The Ordination Process
by Avram Yehoshua
The first and most important criteria is that you love Yeshua with all your heart and desire to follow Him wherever He might lead you. Next, I’d like to know why you feel called to minister? What do you sense the Lord wanting you to do now (if anything), in terms of ministry?
Seeking ordination through The Seed of Abraham is not a light matter. Resolve yourself that you will be tempted by Satan with fears and doubts, etc. Seek the Lord Yeshua to strengthen you and to give you wisdom, and that you would desire above everything else, to do His will.
1. Prayer Life
1. If you’re not already doing this, please begin your day with 30 minutes of quality prayer time (not 29 or 28 minutes). I realize that you may be very busy, but if you don’t have a daily, quality prayer life, you’re not going to be able to withstand the ordeal of ministry. If you think you don’t have time now, wait until you’re ministering full time.
2. Quality time in the sense that you’re doing nothing else except seeking His Face, asking for others to be drawn to Him, etc. Quality time, in that you’re not listening to music or driving down the road, etc. Quiet time. Time set apart to focus on Him and what He has for you that day. True ministry comes out of our time with Him.
3. If you’re not used to this, you can start off with 15 minutes a day for a week and increase your time by 5 minutes each week until you get to 30 minutes. As a general rule, one half hour a day, in the morning, for your well being and shalom (peace). Now if the Holy Spirit directs you to listen to praise and worship music one day in place of this time in prayer, do so, but this should be the exception, not the general practice.
4. For the last ten minutes, ‘wait upon the Lord Yeshua.’ Listen for His Voice. ‘Look for Him.’
5. Prayer and the reading and studying of His Word are eternal investments and help us to live in the day with His Joy and strength.
6. When you are praying for half hour a day in the morning, please notify me. I would like for you to eventually be praying one hour in the morning every day.
2. Weekly Scripture Readings can be viewed on-line at http://seedofabraham.net/scripture07.htm. It’s unlike any other and has proven to be a blessing to many people.
1. I would like for you to email me a sentence to a paragraph on each section of the Scripture reading for each week (e.g. Torah is one section; the Prophets are another section, etc.).
2. How did it effect/affect you? What did you see that you hadn’t seen before? What did the Holy Spirit bring to a deeper depth for you? I am not interested in a summary of the sections, but an insight that you got from reading it.
3. Try to have your feedback to me no later then Sunday or Monday after the reading ends.
4. The Scripture Readings should be read every year. During the ordination process you may be told by me that you don’t have to send in your thoughts on them. This is to allow you more time to concentrate on the articles and books that are required reading. You’ll still be required to read the Scripture Readings as part of your ministerial lifestyle.
5. I also ask that the Scripture Readings be handed out to those in your fellowship-congregation as well (or shown where they can find it on the web site). This way everyone will be ‘in sync’ with not only you as the shepherd, but all the people connected to The Seed of Abraham.
3. The Seed of Abraham website is to be read as part of your ordination requirements.
1. Start with Law 102.
a. Write your thoughts on it, what it was about, any insights you may have gotten from it, any questions you might have, etc., and send it to me. I’ll check it as ‘read’ on a list that I have for your ordination. Then do the same for these:
2. The Lifting of the Veil: Acts 15:20-21. There are two chapters from the book on the website at http://seedofabraham.net/LiftingTheVeil.html, but it would be better to order the book and read it. You can order it at http://seedofabraham.net/c&v.html.
3. Goodbye Messianic Judaism!
4. Paul & Acts
5. The Articles (Biblical, Christian, Jewish and Misc., in their order) at http://seedofabraham.net/articles.html.
6. The Feasts of Israel (in their order).
7. The Jewish Newsletters (in their order).
8. Mosaic Sacrifice and Messiah (both articles at http://seedofabraham.net/sacrific.html).
9. Books to Read at http://seedofabraham.net/topten.html are the books that are required reading for the ordination process. Please read them in the order listed. You can read the books while you are reading the other website readings. Please send me a short write-up on how each book impacted you; things you weren’t aware of and personal reflections, etc.
10. Witnessing in Israel at http://seedofabraham.net/witnessing.htm (read and comment).
11. This order is not ‘set in stone.’ If you see an article, paper or book that you’d like to read, do so, and send your comments about it to me.
a. If you’re not proficient in Hebrew, you’ll need to purchase the Hebrew course (Hebrew: The Lord’s Way at http://www.seedofabraham.net/c&v.html).
b. Ideally, you’ll be able to come to Israel and be ordained. If not, we will work around that.
c. If you are able to come to Israel for ordination, we’ll spend some time together, learning the Word, praying, worshipping and witnessing to Israelis. This way we’ll get to know one another better. There’s nothing like ‘hands on’ experience.
d. You can stay with us, instead of at a hotel.
e. You’ll receive your ordination certificate and The Seed of Abraham Songbooks.
f. Eventually, Lord willing, we’ll have a conference in Israel, once every three years, for all those who have been ordained and their families. We’ll fellowship, pray, praise and worship together, and learn many things from our Lord Yeshua.
4. The goal for ordination is to read the weekly Scripture Readings and to comment on all the material on the web site, as well as interaction with me. If I sense from the Lord that you’re ready for ordination before you finish all the website material, then you’ll be ordained at that time. Of course, you’ll need to continue reading until all the material is read, but ordination is not based on what you’re read, but who you are in Messiah Yeshua. On the other hand, if after having read all the material on the website and I sense that you’re not ready to be ordained, then we’ll wait upon the Lord until I sense his timing.
1. If after ordination, one, ten or thirty years down the road, you feel your theology has changed and you can no longer, in good conscience, keep Torah, or, if you sense the Lord leading you in another direction and you want to sever your official ties with The Seed of Abraham, just send me your ordination certificate and card. After that you are free to follow whatever path you sense the Lord is leading you in.
2. Of course, if you teach things that are contrary to the Word and ‘off the wall’ in my judgment (e.g. Kabbalah; Sunday observance; the wearing of the kipa; Yeshua not being deity; etc.) and you do not repent after a given time, you’ll be notified that you are no longer officially part of The Seed of Abraham. I will ask for your ordination certificate back and you’ll not be able to use the name, The Seed of Abraham, or my name or articles, etc., for anything (e.g. the name of your congregation; teachings of mine, etc.).
5. The Hebraic Perspective is a ‘wide open field’ with much room for growing theologically, for discussion, oneness and disagreement. We can disagree on issues not central to our faith in Messiah Yeshua (e.g. the day of the Resurrection; the date of the Exodus, etc.), and still fellowship, but there are boundaries that if one goes past, disqualifies them for association with The Seed of Abraham. Everyone makes mistakes and hopefully, after correction, will change, but heresy and rebellion cannot be tolerated.
Email Avram — avramyeh@netvision.net.il
||MEET AVRAM| |ARTICLES|