This Saturday we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary at Tikvat David Messianic Congregation in Roswell, Georgia. The following is a piece of my story.
In May of 2001 we started meeting with two other families on Friday nights at a church in Sandy Springs, Georgia (a near-north suburb of Atlanta). I knew very little about Judaism.
Maybe I should explain what led me to start a Messianic Jewish fellowship (the word we used at that time) and how a guy with so little knowledge of Judaism had the chutzpah to start something Messianic Jewish.
The Way We Were
My wife and I were members of a Southern Baptist Church. Though some people have a negative association with “Baptist” and “Southern Baptist,” I tell you this place was basically wholesome and the people were as good as gold. We were mostly happy.
I say mostly because my wife was not completely happy. While dating and early in our marriage, we had belonged for several years to a Messianic Jewish congregation in Chicago. My Christian wife, daughter of a pastor and Greek professor at a Bible College, had grown to love Passover, Shavuot, Rosh HaShanah, Sukkot, and Hanukkah (Yom Kippur did not fit with our theology at the time).
One of my favorite early marriage memories was my wife baking a gigantic loaf of whole wheat bread for Shavuot (Weeks, Pentecost) one year. I had looked into the measurements of the Bible and estimated the amount of flour that went into the loaves back in Temple days. It was bread four times or more the size of a normal loaf.
And in our tiny Chicago apartment we had a rather small oven. The loaf expanded into the top of our oven and made a mess (and some smoke!).
With memories like that, no wonder my wife said to me at some point in 2000, “I miss having a community to celebrate holidays with.”
The Problem and My Poor Preparation
The problem is, I’d been working for three and a half years for a Christian mission organization “to the Jews.” They frowned on Judaism and Messianic Judaism (hence our membership in a church).
Let me step back a bit and say that I was raised as an atheist. I discovered Judaism about two weeks after discovering Jesus. And that was at age 19 as an engineering student at Georgia Tech.
But very quickly — and it didn’t help that my many Jewish friends were all secular and could offer me no wisdom whatsoever on these matters — my Christian friends had me thinking of Judaism as a “false religion believed in by God’s dearly beloved Chosen People.”
I was able to fit into my Christian environment and still retain some things in connection with my incipient interest in Judaism. I read Jewish history. I watched Jewish movies. I learned some simple things about tradition, though I had a distaste for ritual engendered by the evangelical Christian I was fitting myself into. Most of all, I loved the Hebrew Bible. I studied it for four years in Bible College and then got a Master of Theological Studies degree at Emory with an emphasis on Hebrew Bible.
The trade-off, which I could not yet appreciate, is that I had to think of many of these beliefs, rituals, and insights as “primitive,” “superseded in Christ,” and so on.
So, when my wife asked me to start a brand new Messianic Jewish fellowship, I had the bright idea to at least start attending Jewish worship and learn some things. For about six weeks (a poor education!) I went to three or four different Orthodox synagogues.
My entire knowledge and preparation consisted of a rudimentary knowledge of holidays, and handful of how-to-witness-to-Jews books, and about four years’ experience meeting with Jewish people as part of my work as a missionary.
I remember the first dozen or so services we held at the Hope of David Messianic Fellowship. I am ashamed to say that all I knew of the liturgy was the first part of the Shema and how to sing “Oseh Shalom.”
Two Breakthroughs
Two things saved my tuchas. One, I took some advice and crashed the wedding anniversary party of a dear Messianic gentile couple who knew five times as much as I did about the practical side of Messianic Judaism. Two, I had the good sense to join the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC).
Crashing Gary and Cheryl’s wedding anniversary bash was a transparent move to entice them to join our fledgling movement. They brought musical talent, Messianic experience, other families who knew and trusted them, and tons of enthusiasm.
As for the UMJC, that’s a funny story. I went to my first big UMJC meeting with a chip on my shoulder. I still had “missionary” attitudes ingrained in me. So I wore a “Jews for Jesus” t-shirt (knowing this was a politically incorrect thing to do, like wearing a “Baptists and the Best” shirt at a Presbyterian conference).
After check-in at the conference hotel, I went out to the pool and saw Tony Eaton sitting with Paul Saal and Michael Schiffman (all rabbis I knew to some degree, though not well as yet). Tony Eaton is a kindhearted rabbi, but he is big and he looks mean! And his look at my Jews for Jesus t-shirt was less than kind. I thought he might jump off that lounge chair and pound me into the concrete (I wasn’t worried as I knew I could out-run him).
The irony is I thought I needed to teach these rabbis something. I didn’t think these “alta cacas” had anything to teach me. I knew a couple hundred Bible verses and who needed anything else?
