christian blog

“Don’t Pass Out, Passover!”

“Don’t pass out, passover,” is a marketing slogan from a beer company owned by some Jewish guys; their brewery is known as He-Brew (and their beer is actually pretty good).

I’m not sure what all this has to do with a blog post encouraging Christians to celebrate Passover this week, but you have to admit, it is a catchy advertising line!

Actually, I just figured out how to properly work it into this post, so keep reading!

While Scripture does not command Gentile believers to celebrate Passover or the other annual feasts, they are certainly encouraged to do so. After all, the Gentile believers in Yeshua have been “grafted in” to the family of Jewish believers, as the Apostle Paul states in Romans 11. In fact, celebrating the Jewish feasts, especially Passover, serves as a great tool to remind Gentiles of the wonderful Jewish roots of their faith and the awesome symbolism found in the Passover meal that, without question, points to Yeshua, or Jesus, the Messiah.

A quick word on being grafted in. It doesn’t mean you will  suddenly dislike mayonnaise on a sandwich, never eat a hotdog with ketchup (it’s mustard only), know how to deliver a punchline, all at once know the best Yiddish words to describe any situation better than English possibly could, or instantly have an mother who likes to complains to your face but praises you behind your back (“I do it to make you better”). But what it does mean is that spiritually you have become chosen to be part of God’s redemptive plan.

Passover was instituted at a time in Israel’s history when the Lord God moved through Egypt destroying the firstborn of all people and animals (see Exodus 11 and 12.) This was the final of the ten plagues God visited upon Egypt designed to force Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave the country and their captivity. The Israelites were commanded by God to take the blood of a male lamb, one without blemish, and mark it on the doorposts of their houses. When the Lord saw the blood, He would “pass over” that house. This, of course, is a foreshadowing of the spotless and sinless Lamb of God, Jesus, whose blood would cover the sins of those who believe in Him, causing God’s judgment to pass over them. Ever since that night, Jews have celebrated the Passover in remembrance of God’s grace to them.

There has been an exciting explosion of interest in adapting the Passover festival to Christianity. The Passover dinner is known as a “Seder.” Various organizations, such as Jews for Jesus, have long promoted keeping a Passover Seder as a means for Messianic Jews (Jewish people who believe Jesus, or Yeshua, is the Messiah) to retain their cultural heritage while professing their faith in Messiah. Many of the rituals associated with the Seder have direct application to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection!  Like so many of the original Jewish Feasts established in the Bible, the Passover Feast was a foreshadowing of Messiah’s atonement via death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.

While it is not required for Christians to celebrate the Passover Seder, it is very beneficial to celebrate it. Personally, I believe that by missing out on Passover (and the other festivals), you are really missing out!  The observance leads to a greater understanding and appreciation for Jesus’ death and resurrection and is wonderful picture His deliverance of us from the bondage of sin–something we should be thankful for every day. This is why more and more Gentile followers of Yeshua observe the Holy festivals, eat kosher, and honor the Sabbath (Saturday) to remember the covenant God made with them and to identify with their people.

In the Passover you will discover the four glasses of wine consumed during dinner (be careful, they don’t have to be large glasses, although traditional Orthodox Jews insist the glasses must hold 3.5 ounces!). One is the “cup of suffering,” another is the “cup of redemption.” There is even a incredible portion of this ancient feast whereby we completely gain a new understanding of the Christian communion: the bread from communion is actually unleavened bread from the Seder that is broken during the meal, and consumed afterward, (“This is my body, which is given for you,” Luke 22:19).

And as for the four glasses of wine. If you participate in a Seder this Friday night, “Don’t pass out, passover!”

Look for my podcast on this subject, to be published tomorrow, March 12.

Back to Basics: Finding Real Peace

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
Isaiah 9:6,7

More than any other book in the Old Testament, the book written by the Jewish prophet Isaiah focuses on the salvation that would come through the Messiah. The above passage reveals that Messiah will one day rule in justice and righteousness. The Messiah’s kingdom on earth (Isaiah chapters 65-66) is the goal toward which all of the book of Isaiah points. It is during the eventual reign of the Messiah, at His second coming, that God’s righteousness will be fully revealed to the world.

