Thoughts from our trip to Israel #1: The Global Church

 

There were many things that Nicole and I experienced during our seven days in Israel this May, all manner of insights and wisdom were available to us as we toured site after site connected to the stories of the Bible, and the life of Jesus in particular.  I won't try to list them all here, they're better one at a time with context, so let me just share one observation that jumped out at me again and again during our trip:

The Church is global.

I know, I already knew that, and I hope you did too, but it is the kind of truth that sometimes slips from our minds and hearts as we naturally focus in upon the needs and issues facing our own slice of that global entity and begin to think that most Christians look, think, and act as we do.

At many of the sites we visited, such as the one pictured above at the Church of the Primacy on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, there were these pavilions set aside that tour groups could reserve for a time of instruction, prayer, or worship.  In other words, there are so many groups coming to these places to visit them that those who are the custodians of these sacred spaces have invested resources into setting aside spaces for them.  We often saw them being utilized, and took advantage of a number of them ourselves (such as at the Garden Tomb, pictured below)

What these pavilions don't immediately reveal is the great diversity of peoples making use of them.  English was the minority language in use, people who look like most of our group were not the norm, and frankly the Western Church was less often represented than the South American, African, and Asian.  While waiting to visit various places we had fascinating interactions with brothers and sisters in Christ from Brazil, Nigeria, India, and South Korea.  

In fact, just after the picture above was taken, our group celebrated communion at the Garden Tomb site, and while we did so we could hear a nearby group lifting up, "In Christ Alone" in song through deeply accented English.  Thanks to the layout of the area, we couldn't quite see them, but a number of us began to quietly sing along; it was beautiful.

Statistics about the Global Church are useful, they paint a two dimensional picture, but actually standing in the midst of men and women from all over the world to whom Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, all as eager to learn about the places he visited as we were, really drives home in a powerful way the wondrous breadth of the universal Church.

Sermon Video: Believe in Jesus, and you will be saved - Romans 10:5-13

How simple is it to receive the Good News of the Gospel?

Amazingly simple.  The intellectual hurdle is minimal, one only need acknowledge that Jesus has risen from the dead and he is Lord.  The crux of the matter is the willingness of the heart to accept the need for salvation in Jesus.

For everyone who does so, seeking salvation in Jesus, they will find it.

Sermon Video: Christ is the culmination of the Law - Romans 10:1-4

Why did Paul's generation of Law observant Israelites fail to accept Jesus as the Messiah?  One of the primary explanations, coming from Paul who knew this personally before his own Damascus Road conversion experience, was the presence of prideful self-righteous zeal.  Too many of the people sought to please God with their own efforts, rather than by faith trust in God's mercy and forgiveness.  The Law of Moses could never be the path to righteousness, it only showed God's people where they fell short of his holiness.

How did Jesus fix this apparent dead end?  By totally, completely, and forever fulfilling the Law.  The sinless life and guiltless death of Jesus Christ is the end of the Law because the moment Jesus breathed his life he had fulfilled it fully, thus bringing to a close the Law's time as the guardian of His people.  The Spirit would soon come at Pentecost to confirm this transition.

Righteousness has been been achieved by human effort or desire, it has always been, and always will be a gift of grace given through faith.

Sermon Video: Righteousness by Faith, not Law - Romans 9:27-33

Since the Law was given by God to his people, and he rewarded them for keeping it and punished them for breaking it, why couldn't righteousness come through obeying it?  Simple, that was never its intent.  God knew that humanity could never follow his commands perfectly, that all would sin, all would be lawbreakers.  The Law made God's people conscious of their sin, it did not offer them the solution to it.  The answer to that dilemma was always grace.  God's forgiveness and mercy given to his people, and his people's need to trust in that grace by faith.  Ultimately Jesus came to be the solution, to be the sacrifice for sin, and our faith became in/through him.

How have the Torah Clubs responded to the united warning of the Franklin Christian Ministerium?

