It's a God Thing
We've developed and collected links for some good study helps for the Bible, Israel, and Judaism. We don't endorse all of the teachings that come with the helps, but they probably don't endorse our teachings either. Still, we think the helps are really helpful. Just be cautious.
Our book has 800 verses directly quoted as well as about 1,500 entries in our Scripture Index from every book in the Bible. We have a different view of a believer's walk than is generally taught in the modern church (Protestant or Catholic). We think all of the Bible is for all believers all the time no matter what. Our book is also a helpful handbook for answering critics of living the Law as a lifestyle and discipleship method. We've got all sorts of biblical evidence refuting many false church doctrines about the Law, starting with the New Covenant. Click on the link above or go to Amazon to buy.
Whatever helps you choose, just keep studying. Especially you should read the Word. Not just a few chapters or your favorite verses. Read the whole thing from start to finish. We know it might seem difficult. There are lots of areas that we don't understand or to which we cannot relate. But you'll find if you just keep reading, skip the areas you might not understand at first, you will build a frame of reference for understanding more as you go. When you read it again, you will find your understanding grows and grows. Read it again and again. His book is the ultimate study help.
Bruce's book is a good study help. About 331 pages (6 x 9 inch format), with over 800 verses directly quoted and explained, and more than 1,500 reference entries in the Scripture Index. It is a framework for the whole Bible concepts. Click on the title above to buy it on Amazon. Or click on the title below for the information page that will lead you to our website page that has the entire book text so you can read it online. Another option is to check the information page for background, chapter links to the website text, and links to videos on our Youtube channel.
"Whole Bible Christianity is a wonderfully refreshing down to earth description of our Christian faith right where the rubber meets the road. I commend it for all who want to have an enjoyable time thinking through what the Word of God has to say on a multitude of everyday topics. It is strong on the Word and that is what we need to end the famine of the Word of God in our times." Dr. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
According
to studies, confirmed by general experience, only 1 in 10 Christians
believe the Bible is absolute truth.
Consequently, the whole Word of God
is simply not being taught like it should. The results are that the
church does not look much different than the world with all of its
problems. We need to forsake ‘seeker friendly’ and ‘spiritual but not
religious’ teachings and consume His body and blood, which is the whole
of the Word. ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ presents an alternative
rediscovered from the Word which takes the reader back to one God, one
Lord, one Body, and one Faith. People who wear His name need to repent
and return to the Word as absolute truth, read it, and heed it.
Including and especially, what is known as The Law.
In many congregations there is a reading schedule where the first five books of the OT and the first five of the NT (plus other readings from the prophets and other books) are divided into weekly portions to be read all year long.
This link will take you to the page where we have the portions in a chart, we have a pdf booklet you can print, and there are links to articles or commentary on each portion for further study.
We have converted some of the articles written by Bruce into booklet form. All you have to do is either print them with the duplex (print both sides) feature of your printer, or print the odd pages then reprint the other side with the even pages. We currently have a Canon MX892 which has a duplexer. All we have to do is ask it to print booklet side fold, double-sided, short side stapling (left). Fold, staple, and you've got a nice little booklet.
They're free, but please don't misuse the privilege of having them. If they are useful consider sending us a donation to help with developing more and supporting our ministry efforts.
We don't recommend very many web sites because so many are caught up in distractions such as "Hebrew only" language concerns and how many houses there are. Or they are more concerned with Judaism, oral law, and how Jewish they can be than they are with the Word and getting the message of the whole of it to everyone. Those sites that make it to this list we have seen are more concerned with communicating the unity and continuity of Scripture than with petty side issues.
Our 7-fold mission is to: 1) worship and study the whole Word of God in spirit and truth, 2) recover the foundational patterns and principles of the Bible as exhibited in the 1st generation church, 3) revitalize Torah principles in our lives and hearts in light of the advent of Jesus, 4) bless (and be blessed by) Israel, the land and the people, 5) break down the wall of division between Jew and gentile, 6) restore the pure spirit and basic purpose of the earliest Messianic movement that began with Jews and expanded to include gentiles (the Church) following the death and resurrection of Our Savior Yeshua (Jesus) and 7) to make available to others around the world, at no cost, the teachings and lessons of Torah Class and the works of outstanding and godly Bible and Torah scholars, academics, Rabbis, Teachers, and writers.
