Teaching Ministry for Messianic Jews and Righteous Gentiles
Why another Messianic
Congregation?
There are many
reasons for the need of a new congregation of Messianic Jews and Gentiles in
Tacoma, WA. Although the church has been in existence for two-thousand years,
and has done much to spread the “Good News” of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah,
there are also major problems in the church. Yeshua, His disciples, and His
first believers were all Jewish people. They were Torah-observant and saw
themselves as a group within Judaism.
Unfortunately, in the second
century CE (AD), when the majority of people in the early church were Gentile
believers in Yeshua, they determined to make Christianity a separate religion
from Judaism. As such, the Gentile church leaders began to interpret the
Scriptures in a way that separate from Judaism. Not only was Torah observance
no longer important, but it was actually considered to be heretical.
Once the Gentiles leaders of the
church had lost the Jewish influence in the church and Torah-observance, they
quickly began to interpret the Scriptures from a non-Jewish perspective, which
led to many misinterpretations of the Bible.
Most professing Christians do not
know the Bible. They fall into unbiblical teachings of the “prosperity gospel,”
“free grace,” and “easy-believism.” Idolatry is rampant within the church. The lack
of morality (see teaching on Biblical Faith) amongst professing Christians has led
to many financial and sexual scandals.
We are a community of believers that
recognize that belief in Yeshua is a free gift of God through obedient faith. God
freely brings us into the community of the people of God. There is nothing that
we as sinful humans can do to earn our salvation and love from God. However, we
also acknowledge that once God has brought us in to the people of God, we show that
we “are in” through obedience to God and His word.
The place where the Infinite God has
revealed to finite humanity His Righteousness is in His word. The Torah was given
to the children of Israel that He had redeemed from Egypt to be the people of God
as a set of instructions as to how He wants His people to live. The teachings of
Yeshua and the Apostles build upon the Torah, they do not replace it. As believers
in Yeshua, we continue to live our lives in conformity with God’s will, which was
revealed in His Torah, prophets, Writings, and Apostolic Writings.
We interpret all of the Scriptures
through the lens of Second Temple Judaism, just as Yeshua and the Apostles. We seek
to be as Torah-observant as we are able, not in order to become part of the people
of God, but because we are part of the people of God. Many people are interested in better understanding the concept of being a Righteous Gentile. We at Living Torah are here to help. If you are seeking
a small community of believers in Yeshua where corporate prayer, worship, and the
study of the Bible is central, then come and visit us.We at Living Torah are here fore the Messianic Jew as well as for the Righteous Gentile.
Although
it has been become customary within
the church, Messianic congregations, and Hebrew Roots movement to not
put the pastor/leader's educational credentials on the
website, we believe that it is important for people to be aware of the
training, or lack thereof, of those in positions of leadership.
Unfortunately, many are not properly educated and/or equipped to be
leaders and teachers. In order to competently interact with the Jewish
roots of our faith, as well as with the Christian and Jewish scholars
and rabbis, a person must have some level of formal education and
training in biblical, Judaic, and Christian studies.
For
these reasons, we want you to know that our leader has a B.A. in Theology, a M.B.S.
(Masters in Biblical Studies), and a M.Div. (Masters in Divinity)
Degree. He is presently working on his Doctorate in Theology (Th.D) in
Jewish studies. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature
(SBL) and the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). He has dedicated
the last number of years to the study of Second Temple Judaism, early
rabbinic studies, and the Jewish roots of our faith.
