Summer 2010

THE RABBI WHO WASN’T SURE

On the morning of April 24, we received a phone call informing Violette and I that my first cousin, Harriet, had succumbed to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) the evening before. It came as a shock because we had just spoken to her, and she seemed to be doing well.   

Vi and I had shared the Good News with her numerous times over the years. In 2002, Harriet attended our citywide Passover Seder in Phoenix. We explained the Gospel from a Jewish perspective and answered her questions—but she continued to reject the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus.

We flew to Las Vegas the following Tuesday to attend Harriet’s funeral. Before the funeral service we met many of her friends, including the rabbi who presided over the service. He is well known and sometimes referred to as the “Rabbi of Las Vegas.”

We sat down and had about a 30-minute conversation; he evidently knew who I was and was familiar with my beliefs. We had a friendly and polite talk, although he persisted to boast about his accomplishments. He explained how he was well-read and had studied the beliefs of countless Jewish authors, rabbis, and philosophers.

Near the end of our conversation I interjected by saying, “I’ve been listening to you for sometime now and I find it peculiar that not once have you mentioned God!” I then asked him, “Do you believe in God?” He replied, “I’m not sure.” It was at this point that I shared with him how important God was to me and that I not only believed in God, but that I also believed God.

I continued to “preach” the Gospel to him, and that our Jewish people’s long-awaited Messiah was none other than Yeshua, Jesus. He then said to me, “I’ve heard all this before.” I explained that instead of putting so much emphasis on what man has written, he needed to learn what God has written. The conversation ended with me sharing our Lord’s words with him, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.”

Later that day, I had the opportunity to fully share the Good News with two other Jewish men. Please pray that these three Jewish men would find the Messiah and be saved.

PASSOVER 2010

Our 16^th-annual, citywide Passover Seder was a huge success and bore much fruit.

We filled 45 tables with 450 people for the Passover Seder. The five-course, kosher-style meal was quite good and everyone seemed to have a great time. Our fellowship’s music group, the Levi-Tones, led the messianic songs we sang; the Majestic Samaritan Choir from the Church of the Good Samaritan, a local church here in the Valley of the Sun, performed special music.

My pastor, Dr. Rick Efird, and I also shared the reading of the Hagaddah (as we’ve done for many years) and its explanation of the Passover. 

The celebration of Passover is a clear prophecy of a greater story—the account of redemption through our Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God who lived, died, and rose again for the redemption of all who will believe.

The message of the messianic Passover is “deliverance.” It is the central point in Jewish history and worship—just as Calvary is the central point in our Christian faith. In fact, as we celebrate the Passover, believers in Jesus the Messiah can see how Jewish Christianity is since our Savior, Bible, and even our faith are all Jewish.

The evening ended when I gave an invitation for people to receive God’s deliverance and forgiveness from sin, and the promise of everlasting life that our Savior Jesus promises us.

We praise our Lord that 16 people, 3 of whom are Jewish, responded and prayed to receive Jesus as their Messiah, Lord, and Savior.

Ephesians 2:3-5 says, “among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with [Messiah] (by grace you have been saved).”

How blessed are Violette and I to have each of you standing with us—with your prayers and finances—as we continue to bring the Gospel “to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).

In Messiah Jesus love and ours,

Barry & Vi