When it comes to understanding God's end-time plans for Israel and the church, they can only be seen through the eyes of the Father, who wants His family to be one.
In order to fulfill Jesus' prayer in John 17, "Prayer Surge Now," a worldwide prayer conference call that seeks for the unification of the ekklesia/church between Jewish and Gentile Christians, held "The One New Man Hour" (TONM) prayer gatherings held last year. This initiative was seen as critical to bringing peace and restoration to both Israel and the rest of the world.
Grant Berry, founder of "Reconnecting Ministries" and producer of "The Romans 911 Project," echoed this sentiment.
"This will require a shift for all believers and followers of Yeshua/Jesus. Achieving unity starts with humility and repentance, embracing God's perspective, and allowing His mercy to heal the breach between His Jewish and Gentile family and between all races," he said.
During his talk, Berry shared what was on his heart with regards to the church's big contemporary question: "Can we achieve balance in The One New Man?"
There are many levels and interpretations of TONM in church and Messianic bodies, he noted, and everyone tends to see things through their own lens and knowledge. The Father's desire, however, is to reconcile and rebuild the body of Christ, which may frequently be exacerbated and fueled by differing points of view.
Berry compared God's stance on this issue to a pendulum. He said that while God is perfectly poised and balanced, the problem is when the pendulum swings from side to side. In this scenario, one side represents Messianic Christians and the other represents the Gentile church, with diverse opinions on both sides, some leaning more left or right and others rather extreme.
Even if both parties claim to have had extraordinary insight because of their connection with God, it can't be denied that both sides had also held extreme opinions.
Berry argued that some Christians have lost their Hebraic heritage and misapply the statement in Galatians 3:28 that 'there is neither Jew nor Greek' found in Galatians 3:28. They feel that Jewish Christians should just blend in with the Gentile congregation. Refuting this, Berry said that Paul was emphasizing that both groups are united in the Spirit in Jesus, not that they are all the same.
As for the Jews, Berry said that while some Messianic organizations misread Scripture, they should not insist that Christians adopt Jewish law and rituals and be precisely like Jews.
"This will require a shift for all believers and followers of Yeshua/Jesus," Berry pointed out. "Achieving unity starts with humility and repentance, embracing God's perspective, and allowing His mercy to heal the breach between His Jewish and Gentile family and between all races."
Putting differences aside, Berry believes that through reconciling differences and being faithful to God's Word, God will enable all of his children to redeem other conflicts in the body of Christ that the adversary has fostered.
"As we allow the Father to rework His body and bring this balance, God will be able to send the fullness of His glory upon us. But The Reconnection, love and unity must transpire first, as they are prerequisites for the fire to come! Additionally, they will empower us to fulfill our witness to Israel and the nations, leading us to God's end-time plans, the preparation of the bride and the Lord's return," he said.
"We must pray to see God's family restored in this way into oneness in Spirit so the Father can reunite His family to Himself, which has end-time consequences for us all!" he added.
In the Charismatic circles, they see this reconciliation between Messianic and Gentile Christians, which will signal the arrival of the "two witnesses" predicted in Revelation 11:3-12, as an important step in the process. One day, Jews and Christians will work together to spread the message of God's Kingdom.
