S Good news on Yom Kippur

Good news on Yom Kippur by David Brickner, executive director
S
undown October 3 begins the
holiest day of the Jewish
calendar: Yom Kippur, the Day
of Atonement. It’s the time to seek
God’s forgiveness for all our sins over
the past year. Those who observe the
day will fast from sundown to
sundown, many attending three
different synagogue services
throughout the day and night.
Whether God even exists, much less
listens and responds to us, is a
question in many hearts and minds.
Even the concept of sin—apart from
great crimes that most people don’t
commit—is often a point of confusion.
Within the liturgy of the services a
prayer, often chanted by the cantor
or sung by a choir, opens a biblical
window of understanding into what
seems an inscrutable mystery to
many Jewish people. The song, titled
“Mi Chamocha,” or “Who is Like
You?” poses a question asked by
Moses in Exodus 15:11, as well as by
the prophet in Micah 7:18.
The question: “Who is a God Like
You?” is rhetorical. We’re not looking
to compare others with Him, but rather
to fix our eyes on Him, to understand
His uniqueness and His greatness.
This was a
lifelong passion
for the prophet
Micah, whose
very name
means, “who is
like the Lord.”
The prophet’s
name was
a constant
reminder of his
passion for God
and his quest to
know Him more
deeply. There is
no greater quest because there is no
one greater than God, as the prophet
and the prayer so beautifully illustrate:
Who is a God like You,
Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the
transgression of the
remnant of His heritage?
He does not retain
His anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy.
He will again have compassion
on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
You will give truth to Jacob
And mercy to Abraham,
Which You have sworn
to our fathers
From days of old.
(Micah 7:18–20)
Micah’s closing hymn of praise reflects
back on the previous “Mi Chamocha,”
the Song of Moses from Exodus 15,
which emphasizes God’s power and
strength. This picture points out the
uniqueness of God’s forgiveness,
mercy and grace, both in terms of who
He is and what He will do.
Many people find forgiveness very
difficult indeed—not so with God. It is
the natural outworking of His nature.
It is part of His character. Knowing
In this edition
October 2014
What can this traditional
Jewish prayer mean to you? . . . . . . . . 1
onlinextras, Jewish facts of life,
cartoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Bits from our branches in New York City,
Budapest, San Francisco and London . . 4
Mission (not) impossible . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The other “S” word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Pop stars, parades and you! . . . . . . . . 8
that God wants to forgive our sin is a
powerful truth that can set us free
from bondage to fear and a whole
host of other pains and sorrows.
But that forgiveness comes in a
specific context—a personal
relationship with God. Micah tells us
the forgiveness He extends is to the
“remnant of His inheritance.” Israel is
God’s inheritance. They belong to Him,
but have strayed from Him. Only a
remnant of His inheritance is willing to
acknowledge their sin and accept
God’s terms for atonement, and they
are the ones who receive His mercy
and forgiveness. John’s gospel tells us:
“He came to His own, and His own
did not receive Him. But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name: who
were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God” (John 1:11–13).
As it is with Israel, so it is with the rest
of humanity. God will forgive those
who repent and receive forgiveness
on His terms.
The fact is, God is passionate; He is
angered by sin and rebellion. But it is
not His intention to stay angry. God
actually delights, takes pleasure in
showing mercy—and He has made a
way to do it without compromising His
righteousness. So when we ask for
God’s mercy we are not struggling to
persuade God to reluctantly stay His
hand. Rather, we are acknowledging
and calling upon this marvelous aspect
of His character. What else can we
know about what God is like?
He will again have compassion on us:
in Hebrew, yashuv yerachamenu. He
will return his rachamim, His grace to
us. The Hebrew root word rechem
means “a mother’s womb.” God’s
love is like the love that a mother feels
for the child of her womb.
enemy and He has promised to defeat
it. I believe that God has done this on a
personal level for all who trust Yeshua,
Jesus the Messiah. “For He made Him
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that
we might become the righteousness of
God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Forgiveness and pardon from the Lord
do not merely lift the burden of guilt
and sin, they bestow the fullness of
God’s blessing, the riches of His love
and the resources of His kindness to us.
Without those resources we are empty
vessels without much to give. But once
we receive his rachmones, we are
overflowing with spiritual strength and
fulfillment that can bless others and
change the very world we live in.
