Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

I am NOT a Protestant, I am NOT a Catholic, and I am NOT a Reformer. I am a New Testament Anabaptist-like Christian, following the Christianity that is laid out in the BIBLE. I am following the Christianity that CHRIST started over 2,000 years ago.

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

"Christ" didn't start Christianity, and He didn't belong to any religious denomination! As a matter of fact, He (like His Father) constantly taught against paganism of every kind, warning people to refrain from adopting the customs of the world (which includes the Christian custom of Christmas and Easter). Yeshua haMaschiyach (His true, Hebrew Name means "YHWH/Yahweh is Salvation", while the name of "Jesus" means nothing and actually detracts from who He was) came to proclaim the Kingdom of YHWH (Luke 4:43). The Kingdom includes His Father's "forever" commandments, such as the Seventh Day Sabbath and the Biblical Feasts.

He never said He came to abolish His Father's Torah (as the Son who was a human, albeit, with a Divine qnoma [Nature] Yeshua didn't have the authority to revoke or abolish His Father's Commands)! He was "an arm" of YHWH (Isaiah 53:1) who walked this earth as a human being for a mere 33 years, and did everything the Father commanded:

John 12: 49. For I have not spoken from my soul, but the Father who sent me. He gave a Commandment to me what I should say and what I should speak. 50. And I know that His commands are eternal life.[1] Therefore, these things that I speak just as my Father told me, thus I speak.[2] (Aramaic English New Testament)

Amazingly, while Candy calls herself a "New Testament Anabaptist-like Christian," she does not appear to adhere the pagan Christian "holidays" of Christmas and Easter - which means, on one hand she espouses Christian dogma, while on the other, she has picked and chosen what to believe of her Christian faith. (In other words, she recognizes paganism when she sees it; she just hasn't figured out that YHWH's Torah consists of His Divine Instructions to mankind, without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living!)

One must be VERY CAREFUL of those who "pick and choose" what they want when it comes to the Word. YHWH gave us His Torah and we are to follow it to the best of our abilities, especially those "forever" commands, because "forever" hasn't ended yet....

Although we couldn't find any articles about Christmas and Easter on Candy's blog, she apparently used to have them until a Catholic blogger attacked her anti-Christmas and Easter stance. One can only hope that, now since she's "been busted" concerning her off-the-mark anti-Torah rhetoric, she will remove those nonsensical anti-Torah articles as well!

Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

There are a lot of English speaking people out there, who insist on calling God Yahweh, or Yah, and calling Jesus Yahshua/Yeshua, or various similar forms thereof. Then, we have people like the Jehovah's Witnesses, which say that we should call the Lord Jehovah.

Many Jehovah's Witnesses and "Yah sayers" point to such Scriptures like the below as to why they refer to the Lord as Yahweh/Yah/Jehovah, etc...

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13

The name of the Lord, in English, is Jesus, or Jehovah. Is the above Scripture telling us that we have to know the Lord's correct name, and call upon that, or we are not saved? Unfortunately, some cults are teaching that mis-truth. Because of this, many people are "Yah sayers," simply because they fear that if they were to call the Lord Jah, Jehovah, Jesus, or just plain old God, they may be condemned to hell, for not saying the name right.

Sisters, that is not what the above Scripture, and others like it, are saying!

If we are only supposed to call God and Jesus by their Hebrew names, then perhaps we should be reading the Bible in Hebrew. What of the New Testament, then? That was written in Greek. In the Old Testament the Hebrew form of Jesus is translated as Joshua. In the New Testament the Hebrew form of Joshua is sometimes translated as Jesus, such as is the case in Hebrews 4:8.

Why is Hebrew the correct language to use? I posit that if we are looking for the original language in which to pronounce the name of the Lord, we'll have to wait until the New Millennium to learn it, for that language has since passed away, as of the Tower of Babel. Hebrew is probably the closest we have to the original language, but Hebrew has undergone many changes (even in just the past 100 years), so we don't know if we're even saying the name correctly.

