Referenced Messianic Jewish Review Blog

Keeping Judaism Jewish

2012-01-19T21:00:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to give a heads up about a new counter-missionary blog, Keeping Judaism Jewish: http://keepingjudaismjewish.wordpress.com/

Delayed-Just For A Bit

2011-12-27T21:22:00.004-05:00

Back in September, I wrote that I will be getting back to updating my website and blog....and well, some things have come up that will lead to a bit of a longer delay for major changes. Nothing bad-actually, things are pretty good in my non-internet life but very busy. I will probably not be doing much updating and writing until February. So, until then-stay true to Judaism and check out these sites:

www.jewsforjudaism.org

www.whatjewsbelieve.org

www.outreachjudaism.org

Messianic Finances

2011-11-08T22:39:00.003-05:00

I have received numerous e-mails over the years trying to tell me that the Messianic movement is definitely not spending large sums of money to convert Jews. The e-mails present the Messianic movement as a cash-poor movement. However, the facts show that this is clearly not true.

Some of the largest Messianic groups are members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, a Christian organization which monitors the financial honesty of its members. The ECFA makes public the finances of its members.

According to the ECFA website (accessed 11/8/11) "ECFA is committed to helping Christ centered organizations earn the public's trust through developing and maintaining standards of accountability that convey God-honoring ethical practices....ECFA defines Christ-centered organizations as those organizations that subscribe to a written statement of faith clearly

affirming a commitment to the evangelical Christian faith."

As a sidebar, let's contemplate the second part of the quote. Every single Messianic group whose finances I am about to quote have to be committed to evangelical Christianity. Again, further proof that the Messianic movement is a Christian movement and not a Jewish one.

Now, I will list the Messianic groups on the ECFA website that have total expenditures of over $1 million dollars in the most recent year listed by the ECFA. In each case, I have rounded down their latest financial year, so the actual number is higher that what I have listed.:

Organization Expenditures

Jews for Jesus: $19.5 million

Chosen People Ministries $10.9 million

Ariel Ministries $1.7 million

Life in Messiah International $1.1 million

Maoz Israel Ministries $2.7 million

CJF Ministries $3.7 million

Jewish Voice Ministries International $12.4 million

Messianic Jewish Alliance of America $5 million

Messianic Jewish Bible Institute $1 million

Tikkun International $ 3 million

Total

$61 million

In just these ten Messianic groups, $61 million is being spent to evangelize the Jews. Again, each group must be committed to evangelical Christianity to be part of the ECFA despite the fact that they present themselves as Jewish. Considering that there are generally estimated to be less than 15 million Jews in the world, the amount of money being spent by just these ten groups is mind-boggling.

Temple Sacrifice Versus Jesus

2011-10-02T18:27:00.003-04:00

One of the great errors of the Messianic movement is claiming that Jesus' death was a sin sacrifice. In truth, there is nothing remotely similar between Jesus' death and the actual sacrifices at the Holy Temple. Biblical law is entirely clear that Jesus' death is not a legal form of sin sacrifice. For a sin sacrifice, the only allowable items were cows, sheep, goats, a few types of birds and flour. Yes, the Bible allows flour as a sacrifice for the poor-the entire idea that a "blood sacrifice" was necessary is simply un-Biblical. Humans were not on the list of sacrifices. The sin sacrifice ceremony was done by the Kohanim, the priests, and the Bible prescribes the details of the ritual with specific laws. The sacrifice was done at the Holy Temple, or prior to the Holy Temple being built, at the Tabernacle. The sacrifice was for past sins. All of the above are the mandatory laws of Biblical sin sacrifice.

Now, let's look at Jesus. He was a man who was killed by the Romans on a cross away from the Holy Temple. If we compare his death to a sacrifice, there are many Biblical legal problems. The sacrificial item is Biblically illegal. The ceremony was incorrect and done by the wrong people at the wrong place. Moreover, Messianics claim that his death removes sin that occurred roughly 2000 years after his death. Biblical law prescribes that sacrifice removes past sins, not future sins.

When I point this out to Messianics, I have gotten the response that I am being too "legalistic." But do you think G-d gave these laws for no good reason? Do you think that G-d gave them to be ignored? I, and the rest of true Judaism, believe that G-d gave laws because G-d wanted them followed.

Let me finish with a comparison. Let us compare the legality of Jesus' death as "sacrifice" to legal driving. To be as off on legal driving as Jesus' death is to a real sacrifice, you would have to have an underaged child driving a non-street legal vehicle backwards down a sidewalk. In the driving analogy, there is clearly the wrong person driving the wrong vehicle, using the wrong method of driving and in the wrong location. All of these were also wrong with Jesus. With Jesus' death we see the wrong sacrificial item (Jesus), wrong people offering sacrifice (Romans), wrong method (cross) and at the wrong place (away from the Temple). Plus, the idea that a sacrifice can be applied to sins centuries after the "sacrifice" was made is Biblically wrong.

Efraim Goldstein-Christian Seminarian

2011-09-24T22:33:00.005-04:00

Previously, I documented how Jews for Jesus -Tel Aviv branch founder Efraim Goldstein (real name: Fred) is an ordained Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) minister. I left out that he earned a Doctorate of Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary, a Christian seminary in Kentucky. The seminary is approved by the United Methodist Church.

As for Goldstein, his dissertation was on mentors to Jews who have accepted Jesus, clearly not a Jewish topic. It was titled, "The common characteristics of mentors of new believers in Jesus in Israel." Here is a link to the abstract:

http://gradworks.umi.com/34/28/3428676.html

Again, how can he (or any Jews for Jesus member) say he represents a Jewish group when he has a doctorate of ministry from a Christian seminary? Clearly, Goldstein lies.

What Do You Call A Jew Who Believes in Jesus?

2011-09-22T22:59:00.003-04:00

I often have readers from the Messianic movement tell me that their movement is from the original Jesus movement in the 1st century. But realistically, that is not so. Messianic "Judaism" is very, very new.

If you think about it, what did you call a Jew who believed in Jesus during the 300's? A Christian. What did you call a Jew who believed in Jesus in the 1200's? A Christian.

Pablo Christiani, a Jewish convert to Christianity who lost a debate to Nachmanides, is one of the most famous from this time period. What did you call a Jew who believed in Jesus in the 1500's. A Christian.

This answer only began to change in the 1860's when the answer to what do you call a Jew who believed in Jesus started to become a "Hebrew-Christian." This answer was created by the Church of England, who founded the idea of Hebrew-Christianity (later called "Messianic Judaism") as a means of evangelizing the Jews. It was not until the late 1960's-early 1970's that the answer to what do you call a Jew who believed in Jesus became "Messianic Jew" as Hebrew Christianity embraced this new terminology.

Messianic "Jews" unfortunately have been misled to think that they have some sort of historical tie to Jesus. The truth is that historically, Messianic "Judaism" has exactly the same ties to Jesus as all other branches of Christianity.

Jews for Jesus/EFCA

2011-09-12T21:38:00.003-04:00

Within the Messianic world, many of the leaders are ordained Christian ministers. In the case of Efraim Goldstein of Jews for Jesus (the founder of their permanent ministry in Tel Aviv), he is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA). How do I know this? Well, it is in the first paragraph of this article from EFCA Today!

http://www.efcatoday.org/site/back-issues/article/before-you-travel-to-israel-for-a-sabbatical

This reminds me how Jews for Jesus founder Martin "Moishe" Rosen was a Baptist minister. Just more evidence that Jews for Jesus, well, isn't Jewish!

FYI-according to a March 1985 article that Goldstein wrote for Jews for Jesus, his parents never gave him the name Efraim. His birth name is Fred.

My Apologies

2011-09-12T21:32:00.002-04:00

I would like to apologize to all of my blog and website readers for my lack of focus on the blog and site for quite some time. Over the next few months, I plan to re-focus energy to editing my website (as so many other sites change causing my site to end up with dead links), putting up new sections to the website and writing new blog posts. This is going to take a bit-it is not like the internet is my "day job" (or that I lack for other activities in my life) but I am looking forward to spending more time doing my counter-missionary activities. Enjoy!

Tisha B'Av and Countermissionaries

2011-08-08T19:29:00.002-04:00

Tonight starts Tisha B'Av, which commemorates the destruction of both of the Jewish Holy Temples in Jerusalem. The Rabbis state that the Second Temple was destroyed for the sin of Sinat Chinam, the baseless hatred of one Jew to another Jew.

Frequently, I (and I am sure other people involved in countermissionary work) receive comments stating that our criticism of the Messianic "Jewish" movement is essentially Sinat Chinam. I have been accused multiple times of Lashon Harah, the sin of talking badly against others, when bringing evidence against the Messianic movement and its leaders. After all, why can't all Jewish groups get along, including with Messianic "Jews." This "can we all get along" mantra sounds nice but misses out on reality for a false and hollow fuzzy warm feeling.

The reality is that the Messianic "Jewish" movement has never been a part of Judaism. It began as "Hebrew Christianity" in the mid-1800s, a creation of the Church of England as a method to convert Jews and make converted Jews more comfortable in church. "Hebrew Christianity" re-branded itself as "Messianic Judaism" primarily in the 1960s and 70s. When I, or any other countermissionary, say that Messianic "Judaism" is really Christianity, we are merely stating objective historical fact.

The fact is that Messianic "Judaism" has exactly the same historical ties to Jesus as the Church of England. When I argue against Messianic "Judaism" for true Judaism, I am not arguing about the relative merits of two Jewish groups. I am arguing about Christianity versus Judaism. Unfortunately, many people have difficulty with objective facts or are ignorant about facts. For instance, many Muslims truly believe that the World Trade Center attack on 9-11 was a Zionist conspiracy. Factually, they are wrong and there is no way of getting around fact. I also get many passionate and emotional e-mails from Messianic followers about how Messianic "Judaism" REALLY is a form of Judaism. But passion and emotion do not allow us to ignore the truth that Messianic "Judaism" is a form of Christianity. The simple truth is that it always has been part of Christianity. It has no more connection to Judaism than any other branch of Christianity.

Further, pointing out the fact that Messianic "Judaism" is a form of Christianity is not Lashon Harah. The Bible is clear that the Jewish people need to speak up against anyone, including Jews, trying to lead Jews to non-Jewish worship. The words of Biblical prophets such as Elijah are clear about this. Rambam (Maimonides), one of the greatest legal minds in the history of Judaism, stated that it is a Biblical command TO speak out against people trying to convert Jews to other faiths.

Tisha B'Av is indeed a sad for the Jewish people. However, it is not possible to connect the sin of Sinat Chinam which destroyed the Holy Temple to the justified, factual criticism of the Messianic "Jewish" movement.

17 of Tammuz

2011-07-19T07:13:00.002-04:00

Today is the 17th of Tammuz, the day commemorating when the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem leading to their eventual destruction of the Holy Temple on the 9th of Av. Now, many in the Messianic "Jewish" movement claim that everyone needs to accept Jesus as a sacrifice.

This ignores the fact that Leviticus makes clear that only certain animals can be used as a sacrifice and they must be slaughtered in a ritual fashion by the Priests at the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple, while Jesus (a human) does not fall under the Biblically-approved sacrifical items and he was killed by the Romans away from the Holy Temple. They also fail to take into consideration that sacrifices were for sins which occurred prior to the sacrifice, not after, as is the way Christians (including Messianic "Jews") attempt to apply Jesus' "sacrifice." They also ignore all of the other Biblically-approved methods of atonement and forgiveness such as repentance and helping the poor. This tends to get me thinking to Deuteronomy Chapter 4, in which the Jewish people's removal from the Holy Land for misbehavior is predicted. How does Deuteronomy 4 say that the Jewish people can gain G-d's forgiveness, outside of the Land of Israel (and by definition, without the Holy Temple for sacrifices)?

Deuteronomy 4: 29 But from there you will seek the L-RD your G-d; and you shall find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30 In your distress, when all these things are come upon you, in the end of days, you will return to the L-RD your G-d, and hearken unto His voice;

31 for the L-RD your G-d is a merciful G-d; He will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore unto them.

As you can see, G-d is willing to forgive the Jewish people even without sacrifices. And did you notice that the covenant was forever? No mention of having to accept Jesus for forgiveness or acceptance by G-d.