Jesus died in our place. He shed His
own blood to pay the penalty for our
sin. He has broken the power of sin.
But one day He also will forever
banish the presence of sin. I look
forward to that day, don’t you? But
will it really happen?
Micah also points out that our merciful
God will defeat sin. This is a powerful
promise mentioned in many books of
the Bible. God will wage a war against
sin, and will defeat sin as surely as He
defeated the armies of Pharaoh. He
promises to tread sin under foot and
hurl all our iniquities into the depths of
the sea. What a marvelous picture!
Do we look upon sin as our enemy?
Going all the way back to the story of
Cain and Abel, God warned Cain
concerning his worst enemy: “sin is
crouching at the door and its desire is
for you” (Genesis 4:7b). So it is for us;
sin is a rapacious, vile disease that
threatens to hurtle us into an abyss of
darkness and despair. Yet how often
do we give in to its potent desire?
But here is the wonder of it all. God
does not leave us alone to battle the sin
that would overtake us. Sin is God’s
Well, yes it will because our God keeps
His promises. Micah ends his hymn by
reflecting on that fact. It is so important
to know what God has promised.
Otherwise, we live by mistaken notions
of who God is and what He will or
won’t do. Or worse, we just pretend He
is not there at all. How sad, how foolish,
and yet this is how most people live,
both Jews and Gentiles.
My heart breaks especially for my own
Jewish people; so many will sit in
synagogue this month without a shred
of understanding about who God is
and what He is offering. That
heartbreaking fact propels and compels
me—and all my Jews for Jesus
colleagues—to be His witnesses so that
our people will hear: “The good news
this Yom Kippur is this. God is ready to
love you and forgive you and cleanse
you and heal you. And He does it all in
the person of His Son the Messiah.”
Please pray with and for us that the
gospel seeds we are planting will
penetrate and grow in the hearts of
many Jewish people in the coming days.
We exist to make the messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to our Jewish people worldwide.
Jews for Jesus international headquarters: 60 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-5895; phone: (415) 864-2600;
email: [email protected]; web: jewsforjesus.org; also working in: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia,
South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom; editor: Ruth Rosen; art director: Paige Saunders;
design and illustration: David Yapp; ISSN 0740-5901 Volume 2:5775, October 2014; ©2014
onlinextras
Check out the expanded edition of our newsletter at
j4j.co/extras1014 to find:
prayer
prompters
• “I’m Good,” the broadside mentioned by Lyn Bond (it’s a good one
to pass on to a Jewish friend this month)
Please pray for:
• a cool story of how God answered prayer to show His attention to
life’s details
Jewish seekers to attend
and be drawn to Jesus
at our Yom Kippur and
Sukkot services
• Regular online features: “Hello Israel” (your Holy Land fact-of-themonth) and “So What?” (to help you apply this month’s
newsletter to your own life and walk with God)
God’s blessing on the next
generation of Jews for
Jesus and God’s wisdom for
us as we invest in them
Jewish Facts of Life
As David mentioned, this month is Yom Kippur, the most Holy Day of
the year on the Jewish calendar. Also Sukkot, or the Feast of
Tabernacles, begins at sundown on October 8.
grace and strength for new
Jewish believer Gregory in
New York (p. 4)
Sukkot, the last of the last annual festivals found in Leviticus 23, is like a
bookend to the Feast of Passover, the first of those holidays listed.
Passover is but one day, but combined with the Feast of Unleavened
Bread it lasts for eight days; Sukkot lasts seven days, and is followed on
the eighth day by what the Bible calls “a holy convocation.” Passover
focuses on how God redeemed us out of Egypt, and Sukkot reminds us
that after the redemption He blessed us with His presence and provision.
salvation for Klári in
Budapest, Larry in the SF
Bay Area, Jacob and his
family in London (pp. 4–5)
Find out more about Yom Kippur at:
j4j.co/nlyk and discover the joys of
Sukkot at: j4j.co/nlsk. You’ll find great
articles, videos and all kinds of
resources; plus, you’ll be able to see if
we are holding holiday services near
you at both these links!
courage and wisdom for
God’s people to include the
issue of sin in a way that
people understand when
presenting the gospel
God’s comfort for Rochelle,
Angela and Ken (people
Karl is ministering to in
Montreal) (p. 7)
This month's banner photo of Sarah Ascher, leader of our NYC summer outreach, was taken by Rachel Friedlander.
meetings, but she had not been able
to come. She expressed, though, that
she was not satisfied with the
synagogue services, finding them
lifeless, especially since the prayers
are in Hebrew, which she doesn’t
understand. She had told me about
her Catholic grandmother, who was
proud of having a Jewish daughterin-law, since Jesus was Jewish.
