More from Sukkot

Hello again!

Here we are with a couple more reports and thoughts on the Feast of Tabernacles from this year.

The first one is from HananiYah:

"Of the last three Sukkots my family and I have been to, Sukkot 2011 has
been the best one yet. This year included deeper studies to help build
our relationship with Abba YHWH. Although this Sukkot was smaller than
the last ones, it was by far more peaceful, intimate, and a more
meaningful time with other believers. Everyone helped each other to
reach the next level of maturity in our walk. Sukkot is a time for
fellowship and I was thankful to have such wonderful brothers and
sisters in Ha' Mashiach to fellowship with.

Blessings,
HananiYah"


The next thoughts about the Feast of Tabernacles comes from Lorenz:

"As our Hebrew forefathers left Egypt to make their way to Canaan, our creator Yahweh revealed to them his feasts which are supposed to be observed from generation to generation each year.

One of these feasts was the feast of Sukkot which is commonly translated as the feast of tabernacles. It started on the fifteenth day of the seven month with a day of rest and ended with another day of rest after the eight days. Thus Sukkot is the last of the biblical feasts of the year to be kept according to the hebrew calendar and takes place five days after the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. That order is quite important for prophecy by the way. However I want to focus on another aspect and wisdom that i see in the days of Sukkot. Our creator instructed us to observe this feast in order to, as Leviticus 23, 42-43 tells us, remember how our Hebrew forefathers lived in booths after they left the land of Egypt and hiked through the desert for decades. There we find a significant message hidden in this feast of joy. We didn't leave Egypt because we didn't like the river nile or for any ethnic reasons but rather because Yahweh called us out. He liberated us through great, breathtaking miracles from slavery, oppression and Pharaoh's tyranny and even more important from idol worship and evil ways of life. After we left Egypt we walked the desert for forty years being a homeless people without belonging to either Egypt or Canaan. We were sort of stuck between these two directions while quite a lot wanted to return to their slavemasters and only a few, namely Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim and Caleb from the tribe of Judah proposed to enter the land despite the existence of giants and all the other scary things they might have seen. They put their trust in the one who had set them free.

Right now in the 21st century the believer is in a pretty much equal situation. We have left the lies we inherited from our fathers, whether it be mainstream Christianity, Darwinism or any other possible ideology that we held. We have left or still try to leave the world, the broad path, Egypt, Babylon, the matrix or whatever one wants to call it. However Egypt calls on us day and night to return to an "easy" life of materialism, consumerism and promiscuity, which is how it measures success and happiness. All that while the believer is stuck in the desert between the world that he lives in but cannot be part of and the kingdom of Yahweh and the return of our beloved Messiah which is yet to take place. The scary giants of today one may discover in economic isolation or other possible threats waiting for the believer which might keep us from fully implementing the Torah in our lives and to follow our Messiah without compromising.

And in the same way as some of our forefathers had left Egypt but Egypt hadn't left them and their hearts, we see that today we might have left the world but the world didn't necessarily leave us and some still pledge their loyalty to it's many faces and appearances while being to stubborn or proud to listen to the Joshua's and Caleb's of today who call us to fully enter the kingdom of the Most High. As our forefathers lived in booths for forty years without having a solid home we do not have a home right now, not in a geographical but in an ideological way. Yet while we are still in the desert longing for the arrival of our King and for the end of injustice and the rule of world this feast of Sukkot gives us hope. Zechariah 14:16-20 reveals to us that one day this feast of Sukkot will be a time where all nations will gather and head to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh. Thus we are reminded and should constantly remind ourselves that the time of this world is running short and the days of injustice, idol worship and evil conduct will end and be replaced with the worship of the almighty. We´ll see the days when Egypt, Assyria and Israel shall be the three lights of the world: „ In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom Yahweh of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.“ Isaiah 19:23-25.

We´ll see swords being transformed into plowshares and spears into pruning knifes and nations learning war no more(Isaiah 2:4). Days of peace, brotherhood, love, prosperity and mercy. Thus the message that I´m reminded of when thinking about and/or celebrating Sukkot is both a warning to not turn my heart back to Egypt but even more importantly a message of hope for the amazing things which are yet to come and after all Sukkot as much as all the other feasts is only a shadow of what we are going to see.This is just a tiny aspect of many potential teachings and wisdoms a learned brother may find in the feast of Sukkot but it´s the message but it´s the message i want to give. If anything of what I've said is correct in the eyes of Yahweh it is totally from Him and the honor belongs to Him alone. If there is anything incorrect it is my own words and ideas and should be ignored.

