On Being a “Fool” for Yeshua—Saints: Come Out of the Closet! (Part 2)

What Does It Really Mean to Be a “Fool” for Yeshua?

When it comes to being a “fool” for Yeshua, we need to ask ourselves some questions to more fully understand what’s behind such a radical concept. These questions included: Why were you born? What is you purpose in life? Why did YHVH Elohim, the Creator of all things, make you in his image? These are serious questions that few people pause long enough from the frenetic lives to which they are enslaved to ponder. Most people are so occupied living their daily routines, pursuing their dreams or just trying to survive that they never take the logical next step—a giant leap for many folks—and ask themselves these hard questions. The biblical answers to these questions is simple. You were created with in divine destiny. That is to replicate Elohim on this earth and to help expand his kingdom here below. Do you have an inner sense of this divine mission deep in your heart and mind? Sadly, most people do not. Acquiring this understanding, no, this passion, is a key to confronting the tidal wave of evil that is presently enveloping the globe as it endeavors to snuff out the last vestiges of light and Truth.

A Historical Overview

Back at the beginning in the book of Genesis in the garden, YHVH gave the first humans some marching orders which were instrumental in expanding his kingdom on earth. Critical to establishing the kingdom of Elohim was his command for man to get married and to procreate—to replicate himself (Gen 1:28; 2:24). Marriage and family is an essential building block of YHVH’s kingdom and to expanding it. Next, Elohim instructed the first man to make a home for his family and to have pets, that is, to tend and keep the garden and to take care of the animals in it (Gen 1:28; 2:15, 19). After that, YHVH instructed man to walk in his paths of righteousness by not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge and by communing with his Creator on a personal level (Gen 2:17; 3:8). The weekly seventh day Sabbath, a day of physical rest, spiritual regeneration and relationship building, was instrumental in YHVH’s kingdom building plans as well (Gen 2:1–3). All of these instructions are fundamental to YHVH replicating his kingdom and government on this earth. But there’s more.

Not all families would teach their children and grandchildren the ways of Elohim. Down through the ages, many humans would be born into spiritual darkness and raise their children in it as well. This is because YHVH created humans to have the freedom to choose to follow him or not. Most have chosen the latter. 

To remedy this problem YHVH plucked a man called Abraham out of the spiritual darkness of ancient Babylonia and gave him the light of his Truth. He then gave Abraham many righteous offspring who were commissioned to take the light of that Truth to the nations of the world (Deut 4:5–8; Isa 49:6 cp. 60:1–3). This nation was called Israel, and YHVH placed that nation smack dab in the land of Canaan,which is geographically and strategically located where the trading routes of three continents all meet—Africa, Europe and Asia. Sadly, the nation of Israel failed in their divine-mandated evangelistic mission to spread the good news of the kingdom of Elohim to the surrounding nations. Elohim knew this would happen because he knows that humans are weak and sinful, so now he fell back on his main plan to evangelize the world—to send his only begotten Son to complete the mission.

Because humans failed in their mission to spread the good news of Elohim’s kingdom to their children, friends and neighbors and to the world, out of deep love for humanity, Elohim sent his only Son, Yeshua the Messiah, to raise up followers who, with the inner dynamo of his Set-Apart Spirit, would fulfill the mission that Adam and the descendants of Abraham failed to do. 

In preparation for the advent of the Messiah, YHVH sent John the Immerser to preach the message of “Repent [from sin] for the kingdom of Elohim is at hand” (Matt 3:2).  This gospel of the repenting of sin or lawlessness (i.e. Torahlessness, see 1 John 3:4) and coming under the rule of the kingdom of Elohim is the same message that Yeshua the Messiah preached (Matt 4:17, 23; Mark 1:15), and that he commissioned his disciples (then and now) to preach as well (Matt 10:7). This message of the kingdom of Elohim is the essence of Yeshua’s Great Commission command to his disciples to preach the gospel to all nations (Matt 28:18–20; Mark 16:15–18). To fulfill this commission was Yeshua’s last command to his disciples before he ascended to heaven (Acts 1:8), and that command still stands to this day and applies to all disciples of Yeshua including you and me. These were last marching orders of the saints’ Commander and Chief, the Captain of Our Salvation before he left this earth, and these orders still stand!

At the same time, the demonic spirit of Antichrist is in direct opposition to the advancement of the YHVH’s kingdom on this earth. Satan the opposer and adversary to Elohim and his kingdom has been at his game from the beginning, since he manifested himself as a snake in a tree in the garden to oppose the will and commands of the Creator. This is why these evil forces are so opposed to marriage, family, the people of Israel, Yeshua the Messiah and the Bible and its followers. This is because Satan is the god of this world, and he is the ruler of all of its kingdoms. He knows that his time is short, that his gig as the ruler of this world is almost up, and that Yeshua the Messiah is about to return to destroy his kingdom—called Babylon the Great—and to capture and imprison him for eternity. Until then, Satan is pulling out all of the stops to prevent the kingdom of Elohim and its King—Yeshua the Messiah and his followers—from replacing him.

Enter the Great Commission

So where does that leave you and me in this cosmic struggle between good and evil, between the kingdom of Elohim and the kingdom of Satan? What is our divine mandate as obedient disciples of Yeshua?

On the table before us is the last set of orders that Yeshua, or Commander and Chief, the Captain of our salvation handed down to us. 