God works with the common languages of the day. This is why Hebrew was the language of the Old Testament (the Jewish language) and Greek was the language of the New Testament (Greek culture).

Is not the name itself not as important as what's IN the name? Yahshua/Jesus both mean salvation. When we call upon the name of the Lord, we are calling upon Him to save us.

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

Oh my! This woman needs to stick with cooking and child rearing and leave God out of the equation, as her knowledge of the scriptures fits into a thimble....Here's a Bible lesson for Candy:

Genesis 12: 8 He (Avram) left that place, went to the hill east of Beit-El and pitched his tent. With Beit-El to the west and 'Ai to the east, he built an altar there and called on the name of ADONAI.

Genesis 21: 33 Avraham planted a tamarisk tree in Be'er-Sheva, and there he called on the name of ADONAI, the everlasting God.

God's Name was never "God" or "ADONAI" or anything else; those were TITLES which referred to YHWH. We are then told in Exodus that He provided His Name to Moses:

Exodus 3: Moshe said to God, "Look, when I appear before the people of Isra'el and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you'; and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?" God said to Moshe, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be]," and added, "Here is what to say to the people of Isra'el: 'Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.'" God said further to Moshe, "Say this to the people of Isra'el: 'Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ADONAI], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya'akov, has sent me to you.'This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.

YHWH (Yahweh) in Hebrew is comprised of the letters Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey: God Himself revealed His Name to us, and man has had acess to it all along. Ironically, traditional Jews refuse to utter his Name for fear of mispronouncing it or misspelling it, etc, and on the other end of the spectrum, you'll never hear the Father's Name in most Christian churches as they are all concentrating on "Jesus" whom they think came to replace the Father and abolish all his original Divine instructions/teachings....

Why is Hebrew the correct language to use? Gosh, Candy - perhaps because the entire Bible was written in Hebrew and Aramaic by people who spoke only those languages? The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were Hebrews, and Yeshua who came through the line of Judah spoke Hebrew and Aramaic (basically a dialect of Hebrew). And so did the Apostles. Why would they have written the Gospels in a language other than the one they spoke? (Granted Paul spoke some Greek, but regardless, his writings were all in Aramaic.

Since when does the name "Jesus" mean anything? Does "Bill" mean anything? Or "Jimmy"? "Jesus" is even used as a cussword by many! Yeshua, translated directly from Hebrew, does mean "YHWH is Salvation!" As a matter of fact when one says, "He is my Yeshua" they are saying, "He is my salvation." Pardon the bluntness, but "He is my Jesus," on the other hand, simply refers to a dead guy hanging on a cross....And let's be honest, God cannot die! By painting and carving images of a dead man hanging on a cross, Christians are showing the world a DEAD god, which is exactly what the enemy wants us to believe. Never mind that we aren't supposed to make "graven images" of God at all!

Yes, it's great to "believe in Jesus," but please don't try to rationalize that "Jesus" and "Yeshua" mean the same thing, because they absolutely do NOT!

How dare Candy make fun of "Yah sayers" and lump us all in with Jehovahs' Witnesses when she herself has no more knowledge of the scriptures than most "baby Christians"!

Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

Why did Jesus Christ come to this earth? He came to pay for our sins.

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

Really? That's not what our Savior Yeshua said!

Luke 4: 43 "But he (Yeshua/Jesus) said, "I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."

Acts 28: 23 "From morning till evening the Apostle Paul explained and declared the Kingdom of God and tried to convince people about Yeshua from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets."

Acts 24: 14. But this indeed I (Paul) acknowledge, that in that same doctrine of which they speak, I do serve the Elohim of my fathers, believing all the things written in Torah and in the prophets.