May peace and blessings be upon all brothers and sisters in the faith.

Your brother
Lorenz"

We hope you enjoy what these youth have to share, and feel free to leave comments or send us a message.

May YHWH bless you.
Jared

Youth Day at Eaton Rapids, Nov. 26

Shalom everyone!

This is just a brief post to let you know about the Youth Day that occurred at Eaton Rapids, MI on Nov. 26.

It was a very good time, starting with a Sabbath service led by youth from Michigan. After lunch, there was a concert held in which two groups of musicians--Self Aside and Come to Call (pictured on the right)--played their songs for everyone in attendence. Look back here soon to hear some of the music by these talented young people.

For more pictures from the day, go to the Youth for YHWH facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/youthforyhwh

May YHWH bless you!

Sukkot is Here!

Actually, Sukkot just passed last month. We have been meaning to post some pictures and reports from the feast, but as usual, we've all been a bit busy and haven't gotten around to it until now.

Nonetheless, we do have some reports for you, as well as some pictures, poems, songs, and other thoughts. We hope you enjoy!

But to start it off, I (Jared here) might as well fill you in on the Feast of Tabernacles I attended in Rockford, Illinois. To describe it briefly, it was a blessed time of fellowship, praise, and healing for all involved. One of the more blessed parts of the week was seeing how caring and willing the were when it came to participating in activities, and more importantly, being a part of the body there. The Youth Service that was put together for one meeting was probably one of the best during the entire week, if not one of the most interesting (in a good way). There was also plenty of great music throughout Sukkot, with many of the youth avidly participating in that, as you will see in the pictures below.
(Photos courtesy of Micaela A.)

Here's a picture of everyone in attendence. Look at all those smiling faces you can only barely make out in the distance! (Close ups to follow.)

Below are pictures of Art, Mike, and Marcus, preparing to jam and practicing for a special offering:

And here is the whole group of youth playing and singing together:

Here's a photo of me reading something up front (can't remember which something this was):

A photo of some of the younger children doing something:

(I'm not sure what's going on here, but I suspect they are having a board meeting.)

And with that, I will leave you lovely readers until next time. Look back here for more posts about FOT 2011. There is some good stuff to come; hope you enjoy!
Be safe and may YHWH bless you!

Newsletter 6.5--October / Day of Atonement

(Photo Courtesy of Jenna C.)

This month, since a lot of people are busy with and preparing for the Feasts of YHWH, we are going to have a shorter Newsletter, posted only here on the blog. We hope you enjoy.

First of all, as the Feast of Tabernacles is coming up this next week, we invite all of the youth to be prolific photographers and take snapshots of the festivities. Afterwards, you are very welcome to send in some of those photos to us, and we will use them to be featured in the next newsletter as well as on the website. We look forward to seeing the joy you have to share with us!

Now, with the feast time upon us once again, it becomes a good time to reflect on the life that we have, especially on Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. As the scripture says:

"Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one's head like a reed and for spreading sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to YHWH? Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed fo free and break every yoke?" (Isa. 58:5-6)

Our Father has called us to great things, and we have a great opportunity to share with others the great things he has done for us.

With this in mind, I would like to share with you a poem I wrote during last year's Day of Atonement.

The Servant's Freedom in the Face of Guilt and Oppression

A great gathering was called in which the people came together.
It was a very beautiful sight, with the men in white linen
And all the women and children singing songs of praise.
And out in the street, what was found?
There may have been many others out in the street—
Men who could not afford to go in with white linen
And women too busy finding food for their children
To attend to the songs of their own souls.
But out in the street, what was found?

In the street was a most amazing sight,
Something so special that it was hard to describe at first,
As the size of the assembly caused the crowd
To pour out into the road.
Everyone was dressed in fine white robes—
The poor, the hungry, the broken, the tortured,
The ones who looked nothing like a priest.

Everyone looked like redemption was near,
Everyone looked like their faults were forgiven,
Their past troubles covered by a red blanket
Of a bloody lamb and his bleeding saints
Suffering for something more wonderful
Than a name on a plaque in a window glazed with an angelic face.
So how did they do it? How did they find hope in the street?

One man sprinkled a goat's and bull's blood over the heads of the house.
Another man led a goat into the desert where it would be lost.
A third man took the leftover parts and burned them outside the city.
And the rest of the people ran to each other with knives in hand
And unbound their neighbors so that they could go to the assembly
And wear their beautiful white robes.


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May YHWH bless and keep you all. We hope to hear from you soon. Shalom!
Jared

Music and Photos

Greetings, everyone! We finally have for you the featured content we have been metioning for the past month and a half, or so.