We all long for peace, yet the world in which we live has little of that to offer. Wars, rumors of wars, crime, hate, family division, anger, vices, addictions, let downs–it’s all contrary to a message of peace.

Isaiah chapter 53 vividly describes the Messiah suffering for sin. It is through His wounds that healing is achieved. It is through His suffering that our iniquities are taken away. This apparent contradiction is solved in the Person of Jesus Christ. In His first advent, Jesus was the suffering servant of Isaiah chapter 53.  In His second advent, Jesus will be the conquering and ruling King, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

How can you  experience the peace that only Jesus can provide, right now?

With a simple prayer of faith, something like this: Lord, I believe Jesus is the way, truth, and life. I believe Jesus died for my sins and was raised from the dead. I surrender to your Lordship. Fill me with your Spirit and make me whole.

Back to Basics: Saving Your Life

If you want to save your life, your first have to lose it.

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).

These are the words of Jesus. He was either a liar, lunatic, or He was, and remains, the very Son of God. What He said must not be misinterpreted or taken lightly. 

Let’s begin with what Jesus didn’t mean. Many people interpret “cross” as some burden they must carry in their lives: a strained relationship, a thankless job, a physical illness. With self-pitying pride, people often say, “That’s my cross to carry.” Such an interpretation is not what Jesus meant when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”

When Jesus carried His cross up Golgotha to be crucified, no one was thinking of the cross as symbolic of a burden to carry. To a person in the first-century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: a guilty verdict punishable by death in the most painful and humiliating means human beings could think of.

Therefore, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender. After each time Jesus commanded cross bearing, He said,  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

Although the call to denial is admittedly tough, some can never do it. But for all who do, the reward is priceless.

Back to Basics: What is Heaven Really Like?

If you ask 100 people, including pastors and theologians, what heaven is like you’ll get 100 different answers.

Actually, for every theologian in your query you’re bound to get 10 different explanations, so let’s take theologians out of the example. That still keeps us at about 100 different descriptions of heaven.

Last night I believe God gave me this wonderful vision of heaven:

Imagine you have lived your entire life land-locked. You’ve never seen a body of water bigger than a pond, or maybe a small lake. You’ve never seen a fish, let alone a whale, a dolphin, or an octopus. In fact, you never even seen photographs or video of these creatures, or the ocean in which they live. However, you’ve read a few stories about such environs, and you’ve heard 100 people give 100 different descriptions of what abides in that mysterious thing called “the ocean.”

Then one day you finally see the ocean with your own eyes. Your heart nearly stops at its immense splendor. You witness the great tail of a whale splashing the surface of the water and pod of dolphins dancing between the rolling waves. You’re taken to a bay with crystal clear water and wade into a tide pool. There, right next to your submerged feet, your jaw drops as you look at sea anemones, brilliant fish, and even octopus.

Some say, “Heaven will be a state of mind.”  While they are incorrect, I can understand their statement in that we humans can’t wrap our brains around, “what God has prepared for those who love Him,” (Psalm 31:19 and 1 Corinthians 2:9).

Back to Basics: The Only Thing That Really Matters

These are indeed wild times. Vaccines, mandates, masks, censorship, supply chains, inflation, war abroad, finger-pointing, Putin, Ukraine, communism, propaganda, persecution, anti-semitism.

It’s all becoming too much.

I’m going back to basics.

I love talking politics and attempting to get past the propaganda and to the root of the issues. But even if–and when–I make it to the heart of the matter in these various affairs I am  lambasted by others who are convinced otherwise. There is no winning such arguments.

Therefore, for the time being,  I’m going back to the only thing that really matters: the joy, hope, and eternal salvation found through God’s only Son: Jesus. This is a topic for which I am an expert. No, I don’t have a degree in theology, but I do have a personal relationship with the “theo” in that four syllable word.

My following blog posts and podcasts will reflect this major shift.

Thank you for your support.