So, while His death, burial, and resurrection are an important part of the Good News, it's not the whole story! God isn't just in the business of "saving" people; as Creator and law giver, He is in the business of teaching us how to be good subjects in His Kingdom to come! If "Jesus abolished Torah at the cross" then why was EVERY believer completely Torah observant for one hundred years after Yeshua's death, including the Apostle Paul who was "caught" being Torah observant 29 years after Yeshua's death (Acts 21:23-24)! Was Paul a hypocrite, saying one thing while doing another; or were his teachings, perhaps, misunderstood?

Yes, Yeshua martyred Himself so that ALL mankind could have eternal life through His sacrifice (John 17:2, John 3:36), but He came to earth for several reasons, not just to "pay for our sins"....He came to proclaim the Kingdom of YHWH, to show us personally what and how to obey, and then to die on our behalf. He was our Final SIN Sacrifice; not someone who came to abolish His Father's Divine Instructions on moral, holy living!

Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

...Are we supposed to keep the law, while being under the grace of Christ? The Bible calls the law "works," but says that we are not under the law of works, but under the law of liberty in Christ. Remember, every Word is important, so let's break the above Scripture into points, and go through each point.

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.[sic]"

Fact - Jesus didn't come to destroy the Old Covenant (which is the law and the prophets - that's another word for the Old Testament/Covenant). Jesus came to fulfill. Did his first coming and sacrifice on the cross fulfill all of the law? Not yet, as is clear from "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." The complete fulfillment of the law will occur after Jesus' second coming.

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven...."

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

At this point, Candy goes on to explain her view concerning "the spirit of the law" and other mumbo-jumbo designed to negate Torah. Again, let's see what the BIBLE says concerning Candy's comments:

For one thing, Candy, grace has always been around; it didn't start with "Jesus Christ"! Grace is the reason God didn't wipe Adam and Eve off the face of the Earth when they sinned; grace is why He killed an innocent animal (an animal they had personally known and had named and played with!) in front of their eyes, and then told them to now go and deal with the consequences of their sins, out in "the world." And these consequences from now on would include the shedding of innocent blood to atone for our guilt and sin....

Grace was around when God allowed Noah to be spared from the Flood; grace allowed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to live through the fire; grace allowed Lot and his family to escape God's wrath on Sodom and Gemorrah.....Grace is the reason He sent His Son to become our Final Sin Sacrifice....It didn't start with Catholicism or Christianity!

Yeshua didn't come to institute a new religion based on "grace"; He didn't come to start any new religion at all; He simply came to walk out His Father's desire, which was to show us personally how to obey God's Torah - and yet somehow, "the church" decided to change all that (thanks to the "Church Fathers" who hated anything Jewish because they were too dense to realize it wasn't "Judaism" they were supposed to be following; but rather, GOD'S TORAH!) Please read the articles on my Challenging Mainstream Christianity page.

If someone honestly believes that God condones and appreciates what Christianity has done to His Word, they need to re-read their Bibles in context! Nowhere will you see that His Seventh Day Sabbath was changed to the first day; nor will you see that the Biblical Feasts were ever "abolished by Jesus" (as a matter of fact, He has so far only fulfilled the first FOUR of the SEVEN, and the next one will be what Christians are calling "the rapture"). Yeshua, who was the Final SIN Sacrifice, never abolished anything but the need to kill innocent animals for our sins. He did not cover the burnt, peace, guilt or love offerings (see Leviticus 1) or any of the other sacrifices which will be REINSTITUTED once the Third Temple is rebuilt!

Christians have not only changed the Name of our Savior (which is NOT that hard to say in ANY language), but also the days of His birth, death and resurrection, and they've come up with their own "holy days" of Christmas and Easter, both of which are steeped in paganism. And Candy wants you to believe that SHE is pushing God's Truth....

Christianity has taken the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and put Him in a box, while lifting up the misunderstood teachings of Paul (who was a mere man) and insisting that Paul spoke against the Torah. Candy, time and time again on her blog, refers to the writings of Paul, suggesting that he insists Torah was abolished. Well, please click here to examine just a FEW of Paul's teachings IN CONTEXT! We challenge both Candy and all of her "sisters" to show that Paul EVER negated Torah!

