TEN CANDID ANSWERS for TEN TOUGH QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR EVANGELISM TO JEWISH PEOPLE
1. Pricing
We're inexpensive because we're small and we keep our overhead low. When I visit a church, I ask only that the church cover most of the travel expenses. Then when I'm there, I ask that the church take up a free-will "love offering" among the congregation for our evangelistic work in NJ and Philadelphia, PA. I also ask for 10 minutes with the church's missions committee to discuss possible future missions support for my work. Though "Scriptures Dramatized!" is a separate entity, I'm also the senior missionary with CHAIM Ministry to the Jewish People (www.chaim.org), a 25 year-old Philadelphia-area evangelistic missionary organization with three ordained ministers on staff.
2. The five big issues" in sharing the gospel with Jews
First of all, that's my background. I was raised Jewish and was educated and confirmed in the religion itself, and came to faith in the Messiah at age 19. When you share your faith with Jews, there are five HUGE things to keep in mind:
a) Don't treat the person as an ethnic stereotype. Make a friend before you make a convert. Whatever idea you have of who or what a "Jew" is, it's probably a stereotype, and Jews of all people hate to be "pegged". Even if you're right, they still hate it. It's like a white man saying "you people" when talking to a black man. Let them tell you what they believe first. Don't assume you know. A lot of Christians think that Jews today believe basically the same thing they believed 2000 years ago. It's not true. Every Jewish person should be treated as an individual because their beliefs vary widely.
b) Know a fair amount about the Jewish culture and religion first, before you share matters of faith. You don't have to take a full-blown course, but at least read a book. Most Jews don't follow the religion closely, or even at all. But they still consider themselves Jewish. Jewish identity is wrapped up in non-belief in Jesus as Savior: that's part of the way they identify themselves as Jews. They also are probably more aware of the sordid history of Church-Synagogue anti-Semitism than you are, and that's been a stumbling-block in their coming to faith in Jesus. Know about some of this, before you talk to the Jews.
c) Be able to communicate the gospel in non-"churchy" language. Christian cliches include "washed in the blood", "saved", "repentence", "convert", and "come to the Cross". "Convert" is not a good word to use, because historically it meant to "sell-out" to the gentile world in order to get ahead socially or financially. Because in old Europe, if a Jew joined a church, he could get certain advantages.
d) Express your faith in terms of a personal, praying relationship with God, and pointedly with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (for this is how He is referred to in synagogues). Share how God is involved in your daily life a very real way. To most (not all!) Jews, God is an impersonal ethical concept; or at best, the god of Deism. Consequently, their prayers tend to be liturgical, formal, and impersonal. The idea of a personal relationship with God is rare in Judaism.
e) Know the Messianic prophesies, and be able to discuss and explain them: Isaiah 52:12 through Isaiah 53, Jeremiah 31:30,31, Isaiah 9:5-6, Micah 5:1-2, Psalm 22, and there are many others. Though the Jewish religion accepts everything from Genesis to Malachi as the Jewish Scriptures, most Jews don't believe the Scriptures are the "Word of God" in the same way that evangelical Christians do. They certainly don't believe in the New Testament as such. If they're religious, they believe what the rabbis of the Talmud have said that the Bible means, and rabbinic interpretation is the end of all argument. It's similar to going to your Roman Catholic neighbor and saying "But the Catholic Bible says ..." He may stop you right there with: "Don't tell me what the Catholic Bible says. I listen to what my priest tells me it says. Same thing with the Jews.
3. The five most influential tools for sharing the gospel with Jews
a) A memorized script based on "Evangelism Explosion" (TM)
b) A witnessing card or pocket Testament with earmarked verses
. for atheists/agnostics
. for observant Jews
c) F.O.R.M
d) A doctrinally-sound gospel brochure/tract that you hand to prospect
e) A follow-up plan: (the purpose of the meeting is another meeting)
4. Toughest problems I've encountered in this ministry
a) Finding Jewish prospects to begin with
b) Prospects who are culturally Jewish, but in actuality, "New Age" or agnostic
c) The temptation to measure results by numbers of converts
d) Premillenial Dispensationalism and "Christian" Zionism
5. How CHAIM Ministry compares with "Jews For Jesus", and others
The two largest missionary organizations in the world are "Jews For Jesus" and
"Chosen People". Both are highly professional independent mission organizations
with a world-wide reach and years of experience, and over the years, significant
numbers of Jewish people have come to saving faith through their efforts.
