The distrust and miscommunication between main stream Christianity and the Messianic Movement are tearing brethren apart. One side accuses the other side of legalism; while the other side accuses the one side of paganism. This book is written in an attempt to mend fences and communicate truth. The Awakening is both a personal testimony and a heart to heart conversation. The author has expressed his side - now it is for you, the reader, to reciprocate.
We throw the word love around like it was a play toy. Our society has so reinterpreted the concept of love to the point it holds no true meaning. We love everything: Food, books, movies, quaint sayings, seasons, characters, and anything else you can name. We love our spouses, until it is no longer convenient to love them anymore. We love God, as long as we are free to do what we want. We love our brethren, until we no longer see eye to eye with them. Love has become a priceless artifact, devalued by abuse and philosophy.
As Christians and believers in Messiah, the word love has become a theological word we are compelled to confess. We love God, we love our brethren, we love our enemies, and we love truth. We have no problem loving others, as long as that doesn't mean we have to like them. We don’t mind forgiving people, as long as we don’t have to forget their offense. We play with words the way we play with the hearts and minds of others. We are a Greco-Roman minded society; to us, love is a noun, something we possess by confession. From a scriptural and Hebraic perspective, love is a verb – it is an action word. Love is something that must be shown by action – or dare I say by works. Whether we are talking about love for our fellow man or our love for God, the same holds true.
We are to love our brethren; this love is not to be dependent on us seeing eye to eye on every jot and tittle of doctrine. There is plenty of legalism within the Christian Church and the Messianic movement to go around several times over. Understand, when I speak of legalism, I am not speaking of following the commandments of God; I am speaking about dogma found in both religious bodies.
The Messianic movement is a restoration movement – it is not the restored movement. What I am saying is; the Messianic movement is a movement that is inclusive of brethren from every denomination of Christianity, as well as believers from within Judaism and other religious backgrounds. Those within the Messianic movement are in a state of being restored to the original faith of the apostles – we are not there yet. I don’t suppose we will ever be there until Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah) returns and restores all things.