Romans 3: 31. Do, we then nullify Torah by faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish Torah.

From Carmen Welker's book, "Should Christians be Torah Observant?"....

Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

The Sermon on the Mount shows the spirit of the Torah. Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial portions when He died on the cross. He opened the New Covenant, when he came back to life three days later. A Christian goes through this in a form. When we become a Christian, we die to our old selves (die to the law of sin and death), and are born again as new creatures in Christ (to the law of liberty).

The commandments spoken of are the spirit of the law, not the letter, as is verified and clarified by 2 Corinthians chapter 3.

If we want to be very black and white, then we could safely say that Jesus was telling us that we are not to teach others to break the Ten Commandments. After all, he started listing a few of them, didn't He?

I agree, of course. I keep the Ten Commandments - even the Sabbath commandment. However, I don't observe Seventh Day Sabbath anymore....

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

Well, since Candy doesn't keep the Seventh Day Sabbath anymore, then she does not belong to God, simple as that! So, is this really someone to be followed, much less worthy of teaching others about the Word of God?

Ezekiel 20: 11 I gave them my laws and showed them my rulings; if a person obeys them, he will have life through them. 12 I gave them my shabbats as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I, ADONAI, am the one who makes them holy.

We will all be keeping HIS SEVENTH DAY SABBATH into eternity, so what makes Christians think they don't have to obey it today? Did that end with Jesus, too, perhaps? How ludicrous! I challenge Candy or anyone else to find scriptures where either YHWH or His Son insist that the Seventh Day was to be changed after Yeshua's death!

Isaiah 66: 23 And it shall be that from one New Moon to another New Moon and from one Sabbath to another Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the Lord.

Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial portions? No He didn't! He was our Final SIN Sacrifice; He never fulfilled the burnt, guilt or love offerings! They will all be reinstituted with the Third Temple!

"He opened the New Covenant, when he came back to life three days later"? Candy, please check to see WITH WHOM the New Covenant was made! It wasn't made with the Gentiles or the Christians or anyone but the Torah observant Houses of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:32). Let's back up to the original statements made by YHWH Himself:

Numbers 15: 13 "'Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when he brings an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. 14 For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, he must do exactly as you do. 15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD: 16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.'"

Please re-read the above in case you missed it: Any Torah-less non-Jew/Hebrew/Israelite who does not yet believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is an "alien"/foreigner. However, if they do wish to accept Him, then they are to do exactly as those who are already belong to Him!

"Living among" means not necessarily physically, but rather, it refers to all those who have accepted the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They MUST be Torah observant, just like the Houses of Israel and Judah were with whom God made His New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:32)!

Romans 10: 12. And in this, it discriminates neither Jews nor Gentiles. For there is one, Master YHWH, over them all, who is abundantly generous towards every one that calls on him. 13. For everyone that will call on the name of Master YHWH, will have life.

For those who wish to insist that those "Old Testament" laws were only for "the Jews", please think about this: "The Jews" has simply become a blanket description for all Israelites - but in actuality, only someone born into the Tribe of Judah can claim they are Jews. The fact is, there were no Jews until after Jacob begat the Tribe of Yehudah (Judah - Genesis 29:35; Matthew 1:1-2). The Tanach (OT) shows that His Chosen were called Hebrews (Genesis 14:13). (See the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Tanach (OT)).

HOWEVER, if we read the Scriptures in context, we can see that EVERYONE, beginning with Cain and Abel, was Torah observant - which negates the Christian claim that they don't have to obey God's Law! ANYONE who believes in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is to be Torah observant, and God even said so FOUR TIMES IN A ROW in Numbers 15:13-16! YHWH chose Abraham because He wanted to (Deut. 7:6-8) and He reiterated this in Jeremiah 31:32 by making His New Covenant with the Houses of Israel and Judah - both of whom were Torah observant.