Nonetheless, their philosophy of ministry is Arminian rather than Reformed/
Calvinistic, and their eschatology is premillenial and dispensational rather than
a-millenial/post-millenial. Our reach is more local to Philadelphia and New Jersey,
or particular to the needs of local churches in the US south and mid-west. And we
(CHAIM) are calvinistic and "A-mil". The ministry that we have most in common
with is CWI (Christian Witness to Israel).
6. Which ministries are "best in the business" in five crucial categories
a) World-wide reach
b) Doctrinal integrity (True to the Scriptures)
c) Follow-up with prospects
d) Conversions
e) Retention of staff/staff satisfaction
7. What our critics think about CHAIM, and why
The larger mission organizations to the Jews think we get too "hung up" on doctrine
rather than concentrating on conversions. They generally respect us for local effort
and staff integrity, but feel that for the sake of numbers, we fall behind. Still, our
staff are all ordained men: ministers in Reformed and Calvinistic Presbyterian
denominations who've been seminary-trained and have had years of experience
in the church pulpit, pastoring churches.
8. What we have in store for 2014
a) Outreach to the Israelis at the NJ shore resort communities
b) Independence Day outreach in Philadelphia
c) "Christ in the Passover" programs and "Fall Feasts" programs for churches
d) The "Scriptures Dramatized!" series of programs
e) Ongoing street and campus witnessing in Philadelphia, PA
9. Awards & recommendations we give ... to our "competition"!
Doctrinal Accuracy Award to CWI (Christian Witness to Israel)
Media-Saavy Promotional Award to JFJ (Jews for Jesus)
International Reach Award to JFJ (Jews for Jesus)
Endurance Award to Ammi Ministries
10. Latest breaking news in Jewish evangelism stateside
Ron Elkin's report
CHAIM's quarterly report
JFJ report from mailing
Chosen People report from mailing
1. Pricing
We're inexpensive because we're small and we keep our overhead low. When I visit a church, I ask only that the church cover most of the travel expenses. Then when I'm there, I ask that the church take up a free-will "love offering" among the congregation for our evangelistic work in NJ and Philadelphia, PA. I also ask for 10 minutes with the church's missions committee to discuss possible future missions support for my work. Though "Scriptures Dramatized!" is a separate entity, I'm also the senior missionary with CHAIM Ministry to the Jewish People (www.chaim.org), a 25 year-old Philadelphia-area evangelistic missionary organization with three ordained ministers on staff.
2. The five big issues" in sharing the gospel with Jews
First of all, that's my background. I was raised Jewish and was educated and confirmed in the religion itself, and came to faith in the Messiah at age 19. When you share your faith with Jews, there are five HUGE things to keep in mind:
a) Don't treat the person as an ethnic stereotype. Make a friend before you make a convert. Whatever idea you have of who or what a "Jew" is, it's probably a stereotype, and Jews of all people hate to be "pegged". Even if you're right, they still hate it. It's like a white man saying "you people" when talking to a black man. Let them tell you what they believe first. Don't assume you know. A lot of Christians think that Jews today believe basically the same thing they believed 2000 years ago. It's not true. Every Jewish person should be treated as an individual because their beliefs vary widely.
b) Know a fair amount about the Jewish culture and religion first, before you share matters of faith. You don't have to take a full-blown course, but at least read a book. Most Jews don't follow the religion closely, or even at all. But they still consider themselves Jewish. Jewish identity is wrapped up in non-belief in Jesus as Savior: that's part of the way they identify themselves as Jews. They also are probably more aware of the sordid history of Church-Synagogue anti-Semitism than you are, and that's been a stumbling-block in their coming to faith in Jesus. Know about some of this, before you talk to the Jews.
c) Be able to communicate the gospel in non-"churchy" language. Christian cliches include "washed in the blood", "saved", "repentence", "convert", and "come to the Cross". "Convert" is not a good word to use, because historically it meant to "sell-out" to the gentile world in order to get ahead socially or financially. Because in old Europe, if a Jew joined a church, he could get certain advantages.
