Faith is Not for Faint of Heart

Our calendar in December encourages us to remember two important historical events that are at their core, dates that celebrate faith. As Messiah Yeshua stated in Luke 18:8, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (TLV) The context for this statement is the illustration of the persistent widow and the stubborn judge. Yeshua was challenging his disciples then, and us today, to persist in prayer, which is to persist in faith. Unfortunately too many of us I believe have allowed our zeal for faith living to cool. Let’s face it, living out faith today in our society isn’t perceived to be cool.

Hebrews 11 is recognized as a chapter that celebrates faith in G-d. The first verse makes the point of trying to both define faith and articulate what it does in the life of a person of faith. I sum the verse up in two points:  

First, Faith is Confident Assurance about our Future.   Faith gives us genuine certainty regarding what G-d has stated in his Scripture about our eternal future with him! 

Second, Faith is G-d given Conviction about the Unseen Reality. Faith is the motivation that leads us to test for what G-d has stated in the Scriptures about the reality of the spiritual realm and, by testing, to prove that it is real! 

What does this have to do with Chanukah and Christmas? Both of these holidays remember people of faith who took deliberate, risky and painful steps of faith! The Maccabees who stood up against the corrupt religious establishment of their day and the paganism of the Syrian King who reigned over them practiced great faith. They took G-d at his word, understanding what he expected from them, and brought great spiritual renewal for our Jewish people. Mary and Joseph, Anna and Simeon, also lived out faith in what G-d revealed to each of them in quite inconvenient and socially awkward ways. Just to think that Mary humbly agreed to become the mother of the Messiah, knowing the stigma this would cause her; Joseph also, knowing he would need to bear the difficult role of fathering a son, not his own, but G-d’s! Why did they do this? They were confronted by the reality of G-d’s will for their lives and they chose, by faith, to fulfill G-d’s will for them despite the difficulties it would bring. They each chose to trust G-d! 

This holiday season take time to renew your commitment to faith living. What steps can you take that will force you to test the reality of G-d’s unseen spiritual realm: More time for Scripture reading? A greater commitment to G-d’s service in an environment way outside your comfort zone? Really prioritizing G-d with your finances? Setting aside your plans for your life in order fulfill G-d’s plans for your life? G-d’s Word is truth and Messiah calls us to grow our faith in him through prayer and action. Something to think about! 

Happy Chanukah & Merry Messiahmas! 

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

Tsuris

Life is complicated. Life is also difficult. That’s normal life: complicated and difficult. But,   it never ceases to amaze me that so many people-due to poor decision making and short sightedness-make life more complicated and difficult for themselves and others than it really needs to be!

In Yiddish we have a word for this: tsuris, which means troubles, worries, aggravation, woes, suffering or grief, often with the added understanding of self-affliction: “I ate an entire container of ice cream, and now I have tsuris.” No one made you eat it, so you have no one to blame but yourself, but you’d like to blame someone anyway.

Suffering because of the brokenness of the world is an important theme in the Scriptures. The world is broken due to sin, and sin’s effect is amplified by the sinful choices of people, making the world more complicated and difficult for everyone. Messiah Yeshua sought to both comfort and prepare his talmidim in John 16:33 for their ministry roles as his emmisaries by saying:

“I have said these things to you so that, united with me, you may have shalom. In the world, you have tsuris. But be brave! I have conquered the world!”

This is the Complete Jewish Bible translation, which is why the word tsuris is used, but I also like that it says “united with me.” If we choose to intentionally live united with Messiah Yeshua, seeking first His Kingdom and living our lives based on His instruction, we will find Messiah’s strength and peace to help us through the complicated difficulties of life: war, crime, financial stress, broken relationships, sickness, spiritual opposition, etc. We are still sure to encounter difficulties and complications in our lives, but I believe we will also experience less tsuris.

Are you living united with Messiah Yeshua? Are you regularly submitting your plans and desires in prayer for G-d to lead and direct you? Messiah has conquered the world! Live your life in close proximity to him!

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

 

Are You Too Old to Change?

There’s a great deal of expectation for children to develop and grow. Why not? If they didn’t we would be changing our teenager’s diapers! I see our kids working really hard to teach our grandchildren to properly use the bathroom. It’s not only good for the kids, the parents benefit too!

Do you know that adults struggle with change? It seems to me that after about age 30, many people stop growing and developing. They slide into “life habits” and start coasting. It’s very unfortunate. In childhood and adolescence, the young are subject to structured education in school, forcing them to grow and learn. But real education, life education requiring serious change and development, really becomes necessary in adulthood, and it never ends until death. Most people coast because they become comfortable, and therefore complacent about their life development. They don’t have the interest or motivation to change.

The Scriptures are written almost exclusively for adults, and yet the Scriptures command people to change. One key passage is 2 Timothy 2:15, which is part of a larger set of instructions for people to take their spiritual growth and development seriously, else they lose it!

“Make every effort to present yourself before G-d as tried and true, as an unashamed worker cutting a straight path with the word of truth.”

A big requirement for change has to be community. It’s hard to change all by yourself; you need others who know you very, very well, to help you make serious change in your life. That’s why the Scripture commands close community, something very rarely practiced among believers today in America. We are too busy for one another it seems, too busy for G-d as well. Too busy to really make any serious spiritual change. But Hebrews 10:24-25 commands us otherwise:

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds. And do not neglect our own meetings, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another—and all the more so as you see the Day approaching.”

The Jewish New Year of 5785 has started. Take time during the High Holidays this year to reflect on your life: your priorities, the use of your time, your values, your commitment to G-d. What needs to change? I don’t care how old you are! What needs to change so you can better fulfill G-d’s expectation for your life. You’re never too old to change!

