Sitting here on this rainy Sunday afternoon, I’ve been talking to the Lord about the state of the church. You see the more I learn about our Jewish roots, the more my heart breaks for those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ. I hear a lot of talk in churches about getting back […]
Author Archive | Ro Pinto
Trust is a Regulation?
This week’s Torah portion is called ‘Hukkat’ meaning ‘regulation’. In reading this portion, I didn’t see a whole lot of regulations, compared to other portions. Instead I see one issue that stands out above all others – trust. And that got me to thinking that there must be a connection between trust and regulations. But […]
We Did This
What exactly did ‘we’ do and who is this ‘we’? I’ll tell you. ‘We’ have kept Jews from believing in Jesus, and ‘we’ are Gentile Christians. How did we do this? By taking Jesus out of His Jewish surroundings and dressing Him in the garments of a Gentile. Now I know these are strong words, […]
Solomon in the Sermon on the Mount
They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Did you know that discipleship is exactly that? Imitation. Imitation of everything your teacher says and does. In Judaism, disciples study the words of their rabbi. They memorize his teachings and his interpretation of the Torah, and then implement these into their lives. Recently, a […]
The Four Living Creatures
Did you ever think about the four creatures in Ezekiel? Did you know that they are also found in Revelation? You did? Good. However, did you also know that you can see this same picture in Numbers? No? Well read on. Let’s start by taking a look at the four faces of the creatures found […]
The Bread and the Wine
There are four cups of wine used during the Seder. Each one represents on the of verbs found in Exodus 6:6-7. “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will […]
Why is This Night Different?
As we are closing out the Festival of Weeks in our march toward Shavuot (Pentecost), I feel compelled to finish discussing the important symbolism of the food in the Seder meal. This is something we should do, because without explaining what the food means, we really haven’t participated in a worship service. Without the explanation, […]
Eve in the Seder
The Passover Seder begins with the lighting of candles by the woman of the house. So how does this make Eve part of the Seder? When we look at God’s definition of when a day starts, when the Seder takes place and on what kind of day, we understand the importance of Eve’s role in […]
Yogurt for Christians
Walking with the Lord without knowledge of Jewish understanding is like eating yogurt with fruit on the bottom and never mixing it up. The unflavored yogurt on top is good for you, but we sometimes have a hard time eating it without wondering what anyone sees in it. Over time we develop a taste for […]
Am I a Pharisaical Legalist?
The other day I responded to a post someone placed on Facebook. It claimed that the Hebrew Roots Movement was legalism and modern day Pharisees. Now I have a lot of disagreements with the Hebrew Roots Movement, but following Torah is not one of them. After my response, I was told, “You are not Jewish […]