THE GOOD NEWS IS, believing Gentiles who are grafted into the Olive Tree (Israel) automatically become part of Israel. That doesn't mean they become "Hebrews" or "Jews" - but it does mean they are in royal company and complete God's Family!

Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

...Christians do not have to keep the letter of the law. As we saw in 2 Corinthians chapter three, the Old Covenant is "done away with," and "abolished."

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

Really? So, God has different rules for His natural and adopted children? Since when? Last time we checked he reitereated FOUR TIMES in Numbers 15:13-16 that ALL are to do exactly as His natural children do! That did NOT change with the New Covenant because His RENEWED Covenant was made with the Torah observant Houses of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:32). (I keep repeating this basically to drive home the point....)

Let's do a quick examination of 2 Corinthians 3 IN CONTEXT, shall we?

2 Corinthians 3: ... 3. For you know that you are an epistle of the Mashiyach, ministered by us; not written with ink, but by the Spirit of the Living Elohim; not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of the heart of flesh.[1] 4. And such confidence we have in the Mashiyach towards Elohim; 5. Not that we are sufficient to think any thing, as of ourselves; but our efficiency is from Elohim: 6. Who has fitted us to be ministers of the Renewed Covenant[a reference to Jeremiah 31:33; see also Matthew 26:28], not in the letter, but in the Spirit; for the letter kills,[2] but the Spirit gives life. 7. Now if the ministration of death was engraved upon stones in writing, and was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look on the face of Moshe on account of the glory upon his face which vanished away; 8. How then will not the ministration of the Spirit be still more glorious? 9. For if there was glory in the ministration of condemnation, how much more will the ministration of righteousness excel in glory? 10. For that which was glorious was as if not glorious in comparison with this which excels in glory. 11. For if that (condemnation) which is abolished [3] was glorious, much more must, that which abides be glorious. 12. Seeing therefore we have this hope, we the more, speak with boldness; 13. And are not like Moshe, who threw a veil over his face that the children of Israel might not behold the termination of that (condemnation) which was abolished.[3] 14. But they were blinded in their understanding because until this day, when the Ancient Covenant is read, the same veil rests upon them; nor is it manifest (to them), that it (condemnation) is abolished by the Mashiyach. 15. And to this day, when Moshe is read, a veil is thrown upon their hearts. 16. But when any of them is turned to Master YHWH, the veil is taken from him.[4] 17. Now Master YHWH Himself is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Master YHWH is, there is freedom. 18. And we all, with uncovered faces, behold as in a mirror the glory of Master YHWH; and are transformed into the same likeness, from glory to glory, as by Master YHWH the Spirit.

..."And where the Spirit of Master YHWH is, there is freedom." Freedom does not mean we are free from Torah! Torah consists of YHWH's Divine Instructions to mankind without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living! The ONLY way we can we be "free" to do as we want is to turn our backs on YHWH! Yet, Christians keep insisting "the law" is a curse.

Colossians 2: 14 He (Yeshua) wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake. 15 Stripping the rulers and authorities of their power, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by means of the stake. (CJB)

Please note Yeshua wiped away the bill of charges (sins) against us, not Torah! Verse 15 goes on to explain what Yeshua nailed to the cross was not Torah but rather the man-made laws! The same person who wrote that the Torah is holy just and good could not possibly be referring to the Torah as the "certificate of debt" or "bill of charges"!

Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

"What commandments is the Christian under? There are only two:

'Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' -Matthew 22:37-14

'And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.' -1John 2:3

What are 'His commandments?' They are:

'And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.' -1John 3:23

By following these two commandments, (believe on the name of Christ, and love one another) the Christian is automatically keeping all of the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath commandment, without having to keep the Seventh Day Sabbath, which was of the Law. Confused? Don't be....

...If you were to take the time to look up every one of the Ten Commandments in the New Testament, you'll see that ALL of them are reiterated in the New Testament, except for the Sabbath. This used to really bother me when I was a Seventh Day Baptist.

