Dear Boaz and Jeremiah;

May the Lord prepare your minds and lips and thier ears so that the communication is clear and you are blessed.

God and Messiah go before you.
Shalom.

Like the missionaries many years ago that came to plant seeds of righteousness in this place we too follow in their footsteps to water the seeds that they planted. So many in the Torah movement are quick to dismiss the works of or the religion of Christianity. Coming to a place like this I realize the role that the church has had in God’s mater plan. The Torah can and Lord willing reach these people—but God needs to touch and impact their lives today, right know, with food, educational opportunities, and a means to earn money for their families. This is where I realize that my message that I will be giving over the next couple of days falls short.

I am sitting in a large, open-air auditorium where I will be speaking in the morning to several hundred people and leaders from this area. To my left are pods of children about 50 kids in all, each one wearing a red t-shirt which is their best effort for school uniforms, they are being educated by various members of this church. To my right are dozens of those steelpan drums that I mentioned in my first post, on Sundays this place must rock. I will upload pictures when I am able—it is a fun and unique scene to observe.

I have only been here a couple our hours now—but I can tell you that I am greatly moved by this place. I needed to gain this perspective. The hosts of this event are deeply involved in the local Nazarene Church. They like many of us have experienced in the past realize that their time there is short—so they deeply want to communicate the message of Torah to these believers. In our meetings we will have about 25 pastors from the local district. Pray that we are able to relate the message of FFOZ affectively.

Please pray for our sleep. Jeremiah and I are sharing a small bed, it is hot and there is no a/c. Opening the window allows for a nice breeze—but it literally sounds like we are in a zoo.

Boaz:

I am interested in seeing how you present the following:
Session One: Knowing Your Teacher: Introduction and Background. Introduction to a Basic Torah Hermeneutic
Session Two: Biblical Benchmark pt. 1: Understanding the Order and Priority of Scripture
Session Three: Biblical Benchmark pt.2: The Emasculated Messiah. TRUE DISCIPLES

Are these notes available as a CD or article anywhere from FFOZ?

Derek Leman

Shalom Derek,

Nice to hear from you—our family will be in Atlanta in April it would be nice to get together. I am here in Trinidad supporting a graduate student’s thesis paper entitled, “True Biblical Disciples Imitate Messiah and Obey Torah.” If this was my final paper I would have chosen a more subtle title—today it was very difficult having to build the basis for such a premise with the majority of the audience being opposed the very thought.

I was well attended with various pastors, professors, district denominational supervisors, and dozens of people from local churches. All of the teachings went off well and I am still trying to gauge the audience receptiveness. We’ll see how many return in the morning.

My Session Explanations:

Knowing Your Teacher: Introduction and Background. Introduction to a Basic Torah Hermeneutic
In this session I introduce myself, FFOZ, and give some basic definitions. I also share a very broad and personal understanding and approach to the Scriptures. This is as basic of an understanding using Scripture that I have come up with to explain what I believe and what I am about to share. As far as I know this is not in any of FFOZ current materials or teachings.

Biblical Benchmark pt. 1: Understanding the Order and Priority of Scripture
This is another basic session on the introduction of Torah. It is designed to show the consistency of Scripture and how the Torah serves as the Benchmark for the rest of Scripture. I would hope that the participants in this session would see how it is destabilizing to teach that later revelation negates or replaces God’s initial revelation in the Torah. This material is essentially presented in our DVD “Trembling at the Word.”

Biblical Benchmark pt.2: The Emasculated Messiah
I bet this is the session that caught your eye and may have even raised an eyebrow. This is something that I have been working on for the past couple of years and from time to time present it. First let me give you the definition that I work from of “emasculated.”

Webster

Emasculated
Function: transitive verb
1: to deprive of strength, vigor, or spirit
2: to deprive of virility or procreative power

MAC system based dictionary

Emasculated
Function: Verb
Make (a person, idea, or piece of legislation) weaker or less effective
[usu. as adj] (Emasculated) deprive (a man) of his male role or identity : he feels emasculated because he cannot control his sons’ behavior.

