Good weekend . . .

This last Friday evening we had a guest choir sing at the synagogue. "The Voices of St. Mark" from St. Mark AME Zion Church blessed us with music and ministry. Now, I must confess, I love gospel music. That might sound strange coming from a Midwestern Jewish man but there is something about gospel music that lifts my soul and encourages my spirit. I could listen to it for hours and sometimes do! My personal passion for gospel music is not what drove me to invite the choir, however. There is a deeper motivation . . . .

Above everything else, I want to see my brothers the Jews come to a saving revelation of the Messiah Y'shua (Jesus). The Bible tells us that the Jewish people are to be driven to jealousy, and witnessed too, by the Gentile believers (see Romans chapter 11. Good stuff in there). This is the calling of the Gentile believers, to reach the world with the saving Truth of Y'shua, to the Jew FIRST, then also to the Gentile (Romans 1:16). The calling of the Jewish people is to be a light to the Gentiles (Exodus 19).

Let me clarify something here and, in so doing, address some concerns that have come to my attention. I am not trying to turn Beth Emanuel Messianic Synagogue into a "church". I am not trying to "Christianize" Messianic Judaism. Why did I invite a Gospel choir? Why did a Christian pastor come and speak at our Saturday Torah service? Because, according to the Scriptures above (and many others), we as Messianic Jews are part of the global Body of Messiah and, as such, need them as much as they need us. Taking it one step further, the Gentiles have an anointing from God to reach the Jewish people with Messiah! (see the Scriptures referred to above). The stronger bonds we as a synagogue have with our Gentile brothers and sisters in Messiah, the more they realize their Biblical obligation to reach my people! The more they reach my people, the more the Jews will become born-again (John 3). The more Jews find their true identity in Y'shua, the more they live out their calling to be a light to the Gentiles and the more the unbelieving Gentiles will get saved! As Rabbi Paul wrote in Romans, "If the falling away of them [the Jews] means the salvation of the Gentiles, what shall the restoration of them [the Jews] mean but life from the dead"!

So, we will continue to reach out to the Jewish people while at the same time ministering to our Gentile brothers and sisters about their calling. As we strengthen these bonds, we will have a greater impact on the Jewish community. Pretty cool how God planned all of this out, huh?