Shalom berakhah ve-tovah!

[Deleted]

Shalom berakhah ve-tovah!

I am feeling extremely pleased and blessed to have found this forum, and am looking forward to gaining knowledge through wise and faithful teaching, discussion, and prayer, and hoping for fellowship with the like-minded in faith.

Anout me and my family: I am married to my beloved husband for the past 25 years; we have two precious sons both now young adults. We homeschooled our children, and have maintained a suburban homestead for over a decade; recently we purchased a good amount of acreage and are in the midst of transitioning to a larger homestead. We live rather simply compared to much of society, and are: pretty self-sufficient, adept at hand-skills and farm work, knowledgeable in outdoorsman activities; these lifestyle choices, along with our previous decision to homeschool, my chronic illnessand our staunch but “unconventional” faith walk, have made us a close-knit family but have also left us somewhat estranged from our extended family and community. We have long been in a desert, of sorts.

My husband and I were not raised in believers’ homes though we were churched (he consistently in the SBC, me sporaticolly, and often of my own doing, in PCUSA and a Catholic parish close to my childhood home) throughout our rearing. We met in the military (we were both Marines), shortly after I professed Yeshua as Messiah.

Once we settled into civilian life we joined the local Presbyterian church (though my husband was reluctant being raised SBC, it is what I was most familiar with). We spent 12 years there, being told by other Protestants that we were to grow were we were planted, leaving a church was “disloyal to the Lord and the brethren”. During this time I was convicted to begin studying Hebrew Roots and subsequently implemented the celebration of YHWH's appointed feasts into our worship and lives while casting off various “church” practices, including holiday celebrations (which we never celebrated like the rest of the church or the world to begin with). Because we could not reconcile the extremely liberal teachings and activities (theological and political) in PCUSA (in the local church and at the national level) with the Bible, we finally left.

After much searching and prayer we began attending, and later joined, a local SBC church where we were faithful members for 7 years. Various (overtly) unbiblical goings on at that particular church, and my constant hunger for YHWH’s truth, lead me to complete disillusionment with the entire institutionalized, Christian, religious system; I urged my family to leave, wich we did some 8 years ago.

We have worshipped, studied, and fellowshipped at home since; sometimes with others, mostly Christians struggling with the institutionalized church, but mostly on our own. In real life, we know only one other Messianic family, and they do not live very close to us. I have somewhat recently been wholly convinced and convicted regarding the TRUTH about faith in Yeshua Ha Mashiach, about being Grafted In, and what that really means. Being indoctrinated for so very long, it can (of course) be a challenge to cast off the old ways (especially when you have been taught those things were “of the Lord” and you were sincere in trying to please him); but I am overjoyed to have all the scales removed from my eyes so that I can see as clearly, this side of eternity, as I have ever been able. I am believing in Abba for all things as I cast off the shackles of man made religion to follow , as best I am able, for the first time in my life.

Of course, there is also the challenge of having no fellowship with others of Hebrew faith; I mean I live in America’s Bible Belt so… Also, my husband and sons are not as completely convinced as I and so we are presenty at different places; please keep us in prayer so that where we are not in close agreement we do not become contentious (the enemy would love that); but more so that my immediate family, specifically (and our entire extended family, most of whom are not saved at all) will come to the knowledge of the gift of Salvation through Yeshua, and the abiding joy in the Father, through following .

HALLELUYA! Shalom b' shem Yeshua!

[alon]

Shalom aleichem Yohannah! And welcome to the forum!

I spent 7 yrs in the Corps, and a few in Hebrew Roots as well. Also I was raised in the Bible belt (well, the western end of it anyhow), and Southern Baptist no less. So I know where you been, and where you are!  All I can say is "strap yourself in, because you are in for a wild ride for a bit!" Being in Messianic Judaism was for me like standing under a waterfall of truth for those first months. Just go slow and learn as you go. Don't worry that you don't get something right" the first time you try, like say observing the feasts. Just get better each time.

It can be tough doing this on your own, but at least your immediate family is on board. I and others here live in divided homes, and most have no other like minded believers close by. I am very blessed to have first found this forum at about the same time I became interested in going beyond HR; then secondly to have found a Rabbi who is willing to come to a small town within driving distance for me every Erev Shabbat when he is in the country. Right now he is in Mexico, so we are sort of on our own for a few weeks. I say "we," it is just me and one brother, but it can make all the difference just meeting with him once a week.

As you can see, there are not many active posters here. That is mostly because we do not allow teachings outside our Statement of Faith. Discussion yes, but teaching no. So we lose quite a few people. That to say this: be careful, because there is a lot of bad doctrine which tries to attach itself to Messianic Judaism. Being in HR you've probably seen some of this. Just use discernment, and you can always ask here. No one here is infallible (including me), but we'll try and give a good answer or at least find out.

So welcome! I hope you can find a home here.

Dan 

[Deleted]

Toda raba, Dan; your input and encouragement are welcomed. Small world too, with all of the similarities between the two of us, but not small enough that we can fellowship in person. As to activity, I am not overly concerned; with the wealth of information I have already perused, and all I have not even looked at yet (and there appears to be a great deal), I am sure I will be kept busy studying here for quite some time. While I do well and am blessed to study alone, under the guidance of the Ruach HaKodesh, I will be thankful for insight, perspective and wise counsel from others of like faith.

