Howdee.

I'm still alive.
Times are busy, busy, busy. Stay tuned - I am writing something new.
How 'bout that president, ay?
Be back soon - I promise.
(you thought that was going to be a haiku, didn't you?)

GOD FORBID.

This is from News Busters.

NB: There's a new American flag available on the Internet that has a picture of President Obama in the corner where the stars representing our fifty states normally reside.

Given how our media have assisted in selling Obama paraphernalia since Inauguration Day, one has to wonder what their position will be on the attractive keepsake pictured right.

As NewsBusters has chronicled, news outlets up until now haven't been shy about pushing product associated with the new president... (click here to read the whole post at Newsbusters.com)

...................................................................

Read the rest at Newsbusters.com. They have a good point. After all of the pandering, and lack of media criticism, why wouldn't they help BO sell out the American flag? He already made his own version of the Presidential Seal. Maybe that is what it will take to get him to show the Stars and Stripes any due respect. May it never be. As a vet, I must say that if this starts to get under way, we will not let it happen.

Ever.

By the way, News Busters has become my favorite source of news lately. They show you the Left-wing bias in the media like I've never seen it before. They do an excellent job of pointing this stuff out, and deserve more than what ever they are getting.

Just what has he accomplished?

I can't take any credit for compiling the list, and I'm not familiar with Dark Matters Radio (which is where I found it). Having said that, this is awesome. If only the rest of America would wake up and smell the truth...

How does Obama define "hope" and "change?" Since he has been in office, he has already:

1. Offended the Queen of England.
2. Bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia.
3. Praised the Marxist Daniel Ortega.
4. Kissed Socialist Hugo Chavez on the cheek.
5. Endorsed the Socialist Evo Morales of Bolivia.
6. Sided with Hugo Chavez and Communist Fidel Castro against
Honduras.
7. Announced we would meet with Iranians with no
pre-conditions while they’re building their nuclear weapons.
8. Gave away billions to AIG also without pre-conditions.
9. Expanded the bailouts.
10. Insulted everyone who has ever loved a Special Olympian.
11. Doubled our national debt.
12. Announced the termination of our new missile defense system
the day after North Korea launched an ICBM.
13. Released information on U.S. intelligence gathering despite
urgings of his own CIA director and the prior four CIA directors.
14. Accepted without comment that five of his cabinet members
cheated on their taxes and two other nominees withdrew after they
couldn’t take the heat.
15. Appointed a Homeland Security Chief who identified military
veterans and abortion opponents as “dangers to the nation.”
16. Ordered that the word “terrorism” no longer be used and
instead refers to such acts as “man made disasters.”
17. Circled the globe to publicly apologize for America’s world
leadership.
18. Told the Mexican president that the violence in their
country was because of us.
19. Politicized the census by moving it into the White House
from the Department of Commerce.
20. Appointed as Attorney General the man who orchestrated the
forced removal and expulsion to Cuba of a 9-year-old whose mother died
trying to bring him to freedom in the United States.
21. Salutes as heroes three Navy SEALS who took down three
terrorists who threatened one American life and the next day announces
members of the Bush administration may stand trial for “torturing” three
9/11 terrorists by pouring water up their noses.
22. Low altitude photo shoot of Air Force One over New York
City that frightened thousands of New Yorkers.
23. Sent his National Defense Adviser to Europe to assure them
that the US will no longer treat Israel in a special manner and they
might be on their own with the Muslims.
24. Praised Jimmy Carter’s trip to Gaza where he sided with
terrorist Hamas against Israel.
25. Nationalized General Motors and Chrysler while turning
shareholder control over to the unions and freezing out retired
investors who owned their bonds. Committed unlimited taxpayer billions
in the process.
26. Passed a huge energy tax in the House that will make
American industry even less competitive while costing homeowners
thousands per year.
27. Announced nationalized health care “reform” that will strip
seniors of their Medicare, cut pay of physicians, increase taxes yet
another $1 trillion, and put everyone on rationed care with government
bureaucrats deciding who gets care and who doesn’t.

