Realtime - Jews for Jesus

A NOTE FROM DAVID BRICKNER: These Jews Need Jesus

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The headline in this June's New Yorkonline magazine certainly grabbed my attention: "Jews for Jesus Trying to Seduce Dominique Strauss-Kahn?" If you haven't heard, Mr. Strauss-Kahn was the head of the IMF, the international monetary fund and a likely candidate for Prime Minister of France -- until he was accused of attempting to rape a maid at a posh Hotel in New York City. Now he sits under house arrest awaiting trial.

The story in New York magazine goes on to explain how someone from a ministry known as the International Board of Jewish Missions (not Jews for Jesus) attempted to send evangelistic literature to Mr. Strauss-Kahn, but he accidentally sent the literature to the wrong address. It ended up at a wine shop, hence the attempted evangelism went public and became fodder for the mistaken and provocative headline.

I suppose we can't expect the secular media to applaud any efforts to share the gospel, let alone with scandal-laden public figures. I recall the disapprobation Brit Hume of Fox News faced when Tiger Woods, a Buddhist, was in the middle of his own sex scandal. Hume had declared that Woods could find the redemption and forgiveness he needed in Jesus Christ. Howls of derision from the secular press only increased my appreciation for Britt Hume's honest outspokenness. In fact, I felt convicted that this had not been my first thought about Mr. Woods' personal failings and trauma.

So even though Jews for Jesus wasn't trying to "seduce" Dominique Strauss-Kahn by sending him evangelistic literature, I was glad someone thought to do it. The headline gave me occasion to pause and to pray for his salvation.

Lately it seems a plethora of these scandals has been rolling out into public awareness. Most recently we've been told the sordid details of Congressman Anthony Weiner's twittering. How should followers of Jesus respond to people facing such public exposure and humiliation?

I find it far too easy to follow the lead of media moguls who seem to take self-righteous glee in watching people's lives unravel. Yet it might just be that at these very moments, people finally realize their sin and their need for the Lord.

The good news of the gospel is that we all not only need grace and forgiveness, but we can find it in Jesus Christ. If the trajectory of someone's life includes bumps that make them better able to recognize their need, then I say "Hallelujah!" -- not for the sin itself, but for the opportunity to see and deal with it.

Let's not behave like the Pharisees of Jesus' day. They complained about the company Jesus kept; they didn't like seeing Him with sinners, people for whom they had only contempt. Jesus replied to their criticism, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Luke 5:32).

Jesus denounced some of these same Pharisees for thinking they were already righteous and not in need of repentance. All of us need God's grace and they were certainly no exception. All of us have enough sin in our lives to keep us continually repenting before the Lord. It is a sign of spiritual maturity to recognize our own sin more readily than we point to the sins of others, and to demonstrate grace and mercy towards others, even if they have yet to see their own need.

This is not to say that we ought to be blind to the sin around us or call it anything other than what it is. We don't want to lose our moral compass; rather we long for people to come to repentance and experience God's grace in Christ. Let's find ways to tell them of God's love in Y'shua.

I remember that when the Bernie Madoff scandal broke, I wanted to reach out to him. I asked one of our staff, Stan Telchin to send a personal letter to Mr. Madoff and a copy of his well-known testimony book, Betrayed. I don't know if that book ever reached Bernie Madoff, but I believe the sentiment was right. When we see people caught up in scandals of their own making, we should resist the temptation to rejoice in their downfall, and should instead pray for their salvation.

Of course this is true, not only in the case of public figures, but for all people. Part of the Jews for Jesus story includes a time that Moishe Rosen relished the opportunity to criticize and make fun of the hippie movement while speaking to a group of InterVarsity students at Columbia University in the late 60s. Afterwards, a man named Bob Berk challenged Moishe, telling him that many of those hippies were Jewish and that instead of criticizing, he should try to tell them about Jesus. Moishe took that challenge to heart and, as they say, "the rest is history."

A change of heart towards those we might otherwise condemn may not lead to a movement of people coming to Christ. Their hearts may not change, but ours will -- and then, who knows what God will do? Whether it be Bernie Madoff, Dominique Strauss-Kahn or Anthony Weiner, these Jews need Jesus. Just like the rest of us.

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Author: David Brickner
Added: Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700
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Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Be part of our New York City Summer Witnessing Campaign from the comfort of your home computer.

