The Multitudes by David Brickner, executive director

Transcription

1 The Multitudes by David Brickner, executive director T way to interact with many more Jewish people at once than is usual. wo hundred Israelis recently came to view an art exhibit at our Moishe Rosen Center in Tel Aviv. Most did not know Yeshua and nearly all had a gospel interaction with our Jews for Jesus staff!* From the "Multitudes" project, this painting is titled Generations, in reference to the lineage of Yeshua (Jesus). The Hebrew text is from Isaiah 7:14. What amazing opportunities to share the good news God is giving our team in Israel these days! The recent gallery event was part of a series of Jews for Jesus projects in which art plays a part in reaching out to people, and especially Jewish people. It was also a Most of our evangelism is carried out on a one-to-one basis. So when events like the recent gallery at the Rosen Center allow us to share with larger groups of people, these are very special times indeed. But even when our space is filled to capacity, as with the above-mentioned event, it s still but a fraction of the multitudes we are called to reach. I enjoy the thrill of being with a crowd. The excitement, the energy crowds generate at a sporting event or a concert can be exhilarating. At the same time, crowds can be intimidating and challenging to relate to, especially when it comes to ministry. It s easier to care for and relate to individuals. No doubt in this age of globalization and information overload, it s easy to get overwhelmed just thinking about the tremendous needs beyond those in our own backyard. And unfortunately, it s easy to view the masses of people outside one s own particular neighborhood as an amorphous crowd their needs can seem abstract or impersonal. But I get concerned when I see trends in some church missions that emphasize local ministries to the exclusion of the wider community of people around the world. I believe God wants us to care for people locally and globally, and that we should avoid an either/or mindset when it comes to missions. Messiah Jesus showed great care for individuals. Think of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night, or His encounter with the woman at the well. Some of His most dramatic and powerful ministry was one-on-one, and the pathos of those personal encounters is captivating. Yet our Savior was just as constant in (Continued on page 2) In this edition June 2015 How can we join Jesus in caring for the multitudes? Prayer prompters, cartoon, onlinextras preview Charting Creativity, Art & Beauty Bits from the branches in New York, Arizona, Israel and Hungary Artful outreach *For more about this event, see page 8

2 (Continued from page 1) ministering in depth to multitudes as He was when intimately caring for individuals. Think of the Sermon on the Mount, or the feeding of the 5,000. I believe Yeshua (Jesus) wants us to care for multitudes the way He does: But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd (Matthew 9:36). This is one of 27 different references to the multitudes found in Matthew s gospel, and it reminds us of the expansiveness of God s love for His lost creation. Jesus is our example. I find His compassion for the multitudes as well as for individuals instructive for our mission strategy. That s why I m excited to share a couple of things that are happening right now in Jews for Jesus. First, we commissioned one of our Jews for Jesus founders, Steffi Geiser Rubin, to paint twenty original works of art depicting stories from the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew is considered by many to be the most Jewish of the four gospels. Matthew s eyewitness account of Jesus ministry, as well as the way He documented the fulfillment of so many Messianic prophecies, underscores the continuity of God s inspired Word. Almost every chapter of Matthew refers to the Hebrew Scriptures. Steffi has portrayed these themes in the original art she created for this project, and we now have a stunningly illustrated Gospel of Matthew. We are calling it Multitudes. This beautiful artistic rendering of Matthew s gospel is being released in English, French and Hebrew this month, with the hope of producing it in more languages in the future. It s particularly significant that we have it in Hebrew, because this year Israel s Ministry of Education has challenged all Israelis to study and read through the Hebrew Bible a chapter a day (929 chapters) all the way up to Israel s 70th birthday in There s a special website for Israelis to read the Scriptures and even leave comments. We see this as a wonderful opportunity to encourage Israelis to at the same time engage with the Gospel of Matthew through this Multitudes project, and see for themselves the incredible continuity between the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and this amazing story of the life of Yeshua. Please pray with us for this project. Second, beginning this month and stretching all the way through September, we will be conducting extensive efforts across the globe to reach the multitudes with the message of Messiah. In