Biblical Heritage Center Blog

I was meeting with a friend of mine recently, Joyce Ann Tepley. She wrote a book that I would highly recommend called, "Thriving Through It" - How They Do It, What It Takes to Transform Trauma Into Triumph . (Amazon has it). Joyce retired from a forty-year career as a clinical social worker and dedicated the rest of her life to honoring those who thrive through adversity, by telling their stories. Twenty people from all walks of life were interviewed for the book. They tell their own stories in their own words about what it takes to thrive through the most difficult times in their lives. Joyce herself, has dealt with Polio and a host of other physical problems and she is also a thriver! One of the things I found most interesting about the book was the great insight into how people chose to respond to what life brought. Read Rabbi Leynor’s complete blog at http://tovcenter.blogspot.com/2015/06/thriving-is-tov.html

Ponder is defined as “to consider something deeply and thoroughly; weigh carefully in the mind; consider thoughtfully.” [1] Something I have done a lot of pondering about began when I became aware of the stats below. (1) Christians trace the beginning of their religion to Jesus, the founder of a small Jewish sect in Palestine in 30 CE. (2) In 1970, there were 1,130,000,000 affiliated Christians who belonged to 1,449,600 congregations/churches of 18,630 denominations / paradenominations. [2] Paradenominations have existed since the 19th century, operating alongside denominations, crossing boundaries and enabling joint efforts between various groups. [3] (3) In 2000, there were 1,888,000.000 affiliated Christians who belonged to 3,447,900 congregations/churches of 33,820 denominations / paradenominations. [4] (4) In 2000 there were 322 Baptist denominations alone. [5] Some things to ponder: (1) How did a single exclusively Jewish sect in Palestine become 33,820...

The Amorites, also called Amurru or Martu, were an ancient Semitic-speaking people who dominated the history of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine from about 2000 to 1600 BC. Tribal nomads who forced themselves into the lands that they needed, the Amorites were reputedly fierce warriors. They twice conquered Babylonia and Mesopotamia (at the end of the third and the beginning of the first millennium), establishing new city states; the most famous of which became Babylon. Their most noted king, Hammurabi, was the first king of the Babylon Empire. The name Amorite literally means the “high one.” In the Mesopotamian sources from Sumer, Akkad and Assyria, Amorites appear as a nomadic people and are connected with the mountainous region of Jebel Bishri in northern Syria, called “the mountain of the Amorites.” They were an ancient tribe of Canaanites, technically not of Canaanite ethnicity, which inhabited the region northeast of the Jordan River. See pictures and read complete article at --...

The Sumerians were the first known people to settle in Mesopotamia over 7,000 years ago.  Located in the southernmost part of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern day Iraq), Sumer was often called the cradle of civilization. By the 4 th  millennium BC, it had established an advanced system writing, spectacular arts and architecture, astronomy and mathematics. The Akkadians would follow the Sumerians, borrowing from their culture, producing a new language of their own, and creating the world’s first empire. The origin of the Sumerians remains a mystery till this day.   They called themselves Saggiga (the "black-headed" or "bald-headed ones") and their country, Kengi ("civilized land").  Some believe they came from around Anatolia or modern day Turkey.  Others suggest they might have come from India and were Caucasian in origin.  They were established in southern Babylonia, in what is now Iraq, by at least 3500 BC.  ...

My friend and TOV Center Partner, Jim Myers, received a 6 page list of Biblical quotes in a reaction to his blog about the Real Yeshua -- Jesus the Jewish teacher . I noticed after reading through this huge list, that the point of the writer was to convince and prove his "RIGHTNESS." This sense of "RIGHTNESS" is something I've experienced my entire life. Many people are absolutely sure that what they "BELIEVE" is "RIGHT!" So many expend their energy on defending their BS (Belief System), some even go to the point of killing others. The real crime, however, is that they ignore and do not practice the Values and Lessons that the Jewish Jesus taught – and are clearly recorded in those same Scriptures . Read Rabbi Leynor’s blog at -- http://tovcenter.blogspot.com/2015/06/being-right-vs-acting-righteously.html

Nomophobia affects 40% of the population . Find out if you are nomophobic at -- http://tovcenter.blogspot.com/2015/06/are-you-nomophobic.html