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Category Archives: Spirituality
Messiah’s Desire (vs. Satan’s)
Passover is a time when we think about not only Exodus but also, as Messianic Jews and Christians, the Last Supper. That train of thought led me to consider a saying of Yeshua at the Last Supper, a saying found … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Spirituality, Yeshua
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A Very Non-Expert Introduction to Mussar
I spent the later part of the afternoon yesterday meeting with a friend and congregant to compare notes and discuss Mussar. Mussar is a movement coming out of Lithuania in the 19th century. Mussar is about working on the improvement … Continue reading
Posted in ethics, Judaism, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Spirituality
2 Comments
Empowered Experience: Laying Tefillin
Life with God isn’t purely intellectual. It isn’t purely emotional. And emotional-rationality doesn’t explain it all either. I am not alone, in the vast see of Jews and Christians, who feel we have connected in reality with God through experience. … Continue reading
A Richer Messianic Judaism, Part 1
Several recent blog postings by a diverse group of bloggers has me interested in the topic of a richer Christianity, a richer Judaism, and a richer Messianic Judaism. All three kinds of readers come here, Jews and Christians and Messianic … Continue reading
Posted in Christian, Judaism, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Scot McKnight, Spirituality
Tagged Brian McLaren, John Piper, Robert Webber, worship
3 Comments
Elul: The Month of Teshuvah
Elul, the month on the Jewish calendar that precedes Rosh HaShanah, begins tonight at sundown. Rosh Chodesh Elul (the new moon of Elul) is a spiritually significant time. It is the beginning of a long period of introspection, increased fervor, … Continue reading
Posted in Holidays, Judaism, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Spirituality
Tagged Days of Awe, Elul, Rosh HaShanah, Simchat Torah, Sukkot, Yom Kippur
5 Comments
Devekut, Yeshua, and MJ Living
DEVEKUT A way of living with constant awareness of God’s presence which is derived from the Hebrew Bible, is taught in Hasidic Jewish writings, and which works together with the traditional practices of godliness. That is, keeping the mitzvot (commandments) … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Judaism, Love, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Spirituality, Yeshua
Tagged devekut
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The edgy, the radical, the mystical
This weekend I went back and slowly reread the first chapter of Paul Philip Levertoff’s Love in the Messianic Age. Thoughts like a flood of many streams came to me. I also spent a little time in a stack of … Continue reading
Posted in Love, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Spirituality
Tagged Irony, Levertoff, mysticism, Peter Rollins, Romanticism
47 Comments
Observing Tisha B’Av
How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations! . . . She weeps bitterly in the night, tears on her cheeks; among all her … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Holidays, Judaism, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Spirituality
Tagged mourning, Tisha B'Av
5 Comments
Love in the Messianic Age, Paul Philip Levertoff
A friend just told me yesterday he is going to graduate school with a concentration in Jewish mysticism and its history. I myself have read very little Jewish mysticism and kabbalah and so forth. I remarked that my own plans … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, FFOZ, Love, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Spirituality
Tagged kabbalah, Levertoff, mysticism, Paul Philip Levertoff, Vine of David
4 Comments
Shabbat as a Spiritual Discipline
There is an old formula about the Sabbath (Shabbat) that comes from the two primary commands of the scriptures about it: remember it (Exod. 20:8) and keep it (Exod. 31:14). We keep it or observe it on Shabbat and we … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Judaism, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Sabbath, Spirituality
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Some Prayer Practices: Jewish and Christian
The following notes are for a class I am giving this Shabbat about personal or constant prayer. For a long time, I thought Judaism had no such tradition but was limited to liturgical prayer. I started my religious life in … Continue reading
Posted in Christian, Judaism, Messianic Jewish, Prayer, Spirituality, Talmud and Tradition
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The Benediction of Thanksgiving, Sermon Excerpt
I thought the following sermon would be of interest to Messianic Jewish Musings readers. I derive a lot of the points from an article by Reuven Kimelman called “The Rabbinic Theology of the Physical,” in the Cambridge History of Judaism, … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christian, Judaism, Messianic Jewish, Spirituality, Talmud and Tradition, Torah
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God, The Measure of All Things
Tonight I was able to see more clearly than usual. I’m not writing about this to suggest anything about my clarity of vision or depth of spirituality. Far from it. The observer is not the one to be poeticized but … Continue reading
Posted in Messianic Jewish, Spirituality, Theology
3 Comments
FEAST Excerpt for Passover: Spiritual and Physical
This is an excerpt from my latest book, FEAST, published by LifeWay. You can see FEAST at LifeWay.com or threadsmedia.com The point of this excerpt is that people too greatly limit spiritual practice by assuming the physical and the spiritual … Continue reading
Posted in Christian, Derek's Writings, Holidays, Judaism, Messianic Jewish, Passover, Spirituality
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Emergent Christianity and MJ
I am thinking about developing some Havurah (small group, home fellowship) materials for use in Messianic Judaism. In doing my homework, I’m reading a variety of things. I’m reading some things that have spun off from Synagogue 3000 (http://www.synagogue3000.org/), such … Continue reading
Posted in Christian, Judaism, Messianic Jewish, Scot McKnight, Spirituality, Theology
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The Gospel and Tikkun Olam
The following is adapted from the message I gave at the congregation this weekend. I post just the first part of the article here and provide a link for you to read it in a PDF file (much more readable … Continue reading
Posted in Christian, Judaism, Messianic Jewish, Spirituality, Theology, Torah
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More Live Blogging from Hashivenu: MJ at the Margins
I’m still in Los Angeles at the 2008 Hashivenu Forum, a forum on theology and matters of Jewish practice. We are members of the Messianic Jewish Community discussing how to build a new Judaism centered around Messiah Yeshua . . … Continue reading
Posted in Christian, Judaism, Love, Messianic Jewish, Spirituality, Theology, Torah, Yeshua
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Sabbath Meditation: Almsgiving
I hope you are preparing a beautiful table, as we are at the Leman house. We are laying ours with a burgundy table cloth tonight and using our Jerusalem candlesticks. The few moments you take to make your Sabbath meal … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christian, Judaism, Love, Messianic Jewish, Sabbath, Spirituality
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Faith, Hope, and Love
What is it that really enables a person to live, to keep going on with some reasonable promise of meaning and value? Why put one foot in front of the other one more time when a thousand steps in the … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christian, Messianic Jewish, Spirituality, Theology
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High Holidays Question: Does Grace Cancel Holiness?
We are in the ten days of awe between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. This is a time of introspection, spiritual inventory, and preparation for great repentance on Yom Kippur (this year it will be Saturday, September 22). Several things … Continue reading
Posted in Christian, Holidays, Judaism, Messianic Jewish, Spirituality
3 Comments
Psalm 151, A Lesson for Israel Then and Now
In our day there are Jewish and Christian bookstores full of writings of people of faith. We can find fiction and non-fiction on a variety of topics, all related to faith in God and living the teachings of the Bible. … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Messianic Jewish, Second Temple Lit., Spirituality
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Lashon Hara, Part 2
It is Elul and I do hope that, assuming you are observant, you are taking a spiritual inventory. Rosh Hashanah is nearly here and then Yom Kippur. I, for one, find the Bible’s teachings on speech most challenging. Judaism has … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Messianic Jewish, Spirituality, Torah
2 Comments
Sabbath Meditation, Abandoned? Alone?
I’m posting this one a bit earlier than usual for a Friday, but I hope Shabbat is already on your mind. We’re having a house full of teenagers over for a Youth Shabbat. Hope yours is as adventurous as mine … Continue reading
Posted in Messianic Jewish, Sabbath, Spirituality
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