Showing posts with label Dan Juster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dan Juster. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Untrained, Charismatic Preachers: A Disturbing Trend in Today's Church - DAN JUSTER CHARISMA NEWS

(Photo by Matthias Wagner on Unsplash)

Untrained, Charismatic Preachers: A Disturbing Trend in Today's Church

DAN JUSTER  CHARISMA NEWS
Today, we are dealing with a significant problem in theology. Much of the theology is being taught to believers by preaching media stars and church leaders whom I would call low-information preachers. They may have charisma, and they can hold a crowd well, but sometimes they say outlandish and even heretical things. Some of the most glaring examples are statements claiming that the Old Testament no longer applies to us or that it is irrelevant for New Covenant Christians. One such preacher even said that he put a sword through the Old Testament to be free from it. The error is even more glaring in the light of the numerous assertions in the New Testament of the authority and value of the Hebrew Bible. One has to ask if these preachers ever had one course helping them to understand the Hebrew Bible and its application to the New Covenant era. I doubt it. Of course, gaining insight into the Torah and the ritual system of the tabernacle is much more challenging than gaining insight into the love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. Yet these writings can be understood and applied. It is important to do so.
The New Testament's Teaching on the Authority of the Hebrew Bible
The Teaching of Yeshua
In Matthew 5:17-18 (NIV), we read, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter or the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Yeshua then goes on in the rest of the chapter to show how the Torah is applied in the New Covenant.
The Teaching of Paul
Speaking of the Hebrew Scriptures, Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that all Scripture is "God breathed," and is "profitable for doctrine, reproof and for training in righteousness." He urges Timothy (and us) to study these Scriptures in order to demonstrate that we are proper workmen who can rightly handle the word of God (2:15). What sort of a workman starts by throwing more than two-thirds of the materials away? I wouldn't want to live in a house built by such a workman!
In Romans 15:4, Paul tells us that the Hebrew Bible was written to "teach us so that through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope." In 16:26, we read that what has been revealed to us now has been "made known by the prophetic writings by the eternal command of God so that all nations might believe in him."
Peter's Statement
Peter echoes this and says that the Scriptures came not by the will of men, but that men spoke as they were carried along by the Spirit (2 Pet. 1:20).
Summary
And we can go on and on. We really cannot understand the New Testament without the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed, much of the New Testament is interpretation and re-application of the Hebrew Bible. So much of God's future plan for world redemption and peace is in the Hebrew Bible. When the apostles were teaching, there was no New Testament; they relied on the Hebrew Bible. In fact, the entire early church was made up of "Old Testament only" Christians!
The current statements against the Old Testament are reminiscent of a false teaching in the 2nd century A.D. called Marcionism which was condemned in Church History. It is again time to correct this false teaching and restore the authority of the Hebrew Bible. 
Dan Juster is the director of Tikkun Ministries International, a Messianic Jewish ministry. He is an author and has been in Messianic Jewish ministry since 1972.
This article originally appeared at tikkun.tv.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Prophetic Revelation: This Is What the Restoration of the Church and Israel Looks Like Today - JENNY ROSE CURTIS CHARISMA NEWS

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

What Is Israel's Distinct Place in the Age to Come? - DAN JUSTER CHARISMA NEWS

Scripture firmly asserts Israel's place in the age to come. (Flickr )

What Is Israel's Distinct Place in the Age to Come?

