There’s a boy who sometimes comes over to play with my kids. He’s a big fellow for his age, and can be pretty rough. One day, he and one of my sons had a disagreement and it came to blows. When I came out, he ran off and didn’t return for several days. When he did come back, I sat down with him on the front porch and said to him, “This is a safe place. I want you to understand that you can always come here and never be afraid that someone is going to hurt you. But at the same time, if you are to be here, you also have to do everything possible to make sure that it is also safe for everybody else.”

There's one page that ought to be ripped out of your Bible. Go ahead. You have my permission. It is a mostly white page that separates the prophecy of Malachai from the Gospel of Matthew. This dividing wall has caused all sorts of barriers in our ability to comprehend the consistent message of the Bible: that what is called the "New Testament" is not a new religion at all; but the continued application and response of people seeking to live in relationship with God.

Often the "introductions" section of a discussion board are under-utilized because they are simply introductions. Yet, every time we open the Word of God, we are absolutely changed. Help us keep track of what's going on in your life- share what's bothering you or things that you would like prayer or comfort concerning- sort of an open discussion area that you can use as your own personal blog. I mean, it's not Facebook or anything like that- and not supposed to be; but there is often a need to express our own personalities, to give a roundness to our character that is of great benefit to our corporate understanding of what you have to share.

If you're looking here for spiritual nourishment and for a sense of belonging with people who believe similarly, then I really want to encourage you to list some kind of contact information here. You don't have to be a member of this board to list in this area; but there is a measure of anonymity that may be more comfortable for you if you do. Otherwise, feel free to put whatever contact information you are comfortable sharing. If you are part of a growing community, we would all be encouraged to know about you. It's very possible, even likely, that God is speaking to others in your area about the very things that He is drawing you by, and this is a tool that can help you connect.

Suppose you got a phone call and a voice you'd never heard before said that he really wanted to meet you and it was very important (for your sake) that the two of you get together. You arranged a time at a local cafe and you cautiously sat down a cross from this very ordinary looking man. After sipping from his coffee, he leaned across the table toward you and said, "I'm God." What do you suppose the very next words to come out of His mouth should be? No doubt He would know that you have a lot of questions, and so He starts at the beginning...

Exodus is about leaving. In Hebrew, the title of this story is Shemot, which means, "The names." So typical of the Western thinking to concentrate on the what, when the focus of God is upon the who. This particular Exodus story is about the deliverance of Israel (God's Chosen Ones) from Egypt (in Hebrew, Mitz Rah-im or the land of many evils). I can dig it. There is a lot in this story to which I should be able to very intimately relate.

The book of Leviticus is the first book of Torah that Jewish children begin to study at the age of three. This is because only those who are pure can truly understand what is pure. The rest of us, ages 4 and up, are tainted in our understanding by self-justification and selfish motivation. The teachers of these little ones have a very special job: they are intent to learn from their pupils more they expect to impart. In Judaism, it is the one who asks questions that is wiser than the one who gives answers. I look forward to our learning from one another.

Lots of folks kinda glaze over when we begin to read the book of Numbers. It's sorta like driving through Wyoming. But if you're from Wyoming, you might be offended at such a statement. Most people who are bored with driving through the state have a negative perspective simply because that's all they're doing: driving through. Why don't you take a minute to stop for a while. Get out of the car and look around. You'll find that there is a lot more here to see and know than you were expecting... and I'm talking about the Bible... not Wyoming.

Deuteronomy is like the sum-up. It's a cap-stone of the Torah, presented largely as a lecture from Moses to the people of Israel, the second generation, who were brought up in the wilderness experience. It is a reminder of where we have been and an introduction to where we are going. It is about sitting up straight, minding your manners and becoming the people of God.

The commands of God are divided up in a wide variety of ways. The most widely accepted is that it divides into two categories: sins against God and sins against man. The earliest scholarships of both Christianity and Judaism use this division as Yeshua Mashiach (Jesus Christ) quotes Hillel 1 in Matthew 22:37-39. But this is where it gets a little sticky? How do we know what is really a sin against God unless we rely upon what He tells us (instead of assuming what we feel is relevant)? But this is what makes this a matter worth discussion, not simply stating as a given doctrine.

The division between commands of the Bible between sins against God and sins against man are most widely accepted. However, John tells us clearly in 1st John 4:20 that you really can't have one without the other, " If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" But since we have to make a division somewhere for our own ease of access, this is as easy as any.