Which way are you looking?August 18th, 2010 In regard to our manner of seeing the world, there are two ways that people can look: inwardly or outwardly. It is very clear in Scriptures that God is outward looking. It is evident in the very act of creation, since God made something outside of Himself (Genesis 1:1). It is clear in the fact that though we humankind, His creatures, rebel against Him regularly, God continues to deal with us and even sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16-17). His Son, Yeshua (Jesus), was outward looking like his Father in Heaven. He came to “seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10)” He came to lay down his life for disciples (John 10:15). As the apostle Paul points out,
Yeshua also called on his disciples to be outward looking. “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, (Matthew 20:26-27)” Jesus said. He commanded his followers to go out and share the truth of God with others (Matthew 28: 19-20)” It is clear that the way of God is outward-looking. If I care about the things of God, I will care about my fellow human being. I will care about their physical needs, certainly, but I will also care for their spiritual needs. That is why we at New Covenant Forum go to my Jewish people and to anyone else we meet and share the Gospel message with them. Are you inward looking or outward looking?
An outward looking life is the opposite.
Are you outward looking? Do you look out for others? Do you share with others the truths of God? God is calling you to do just that. Posted in Biblical Interpretation, Blog, Following God, Knowing God, This, That, The Other Thing | No Comments » Pot Shot Series: Objection 1: The Holocaust – Argument 2July 26th, 2010 If you have not done so, you might want to read the Introduction to this series. The Holocaust: Argument 2 – Blaming Jesus and Christianity Recently I was on a busy street corner in Toronto, handing out my literature, when a Jewish man came up to me and asked if I believed that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. I told him that, as I have family members who died in the camps, I believed in it of course. He then said that I should therefore be ashamed of myself and walked away. I called out to him to offer a response, but of course he didn’t want one. This was what I call a pot-shot: an objection that is thrown into your face and, before you have a chance to respond, the objector runs away, probably thinking that they have done something clever. But they haven’t really. There are really two different ways in which this particular objection is used. One is to use the Holocaust as a proof that God does not exist. The argument goes like this: if there were a loving and good God, he would not have allowed the Holocaust to occur. The other use of this objection is to blame Jesus and Christianity for the event and therefore denigrate both. Both of these arguments are answerable, of course. Argument 1: see Pot Shot Series: Objection 1: The Holocaust – Argument 1 Argument 2: The Holocaust denigrates Jesus and Christianity There are a number of problems with this objection. First of all, the argument infers that Jesus – whose life example and teachings we must remember are the basis of Christian belief – would have supported the agenda and goals of the Holocaust. This is to misunderstand the teachings of Jesus and his heart-felt love and care for his people, Israel. Not the teaching of Jesus Jesus said he came to “seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10)” The understanding is that many Jewish people had strayed from the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Jesus came to bring them back to God. He loved the Jewish people (as typified by his love of one young Jewish leader in Mark 10:21) and indeed all of mankind (John 3:16). He wept for the Jewish people (Luke 19:41) and was expectant that one day the Jewish people would recognize him for who he is (Matthew 23:39; Luke 13:35). Although as Christians we do believe that the vast majority of Israel has remained in sin by rejecting Jesus as Messiah and Lord, Jesus himself said, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)” The Messiah will come again at a future time and he will come in judgment of all those who have rejected him, both Jew and Gentile. Until then, however judgment is withheld for both Jew and Gentile. Historically some Christians have blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus and have used that reasoning as an excuse to persecute the Jews. Yet according to Jesus’ own words; “No one takes it [Jesus’ life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. (John 10:18)” If he lays his life down, then nobody can be accused of taking it. What sent Jesus to the cross was the sin of mankind, and as Jesus’ disciple Paul says, “We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23; cf Ecclesiastes 7:20)” The teachings of the disciples, like Paul, support this same notion. Paul proclaimed to the believers in Rome that, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen. [The Israelites] (Romans 9:2-3)” For these reasons we can see that hatred of Jews is not a teaching of Jesus or his disciples and therefore cannot be acceptable to a true believer in Christ. This leads us to the other problem with this argument. The objection assumes that the perpetrators of the Holocaust understood the teachings of Jesus upon which Christianity is based. Perpetrators were not Christ followers The reason for this is understandable. Many of the soldiers in the concentration camp considered themselves to be Christians and even would shout out to the line heading to the gas chamber that they were being slaughtered because they killed Jesus. Clearly, in light of the above, these men and women did not have a true understanding of the Christian teaching about the Jewish people. It must also be understood, that the Nazi perpetrators that masterminded the Holocaust, were not Christians at all and planned to eliminate the Christian church as soon as possible. (for a good article on this click here.) But for the common soldier like the ones mentioned above, even if some of them were Christians in the truest sense of the word, they were still ignorant of the true teaching of Jesus. This does not excuse their actions, but their actions do not reflect on the truth of Christ’s teaching and true Christian belief. It also has to be remembered that true faith in Jesus – true Christianity – is predicated entirely on faith in Him and in the Word of God. As such, believers