DAN JUSTER  CHARISMA NEWS
Standing With Israel
There are so many texts that assert a glorious place for Israel in the age to come. Space only allows us to quote a few.
"Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem for generations and generations. (Joel 3:20).
Indeed, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman will overtake the one who is reaping, and the treader of grapes the one who is sowing the seed; the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them upon their land, and no more will they be uprooted out of their land which I have given them. The Lord your God has spoken (Amos 9:13-15).
"The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In the last days, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall go and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more (Is. 2:1-4).
These Scriptures seem to describe conditions on a renewed earth, not in heaven.
Note the parallel in Isaiah 11. After the sword comes from the anointed of the Lord, the Messiah, and He slays the wicked, we read in verses 6-9:
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
This description again is of a renewed Earth.
Isaiah 2Isaiah 19:20-24Isaiah 6566Zechariah 14Malachi , Revelation 11Acts 15Romans 15, and Revelation 21. These passages describe a real world with real people who are wonderfully distinct. The age to come is best understood as all goodness, beauty and truth that we have known in this world, redeemed and enhanced at an amazing level beyond our comprehension.
Zechariah 14 says all nations will come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Those who do not go up will not have rain on their lands. This does not seem to fit the everlasting age of consummation—the eternal state in a new heaven and a new earth.
In addition, there are promises of a restored Levitical priesthood and a restored temple (Ezekiel 40-48Jer. 33:17-18).
This idea of a restored temple where sacrifices are offered is the most difficult of the millennial text for people whose sensibilities cannot embrace the literal idea. Even some pre-millennialists cannot embrace it.
For pre-millennial thinkers, Revelation 20 provides an interpretive key to these passages, Satan is bound for 1000 years, and the martyrs live again. They rule and reign with Messiah for 1000 years.
If those who have embraced Yeshua are the bride of the Messiah, then who are the guests at the wedding? If we rule with him, who are the ruled?
How will the 12 apostles of Yeshua sit on thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel?
We could go on and on. However, one can see how only a pre-millennial view ties together these many passages and makes the symbolism more coherent. We also believe there is an application of these same truths to every tribe, tongue and nation in the millennium. The literal fulfillment of prophecies to the nation of Israel causes most Messianic Jews to embrace pre-millennialism—exactly what was believed by the Apostolic church for the first few centuries. 
Dan Juster is the director of Tikkun Ministries International, a Messianic Jewish ministry. He is an author and has been in Messianic Jewish ministry since 1972.
For the original article, visit reviveisrael.org.
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!
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Friday, November 18, 2016

Israel: The Missing Piece in End Times Theology - DAN JUSTER/FOR REVIVE ISRAEL CHARISMA NEWS

The Book of Zechariah says than in an amazing time of repentance after the battle, Israel will "look upon Him whom they have pierced." (reviveisrael.org)

Israel: The Missing Piece in End Times Theology


Standing With Israel
Eschatology is the study of the last days and the age to come.
A consensus has developed in the doctrine of eschatology in the Christian world. Today, we could almost call these points truisms, though not all are aware of them.
Here is the general consensus: The last days began with the coming of Yeshua and continued to progress with his death, resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot). The kingdom of God has come, but its full manifestation will come with the second coming of Yeshua.
Cataclysm and Intervention
The "last of the last days" now refers to the events that will take place shortly before the Second Coming of Yeshua. This time will include a difficult trial for God's people as they are resisted by the powers of darkness. In Jewish thought, this time is called the birth pangs of the Messiah (Sanhedrin 98). Classical Jewish eschatology generally tracks with the church on the issue of a great trial at the end of this age. I call this view "Cataclysm and Intervention."
However, at the end, God's people will be delivered, and we will enter into the age to come. This broad consensus is even reflected in the Roman Catholic catechism, which states:
"Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the 'mystery of iniquity' in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.
"The church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and resurrection. The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil."
What About Israel?
Our teaching is very much in accord with this consensus, but we believe it is missing the end-times piece connected to Israel and the Jewish people. Concerning Israel, the Hebrew Scriptures constantly give reference to a final battle (Joel 3Isaiah 25-27Ezekiel 38, 39, and so many more) linked with the Jewish people in Israel. Let's examine just one.
Zechariah 1214 – Here, we read of the invasion of the nations and the battle for Jerusalem. This leads to an amazing time of repentance after the battle, and Israel looks upon Him whom they have pierced (12:10), which classically is looked at as Israel turning to Yeshua. At the end of this great battle, the nations all turn to God and worship Him annually in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).
Thankfully, we are seeing Israel and the Jewish people become a general consensus in the church's end-times theology in our day—just as they were a central focus for the Hebrew prophets as they spoke of the events of the end times. 
Dan Juster is an author and advocate of Messianic Judaism. He has served in the Messianic Jewish movement since 1972. He is the founder and director of Tikkun International, a network of congregations and ministries in the United States and abroad dedicated to the restoration of Israel and the church.
For the original article, visit reviveisrael.org.
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!
Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.
Did you enjoy this blog? Click here to receive it by email.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Could This Jewish Temple Prevent World War 3?

