Hello, I'm Shelley
Quinn and welcome again to
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Issues and Answers.
We've got a very different
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program today and I think you're
really going to enjoy this.
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We are going to be talking
about Jewish outreach today.
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Let me read something to you.
One of these scriptures is going
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to be very familiar, but
to begin with may not be. It's
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chapter 31 of Jeremiah and
I'm going to begin with verse 1:
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The Lord says, At that time,
says the Lord, will I be the God
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of all the families of Israel
and they will be my people. Then
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I'm going to skip to verse 3.
The Lord appeared from of old to
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me, saying, yes, I have loved
you with an everlasting love,
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therefore, with loving-kindness
have I drawn you.
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You know, this is a promise
I often claim myself, but it's
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also a promise for God's people
of today, Gentile and Jew.
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We are going to be talking
with a very special guest,
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Jeff Zaremsky. Jeff thank you
so much for joining us today.
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Thank you,
Shelley, for having me.
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You are the president of Jewish
Heritage and before we go any
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further, I'm going to
talk about your head dressing,
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which is a yarmulke.
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Right, that's what it's
called, it's in Yiddish.
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And what is the purpose of that?
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Well, there are a number of
different variations of where
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the wearing of the, in Hebrew,
it's called the kippa, and kippa
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is the same word in the word
Yom Kippur, I mean Yom Kippur,
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Day of Atonement. Literally Yom
Kippur means day of covering.
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So we think of God's covering
over us, God's grace over us on
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that day of judgment, that we
passed the judgment because he's
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covering us. So it has
that spiritual sign that we're
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covered with him. The prayer
shawl kind of elaborates on that
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even more. But you might go back
that the Levitical priests all
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wore a head covering. In the
Bible, God commanded Aaron and
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all his descendants to wear a
miter on their head, and so it
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may just come from that
continuing of having the head
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covered. Praise to the Lord. I
don't wear it all the time. I'm
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wearing it for
the show to accent.
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Now you were saying that you
we're taking about the priests
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You are, in addition to being
the president of the Jewish
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Heritage, you are also, I don't
know what to call you, a Rabbi
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or a pastor, but you have a
church, Beth El Shalom, which
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means house of peace. You have
two congregations, actually. So
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what do we call you? Are
you called pastor or rabbi?
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Some people call me rabbi,
some people call me pastor. My
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grandmother calls me Jeffrey
Allan, some people don't call
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me at all. But I don't get into
the terms, I don't worry really
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about terms. A lot of people
just call me Jeff. Rabbi means
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teacher and so in that sense,
I'm fulfilling the teacher roll.
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I didn't go to a traditional
rabbinical schooling. The terms:
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Like we don't use the word
church for our building either.
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We'll call it a synagogue
or a temple, again, because it
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connotes more of that
flavor of the Jewishness
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of the worship
service that we have.
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All right. I want to spend most
of our time talking about the
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topic today. But just give me a
really thumbnail version of how
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you became a
Seventh-day Adventist.
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Okay. Well, I was born at a
very young age, but that won't
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be a short version. The short
version is that my mother came
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in contact with some Seventh-
day Adventists. They ministered
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to her needs she had at the time
whether just an open Bible study
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she had needs. They ministered
to her. She told us about them.
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She started quoting the Bible to
me. I got a Bible to prove her
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wrong and over six months, seven
months' time, reading the Bible
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to prove her wrong, I couldn't
do it and so thus in the short,
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she proved the Bible right.
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Glory to God! Now you have
been and Adventist for 20 years;
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How long have you been in
the pastor or rabbinical role?
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Ah, seven years now.
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Seven years now. Let's just get
right to this. When we want to
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share God's love with the Jewish
people, it's much like, you've
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heard of our World of Praise
Network that we're getting ready
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to launch here. The World of
Praise network is for the inner
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city, people of the inner
cities, urban, thank you, that's
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the word I was looking for. The
reason we are launching World of
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Praise Network is because the
traditional methods of outreach
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will not reach the urban people.
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Even though they both speak
English. It's going to be an
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English station, this is
an English station, it's all
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English, but your focus group...
