How Did Messianic Speakers Do at Christ at the Checkpoint?

Thursday, March 13, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff  

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Messianic Jews

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.

Read the full Rosh Pina Project review on Dan Juster

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.”

Read the full Rosh Pina Project review on Oded Shoshani

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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