Bloomberg: Daschle says, “Health care reform will not be pain
free. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with
age instead of treating them,” while former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm
says seniors have “a duty to die.”

Sukkot is Finally Here! ... And The Neighbors Think We Are Nuts.

Sukkot is here, and I am pretty excited about it. I can't remember if this is our 4th or 5th year celebrating it, but each year I learn more about the significance of this prophetic moedim (click the link for a great essay on God's moedim by Tim Hegg).
I can't blog about the journey of a "Christian-gone-Messianic / Hebrew Roots" without mentioning the feeling you get when you build your first real sukkah.
It is an incredible experience knowing that God's people all over the world are building similar temporary dwellings. It is also a little awkward when you live in a small town, like we do.
There are no Jewish people living living here - at least I haven't seen any other Sukkah's in the neighborhood. I have to tell the neighbors that it's "only temporary."

I know that this is short, and not very informative, but I have to get ready for Sabbath dinner (which we will be eating outside), and there is a lot of work to do before the sun goes down.
Sukkkoth lasts for a whole week, so I will go into details of what it is and how we have grown in our observance of it. Keep checking back for more in depth coverage of "Sukkot 2009!" In the meantime, I will leave you with some pictures of our Sukkah...


Sabbath dinner will be eaten out here tonight
looking up through the branches

Our "front door" for the week!

We're Getting Big.

Rhett and Link to the Rescue!

These guys continue to make me laugh until I cry.

When the foundations are gone.

Can't say it any better than this; but I can add to it.

This whole "race" thing bothers me.
It seems to me that when a person is attacked for his / her political views or intentions, it is just that - because of their political views or intentions. I have no tolerance for Oprah, but I am neither a racist or chauvinist . I don't care for Billy Crystal - does that make me antisemitic?
Of course not. I'm a white guy who observes Sabbath for crying out loud!

Just today, the House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) set some new rules for speech in the House. Read this and tell me if we are not watching our foundations crumble, and slipping into a Totalitarian state:

From now on, members of the house can not

• call the President a “liar.”
• call the President a “hypocrite.”
• describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”
• charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.”
• refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”
• refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.”

Here's my question; what if the president is a lying hypocrite who is intellectually dishonest, actively giving aid to the enemy (all of them), and shown through his

actions that he is nothing more than a coward?
Only a coward and his henchmen would go through the trouble of making it illegal to speak the truth. And the truth is that he is a liar. The bill shows where he is a liar - I am not saying it because I am a racist, but because it is fact.

What do we do now? David asked in Psalm 11:3, "When the foundations are gone, what shall the righteous do?"
This scripture has intrigued me for a long time, and it has never seemed more timely. It used to bother me that David never answers the question. I mean, what do we do? We see it happening all around us, the "foundations" are being destroyed right before our eyes.
I see now that David did answer the question. He answered it in the very next verse:

The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven;

It all depends on where your foundation is. Like the old hymn says, "...my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness..."
We are not of this world. Our foundation is not of this world. Though we may be citizens of the United States of America, we hold a greater citizenship, to a Greater Kingdom. His Kingdom can not be thwarted by idiotic lies and rules that are intended to silence the Truth.
His Kingdom is untouched by all of this.

So, "when the foundations are gone, what shall the righteous do?"
We will continue to stand on a firm foundation.
When the foundations are gone, we will thank our Master for welcoming us into His Kingdom.
When the foundations are gone, we will act like we belong to His Kingdom.
When the foundations are gone, we will show the world around us that we are not standing on the same foundation that they are.
When the foundations are gone, we will reach out to save those who are losing their grip on the only foundation they know, which is being destroyed.
When the foundations are gone, we will rejoice in the LORD for allowing us to live in such a time as this.
When the foundations are gone, we will look to His word with hope and read,
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
When the foundations are gone, we will be prepared, because it means that He will be returning soon.

