Maybe it’s just me, but it seems as if we members of the Body are as concerned with worldly things as those who are of the world. We’re rocked by an unexpected turn of events; we worry about our health, wealth and happiness. Some of us feed that anxiety by obsessively following the daily news; some of us put our heads in the sand and pretend that everything is going along just fine. But what most of us often forget—or only acknowledge intellectually without action based in faith—is that what is happening around us really doesn’t matter… what matters is whether or not we are living for Yeshua. Whether we are being forcefully evicted from our homes, or rushing our deathly ill child to the hospital, or buying a morsel of food with the very last dollar in our pocket, we have a choice. Do we become caught up in the moment and react out of fear, or do we face reality with a conviction of spirit and a heart fortified toward God?
Articles & Answers
When a Jewish person “confess[es]… Yeshua as Lord, and believe[s] in [his] heart that God raised Him from the dead,” (Ro.10:9) he immediately becomes caught between two worlds. To his Jewish family, he is either meshuginah (Yiddish for “crazy”) or he has abandoned and forsaken his people. To most Christians, his Jewish ethnicity is either just an interesting novelty, or has now become irrelevant, because he is “a new creature; the old things [have] passed away… new things have come.” (2Co.5:17) These opposing forces are an ever-present source of pressure for the Messianic Jew. Does he disown the Messiah Yeshua and return to the unbelieving Jewish fold? Or should he turn his back on his family, his people and himself by assimilating into the foreign religion of Christianity? It is a heart-wrenching, lonely existence that Messianic Jews often face, but all believers in Yeshua can—and should—take an active role in encouraging Jewish believers to be restored to the distinctive identity that is their God-given birthright. Read more
Q: After my husband and I came to the Lord, we continued to abstain from eating the foods forbidden in the Law of Moshe. We found no scriptural reference releasing us, although we found that gentiles do not need to follow the Law of Moshe. While we understand that the Kingdom of our God is not about eating or drinking, we do want to know what to answer those who ask.
A: It was not until after The Flood, when Adonai made the covenant with Noah, that animals were even considered by God to be “food.” This was a universal provision for all humankind, “Every creeping thing that is alive, to you it is for food… only flesh with its life — its blood — you are not [to] eat.” (Genesis 9:3-4, YLT) Read more
Q: My dad is a pastor and since coming upon the the name of Yeshua, he no longer uses the name Jesus. Is he wrong? He is up against other pastors that are telling him he is wrong to do this. What do you think?
A: This is a very sensitive subject. I would say that it all depends on your dad’s motives and attitude. “Yeshua” is the Master’s name, not “Jesus,” however, if your dad is using “Yeshua” in a passive-aggressive, rebellious way to thumb his nose at the Christian establishment, then I would say it’s inappropriate. But if your dad has a strong conviction to use the Master’s given name, and he is doing it as part of an effort to restore Yeshua to His proper Jewish context, then it is probably okay. It just depends. Even if your dad’s heart is right, it may still result in confrontation and challenges from his peers. Read more