Mission: To provide Torah Communities with biblically based materials and leadership training. We take all the Scriptures (the 66 books of the Tanach & Apostolic Scriptures) to be the inspired word of God which is therefore endowed with divine authority. We affirm without reservation that Yeshua is Immanuel, "God with us," and that being the promised Messiah, He is worthy of our worship as the eternal, uncreated Son of God. We consider the Torah to be the gift of God to all His children (Jew and non-Jew alike), being God's eternal and unchanging revelation and instructions in righteousness. We labor in producing materials and teaching classes (through TorahResource Institute) in order to help Torah Communities become established and well-founded in following the footsteps of Yeshua our Messiah.
Bruce took some classes from Tim Hegg who is the head of this site and what is now the Torah Resource Institute. He has excellent teaching on subjects that any leader needs to effectively help shepherd the flock. The costs are pretty low, the classes can be taken online, and we really recommend that you consider taking at least a few.
This site presents questions to see what people think on various subjects. They generally focus on those areas that are "taboo" in public discussion - religion and politics. If you want to join in, just think about the question and send your thoughts to glenjjr@gmail.com. They will publish your comments on the page of their site that pertains to that subject.
Glen and Annie engage in many discussions for both biblical and non-biblical issues, but they try to represent their understanding of the Bible in as many places as it fits. They actually look at several sides, and welcome comments that are fit to print. Try out the website for a good change of pace.
Israel-Catalog - owned, managed and operated by Tal-Shahar Ltd. They have been in business since 1996 and offices and warehouse are located in Nes Tziona, Israel. Israel-catalog.com maintains the largest, most comprehensive catalog of 7000+ products sold worldwide with items such as Books, Tapes, CDs, Video, Gifts, Art, Judaica and Software just to name a few. They have a specialized wholesale department serving distributors, stores, shops, special occasions and event planners and more.
Not necessarily believers in Jesus, but they do have a large selection of wares from Israel if you just want to support Israel. Which we do, of course.
The Shofar Man - other than the fact that he advertises "Jewish shofars" but we're not exactly sure ourselves of the faith of the animals who contribute the horns, this guy offers good deals and lots of information. We purchased shofars with bags. The horns were good quality as represented and the bags were the best around. He also has some very beautiful artistic types of horns that while more costly are breathtaking. They are all imported from Israel, and he also has a lot of other items such as anointing oil, books and DVD's.
Located in the city of Tiberius by the shores of the sea of Galilee, this business is a great one for all sorts of good things from Israel including shofars, cosmetics and jewelry. We've purchased calendars from them, and they also have a tourist attraction with a multi-media show (which we haven't seen but understand it is wonderful). From their "About" page:
The Galilee Experience was founded in 1990 by Eric and Terri Morey, A couple that made Aliya (The Biblical term for Jews Coming back to the land) in 1983 with the vision for a tourist center that would accomplish three things:
The facility includes the 200-seat theater, a book and souvenir store, an art gallery and a coffee shop with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
If you ever go to Israel make sure to stop in and say hello. Or just pop by the website and see what they have that might help you connect to God and Israel.
Since about 2001 we have listed sources for buying either ready-made tassels or kits for tying them yourself. At one time there weren't very many sources, and many Jewish sources weren't all that willing to sell to Gentiles, so we tried to help. The people we recommended came and went (out of business), there are many more sources nowadays, and a lot of Jewish sources have sort of relaxed a bit. One of the best sources we've found lately is Holy Word Cafe. They have all sorts of options for tying your own or buying them already tied. Very reasonably priced and they have both cotton and Israel wool.
