Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Dead Sea Scrolls do? I've read bits and pieces of them, but there were so many holes in the translation that I had trouble following it.

^_^. Hi. Well... ahem... Hello peoples. I am a Messianic Jew. ^_^ Apparently sinning my guts out, and even though I'm supposedly "not-Jewish" I can still have good-terms with HaShem according to the people on this thread... so... apparently... I'm not... sinning... huh? What?

lol. Sorry. I'm Link_of_Hylia. A friend of mine who's Jewish directed me to this thread to shed some light on my beliefs, straighten up the misconceptions, and simply tell you what I believe, so that you can see my religion in context with your own.

First of all, God is amazing. He created the heavens and the earth, and I can have a personal, deep-sensed, meaningful, purpose-filled relationship with God. I believe that God had a son who's name was Jesus Christ, and that through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, sins are forgiven. I also believe that the Holy Spirit does work in the lives of those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. I believe that what I've done wrong in my life, I can seek reconciliation for through repentance for sins. That doesn't mean I get to sin a whole lot just for the heck of it, and then seek reconciliation later. In essence, I just told you the "Messianic" side of my faith.

I consider myself Jewish because my heritage, background, family, life, love, and devotion central around a people who despite struggling with God have had an incredible journey with and through him. I celebrate all the high holy days and consider myself to be between what most Jews consider Reform or Conservative. I play cello for Saturday morning services at my synagogue. Even though this has nothing to do with my faith in Messiah, I will probably have my Bar Mitzvah when I'm 18 for two reasons. 1) So I can get an awesome Honda Moped. (Sorry, I like Mopeds lol) 2) So I can really signify to myself that I'm a Jewish man, coming out of a Jewish household. So yeah... fun stuff. Even though most Jewish people are Bar/Bat Mitzvah'd at 13... that's the Talmud. lol. And personally... I don't care about the Talmud as much as the Tenach. Not saying the Talmud isn't relevant, but it's an interpretation... just as there are commentaries on the Bible, etc, etc.

woot. Done with the Jewish Christian deal. Where'd it all begin? Dun, Dun, Dun. Catholic Church? Wrong. AD 1800? Wrong. Jews for Jesus? Wrong. Messianic Judaism began with:

Jesus.

Jesus was Jewish right? So was all of his disciples, except maybe Luke. And Luke was a doctor so who knows? lol. In fact, the first earliest church was headed by Jewish people. When gentiles FINALLY began picking up on the gospel, the Jewish people got UPSET. Jewish people were upset that GENTILES HAD THE GOSPEL! Now you must be thinking "this is all too good to be true!" But the fact of the matter was, if it wasn't for Paul reinforcing where Jesus had said "Go and make disciples in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth!" Gentiles would have been ridiculed further by the Jews for believing in "their Jesus". It wasn't until the church had moved almost 100 years later, after the destruction of the 2nd temple and such that Jews began to addimantly turn against (what was now) the Gentile-led church.

Jews 4 Jesus actually reinforces this by stating on their signs that Messianic Judaism began AD 32 give or take a year.

So there we go, now that I'm here... I can answer your questions further talking about messianic Judaism. lol.

Define actual and authentic ethnicity. Even in a 'perfect' community, actual and authentic ethnicity isn't true anymore. It hasn't been that way for a very long time. And if you didn't mean it that way... if you meant that those Jews who believe in Messiah aren't actual and authentic Jews...

We have every characteristic of a Jew. We go to synagougue. Males are circumcised both on outwards and inner. We believe that HaShem is G-d and that he created everything. We believe and take part of the holidays. We resemble the average Jew. Kvetch like the average Jew, and have distant families and even close families that have suffered the Jew's life, whether it be in America, or Europe, or Russia, or Israel. Wherever it may be.

I actually saw that message and wondered what you really meant. If you meant, Messianic Jews should go out and tell Jewish people about the Messiah because the majority of Jews do not believe in Messiah... I completely agree with that. I personally just try to be friends with the Jewish community on Gaia. I don't force things, I don't state my opinion over and over. In fact, once I've said what I'm going to say... most of the time I leave it to that. I'm not in the business of converting anyone to believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah, God is in the business of doing that.

