8 Adar 5777
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Christian bible)
Proselytize - to convert or attempt to convert as a proselyte; recruit.
Evangelize - to convert to Christianity.
Most Jews just don't get it. Proselytizing is the duty of every Christian. And every Christian serious about his faith engages in it. Jews would be very surprised to know the lengths that a Christian will go to in order to "win" one soul; the time and patience they are willing to invest.
The Christian bible describes the process in agricultural terms - planting and harvesting. One person might plant a seed with a good deed and it might be months or even years later before it grows into something that will bear fruit. But, they very much anticipate the "reaping of a harvest" one day. HaYovel Ministries which provides 'free' Christian labor to Israeli farmers is very big on this idea.
Jews who are involved with this group and others like it, want to believe the Christians are investing all their resources into Jewish causes with no ulterior motive whatsoever. They refuse to accept that all these 'good deeds' have strings attached; that the Christians have been patiently building relationships across the Jewish world with an aim towards eventually introducing them to J----.
EvangelismCoach - Relational Evangelism
There are many different personal evangelism methods being taught these days....
Friendship evangelism is often defined around “earning the right to be heard.” Build an intentional relationship, earn credibility, and wait for spiritual conversation to come about. When the topic of faith comes up, you’ve earned the right to share your faith in Christ.
...I look at relational evangelism this way:
Living in such a way that your faith is obvious AND being intentional in talking about the gospel in the context of intentional relationships. The gospel spreads through credible witnesses in the context of personal relationships over the course of time, with intentionality on the part of the Christian believer.When Christians give gifts of money, political support or free labor, they are attempting to build within the Jew a feeling of obligation whose pay-off will eventually result in an opportunity to "share" their faith. The key is to get the Jew to ask, because if they merely answer questions which the Jew himself initiates, they do not consider this to be proselytizing.
This email exchange which I recently received is a good example of this technique:
Shalom Devash,
Might I first start off by acknowledging my love of your name. Nothing is as 'sweet as honey' as another who loves our Lord, [yud-kay-vav-kay], and His Mashiach -- of whom we patiently await His coming.
I have been a follower for almost a year and truly appreciate your blog. I enjoy reading your posts and have gained a greater understanding of the imminency of His coming through several posts of yours. I have also gained a greater understanding of the great State of Israel, and the view of Orthodox beliefs through the various things you post.
I am recently back from Israel myself, having spent 9 months there - and I just fell in love with it. It is such an amazing land….. and I cannot wait to return!!
However, in my time there I have learned a few things that have been eye opening for me... and I believe would be for you as well. And so I would like to know if you would wish to engage in a bit of correspondence, so that I might share. I do not want to send anything unsolicited, so I look forward to hearing back to learn of an interest in opening up a conversation.
All the best, Lover of HaMashiachI replied: "Wow, 9 months in Israel! How did you ever manage that?" He responded in part...
My initial interest to go to the Holy Land was laid by a combination of factors...teachings of my Rabbi; teachings from those searching the Torah Codes; and finally the experience of Natan on Sukkot 2015...
However, once I got there I started being exposed to more... The Truth of HaShem. Which is why I reached out....
You too seem to be on your quest of discovery of the Truth as well, and I thought I might be able to share... In fact, there is a man in the Old City of Jerusalem that I met, who like the late righteous man of God, Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, had a visit from the Mashiach in a vision --- and who loves to share his story! (I will share with you his information so that you can meet him yourself as well)
First though, I would want to lay a groundwork of understanding. I am only interested in sharing Truth.
If you are in agreement that the א is The Most High's letter.... Then I can certainly be in a place to start sharing. I do have a bit that, as I said, would be eye opening, and so if your heart is open to challenging preconceptions, let me know.....
Shalom, -----I replied with two questions. I asked for the name of his "rabbi" and the name of his contact in the Old City. There was no further response from him. I have no doubt he's a Christian seeking an 'in' to make his case.
This is the same deceptive tactic used by Christians the world over:
- Establish contact
- Gush a bit to win favor
- Start looking for common ground on which to open a relationship
- Seek an invitation to engage
- Begin to "share"
So, YES! Evangelical Christians - ALL Christians - proselytize. Jews, beware!
