I know the next statement will shock you [insert sarcastic grin here] … “I was reading a book yesterday.”  Seriously, I was engaged in some fascinating reading by a geneticist named David B. Goldstein entitled Jacob’s Legacy:  A Genetic View of Jewish History.  In this work, Dr. Goldstein in truly laymen’s terms attempts to lay out the science and rationale for tracing the genetic history of the Jewish people.

The first chapter was fascinating as it showed how it is entirely possible to trace Jewish men who believe they are from not only the tribe of Levi but also a part of the Cohanim (priestly class) through DNA evidence back to at least Solomon’s time.  Wow!

However, the chapter that most fascinated me (and what drove me to the internet on a hunt) regards the Lemba people of Southern Africa (specifically a region of South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, etc.).  The Lemba people believe that they are descendants of one of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel dating back to the destruction of the Northern Kingdom in 712 BC by the Assyrians.

And while the circumstantial evidence is fascinating — keeping kosher, keeping the Sabbath, no intermarriage, etc. — what was fascinating to Goldstein and to myself is that these people share many of the same genetic markers/identifiers as people with the last name of Cohn, Cohen, and Kahn.

As you might expect, Tzedakah Ministries will examine these people more in-depthly as it relates to their need of the salvation reality of Messiah Jesus.  There are 70,000 members of the Lemba tribe and they need Jesus … regardless of whether the legend is true or not.  And if they are from one of the lost tribes, they need Jesus in the reality of Romans 1:16 as much as a Sabra (native born Israeli).

However, and almost resignedly, I also discovered that the mission organizations for Africa do not have a mission outreach to the Lemba people.  Hopefully, that will change!  It must change.

So as you pray for the Jewish people tonight and in the future, remember the Lemba people as well for they very well might be members of the tribe for whom Jesus first (in time and priority) came.  Shalom!

Tzedakah Ministries occasionally receives threats from various fronts and sources (see the third comment in the Genesis 12:1-3 post).  Often their intention is to frighten and intimidate; however, I personally am just saddened by the spiritual lostness of the individual writing the words.

What firghtens me most are the threats to the salvation of the Jewish people that seemingly come from the most unlikely of sources … “Christians” and “churches”.  A threat to my person if realized will harm me for a moment but will allow me to “rush” my homegoing.  Threats such as apathy, Christian utilitarianism, and dual covenantalism threatens the eternal state of God’s Chosen Ones.  That is the far greater threat and the one that causes me the most fear.

When will the greater threat dissolve itself in light of the command for a Romans 1:16 Response Team?  Prayerfully today.  Hopefully tomorrow.  But when?

Threatening emails are one thing (which this ministry has received).  However, the most frustrating email or contact is one that results in an apathetic attitude by Christians and churches towards Jewish evangelism/missions. 

I never imagined back in 1999 that the concept of Jewish evangelism would be met with such resistance and unconcern.  It might never be a crowd pleaser but it does meet the approval of God himself.

Yes, an email was received just hours after the previous entry about allowing God to have control of the plans.  It was a test and I am not sure how I am doing on this assignment.

What does Romans 1:16 and Romans 11:11 mean anyway?

A little over a year ago, this blog posted about the urgency of reaching the 150,000+ Brazilian Jewish people with the Gospel.  I prayed that God would allow Tzedakah Ministries to partner with another mission agency (one who specializes in church planting) in equipping Christians and churches to know how and why to reach Brazilian Jews with the Gospel.

It is now over a year later and Tzedakah Ministries, and regardless of whether they realize it not so are the Brazilian Jewish people, is still waiting.  I had high hopes and lofty dreams that mission agencies would line up to partner with Tzedakah Ministries to reach Brazilian’s unreached people group … especially since they are among the Chosen People of God.  However, that dream has yet to be realized … yet.

Today I heard a sermon at Parkway Hills Baptist in Plano (was visiting with dear friends who are also Jewish believers in Jesus) from Phil. 1:3-6 about “holding out hope to others”.  Pastor Dennis touched my heart because he also reminded the crowd that all things must come under God’s timetable and plan and not our own. 

So I confess that my burden for the Brazilian Jewish people has suffered because I tried to force the issue instead of allowing God to lead the charge.  I confess my sins and ask God to forgive me for my desire to be in charge of reaching the Brazilian Jews instead of allowing Him to lead the way.

Please don’t get me wrong.  Tzedakah Ministries will continue to seek our mission agencies who could be the conduit into Brazil.  However, this ministry will do two things better this time — (1) pray even more diligently about which mission agencies to approach … because it would be a waste God’s time on ones to approach who don’t care and (2) realize that those who do say no are not saying no to Tzedakah Ministries but no to God and His Chosen Ones living in Brazil.

Please pray for the Brazilian Jewish people.  The clock on this world is ticking and midnight is fast encroaching on humanity.  Shalom.  God bless.