But Jesus Was Jewish

2011-05-25T22:08:00.003-04:00

One of the arguments I often get as to why I should accept Christianity/Messianic "Judaism" is that because Jesus and his followers were Jewish, therefore Jesus and his followers beliefs were Jewish.

Let's think about this for a second. The worshipers of the Golden Calf were Jewish. They were even monotheistic, believing that the Golden Calf was the G-d who took them out of Egypt. But was worshiping the Golden Calf a form of Judaism because its followers were Jewish? The answer is an obvious no, as the Jewish people were punished for this heinous sin.

Throughout the Book of Prophets we see that many Jews worshiped the pagan god, Ba'al. So does that make the worship of Ba'al a form of Judaism? The Bible is clear that it is not. In post-Biblical times (at least post-Biblical for Jews), we see that there were many Hellenist Jews who supported the worship of the Greek gods and were even supportive of the placement of an idol of Zeus in the Holy Temple. Just think about this for a second....Jewish worshipers are worshiping at the holiest place of all of Judaism! Doesn't that make the worship of Zeus a Jewish activity? The holiday of Chanukah, when the Jews fought the Greeks and their Hellenist Jewish supporters, stands to testify against this.

So, we can logically see that just because Jews worshiped or even created a religion or belief, it does not make this belief or religion Jewish. Similarly, it does not matter if the founders of Christianity (and Messianic "Judaism" is an 1800's creation of Christianity, originally called "Hebrew Christianity") were Jewish or not. Jesus and his followers created a religion, Christianity, which is simply not Jewish.

Rabbi Singer debates a Pastor

2011-05-22T14:56:00.003-04:00

Countermissionary Rabbi Tovia Singer will be debating Pastor Paul Humber on whether the Jewish Bible predicts Jesus is the Messiah. It will be tonight at 6:30 pm at the Bukharian Jewish Community Center at 10616 70th Ave in Forest Hills (Queens) NY. Admission is free.

Sudan?

2011-04-21T20:32:00.002-04:00

I recently received the following e-mail:

"Shalom! I just want to inform you that The Nile Beth Israel Messianic Congregation has moved to the South Sudan in 2005...."

Well, this is a relief. I mean, I get worried about Jews being led into Messianic "Judaism" by the false claims of the Messianic movement. But South Sudan.....well, there are no Jews there, so nothing to worry about....

Still, gets you thinking...what are they doing in Sudan....? Oh well, not my major worry for today....

New Website!

2011-04-04T19:31:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that Jews for Judaism of Canada has a new website!

http://www.jewsforjudaism.ca/

How Jewish Is Jews For Jesus

2011-04-02T23:22:00.004-04:00

Recently a reader commented on my blog, stating: "It is rather ignorant to claim that there is nothing Jewish about Jews for Jesus."

I think this view is rather common within our world. Many people believe that Jews for Jesus is really a Jewish group. The reason this false view is held is because many people know nothing about the founding of Jews for Jesus.

Jews for Jesus was founded by the Reverend Martin Rosen, an ordained Baptist minister. Though born Jewish, Rosen converted to Christianity at age 17. Rosen was ordained as a minister in 1957, a full decade before he created Jews for Jesus. Moreover, he is a graduate of multiple Christian evangelical schools. He had a degree from the Northeastern Bible College and later received a doctorate of divinity from the Western Conservative Baptist Seminary.

In 1977, Rosen sent out a mailing to other Christian leaders. In the mailing he said, "We are primarily evangelists and we are always mindful that we should not usurp the authority of the local pastor. As we win and disciple Jewish people, we urge them to take their place in a local evangelical church or establish a congregation and call their own minister. Our duty is to aid the church at large and we work as an arm of that body to gather in the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel."

When you take the time to study Jews for Jesus, there is only one logical conclusion one can make about this group. Namely, there is nothing Jewish about Jews for Jesus.

Irony

2011-03-20T17:11:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to point out a bit of irony as it applies to Jews for Jesus. According to Jews for Jesus, one of their core values is "Deploying only front-line missionaries who are Jewish or married to Jews." I find this ironic as David Brickner, the leader of Jews for Jesus, does not have a Jewish mother. Therefore, by Jewish law he is not Jewish. Neither is his wife Jewish. However, I am pretty sure that he has quite a lengthy history as a front-line missionary, especially as his father was a missionary to the Jews for many years. Then again, there is nothing Jewish about Jews for Jesus.

Simple To Remember

2011-02-20T10:21:00.003-05:00

It is simple to remember why Jews don't accept Jesus as the Messiah. Just check out Simpletoremember.com for the answer:

http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/jewsandjesus/

Hey You Went There, Too?!?

2011-02-06T21:00:00.003-05:00

Most, if not almost all, Messianic "Jewish" leaders are ordained Christian pastors and ministers. Many have also attended Christian evangelical schools. For instance, here is a list of Messianic leaders who graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a school of the Evangelical Free Church of America:

Murray Tilles: Executive Director/Missionary of Light of Messiah Ministries

John Fischer: Leader of Congregation Ohr Chadash and Professor and Chairman of Department of Judaic Studies, St. Petersburg Theological Seminary (This is a Christian seminary)

Dan Juster: Co-founder of Tikkun Ministries and Director of The King's Jewish Voice (This is part of the Christian Pentecostal seminary, The King's University)

Michael Rydelnik: professor of Jewish Studies in the World Missions and Evangelism department at Moody Bible Institute

Jeffrey Feinberg: Leader of congregation Etz Chaim and faculty member for the Master's of Divinity degree with a concentration in Messianic Judaism at the Denver Seminary (This is a Christian seminary)

The following Messianic leaders are currently studying at or took some courses at Trinity:

Jhan Moskowitz: North American Director of Jews for Jesus

Wes Taber-Missionary for Life In Messiah/AMF International

Overall, real Jewish leaders do not attend Christian divinity schools.

On a sidebar, I've noticed that Dan Juster has taken to calling himself a "rabbi" recently. This is pretty interesting since Juster is not even Jewish.

Verses of Atonement: 2 Chronicles 7:14

2011-02-02T21:44:00.003-05:00

This is the fifth part of a series on atonement. In case you missed the previous posts, here are links to them:

http://messianicjewish.blogspot.com/2010/08/verses-of-atonement-proverbs-166.html

http://messianicjewish.blogspot.com/2010/09/verses-of-atonement-isaiah-111-18.html

http://messianicjewish.blogspot.com/2010/09/verses-of-atonement-isaiah-557.html

http://messianicjewish.blogspot.com/2010/09/verses-of-atonement-jonah-3-4-10.html

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the Messianic movement claims that atonement can only come through sacrifice. This claims is false. So, I am listing other Biblical means of atonement to prove that the Messianic movement is Biblically wrong in their claim. Following Solomon's consecration of the Holy Temple, G-d says the following:

2 Chronicles 7:14: "if My people, upon whom My name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

So, we see that atonement can be achieved by praying, being humble before G-d, seeking G-d and ceasing to sin. No mention of atonement is made, which is particularly interesting since G-d makes this statement after King Solomon has made many, many recent sacrifices.

Being Christian

2011-01-31T19:47:00.003-05:00

I often hear from Messianic leaders and congregational members who claim that Messianic "Judaism" is a real form of Judaism, ignoring its history as a creation of 19th century Christianity. But sometimes, Messianic leaders make clear statements that they are Christians.

In the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship (SBMF) March 6, 2009 Newsflash, SBMF President Ric Worshill wrote "If we, as Bible believing Christians, do not tell the Jewish people about their true Mashiach Yeshua (Messiah Jesus), then who will?"

Thank you for making my point that the Messianic movement is Christianity!

Before and After

2011-01-23T14:07:00.002-05:00

One of the interesting aspects of the Messianic movement is how various missionaries often sanitize their history over time. For instance, let's look at Oded Cohen, a Jews for Jesus missionary in Israel. His current biography on the Jews for Jesus website says:

"Oded Cohen is an Israeli-born Jewish believer in Y'shua. His wife, Bimini, is Chinese. Neither, however, were believers in Jesus at the time they were married. Bimini was the first to come to faith, and Oded recalls that his reaction was, "Oh boy, what am I going to do now?" However, he was challenged to consider Jesus by some of the Jews for Jesus staff as well as by Bimini...."

However, his original introduction in the May 2002 Jews for Jesus newsletter stated:

"I was born and reared in Israel at a very secular kibbutz. Of course, we celebrated all the Jewish holidays. However, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, instead of fasting as it is commanded, we held a big barbeque. When we were able to get hold of a pig to roast, it was a major accomplishment....."

So what happened to the story of the pig roast on Yom Kippur? Why was it removed for his later biography? Perhaps it was removed because it showed his clear lack of respect for the Jewish faith.

All In For Jewish Conversion

2011-01-17T22:13:00.003-05:00

It is amazing how many different Christian denominations will get together to convert the Jews to Christianity. As an example, let's look at Jim Sibley involvement in different conversion efforts run by an assortment of Christian groups. Jim Sibley is best known in the Jewish world for a ten year run as the head of Jewish Ministries for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). At the present time, he teaches Jewish evangelism at the SBC's Criswell College.

Jim Sibley is also now on the board of The Church's Ministry among Jewish People-USA (CMJ). CMJ is the Church of England's attempt to convert the Jewish people. The Church of England is the church which invented Messianic Judaism, originally calling it "Hebrew-Christianity."

Further, he is currently the Editor-In-Chief and Publisher of Mishkan, a publication on the Messianic movement and converting the Jews to Christianity. Mishkan is published in conjuction with the Caspari Center, which is a Israeli-based Jewish evangelical center created by the Norwegian Church Ministry to Israel. The Norwegian Church Ministry to Israel is the evangelical arm of the Church of Norway, which is a Lutheran church.

These three Christian denominations (the Southern Baptist Convention, the Church of England and the Church of Norway) represent three totally different streams of Christianity. They have different leaders, different histories and even differing theologies. But, they will all get together to convert the Jewish people.

ewish People)

Southern Baptist Messianics

2011-01-04T20:16:00.002-05:00

There is an old joke that it is not called paranoia when others really are plotting against you. The Southern Baptist Convention has been extremely active in attempting to convert Jews to Christianity using the Messianic movement. Specifically, the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship is their evangelical branch to the Jewish people. Below is point 3 from the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship May 29, 2010 news update, documenting a major meeting between multiple Baptist and Messianic organizations to co-ordinate conversion of the Jewish people.

For sake of ease, let me review the acronyms that they use:

SBMF = Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship

SBC = Southern Baptist Convention

NAMB = North American Mission Board, an umbrella body of the Southern Baptist Convention's evangelical outreaches to various groups

UMJC = Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations

SWTS = Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Below is the aforementioned point 3. This is their exact words:

#3. The SBMF Leadership Team And Several Members Meet With Other Messianic Ministries In A Meeting Sponsored And Funded By the North American Mission Board.

Meeting Title: “Consultation On “Messianic Congregational Planting”

On May 18^th and 19^th several of the SBMF Leadership Team, several Messianic ministers from outside the SBMF and several local SBMF ministry leaders met at the North American Mission Board offices in Alpharetta, Georgia. Brothers Mark Hobafcovich and Jorge Sedaca serve NAMB in the Church Planting Group. BrotherMark Hobafcovich approached SBMF President Mike Saffle and SBMF Vice-president Ric Worshill several months ago and proposed a plan to have several Messianic leaders come together, in prayer and fellowship, to build new partnerships and work together to start new congregations. This process started an interdenominational resource called the “Messianic Mission Network” and bring us together to serve the Kingdom with one mind, one heart and one spirit.

This was a peer-learning consultation. Selected leaders from the invitee list presented position papers on the subject and gave a message about their papers.

Expected Outcomes:

1. Sharing of models and strategies for Messianic Congregational Planting in North America

2. Utilize the findings to provide for a framework for implementing a Messianic congregation
planting strategy

3. Publish the findings through write-ups and white papers on extending the love of God through the sharing of the Gospel with the Jewish people in North America.

The guests in attendance from outside the SBMF were:

Anatoliy Odnoralov, SBC Church Planter Strategist, CO.

