Rejoinder to Responses to Post-Missionary Messianic Judaism
I must begin by thanking Kesher, and my esteemed reviewers, for awarding Postmissionary Messianic Judaism such serious attention. I can only hope that the book will receive similar treatment within our movement as a whole, as well as within the wider Christian and Jewish worlds. I have learned much over the years from these six…
Read MoreComparing Portions of Qumran Literature with Pharasaic Characteristics
In search of the nature of the community through examination of its approach to Sabbath laws and angels. BACKGROUND No archaeological find has produced a greater abundance of writings (both scholarly popular) than the discovery at the eleven caves at Khirbet Qumran, Israel, just northwest of the Dead Sea. This “Geniza in the Desert” has…
Read MoreAbraham’s Promise: Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relations by Michael Wyschogrod
by Michael Wyschogrod; edited and Introduction by R. Kendall Soulen GRAND RAPIDS: EERDMANS PRESS ©2004 Reviewed by Russ Resnik Modern Orthodox scholar Michael Wyschogrod considers Messianic Jews to be all wrong about Yeshua, but he is essential reading for anyone interested in Messianic Judaism. Wyschogrod often seems to understand Messianic Jews better than we understand…
Read MoreFrom the Editor – Issue 21
The Summer/Fall 2006 edition of Kesher is a theme issue dedicated to outreach in the context of Messianic Judaism. Some articles focus on the biblical teachings and theology of outreach, while others center on the practical outworking of outreach. All the articles take into account the individual and communal dimensions of outreach and provide insight…
Read MoreAbraham, Hospitality Man
(This article is based on a message given at the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregation’s annual conference in 2006.) On the Jewish calendar, today is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath before the 9th of Av. On Shabbat Chazon, it is traditional to reflect on the reasons for the destruction of the two Temples. Why were they…
Read MoreSay to the Cities of Judah, “Behold your God” – The Hebrew Bible, Outreach and Messianic Judaism
Messianic Judaism[1] is currently undergoing a reappraisal of its modes and philosophy of outreach. In some sectors of the movement, traditional paradigms of evangelistic outreach are being reaffirmed.[2] In other sectors new paradigms about the nature of Messianic Judaism and outreach are being developed.[3] This climate of reevaluation provides an opportunity to revisit old biblical…
Read MorePostmissionary Messianic Jewish Outreach
Missionary statesman and missiologist Lesslie Newbigin suggests we think of mission as “an action in which the Holy Spirit does new things, and brings into being new obedience.”1 This dynamic insight challenges those who name the name of Yeshua to ask what new thing the Holy Spirit is doing today and what new obedience he…
Read MoreRediscovering My Gentile Roots
Holiness Beginnings Growing up in the Wesleyan holiness tradition, the son of a Nazarene pastor, I learned early on that there were certain standards of behavior in our community. I also learned fairly quickly that there was flexibility around the edges of these standards. Many of the guidelines that had been strictly observed in our…
Read MoreOutreach and Jewish Missions in the 21st Century
The reflections in this paper represent my personal pilgrimage in the wonderful field of traditional Jewish missions. Yes, missions. I believe we might be post certain aspects associated with traditional Jewish missions, but there are still many wonderful things being done for Yeshua by Jewish missions. This would include the planting of Messianic congregations in…
Read MoreOutreach In Israel
It would be very interesting to do an objective survey on outreach in Israel with all the proper sociological-statistical controls. To my knowledge, there has been no such survey, only a statistical study on Israeli Messianic Jewish congregations by Kai Kjaer-Hansen that is already quite dated.1 In lieu of such a survey, I will have…
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