Welcome to Grafted Jewish Roots of Christianity! Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews Will Turner, a Messianic content creator and plumber, about interpreting Scripture in context, focusing on common readings of 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Philippians 1:23.
Will argues these passages are often used to teach immediate conscious life in heaven after death, but in context refer to the future resurrection and receiving an imperishable body, drawing on 2 Corinthians 5:1–7, 1 Corinthians 15:50–58, Philippians 3:21, Ephesians 4:22–24, and Ecclesiastes 9:5–10. They discuss how beliefs about deceased loved ones “in heaven” conflict with resurrection hope, emphasize enduring to the end, using spiritual gifts to bring others into God’s kingdom, and stress that Paul’s “all Scripture is God-breathed” originally referred to the TaNaK, underscoring the Old Testament’s importance for understanding Jesus and the New Testament.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! Host Stephanie Pavlantos welcomes returning guest Shauna Manfredine.
Shauna is an author, artist, teacher, and speaker with Lighted Way Ministries, which broadcasts each Shabbat and hosts annual feasts and retreats. Manfredine discusses her focus on archeoastronomy, arguing the heavens contain Yahweh’s intended story and that paganism distorted original constellation meanings tied to Scripture, the twelve tribes, and prophecy. She describes tracing star and constellation names, shapes, and “tapestry” scenes (e.g., the Bowman’s arrow into the scorpion) and connects figures such as Perot’s “the Breaker” to David and Goliath. She presents her book Ancient Hebrew in the Stars, claiming the twenty-two-letter original alphabet appears in constellations worldwide, with meaning also conveyed by letter frequency, including a Shema message in letters appearing once. They share links to her sites, books, free magazine, and video platforms.
Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews author and teacher Dr. Dinah Dye about her book, The Greatest Exodus: A Divine Warrior Tradition, which she describes as a culmination of 45 years of studying Scripture. Dye explains how the Exodus and Passover story functions as a thread running through the entire Bible, reframing themes like creation, order and chaos, kingship, temple patterns, and God’s return of presence to His people. She discusses “combat myth” in the ancient Near East and how biblical writers used familiar cultural symbols without endorsing paganism, urging readers to move beyond proof-texting and theological “boxes” to see Scripture as a unified narrative. Dye outlines the book’s structure, showing the divine warrior/chaos pattern from Exodus through the Gospels (especially Matthew) and into Revelation, and hopes the book helps Christians understand biblical context amid current confusion about Israel and antisemitism.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews author, teacher, and pastor Jeff Brannan about his testimony, Torah-rooted teaching, and writing.
Jeff recounts coming to faith as a teen during his parents’ divorce, decades of ministry, and later intense study in Genesis—especially Genesis 6 and the Nephilim—which led him into Torah practice and cost him many ministry relationships. He describes his fiction series beginning with “Nephilim: A Giant Walkthrough History” and its prequel/sequel work “The End Is the Beginning,” connecting end-times themes like the Antichrist and deception, and he outlines teaching books on priestly garments and priestly service as allegories for salvation and spiritual life. Stephanie and Jeff emphasize humility, being teachable, and relying on the Holy Spirit for scriptural discernment. Jeff also summarizes his research-driven book “The Rise of Marcion,” tracing early heresies (including Marcion, Simon Magus, and Nicolaitans), their modern resurgence, and defenses of gospel authority.
A year ago, January 2025, was a bitter cold and difficult month for us on our little homestead. Besides the polar vortices and the negative temperatures, we had an older lamb get very sick and two ewes give birth. During this time, I developed bronchitis and coughed like a barking dog.
However, it doesn’t matter if you are sick; the animals still need to be cared for.
With the help of a Facebook friend, April Pope, my older lamb got better quickly. April has a lot of experience and knowledge with most livestock and has helped me more than once when I didn’t know what was wrong with one of my sheep or lambs.
But going back and forth to the barn on our slippery driveway and sidewalk was not the adventure I needed or wanted. One of our ewes had rejected her lamb after it was born. So, either my husband or I carried it back and forth from the house to the barn so her mother could feed her (even though she didn’t want to).
We have two German shepherds who walked with us on every trip to the barn and back.
Mike laughs when he sees me walking around the yard or up and down the driveway because I have a GSD on either side of me. He always says, “Someone would have to be crazy to mess with you with those dogs beside you.” Mia is always on my right and Sophie on my left.
Mia’s my velcro dog.
On one of our trips to the barn, my husband had the little lamb in his arms, carrying her back to the warmth of our house. I was not far behind him with the dogs when I slipped on the ice and started falling forward.
Mia moved her strong ninety-pound body in front of me, catching me within half a second. I never hit the ground. As I got my legs under me using her body to stand up, I marveled at her speed and ability to break my fall.
See, the reason Mia could help me when she did was that she walked so close to me and kept her eyes on me.
Scripture often recounts people who walked with the Lord as well as reminding us to walk with Him:
Micah 6:8 tells us to “walk humbly with the Lord.”
Genesis tells us both Enoch and Noah walked with the Lord.
Isaiah 30:21, “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
Galatians 5:25: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
Psalm 128:1: “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him.”
I learned an important lesson from Mia for my relationship with the Lord. Stay close to His side, keep my eyes on Him, go where He goes– turning left or right as He does, and stopping to rest when He does.
When I am that close to Him, He catches me when I fall. I can lean on Him to stand when my feet give out beneath me. And I need not fear because He is right there, “closer than a brother.”
We are His sheep, and He is our Good Shepherd. He carries us when we are weak, neglected, sick, or scared. And He protects us.
Yeshua loves us. He looks at us with love, not with condemnation or remorse.
Sophie has the biggest and most affectionate brown eyes. When she looks at us, we know she adores us. One time, I asked the Lord how He sees me. He responded with, “I look at you the way Sophie looks at you.” I love how He uses my dogs to teach me about His love and protection.
My husband and I are going through a nasty lawsuit with a renter who is suing us. It was a hard year, and it isn’t over yet. But all these moments that Adonai has given us as lessons from our homestead—dogs and sheep—sustain us and encourage us to keep moving forward and wait on Him to get us through our trials and tribulations. He is faithful, and we can trust in that faithfulness.
