For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16





Welcome To My Christian Blog: The Upper Room


As I departed from the plane and walked down the steps of the aircraft to the tarmac, I experienced a "rush" unlike any feeling I have ever had in my life. I knew that I was in a very special place, but little did I know that this experience would change my life forever. It was Tel Aviv, Israel in 1989, and I was beginning to embark on an adventure that I would hold near and dear to me for the rest of my life. Destination Jerusalem!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: THEY SHALL PROSPER THAT LOVE THEE. Psalms 122:6

I will endeavor to share many reflections and highlights of my journeys to the Holy Land in the 1980's and 1990's on this Blog while at the same time, sharing and conveying some inspirational stories, quotes, biblical verses, and insights from my Christian vantage point. I am a Born Again Christian, although I do not espouse to, or embrace any one particular Christian denomination, nor do I oppose any particlular Christian denomination. I believe in The Father, The Son, Jesus Christ, and The Holy Spirit, and have always accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I recognize the Jewishness of Jesus (Yeshua, the Jewish name for Jesus), and as a Christian I cherish my Jewish heritage. I pray that others will be blessed by reading this Christian Blog, and with the hopes that many will come to accept Yeshua as their personal Lord and Savior.

What Is The Upper Room Exactly?


Traditionally Cenacle (from Latin cenaculum) is the term for the Upper Room, or the site of The Last Supper. This word is a derivative of the Latin word "cena," which means dinner. Some Christians believe it lies in the second floor of a building on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, just outside the Dormition Church behind the Franciscan house on Sion, and south of the Zion Gate in the Old City walls. In the basement of the building is what is supposed by Jewish leaders as King David's Tomb, although the Bible says David was buried in the city of David, which is south of Mount Moriah. In Christian tradition, this was the site where the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost. The building was spared during the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus (AD 70) and became the site of the first Christian church. It was later destroyed by Persian invaders and rebuilt by a monk called Modestus. During the Crusades, the building was razed to the ground by Muslims and replaced by the Crusaders with a basilica. Franciscan monks cared for the Cenacle from 1333 to 1552 when the Turks captured Jerusalem and banished all Christians. After the Franciscan friars' eviction, this room was transformed into a mosque, as evidenced by the mihrab in the direction of Mecca and an Arabic inscription prohibiting public prayer at the site. Christians were not allowed to return until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

I have decided to call this Blog "The Upper Room", as my personal and spiritual experiences and enlightenments in Jerusalem's Upper Room have inspired me to finally commence writing a Christian Blog. I hope and pray that you will find some peace and solice here.

Peace To All Who Enter The Upper Room

Patricia

The Upper Room In Jerusalem

The Upper Room In Jerusalem

Monday, July 21, 2008

What Is Messianic Judaism?


Messianic Judaism is a religious movement whose adherents believe that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they call Yeshua, is both the resurrected Jewish Messiah and their Divine Savior.
As of 1993 there were 160,000 adherents of Messianic Judaism in the United States and 350,000 worldwide. As of 2003, there were at least 150 Messianic synagogues in the U.S. and over 400 worldwide. By 2008, the number of Messianics in the United States was around a quarter million. The number of Messianic Jews in Israel is reported to be anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000 members.
Messianic Jews consider themselves to be Jewish. However, Jews of all denominations do not consider Messianic Judaism to be a form of Judaism. Many Christians consider Messianic Judaism to be a form of Christianity.
Although words used to identify aspects of Messianic Judaism are frequently disputed and sometimes may seem contradictory, the term itself generally describes a belief that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and that obedience of the Scriptures is the proper expression of faith. Adherents are described as Messianic Believers or Messianics for short. Messianic Judaism is a relatively new term, coined as recently as 1895 to help separate the practices of its followers from those of common Christianity as a whole, and in order to more closely align its faith with that of biblical and historical Judaism.
The Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations defines Messianic Judaism as "a movement of Jewish congregations and groups committed to Yeshua the Messiah that embrace the covenantal responsibility of Jewish life and identity rooted in Torah, expressed in tradition, and renewed and applied in the context of the New Covenant."
"Jewish life is life in a concrete, historical community. Thus, Messianic Jewish groups must be fully part of the Jewish people, sharing its history and its covenantal responsibility as a people chosen by God. At the same time, faith in Yeshua also has a crucial communal dimension. This faith unites the Messianic Jewish community and the Christian Church..."
Messianics believe that the first followers of Jesus of Nazareth were called Nazarenes (in Hebrew, Notzrim; "?????") or simply "Followers of the Way."
Messianic Jews practice their faith in a way they consider to be authentically Torah-observant and culturally Jewish.
The Messianic Judaism of today grew out of the Hebrew-Christian movement of the 19th century, which were evangelical attempts to make it easier for converting Jews to retain their Jewish self-images in spite of converting to Christianity. Hebrew-Christian congregations began to emerge in England; the first of these was Beni Abraham, in London, which was founded by forty-one Hebrew-Christians. This led to a more general awareness of a type of Christianity with a Jewish background. In 1866, the Hebrew-Christian Alliance of Great Britain was organized, with branches also existing in several European countries and the United States. A similar group, The Hebrew Christian Alliance of America (HCAA), was organized in the U. S. in 1915. The International Hebrew-Christian Alliance (IHCA) was organized in 1925 (later becoming the International Messianic Jewish Alliance). Additional groups were formed during subsequent decades.
Modern Messianic Judaism was reborn in the 1960s. A major shift in the movement occurred when Martin Chernoff became the President of the HCAA (1971-1975). In June of 1973, a motion was made to change the name of the HCAA to the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA) and the name was officially changed in June of 1975. The name change was significant as more than just a "semantical expression;" as Rausch states, "It represented an evolution in the thought processes and religious and philosophical outlook toward a more fervent expression of Jewish identity."
When the movement began to become larger, new organizations such as the Messianic Israel Alliance, First Fruits of Zion, and the Coalition of Torah Observant Messianic Congregations arose. These organizations disagreed with UMJC's stance over the issue of Gentile observance of the Torah, and whether it is obligatory, or not.
Messianic Jewish theology is the study of God and Scripture from a Messianic Jewish perspective.
Messianic believers commonly hold the Old Testament to be divinely inspired. Theologian David H. Stern in his "Jewish New Testament Commentary" argues that Paul is fully congruent with Messianic Judaism, and that the New Testament is to be taken by Messianic Jews as the inspired Word of God. This is the mainstream view within the movement although, as with many religions, there are several schools of thought. A very few Messianic believers are troubled by the writings of Paul and may reject his writings, holding them in less esteem than those of the Gospel writers, or even reject him. Often, the emphasis is on the idea that the Old Testament is the only scripture the early believers had (most scripture scholars agree that there was not an established New Testament canon until the 4th century) and that, except for the recorded words of Jesus, the New Testament was meant to be an inspired commentary on the Old Testament.


Peace


Patricia

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