Author: Texas Gospel

Why did Jesus tell his apostles to preach only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel?

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Floyd Rogers – Texas Gospel Volunteer, Christian writer

Matthew 10:5-6 tells us Jesus sent his 12 disciples to preach to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Jesus specifically ordered them not to preach to the Gentiles or Samaritans, but to tell to Israel’s lost sheep  that the kingdom of heaven is near. This may seem like an odd thing for Jesus to say.  Why not preach to everyone? Let me be very clear on this point: I don’t know; meaning, I do not know of a specific verse that explains this. I think we can infer an answer, but I make no claim that such an answer is Gospel. I only claim that my inference is based on scripture. With that in mind, let’s look at what is written, and where it may lead.

We can extrapolate from Matthew’s writing that he wrote to a Jewish audience to convince them that Jesus is the prophesied Jewish Messiah. I say this because Matthew repeatedly used the phrase “to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet.” I believe Matthew’s purpose is to show that Jesus is the one Jewish people had been expecting. With this in mind, would it not make sense that Matthew recorded things that Jesus did specifically for Jewish people?

It is written in the Old Testament that God made a covenant with the Jewish people. The fifth book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, tells us Jewish people are a holy people. It says God chose them, “… to be a people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” Exodus tells us God told Moses that the Sons of Israel, “…shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The Old Testament clearly tells us Jewish people have a special place. But what about the New Testament?

Romans 1:16 tells us salvation is for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Acts 3:25-26 tells us the prophets say to the Jewish people, “… God raised up His Servant for you first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”  It appears to me that Jesus fulfills this by telling his disciples to go preach to the Jews. Fortunately for the rest of us, we too may accept salvation because of God’s grace. Salvation is not something into which one is born, even if one is born Jewish. I would argue that it’s harder for a Jewish believer because of social pressures. That certainly was the case in Jesus’ day if you consider how Jewish leaders reacted to Jesus.

Matthew 10:16 tells us that Jesus gave a warning to his disciples as they went to preach to the lost sheep. He told his disciples they would be sheep in the midst of wolves. He said some will be eager to hand them over to be flogged in the synagogues. The culture of Jesus’ day was not friendly to anyone who would upset the apple cart by preaching Messiah has come. But I would caution about being too judgmental of them because of this.  We certainly see people triggered today anytime someone mentions the Gospel.

Why did Jesus tell his apostles to preach only to Jewish people?  What are your thoughts.

AROUND THE WEB:

  1. CBN: What Does the Bible Teach about the Jewish People and the Nation of Israel?
  2. Got Questions: What does it mean that the Jews are God’s chosen people?
  3. IFCJ: Why God Chose the Jewish People
  4. CPM: Why are the Jewish people special?

The Talleys announce new series,Messages To Treasure: A Live Anthology

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SPECIAL: CROSSROADS RECORDS

Arden, North Carolina (January 27, 2023) — With the success of a monthly series of live performance recordings by The Talleys released by Horizon Records in the wake of Debra and Roger Talley’s 2020 retirement, it became clear that fans were still hungry for the beloved gospel trio’s musical message of hope and salvation. Now, the group has returned to the vaults once more to bring listeners a new series under the title, Messages To Treasure: A Live Anthology from The Talleys. Featuring live versions of their biggest and best-loved hit songs, the series will be available exclusively on streaming platforms.

To launch Messages To Treasure, The Talleys have chosen a song that reflects on the universal essence of the Christian gospel: “Jesus Saves.”  

“When we were traveling as part of the Gaither Homecoming tour,” Roger recalls, “one of our favorite artists on the tour was the funny and supremely talented Stephen Hill. One afternoon he climbed up on our bus and said, ‘I want you to hear a song I just finished’ and he played and sang ‘Jesus Saves.’ We immediately loved the music and lyrics. We recorded it, and it quickly became a favorite in our concerts because it simply states the main tenet of our salvation: Redemption through the blood of Jesus. It rose to #1 on the Singing News chart in both April and May of 2004.”

Starting with Debra’s emotive opening verse, the song’s arrangement unfolds to support the simplicity of the lyric, which uses the title as a joyously insistent refrain, adding Roger’s and Lauren’s voices in turn as the full trio delivers the inspirational chorus:

Hallelujah, I’m redeemed
I’ve been pardoned full and free
All because the Blood still sings
Jesus saves, Jesus saves

As it proceeds, the arrangement diversifies, shifting rhythms and vocal arrangements to alternate between moments of majesty and meditation before reaching its final distillation, repeating the first and last lines of the chorus. It’s an inspiring performance that listeners will not only appreciate on its own terms, but as a harbinger of more music still to come from The Talleys.

Triumphant Quartet Releases New Hymns and Worship Album With StowTown Records

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SPECIAL STOWTOWN RECORDS

Nashville, TN (January 20, 2023) â€“ As the new year kicks off, StowTown Records has released a brand new recording from multi-award winning group Triumphant Quartet. Hymns and Worship includes thirteen familiar songs ranging from beloved hymns to current CCM and Praise & Worship songs.

Continuing their path as musical trailblazers, Triumphant Quartet stays true to their traditional roots while also embracing songs and stylings more commonly heard in churches across America and in the CCM space. As with their previous releases, Hymns and Worship seeks to appeal to musical preferences for both their long-time gospel music fans as well as the younger generation more familiar with current popular music. The simplicity of hymns like “My Jesus, I Love Thee” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” brings subtle, personal worship moments to the album. Recent CCM and Praise & Worship covers include Zach Williams’ “Less Like Me,”“The Blessing” (Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe), “Help is on the Way (Maybe Midnight)” by Toby Mac, and the current hit “My Jesus” by Anne Wilson. The brilliant arrangements of each of these songs create a masterpiece of worship where the focus is truly on the One worthy of our praise.

