Like most secularized Jewish teenagers, I only went to synagogue on the High Holidays and for my Bar Mitzvah. Then, at the age of nineteen, inspired by my new faith in Yeshua, I joined my father and participated in Shabbat services.

To my surprise, I found that the words of the Jewish prayer book expressed what I wanted to say better than any extemporaneous prayers I had been able to formulate. When I had lacked faith, the service had been for me an empty shell. Entering in with faith, the same liturgy seemed like a palace for a glorious king.

At the same time, something about the service disturbed me. I heard in the words spoken by the rabbi much about the people of Israel, but little about the God of Israel. I began to feel as though the emphasis given to the people of God dishonored the God of the people.

I still think that the name of God is found too infrequently on the lips of Jewish spiritual leaders. If Messianic Jews stand for anything, it should be for a renewed sense among Jews of the reality and power of God.