Torah Living Special-Who We Are and What We Believe and Practice, Part 1

This special Torah Living episode post will address the question of who and what The Messianic Torah Observer is and what it is that we believe and practice. The idea for this post actually came about as a result of me updating The Messianic Torah Observer website, putting together a written synopsis of who we are, or in a more focused sense, I thought of developing and posting a written statement of beliefs or articles of faith. I’ll be transparent here: I had never planned to publish a statement of belief for this website nor for this ministry. Why? Because I know that statements of beliefs/articles of faith have become a commonly published explanation what what virtually every Christian denomination believes, and in some cases, what that denomination requires of its members based upon those established beliefs.  Conceding that statements of beliefs/articles of faith have become so prominent amongst the Christian denominations, there has arisen in recent years an expectation of self-professing Christians that every organization that calls itself a church or ministry will have such statements and articles. Thus, any organization that follows any semblance of perceived Christianity that fails to have a statement of belief then, would likely be viewed with cautious, jaundiced eyes by those who want to know what that organization believes and practices.

The biggest downfall to statements of beliefs/articles of faith is that they only serve to perpetuate the human practice of categorizing people and organizations. People naturally want to examine people’s actions and thoughts and then place them into loosely defined boxes or groups so that they can easily identify who and what you are. We all do this on a regular basis whether we realize it or not. We do this especially as it relates to races, cultures, the opposite sex, politicians, cars, books, and the list goes on without end. Many times when this is done, the organizations and peoples that we categorize are inaccurately judged if you will. This happens for a myriad of reasons, but the biggest reasons are that our categorizing of peoples and organizations are often based upon our personal experiences and knowledge base, and thus biases play a keen role in this process. This process when practiced over the centuries by the arrogant, prejudiced, hateful, and evil of our race, has led to persecution, ostracizing, and genocides of the individuals who comprise those groups. This has invaded religion more than any other segment of the human experience apart from race.

Statements of beliefs may have positive benefits as well. They can serve to foment what the organization believes and mitigate aberrant beliefs or practices that may creep into the organization from outside forces or even internal forces who may seek to alter or challenge the denomination’s status quo. We saw this clearly displayed as early as the second century church when various sects began to flex their muscles and assert dominance over the other sects in an attempt to unify the overall Christian Faith by force. Ultimately, the early church fathers convened various synods and councils in order to codify central questions of the Christian Faith and thus settle once and for all the questions that prevented complete unity of the Faith. Once developed, the beliefs and doctrines of the church became law so to speak. This law was ultimately enforced by the power of the Roman government that backed the church. Later, when Rome’s powers waned, the church had gain sufficient power to enforce her own beliefs and doctrines. Untold millions have thus died as a result of statements of beliefs that held the tenor of law around the civilized world. These doctrinal laws have thus  been enforced by the church; in many cases, even to the point of death.

So I have been reluctant to provide a statement of belief for the above stated reasons, which I will concede has likely limited our appeal to many would be followers of this ministry. Oh, I am not at all afraid for my safety nor the safety of my family. Indeed, we still enjoy in this country a modicum of religious freedoms. My reluctance, however, had more to do with the fear that simply stating our beliefs and practices would only result in confusing the reader or listener who would not be provided the full explanation of our beliefs and practices and who would then not get the opportunity to get to know us and fully and fairly understand the Faith from our perspective. Thus we’d be prematurely judged as heretics, enemies of the Faith, dangerous cultists, satanists, fools, unlearned, liars, and this list could go on. But today I am led to lay before you the chief tenets of our Faith. The very interesting aspect of this effort is that everything we here at Qumran and the Torah Observer believe and practice is contained in the Holy Writ. If you believe what is contained in the Bible, then you know pretty much know what it is that we believe. Plain and simple. Nothing is added. There are no denominational influences. No rabbinic takanot. No special revelation. We advocate an organic Faith that is modeled after that of the apostolic fathers. I guess the popular descriptor being floated around in Messianic circles is Hebraic Roots and certainly, we are all about advocating and providing a forum by which we may practice our Faith based upon the Hebraic Roots that birthed and support our Faith. Most importantly, we attempt to follow, practice, teach, embrace and love the Faith that was delivered to the saints by Yeshua Hamaschiach in the first century. Beyond this, then, for me to spell out for you the specifics of our Faith is really an endeavour of uncertain purposes.

