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Organization Profile
Congregation Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah) is an independent, non-profit organization,
incorporated in the State of Washington, USA in 1992. Our By-laws and
financial statements are available on request. Although we have no
formal membership in other organizations, we work with many other
congregations and organizations. This site is operated only for the free
exchange of information.
Terminology
With all due
respect for the natural Seed of Abraham, we build no walls between Jew
and Gentile (Ephesians 2:11-14, 4:4-6), but proclaim a Savior (through
Abraham) for the whole world; and a worship that is for all who follow
Him in faith; and instructions in righteousness (judgments, ordinances,
and statutes — all three categories of mitzvot) that show us
how to love God and our neighbor.
We use the
terms Tanach (a Hebrew acronym for Torah, Prophets, Holy Writings) and
Apostolic Writings, instead of Old Testament and New Testament. The
latter terms are considered misnomers, commonly used to imply outmoded
books and replacement books. Biblically, the New Covenant is not a set
of books, but a prophetic renewed application of the Abrahamic Covenant
between God and His people as found in Jeremiah 31:31.
Distinctive Doctrines
Yahweh Eloheinu (The
Lord our God), blessed be His Name, created all things by His Word,
sustains all things, and rules over all with unquestionable wisdom,
power and love.
The All-wise Creator
gave Torah (instruction) to man, beginning with Adam. In love, He chose
Israel to bring forth the Messiah and, through the Torah, show Him to
the world. The Torah is foundational to the Prophets and Holy Writings
(collectively called the Tanach), and the Tanach is foundational to the
Apostolic Writings. Apart from the Tanach, the Apostolic Writings cannot
be properly interpreted, understood, or used.
The Tanach and
Apostolic Writings (collectively called the Holy Bible) were brought to
the world through Israel, to lead men of all nations to the Messiah.
Yeshua the Nazarean is that Messiah, the very image of God, the Torah
become flesh (the Word, which is God, became flesh as Yeshua), and the
only savior of men. He came to earth by supernatural conception and
birth, was crucified, resurrected the third day, ascended bodily into
the heavens, and will bodily return, all perfectly fulfilling multiple
prophecies of the Tanach.
The commandments are
to all the standard for glorifying God, and can only be kept through the
power of the Holy Spirit. The eternal Sabbaths and festivals are
prophetic and memorial, to keep Messiah always before us. Special gifts
of the Holy Spirit (healings, foreign languages, etc.) are temporal
tastes of future glory, and are not guaranteed to anyone for now.
God has determined our
form (gender, race, abilities, etc.), and we are to glorify Him with all
of our hearts, minds, and bodies, and love one another. We can claim no
"rights" before Him. We specifically denounce today's rampant
idolatrous acts of: greed for possessions and power; pornography,
fornication, homosexuality and abortion; drunkenness and recreational
drug use; profanity and dishonesty.
All men have fallen
short of glorifying the Holy God. By the life-giving Spirit of God,
through faith in Messiah, they may find forgiveness (justification),
repentance and moral growth (sanctification), and resurrection to
perfection (glorification). These faithful, who are chosen by God before
they are born, have the promise of eternal life on a New Earth under
Yeshua our Messiah Prophet, Priest and King.
Our chief purpose is
to praise our creator through faith and obedience, which are
inseparable.
Toward this end, we
meet together to mutually study the Bible, seeking to grow in our
understanding of God's way; we sing His praise, and edify and uphold one
another as God enables us. We observe God's appointed Sabbaths and
festivals, emphasizing their messianic significance to all generations.
We take our commission
to be that we should be a light to the world, both Jew and gentile.
Last modified: April 10, 1999 |