November 2002

Shalom Friends!

As the first significant snow of the season is falling outside, we just wanted to warm you up with an update on En-Gedi's activities...

Upcoming En-Gedi Class:

En-Gedi will be leading a seven week class called Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Yeshua, January 8 - February 19 on Wednesday mornings, 9:15 - 11 AM for the Women of the Word (WOW) Bible study at Christ Memorial Reformed Church, 595 Graafscap Rd, in Holland. This is a large Bible study that is open to all women of the community, and child care is available. We will start each week with a time of singing, have small group study and a large group teaching, and end with a time of prayer.

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Yeshua - In this class, we will join Mary of Bethany in her first century Jewish home as she sat at Jesus' feet to listen to His words. Sitting at the feet of a rabbi was the way disciples learned, but Jesus didn't discourage her from joining them in study. For seven weeks, we will accompany Mary in praying and learning as Jesus' Jewish talmidim (disciples) did, and we will experience the richness of hearing His words in the setting of His life and times.

The topics will be:

Jan. 8	Introduction: Being a Talmid (Disciple) of Jesus We will examine what was expected of disciples in Jesus' day, and what He expects from us as disciples.
Jan. 15	Praying the way Jesus Prayed Jesus, Paul and the Jewish people had a wonderful, rich form of prayer. We can learn much from their style of prayers, and even transform our prayer lives.
Jan. 22	Jesus’ Rabbinic Style of Teaching A look at Jesus’ rabbinic method for teaching by hinting to the Old Testament. We will look at some of the powerful things He says in this way.
Jan. 29	For this Reason I was Sent – The Kingdom of God Jesus said that He was sent in order to proclaim the kingdom of God, but it is a puzzle for us. What did this rabbinic concept of Jesus' mean?
Feb. 5	Loving God and Loving our Neighbor Jesus said that the two great commandments were to love God with all our heart, and love our neighbor. They are even more powerful within Jewish understanding.
Feb. 12	What did Jesus mean by, "Do not Judge?" We may have struggled to understand Jesus' teaching on "not judging". Listening to Jesus words in their context will give us insight that we can apply to our lives.
Feb. 19	Jesus, The Anointed One, The Messiah We will look at how Jesus used the scriptures in a Jewish way to proclaim Himself as the Messiah, to teach about His mission, and to claim a commitment from us.

Note: Pre-registration is necessary - please call Ellen at the church -
(616) 396-2305. The cost is $12 for the notebook, which will be available at the first session.

We plan that En-Gedi will offer this course again to other groups so that men can participate too! If your church is interested in hosting a class like this in the future, please let us know.

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Visit of Author David Bivin

For the past two weeks we hosted David Bivin, founder and editor of Jerusalem Perspective, a journal of research on the Jewish context of the gospels (online at jerusalemperspective.com). David Bivin is a well-known speaker in this field, and also author of several books including Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus, on the Hebraic background of the teachings of Jesus. David and his wife Josa Bivin have visited western Michigan before and are getting to be at home here - knowing their way around Holland and Zeeland, and what to order at Russ'!

While Mr.Bivin was here, he spoke at the En-Gedi Fellowship Dinner and showed some of the important conclusions he has made by reading Jesus' words in their Hebraic context. He also spoke at a pastor's breakfast on the bold messianic claims Jesus makes by referring to the Old Testament. About 30 pastors joined us to start their day with this fascinating talk. Finally, Mr. Bivin led a two-day intensive workshop on the "hidden secrets of the kingdom of God", which was very good. The students spent much of each day in a small group setting with him carefully studying and discussing Jesus' sayings in the gospels.

We are working on making an audio tape set available of some of Mr. Bivin's presentations. Watch for upcoming announcements.
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Study Trip to Israel with Dr. Steven Notley

A few months ago, Dr. Steven Notley, a scholar who writes about the gospels in their Jewish context gave several seminars for En-Gedi. We heard many enthusiastic comments about his talks. We have decided to make plans for a twelve-day trip to Israel with Dr. Notley on March 12 - 24, 2003 through his organization Emmaus Educational Services, which coordinates study tours to the lands of the Bible.

En-Gedi will be co-sponsoring the trip, called The Life and Land of Jesus, that will primarily focus on the context of Jesus' life and teachings, which is Dr. Notley's field of expertise. He lived in Israel for 16 years and directed field study for students at Jerusalem University College for much of that time, and has taken over a thousand lay-people, pastors and students on study trips to Israel. His experience allows him to be wise about potentially unsafe areas. Price is still under negotiation, but will be quite reasonable - under $2500. If you have been wishing you could go to Israel, this should be an outstanding trip!

Here is part of the description of the trip, The Life and Land of Jesus:

The tour travels the length and breadth of the Biblical stage as it follows in the steps of patriarchs, prophets and preachers. Whether walking through the barren expanse of the Judean Wilderness or enjoying the refreshing waters of a Galilean spring, travellers are encouraged to bring all of their senses in this rich experience of the land and people of the Bible. The land indeed becomes a classroom as we review the current issues of archaeology, historical geography, language and culture and their impact on the spiritual message of the scriptures. Care will be taken to give time for rest, reflection, personal study and individual excursions. The aim is that each person may experience what was felt by the two on the Road to Emmaus. May our hearts burn within us as He speaks to us on the way.

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Computer Seminar for Pastors and Church Staff

All of En-Gedi's presentations include digital slides to help the audience experience the imagery of the Bible. We have shown these at our pastors' breakfasts, and there has been much interest in having a seminar devoted to computer skills and digital slide making. It is difficult to find training in a ministerial context - i.e., finding images for sermons, etc. Part of En-Gedi's mission is to help churches to help bring new interest in studying the Bible, and if we can help in this way, it is in our plan.

We are looking forward to hosting a interactive computer seminar for pastors and church staff on Thursday, February 6 at the Zeeland Community Center. (Please note the change in date from December 12, 2002 to February 6, 2003.) There will be 4 sessions throughout the day. You may choose to come to some of them or all of them. The cost is $20 / session or $75 for the day.

Bruce and Lois will be leading the sessions as follows:

8:00 - 10:00 Projection Equipment options / Finding Internet Images
10:30 - 12:30: Graphics Editing / Images / PowerPoint® 1
1:30 - 3:30 PowerPoint® 2
4:00 - 5:30 Individual Help / Tutoring.

You will have opportunity to learn many new techniques both basic and advanced as well as ask questions and learn from others. There has been strong interest in this, so please watch for the enrollment card which will be mailed in December or January.

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As we approach Thanksgiving, we remember to thank and praise the Lord for all of what He has given us up until now. Knowing that He is a good God, we thank Him in advance for all His great blessings in the future. And we thank you for your prayer and financial support.

Blessings -

Lois Tverberg, Director
Bruce Okkema, Executive Director

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