My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' Name.

CHORUS:
On Christ the solid  rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Snails Blood and Tassles? Clams and Heaven's Gates?

In a previous post titled "Go Tallit on the Mountain," I mentioned that I was going to get some tallit katan (shown right) and they finally showed up! I ordered them from Jerusalem, and the tzitzits are hand tied, solid white. The type that I ordered are certified kosher (yes, kosher covers more than just food), and I will be ordering the blue thread soon.
I have mentioned the "particular color of blue" before, and mentioned that I would write more on that later, so here you go...

The scriptures tell us to include a "blue" thread in the fringes that are to be tied on to the four corners of our garments. I say "blue" because the word for "blue" in Hebrew is Tekhelet. This sounds simple enough, but it turns out that for many centuries, the Jewish people have been unable to find the exact type of blue. Instead of just taking any old blue (which is what I have been doing for the past four years), many Jews prefer not to use any blue thread at all, for fear of having the wrong one.

In the Talmud (sort of like a huge commentary on the Old Testament, written by Jewish sages from long ago), the instructions are given for making this special blue, and as it turns out, it is more difficult than those of us in the West would think.

It all starts with a tiny snail that lives in the Mediterranean Sea called a "chilazon." This tiny shellfish's blood is used for the die. Now, before I go any further, this will sound strange to those of you who know Torah; all shellfish are unclean - an abomination to God's people. Isn't that a little peculuare? To me, it is as odd as the "Pearly Gates." After all, the pearl is an irritation to the abomination we call a clam, right? Strange.
At any rate, the Talmud didn't have photos, and the identity of the "chilazon" was lost. Evidently, they have found it and are making it again, which is good for us, but leaves one to question the Kabulistic writings that tell us "the chilazon will not reemerge until the coming of the Messiah."
...but I have no problems questioning Kabulistic writings. For the time being, the blue blood of the chilazon is good enough for me.

See what I mean? That's a lot of information to sort through! It is awesome to know that our God is who He is. I know that His grace is sufficiant for me - and because of that, I want to obey Him with all of my heart.

I'lll try the new blue, when I get the extra money - in the mean time, I forgot to tell you how much I prefer the tallit katan over the "belt-loop-tzis." I know that that is the right way for me to fulfill this Commandment.

Now, should I start wearing a head covering all the time? I have some study material that claims just that, and it is getting harder and harder to deny it's validity - I may be donning a kippa in the future; but for now, I'm going to keep searching it out in God's Word.

(I used chabad.org for this article)

Hitler Smells Like Teen Spirit... Or Something.

So...
I finally get a comment from the latest post (thank goodness I don't wait for all of them to have comments before posting the next), and it is in Russian!
Now, before you get as excited as I did, relax - I think it is spam. At least I hope it is spam because if it isn't, "Google Translate" needs some tweakin'.
Here is what it says in [broken] English:

From the pleasures of the most pleasant ones that are most rare. Most, the best perfume in small vials. Throw yourself your case with all my heart and soul, but look especially good if this case. Reasonable chasing so it is good, but for the fact that eliminates otnepriyatnostey. All Russia is drinking Hamlet.

If that made sense to you CC, let me know - I can't figure out the connection to Hitler's speech and perfume.

..............................................................

History is repeating itself.

"This year will go down in history. For the first time,
a civilized nation has full gun registration!
Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient,
and the world will follow our lead into the future!"

so, who said it?

Nancy Pelosi?

Jimmy Carter?

Hillary Clinton?

Barack Obama?


Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong again. Though this seems like the ramblings of today's Liberal "luminaries," they can't take the credit for such a statement - though they would like more than anything to be the ones who make it happen.

It was Adolf Hitler, 1935.

Public Service Message from a confirmed Right-Wing Terrorist

This bit of Orwellian rhetoric was on the Mybarackobama.com Community Organizer website... until they realized that those of us on the Right have computers too. Just think - if they have their way, Barack will someday be in total control of the internet, and they won't have to hide who they really are.