There is also a place that is still around that has the wool kits with the blue string (techelet) which we think might be a good place to buy. They are called Beged Ivri (www.begedivri.com) and they are working to restore Jewish customs. Email Reuven at act_reuven@actcom.co.il for questions and to order. Just be respectful of their viewpoints (they are Jewish, not necessarily what you would think of as Messianic and certainly not whole Bible Christians) and they will sell to you without hesitation. They seem very open to helping too, it's just that they help towards rabbinical law. You don't have to tie or wear tassels the way they think is best (whole Bible believers do not see the oral law as binding) but you don't have to rub their face in it either. Remember that love is the motivating factor for doing what God says.
Search eBay, poke around on the web, and ask around. We're sure you will find a good source if you really want one. We still have an article on how to tie them if you want to do it yourself titled Tying Your Own Tzitzit in One of the Jewish Styles.
These are other books (other than Whole Bible Christianity) that we've purchased and read. We don't buy very many books anymore because not many really do a good job with instruction in the Bible. Most are just populist drivel or indoctrination in a particular viewpoint. So when we move ourselves and spend the money, it's because there really is something of value to be gained. The following books are not the only ones in our library, but they are among the best.
Dr. Kaiser is an evangelical speaker and holds to the truths that the Bible is inspired and inerrant. He uses hermeneutics rooted in grammatical-historical methods. He also teaches Promise Theology using expository preaching methods that focus on the meaning and messages of the biblical text, especially that of the Old Testament. Dr. Kaiser’s love of his LORD, Jesus Christ, his knowledge of the whole biblical text, and a God given gift of humor make Dr. Kaiser a sought after evangelical speaker and Christian author.
Dr. Kaiser (www.walterckaiserjr.com) is a respected professor of the Old Testament and President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, MA. He is also the author of a number of excellent books such as Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning; The Promise Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments; and Recovering the Unity of the Bible: One Continuous Story, Plan and Purpose.
What is the central theme of the Bible? Given the diversity of authorship, genre, and context of the Bible's various books, is it even possible to answer such a question? Or in trying to do so, is an external grid being unnaturally superimposed on the biblical text? These are difficult questions that the discipline of biblical theology has struggled to answer. In this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of his classic Toward an Old Testament Theology, Walter Kaiser offers a solution to these unresolved issues. He proposes that there is indeed a unifying center to the theology and message of the Bible that is indicated and affirmed by Scripture itself. That center is the promise of God. It is one all-encompassing promise of life through the Messiah that winds itself throughout salvation history in both the Old and New Testaments, giving cohesiveness and unity to the various parts of Scripture. After laying out his proposal, Kaiser works chronologically through the books of both testaments, demonstrating how the promise is seen throughout, how the various sub-themes of each book relate to the promise, and how God's plan to fulfill the promise progressively unfolds. Here is a rich and illuminating biblical theology that will stir the emotion and the intellect.
Recovering the Unity of the Bible helps readers grasp the Bible's progressive witness on various theological concepts. Walter C. Kaiser challenges the common scholarly posture that sees mostly diversity throughout the biblical canon, pointing instead to the way several Biblical themes substantially support the case for unity, including: - Messianic Promises - The People of God - The Law of God - The Doctrine of Salvation - The Mission of the Old Testament Recovering the Unity of the Bible exhibits sound techniques for students, pastors, and Bible teachers who seek to make sense of the Bible's many and different texts.
Since its publication in 1994, An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics has become a standard text for a generation of students, pastors, and serious lay readers. This second edition has been substantially updated and expanded, allowing the authors to fine-tune and enrich their discussions on fundamental interpretive topics. In addition, four new chapters have been included that address more recent controversial issues: * The role of biblical theology in interpretation * How to deal with contemporary questions not directly addressed in the Bible * The New Testament's use of the Old Testament * The role of history in interpretation The book retains the unique aspect of being written by two scholars who hold differing viewpoints on many issues, making for vibrant, thought-provoking dialogue. What they do agree on, however, is the authority of Scripture, the relevance of personal Bible study to life, and why these things matter.