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So using that as an illustration
the same thing with our Jewish
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friends. In the United States
they speak English, but the
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traditional church setting and
inviting them just to come into
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your church is not, I mean, I'm
not saying that God can't do it,
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but it's not the most likely way
to reach them. So tell us what
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you're doing to
share God's love.
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Okay. For one think, like I
said, we've changed the names
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and the declarations of the
building. The buildings don't
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look like a typical
North American Church.
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They look more like a synagogue.
Instead of crosses, it'll have
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menorahs and Jewish stars.
On the bema, we call it a bema
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instead of a platform, there's
the iron Kadesh, a Torah ark
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with the Torah in it. So
just the visual coming is just
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totally different. Then the
worship service is different.
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Then the liturgy is different.
We'll be singing the prayers,
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but we sing them. For song
service, we don't call it a song
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service, but to make that
analogy, a lot of them are right
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out of the Psalms and they are
the ones that are sung all in
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synagogues all over the world
and are also the ones, many of
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them, that Jesus sang. When
Jesus went to synagogue, this is
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what he saw, this is what
he heard, and Paul and Peter.
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and it's actually making inroads
into our church because we call
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it scripture songs. I mean, I go
to women's retreats, I speak at
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women's retreats all the time
and they'll have scripture songs
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or at camp meeting we'll
hear scripture songs, so it is a
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beautiful way of singing
the scriptures back to the Lord.
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Yes, and remember the scriptures
that was too. A lot of them are
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in Hebrew, but everything
that is in Hebrew, we also do in
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English. So we'll have a verse
in Hebrew and a verse in English
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matching it up or we'll read it
in English and then we sing it
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in Hebrew. So there is
that whole flavor to it that is
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totally different than a typical
Methodist/Baptist church-type
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of a setting or liturgy.
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Why is it necessary, I mean, I
made that as an assumption, that
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it's necessary to take a
different route. Why is it
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necessary to take a different
route to reach Jewish people?
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Well because as humans, we
listen more with our culture
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than we do with our ears.
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Repeat that; I like that.
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Okay, we listen more with
our culture than with our ears.
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Body language and what we're
used to and what we read from
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our background and our
upbringing, we read into what
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people say. Maybe you've said
things and people have said,
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you said. I didn't say that, but
they heard you say that in their
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mind because they were filtering
it through their culture or
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through their background
or whatever ideas they had.
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Happens all the time when you're
on television that people will
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call and say, you said this, and
you have to review the tapes,
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and say, Never
said it! Absolutely.
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So to break down that barrier,
that visual barrier... and
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there's nothing wrong with
churches, there's nothing wrong
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with crosses, there's nothing
wrong with a church service,
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a typical American based out
of the Puritan church service
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type of a style with 11
o'clock morning service and the
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children's story at the certain
time and all that stuff. That's
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fine for those who grew up with
that; there's nothing wrong with
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it at all and the hymns and
everything. That's fine for that
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culture, but those that are not
used to that culture, including
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Jews and Muslims and Buddhists
and many other groups and a lot
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of unchurched are not used
to that. It's very foreign; it's
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like basically speaking a
foreign language and so they're
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not hearing the message because
they're looking at all this
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other stuff and wondering what
all that means and what it's all
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about and it's just so
unusual that it's hard to
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get used to the taste bud,
to get used to it. So instead of
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having that as a barrier, we
can get right into the Bible by
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removing all the things that
are foreign, that are not...
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We don't have anything
that would be against the Bible.
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We are not continuing any
traditions that would be against
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the Bible. In Judaism,
fortunately, there aren't very
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many. I don't just like think of
any just off the top of my head
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that would be against
the Bible. Now ministering to
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another culture you might not be
able to just take everything and
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adapt it in but with
Judaism it's very easy.
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Praise the Lord. What kind of
a success rate are you having?