(Excerpt from NewsBusters.com)

Our US Senators return to DC the Tues after Labor Day. That next FRIDAY, Sep 11, is Patriot Day, designated in memory of the nearly three thousand who died in the 9/11 attacks.

All 50 States are coordinating in this – as we fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped to a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.

...............................................................................

As they said on NB, so much for "bringing the country together" and being a "centrist." In the end, those of us who value Constitutional rights that many of our Forefathers died for are the enemy.

Hope!

Change!

Marxist Revolution!

One more thing.

Before any of you liberal, Left-Wing, communist loving, nut-jobs add me to another list, take a few minutes contemplate the fact that your leader has already put me on one for being a Veteran, a Conservative blogger, a Christian, and a believer in the founding principles laid out in the Constitution.

New Podcast from the James Study!

I just uploaded the latest podcast from the James study, titled "Count it all Joy?" James 1:1-16.
This is my first time teaching a book for the church - unless you count Teen Bible studies.
This is turning into a great experience, if I can safely say that after only two weeks. I haven't been nervous, and I have learned a lot.
Lord willing, the rest of the study will continue to get better - I have had a time trying to get my thoughts to flow from the inside of my head to the out... but that is not anything new to teaching.

James Ate Kosher.

...just wanted to make a quick update to remind Mo that I am teaching the book of James each Saturday at the Carpenter's Shop, and you can listen online, or download them here.

I had no idea that James was such a controversial guy. Evidently, few commentators of the Reformation believed that it was Jesus' brother who wrote the book, and just as many didn't want to include it into the canon of scripture. For the record, James ate food that was kosher. He was a Jew, raised in a Jewish home, in a Jewish community... and his older half brother was, well, God incarnate, so it is a safe assumption.

I still need to finish my thoughts on eating kosher, don't I?

Where does my family stand on this today? Thought you would never ask.
We buy foods that have a hechscher. It has to have the symbol - even if it is canned fruit, it has to be hechschered. We don't eat out often because of the expense of it, but when we do, we know which fast food places have kosher food, and which don't - we have to do a little research to find out, but it is worth it.
In the end, there is no guarantee that the food we get has no unclean things in it... unless it has the symbol - and even that sometimes is a little sketchy. Certain organizations are more strict than others. We typically stick with the most recognizable; there are literally hundreds of symbols, the "Circle U" being the most prominent around here (on right).
But what about meat? Meat is somewhat of an anomaly when eating kosher, as it has its own set of rules, and there are specific methods that make it kosher. As for now we still eat meat bought from the store, but that is subject to change. We are starting to lean more toward eating fish as our only meat - less to worry about.
I should note that none of this is hard. In fact, once you start looking at what is in the food we all eat, it is a little shocking at first and you will feel compelled to keep looking. This leads me to my next surprise in the drive to eat kosher:
NATURAL FLAVORS
...just what are "natural flavors?" Good question.
Here's the definition of “natural flavor” under the Code of Federal Regulations: “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional” (21CFR101.22)

Most disturbing find yet:
Did you know that L-cysteine, a common dough conditioner, flavor enhancer in human and pet foods, and precursor in some dietary supplements, is most often derived from human hair or duck feathers, and to a lesser extent from pigs' bristles and hooves? (from www.vrg.org)

Yes, human hair.

I'lll leave you with that for now. I still need to revisit the meat issue in greater detail, but I want to move on to the kippa (head covering) next, as it has been on my mind a lot lately...

Um... You Gonna Eat That?

Speaking of "fishy" information on Obama's Marxist revolution health care debacle, it is time for me to lead you through my ever-changing thoughts on eating kosher.

"What is kosher," you ask?
Good question! Grab ten random people and ask them what kosher is... you're likely to end up with fifteen answers. Heck, I might give you two or three answers myself.

