From:          BeaknDeakn@aol.com (Jamie Johnson)
To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:       Re: Who are we as believers in Messiah ???

Hello all.

I have seen a lot of getting "hung up" on some semantics.  I embrace
concepts of "Christian" and "Jew" despite both labels having their
negative connotations.  Most of my Christian brethren whom I have
talked to don't consider Jesus/Yeshua a blue-eyed, blonde-haired
fellow.  To me, it would not matter if He came to earth being purple
(though the Bible shares with us about His olive skin and hair like
wool).  He is my savior and God.  I call myself a Christian and I
always will.  That is what I am and I have no problem with that word. 
Christian means "follwer of Christ."  Christ comes from the word
Christos (Xpistos) which is Greek for Annointed One.  That is,
Christ=Christos=Annointed One=Messiah.  Bottom line:  Who is
Jesus/Yeshua to you?  Was He just a prophet, a teacher of the law, or
was He the one and only Son of God?  I believe Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, a Person of the Trinity.  There are going to be people
who do things in the name of Christianity and the God of Israel who
are wicked.  These are false prophets.

It saddens me how some who claim to be Christian ignore what it
teaches or remove Jesus/Yeshua from Jewishness.  It saddens me that
other people look to these "claimers" instead of God and then reject
the true meaning of Christianity and its Hebraic roots.  This is
disunity and it breaks my heart.

 I have a friend who is a Reform Jew.  She does not believe
 Yeshua/Jesus is the Messiah.  She knows I am a Christian.  She saw me
 one day wearing a shirt that said, "El Shaddai" on it.  She said to
 me that that sounded Hebrew.  I told her it was and it meant "God
 Almighty."  She asked me then if I embraced the Jewish scriptures of
 the Old Testament.  I said, "Oh yes. Most of the Bible I believe in
 was written in the Hebrew culture (inspired by God, of course)."  She
 is learning a lot about Christians right now.  She had said that she
didn't realize that Christians embraced the Old Testament as I do.
 That almost broke my heart to hear that.  Granted, I am not a "Joe
Christian" who does the right thing all the time, but now and then,
God allows an opportunity to share some of the faithful things I do
and I am taking this opportunity at this time.  A band that I listen
to that sings about Jesus sings, "Don't look at me, I'm see through." 
The song continues and calls the listeners to look to God.  I don't
look to the history of the Crusades and atrocities that were commited
in the name of my blessed Lord.

 Men took matters into their own hands.  I look to Him.  Remember the
 bottom line for it is THE salvation issue:  Is Jesus/Yeshua who He
 said He was:  God the Son, the Messiah, Lord and Savior, the way to
 God of Israel?  

Love in Him, 
Jamie