“We love the Church,” founding group member Eric Bennett states. “We believe music plays such a vital part in the worship service. With this recording, our desire was to bring together a collection of songs that are sung each Sunday in churches nationwide.”

Hymns and Worship reunites Triumphant Quartet with veteran multi-award winning producer Wayne Haun, and the result is a masterful collection of songs that captures the spirit of Sunday worship while staying true to the Triumphant Quartet sound fans know and love. “It’s fun working with Triumphant Quartet because they’re always thinking outside the box and progressing,” shares Haun. “There’s really something for everyone on this album: the modern, the traditional, the acoustic, the groove, the contemporary and the stately. And yet somehow it’s the perfect blend of music without sounding forced or arduous.”

Throughout the past two decades, Triumphant Quartet has been honored with numerous accolades, including the 2019 Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Southern Gospel Album of the Year for the album Yes and a 2021 GMA Dove Award nomination for the same category with their release Bigger Than Sunday. The latter release featured the song “Eye of the Storm” which was voted as the 2021 Singing News Fan Award Favorite Song of the Year. The radio and concert success of songs like “Goodness of God” and “Waymaker” leads Triumphant Quartet to believe that they are following God’s unique musical plan for them with Hymns and Worship.

Hymns and Worship is distributed by Provident/Sony and is available on all digital platforms worldwide HERE and wherever Christian music is sold, including christianbook.com, barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com.

Emily Ann Roberts debuts The Building

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SPECIAL STARSTRUCK RECORDS

Following the release of her viral TikTok hit, “Whole Lotta Little,” which has over 2M streams and has reached 12M cumulative views on TikTok, Emily Ann Roberts released “The Building” – in November 2022 after demand from fans on social media.

Written by Roberts and Michael Farren, and produced by Trent Willmon, “The Building” is a song that paints the picture of Emily Ann’s hometown church that she grew up in. Celebrating its 100 year anniversary this past October, and also where her great grandfather pastored, Emily describes the building as a place that laid the foundation of her life and raised her up – the place that always brings her home.

“I grew up in East TN and every Sunday and Wednesday night of my life I was at church. My great grandfather was the pastor of the church and every Sunday felt like a family reunion. My grandmother was the church secretary and my mom and dad met there at vacation Bible school when they were kids. It was the first place I ever sang publicly. Even more than the home I grew up in, that little church raised me up. It taught me right from wrong and laid a foundation for my life. It’s the place where I met Jesus and everything changed. No matter where this life takes me, that place will always bring me home.

I wrote this song with Michael Farren and he read this post I had made about my church before we wrote together:

‘My home church. The place my great grandfather pastored. The place my nana sang in the choir. The place my dad was raised. The place me and my sister were raised. The first place I sang on a stage. The place where I learned who Jesus was and what he did for me. This place means the world to me, but at the end of the day, it’s not the place that changed my life. It was the God of love that was shared with me there that made all the difference.'” – Emily Ann Roberts

She first debuted “The Building” at the Grand Ole Opry and received a standing ovation without a dry eye in the house. Emily may be singing about a specific part in her story, but when she sings it, it’s clear how it’s touched others as if it’s their story. It’s proven the magic of music.

Emily Ann and Starstruck Records have and are continuing to support “The Building” with a Dolby Atmos version mixed by Derek Bason (Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan), video content (including an Official Music Video – directed by Jeff Johnson in part at The Ryman Auditorium, Lyric Video, BTS, Behind The Song series, and a to be released live performance from The Opry), digital and physical ads, as well as a detailed social media plan which included a pre-save campaign, and PR (Zach Farnum – 117 Entertainment Group.) Currently, “The Building” official music video is in rotation on CMT Music and The Country Network.

The Book of Matthew

Do you read the Bible to prove a point?

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Matthew 9:32-34 (NASB) 32 And as they were going out, behold, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to Him. 33 And after the demon was cast out, the man who was previously unable to speak talked; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

Floyd Rogers – Texas Gospel Volunteer, Christian writer

The 9th Chapter of Matthew tells us of Jesus working miracles as he fulfills prophecy about the Messiah. Matthew tells us the Pharisees saw Jesus cast out demons and restore a man’s ability to speak. Their reaction was to infer from what they saw that Jesus cast out demons by the “…ruler of the demons.” It seems to me they inferred this because of their pre-conceived false idea that Jesus must be a fraud. I say this because I see no other way could dismiss what they saw with their own eyes. Perhaps the Pharisees reflected on Exodus that tell us when Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh, they did some miraculous things as a sign that that their message is from God. But Exodus also tells us that the “soothsayer priests did the same with their secret arts.” I believe they were blinded to the truth because they were more interested in being proven right.  What would happen to their position in society if Jesus was indeed the Messiah?

The Pharisees witnessed Jesus’ miracles, yet they still refused to accept what they saw for what it is. Matthew does not tell us they sought guidance from God to reveal the truth of what took place. Matthew only tells the conclusion they reached to dismiss it as something evil. Isn’t this the way people today react when presented with a scripture that goes against a doctrine they strongly believe? Are there not people today who read the Bible to prove an idea rather than read and pray that God would reveal the meaning of His word?

What are your thoughts?