Lets go back to the beginning. We'll start at "The Beginning" and then move on to my own personal Torah observance beginnings.

Genesis 2:15 states that ...the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

I am starting with this passage because I believe it is important to notice that God has been interested in and giving instructions to mankind about the food we eat since... well, since the beginning. It must be important to Him. When He instructs us not to eat something, then the instruction is, well, the Law. That's what kosher is - it is conforming to God's dietary laws, or instructions. Biblicalholidays.com puts it like this:

Biblical kosher refers to the dietary laws as outlined in the Scriptures, forbidding the eating of (1) animals that God calls unclean (Lev. 11:47), (2) animal fat (Lev. 3:17), or (3) animals that still have the blood in them (Lev. 17:12-14) as food. Lev. 11 talks about clean and unclean foods.

When my family began to observe the food laws in Leviticus 11, we began by simply refraining from pork and shellfish. It seemed like a huge step too - all the sudden we were aware of how much of our food fell into the 'abomination' category. What we didn't know at the time was that the battle to eat food that was 'kosher' according to God's word was bigger than we could ever have imagined.

At first, we would occasionally hear about a favorite food that had pork in it, or a candy that contained gelatin. As we continued to be more sensitive to what was in the food, we became more and more aware of teh fact that pork is in ... well, almost everything that we were eating at the time.

Our conversations went like this; We had the best time with the kids last night. We ate Smores around the camp fire -"
"You know marshmallows aren't kosher, right? - they have gelatin in them."
"What!? Marshmallows have pork in them?" As I am reeling from the disturbing news of pig fat hiding in my desert, I pop an Altoid mint...
"So do those."
To which I reply, "ha ha, that's funny - as if you didn't already ruin camping for the rest of my life, now my mints actually have pork in them too? What ever..."

And so the story goes. We had heard about the "kosher" labels (on left) but had not given them any real thought - after all, I had no reason to eat food that had been blessed by a rabbi, right?
What we soon learned though, was that the blessing was not what the kosher label was all about. The label was a sense of security for the buyer, telling him/her that the food they were purchasing has been watched over by a person with strict standards according to Leviticus 11.
Somebody who cares about God's Law was in charge of giving the food a seal of approval, called a hechscher.

...more later - I have to get something to eat.

Go 'Tallit' on the Mountain!

I mentioned earlier that I am sort of struggling with the tzitzit issue. For those of you who are not familiar with tzitzits, here is what I have been able to pick up along the way...

"What are tzizits?"

Tzitzits are tassels that are worn on the four "corners" of a believer's garments, as referred to in Deuteronomy 22:12 “You shall make tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself."

(Disclaimer: I have gone into great detail in the past regarding why I believe that we, as God's people, and believers in Yeshua (Jesus) are obligated today to observe the Torah commands, so I will not go over that again. From here on, I will address these issues from that standpoint.)

Back to the tassels.
When we first started to observe Torah, I wasn't sure if we were to be wearing tzitzit at all. I hadn't ever seen anybody wear them, including other Messianic believers. At any rate, after a while, I began to feel conviction for not wearing these things. A friend of mine had started wearing a set that he had made himself, attached to his belt loops, which seemed like a good place to start (I guess I hadn't given as much thought to how they should be worn).
The tassels that my friend had made were blue and white. Evidently, there was a reference to a blue string going through the tassel (Numbers 15:37-40), so he had put a blue thread through his - I did the same. The ones that I was wearing looked similar to these:

I wore these for about two years. Somewhere along the line, I asked a friend who had been observing Torah for quite a long time why he didn't wear Tzitzit, and his answer threw a wrench into my way of thinking. He explained to me that he did wear tassels, only they were tucked into his pants under his shirt. He told me that he wears a garment called a tallit katan. He went on to say that a tallit katan means "small" tallit; it looks like this:Notice the tzitzits - they are literally attached to four "corners" sewn into the garment, taking a very literal interpretation of the passage listed above in Numbers. I am writing these things in an attempt to journal the conflicts, struggles and joys of transitioning into Torah observance, and this "four corner" issue is somewhat of a struggle for me. The term shows up a few times in scripture (Isaiah 11:12, Revelation 7:1), and for the life of me I have a hard time seeing it anything less than metiphorical. With a little study, I found that the Hebrew word that translates into 'four corners' is kanaph which typically means "extremities."
...I continued to wear my belt loop tassels.

