Greetings from the United Kingdom!

[daysofelijah]

HI, I live in the South of England and have been 'born again' for the last 15 years. I am 31 now. I attend a fellowship with about 200 other like minded people who love the word of God. We have recently come into the revelation of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and I found this website through Google whilst looking for a shofar. I have found a site tonight called <URL url="http://www.shofars.org">www.shofars.org does anyone know them?



I am not really sure if this site is attached to a particular denomination? but if you love the LORD and his Word it's definitely somewhere I can feel at home.



Blessings



DOE

[HelenaZF]

Welcome to ZFFriends! I love how internationional we are. You'll find other delightful Brits in our member list as well. We'd all love to know a bit about you.



I hope you enjoy the forums and will consider adding your own contributions as you are comfortable.

[DeanZF]

I echo HelenaZF's response to you. Tell us a bit about yourself. What areas of worship interest you, a little about your testimony perhaps, how long a believer, what sort of church family you find yourself in at the moment, etc.



Welcome and we hope that you'll be an active member of our little community!

[daysofelijah]

<QUOTE author="daysofelijah,Jul 19 2007, 03:55 AM">

HI, I live in the South of England and have been 'born again' for the last 15 years. I am 31 now. I attend a fellowship with about 200 other like minded people who love the word of God. We have recently come into the revelation of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and I found this website through Google whilst looking for a shofar. I have found a site tonight called <URL url="http://www.shofars.org">www.shofars.org does anyone know them?



I am not really sure if this site is attached to a particular denomination? but if you love the LORD and his Word it's definitely somewhere I can feel at home.



Blessings



DOE

HI, I live in the South of England and have been 'born again' for the last 15 years. I am 31 now. I attend a fellowship with about 200 other like minded people who love the word of God. We have recently come into the revelation of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and I found this website through Google whilst looking for a shofar. I have found a site tonight called <URL url="http://www.shofars.org">www.shofars.org does anyone know them?



I am not really sure if this site is attached to a particular denomination? but if you love the LORD and his Word it's definitely somewhere I can feel at home.



Blessings



DOE

[HelenaZF]

The whole subject of our Jewish roots is at the basis of ZionFire's ministry calling, so we rejoice that the Lord has brought you into that revelation. It's one of the things we love to discuss here.



This site is not sponsored or attached to any particular denomination, but is an outreach, resource and sounding board for those involved in christian arts ministries and worship. Our foundation here on ZFF is the Word of God (all of it), and no particular denominational doctrine.



Dean is our resident shofar expert and I'm sure he will have something to say to you about shofars.org.



Personally, Dean and I are members of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church--a denomination that espouses the melding of the three streams of the charismatic, the evangelical and the liturgical.

[DeanZF]

<QUOTE author="daysofelijah">

I have found a site tonight called <URL url="http://www.shofars.org">www.shofars.org does anyone know them?

[/color]

<COLOR color="navy">I am VERY familiar with that site and the man who runs it. I would trust Dominick without question. He is a man of integrity and honor, one who seeks to please new or seasoned shofarists, and one who seeks to honor our Lord in all he does.</COLOR>
<QUOTE author="daysofelijah">

I am not really sure if this site is attached to a particular denomination? but if you love the LORD and his Word it's definitely somewhere I can feel at home.

[/color]

<COLOR color="navy">No, we're not attached to a denomination as a site or as an organization. We as individuals are indeed part of a local parish that is part of a denomination, however. We are active in the church and in denominational events when called upon. We feel called, as Helena mentioned, to help that denomination and others learn about the Jewishness of their Messiah. We are not Messianic Jews (MJ). We are not affiliated with any of the MJ-ish movements, but have many friends and fellow ministers in several of those movements and love them all. We've actually been involved in several MJ events around the country.



Something else of importance: If you'll take a look through this site, you'll find an answer to a fellow Brit about what to look for in a shofar so that you can communicate what you're looking for to Dominick. He's such a great guy. He'll find you a horn and then, if you'll call him, he'll play it for you so that you can hear what your horn can sound like when a pro plays it! That will also help you have a good aiming point for your own playing. So many folks buy the horns without really having a good concept of what they should sound like.



Hope that helps</COLOR>

[daysofelijah]

Thank you both for the warm welcome and thank you Dean for the info on shofars. While on the Shofars.org site I saw a link to a Hebrew Roots Bible but when I looked it up on the web it has very mixed reveiws (some good and some accusative) do you have any thoughts on it? I am really looking for study tools that will help me understand the Hebraic Roots.