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Very good, I mean, especially
if we compare with how
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Christianity has done over the
last 1900 years; a tremendous
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amount of growth. A number of
different reasons, but I think
00:10:02.38\00:10:06.82
that's one of the main reasons
because, well like you mentioned
00:10:06.86\00:10:11.27
I've been a believer in Jesus
Christ as the Messiah for 20
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years now and have had a burden
for reaching my people and have
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tried different things. We've
had different literature and all
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these different types of things,
but trying to bring them into
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the church setting was always
this barrier, always this break.
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And some of the terms: You
see in 1900 years Christianity
00:10:23.62\00:10:28.41
literally killed Jewish
people. Now it wasn't maybe true
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Christianity, but it was under
the label of Christianity and
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done in the name of Christ and
done, you know, with crosses,
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with a sword in one hand and a
cross in another. You know, bow
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down to this cross or we cut off
your neck; kiss this statue or
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we cut off your head. That
was done continuously for 1900
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years. So all of that is in our
cultural memory. It's there and
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we're told of this as a kid. So
that makes a very big barrier.
00:11:03.54\00:11:07.29
So continuing with terms such
as cross or even like crusade...
00:11:07.32\00:11:11.06
some Christians will use to term
crusade. They're talking about
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an evangelistic series of
Bible teaching, but crusade to a
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Jewish person or even a Muslim
means massacres. So these terms
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can be a stumbling block. Once
you remove those terms and just
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get into the word of
God, well then it just
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transitions over very easily.
00:11:31.82\00:11:34.06
So what I hear you saying, Jeff,
is that if you want to reach out
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to the Jewish people, if you've
got Jewish neighbors, Jewish
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friends or just people in your
city, what you have to do is be
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sensitive to their culture,
sensitive to their traditions,
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and just be thinking about
what their experience or their
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exposure to Christianity might
be so that you don't use words
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like crusade or
something like this.
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It should basically be loving,
because even if you use the
00:12:01.85\00:12:04.68
wrong word but you are loving,
it'll come across with the love
00:12:04.72\00:12:08.31
and that is what we need to
be, not focused on, I'm going to
00:12:08.35\00:12:11.37
win this soul, you know, or
something like that, but just
00:12:11.41\00:12:14.82
to love this person and to
demonstrate God's love to them.
00:12:14.86\00:12:18.51
Over time, and asking like you
say, if we're not familiar with
00:12:18.55\00:12:21.73
the culture, the best way to
learn about the culture is to
00:12:21.77\00:12:24.57
ask the person about the culture
and then you are showing an
00:12:24.60\00:12:27.53
interest in them and in their
background and what they do
00:12:27.57\00:12:30.93
and then they may not. Most
of the American Jews are not
00:12:30.97\00:12:35.29
practicing Judaism. Judaism
for most Jewish Americans is a
00:12:35.33\00:12:39.13
culture, not a religion.
And that is another thing that
00:12:39.17\00:12:42.68
Christians have a hard time
getting around their head. It's
00:12:42.72\00:12:47.34
like telling an Italian that
he's no longer Italian because
00:12:47.38\00:12:52.67
he now believes a certain way.
It's a heritage, it's in some
00:12:52.71\00:12:57.00
ways a nationality but also,
again, a cultural heritage more
00:12:57.04\00:13:01.06
that a religion for most.
So it's not just teaching Bible
00:13:01.09\00:13:04.89
doctrines. I still consider
myself Jewish, I'm still
00:13:04.93\00:13:08.69
Jewish, by
heritage and by culture.
00:13:08.73\00:13:11.93
But I consider myself Jewish
as well. We will get to that
00:13:11.97\00:13:14.39
in another program.
00:13:14.42\00:13:15.45
Right, right. So that helps,
just loving the person, that's
00:13:15.49\00:13:19.85
a great way to start. You may
not have a service or synagogue
00:13:19.88\00:13:23.99
like ours that you can bring
them to. If they do that would
00:13:24.02\00:13:27.41
be great, but if they don't,
then just loving them, getting
00:13:27.44\00:13:30.47
to know them, ministering to
them, building up the friendship
00:13:30.51\00:13:33.95
and over time questions will
come, needs will be there and
00:13:33.98\00:13:37.69
needs can be met. Then you
can take it to the next step.