“From this mixed background, Klári
had developed a special mixed religion.
‘The God of the Old Testament is
cruel,’ she told me. ‘He had Abraham
sacrifice his son. Jesus, on the contrary,
is cool. He is cheerful and forgiving.’
When I reminded her that Jesus served
and fully obeyed the same God
revealed in the Old Testament—who is
actually His Father—it just made it
worse. She said she would not believe
in a God who is able to sacrifice his
own Son. She liked Jesus, but without
taking seriously that she can approach
God only through Him. And while she
prayed to God, she hated Him for the
Holocaust and for sacrificing His Son.
Stewart blowing the shofar
Budapest
From Kata Tar: “‘I don’t need a
mediator. I speak to God directly,’
Klári stated during our recent
meeting. This 62-year-old Jewish lady
works in a Jewish home for the
elderly. We met her a year ago during
our summer campaign. I kept
phoning her and inviting her to our
4
BRANCHES
thanking the Holy Spirit for giving
her such a good idea. ‘The Bible is
just like a protocol. If you follow it,
you can be certain of the good
outcome.’ Klári was pleased about
her insight and promised to
come again. Please pray that God
would give her more and more
understanding into why she needs a
mediator—the Messiah, Jesus.”
San Francisco
From Alan and Lyn Bond, as reported
by Lyn, “We began serving with Jews
for Jesus here in the Bay Area in 1975.
We have since served in Los Angeles,
Dallas and Chicago. This year we were
given the opportunity to come back to
San Francisco and make a full circle
move to where it all began. The
following is a small slice of life as we
readjust to our ministry here.
“‘Listen, Klári!’ I said. ‘You can be
like Abel, who approached God the
“Alan and I backed our blue PT
way He required, or you can be like
Cruiser out of the garage of the Rosen
Cain, who approached God the
way he wanted, then got
offended for God not accepting
him.’ Suddenly a light came into
her eyes. ‘I have recently learned
a protocol, a detailed instruction
of how to handle a client,’ she
said. ‘I can set it aside and do it
the way I think is best, but then
the result is uncertain. However,
if I follow the protocol, I can be
certain of a good outcome.’
Lyn
‘Exactly!’ I exclaimed, inwardly
PHOTO ©JEWS FOR JESUS/PAIGE SAUNDERS
he didn’t want to pray over the phone,
but he would think about it. Shortly
after that call, I received a text from
Gregory’s brother-in-law John,* who
has also been witnessing to him. He
told me that Gregory had called him
up and told him that he received
Yeshua as his Savior.”
“‘Oh dear Holy Spirit,’ I sighed inside,
‘Please talk to her.’
bits from the
home where we were temporarily
living with my Mom. I dropped Alan
off at the freeway exit close to AT&T
Park where the San Francisco Giants
play baseball. Tract bag slung over
his shoulder, he had hundreds of
pamphlets titled, “I’m Good,” spoken,
in the cover illustration, by a woman
with her palm raised as if to refuse
something being offered to her. Alan
headed off to where people were
gathering to watch the game so that
he could distribute the gospel seeds.
“I drove across the Bay Bridge where
I had an appointment to bring a Bible
study to a Jewish man in his early
40s. Larry can see how Jesus just
might be the Messiah, but he has
determined to read the entire Bible
before he will decide whether he
believes. He has faith in God and he
says he has prayed and seen God
answer his requests.
“Our lesson this particular week
was on Jonah. Larry acknowledged
that disobedience to God’s Will leads
to unpleasant consequences. He
promised to read the book of Job
for the following week.
“I drove back across the Bay Bridge
to find Alan waiting, his tract bag
empty and a smile on his face. We
can’t be sure what impact those
brief gospel pamphlets will have,
but they had scripture: Isaiah 53:6
and 1 John 1:8–9—and we know that
God’s Word does not return void.
