Could seeking Jewish people be interested in the LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) faith?

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/israel 

Israel

313 members

Total LDS Church Membership In Israel

0.003% of Israel's population:   1-in-29447 people

Church members vs. Population

4 Congregations: 0 Wards, 4 Branches

 

Messianic Jewish (MJ) Congregations in Israel

 

Messianic Judaism, and Hebraic Roots movements have been going on for several decades. For those who don't know, simply speaking, Messianic Judaism is more Jewish in its approach to the Gospel. The Hebraic Roots movement is more evangelical Christian.

One For Israel Ministry says that there are at least 300 MJ (Messianic Jewish) congregations in Israel (representing 30,000 or more people). Their number of people (actual or estimated) represents an average of 100 people per congregation.

A simple internet search yielded lists of more than 500 Messianic congregations in the United States.

There are small numbers of former Jewish adherents in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Those numbers are not available. However, in Israel, as of 2022, there are 4 LDS Branches (small congregations), totaling a little over 300 people. Likely many of those people are Americans studying or working in Israel.

A Wikipedia article says that according to a 2013 study from the Pew Research Center, about 1.6 million adult Jews identify as Christian, mostly Protestant. There is a potential for the Mormon / LDS people to attract Jewish people to their Churches, should the Mormon people prepare themselves to invite, welcome and teach Jewish people. This needs to be done by lay members (as a personal action, not by ecclesiastical calling) because of the legal hurdles that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has with Jewish officials. Because of this, the Church does not have formal outreach to Jewish officials other than occasional invites to special events. A Jewish person, however, may join the Church. The LDS Church just can't have formal missionary programs to bring Jewish people in.

What people of a Christian-Mormon background often don't realize is that the study of Hebrew religious vocabulary, Hebraic thought, and learning the Biblical Feasts, will greatly enhance understanding of the full Gospel and Heavenly Father's plan to fulfill all his promises to His children on earth. The Jews have teachings which will complement our own.

 

Truth is bigger than any one church or institution

 

Have you ever given truth much thought, what it really is?

Isaiah 55: 7-9

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 ¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

This passage of scripture is saying a few things.  First, God wants us to change into better, and to be in close contact with Him.  He wants our thoughts and feelings, to know His thoughts and feelings.  He says, that he will have mercy, and abundantly pardon when we do so.  An abundant pardon?   Maybe that means, a lot of, ample supply, richness, plentiful, maybe even in this regard, wholeheartedly and fully.   Generous forgiveness?

We are just these puny humans in comparison, that get things wrong, are misled, are blind, and stubborn at times.  We can be capable of great things too.

Since we are children of God, our concept of truth should be larger than ourselves-- what we can perceive in our present time with our 5 senses and our heart and mind.  He tells us, His ways are much higher.

So sometimes, we pigeon-hole ourselves into one cause, one church or other place of worship, one doctrine, one anything.  There is power in being One.  A unification of energy can focus so that great gains are achieved. However, just playing one note on the piano keyboard of life, or just a few notes, can rob us of other experiences and learning that we could get by finding other worthy notes and melodies on the keyboard.

God has so much more for us to see, if we will reach out to Him.  

It took me awhile, to figure out, that no one church, or institution, can teach everything.  Each church is like a product, and they emphasize a few doctrines.   Some churches will emphasize something found in the scriptures, that another church will completely ignore--not having time/space/energy/or funds to focus on that other thing, or perhaps not believing that the other thing is even important or relevant to our times.  That, in my opinion is why there are so many branches of belief.

I learned some pretty priceless things by going outside the invisibly drawn, but nevertheless still real, box that my childhood church drew for me.  I read books from people outside my church, and I listened to talks or attended services.  I found some really valid things that have enriched my faith walk.   These were pretty much still passages or concepts from the scriptures, but just ones that had been overlooked by others.

So climb that mountain and get closer to God and see a bigger picture than you conceived of, before!

