ayt-yoo'-o}: Disciple (Tamid), teacher, instructor, pupil) for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a home who brings out of his storage room both new things and old.
We must understand and comprehend Yeshua’s words here… Every true Talmid, every true Disciple is one who teaches both the old and the new! If you’re not being taught both the old and the new, you’re not a disciple, you’re not a Talmid or Talmidim! This is radical but the words are Yeshua’s. This is where I must admit I get slightly agitated. People will see this, hear this, and go right back to their old Hellenistic way. There’s grave danger in knowledge and awareness regarding the Kingdom of God. You’re held accountable for the truth when you are exposed to it and know it. People will drive for an hour to attend a hip; seeker sensitive service yet repeatedly turn their back on truth when presented. We were warned this was coming:
II Timothy 4:3-4. For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. 4 Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths.
Every teaching, doctrine, or word that states the Old Testament is done away with is not of Yeshua! Who said:
Matthew 5:17-19. "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete (pleroo {play-ro'-o}: to make full, complete, to cause God's will as made known in Torah to be obeyed as it should be, to carry into effect, bring to realization). 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah -- not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
What God is really doing is not only preparing His bride for the return of His son, He’s restoring His word, His Torah with integrity, honor, loyalty, submission, obedience, trust, and faith accompanied by signs and wonders back into His body. Not great coffee, emotionally charged music, counterfeit grace. Or hyper love theologies. Love is even miss taught. Love is a command of God, not an emotion, not a warm fuzzy. We are returning to the basic core principles in the Kingdom of Heaven that have been and are being taught throughout scripture yet have fallen asunder as the greater bodies love has gown cold due to increased distance from Torah as Matthew 24:12 states. The hypocrisy within the body is mind boggling. I've met people who are professed Christians who frown upon having a glass of wine yet are OK with a man and woman living together outside the bonds of marriage or same sex marriage. We must remember one fact: However much you deny the truth, the truth goes on existing. Torah, Adonai, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit are truth!
Blessings and Shalom,
Rabbi Eric S Carlson
“Since 1975, Willow Creek has avoided conventional church approaches, using its Sunday services to reach the unchurched through polished music, multimedia, and sermons referencing popular culture and other familiar themes. The church's leadership believed the approach would attract people searching for answers, bring them into a relationship with Christ, and then capitalize on their contagious fervor to evangelize others.”
The model established a hip, trendy, rock concert type service that caters to your emotions. Modeling modern concerts, it’s a stage show with special effects, lights, stage presence, a Las Vegas type of show! It’s extremely entertaining and there’s no tickets to purchase! Seeker Sensitive worship caters to the worshipper- trendy hip clothes, specialty coffee, hip atmosphere, all created to place you, the worshiper at the center of the action. After an extensive four-year review of their seeker-sensitive approach to church growth for three decades, Willow Creek Community Church now gears its weekend services toward mature believers seeking to grow in their faith-discipleship. With great transparency Senior Pastor Bill Hybels said:
"We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
In other words, spiritual growth doesn’t occur when congregates are dependent on elaborate entertainment and programs. Spiritual growth and maturity only occur through Torah based, biblical mandated practices of prayer, scripture reading, and repentance. Ironically, these basic disciplines do not require multi-million-dollar facilities and hundreds of staff to manage. Hybels said they successfully filled seats but failed to disciple people! People weren’t transformed to the Kingdom of God; in fact they weren’t challenged to change at all. Seeker Sensitive attempts to conform God to peoples tastes and desires vice transforming them into the Kingdom of God! Despite Pastor Hybels transparency and brutal honesty this style and expression of worship continues, it is now mainstream! Most Pastors desire to be Rock Stars and grow their congregation into a mega Churches and if you follow the pattern, you’ll do it but you won’t make Talmidim.
What’s the difference between a Seeker Sensitive service and a modern concert? Nothing! They all fill the seats, they’re all financially successful, they all cater to your personal desires, they all entertain and powerfully connect to you emotionally but none of them transform you to the Kingdom of God, you’re not Discipled. Several years ago, I had several conversations with people who’d been bruised and hurt in previous congregations. They’re now attending a hip, seeker sensitive, emotion-based service because the music spoke to them. Throughout the numerous conversations I never heard the words “healed” or “transformed”! All I heard was how awesome and charged the music is! Though this is widespread among believers today, it’s a demonic set up, it’s a distraction from becoming a true Talmidim, a true follower of Yeshua!
We must pray and seek divine discernment as we keep and celebrate the Fall Feasts this Month. We will not celebrate the feasts as a traditional synagogue, or a church, or as a Seeker Sensitive congregation but as a new creation, the bride of Messiah preparing for the wedding feast (Sukkot).
