Roots of Faith, Inc., was officially incorporated as a Non-Profit Charitable Corporation on April 5th, 2010, pursuant to the Louisiana Non-Profit Corporation Act of the State of Louisiana. Excerpts from our Constitution and By-Laws: Article I. Name, Standard, and Greeting Section 1.  The name of the Association shall be ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. Section 2.  The Standard of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. shall be:  “My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all Peoples.” Section 3.  The official greeting of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. is:  Shalom, namely, Peace. Article II. Places of Activities Section 1.  The activities of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. will be conducted principally in the State of Louisiana, but also in all the other States of the United States of America and in foreign countries. Article III. Objects and Purposes Section 1.  The objects and purposes of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. are:  (a) To inspire people to live a more Biblically authentic lifestyle by inculcating original biblical truths through published material and public teaching. (b) To affirm the truths of the Hebrew Scriptures. (c) To understand and interpret earliest Christianity from its original and thoroughly Hebraic perspective. (d) To study, learn, practice and preach original biblical truths in all their simplicity. (e) To provide a place of meeting for anyone that believes in the One God of Israel and seeks to live according to the principles of the Hebrew Bible. (f) To appoint spiritual leaders for the various UNITS of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. (g) To advance and advocate Social Justice based upon Biblical Principles. Section 2.  ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. further proposes on the basis of the Biblical injunction:  “My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all Peoples,” and further on the basis of the words: “Whosoever shall call on the Name of Jehovah shall be saved,” to be as universal in creed and outlook as the Bible itself is; wherefore ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. will function as a non-political, non-denominational, non-sectarian, non-profit, religious membership corporation. Section 3.  ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. intends to publish its teaching material using all manner of outreach available – allowing its members multiple ways to take part in learning. This will include, but not be limited to Audio (radio and internet podcasts) and Video (television, internet videos), and all forms of written materials; books, publications etc. Section 4.  ROOTS OF FAITH intends to maintain a web site which is to serve as the main organ of the corporation and the chief medium of unification for all members and units of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc.  It will contain important Bible data and messages of current interest.

We are using technology to spread the Torah Faith message across the globe. Our weekly classes are broadcasted over the web every Saturday morning via www.shma.tv. Participants can watch our morning service and engage with others from around the globe through the chat feature. This has enhanced the dialogue portion of our service and is becoming more popular every week as is evidenced by the increased number of attendees. My teachings of the weekly Torah portions are posted on iTunes as well as on my main website (www.rootsoffaith.org) and are available for download at no charge.

We continue to broadcast on special occasions such as Holy Days to provide those that are interested with a place to go to celebrate these appointed times. I will be sending out more information on our plans for the High Holy Days soon.

We recently added interactive Hebrew classes on the Synagogue Without Walls site. Johnny Powell, my own Hebrew teacher is leading these classes. He already has several students, and has made it clear that all are welcome regardless of their skill level in Hebrew. If you have ever wanted to learn Hebrew, now is an excellent opportunity. All one has to do is join the “Learning Torah Hebrew” group on SWW. Class is every Wednesday night at9:00 PM EST. We are still working to improve the class. We currently utilize the chat feature on the SWW site and last week we added a SKYPE feature to allow students to hear one another as well as the teacher. We will continue to get better as we experiment with various options.

I have set up Facebook pages for the Synagogue Without Walls as well as Roots of Faith and I encourage you to follow us there. You can also find me on Facebook as well as Twitter. I am making every effort to reach the masses through the social media and these popular sites provide us with an excellent outreach platform to spread Torah Faith. I encourage you to find and follow us and join us in our work.

We do not charge for any of our teachings or features. The work is fully supported through the prayers, efforts and faithful voluntary contributions of those who believe in what we are doing. The goal is to work on continuous improvement at every turn – doing the best we can with what we have. As we have more, we seek to do more. So far, as our costs have gone up, the contributions have met the challenge.

If you are able to contribute, we have several ways to do so. We have set up “donate” buttons on our sites. These allow you to donate whatever amount you wish.

