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Hello and Welcome to my web-site! Are you curious about Messianic Judaism? Beth Emanuel Messianic Synagogue is a congregation in Philadelphia that is very clear that they are a Jewish movement. However, in truth, they are not a Jewish congregation at all-they are full members of the Christian movement called the Assemblies of God, a movement more commonly known as the "Pentecostals." I will demonstrate this, using information from their web-site and other Christian sites. Each time, links wil be provided so you can see the evidence with your own eyes. Pentecostal Mother Beth Emanuel claims to be a Jewish synagogue, but in reality they are full members of the Pentecostal movement. Here is the link to their listing on the Assemblies of God web-site-a real Jewish congregation would never be part of a Christian movement:
Click Here Here is another link to Beth Messiah on the Assemblies of God website, in which it is listed as a part of their Intercultural Jewish Ministries:
Click Here Here is their official listing in the Pennsylvania-Delaware district of the Assemblies of God. They are the first listing under Special Ministries, about 6/7ths down the page:
Click Here Beth Emanuel is an official church of a Christian denomination. There is nothing Jewish about that! Not suprisingly, its former leader Jeff Friedman is a Pentecostal missionary. Here is the link to the Beth Emanuel website in which Friedman is listed as the "Rabbi Emeritus":
Click Here In contrast, here is Friedman's link as an official Assemblies of God missionary to the Jewish people:
Click Here Moreover, Reverend Friedman has started a new group called Jacob's Hope. On the Jacob's Hope webpage it says in large letters, "Assemblies of God World Missions." Again, this person is not interested in Jews staying Jewish. Here is the link to the evidence:
Click Here Friedman also ran the The Center for Jewish Ministry, which gives a great deal of background on his Christian training. According to the The Center's website: Rev. Jeff Friedman and his wife Vixie received national home missions appointment from the Assemblies of God in 1990. The Friedman's Pastor congregation Beth Emanuel in the city of Philadelphia. The goal of this congregation is to share the good news of the Messiah with the 350,000 Jewish people of Philadelphia. The city of Philadelphia has the third largest Jewish population in America and the fifth largest Jewish population in the world.
Prior to this Pastorate, Rev. Friedman served as assistant to the pastor of the Assemblies of God Frankfort Missionary Fellowship in Frankfort, Germany. He also served as minister of evangelism at Praise Assembly in Springfield, Missouri. He has a Masters degree in Administration, as well as a masters degree in Bible from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.
So, Friedman is a Assemblies of God trained minister with a weatlh of church service, but no actual rabbinic degree or synagogue leadership experience. Here is the link to the quote; the quote comes from the first two paragraphs:
Click Here In a nutshell, Beth Emanuel is a church of the Assemblies of God movement which was run by a paid missionary to the Jewish people. Obviously, not a Jewish resume. The current leader of Beth Emanuel is Troy Joseph Fuller, aka Yosi Fuller. Troy was born and raised a Christian and certainly does not have a real rabbinical degree. According to his testimony on the Beth Emanuel webpage: "There was another passion I grew up with, one that I kept well hidden. I loved the realm of the spiritual. Despite being officially Roman Catholic....After having grown up Roman Catholic, at the age of nine my family and I began attending a Presbyterian church in Milliken, Colorado. There I met a kind and gentle elderly man known simply as Reverend �Mac� McBain. To my recollection, he was the first man I�d ever met who professed to love God and showed this love by extending it to people. I was instantly drawn to him and attempted to spend as much time as possible at the church, desiring simply to experience the Godly love he so readily shared with all he met. I wanted to be like him. As a young boy I had yearned to be a priest. After having met McBain, I desired to be a minister, not because I wanted to be in control, but because I wanted to love people as he did." Again, this is not a guy with a Jewish background but a person who wanted to be a priest. This works out well since Beth Emanuel is an official chuch of the Assemblies of God movement. Here is the link to the quote, the quote comes from the 4th and 5th paragraphs:
Click Here Pentecostal Money Heritage Investment Services Fund is a loan body of the Assemblies of God movement. According to their website: "Heritage Investment Services Fund, Inc.(HIS Fund) is the successor to the PennDel Loan Fund, and has been serving Assembly of God churches and congregations since 1981. HIS Fund's primary mission is to assist, further and support the Great Commission by generating monies to be loaned to finance the acquisition, construction, remodeling and furnishing of Assemblies of God churches, parsonages and other capital projects and needs of the PennDel District and affiliated institutions, agencies, organizations and congregations."
Here is the link to the quote, the quote is on the left side of the page:
Click Here How is this relevant to Beth Emanuel? Since Beth Emanuel is an Assemblies of God church and needed some money, it went to this Assemblies of God group to get the money. Here is the link to the evidence; they are on page 20, listed as "Philadelphia Beth Emanuel Assembly of God":
Click Here Let us be honest with ourselves. If Beth Emanuel Messianic Synagogue was a real synagogue, they would not be receiving HIS Fund's money. Partnership As a Christian church, Beth Emanuel partnered with another Christian group to convert Jews. Beth Emanuel has formed a "ministry partnership" with City of Refuge who will help them with "ministry planning, Jewish outreaches." Here is the link to the proof:
Click Here So, what is the mission of City of Refuge? According to their website: "City of Refuge desires to establish house churches in neighborhoods in order to influence people to become passionate and devoted followers of Jesus Christ."
Clearly, this is not a group that a real synagogue would partner with. They are simply a bunch of church planters. Here is the link to the quote; it appears under "Our Mission":
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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