“…fearing those who were of the circumcision.”

June 30, 2008 by 3 Comments

“…for before certain men came from James, he [Peter] would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.” (Galatians 2:12)

“The mission against Jews” is a common way orthodox Jews refer to people in Israel, Jews or gentiles, who believe in Yeshua. And social pressure is one of the main weapons that orthodox Jews use in their battle against those whom they oppose. (See John 9:22 for another NT example.)

There are a few “anti-missionary” organizations that have the goal of protecting Jews from the “dangers” of believing in Jesus. Yad L’Ahim is the most well known, but there might be others. It’s hard to tell how many organizations there might be because much of their efforts are done anonymously as can be seen in the photo below.

Recently, one of these organizations placed flyers in the mailboxes of a particular neighborhood. On that flyer they included the photos, names and addresses of 5 pastors of Hebrew speaking, Jesus believing congregations in Jerusalem. The sixth box (outlined in red) contained a not so subtle warning: Your photo could be here. Often, such a warning creates a fear of “those of the circumcision” that for all practical purposes silences believers in Yeshua.

The fear of man is a very real fear both in the NT period and now, and it is something that fellow believers around the world should pray for Israeli believers to overcome. I know four of the five men highlighted in the flyer, and am confident that they will not be silenced. In fact, for at least one of them, this isn’t the first time his picture has been used in such a way.

As the local believing community continues to grow, the anti-missionary groups are becoming more determined to stop the message. And to the degree that humiliation doesn’t work, more severe means of opposition will be implemented. Just this year, among the lesser known actions, there have been some very headline grabbing attempts to resist “the mission.” Among those were the near assassination of Ami Ortiz, the son of a messianic pastor in Ariel. Ami, made the mistake of opening a Purim holiday package that had been left at his home. Inside that package of candies was a bomb. See one report here, or search YouTube for a variety of video reports and testimonies of that event.

In Or Yehuda, a small town next to Ben Gurion Airport, a bunch of Ethiopian New Testaments was gathered and burned in a public demonstration against “the mission.” This action was instigated by the deputy mayor of Or Yehuda. See the article here where the deputy mayor tries to get the toothpaste back in the tube.

Filed Under: Anti-Missionary, Galatians, Judaica, Life in Israel, Ministry, New Testament

Feedback

August 6, 2007 by Leave a Comment

She approached me just before the service started and said, “I want to give you some feedback from what you said last week. It’s good to get feedback.” At that moment, I had that funny feeling in my stomach that said, “Oh boy, what did I say that needs to be corrected? And why now?” As everything went into slow motion, my mind worked overtime trying to figure out what I said that might have been controversial or problematic. I couldn’t think of anything.

Those who have been in ministry for any length of time, have probably had the same type of negative experience. You know, the kind where a person feels obligated to approach you and tell you that you didn’t say something well, or that they disagree with what you said. That’s what “feedback” usually means. And, this almost always occurs just moments before the service is supposed to start, or when you are in the middle of something that needs your undivided attention.

“Something you said last week has stuck with me all week. I was really challenged when you told us that we need to be conscientious of how we speak to God and others. I really needed that reminder. Thanks.”

In a rare use of the word “feedback,” she wanted to compliment and thank me for something I said the week before. Some days you just need that type of feedback.

Psalm 19:14 – “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (ESV)

Filed Under: Ministry, Old Testament, Psalms

What Would You Say?

April 10, 2007 by 1 Comment

What would you say if this 10 year-old boy told you “[bad] things happen to you because you don’t wear a kipa (a.k.a. yarmulke or skullcap) and eat kosher food”? That’s what happened to me.

I had occasion to be at his school and he befriended me while I was waiting for his principal. His school is a private, religious, elementary school with an enrollment of about 80.

To say that I was the odd man out would be a dramatic understatement. Although I made a special effort to dress in long pants and a hat before going there, I was clearly the outsider, with no chance of ever fitting in. However, he was friendly and conversational. The other kids mostly stared at me, much like I do a strange fish featured on the National Geographic Channel.

He told me that his class had just finished studying the book of Joshua, so I asked him to give me the short story version of Joshua. He started regaling me with a Midrashic story of Joshua beating up three thieves. He enjoyed doing karate chops and shadow punches as he mimicked Joshua’s clear and overwhelming victory over the bad guys. I enjoyed seeing his excitement, though I was disappointed that he didn’t include anything about Joshua from the Bible in his summary.

During our conversation, it was clear that, in spite of his willingness to engage me in conversation, he, like the rest of his classmates, viewed me as an outsider, too. I didn’t look like him, therefore, it was obvious that I didn’t eat like him either. His comments revealed that the two criteria he used to determine my standing before HaShem (God) were my dress (especially the type of head covering) and my food.

He was surprised to find out that we actually buy kosher food. (It’s not so hard in Israel. In fact, it is more difficult to buy non-kosher food here.) However, it only took him one more question to reveal that we don’t “really” buy kosher food: we don’t buy food authorized as kosher by his particular group. “If it isn’t [a particular kosher stamp], it is not really kosher. They just trick people like you with all the other kosher stamps,” he said with complete assurance.