We have several bills that are due every month and here are some examples in case you want to specify where your contribution goes. Some may wish to make a contribution to cover one or more of these expenses.

1 month of internet at the Synagogue – $65
1 month of usage for the SWW site – $50
1 month for our Livestream channel – $350

Recently it was requested that we set something up to allow people to subscribe for recurring donations through PayPal. This is now active and is a good way to help us on a regular basis without the hassle. Those desiring to set up to contribute have options here as well. One way is to select a set amount per month ($15, $20, etc) from the drop down menu.

The other choice is for those who follow the custom of donating in increments of 18. This custom is based upon the idea that the Hebrew word chai (life) has a numeric value of 18. Some choose to donate in increments of 18, thus symbolically sending our outreach efforts “life” in that your financial help literally brings life to others.

Whatever you can do is greatly appreciated and your help in this matter allows us to continue to provide our teachings at no charge to any who wish to receive them and also provides us with the necessary funding to maintain and improve our features.

You can send check or money order to us at the following address:

Roots of Faith
PO Box 695
Saint Francisville, La. 70775

Or on-line at www.rootsoffaith.org/support

Thanks for you prayers and continued support and interest in Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls!

Shalom, Ross

We just received our official Roots of Faith Logo from Denson Brantley Advertising. I am so pleased with it. The logo is actually a collaborative effort. It started with a conversation between my wife and I. I sketched an early version on a piece of paper, she found some graphics and we began to look around on various sites. My sister… Jessica made a very clean version of my original idea, which I brought to an artist friend (Larry Crawford). He talked with me about my vision for Roots of Faith and reviewed all that I had to that point. Within a couple of days, Larry produced the rough sketch of the “final” version. I took this to the team at Denson Brantley adverstising and Renee Jones created the final logo. I am now very pleased and proud to present the Official Roots of Faith Logo!

At some point in the near future my RSS feed link may change as a result of these changes.

I wanted to post this on my blog so that you will not be caught off guard. I suggest that you begin checking my website for details (http://www.rootsoffaith.org/).

Thanks and shalom, Ross

Don’t forget to listen in live on Saturday morning at 10 AM CST. Go to my website (www.RootsofFaith.org) and click on the Listen Live link and you will find everything that you need to know to listen in on our morning service. We truly want you to be a part of our Synagogue without walls! We have limited slots, but will not pay for more until we need them, so get there early. We usually have the live link streaming music at around 10:00 AM CST and the service begins at 10:30 AM CST.

Subscribers to this list will be able to interact with others in a healthy and yet forsaken art – the ancient art of Dialogue! Many religious institutions shy away from questions. Not so at Roots of Faith. I believe that most people have legitimate questions as well as an earnest desire to find real answers. I also believe that collectively we can learn if we enter into respectful dialogue with others.

Dialogue is something that took place in the formative years of Christianity in the synagogue every Sabbath, but rarely takes place within the walls of religious institutions today. See how it is used in the following passages for example. (Acts 17:2, 17; 18:4, 19; 19:8, 9; 20:7, 9; 24:5). In each of these passages we have forms of the Greek word dialogomai. The word is defined as:

1. of a reasoned discussion – discuss, discourse with, conduct a discussion 2. of disputation – contend, argue, dispute 3. of speaking with someone in order to convince, address, speak, reason with.

I want people to carefully and respectfully consider the ideas of others. Trying to understand where a person is coming from without being judgmental is very hard for most of us. Often we attempt to force ideas, coerce and persuade others rather than provide an open forum to express differing views and to allow the expression of differing views in order to gain mutual learning by effective communications.

I see this list as an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and so I encourage you to consider joining this list. If however you are one that already has all the answers, or has an agenda to convert everyone to a particular point of view, or are seeking to condemn or otherwise ridicule anyone for not defining things according to your pre-determined view (s), then this list is not for you.

I recognize through personal experience that it is very difficult to have civil conversations about differing Biblical beliefs. The scars of ghostly inquisitions from the past and the present fear of being labeled a heretic often drive people to search for truth in solitude.