00:13:37.73\00:13:41.37
So when you have people come
in to your church who are Jewish
00:13:41.40\00:13:44.84
and who have not yet
accepted Jesus as the Messiah...
00:13:44.88\00:13:50.94
This month we've had 10, we've
had 10 this month, just this
00:13:50.98\00:13:53.79
month. I could have said
this week, but there were some
00:13:53.83\00:13:55.99
missing this week, so I'll
stretch it out over the month
00:13:56.03\00:13:59.51
and then many of them are
regulars and then of those that
00:13:59.54\00:14:02.95
are Jewish, background Jewish
heritage, but have also accepted
00:14:02.98\00:14:06.14
Jesus as the Messiah, another
21. So within this month 31
00:14:06.18\00:14:09.92
people with Jewish backgrounds
with 10 of them not yet
00:14:09.95\00:14:13.66
accepting the Messiah.
00:14:13.70\00:14:15.43
What is it like for them, I
mean what is their number one
00:14:15.46\00:14:18.62
resistance when they do come in?
Because you are showing visually
00:14:18.66\00:14:25.33
the things that they are
accustomed to, does that break
00:14:25.36\00:14:28.26
down a lot of barriers?
00:14:28.30\00:14:29.29
It breaks down a lot of
barriers. Like one man came in
00:14:29.32\00:14:31.35
about two months ago,
came in for the first time,
00:14:31.38\00:14:35.38
Marty Lieberman, and after the
service he said, If this is how
00:14:35.41\00:14:38.89
it was, services were like this
when I was a kid, I never would
00:14:38.92\00:14:42.73
have left synagogue and so he
just really enjoyed it, he was
00:14:42.77\00:14:46.54
blessed by it and so
there were no barriers.
00:14:46.58\00:14:49.22
When you start ministering
the gospel of Jesus Christ, what
00:14:49.26\00:14:55.10
is the most difficult thing
for the average Jewish person to
00:14:55.14\00:15:01.47
accept? I think what I'm asking
is, we see quite a number of
00:15:01.50\00:15:06.66
Jewish people are beginning
to accept Christ as the Messiah;
00:15:06.70\00:15:11.91
Yahshua Hamashiach and they
embrace him themselves now and
00:15:11.95\00:15:16.72
then they put themselves
forth as messianic Jews, but why
00:15:16.76\00:15:21.50
haven't more
Jews accepted Christ?
00:15:21.54\00:15:24.26
Well, I think one reason is we
don't have more congregations.
00:15:24.30\00:15:27.53
We need more congregations
I think and putting in more
00:15:27.57\00:15:30.88
places, we'll see the numbers
go up. Those numbers that I gave
00:15:30.92\00:15:34.20
you were just for the
congregations I work with.
00:15:34.23\00:15:35.79
There are about 10 other
congregations in North America
00:15:35.83\00:15:39.16
that are associated, you know,
with our denomination and then
00:15:39.20\00:15:42.55
there are others throughout
the world, Argentina, Brazil, in
00:15:42.59\00:15:46.90
Israel and Russia and other
places, too, so as we have more
00:15:46.93\00:15:50.78
of those that will be a
big help. Becoming more culture
00:15:50.81\00:15:54.33
sensitive. We are producing
literature so that people can
00:15:54.36\00:15:57.81
have things to share with their
Jewish friends, training manuals
00:15:57.84\00:16:01.64
on how to share
with your Jewish friends.
00:16:01.68\00:16:04.79
Now you've written a book even.
00:16:04.82\00:16:07.56
Yes. Well both those two books,
the manual and a sharing book.
00:16:07.59\00:16:12.13
One is for the Christian to know
how to minister to their Jewish
00:16:12.16\00:16:16.66
friends and the other is
something to share with them.
00:16:16.70\00:16:20.01
These materials are
available at Jewish Heritage?
00:16:20.05\00:16:23.88
The sharing book is
available at jewishheritage. net
00:16:23.92\00:16:27.98
and the other is available
through adventsource. org.
00:16:28.01\00:16:32.03
adventsource. org
00:16:32.07\00:16:35.93
So what is it when you first
start talking to a Jewish person
00:16:35.96\00:16:42.03
about Jesus, what's the most
difficult thing to overcome?
