Yeshua Explored

4th July 2022

Hot potatoes

Two questions to make you uncomfortable

(This series of articles was written a year after the first lockdown in March/April 2021)

Previous articles are still available on the Premier Christian radio website – https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Blogs2/Yeshua-Explored  – (until they finally pull the plug!)

Do the Jews have any divine favour?

The Jews are God’s treasured possession and He has never changed His mind on this, otherwise He would have told us and, also, we Christians would never be able to trust Him again. If God has rejected Israel for what it did in Biblical times how can He continue with a Church that has let Him down continuously, corrupted His Word and failed so many times to reflect Jesus in its dealings with the world? If God is as fickle as Replacement Theology tells us, then we’re all lost! Despite any public statements you hear, the Church still has issues with the Jews.

I have written on this subject countless times and, frankly, I wish I didn’t have to. But it’s a burden, as I believe it’s the biggest blindspot of the Western Church. I have created a resource that perhaps will drive this home, particularly if you have been exposed to teachings that run counter to what you are reading here.

It is called Blindspot and runs as a free utility on the Web. The first part is a YouTube video that asks the same question, ‘what is the biggest blindspot of the church?’ It comprises a series of short videos and animations and will cover this issue far better than any words that you can read here. Following the video is a training programme that allows you to venture deeper into the subject, referencing many YouTube videos from a variety of sources. You can find this project at blindspot.church.

Here’s another hot potato.

Is the Bible is God’s mouthpiece?

The Bible should speak to us primarily about God, rather than be used as a reference book for the plans of man.We especially need an understanding of the much reviled and neglected Old Testament. Did Jesus come to destroy Torah or promote it? Are the Biblical festivals for Christians? What about the Sabbath? These are all important questions and have rarely been asked because the Church has traditionally been taught that the New Testament has replaced the Old, just as the Church has supposedly replaced the Jews.

We all claim to be Bible Christians, but this is a very subjective area. It is the only book in the world that is alive, inasmuch as it speaks life to those who accept it for what it is and Who it represents. When a new believer encounters this book the best thing that they should do is read it, from cover to cover if possible. Read and pray, read and pray. Probably the worst thing they could do is surround themselves with commentaries and other books, exposing them to the seemingly infinite variety of interpretations of God’s word, a heritage of Greek thinking. This could very easily either quench a precious spirit or ignite a yearning for intellectual exercise. Both, in my view, are not particularly advisable. My guess is that God simply wants His people to read His word and act on it, as nudged by His Spirit.

Again, treat your journey as a dialogue between God and yourself. Develop a relationship. Bring others alongside, if directed, but at the end of the day you are going to spend eternity with your Creator, it would be a good idea to find out as much about Him as you can, now that we have the opportunity.

This is an extract from the book, Flockdown Church: Back to the drawing board?, available for £5 at https://www.sppublishing.com/flockdown-church-278-p.asp