In light of this article (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3787724,00.html)and promises from Israel, I do pray that the United States remembers the promise as well as the warning of Genesis 12:1-3.

For while we all pray for shalom (peace), we know that it is only possible through Messiah Jesus!  So while we remember Genesis 12:1-3, let us also remember Romans 1:16 and 11:11!

And as always, this blog will always support Israel.  No questions.  No doubts.

I have waited until after the High Holy Days are concluded before writing about Kaparot.  I have waited for a couple of different reasons  — (1) Yom Kippur is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar and Jesus as a Jewish man observed the day … even while knowing He was going to be the ultimate atoning sacrifice and (2) many will not understand or intentionally misunderstand the point of this post so it is better to wait until Yom Kippur to discuss it.

Kaparot is the tradition of swinging a chicken over one’s head and “imbuing” our sins upon the chicken before it is sacrificed.  Today only the most Orthodox of Jewish people still observe the tradition, and even then some will substitute money (i.e., putting our sins onto money!) for the chicken and then giving the money to charity.  Yes, I know the irony is resplendent!

The Kaparot prayer/sacrifice has a long history, (see here for more information) even though no one is quite sure how old the custom might be.  The most that can be gathered from the research I have done is that it dates back to at least AD 900 or about 800+ years after the destruction of the Temple. 

Those who observed it in the past and those who observe it today do so because of a recognition that blood is necessary for true atonement to occur.  The verses in Leviticus 17:11 talk of the necessity of life being in blood which is further fleshed out in Hebrews 9:22.  Therefore, it is safe to assume that those who still observe the ritual of Kaparot do so because they understand that atonement from sins is not possible without the shedding of blood.  Hmm…

So why don’t we share the truth of Messiah Jesus and the fact that His death serves as the ultimate and final atonement sacrifice.  He is our Yom Kippur?  Just a question to ask yourself as we prepare for Sukkot.

The link provided will take someone to a paper chicken that can be used instead of a live chicken for Kaparot.  Seriously!http://www.ou.org/chagim/yomkippur/chicken1.htm

Just hours after I posted the journal entry for September 23, 2009, I was awakened at 3:30 a.m. by the most terrible pain of my life.  By 12:30 p.m. on September 24, I was in emergency surgery to have my gall bladder removed.  There were some complications during and after surgery that while a little scary ultimately resulted in only a delay of departing from the hospital until Saturday afternoon. 

Unfortunately, I could not attend my home church on Sunday (Heritage Baptist in Waxahachie) but instead spent Sunday morning in Bible study and reflection.  I spent a lot of time in my Bible going from Esther and Mordechai’s exchange in chapter 4, to Psalm 37, to Isaiah 9 to 2 Timothy 4. I was drawn to 2 Timothy 4 because of my week and also because I am exhausted spiritually.

For Tzedakah Ministries face daily rejections from pastor’s and others who seem to care little about God’s Chosen Ones. It is tiring and all though I wish I could be more like John’s good characteristics, I find more similiarities to Paul’s faults in my own life. Therefore, 2 Timothy 4 is a chapter I sometimes turn to when I am down because Paul was down when writing these words to his protégé. However, this morning I was struck by verse 2 in a completely new way then ever before. I have seen the words of admonition about being ready in and out of season; however, I was struck by them as if for the first time. The idea of being ready in and out of season can also be understood as BE PERSISTENT regardless of whether it is easy, convenient or received.

So I promise that once I am back on my feet, Tzedakah Ministries will BE PERSISTENT whether “Christians” and “churches” are ready for it or not. We don’t have time for anything less.

I am reading a new book (shocking, huh?!) entitled Why We Watched by Theodore S. Hamerow about the role that Europe and America played in being apathetic to the plight of European Jewry during the Holocaust.  It is an unforgiveable tragedy of how 6 million souls were lost as the world did nothing either because of apathy, anti-Semitism, or both.

However, is the world that different today?  On a political level we push Israel into making concessions to organizations who have as their sole aim the completion of Hitler’s effort.  On a social level the genuine worries about assimilation threaten to achieve in mere decades what almost 2000 years of the Diaspora could never achieve.

But it is the spiritual level that most concerns me.  We as Christians are watching while every four minutes another one of God’s Chosen Ones enter eternity without receiving Jesus as their Messiah.  We as Christians are watching while dual covenantalism creeps into evangelical churches seeking to destroy the Gospel witness to the Jewish people on a corporate level.  We as Christians are watching while pastors and Christians go on tours to Israel but never consider the urgency of Romans 1:16.  We as Christians are watching and doing nothing to fulfill our obligation of Romans 11:11.  We as Christians are watching while our leaders endorse organizations who desire to bring Jewry from around the world to Jerusalem but we won’t bring them the Gospel (i.e., “religious correctness“). So ultimately are we not ultimately more guilty than the world of 1938-1945 because what is lost now are souls for the Kingdom of God?