00:16:42.07\00:16:47.85
We are not finding much
difficulty at all. Again, it's
00:16:47.88\00:16:53.59
not the first thing. We'll start
off with starting on common
00:16:53.63\00:16:59.04
ground and common topics and
then step by step on topics such
00:16:59.08\00:17:04.06
as faith and forgiveness and
love, basically the gifts of the
00:17:04.09\00:17:08.39
spirit, just biblical things
that they can relate to, stories
00:17:08.42\00:17:13.71
out of the Bible, Abraham,
Moses, David, Bible stories and
00:17:13.75\00:17:19.01
then pointing each one
to the Messiah over time and
00:17:19.04\00:17:22.90
developing-like in the Jewish
Heritage scripture studies, it's
00:17:22.94\00:17:26.82
the fifth, sixth, and seventh
chapters. So it's a gradual
00:17:26.86\00:17:30.96
process. Then by using his
Hebrew name there's not that
00:17:30.99\00:17:35.03
stigma of Christ. Because when
a Jewish person hears the word
00:17:35.06\00:17:39.61
Christ, many think a
curse because that's how they've
00:17:39.64\00:17:43.00
heard it. They've heard Christ
not used as a loving term to
00:17:43.04\00:17:46.88
describe the Savior of the
world; they've heard used in a
00:17:46.92\00:17:50.70
curse, you know, in the streets
or wherever, or they have been
00:17:50.73\00:17:54.57
called-my grandfather was
called Christ killer or with
00:17:54.61\00:17:59.44
other negative connotations to
it that Christ was against us.
00:17:59.47\00:18:04.85
Their picture of Jesus Christ
is based on if Christians have
00:18:04.89\00:18:10.27
been doing all these things,
these persecutions, these
00:18:10.30\00:18:13.24
killings and, I mean, just
millions over the years. The
00:18:13.27\00:18:16.17
holocaust was just a culmination
but it was continual for 1900
00:18:16.27\00:18:19.70
years. If Christians are doing
this, Christ must taught that.
00:18:19.73\00:18:23.13
Christ must have taught them to
do that and so Christ must have
00:18:23.16\00:18:27.44
taught them to not follow the
Bible, to not follow the Torah;
00:18:27.48\00:18:31.48
that it's okay to eat pork, that
the Sabbath day doesn't matter
00:18:31.52\00:18:35.49
and, you know, everything
else and that it's okay to kill
00:18:35.53\00:18:38.17
people who don't believe
like you do. So, if that's what
00:18:38.21\00:18:40.52
Christ taught we don't want
to have anything to do with him.
00:18:40.56\00:18:42.84
So we have to
repaint the picture.
00:18:42.88\00:18:44.65
So what you're saying then is to
use the terminology as a Jewish
00:18:44.69\00:18:49.89
term for Jesus the Messiah is
Yahshua Hamashiach, so if you're
00:18:49.93\00:18:54.47
referring to him in that way
there's not that resistance to
00:18:54.50\00:18:58.98
the name Christ. So then if I'm
trying to, let's say, my sister
00:18:59.01\00:19:05.08
has, I mean, she's just got such
a heart for Jewish people and
00:19:05.12\00:19:10.23
she's got a special burden
on her heart. How would you tell
00:19:10.27\00:19:15.35
her is the best way to
minister to a Jewish person?
00:19:15.38\00:19:19.81
Okay. Again it's
already a friendship, if it's a
00:19:19.85\00:19:24.21
sister-in-law or son-in-law or
some close family relation, then
00:19:24.25\00:19:29.70
you time it out; you let
the relationship grow over time.
00:19:29.74\00:19:33.56
Actually at prayer meeting,
we've been going through the
00:19:33.59\00:19:36.75
reaching and winning book on
how to share with your Jewish
00:19:36.78\00:19:39.79
friends and one of the ladies
was there and she said well she
00:19:39.82\00:19:42.79
well she doesn't know any Jewish
people yet. But she said she'll
00:19:43.77\00:19:46.66
pray for someone, pray that God
will lead. So she came back the
00:19:46.70\00:19:49.80
next week and said, I was at the
store, and I was at this isle
00:19:49.83\00:19:52.90
and this guy asked me this
question about something that
00:19:52.93\00:19:55.01
was on the shelf and we got to
talking and somehow he said he
00:19:55.04\00:19:58.69
Jewish and so she got his phone
number and his e-mail, his card.