Please pray for us, that God will give
us opportunities to meet and have
one-on-one Bible studies with many
more seekers in the San Francisco Bay
Area, where the number of Jewish
residents has more than doubled
since we lived here last.”
and a righteous man. But he was no
more the Mashiach than he (Jacob)
was. Then I asked him, ‘How do you
know Jesus is not the Mashiach?’
Jacob changed the subject and
asked me a question about myself.
This gave me the opportunity to tell
him my testimony. We had a good
interaction. It ended as Jacob told
me that he appreciated me telling
him what I believed before I came
into his house. But now, as it was
the school holidays, he really needed
to spend some time with his
London
Simon Lissak reports, “I was recently
in North London with a volunteer,
when we passed a house and noticed
two parked cars, both of which had
bumper stickers that said, “We want
Mashiach (Messiah) NOW!” I decided
to see if the owner of the cars was
willing to have a conversation with us.
“When a lady answered the door I
said, ‘I noticed your bumper stickers
and I’d like to talk to someone about
how we can recognize the Mashiach
when he comes.’ Her husband Jacob,
a religious Jewish man, invited us in. I
thanked him and said, ‘Before I
accept your kind invitation I need to
tell you that I am Jewish, but that I
believe that Jesus is the Mashiach
and I want you to know that before
we come into your house!’
“Jacob looked thoughtful for a
moment, and I expected the door to
close on us, but then he said ‘Sure . . .
come in,’ and we did. The living room
contained a huge bookcase with
many books on the Talmud and even
a large photo of Jacob with Rabbi
Schneerson, the Lubavitcher leader
who died twenty years ago, and
whom many Lubavitch Jews believe
to be the Messiah. I asked Jacob what
he believed about Jesus.
“Jacob explained that he thought
Jesus was a real man, a Jew, a rabbi
PHOTO ©JEWS FOR JESUS
PHOTO ©JEWS FOR JESUS/MELISSA MOSKOWITZ
New York City
Stewart Weinisch reports: “I met
Gregory* (Jewish) at his sister’s funeral.
His sister, a Jewish believer in Jesus,
had told him about the gospel many
times, but he never believed. Following
the funeral, I met with Gregory a few
times as he was awaiting a major and
potentially dangerous surgery. I called
him up the day before the surgery and
asked if he was ready to receive
Yeshua. He asked, ‘What do I have to
do?’ I explained that he needed to
believe in his heart what Jesus has
done for him, repent, and pray to
surrender his life to the Lord. He said
Simon
children. As we got up to leave, I
asked if I could come back. Jacob
said if we were in his area, it was
fine to come back and see him.
Please pray that the Holy Spirit
would reveal to Jacob that Jesus is
the Messiah and he will come to
faith in Him.”
* (not their real names)
onlinextra alert
Use the onlinextras link on p. 3
to see the “I’m Good”
pamphlet Lyn mentioned, and
to read the amazing thing God
did for the Bonds when they
moved back to the Bay Area.
55
Mission impossible
A Muslim once asked me, “What do I
need to be saved from?” I’ve been
asked the same question by Jewish
people. To which I reply, “We have all
sinned, and defied a holy God. We
need to be saved from our sin and the
judgment it brings. The good news is,
God wants to be your Saviour. All you
have to do is confess your sins, repent
and say yes to Jesus.” But repentance
isn’t easy. It’s letting go of living the
way we want, and allowing ourselves
to be directed by God.
Many people don’t see themselves as
sinners because they haven’t
committed a crime. They don’t know
that sin is falling short of God’s
standards, not just the standards we
humans set for ourselves. We tend to
judge ourselves by whether we are
better or worse than other people. But
a friend described it like this: We’ve all
taken an exam, and we all failed.
Some get 49% and others get 1%,
but even the higher scores do not
pass. However good or bad we are
compared to one another—in the end
we are all still sinners and fall short of
the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
Imagine you rent out your house, and
your tenants never pay you. They tear
the house apart and use your
property for purposes that break the
terms by which you allowed them to
6
live there. That’s how we can look at
sin. We are all tenants in a world
created and owned by God, but we
behave as though we owe God
nothing. We don’t give the reverence
and obedience that is due Him. God
has every right to cut us off, throw us
out—but He paid what was due by
Many people
don’t . . . know that sin
is falling short of God’s
standards, not just the
standards we humans
set for ourselves.
sending His son, Yeshua, to live a
perfect life, and then take the penalty
for our sin.