Ben Volman, Chosen People Ministries. (CAN)

Daniel Richard Muller, New Covenant Forum, Formerly from Jews for Jesus Toronto

Greg Dangar, Dangar Associates-Pro. Accountants

Murray Tilles, Light of Messiah Ministries. Atlanta, GA.
Rudy González, SWTS Prof. & Dean of the William R. Marshall Center for Theological Studies

Russ Resnik, President UMJC

Sam Nadler, Word of Messiah Ministry, NC. SBMF Affiliate and Minister Trainer

Yegor (Greg) Zhelezny, Joy of Freedom Publishing - Congregation Hope of Israel

SBMF Members

Mike Saffle, SBMF President

Ric Worshill, Illinois

Jay Isbell, Bessemer, AL.

Bruce Stokes, SBMF & UMJC Officer, CA.

Randall Clarke, Chatham, VA

Hal Garrett, Walnut Ridge, AR.

Bob McDonald, Lake Villa. IL.

John Denson, Detroit, MI.

Jeff Dumont, Byron, GA.

Robin David Rose, Dallas, TX.
Orlando Garcia, Cartersville, GA.
Gary M. Maxted, Woodstock, GA

Pastor Bill Ratliff, Woodstock, GA

Steve Kaplan, Atlanta, GA.

Jay Fielding, Marietta GA.

Mark Hobafcovich, Alpharetta, GA. NAMB Host & Urban Church Planting Consultant

Jorge Sedaca, Alpharetta, GA. NAMB Co-host & Church Planting Resource Development

Leroy A Fountain, Alpharetta, GA. NAMB Church Planting Consultant

Betsy Rogers, Alpharetta, GA. NAMB Ministry Assistant

Jason Kim, Alpharetta, GA. NAMB Metropolitan Missions Team, Coordinator and Regional Focus

The forum discussion was in reference to congregational planting techniques. Dr.Rudy González opened the discussion with an inspirational teaching about “To The Jew First”. We discussed several methods of ethnic missions work to the Jewish people group. The presentation papers will be available by download at a later date.

In a nutshell, the Southern Baptist Convention is targeting Jews for conversion in a co-ordinated campaign with multiple Messianic organizations. So why would anyone think that the Messianic movement is Jewish?

Share A Visa?

2010-12-30T20:55:00.002-05:00

While doing my research on the Messianic movement, I ran into an interesting older article in Mission Apostlica, a journal of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). It described the co-operation between the Caspari Center, an Israeli Messianic organization created by the Church of Norway, and the LCMS. The article, titled "Messianic Judaism and Mission Opportunity" by David R. Schmitt, described a situation that appears to be of questionable legality. The quote which got my attention is:

"To do so, the Norwegian Church Ministry to Israel is offering the Missouri Synod use of one of the visas for NCMI congregational/ministry work in Israel. Such visas are not presently granted by Israel; hence, NCMI is offering the Missouri Synod an opportunity they would otherwise not be able to pursue."

Was this even legal? And even if legal, can we call this moral? Does legality or morality matter when evangelizing the Jews? Probably not.

Answers to a Pastor

2010-12-20T19:50:00.002-05:00

A pastor asked Rabbi Gutman Locks about Jesus, asking questions that I typically get from Messianics who read my blog and website. I think his answer is very useful helpful for all who do not understand why Jesus is rejected by Judaism as the Messiah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZW-NKGXFGg&feature=player_embedded

Chanukah and the Messianic Movement

2010-12-08T20:43:00.002-05:00

As we come toward the end of Chanukah, I was thinking of an interesting connection between the events of Chanukah and the Messianic movement. Most people reading this blog are probably familiar about the story of Chanukah, in which the Jews defeated the Greeks to restore their freedom and lit the Menorah with oil that lasted for eight days. However, there is more to the Chanukah story.

You see, the Jews were actually fighting two battles. They were fighting the Greeks and also fighting the Hellenistic Jews. The Hellenistic Jews were Jews who adopted Greek belief and culture. They wanted the Jewish people to leave Judaism for the Greek religion and way of life. The Jews, led by the Hasmoneans (also known as the Maccabees), defeated both the Greeks and Hellenistic Jews, allowing Judaism to continue to exist in the Holy Land.

The Messianic movement is a modern day equivalent of the Hellenistic Jews. Messianic "Judaism" is an 1800's creation of the Church of England, which has since spread to many other Christian denominations. The movement involves many people who were born Jewish but who are now practicing Christianity. The Messianic movement seeks to convert other Jews to Christianity, dressing Christianity in "Jewish clothing." Today, the Jewish people are battling the Messianic movement just as the Hasmoneans battled the Hellenistic Jews, all in the name of preserving true Judaism.

Jews for Jesus Vs. Chosen People Ministries

2010-12-07T19:42:00.002-05:00

Jews for Jesus is currently fighting Chosen People Ministries in a Canadian court. I find this ironic since Reverend Martin "Moishe" Rosen, the founder of Jews for Jesus, got his start on converting Jews with the American Board of Jewish Missions (the original name of Chosen People Ministries). However, since both have multi-million dollar budgets (Jews for Jesus brings in over $20 million a year), I am not surprised that they are fighting over access to supporters.

There are also a couple of interesting points about Jews for Jesus in this article. Jews for Jesus must approve all marriages of their missionaries and a divorce gets a missionary fired. Wow, talk about controlling a person.....

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/blog.html?b=life.nationalpost.com%2F2010%2F12%2F06%2Fbreaking-the-jews-for-jesus-code&amp%3Bs=Opinion

Coming Home, Part 3, Penina Taylor

2010-12-06T19:46:00.002-05:00

Many Messianic groups like to talk about Jews who left Judaism to join their Christian movement. So, I am posting the stories about Jews who left Judaism, joined the Messianic movement and returned to true Judaism.

Penina Taylor is the head of Shomrei Emet Institute, a Jewish countermissionary organization. However, prior to coming back to true Judaism, she spent 17 years as a religious Christian. She was a counselor for the Billy Graham Crusade and graduated from Miami Christian college. She helped start a Messianic congregation with her family in Maryland. She and her family helped create the Association of Torah Observant Messianics. With further study, she realized that she had made a mistake and came back to true Judaism.

Penina recently wrote a book about her experiences. Here is a link to her biography on the book's website so you can learn more about her experience:

http://www.comingfullcirclebook.com/CONTENT/content.php?t=p

Coming Home, Part 2: Jeff Neckonoff

2010-12-02T22:06:00.002-05:00

The Messianic movement likes to present stories of Jews who joined their movement and accepted Jesus. So in response, I am posting the stories of Jews who joined the Messianic movement but later returned to true Judaism. Jeff Neckonoff spent 6 years is in the Messianic movement. He eventually realized his error and returned to true Judaism. Click on the link below for his story:

http://www.bethgoyim.com/MyStory.html

Coming Home, Part 1: Julius Ciss

2010-11-30T23:29:00.002-05:00

Messianic organizations enjoy putting up stories about people who left Judaism to join their movement and worship Jesus. However, there are also many stories about Jews who joined the Messianic movement AND returned to true Judaism. So, what is the experience of someone who was born Jewish, left Judaism and became very active in the Messianic movement but returned home to Judaism?

Julius Ciss, the Director of Jews for Judaism in Toronto, had exactly this experience. F0llow the link to learn more about his journey back home to Judaism.

http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23:juliuscissstory&catid=28:choosing-judaism&Itemid=511

Isaiah 53 (WWUD?)

2010-11-29T23:25:00.002-05:00

Uri Yosef is a man who is not afraid of details. When he reviews Biblical texts, his thorough analysis is amazingly in-depth. If you want a full understanding of the text, Uri Yosef's writings are priceless. Or, as I hinted at in the title, you need to find out "What Would Uri Do?"
Uri Yosef has written a fantastically detailed analysis of the Jewish understanding of Isaiah 53, including a close examination of the Hebrew text. If you really want to know what Judaism believes about Isaiah 53 and why we hold those beliefs, click on the link below:

http://thejewishhome.org/counter/Isa53JP.pdf

A Jewish Ave Verum

2010-11-21T19:02:00.003-05:00

One of the relatively frequent issues that are asked of me is about the practices of Messianic "Jewish" congregations. For instance, one of the congregants of Congregation Beth Chofesh Messianic Ministries invited me to their services, saying that when I see the service that I will see that they do things just like at my synagogue. Similarly, an attendee of Bat Zion Messianic Congregation said that their service certainly looks Jewish, such as their singing of Hebrew songs and wearing of kippahs. So this begs the question, "If these congregations do Jewish rituals and/or practices, aren't they Jewish?"

Often an analogy is helpful in understanding an issue, so allow me to give one involving my past. When I was a teenager, I attended public schools. One of the classes I took was Chorus. My teacher must have like my singing (for what reason I have no idea), because she recruited me to join a special Madrigal chorus that she organized. She taught the Madrigal chorus to sing a number of songs. However, traditional Madrigal music is from the Church. As such, she taught us to sing Ave Verum, a traditional Catholic church song. So here I was, a nice Jewish boy, singing a Catholic hymn! And to make it odder, the majority of the Madrigal chorus members were Jewish! Although we were all singing a Catholic song, essentially doing a Catholic practice, this did not change our religion. We were still Jewish, or Protestant, or Catholic, or whatever religion we were before we sang the song. Simply by engaging in a Catholic ritual did not make us Catholics, nor did it make the room we sang in a Catholic church. Similarly, engaging in Jewish ritual does not make the Messianic movement Jewish.

Going back to our start point, Messianic "Judaism" is not Judaism. It was created by the Church of England in the mid-1800's as a way of making Jews more comfortable in church and of bringing more Jews to Christianity. In fact, the movement's original name was Hebrew Christianity. "Messianic Judaism" did not become the popular name until the 1960's and 70's. The entire reason for engaging in Jewish practice is to put Jewish "clothes" on Christian beliefs. The Messianic movement can engage in any Jewish practice it wants but that does not change the fact that they are Christian congregations, just like my singing of a Catholic hymn did not change me from being a Jew.

In the cases of the aforementioned congregations, Beth Chofesh is part of the Assemblies of God movement (Pentecostal church) and Bat Zion is run by a graduate of Christ For the Nations Institute. Neither of them are Jewish. They (and all Messianic groups) hold Christian theological views such as believing in the Trinity while Judaism believes in a One, Non-Divisible G-d. They believe that Jesus was a god while Judaism holds to the Biblical view that G-d is not a man. They believe that the only way to atonement is by accepting Jesus while Judaism follows the Biblical view that there are multiple ways to atonement. The Messianic belief system is entirely Christian, not Jewish. No amount of Jewish practice or ritual can change this.

Ultimately, the Jewish practice of Messianic "Judaism" is a cover for Christian theology and does not make the movement any more Jewish than the mother churches and pastors that created these congregations.

The Messianic Industry

2010-11-09T19:34:00.002-05:00

On a number of previous posts, I reviewed some of the financing of the Messianic movement in its efforts to convert Jews to Christianity. I recently decided to try to find out how much money Jews for Jesus has spent in the past decade in its evangelism of the Jews. The numbers were shocking. Through two Christian organizations, Ministry Watch and the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, I was able to find the Jews for Jesus finances from 2000-2004 and 200-2009. In those eight years, Jews for Jesus' expenditures were over $132 million! That is about $10 per Jew for every single living Jew in the world!

Let us not kid ourselves here. The Messianic movement is not large enough to come up with $132 million from its own flock, much less to come up with the money for all of the other Messianic organizations in the world. This is a product of more mainstream Christians (since Messianic "Judaism" was a Church of England creation, originally called Hebrew Christianity) spending lavishly to convert Jews to Christians. The amount of money and effort spent on trying to get Jews to leave Judaism is truly disturbing.

Do You Really Want To Help?

2010-11-07T17:26:00.002-05:00

I find it beautiful when people give of themselves to help the needy. I think it is beautiful when that help crosses religious lines. There are groups like Mazon, a Jewish anti-hunger organization, which donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to Christian soup kitchens and food banks. There are no strings attached; just the sincere desire to aid in the fight against hunger. Similarly, there are amazing Christian organizations that donate to help the needy in Israel, without any expectations or demands

Then, there are the "other organizations." The organizations who give charity not out of love, but as a method to open the vulnerable to conversion. Hillel Fendel of Arutz Sheva writes about a Tel Aviv Messianic center that helps the needy....just so they can gain new converts, particularly in the Russian Jewish community. As many of you who follow my blog know, the Russian Jewish community is often targetted by missionaries due to their lack of affluence, difficulty with language differences and lack of Jewish educations.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138472

Guilty As Charged!

