September 2002

Shalom Friends!

Last week was the Jewish festival of Sukkot, also called the Feast of Tabernacles. It was established in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. God commanded the Israelites to build booths and live in them one week each year to remember how He brought them through the desert into the promised land. It is also a picture of the final harvest when Christ returns, when God will gather all of his children to Himself, dwell with them, and rejoice at this great harvest in heaven.

Our small group Bible study celebrated the tradition of Sukkot by building a sukkah, using harvest materials - corn stalks for the walls and tree branches for the roof. Then, as is traditional, we ate a meal in it; it was very meaningful! We celebrate this to remember how God provides for us and protects us, so that we can feel secure apart from having strong walls and large houses. An article appeared in the Holland Sentinel about this in the Saturday, Sept. 28 edition. You can read the article by clicking on this link.

Next week will begin the new year for the traditional Torah reading cycle, when we start over reading at Genesis 1:1. For the past two years, En-Gedi has hosted a weekly small group Bible study which reads the traditional Torah portion for the week. We don't use a study guide - just our own Bibles and commentaries. We will begin again with Genesis 1:1 - 6:8 this week, and this year we will be focusing on the New Testament and how the passage in the Torah is expanded on there. We meet on Thursday nights at 7 PM. This week we will be meeting in a home at 575 Alice St. in Zeeland. If you are interested in joining us, please call the center at 616-355-2200 for more information or email us at egrc@egrc.net.

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Weekend with Dr. Steven Notley

This Sept. 19 - 22, En-Gedi had the great privilege of hosting Dr. Steven Notley, professor of biblical studies at Nyack College in New York City. He gave many outstanding talks that weekend on the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. You may have heard an interview with him on WCSG Radio on Monday, Sept. 10. He spoke about his experience last year on 9/11, having been present right at the scene of the World Trade Center catastrophe, since he works nearby. He gave an excellent, thought-provoking talk on that experience and the insights he has gained from studying Jesus' perspective.

A highlight of the weekend was the Saturday workshop focusing on the uniqueness of Jesus' message in its Jewish context. Dr. Notley showed us that Jewish thought had reached some profound insights by Jesus' time, but Jesus' message and brilliant thinking was absolutely unparalleled -- even for his day. Dr. Notley gave us a strong challenge to take this fresh insight on Jesus' words and apply it to our lives.

We are currently working on making audio tape sets available of all six talks and will have them available on our website soon.

Pastor's Breakfast Series

We began another pastor's breakfast series this season with Dr. Notley's presentation on Friday, Sept 20th. Thirty-three pastors were on hand to hear his talk about the message of John the Baptist in his first century culture.

Next month's teaching will be co-presented by Bruce & Lois, entitled: "Researching Biblical Topics in their Hebraic Context: The Binding of Isaac". We will walk through the research that we have done to make a presentation on the Akedah, the story of the binding of Isaac. This story has been central in Jewish and Christian thinking for millennia, with powerful imagery of the death and resurrection of Jesus. How has it been understood traditionally by Jews, and how did the early church see it pointing toward Jesus? We will will share some Jewish resources that have excellent insights on the cultural context of this and other biblical stories, and methods for finding related images. This breakfast will be on Thursday, October 17th, from 7:30 - 9 AM, again at the Zeeland Community Center at 14 S Cherry St. Pastors and seminarians are invited to attend this gathering - please let us know if you are interested.    

                Map to Zeeland Community Center

In November, we will be hosting David Bivin, editor of Jerusalem Perspective, a noted author who studies the gospels in their context. He will be giving a talk on the messianic allusions of Jesus on Thursday, November 14th. Save the date!

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Update on Mohammed

Last May En-Gedi hosted Jonathan Miles as a guest speaker. He is President to Light to the Nations, a ministry that helps children from Palestine and Jordan with heart defects get free surgery in Israel's excellent hospitals. He spoke to us about discipleship, how the Lord has led him into this ministry and its impact on the people there.

One day while Jonathan was here, he spoke to the children at Zeeland Christian school and told them about a baby boy that was in danger of dying even as he spoke. Baby Mohammed, born in Gaza, had a malformed heart and his blood wasn't carrying oxygen to his body. Miles worked the phone from Michigan to Israeli army headquarters trying to obtain permission for Mohammed's mother to cross the border and bring him to the hospital. He asked the kids to pray with him for Mohammed, who was in an ambulance at a check point as he was talking. Later that week he told us that the kids' prayers were answered - the baby, who was very close to death, had been permitted to get to the hospital just in time to receive treatment. The children here in Michigan were able to help save a life through their prayers! Recently, Miles' Ministry sent an update with a picture of him. You can see a picture of the boy we were praying for and read more about their ministry at www.shevet.org.

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Two New Board Members

Two new persons joined our Board this fall: Rev. Dan Gritter and Mrs. Nancy Brown.

Dan is pastor of congregational training at First Cutlerville Christian Reformed Church. He has a love for studying and teaching the Bible in its context.

Nancy is a teaching leader at her church, Christ Memorial in Holland, and is involved in bible study leadership and discipling women. She and her husband have been active for many years in pastoring and working with seminarians and college students.

We are very honored to have both Dan and Nancy as a part of our board. You can find out more detail about all of our board members on the [About Us] [Directors] page.

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Update on Fall En-Gedi Class: Jesus' Bible: