Thank you for entering my page! Right now, you are probably searching to find out more about Jewish beliefs in Jesus. Perhaps, you are questioning your faith, and are looking at different options. Have you heard about Messianic Judaism? Are you curious about what it really is? Congregation Yeshuat Yisrael is a Messianic Jewish congregation in Nashville, Tennessee that is looking to recruit new members to its movement. There is only one problem...it is a completely Christian organization, part of the Southern Baptist movement. I will prove this, using information from their site and other Christian sites. Each time, references will be presented so that you can see the information with your eyes.
Southern Baptist Mother If you look at the Yeshuat Yisrael webpage, you will see that Ken Gibbs is listed as the "Rabbi" of Yeshuat Yisrael, while Bruce and Lynne Paterson are the
"Worship Leaders" of Yeshuat Yisrael. Here is the link to Yeshuat's home page so you can see this-they are listed at the bottom of the page, last box in the center:
Click Here In truth, Ken Gibbs is not a rabbi, but an ordained Baptist Minister. Here is the link to his listing in the Southern Baptist Convention's directory:
Click Here So who are Bruce and Lynne Patterson? The Pattersons are Christian musicians. According to Bruces's bio on the Pattersons' own webpage: "In addition to his classical studies, Bruce has been writing and performing Christian and Messianic music since the early eighties. Having memorized eleven books of the New Testament and many of the psalms and proverbs, Bruce is able to write songs that edify, inform and exhort the Body of Christ and unbeliever.
After traveling for several years with well known Christian/Classical ensemble' "Sabbath Rest", Bruce and his wife, Christian recording artist/songwriter Lynne Drysdale - Patterson base their home and concert ministry in Nashville, Tennessee."
As for his wife, Lynne: "In 1988, Lynne began In His Name Music ministries and has encouraged and inspired people with her music, her wit and warm personality in concerts and events across the country.
Lynne is a graduate of CLASS (Christian Leaders, Authors and Speakers) where she has trained under renowned Christian author and speaker Florence Littauer. She speaks regularly for Christian Women's Clubs of America and is the author of the Feasts of Israel Cookbook.
Lynne has appeared on several television programs on The Nashville Network, The Christian Broadcasting Network and The Christian Television Network."
Christian music? Memorizing the New Testament (Christian Bible)? Christian Women's Clubs of America and the Christian Broadcast Network? The Pattersons are not Jewish leaders, but Christian leaders! A real Jewish synagogue would never have them as "Worship Leaders"...actually, a real synagogue does not even use the term "Worship Leader", it is either a Cantor or a Ba'al Tzibur. Here is the link to the bio that the quotes are taken from. For Bruce, the quotes are from the middle of the first parargraph through the second paragraph. For Lynne, the quotes are from the end of the second paragraph through the fourth paragraph:
Click Here
Wedding Error On Yeshuat Yisrael's webpage, they announce that they will have a mock "Messianic Wedding." The state: "We will not have an actual wedding but the program will be like a wedding ceremony.
We will have a Chuppah (Wedding Canopy) and even give out a Ketubah to every married or engaged couple.
Here is the link to the quote, the quote is from the second paragraph:
Click Here There are a number of problems with giving out a Ketubah. First, a Ketubah is a Jewish wedding contract. Yeshuat Yisrael is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. No Christian group has the authority to give a Jewish wedding contract. Second, you would never give a Ketubah to a couple that is already married. In fact, there are two main rules governing a Jewish wedding: a) both couples agree to the marriage and b) the Ketubah is not given after the marriage has already taken place. The Ketubah, as stated earlier, is a wedding contract. It states items such as the duties of the husband to the wife, the penalty for not living up to the contract, etc. All of this must be established prior to the marriage, not after the marriage. This is an error that a real Jewish group would not make!
Lying About Judaism Yeshuat Yisrael often tries to present the case for their religion, but in the process, make horrendous lies about Judaism. For instance, on their "The Yeshiva" page, they state: "The Messianic Credentials of the King (Matthew 8:1-11:1)
His power over disease (Matthew 8:1-15)
Healing a Leper was a Messianic Miracle (a miracle only Messiah could preform)
No Jewish Leper under the Mosaic Law was ever healed
Miriam was healed before the Law
Naaman the Syrian was a Gentile
This causes the investigation of the Jewish priesthood to begin"
Here is the link to the quote, the quote is approximately 3/4 down the page after the listing of the Twelve Apostles (which they falsely call "The Yeshiva"):
Click Here So, what is the problem? Yeshuat Yisrael claims that no Jewish leper was ever healed under the laws given by Moses (Mosaic Law). If no leper was ever cured, why did G-d spend so much time in Leviticus Chapters 13 and 14 teaching the Priests how to diagnose leprosy (the entire beginning of Chapter 13) and the cleansing process of someone who is healed of leprosy (the entire beginning of Chapter 14). In fact, Chapter 14 of Leviticus states: "1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest. 3 3 And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; 4 then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop......."