II Corinthians 5:17. Therefore, if anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation - the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new!
We see the spiritual source of this seeker sensitive spirit in Daniel, who’d been fasting for 21 days when the angel appeared to him and said we heard you on the first day, but it took 21 days to fight through the Prince of Persia to get to you. We understand that this reference to Persia is a spiritual one denoting a principality that the angel was fighting and only got through with the help of another angel Michael.
Daniel 10:20. Then he said, "Do you know why I came to you? Although now I must return to fight the prince of Persia; and when I leave, the prince of Greece will come;
After this period the Prince of Persia Principality came the principality of Greece (Hellenism) which has gone from the time of the Maccabee's through to today which is exactly what we are battling! Where was the theatre invented? Greece! What is seeker sensitive? Hellenistic entertainment just like Greece and Rome, in fact as I’ve said before our sanctuary is based upon that model, the audience wrapped around the entertainment. The prince of Greece will be defeated, no matter how hard the battle:
Zechariah 9:13. For I have bent Y'hudah as my bow and made Efrayim its arrow. I will rouse your sons, Tziyon, and make you like a warrior's sword against your sons, Greece."
As in Ephesians 2, the “One New Man” or “One New Humanity” Congregation that’s centered, focused on unity, Echad, and equality between Jew and Gentile, black and white, male and female, we must overcome the grave misconception that being in One Accord will reflect or look like any form of Hellenistic or Talmudic practice or expression of worship. We are not here to be hip, to be entertaining, to wow you emotionally, to cater to your coffee preferences, to give you a warm emotional fuzzy, or host a weekly worship concert. We are here to fulfill the biblical mandated transformation of individuals into Talmidim of Yeshua. We are going back to the future, to the Messianic expression of worship and Faith Yeshua celebrated. We are commissioned to make Talmidim, to lead people into heavenly transformation.
What I have come to understand is that what God is doing through us will not fit into an old Greek Wineskins or an old Persian wineskin. What God is doing today cannot be compared to anything that currently exists because there is nothing like it. What God is doing requires a New Wine Skin, a teaching that Yeshua Himself gave us 2,000 years ago.
Luke 5:29-31. Levi gave a banquet at his house in Yeshua's honor, and there was a large group of tax-collectors and others at the table with them. 30 The P'rushim and their Torah-teachers protested indignantly against his talmidim, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?" 31 It was Yeshua who answered them: "The ones who need a doctor aren't the healthy but the sick.
Let me put this into modern terms. Modern day Pharisee’s ask: Why do you keep Shabbat while we keep Sunday? Why do you abstain from Pork and Shellfish when we eat ham and have clam bakes? Why do you stay steadfast to the Feast Days while we celebrate Easter and Christmas? Yeshua explains to the Pharisee’s in a Parable:
Luke 5:36-39. Then he gave them an illustration: "No one tears a piece from a new coat (himation {him-at'-ee-on}: Cloak, Garment, a mantle [a symbol of authority or leadership]) and puts it on an old one; if he does, not only will the new one continue to rip, but the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 Also, no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and be spilled, and the skins too will be ruined. 38 On the contrary, new wine must be put into freshly prepared wineskins. 39 Besides that, after drinking old wine, people don't want new; because they say, `The old is good enough.'"
Contemporary Theology is vexed by these Hebrew idioms because they make no sense in Hellenistic study. The fact that it’s wine not grape juice is a foundational tenant in daily, biblical life. In fact, the grapevine and its primary product, wine, are mentioned more than any other plant in scripture. We find the word "wine" mentioned in the Bible over 300 times. Archeological evidence reveals that Israel was a major and significant grape growing and wine producing region with thousands of ancient wine presses discovered throughout Israel. Its natural then for Yeshua to teach using a parable concerning wine since it was and is a central theme and focus of scripture and biblical culture. So those who teach its grape juice are even more out of touch as this parable won’t make sense.
The general consensus in Christian Commentaries, Expositions, Concordances, and References is this: The old wine, old wineskins and the old coat are all symbols of Judaism, Torah, Tanach, and Israel whereas the new wine and the new coat are symbols of Christianity and Grace.
