Incorporating the Feast days (including Sabbath) with resistent teens

[Mary]

I have been in the Hebrew Roots movement for many years but my husband just joined me in this walk. We are both wanting to place more emphasis on the Hebrew Roots of our faith. We have celebrated Passover for 4 years and Sabbath hit and miss (I am a registered nurse and sometimes have to work Friday nights) We have a 15 year old son who is resisting any of "that Jewish stuff'. Some of his comments even sound anti-semitic to me although he denies having those feelings toward the Jewish people. I recently discovered that our old youth pastor whom my son really liked taught that Christians should only study the NT, the old is done away with. My son denies that he believes that but his attitude definitely reflects it. Any suggestions on how to bring him on board? Shabbat at our house can be anything but restful at times just because of his comments and resistence to anything that we do. He is a believer and has grown in his walk but he is definitely taking the mainstream view. There are no Messianic congregations in our state much less in our town so unless we just quit fellowship, we are going to have to continue to attend church on Sunday. and will have to deal with the influence. My husband and I are bold enough to bring up our beliefs in Bible study classes and so far have not been rebuffed but I am most concerned about my son. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Blessings,

Mary

[Jody]

Shalom, That is a very difficult one. It is too bad you were not more aware of what the youth pastor was teaching at the time. Many times young people have a difficult time when their parents seem to have "changed the rules". Alot of the resistance has to do with how this "hebrew roots movement" affects your family. When your husband was not in agreement did he ever speak against it? These are things you will need to consider. How is your son and your dh relationship? That would make it much better. Do they share their thoughts and discuss their faith? When you say your son has "grown in his walk" what do you mean? It sounds more like he is simply going with the flow......

[Mary]

Other than my son being a teen (grin) he really has a good relationship with both of us. We talk about spiritual things a lot in our house. I wouldn't say that my dh spoke against celebrating the feasts. It really never came up before my husband finally agreed to do passover four years ago. Most of our discussions about the Jewish roots of Christianity were not done in front of my son because we didn't want to give him a mixed message. I would bring up non-controversial things that affirmed my belief that the old testament was for today and not done away with. Even then, my husband could agree with that, he was just at the point where he felt that observance of the law equalled "legalism" and didn't want to do that. Over the last four years, he has seen the blessings of obedience just to please God and that it doesn't mean you are basing your salvation on how well you keep the law. He now knows it is not an either/or proposition. Obedience to the law comes out of love for G-d and a desire to please him. The first two years, we did passover only. We have added other feasts and sabbath over the last two years. My husband is now excited about Torah observance and the need for it in our lives. You would have to know my son to understand what I mean by "growing in his walk". He will tell you he has been a believer for many years but I always felt that he was "going with the flow" as you said. Two years ago, he had a major encounter with G-d at a Christian camp. He will freely admit that he was just "going through the motions " before that. He went with a youth group to a homeless shelter a few months later and actually preached during the service. Several people received the Lord during the alter call. I called the pastor's cell phone because I was at the church to pick him up and they were late. He told me what had happened and I was amazed because that was so not my son before. His heart's desire is to go into full time ministry as a youth pastor when he finishes school. Maybe he is just going through his self-absorbed period. I've known kids of friends who loved G-d and actually were very devout as adults who also weren't much fun to be around at this age. I know that G-d has to reveal truth to him and I can't make him see it. It took many years for my husband to see it and maybe I'm rushing him. It would be helpful if we could get out of this church because I think he has "bought into" several doctrines that we freely tell him we don't believe. And on some, he has adopted our view and has gotten in trouble for it in Sunday School class for sharing his views. If I think about it, he is actually very verbal in sharing his views at church. There are just no churches in our area that share our views. I don't think we should "forsake the assembling together" because what often happens is you end up doing nothing and that doesn't work for me. We need the fellowship of other believers even if we don't agree on every point. As I write this, I believe that G'd is showing me that I am trying to do something in my son's life that only HE can do. I guess I need to grow more in patience to allow G-d to do his perfect work. We can model what is right but G-d will have to change his heart. I guess I need to take my own advice. I often tell my son "Patience is a virtue, learn it!" always said with a big grin. Thank you for your response. It really has evoked thought and allowed G-d to show me some things about us and our son. We are considering a short trip to Denver this summer just to get away and do some fun things. Maybe we can look up a Messianic congregation to visit while we are there.

Shalom,

Mary

[Jody]

Shalom Mary, It sounds as if you are on the right track. It is our job to witness to the hope that is within us, and to teach our children. To speak of our faith as we walk and rise, but it is not our job to convict the heart. That is the job of the Ruach. Just remember, He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it. All you can do is to guide your son as well as you can and be honest in speaking with him. He will find the truth in your actions. Blessings to you and your family. There are several messianic congregations in Colorado.

[Carol]

Mary, how are things going for your family. As I read your posts here, I wonder if the issue with your son isn't about the negative feedback he is getting from his friends. It can be a lonely, narrow path sometimes, and if he doesn't fully buy in or understand, I can understand where he would not want to look or be thought of as different.

Carol