I am hesitant to write this it is still in development, although some online suggestions would be beneficial. Here is the teaching in the simplest form:

1.) Messiah desires to live in and through us. Messiah is and was faithful to the Torah. We are to be his witness and reveal his person in the world today. When we walk contrary to Torah—Messiah is not “pro-created” in or through our lives.

2.) When we teach the Messiah did away with the Torah we make Him, His teachings, and His purpose weak or less effective.

3.)When we disobey His Words and walk contrary to Torah we are like the son who disregards his fathers teachings making his father words pointless and we steal his identity as our authority.

This session is quite involved and draws from Deut 13, 17, 18 Acts 3, 7 and various Gospel texts like, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” John 5:46–47

I conclude this session when speaking to a Christian audience with the summary of the definition of a “Christian.”

• Christian: One Who is Like Christ / To be Christ like

• Christian: One who dies to the flesh and allows Christ to live in and through him/her

• Christian: To be a Christian, to have faith, this one walks in obedience to God’s Law. (Then I bring in Romans 3:31)

I know that once this teaching gets developed and kicked around by the staff I will have to change the title. We’ll see.

Thanks for asking! Boaz

Our time teaching in Trinidad is complete. It was a great experience and I pray will have a lasting and deep impact on this community. Trinidad is years behind the wave of “Hebrew Roots” that has swept through the US and other parts of the world. Speaking and teaching here reminded me of the early days in FFOZ. I estimate that of all that attended about 35-40 of those people left excited and encouraged to learn more. Others, like always, rejected all that I had to say. I became exhausted with the need to repeat, “we do not keep torah to be saved, to maintain salvation, to earn god’s love…I am suggesting we keep torah because we are saved, it is a privilege, in enhances our faith, it is our duty and responsibility as believers…” But this is a statement that is worthy of our time and is mandated that we clarify as Torah teachers.

We are headed home in the morning. Your prayers for a safe return are appreciated.

I am deeply moved by what I have read of yours.
My heart has been stirred for years about Psalm 9:10 - they that know thy name will put their trust in thee.
It has spoken deeply to me and I've wanted to make a banner which would convey the meaning. That has not yet come to me.

When I was 18, studying the First Testament description of dividing the land, I read that Levi was not given acres but the L-rd Himself as his inheritance. This touched me deeper than any scripture up to that time of my life (my father was a pastor). I said to the L-rd "I wish I could have been born a Jew in the tribe of Levi. Who cares for acres if you have the L-rd Himself as your inheritance!"
Years later I discovered my great grandmother was Clarissa Lavy (her father was Isaac Lavy from Ireland--came to Canada during potato famine).

I long to make up for the years of studying without understanding the Hebrew way of the scriptures.

I came to appreciate beauty of Shabbat (so much different than getting up and going to church on Sunday morning).
My heart has yearned to join others who light the candles on Friday night and give themselves to the L-rd for the next 24 hours . . . the family blessings, the havdallah ending to the day . . .

We now are pastoring a tiny church in Richmond ME. We moved here late Nov. 2006. It is like starting a new work. We want so much to live His way each day. My husband is now retired (70) and I'm 69. Our children (5) are grown. We have 13 grandchildren and one great grandson.
Because Les doesn't have to go to a weekday job we are together and are learning more about togetherness in our relationship. He had been gone from home 11 hours daily for many years.

I long to discover and become and accomplish all that for which I have been created.

~ Mary E. Dow

"Biblical Benchmark pt.2: The Emasculated Messiah"
Shalom Boaz:
Yes, this "caught my eye"! I want to encourage you - I think it is a great title, we (James & I) whole heartedly agree, and yes, understand what you are saying when you present "The Emasculated Messiah"!
Blessings Brother,
James and Maureen Wingfield
Canada