Is Christianity a religion? It’s religion with a difference. There is relationship. Yeshua doesn’t hate religion; what He hates is pretense and pride in that relationship. Guard your tongue… that is religion. Look after the orphans and widows and keep from being polluted… that is religion (see the Book of James). Religion is not about that we have done or what we do, it’s about what He has done for us. Because of that, we are in an ever-thankful relationship with Him. Though we walk the street to give out Bibles, our walk with God contains the most important step of our lives- a relationship that changes the direction of where we’re heading.
Montreal, Quebec Report
It was a pleasant sunny afternoon, last Sunday, when we took to the streets. We were one team and we gave out 3 Bible sets, one all-English Bible and two Tanaks.
We started out by returning to the home where last week we promised to bring an all-English Bible. It was for the woman from China who spoke very little English. When she opened the door, she was delighted and received the Bible as a gift of great value. We remain hopeful that her daughter will read it and translate it for her mom so that both of them may be blessed.
We then started on a new street and knocked on the door where a woman, close to 70 years of age, received us. We shared that this Bible was a free gift, but she insisted on knowing our “religion”. We should not be surprised when Jewish people are so skeptical, firstly in light of the recent Pittsburgh shooting as well as in light of the fact that anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide. We have the responsibility to inform the Jewish people, and the world for that matter, what Bible prophecy tells us concerning what’s ahead. This woman took just the Tanak in spite of our sharing that many fulfillments of Scripture are found in the pages of the Brit Chadasha.
At another door, a man in his forties accepted the Bible set after insisting on knowing who we were and who we worked for. We had to tell him that we were not Jehovah’s Witnesses and that we love the Jewish people; that’s why we are doing this.
At another door, we met a lady, the most suspicious one of all, who asked us if we were part of the group Jews for Jesus. When we explained that we are volunteers for the Society for the Distribution of Hebrew Scriptures, she agreed to take only the Tanak. She let us know that she did not believe in the “other book”.
We also knocked on a door where a teenager greeted us. We made sure he was over 18 years of age and we offered him the set of Bibles and he agreed right away to receiving it. He shared with us that he did not read Hebrew and we shared with him about the coming of Messiah. We had some refusals as well that day, but many were also not at home. We concluded that the number of absentees was because it was indeed a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon. Thank you for praying with us.
Calgary, Alberta Report
In our outing last Sunday, we knocked on ten doors in total. Five responded to our knocking, while the others were absent.
Of the five who responded, two refused our offer of the free Scriptures. One proudly pointed out her mezzuzah, indicating that she had all that she needed, while the other, who was an Orthodox woman, also reiterated the same response; she did not need anything else. We thanked them for answering their door and they responded politely as we left.
At the very first home where we did get a positive response, the man accepted our offer of the full set of Scriptures. We pointed out the Isaiah 53 leaflet showing Talmudic agreement in identifying the Suffering Servant as the Jewish Messiah. His reaction was very cold and he didn’t show an interest in any further discussions. We greeted him politely when leaving and he then thanked us for the gift of the Scriptures.
At another home, we met a Jewish lady, married to a Gentile. She put up no fuss and kindly accepted the leaflet and the book mark which we offered. She didn’t accept the Tanak, saying that her son had one from his school. We thanked her for her time at which point she expressed her gratefulness for our visit and offers. This couple did not have their mezuzah on their newly installed door.
The last respondent was a very energetic lady wearing an anti tyranny T-shirt referring back to the Pharaoh in Egypt. She went on with a highly politicized discourse expressing strong leftist views — opposing Prime Minister Netanyahu and all his mentors in the Trump administration. She asked if we were fundamentalist Christians, believing that the Jews were going to suffer through apocalyptic tribulations, and if so, she would return our set of Scriptures. We chose to simply identify ourselves as Christian volunteers with the Society for the Distribution of Hebrew Scriptures. Our response seemed to appease her, but as she went on energetically looking through the Brit Chadeshah, I was convinced she was going to return our Scriptures, but amazingly and by the grace of God she kept the set. We went on to mention that if after reading the Scriptures for herself with the use of the Isaiah 53 leaflet and the messianic verses bookmark, she had any further questions, she could go onto Ariel Ministries’ web site and contact them for more info. She actually thanked us as we blessed her when parting!
That afternoon we felt the attacks from the enemy, but we could also feel the divine protection guiding us in our responses which resulted in amazingly positive results. We are very grateful to have given out two full sets along with having some good conversations. We are grateful for Emmanuel, God with us! Even with the two initial hostile refusals, things turned out very well and amazingly we kept our cool! Thanks for your past and future prayers for the Jewish community outreach here in Calgary.
Buffalo NY Report
Last week we had a great evening…it was a three hour visit with our friends M and M. (the couple in their early 90’s who we have visited before). We read Isaiah 53 to them and then asked them who they thought this passage was referring to. Immediately they said, Jesus. M., the husband, said, “I know. I’m reading the NT”. He asked if he could make a copy of the passage and we said, “It’s right in the Bible; we gave you one”. He took note of where the passage was located. M., the wife, then asked me (Ellie) how old I was when I became a believer and if Nigel (my husband and fellow outreach partner) was a believer when we met. I said, no, that he wasn’t a believer and that I told him I would not have married him if he hadn’t become a believer as well. So M. the husband then said to his wife, “Why are you asking her all these question?”. She replied, “It’s because if I become a believer and you don’t, I will need to divorce you!” We laughed together, but even with that she would not need to divorce her husband at all; she would need to keep a quiet spirit and draw him in, even further! Old or young, some hurdles don’t change. Please continue to pray for their salvation! We also gave out 2 Bible sets which were joyfully received!