d) Express your faith in terms of a personal, praying relationship with God, and pointedly with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (for this is how He is referred to in synagogues). Share how God is involved in your daily life a very real way. To most (not all!) Jews, God is an impersonal ethical concept; or at best, the god of Deism. Consequently, their prayers tend to be liturgical, formal, and impersonal. The idea of a personal relationship with God is rare in Judaism.
e) Know the Messianic prophesies, and be able to discuss and explain them: Isaiah 52:12 through Isaiah 53, Jeremiah 31:30,31, Isaiah 9:5-6, Micah 5:1-2, Psalm 22, and there are many others. Though the Jewish religion accepts everything from Genesis to Malachi as the Jewish Scriptures, most Jews don't believe the Scriptures are the "Word of God" in the same way that evangelical Christians do. They certainly don't believe in the New Testament as such. If they're religious, they believe what the rabbis of the Talmud have said that the Bible means, and rabbinic interpretation is the end of all argument. It's similar to going to your Roman Catholic neighbor and saying "But the Catholic Bible says ..." He may stop you right there with: "Don't tell me what the Catholic Bible says. I listen to what my priest tells me it says. Same thing with the Jews.
3. The five most influential tools for sharing the gospel with Jews
a) A memorized script based on "Evangelism Explosion" (TM)
b) A witnessing card or pocket Testament with earmarked verses
. for atheists/agnostics
. for observant Jews
c) F.O.R.M
d) A doctrinally-sound gospel brochure/tract that you hand to prospect
e) A follow-up plan: (the purpose of the meeting is another meeting)
4. Toughest problems I've encountered in this ministry
a) Finding Jewish prospects to begin with
b) Prospects who are culturally Jewish, but in actuality, "New Age" or agnostic
c) The temptation to measure results by numbers of converts
d) Premillenial Dispensationalism and "Christian" Zionism
5. How CHAIM Ministry compares with "Jews For Jesus", and others
The two largest missionary organizations in the world are "Jews For Jesus" and
"Chosen People". Both are highly professional independent mission organizations
with a world-wide reach and years of experience, and over the years, significant
numbers of Jewish people have come to saving faith through their efforts.
Nonetheless, their philosophy of ministry is Arminian rather than Reformed/
Calvinistic, and their eschatology is premillenial and dispensational rather than
a-millenial/post-millenial. Our reach is more local to Philadelphia and New Jersey,
or particular to the needs of local churches in the US south and mid-west. And we
(CHAIM) are calvinistic and "A-mil". The ministry that we have most in common
with is CWI (Christian Witness to Israel).
6. Which ministries are "best in the business" in five crucial categories
a) World-wide reach
b) Doctrinal integrity (True to the Scriptures)
c) Follow-up with prospects
d) Conversions
e) Retention of staff/staff satisfaction
7. What our critics think about CHAIM, and why
The larger mission organizations to the Jews think we get too "hung up" on doctrine
rather than concentrating on conversions. They generally respect us for local effort
and staff integrity, but feel that for the sake of numbers, we fall behind. Still, our
staff are all ordained men: ministers in Reformed and Calvinistic Presbyterian
denominations who've been seminary-trained and have had years of experience
in the church pulpit, pastoring churches.
8. What we have in store for 2014
a) Outreach to the Israelis at the NJ shore resort communities
b) Independence Day outreach in Philadelphia
c) "Christ in the Passover" programs and "Fall Feasts" programs for churches
d) The "Scriptures Dramatized!" series of programs
e) Ongoing street and campus witnessing in Philadelphia, PA
9. Awards & recommendations we give ... to our "competition"!
Doctrinal Accuracy Award to CWI (Christian Witness to Israel)
Media-Saavy Promotional Award to JFJ (Jews for Jesus)
International Reach Award to JFJ (Jews for Jesus)
Endurance Award to Ammi Ministries
10. Latest breaking news in Jewish evangelism stateside
Ron Elkin's report
CHAIM's quarterly report
JFJ report from mailing
Chosen People report from mailing