Flash Forward and Getting to the Point
A few other things saved my tuchas of these past ten years. Tikvat David is a thriving little community with lots of community and curiosity. I owe that fact to the kinds of things on this list:
(1) My wife, who asked me to start it all, she taught and loved and helped new mothers and helped make us a place for young families.
(2) My eight children, who made easy friends and caused us to overflow with children.
(3) The radical idea that we should be a community and not a weekly production, that we should eat together and hang out and be friends.
(4) The mentoring I received, and still do, from people like Paul Saal, Michael Schiffman, Stuart Dauermann, Mark Kinzer, Carl Kinbar, and John Fischer.
(5) The beauty of Judaism and Christianity, a beauty which constantly lulls me into rapturous glimpses of a better world.
I started as a missionary dedicated to saving Jews from Judaism. I wound up a rabbi helping interfaith families, teaching eager Christians, and helping Jewish people who yearned for something that they did not fully understand but which is what Yeshua is all about.
I meet thousands every year, literally, who share the same love for the beauty of Judaism and Christianity and the intersection of the two.
Hope of David Messianic Fellowship morphed into Tikvat David Messianic Synagogue, a home for Messianic Jews and Judeo-Christians devoted to following Yeshua, living the traditions, and being a Spirit-empowered community of loving deeds.
Happy Tenth Anniversary, Tikvat David. I think we are one of those beautiful places on earth that make the Father smile.
I loved your testimony! Since I live in Kentucky visiting your congregation. When I first became a Christian a group of my friends would visit Beth Yeshua in Philadelphia, Pa. I always felt that I had entered a Special Place! I am so glad that the numbers of Messianic Jews is growing!!! I know very little about Jewish customs but am looking forward to learning. I have listened to a lot of teachings of Mark Biltz at El Shaddai!
Lord Bless you
Geri Burt
The problem is, I’d been working for three and a half years for a Christian mission organization “to the Jews.” They frowned on Judaism and Messianic Judaism (hence our membership in a church).
I know this is probably irrelevant, but the statement stuck out among the rest of your narrative. How could a Christian mission organization “to the Jews” frown upon Judaism and, by inference, Jewish people? That’s like a Christian missionary organization to the secular world hating unsaved people.
James:
That’s an easy one to answer. And let me say, I was friends with the national leaders of various mission groups (and I think highly of some of them even if we disagree about some things) and I read papers at national conferences. I was not marginally involved. I was deeply involved in Christian missions to the Jews.
The answer: they imagined there was such a thing as Jewishness which has nothing to do with Judaism. They saw Jewish people as an ethnic category primarily and would not have mourned the demise of Judaism. Most in my circle were Dispensationalists and believed that not only was Tradition of little or no value, but even the written commands were null and void in Christ. The top leaders at the top organizations still believe this. Any Jewish practice is out of cultural preference or a desire to fit in with the group being reached. This school of thought sees no value in Torah except as revelation leading up to and superseded by the advent of Jesus.
“How could a Christian mission organization “to the Jews” frown upon Judaism and, by inference, Jewish people? That’s like a Christian missionary organization to the secular world hating unsaved people.”
No, James, it’s more like Christian missionary organizations to the unsaved people hating the secular world (and are we not told “Do not love the world or anything in the world” 1 John 2:15?). So, to sum it up: since Judaism is viewed as a “false religion” and thus “of the world” by these organizations, it is therefore “sin” to be frowned upon. The attitude toward the Jewish people becomes “hate the sin (Judaism), love the sinner (Jews)”.
The attitude toward the Jewish people becomes “hate the sin (Judaism), love the sinner (Jews)”.
As you know better than I Gene, most Jews probably wouldn’t feel “loved” by Christians telling them that their entire way of life and everything they’ve ever loved and cherished about God is “dead” and “replaced” by Christ.
” I knew very little about Judaism.”
No visible improvement in the last 10 years….LOL!
It is “alte kakcers” not “alta cacas.”
“It is “alte kakcers” not “alta cacas.”
You are BOTH wrong: it’s “alteR kakers”
Dan and Gene:
As you both should know, this is like arguing about the different spellings of Gadaffi or Kadhafi.
It’s Yiddish. Hebrew letters. Middle German. I see it spelled alter kocker, alta caca, and other ways too. Guess Dan just wanted something to argue about.
Derek
I think they’re just teasing you, Derek.
10 more years. . . . 10 more years!
I was just wondering about “your story”, so I was very happy you shared it. Don’t feel bad, Derek, I was raised as a secular Jew and knew less than you or your wife. I didn’t even know about Shavuot until a few years ago-oy. From atheist to Messianic rabbi–really wonderful. I love hearing about people’s journeys, so I appreciate your honesty.
P.S. One of my friends, Krupe, should moved from Baltimore to Atlanta. I wonder if she’s attending your congregation. I hope so–she’s a real treasure.