June and July we ve got outreaches in Paris, New York City, Toronto (coinciding with the Pan Am Games), London and Berlin. Our Budapest outreach begins the last week in July and extends to August 9, and our Moscow campaign takes place in September. Though we don t like to broadcast it too specifically, our next Behold Your God Israel campaign will also be happening somewhere between June and September. If you simply add up the total population of each of these cities, it amounts to approximately 39,518,000 people quite a multitude! That doesn t even include the throngs of tourists who will be visiting these cities, and who will see and engage with our missionaries and volunteers. It can seem a bit overwhelming each of these outreaches represents a great deal of planning, prayer and people who are participating. I especially want to invite you to pray with us for these outreaches as they unfold over the next few months. Use our onlinextras link on page 3 to see specific prayer requests for each of these events, and if you receive RealTime, our online newsletter, you will receive timely updates and specific prayer requests throughout this intensive season. Updates will also be posted at least twice a week on our Jews for Jesus Facebook page. I want to emphasize that Jesus saw the crowds, but He saw the individuals as well. So must we. I want to look upon these multitudes as Jesus did and have compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd, desperately needing the Savior. I want my capacity for compassion to be expanded along with my commitment to pray for the multitudes and for individuals, don t you? (continued on page 3) We exist to make the messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to our Jewish people worldwide. Jews for Jesus international headquarters: 60 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA ; phone: (415) ; jfj@jewsforjesus.org; web: jewsforjesus.org; also working in: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom; editor: Ruth Rosen; art director: Paige Saunders; design and illustration: David Yapp; ISSN Volume 10:5775, June 2015; 2015

3 onlinextras This month s online edition at j4j.co/extras0615 includes: a prayer calendar for our summer outreaches more photos from our gallery event and Israel bonus article on an artful outreach in New York City brochure for the Multitudes (illustrated Gospel of Matthew) project Hello Israel, your Holy Land fact of the month So What? to help you apply this month s newsletter to your own walk with God Please pray for: our many outreaches in major cities throughout the world this summer (p. 2, also see onlinextras) fruitful follow-up from our gallery events at the Moishe Rosen Center and God s blessing on future events salvation for Jenna s dad (Phoenix) and Eli and Rotem s families in Israel grace and strength for new Jewish believers Kevin in New York, Eli in Israel Zoltán to continue to grow stronger in his faith and to seek fellowship with other believers our next generation of Jews for Jesus to develop into wise leaders This month's banner photo is of Alexander Adelson, who is part of our Tel Aviv team. (continued from page 2) Recently our Israel director, Dan Sered, explained this balance well in an interview on TBN. You can see the interview at j4j.co/tbnsered. Dan explained that our methods are a balance of proclamation and presence. Our high profile ministry of proclamation is designed to reach the multitudes. Our highly personal ministry of presence means being available to demonstrate the love and care of Christ, often on an individual basis, and sometimes through sharing our space, our facilities, as Dan describes. These are two sides of the very same gospel coin. Through both presence and proclamation we can demonstrate the compassion of Jesus, both to the multitudes and to those individuals who have ears to hear. Won t you join with us? David Brickner is also an author, public speaker and avid hiker. For more about David, his writings, speaking schedule and possible availability to speak at your church, see jewsforjesus.org/david-brickner. 35

4 What the Bible & Jewish culture tell us about creativity, art & beauty God made us in His image (Genesis 1:27), which is why we are able to create. He has gifted specific people with different creative abilities, including music, dance, visual art, poetry and storytelling. The Bible reveals much about creativity, art and beauty, and you can see parallels between the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. Jewish artists and sages have made thoughtprovoking statements about them as well. Most of the quotes offered in the third column are not meant to parallel Scriptures, but they do add some spiritual insights. While creativity, art and beauty are not interchangeable, they are a group of related blessings from God that transport us beyond the ordinary. In this chart, we refer to them collectively. These two pages are not meant to be comprehensive. We hope you ll continue the study on your own, with a good concordance and a nice cup of coffee or tea. ASPECTS OF CREATIVITY, ART & BEAUTY HEBREW SCRIPTURES NEW TESTAMENT JEWISH QUOTES Testifies to God s existence and character The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork (Psalm 19:1). The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory (Psalm 97:6). Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:19 20). This is an exceedingly strange development, unexpected by all but the theologians. They have always accepted the word of the Bible: In the beginning God created heaven and earth... [But] for the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; [and] as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. Robert Jastrow (an American Jewish astrophysicist, as quoted from God and the Astronomers [New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1978] Gives us ways to express/ share our joy with God and one another Moses and the children of Israel sang a celebration song to the Lord after being redeemed from Egypt (Exodus 15:1 19). Miriam added dance to the celebration song (Exodus 15:20 21). Miriam (mother of Jesus) sang in response to the news of the child she would miraculously conceive (Luke 1:46 55). Communicating to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs goes hand in hand with singing to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19). There is an inner connection between music and the spirit. When language aspires to the transcendent, and the soul longs to break free of the gravitational pull of the earth, it modulates into song. Chief Rabbi (UK) Jonathan Sacks Provides a fit setting for worship God especially gifted some people to create artistic works for the tabernacle (e.g., Bezalel, Exodus 35:10, 30 34). Solomon used precious stones in the temple for beauty and employed all kinds of carving and artwork (see 2 Chronicles 3). Holiness is linked with beauty and worship. (See Psalm 29:2.) The new heavens and new earth are described as very beautiful (see Revelation 21). Whether or not these descriptions are metaphorical, they convey that magnificent beauty beyond imagining will be the eternal setting for enjoying the presence of God. The whole world is nothing more than a singing and a dancing before the Holy One, blessed be He. Every Jew is a singer before Him, and every letter in the Torah is a musical note. Nathan b. Naphtali Herz As worship is useful for battle, be the battle physical, spiritual or both 2 Chronicles 20:21 22 demonstrates this unusual battle strategy, as King Jehoshaphat appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever. And the results: Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people... who had come against Judah; and they were defeated (v. 22). In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were praying and singing in jail when a great earthquake shook loose everyone s chains and all the doors. This led to a series of events that resulted in the salvation of the jailer and his whole family. O Music! miraculous art! A blast of thy trumpet, and millions rush forward to die; a peal of thy organ, and uncounted nations sink down to pray. Benjamin Disraeli Communicates God s messages powerfully, and sometimes prophetically God commanded the use of an artistically rendered bronze serpent in Numbers 21:8. It was His way of healing the Israelites from the fiery serpents He had sent as a judgment during the wilderness wanderings, but it had significance beyond that. Nathan created a story to confront King David in the matter of David s sin regarding Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Samuel 12). God often used performance art, staging His prophets in various ways to make a dramatic statement or prediction, as with Ezekiel (chapters 4, 5, 12, 20, 21 and 24). The Psalms convey praise, worship, spiritual seeking and repentance with intricacy and intensity, as poetic works of art (examples too numerous to list). Jesus often used parables, creative storytelling, to convey spiritual truths (see especially the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 13, 21, 22). Jesus referred to the bronze serpent as having been prophetic of His crucifixion (John 3:14 15). Jesus referred to how beautifully the lilies of the field are arrayed to assure people of God s care and provision for them (Luke 12:27 28). The crucifixion itself was a drama that God staged to show His judgment on the sin of the world, as well as to convey His mercy in taking the consequences of sin upon Himself. Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable. Leonard Bernstein Has positive, refreshing effects on us The beauty of the Lord is desirable and something that we equate with His presence and our well-being (Psalm 27:4 5). David was called to sing and play when King Saul had a distressing spirit ; hearing the music Saul would become refreshed and well (1 Samuel 16). There is a connection between wisdom, grace and sharing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with one another as we sing to the Lord with grace in our hearts (Colossaians 3:16). There is an inner, incorruptible beauty that a quiet, gentle person possesses, that is said to be precious to God (1 Peter 3:3 4). The artist creates his arts to soothe his nerves.... He writes, paints, sings or dances to shake off an oppressive burden of ideas and feelings. Nordau When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. Anonymous Can become a temptation to disobey God Part of the temptation Eve succumbed to was that the fruit was pleasant to the eyes (Genesis 3:6). We are warned in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) to worship God alone and not to worship what He has made, or, by extension, our own art (images of what He s made). Ironically, the creation and worship of the golden calf proved this warning all too necessary (Exodus 32). The bronze snake of Numbers 21 was eventually smashed because the people had made it into an idol (2 Kings 18:4). Proverbs warns against temptation to lust after a beautiful but adulterous woman (Proverbs 6:25). Romans also warns about the temptation to worship the creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:22 24). The dance of Herodias daughter shows the potential to use art seductively, which can tempt people to do wicked things (Mark 6:21 28). Beauty aims at neither morals nor truth. Spingarn, Creative Criticism, 1917

5 /Rachel Friedlander bits from the BRANCHES From Brooklyn, Sam Rood reports, I have joyous news! After almost two years of meeting and discussing Jesus and the gospel, Kevin* professed faith in Him! Kevin had given his contact info to one of our campaigners during our 2012 NYC outreach. I called to follow up, and we spoke on the phone occasionally, but Kevin wasn t ready to begin meeting to study the Bible with me until September We studied many Scriptures, including the Day of Atonement from Leviticus 23 compared with Hebrews 10: Kevin said several times in the course of our meetings that God will make all good people right. I asked him what he meant by that. He eventually decided that they needed to be sufficiently aware. I asked, Aware of what? After a short Sam silence he said, Perhaps that Jesus is the Messiah.... Another pause, and then, And I don t have a problem with that. That got my attention. I asked him, Kevin, do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah? He answered, Yes. I went over some verses in Romans to make sure that Kevin understood the implications: Jesus had come to die for our sins and God raised Him from the dead. He is coming a second time to fulfill the rest of the promises God made. Kevin had been inching slowly closer to Jesus, counting the cost and fearful of what might result in his personal relationships. He is now identifying openly as a follower of Jesus and has sought the company of other believers. He needs prayer to grow strong in the faith so when hard times come, he ll be well rooted. From Phoenix, Tracy Rapp reports, Jews for Jesus has been a part of CORA (Council of Religious Advisors) at Arizona State University for the last three years. Chabad and Hillel (traditional Jewish groups) are also a part of CORA. This year I got to lead the annual CORA campus event where twenty faith groups participated. The council had chosen the theme, What does God look like? (not Tracy literally look ). We built a blank wall and had the students write what they thought on a bright-colored sticky and place it on the wall. It was a lot of fun to get students thinking about what God is like, and a great opportunity for many to see that some Jews do believe in Jesus. During the event I met Jenna, a freshman who came to know the Lord a year ago. Jenna s dad is Jewish and not at all open to the gospel. She is eager to meet with me to learn more about Jesus and how to share her faith, especially with her dad. Please pray for my visits with Jenna and all the seeds planted at ASU! From Israel, Alexander Adelson reports, After a few months of phone conversations with Eli, I finally had a chance to meet with him. I gave him one of my favorite books, A Lawyer s Case for God. Eli promised to read the book and to meet to discuss it with me. Pray that God will open his eyes and heart to receive Yeshua as Messiah. Alexander (see also front page banner) Not long ago I met Ami, a young Jewish man who was very open to know about Yeshua. At the end of our meeting, I told Ami to ask God to show him if Yeshua is the Messiah. He said he would. The next time we met, he told me that he had argued with his father about his faith. I wasn t sure what he was talking about, so I asked, Do you believe that Yeshua is your Savior and Lord, that He is Messiah and died for your sins? Ami said, Amen. He has prayed to receive Yeshua in his heart and now he is our brother in Yeshua! I will continue to meet with him to study the Bible and help him became a stronger believer. Please pray for his growth and also for his family. From the Negev, Bimini Cohen reports, We requested prayer for the Lord to keep Rotem s* faith strong, because his mother highly disapproves of what he now believes. Rotem amazed us with his boldness! His uncle was trying to convince him to become Orthodox, and Rotem not only gently told his uncle no, but he also shared why he believes in Yeshua. We invited Rotem to a musical event at a local Messianic congregation and encouraged him to invite others. How delighted we were to see him come with his sister, his cousin, and also a friend. Later we gave his sister and cousin a ride to the bus station. We heard later that his sister was upset about the content of the musical, which was about the birth of Jesus. She told Rotem, And you also made me ride in the car with those brainwashed people! (describing my husband Bimini Oded and me!) She told their mom about the evening, and their mother was also upset with Rotem. But he lovingly told her, Mom, you don t have to believe what I believe; you don t even have to read the New Testament. All I ask is that you read the Hebrew Scriptures and decide for yourself. We are marveling at how the Lord is strengthening Rotem and graciously granting him such boldness. Please pray for the Lord to help Rotem in every way: spiritual growth, the salvation of his family, and also steady work/a good job. From Budapest, Attila Varadi reports, I got a Facebook request from Zoltán,* asking about the prophecies in the Tanakh (Old Testament) and whether they really do point to Jesus. I responded by sharing various prophecies including Isaiah 53, Daniel 9, Psalms 22 and 16 and Zechariah 12:10, along with some historical evidence. I also shared Mark 14:62, where Jesus told His judges that He was the one fulfilling both the suffering and the victorious Messianic prophecies. This seemed to help Zoltán, who, it turns out, is a Christian who s been attending synagogue because he wanted to understand the Jewish roots of his faith. He hoped to reach out to Jewish people he might meet with the gospel. Instead, he admitted, he was beginning to have doubts about his faith and was considering converting to Judaism. Our little study strengthened him in his faith in Jesus. And for me it was a Attila (left) great opportunity to put together something I will use again to help others who are willing to look at Messianic prophecy. *not their real names 6 75

6 Artful outreach Eli Birnbaum reports, We hosted another art exhibit at the Moishe Rosen Center here in Florentin: India in the Eyes of the Traveler was a collection of the work of fifteen photographers and one sketch artist. We opened our doors and hosted an event that any India lover would enjoy. Our objective for this and other events is to be relevant as a community of Jewish believers in Yeshua, and an active agent in our own neighborhood/culture. One of the photographers had been doing research on the concept of the Messiah for an art project. It was a very interesting interaction as we explained our belief that the Messiah has already come and how He, Yeshua, has changed our lives. Our hope and faith in Him are forever shaping our actions. We gave her a Y shua book and we hope to hear more from her as she continues to discover what the Messiah was supposed to accomplish and how this was to affect the world. She wants to hold her final project exhibition about Messiah here at the Moishe Rosen Center! One by one, the photographers approached us to let us know how honored and grateful they were to have their work shown in such an exhibition, and they also wanted to know more about the place. We tell everyone that we are Jews for Jesus and that the Center is named for the founder of our ministry, an American Jew who came to embrace Yeshua as his Messiah. We explain how we use our building for our own events and studies. But our interest goes beyond our own use, as we want to be available to those around us and share what we have with our neighbors. (This is often surprising to people, who are accustomed to thinking of religious people as focused inwards and not especially engaged with those around them.) In addition to enjoying the exhibition, visitors were invited to be photographed /Bob Mendelsohn with a setting familiar to anyone who s traveled in India. The back of a bus! It was my concept, my wife Shoshana created the poster and our maintenance man did the cardboard cutout. Teamwork! As you can see, people had a lot of fun with it. 201 people came through our doors to view the gallery. Of them, 177 were Jewish people who do not yet believe in Jesus. We had a total of 30 visits with Jewish unbelievers (extended conversations in which we opened Scriptures and explained why we believe Yeshua is the Messiah), in addition to some amount of gospel interaction with almost everyone that came. We ended our time with a concert from an upcoming artist who wrote his entire album while traveling in India. Please pray for the exhibitors as well as those who came to see the exhibit at the Moishe Rosen Center, that they will return to hear more about Yeshua. Use the onlinextras link on page 3 to see more photos from this event, and also to read about an artful outreach in New York City. Editor s note: This gallery dovetailed with our Massah program, an annual shortterm mission trip to India where we meet many Israeli backpackers and have opportunities to share the gospel. India is one of the major destinations for Israelis who have finished their military service and are traveling to get a different perspective.