Why First…
Are you hearing the call of the shofar? Maybe you’re one of the outcasts of Israel!
In the last few years, within the organized systems of men, both religious and secular, something strange has been happening … very quietly, but with increasing steadiness. Here and there, people from all different faiths, non-faiths, backgrounds and experiences are suddenly responding to what can best be described as a spiritual shofar blast, deep and timely, reverberating through the softening flesh of their hearts.
As if men coming back from the dead, they are faintly beginning to see the One whom they have pierced, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, whose name is called The Word of God, who holds the sceptor and bears the zitzit on the four corners of His garment! Serving as High Priest by confirming the covenant God made with Israel so long ago at Mount Sinai, Yeshua stands as an ensign for the people, ensuring that not one jot or tittle pass from the Torah until all be fulfilled.
Today, as He says, “Come, follow me”, these scattered outcasts are simply laying down their burdens of building someone else’s cities and standing up with their brethren, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Together, they are returning to the ancient paths, moving as one new man, beginning the winding ascent up to Zion.
Our desire is represented by the following from Isaiah 52: “Awake, awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion! Shake thyself from the dust. Arise, O Jerusalem! Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion! Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion! Break forth into joy, sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem! All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God!”
The Lord is calling His people out of all the places wherein they’ve been scattered. If you’ve been experiencing a yearning for … something you can’t quite define, something you can’t seem to find in today’s teeming industry of religion, something that inexorably finds its expression in the heart of Israel, you’ve come to the right place!
Now Who … (and a little How)
My husband, Keith (the one without a head), thought I was crazy to post this particular photo as our visual ambassador, but I just couldn’t resist.
We finally, finally make it to Israel, the dream of a lifetime, and we’re standing on the Mount of Olives overlooking the hallowed temple mount. It’s an overwhelming moment. We’re giddy and close to tears with the wonder of it. Then a fellow tourist kindly offers to take our picture to commemorate the unforgetable experience of making aliyah to the Land … and happily chops Keith’s head off in her enthusiasm! It was just too funny not to share!
Seriously, though. We should introduce ourselves properly. My name is Julie Murray, and my husband’s name is Keith. We both grew up in traditional Christian homes – me a charismatic, Keith a Baptist. But as we grew into early adulthood, we just kept getting the feeling that something was wrong with the system of the church. Something … just wasn’t right. It was “… like a splinter in our mind, driving [us] mad…” (From The Matrix) 
But I should really start at the beginning, or at least, the beginning for me. (Keith and I didn’t get married until 1993.) When I was still a teenager in the late 80s, a revolutionary program appeared on the Trinity Broadcasting Network called HaTikvah, In the Footsteps of the Messiah by Joseph Good. The focus was on the Hebrew roots of our faith. Now, I’d heard interesting sermons before that touched on Hebraic things, but nothing that had ever suggested we should alter how we worshipped to actually put these things into daily practice.
By contrast, this program introduced me to the feast days, the Shabat, the Hebrew calandar, language, customs - in short, a brand new way of seeing and living. It opened up a whole new world that I’d never dreamed could exist for a believer. And this new perspective seemed to hold the key to the mysterious longings of my heart that traditional Christianity just didn’t seem equipped to answer.
However, for lack of any Messianic fellowship near us, we continued to rock along as we had before, knowing more what we were seeking, or at least where it was to be found. But it wasn’t until 1994 when my mother got a wild hair to just do Passover that things began to change. Then in 1998, Keith and I found a Messianic congregation to attend, and from the first night, EVERYTHING began to dramatically change. EVERYTHING. And we’ve never looked back.
Now, we host our own fellowship in our home in Sulphur, Oklahoma. Attendance has fluctuated over the years, but no matter if it’s at a swell or just the two of us, we do what we do for the best reason anything ought to be done: because YHVH said to do it. So regardless, as long as there is time, the scriptural appointed times are to be observed. Our whole focus has changed over the years from one of “churchdom” and all its here today, gone tomorrow hair-brained motivations to one of a scriptural basis, one that doesn’t divide the testaments or create its own traditions or do away with whole sections of scripture just to make its belief system stand. We’re taking back our birthright that’s been stolen from us.
Our path isn’t necessarily a popular one. We’ve had to wade through touchy family issues just like everyone else trying to be obedient to the Torah. Abandoning inherited paganism is one of the hardest things that we’ve ever done. Its roots run deep through families, and no one likes you messing with their beloved traditions and customs. The decision to adhere to Torah is never easy. But it’s the most rewarding thing we’ve ever, ever, ever done. It’s given us our life back, so we don’t regret any of it.
Hope you enjoy the site. You can email us at kjmurray@brightok.net.
(And just to prove that Keith really does have a face…
