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Today's Messianic movement has arrived at a very important
theological and spiritual crossroads. Much of our long term
viability and effectiveness as a faith community will be determined
by what takes place in the 2010s, and by our approach to a series
of important issues surrounding the nature of the Messiah, the
reliability of Holy Scripture, our communication style, and whether
we want to see all people included and welcome within our
assemblies or not. Confronting Critical Issues is an important
compilation book of some of TNN Press' key Confronting Issues
booklets, as well as some major articles of substance. These are
bound to answer some significant questions and controversies that
all of today's Messianic Believers have encountered within their
fellowships, congregations, and personal Bible studies. This
publication is also bound to stir some of its own controversy, as
it inquires how we can be a mature, growing Messianic movement
which is able to accomplish all that our Heavenly Father wants us
to achieve-or whether those among us are going to disregard our
spiritual potential to make a difference. Some of the subjects
addressed in Confronting Critical Issues include: urban legends
present in the Messianic movement the Divinity and Messiahship of
Yeshua the Shema and the plurality of God potential paganism
witnessed in the stories of Holy Scripture, and how we are to avoid
liberal theology the origin of the Apostolic Scriptures and English
Bible versions the negative influence of Jewish mysticism on the
Messianic movement the Divine Name of God (YHWH/YHVH) a proper,
edifying communication style for today's Messianic Believers
equality for Jewish and non-Jewish Believers, and both men and
women in the Messianic community This massive powerhouse of
material is a must for every Messianic Believer's library
Paul's Epistle to the Galatians is easily the most difficult to
understand text for people within today's broad Messianic movement.
Galatians has been historically interpreted by Christianity as
delivering Believers a stark choice between God's Law and God's
grace. Those who choose any obedience to the Law, according to this
view of Paul, are unfaithful to the Messiah and the saving power of
the gospel. Supposedly, Paul was desperately concerned for anyone
who was trying to keep the Torah of Moses. Consequently, Galatians
is a frequently-quoted text to today's Messianic Believers, many of
whom are simply trying to live a life of holiness by obeying God's
commandments in accordance with the example of obedience modeled by
Yeshua (Jesus). Understanding Galatians in its original context,
for its original audience, and for the original issues that it
addressed, can be a severe challenge. Was the issue that the
Galatians faced forced circumcision, followed by salvation--or was
the issue ritual proselyte conversion for inclusion among God's
people? Likewise, who were the people errantly influencing the
Galatians? Were they authorized members of the assembly, or
misguided outsiders with a definitive agenda? In the commentary
Galatians for the Practical Messianic, TNN Online editor J.K. McKee
takes a direct look at the issues of Paul's letter as he rebukes
the Galatians for errors that have crept into their midst. Engaging
with contemporary Christian scholarship on Galatians, critical
questions regarding common conclusions of Paul's words are asked.
Are Paul and Yeshua truly at odds when it comes to the Torah? Were
the Jerusalem leaders and Paul at constant odds with one another?
How do Paul's Pharisaical background and views affect the
composition of this letter? What were the spiritual dynamics
present in Galatia? What does the term "works of law" really mean?
These are only a few of the questions that are considered.
Likewise, some of the proposals from the New Perspective of Paul in
theological studies are also analyzed. The Epistle to the Galatians
gives us a small peek into the world of the First Century Body of
Messiah, and the social dynamics and divisions between Jewish and
non-Jewish Believers that had to be resolved. Many of the issues
that the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 would address had yet to be
discussed. Many did not understand the Abrahamic blessing of his
seed being a blessing to the whole world. Many thought that
inclusion among God's people came via ethnicity, rather than faith.
Many did not know the proper place of obedience to the Torah in the
post-resurrection era. Paul's letter set in motion the need for
these issues to be addressed by the First Century faith community.
This commentary will aid many Messianic Believers who have
difficulty with Paul's letter to the Galatians. It also provides
solid, exegetical answers to those who are skeptical, if not
critical, of today's Messianic movement. Also included in this
commentary is an exposition on Acts 13:13-14:28: Paul's visit to
Southern Galatia.