Thanks. And, yes, Krupa and I have known each other for a few years. It is wonderful having her here now.
As a member of your congregation, I just wanted to say how much we appreciate your leadership over the years. From what I hear from the members that have been there longer than we have, you have grown by leaps and bounds. We appreciate your transparency and your example to us. We especially appreciate your wife, who is one of the most kind and loving people I know. Your family is what I consider to be a “salt of the earth” family!
eudora09, you’re making me blush. Thanks for your friendship.
Hey Derek,
Ever think of doing a post on how anyone can call themselves sane while believing in the literal truth of Christian doctrines? You know, like believing that the invisible man in the sky watched planet earth spin for some 4 1/2 billion years before developing this insatiable urge to turn himself into a man 2000 years ago in the Middle East desert for the asinine purpose of allowing his very own creation to savage beat himself to death as some sort of vile,sickening,disgusting blood sacrifice? And while you’re at it, maybe try to explain how believing this sort of lunacy does not keep a sane person from actually admitting it in public!
Also, how about explaining how christian doctrines are less absurd than what the Heavens Gate cult believed? Does Jesus have a spaceship waiting for you, Derek?
TruthOverFaith:
First, let me point out to readers that you are at least insecure enough in your comment to post anonymously. You registered to comment with the email address bullshit at aol. So why come on like an eight-hundred pound gorilla with a comment and then hide behind an anonymous email account?
Second, let me point out to you that your argument is worth considering and it properly goes like this:
(1) The object of Christian (and Jewish) faith is invisible.
(2) Invisible means lack of evidence.
(3) Thus, there is a lack of evidence for Christan (and Jewish) faith.
You made a few other arguments as well and I encourage you to come back (but hope you will man up and be yourself instead of hiding behind an anonymous email).
I think the really good and powerful form of your argument could be strengthened:
(1) The Judeo-Christian God is allegedly good and all-powerful.
(2) The world is not good and does not seem to be ruled by such a God.
(3) The Judeo-Christian God cannot exist.
That’s a good argument and many intelligent people reject faith based on that argument. I don’t.
I could help you more, if you like, helping you make a better case for atheism than you have already made. Let me know if you’d like more help. If you are going to be an atheist, you should be an informed one.
Derek Leman
The argument against christianity is far more than observing that this world doesn’t look like the creation of a “for god so loved the world” kind of of deity.
The absolute absurdity and lack of evidence of its central claims are far more than enough to debunk this Stone Age bunch of lunacy.
When we look at other cultures in antiquity that practiced animal and human blood sacrifice, we condemn them as ignorant savages who were too primitive and deluded to realize how repugnant and barbaric their beliefs and actions were. Well, the basic tenets of Judeo-Christianity are no less repugnant, disgusting, asinine and condemnable than these cultures were. To equate love and mercy with a savage act of cruelty involving the spilling of blood to the imaginary fairy in the sky is the height of outrageous, preposterous Cro Magnon lunacy.
You’re certainly free to believe whatever ancient myth that strikes your fancy. It just never ceases to amaze me how seemingly otherwise rational people can literally wall off part of their mind when it comes to religion. Rational, logical thought is made a mockery of for the sake of the emotional need to believe in the cosmic sky-god.
There are no reasonable intellectual arguments for believing in the delusion that is christianity any more than there is to believe in a thousand other ancient fables.
Great minds like Francis Collins suddenly turn into sawdust when discussing why they accept christian doctrine. The drivel from Collins’ book is truly embarrassing.
And while I certainly appreciate you’re offering to help me become a more informed Atheist, I think your time is better spent finding new ways to commit intellectual treason with other ancient myths. Tried Scientology? L. Ron Hubbard almost makes christianity look rational. Almost.
Look, the only reason I paid this visit to your little blog is because I came across your name on an atheist blog. You felt the need to insert your Jesus nuttery into a perfectly enjoyable discussion in which you had nothing sensible to offer except the standard drivel that routinely flows out of believers minds. So, just to return the favor I thought I’d drop by and say “We don’t need your stinking ancient superstition. Although thanks for asking!!”
Praise Jeezus! and Zeus, and Thor, and Minerva, and Dionysus etc.,etc.,etc
TruthOverFaith:
Well, your writing includes a lot of value-judgments not backed up by substance. Do a little word analysis on your short comment. You’ll find that you often say things like “absurd” and “drivel” and “little blog,” but that your prose lacks supporting statements. You’ve added nothing to the conversation except insults. Do tell us where we might find your “little blog” so we can see what stern stuff you are made of and be impressed with how much better your writing and logic are than mine. I’m thinking you don’t have a blog or publish any writing. Is that correct? So, instead, do you simply travel the web putting down the work others do (being incapable yourself of writing anything that would sustain an audience)?
Derek “faith is truth” Leman