Though the hat I had chosen to wear allows me entrance to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, it wasn’t an approved head cover in his world. After all, it wasn’t a black kipa like he wears. However, there is still hope for me: If I stop eating non-kosher food and wear a black kipa, bad things will stop happening to me.

While I wouldn’t expect a ten year-old to see the irony of this conversation, I didn’t miss it. When I asked him how many brothers and sisters he has, he said, “I have three sisters, but I only say two because the youngest [an infant] is about to go to heaven.” (I found out later that his youngest sister has a serious heart problem and he has 4 brothers.) The problems I was there to speak with the principal about weren’t even on the “problem scale” compared to the death of an infant.

It never occurred to him that the proper head cover and kosher stamp hadn’t prevented bad things from happening to his family. The only thing he could clearly see is that I was an outsider invading his world, which must be the reason for my problems.

Questions:
1. How would you respond to his conclusions? Would you challenge him or simply not accede to his position?
2. How would you offer him encouragement and hope regarding his sister’s health condition?
3. How would you share the gospel with him?

Filed Under: Evangelism, Judaica, Life in Israel, Ministry

Don’t Be All Nice!

April 3, 2007 by Leave a Comment

2 Timothy 2:24-26 – And a sevant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him; to do his will.

Once I received a call to help distribute New Testaments to convention goers in Tel Aviv. By God’s grace, “we” were able to distribute a couple hundred New Testaments (at least twice that many the previous night) before the professional anti-missionaries arrived. Still, before the pros got on the scene, we had a number of “negative” encounters with people who were angry about our activities.

One encounter, in particular, was with one of the civilian security guards. He was screaming all the usual things at one of the members of our group: “Get out of here with your foreign stuff! This is the Holy Land, land of the Jews not Christians. What you’re doing is illegal. I’m going to call the police.”

I usually learn something on these outings and God was generous to me once again. As I watched this encounter between “our guy” and the angry, armed-guard I noted a few things:

First, “our guy” spoke to the angry man in Hebrew, but the angry man always responded in English. Not because he couldn’t speak Hebrew, but rather to try to persuade the on-lookers that “our guy” was bringing a foreign religion to the Jewish people. This was a mostly unsuccessful, but interesting tactic for sure.

Second, “our guy” never raised his voice or tried to compete with the angry man. He simply smiled and spoke very calmly, responding to each of his complaints. The fact that “our guy” was calm and polite eventually caused the angry man to snap: In desperation, and apparently referring to 2 Tim 2:24, he shouted, “Don’t be all nice!!” “Our guy” simply smiled and walked a few steps away from the angry man.

If those who are vocally (sometimes physically) opposing our efforts are not professionals, they generally give up in frustration if we don’t engage them in loud arguments. Smiling really seems to take the air out of their sails.

At the same event mentioned above, I had a military security guard opposing me. He, too, was frustrated that I never got heated up. After about 20 minutes of unsuccessfully trying to persuade me, he moved to others from our group. He was supposed to be providing security for this event, but he spent about an hour trying to convince us how wrong we were for handing out New Testaments. Finally, in frustration he went and sat in the shade and pouted. Now that was a cute site: a soldier armed with an M16, sitting and pouting like a small child. His spirits lifted, though, when the “professionals” arrived.

Interestingly, it is not uncommon for bystanders who don’t agree with our message to defend our actions. What an interesting sight to see: unbelievers loudly arguing our case with those who oppose us. It seems that the more we smile and stay calm in the midst of being shouted at, the more unbelievers come to our defense.

We are to correct our opponents in a spirit of humility (2 Tim 2:25). Clearly, this is easier said than done. The flesh, my flesh, screams for the opportunity to send a zinger back at people who are saying all manner of filthy things against me and Jesus. (Grammatically the order of “me and Jesus” is wrong, I know, but I wanted to be accurate in portraying how the flesh sees things: ME first.) However, God desires, even demands that we respond to our opponents in humility.

The answer to this dilemma is found in Galatians 5:16-17: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

Our objective in humbly correcting our opponents is to see them repent (2 Tim 2:25-26). Please note, however, that it is not us who brings them to repentance, but God who grants repentance. This is God’s work and he desires to use humble tools to accomplish His work. The emphasis should not be on our labor/efforts, but on God’s grace in bringing a sinner to repentance. Often, however, during large outreach efforts, one can hear “our guys” standing around conversing about the labor instead of God’s grace. Perhaps this is a sign that we are not as humble as we should be.

We must keep in mind that the “bad guys” are ensnared by the devil and are being held captive by him to do his will (2 Tim 2:26). And he clearly hates the distribution of God’s word/truth in any form. This is a spiritual battle.

Filed Under: Evangelism, Life in Israel, Ministry, New Testament

By the Numbers

January 25, 2007 by Leave a Comment

15,271 – The number of miles we have driven since
                  we’ve been in the States.
        30 – The number of pounds I’ve gained since we’ve
                   been in the States.
        21 – The number of hotels we’ve stayed in.
        16 – The number of states we’ve been in.
        10 – The number of homes we’ve slept in.
         9 – The number of outlet malls we’ve skipped.
         6 – The number of outlet malls we’ve visited.
         4 – The number of zoos/animal parks we’ve visited.

Filed Under: Family Life, Ministry
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