One of the major reasons that today's Messianic movement has grown
in the past decade is a significant interest by Believers in the
Torah and the Tanach. In too many cases, the Tanach Scriptures were
not probed in that great a detail in a Jewish Believer's
traditional Synagogue upbringing-and perhaps more serious, a
non-Jewish Believer's Christian experience often witnessed the Old
Testament taking a back seat to the New Testament in the Church.
With many of the ethical and moral controversies the greater
Judeo-Christian religious community is experiencing in our age, a
need for God's people to return to a foundational grounding in the
Tanach Scriptures is absolutely imperative. The Old Testament
cannot simply be disregarded any more. Many have stayed away from
consulting the Tanach not because of a lack of interest, but
because few want to have to deal with the controversies it
addresses. Unlike the Apostolic Scriptures, constrained to the
First Century C.E., the period of the Tanach stretches back all the
way to the beginning of the universe itself. Questions like: Who
was the Pharaoh of the Exodus? Did God actually condone the
genocide of the Canaanites? and Am I the only one who thinks the
Prophets are mentally disturbed? are debates that many people do
not want to enter into. Even more significant is the effect of
critical scholarship which has attempted to divide the Torah into
non-Mosaic sources, question the inspiration and historical
reliability of the text, and even regard much of the Tanach as
Ancient Israel's mythology. For a Messianic movement that claims to
place a high value on the Tanach, it is time that we join in to
these conversations. A Survey of the Tanach for the Practical
Messianic takes you through the Old Testament from a distinct
Messianic point of view. It presents a theologically conservative
perspective of the books of the Tanach, but one that does not avoid
some of the controversies that have existed in Biblical scholarship
for over one hundred and fifty years. The student, in company with
his or her study Bible, is asked to read through each text of the
Tanach, jotting down characters, place names, key ideas, and
reflective questions. Each book of the Old Testament is then
summarized for its compositional data and asks you questions to get
a good Messianic feel for the text. This workbook can be used for
both personal and group study, and will be a valuable aid for any
Messianic Believer wanting to study the whole Bible on a consistent
basis.
As a Messianic Believer, do you have a problem reading the New
Testament? When you read the Apostolic Scriptures, are you confused
when you encounter the Gospels, Acts, or Epistles? Have you
possibly been taught that the "New Testament" replaces the "Old
Testament," and that there are contradictions between the two, only
to be reconciled by the coming of Yeshua? Do you have difficulty
reconciling the words of the Torah to Yeshua, Peter, Paul, John,
and the other Apostles? If you have ever asked any of these
questions, it is time that you receive a re-introduction to the
Apostolic Scriptures. These texts record the ministry and teachings
of Yeshua the Messiah, the history of the First Century Messianic
community, and the challenges that the early Believers in Yeshua
faced. These texts are not contrary to the Torah, but do continue
God's progressive story that begins in Genesis. They have valuable
lessons that every Messianic Believer and Messianic congregation
must learn in this hour, as the Messianic community grows and
matures. A Survey of the Apostolic Scriptures for the Practical
Messianic takes you on a journey through the New Testament from a
distinct Messianic point of view. The student, in company with his
or her study Bible, is asked to read through each text of the
Apostolic Scriptures, jotting down characters, place names, key
ideas, and reflective questions. Each book of the New Testament is
then summarized for its compositional data and asks you questions
to get a good Messianic feel for the text. This workbook can be
used for both personal and group study, and will be a valuable aid
for any Messianic Believer wanting to study the whole Bible on a
consistent basis.