Forward for Messiah!

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

The Ministry Life Cycle!

Everything wears out over time.  Cars, clothes, refrigerators…everything wears out over time! People physically wear out too, as we all personally know, but it’s a different type of wearing out. Everything has a life cycle, even ministries. Organizations and congregations don’t really wear out per se, they just become irrelevant.

Without thoughtful analysis, honest critique, and new ideas, great ministries become ineffective over time.

It’s really a simple cycle. Ministries most often start off frenetically, the result of G-d planting a vision or an opportunity before an individual, who then over time systematizes that vision or opportunity into a functioning ministry structure with others to enhance their effectiveness in fulfilling the vision. But if that individual isn’t hitting the refresh button (prayerfully, critically and honestly analyzing the ministry to make sure that it is staying true to the original G-d ordained vision while along the way intentionally developing and involving new leadership) that ministry will slowly calcify and become irrelevant, leading to organizational death. This is true of both ministry organizations and congregations.

G-d doesn’t raise up ministries, he raises up people with vision, whom he entrusts  to fulfill that vision. Sometimes that vision can be carried by succeeding people for a century or two, but often it’s just one individual for a few years or decades. When the individual loses sight of the vision, or is unable to effectively pass on the vision to others, the ministry dies. Most ministries die because the leader has lost sight of the vision.

At Devar Emet, we are working hard to stay relevant and effective in the vision G-d has entrusted to us to reach Jewish young adults, teens and children for Messiah Yeshua. 

How are you fulfilling the vision G-d has given to you?

Forward for Messiah!

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

Looking to the Future!

I am very encouraged to have Marly serving with us this summer. It has been several years since we had a summer intern. Part of this is related to the chaos of the last few years, but most of this is related to the fact that it is very hard to find a good intern interested in doing serious ministry!

Much has changed in our Messianic Jewish Community, just like much as changed in the greater Evangelical Christian Community. There are fewer young adults, fewer people willing to give up their time to do ministry service for little to no pay, and even fewer people willing to seriously consider a call of sacrificial ministry from G-d. The pull of self interest and secularism is so strong in our society that it has impacted the Body of Messiah, and left us weak.

At the same time, G-d is continuing to build His Community and people are still coming to faith in Messiah Yeshua. There might be a perceived weakening, but G-d is not surprised. We should not be surprised either. We must continue to stay vigilant, work hard in the ministry to which G-d has called each one of us, and remain open to the opportunities that G-d brings our way. We also need to accept that some things just won’t happen the way they used to. In Paul’s last letter to Timothy, he wrote,

“I solemnly charge you—in the presence of G-d and Messiah Yeshua, who is about to judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom— ² proclaim the Word! Be ready when it is convenient or inconvenient. Confront, rebuke, encourage—with complete patience and instruction. ³ For the time will come when they will not put up with sound instruction, but they will pile up for themselves teachers in keeping with their own desires, to have their ears tickled. ⁴ And they will turn away from hearing the truth and wander off to myths. ⁵ You, however, keep a clear mind in all things, withstand hardship, do the work of proclaiming the Good News, and fulfill your service. (2 Timothy 4:1-5 TLV)

I am grateful to know that there are still people willing to consider a service call from G-d. What has G-d called you to do?

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

Who is My Neighbor?

When I was growing up we didn’t really know our neighbors. We might have recognized them, said hello to them when we saw them, but really we had no idea who they actually were, nor did we much care. We were busy and so were they. Getting to really know people takes time and effort, and it’s even harder today than when I was growing up. We often nowadays have to literally go way out of our way to even say hello to people!

Who is my neighbor today? When Messiah Yeshua was asked this question he gave the illustration of the Samaritan fellow who helped the Jewish guy who was robbed and left for dead. The Samaritan went way out of his way to help someone who, in the content of their day, absolutely didn’t live next door to him. Yet the Samaritan expressed neighborly help that the two Jewish guys didn’t, who quite possibly might have lived on the same block as the Jewish guy who was robbed!

Maybe identifying a neighbor isn’t as much about proximity as it is about intentionality!

How often do we intentionally look to connect with people, regardless of where we find them? How often do we consider the needs of others, even when it inconveniences us, or even costs us? This month we celebrate Purim, and remember a couple of people who knew who their neighbors were. Individuals who weighed the personal cost of caring, and took intentional action anyway.  

At the end of the parable, Messiah Yeshua asked the Torah lawyer who initially asked the question, “Which of these three seems to you a neighbor to the one attacked by robbers?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Then Yeshua said to him, “Go, and you do the same.”

Who is your neighbor?

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

True Passion!

Superbowl Sunday is almost upon us!! For many it’s more about the commercials than the game. Yet there will be many passionate to see if they catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift this year. Passion is an interesting concept. I say concept because I think too many people do not know exactly what passion really is. They express enthusiasm, stating their love for pizza or brats, or as we see with the Superbowl, their allegiance to their favorite superstar… or sports team. But is this real passion? Of course there are the romantic notions of love expressed, but is much of this real passion?

The English word for passion comes from the Latin word patere, which means to suffer. The Hebrew word for passion is נָ֫פֶשׁ (nephesh) which has to do with our very being, our souls. Thus passion is more than mere superficial enthusiasm; it’s something much deeper.

True passion demands intense emotional and personal suffering

in regards to something longed for!

I think of Rav Shaul, (the Apostle Paul), and his statement “…my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart unending. For I would pray that I myself were cursed, banished from Messiah for the sake of my people… who are Israelites.” (Romans 9:2-4 TLV)

That’s true passion! That’s my passion! This is what drives me to get up early and work late. I want to see my Jewish people come to know who Messiah Yeshua really is!

What are you passionate about?

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director