Standing With Israel
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Friday, July 11, 2014
Could This Jewish Temple Prevent World War 3?
Jewish Temple
If true, this would be "the greatest archaeological discovery of all time" according to Frank Turek, and would forever change the way Jews, Muslims and Christians view the Holy Land conflict.
read more 
  
Olive tree
The Church And Israel Share a Destiny
Messianic theologian Dan Juster further explores the reconnection between Israel and the church.
Israel Tour 2014
7:00AM EDT 7/8/2014  
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Shiite Muslims
America, Disengage in Iraq
Here's why taking a hands-off approach to the war between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq would be beneficial for America and for Israel.
Is U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (l) really drawing parallels
between Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel and Palestine?
What John Kerry Fails to Understand About Israeli and Palestinian Cultures
Jews are disgusted at the senseless death of a poor Arab boy, while Palestinians celebrate the murder of three Jewish boys. So why does Secretary of State John Kerry act as if the cultures are the same?
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Israel Tour 2014
Palestinian rioters
Does Moral Symmetry Exist Between Israel and Palestine?
Israel Hayom columnist David M. Weinberg contends that, when it comes to morality and ethics, the two entities are polar opposites.
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7:00AM EDT 7/9/2014  
 
Israel Tour 2014
 
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Media

Thursday, March 13, 2014

How Did Messianic Speakers Do at Christ at the Checkpoint?

How Did Messianic Speakers Do at Christ at the Checkpoint?

Thursday, March 13, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff  
It is no secret that much of the Israeli Messianic community was wary of some of their number not only attending, but accepting invitations to speak at the Christ at the Checkpoint currently taking place in Bethlehem.
Most in the Messianic community view Christ at the Checkpoint as a platform for thinly-veiled Replacement Theology and anti-Israel propaganda, and feared those Messianic leaders who were scheduled to speak there would fall into the trap of appeasing their hosts.
Now that both Messianic leaders who were scheduled to speak from the main podium - Dan Juster and Oded Shoshani - have done so, how did they do?
Firstly, readers should head over to the Christ at the Checkpoint video site and watch the recorded speeches for themselves: Click Here
For those wanting some more commentary on the talks delivered by Juster and Shoshani, our friends at the Rosh Pina Project have posted “performance reviews.”
First up was Dan Juster, who most in the local Messianic community hold in highest respect as an authoritative Bible teacher. In summary, Juster did begin to challenge the problem of Palestinian Christians allowing the emotions of their situation to drive their theology, but he seemed to back off that point and ultimately adopt a more conciliatory position that painted a somewhat grim portrait of Zionism and the modern rebirth of Israel.
Shoshani, by contrast, really brought the heat, directly challenging many faulty points in both the theology and the political assertions of Christ at the Checkpoint. As 2012 Christ at the Checkpoint speaker Wayne Hilsden later commented, “I commend my friend and ministry colleague, Oded Shoshani, for sharing glaring truth with amazing grace…he is a man of peace and demonstrates love not only for fellow Jews, but for Arabs as well. Oded expressed his convictions biblically and from personal experience on the ground — fearing God and not man.”
How do you feel these two men did stepping into what many viewed as a hostile environment to present a position that they knew would not be well received?
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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

CharismaNews - Steve Strang "Why Christians Must Pray for and Support Israel"

Why Christians Must Pray for and Support Israel





Steve in Israel
Steve Strang (center) poses for a photo in Efrat, Israel, with (left to right) rabbi David Nekrutman, Anne Ayalon, Sherry Khoury and her husband, pastor Steven Khoury, at the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation.
JERUSALEM, Israel—My sixth trip to Israel makes me realize more than ever the importance of Bible-believing Christians standing with Israel.

Nearly all my adult life, I’ve supported Israel by raising money to help the Jewish people, sponsoring events that foster support for Israel with other leaders such as John Hagee or encouraging people to travel to Israel, as my wife and I are doing this week with our friend and author Perry Stone.

I flew to Israel early, before the tour, to network with key leaders in a whirlwind couple of days of nonstop meetings that will provide story ideas for our print magazines or online. As soon as I have time to digest all I saw and learned, I will write articles about the interesting people I met.

But now I want to give an overview of who I met and what I learned, much of which is important not only for me but for each of us.
1. We must stand with other Christian believers in the land.
I met with Dan Juster, one of the apostolic leaders that is also one of the deepest thinkers in the modern Messianic movement. He helped me understand spiritually what’s going on in the land and how believers need prayer and support.
I then attended the exciting King of Kings congregation in downtown Jerusalem, pastored by my friend Wayne Hilsden. I had time to only attend one service while in Israel. While I would have enjoyed being at a service in Hebrew, I was more comfortable in Wayne’s English service that had the same spirit and style I’m used to in my own church. You can see their worship here.

