Hello and welcome to my site! Are you interested in Messianic Judaism and live in the Sherman Oaks, California vicinity? Beth Ariel Fellowship advertises itself as a congregation where Jewish identity is "nurtured." In truth, it is not a Jewish congregation, but a Christian organization. Specifically, it is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America, a Christian denomination. I will demonstrate this, using information from their site and other Christian sites. Reference links will be provided, so you can see the evidence for yourself.
Christian Home Beth Ariel is a full-member of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA). A real Jewish organization would never be part of a national evangelical Christian movement! In fact, you can find Beth Ariel in their church directory. Here is the link to the EFCA directory of its churches in Sherman Oaks California, you will find Beth Ariel on the list.
Click Here Further, Beth Ariel Fellowship is in the church listing for the EFCA's West Region. Here is the link to the church list, they are listed under "Sherman Oaks":
Click Here Let's be logical here: a real Jewish congregation would never be part of the Evangelical Free Church of America-only Christian churches are members of that organization!
Christian Leader Louis Lapides, the leader of Beth Ariel, often talks of having been Jewish as a child. However, his education since childhood has been almost exclusively a Christian education. According to the Beth Ariel web-site: "Our spiritual leader, Louis Lapides, prefers the title "pastor" as he is ordained by the Evangelical Free Church of America organization. Pastor Lapides has a BA degree in Old Testament from Dallas Baptist University. In addition, Louis attended Talbot Theological Seminary where he earned his Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees in Old Testament and Semitic Languages. Pastor Louis also completed studies towards Ph.D. work at UCLA in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Languages and Cultures."
As a start, Lapides is an ordained Christian minister. A real Jewish organization would not be led by a Christian minister! Here is the link to the quote, the quote comes from point 4 in the Beth Ariel FAQ:
Click Here That leaves the question about Lapides educational resume; what are these schools he attended? Lapides received a BA from Dallas Baptist University. As you can tell by the name, Dallas Baptist University is a Christian, not a Jewish school. How does Dallas Baptist describe its goals? According to the Dallas Baptist web-site: "Guided by the shepherding hearts of DBU's faculty and staff, our students go into the world with a mature Christian faith and an awareness of their responsibility and Christ-like uniqueness in today's global society.
Again, it is obvious that Dallas Baptist University is a school for Christian, not Jewish training. Here is the link to the above quote, the quote comes from the last sentence on the page:
Click Here Next, there is Talbot Theological Seminary, where Lapides received a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees. Talbot is another evangelical Christian institution. According to the Talbot web-site: "The theological position of Talbot School of Theology is Christian, protestant, and theologically conservative."
Again, is this really an organization that educates Jewish leaders. The obvious answer is "no." No real Jewish leader would have a degree from Talbot! Here is the link to the quote, the quote is the first line from the "Theologically" heading:
Click Here In sum, Lapides is a Christian-educated minister, not a Jewish leader. Even Trinity Broadcast Network lists Louis Lapides in its directory. Here is the link to the listing:
Click Here For those that are not familiar with the Trinity Broadcast Network, according to the Trinity web-site: "TBN is now the world's largest Christian television network."
Would a real Jewish leader be listed by Trinity? Never! Here is the link to the quote, the quote is from the paragraph next to the map of the United States:
Click Here Not surprisingly, you can find Louis Lapides giving advice to other EFCA West ministers on how to run their church more efficiently. Here is a link to Zipline, the EFCA West newsletter, which reports Lapides advocates the use of MyChurchEvents.com (under "Better Calendar Management"):
Click Here Interestingly, Louis Lapides has a big fan in John Tesh, former Entertainment Tonight co-host and born-again Christian. On John Tesh's web-site, where you can find a wide array of Christian material, Tesh has a section of the sited called "FaithMD". According to Tesh's site: "FaithMD is dedicated to providing valuable information and uplifting inspiration to assist you in your personal "walk with God." Our publisher, John Tesh (6-time Emmy Award winning journalist and world-renowned musician) envisioned FaithMD as a resource that would deliver "intelligence for your faith" through expert interviews with respected figures in the Christian community. As a result, with the help of a diligent research team, the FaithMD website and newsletter were born. FaithMD strives to present the most practical, informative advice on a wide array of topics that are most important to you as a Christian. FaithMD is firmly committed to creating a gathering place for dialogue and discovery to help you find spiritual guidance in your everyday life.