We've all experienced the hypocritical Christian. However, hypocrits are everywhere! (not to get on a tangent) But look, if you're analyzing how I type, because you're Jewish and are becoming angry that this Jesus guy is now the topic, consider this. If I type "God" as "G-d" and then walk around saying "OH MY GOD THAT MAN IS SO SKINNY!" and such with my friends... why take the time to look Jewish on the forums? HaShem knows his people's hearts. So that's not a criticism against Jewish people... that's a point of fact. Hypocritical people (which in Greek means 'to take a role') are just about everywhere. I'm sure they're were quite a few hypocrits that caused the financial crisis.

So, in that light, I believe that despite the church over the years being very different, against, or somehow trying to convert Jewish people in masses to believe Jesus is the Messiah or you're going to hell, 1337 y3AH!
THAT'S WRONG! And I'm the first to explain, exclaiming... WE ARE WRONG! ...

God, however restores and repairs our hearts. He transforms our minds and leads us in a straight path. We are sheeps who are lost and he is our shepard. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no darkness because God is with me.

Messianic Judaism wants to do a few things. One, it wants to awaken God's people to God's glory through trying to show people the love of Jesus Christ. Love. Not hate. Love. And two, it wants to show Jewish people that they can still be Jewish, they can still live a Jewish lifestyle, and still believe in Jesus.

Perhaps in forums its messed up a bit. I went to a summer camp for two weeks. (Music Summer Camp). For the first time in my life, with a camp of fifty people, eleven of those people were Jewish. I was the only Messianic Jew there. You know who I hung out with the most, even after telling them I was Messianic? I hung out with the Jewish people. Some were gay, and even though I'm personally oppossed to homosexuality, look... I was good friends with him. How about that?

So when you guys here that there is this big gaping divide between us, that's just not true. They're all friends on facebook now. They may not believe what I believe, but we're still both Jewish, we live the same type of lives.

What I'm saying is that you're wannabe Christians. neutral You're the fluffy bunnies of Judaism. neutral

lol, you didn't say we were. IMRI said something like we are "HUGE" sinners. True. We are all HUGE sinners. ^_^ hmm... but I still have a few inches to grow in my opinion so save the short jokes until I become a few years older. ...

It seems like an oxymoron. I get asked all the time how that works. At church they call me the "resident Jew" lol. It's pretty awesome, no lies. Messianic Judaism is so much like Christianity and so much like Judaism. In religious aspects, I would say the Messianic Jewish community may look more like a church and yet in cultural aspects, the community looks much more like a synagogue and the general area around one. However, Jewish culture and religion are tied so deeply together... well, messianic judaism can be interpreted a bit different. For the most part though, core belief is the same. And their isn't enough to really divide us into branches such as conservative or orthodox or episcopal or baptist. lol.

Just some facts, ya know'.

Now why, pray tell, would the Jewish nation want to hear about someone who has not met the requirements to be moshiach?

Is the shoah not proof enough that Jesus ISN'T moshiach?

You see, many religious Jews DO believe in moshiach. Was Olam Ha-Ba remind you of anything?

Jesus may be the messiah for the goyim nation but he is certainly NOT the Jewish messiah.

What would you define as an "ethnic" Jew? A Jew is a Jew is a Jew. Are you referring to stereotypes? The assumption that if your surname is Bernstein, you must be a Jew? You use stereotypes ALL THROUGHOUT THIS POST so don't get pissy with others for doing it, so lemme clear something up for you.

Pro-tip: These stereotypical "Jewish surnames" exist because many Jewish families put their occupation in their names.. I may not make much sense, it's 4am.

It's like having the last name Shoemaker. What would you assume that the occupation of the guy who chose this name was?

Or are you talking about Jewish as in being Ashkenazi or Sephardic?

However, if you look at the definition of ethnic, it's truly just a group of people who have the same language, culture, customs, tradition et cetera...

The only thing that matters in determining Jewishness, religiously, is halachah. If your mother isn't a Jew, please do not think that you are suddenly a Jew for Jesus because you wear kippah, bake challah, observe shabbos but worship Jesus. If you were a convert to Judaism, your conversion would be deemed as invalid by the Orthodoxy.



I don't know what Yeshiva you went to but I am 100% sure that religion is the issue here and no matter how many mitzvot you observe, outside of the Noachide laws, it will not make you Jewish.



