Grafted Branches

Inspiring you to 

NEVER

stop learning

"Use the right tool for the job," a common-sense statement. We would expect an auto mechanic to use the correct tools to keep our cars running reliably and safely. What kind of tools do we use to help us get to know God? There's only one problem with having a drawer full of tools; if we don't know how to use them, they are worthless. Our goal here is to learn some simple, powerful tools and how to use them, learning, and living life together with God. This is the first in a series of articles to help your add tools to your toolbox!

Tools for Your

Toolbox

Part 1

Tools for Your Toolbox - Familiarity

"Use the right tool for the job," a common-sense statement. We would expect an auto mechanic to use the correct tools to keep our cars running reliably and safely. What kind of tools do we use to help us get to know God?  There's only one problem with having a drawer full of tools; if we don't know how to use them, they are worthless. Our goal here is to learn some simple, powerful tools and how to use them, learning, and living life together with God.  This is the first in a series of articles to help your add tools to your toolbox!

Tools for Your Toolbox:  Context -Does it Really Matter?

A cookie is always a cookie, however the kind of cookie depends on the context of the story.  How then should we approach our study of the Bible and get to know His good news as intended?  Simple, never forget "context is king!" and knowing it does more than change the meaning; it can change the world.   Studying Jesus’ teachings in the context of His world will cause your world to explode with amazing moments, satisfying answers and peace in the midst of the cacophony of our day.

What’s Hanging Under Your Tree…

Mustard Seed Faith?


"Faith like a mustard seed," how many times over the millennia has Jesus' parable been quoted, preached, and heard? The concept of "seed faith" is used to both help and encourage and honestly exploit some. But what if, culturally, there was another meaning to the "mustard seed" comparisons? How would understanding it change our views and application of Jesus' teaching?

To those of you who have listened to our Grafted Branches Podcast titled “Remez: Hint or Clue” we are offering you a “Remez Challenge!” This will not only help you learn how to see and find Jesus’ brilliant use of remez in His teachings, but more importantly, help you to better understand His message and then live it out.

Take the Remez

Challenge

To those of you who have listened to our Podcast titled “Remez: Hint or Clue”  we are offering you a “Remez Challenge!”  This will not only help you learn how to see and find Jesus’ brilliant use of remez in His teachings, but more importantly, help you to better understand His message and then live it out.

Like Water on a Rock

Do miracles change hearts?   Only the power of God's words can soften and change us.  If we are waiting for a miracle to change our lives or prove the existence of God,  then we are looking for the wrong thing.  

But if something as soft as water can carve a hole in solid rock, how much more can words of God, which is hard as iron, make an indelible impression on my heart?

 What Does it Mean to be a “Grafted Branch?”  In a letter to the Jews and Gentiles living in Rome, Paul calls the Gentiles, who have become followers of Jesus, "wild olives" grafted into the "rich root of the olive tree." For those of us with little to no knowledge of agriculture and its cultivation, the metaphor of an olive tree and grafting branches into it is confusing.
Righteousness. A word we think we know. A word so commonly used in Christian circles today that we hardly give it a second thought. But to fully understand its meaning, we must dig deeper, study, and take an in-depth look at its ancient Hebrew concept that has become blurred throughout the centuries.

Righteousness - The Hebrew Concept of Tzedakah

Righteousness. A word we think we know. A word so commonly used in Christian circles today that we hardly give it a second thought. But to fully understand its meaning, we must dig deeper, study, and take an in-depth look at its ancient Hebrew concept that has become blurred throughout the centuries.
The Hebrew language has 100’s of idioms. Properly understanding the idioms Jesus and the other Biblical writers used and how their audience understood them helps us to better understand His message and then live it out in our daily lives.

 

What is an Idiom?

The Hebrew language has 100’s of idioms.  Properly understanding the idioms Jesus and the other Biblical writers used and how their audience understood them helps us to better understand His message and then live it out in our daily lives.
What if we had a straightforward tool we could use to help us get to the point of the story? Before we do anything else, ask ourselves this one simple question, "Where have I heard this before?" "Does it remind me of an earlier story?" This is the second in a series of articles to help your add tools to your toolbox!

Tools for your Toolbox


            Part 2

Tools for Your Toolbox - “Where Have I heard that before?”

What if we had a straightforward tool we could use to help us get to the point of the story? Before we do anything else, ask ourselves this one simple question, "Where have I heard this before?" "Does it remind me of an earlier story?"  This is the second in a series of articles to help your add tools to your toolbox!
Is repentance something that happens in the life of a Christian only at conversion? We must remember that repentance is a Hebrew concept that was not known in the Greek world of the first-century. How would Jesus audience have understood the use of this word and how does it apply to use today?

Repentance - The Hebrew Concept of Teshuvah

Is repentance something that happens in the life of a Christian only at conversion?  We must remember that repentance is a Hebrew concept that was not known in the Greek world of the first-century.  How would Jesus audience have understood the use of this word and how does it apply to use today?