Sin is an important topic. I got in touch
with a contact called Matt, and learned
that two women had prayed with him
a year ago to receive Jesus. I asked
what the prayer meant. He could not
answer. “Did these women talk to you
about sin?” He said
that they didn’t.
Whether they did and
he forgot I don’t
know. But when
witnessing to others,
it’s essential to have a
sin conversation. If we
don’t, we may well be
inoculating people
against the
gospel—as they
mistakenly think
PHOTO ©JEWS FOR JESUS
E
xplaining sin is easy, isn’t it?
Well actually it isn’t! I find
myself continually having to
explain to people that I am not
judging them. The truth is, we are all
sinners, and God is the Judge.
by Ziggy Rogoff
they understand it, when actually a
huge part of the story is missing.
Another man prayed to receive Jesus
during our Wimbledon outreach, but
when Julia Pascoe talked with him
several months later, it was evident
that he knew nothing of sin. This is
often the case for Jewish people
coming to Jesus. They understand
that He is the Messiah, but can’t seem
to grasp that He is also the Judge of
sin as well as the atonement for sin.
Many don’t really understand what
sin is, and that’s why they don’t see
their need to be saved from it.
Sometimes it can take a while for
their eyes to be opened. One Jewish
believer said that after inviting Jesus
into her heart, it took another three
years before she realized Jesus is Lord
and Judge. We must be patient with
people. At the same time, we must
do our best to explain, not only who
Jesus is, but why we all need Him.
Ziggy Rogoff (see below) is a
missionary with our London
branch. Find out more about
Ziggy at: j4j.co/nlzr
The other “S-word”
no one likes
W
e live in a hypersensitive
culture where people are
careful about what they
say, and most try to avoid the
“S-word,” (sin). This word is often
associated with “religion” (we don’t
hear many atheists or secular folks
speak of it). Many hear the S-word as
an unpleasant intrusion or indication
that their attitudes, behaviour, and
actions are being judged by others
who have no right to point a finger.
There’s another S-word that no one
likes, though we don’t mind talking
about it. That word is “suffering.” In
this case it’s not saying the word, but
having the experience, that we try to
avoid. Suffering involves pain, distress
and the loss of shalom (peace). Most
of us, if given the chance, would like
to alleviate the suffering of others, as
well as avoid suffering ourselves.
I have the opportunity to visit many
Jewish people who are going through
one form of suffering or another.
One man I meet with went through
the Holocaust, losing his family and
barely surviving one of the worst
concentration camps. Many I meet
with suffer from ill health.
During my visits, I try to frame the
problem of suffering in the context of
that word no one wants to talk
about: sin. Not that all suffering is the
result of a sin committed by the
sufferer. But in the larger sense,
suffering is a result of sin. God
originally made everything “very
good” (literally, “exceedingly good”:
Genesis 1:31). Suffering and death
are the results of sin, spoiling God’s
perfect world. And yet it is through
suffering that we can be restored. I
don’t mean that we seek out
suffering, but we need to seek the
only hope and sure resource that can
help us: the Messiah, the Suffering
Servant (Isaiah 52:13–53:12).
The Old Testament describes the
suffering He would experience by
us and for us: We despised and
rejected Him (He suffered socially;
Isaiah 53:3–4). He was acquainted
with emotional suffering as He wept
with friends over their loss (as in
Lazarus’ death; John 11:35). In the
“ For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed
in us . . . in all these things we
are more than conquerors
through Him who loved us.”
(Romans 8:18, 37)
garden before He was crucified,
Yeshua declared: “My soul is
exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.”
(Matthew 26:38). He understood
loneliness and abandonment. He was
“oppressed” and suffered physically at
his trial and crucifixion. I point out that
this Messiah not only experienced and
understands suffering, but was also
victorious over the ultimate cause of all
suffering, which is sin. That is why He
alone can offer comfort, shalom,
strength, His presence and power
to be victorious through all that we
may face.