[DeanZF]

There's a wonderful little proverb that Jews and Israelis tell on themselves that whenever you have 10 Jews gathered together, you'll have at least 20 opinions. A slight exaggerations, of course, but because there is currently a surge in information on "Jewish Roots", you're going to have a lot a lot a lot of opinions and conclusions drawn. As with any Bible study, you're going to have to use your God-given discernment to separate the wheat from the chaff.



This is a VERY difficult subject to address with integrity and one that I'm frankly poorly equipped on. I've not been reading the rash of books and theses written in the last 6-10 years because so much of it seems to be aimed at pet theories with some small basis on a couple of twists of scripture. Not to say that one or more of those theories might not prove to be correct, but it's kind of like the various views of the rapture, when it's coming and who is going. Both tend to be divisive and emotional. I learned my lesson on the rapture wars. God's going to handle it as He sees fit. I try to live today as though it's coming tonight and plan for tomorrow as though it won't be in my life time, and I don't lose a minute of sleep about it. It's in HIS hands, not mine, or I'd have been in His presence a long time ago!



I am not familiar with Dr. Trimm's work on the Hebraic Roots Version Bible. From what I can see on the Internet, there are some strong suspicions about the man, and they come from a variety of sources and are not simply cross-quoting each other. Most of the positive comments about him are found as quotes on websites that seem to have a direct relationship to Dr. Trimm. Again, I have no personal experience with either the man or his written works. No recommendations, but I would advise caution and high levels of discernment while reading, if you go that way.



I know a little bit about where Dominick Zangla is theologically, but would not presume to go there. He loves the Lord; that's enough. I think that he chooses to be Torah observant. I have no trouble with that. If he chooses not to be observant, I would have no trouble with that either. That's his conviction, not mine to deal with.



There is what I have found to be a pretty reasonable translation of the entire Bible with an eye toward things Hebraic: David Stern's The Complete Jewish Bible. I know that it is often the recommended version for use in Messianic congregations. I've not found the sort of turmoil and mistrust surrounding him that I have with others. This version is sold as a true translation, but it keeps the "Jewish flavor" that has normally been washed out of English translations starting with the KJV. I find that it's not a particularly easy to read translation, however. Dr. Stern often includes both English and Hebrew transliterations of the same word in a sentence. So, you'll read "Therefore Adonai, God, sent Adam out of the garden..." That's not a big deal, but when you start reading say the Acts where there are lots of names, you get both English and hebrew of each name, each time they're used. He uses a lot of Hebrew terms (transliterations all) sometimes but not always along with the English translations. It's good to get the feel of the terms and the larger meanings involved, but it can make for less than flowing reading. Not unlike trying to use the Amplified Bible as your devotional book. Great for study, but tough sledding for simple reading and gulping down portions of the Word. Here's Luke 20:27-28a: "Some Tz'dukim, who say there is no resurrection, came to Yeshua and put to him a sh'ellah..." And no footnote at the bottom of each page to let you know what Tz'dukim, orsh'ellah mean. Yes, you'll eventually get used to that, especially if you take Hebrew classes.



Nearly every Messianic teacher has an axe to grind or an agenda to promote. That makes it very difficult to simply deal with the basics of our Jewish roots.



If you want to delve a little deeper, let's start a separate thread and establish some rules about what we will and won't do. The biggest one would be that it would probably be monitored for content and that taking sides over the issues wouldn't be condoned.

[DeanZF]

By the way, the direct link to the discussion on shofars and their purchase (what to look for and why) can be found by <URL url="http://zionfirefriends.com/index.php?showtopic=573"><COLOR color="red">CLICKING HERE</COLOR>.



And as always, questions are always welcome!

[daysofelijah]

Thanks Dean. Until I came into the revelation of my Jewish roots I considered that I had a very strong knowledge of the Word of God (KJV) and have always used study aids like the Strongs, Youngs and Vines to help with Greek and Hebrew. Now I have received the revelation of the Jewish roots to my faith I am sort of wondering where I have been all these years :-) . The Word of God has completely become alive to me in a way that I didn't expect (for example now I have got rid of replacement theology I can understand the prophetic books such as Daniel, Hosea, Revelation because I can see them in context).



I do not feel the need to discuss controversial issues but would be grateful for any study advice (suggested resources etc) from people who are more advanced in their understanding of the Jewish / Hebraic Roots than me.



I really appreciate your advice and time - you have been extremely helpful and your sincerity and love for the LORD is very evident - Thank you! [Goes off to look at the Shofar article link]