First, we have a playlist of music by Micaela Avalos, a talented young artist who is using her gifts to praise YHWH. You can also find and download the following songs on the Music page.


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The next thing we have to feature are the photos of Jenna Comfort. She has been a regular contributor to the website, as far as photography goes, and so we thought we would share some of her great photography skills here. You can also check out some of her pictures on the Photos section of the website.

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I hope you enjoyed these two short features. Please comment and let us know if you would like to see more brief features like this. There is a lot of great content on this site which we would love to share with everyone.

Until next time, Yah bless!
Jared
Youth for YHWH Editor

September Newsletter

The September Newsletter is now posted on the website. Feel free to go check it out and let us know what you think! We hope it is enjoyable and a blessing.

For this month's riddle, we have something a little simpler. Below is a poem describing a scene from Scripture. Your task is to correctly identify which story it is describing. You can email your answers to felecia@youthforyhwh.org. Along with that, we are asking that you suggest a story from Scripture that you think would make a great riddle like this one.

The Thank You

Stone floor beneath her feet.
Fear in her heart as she approaches,
But she knew why she was here.
And she wasn’t going to back down.

The one searched for,
Found.
Kneeling before the one she has come to thank,
The only way she knows how to.

Heart beating up into her throat,
She tries to swallow her fear.
Tears mixed with sweet fragrance,
She uncovers her hair.

Looking into the one she now thanked,
For the mercy that was shown.
Because of this person
She was now clean.

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Any comments, suggestions, or questions about the Newsletter or this website are welcome and much appreciated.

Shalom and Yah bless!
Jared

August Newsletter and Riddle

Hello everybody!

The August Newsletter is now posted on the website. Check the 'Newsletter' page to read it there! Please comment and let us know what you like.

As part of the Newsletter, we are having a riddle competition of sorts. As can be read in the August Newsletter, there is a poem/riddle written by Felecia. In case anyone misses it, here it is again:

At first light, soft and sweet
You remind me of honeysuckle in the wind.
Small and minute, you sometimes go unnoticed.
Once in the spotlight of their eyes though,
They can’t help but breath in your sweet beauty.
And now you have my attention.

Changing with such ease
You are now mesmerizing.
Like the flames of a fire,
Or the rippling water of a stream;
I can’t keep my eyes away from you.
What a beautiful voice,
That speaks to my soul.

Now you have become so strong.
I can’t help but think of thunder-storm
Or a lion roar.
My heart beats as if it’s about to explode,
But yet my smile is broad.

You finally grow slow again,
Like a sea that that had raged but now is calm.
Tears find their way to my eyes.
Only now am I able to look away to the people all around me.
I see their calm and peaceful face
And realize that you are a gift from Yahuwah,
For being able to bring all these people to this place.

How can something be so beautiful,
But yet unseen?
How can you speak to me so deeply
Yet without uttering a word?

Finally you are gone.
No fingerprints are left,
No sign that you ever had existed,
Just the memory that ring in our minds.

Thank you,
Sweet gift from Yah.

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The idea is to read this poem/riddle, and respond in some way. Let us know what you think it is by expressing yourself through some creative means. You may write a poem in response, a short story, draw a picture, paint a painting...whatever comes to mind for you to do. After you do that, please submit it to Felecia (felecia@youthforyhwh.org), and the responses will be shown on the website. Along with that, some of the best entries will be featured in the next newsletter. So we very much look forward to seeing everything that you guys create!
If you have any questions, please write to us or post it in the comments to this blog post.

Other than those two things, be sure to continue to check back to see new content and a new blog that should be up sometime early next week. See you then!

Jared
Y4Y Editor

June Newsletter

Shalom,

This is just a quick post to let you know that the June Newsletter is available to view on the website. It took us a while to put it together, but it's finally here!

You can view the latest or check out older newsletters by going to the 'Newsletter' page. Please be sure to give us feedback and let us know what you think.

Any and all new submissions are of course very welcome and appreciated. We are also considering doing a 'themed' newsletter for the next edition, so please let us know if you have any interesting ideas concerning that. We look forward to hearing from you.

YHWH bless,
Jared

Prayer for Japan - A Song

Preview of "Prayer for Japan"

Ever since almost 2 months ago when the giant earthquakes and tsunami struck Japan, I have been praying and thinking about what to do to help. Yahweh stirred my heart for these people. He just kept saying, Imagine your home, your loved ones, and your life as you know it being swept away. Gone. Never the same again. EVER. You can't rewind time, you can only recall your past. That's what it's like for many many people in Japan.