00:19:58.72\00:20:02.33
She gave it to me. I contacted
him; we've been in contact.
00:20:02.37\00:20:05.44
You pray for a
Divine appointment, God's
00:20:05.48\00:20:07.72
going to give you one.
00:20:07.75\00:20:08.72
That's right. That's right. And
if you don't know all the terms
00:20:08.73\00:20:10.32
again, just say Messiah.
Messiah is easy enough for most
00:20:10.36\00:20:13.12
Christians to remember. Just
say Messiah. You know, that's an
00:20:13.15\00:20:16.31
easy enough term to use
in substitute. Don't pressure
00:20:16.34\00:20:21.59
anybody but just let them grow
in their walk with the Lord,
00:20:21.62\00:20:25.70
guiding and
directing in the scriptures.
00:20:25.73\00:20:28.46
Guide them into the scriptures.
00:20:28.49\00:20:29.99
You know, I heard a testimony
of someone who shared the book
00:20:30.03\00:20:36.09
Patriarchs and Prophets with
a Jewish rabbi and he read the
00:20:36.13\00:20:41.43
the book and came back and was
convinced that E. G. White was a
00:20:41.46\00:20:46.73
rabbi. That's right.
Rabbi Kagen. Yes. so you know
00:20:46.77\00:20:49.40
the story the.
Tell us the story.
00:20:49.43\00:20:51.08
The story's in the
book. Tell the whole thing.
00:20:51.11\00:20:55.39
This rabbi, actually he worked
for Ronald Reagan when he was
00:20:55.42\00:20:59.77
governor. He was his research
man for Governor Reagan in
00:20:59.81\00:21:04.09
California. But growing up his
aunt was raped by a parishioner
00:21:04.12\00:21:10.35
of a church and the priest stood
over her with a cross and said
00:21:10.39\00:21:16.59
this is what you get for
crucifying the Lord. Yeah.
00:21:16.62\00:21:19.76
Oh no. Oh that's horrible
00:21:19.80\00:21:22.06
So this is the kind of stuff
that he grew up with. Many, many
00:21:22.10\00:21:25.52
of us, again, have that cultural
memory in our minds. So he
00:21:25.56\00:21:28.30
wouldn't read the New Testament,
he refused to read the New
00:21:28.33\00:21:31.34
Testament, but he read that book
because, again, it was coming
00:21:31.38\00:21:34.41
out of the first part of the
Bible, coming out of the Torah,
00:21:34.44\00:21:37.44
coming out the stories of
Genesis and Abraham and Isaac
00:21:37.47\00:21:42.48
and Jacob and then
leading to the Messiah from that
00:21:42.51\00:21:47.48
standpoint and
it melted his heart.
00:21:47.52\00:21:49.61
Is it not true that, if it's the
same story that I'm thinking of,
00:21:49.65\00:21:54.10
he actually that it had to
have been written by a Rabbi.
00:21:54.14\00:21:57.12
That's right, because of the
meter, the flow of the writing
00:21:57.16\00:22:01.57
was, as he termed it, Mishnaic
which is a form of Jewish
00:22:01.60\00:22:05.98
writing, there's groupings
of the Jewish writings,
00:22:06.01\00:22:09.67
the poetic form of it.
00:22:09.71\00:22:11.11
So this is something that kind
of shows that he realized it
00:22:11.15\00:22:14.91
had to be divinely inspired
when he realized who she was.
00:22:14.95\00:22:17.50
Because at that time when that
book Patriarchs and Prophets
00:22:17.54\00:22:20.06
was written the Mishnah was
not translated into English yet.
00:22:20.09\00:22:24.06
So how did she know all this,
how did she have this insight?
