Reporter doesn't do religion research - revealed!!!

There was this article in the paper today about the National Day of Prayer. "Some say" that it's too slanted towards Christians! But, oh look! The article quotes a rabbi! 

Rabbi Kevin Lind, leader of the messianic Brit Ahavah congregation that meets in Dublin, has participated in the National Day of Prayer several times because "prayer is extremely important, because people have to establish a relationship with God."

But he attributes the dearth of participating Jews, who are traditionally more politically liberal, to the fact that the day is organized by more politically conservative Christians.

"I'd like to do something where we could have participation from a lot of different communities, especially Jewish communities," Lind said. "The way it's been done, while it is technically open to everybody, it is largely evangelical. And that's a perception you'd have to deal with."

What a nice, open-minded rabbi. But who is this Lind fellow anyway and what's Brit Ahavah? A little digging around on Google found me this page:

B'rit Ahavah is a Messianic Jewish congregation in Livermore, California. The state that their mission is to "Express the L-rd's love in a Jewish way. They also happen to be a Chrisitan [sic] group, pretending to be Jewish.

I don't like to take anyone's word on things without checking it out first, so I followed some of the links on the page... and darn it all if the author wasn't correct.

B'rit Ahavah is an official member of the Southern Baptist Convention. A real Jewish group would never be part of that organization! Here is the link to the proof: Click Here

Yep, Brit Ahava shows up on their website... but other Jewish synagogues don't. Hmmm.

And that Kevin Lind dude...

Here is his biography from the Valley Christian Schools so you can see that he works there. His involvement with B'ri Ahavah is discussed at length. You will notice that there is no information that shows that he has any Jewish education:

"Kevin has been married for twenty years. He teaches Pre-calculus, Calculus, and Physics, and also serves as the Rabbi of B’rit Ahavah Messianic Jewish Congregation (currently meeting in Dublin). Dr. Lind has a B.A. from Rice University in Physics/Mathematics/Space Physics, and graduated at the top of his class, as well as serving student internships at two national observatories. He continued on to obtain a Ph.D. in Astronomy (Observational and Theoretical) from the California Institute of Technology, and went on to postdoctoral experience at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Naval Research Laboratory, with brief stints in England and The Netherlands. He left academia to work on massively parallel computers, first for Cray Research, and then for Digital Equipment and SGI. He has been involved in the application of high performance computing to science, technology, and industry in his secular work. As a Messianic Jewish Rabbi, he has been active in developing theology, liturgy, and outreach strategies locally and at the national level in cooperation with the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues."

Here is the link to the proof: Click Here

The parent organization of the Schools, the Valley Christian Center's mission statement certainly suggests it's no place for a nice Jewish boy:

To reach the lost (evangelism) with the Good News and transform them into authentic followers of Jesus Christ (discipleship).

And, in turn...

Well, who is the Valley Christian Center (and its schools) affiliated with? Why, the evangelical Christian group, the Assembly of God (most people refer to them as the Pentecostal movement). Here is the link to the proof, Valley Christian Center in Dublin are listed under "District Church Web Sites: Northern California" (Valley is the 17th listing): Click Here

So there you have it. I think this reporter got himself in a bit of a messianic mess. Better luck (and use of Google) next time? (And information about the real Jewish community can be found by calling Jewish Community Information & Referral at 415.777.0411.)

And yeah, I'll be praying... praying this country comes to its senses and stops treating G*d like a Christians-only vending machine.