Newsletter: 2009-01 GOD-Talk Controversies

Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

"No longer do I call you servants,
for a servant does not know what his master is doing;
but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father
I have made known to you."
- John 15:15

My book and website teaches, and chronicles, theology. The word theology comes from the Greek words “theos,” meaning God, and “logos,” meaning words, sayings, discourse, or reason. The Greek word can be literally translated as “talk about GOD or the Divine.” I simply call it, “GOD-talk.” Specifically, talk about YHWH-GOD our CREATOR. When it comes to personal faith in GOD, some people seem content to be in ignorant bliss, and some search, and study to discern the real truth of YHWH – that is where I come in. Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates my basic, straight-talk approach, and my GOD-talk can sometimes be a little controversial, so I say, “I hope you like your GOD-talk spicy.”

We are a nation whose overwhelming majority believes in a CREATOR-GOD, but there are many shades of faith. Anyone who makes the extra effort to study theology knows that there are many opinions as to what is “true” theology. I often jokingly say, “talking religion on the web is like herding cats - each one has their own mind about it – but I am making many friends.” I’m not dogmatic or legalistic, and I don’t tell people what to do, I just try to get people thinking, and leave it up to their hearts and Holy Spirit to guide them. Needless to say I receive some interesting mail. Some people complement me, some curse me, and some question me. Today I would like to talk about a couple of the questions and comments I have been receiving.

It’s not, what would Jesus do?
It’s, what did Jesus do?

I have an old friend, we go way back, and during my years of research and writing my book and website, we had some spirited debates about what I was putting together. He was raised a Christian, but now called himself an agnostic. I value his opinion, he is a professional man, intelligent, very knowledgeable of world politics and history, and he humors me. Over the years we have come to an understanding, he says he thinks GOD still can’t be absolutely proven, but if there is a GOD, HE probably operates the way I describe it in my book and web site – I take what I can get.

Not to long ago I was telling him about some mail I was receiving about how to set the Biblical calendar. I was telling him that there are some people who make a good argument that if the new moon sighting designates the 1^st day of the Biblical month, then 7 days after that is the Sabbath, no matter what day it falls on. For example, if the 1^st new moon day was on a Wednesday then 7 days after that would make Monday night to Tuesday the Sabbath rest. It might be worth considering. I was surprised at his reaction, he became upset with me telling me the one and only thing that gives my writing any credibility is that I am writing about what Yahshua actually did. He agrees, that if Yahshua is mankind’s living example then His followers should do as He did. Didn’t He keep the Saturday Sabbath? Did He say anything thing about changing how the calendar is kept? Maybe in the future when Yahshua returns He will change many things back to the way they should be observed, but until then it maybe an interesting study, but His followers must live by His example. I thought about it a while and my friend was right we have to follow Yahshua’s example.

That leads me to another issue I have been getting some mail on. Some people have asked where in the Bible does it state we should light two candles and say our Sabbath prayers? Some make the argument that lighting candles and praying over them is more of a pagan ritual then it is Biblical. To answer the question we have to look to what Yahshua did. The habit of kindling the Sabbath candles is an old Jewish tradition. Yahshua would have seen His parents perform this every Sabbath while He was growing up, and there is no record of Him saying anything against it – that is good enough for me. Lighting candles and praying is also used in pagan practices, but there is ample evidence that pagans appropriate many things from YHWH and corrupt it for their own purposes. For more info on candles log on to: http://www.homeworship101.com/fyi_two_candles.htm

“Don't try to bring the Word of God down to your level.
Let it pull you up to it’s level.”
- David MacDonald

'Hebrew Roots,' ‘Yeshua Only,’ Messianic’ movements are DANGEROUS!!! I have been receiving mail on this subject lately. The complaints are mostly about control issues, and they go something like this: Jesus is a pagan name, you MUST call Him Yeshua! The Greek New Testament is flawed; you MUST live by the Torah only! The Christmas tree is pagan, you MUST NOT celebrate it! The Sunday Sabbath is pagan, you MUST not observe it! Oy vey.

The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.