If tallit katan meant small tallit, then surely there was a big tallit right?
It turns out that a tallit is the traditional white shawl, usually having blue stripes. I had seen many Jewish people in photographs wearing it, I always knew it to be a "prayer shawl."

It looks like this: (No, that is not me in the photo.)

Again, notice the blue cord. The one above has the blue in them. These don't:
There is much debate concerning the blue cord, which only compiles my struggles with this issue. (There is a specific blue that is required according to some - more on that at a later time)
The tallit has its own set of conflicting opinions that go with it as well. Typically, it is worn during morning prayers, thus fulfilling the command to wear the tassels. A tallit katan is worn through out the day, and it is a matter of opinion as to weather the tassels should be tucked in or not.
As for belt loop tassels... they aren't really acceptable in most Messianic or Orthodox circles; just my luck.
I find myself thinking, should it be this hard? Blue or no blue, this blue or that blue, big tallit or small tallit, tucked in or on the belt loops? I have to tell you, I still don't know.
BUT...
I will tell you what I do know. I do know that the God of Israel; the Everlasting Father; the Prince of Peace; Omnipotent One; Aleph and Tav... He knows exactly what I know, and He knows exactly what I am trying to do. He knows my heart! He knows that I was born and raised in small town Indiana, light years from the nearest Orthodox Jew - in fact, He knows that I am not Jewish by blood at all - He is aware of my being grafted into Israel and what that means; and I have a feeling that He knows that it will take time for me to learn how to walk out the instruction given in His Torah. It reminds me of Paul's letter to the Phillipians (ch 1:6), where he says, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Talk about scripture having a whole new meaning...

So, where do I stand on the tzitzit issue today? Good question. If you can figure it out, drop me an email, and we'll both be on the same page! My feelings on tassels are in the process of being overhauled. I still wear the belt loop version, but I don't put them on until I have gotten out of the shower after work. This is partly due to the fact that I don't own any tallit katan, or a prayer shawl (tallit) at the moment.
I think that I will get both. I also think that when I get the tallit katan, I will use tassels with the blue cord (even if it isn't that specific blue... for now) and will probably wear them on the outside of my clothing. Yep, that's it. I will wear the tallit katan under my shirt with the blue corded tassels hanging out. When I get them that is.
In the meantime, I will rest in the fact that this walk is a transitional thing, and my salvation does not rest on my meathod; it rests in the finished work of Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiac.

Though this topic is by no means finished, I have brought you up to speed with where I am. I'll keep you posted as I grow in this issue.
Stay with me as we explore the ever confusing relm of eating kosher next!

Messianididdles? Mishnadiddles? Beit Mang?

I have been away from Mangdiddles for a while, but suddenly, I am finding myself with a little [unwanted] extra time to blog, so I want to make it worth while... now, what do I blog about?
The news is, well, old news. Obama is destroying our country at an alarming rate, and frankly I can't keep up with it. Society as a whole seems to have lost control. I actually read a story in the news the other day about a pregnant woman who was killed, and her baby was stolen from the womb.
...fortunately, the baby lived - unlike a story earlier in the week where a pregnant woman was murdered and her killer ate her brains. Now, granted, the brains were eaten after the lady was deceased, but still... I digress.
How can one small time blogger keep up with news like that? Why would I want to?

I have made attempts in the past to stick with bible study, and things of a more Spiritual nature, but I always end up being drawn into the current events arena. For this I apologize. I also will submit an excuse of sorts.