The Gentile Calendar, Part 2. Easter and Christmas

 Two Main Christian Holidays, which are now pretty secular

 Christmas and Easter

Easter has pagan roots, which you can read about on the internet, but this holiday is not really associated with paganism anymore in its current practice. It is positive in terms of celebrating Spring -- colorful chicken eggs, little baby bunnies, green grass, Easter egg hunts, baskets full of treats or gifts, and a delightful family meal (the ham or pork roast is nonkosher though). Seems kind of harmless on the surface, except that it has in many homes, replaced the religious and spiritual observance of Christ's resurrection, depending on the family's or church's observance. Commercialized Easter is the big distraction.

Also, the date was changed from its true observance. It was always supposed to be in conjunction with Passover just 3 days before. Christ died on the evening observance of Nisan 14, at the Spring Passover. He rose on First Fruits on the 17th of Nisan. He was the first to be resurrected from the grave. See 1 Corinthians 15:20. Good Friday, being only a day and a half away from Easter morning, is another reason why the Jews find contraindications in Christianity. They are looking for things to line up on their criteria list. If the Gentiles are in error in so many ways, why should they look even further?

The Early Church disliked the Jews and so they came up with their own method for determining Easter's date. Easter is sometimes referred to a Pascua, or Pascal Lamb. Passover is called Pesach in Hebrew (ch almost sounds like a "k" sound). Other European languages also call Easter a version of Pascua, showing that Easter was originally part of the Passover week!!! You can go to https://translate.google.com or any other language translator that you have and see for yourself.

The religious observation of Easter should be moved to First Fruits on Nisan 17 during Passover week, if things are going to be done the right way. If one must keep Easter when the world celebrates it, consider leaving it as a Seasonal holiday celebrating Spring itself and the gift that God gives us every year of the earth's renewal, if you wish. Some people quit the usual Easter all together and celebrate it only in conjunction with the Passover week, as Resurrection Day.

Others might move the whole holiday to the Hebrew date.

 

 

 

Christmas also has pagan roots, just like Easter does. It was a Winter Solstice holiday. During this season, the pagans celebrated Saturnalia and Sol Invictus. Aspects of these two festivals were merged and cleaned up by Christianity. You can read about these festivals on the internet.

The main problem with current Christmas, is that it has become super commercialized with billions of dollars worldwide going to the merchants. It also isn't a happy time for everyone due to poverty, illness, family problems, work problems, shopping, traffic jams, and party stress, etc, with some people being desperately left out. Many people go into months of debt just to uphold the holiday's expectations.

Then again, for us Northern Hemisphere people, there's nothing like the pretty lights, decorations, the smell of pine, and the freshly fallen snow and the fine food. Also, at this time, so people do great acts of kindness for others, and visit loved ones. The seasonal and religious music is beautiful. The scriptures do not record December 25th as Jesus' birthday and some people already realize this. Hundreds of years of customs are built up around this holiday observance, it's hard to undo a cultural celebration. As a minimum, church leaders ask people to not overdo it during Christmas, and to remember not just Christ but also somebody else in need. Some Mormons do somehow recognize Jesus/Yeshua on April 6th. We would be interested in hearing how it is observed.

Some people think that the prophet Jeremiah was condemning the future observance of Christmas. You can check it out for yourself in the Bible: Jeremiah 10: 2-5.

Mormon teachings show that the formation of the Church on Tuesday, April 6, 1830, was supposed to honor the birth of the Lord. (D&C 20). According to www.hebcal.com, April 6, 1830 was the daylight hours before the first Passover evening. There are some different opinions about when Jesus/Yeshua was born, and it's just too complicated to comment on that, at this time. Jesus was born when it was lambing season, which is typically Spring.

Also, Jesus did go to the temple at Passover when he was 12 and talked with the teachers and elders. This seems to suggest a Spring birthday because custom is to have the Bar Mitzvah on one's Hebrew birthday or near that date. Maybe boys' Bar Mitzvahs were at age 12 back then.

 

The Gentile Calendar, Part 3. Halloween and Entertainment Choices.

Get rid of satanic-inspired Halloween. Analyze your holidays and entertainment.