This is a college or even seminary-level textbook, but worth chewing through because of what we think are ground-breaking ideas about the unity and continuity of God's Word. The beginning is somewhat difficult because of the language used, but persevere and you will reap a large reward in understanding the Old Testament and how it fits together with the New Testament. We think it's out of print and replaced by Toward Rediscovering the Old Testament but Bruce has this book and has read through it several times. The new one is probably better, and it just goes to show how old Bruce is and how long he's been studying!
An excellent book on the unity of the Word around Jesus the Messiah. This book helped Dr. Kaiser formulate some of his ideas of the unity of Scripture particularly seen in the first two books of this list (Promise Plan and Recovering Unity). It's a little difficult to read because of the slightly older language forms, but chock full of connections between prophecy and the promise. It's a little pricey because it has been out of print (as of 7/2013 it was $34.33 on Amazon) but worth it for any serious student of the Word. He shows how the promise (starting with Genesis 3:15) is seen by the prophets and projected into the future.
You need this book. It is an excellent text for all Bible-believers
to help with counseling. Mr. Adams exposes the ineffectiveness of
secular counseling methods connected with Freud, Rogers, Skinner and
more. He takes the counselor straight to the Bible and encourages any
believer to grab hold of the principles and use them to help one
another. Bruce bought his (1970, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing
Company) copy about 1982 and it has been invaluable in
understanding biblical counseling. One of Dr. Adam's ideas is that even
the least knowledgeable believer is better at counseling than the best
secular psychiatrist or psychologist because of what we possess in Jesus
and His Word. He says that, "Jesus Christ is at the center of all true
Christian counseling." We have found this to be true in every instance
in our experience. He gets his term 'nouthetic' for his
counseling methods straight from the Word, in for instance Colossians
3:16 and Romans 15:14. This word means "to confront" or "admonish, warn,
teach," the purpose of which is to effect personality and behavioral
change (page 44 and 45 of our copy). All believers can and should do it
on a daily basis. Get the book. You'll be glad you did.
A companion guide to go along with Competent to Counsel. This manual has case studies, examples on how to address the nature of the problem, forms, and Scripture references for just about every issue that will come up in counseling. It also has forms you can copy for various exercises and to help nail down issues and solutions. Dr. Adams calls his form of counseling nouthetic, which is also related to the Greek word nouthesis and means (loosely) to confront, admonish, warn or teach. It is difficult to translate into a single English word, so he uses the word as it is - Nouthetic Counseling. All believers are supposed to do this activity every day, and so every one who is a believer can do it. This handbook or manual helps a great deal if you are going to do nouthetic counseling more formally on a regular basis as something like a profession, or even if you just need to help a friend or two. But it is indispensable for guiding counseling sessions no matter on what level they take place.
If you have a computer, a good way to use it for study is to get one of the Bible software packages. There a number of good ones but we haven't tried them all. There are two packages described below that we have tried and we like really well.
The advantages to a software package are that it's cheaper than buying all the hardcover books separately, if you put the package on a laptop it is even more portable than hauling around your library with you, and once the package is installed you can search whatever books were included in your package all at once. The downside is if there is no electricity there is no study. Unless you have a squirrel on a wheel that runs a generator. But after a while he would probably get tired and then where would you be. Bruce has an ASUS laptop in addition to his desktop and he uses the laptop as his Bible at studies and congregational meetings. Anytime someone is making a point from a commentary or the original languages he can check it out right away.
Some software packages are expensive depending on what you get, but most of them you can buy in pieces as you can afford them. Even if you just get the basic search program and a couple of books with three or four bibles it is phenomenal what you can do and how much it enriches your study time. If you can afford it, having the two packages below on a laptop gives new meaning to the Scripture that we should be "instant in season and out of season" or "be always ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you."
e-Sword is a software package for your computer that you can get for free if you can't afford it. But if you can afford to send Rick Meyers some coin it is well worth whatever you can spare. If you make a donation you will get the CD. We got a package in about the first year it came out (2000). Over the years Rick has really expanded and improved e-Sword to the point that you really don't need to buy one of the expensive software packages below unless you want the extra features used mostly for leaders.