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On Violent Elders Vs. Forceful and Righteous Leadership

1 Timothy 3:3, Violent. This passage (vv. 3–7) lists the qualifications of an elder or leader of a congregation. One of the of character traits that he is not to possess is that of being a brawler (KJV),violent (NKJV) or pugnacious (NAS). What do the words brawler, violent or pugnacious mean here? When an elder preaches, rebukes, exhorts his congregation, as Paul instructed Timothy and Titus do to (2 Tim 4:2; Tit 1:13; 2:15), or “warns his congregation (Col 1:28), is this being “violent,” as Paul warns against in his first letter to Timothy (1 Tim 3:3)? We will discuss these issue below and what the biblical definition of violent is.

The word violent as found in 1 Tim 3:3 is the Greek word amachos meaning one who is by nature “a fighter, brawler, contentious, quarrelsome, one who causes strife, or one who is combative.” In modern terms, he’s a bully. Perhaps you remember the neighborhood bully from your years as a school child. By contrast, an elder, overseer or shepherd of a congregation is not to be such a person. This is what Paul had in mind when he gave these instructions concerning the qualifications of an elder.

So let’s now explore this issue a little further. Is there ever a time when spiritual leaders may need to resort to forceful words or even to forceful actions to protect YHVH’s spiritual sheep? What, for example, did David mean when he asks the following question in Psalm 94:16?

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

Let’s answer this question by asking another question? What did Yeshua mean when describing a good shepherd versus an evil hireling shepherd, and when he said that unlike the evil shepherd, a good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep and protects them from those who come to kill, steal and destroy the sheep? He goes on to say that the good shepherd defends the sheep, while the evil shepherd is a coward who runs away in the time of danger and fails to protect the sheep (John 10:7–15). Another example of an evil shepherd is found in Ezekiel 34 where such a shepherd fails to protect the sheep from the beasts of the field (Ezek 34:7–10). 

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Yeshua’s Model for One-On-One Evangelism

Mark 10:17–22, Yeshua’s model for one-on-one evangelism is here revealed. In his encounter with the rich, young ruler, Yeshua reveals a method of evangelizing in a one-on-one scenario. He uses the following five-step approach:

  • Yeshua first establishes the character of YHVH Elohim and how man falls short of this in comparison. Namely, YHVH is good, and man is not.
  • Next, Yeshua presents the Torah as Elohim’s moral and spiritual standard that determines the definition of good—right and wrong.
  • Yeshua then shows the young man that he was violated that standard of goodness by violating the Torah’s standard of righteousness.
  • He advises the young man then to repent of his Torahlessness (or of breaking YHVH’s laws, which is the biblical definition of sin, see 1 John 3:4).
  • Finally, Yeshua invites the young to make the total commitment to being a good person and to follow him.

We see this evangelistic model again in Acts 17:24 when Paul addresses the Greeks on Mars Hill.


 

Paul’s Model for One-On-One Evangelism

Spiritual discussion

Acts 17:24–32, Paul’s model for one-on-one evangelism. In Paul’s encounter with the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, he uses the five step evangelistic approach that Yeshua used as recorded in his encounter with the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17–22). This five-step approach is as follows:

Paul first establishes the character and nature of the one true YHVH Elohim who is the Creator of all things and man should seek him, for man owes all to him (vv. 24–28).

Then Paul shows how the Greeks have not been following the true Elohim, but have been sinning by worshiping false gods (i.e., idolatry), which is a violation of the Torah (v. 29).

Next, Paul further alludes to the Torah by establishing that Elohim’s divine nature or character (which is revealed in the Torah) transcends idols, material possessions or anything else devised by men whether artistic or philosophical in nature (v. 29). These things were the chief false gods of the ancient Greeks, for which Paul was taking them to task.

Paul then tells the Greeks that Elohim is calling men to repentance for ignorantly following man-made idols and philosophies, (which is sin, or Torahlessness, 1 John 3:4) (vv. 30–31).

After this, Paul points the Greeks to Yeshua (vv. 30–31).

From this evangelistic encounter, Paul gained some converts (v. 34).


 

New Video: A College Student on Friendship Evangelism

How do we do the great commission of preaching the good news of the kingdom to those around us? This video gives some helpful tips on friendship evangelism—how to gently share the gospel with those around you.


 

The Great Commission: The ABC’s of Gospel Evangelism

Outline and Study Guide With Practical Suggestions on Witnessing

Motivation to Evangelize the Spiritually Lost

What should be our motivation to evangelize the lost?

Hand reaching for the sky

  • The Word of Elohim commands us to do so. The imperative command of Yeshua in Mark 16:11, “Go ye…!” is not “the great suggestion,” but “the great commission!” To many, it has become “the great omission.”
  • Human need demands that we reach out to the lost and hurting around us. Like Yeshua, we must seek to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Like Yeshua, we must meet people at their point of need by finding the need and meeting it with the gospel message, the Word of YHVH and the love of Yeshua.
  • Compassion and love for the lost should compel us to share the good news with others.
  • We must have love for the lost. Pray to the Father that he give us a supernatural love for the lost as Yeshua did. Love sensitizes us to the needs of others. Love makes you want to give to and bless others. Love makes you forget about yourself and perfect love casts out fear of witnessing or fear of what others think (1 John 4–18).
  • We will have an easy time of sharing the gospel of Yeshua with others if we still have the joy of our salvation. If we have lost that joy, pray for it to come back as David prayed in Psalm 51:12–13. Perhaps sin, the cares of this life, fear or other things are blocking that joy.

The New Testament Model for Evangelizm

A study of the Testimony of Yeshua reveals that the dominant model that Yeshua and the apostles followed when witnessing to unbelievers roughly followed the outline below: Continue reading