Recommended Reading

 The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus by Nehemia Gordon

                    Link: Amazon Books

An astonishing realization has recently gripped the Christian world: "Jesus Christ" was not a blond-haired, blue-eyed Gentile. Yeshua of Nazareth was raised in an observant Jewish family in a culture where the Torah (five books of Moses) was the National Constitution. Yeshua's teachings, which supposedly form the basis for Western Christianity, are now filtered through 2000 years of traditions born in ignorance of the land, language, and culture of the Bible. The issues over which Yeshua wrestled with the Pharisees are simply not understood by modern Christians; nor are his most important instructions followed by those who claim to be his disciples.
 

 The Holy Epistle to the Galatians, Book    Link:First Fruits of Zion Resources

Sermons on a Messianic Jewish Approach to the Book of Galatians
Peter says that Paul’s letters contain things that are hard to understand which lawless people twist as they do the rest of the Scriptures.
Bible readers generally understand Galatians as Paul’s dissertation against the Torah and against Judaism. More than any other book of the New Testament, Galatians defines the line between Messianic Judaism and greater Christianity.
Paul was a prodigy educated in the most elite schools of Pharisaism. He wrote and thought from that Jewish background, rendering several key passages of his work incomprehensible to readers unfamiliar with rabbinic literature. This collection of sermons on a Messianic Jewish approach to Galatians opens Paul’s world and provides the historical Jewish context necessary to decipher the epistle.
In an easy-to read, narrative style, Torah Club author D. Thomas Lancaster, takes his readers from one end of the epistle to the other, challenging conventional interpretations and offering new insights to reveal the Jewish Paul.

 

Grafted In, Book, Softcover      Link:  First Fruits of Zion Resources

The Apostle Paul compared Gentile Christians to olive branches cut from wild olive trees and grafted into the olive tree of Israel. He believed that the dividing wall separating Jew and Gentile had been removed, and to him this was the “mystery of the Gospel.”
Originally published under the title The Mystery of the Gospel, this completely revised and updated edition contains a new introduction by the author and two new appendices: “We Were in a Synagogue” and “To Pray as a Gentile.”

 God-Fearers, Book        Link:First Fruits of Zion Resources

Gentiles & the God of Israel

Historians, scholars, and theologians agree that first-century Christianity was a sect of Judaism, but where does that information place first-century Gentile Christians? What did it mean to be a Gentile who practiced Judaism in the days of the apostles?

These are not just academic questions; they are at the heart of today’s growing Messianic Jewish movement. How do non-Jews engage in the modern Messianic Jewish revival?

Toby Janicki marshals the latest scholarship on late Second-Temple-Era Judaism and early Christianity to introduce his readers to the first Gentile disciples of Yeshua, a class of people called God-fearers. God-Fearers brings balance and solid answers for non-Jews seeking to practice the Jewish roots of their faith.

"The role of Gentiles within the Messianic Jewish community has been a source of controversy and discord for years. In God-Fearers, Toby Janicki provides information, insight, and wisdom that can transform this discord into fruitful dialogue. God-Fearers will help Gentiles enter into the riches of Torah in ways that support a genuinely Jewish movement for Messiah Yeshua."

— Rabbi Russ Resnik, Executive Director, Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations


  Link:Jewish Wisdom, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

When, if ever, should lying be permitted?
If you've damaged a person's reputation unfairly, can the damage be undone?
Is a person who sells weapons responsible for how those weapons are used?
if the fetus is not a life, what is it? How, as an adult, can one carry out the command to honor one's parents when they make unreasonable demands?
What are the nine biblical challenges a good person must meet?

What do the great Jewish writings of the last 3,500 years tell us about these and all other vital questions about our lives? Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has devoted his life to the search for answers within the teachings of Judaism. In Jewish Wisdom, Rabbi Telushkin, the author of the highly acclaimed Jewish Literacy, weaves together a tapestry of stories from the Bible and Talmud, and the insights of Jewish commentators and writers from Maimonides, Rashi, and Hillel to Einstein, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Elie Wiesel. A richer source of crucial life lessons would be hard to imagine
Link:The Book of Jewish Values, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

In The Book of Jewish Values, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has combed the Bible, the Talmud, and the whole spectrum of Judaism's sacred writings to give us a manual on how to lead a decent, kind, and honest life in a morally complicated world. Telushkin speaks to the major ethical issues of our time, issues that have, of course, been around since the beginning. He offers one or two pages a day of pithy, wise, and easily accessible teachings designed to be put into immediate practice. The range of the book is as broad as life itself:


               Link:Guardian Angel, Skip Moen

Guardian Angel: What You Must to Know about God’s Design for Women, by Skip Moen, D.Phil.

Every woman knows she was designed for a special role — a role that has been denied to her far too long. In this study of Scripture, Skip Moen re-examines the Genesis account from an Hebraic perspective. This foundation supports a radical revision of contemporary views about women. Women were designed by God to guide, direct and supply the boundary conditions for their men. They were designed by God to be the relationship managers of marriage. They are the ones who are intended to provide strength, shelter and correction. Without understanding these roles, marriages will flounder and gender issues will remain unresolved.

                  Link:Words To Lead By, Skip Moen

Endorsements:

“Skip Moen is a creative thinker. His background studies in Greek and Hebrew give him insights that make the unclear clearer. He will help audiences stop doing what they shouldn’t do and do more what they should. He has gotten rave notices at conferences I’ve helped organize.”
~ Ken Blanchard, America’s business guru, author of The One Minute Manager and many other books.

“Clear in thought, practical in application, and passionate in conviction are the phrases that come to mind when I think of Skip Moen. He thinks in fresh ways about issues that are essentially timeless.”
~ Bob Buford, Author of Halftime and Finishing Well, Founder of the Leadership Network