Though it is free, it is very good and is easy to use.
This software company makes a number of different products and they are adding more all the time. At the time of this writing they are for Windows based computers, not Macintosh (see below for the Mac product we recommend). Search the web for reviews.
One of the drawbacks of this company's packages is that they have mostly a standard Protestant slant. If you want to use the original languages or consult some references that are other than Protestant (the Talmud for instance), these are not the packages to go with. However, for the English and for the standard Protestant stuff they are hard to beat. They have improved the ease of use since they first came out, and usually offer free upgrades (at least so far for Bruce).
Bruce has the Level 4 package, which was (and is) pretty expensive (see the Logos website for current pricing). But they have different levels for less money and of course fewer reference book selections. They also sell individual books, and they have a good selection of other packages, such as a package for helping a person put together a Bible study lesson.
Their website is www.logos.com and they are always easy to deal with. All Bruce's upgrades have come off of the web, so we're not sure if they do it any other way. When Bruce purchased it he got CD's with all the books but they were locked. Logos gave him unlock codes for the books he purchased and he just unlocked what he bought. Customer Service has been first rate, and they have helped me several times when I got a new computer or had to re-format a hard drive.
Bruce has had this package now for more than 15 years. Logos (now called Faithlife also) has upgraded the basic program six or seven times during that period without charge. This is more than sufficient for our needs, and we think more than sufficient for most other people too.
The people who make Accordance call their company Oaktree Software. Their web site is www.accordancebible.com. Their web site has a description of everything, with pricing, plus all kinds of other products. Tech Support is very friendly and knowledgeable. Accordance originally was for Macintosh computers only. Now they have a Windows version too. We no longer need to use an emulator if we have Windows.
Bruce bought the Scholar's 4 package and the Jewish 2 Advanced package, along with the Septuagint, the Septuagint database, and the NASB package about 15 years ago but hasn't used it much since then because he used to have to use a Mac emulator on our Windows computer and it was kind of a pain. You can get just about any combination you want, or you can buy a whole lot more and spend more too.
Crosswalk and Bible Gateway are two of the online Bible search tools you can use for free. Each site has more services if you'd like to use those too. The drawback to these search tools is you can only use them online. Each site has stuff they sell which you may want to look at. You can search different versions, and sometimes even other books.
We have prepared two lists of commandments from the Bible. One has 613 derived by Maimonides (the RamBam) from those given at Sinai in the Tanakh. The other is a list of 1,050 developed by Finnis Jennings Dake that he saw in the Apostolic Scriptures. Take these lists for what they are worth (why do we have to make lists anyway?) but they are good as sort of an index for commands in the Bible.
This is essentially a commentary on the Jewish Oral Law, which in turn is a series of rulings and interpretations on the Torah (first five books of the Tanakh (OT)). It was put together by Jewish people over a long period of time, but was pretty much finished by about the fifth century. There are different parts but they are all generally referred to as the Talmud.
The Mishna (meesh-nah) is the section containing all of what was formerly called the Oral Law, and was put together by Rabbi Judah around the second century. It has 63 parts called tractates, which are grouped under six headings called Orders. The six orders include Zera'im (it means Seeds, and includes a famous tractate called Brakhot (or blessings), Nezakin (Damages), Nashim ( Women), including laws of Kiddushin or marriage and Gittin or divorce), Kodashim (sacrifices and ritual slaughter), and Taharot (laws of purity and impurity). One of the 63 tractates is Pirkei Avot (peer-kay ah-vote), meaning roughly 'Ethics of the Fathers,' which is a collection of the rabbi's most famous sayings and proverbs. You will hear this tractate referred to on occasion in your studies of Torah or the Law.