The Seventh Day Sabbath was only to be kept until one entered the eternal Rest, which is the eternal Sabbath, or the "eternal seventh day rest," if you will. The Israelites could have entered this rest, and therefore wouldn't have to keep the seventh day anymore, but they couldn't "because of their unbelief...."

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

Oh, God, HELP US all! This woman has made up her own theology and is teaching others to follow HER nonsensical drivel! Please read my explanation below along with further explanation in my Torah article.

By making the above statement that there are only TWO commands, Candy has proven that she doesn't know how to properly read the Bible. We challenge her and her followers to check out what Yeshua actually said by reading the rest of that scripture IN CONTEXT!

Matthew 22: 36. "Teacher, which Commandment in Torah is the greatest?" 37. And Y'shua said to him, that "You should love Master YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might and with all your mind." 38. This is the first and the greatest Commandment. 39. And the second is like it. That "You should love your neighbor as yourself." 40. On these two commandments hang Torah and the prophets.

Note, they HANG on Torah. It doesn't say they REPLACED the Torah! Most Christians don't mind adhering to the Ten Commandments (even though they don't bother to keep even the Fourth Commandment concerning the seventh-day Sabbath) which are part of Torah, as well. Man has always liked to "pick and choose" when it comes to God's Word, but it's time to realize that seventh-day Sabbath command, along with His seven Biblical feasts were NEVER abolished - on the cross, or anywhere else! There were parts of Torah that God said would endure FOREVER - and the Seventh Day Sabbath and the Biblical Feasts are among them....

2 Timothy 3: 16. All Scripture that was written by the Spirit is profitable for instruction and for decisive refutation, and for correction, and for deep extensive learning in righteousness; 17. that the man of Elohim may become perfect and complete for every good work.

Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

What's my belief? Simply this: Christians join Israel, and become a part of Spiritual Israel. Every Jew is welcome to the Spiritual Israel Tree as well as all Gentiles. To be a member of Spiritual Israel, one must be saved. Jews who have rejected their Messiah - Jesus Christ, have been removed from the Spiritual Israel Tree, but can be grafted back in again, at the moment they become Complete Jews - which is as soon as they have received and accepted the Messiah. This is the mystery of past ages, and it is now solved:

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" -Colossians 1:27

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." -1 Timothy 3:16

Under the Old Covenant/Old Testament, people who were not born Jews could become Jews - spiritually, by proclaiming the God of Israel as their God - the One and only True God. They would then follow the Old Covenant as laid out in the Torah, writings, and prophets. This was recorded in the Old Testament as occurring with many people, and it probably happened a lot more often than was written down.

Under the New Covenant/New Testament - is the Covenant of Grace, Spirit, and Faith. Now the Messiah has come. He came first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. Jews and Gentiles are now made one people via the Spiritual Israel Tree.

The prerequisite for joining Spiritual Israel is the same for Gentiles as it is for Jews - believe on Christ, and trust in Him alone for your salvation. Jesus died on the cross to pay the wages of sin - which is death. He did this for us, so that through His shed blood we are washed clean of our sins, and are saved. To receive Christ, one must simply believe. That's it. It's a free gift.

Am I making up this whole thing about the Spiritual Israel Tree? No. I learned it from the Bible, and no other source.

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

No, Candy, you did NOT learn the above from the Bible! It saddens (and angers) me whenever Christians use the last third of the Bible to come up with these "ear tickling" statements that are totally out of context or downright untrue.

The arrogance of the above statements is beyond comprehension! "Jews who have rejected their Messiah - Jesus Christ, have been removed from the Spiritual Israel Tree, but can be grafted back in again, at the moment they become Complete Jews - which is as soon as they have received and accepted the Messiah." So, before I (Shali, the webmaster of The Refiner's Fire) "believed in Jesus," I used to be an "incomplete" Jew. Well, it's nice to know I'm a "complete Jew" now....Thank you, Candy. You - a Sabbath and Feast ignoring Christian with her own view of "Gawd" - have won the heart of every Jew around the world....