2010-11-07T17:10:00.002-05:00

Messianic missionary Eddie Beckford has been convicted of assaulting a counter-missionary and attempted to run over other counter-missionaries in Israel. I previously posted the video on this where it was shown that he was clearly the aggressor. After initially claiming innocence, he later admitted guilt to the charges.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140460

Dying For Your Sins

2010-10-24T10:57:00.002-04:00

The Messianic movement claims that the Bible supports the idea that one person can die for another person's sins. But is this true? Rabbi Stuart Federow explains why the Messianic movement's claim is false:

http://www.whatjewsbelieve.org/explanation1.html

In Common

2010-10-23T23:14:00.002-04:00

A brief post-Shabbat thought.....Do you know what David Brickner has in common with David and Joel Chernoff?

1. Brickner and the Chernoffs do not have a Jewish mother, making them non-Jewish
2. Brickner and the Chenoffs have a father who left Judaism prior to their sons' birth, and who became missionaries to the Jewish people
3. Brickner and the Chernoffs were never raised in true Judaism
4. Brickner and the Chernoffs are top leaders in the Messianic movment

David Brickner is the President of Jews for Jesus. David and Joel Chernoff are both on the board of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA). Joel is also on the board of the International Messianic Jewish Alliance. They present themselves as Jewish (David Chernoff calls himself a "rabbi"), though clearly none of them are Jews.

On a side note, the History section of the MJAA website is missing some important information. It was the Chernoffs' father, Martin Chernoff, who helped convince the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America to change its name to the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America. Martin Chernoff also founded one of the earlier Messianic congregations, Beth Messiah of Cincinnati....funded by a Baptist ministry.

Adopt a Messianic Family?

2010-10-19T20:33:00.003-04:00

At this point in time, it seems that countless Christian organizations sponsor Messianic congregations, ministries and organizations. This can only be expected, as the Messianic movement does not originate out of Judaism but out of Christianity, having been created by the Church of England in the 1800's. Since its inception, the Messianic movement has spread and been particularly fostered by U.S.-based evangelical Christian organizations.

I recently ran into one of the stranger sponsorships I have seen in a while. Daystar Ministry International, Inc. has started an Adopt a Messianic Family program, in which they solicit money for Israeli Messianic families. Daystar was created by Nancy Morgan, a Christian minister who was ordained by the Jacksonville Theological Seminary. Pastor Morgan endeavors to spread Christianity and has evangelized in several countries. So why would she be so interested in adopting Messianic families? Only because Messianic "Judaism" is a branch of Christianity and she is interested in spreading Christianity in Israel.

Genesis 1:1

2010-10-18T20:26:00.002-04:00

One of the things that I found a bit strange is how many groups, particularly Messianic groups, get confused by the first verse of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth." For some reason, Messianic groups get caught on the Hebrew words "Elohim" (G-d) and "barah" (created) and come to the false conclusion that this is proof of the Trinity, a triune god. This false conclusion shows a lack of understanding of Biblical Hebrew.

One of my favorite explanations on this is by Rabbi Dr. J.H. Hertz. Rabbi Hertz was the Chief Rabbi of England who wrote one of the most widely used (if not the most widely used) English translation and commentary of the Torah in the Jewish world. The translation and commentary is often referred to as "the Soncino" since it was published by a company called Soncino.

Here is Rabbi Hertz' commentary on this verse, which elucidates how it cannot possibly be referring to the Trinity:

"God. Heb. Elohim. The existence of the Deity is throughout Scripture assumed: it is not a matter for argument or doubt. Elohim is the general designation for the Divine Being in the Bible, as the fountain and source for all things. Elohim is a plural form, which is often used in Hebrew to denote plentitude of might. Here it indicates that God comprehends and unifies all the forces of eternity and and infinity.

created. The Heb. word is in the singular, thus precluding any idea that its subject, Elohim, is to be understood in a plural sense..."

As Rabbi Hertz explained, it is not possible to read the Trinity into Genesis 1:1 based on the actual Hebrew meaning of the words.

Fearing Jesus' Wrath

2010-10-11T20:30:00.002-04:00

I find it interesting when people in the Messianic movement, or in other branches of Christianity, say that I need to believe in Jesus or else I will be trouble. They tell me that I will be judged badly if I do not accept Jesus and imply (or state directly) that I will spend eternity in hell. But really, do I need to be afraid that if I do not accept Jesus, Jesus will somehow punish me? What does the Bible say? Let's check the Book of Psalms.

Psalm 118:6-8

6: The L-rd is for me, I will not fear. What can man do to me?
7: The L-rd is for me as my help, and I shall look on those that hate me
8: It is better to take refuge in the L-rd than to trust in man

We learn a few things from these verses. First, we need to trust in G-d and not in man. Second, since we need to trust in G-d and not man, no man can claim to be G-d. Third, we do not need to fear the wrath of any man, which by definition includes Jesus. After all, G-d is All Powerful so "what can man do to me?"

Second Coming

2010-10-10T11:10:00.002-04:00

As someone who is in the countermissionary field, I often get e-mails from readers of my website or blog stating that Jesus fulfilled all of Messianic prophecy. But the beliefs of Messianic "Judaism"-Christianity prove that this is not true. The belief of the Second Coming specifically proves that this is not true.
After all, why does Jesus need a "second coming?" The answer is that he needs a second coming because he did not fulfill all of Messianic prophecy in his "first coming." Had he fulfilled all of Messianic prophecy when he lived 2000 years ago, a second coming would be unnecessary. After all, we would already be in the Messianic age! Yet, we can look around us and see that the world is clearly far from the perfection that the Bible promises us will happen at the time of the Messiah.
Jesus simply was not the Messiah. The belief in a "Second Coming" proves that Judaism was correct for rejected Jesus as the Messiah, just as Judaism has rejected every Messianic "contender" that has come to us. None have fulfilled all of Messianic prophecy in their lifetimes. All of them need a "second coming!"

G-d became man ???

2010-10-06T20:36:00.001-04:00

A great (and brief) video discussion by Rabbi Yisroel Blumenthal on G-d and whether G-d ever became a man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXCZeFWRV3w&feature=player_embedded

Hallel

2010-09-26T22:22:00.003-04:00

During the holiday of Sukkot, which we are now celebrating, Jews read a set of prayers/Psalms called Hallel. During Hallel, Jews praise G-d and ask for G-d's continued help. A few parts of Hallel reminded me of errors that Messianics make in their belief system. In Hallel we say that we should not put our trust in princes or men but in G-d. This reminded me of Psalm 146: 3-5 which states:

3. Put not your faith in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help

4. His breath goes forth, he returns to dust; in that very day his thoughts perish

5. Happy is the man who is help is the G-d of Jacob, whose hope is in the L-rd his G-d.

Jesus is referred to as "son of man" in many places in the Christian bible. Yet the Book of Psalms teaches us not to put our trust in the "son of man."

Ultimately, the Jewish people must put their trust in G-d. And the Bible is clear, G-d is not a man. For instance, Hoshea 11: 9 says:

I will not execute the fierceness of My anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim; for I am G-d, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in fury.

But We Were First!

2010-09-26T01:10:00.003-04:00

I found an interesting article from Ray Gannon, an Assemblies of God (Pentecostal) missionary who is one of the leaders of the Messianic movement. Reverend Gannon has been involved in evangelizing the Jews for over 30 years. In fact, he trains people to be Messianic "rabbis" and Messianic missionaries through an Assemblies of God seminary in California.

In the Winter 2004 issue of Enrichment, Gannon wrote, "The Assemblies of God became the first Protestant group to welcome messianic Jewish congregations into full fellowship despite criticisms of the synagogue movement by other denominations and parachurch organizations. It was quickly recognized that the Messianic synagogue is a Jesus centered, usually Pentecostal, and Jewish cultured assembly...Continued support for an extensive array of culturally relevant incarnational representations of Christ is indispensible to our success in fulfilling our Matthew 28 messianic mandate to reach all people groups (ethne) with the Pentecostal gospel of Jesus..."

This is a perfect definition of the Messianic movement. The Messianic movement presents Jesus in a Jewish-culture format to get Jews to adopt Christianity. In Gannon's case, it is to adopt the Pentecostal version of Christianity. Ultimately, there is no real tie between the Messianic movement and true Judaism; the Messianic movement merely looks Jewish to convince Jews to become Christians.

Verses of Atonement: Jonah 3: 4-10

2010-09-14T21:11:00.002-04:00

This is the fourth part of a series on atonement. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the Messianic movement falsely claims that atonement can only come through sacrifice. So, I am listing other Biblical means of atonement.

Jonah 3: 4-10

4. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he proclaimed, and said: 'In forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.'

5. And the people of Nineveh believed G-d; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6 And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying: 'Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water;

8. but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto G-d; let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

9. Who knoweth whether G-d will not turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?'

10 And G-d saw their works, that they repented from their evil way; and G-d relented of the evil, which He said He would do unto them; and He did it not.

As the Book of Jonah shows us, the Bible approves of turning away from evil, prayer and fasting as non-sacrificial means of atonement.

Verses of Atonement: Isaiah 55:7

2010-09-13T20:58:00.002-04:00

This is the third part of a series studying Biblical atonement. As previously mentioned, the Messianic movement falsesly claims that only sacrifice can bring atonement (and then misinterprets and ignores the laws of sacrifice). So, I have been listing Biblical verses that give non-sacrificial means of atonement. The current verse is often read at the Selichot service, the special Saturday night service on the Saturday prior to Rosh Hashanah.

Isaiah 55:7 "Let the wicked leave his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; and let him return to the L-RD, and He will have compassion upon him, and to our G-d, for He will abundantly forgive."

The Bible is clear in its pronouncement: if a person stops their bad thoughts and behaviors, and returns to G-d, the person can get atonement. Again, no need for sacrifice.

Verses of Atonement: Isaiah 1:11-18

2010-09-05T01:05:00.003-04:00

This is the second part of a series looking at atonement. As the Messianic movement incorrectly claims sacrifice is needed for atonement (then incorrectly understands how a sacrifice is accomplished), I thought I would list Biblical methods of atonement that have nothing to do with sacrifice.

Isaiah 1: 11-18

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? says the L-rd; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

12 When you come to appear before Me, who has required this at your hand, to trample My courts?

13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations--I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly.

14 Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hate; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow

18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the L-rd; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

So, we learn from the Book of Isaiah that ceasing evil, doing justice and helping the opressed, fatherless and widow can all bring atonement. No sacrifice is necessary.

Conversion?

2010-08-31T22:37:00.003-04:00

I was updating my web review of Tivkvat David/Hope of David, a Southern Baptist Messianic church plant in Georgia, when I ran into the blog of the leader of Tikvat David, Derek Leman. Pastor Leman (who likes to call himself a rabbi) stated that he converted to Judaism through the Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council.

This is a logical impossibility. Messianic "Judaism" has never actually been a part of Judaism. It began in the 1800's through the Church of England as a method of evangelizing Jews to Christianity and making the evanglized Jews more comfortable at church. The Messianic movement originally called itself "Hebrew Christianity" but later the term "Messianic Judaism" became popularized and replaced "Hebrew Christianity" in most situations. From its Church of England beginnings, the Messianic movement has been embraced by over a dozen Christian denominations worldwide, including Leman's Southern Baptist Convention. Messianic "Judaism" is exactly as connected to Judaism as other branches of Christianity, such as the Pentecostals, Baptists or Methodists. No matter how you dress it up, the history of the Messianic movement proves that it is a Christian movement, not a Jewish movement.

A Christian movement cannot convert a non-Jew into a Jew, just like my rabbi cannot convert me into a Muslim. As Messianic "Judaism" is a branch of Christianity, it has no ability to convert anyone to Judaism. Pastor Leman's conversion ultimately has no religious validity whatsoever and defies even the most basic of logic. But somehow, I am going to guess that he will still falsely present himself as a Jew to others.

Verses of Atonement: Proverbs 16:6

2010-08-30T21:57:00.002-04:00

The Messianic movement claims that sacrifice is the only way to atonement. This claim is completely false. As we approach Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, I have decided to list some of the Biblical verses that give other paths to atonement. I will post each verse separately, posting one every few days or so.

Proverbs 16:6: By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned; and by the fear of the L-RD men depart from evil.

As we can see, mercy and truth are Biblically-approved methods of atonement.

