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Our Mission
Our mission is to glorify the God Of Yisra'el and to see His Messiah; Yeshua, and His Torah (instruction) lifted up so that both Jew and any Gentile who wishes to take hold of Adonai's covenants may be equipped to do so. The UMJA (United Messianic Jewish Assembly) will unite Messianic congregations and ministries in a specific alliance so that together we may accomplish the goal of spreading the Good News of Messiah Yeshua and to teach others how to become His disciples so that they may live spiritual lives like the Master. We hope to bind congregations together in love and shalom so that we as a community can move forward to accomplish the task Adonai has set before us.
Our mission will also be to raise up men to take their rightful leadership positions in their homes, in their congregations, and in their communities. Together we hope to spread the message of Yeshua The Messiah and spread the light of Adonai's Torah to the Jewish people and also to those of the Nations.
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Beliefs & Convictions
I. The God of Avraham, Yitz;chak, and Ya'akov (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) is the One and Only God.
II. We believe in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We believe that this Word was manifested in the form of Messiah. We believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is The promised and prophesied Messiah who came to redeem mankind and whom will rule as King over Yisra'el in the future coming Kingdom of God. And, we believe it is his Good News that we are to proclaim.
III. We believe in the inerrancy of the original manuscripts as found in the Tanakh and Brit Chadasha, for instruction, prophecy and doctrine and that they alone holds authority in our lives.
IV. We believe that the Torah of Adonai has not been abolished, and the observance of it is still the valid expression of a Godly faith...not as a means of salvation, but as the God-given path of sanctification. The Torah given to Moshe (Moses) is the same Torah that Messiah Yeshua has taught us to observe. We are taught not only to observe it, but to also make disciples in the name of Yeshua The Messiah and to teach them to live Torah pursuant lives (Matthew 5:16-19).
** We believe that the Torah was meant for Yisra'el and all those of the nations who join its commonwealth (Ephesians 2) and take hold of its covenants (Zechariah 8:23). Any of those from the nations joining themselves to Yisra'el's commonwealth will be welcomed with open arms and will be treated as an equal citizen with equal responsibilities and privileges (B'midbar/Numbers 15:15-16). We understand our faith walk as being Messiah centered and “Torah Pursuant”. As mentioned in our fourth pillar, it doesn’t matter if you are Jewish or from the nations, we do not believe that one must keep the Torah, or be observant of it, to be saved. On this note, we don’t believe it is obligatory. We understand that you cannot force holiness on anyone and that it must be a 100% choice on an individual’s part. So, although we lead by example in the best way possible, and we exhort our brothers and sisters unto a life of holiness, we don’t force it upon someone, and we exercise patience, love, and grace as we leave room and time for Adonai to work in a person’s life.
With that being said, we also believe that if one is to walk a life of holiness, as described by God’s standards, the Torah is what describes that walk. That is what we mean by “pursuing a Messianic Torah centered life” or by being “Torah Pursuant”. We believe that the Torah describes the lifestyle of the redeemed, and thus we hold it up as that description. We may all be on a different part of the path when it comes to walking with HaShem, but our goal is to exhort believers to walk in a manner that eventually will pattern itself after The Goal.
Furthermore, as seen in Romans 10:4, it is evident that The Goal is Yeshua HaMashiach (The Messiah). And, we know what Yeshua’s life looked like. It was continually pursuant of His Father’s Torah. Because of this, we know that he was the perfect example of grace, mercy, loving-kindness, truth, and love, which we are to walk after. Thus, our heart and direction is to lift up Yeshua and call all God’s people to learn to be better talmidim (disciples) of our Master, and our Rabbi.
V. Love and unity. We will strive to let love and unity overcome when there is difference in doctrine and practice.
What makes the UMJA unique?
We are a Messianic Jewish Organization that supports a Torah pursuant life for those believers in Yeshua who have either a Jewish or a Gentile origin. The UMJA also upholds the Biblical standard of patriarchal leadership within its organization and within its chartered congregations. This means that first and foremost we encourage men within the commonwealth of Yisra'el to take their rightful roles in Biblical leadership. When it comes to our eldership, our leadership, our rabbis, and pastors, we will insist that this be comprised of the male heads and priests of our believing households.We believe this will be re-establishing the good and perfect will of Adonai; as Yeshua the Messiah established only men to be one of the twelve Emissaries and leaders within the Messianic community. In addition, Adonai chose only men to write each book of the Tanakh and the Apostolic scriptures, and only chose men to be Cohanim (priests) whom were to teach Yisra'el His Torah.
Only in times when the men of Yisra'el would not take on their God-given responsibilities have exceptions been made. But, it is made clear in scripture that this has always been to the shame of the men. Any female leadership in Yisra'el (only example being the Judge D'vorah) was the exception, but not the rule. This was allowed because there were no men who would accept their leadership roles in Yisra'el. Rabbi Hillel once stated, "In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man". Even though we may not be popular with some for taking this stance, our alliance doesn't recognize women becoming rabbis, ro'im (pastors), z'kanim (elders), or a congregational leader.
** It should be noted that the UMJA doesn't consider dance leaders, worship leaders, or shamashim (deacons) to be under the above restriction. In these cases the UMJA will leave it to each congregation's leadership to decide these matters.
In addition, the UMJA exists to be a benefit and a blessing to the congregations that have joined our alliance. We don't want any costs associated with the UMJA to hinder any part of your congregational ministry. Therefore, we believe we should keep the costs of our yearly charter or association fees as low as possible. Any yearly fees go to simply pay the basic operational costs of the UMJA. This makes the UMJA unique because as compared to most Messianic Jewish organizations... we are one of the most affordable.
Please note: The UMJA doesn't accept the following doctrines:
> Any form of replacement theology
> Dispensational theology
> Two House / Ephraimite theology
> Sacred Name doctrine
> "Karaite" theology and reckoning of the Moedim
> Lunar sabbath doctrine
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