Reading the Bible Without Fear: Ancient Context, Community, and Maturity with Ryan White
Host Stephanie Pavlantos welcomes Ryan White of Faith of Messiah, a founder of a Saturday church community, teacher, content creator, and nurse, to discuss his membership site and courses aimed at helping people “read the Bible without fear” as its ancient authors intended. White explains his focus on ancient Near Eastern context and how new information outside one’s denominational “tribe” can trigger fight/flight/freeze/fawn responses, creating overwhelm rather than growth. They emphasize mature, respectful disagreement, avoiding unnecessary debates that don’t change daily discipleship, and not owing everyone a response online. White highlights controversial topics he covers, including whether the Lord’s Supper was a Passover meal, early church practice, and calendar disputes, stressing community over isolation. The conversation also addresses prayer as self-reflection, the unity of God across Testaments, and Scripture as a framework for personal and societal maturity through trials.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! My guest is Kinsey Joy Langen.
Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews TikTok creator, author, and teacher Kinsey Largen about studying Scripture in its original languages through a Torah-rooted, Hebraic framework and challenging teachings that silence women. Largen argues that Paul’s letters must be read with their historical context (e.g., Ephesus, Roman household codes) and linguistic details (including the Greek “submit” vs. “obey,” and mutual submission in Ephesians), portraying Paul as countercultural and supportive of women such as Phoebe, Junia, and Priscilla.
They discuss how misuse of “authority” enabled abuse, emphasize marriage as partnership under the Holy Spirit rather than “power over,” and explore Genesis language for male and female roles (zakar, neqevah, ezer kenegdo) as complementary equality. Largen also stresses Hebrew love as action, boundaries as freedom, and creating space for critical thinking and disagreement.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! My guest is Matthew Janzen.
Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews Georgia pastor-teacher Matthew Janssen of Ministers of the New Covenant about his testimony and Torah observance. Raised Pentecostal, Janssen began learning Torah through his father-in-law in the sacred name movement, adopting dietary laws, Sabbath-keeping, and using the Creator and Messiah’s Hebrew names; he later took over and grew a small assembly. He argues believers must trust Yeshua’s saving work yet practice his teachings, emphasizing “Torah and grace” together.
Focusing on Matthew 5:17–20, he explains “abolish” versus “fulfill” as first-century rabbinic terms, saying Torah remains until heaven and earth pass away, and verse nineteen defines abolishing as “relaxing” commandments. He distinguishes weightier and lesser commandments, stresses heart-level righteousness, repentance, and answers objections by urging Christians to imitate Jesus’ Torah-observant life.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! My guest today is Angie Sickler!
Host Stephanie Pavlantos welcomes returning guest Angie Sickler, author of The Father’s Love Language, to discuss how Hebrew words and letters carry fuller meanings than English translations and how studying them deepens understanding of Scripture, including examples from Isaiah 11, Noah and grace, and word families connecting encampment with grace, mercy, and training.
They emphasize seeking intimacy with God rather than treating faith as mere Sunday routine, warning about deception and the need to “know” Jesus. The conversation explores how Christianity became disconnected from Hebrew foundations, describing early Jewish-Gentile tensions, Peter’s Acts 10 vision, and later developments under Constantine, including anti-Jewish policies, the Council of Nicaea, and replacing Passover observance with Easter. They argue the biblical “feasts of the Lord” remain prophetic and relevant, citing Tabernacles in the millennium and ongoing Sabbath worship.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews Ken Rank, an elder at Beit Minorah and longtime Hebraic-leaning Christian, about reading the whole Bible with first-century Jewish context and how New Testament writers frequently draw from the Old Testament.
They discuss division and toxicity in Hebrew roots and sacred-name debates, urging patience, humility, and focusing on weightier matters. Ken addresses whether Yeshua/Jesus is in the Old Testament, pointing to manifestations such as the Word (Logos/Memra), the angel of the Lord, Abraham’s visitor, the burning bush, and the fourth man in the fire, and connects New Testament claims to Old Testament passages (John the Baptist “prepare the way,” Isaiah 35, and “first and last”). They also discuss prayer, the Trinity analogy, God’s ability to take forms, the meaning of “name” as character/authority and applying knowledge through service.
