J.K. McKee

A Summarization of Jewish Shabbat Traditions

13 October, 2023 J.K. McKee

If there is any area where today’s Messianic movement tends to absolutely excel, it is with integrating a wide selection of the mainline Jewish traditions and customs for observing the Sabbath. Regardless of their background before coming to Messiah faith, religious or secular, today’s Messianic Jews tend to remember Shabbat with the common elements of lighting candles, breaking challah, drinking wine, and attending synagogue services with traditional liturgy and Torah readings. Non-Jewish Believers who have been led by the Lord into the Messianic movement, seeking to embrace more of the Hebraic and Jewish Roots of their faith, have also taken a hold of Shabbat, the opportunity for rest it offers to the people of God, and many of the significant traditions that can make the Sabbath a very holy and sanctified time.

A Summarization of Jewish Kosher Traditions

12 October, 2023 J.K. McKee

Much of the Messianic community has promoted what it considers to be “Biblically kosher,” which primarily begins and ends at not eating pork and shellfish. In traditional Judaism, however, what it means to be kosher is much more involved than observant Jews not eating certain meats labeled to be “unclean.” Kashrut involves classification of unclean meats to be sure, but also involves some significant traditions regarding the butchering of animals, how meat is to be prepared, what can and cannot be eaten together, separation of utensils and cookware—as well as a variety of theological and philosophical reasons proposed for the institution of these Biblical instructions, and their subsequent interpretation and application over the centuries by Jewish religious authorities and diverse Jewish communities.

How Are You Facilitating Stability? – Messianic Insider

11 October, 2023 J.K. McKee

John McKee discusses the significance of stability versus instability, considering some examples from your likely, current Messianic experience.

Approaching Scripture as a Warning – Messianic Insider

27 September, 2023 J.K. McKee

John McKee talks about a very inconvenient subject for many Bible readers: much of the record of Holy Scripture is present to reveal the faults and mistakes of God’s people. How do we need to better approach Scripture as a warning, with various stories and accounts to be heeded by the righteous?

Being on the Inside: Responsibly or Irresponsibly? – Messianic Insider

20 September, 2023 J.K. McKee

John McKee discusses how many people in today’s Messianic movement, believe that they should have some kind of insider information or perspective—precisely because of their involvement with Israel, Jewish salvation, and the return of the Messiah. If indeed so, how can this be done in a responsible manner, facilitating Kingdom of God purposes?

Addressing the Frequently Avoided Issues Messianics Encounter in the Torah

13 September, 2023 J.K. McKee

Torah observance is much more than just Shabbat, the festivals, and kosher. A great number of ethical and moral issues/commandments become significantly conscious to the Torah reader. Likewise, a person has to encounter a world going not only back some 3,300 years to the time of the Exodus, but multiplied millennia to the Creation of the cosmos itself. The questions and the controversies that the first five books of the Bible present to us, not just as students of God’s Word, but specifically as Messianic Believers—are quite significant. Many people do not know what to do when the social norms of the ancient period are different than those of today, and are often at a loss when reading the Torah. Not infrequently, such issues are just avoided or outright ignored in Messianic Torah study.

The End-Times: What Should We Expect? – Part 2 – September 2023 Outreach Israel News

12 September, 2023 J.K. McKee

John McKee delivers the September 2023 Outreach Israel News update.

What Are “Works of the Law”?

11 September, 2023 J.K. McKee

Anyone who enters into Pauline theological studies today will easily encounter the fact that there are scholars and exegetes who think that the term “works of law” or ergōn nomou—appearing first in Galatians (2:16[3x]; 3:2, 5, 10), and then appearing again in Romans (3:20, 28)—actually does designate something other than “works/deeds/actions required by the Mosaic Law,” or at least something a bit more specific than just “observing the law” (NIV) in general. These proposals, though, have been met with a great deal of criticism, and even some hostility, by those of particular theological traditions. Alternatives to the customary meaning of “works of law” have been proposed more frequently, as New Testament theologians, over the past fifty years or so, have had greater access to ancient Jewish literature and resources, and this information has had to be considered in their exegesis.

What Does “Under the Law” Really Mean? A Further Study

9 September, 2023 J.K. McKee

This further study, of what “under the Law” really means, will consider some of the strengths and weaknesses today’s Messianic Believers have, especially when a Christian family member or friend exclaims “We’re not under the Law!” Not only will this analysis provide some more detailed answers to those who are skeptical of a Messianic’s Torah obedience, but it is engaged with contemporary thought and opinion surrounding the terminology “under the Law,” and why “under the Law” meaning “obedient to the Torah of Moses” is a poor conclusion.

Path of Apostasy: Abandon Paul, Abandon Yeshua, Abandon God – Messianic Insider

6 September, 2023 J.K. McKee

John McKee discusses the great tragedy, particularly of various non-Jewish people who get involved in Messianic things—how they can be seen to commit apostasy against the God of Israel. This happens by abandoning the Pauline letters as Scripture, the Divinity and Messiahship of Yeshua, and later abandoning a Supreme Being altogether.