Coalescence: The Result of Trust Building!

In March I was honored to be a part of a small group leadership gathering in Dallas. As a member of the Steering Committee for the gathering I was asked to facilitate a discussion regarding ways of building and growing trust among ourselves as ministry workers from different organizations. One word that popped into my mind relevant to trust building was coalescence.  Coalescence can most easily be illustrated, if you think scientifically, as “the process by which two or more droplets, bubbles or particles merge during contact to form a single daughter droplet, bubble or particle.” For my simple mind, coalescence is most easily defined as the process by which two separate entities grow closer together until they ultimately become one.

I find this to be particularly interesting in my capacity both as the Rabbi of Devar Emet Messianic Synagogue and as the current President of the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations. Developing trust between individuals within religious organizations is critical to ministry effectiveness. But trust grows slowly, demanding accountability, transparency and clarity of understanding between people, and yet is easily lost. Without these three values held closely, honestly and passionately among an entity’s constituents, “togetherness” can never be more than a superficial reality for any organization. Without these values an entity will inevitably and easily suffer division and chaos, and ultimately dissolution.

Patrick Lencioni in his book The Advantage speaks of four disciplines required for a healthy organization:

1)      Building Cohesive Leadership Teams

2)      Creating Clarity in Purpose and Policy

3)      Over-Communicating that Clarity

4)      Reinforcing that Clarity

Demanding real accountability, transparency and clarity from each member of a team, organization or communal entity is critical if the organization is to be healthy and to function in the way it’s supposed to. If these three values are not being carefully adhered to, trust will be diminished and ultimately lost, regardless of whether that entity is your local congregation or an international association like the UMJC.

Our faith in Messiah Yeshua demands that we live lives before one another of accountability, transparency and clarity. I agree it’s not easy, but Messiah Yeshua never promised us more than an execution stake in this world, so learning to build genuine trust with one another seems a small price to pay to living as effective members of the Messianic Kingdom.

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

How to Keep Your Faith from Growing Old

Today, April 11^th,  I turned 50. Born at the time of the conflict in Vietnam, growing up during the crisis with oil and inflation in the 70’s and coming of age during the tensions of Nuclear posturing with the Soviets during the 80’s, my formative years were filled with a sense of uncertainty. Our world seems much the same today: conflicts … concerns … uncertainty. G-d always seems to prefer working in times of uncertainty since our uncertainty demands from us his followers total reliance on Him, The Certain One. 

Growing up with all this tension, both inside and outside my home, all that mattered to me was that I would be a success – I wanted to make my indelible impression on this world! I knew that being successful would require a well thought out plan!

A Person Needs Goals to be a Success! - (1975)

Interestingly enough, G-d messed up my own plans for success! I became a follower of Messiah Yeshua on July 31, 1981 at the age of 15 through the witness of my friends Russ and Jeff, and it was only after coming to accept Yeshua’s Messiahship that I discovered what true and certain success really was: knowing G-d and following G-d! This is what brings true success and a genuine certainty for life. I want to first encourage you to personally make sure you have truly come to accept Yeshua’s Messiahship and sacrificial atonement for your sins if you have not already done so. I secondly want to encourage all of you who do accept Yeshua to have proper life goals; to invest your time and resources to strengthen Messiah’s Kingdom effort through your life!

My Life Purpose Statement

(Phil 3:7&8)   That I may know G-d and make Him known,

II Tim 2:2)       Entrusting to faithful men what Truth I have

                                been shown, so that they will do the same,

(II Tim 4:6-8)   In order that I will finish the Fight                                                                           well in the Faith

(I Cor 9:27)      Not becoming disqualified. - (1984)

Remember, successful people don’t just live life; they attack it for G-d’s glory! Life is a gracious gift provided by our Heavenly Father. Only marking time is a misuse of that divine gift.          (1988)

I’m 50 years old today, April 11th. In my life I have seen too many well-meaning people, followers of Messiah, make very bad choices that leave their lives a mess, usually because they let their faith grow cold. I remember when I first heard that old Keith Green song:

My eyes are dry, My faith is old, My heart is hard, My prayers are cold
And I know how I ought to be, Alive to You and dead to me

But what can be done For an old heart like mine, Soften it up, With oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love, Please wash me anew

With the wine of Your Blood

So how to keep your faith from growing old as you grow older? Below are five basic yet critically important principles that I live by and recommend to you:

1)    Pursue knowing G-d better each day of your life through careful reading of Scripture and intentional times of prayer with G-d

2)    Live a life of continual repentance of sin and actively distance yourself from the values of the world

3)    Commit yourself to living out a Radical Faith in G-d – always choose to do what G-d wants even if it’s hard and others think you are crazy!

4)    Determine to both be a disciple of a strong spiritual mentor and to be a spiritual mentor of those who need spiritual training and encouragement

5)    Share with others all that G-d has done for you

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the one you did do… Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain

If you are going to choose to do something out of the box with your life, explore, dream and discover G-d’s plan for you! Despite the uncertainty of our time, we know that G-d is working and moving our world toward His certain end, the Kingdom of our Messiah Yeshua! Live your life for the purpose of building up Messiah’s Kingdom through your time and resources. This will be true kind of investment will bring a certain reward.

Forward for Messiah!

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

Certainty in Uncertain Times

On April 11th I turn 50. Born at the time of the conflict in Vietnam, growing up during the crisis with oil and inflation in the 70’s and coming of age during the tensions of Nuclear posturing with the Soviets during the 80’s, my formative years were filled with a sense of uncertainty. Our world seems much the same today: conflicts … concerns … uncertainty. G-d always seems to prefer working in times of uncertainty since our uncertainty demands from us his followers total reliance on Him, The Certain One. 

Since we know that knowing G-d and following G-d provides for us his certainty, how should we be investing ourselves, our time and our resources today? I want to encourage you this month to Invest your time and finances to strengthen G-d’s Kingdom effort! 

Messiah Yeshua warned us about investing: “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal.” 

On April 16th Devar Emet celebrates 20 years of ministry work as a unique part of G-d’s greater Kingdom effort. Much has been accomplished as you will see in this newsletter, yet so much remains to be done. The future is uncertain.

Despite the uncertainty of our time, we know that G-d is working and moving our world toward His certain end, the Kingdom of our Messiah Yeshua! Let us generously work together to build up Messiah’s Kingdom through our time and resources. This kind of investment will bring a certain reward.

Forward for Messiah!

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

The Hard Work of Resting

For much of the last few weeks I have taken time away from Skokie. Technically I was on a sabbatical. No I wasn’t wasting time doing nothing. I’m way too Type A for that. I was busy reading, writing and thinking, but without the stress of interruption from calls, emails, texts and unexpected crisis walking into my office. It was very restful! My mind lately had grown exhausted from what has been a very exciting and effective time of almost continuous ministry. Not all burdens will exhaust the body, but all burdens can exhaust our mind and spirit.

Rest is of course a Scriptural commandment. Yeshua our Messiah himself spoke this challenge to us in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Yeshua is not speaking here of taking a break from doing the dishes, instead he is speaking of our laying on him the deep burdens of our heart and mind.

Laying our burdens at the feet of our Messiah Yeshua brings rest. For those of us in ministry work, whether vocational or volunteer, this means rest from assuming responsibility for what we can’t control; rest from activity that G-d hasn’t actually called us to do; rest from people who won’t choose to change no matter how much time we might pour into their lives.

Yeshua calls us to rest in him, in who he is and in his sovereignty over our lives as Melech Mashiach, King Messiah!

Impacting our world for Messiah demands our willingness to work hard for him while at the same time resting fully in him. Paradoxical yes, but isn’t that always G-d’s way? Something to think about!