Let me first say, I am not part of any organized group or movement, I am more like the fly in the ointment – so to speak. I really do not like getting into church issues, it's too subjective (one persons happy church is another persons nightmare), that is why I teach how to worship at home, where the faith should really begin (1Tim.5:4). Actually my teaching goes further back then the Hebrew Roots, it goes back to Noah and Abraham who were, coincidentally, gentiles. (Technically speaking, my work could be called basic universal human spiritual rights as expressed in YHWH’s Covenants beginning with Noah.) In years past, during my research years I studied all religions, and church hopped a lot. I have learned from Hebrew/Messianic groups, just like I learned from Christian Sabbath keeping groups, Sacred Names groups, Protestant groups, etc. I like to learn; I visited or studied many religions, and I like to say, I gathered their best flowers of knowledge and then moved on.

There is good and bad in everything. What I never liked is the over bearing authoritarian, the heavy-handed legalistic, or prideful egotistical attitudes. Many sects within larger religious groups, not all, but some, can become control freaks. There are a small number of congregational leaders in every religion, from Hebraic Roots groups to regular Sunday Christian groups, Protestants, Catholics, Jehovah Witness, Islam, pagan religions, etc., who like to use some form of fear and angst to control members backed up with twisted theology to keep their people from leaving (or stop supporting) their congregations. Then there is the ego - holier then thou – play. (Personally this attitude annoys me the most. I suppose it is because I am of German descent and am well aware of the Nazi German, Aryan "master race" mind-set. The Bible says it best, “...pride goeth before destruction…” Pro.16:18.) Here is a personal example, some Christian Sabbath keeping groups I visited thought they were a little purer then the rest. After their Sabbath meeting, they would sit around and spend a lot of time running down the Sunday keeping Christians – goodbye, that’s not for me. On the other side, there are some Jewish Messianic folks saying if you take all the paganism out of Christianity there would be nothing left – again, it is not for me. These haughty or controlling spiritual attitudes are the root cause of many disastrous church experiences, causing many to lose faith in GOD – I know because I receive a fair amount of mail on it, it is sad and destructive. Click for my Religious Abuse web page, Ego Religion web page.

Here is another point. There has to be many-many people unhappy with their church experience because every time a survey on religion is done, it finds more people are either out of church or as the most recent survey says, have no religion. Log on: http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/

Savor the mysteries. After years of study, meditation, and prayer, my wife and I now keep the Holy Days and Sacred Names, not because of legalism or mandatory ritualism, but because of the deeper multidimensional meanings they teach, and that is where the abusive churches fall short. They cannot keep people engaged intellectually so they resort to fear tactics, which in turn shames the group and insults the message and wisdom YHWH is trying to show us (Pro.11:2). Learning the higher order of YHWH’s spiritual universe is a process. It should be an enjoyable awe-inspiring journey of learning. It takes time to study, to learn, to mediate and pray, to accept, and finally to put into practice. It is something like when one is growing up. What was important during one’s preteen years does not seem so important during one’s teenage years. What is important when one is in their twenties is different then when they were in their teens, and so on. People grow and learn, and adopt new habits leaving the old behind, but it takes time. This is the Age of Grace, the age of learning, we are given time to learn and grow spiritually. As we learn, and if we are sensitive to it, the Holy Spirit guides our thoughts and we have a change of heart, then we repent and change our ways, and work on adopting YHWH’s Ways.

YHWH’s New Year will be starting soon and so will HIS annual Holy Days. My new years cycle of newsletters will also be starting up – I hope you will enjoy them. My teachings starts at the beginning because YHWH does not change (Mal.3:6), and Yahshua did not change anything His FATHER already showed us (Joh.15:15). As I said, I am not dogmatic or legalistic; it is my hope that you will feel energized by the rediscovery of some ancient spiritual truths that are rarely taught.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine
and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that house;
yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”
- Matthew 7:24-25

Enjoy the journey of learning…

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

Take care. Peace and blessings, Errol.
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Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website: www.homeworship101.com
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WSC Newsletter 2009-01, posted 03/11/09.

Copyright © 2009 Errol Mueller. All rights reserved. Short quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they are copied in total with no alterations or deletions. Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be included. If any other use is desired, written permission is required.
For information, email or call (334) 678-0913. White Stone Communications (Rev.2:17), Dothan, AL.
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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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