[jimmie]

Your profile said you are in Arkansas. I am too. Though I am nearly an Okie.

[Elizabeth]

Welcome, and Thanks for joining!

[Deleted]

Jimmie, I live in a little town, in central AR about 25 mins east of LR. Are you part of a fellowsip where you live?

Elizabet, Toda raba.

[jimmie]

Yohannah
We mostly keep Sabbath at home. There is a group that meets in Harford but that is quite a drive from my location.

[Deleted]

Jimmie, it seems many of us are in the same boat; like Noah ;-) we are worshipping, and fellowshipping with the few from our own families because there are (seemingly) no others of like faith to be found, at least not in close proximity. I know, to the West side of the state there is a fellowship in Fort Smith and one in Springdale, both several hours from me; there is also a fellowship in Russellville, that is at least two hours from me. To the North-east There is a fellowship in Paragould, that is probably two and a half hours from me. There was (not sure if there still is) a small fellowship in Vilonia (about an hour and 20 minutes from me); we attended once but they weren’t very welcoming. I am praying about attending a fellowship even if we have to make a trek to another part of the state. I did see a post, on Facebook, about a Sukkot gathering being hosted at Beaver Lake in Eureka Springs, by a member from Arkansas Messianic Fellowship; Sep 24 at 6 PM – Oct 2 at 6 PM.

[alon]

Yohanna, I would encourage you to try to go to some of these fellowships when you can. Especially on feast days. It is incredibly uplifting to meet with other like minded believers. And you can network, keep your ear to the ground so to speak, because you never know when or where you'll find something closer. I looked for a long time for anywhere I could go in the region, then I gave up thinking I'd exhausted every lead. Meanwhile, probably one of the most knowledgable Rabbis in the country was establishing a synagogue a little over an hour and a half from me and I had no clue. A year later and I as starting to look for a demonstration seder to attend and lo and behold he had established a satellite shul about a half hour away where he teaches on Erev Shabbat! So don't give up. 

See which synagogue is most active, friendly, and most importantly teaches the truth. Ask questions. For example some teach from works not considered "canon" by many believers. This can be a bad thing if they are giving those works the same weight as scripture. However there are things in those works that can help us understand scripture better, so if they are using extra-biblical texts to show customs of the time, or thought processes of Jews at the time, language usage and writing traditions and styles then that is probably a knowledgeable Rabbi. Not many can do this. 

But on that note, many rabbis are still learning (all actually should be, but some more than others). There are few really qualified rabonim in MJ. But if this is someone who's stepped up to fill the need, and he is studious and committed to learning more, then I'd cut him some slack as long as he is discerning and committed to the truth. Just watch out for those who are off the rails but trying to fly a Messianic flag: Ebionites (deny the eternal deity of Yeshua), Hebrew Roots trying to up their image and calling themselves Messianic, cults (polygamy seems to be a favorite), "Baptists with tallits" (or any mainstream Christians wanting to play Jew), real Jews who've bought into Dispensational Christianity are now calling themselves Messianic. So use a bucketload of discernment yourself. Go slow and find a good fellowship where you can go every once in a while; as often as time and resources permit.

Some, like the parent synagogue here (which is about 3 hrs away from me) have live streaming. Chavarut HaMashiach is a more contemporary Jewish format. Mine, Synagogue Beit Aveinu is more along a 1st cen model, only a bit more relaxed. The teachings are what we focus more on, and they tend to take up more of our time. That is what I like. I'm in this for God's truth, and the more of that I get the better I like it. Not that I agree with everything Rabi says- I always check him out. But he almost always turns out to be right. Those very few times where I still question are minor points, and who knows; I could still be the one who is wrong. So that doesn't bother me (or him), it just shows we are human.

Anyhow, I'd encourage you and everyone to keep looking until you find a place where you can settle in and find support and fellowship- especially on the important feasts. Try to at least make it for the Shalosh Regalim, the 3 feasts that were commanded for all Jewish males to be in Jerusalem for their observance; Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Sukkot is a fun one to do at home, but it is even better to do some of it (it lasts 7 days, plus Sh'mini Atzeret and Simchat immediately after) with a group of Meshiachim.

I wish you a blessing in looking for all this. It is worth the effort.

Dan C

 

[Deleted]

Dan, Thank you for your input and encouragement. As I said, we are indeed considering traveling, even if it is a distance, to attend fellowship; it is something under prayerful consideration especially as we try to discern and avoid “Ebionites (deny the eternal deity of Yeshua), Hebrew Roots trying to up their image and calling themselves Messianic, cults (polygamy seems to be a favorite), "Baptists with tallits" (or any mainstream Christians wanting to play Jew), real Jews who've bought into Dispensational Christianity are now calling themselves Messianic”.

We will continue to worship, fellowship, and study as a biological family and as part of YHWH's family; inviting others, of like faith or sincere interest to join us as we have always done (we have had others to come fellowship with us at various times, usually individuals or a few folks; we always invite no matter folks actually take us up on the offer); this including the observance/celebration of moedim, which we have observed to the best of our knowledge and ability for the past 15 years. All until or unless YHWH directs us to fellowship elsewhere.