The Book of Mormon was written for our day.  The only people that read the Book of Mormon are generally just Mormons. It mentions repenting of murders. It is easy to look at worldly people who commit violent crimes. Is it possible that within the faith, some people are connected to murder without even realizing it? It is not easy to be 100% righteous in today's modern society. It takes courage and humility to take a look at this issue.

Sometimes things creep into our minds or habits. Light and Dark comes in shades. Violent acts are criminal, and simulated violence in media or entertainment, is never recommended. The Sixth Commandment says, Thou shalt not kill. Killing is prohibited in Exodus 20, Deut. 6, Mosiah 13, 3rd Nephi 12, and D&C 42. A person who watches a violent show or game has mentally participated in it, even if it seems to be like really small seeds put into dry soil, in the mind. Will those seeds ever be watered by unfortunate circumstances and temptations down the road?

Then there's Halloween. The whole month of October on TV and other entertainment media is geared towards spooks (unclean spirits) and horror (simulation of fear, dark, violence, and murder), witches, and witchcraft "sorcery" (which the Book of Mormon and Old Testament condemn). Halloween celebrates graves, spider webs, decay and death. The excess of candy rots the teeth and makes the dentist richer; it weakens the immune system, causes inflammation inside the body, leading to disease. It causes mood swings and behavior problems (ask a school teacher about the day after Halloween). Some costumes are bad also. I can't imagine the Savior embracing or suggesting the holiday as okay.

There are other dark aspects to Halloween. LDS Missionaries are instructed to stay indoors at home during Halloween night because of spiritual reasons and potential physical harm. Some people engage in witchcraft, human trafficking, or satanic ritual during this holiday, and this has gone on historically too. Halloween can also harm people that are more prone to depression.

Observance of Halloween also may make a person more likely to choose abortion in consequence of immoral acts which have led to unplanned, maybe unwanted pregnancy. What about voting for people who wholeheartedly support abortion? Abortion is violence against the unborn, because that life is severed. Are more "seeds" in the mind or heart being created? A person will one day have to answer to God for their support of abortion. There are solutions besides abortion that one should seek when there is an ill-timed or unwanted pregnancy. Society should also be more supportive of unmarried chastity and support for unwed/unwanted parenthood when morals fail. An unborn baby is an innocent life and should not pay for others' wrongdoings.

Please pray about these topics. Meditate upon general entertainment and music choices and try to make changes. This fellowship group will not support Halloween.

October. Octo = eight. Halloween was adopted by Christianity, but it also has pagan roots, much which was not good (information on the internet). Pagan roots can go back to ancient times. Halloween used to be on the full moon of the eighth month of the old calendar.

Sept = 7, Oct = 8, Nov = 9, Dec = 10. It was standardized later on, to October 31st.

In the Bible, the 14th or 15th day (the middle of the month), was a Full Moon.

In the Old Testament: 1 Kings 12: 28-33, The rebellious Ephraimite King Jeroboam, instituted an idolatrous worship on that day, the full moon of October (15th day of the eighth month). Now, not a lot was said about it, except that it was calf worship, a feast, incense, and that the King made it up, but it may have been a predecessor to something related eventually, to Halloween. Ba'al is connected to Samhain (ancient Halloween) and Baal was one of the false dieties of the Old Testament.

Halloween needs to be replaced for some people, not just eliminated. Some have a party at home for friends (eat food or do something else fun), some go bowling, others celebrate Reformers Day (Martin Luther and his 95 Theses) or Shekinah holiday of light.

Go to the temple, that's another idea. Some people treat Halloween just as another day and avoid it all together. Consider saving tasteful costumes for Purim.

p.s. Several decades ago, research was done and it was found out that subliminal programming was used in the movies and/or TV, visual images inserted into the picture frames at various intervals. There is a reason why things are called "programs." Are we being programmed as people? Satan is called the Prince of the Air in the New Testament. Airwaves to the mind. We all need entertainment but should take a look at our choices. It gets difficult of course when your loved ones aren't "on the same page." Satan is using media to get us to do things we shouldn't, and to lower our spirituality.