Jewish Isaiah 53

2010-08-29T14:55:00.002-04:00

A number of countermissionaries have banded together to form Jewish Isaiah 53, a collection of articles and lectures on what Judaism REALLY says about Isaiah 53. Check it out!

http://jewishisaiah53.com/

Coming Together...To Convert Jews

2010-08-23T20:04:00.003-04:00

What should a few nice Messianic-Christian leaders do on a pleasant day....well, maybe get together to see how they can work more closely to convert Jews. On May 18-19, Messianic-Christian leaders gathered at the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board to figure out how they can bridge their differences to help reach their goal to get Jews to become Christians under the guise of "Messianic Judaism." Here are the list of organizations that attended:

North American Mission Board
The Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship
The Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC)
Word of Messiah Ministries
Chosen People Ministries
Joy of Freedom Publishing
New Covenant Forum
Light of Messiah Ministries

In addition, there were representatives from Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and universities along with leaders from other Messianic congregations

It is mind-blowing to me how much effort is being placed to convert the Jewish people, especially as these conversion attempts are being conducted in such a dishonest manner.

Jesus Lives On In Jerusalem?

2010-08-19T20:22:00.005-04:00

In what can only be called a puff piece or glam article, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published an article by Yoaz Hendel called "Jesus lives on in Jerusalem." This article must have been a dream come true for the Messianic movement. They could not have paid for a more pro-Messianic article. Hendel presents every idea that Messianics want the Jews to accept and not a single counter-argument against the movement. In fact, there is not a single quote from a rabbi or a leader of the Jewish community! What better way to avoid a religious counter-argument than to ignore the Jewish community!

Overall, the lack of research by Hendel is disheartening. For instance, the article attempts to directly connect the Messianic community to the original followers of Jesus. However, anyone who has studied the history of the Messianic movement knows that there is simply no connection. The Messianic movement (originally called Hebrew Christianity) was created by the Church of England in the 1800s as a method of converting Jews and making Jews more comfortable at church. This is why you never heard of a "Messianic Jew" or "Hebrew Christian" in the 200s, 900s or 1700s....they simply did not exist. The Messianic movement is no more directly connected to Jesus than the Pentecostal movement-and in truth, multiple Pentecostal organizations have created and sponsored Messianic congregations around the world.

The article further attempts to present the Messianic movement as being identical to Judaism except its followers believe that Jesus is the Messiah. This is a false claim. The Messianic movement is a branch of Christianity. Judaism and Christianity are different religions with wide differences in theology. Like all Christians, the Messianic movement believes in the Holy Trinity, that Jesus is divine and that you need to accept Jesus or you are doomed to hell. These beliefs are not similar to true Judaism, either in the present time or at any time in history.

Lastly, the article gives voice to the Messianic claim that Messianic beliefs are guided or based in Torah. In reality, their beliefs are counter to the Torah and all other sections of the Jewish Bible. The Messianic movement believes that Jesus, a man, is divine while the Bible (e.g. Numbers 23:19 and Hoshea 11:9) states bluntly that G-d is not a man. The Messianic believes in the Holy Trinity while the Torah states that G-d is One, Unified Being. Every day we say the verse from Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear O' Israel, the L-rd is G-d, the L-rd is One." Messianics believe that Jesus was a sacrifice for sin and that there is no other way to gain forgiveness. However the Book of Leviticus, the third book of the Torah, is very clear that a human is not on the list of acceptable sin sacrifices. Further, the Bible gives multiple other methods of to receive G-d's forgiveness such as doing good deeds and acting mercifully to othes (e.g. Isaiah 1: 11-18, Proverbs 16:6, Micah 6: 7-8).

I cannot even hazard a guess as to why Yedioth Ahronoth, a major Israeli newspaper, chose to publish such a poorly researched article which read like a Messianic propoganda pamphlet. It reminded me of when the North Korean press writes fawning articles on their dictator while ignoring his true behavior. Frankly, it is just an embarrassment to the reputation of their publication.

And His Name One

2010-08-10T21:30:00.002-04:00

I was davening the Minchah service (praying the afternoon service) today when a particular thought came into my mind. Specifically, I was at the end of the Aleinu prayer where we say "And the L-RD will be King over all the earth; in that day the L-RD will be One, and His Name one." This verse is from Zechariah 14:9. It is the last part of the verse "His Name one" which got me thinking of an event from the previous day. I was with a Christian man who decided he needed to pray over some difficulties he was experiencing. Over and over during his prayer he called out to god but he ended his prayer with "in Jesus' name."

The difference between the Christian and Jewish prayers hit me strongly during the Michah service. When I pray to G-d, there is no other name that I am calling out to. Just like the Bible says, I am praying for a time when G-d's name will be "one." On the other hand, Christians call out to another name, Jesus. As Messianic "Judaism" is a branch of Christianity, the Messianic movement does the same thing. In Messianic prayers you often hear the addition at the end of the prayer of "b'shem Yeshuah" which means "in Jesus' name." This addition clearly conflicts with the theology of the Bible and the prediction of the future recognition of G-d's name being one.

Notification

2010-07-23T14:59:00.003-04:00

I recently received an e-mail that gave me a chuckle. Here is the e-mail:

"Thank you for listing B'nai Avraham Messianic Fellowship of Hampton, VA on your website.

Note that we have become an independent congregation, with website of www.BnaiAvrahamVA.org

We also no longer worship at Liberty Baptist church.

If you have questions about this change, please ask!

Mike Mitchell
member, BAMF ministry team"

Independent....not so much. First of all, it does not change the fact that B'nai Avraham was a church plant by the Liberty Baptist church. I am sure that I am not surprising anyone when I say that Baptist churches do not plant real synagogues. Second, their congregation is part of the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship. So, officially they are Southern Baptists. Again, not so independent. Just now grown-up enough to worship elsewhere, as practicing Southern Baptists, with no real connection to true Judaism.

Why Change A Name?

2010-07-13T20:52:00.002-04:00

I find it interesting that over time, many Messianic congregations and ministries have changed their names to seem more Jewish and become more attractive to Jews. Here are a few of my favorites:

Original Name:
Hebrew Christian Alliance of America
Current Name:
Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (this is the largest Messianic congregational organization in the world)

Original Name:
American Board of Missions to the Jews
Current Name:
Chosen People Ministries (this is one of the biggest missionary groups trying to convert Jews around the world)

Original Name:
Emmanuel Presbyterian Hebrew Christian Congregation (Clarksville, MD)
Current Name:
Emmanuel Messianic Jewish Congregation

Original Name:
First Hebrew Christian Church (Chicago)
Current Name:
Adat Ha Tikvah

Almost 50

2010-07-07T20:40:00.002-04:00

What is almost 50? Almost 50 is the number of Messianic congregations and ministries that are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship (SBMF). Mind you, the SBMF does not even include all of the Southern Baptist Messianic congregations that currently exist!

But let's turn this over in our mind for a bit. Almost 50 organizations that present themselves as practicing Judaism when they are really practicing the Southern Baptist version of Christianity. Almost 50 groups that use Jewish symbols and prayers (many of which did not exist until long after Jesus death) to convince Jews to become Christians, in the guise of being a "Messianic Jew." Almost 50 outreaches to Jewish people claiming to practice "authentic Judaism" when their Judaism neither matches that of the current time nor of the time of Jesus.

Almost 50 organizations must involve a considerable investment of time and money. This is the part that baffles me. There are estimated to be around 13.5 Jews in the world yet the amount of money spent on converting Jews to Christianity is astronomical. To put it in perspective, Jews for Jesus, a group founded by a Baptist minister that runs independently from the Southern Baptist Convention, has roughly a $20 million annual budget. That is more than $1 for every Jew in the world! How much money must be spent for nearly 50 groups to be staffed and operational?

The Southern Baptist Convention's relationship with the Jewish people can best be summarized as "long on money, short on honesty."

Assemblies of God Ordains...Rabbis?

2010-06-27T15:53:00.002-04:00

The irony of the title of this post is not so ironic when you realize that the Assemblies of God (part of the Pentecostal Christian movement) actually claim to ordain rabbis. Harold Picker is a convert to Christianity and an official Assemblies of God missionary to the Jewish people. According to his bio on the Beth Yachad Messianic Synagogue, where he serves as "rabbi" with his wife Joyce:

"Harlon and Joyce were commissioned by the Assemblies of God as U.S. Missionaries to the Jewish people in October of 2008. Harlon received his Full Ordination as a Messianic Jewish Rabbi with the Assemblies of God on April 22, 2008." (accessed on 6/27/10)

The Assemblies of God movement has been heavily involved in Messianic congregations since Temple Aron HaKodesh of Florida joined their movement in the early 1970s. Ordaining a person as a "rabbi" shows just how willing their movement is to mislead Jews to adopt Christianity.

Court Win, Part II!

2010-06-20T13:26:00.003-04:00

As an update on my previous post, "Court Win!", here is a link to Yad L'achim's report on the ruling by the judge in their favor. It is very clear that the Messianic plaintiffs made numerous false and illogical accusations against Yad L'achim and the Chief Rabbi of Beersheva.

http://www.yadlachimusa.net/Index.asp?CategoryID=192&ArticleID=718

Christ For the Nations Missionizing Israel

2010-06-08T22:00:00.002-04:00

I have previously written about how Maoz Israel is a mission of Christ for the Nations, a Texas-based evangelical Christian school.
http://messianicjewish.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-want-my-hebrew-name-to-be.html

However, Maoz Israel is not the only Israeli Messianic outreach that is tied to Christ for the Nations. Messianic evangelist Avi Mizrahi and his wife Chaya studied at Christ for the Nations from 1985-87. Following their Christian education, the couple began as full-time missionaries to the Jewish people in Israel. They run the Dugit Outreach Centre and Adonai Roi Congregation, aiming to bring Jews to Christianity through the Messianic movement.

Christ for the Nations obviously wants to bring Christianity to others. Unfortunately, the school and its graduates do not necessarily care about honesty in presenting themselves as Christians.

Court Win!

2010-06-06T13:14:00.003-04:00

In an attempt to strike at the real Jews, the Messianics in Beersheva, Israel took the Chief Rabbi of Beersheva and the countermissionary organization Yad L'Achim to court. And the true Jews won! Moreover, the Messianics have to compensate each of the defendants and pay their legal fees. Here is an article from JewishIsrael on the topic:

http://jewishisrael.ning.com/profiles/blogs/beersheva-messianic-christians?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Targeting Children

2010-06-03T21:44:00.003-04:00

As long as I have been doing countermissionary work, it is now fairly rare for me to see something that surprises me. False claims, misuse of the Bible, inventing history...I have seen these occur so many times that I am almost numb to them. But today I read something that cut through all the numbness.

Anatoliy Odnoralov is the epitome of every bad cliche about missionaries to the Jewish people. He is a Christian from the former Soviet Union, educated at the Ukraine Bible Seminary and Oklahoma Bible Institute, who works as a missionary for the Southern Baptist Convention targeting Jewish people for conversion. Despite lacking any connection to Judaism, he identified himself as a "Messianic Jew" to the immigrant Russian Jewish community. He operates the International Center of Hope in Denver, which offers free secular classes such as English as a second language as a way of bringing non-Christians immigrants into his influence. He and his wife admit to making friends of Jews specifically as a method of converting them to Christianity. All of this is sadly typical of the dishonesty of Christian missionaries to the Russian Jewish immigrant community.

But, Odnoralov does something which is less common (though certainly not unheard of) among missionaries. He specifically targets children for conversion and uses them as a way of converting their families. Odnoralov is quoted by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention as saying, "We want to establish relationships with them. We also have a big youth group, and we have summer camps to attract kids who do not know Jesus. We see kids accept the Messiah, and they pass on the Good News to their friends and family members."

That quote stopped me dead in my tracks. They use a summer camp to specifically attract children for conversion. Not to help the children, not to give them enjoyment, but to get the children to accept Jesus. And, he hopes that these converted children will then convince their families and friends to believe in Jesus.

Dishonesty, deception and misrepresentation are bad enough when interacting with adults. Targeting children for conversion is completely immoral. And this guy is given money by the Southern Baptist Convention to engage in this unethical behavior. Truly, Odnoralov and the Southern Baptist Convention do not want to interact with the Russian Jewish immigrants in an honest and manner manner.