What the HELL is an "actual and authentic Jew?" Maybe we need a lesson in halachah. If you're claiming to be an actual and authentic Jew, then you are obligated to follow Judaism and by following Christianity, you're being a bad Jew.

Regardless of what I personally think, I will argue this from a Talmudic POV the best I can and will provide scripture after I have slept.



Having characteristics of a Jew (still not quite sure what you mean by this) does not make you a Jew. What is an "average Jew"? How do you "suffer a Jew's life?" Some of the worst anti-Semitism is found in THE NEW TESTAMENT. It's filthy and FULL of anti-Semitism. Are you a self-loathing Jew?



So silly. You don't have the Haredi knocking on your door, do you?



And yet you got booted from the Jewish guild why? Oh right, because your posts were FULL of proselytising, whether you even noticed it or not.. I believe you wouldn't notice it, I think that Christians don't even realise most of the time when they are proselytising, it becomes automatic after a while.

You were making the Jewish community here very uncomfortable and upset.

Pro-tip: It's not okay to go on a Jewish forum and claim Jesus the Messiah and then wonder why people get upset, especially the more frum Jews.



Writing G-d has nothing to do with "looking Jewish", do you not understand why G-d is written? It's the same concept as not saying Adonai, rather changing the word to sound something that rhymes when you're not praying.

Please go reread Deuteronomy.



You're really not good at this, are you?


The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis), which means "play-acting", "acting out", "feigning" or "dissembling"[2]. The word hypocrite is from the Greek word ὑποκρίτης (hypokrites), the agentive noun associated with υποκρίνομαι (hypokrinomai), i.e. "I play a part." Both derive from the verb κρίνω, "judge" (»κρίση, "judgement" »κριτική (kritiki), "critics") presumably because the performance of a dramatic text by an actor was to involve a degree of interpretation, or assessment, of that text.
The word is an amalgam of the Greek prefix hypo-, meaning "under", and the verb "krinein", meaning "to sift or decide". Thus the original meaning implied a deficiency in the ability to sift or decide. This deficiency, as it pertains to one's own beliefs and feelings, informs the word's contemporary meaning[3].
Whereas hypokrisis applied to any sort of public performance (including the art of rhetoric), hypokrites was a technical term for a stage actor and was not considered an appropriate role for a public figure. In Athens in the 4th Century BC, for example, the great orator Demosthenes ridiculed his rival Aeschines, who had been a successful actor before taking up politics, as a hypokrites whose skill at impersonating characters on stage made him an untrustworthy politician. This negative view of the hypokrites, perhaps combined with the Roman disdain for actors, later shaded into the originally neutral hypokrisis. It is this later sense of hypokrisis as "play-acting," i.e. the assumption of a counterfeit persona, that gives the modern word hypocrisy its negative connotation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrisy



wtf does this mean?



Oh, right, because the ebil Jewish peeple have decided to reject Jesus because there's no real reason to believe he is moshiach, and you simply can't handle that. I mean, why aren't more Jews like you following your lead, right? It's so simple! Throw away the Torah, accept the anti-Semitism in the NT, believe that CHristians have been persecuted far worse than Jews will ever be!



And yet the fundamentals of Judaism show quite clearly that Jesus is an idolatrous figure to the Jews and Christianity and Judaism DO NOT SHARE any beliefs. Let's be honest here, how many Christians believe that the snake in Gan Eden is Satan and he's trying to tempt us away from G-d and that he's pure evil?

Also, since when is Gehenna anywhere near the same as Tartaros?



Uh, people have other interests besides religion...

Why the hell are you opposed to homosexuality? If you even mention Leviticus 18:22, I will internet bitchslap you so hard that you will wish that you never even mentioned the Torah.

Not even kidding.

That verse has nothing to do with homosexuality as we know it today, and outside of that verse, you've got NOTHING to support your bigotry.

Not to mention, you're a Christian and Matthew told you that Jesus fulfilled the Laws of the Old, therefore, you are NOT to follow Leviticus.



Don't care.

Your personal experiences do not make you correct.

Ad hom to the ******** max.



There you have it.

You're a Christian. You might, just might, be in a lot of trouble with Hashem if you're halachally Jewish ;]

In other words, you're a poser, a fake, a fluff.