In the realm of Messianic Torah study, I have in the past been a little intimidated by the enormity of it all. It always feels like the other people writing about Messianic things has a much better grasp on Torah observance, study and history. There is so much information and so many conflicting opinions on matters of the Torah, that it makes for a very daunting task sometimes even to do personal studies.

And that leads me to the new direction that I will be taking Mangdiddles.com. See, even though I have been observing Torah as a believer in Yeshua (Jesus) for over five years, I still feel like a "new guy." How can this be, you may ask? Because of the reasons I just listed above - it is an enormous wealth of history, resources and opinions - heavy on the opinions. I intend to write about my findings, as a "new guy" in the Messianic world. The subject matter will never run out, I am confident of that.

I have no intentions of renaming the blog to Messianadiddles, or completely leaving current events by the wayside - on the contrary, I intend to incorporate them into the conversation... now all I have to do is stay focused.
I am calling on all three of you - my most faithful readers, to keep me accountable to this. From here on out, I will change the tone of Mangdiddles to that of a respectable, Messiah focused forum. God willing.

Topics anyone?

I believe that the majority of the people who stop by here are usually either angry for what I have to say about the Left, or curious about things like biblical dietary laws and Sabbath observance.
With the former, there are a lot of inner struggles that take place along the way - what do we do? What do we not do? Can I eat that? Do I want to eat that? What does that have to do with Jesus?
...did you say no more bacon!?
And the list goes on.

My current struggles (and I say that in the most positive way, like "should I have apple pie or caramel cheese cake?") include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Should I be wearing a yarmulke? (that tiny circular cap that you see Jewish people wearing)
2. Tzitzit - I was once OK with the belt-loop version, but have veered away from it... only I don't have a tallit katan. Do I want to do the tallit katan, or get a regular tallit? ...I will explain what these things are when I present the question - it is confusing.
3. Set Time Prayers - We are doing them as a family, but I keep missing the second one. On top of that, I am told that there are actually three set times. More on that later.
4. Hebrew - To learn, or not to learn. That is the question!
5. Tradition! - How much is too much... how much is enough?

And this is just a start.
I will get started as soon as this storm stops knocking the power out. It is getting nasty outside.

The Joke Is On U.S.

...Descension really is the New Patriotism, isn't it?

The Original Homeland Security

I received this in my email today, and providing it is not a hoax, USA Today has a poll that asks,
"Does the Second Amendment give individuals the right to bear arms?"
(PLEASE, click above top take part in the survey - your freedoms depend on it!!)

Before I give the results so far for the poll, lets look at what the Second Amendment actually says.
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

Seems to me that the framers of the Constitution were saying that we have the right to:

1. Have a "well regulated militia" that is necessary to the security of a free state
2. Keep and bear arms
   

Notice that it is the right of the people to keep and bear arms, not just the militia as the Left portrays it. The intent of the amendment is stated clearly - it is necessary to keep the security of a free state.
Why would any government want to suppress that right to have a well regulated militia and the right to bear arms? The answer is simple: to take away our freedoms. Hence the language in the amendment.
We are so messed up in America today that we are willing to give up the very rights that allow us to be free!


Oh yeah, I still need to post the results as of today.

It is too bad that the Democratic Party Left has no regard for the Constitution or those of us who do, because it looks like the American people understand very clearly what the Second Amendment means.

Communists for Clunkers... or something

Jaw dropper of the year.





“A warning box comes up, and it says, ‘This application provides to the DoT CARS system. When logged on to the CARS system, your computer is considered a federal computer system and it is property of the United States government,’” Beck continues, “‘Any and all uses of this system and all files on this system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized CARS, DoT and law enforcement personnel, as well as authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and foreign.’”

Sort of reminds me of the old adage that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Yet the nation remains silent, and Beck is still the bad guy. No outrage, no rallies, no protests. Bush was raked over the coals for wanting to listen in to terrorist's phone conversations... just keep that in mind.