"A Close Look at 'Jews for Jesus'"

2010-05-31T23:14:00.003-04:00

This is a great Op-Ed piece by Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz on the death of the founder of Jews for Jesus, Reverend Martin "Moshe" Rosen.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/9518

Jews for Jesus Founder Is Dead

2010-05-23T14:40:00.002-04:00

" Jewishness never saved anybody. Judaism never saved anybody no matter how sincere (Martin "Moishe" Rosen)."

The founder of Jews for Jesus, the Reverend Martin "Moishe" Rosen, died this past week. Rosen is arguably the most important person in the modern history of converting Jews to Christianity, so it is worth a moment to consider his history and legacy. Martin Rosen as born to a Jewish family in 1932 but by 1953 he had already converted to Christianity. By 1957 he was an ordained Baptist minister.

Reverend Rosen was hired as a missionary for the American Board of Jewish Missions (ABJM), an organization that later changed its name to Chosen People Ministries. Rosen worked as a missionary to the Jews in San Francisco. He attended the popular evangelical church, the Mustard Seed, and can be considered fully part of the Jesus Freak movement of the hippie generation. Involvement in an evangelical church continues to be mandatory for all Jews for Jesus missionaries today.

According to his writings, he experienced frustration at the many people who immediately shut their doors to him. He knew that he needed a gimmick, a way of keeping the doors open. It was then that he invented the term "Jews for Jesus," as a way of opening the doors more easily to his ministry. By selling himself as a Jew and ignoring his Christian conversion, education and mission, Rosen experienced greater success as a Christian missionary.

Rosen eventually broke away from ABJM and created Jews for Jesus. The organization currently runs a $20 million a year budget and has over 100 staff members, along with hundreds of volunteers. The early success of Jews for Jesus led many other Christian groups to found Messianic ministries and congregations as a way of converting Jews to Christianity. For instance, Jews for Jesus was highly influential on the early career of Steve Cohen, who founded the Lutheran Church-Missiouri Synod's Apple of His Eye Ministries. For many Christian missionaries and leaders, volunteering with Jews for Jesus was their first attempt at Intercultural ministries, a term used to describe evanglization of people from different cultures to Christianity .

So what are the legacies of Martin Rosen? First, he popularized among Christians the idea of "Messianic Judaism" as a way of bringing Jews to Christianity. When the Church of England first created "Hebrew-Christianity" (the original name for "Messianic Judaism") in the 1800's, it was to present Christianity in a Judaicized form to more easily bring Jews to the Church. Rosen took this evangelical idea to another level. He helped bring the movement from a fringe group to be fairly mainstreamed in many Christian denominations. More and more Christians are now willing to misrepresent Christian belief as a form of Judaism to convert Jews. Jewish symbols and holidays are quickly changed to incorporate Jesus and Christian theology. Even individuals with no Jewish background or lineage will introduce themselves as Messianic Jews to promote Christianity. On a personal note, most Christians that have spoken to me about Jews for Jesus were shocked when I told them that Rosen was a Baptist minister. He was such a good salesman that they thought that he really was a practicing Jew!

Second, the mainstreaming of deceitful methods to convert Jews has created a continual rift in Christian-Jewish relations. Though many in evangelical Christianity truly want to support Israel and the Jewish people in a beneficial way, many Jews will not trust evangelical Christians because of the use of deceptive methods such as "Messianic Judaism" to convert Jews.

Third, Rosen left a mixed legacy within his own organization. Though widely hailed as a brilliant missionary, he was known for a quick temper and a violent personality. Many staff members left the organization burnt out and angry at his overbearing demands and hostility. When David Brickner, the non-Jewish current leader of Jews for Jesus, took over from Rosen, one of his first jobs was to reach out to angered former staff members.

Interestingly, though Jews for Jesus has the highest budget of any Christian ministry aimed at Jewish conversion, its fame has led to a considerable drop in success from its early years. Most Jews have heard of Jews for Jesus and some counter-missionary groups have developed to counter Jews for Jesus (e.g. Jews for Judaism). During Jews for Jesus' larger missionary campaigns, known as Behold Your God, they train hundreds of volunteers and spend thousands of dollars to convert Jews. However, Jews have become aware that Jews for Jesus is a Christian missionary group, so it is rare that more than a handful of Jews will accept Jesus on any of these campaigns.

Ultimately, Rosen saw the dressing of Christianity in the clothes of Jewish symbols and holidays as his best method of converting Jews to Christianity.

Is Your Friendship Real?

2010-05-09T19:33:00.003-04:00

There are innumerous ways that Christians have been disingenuous in their treatment of Jews to try to convert Jews to Christianity. The Messianic “Jewish” movement in Christianity goes above and beyond almost all historic dishonesty. I am particularly appalled when I read the material from the Seventh-Day Adventist movement.

The Seventh-Day Adventist movement has been active in creating Messianic churches to convert Jews for quite some time, across the world. Perhaps the most dishonest way they present their activities is via the World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center. On the Friendship Center website they claim, “The World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center is a multinational organization dedicated to fostering mutual respect, dialogue, understanding, education and research between Israel and the church, especially between Jews and Adventists. The closeness and similarities between Adventism and Judaism (Style of life, Sabbath, Messiah etc...) give them the unique opportunity to generate interfaith dialogue at the highest levels, bringing together Jewish and Adventist leaders and renowned scholars.”

The truth is that the Friendship Center is not ultimately interested in dialogue or scholarship but evangelism. The Friendship Center is a proselytizing arm of the Adventist movement. It is run by Richard Elofer, an ordained Adventist minister who has been working for decades to convert Jews. He goes around the world giving lectures on how to convert Jews and plant Messianic congregations.

The Friendship Center advertises Adventist “synagogues”, which are designed to make the Adventist form of Christianity more palatable for Jews. The Friendship Center refers to the “synagogue” leaders as Pastor-Rav. Rav is a way of referring to a rabbi and none of these Adventist leaders actually have rabbinical degree, which makes the use of this title particularly bothersome. For instance, two of the Israeli “pastor-ravs”, Oleg Elkine and Valentine Novgorodsky, are graduates of Zaoksky Adventist University in Russia. Moreover, they were both ordained as Adventist ministers on June 16, 2007. Novgorodsky told the Adventist News Network that he prayed 15 years earlier to come to Israel from the Ukraine and “minister” to the Jews. There is no possible way to connect these pastors to a real rabbinic ordination.

Overall, I can list a number of great Christian church leaders who are interested in true dialogue and friendship with the Jewish people. But by lying and misrepresent their goals, the World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center cheapens the relationship between Christians and Jews across the globe.

Messianic Protestantism

2010-04-25T17:22:00.002-04:00

For years, I have been online with my website and blog stating that the Messianic movement is a form of Protestant Christianity. I found that the British Messianic Jewish Alliance agrees with me. The BMJA, the umbrella body of most Messianic congregations in the UK spells it out bluntly:

"The Messianic movement is a Protestant phenomenon. It does what all Protestant protest movements have done, but with a Hebrew accent."

In case you want to read more, here is the link to the article which is aptly titled, "The Messianic movement in the Protestant continuum." The quote comes from the right side of the page under "Messianic Protestantism."

http://www.bmja.net/chai230a.htm

They Are Not Details

2010-04-12T21:14:00.004-04:00

While looking at this past week's Torah portion, Parashat Shmini, I was reminded of a past conversation with a Messianic missionary. The missionary presented Jesus as a sacrifice. I began to go over the laws of sacrifice from Leviticus, demonstrating how Jesus did not match sacrifical law. For instance, Jesus was not sacrificed by the High Priest at the Holy Temple. He was killed by the Romans away from the Temple. The missionary said to me that I was getting caught up in "details." I was infuriated at his statement. I told him, "they are laws, not details."

In Parashat Shmini, we read about the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, the two sons of Aaron. Their tale is told in Leviticus 10. They went and attempted to offer a "strange fire" to G-d, which G-d had not commanded and were killed for this transgression. Surely, we see here that laws are not "details." Nadav and Avihu did not follow the laws of G-d regarding offerings and subsequently died. Not so incidentally, sacrifice is a form of an offering.

The word in Hebrew that we use for Biblical law is "Mitzvah." The root of the word, "Tzav", means "command." The laws of the Bible are not trivial but are G-d's commandments. Each and every law is valuable. By definition, not a single one is a "detail" that can be brushed aside or ignored. Jesus' death could not have been a Biblical sacrifice since it did not follow the Biblical law of sacrifice. As we learn from Parashat Shmini, these laws are of the utmost importance. They are laws, not details.

Do You Eat Jesus?

2010-04-04T18:09:00.002-04:00

There is are two more key issues that Messianics miss when claiming that Jesus was a Passover sacrifice. Both of these issues can be found in the commandments regarding the Passover sacrifice in Deuteronomy 16: 5-7. First, as we seen in verse 5-6, the Passover sacrifice can only be offered at the place where G-d will "cause His name to dwell in." The place where G-d's name dwelt was the Holy Temple. Jesus was not killed at the Holy Temple. Second, in verse 7 we see the commandment to roast and eat the Passover sacrifice. Jesus died on the cross, where Romans sent to death people accused of crimes such as trying to overthrow the Roman empire. Jesus was not roasted nor eaten (nor would it have been permissible under Jewish law to eat a person). As such, we again see that according to the Bible, Jesus could never have been considered the Passover sacrifice.

Three Matzos Represent.....

2010-03-28T22:37:00.003-04:00

On Passover, it is common to have three matzos at the Passover Seder. Most Messianics claim that this stands for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They also try to mark this as an original practice of Jesus' followers. However, I was talking about this with my friend Rabbi Stuart Federow and he made an important point. We do not see the custom of three matzos until around 1650. There is no historical evidence to tie it into the practice of either the Jews or Jesus' followers from 2000 years ago. So, it is clearly a later Jewish practice that has no connection to Jesus and his followers or any similar Messianic claim.

What Would They Have Thought?

2010-03-25T07:53:00.003-04:00

I find it interesting when Messianics say that Jesus' death on the cross was a sacrifice. What is most interesting about this is that on a historical basis, Jews would not have looked at death on a cross as any sort of religious sacrifice.

The Romans used the cross to kill people for various crimes related to insurrection, such as acts of sedition. In an nutshell, if the Romans thought that you were talking about or planning to fight them, the Roman government could decide to kill you on the cross. Moreover we know from historical records that the Romans killed hundreds of people for these insurrection "crimes", many of them Jewish, on the cross. In contrast, death on the cross has no function or history of use by the Jewish people. It is a completely foreign concept.

So what would the Jews have thought when they saw Jesus on the cross? They would have thought something along the lines of, "Guess the Romans thought was Jesus was planning to overthrow them." Any claims that the Jews would have thought of this as a sacrifice is not based in the history of Rome or the Jewish people.

Rabbi Jesus?

2010-03-22T21:36:00.002-04:00

Increasingly, it has gotten popular for individuals in the Messianic movement to refer to Jesus as "Rabbi Jesus." However, if you understand what a rabbi is, calling Jesus as "Rabbi Jesus" actually nulifies basic Messianic-Christian belief. The title "Rabbi" is often loosely translated as "teacher." As stated, this is a loose translation. In Hebrew, the world "teacher" is "moreh", which comes from the same root as "Torah." The actual translation is that a rabbi is a person who has achieved a level of learning to be able to give rulings on Jewish law. It is a title that shows that a human has reached a level of knowledge of G-d's law. If Jesus was really G-d, why would he need the title of rabbi? After all, it is a title to designate a human level of understanding of G-d's law. G-d is All-Knowing and therefore does not need a rabbinical degree.

Moreover, rabbinical lineage starts with Moses ordaining Joshua, and proceeds from there into later times. To this day, some rabbis can still trace their rabbinical lineage back to Moses, identifying all of the rabbis in between. So who did Jesus study under? Who granted him rabbinical ordination, since ordination comes from people, not from G-d? And if Jesus reall is G-d, why does G-d need a human ordination? Overall, calling Jesus as "Rabbi Jesus" is another example of attempting to put Jewish clothes on Christianity that simply do not fit.

Do You Own Jesus?

