English
Korean
Spanish|
DALLAS?In the last 20 years, more than half of all marriages involving Jewish people have been with non-Jews. “That means that Jewish people are unexpectedly turning up in American environments where they are encountering Christians up close and personal?sometimes as family members,” stated Tuvya Zaretsky, director of the Los Angeles branch of Jews for Jesus. Zaretsky sees this challenging family situation as an opportunity for Christians to share the good news of Jesus Christ with Jewish people. At a June 13-17 class in Dallas on “Principles of Jewish Evangelism,” Zaretsky will help participants meet the cross-cultural challenge between Gentiles and Jews. “Intermarriages are opening a shaft of gospel light to a people who have heretofore been in spiritual blindness,” he added. “There is hope and communication tools for those who are ready to learn how to do it.” The weeklong class is one of two courses the Pasche Institute for Jewish Studies at Criswell College is offering this summer. A July 11-15 study taught by Arnold Fruchtenbaum will address the “Theology of Israel.” “American Jewish Gen-Xers are post-modern and predisposed to reject the message of Christ,” Zaretsky said. “The lessons from Jewish evangelism will uniquely equip ordinary Christians, pastors, mission and youth workers to minister spiritual truth to a people who are open in a remarkable way at this time.” Zaretsky was raised in Northern California where he attended Hebrew school and was bar mitzvah. During that ceremony, he read from Isaiah 6:1-8 where the prophet had dedicated himself to God saying, “Hineni?here am I.” Zaretsky recalled that he wanted to say, “Hineni,” too, but was acutely aware that he had no personal relationship with God. Disenchanted with religion, he began a search for truth during the late 1960s and was encouraged by a Christian friend to pray that God would reveal himself. “I started reading the Bible and found that because of Jesus, I could finally say, ‘Hineni?here am I,’ to God.” In advising Christians who are married to Jews, Zaretsky said they understand no one is ever convinced of the gospel through conflict. “However, the Jewish reaction to the gospel is one of fierce cultural opposition.” He said many Christians assume that this is the end of the discussion, when it is often the starting point. “Some Christians fear that initial reaction and so avoid gospel communication with Jewish people,” Zaretsky stated. “However, the Jewish religion, Judaism, operates from a survival mode. We can help Christians understand the basis for that core Jewish value and how to engage it in a manner that is informed and considerate. It is a uniquely strong response, but not an insurmountable barrier,” he insisted, adding that the course next month will teach how to do that. Zaretsky received both a bachelor and master of arts degree from University of Redlands in Southern California. He graduated from the Fuller School of World Missions with a master’s degree in missiology concentrating in Jewish evangelism. His dissertation addressed, “The Challenges of Jewish-Gentile Couples: A Pre-Evangelistic Ethnographic Study.” Zaretsky finds it is helpful to establish a set of terms to use in discussing the subject of Jewish evangelism. “There are at least seven ways to use the term ‘t1:country-region w:st=”on”>Israel,'” he noted. “We make a clear distinction between Jewish people, Jewish ethnicity and Jewish culture. Knowing the difference makes it easier to understand how to approach Jewish people with the gospel.” “With no other hope of eternal life or the forgiveness of sin available to Jewish people apart from Jesus Christ,” Zaretsky said, “we should learn how to reach them in a manner that is culturally sensitive and biblically true.” |
|
In 1978, over 900 members of the People’s Temple died at the command of the cult’s leader, Jim Jones. Many died voluntarily after poisoning their children. Some were shot down by guards enforcing Jones’ suicide order. They believed the capitalist, racist,
United States government was about to attack them after Temple gunmen murdered a U.S. congressman. In 1993, 86 members of the Branch Davidian cult were killed in a fire during an FBI siege of their compound near Waco. David Koresh, their leader, was considered a second messiah. His followers earlier opened fire on ATF agents approaching the compound. In 1997, 39 members of a decades-old cult, led by Marshall Applewhite, ate poisoned applesauce and died. They believed death would allow them to ride a space ship they thought was traveling behind the Comet Hale-Bopp. There’s a diverse selection of tragedy for you. What caused it? Some say lunacy, others see government conspiracies. But many explanations of these much-analyzed events miss the larger point. We tend to explain horrible events in a way that separates us from them. We speak as if “those people” were essentially different than anyone we know. Thus we are exempt from the lessons the tragedies might teach us. Remember that most of the dead listed above (except the children) joined the groups voluntarily. Most were also willing to die for their leader and his beliefs. Few of them were insane. All, except the children, allowed themselves to be deceived. They willfully believed irrational claims. Those people needed