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I know church elder whose sister (non-Jewish, attended church all her life), now attends a Messianic fellowship. She believes it's improper to say "Jesus". She calls Him "Yeshua". Her fellowship worships God using words and phrases that I remember from my youth in synagogue services that I attended with my parents as a Jew. Instead of "blessing", she says "b-racha". Instead of "Old Testament" she says "Tenach". Instead of "Christ" she says "Moshiach". What's really different is that though she believes Jesus is Savior and Lord, she thinks it's not proper to use traditional Christian terms. I know a minister (very conservative, Calvinistic) whose parents (not ethnically Jewish) are the same way. They keep kosher, and think that eating pork and shellfish is actually sinful for Jews who believe in Jesus. They attend church (They don't call it "church") on Saturdays and think that Sunday is the wrong day to celebrate the Sabbath. Their pastor wears a traditional Jewish "tallis" (prayer shawl), and he's called "Rabbi" by the congregation. Another minister I've know for years (born and raised nominally Jewish, who hardly ever attended synagogue as a youth) officiates in a Messianic synagogue that resembles the real ones I attended for worship before I became a Christian. He teaches that it's obligatory to keep all the Jewish holidays, But he adds Jesus to this variation of Judaism, and his congregation looks forward to the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, the return of all Jews to Israel, the removal of the Arabs from an expanded "Holy Land" stretching from the River Euphrates to the border of Egypt. That would include all of Lebanon, all of Jordan, most of Syria, and half of Iraq, Why? Because this was the land promised to Abraham's descendants (Gen 15:18) And who are they, according to him? The Jews. Not Christian gentiles: the Jews. Their church contributes money to relocate Jews to Israel to help further things along so that Messiah Jesus will set up His kingdom in Jerusalem and the Jews will accept Jesus as their Messiah and then be seen by all the world to be the Chosen People once again in a kind of "most-favored nation" status with God. He's concerned that God is angry with America because of its flagging support of the current state of Israel. Now admittedly, these Jewish-Christians (or Christian Jews) do not all believe exactly the same things. But there is a range of Judaistic beliefs prevalent among certain professing born-again Christians. And there are variations within this range. But it's definitely a spiritual movement, carrying with it various hybrid movements and mutations in its wake: Here are some common symptoms. [Posted from Facebook's "Biblical Apologetics: Defending Orthodox Trinitarian Christianity" by Eric Clayton Heil] "Insistence on Hebrew terms as being more spiritual and correct than the historically used Greek terms utilized in the New Testament. – Insistence on keeping a Kosher diet as being more spiritual than obeying the liberty given in Acts. Elevating the customs and ceremonies of the Jewish people as not being signs and signifiers of the Messiah who has now come and will come again, but as being significant in and of themselves. – Gauging support or opposition to the current state of Israel as a metric for salvation or spirituality. Elevating people who practice Judaism and reject Jesus Christ as still being spiritually significant because of the misguided notion that modern (Talmudic) Judaism is in some way close to biblical Christianity. Asserting that anyone who points out these issues is automatically in some way racist or anti-Semitic. For example, if you choose to observe the OT Feasts, that is your freedom to do so; but insistence that others do so is not acceptable." Here's the point: if you have relatives or friends involved in this, we can help. We've had a lot of experience. www.chaim.org, go to "Articles Online", access "Reforming Jewish Ministry" (I) and (II), "Clearing Up Confusion About the Ceremonial Law" and "Understanding Ceremonial Law". | |