2010-03-22T21:26:00.002-04:00

I often hear from Messianics about how Jesus was their perfect sacrifice. This past Shabbat, my rabbi made an interesting point regarding sacrifice and why Jesus cannot be a sacrifice. Certainly, there are problems with Jesus being a sacrifice because the sacrificial item is incorrect (human vs. Biblically-approved animals, birds and flour), the sacrificers are incorrect (Romans vs. High Priests), the location is incorrect (away from the Temple vs. at the Temple) and the method is incorrect (cross vs. Biblically-mandated methods such as using a knife). However, my rabbi pointed out one other issue that I had not thought of. The only way you can sacrifice an animal for a sin, such as a lamb, is if you are the owner of the animal. If you did not own the animal, you cannot use it as a sacrifice. The person offering the sacrifice is literally offering something from their personal ownership to for the sacrifice. This ownership is based on laws of commerce. So, if you claim Jesus to be your sacrifice, when did you buy him? How much did you pay for him? Since no one is claiming to have literally owned Jesus by any laws of commerce, he cannot have possibly been a sacrifice.

Christ in the Passover

2010-03-14T13:46:00.003-04:00

As Passover is coming up, Messianic congregations and ministries are hosting Christ in the Passover presentations. At these presentations, the Messianics try to show how Jesus is an intimate part of the Passover Seder, the traditional meal/service to commemorate the holiday of Passover. So, the Messianics will say that the three matzohs stand for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The breaking of the middle matzoh stands for the death of Jesus.

There is one extremely large problem with the Messianic presentations, namely, it ignores the derivation of the Seder. The Passover Seder along with of it's customs, comes mostly from the tractate of the Mishnah and Talmud that covers Passover known as Pesachim. The Seder customs were written by rabbis in these Jewish books. None of these rabbis believed in Jesus. Some of these rabbis lived prior to Jesus' birth, again showing that there is no way to connect their writings to Jesus. Other customs came within the last few hundred years, again by rabbis who did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. By trying to present the Passover Seder as relating to Jesus, the Messianic movement is changing the real Jewish Seder and inventing meanings for customs that never were intended by their orignators. Therefore, the Messianic presentation of Passover is a false presentation of the Passover Seder.

Baffled

2010-03-09T11:31:00.002-05:00

I once was at a meeting in which someone was miserably failing in their attempts to answer a question. He tried to fake his way through the question which prompted one of his evaluators to say, "If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bull--." That is how I felt when I read of Messianic missionary Calev Meyers and Messianic blog Rosh Pina Project's latest antics:

http://jewishisrael.ning.com/profiles/blogs/messianics-launch-asinine?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Purim Edition

2010-02-28T15:56:00.002-05:00

In late breaking-news, the Referenced Messianic Jewish Review wants to announce a new battle in the Messianic world. The Church of England has sued all Messianic groups to be the sole purveyors of Messianic beliefs under international copyright laws. According to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, "Hey, we invented the whole idea of Messianic Judaism-Hebrew Christianity so we could convert more Jews. Now we have the Baptist, Pentecostals and all of these other Christian groups trying to use our idea. As the leader of the Church of England, I refuse to let other Christian groups steal our ideas! I want all the Jews to be Anglican! The rest of Christianity can invent their own conversion methods!"

Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt countered, "The SBC has clearly paid more money to create Messianic congregations and leaders than the Church of England. Doesn't spending the most money mean something? Besides, the Church of England are like Catholics and Catholics are all going to hell. So tell the Archbishop that he can go to hell, too!"

The author of this article tried to get the Assemblies of God for a quote, but all of the AoG leadership were talking in tongues so no one can actually understand what they were saying.

Happy Purim!

I Started Reading....

2010-02-14T15:57:00.004-05:00

Food for thought....I had the opportunity at Shabbat lunch to sit next to a former preacher. He said that what led him to reject Christianity was when he started to read the Bible in detail and realized that Christianity could not possibly be correct. That has been the pattern I have seen with many Christians who converted to Judaism. Everything was fine until they read the Bible closely. Then they realized that Christianity was wrong and came to Judaism.

Messiah ben Joseph

2010-02-09T21:03:00.001-05:00

Have you heard that Judaism talks about the Messiah coming twice? Once as the Messiah ben David and once as Messiah ben Joseph? If you have heard of this, then you have heard a bad representation of what Jews actually believe on the Messiah. Learn more about the Messiah ben Joseph:

http://www.messiahtruth.com/yosef.html

Can I Help You?

2010-02-07T14:21:00.002-05:00

Chosen People Ministries (CPM) is one of the oldest Messianic organizations designed to convert Jews to Christianity. CPM was created by Leopold Cohn, a man who invented his own personal history. Leopold Cohn claimed to be an Orthodox rabbi who found Jesus. In reality, his real name was Yitschak Joszovics and he was an ordained Baptist minister with no rabbinical degree. Much like it's dishonest founder, CPM continues to target Jews for conversion.

One of CPM newest endeavors is using charity in Tel Aviv as a method to reach people for conversion. CPM's Tel Aviv Messianic Center was built to serve the many poor and indigent Jews in Israel, including elderly Jews. In and of itself, this sounds like a worthwhile cause. However, rather than just helping these unfortunate Jews, they are also using it as a platform for conversion. On the CPM webpage (accessed on 2/7/10) it says:

"Whatever you donate before December 31 will be used to feed the hungry in Israel, provide a warm place for those who are cold to have a cup of tea or coffee with a believer who will lend them a sympathetic ear and of course share the Gospel with them."

As a Christian group who has worked to convert Jews for over 100 years, CPM does not know how to help without the option of conversion.

Coming Back

2010-02-03T20:24:00.003-05:00

As the Messianic movement gets older, there are many children who come from Jewish lineage but were raised Christian through the Messianic movement. Some of these children want to return to true Judaism. Here is a Conservative Jewish opinion on the process of return:

http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19912000/zelizer_apostates.pdf

Isaiah 9

2010-02-01T19:51:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite countermissionary reviews on Isaiah 9:
http://www.messiahtruth.com/isa9o.html

International Holocaust Memorial Day

2010-01-27T22:47:00.002-05:00

Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day. I occasionally get comments from various people in the Messianic movement who try to defend their status as Jews by making statements such as, "If Hitler was around, he would send me to the gas chambers just like you."

There is an inherent problem with this argument. Whether a person is Jewish or not is a Jewish legal issue. Non-Jews are not able to make Jewish legal decisions. As an analogy, let's say that France states that a particular person is an American citizen. Does that make the person an American citizen? Of course not. The person is only an American citizen if the American legal system decides so. French opinion is meaningless on this issue. Similarly, non-Jews do not have the legal right to decide who is Jewish under Jewish law.

Jewish legal decisions are made by knowledgeable religious leaders of the Jewish community. Ultimately, whether Hitler would have decided that someone was Jewish or not is irrelevant. Whether Hitler would have killed someone "as a Jew" or not is irrelevant. The only relevant issue is whether Jewish law defines a person as Jewish.

The Psychological Value of Messianic "Judaism" to Christianity

2010-01-24T13:52:00.010-05:00

Why is Messianic "Judaism" so popular among so many denominations of Christianity? The most obvious answer is because Messianic "Judaism" is a creation, and a branch of, Christianity designed to convert Jews. That is true but most Christians do not know that Messianic "Judaism" was created by the Church of England in the 1800's so this does not answer the question fully. Another answer is because so many different Christian denominations sponsor Messianic "Jewish" ministries and congregations. Again, this is true but it does not answer why these denominations would have decided on this sponsorship to begin with. A further possibility is because Paul said that Christianity should be spread "to the Jew first and then to the Romans." This claim certainly motivates Christians but it does not answer why Paul would have wanted the Jews "first." It lacks the nuance of the psychology behind this desire and why this desire is so strong, still 2000 years later while other early Christian concepts have disappeared. Further, it does not explain why post-conversion to Christianity, many of these new Christians are still identified with Judaism (e.g. former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, whose family converted when he was a child.) One more possibility is because Christians want to get back to their "Jewish roots." This response is also valid despite the fact that Messianic "Jewish" practice does not look similar to the likely practice that Jesus and his followers would have engaged in on a daily basis. This response highlights the general ignorance of the majority of Christians to the Jewish Bible and Jewish practice. Further, it does not answer the question as to why these "Jewish roots" are even valuable to Christians when Christianity has so many different beliefs from Judaism.

To understand the real psychological reason behind this popularity, we must look at the conflicted historical relationship that Christianity has with Judaism. This is probably best illuminated in the famous "Jewish Question." The "Jewish Question" was based in the following conundrum; on one hand, Christians cannot fully denigrate Judaism since Christianity claims to come from Judaism and be based in the Jewish Bible. If Christianity attacks Judaism too roughly, Christianity cuts out what it believes to be the basis of its own faith. On the other hand, the very presence of Jews stands out as a clear rebuttal that the Christian view is wrong. After all, if Christianity is correct, why does Judaism still exist in its midst? This "Jewish Question" has motivated countless debates, enactments and actions throughout the course of history. For example, in the early 1900's the Russian government mulled over a 1/3 policy: kill 1/3 of their Jewish population, push out 1/3 of their Jewish population out of their country and force 1/3 of their Jewish population to convert. Though this policy never came to fruition, it certainly demonstrates the depth of the conflict in the hearts and minds of Christians.

So then, of what value is the conversion of Jews beyond that of any other convert to Christianity? When a non-Jew converts to Christianity it is merely one more member to join the Christian "flock." However, when a Jew converts to Christianity, many Christians view it as a legitimization of Christian belief. Since Christianity came out of Judaism, a Jewish convert is viewed as a validation of Christianity's split from Judaism. For instance, this attempt for validation is seen in Reformation and post-Reformation era desires in England to bring Jews back to England following centuries of expulsion. If the English could bring the Jews back and then convince them to join Christianity, then the English churches could see this as a proof of their religious correctness.

This brings up an obvious question, namely why the use of Messianic "Judaism" to convert Jews appears to be so much more loved by Christians than other missionary methods? I believe that the reason is because the "Jewishness" in the presentation of Messianic "Judaism" is a present rather than a past activity of the convert. In more typical methods of conversion, once the Jew converts and is assimilated into the greater Christian congregation, the perceived validation received by the conversion fades quickly. For a brief period of time the Christians may feel validated in their belief by having a Jew convert but what is there to remind the Christian that this person was once a Jew after their conversion? The convert looks, acts and behaves like a Christian. With Messianic "Judaism", the Jewish-style practice serves as a regular reminder of the convert's Jewish past, and subsequently it serves as a more consistent perceived justification of the Christian's belief system.

Throughout history there is an abundance of Christian writings on the importance of converting Jews as proof of the correctness of Christian belief. I believe that the method of Messianic "Jewish" presentation functions to causes Christians to emotionally receive this "ego boost" of belief more often than other methods of conversion and this is the underlying psychological reason to Messianic "Judaism" popularity in Christianity over other methods of Jewish conversion.

Laws Are Not Details

2010-01-17T17:38:00.002-05:00

Over Shabbos lunch, I talked with a friend about a conversation I once had with a Messianic. He was trying to convince me that Jesus' death was a sacrifice. I reviewed Biblical sacrificial law, demonstrating clearly that Jesus' death did not match Biblical sacrificial law. His argument back to me was that I was getting caught on "details." I was baffled by this ignorant response. The Bible spends multiple chapters going over the laws of sacrifice. Again, these are laws....not "kind of nice things to do", not "it would be special if you do" but Biblical laws. By ignoring the Bible in his argument, the Messianic was demonstrating how little the Bible truly mattered to his beliefs. My friend was as stunned as I had been at the Messianic's attempt to belittle Biblical law as "details."

Are All Christians for the Messianic Movement?

2010-01-13T20:45:00.002-05:00

Through reading my blog and website, you may get the impression that all of the Christian movements and their leadership are supporters of the Messianic movement. This impression is false. The fact is that there are many Christian leaders who are quite horrified and disgusted with the Messianic movement. Here is a link to an article in which Presbyterian leaders such as Reverend Eugene Bay and Reverend Cynthia Jarvis decry the Messianic movement:

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c37_a9300/News/National.html

Shannon Orand in the Jewish Herald-Voice

2010-01-12T23:53:00.003-05:00

The Jewish Herald-Voice is the Jewish community newspaper of Houston. Here is a link to an excellent to a JH-V article that explains, in details often missed/ignored in the blogs, as to how Shannon Orand was being victimized by Leib Tropper:

http://jhvonline.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=96&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=8193&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1291&hn=jhvonline&he=.com

For many of us in Houston, we greatly admire Shannon's activity in defending Israel and the Jewish community. The JH-V provides just a few examples of this activity. Here is a link in which she is quoted by the JH-V in a pro-Israel rally; her statements begin in the 4th paragraph under the heading "Israel support":

http://www.jhvonline.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=96&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=6033&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1291&hn=jhvonline&he=.com

Here is another JH-V article showing how Shannon helped organize a counter-protest at the Holocaust Museum in response to a anti-Israel hate protest staged there; she is credited in the fifth paragaph of the article:

http://www.jhvonline.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=96&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=6129&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1291&hn=jhvonline&he=.com

So how many of the people who are currently talking badly about Shannon Orand have contributed as much as she has to their Jewish community? Am guessing that the answer is not too many....