Our lead advisor, Pastor Louis S. Lapides, M.Div., Th.M., heads the team of researchers at FaithMD. Pastor Lapides is the founder and Senior Pastor of Beth Ariel Fellowship in Sherman Oaks, California. He has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada as a seminar instructor with Walk Thru the Bible Seminars to help participants retain an overview of the key events, geography, and history of both Old and New Testaments. Pastor Lapides has taught as a Professor in Biblical Studies at Biola University in La Mirada, California."
So, we see clearly that FaithMD is a Christian advice column, and Louis Lapides is a leader of FaithMD. No real Jewish leader would be involved with this type of program, only a Christian leader! Here is the link to the above quote:
Click Here Now, in the above quote, it mentions that Lapides taught at Biola University. How does Biola describe itself? According to their web-site: "Biola University is a private Christian university founded in 1908. We offer 145 academic programs, ranging from the B.A. to the Ph.D., through six schools. All are regionally and professionally accredited and based on evangelical Christianity."
Not exactly a place where Jewish instructors would work, only Christian teachers. However, since Lapides graduated from Talbot Theological Seminary and since Talbot is part of Biola, it would make sense that he would teach there. Here is the link to the quote:
Click Here As for the Walk Thru the Bible Seminars, the goal of Walk Thru is: "Walk Thru the Bible International equips Christians from other countries with Bible teaching, tools, and training so that they may teach, train, and disciple others."
Teaching Christians so they can gain more Christian disciples? Again, not exactly a Jewish activity. Here is the link to the quote, the quote is at the top right-hand box titled "One Bible teacher for every 50,000 people on earth":
Click Here
Christian Beliefs If you look at the Beth Ariel Fellowship beliefs, they are identical to standard Christian beliefs. As a comparison, I will provide links to the Beth Ariel Fellowship beliefs and the beliefs of the Denver Seminary, a Christian evangelical school, so you can see that they are practically identical. On a side note, Beth Ariel attempts to back their beliefs with citation of verses, some from the Jewish Bible. If you go to my "Great Sites, Priceless Information" section, you will find numerous web-sites that prove Beth Ariel uses the verses out of context, improperly translated and poorly understood:
Beth Ariel beliefs
Denver Seminary beliefs
Christian Links As Beth Ariel is a wholly a Christian organization, it is not suprising that you find that they provide links to numerous Christian evangelical organizations on their web-sites. If you look at the Beth Ariel web-site, their "Links" page is broken up into four sections: "Messianic Jewish Websites", "General Jewish sites, Middle East conflict and Israel-related" (which are all political and not really religious sites), "Books, Music, Judaica" (all of whom are Messianic links) and "Other Christian Websites" (which include links to groups like the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association). Clearly, this is not exactly the list of web-sites a real Jewish group would provide. Here is the link to their "Links" page, so you can see the evidence with your own eyes:
Click Here With this in mind, it is far from shocking that one can find Beth Ariel Fellowship on numerous Christian sites, sites that would never list a real Jewish organization! Here are a few evangelical Christian organizations that link to Beth Ariel: Trinity Broadcast Network (this is the largest Christian media organization in the world):
Click Here The Christian Business & Professional Directory Inc.:
Click Here Calvalry Chapel Hilo (under "Christian Ministries"):
Click Here
CrossSearch:
Click Here Christian & Messianic Web Hosting Net:
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Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here
An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here Countermissionary Counseling
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them:
Jews for Judaism Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Torah Atlanta
Outreach Judaism
Torah Life and Living Great Sites, Priceless Information
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Messiah Page Messiah Truth Jews for Judaism Outreach Judaism Counter Missionary Reference Torah Atlanta Messianic Verses in Tanach Kosher Judaism Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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