Regardless, I will do my best to outline for you the basics of the Faith that we embrace: the basis that we believe constitutes the true Faith that was once delivered to the first century saints (Jude 1:3).

Where to start. Well, to begin with: who am I and what gives me the horsepower to do this that I am doing?

I am Rodney Thomas, co-founder of Qumran Family Church. We are not a Church in the sense of existing in a brick and mortar edifice. On the contrary, this ministry at this juncture is solely internet-based. You see, we (Hilary and I), left traditional churchianity a few years ago after decades of being churched (in one form or way, after another}. This is not to say that we didn’t value those periods or that we see those years as lost and wasted years. Our church years provided us invaluable experiences and a training ground, so to speak. Although we didn’t gain much in the way of knowledge of the Scriptures and the Faith, we saw firsthand the process of being churched and what being churched does to a believer. What do I mean by this? Well, the process of being churched simply means that one goes through a process of being educated and indoctrinated by a denomination or church in to that denomination’s or church’s beliefs, traditions, rules, and culture. Thus, the churched believer becomes a disciple of a denomination/church as opposed to becoming a disciple of Messiah. The churched believer becomes obedient to the church/denomination as opposed to Torah and the teachings of Messiah. He or she grows in to the very image and stature of the denomination/church under which they are members. Churched believers then are defined or given the title of whatever church or denomination become married to: Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterians, a member of this or that mega-church, a 7th-Day Adventist, a Jehovah’s Witness, an Episcopalian, etc. Occasionally, the churched believer will identify themselves in a larger sense as a Christian, but we know that there are some 20,000 or more Christian denominations in the world today. So being identified as a Christian in this day and age only muddies the waters of this issue a great deal more.

So where does Qumran Family Church come in to this very complicated equation? Well, the only reason we chose to add “Church” at the end of our title, was to provide ourselves with an easier means by which to establish this faith-based organization. Obtaining EIN’s from the government and even a simple bank account for the faith-based organization are virtually impossible unless the leaders of the organization can prove that they are a church-type organization and not some type of villainous organization, laying in wait to snag unwary victims’ moneys and souls. Thus we reluctantly chose to go the route we did for establishment purposes and not for purposes of growing a church. In fact, we drew the line at going the 501c3 route because we did not wish to be beholden to the United States Government and her rules and laws on what we can or can not say or practice. We will stay true to the Word of Yehovah and the teachings of Yeshua HaMashiach. Our purpose here at The Messianic Torah Observer is to provide you, the truth seeking, Torah-observing believer in Messiah, with the tools and resources you need to live powerful, righteous, and abundant lives. We are not of any denomination. We do not adhere to rules and doctrines that are not wholly Biblically-based. We do not answer to any organization or hierarchy, but only to the Father.

What about me you ask? Well, I am not a preacher nor am I minister in the sense of being a minister under the Nicolaitan system of churchianity. I am simply someone who loves with all my heart, soul, and might Yehovah, His Word, and this Faith–the Faith that Yeshua gave to us via His apostles in the first century. I am an investigator with a county law-enforcement agency by trade, so I have a natural bent towards questioning the validity of information that is passed on to us by churchianity and denominationalism that is called truth, the Gospel, or the word of God. I believe that we are individually called in to the true faith to become disciples of Yeshua HaMashiach. We are not called to become members of a church and become churched. Formerly, much of the world did not have the ability to practice the Faith once delivered without the institutional church lurking over them; for the institutional church possessed the Bibles and the supposed interpretation of the Bible and the church of course used that reality to her advantage. Thus millions throughout the ages have been at the mercy of the church and have relied upon the church to provide them the teaching and knowledge to earn them the title of Christian. I believe that this was not at all what the Master intended when He gave His disciples the great commission–which sadly has been grossly misinterpreted and abused–Yeshua said: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; (Mat 28:19 DBY) teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have enjoined you. And behold, *I* am with you all the days, until the completion of the age. (Mat 28:20 DBY) This is the heart, soul and spirit of The Messianic Torah Observer and Qumran Family Church. If you read this passage carefully, you will find nowhere that Yeshua told us to church people. Our purpose is to do what Yeshua has instructed us to do. This is my partial obedience to the great commission. There is so much more that the Lord has placed upon my heart to do and Yehovah willing, we will accomplished those things before the end of this age.