about

You can find additional information about me and my philosophy of ministry at my website: pastorpaulthompson.weebly.com

This blog exists due to the encouragement of my daughter and some friends who are dragging me into the current century. Its purpose is fairly simple. I follow a Jewish Messiah, I learn of Him in a book that was written by Jewish writers in a Jewish culture with a Jewish language, if not Hebrew with a Hebrew world view and foundation behind the Greek. I am immersed in a western culture with Greek thought permeating my brain. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that to understand the word of God I need to strive to understand the people and culture in which it was written. That my Western, Greek world view and thought may give me a slanted view of God's Word perhaps with unintended distortions in my understanding of the Word. It seems like a reasonable quest.

However with this comes a new appreciation for Torah. Not just the 10 Commandments or the Five Books of Moses but all of the Old testament writings. This is the view of Jesus in Matthew 5:18, Paul in Acts 28:17 as well as James and Peter. However when I share with many other followers of Jesus I am immediately accused of being legalistic and diminishing the work of Christ. That to suggest that Torah has any requirement in the lives of believers, in any way, is to suggest that grace has been forsaken. Somehow this places us under the Law that the Apostle Paul has declared to be null and void. It is old and passed away with the coming of Christ. His death and resurrection did away with the Law (Torah) and I am free from the law. The reaction is, at times, stunning. There is no place for discussion. The reaction is, in reality, paranoia. There is an irrational fear of the word among many followers of Yeshua, Jesus. The idea of talking about Torah is simply unacceptable.

The purpose of the blog is not to be provocative or argumentative but perhaps to make us think. I simply invite readers to engage in some serious thought as to what God has for us, as His children, in all of Scripture. I freely admit that I am a work in process. "Why" has been a driving question in my life for longer than I can remember. I want to know why God revealed what He has and how it applies to my life so I might enjoy my journey with Him. I invite you to join in the journey.

Should you desire to correspond via e-mail with questions, or comments my e-mail address is messianicgentilept@gmail.com. If you are interested in the possibility of having me to speak to your small group, homeschool group or some such gathering you can make that request through this e-mail account. I look forward to hearing from you.