00:22:24.10\00:22:27.04
Now he was able to read
the Mishnah and those other
00:22:27.08\00:22:29.99
writings. What are some other
resources that are good to show.
00:22:30.02\00:22:33.95
Well, there is a magazine,
Shabbat Shalom, is a good
00:22:33.99\00:22:37.07
sharing magazine. It give the
same principles, it works along
00:22:37.10\00:22:40.22
the same principles of sharing
God's love out of the word of
00:22:40.25\00:22:44.25
God, and it's culturally
sensitive and meshing it all
00:22:44.29\00:22:48.25
together. And don't we have,
I know I've seen them, I just
00:22:48.48\00:22:51.49
don't know where, but we've got
some kind of a series of Bible
00:22:51.53\00:22:54.36
studies that are done
particularly as the Seventh-day
00:22:54.40\00:22:57.20
Adventist Church has
done for the Jewish people.
00:22:57.23\00:22:59.18
Right, right. It was originally
in the Bible studies form and
00:22:59.21\00:23:02.52
now it's together as a
book called Jewish Heritage.
00:23:02.56\00:23:05.70
So it's all together and
in addition to being 22 Bible
00:23:05.74\00:23:09.48
studies, like a series of
studies, in addition to that
00:23:09.51\00:23:13.18
there are 29 stories including
Rabbi Kagen's, Doug Bachelor's
00:23:13.21\00:23:18.45
and many others. So there's that
emotional appeal, too, from real
00:23:18.49\00:23:22.21
life stories of people
that have taken that step. There
00:23:22.24\00:23:25.74
are also 25 traditions covering
things like the yarmulke, the
00:23:25.77\00:23:29.41
the kippa and other traditions.
So they're reading it, they are
00:23:29.45\00:23:33.05
familiar with these
things and it's giving a deeper
00:23:33.09\00:23:34.68
understanding of each one
and then linking each one to the
00:23:34.71\00:23:37.47
Bible and to the
Messiah and to salvation.
00:23:37.50\00:23:40.64
Glory to God! You know, what
I'd like you to do Jeff is say a
00:23:40.68\00:23:45.34
special prayer for our viewers
that God will enable them and
00:23:45.38\00:23:50.01
empower them to
reach their Jewish friends.
00:23:50.05\00:23:52.56
One of the things we do at
the end of the service is we say
00:23:52.59\00:23:56.25
what's called the Aaronic
benediction and it is the
00:23:56.28\00:24:00.14
blessing that is written in the
Torah, written in the Bible, for
00:24:00.17\00:24:04.50
Aaron to bless the people with.
And it goes: The Lord bless you,
00:24:04.54\00:24:08.93
and the Lord keep you. the Lord
make his face to shine upon you,
00:24:08.97\00:24:13.32
and be gracious unto you,
the Lord lift up his countenance
00:24:13.36\00:24:17.77
upon you and give you his peace.
00:24:17.81\00:24:21.53
And this is something that
if we will take it to heart and
00:24:21.56\00:24:27.79
understand that God still
loves the Jewish people. You are
00:24:27.82\00:24:32.59
going to come back and we are
going to be talking about who is
00:24:32.62\00:24:37.46
Israel today and we'll find that
it's gentiles and Jews who are
00:24:37.49\00:24:44.05
Israel today. But those people
of the physical nation of Israel
00:24:44.09\00:24:50.61
by physical birth, God still
loves them, and he has a plan
00:24:50.65\00:24:55.55
for their future and his plan
is to incorporate them into the
00:24:55.59\00:25:00.45
body of the Messiah.
00:25:00.49\00:25:01.94
One of the fears for Jewish
people accepting the Messiah
00:25:01.98\00:25:05.19
is, What does this mean to
me now? What does it mean about
00:25:05.23\00:25:08.52
my future? What does it
mean about my grandparents. They
00:25:08.56\00:25:11.62
didn't believe in him so
what's going to happen to them?
00:25:11.65\00:25:15.36
If I take this step, does this
mean that they're going to be
00:25:15.40\00:25:19.07
lost? Am I denying them,
am I denying my heritage, am I
00:25:19.10\00:25:22.07
denying my family, am I denying
my roots and am I going to have
00:25:22.11\00:25:26.87
to change? What type of changes?