Today's Messianic community widely believes and advocates that our
Heavenly Father is restoring the celebration of the Biblical
appointments or moedim, chiefly found in Leviticus 23, to all of
His people. Messianic Believers find great enrichment every year of
going through these annual festivals, rehearsing God's plan of
salvation history. We bereave the fact that too many of our
Christian brothers and sisters have not partaken of the blessings
of knowing things like the Passover, Shavuot, or Sukkot, and the
significant enrichment all of us can have by seeing God's plan for
history present within them. Some say that because of Yeshua's
sacrifice at Golgotha (Calvary), the Torah or Law of Moses has been
abolished, and thus the moedim or appointed times are done away
with, annulled, and abolished. Some believe that they might be
important for us to understand in an historical sense for
understanding the Bible, but are not to be followed as standard
elements of our orthopraxy. This publication, simply entitled
Moedim: The Appointed Times for Messianic Believers, is an
important synopsis of what the appointed times of Leviticus 23
actually are, and why they have not been abolished by the New
Testament.
The letter of James the Just, the half-brother of Yeshua (Jesus)
the Messiah, is not without its controversy. Often considered to
have the most Jewish character of among all the books of the
Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament), James' epistle sits between
two extremes: those who deny his message, and those who give his
message a weight that it was never intended to have. James' letter
has a distinctive emphasis on the works of the individual, and so
many have viewed what he has to say as actually annulling the grace
of God in the process of salvation. Some have denied James' place
in the Biblical canon, and others have forgotten who James was as a
humble, kind, and patient servant of the Lord. James' epistle has a
universal moral message for all of humanity, and especially the
Messianic community today. Written at the emergence of First
Century Messianic faith, James was observing some of the
controversies and issues creeping in as the gospel message went
beyond the Land of Israel, and God's Kingdom was in the process of
being restored. Some were causing discord and forgetting the ethics
that God requires His people to have in the Torah. When you add to
this the early persecutions that the Believers faced, coupled with
the fact that corrupt rich people were being shown favor in the
assembly, you have a letter that deals with a great deal of
practical faith, holy living, and consideration for others. James'
admonitions must be heeded, in order for people to find themselves
in the will and purpose of the Lord. In the commentary James for
the Practical Messianic, TNN Online editor J.K. McKee addresses
what we need to learn as Messianic Believers today from James'
epistle. He takes into account the distinct Jewish character of
James, considering various passages in the letter with statements
made in the Torah and Tanach, the Apocrypha, Philo, Josephus, the
Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, and also the Mishnah and Talmud.
He also considers the First Century history behind James' letter,
and also parallels that exist between statements in James and
remarks made in Greco-Roman classicism. Most importantly, various
important theological opinions that have existed over the centuries
regarding James are addressed, especially as to whether or not the
Epistle of James at all contradicts the theology of the letters of
Paul. Some of the current scholastic trends in examination of James
are also considered, both enriching and challenging the diligent
student who is looking for a distinctive Messianic perspective of
this letter.
The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon are two of the most
overlooked letters in the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) by
today's Messianic community. Too frequently, our engagement level
with Colossians is limited to words that Paul issues about Torah
practices like Sabbath-keeping or kosher eating or about something
being nailed to the cross. Because Christian friends and family
often use partial quotes from Colossians to refute Messianic
Believers who are Torah observant, we often try to avoid Paul's
letter. And like many of today's evangelical Christians, Paul's
letter to Philemon is totally avoided, simply because we do not
know what to do with the issue of slavery. Ignoring these two
letters cannot be allowed to continue any longer. Colossians and
Philemon, two letters of Paul written together, are actually not
too difficult to understand when read as a whole-and when we
consciously make a point to interpret them for their original,
First Century audiences first. What was the false teaching
circulating among the Believers in Ancient Colossae? Was it first
Jewish, and then pagan-or first pagan, and then Jewish? When the
Apostle Paul uplifts Messiah Yeshua, is he simply claiming that He
is like the impersonal force Wisdom-or something much more than
Wisdom? Does Paul really affirm Yeshua as being the Deity-God
Himself incarnated as a human? How were things like the Sabbath and
appointed times improperly used by the false teachers in an ascetic
philosophy designed to appeal to the cosmic powers over which the
Messiah had prevailed? What can we learn about the mystery of the
ages, and how the power of the gospel can change anyone? What role
does a letter like Philemon play in our reading of the Bible? In
the commentary Colossians and Philemon for the Practical Messianic,
TNN Online editor J.K. McKee shows us why today's Messianic
Believers need not be afraid of these two letters any more. A wide
array of scholastic opinion is considered in regard to these two
texts, especially the various proposals made about the false
teaching that disrupted the Believers in Colossae. Contemporary
applications for some negative trends being witnessed in today's
Messianic movement are also proposed, especially in terms of the
false philosophy and worship of angels refuted by Paul. Colossians
and Philemon are both important letters for us to understand, as
today's Messianic community strives to move forward in its reading
of the Pauline Epistles.
There is some shifting going on in today's Messianic world as it
concerns the unity that Jewish and non-Jewish Believers are to
experience in Messiah Yeshua, and whether or not non-Jewish
Believers are really called to obey God's Torah. Much of this
controversy is not based in an objective, historically conscious
reading of the Scriptures-but instead in shifting ministerial
alliances and religious politicking. The answer is not going to be
found in evaluating who-said-what, but will be found in going to
the Biblical text and in accurately evaluating what the trajectory
of God's Word is. Around two decades after the ascension of Yeshua
into Heaven, the message of salvation began being spread to the
Mediterranean world outside the Land of Israel, and many from the
nations eagerly embraced it. Was this just a bi-product of the
message going to the Jewish people in the Diaspora, or was it the
Father's Divine plan? What was to take place with the new,
non-Jewish Believers? Did they have to be circumcised and become
Jewish proselytes? Or were all of the Believers, regardless of
their ethnicity, to come together in a new environment rooted in
the completed work of God's Son? The Jerusalem Council of Acts 15
assembled to consider these issues, and it fairly ruled on what was
to be done. Too many of today's Messianics refer to Acts 15 without
a great deal of consideration for the context of the events as they
took place in the First Century C.E. We often assume things that we
should not assume, and we overlook things that we should not be
overlooking. This study critically examines Acts 15 in detail, is
engaged with current Acts scholarship, and tries to properly
compare and contrast the ancient setting of the Jerusalem Council
with some of what we see going on in the emerging Messianic
movement today. What can we learn from all of this? What important
lessons have we avoided for far too long?
The Epistle of Ephesians is a letter that contains a very important
message for the people of God, who are to be encouraged in
accomplishing His mission for the world. Yeshua the Messiah is
portrayed as exalted above the cosmos, with His resurrection power
being accessible to all Believers. God's people have been selected
by Him to be holy, corporately composing a Temple in which His
presence can dwell. By the sacrificial work of the cross, Jewish
and non-Jewish followers of the Messiah are to be united together
as a "one new humanity"-the mystery of the gospel All are to serve
one another in the Body of Messiah in mutual submission, as
Yeshua's thoughts and mindset nourish the whole ekklesia. People
are encouraged to emulate God in their behavior, living
distinctively different lives from those around them. In varying
degrees, Ephesians has often been highly valued by today's
Messianic movement because of its emphasis of Jewish and non-Jewish
Believers being a part of the Commonwealth of Israel. It does speak
of the unity that we are to all have in the Lord, as a testament to
the grander redemption of Creation that will come in the eschaton.
But while Ephesians is a text that we often turn to, Messianics are
often not aware of the more detailed issues surrounding this letter
present in contemporary scholarship. Were the "Ephesians" the only
audience who received the letter, or was this a general epistle
written to Believers in Asia Minor? Did the Apostle Paul really
write Ephesians, or was it written by a second generation Believer
in his name? What is the specific debate surrounding the dividing
wall that has been abolished by the cross-is the wall abolished
really the Torah of Moses in its entirety or could it be something
else? Are husbands the head/authority of their wives or the
head/source of their wives? How interconnected is the composition
of Ephesians with the composition of Colossians? In the commentary
Ephesians for the Practical Messianic, TNN Online editor J.K. McKee
addresses the known and unknown questions that this important
letter asks us as Messianic Believers. A large Jewish and
Greco-Roman Mediterranean background is considered of the issues.