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

Still Looking for Truth

Marketing experts write that every three to five years our culture completely reinvents itself, with the process compressing with each passing cycle. This change is not just limited to the United States or even Western Civilization; the entire world is going through this process of societal and cultural upheaval. Current societal change is often mistakenly called “Postmodernism”, an older term describing societal trends in the 1970’s breaking from what used to be “Modernism”. But in reality what society has become today is highly individualized, what British Philosopher Dr. Alan Kirby calls “Pseudo-Modernism. Kirby states, “whereas postmodernism favoured the ironic, the knowing and the playful, with their allusions to knowledge, history and ambivalence, pseudo-modernism’s typical intellectual states are ignorance, fanaticism and anxiety”.

Today in America personalized spirituality is all the rage, even if these same individuals can’t express any deep understanding of what it is that they actual believe. Fanatical commitment, at least for short periods of time, has been evident as well (remember the “Occupy Wall Street” protests a few years back?), but just not to religious faith as statistics show that now 27% of Americans state as “None” their affiliation with organized religion. Today, by some estimates, there are five to eight times as many high school and college students being diagnosed with anxiety disorder as was true half a century or more ago. As Dr. Peter Gray wrote recently, “The changes seem to have much more to do with the way young people view the world than with the way the world actually is.”

The truth is that people today are still looking for Truth, they just might not realize it.

Reaching people in our ever adjusting secular society will require that we tenaciously adjust, creatively consider and honestly evaluate our methods of communicating the Message of Messiah Yeshua, never deviating from the clear proclamation of our message. And one more thing: we need to make sure our message is clearly validated through the actions of our everyday lives.

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

https://philosophynow.org/issues/58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond - Dr. Kirby

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201001/the-decline-play-and-rise-in-childrens-mental-disorders - Dr. Gray

Effective Service!

Happy 2016, I think. It’s too early to tell whether this will be a good New Year or not, but regardless, this year too will pass, and if we are not careful, will pass us by without much lasting result. Devar Emet Messianic Jewish Outreach will be celebrating it’s 20 year anniversary in April; I also will be turning 50 that same month. It’s hard to imagine! As I reflect on these years, I would like to share some important principles for effective service for G-d that is important for all of us as believers to consider regardless of our age or occupation.

Effective service for G-d doesn’t just happen, it takes continuous development! Devar Emet began out of a desire Carla and I had to do something new within the Jewish community that would allow us to effectively reaching out to Jewish friends and neighbors with the truth of Yeshua’s Messiahship. We had done ministry in previous contexts, but we had always felt held back from trying new things that to some seemed edgy, like working with children and teens. All ministry efforts can over time grow complacent, lose their edge and become hardened into a comfortable and acceptable pattern of busyness. Organizations and congregations need to seek renewal, make time for reflection, and be willing to think outside the box to really stay effective. But most importantly, they must never ignore new approaches to reaching out and communicating the Good News of Messiah to our ever changing world.

Effective service for G-d requires staying flexible, being uncomfortable, and keeping focused on G-d’s task! I see as people age that they tend to shy away from what’s hard and uncomfortable. This may be natural, but for the believer it must be avoided. Working with people, especially people who don’t believe in Yeshua, is always hard work. The longer we walk with Messiah, the more effective we should be becoming in our ability to witness and spiritually encourage others. My passion for us as followers of Messiah Yeshua is that we stay ready for and focused on the important Kingdom work G-d has for us to do each and every day.

Effective service for G-d must inevitably lead to the raising up of new qualified workers for service!  G-d’s work always needs new workers. It is my prayer that G-d will work through our outreach at Devar Emet to raise up many new workers to serve G-d, individuals who are willing to give their lives to meet spiritual, emotional and physical needs within the Jewish community in the name of the Messiah! The need is absolute as even now the work is greater than our over-extended time and efforts can handle. Yeshua said in Matthew 9:36 when he saw the crowds, “The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. Pray that the L-RD of the harvest will send out workers to gather in his harvest.” This is my passion and hopefully yours as well. It is a tall order, both in time and finances, but this is G-d’s work and He will provide for what He wants to have done until our Messiah Yeshua returns!

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director

Faith is Not for the 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