Am I no longer going to be
00:25:26.91\00:25:30.38
Jewish? Am I no long going
to be allowed to eat bagels and
00:25:30.42\00:25:33.86
knishes? What's going to
happen? That's kind of like
00:25:33.90\00:25:37.25
subconscious, not on the
conscious level. But change is
00:25:37.29\00:25:40.57
is difficult for anybody. But
a dramatic change like that is
00:25:40.60\00:25:43.83
something that is
scary to many of them.
00:25:43.87\00:25:46.47
You know, and particularly since
you said that being Jewish is
00:25:46.51\00:25:50.02
more of a cultural thing than a
religion. I never had stopped to
00:25:50.05\00:25:53.57
think, because I wouldn't think
that an Italian accepting Jesus
00:25:53.61\00:25:58.85
as the Messiah would have those
kind of thoughts, but from some
00:25:58.89\00:26:04.10
cultures I guess they would.
00:26:04.14\00:26:05.17
These are things we
haven't considered before.
00:26:05.21\00:26:07.75
Especially if that
means becoming a Christian
00:26:07.78\00:26:11.56
and the Christians
have been the enemy
00:26:11.65\00:26:13.63
am I now becoming the enemy
00:26:13.66\00:26:15.96
of my grandparents?
00:26:15.99\00:26:16.96
How do you answer that?
In less that a minute tell me
00:26:16.97\00:26:20.29
how do you answer that?
00:26:20.32\00:26:21.32
Well no he's still Jewish,
Jewish believers in the Messiah.
00:26:21.36\00:26:24.49
They're Jews who have
found their Jewish Messiah.
00:26:24.52\00:26:28.03
I'll bet you've got
some great stories to tell.
00:26:28.07\00:26:31.51
Oh yeah. I'd like to share about
Sidney. Sidney was an older man.
00:26:31.55\00:26:34.14
He came to our services. He was
attending with us for quite some
00:26:34.17\00:26:36.73
time. We started studying the
Bible together and as we were
00:26:36.77\00:26:39.99
going through he was accepting
the Bible principles and really
00:26:40.03\00:26:43.46
enjoying it but he just wouldn't
come to accepting Yahshua as his
00:26:43.49\00:26:46.89
own personal Messiah
until I prayed about it and God
00:26:46.92\00:26:50.94
impressed me to ask him about
his parents. I knew that he
00:26:50.98\00:26:54.76
really respected them. They were
now deceased but very religious.
00:26:54.80\00:26:57.91
So I asked him, If they were
here with us all this time and
00:26:57.94\00:27:00.91
attending services like you've
been, knowing what you now know,
00:27:00.95\00:27:03.88
and reading what you've been
reading in the Bible, do you
00:27:03.92\00:27:07.25
think that they would
accept Yahshua as their Messiah?
00:27:07.28\00:27:10.55
And he said, Yeah, I think they
would. When he could mentally
00:27:10.58\00:27:14.26
see his parents doing that, it
basically gave him the approval
00:27:14.30\00:27:17.59
to then do the same. So I asked
him, Then would you like to do
00:27:17.62\00:27:20.88
the same, would you like
to accept him as your Messiah?
00:27:20.92\00:27:23.44
He said yes, he did. Later
on we immersed him and it was
00:27:23.47\00:27:27.04
just wonderful.
00:27:27.07\00:27:28.04
He's now deceased
but that's an example.
00:27:28.05\00:27:31.32
Jeff, thank you so
much for being here today.
00:27:31.35\00:27:33.43
It's been a joy. Thank you.
00:27:33.47\00:27:36.08
I want to leave you with
this from Numbers 6:24, it says:
00:27:36.12\00:27:41.67
The Lord bless you and keep you,
the Lord make his face to shine
00:27:41.70\00:27:45.99
upon you, the Lord lift up his
countenance upon you and give
00:27:46.03\00:27:51.34
you peace. I pray that
for you entire family. Shalom
00:27:51.38\00:27:55.13