a philosopher. Philosophers question what other people assume. It is a critic’s work. If I say, “David Koresh is the second messiah,” a good philosopher might ask me why I believe that. If I tell him “Koresh’s Bible studies say so,” he might ask me where the Bible says that and if the text is being handled properly. A good philosopher would dog me until I abandoned my unexamined belief, justified it, or shut up my ears. I suspect most of the cult members above had already shut their ears and died of a lack of discernment. Usually we think philosophers are frowned on in Scripture. Paul’s teaching in Colossians 2 warns against worldly philosophy, after all. He says that it can rob you of your faith. In fact we’ve all seen that happen. What begins with a sincere love of wisdom digresses into, “Has God really said ??” That’s what Psalm 1 means by sitting in the seat of the scoffer. He’s a habitual and self-indulgent critic. He sits to judge, to condemn actually, all but the most novel ideas of others. As you would expect, what’s novel changes frequently. He finds himself always contemptuous of those around him, recreationally chipping away at their beliefs. A philosopher can be that scoffer. Proverbs describes the scoffer as a man who delights in his scoffing, hates or dishonors those who seek to correct him, causes strife, and will not find wisdom. His understanding comes from within rather than from God. It is limited and temporal. He is earnestly wrong and clearly dangerous because he starts with an assumption apart from God. Any assumption that makes my viewpoint an absolute will be, 10 times out of 10, the foundation of a false philosophy. It will be either hobbled by untrue things or wrong motives. This is the self-aggrandizing but often appealing philosophy of Colossians 2:8. It seems that most philosophers are scoffers. The habit of being critical easily becomes proud and self-indulgent. Because philosophy is often an academic career it can be sterile, theoretical, and vain. Anything can, though. As philosophy deals with ways of thinking and knowing, it is foundational to other realms of knowledge. Thus, cynical philosophy produces humanist dentists and football coaches. |
Five considerations when end-of-life issues arise
| This is my first Mother’s Day without my mother. She passed away May 25, 2004. Those were traumatic times during her brief but agonizing illness. She suffered from pancreatic cancer. She had a stroke as a result of the cancer on March 30. From that point it only took 51 days for Mother to leave the confines of the flesh for heaven.
The SBTC Executive Board was kind enough to grant me a leave of absence to care for her. With the exception of about 10 days, I was by her side. Mother’s sister sacrificially joined me in caretaking. We were together when mother breathed her last. Mother had signed a “Do Not Resuscitate” order as well as a Power of Attorney for Health. She was a registered nurse. She said, “I don’t want to be artificially kept alive.” We discussed the probability of a stroke that would prohibit her from swallowing. She told me that she did not want a feeding tube or IV. She did not want to be at the hospital. She wanted to die at home. Her last 14 days were without food or water. She was unable to swallow. She had several strokes. Some would say that she was not fully conscious or feeling pain. I do not know whether the cancer or dehydration took her. I prayed for God to relieve her from the struggle. I have shared with you my personal experience to set it in a larger context. With the very different deaths of Terry Schiavo and Pope John Paul II, we are confronted with end-of-life issues. While pro-life advocates are better known for opposing abortion, euthanasia is just as critical. I do not think we can solve this excruciating dilemma by some hard, fast rules. We do have biblical principles like the sanctity of life and the sovereignty of God over all our days to guide us, though. With those principles in mind, here are some thoughts I had to take into consideration: 1. When a person has a terminal illness approaching imminent death, “heroic measures” or even food and water may be voluntarily refused. Those who are not terminally ill and in danger of imminent death should be sustained by food and water. 2. A “Do Not Resuscitate” or Living Will does not mean that we have the right to withhold food and water under all circumstances. Removing a feeding tube may be active euthanasia, while never placing one in a person who has explicitly stated they did not want one is another matter. 3. Making “quality of life” the determining factor of extending or ending a person’s life places a variable that is indeterminate. The subjective standard of “quality of life” allows family, government or individuals to actively perform euthanasia. 4. Sanctify of life must be the measure, not “quality of life.” Once falling down the slippery slope of euthanasia, “economic productivity” or “societal burden” could become reason for ending life. 5. In the case of respirator or ventilator assistance, a person may be disconnected when physical life is sustained by this means alone and there is no other evidence of life. My heart was broken to watch my mother waste away. I know that it was God’s place to say when she was to depart, not mine, Job 14:5. I am not a bio-ethicist. Nor do I have all of the answers. These are some of the issues that I debated in my mind. As President Bush said, “We are to err on the side of life.” It is not the wish of the person that is the criterion. If we let it be, some would commit suicide. It is not the desires of the family. Motive and emotions may dim the judgment. It is the objective truth of life. We are to sustain life as naturally as possible until God calls us home. |