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Welcome to the Jews for Jesus - BAR -	Must-See Jewish Sites in NYC	Leave it to Bieber

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Added: Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700
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A NOTE FROM DAVID BRICKNER: Moishe Rosen's Yahrzeit

Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

It was a year ago this week-May 19, 2010-that our beloved Jews for Jesus founder, Moishe Rosen, died and went to heaven. Hundreds of periodicals and online publications-including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Jerusalem Post-reported this event, often quite colorfully. The Los Angeles Times said, "Moishe Rosen, a flamboyant and controversial convert to Christianity who founded the missionary group Jews for Jesus, died Wednesday in San Francisco..."

It happened at sundown on the day of Pentecost, a time for believers to remember the first major harvest of 3000 Jewish souls who entered the kingdom through faith in Christ (Acts 2.) How fitting. Moishe would have appreciated that symmetry; he first publically professed his faith on Pentecost Sunday, less than 24 hours after praying to receive Christ. Seeing the gospel preached was his greatest burden as well as his greatest joy. How he would have delighted in the variety of feature-length newspaper obituaries that explained what he believed and why. He would have rejoiced that, as did his life, so his death proclaimed the gospel all around the world. We rejoice for all of that, but we still miss him terribly.

Click image to enlarge.

It is a Jewish custom to perform certain traditions to mark what is called the Yahrzeit. Yahrzeit is a Yiddish word meaning "year's time" and it commemorates the anniversary of the death of a loved one. It is customary to light a candle that will burn for 24 hours in their memory. The headstone is often laid at the occasion of the Yahrzeit, and smaller stones placed on the top of it as loved ones visit the graveside. Family members traditionally recite the mourner's Kaddish, a traditional prayer of praise to God.

Many people refer to the mourner's Kaddish as a prayer for the dead, but as you read it you'll see it is a prayer for the living, a prayer that acknowledges God's sovereignty in life and in death. In fact, almost all traditional Jewish duties and liturgy pertaining to death are to help the living cope with sorrow and loss and to gain strength from God and from the community. So it is with the Yahrzeit. Think about it. For at least a year-often longer-there is a painful series of "firsts." The first wedding anniversary without the loved one, the first birthday, the first year of holiday celebrations...

Just recently I was privileged to share part of that "first" Mother's Day with Ceil and Ruth, Moishe's wife and second daughter. We traded a few memories of Moishe: a story about what he did in the past, a speculation concerning what he might have said about a situation if he were here now. It is a comfort and a blessing to remember our loved ones and that is what the Yahrzeit tradition helps facilitate. Warm memories and the blessing our loved ones brought to our lives can be a genuine comfort to those of us who grieve.

Moishe was conservative in many ways and he respected and upheld certain traditions-yet he was anything but a traditional guy. As he thought about his own Yahrzeit, he decided that as close to a year after his homegoing as possible, we should have a party. He wanted a gathering of family and friends to remember and celebrate that he is now in heaven. And so he set aside funds for that purpose, and didn't stipulate much other than the fact that we were to have good food, music, dancing, talk about heaven and make it a fun event that he would have enjoyed. That was Moishe.

Moishe took seriously the Scripture that teaches, "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). He saw his promotion to heaven as a cause for celebration, so he asked that those of us who were left behind demonstrate his faith through our actions.

As the one-year anniversary approaches, planning a party hasn't necessarily been easy for those of us who miss him so much and are feeling his absence so pointedly-but that is what he wanted and we trust that honoring his wish will bring blessing. A good number of his family and friends will gather to remember and rejoice in what God did through Moishe's life and what He is, in fact, still doing. Moishe's parting words reminded us of that scripture: "he being dead still speaks" (Hebrews 11: 4b) and so will this banquet, as it underscores the hope of heaven. Moishe often reminded us that God in His grace didn't tell us too much about heaven, because if we knew more our yearning for heaven would make this life unbearable. But for me, heaven seems more real than ever because my dear friend and mentor, Moishe Rosen, has gone there ahead of me. I look forward to our reunion.

But in the meantime, I want the ministry of Jews for Jesus that Moishe loved so much to continue faithfully reflecting those things he cared about and helped us to practice-with Jewish evangelism as our ministry's number one priority. I know that priority is a major reason why so many have loved and stood with Jews for Jesus and our founder Moishe. As my friend Mark Cahill wrote, "There is one thing you can't do in heaven and that is witness to the unsaved." So we will continue to focus our energies on witnessing while we can. And we will endeavor to do it with all the zeal and creativity and fervor that characterized Moishe. That is certainly the best way to remember him and to honor his life.

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Author: David Brickner
Added: Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700
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Jewish Facts of Life

Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

This year Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), begins at sundown on June 7. Learn more about this harvest festival here.

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Added: Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700
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Jewish Facts of Life

Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

This year Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), begins at sundown on June 7. Learn more about this harvest festival here.

