SHCC News

Website:
Shalom www.shcc.cc

Volume 1 Number 1 804 Russell Palmer Rd. Kingwood, Texas 77339 March, 2006

Rabbi Jesus
By Jim Becka
In the middle of one of my high school class discussions a
student made the comment that Jesus was not Jewish. “That’s
what my mother told me,” she said.

Our view of Jesus has been founded on 2,000 years of Papal

edicts and rabbinical teachings. Some Christian leaders have
included anti-Semitism in their Bible studies while rabbis have
encouraged followers to avoid the segments of the Tanakh
making reference to the Messiah.

“I thought I was becoming a gentile when I accepted Jesus,”

said Rabbi Mort Petrushansky, who was raised in an Orthodox
Jewish family. “But when I began a Bible study with a
Christian group, many of the things coming out of the
Christian Bible were Jewish ideas. I couldn’t figure out what
was going on.”
Christians and Jews have given their own slants to the
promises of God. Though God’s covenant with Jews was to be
eternal, many Christian leaders teach that Christianity is a
replacement for Judaism. And, though God told Abraham that
he (Abraham) would impact the world, many Jewish groups
focus on maintaining small congregations closed to outsiders.
Neither is correct.
Rabbi Petrushansky (Above) says the teachings
in the New Testament are based on Jewish ideas.
Since the reestablishment of the state of Israel in 1948, Jewish
acceptance of Jesus has expanded. The Jerusalem Post stated
in a 1997 issue that more Jews have accepted Jesus in the past
20 years than the previous 2,000 years.
“Our purpose of SHCC is to provide an honest context for
meaningful relationships between Christians and Jews,” said
SHCC Pastor Bron Barkley, M.A., D.Min. “We are a Christian
Church in doctrine (we believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the

Petrushansky, a staff member from Kingwood’s Shalom Continued on Page 2

Hebraic Christian Congregation says the barriers Jews and See Rabbi Jesus
Christians have constructed over the past 2,000 years are
coming down. “It’s hard to deny that Jesus was the Messiah
foretold in the Tanakh. You just have to examine the proph-
esies ,” said Petrushansky.”
The SHCC congregation meets
Saturday mornings north of
Houston in Kingwood. Services
includes teachings from the
New Testament and the Torah
by Rabbi Daniel Schnaider
(Right), singing/dancing (Left)
and fellowship with a diverse
community.
Rabbi Jesus Pastor Barkley traveled and ministered together, and recorded several
Continued from Page 1. albums on the Benson Record label, Milk & Honey.
only-begotten Son of God,
born of the virgin as proph- “What an incredible time this was for my life,” Paul
esied in Isaiah 7:14 and says. “But the call to bring the Gospel back to the Jewish
Genesis 3:15 - see Luke 1-2, community grew stronger and stronger in my heart.”
therefore “God with us” - see
John 1; we also believe that
He is King Messiah - see 2
Samuel 7; Psalm 2; et al).
Yet our calling is to seek to embody the truth that in Messiah
Jesus, Jew and Non-Jew are made One in spirit. See
Ephesians 2:15; Romans 9-11; Acts 15.

“We respect both the Synagogue and Church in all their

authentic forms,” said Barkley. “both contemporary and
historic, and we do not seek to harm either, but rather to help
both in their pursuit of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, the God and Father, as we understand Biblical truth,
of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. We welcome any person who
desires to worship with us and to explore the Jewish charac-
ter of the Christian faith and the meaning of that in terms of
practical living.”

Paul Wilbur
Makes A Joyful Noise
His music brings worship and excitement. The crowd
gathered at the Nathaniel Center Feb. 26, were not
disappointed to hear Paul Wilbur, fresh from South
America where he had been ministering.

The world’s opera stages were the ambition of a

determined young Wilbur. A passion for the arts, music,
and teaching took him from under graduate school in
Cleveland, Ohio across the Atlantic to study in Milan,
Italy. There he was instructed in vocal technique,
Italian, and higher-opera by some of Europe’s most
skilled mentors.
It on a fishing trip that Wilbur was introduced to his
Messiah. The day was March 26, 1977.
After nearly five years Paul yielded to this call and
“In the next several weeks I began to understand the
moved his small family to the Washington DC area and
truth of II Corinthians 5:17 that says, ‘If any man is in
a fledgling Messianic congregation.
the Messiah, he is a new creation’”.
“For two years I worked odd jobs and found part-time
Together with their friend Ed Kerr they formed the
work to pay the bills until the Lord brought together
popular contemporary Christian group Harvest. They
three Jewish men and called them Israel’s Hope. We
traveled and ministered together for more than eight
Shalom is a monthly publication of Shalom Hebraic
Christian Congregation. Address all comments to: years recording several albums on the Maranatha! record
Jim Becka, Editor, 804 Russell Palmer, Kingwood, label.”
TX 77339 (Or, jmbecka@aol.com).
Continued on Page 3
 Today Paul’s ministry is as worldwide as his music.
“God’s grace is truly amazing,” Pauls says, “as we have
ministered in more than thirty nations, recorded in three Wilbur Ministers
languages, and have witnessed thousands set free by
Messiah empowered worship and praise.”
to SHCC

SHCC Expands to Television Rozalie Jerome

Pastor Bron Barkley, a familiar name in the Houston area because

of radio programs, will be appearing, along with other SHCC staff
on Kingwood CableVision. The program will feature Sabbath
services from the Nathaniel Center.
Rozalie Jerome, producer of The Crossover, a cable television
program seen throughout the Houston area, will serve as producer.