Jun 20, 2012
Posted by Scripture Solutions on Jun 20, 2012 | Comments Off on Just Published! Jesus or Yeshua: Exploring the Jewish Roots of Christianity
Today ScriptureSolutions published a new booklet written by Louis Lapides. This brief book can be found for Kindle at Amazon.
Jesus or Yeshua: Exploring the Jewish Roots of Christianity by Louis Lapides
It came to no surprise to me that when I first became a Jewish follower of Yeshua, I was going to have a cultural crisis trying to fit into a Gentile Church. I lasted a few months before I started asking inevitable questions, “I’m Jewish. Jesus is Jewish. His first followers were Jewish. The New Testament was written by Jews and a lot of the concepts they discussed have a powerful Hebraic background. Then why is Christianity so “not-Jewish”?
Jesus or Yeshua: Exploring the Jewish Roots of Christianity provides the reader with some of the findings I came upon as searched for answers to my questions. For me a lot of the issues were resolved when I studied the origin of most of the terminology used by Christians when describing their beliefs and practices. When I was growing up attending Hebrew school in preparation for my Bar Mitzvah I never expected that Rabbi Printz would tell me that the mass practiced by the Catholic Church across the street from our temple was actually based in the Jewish Passover. Nor was I told that baptism has it’s origins in the Jewish practice of immersion or mikveh used when Gentiles would turn from their paganism and convert to Judaism.
Attending a church for me at age 23 was a shocker as I describe in my opening chapter. Here is a sample section from that chapter that will give you an idea of what Jesus or Yeshua: Exploring the Jewish Roots of Christianity is all about.
Here’s a shocker . . . Jewish people don’t feel at ease in a Christian church. The first time I attended a Protestant congregation, a Southern Baptist one, I couldn’t avert my eyes from the 10-foot tall stained glass mosaic of Jesus looming behind the pastor. I imagined for a few moments the man from Galilee was about to step out of the window, float over to my pew and ask whether I noticed the “Jews Not Welcome” sign at the church’s front door. “Of course,” I would respond, “But Jesus, aren’t you . . . .?”
(more…)
Nov 21, 2011
Posted by Scripture Solutions on Nov 21, 2011 | Comments Off on Jesus is the Only Path to God; You Just Don’t Know It
There’s not a Christian alive who does not know the contents of John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
What is there not to understand about this verse? How much clearer can Jesus be about the fact men and women come to the Father through Him alone? Yes, it is an exclusive statement that excludes the validity of other religious figures (and their followers) like Buddha, Muhammad, Krishna and every other so-called deity or religion. John 14:6 is everything but inclusive.
Is Jesus actually a backdoor Redeemer?
Leave it to Rob Bell to find a loophole in what I call a “Christianity 101 Bible verse”. Bell says on page 154 of his widely read book Love Wins, “What He [Jesus] doesn’t say is how or when, or in what manner the mechanism functions that gets people to God through Him. He doesn’t even state that those coming to the Father through Him will even know that they are coming exclusively through him. He simply claims that whatever God is doing in the world to know and redeem and love and restore is happening through him.”
When I think of all the off-the-wall theological comments Bell makes in Love Wins, this is the worst. Would Acts 4:12 make it clearer for Bell? “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
For Bell to claim Jesus doesn’t “even state that those coming to the Father through Him will even know they are coming exclusively through Him,” is heresy or just plain mental confusion. Is Bell saying a person who places his faith in Buddha is actually saved through Jesus; he just doesn’t know it. What about Satan worshippers? Where is this taught in the Bible? Are people who worshipped Molech or Baal in the ancient Canaanite culture actually worshippers of the God of Israel; they just didn’t know it. Why didn’t the God of Israel instruct Israel to enlighten the Canaanites instead of tearing down their altars and wiping them out? (more…)
Oct 2, 2011
Posted by Scripture Solutions on Oct 2, 2011 | Comments Off on Which Jesus Should You Believe In?
The book that has pushed the most hot buttons with Christians this year is Pastor Rob Bell’s work Love Wins. It’s not surprising a book that questions the existence of hell and hedges on whether all people go to heaven would make the front cover of Time Magazine.
Crazy Christians Getting in the Way of Jesus
In the initial chapter Bell puts forth the question: When it comes to accepting Jesus, which Jesus do we invite into our lives? The author puts this important question in his own distinct way, “. . . think about the many who know about Christians only from what they’ve seen on television and so assume that Jesus is antiscience, antigay, standing out on the sidewalk with his bullhorn, telling people that they’re going to burn forever” (Love Wins, pg. 8).
I think Bell makes a good point.
Here’s why. I am a NY Yankee fan – the most hated team in baseball, especially by Boston Red Sox fans. And the feelings are mutual. Yet if you were to become a Yankee fan based on what a Red Sox fan claims about the Bronx Bombers, you’d never consider wearing a dark blue baseball cap with a NY insignia on the front.
I’ve known the NY team since the days of Mantle, Berra and Whitey Ford. I can tell you a lot about the great achievements of the team. In addition, I also have a lot of respect for many past Red Sox teams and players.
Let’s face it. You’ll never become a fan of the Yankees by speaking to a fan of the LA Dodgers, Anaheim Angels or Boston Red Sox. Instead, I’d tell you to interview real Yankee fans. Go to a Yankee game at Yankee Stadium. Read the history of the team. Learn about the Yankees from people who love the team and not from people who wear the NY caps to be stylish or pretend they’re Yankees fans immediately after they win the World Series.
I’d tell you the same thing about Jesus. Speak to people who truly know Him and have walked with Him for a good portion of their lives to truly learn about Christ. (more…)
Mar 3, 2011
Posted by Scripture Solutions on Mar 3, 2011 | Comments Off on You’re Invited To The Scripture Solutions Blog
Are you bombarded by invitations like I am? I’m invited to add friends on Facebook and business acquaintances on Linkedin. I receive requests from meet-up groups to network with like-minded individuals in my profession. Invites flow like a river for me to sign up on my one-millionth email list, return to college, attend a friend’s birthday party via an eInvite or meet up with a neighborhood insurance salesperson.
One Invite You Can’t Pass Up
Someone where floating on the choppy sea of invitations is the one invite I cannot ignore, and that’s the invitation from the Lord to spend time in His word. In this weekly blog my goal is to help you respond to God’s invitation to attend His presence and to serve as your host to introduce you to the timeless truths of Scripture. Now, how can you pass up such an invitation?
(more…)