Her comments are not only unbelievable, but they are totally out of line! Her insensitive NT-only junk is what kept me from finding my way to Messiah Yeshua for the first 44 years of my life! How often did I hear, "If ya don't believe in Jesus, yer gonna go ta hell!" What lunacy from a people who have twisted the Word of God into something unrecognizable and have killed Jews over their Torah-less DEAD adonis hanging on a cross!

Please understand I am NOT making light of Yeshua; I am trying to drive home the point that Yeshua is NOT the Christian god that Jews are supposed to "believe in." YHWH constantly warned His Chosen to stay away from the heathens who have made up their own gods and theologies. There is NO reason for any Jew to "believe in Jesus" or to chuck YHWH's commanded Feasts in order to participate in the hideous, man-made customs of Christmas and Easter! It is an absolute abomination for anyone to suggest that Jews are "incomplete"! With people like Candy espousing this garbage, is it any wonder more Jews haven't yet come to realize that their Messiah has already come?

Please read here how I feel about nut jobs who insist we have to "believe in Jesus" in order to become "complete." The only One we have to believe in, in order to gain salvation is the Torah observant Yeshua - YHWH in the Flesh - who was an arm of YHWH (Isaiah 53:1) and who said ALL are to obey His "forever" commands (Numbers 15:13-16).

Glad Candy mentioned Colossians 1:27. Let's even go one further so we can catch the context:

Colossians 1: 27. to whom Elohim would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles (Note it says GENTILES, and not "Christians!) which (mystery) is the Mashiyach who in you is the hope of our glory; 28. whom we proclaim and teach and make known to every man, in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect [in Y'shua the Mashiyach]. (AENT)

Noah was "perfect" (Genesis 6:9); Avraham Avinu was "perfect" (17:1); all of Israel is called to be "perfect" (Deut 18:13); Solomon prayed that Israel would be "perfect" (1 Kings 8:61); Hezekiah walked before YHWH with a ""perfect heart" (2 Kings 20:3); the men who upheld David as King had a "perfect heart" (1 Chron. 12:28); the Israel of Elohim in the time of David had "perfect hearts" (1 Chron. 29:8; 9; 2 Chron. 16:9)....

"For the eyes of YHWH run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him; Job was "perfect" (Job 2:3); Yeshua instructs his followers, "You therefore be perfect as your Father in heaven who is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). "The Torah of YHWH is perfect, converting the soul" (Psalm 19:7). Every perfect man in Scripture observed the Torah of YHWH, Yeshua and Paul included. The work of anti-Mashiyach is anti-Torah; therefore, "the Church" has a formidable task ahead: Christians will either repent of their shameful violations against Torah, or face the wrath of YHWH when His Mashiyach returns!

Mashiyach's true followers don't spend their time finding creative "theologies" with which to break the Word of YHWH; all followers of Mashiyach are called in Grace to live righteous "perfect" lives pleasing to YHWH. This is the continuum that Mashiyach brought to humanity, but it is being trodden asunder by all manner of false religion and "one-up-man-ship"...the very kind that Candy represents!

Comment from "Keeping the Home" blog:

"For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Did you see that?! That still holds true today - it has not changed, nor will it ever. This was true even before there were such thing as Pharisees. We have to be perfect to enter heaven. This is a universal truth, that never changes with times or dispensations. It is a law that can never be changed or broken.

If you want to go to heaven, then you have to keep ALL of the Torah - perfectly. If you have ever broken any part of the law, then you are NOT going to heaven!

The Refiner's Fire's Response:

And Candy just keeps on showing her ignorance concerning the scriptures.

Please read 613 commands, Keep Torah and Jesus was not a Christian.