Jewish tradition holds that the Oral Law was given originally to Moses at the same time as Torah. It was subsequently handed down (you guessed it - orally) with the written Torah until is was also written down by Rabbi Judah. Many Jews still believe that the Oral Law is equal to the written Torah, and in some cases over-rides Torah, a position with which this ministry disagrees. We feel that the Oral Law should've stayed oral. If God had wanted everyone to know the material contained in the Mishna, He would've made sure it was included in the written Torah. However, there is much to be gained from the Talmud and we do not recommend throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
The Gemara (gay-mar-ah, the word means 'rabbinic discussions') is the section containing commentary on the Oral Law made by certain leading rabbis at various times. Talmud and Gemara are also used interchangeably. Part of the Gemara is called the Jerusalem Talmud and was finished around 400 A.D., and the other part is called the Babylonian Talmud and was finished around the 500 year-mark after the Christ. This collection of writings and opinions is an unparalleled study resource for the serious student, although a lot of it has to be patiently sifted through because of the time factor and an abbreviated writing style.
Below is a link to a site that discusses many of the erroneous impressions and quotations from the Talmud. It is a Jewish site and has many good articles on the often deliberate attempts to discredit the excellent teachings found in Talmud.
This is so good and so appropriate that it deserves a heading by itself on our site. The title of this section is also the title of a book, and the publishers (AICE) have their own web site. Both are perhaps the single best references for information on the continuing conflict between Israel and the Arab countries. The information is organized under subject headings so you can read (or surf) according to whatever question is on your mind.
Above is the web site link, which presents new information all the time to supplement the Myths and Facts already covered, and which also has the book for sale. Buy the book and help to clear up the myths and simplify the facts of the conflict for your friends, neighbors, or church buddies. The author is Mitchell G. Bard.
The web site also has many other interesting books and programs to promote the already substantial benefits that America receives through our alliance with our Jewish brothers and sisters.
This is a handy reference tool for a Jewish perspective on subjects in the Tanakh (OT), Jewish culture, and Jewish history. It is the online version of the printed edition that was last published about 100 years ago, so it doesn't have more recent information. But it still has a great deal of helpful articles, especially if you need to write a paper for a class. Click on the link to go to the index and begin searching.
This website was run by Mal and Udi Ohana in Israel. They developed some short presentations called Nutshell, as in History in a Nutshell. These are in a bunch of different languages and give excellent information on events and conditions in the Middle East affecting Israel. We've purchased several of them, but we can't seem to find them anymore. We don't know what happened, but as of 2023 we can't find them on the web. We'll leave the information up here in case the DVD's pop up again somewhere in an online search.
http://www.conceptwizard.com/info-files/pipeline_of_hatred.html
http://www.conceptwizard.com/info-files/conen/conflict_2.html
http://www.conceptwizard.com/info-files/nutoo/nutshell3.html
http://www.conceptwizard.com/info-files/imagine/imagine_n.html
http://www.conceptwizard.com/info-files/trial/trial.html
You know, Dr. Kent Hovind has had his problems over the last few years, but we think he was mostly railroaded by an over-reaching and tyrannical U. S. government. Okay, he probably could've fought the battle differently and had a better outcome. But it's been said that almost everyone commits serious crimes every day without knowing because of the burdensome, complicated, onerous, confusing, self-contradicting and just plain stupid laws of our governments. Part of the motivation for the attacks on him we believe came from upset at his effectiveness communicating the ridiculous nature of the teachings of evolution.
From Dr. Kent Hovind we have a video series called "Creation Science Seminars," which is seven volumes, or roughly 17 hours of material on DVD. Obtain on the web site www.drdino.com (now called 2peter3.com). It's old, but the information is still current and useful for self-study or home schooling.
Hugely important series of videos for absolutely anyone's library. Dr. Hovind does a good job taking God at His Word. This ministry is not really from the Hebraic perspective, but extremely valuable anyway. If you home school you will want this information for your kids. He does not copyright the material, so you can get one set and copy for your friends if the budget is a problem. They cost about $20.00 to $50.00 now for the set but well worth the investment. We have made about 40 copies ourselves for anybody who wants one. The website is https://dinosaur-adventure-l-d7daff.appdrag.site/index.html or
For those of you who know something about the legal assault by the federal government on Dr. Hovind, you can go to the website below for his blog and updated information. Old site, as of 2023 looks outdated, but still with some information.
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