I personally believe that the faith of many has been stunted by not providing people with a forum to ask questions. Great spiritual enlightenment is always birthed by an irresistible desire to search for truth and the boldness to sell all for that elusive pearl of great price. Many have lost family and friends – and in some cases their life as a result of seeking after truth and discovering that they had been lied to. The prophet Jeremiah speaks about a time when Gentiles will go unto God from the ends of earth, lamenting that their fathers have inherited lies, vanity and things wherein there is no profit (Jeremiah 16:19).

May we all be like those Bereans of old, declared to be more noble than the Thessalonians because they did two things: (1) received the word with all readiness of mind and (2) they searched the Scriptures daily to see if those things were true. (Acts 17:11)

I am reminded of a wonderful saying found in the Sayings of the Fathers (Mishna Avoth 2:6) that says, “The timid student does not learn and the stern teacher does not educate.”

I really believe this to be true. I, like all of you have some firmly held convictions. Many of us have MANY such convictions. I for one am learning to listen and learn from those who have a differing opinion than I. Some of the most valuable learning for me has been gained from actively listening to a view with which I had not been familiar, but that was presented with evidence and tact.

So if you have honest questions about faith related issues and are open to consider the views of others, to constructively and respectfully challenge long established doctrines and dogmas, all the while allowing yourself to be vulnerable and teachable then this list is probably for you. I have to believe that most people try to act with integrity based upon what they see and know at any given time.

I want to encourage open advocacy and authentic inquiry on this list. In order for this to work, and for you to remain on this list you must understand and utilize both.

Open advocacy can be defined as “stating a position that permits others to state a different position.” Examples of using open advocacy include prefacing a statement in one of the following ways:

This is the way I see it…
This is what I think (or believe) and why…
I suggest…
Let’s try….
Have you considered this in your current understanding?
I have always understood that to mean this…..
From what I have studied, this was understood in this way by the ancients….

Examples of what open advocacy is NOT are as follows:

This is how it is……
You have to believe this……
It’s obvious…..
There’s no way…..

Open advocacy must be balanced by authentic inquiry. This can be defined as “asking questions to gain a better understanding or to deepen understanding.” Examples include language such as:

What do you see?
Why do we believe this?
What is the basis for this doctrine?
How do you understand this passage?
Help me understand why you believe that…
What leads you to that conclusion?
Could you give me an example or perhaps say more?
What do you mean when you say…….?
What might we be missing when we look at things in this way?

So you see, this method of dialogue could be very instructive. I am of the opinion that we must look to the book to find the answers to our questions. The Second Temple period gave us a rich body of learning that includes;

The Hebrew Bible – the Bible that Jesus and his earliest followers used (now called the Old Testament),

The New Testament or Christian Scriptures, which tell us much about the way that various people and groups interpreted their Bible (the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament)

Other Ancient religious texts (gnostic gospels, Apocrypha, Pseudopigrapha, etc)

We also have some incredible learning in Jewish literature (Talmud, Mishna, etc),

Not to mention the corpus of texts known to the modern world as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

There is much to be gleaned from a fresh analysis of our questions from any and all of these sources.

So, in closing I would encourage you to consider joining this new and exciting list. While I will be a member of this list, I want this to be a dialogue in its truest sense. This is not about finding out what Ross believes on this or that topic. I will be participating to learn from you as much as I intend to share any knowledge that I may possess on a given subject. I want to invite Biblical scholars, Jewish rabbis, Fundamentalist Christians, Jews, etc. Each of us has a valuable contribution to our collective understanding if we can present and be allowed to present these views in accordance with what I have outlined above.

Our modern way of thinking has conditioned us to think that learning is only gained through answers to our questions. The ancient rabbis, and this includes Jesus, often taught people through asking more questions when faced with a question. Quite often this form of teaching leads the student to “answers” on their own that they would not have considered if a formulated “answer” had been given.

Are you ready to learn? If you wish to participate in this list, you must sign up on my web site. I will not sign anyone up for the list. You must click on the link at the bottom of this article and fill out the form. It is very simple, but please feel free to write me if you have difficulty and I will help you.