I also learned firsthand of the opposition and persecution some believers face in Israel. Wayne pointed out an “anti-missionary” standing outside the service to urge young Jewish believers in Yeshua to turn away.
2. We must pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for a spiritual awakening in the land.
King of Kings has prayer 16 hours a day atop a 17-story building. The view over the city was magnificent. What a strategic location! The next day, I visited another 24/7 prayer ministry in a mixed Jewish and Arab area south of the Old City. To avoid attention, this group posts only small signs that say “24/7,” which the initiated know means intercessory prayer is offered there around the clock.
The prayer room is located in the TBN building and has a view of the Dome of the Rock. I didn’t interview anyone there. Instead, I joined the prayers for the peace of Jerusalem for strengthening believers, for nations standing with Israel and for ways to reach the Arab community with the gospel.
3. The Arab Christian community needs our support.
It is well known that at one time, the majority of the population in Bethlehem was Christian. According to a 2012 article in Israel Hayom, the municipality says that 40 percent of the 32,000 residents of Bethlehem are Christian. But, unofficial data suggests the percentage is actually lower. While many Arab Christians are nominal Christians whose families have been Christians for generations, there is a small and struggling evangelical Christian Arab community there.
One of the most impressive meetings I had was with a young Arab pastor named Steven Khoury, whose Calvary Church reaches about 400 people a week in the part of Jerusalem around the Mount of Olives. It is the only evangelical church in that area. They have a hard time even finding a place to meet. Members of his church have been killed by radicals, and he has had trouble raising the funds he needs to operate and buy property. I was impressed by this passionate young man, and I plan to write more about his church later.
4. There is a new era of understanding between evangelicals and some Orthodox Jews.
Steven Khoury is a good friend to a young Orthodox rabbi named David Nekrutman, the executive director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation. In the biblical town of Efrat, it is the first example I’ve seen of the Orthodox community reaching out to evangelicals. That impressed me as well, and I will also write about it later.
My personal experience with the Orthodox has been no cooperation and often hostility. So I’m encouraged to hear about the breakthroughs between the two groups and to hear that at least at this center, the Orthodox seem to value the support that Christian Zionists give Israel.
5. It’s good to know a networker in a foreign land.
The friend who set up most of my appointments is Anne Ayalon, the wife of Danny Ayalon, who has served as an Israeli ambassador to the United States, in the Knesset and in many other important posts. Anne is a humble woman who has done as much as anyone I know to bridge the evangelical Christian and Jewish communities. Born an American, she converted to Judaism when she got married but describes herself only as a “woman of faith.” She declined to be interviewed because she prefers to be behind the scenes, where she is a connector and influencer.

I had many other wonderful meetings, including one with Chris Mitchell, bureau chief of the CBN Jerusalem bureau, who recently wrote an important new book called Dateline Jerusalem, which he calls an “eyewitness account of prophecies unfolding in the Middle East.” I also met some Israeli intellectuals who teach leadership principles from Bible characters to officers in the Israeli Defense Forces. And I got a very quick tour of the Bible Lands Museum by its director and saw the "Book of Books" display. I plan to go back to spend hours learning more about this wonderful land that gave us the Bible, which is God’s revelation to man.
My meetings have not ended. Later, I’m meeting with leaders of Magen David Adom—the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross which is the first responder in disasters—and with leaders of Operation Lifeshield. Both are charities for which we’ve raised money in the past. I also am meeting the head of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and a local publisher.

As I process what I’ve learned and do more research, I’ll write more. And I’ll tell you about this amazing tour with Perry Stone. My head is spinning after the first day of visiting the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of the Ascension, the Hill of Ill Counsel, the recently discovered Pool of Siloam, a kibbutz where a pivotal battle was won in the war of 1948, and some archeological digs south of the Temple Mount with actual pavement where Jesus would have walked. I can’t wait until tomorrow. I have six more days before the trip ends!

If you stand with Israel, if you’ve had a life-changing trip to Israel or if you learned anything from this column, leave your comments below.
Steve Strang is the founder and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter at @sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).
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