Careful and detailed attention has been given to the opinions
present today surrounding the dividing wall, and complimentarian
and egalitarian views of the household codes. References to Tanach
(Old Testament) concepts in the author's words are considered,
along with careful consideration for how Ephesians challenges us as
a faith community trying to achieve our Father's objectives.
Poignant questions as to how we can be molded into a mature people
are asked for today's season of Messianic uncertainty.
In too many Messianic settings, when questions are asked about
Biblical passages like Isaiah 11:12-16; Jeremiah 31:6-10; Ezekiel
37:15-28; and Zechariah 10:6-10, among others, polarized extremes
are likely to be witnessed. One side makes these kinds of verses a
central part of its spiritual identity-even more important than
faith in the Messiah. Another side, when encountering past abuses,
tends to totally dismiss legitimate questions and expectations that
such passages pose. How can Bible readers have a mature approach to
a larger restoration of Israel, prophesied in the Holy Writ, which
is able to navigate through much of the immaturity detectable? A
significant question asked by the Apostles, before Yeshua the
Messiah (Jesus Christ) ascended into Heaven, was, "Lord, is it at
this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6).
Recognizing the restoration of Israel as a critical part of the
Apostles own expectations of the Last Days-might there be any
aspects of the restoration of Israel, beyond the rebirth of the
State of Israel and many Jewish people coming to faith in Messiah
Yeshua, that any of us have missed? Is there possibly more to be
anticipated in future salvation history, as it concerns the
emergence of the Messianic movement, non-Jewish Believers embracing
their Hebraic Roots in a very tangible way, and many turning to the
truths of God's Torah? Israel in Future Prophecy: Is There a Larger
Restoration of the Kingdom to Israel? addresses some of the
controversies and problems that have been caused, by what is
commonly known as the Two-House movement/sub-movement. This book
attempts to sort through much of the religious politics and abuse
that one commonly encounters when poignant questions are asked
about what is happening in today's Messianic community. It intends
to provide some preliminary resolution to the issues which are
Biblically-rooted, and are engaged with contemporary Jewish and
Christian scholarship, providing some viable alternatives to the
posturing more likely to be encountered. Above all, this
publication directly takes on over-statements, exaggerations, and
sound bytes offered by prominent advocates within the Two-House
sub-movement, providing more Scriptural answers to welcoming in the
many masses of people from the nations, as a part of the
Commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:11-13) or the Israel of God
(Galatians 6:16).
The pre-tribulation rapture is an extremely popular doctrine, which
advocates that Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) can unexpectedly
come at any moment for the saints, gathering them into Heaven
before the Tribulation period or Seventieth Week of Israel.
Pre-tribulationism has sold many books, spawned numerous fiction
series and movies, and has created a large financial market for
prophecy materials. But in spite of its popularity in much of
today's evangelical Christianity, few question it. When presented
with alternative points of view such as post-tribulationism,
adherents of the popular pre-tribulational position can sometimes
take strong offense, and they can be found to outright ignore
Biblical passages that appear to contradict their position. This
report is an expanded edition of one of TNN Online's most
controversial articles. It answers the top reasons why people
believe in the pre-tribulation rapture from a Messianic
post-tribulational perspective. It considers whether or not various
pre-tribulationists have employed tactics of fear and
faithlessness, and whether or not their ideology of escapism can be
supported by a fair reading of the Holy Scriptures. Are God's
people able to be protected by Him--or not--during the end-times?
Specifically considered and responded to are fifty reasons given in
support of the pre-tribulation rapture by former Dallas Theological
Seminary chancellor John F. Walvoord. Above all, a fairness that is
not always given to post-tribulationists is demonstrated to
pre-tribulationists.
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