PHOTO ©KAREN MYERS
by Karl deSouza
It is a godly desire to want to alleviate
the suffering of others as best as we
can. The best way I know to do that
is to point people to the Messiah.
Please pray for God’s grace, help,
salvation and health for the people I
minister to, some of whom are
Jewish believers. Please pray for these
people I meet with who are suffering:
Rochelle, Angela and Ken.
But there is another side to suffering:
“For to you it has been granted on
behalf of Christ, not only to believe in
Him, but also to suffer for His sake”
(Philippians 1:29). Many have lost
family or friends who reject them
because they follow Yeshua the
Messiah. Some who live in lands
without religious freedom have lost
more. Sometimes God allows suffering
in order to help us depend on Him
(Romans 5:1–4; James 1:2–18), and to
display His power in action.
We have a message of hope for this
suffering world. This message doesn’t
hide or minimize the awful realities,
but points to suffering’s origin (sin) and
to the Saviour, who can carry us
through as we trust Him with our lives.
Karl deSouza (pictured above), whom
you may remember as leading our
work in Montreal, has been transferred
to Paris! Find out more about Karl
at j4j.co/nlkd
7
Lynn McCoy, with our
Washington, DC branch, wrote:
“My husband Wayman is a musician.
Recently we attended a concert
featuring a violinist who has toured
with a particularly infamous pop star.
After the concert we had a wonderful
opportunity to chat with her (the
violinist, not the infamous pop star!).
“I don’t know how we got on the
subject of Jesus, but my husband has
a way of turning conversations with
strangers into opportunities to talk
about our Lord in a matter of
seconds. Judy was particularly excited
to hear about my work with Jews for
Jesus. She told us about her church,
and that her own pastor was from a
Jewish background. I was impressed
by Judy’s choice to work in such a
dark world for the love of sharing her
faith. She admitted that it had been
difficult, but she tried very hard to let
her light shine in that dark world. She
saw it as her mission field.
“Not long after, I was handing out
gospel tracts at a concert featuring
that very pop star whose violinist we
had met. Many of her fans wore
costumes that showed quite a lot of
skin, the people who were wearing
them appeared spiritually lost.
“Two young men who were also
handing out gospel tracts approached
me. It was a blessing to meet others
“I mentioned the violinist who had
been on tour with this star, and how
she’d had opportunities to share her
faith. One of the men’s responses
surprised me. ‘I highly doubt that any
true Christian would actually perform
with her!’
“I reminded him that Jesus ate with tax
collectors and prostitutes, and that if
we are going to reach the lost, we have
to walk, and sometimes work, among
them. He agreed, and we parted.
“I thought of Mark 2:16–17, ‘And
when the scribes and Pharisees saw
Him eating with the tax collectors
and sinners, they said to His
disciples, “How is it that He eats
and drinks with tax collectors and
sinners?” When Jesus heard it, He
said to them, “Those who are well
have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. I did not come
to call the righteous, but sinners,
to repentance.”’
“Jesus commanded us to go into the
world and proclaim the gospel. He
didn’t think it shameful to walk among
sinners, and neither should we!”
Lynn’s report reached our
headquarters right around the time
that our Israel team was doing an
outreach at the annual
Gay Pride parade in Tel
Aviv. We told our friends
about this outreach via
RealTime.* Many
friends promised to
pray and were glad
that we were reaching
out at this event. A
few chided us. One
man wrote:
PHOTO ©JEWS FOR JESUS
Pop stars,
parades,
sinners . . .
and you!
who were planting gospel seeds
among the thousands waiting to get
into the concert that night.
“There are some things that are just
so vile and disgusting that believers
should be nowhere near it. This is one
of those things. The abominable acts
that go on at such events are no place
for followers of Yeshua. He saved the
woman caught in adultery from being
stoned to death, but He didn’t go into
the bedroom to save her. There are
other ways to get the message out
without defiling yourself.”
What can we say? Wisdom requires
any believer to examine him or
herself honestly to avoid situations
that might cause temptation. But
believers are not defiled by mere
proximity to those who are defiling
themselves. Not as long as we
remain in even closer proximity to
God, His Word and others who
know and love Him. We need to
approach people as the forgiven
sinners we are, offering the same
salvation we have received!
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Below: Sarah Danor at the
Gay Pride outreach