This theology is the root issue that results in the habitual battle and division between Christianity and Messianic Judaism. This is why we have had such a vast separation for over 1,700 years. This is why there’s no unity between Jewish and Gentile believers. Contemporary interpretation, theology teaches that the Old and the New are incompatible, that Judaism is incompatible with Christianity (Ironically Judaism teaches the same!). The old is worn out, obsolete, no longer valid, and done away with. So, by default, this teaching makes the Church a new and separate entity, not a patch that weaves the Old to the New Covenant. The New Covenant has erased and replaced the Old. This results in Suppersessionism (Church Replacement Theology) and Anti Semitism within the greater body of Messiah. Yeshua’s statement in verse 39 makes contemporary theological interpretation impossible to reconcile to scripture:
Luke 5:39. Besides that, after drinking old wine, people don't want new; because they say, `The old is good enough
Yeshua’s statement creates a significant flaw with the commonly accepted interpretation of this parable. It reverses the meaning assigned to the new wine. If the Gospel were represented by the new wine, then Yeshua’s words would mean this: “Judaism is a good, Mature wine worth drinking and the Gospel is cheap dollar wine that no one wants”. We know this is not true, therefore, the interpretation is wrong. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common error in modern theology. This is exactly why new wine skins are required, because the old won't accept the new!
The Pharisees Yeshua was talking to in Luke Chapter 5 knew exactly what Yeshua meant. They were very familiar with this Hebrew idiom of new and old wine. How would we know this? The Pharisees wrote extensively, and their writings are found in the Talmud and Mishnah. By comparing Luke 5:36-39 with the well-known Pharisaic proverb found in the Mishna; Avot 4.20, a light of revelation is unleashed as the true meaning begins to unfold before our very eyes.
Pirkei Avot 4:20
“He who studies as a child, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to ink written upon a fresh [new] sheet of paper. But he who studies as an adult, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to ink written on a smudged [previously used and erased] sheet of paper.
“He who learns from the young, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to one who eats unripe grapes, and drinks unfermented wine from his vat. But he who learns from the old, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to one who eats ripe grapes, and drinks old wine.
This Avot passage is comparing different types of teachers, disciples and teachings. We now begin to see a surprising result, a similarity between the Hebrew Idioms of Avot 4 and the words of Yeshua in Luke 5. In Avot, the vessels for containing wine are not institutions, religious movements or teachings. The skins or cloth represent individuals. The patch or the wine is the teaching that the individual receives, consumes or contains.
Now apply this profound understanding to Yeshua’s statement in Luke 5:
New garment = uneducated students
Old garment = previously educated students
Patch = teaching
New wineskins = uneducated students
Old wineskins = previously educated students
New wine = new teaching
Old wine = previous teaching
Every great move of God in the last 2,000 years has resulted in those with whom God was using to be thrown out of or removed from the current religious base and system. Yeshua, Sha’ul, Luther, John Fox, John Wesley, Evan Roberts, William Seymour, Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Coleman to name but a few. All were shunned by the contemporary religious establishment when God moved. The old refuses to accept the new. Yeshua sums this up and puts this all together in:
Matthew 13:52. He said to them, "So then, every Torah-teacher who has been made into a talmid (Matheteuo {math-ayt-yoo'-o}: Disciple (Tamid), teacher, instructor, pupil) for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a home who brings out of his storage room both new things and old.
We must understand and comprehend Yeshua’s words here… Every true Talmid, every true Disciple is one who teaches both the old and the new! If you’re not being taught both the old and the new, you’re not a disciple, you’re not a Talmid or Talmidim! This is radical but the words are Yeshua’s. This is where I must admit I get slightly agitated. People will see this, hear this, and go right back to their old Hellenistic way. There’s grave danger in knowledge and awareness regarding the Kingdom of God. You’re held accountable for the truth when you are exposed to it and know it. People will drive for an hour to attend a hip; seeker sensitive service yet repeatedly turn their back on truth when presented. We were warned this was coming:
II Timothy 4:3-4. For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. 4 Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths.
Every teaching, doctrine, or word that states the Old Testament is done away with is not of Yeshua! Who said:
Matthew 5:17-19. "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete (pleroo {play-ro'-o}: to make full, complete, to cause God's will as made known in Torah to be obeyed as it should be, to carry into effect, bring to realization). 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah -- not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
What God is really doing is not only preparing His bride for the return of His son, He’s restoring His word, His Torah with integrity, honor, loyalty, submission, obedience, trust, and faith accompanied by signs and wonders back into His body. Not great coffee, emotionally charged music, counterfeit grace. Or hyper love theologies. Love is even miss taught. Love is a command of God, not an emotion, not a warm fuzzy. We are returning to the basic core principles in the Kingdom of Heaven that have been and are being taught throughout scripture yet have fallen asunder as the greater bodies love has gown cold due to increased distance from Torah as Matthew 24:12 states. The hypocrisy within the body is mind boggling. I've met people who are professed Christians who frown upon having a glass of wine yet are OK with a man and woman living together outside the bonds of marriage or same sex marriage. We must remember one fact: However much you deny the truth, the truth goes on existing. Torah, Adonai, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit are truth!
Blessings and Shalom,
Rabbi Eric S Carlson
Posted in October 2025
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