Are you curious about Messianic Judaism? Do you live in San Diego? Kehilat Ariel Messianic Synagogue, led by Rabbi Barney Kasdan, is a messianic congregation in San Diego looking to recruit Jews to join their organization. However, in reality they are a Christian organization, and Barney Kasdan is a Christian leader. I will demonstrate this, using information from their site and other Christian sites. Each time reference links will be provided so that you can see the evidence with your own eyes.
The Rabbi Barney Kasdan is the "rabbi" of Kehilat Ariel Messianic Synagogue. Here is the link to their web-site where the Kehilat Ariel leadership is listed, with Barney Kasdan as the "rabbi":
Click Here So is Barney Kasdan a real rabbi? No! In an article that Barney Kasdan wrote for the Good News, etc., a Christian newspaper in San Diego, his biography states: "Rabbi Barney Kasdan of Kehilat Ariel Messianic Synagogue in San Diego has been a believer in Yeshua since 1971 and is the founding rabbi of Kehilat Ariel. He has degrees from Biola University (BA), Talbot Seminary (M.Div)..."
Here is the link to the quote, the quote is at the bottom of the page:
Click Here So, what is the goal of Biola University? According to the Biola University web-site, their goal is: "The University seeks to educate Christian men and women in undergraduate and graduate programs to produce thinking Christians..."
Does this sound like a University that a real Rabbi would attend? Of course not! Here is the link to the quote, the quote is from the first paragraph:
Click Here That leaves us with the Master's of Divinity (M.Div is the shortened version) from Talbot Seminary, which is part of the Biola University system. According to the Talbot web-site: "Our graduates bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Biola has played a major role in furnishing Christian leaders and workers for the church, society, and the cause of world evangelism since its founding in 1908.."
So Barney Kasdan received a Master's of Divinity from a Christian seminary. This is not exactly the educational resume of a real rabbi, but the resume of a Christian leader. Here is the link to the quote, the quote comes from the heading "Evangelism", at the bottom of the page:
Click Here In sum, Barney Kasdan is not a Jewish leader, but a Christian leader, with degrees from an evangelical Christian university.
Christian Activities As a Christian leader, Pastor Barney Kasdan also works for the Adult ministries of the North Coast Church as one of their instructors. Would a real Jewish leader be an instructor for a Christian ministry? Here is a link to his biography on the church website:
Click Here On Friday, March 29, 2002, Pastor Kasdan presented at the Good Friday service at Del Cerro Baptist Church. Presenting at a Christian church on a Christian holiday? Again, clearly not the activity of Jewish leader. Here is the link to the proof; he is under "Friday March 29" at 6 p.m.:
Click Here Moreover, Kasdan presented a paper at one of the most pre-eminent groups trying to evangelize Jews, known as the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE). He presented a paper called "Growing a Messianic Congregation." Here is the link to the proof, the paper's are listed alphabetically by title:
Click Here So, how did the LCJE even start on it's path of Jewish evangelism. According to the LCJE: "In 1980, The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism (LCWE) sponsored the Consultation on World Evangelisation (COWE) in Pattaya, Thailand. "Reaching Jews" was one of the 17 mini-consultation groups at that event. The enthusiasm of the leaders in the field of Jewish evangelism who attended to expand the network gave rise to the formation of a task force, now called the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE).
Obviously, this a group targetting Jews for conversion. Here is the link to the quote. It is under "How did LCJE begin?":
Click Here As further proof that the LCJE is a Christian organization out to convert Jews, here is a quote from the introduction to the Lausanne Covenant, to which the LCJE adheres to: "We, members of the Church of Jesus Christ, from more than 150 nations, participants in the International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, praise God for his great salvation and rejoice in the fellowship he has given us with himself and with each other. We are deeply stirred by what God is doing in our day, moved to penitence by our failures and challenged by the unfinished task of evangelization.
No real Jewish leader would interact with such a group! Here is a link to the quote, the quote comes from the first paragraph:
Click Here Barney Kasdan has also written for several Christian magazines. He wrote an op-ed piece for the Christian Examiner called "A Messianic Jewish view of �The Passion�". The Christian Examiner is a Christian magazine on Christian views. There is nothing Jewish about it. Here is a link to the proof:
Click Here Similarly, Pastor Kasdan also wrote for his alma mater, Biola University. He wrote an article on the Fall 2004 Biola Magazine on "What Should Every Christian Know About Kabbalah?" Interestingly, from Fall 2003 until his issue, each Biola Magazine issue had an article on "What Should Every Christian Know." Again, Biola University is not publishing artilces from Jewish leaders, only Christian leaders. Here is the link to the proof:
Click Here Christian Listings
As Kehilat Ariel is led by a Christian leader, it is perfectly logical that you will find their congregation listed on a number of Christian sites. In fact, you can find Kehilat Ariel advertising upcoming events on Good News, Etc., a Christian newspaper in San Diego. If you click on this link, you will see that they have multiple events listed for April 16th:
Click Here They also adveritsed with Good News, Etc. for an event on July 13th; here is the link to the proof:
Click Here What is the vision of Good News, Etc.? Their vision is: "The purpose of Good News, Etc. is to inform the Christian Community with local news and events to help bring unity to the body of believers throughout the area of San Diego County and Temecula. We desire to present local news with a Christian perspective, upholding the truth of the Gospel. We consider the newspaper a helps ministry and a resource tool networking believers in the Christian community."
Obviously, they are an evangelical Christian organization. Would a real Jewish congregation advertise events in Good News, etc.? Never! Here is the link to the quote: :
Click Here Similarly, Kehilat Ariel was one of the churches involved in the 1999 San Diego Harvest Crusade, a Christian evangelism program run by Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship. Again, not an event that a real Jewish group would choose to participate in. Here is the link to the Harvest Crusade church list:
Click Here
Kehilat Ariel can be found on a number of other Christian sites; a real Jewish synagogue would never be found listed by these organizations! Church USA:
Click Here Southern Baptist evangelist Dr. Jay Snell; Kehilat is the 8th listing:
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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