are compelled by the very Word to love all people, including the Jewish people. And though there are some who consider themselves Christian because they go to church, or give to the church, or obey certain commandments, yet they are not truly Christians if they haven’t entered into a proper relationship with Christ. Conclusion The upshot of all this is that though some horrible things have been done in the name of Jesus, they shouldn’t be a reason for rejecting the Gospel message – the good news that the Messiah has come to Jews and Gentiles. Many horrible things have been done in the name of Peace, Liberty, Love and a myriad of other seemingly good causes. When exploring the Christian message, we must look to Jesus’ teaching and the whole of the Word of God. Jesus would never have condoned the Holocaust or any other horrible act towards the Jewish people (or any people) based on hatred and prejudice. Jesus would not condone it, nor should any Christian. The Holocaust was a terrible event, as were the Inquisition. During both, there was suffering by both Jews and Chrsitians. But in the end, they have nothing to do with Jesus and his claims. Check it out for yourself! Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Blog, Evangelism, Jesus and Jews, Jewish Objections to Jesus, Jews and Jesus, Pot-shot Objections, This, That, The Other Thing, Uncategorized | 3 Comments » Pot Shot Series: Objection 1: The Holocaust – Argument 1July 22nd, 2010 If you have not done so, you might want to read the Introduction to this series. The Holocaust Recently I was on a busy street corner in Toronto, handing out my literature, when a Jewish man came up to me and asked if I believed that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. I told him that, as I have family members who died in the camps, I believed in it of course. He then said that I should therefore be ashamed of myself and walked away. I called out to him to offer a response, but of course he didn’t want one. This was what I call a pot-shot: an objection that is thrown into your face and, before you have a chance to respond, the objector runs away, probably thinking that they have done something clever. But they haven’t really. There are really two different ways in which this particular objection is used. One is to use the Holocaust as a proof that God does not exist. The argument goes like this: if there were a loving and good God, he would not have allowed the Holocaust to occur. The other use of this objection is to blame Jesus and Christianity for the event and therefore denigrate both. Both of these arguments are answerable, of course. Argument 1: There is no God This argument forgets the nature of God’s relationship with humankind and our relationship with Him. God created man in His own image and gave us free will. We know this because Adam had the choice to obey God or not to obey God. (See Genesis 1-3) God had the option, of course, not to give us free will, but then we have to ask ourselves the question: what is the consequence of that? If we were created so that we had to love and obey God, then what kind of love and obedience would that be? We would be more like automatons then lovers of God. We can create a robot that is programmed to do only what we tell it to do, but can it love us? More importantly, can we love it in any meaningful way? So God, in his sovereign wisdom, determined that it was better for us to have free will than not. The consequence of that decision is that we can and do sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6: Romans 3:23). All of us who are honest with ourselves would have to admit that we cannot always live up to our own standards, let alone God’s. Where there is sin, there is consequence; not only to ourselves but often to others as well. To stop it, God would have to take away our free will. To maintain our free will, God must allow the consequences of evil to take place. Considering that we live in a world that has by and large dismissed God and has made individuals the real decider of right and wrong, is it any wonder that things like the Holocaust, or the genocides in Rwanda, or the former Yugoslav states occur. The Holocaust is not a reason to disbelieve God, but a reason to recognize our need for God to save us from ourselves. That is where Yeshua (Jesus) comes in. Through his example we can see how to live a godly life. More importantly, through our faith in him we are enabled to live a godly life – perhaps not perfectly – but certainly more and more as we grow in him. You can go to Argument 2, blaming Jesus and Christianity for the Holocaust. Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Blog, Evangelism, Jewish Objections to Jesus, Jews and Jesus, Pot-shot Objections, This, That, The Other Thing, Uncategorized | No Comments » Pot-shot Series: IntroductionJuly 2nd, 2010 I have been sharing the Gospel for several years, and it has been a long time since I have heard an objection to it that is new. It has been a joy to receive these objections, when they are sincere, knowing that there is a biblical response to every one of them. There are some people, however, who are not sincere. While sharing the Gospel on the streets, they will come up to you and express their objection and then scurry away. It might be some comment made before the door is slammed in your face, or the phone is hung up. No doubt these people feel that they have scored some point, but in reality they have acted quite cowardly and missed the opportunity to know that there is a reasonable and biblical response to their objection. In most cases, if the opportunity arises to ask why they believe these objections they cannot tell you. The reason is that they don’t know themselves. They are not able enough to give a response, nor are they honest enough to stick around for a response. It is for this reason (and because of a recent encouter of this kind) that I have decided to do a series on these pot-shot objections and give my response. Perhaps you are one of the perpetrators of such an attack. Then I hope you will be honest enough in this anonymous setting to now hear the response. Perhaps you are someone who has had the same concern and honestly wondered about the answer. Or perhaps you have had someone bring up such an objection to and you didn’t know how to reply to them. Whatever the reason, I hope this series, which will be added to over a period of time, will bless you and inform you. If you have any questions or concerns, please respond to the appropriate blog article or contact us.