League City pastor wants students, children to catch vision for world missions efforts
|
DICKINSON?Concerned that the church could be one generation away from being unable to send and support field missionaries, Jerry Williams wanted to ensure the work of Southern Baptists’ missionaries was heard and seen by children and teenagers. “This is about bringing them face to face with the world God is working in,” said Williams as he looked around the crowded gym at a Houston-area missions event. Stationed around the room were missionaries who serve overseas, in the United States, and in the Houston area. They stood by their displays ready to share their stories. Williams, pastor of Anchor Baptist Church in League City, and a member of the “On Mission Celebration” Committee of the Galveston Baptist Association, coordinated the On Mission Celebration, held April 9-13. It was one of only three scheduled for Texas this year?evidence in part of a trend by larger churches to host their own missions fairs, said Martin King, Convention Relations Team director at Southern Baptists’ North American Mission Board (NAMB). Beth Bootz, an associate in NAMB’s Partnership Events Unit, said she was surprised that a state the size of Texas would only have three OMC events this year when there are 77 scheduled throughout the nation. The event?coordinated on the associational level with the support of NAMB and the International Mission Board?requires extensive planning and can be costly, a factor that may keep some smaller, less financially equipped associations from participating, she said. King said larger churches can afford to transport, house and compensate guest speakers. Kenny Rains, NAMB Partnership Events Unit manager, said another reason for the static growth of the OMC is that there are so many other “delivery systems” for missionaries to tell their stories. The OMC has become one of several missions events scheduled throughout the SBC each year. Rains added that because of the many available venues in which to share their stories, missionaries must pick and choose which events to attend while on furlough. In Texas, missions events are coordinated through local churches and with the help of Southern Baptists of Texas Convention personnel. Gibbie McMillan, SBTC Missions Services associate and NAMB missionary, said the OMCs and similar events are “putting a face to missions ? they’re giving people the opportunity to become personally involved in missions. They can say they know a missionary.” In February McMillan attended a Global Impact Celebration at Great Hills Church in Austin. He said such non-OMC events serve the same purpose in that they allow congregations to “meet, greet and treat” missionaries. Those in attendance, McMillan said, “just loved on” the missionaries. It became an “iron sharpening iron” occasion?encouraging each other to fulfill the Great Commission. Every Christian is to be on mission, he added. “What we are when we accept Christ is missionaries.” And for those who cannot go to the field, even for a two-week church-sponsored trip, getting to know a missionary and hear the stories of how God is working among people that missionary touches is the next best thing. That’s exactly what Williams hoped to accomplish. Children and teens from area churches roamed the aisles at the missions fair seeking treats from foreign lands, playing games and asking questions about the displays. Williams wanted the missionaries to engage the children by giving them age-appropriate activities to complete while at the fair. Williams said most missionaries testify to being called into missions at a young age. Accordingly, he created a questionnaire for the teenagers to use when speaking with the missionaries. His hope was that if God was working in the hearts of young people, asking those in the field pointed questions on the subject could help them recognize and respond to a call to missions work. “That’s what this is really about. We don’t want a whole generation lost to missions,” Williams said. It is expected for older people to support missionaries, he said, but the younger church members need to be introduced to who the missionaries are and what they do. McMillan agreed with Williams’ assessment that the church could be one generation away from being able to follow Christ’s command to “go into all the world.” “If we don’t recapture or renew our vision in the SBC, we are one generation from being extinct.” “We’re not connecting the dots,” Williams said. If asked, most Southern Baptists would say missions are an important aspect of church ministry. But, he said, when you ask them how they personally are accomplishing that task, “all of a sudden you’re going to get a big blank stare.” Williams said it is vital for pastors to keep missions and evangelism fresh in the mi SBTC continues seeking property tax exemption
|
