Why the name, "Torah Life Fellowship"
I decided to change the name from, "Island Christian Fellowship" to "Torah Life Fellowship" because of the confusion people had when they came looking for fellowship. The reason why did is because the term, "Christian" is not the same today as it was in Messiah's day. Christians today do not believe or practice what the early church believed and practiced. Today, as a follower of Israel's true Messiah, everything we believe, and how we worship should be rooted, and grounded in what Messiah taught, and His life example.
1 John 2:6 The one who claims to abide in God ought to walk just as Jesus walked.
John 14:6 Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me.
If a believer is following Israel's true Messiah, their worship, and what they believe, should be in accordance with the Torah and the Prophets, according to The Way. The term, "The Way" is what the early church called the life and teachings of Messiah.
Acts 24:14 I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a cult. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Torah and that is written in the Prophets.
The foundation of all our doctrines, and how we define righteousness, should be established from the Torah and the Prophets, because they are God's eternal principles of holiness, which lead to a having a blessed life for all who obey them.
Psalm 119:160 All your words are true. All your laws are right. They last forever.
Psalm 19:9-11 Your laws are pure, eternal, just. They are more desirable than gold. They are sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them.
When you read the next verse, I want you to pay close attention to how Timothy specifies the fact that the people in his day were taught the Scriptures from their childhood. They were to be used to teach doctrines, instruct them in righteousness, and correct them so that they could be equipped to live a holy, and acceptable life to God. The only Scriptures they had, were the Torah and the Prophets. This means that anytime they quoted Scripture, they were quoting from the Torah and the Prophets.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The Torah and the Prophets are God's eternal truths. They teach us righteousness and godly love, which are two eternal characteristics of God's nature, so they will be the foundation of His eternal Kingdom. Pay close attention to when the man, who was an expert in the Torah, asked Messiah, "Which is the the greatest of all the commandments in the Torah?" Messiah's replay was, "Love God, and love neighbor." He then said, "All the Torah and the Prophets depend on these two commandments." That means without the Torah and the Prophets, the love of God, and neighbor, will be distorted, unholy and perverted.
Matthew 22:35-40 Then one of them, an expert in the law, tested Jesus with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Torah and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Today's churches have a belief system, and form of worship that is forbidden by the Torah the Prophets, and is actually an abomination to God. Everything in today's mainline church was changed as a result of the apostasy.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
The apostasy is not a falling away from believing in God, it's a falling away from what was once believed, having to do with doctrines i.e. God's definition of holiness, and how to worship.
Apostasy: The abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.
This apostasy was prophesied to happen before Messiah's second coming. Messiah's second coming is when He returns to gather His people together, and we meet Him in the air.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.
Messiah's second coming will not happen until the false system of worship, that has a man at its head, who the Bible calls, the man of lawlessness is revealed i.e. the man without Torah. This is a religious system that has a man at it's head who changes God's times and law, and persecuts God's people for rejecting his changes. This was all prophesied by God, through the prophet Daniel.
Daniel 7:25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.
This already happened during the time in earth's history called, "The dark ages". When a person enters into today's mainline church systems, they are entering into a system of worship that has already been changed. This is why when people came to "Island Christian Fellowship" they expected to celebrate Christmas, Easter, Good Friday and Sunday as the Lord's day, just to name a few. Everyone one of these things are taught in the Torah as an abomination to God, because they are all rooted in Babylonian sun worship. Sun worship, by God's people, is nothing new to God. He's been fighting against it for thousands of years.
Ezekiel 8:15-16 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.” And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east.
Everything in today's churches is rooted in sun worship, including Sunday worship, Christmas, Easter and Good Friday, just to name a few.
In Roman culture, Sunday was the day of the Sun god. In paganism, the Sun was a source of life, giving warmth and illumination to mankind. Sunday - Wikipedia
December 25th was observed as the birthday of the sun as part of the ancient Roman festival called Saturnalia. It was also the date of the birthday of the pagan sun-god Mithras (sometimes also spelled Mithra). {The Catholic Encyclopedia}
The Easter or Ishtar symbolism of the Sunday resurrection of the spring fertility cult (Easter, the Anglo-Saxon form of Ishtar), is a pagan system of worship that first penetrated Christianity in the second century. The symbolism stems from the death of Tammuz on Friday and his resurrection on Sunday. The 40 days of Lent were picked as one day for each year of his life since he died at age 40. The rest of the traditions of Easter were "Christianized" into the story of the death and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah. "{WikiBooks & Wikipedia}
We don't say no to these things to earn salvation, but rather, we do it because we are saved. Living a righteous life, as God defines righteousness, is the fruit of being saved, and is the evidence of the new birth, it's not the means to it.
1 John 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
Obedience to God is the foundation of true worship, loving God, and loving others. God does not want His people worshiping Him the same way the pagans worship their false gods, because they do everything He hates.
Deuteronomy 12:29-31 When the Lord your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land, do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates.
This is why it's so important for us to live by what Messiah taught and His example, because His words are rooted in the Torah, and came right from the Father, so they contain blessings, and eternal life, for all who live by them.
John 12:49-50 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”
John 6:68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Hebrews 5:8-9 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.'
If Bible teachers do not teach according to the Torah and the Prophets, they don't have light in them.
Isaiah 8:20 To the Torah and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
The Torah and the Prophets is the life and teaching of Messiah, according to His WAY.
Acts 24:14 I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a cult. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Torah and that is written in the Prophets.
I have more information about the apostasy, and how it all happened, but I think you have enough information now to understand why I changed the name to, "Torah Life Fellowship". People were coming into the fellowship looking for the same things that mainline churches are teaching, and became upset when they didn't find them.
Here at "Torah Life Fellowship" we strive to be like Messiah, who was a Jewish Rabbi. We strive to live by what He taught, and how He lived.
1 John 2:6 The one who claims to abide in God ought to walk just as Jesus walked.
Join with us every Sabbath as we celebrate the great gift of salvation, and the promise of eternal life we have in God's Son. Doing this is one way we testify to the world around us that we worship the one true God of creation.
Ezekiel 20:12 And I gave them the Sabbath—a day of rest every seventh day—as a symbol between them and me, to remind them that it is I, the Lord, who sanctifies them—that they are truly my people.
Ezekiel 20:20 Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 23:3 You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day Sabbath, On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the Lord, no matter where you live.
This is exactly what the early church did, every Sabbath.
Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.
Amen...