This cross post is an opinion piece by Daniel Nessim.
Messianic Jews have a natural predisposition and tendency, as Jews who care about our people and our peculiar calling, to maintain the traditions and culture of our ancestors. This means that in our lives, traditions and prayers it is most natural and fitting for us to follow the ways of our people’s lifestyles, traditions and prayers which are founded in the complete Jewish Bible and secondarily in the sea of Jewish holy writings and literature that we have inherited.
It is therefore with great surprise that many Messianic Jews have considered the words of Yeshua which seem to prohibit calling anyone ‘rabbi’ (= ‘teacher’), ‘father’, or even ‘leader’. Does this mean that Messianic Jews may not ordain rabbis, or may not call their teachers by that title? Christians call their pastors ‘pastor’, or their teachers ‘teacher’, don’t they? Why are rabbis in particular singled out?
The immediate context is the first place one should look for an answer.
Leaders Unveil LifeWay Research Study, Form Alliance to Educate the Church on Israel’s Critical Past and Future Roles
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new LifeWay Research study, sponsored by Chosen People Ministries and New York Times bestselling author Joel C. Rosenberg, released today reveals that the overall support of Evangelicals for Israel will drop significantly in the next decade if the younger generation is not educated now about its biblical importance.
The survey, "Evangelical Attitudes Toward Israel and the Peace Process," for which results were unveiled during a press conference today at the National Press Club in Washington, found that although more than 3 in 4 Evangelicals (76 percent) say Christians should support Israel, 4 in 10 younger Evangelicals (41 percent) have no strong views about Israel. Additionally, fewer younger Evangelicals (58 percent) have an overall positive perception of Israel than older Evangelicals (76 percent), and they are less sure Israel's rebirth in 1948 was a good thing for the Palestinians.
"In spite of growing opposition to Israel resulting from the growth of various anti-Israel movements active in the United States, it is encouraging that the survey confirms most Evangelicals continue to support the nation of Israel," said Dr. Mitch Glaser...
This is an opinion piece by Thomas Fretwell, M.A.
It has long been the mantra of much of the Western media, along with their fellow leftist ideologues, that Israel is the main obstacle to peace in the Middle East. The verbal (not to mention physical) assault against Israel seemingly never ends.
These vitriolic attacks constantly accuse Israel of such atrocities as apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide, and as if that isn’t enough, when innocent Israeli civilians are stabbed in the supermarket or massacred by a Palestinian terrorist who enters their home during a Shabbat meal , the banal response from the Western world is one of indifference and blame. Somehow, when Jews are killed these acts of terror are not worthy of international rebuke or even a show of solidarity from world leaders.