October 2003
Shalom Friends!
It is the time of the high holy days, and
if we lived in Jesus' day, we'd be celebrating in our booths for Sukkot
right now. Sukkot is the greatest feast of the year, and at the end
of the feast, after six months without rain, the Israelites would pray
fervently for the living water of rain to bring life to their land for
the next year. It was at this feast that Jesus shouted, "If anyone
is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in Me, as
the Scripture said, `From his innermost being will flow rivers of living
water.'" During this time, En-Gedi is reminded especially of the
imagery of our name, the springs of En-Gedi that pour out living water.
We have many things to tell you about! ...
Jesus, the Master Rabbi
The
En-Gedi Resource Center and Mars Hill Bible Church are pleased
to co-sponsor a weekend seminar with Dr. Randall Buth on Friday
and Saturday, October 17 & 18. The events will take
place in the Mars Hill Youth Center on Friday night, 7:00 - 9:00
PM and Saturday morning, 9:00 AM - Noon. Mars Hill Bible
Church is at 3501 Fairlanes Avenue, Grandville, MI. The suggested donation
at the door will be $15.
Dr. Buth is a scholar of biblical language and culture and teaches at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is currently the Director of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, a group of scholars who study the gospels in context of their first century Jewish culture. His articles on this topic have been an important source for many other presenters in this field.
Some of the sayings of Jesus have been confusing without an understanding of the Jewish culture that He lived in. Once we see them in their setting, we see their true brilliance and significance for our lives. Dr. Buth will look at some of these difficult sayings of Jesus and share explanations from first century rabbinic culture that sheds powerful new light on His words.
The topics will be:
Learning to Read between the LinesWhen He was asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life', why did Jesus accept the "wrong answer"? A discussion of how Jesus described having a saving relationship with God in the language of his culture. (Luke 10:25-28)
Your Money or Your Life!Seeing the brilliance of Jesus' Jewish answers: How Jesus reversed the tables on accusers and made an altar call at the same time. (Luke 20:20-25) Also, a discussion of the phrase "I did not come to abolish but to fulfill the law". (Matt 5:17)
Binding and Loosing: The Challenge God Has Given the ChurchA discussion of what the often misinterpreted terms "bind" and "loose" mean, and its surprising directive to exercise our spiritual consciences. (Matt 18:18)
Three Dozen People Have a Drink of Hebrew!
For five nights last week, En-Gedi hosted a Beginner's Hebrew class with Randall and Margret Buth as our teachers. Martin Luther once said, "The Hebrews drink from the spring, the Greeks from the stream that flows from it, and the Latins from the downstream pool." Given this metaphor, En-Gedi was a spring of Hebrew for a group that included retired people, pastors, seminarians, and a six-year-old! We were immersed in Hebrew from the first minute, and people were very surprised by how much they understood by week's end. Here are some comments:
I will absolutely recommend this course to interested potential students. Be prepared to think hard outside your box of learning and enjoy it! Its mind boggling and uplifting.
I did not expect to understand as much as I did by night four!
This class was very fast! I did enjoy the immersion technique. I understand the definition of many words after this five night course.
Uganda - Living
Water Flowing
En-Gedi is also involved in causing living water to flow in another
way - by working with a ministry called Water
Missions International to place water purification units in Uganda,
each of which can provide clean water to 3,000 people. Our Executive
Director Bruce Okkema will be going there in December to help with preparing
to install six units. Please pray for him.
Fall Fellowship Dinner
En-Gedi
started its fall off well with a fellowship dinner with about 60 folks
joining us to hear Dr. Buth speak about the Akedah - the mysterious
story of God's request to Abraham to sacrifice his son, an obvious foreshadowing
of Christ. When the sun set we blew a shofar to celebrate the "New
Year" the beginning of Rosh Hashanah and the Jewish New Year. Wonderful
food and fellowship was had by all. We hope you can come next time if
you missed this time around.
On Saturday, Dr. Buth led a day long seminar with about 30 folks joining
us. We will be making his talks available in a CD set soon.
Pastor's Breakfasts
We had another excellent pastor's breakfast this month with Randall
Buth, on October 9th. He chose a challenging topic - the relationship
of the church to the Jewish people, and gave some excellent scriptural
insights on this difficult issue. Next month, on November 13, we will
be hosting Dr. Scott Carroll, Archaeologist and Professor of
History at Cornerstone University. He is an energetic speaker who is
well liked by students, and he will be giving a seminar called "Recent
Archaeology and its Implications for Pastors". Dr. Carroll
will be talking about recent finds in archaeology in the news, as well
as less well known but significant discoveries that have shed light
on biblical texts. He will discuss how these findings impact pastors
and what they preach. As usual, the breakfast will be at 7:30 - 9
AM at the Zeeland Community Center, at 14 S Church St
in Zeeland, and seminarians and pastors are invited to attend. An offering
basket is available, but there is no charge.
Pastor's Conference
March 8 - 12 with Dwight Pryor
Next spring En-Gedi is co-sponsoring with the Center for Judaic-Christian
Studies a conference called Thru Messiah's Eyes: Examining the Core
Concepts of the Christian Faith through the Jewish Eyes of Jesus, the
Messiah. It will be held at the Prince Conference Center in Grand
Rapids. Dwight Pryor has impressed audiences in our area several times
as a powerful speaker and true authority on Hebraic study of the Bible.
Joining him will be Dr. Timothy Brown, of Western Theological
Seminary, and Pastor Rob Bell, of Mars Hill Bible Church. It
should be a powerful time of study and discussion. The deadline for
the $100 deposit for early registration is October 31, so it
is important to act soon. Call us if you have questions.For more information,
go to this page.
Upcoming En-Gedi Speaking Engagements
If you live on the east side of Michigan, we will be giving a talk from 7:00 - 8:30 PM at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, 27475 Five Mile Rd, in Livonia, MI on Monday, October 20. We will give a presentation called, The Biblical Feasts: A Picture of Christ. If you are in the area and can come, we'd love to meet you!
We hope that these opportunities will be
a source of living water to your own spirit, and that living water will
flow out of you to touch others.
Blessings --
Lois Tverberg, Director
Bruce Okkema, Executive Director
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The
En-Gedi Resource Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is
solely dependent on your tax-deductible contributions. We very much
appreciate your support.