To Hell and Back

Ira Michaelson spent twenty years in Jews for Jesus.  He now works to bring Jews back with Jews for Judaism.  Please watch his story:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8fZ1Pedz19g

Holiday Target

Missionaries are known for trying to take advantage of situations so I am not surprised that they used Sukkot as a pretext for conversion.  That a 12 year-old was illegally targeted is just horrible.  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186473

Does a Sacrifice Atone For All Sin?

One of the basic beliefs of Messianic "Judaism" is that Jesus' death was a sin sacrifice which is necessary to atone for all sins.  Previously, I have gone through many examples of how sin can be atoned for without a sacrifice (for example, Isaiah 1:11-18) but I want to go into an oft-missed but important issue.  Namely, what does a sacrifice atone for?  Does it atone for all sins?  The sin sacrifice is described in Leviticus chapters 4-5.  The Bible clearly states that a sin sacrifice can only be used for accidental transgressions.  It cannot be used to atone for deliberate sins.  The sin sacrifice is only for some sins, not all sins.  For instance, the sin sacrifice has nothing to do with deliberately stealing a car or assaulting a neighbor. 

The claim that Jesus' death is a sacrifice and that sacrifice atones for all sins is simply false.  Further, I would like to remind you that the Biblical sin sacrifice involved specified animals or flour conducted by the High Priest at the Holy Temple not killing of a person by Romans away from the Temple.

Lutheran Confessional

It is not everyday that a major Christian denomination just bluntly admits that its Messianic congregations and ministries are there to convert Jews.  So, I found it pretty important and worth sharing that the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod did just that.  The LCMS church put up a story on its blog stating that the whole point of Congregation Chai V'Shalom, Apple of His Eye Ministries and Burning Bush Ministries is to convert Jews.  More evidence that "Messianic Judaism" is simply Christianity trying to get Jewish converts.
http://blogs.lcms.org/2014/ministry-seeks-to-convert-jews

Counter-Missionary Survival Seminar

Rabbi Michael Skobac of Jews for Judaism has an excellent 12 part seminar on youtube on Messianic-Christian belief and why the Messianics-Christians are incorrect.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD3DF0E2817D81B0D

The Return of the Kosher Pig

Messianic leader Itzchak "Tzahi" Shapira recently released his new book "The Return of the Kosher Pig", in an attempt to prove Jesus from Jewish sources.  As with many Messianic "rabbis" (Shapira holds no real Jewish rabbinic ordination), Shapira makes numerous errors in his book.  Rabbi Eli Cohen, a true rabbi, has reviewed his book and points out some of the major errors made by Shapira.

http://yourphariseefriend.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/the-return-of-justinas-pranaitis/

International Alliance of Messianic Congregations

The International Alliance of Messianic Congregations is probably one of largest organizations of Messianic congregations and one of the most active in ordaining Messianic "rabbis."  However, it has not let go of the Christian roots of the Messianic movement.  According to their website (accessed 8/6/13), Membership Requirement #13 is "Applicant should be of good report within the Christian community with local Pastors willing to vouch for congregation and its Senior leader."  A real Jewish organization would never require a synagogue to have Christians pastors vouch for it.  This would be completely illogical.  But since the Messianic movement was created by Christianity, it is a real and commonsense requirement.