All of these thoughts lead me to another journal entry that I am opening up to the public:

September 22, 2009

Ten years ago tomorrow (September 23, 1999), I boarded a plane for my interview with Chosen People Ministries.  I truly had no idea how difficult the struggle of awakening Christians to the cause of Jewish evangelism was going to be when I boarded that Delta plane all those years ago.

Because, yes, I received another one of “those” emails today.  One of those emails that talks about how much they love Israel, how they admire my calling to Jewish missions, etc., but how they are too busy or too tired or focused in another direction to worry about the Jewish souls who are dying every day without Messiah Jesus.

They want to go to Israel.  They want to stand on the Mount of Olives and talk about the moment when Jesus will split the mountain in two but forget about Zechariah’s tragic words regarding the Jewish people who will mourn when they see Him … because they have missed who He was and now it is too late.

Apathy or antipathy?  Which is it?  I don’t know.  I just know that while we watched another day pass us by, almost another 400 of God’s Chosen People have passed into eternity without Messiah Jesus.  When will this stop?

In my continued reading of Jewish Stars in Texas:  Rabbis and Their Work by Hollace Ava Weiner (see previous entry), I came across a startling, heartbreaking, tragic, and telling statement (see below). 

Weiner interviews the descendants of Heinrich Schwarz, one of the first leading rabbis to settle in Texas and who pastored a synagogue in Hempstead during the late 1800s, and discovers that the descendants of Heinrich scattered all across Texas and placed their roots in every part of Texas soil.

One of the areas that the descendants of Rabbi Heinrich settled in Texas was the Haskell/Stamford area – west of Abilene.  Now no one really knows much about this area because aside from the Wal-Mart coming to Stamford, nothing much has happened in this area since Jeannie C. Riley lampooned her hometown of Anson with the country song “Harper Valley PTA.”  And that song was written in the 1970s!

However, this area is critical to my life because my mother was born and raised in Hamlin (about 20 miles from Stamford), my father bought my mom’s engagement ring from his uncle’s jewelry store in Haskell, and most of my long- and not-so-long-gone family is now buried either in the Haskell or Hamlin cemeteries.  In fact, when I told my mom about the page of Texas Jewish history, she remembers as a young girl going to Stamford and shopping in their department store.

Anyway … In Weiner’s interview of the descendants of Rabbi Heinrich, his great-granddaughter remembers how the family was intertwined with every part of West Texas life – from the belles, to the football games, and everything else in-between.  This tangle of threads included to the grandchildren of the rabbi even attending “evangelical revivals” when, I would assume, the circuit-riding tent preacher traveled through town.  However, none of the rabbi’s long lineage of Jewish Texans ever converted to evangelical Christianity.

Why?  The answer can be found for me in the most tragic words ever stated or written.  This granddaughter states, “No one tried to convert us.”

Wow!  What an indictment of Christian witness.  What an declaration of the Ichabod nature of so many “Christian churches”.  Christians in Texas were happy to invite them to compete for the title of Homecoming Queen but never told them about the reality and hope of Messiah Jesus, our Sar Shalom (prince of peace).

And before one assumes that this is a page of Texas (or any other state) history past, let me ask you one question – Are there Jewish people living in your towns, on your block, and intertwined into your family tree who could also utter the words, “no one tried to convert us.”  May God help us all if this is true.

The truth of my bibliophile nature has already been confessed in the last entry.  One could find a book in almost any room in my home that is dog-eared with the corner of the page turned down so that I can know where I left off the next time I pick up the tome.

One of the more interesting books I am reading right now is by Hollace Ava Weiner and is entitled Jewish Stars in Texas:  Rabbis and Their Work.  Weiner considers some of the earliest Texas rabbis and their legacy upon this amazing state.  In reading through Weiner’s work, I was struck by the story of an accidental rabbi that she mentions almost in passing … Charles Goldberg (page 7).

In the late 1800s, Charles Goldberg was a Jewish believer in Jesus who came to faith after being treated for an illness by a Christian minister.  Goldberg served in churches in the Texarkana area and was also known to tutor Bar Mitzvah students and lead the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services for anyone who would attend.  However, it is the content for footnote 14 that is shocking “… and never proselytized among Jews.”

What a waste!  Here is a man who had come to faith in Messiah Jesus and failed to share this testimony of spiritual transformation with His own people.

I and Tzedakah Ministries will never be guilty of this charge.  This ministry will share the truth of Messiah Jesus wherever God leads us and to whatever Jewish person might cross our path.  Tzedakah Ministries will also share the truth of Jesus the Messiah with anyone who God provides opportunity.

The life of Charles Goldberg can be summed up in three words “a wasted testimony”.  Heaven forgive him for this sin.