Posted in Evangelism, Jesus and Jews, Jewish Tradition, Jews and Jesus, Pot-shot Objections, This, That, The Other Thing | 1 Comment » Anything goes, but JesusJune 7th, 2010 In the grand scheme of things you can be:
The only thing you can’t be, apparently, is a Jew who believes in Yeshua (Jesus). Is it not possible that the one thing that most Jews say is un-Jewish is the one thing that is really Jewish? Most of the Jews in the bible were wrong. Read it and you will see. Why should anything be different? “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12;16:25)”
Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum.
Posted in Blog, Jesus and Jews, Jewish Tradition, Jews and Jesus, This, That, The Other Thing | No Comments » A question of identity – is the biblical faith Jewish?June 7th, 2010 Whether speaking at churches or sharing with a Jewish person on the street, I have said time and time again that faith in Yeshua (Jesus) is the biblical Jewish faith. Recently, I have come to realize that is not strictly true. The Covenant with Moses was not just for Israel but also for the stranger among them. This is clear from the many verses where the alien to Israel is included:
There is also the Scriptural testimony of those aliens who entered that covenant, such as Rahab the Canaanite, Ruth the Moabite and Uriah the Hittite. In the same way, the whole of Scripture is not addressed to the Jewish people alone but to everyone who wants a covenant relationship with the Lord Almighty. I have come to realize that the most important issue of identity, Scripturally, is not identity as Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor or anything else – it is identity with Yeshua. With Yeshua’s death and resurrection came the end of the Covenant with Moses as promised by God through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34). If we now want a true covenantal relationship with God we must identify with the mediator of that New Covenant – our Messiah Yeshua. That’s true regardless of what your background is. It is clear to me that it cannot be said that faith in Yeshua is the ‘biblical Jewish faith’; rather it is the ‘biblical faith,’ pure and simple! Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Blog, Evangelism, Goyim for God, Jesus and Jews, Jews and Jesus, New Covenant, This, That, The Other Thing | No Comments » Tradition! Tradition!June 3rd, 2010 One of my favourite theatre musicals is ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. Of all the tunes from that show, none is so popular as the song “Tradition.” While I love the tune, the song itself makes me sad sometimes. Traditions are not bad in and of themselves, but when traditions are followed blindly they can lead us down wrong paths. How many of my Jewish people (Orthodox and secular) have refused to hear about Jesus in the name of their tradition. It is for this reason that I offer this story – to challenge this dependence of tradition which I believe is leading the vast majority of my Jewish people astray. I don’t know from where this story originated, but it makes the point.
You have your Jewish traditions? So did the Jewish people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel before God sent the Assyrians to destroy them and scatter them throughout the earth (hence the Ten Lost Tribes, see 2 Kings 17:6-23). Don’t keep tradition for tradition’s sake. Read the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures) and, God willing, the B’rit Hadashah (New Testament) and find out what God really wanted. Want more information? Please contact us, and we would be glad to help. Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Jesus and Jews, Jewish Tradition, Jews and Jesus, Knowing God, This, That, The Other Thing | No Comments » No milk with meat. Really?June 3rd, 2010 Can someone explain this prohibition to me? According to the Talmud, it is forbidden to eat milk and meat at the same time. This ruling is deduced from the verse, “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. (Deuteronomy 14:21)” What the verse states is a far cry from what the rabbis have come up with: that it is against God’s will to eat milk and meat. It is more likely to have prevented the Israelites from practising the fertility rites of the Canaanites around them. Yet the rabbis have construed this meat and milk prohibition from the verse and have then said that to disobey it is to disobey Torah. Why? This ruling is even more difficult to comprehend when one considers that Abraham, (whom many religious Jews believe followed all the Talmudic laws,) provides a luncheon to God and his two angels in Genesis 18 and clearly disobeys this provision. “Then he [Abraham] took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them [God and his two angels]. (Genesis 18:8)” So Abraham gave to God and his angels some milk and meat together. Not only that, but the same verse goes on to tell us that Abraham, “stood by them under the tree while they ate.” So God ate the curds and milk along with the calf that had been prepared! How did the Jewish sages come up with this interpretation of Deuteronomy 14:21, how did they justify this interpretation, and how did they defend it in light of what we see in Genesis 18:8? I would love to get a coherent explanation. Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Jewish Tradition, Talmud vs. Tanakh, This, That, The Other Thing, Uncategorized | 3 Comments » |
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