Last but not least, please consult the Holy Spirit about the following which needs to be read in context (which is something Candy appears to have problems with):

Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (words/commands) and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Has everything happened that must happen? Have heaven and Earth passed away yet? Since when does the word "complete" (or "fulfill) mean "abolished"? Why would God abolish His own original divine teachings which He said were to last forever? Did Jesus come to make a liar out of YHWH, God the Father?

Candy appears to be the typical Christian who has chosen to ignore YHWH (God the Father), and attempted to replace Him with the Son - who was actually sent to represent God "in the Flesh" as a human being, born to a woman, who lived as a human and was prone to human illness (Isaiah 1-4), etc. Yeshua never once said He came to usurp His Father's Kingdom or to negate His Torah. He even said He came NOT abolish but to fulfill (and "fulfill" did NOT mean "put an end to" but, rather, to "establish or confirm").

It is a sad commentary that people are blindly willing to follow man's mindset and ideology, and will fight you to the death to hang onto THEIR ideas. It is beyond comprehension that most Christians never bother to investigate the origins of their faith and are willing to believe whatever their pastors tell them. It never occurs to them that Yeshua and all His Apostles and disciples were Torah observant JEWS who upheld Torah and never once suggested TORAH would be abolished after Yeshua's death! As mentioned above, Paul was "caught" being Torah observant 29 years AFTER the death of our Savior....

It's way past time for people to realize that "the curse" is our endeavor to acquire salvation by following the law without faith because, as mere human beings with limited human mindsets, we are prone to stumble at some point:

James 2: 8 If you truly attain the goal of Kingdom Torah, in conformity with the passage that says, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 9 But if you show favoritism, your actions constitute sin, since you are convicted under the Torah as transgressors. 10 For a person who keeps the whole Torah, yet stumbles at one point, has become guilty of breaking them all. 11 For the One who said, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder." Now, if you don't commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah. 12 Keep speaking and acting like people who will be judged by a Torah which gives freedom. 13 For judgment will be without mercy toward one who doesn't show mercy; but mercy wins out over judgment.

What will the people be judged by (verse 12)? Torah! HaShem wasn't "cursing" man when He gave us some guidelines to live by. ALL of His commandments were given for a reason. ALL of His commandments taught man right from wrong, and how to obey God and to worship Him properly. Mashiyach (Messiah) redeemed us from the "curse of the Torah," by becoming accursed.

It's time the world became aware of the fact that YHWH handed down many more requirements besides just the Ten Commandments, and that He never, ever said to disregard His Torah. Yeshua came to establish and confirm Torah, and also to expose the man-made opinions and traditions that had become entangled in God's teachings. Paul verified this when he said: Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah (Romans 3:31).

Finally, in reading some of Candy's anti-Torah blog entries, one can see that she often contradicts herself, which reveals a tendency to vacillate in her thinking. Below is but one example:

Many more things could be explained here, but this article is long enough already. It is my fervent prayer that Candy will eventually recognize the error of her teachings, and I pray that the millions who end up reading this article (and all the links contained therein) will see that this is not a personal attack on Candy, but on her off-the-mark Christian teachings that have twisted the Word of YHWH into something unrecognizable. Christianity has taken the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and put Him "into a box" which limits Him and forces Him to conform to THEIR rules.

Isaiah 42: 20 You see much but don't pay attention; you open your ears, but you don't listen. 21 ADONAI was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to make the Torah great and glorious.

The bottom line is, YHWH is in charge, not man with his limited, human mindset (and this includes Candy and her off-the-mark teachings)! As one of our readers said, "Candy may be among the many "false messiahs" the Bible warns us about! If anybody is in a cult, it's Candy, because she, among other things, insists women have to wear dresses and head coverings."

If you haven't already done so, we invite you to read our expose on what constitutes "cults". Also, we invite you to check out Bigritchie's indepth responses to some of Candy's allegations.

Shalom, Shali
Webmaster, The Refiner's Fire