APPOINTMENT IN FOXBORO

"...he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised..." (from Luke 4:18)

Saturday, my wife and I had an appointment in Foxboro scheduled. (Now, for you PURISTS, I realize the correct legal spelling of the community which hosts, among other property owners, Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriots is "Foxborough" but I'm using the spelling the way the Foxboro Company does it. I also spell Marlboro, MA like the cigarette brand and not the legal "Marlborough".)

Yes, we had an appointment in Foxboro. Our tax account's business office is located in a professional building on Route 140 in Foxboro. I never look forward to a tax appointment, but Mary Ann likes to have our taxes done early because it's very helpful in filling out all the college financial aid materials regarding my daughter Rachel's college education. I phoned Jim, our accountant, on the first week of January and set the appointment for lovely Valentine's Day at 9 a.m. We got a late start on Saturday and seemed to "hit" every red light between Framingham and Foxboro. It was around 8:45 and we were in downtown Walpole. We had not had any breakfast nor coffee. I was craving each. Despite running late, I headed to McDonald's on Rte. 1A in Walpole for breakfast sandwiches and coffee. I called Jim on the cell phone and told him, "I'm running about ten minutes late but we're on our way."

Jim did not know what I was talking about! He'd never written down our appointment! He told me there was NO WAY he could see us on Saturday morning. He said he WOULD be willing to squeeze us in at 12 Noon.

Mary Ann and I were both pretty shocked that he was not expecting us, and I was pretty perturbed. While eating sausage McMuffins and drinking coffee we tried to figure out what to do. This all seemed like such a senseless waste of time. Suddenly, Mary Ann offered, "Why don't we go to Beit Techiya?"

My first (admittedly snappy) answer was, "I'm not in the greatest mood right now and I really don't think I want to go to Beit Techiya."

As I chomped on the Sausage McMuffin (which Mary Ann told me I was eating way too fast!) I realized going to Beit Techiya might actually be a good idea.

Congregation Beit Techiya is a Messianic Jewish fellowship located on a farm at 209 Oak Street in Foxboro. I tried to find a website for them today, and I couldn't find one, but they ARE listed in a directory of Messianic Jewish congregations at

http://www.iamcs.org/Directory.php?Country=USA&StateProv=MASSACHUSETTS

I preached at Congregation Beit Techiya last year...I think it was late August or early September. The Messianic Jewish movement is admittedly controversial, but it's growing. Once considered kind of a weird, fringe movement, Messianic Judaism is being taken more and more seriously. I find that most Christians think of Messianic Jews as "Jews" and most Jews think of them as "Christians". They're actually BOTH, but they usually prefer the label "Messianic Jew" to "Christian". While some critics will make statements such as, "It's IMPOSSIBLE to be both a Jew and a Christian!" they forget that St. Paul, among many, many others, considered himself to be both a Jew and a Christian. In fact, St. Paul NEVER calls himself a "Christian" in the Bible, but DOES call himself a "Jew" many times, and those times are AFTER his conversion to Jesus.

Congregation Beit Techiya meets in a small very attractive and welcoming room in a renovated barn. (Yes, I said "barn"!) I'd say the room would comfortably seat 40 and you could probably pack about 55 people into it. There were probably around 32 people present this past Saturday morning. The service began shortly after 10:30 with female Rabbi Tobi Hawksley (a close and dear friend of mine) and her husband Alan arriving just in time! The worship was to CD praise & worship music with the words projected on a screen using powerpoint. I know some folks knock worshiping to CDs but right now we're doing that at our small church. When you close your eyes and focus on the Lord it really doesn't matter whether there's a live worship band or a CD. The anointing of the Holy Spirit was definitely evident. We read some Jewish prayers from their prayer books, interspersed between singing and worshiping. Several folks also shared wonderful testimonies of what God is doing in their lives.

Mary Ann and I slipped out at 11:45 to go to our tax appointment. We arrived back at Beit Techiya just before 1. Tobi was just wrapping up her sermon, and then had special prayer over several people. Lastly, she called Mary Ann and I up to be prayed for, and several lifted up their voices on our behalf. It was a wonderful and special time for us...truly GOD'S appointment!

Yes, the services at Beit Techiya ARE a little long... longer than I'd typically "do" at our church, but you're so blessed by them that the time flies by! I also wanted to mention that Tobi's daughter Tammy Blenkhorn, a Member of the congregation, is a highly accomplished artist. Her beautiful and insightful paintings decorate the room. Tammy is also under contract to do the illustrations for a children's Bible which is being released in a couple of years.

Whether you're Jew or Gentile...whether you're "pro" or "con" on Messianic Judaism, I would HIGHLY recommend that you visit Congregation Beit Techiya in Foxboro some Saturday morning!