It is clear from verse 3 that there is an expectation by G-d that people will be healed of leprosy. Verses 4 through 32 outline in details the cleansing process and the various sacrifices that the person who is cured of leprosy my bring. Now, if no one was ever going to be healed under Mosaic Law, would G-d really spend most of 2 chapters go through excruciating detail as to the laws regarding leprosy and its cleansing after the person is healed? Does G-d really give laws that can never be followed? Of course not! G-d gave specific directions to Moses and Aaron on this process. If G-d gave the law, it can only be because people would be healed, and the Priests would need to know the proper procedure after the healing. Yeshuat Yisrael clearly misrepresents the Jewish Bible on this issue.
Baptist Beliefs As Yeshuat Yisrael is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, it will probably not suprise you that their beliefs are practically identical to the beliefs of the Southern Baptist Convention. Yeshuat Yisrael tries to dress up its beliefs with Judaism, but it is obvious that they are Christian. They both believe in the virginal birth, the Holy Trinity, the actions of Satan trying to lure people to evil...all beliefs held in Christiniaty, but never part of Judaism. Each attempts to back their beliefs with Biblical verses, many from the Jewish Bible. However, their attempts to use the Jewish Bible can easily be shown to be obviously mis-interpreted and taken out of context. If you go to my "Great Sites, Priceless Information" section toward the end of this page, you will find many links to sites that easily prove that they are wrong. Messiah Truth and Jews for Judaism are probably the two that do this giving the most detail. Here are the links to Yeshuat Yisrael's Statement of Faith and The Baptist Faith and Message so you can see that the two group's beliefs are basically the same:
Yeshuat's Statement of Faith
The Baptist Faith and Message
Christian Listing
As Yeshuat Yisrael is really a Southern Baptist organization, it is not surprising that you can find their events listed on a Christian radio and event sites. For instance, they are listed on Solid Gospel 105's church list (under "Franklin", "Messianic Jewish"). A real Jewish synagogue would not be listed by a Christian radio station. Here is the link to the proof:
Click Here
Also, you can find Yeshuat Yisrael submitted a listing for an event with Christian Activities Online. Here is the link, they are under "Bruce and Lynne Patterson"-please note, after the first few listings, the listings are in alphabetical order, so you find the listing in the B's for "Bruce":
Click Here Would a real Jewish group be listed on that site? Of course not! Moreover, Yeshuat Yisrael's services are listed in two paragraphs of Chirstian radio station WNAZ. Here is the link to the proof, they are the 8th and 9th paragraph from the bottom (Editor's note, due to the length of the page and Yeshuat's placement, it is easier to find them from the BOTTOM than the top):
Click Here So what is the mission statement of WNAZ? Why, it is: "About WNAZ
The all newNAZ Mission Statement
The radio stations of Trevecca Nazarene University are Christian stations providing educational opportunities for leadership and service by programming ministry and information to the audiences. "
Clearly, this is a Christian radio station. Would a real Jewish group have its services listed on their site (Editor's note: You have to submit your event for WNAZ to list it-they do not do it "randomly)? Never! Here is the link to the quote:
Click Here Not only that, but Yeshuat Yisrael is listed on the website of 94.1 FM, another Christian station. Here is the link to the proof:
Click Here Now, how do we know that 94.1 is a Christian station? Well, if you go back to the previous link and go down to the very bottom of the page, you will see that it says "A proud member of the Salem Web Network, a division of Salem Communications" So what is the purpose of Salem Communications? The purpose is: "Salem Communications Corporation is the leading provider of radio programming, online resources and magazines targeted to the Christian and family themes audience."
Again, no real Jewish group would be listed on a Salem owned site like FM 94.1. Here is the link to the quote, the quote is from the first paragraph:
Click Here Here are other Christian sites that list them. A real Jewish synagogue would never be listed on all of these Christian sites. Steubenville Baptist Church:
Click Here Nashville Korean United Methodist Church-Listed as Congregation Yeshuat Yisrael under "Nashville-Churches", please note that their list is not in order:
Click Here Penrod Missionary Baptist Church-Listed under "Christian Resources":
Click Here Miami Christian University-Listed as "Congregation Yeshuat Yisrael", the link will take you to there old aol site, which connects to their current site:
Click Here Church Angel-They are under "Jewish Christian":
Click Here CrossSearch:
Click Here Little Branches- Yeshuat Yisrael is approximately half-way down the page:
Click Here
Bizarre Christian Painting On the Yeshuat Yisrael web-site, they have a picture of "Messiah is Born". The picture, however, is a very odd painting. The picture is of a baby (Jesus) being held by a woman and attended to by a man (presumably Mary and Joseph). The odd part of the picture is that the man is wearing a tallit on his head, like some weird head covering. A tallit is only worn when praying, not when playing with a baby. Some people may cover themselves with the tallit when praying certain prayers, to help with concentration, but no one wears a tallit in the manner that the man in the picture is wearing it. This is the type of a picture that a real Jewish group would never put on their web-site, even if it was not about Jesus...it just is clearly wrong in its use of a tallit and a real Jewish group would not allow a picture with errors about Jewish practice on its web-site. Here is the link to the picture so you can see the mistake:
Click Here
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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