Shannon Orand is Jewish!

2010-01-09T21:00:00.003-05:00

Shannon Orand, who has been smeared in many parts of the internet world despite doing nothing wrong, has officially been converted to Judaism! Multiple Chief Rabbis of cities in Israel were part of her conversion process. Read more about the good news of Shannon's conversion and learn more about what was really behind the tapes that created the controversy:

http://jewishisrael.ning.com/profiles/blogs/shannon-orand-receives

Isaiah 53

2010-01-04T21:14:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite sets of essays on Isaiah 53:

http://www.messiahtruth.com/isai53a.html
http://www.messiahtruth.com/isai53b.html
http://www.messiahtruth.com/isai53c.html

My Friend Shannon

2010-01-03T14:51:00.002-05:00

Recently I have seen many people taking shots at a friend of mine, Shannon Orand. Shannon is a wonderful person who is going through the conversion process to Judaism. Rabbi Leib Tropper tried to take advantage of her in this process. Shannon recorded Tropper engaging in this horribly immoral behavior.

Let me be clear: Shannon has done nothing wrong. She is not the "mistress" of Tropper. Nor she is part of a secret conspiracy trying to get at Tropper. She is simply a woman who refused to be taken advantage of.

Those of us who know Shannon do not find her at fault for anything in this process. Shannon is a bright, caring, hard-working mother who is passionate about Judaism. She was formerly in the Messianic movement and now works hard to counter the Messianic missionaries. She also is very involved in countering anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hatred. Shannon uses a significant amount of her free time to help different Jewish groups. I personally look at her as one of the up and coming young leaders in the Jewish community.

Too often in our society, we attack the strong women who stand up for themselves rather than support them. Shannon Orand deserves our support.

Operation Judaism

2010-01-03T01:07:00.001-05:00

Operation Judaism is a counter-missionary effort by the Chabad movement in the UK. Click on the link below for more information:

http://www.chabad.org.uk/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/828717/jewish/Anti-Cult-Missionary.htm

Training Messianics in Israel

2009-12-27T13:28:00.002-05:00

The Assemblies of God movement is one of the largest Christian sponsors of Messianic congregations in the United States. However, it also created Messianic congregations in Israel. In 2005, Theresa (Terry) Hughes completed her Doctorate of Ministry project at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary on developing a teacher-training course for Messianic congregations in Israel. The goal was to help teachers at Messianic congregations do a better job at training their children and youth. Of course, the Assemblies of God movement is not ultimately interested in Jews staying Jewish. This is another example of how they use the Messianic movement to evangelize Jews, not only in America but also in Israel.

Combined Federal Campaign

2009-12-26T23:00:00.006-05:00

If you are a federal employee and are interested in fighting missionaries, you can help by donating to Jews for Judaism through the Combined Federal Campaign.

Jews for Judaism:
Affiliation: Jewish Charities of America
CFC # code, used for making designations: 10169.
Employer Identification Number: EIN #52-1324729. Overhead: 29.5%. Program Areas: X B P.

Lack of Basic Research

2009-12-26T21:14:00.003-05:00

If I decided to write a blog about all of the issues I have with the United Nations, I would be here forever. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has posted a report from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) on the status of Christians in Israel "Israel: Situation of Christians; anti-missionary legislation and its use in practice; activities of Yad L'Achim in relation to Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses and Messianic Jews." First off, let me point out that Christians are not refugees in Israel, unless they escaped from another country. This begs the question, "Why is this even on the UNHCR website?" I cannot think of a single valid reason.

As for the report itself, it is a poorly researched and poorly organized report. The first section is titled "Legislation." In this section, the IRB tried to figure out what Israeli law is regarding Christians and missionaries. The IRB appears entirely confused, quoting various sources such as Courrier international, the Associated Press and Israel Faxx. For some reason, it did not occur to anyone at the IRB or the UN to check out the law with the Israeli government.

The law is quite simple. All Israeli citizens have equal rights, no matter what their religion. As for missionaries, it is illegal to try to convert minors without their parent's consent. Further, it is illegal to offer monetary or similar enticements to convert. Had the IRB or UN actually bothered to care about good, solid research they would have never published the report. They actually created confusion in a legal realm that is clearly defined.

A Moment of Honesty

2009-12-20T21:45:00.002-05:00

Jews for Jesus generally claims to be a "real Jewish" organization. However, a few moments of honesty snuck into their official information that they filed with the UK Charity Commission. On the Activities section of the Jews for Jesus charity overview, their first activity is "ADVANCEMENT OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION." Similarly, on p.5 of their 2008 report to the Commission, under "Objects, activities and achievements," the first activity listed is "the advancement of the Christian religion either in the United Kingdom or overseas."

So, now can Jews for Jesus stop pretending to be Jewish? Let's just call them by their true identity, Christians for Jesus.

The Assemblies of God is Hiring (to convert Jews)

2009-12-20T15:49:00.002-05:00

I recently ran into a list of open positions for the Assemblies of God movement (aka the Pentecostals) for shorter missionary opportunities. Under the "URBAN/INTER CULTURAL" section there were job offers in four different states for people to work at converting Jews. Missiouri, Ohio, New York and New Jersey Assemblies of God organizations were all in the market to bringing in more Christians to help convert Jews. Opportunities included "church planting" in New York " and front-line evangelism and assistance with Messianic congregation" in New Jersey. This simply provides further proof that the Assemblies of God movement is one of the most active Christian denominations in the Messianic movement. Here is the listing that I found:
http://usmissions.ag.org/PDF/Associate_Openings.pdf

Why Fake It?

2009-12-20T00:54:00.004-05:00

One of the things that I find utterly detestable is that Christian missionaries will take on various false identifies to convert Jews. If you truly have a strong argument for your beliefs, no false identify is necessary. For instance, 60 active missionaries were caught who had lied their way through the Jewish conversion process:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132271

Here is an article on a missionary who was caught pretending to be Hasidic:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/175721

If this is the best way that some Christians find to reach Jews, then this truly speaks horribly about their own belief in Christianity.

Who Cares About Israeli Law?

2009-11-27T16:45:00.003-05:00

Missionaries trying to convert Jews have little use for the law. Previously, I have posted on how a Houston Messianic group were caught violating Houston law and lying to police about their violation. Not surprisngly, their missionary cousins in Israel also practice deception. In Israel, it is a violation of the law to target minors for evangelization. However, Israeli Messianic congregation Beth Hillel recently held a conference in Israel instructing teenagers on how to evangelize Jewish teenagers, in clear violation of Israeli law. The following article documents this illegal behavior:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134224

Undercover Missionary

2009-10-27T21:15:00.004-04:00

As I have written previously on my blog, some people accidentally e-mail me thinking that I am a Messianic missionary. I thought this one had some particularly amusing information so I will share part of it with you.

"To whom it may concern, my name is Kevin Vance, I'm a student @ Southern here in Louisville, my wife Sarah and I both work @ Starbucks part time to help pay the bills, we also like Starbucks because it affords us opportunities to be missionaries within contemporary culture, which is why I'm e-mailing you, for help. In some ways, my cover as a missionary is blown with my mostly pagan co-workers due to my being a seminary student..."

Really? You took a job at Starbucks for the missionary opportunities and get upset when you are caught? "Excuse me, will that be a Mocha doube latte with Jesus on top? Oops, sorry, I meant whipped cream, not Jesus. That will cost you the Trinity, errr....three bucks."

Out of curiousity, what exactly is the pagan population of Louisville? Granted, I am Jewish and have little knowledge of pagan practices, but when I think pentagrams and Wicca, Kentucky does not come to mind. Let's see...Louisville, Kentucky and first things that come to mind. Basketball, check. Country music, check. Incense burning worship of goddesses, not so much. My e-mail box is never boring.

Inventing History

2009-10-26T18:53:00.003-04:00

As a webmaster for a counter-missionary site, I receive many odd e-mails. This one is particularly "special." A woman named Heather Halpern wrote this in an e-mail to me. She is the daughter of Felix Halpern, who has been part of the Assemblies of God Messianic movement for many, many years. Keep in mind, this was written by an adult from her work e-mail. This is not the writings of a child. Here is part of her e-mail to me.

"And for the record... The maternal line of Judaism was not established until the the late 1920's and early 30's when men were being sent off to war;including Jewish men. Up until this time, the line Judaism had always been established paternally, not through the mother. Then toward the middle of the 1920's when all these young Jewish children were left fatherless from the war, a well know Rabbi in Europe and in Judaism as a whole made a ruling to change the way Judaic line was determined; from then on, whether you wereJewish or not was determined according to the mother's lineage."

Now, I do not expect anyone in the Messianic movement to know about the Biblical basis of maternal lineage in Judaism and it's codification in ancient Jewish law. I have no expectation of this level of Jewish knowledge. However, I do expect all adults to know that there was no war in Europe during the 1920's and early 30's. In fact, that is the time of calm in between WWI and WWII. I am embarrassed that any grown adult like Heather could possibly have missed this much basic history. We are not talking about the Middle Ages. We are talking about less than 100 years ago. She invented a non-existent war! By the way, I pointed out to her that there was no such war...multiple times. Did she admit to being wrong? No. This is the type of e-mails that keep me shaking my head in disbelief. On some level, I can forgive Biblical and Jewish ignorance by a member of an Assemblies of God church. But there is no excuse for historical ignorance of this level by any citizen of the United States, of any religion.

Jewish Israel

2009-09-29T19:34:00.002-04:00

Jewish Israel is a wonderful website that takes a measured look at how the Evangelical Christian community (including the Messianic "Jews") interact with the Jewish community of Israel. Their work is well-referenced and demonstrates a thorough investigation of their topics.

http://jewishisrael.ning.com/

Did You Know They Left?

2009-09-13T19:37:00.002-04:00

There are many people who have left the Messianic movement and returned to real Judaism. However, it is hard to tell this by the Jews for Jesus website. They still have articles and stories on their website written on, or about, people who have long since left the Messianic movement.

For instance, you can still find Ellen Kamentsky on their website. Ellen is well-known for having written the book "Hawking God: A Young Jewish Woman's Ordeal in Jews for Jesus", in which she rips the dishonest practices of Jews for Jesus. This book was written back in 1993! You would figure that after more than a decade and a half of having left the movement, Jews for Jesus would remove information on her from their website but they have not.
http://www.sapphirepress.com/hawking/

The same can be said about Jeff Neckenoff. Jews for Jesus still has articles on Jeff Neckenoff on their site yet he has been out of the Messianic movement for many years and runs a counter-missionary website, www.bethgoyim.com

You would figure that after someone left the Messianic movement (and are working quite hard against the Messianic movement) that Jews for Jesus would take them off their website. It would be logical to do so, but Jews for Jesus has not taken this logical step.

Converting Jewish Children

2009-09-06T15:26:00.002-04:00

It is one thing to target adults for conversion, but it is certainly quite another to target children. However, for the Messianic movement, there is often no difference. For example, Uri Zahora of the Russian Messianic Congregation (also a pastor with the Shalom Hebraic Christian Church and formerly of Congregation Am Echad) has used games and a swimming party to attract Jewish children to the Messianic movement in Houston. Using teenagers from the Tallowood Baptist Church, he put on events in an apartment complex with many Russian Jewish families, specifically aimed at children. According to the The Baptist Standard, "Watching the young people build relationships with Jewish children in an effort to share the gospel was uplifting to him. "

This type of behavior is nauseating. Targetting children for conversion is simply dishonest. However, there is no real evidence that the Messianic movement cares about honesty when dealing with the Jewish people. All they care about is conversion of Jews to Christianity.