That's when I started composing a new song—inspired by my sorrow for Japan. Suddenly, it struck me. A thought. What could I do with this? What can I do to help the people of Japan? The answer hit my almost immediately. Record the song and offer the song for a donation to Japan.

A few notes about the song...
You will be emailed the song after you donate any given amount. If after a day you still haven't received it, leave a comment or contact me.

You may use this song for any use as long as it glorifies Yahweh. All I ask is that you give credit where the credit is due.

That being said, if you feel led, you can donate either below or on the sidebar. 100% of the proceeds go to the Red Cross to assist in cleaning up the damage from the earthquake and the tsunami and caring for the people who are hurt. Suggested donation is $5, but feel free to give what ever you want.



Spread the Word!
I strongly encourage you all to take the chipin widget and the song preview by copying the code snippits below and put them on your blog, website, etc. so as to spread the word. You can link back to this post so others can copy the code also.

Code for the Chipin widget:
<object width="160" height="250"><param name="movie" value="http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/a125742438a64772"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="event_desc" value="Suggested%20donation%20is%20%245.%20Give%20whatever%20you%20feel%20led%20to%20give."></param><embed src="http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/a125742438a64772" flashVars="event_desc=Suggested%20donation%20is%20%245.%20Give%20whatever%20you%20feel%20led%20to%20give." type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="transparent" width="160" height="250"></embed></object>

Code for the song preview mp3 player:
<object data="http://www.pebblecrossing.com/files/dewplayer/dewplayer.swf" height="65" id="dewplayer" name="dewplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="250"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><br /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.pebblecrossing.com/files/dewplayer/dewplayer.swf" /><br /> <param name="flashvars" value="mp3=http://www.pebblecrossing.com/files/PrayerforJapanPreview.mp3&autostart=1" /><br /> </object>

Zachary Bruno

Judgment - Andrew Leach

Andrew shares some thoughts about the idea of judgment in the scriptures.

Here is the link to Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQIR1GWiGAI

The Power of Prayer

This will change your life. Seriously..

Followers of Yahshua - Andrew Leach

As a quick note, the Y4Y Newsletter for February should be posted on the website within a couple of days. Until then, here are some videos to pass the time.

Andrew shares some words on what it means to be a follower of Yahshua:

For part 2, you can follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWtqrSbI2OA

Until next time, YHWH bless.

Jan./Feb. Newsletter

Just as a bit of an update, due to time constraints and few other small issues, the newsletter for January and February will be combined. You can look for it to be posted within the next week or two.

YHWH bless.
Jared

Are You Eating Food Sacrificed to Idols?

Are you eating food sacrificed to idols? from El Shaddai Ministries on Vimeo.

www.zabihah.com

I will gather away the birds of the heavens...

I recently received an email from a very good friend and I found this very interesting. It was taken out of a newsletter from a friend in Yisrael.

Brethren, Yahweh is so much showing us how close we are to the return to earth of Yahushua Messiah and the setting up of the Kingdom of Yahweh to this earth.


We have just entered the Roman year of 2011. The year was ushered in by birds falling out of the sky right before midnight in Arkansas in the USA. Then, in the last week we have seen more birds falling out of the air and dying and also fish dying sporadically in different waters in the US. Yahweh is showing that Babylon is ready to be taken away forever and His kingdom is getting set to be set up forever.


Hos 4: 1 Sons of Israel, hear the Word of YAHWEH, for YAHWEH has a quarrel with those living in the land; for there is no truth, and no mercy, and no knowledge of Elohim in the land. 2 Swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and the committing of adultery increase. And blood touches against blood. 3 Therefore, the land shall mourn, and every one living in it shall droop, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven; yes, also the fish of the sea shall be removed.


Zeph 3: 2 I will completely consume all from on the face of the ground, declares YAHWEH. 3 I will gather away man and beast: I will gather away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks, even the wicked. And I will cut off man from the face of the ground, declares YAHWEH.


Ecc. 9: 12 For man also does not know his time. As the fish that are taken in the evilnet, and as the birds that are caught in the trap, like them are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls upon them suddenly.


Each of us will have to make a choice of what kingdom we will live for today, so that it can be established what kingdom we will spend eternity in; either Satan’s kingdom of Babylon or Yahweh’s Kingdom of Elohim. Take the opportunity that Yahweh is giving us in showing us that the time is at hand. Don’t let faithless people around you stop you from entering that Kingdom due to lack of faith and Holy living. Make the decision to serve Yahweh today with all your heart, mind soul and strength, and come out of the wicked system of world democracy set up by Satan the devil.