The Franklin Christian Ministerium released its warning against the Torah Clubs and the First Fruits of Zion on February 16th, of 2023, along with a detailed listing of primary source quotations illustrating our concerns {Now updated to include further damning quotations from the Malchut 2022 Conference: The Unorthodox Beliefs of the First Fruits of Zion.  If you're read the previous version, it will be worth you time to see the new quotes too}.  We shared this information with every church in the county and with our own congregations and networks.  I have had many conversations, as have other pastors, with fellow men and women serving in pastoral leadership about this topic, both before the ministerium's statement and after.

Some may be wondering what the response has been, officially or otherwise, from either the First Fruits of Zion organization, the local Torah Clubs leaders, or any individuals that are/were participating in this.

1. There has been no response from the First Fruits of Zion organization.  

We do not know whether they are aware of our objections to their false teaching or not, but given that this organization's leadership believes that it is ordained by God to overturn the global Church (seriously, they believe their effort will bring about the End Times, no less), it would not be unusual for those with such lofty self conceptions to take attempts at correction from the established (traditional, apostolic, biblical) Church as a sign that they're on the right path.

2. There has been no response, directly to the ministerium, from the leadership of the local Torah Clubs.

We have not seen any effort to correct, supposedly, false impressions or conclusions (hard to do that when we shared twenty pages of direct quotes as evidence) about this movement or its theology addressed to either the ministerium as a whole, or individual pastoral leaders.  Having been called out publicly by an ecumenical representation of the Church for rejecting historic and apostolic orthodoxy, no direct response has been forthcoming. 

It has been noted that local Torah Club leaders have shared on social media that they are being "persecuted" by a few local church pastors, and claims have been made of support by many church leaders in this, although none to my knowledge have publicly defended this theology, but none of these online conversations have been directed at us.  Along those lines, there have been various things shared via social media equating the local Torah Club leaders with Martin Luther {ironic given the antipathy of the FFOZ toward the Protestant Reformation: Rethinking the Five Solae, a book they have published claiming that the roots of Protestant theology are the cause of antisemitism}, and presumably the Franklin Ministerium with the Catholic authorities that opposed him.  As a Baptist minister, I find it odd that an organization that condemns Sola Scriptura, would have local leaders quoting Martin Luther's famous, "Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God." 

3. When it comes to individual Torah Club participants, we have reason to hope.

Thankfully, I have not had anyone in my congregation fall prey to this movement, some of my fellow servants of Christ have not been so fortunate.  While the local leadership remains, as far as we can tell, defiant of orthodoxy, Church history, and local pastors' pleadings, we have seen some of those participating take a step away from the organization after hearing of our objections.  I can only share anecdotal observations, but those have typically followed the pattern of someone with an already existing relationship being key.  This is not a surprise, for all the bluster of punditry and online arguments that take place today, few people actually change their minds on important topics due to them.  What does affect people, as it always has, is relationships.  So pray for the Christians in our community that have relationships with Torah Club participants, may they act with wisdom and compassion when attempting to help those who have wandered from the Gospel.

4. How should we then pray for those influenced by the Torah Clubs?

We need your prayers.  As a local Christian community we always need the support of prayer, this is no exception.  Pray that those who have strayed from orthodoxy, {as most were previously deeply committed Christian believers, that's who FFOZ purposefully targets} will see the light of Truth and be given the grace of God to return to their first belief.  Pray that pride and stubbornness would be vanquished, that previous fellowship with a local church will prove the stronger.  And yes, pray for the local leaders of the Torah Clubs, as I have, should they return to orthodoxy from this error it would have a profound affect upon so many others.  

Thank you for supporting your local church pastor, we need it and appreciate it more than our words of gratitude can convey.

Sermon Video: Who are you to talk back to God? Romans 9:19-26

It is only natural as people made in God's image, that we wonder how the mind of God works, that we question what we don't understand.  After asserting that God's mercy is absolutely necessary for salvation and that it does not therefore depend upon human desire or effort, the Apostle Paul responds to the anticipated objection that God has taken freewill out of the equation.

Rather than answering the question directly, Paul takes a step back and speaks about the relationship between God and humanity.  God, as creator, has the right to both show mercy where it is undeserved (as it always is) and to execute judgment upon the unrighteous when/where it serves his larger redemptive purposes.

In the end, the wonder is not that some remained estranged from God and therefore damned, but that many have been redeemed by God's love and mercy.