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When I came to believe in Yeshua, I certainly was not going to become a member of a church, since it would have seemed a betrayal of my culture. I was
meeting Christians who were wonderful people, and I was thankful to the Christians who prayed for me and led me to the Lord. But I didn’t feel that this meant
I as a Jew should forsake my heritage and become a member of a church. On the other hand, I might have been expelled from the synagogue if I told the Rabbi
what I believed about Messiah. I continued for about 18 months as a secret believer in the conservative shul. Eventually, I heard about Messianic Jews and
messianic synagogues, and I found one in Tampa, and I affiliated there. When I heard the music of the messianic group “Lamb”, I immediately connected with
this, especially the early Lamb music. To me, this was the very same music I had always been into, except that Joel Chernoff was singing about Yeshua. Early
Lamb could have easily been mistaken for pop music from the early ‘70’s but for the lyrics.
In the messianic synagogue, the music and the worship was spiritual, not religious. Yes, there were clear signs of Torah observance and Jewish culture. But
the dancing and the praising going on was not something you could do in a mainstream rabbinic synagogue, and it was this kind of worship, which was the
signature of King David in his day, which was bringing us into intimacy with God. This is really what I was trying to find at Dead shows, except now it was being
done in holiness and in reverence to God. Moreover, it was not a religious charade, involving a lot of chanting and extensive readings from a book of prayers. It
was real. Messianic worship was what my heart had always yearned for. Had it not been for the messianic Jewish movement, I don’t think I could have done it
any other way. We met many other wonderful people who were either Jewish believers or gentiles who identified with Zionism and had a big heart for Israel.
Tara and I fell right into place in the Messianic Jewish movement, and it is easy for me to understand how important messianic synagogues are for the
thousands of Jews today who believe in Yeshua. Without a messianic synagogue, I would still be hiding out in the conservative shul, or God only knows what.
In 1998, HaShem called me into ministry, which was about the last thing in the world that I ever would have thought I would be doing. I had a good secular
career in law, while Tara and I were pretty content making children as well. We had no reason to pursue a career in messianic Jewish ministry. Yet, the call
upon our life was clear, and not only wished to bless the Jewish people, but we also wished to be obedient to the Lord. The road has been long and strange at
times, not always easy, but filled with much reward along the way in the form of seeing so many precious souls get blessed with salvation and discipleship.
Beginning in August, 1998, Tara and I founded and opened a messianic synagogue in Tampa called “Mt. Sinai”. In 2001, the Lord led us across the Tampa
Bay to Dunedin, where we re-named the synagogue - "New Jerusalem". Our ministry has always been affiliated with the Messianic Jewish Alliance of
America (MJAA), through its congregational branch, the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues (IAMCS). The MJAA is the oldest
and largest messianic Jewish organization in the world, linking us to messianic congregations all over the world.
In the spring of 2000 I was on an airplane coming home from a ski trip in Colorado, and I said to Tara, “I am going to learn how to play the piano”. A month later,
I was doing it, and God has since given me literally hundreds of original songs. My favorite recording artist, Ted Pearce, has co-written about 25 songs with
me and several of them have been recorded by Ted and made available on his CD's, distrubuted internationally through Integrity Music.
Today New Jerusalem meets in Dunedin, in the part of Tampa Bay which has the heaviest concentration of Jewish people. We draw both Jewish and non-
Jewish people from all over the Tampa Bay area. We are making a profound impact as a witness to the Jewish community and as a light unto the gentiles. I
am thankful to God for revealing to me the truth concerning His Son Yeshua, and for calling me into Messianic Jewish ministry because I do love the many
people who we have had the chance to help and bless over the years. God has given me an interesting life. Baruch HaShem.
meeting Christians who were wonderful people, and I was thankful to the Christians who prayed for me and led me to the Lord. But I didn’t feel that this meant
I as a Jew should forsake my heritage and become a member of a church. On the other hand, I might have been expelled from the synagogue if I told the Rabbi
what I believed about Messiah. I continued for about 18 months as a secret believer in the conservative shul. Eventually, I heard about Messianic Jews and
messianic synagogues, and I found one in Tampa, and I affiliated there. When I heard the music of the messianic group “Lamb”, I immediately connected with
this, especially the early Lamb music. To me, this was the very same music I had always been into, except that Joel Chernoff was singing about Yeshua. Early
Lamb could have easily been mistaken for pop music from the early ‘70’s but for the lyrics.
In the messianic synagogue, the music and the worship was spiritual, not religious. Yes, there were clear signs of Torah observance and Jewish culture. But
the dancing and the praising going on was not something you could do in a mainstream rabbinic synagogue, and it was this kind of worship, which was the
signature of King David in his day, which was bringing us into intimacy with God. This is really what I was trying to find at Dead shows, except now it was being
done in holiness and in reverence to God. Moreover, it was not a religious charade, involving a lot of chanting and extensive readings from a book of prayers. It
was real. Messianic worship was what my heart had always yearned for. Had it not been for the messianic Jewish movement, I don’t think I could have done it
any other way. We met many other wonderful people who were either Jewish believers or gentiles who identified with Zionism and had a big heart for Israel.
Tara and I fell right into place in the Messianic Jewish movement, and it is easy for me to understand how important messianic synagogues are for the
thousands of Jews today who believe in Yeshua. Without a messianic synagogue, I would still be hiding out in the conservative shul, or God only knows what.
In 1998, HaShem called me into ministry, which was about the last thing in the world that I ever would have thought I would be doing. I had a good secular
career in law, while Tara and I were pretty content making children as well. We had no reason to pursue a career in messianic Jewish ministry. Yet, the call
upon our life was clear, and not only wished to bless the Jewish people, but we also wished to be obedient to the Lord. The road has been long and strange at
times, not always easy, but filled with much reward along the way in the form of seeing so many precious souls get blessed with salvation and discipleship.
Beginning in August, 1998, Tara and I founded and opened a messianic synagogue in Tampa called “Mt. Sinai”. In 2001, the Lord led us across the Tampa
Bay to Dunedin, where we re-named the synagogue - "New Jerusalem". Our ministry has always been affiliated with the Messianic Jewish Alliance of
America (MJAA), through its congregational branch, the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues (IAMCS). The MJAA is the oldest
and largest messianic Jewish organization in the world, linking us to messianic congregations all over the world.
In the spring of 2000 I was on an airplane coming home from a ski trip in Colorado, and I said to Tara, “I am going to learn how to play the piano”. A month later,
I was doing it, and God has since given me literally hundreds of original songs. My favorite recording artist, Ted Pearce, has co-written about 25 songs with
me and several of them have been recorded by Ted and made available on his CD's, distrubuted internationally through Integrity Music.
Today New Jerusalem meets in Dunedin, in the part of Tampa Bay which has the heaviest concentration of Jewish people. We draw both Jewish and non-
Jewish people from all over the Tampa Bay area. We are making a profound impact as a witness to the Jewish community and as a light unto the gentiles. I
am thankful to God for revealing to me the truth concerning His Son Yeshua, and for calling me into Messianic Jewish ministry because I do love the many
people who we have had the chance to help and bless over the years. God has given me an interesting life. Baruch HaShem.
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