G R A F T E D
I N:
Documentary/Web Series About Gentiles In The Messianic Movement
"... And thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them,
and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive
tree..."Romans 11:17b
(King James Version - Public Domain)
PLEASE HELP SUPPORT THE FILMMAKERS WHILE THEY ARE MAKING THIS
PROJECT
WHEN YOU LIGHT THE
CANDLES THIS YEAR -- REMEMBER WHAT GOD IS RESTORING...
WATCH THE TEASER TRAILER:
GRAFTED IN: Documentary Web Series Coming Soon:
Jews and Gentiles -- One in Messiah -- After nearly 2 thousand years
- Have Jews and Gentiles in Messiah emerged yet into the fullness of
the "one new man"? What does it really look like to be
"Grafted In"? And what is the identity of the Believers in
Messiah Yeshua (which is the Hebrew name for Jesus) from the
nations who embraces the Torah, the traditions, and the Messiah of
Israel? This documentary/Web Series is designed to
explore this topic in a loving and peaceful manner.
Currently this project is in preproduction and plans are being
set to tentatively begin production for "Season One" in Late
February or March of 2010. Doing a project in "seasons"
makes it easier to produce and distribute as a collection of
documentary shorts that can be put together to potentially make a
larger documentary later or giving us the option release them
separately. For Grafted In: Season One - plans are
to tentatively stream 15-20 minutes as a documentary short online in
2-3 minute webisodes - similar to the way we did The Expert:
Season One. A release date is not set yet.
"Grafted In" brings together the talents of Tom and Angela Swift,
professional filmmakers with their unique experience of also being
Messianic followers of Yeshua for more than ten years.
Consider helping the filmmakers. Please pray for this
project and consider giving a gift to the filmmakers to help provide
for them while they're making this. Currently the Co-Producer
and Writer/Director, Tom Swift has a full time job working 4 days a
week, barely getting by and living from paycheck to paycheck seeking
to provide for his wife, Angela, and their 4 children. Tom and
Angela run this film company on the side and so you can imagine how
difficult it's been trying to transition to running Awaken Pictures
full time. There's no tax write-off because this
is not a non-profit organization. Nor would this be an
investment in Awaken Pictures, Inc., Grafted In, or any of its
other projects. Just a non-refundable gift to the Swift family
that they really could use help with... so prayerfully
consider these things as you are led to give.
Dealing with an "identity crisis": It does not take a rocket
scientist to see that this is an area of great struggle for the
Messianic Movement (which is a Hebraic expression of belief in
Jesus/Yeshua as the Messiah). Jewish men and women who
have come to faith in Yeshua have enough of a struggle already with
retaining their own identity as Jews once they've given their lives
to the Messiah Yeshua (that's the Hebrew name of Jesus) and find
themselves wandering between two religious systems: Modern Day
Christianity and Judaism. So when a growing number of
people from the nations (Gentile believers) begin to embrace
the Torah and even some traditions of Judaism there comes a crisis
of identity. We at Awaken Pictures believe that
how Messianic Believers respond to this "crisis" will determine
whether the Messianic Movement will move forward to its destiny as
an End Time movement or not.
If you are a Gentile Believer in the Messianic movement you
are not alone. Maybe this picture of an adopted child
wrapped in the Tallit (prayer shawl) and receiving acceptance by the
big brother in the family of Israel tugs at your heart.
Maybe you just want to feel accepted and received but you feel all
alone. Maybe for so many years you've been wandering with no
place to go and feel like a sheep without a shepherd. You are
not alone. There are many many people just like you all over
the world and God has not forgotten you. Your Jewish brothers
and sisters are struggling so much to deal with the difficulties of
finding an identity themselves right now. But we believe God
is working to bring you together. That's His heart.
So don't give up and keep pressing on.
If you are a Jewish Believer in the Messianic movement you're
also not alone. God knows how you're trying to find
acceptance as a relevant sect of Judaism today and at the same time
struggling to deal with the pain of misunderstanding and AniSemitism
and replacement theology (a false doctrine that teaches that the
church replaces Israel) that stems from the early Christian
Church Fathers who greatly misunderstood the Hebraic roots of their
faith. But God is beginning to open the eyes of church
leaders today to have a better understanding of the proper Hebraic
Context of the Bible and Jewish leaders are beginning to see the
common foundation they have with Christianity. So remember
that God has a great plan for you as Messianic Jews with a purpose
as "the big brother" welcoming in the Adopted children from the
nations.
This is not a project about bashing Christianity, Judaism, the
Church, the Oral Traditions, or the conflicting doctrines in the
Messianic movement. A documentary is a platform that
can allow Messianic Believers, both Jew and Gentile to sit and watch
something to help spark positive discussions in the future. We
also believe that Christians and Jews can learn from this discussion
as well. There is much happening in the church at large and
even in the world of Judaism today while the Messianic believers are
struggling with this issue. God is moving forward with or
without us. Christians and Jews are actually beginning
to understand that they have more in common than they ever realized.
Churches and Christian ministries are even embracing and sharing
their Jewish Roots and there is a growing interest in this subject
today.
We've started a
blog. Click here to the
Grafted In movie blog
so you can share your comments and thoughts and be updated to how
things are going.
SUPPORT THE FILMMAKERS by giving a gift to help them
provide for their family while making this project. There's
no tax write-off because this is not a non-profit organization.
Nor would this be an investment in Awaken Pictures, Inc.,
Grafted In, or any of its other projects. This is Just a
non-refundable gift to the Swift family that they really could
use help with. So prayerfully consider these things as you are
led to give.