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Added: Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700
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Real Deals

Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Everything you ever wanted to know about Christ in the Feast of Pentecost, at your fingerprints if you grab this month's RealDeal.

30% off of one of our favorite holiday books if you order online by May 31 using coupon code "CIFT30OFF"

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Real Deals

Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Everything you ever wanted to know about Christ in the Feast of Pentecost, at your fingerprints if you grab this month's RealDeal.

30% off of one of our favorite holiday books if you order online by May 31 using coupon code "CIFT30OFF"

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A NOTE FROM DAVID BRICKNER No Pain, No Gain: A Passover-Passion Meditation

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

This coming week is filled with celebration for those who believe in the God of Israel. It is the week of Passover and it is the week of the Messiah's Passion. Christian and Jewish communities will gather to remember and to celebrate -- yet the foundation of both observances is rooted and grounded in great sorrow and suffering. This has always been true whenever God delivers His people. No pain, no gain.

The backdrop to the story of Passover is Moses' encounter with God "on the back side of the desert." The most dramatic aspects of this amazing story may be the burning bush or the mysterious announcement of the ineffable name of God, "I Am that I Am." But for me, what stands out and is twice repeated is God's statement: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians" (Exodus 3:7). This encounter is the beginning of the deliverance we now celebrate as Passover.

I have seen, I have heard, and I know -- so I have come down. What an amazing testimony to the grace and the power of God! He knows our sorrows. Aren't you glad about that?

It is because God knows, sees and hears that He does indeed "come down" to deliver His people. God meets us at our greatest point of need. When we fail to realize our need, we find it easy to ignore God. Thankfully He doesn't ignore us. He knows our sorrows even when we do not. He reaches out to us until we are forced by the circumstances of our lives to acknowledge our need, and, in our time of grief and pain, God comes down. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Complacency can make us oblivious to our own perilous plight, but when we hear God's voice calling to us in the midst of our pain, it opens the door to great gain -- to deliverance and freedom.

One Jewish commentator wrote, "It is strange that the Bible would use the expression, 'I have come down,' which presupposes that the Godhead needs to descend to earth to act thereon." Yet God made a point of announcing His intention to "come down," to get involved, to get His hands dirty so to speak -- and once again, He does so because He sees, He hears and He knows. It was God Himself who brought the plagues on the Egyptians. God Himself passed over the homes of the Israelites who placed the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of their homes. God Himself brought us through the Red Sea on dry ground. God had to come down because that is His nature. He is a saving God.

And all of this foreshadowed an even greater deliverance. Isaiah predicted that ultimately God's saving arm would bring salvation to His people through one revealed to be "a Man of sorrows" (Isaiah 53:1-3). Once again God proves that He has seen and He has heard. He knows our sorrows and has come down, as a man of sorrows, to deliver us. This is the wonder of the Passover and the Passion taken together. God knows our pain and He has taken it all upon Himself in the person of Y'shua haMashiach, Jesus the Messiah.

Y'shua, the consummate Passover Lamb, shed His own blood so that those of us who apply that blood to the doorposts of our hearts can pass over from death to life eternal. Y'shua's deep pain brought us great gain. In Messiah, God finally did come down, just as He promised prior to that very first Passover deliverance. We who believe and receive what He did are redeemed.

But our redemption is not a ticket out of this world, nor will it deliver us from all pain and sorrow. If God was willing to come down, to participate in our sorrows, then it stands to reason that we who follow Him will not be exempt from suffering and sorrow. We, too, must be willing to see, to hear, to know and to come down to take part in the lives of those God loves. Just as Jesus carried His cross in the work of redemption, so He tells us, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24). No pain, no gain.

We cannot divorce ourselves from the suffering of this world, but even as God did, we must enter in, get our hands dirty, so to speak, and become men and women of sorrows. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it this way, "God wants us to be human beings, not ghosts who shun the world. In the whole world of history there is always only one really significant hour. If you want to find eternity you must serve the times."

This is our time. God calls us to serve Him today, to grasp that hour of significance this very week and to dedicate whatever He calls us to do in that hour as a sacrifice to Him and for His glory. Because we follow the Man of Sorrows, we too can see and hear and know and come down. It may be with great pain, but it will always be for great gain.

Man of Sorrows! what a Name
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim
Hallelujah! What a Savior.

Bearing shame and scoffing rude
In my place condemned He stood
Sealed my pardon with His blood
Hallelujah! What a Savior.

Guilty, vile and helpless we
Spotless Lamb of God was He
Full atonement! can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior

Lifted up was He to die
"It is finished!" was His cry
Now in heaven exalted high
Hallelujah! What a Savior.

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Author: David Brickner
Added: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700
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