If I could speak with Geoffrey Edelsten

I only know of two women, Brynne Gordon and Gabi Grecko. My guess is that in your 75 years you have had more than these two. Of course, there was that four-year marriage to your first wife, Leanne Nesbitt. But the recent two are the most public in the last few years here in Australia. And although I'm an American living here in Oz the last 20 years, I've never had the occasion to run in your circles, nor you in mine. 

But I've heard about you and your medical career. I've heard about these two women, each approximately 40 years younger than you, and each very beautiful and buxom and American. Each has had a very public career and public persona that the media love. Again, I don't know either of these two, and wish them only the best.

And I only wish you only the best as well.  You got back together with Gabi in November, the news here reported. That's got to be a joy for you. Listen, your activities since the 1980s are well known. You introduced 24-hour-a-day, medical bulk-billing super clinics complete with grand pianos in waiting rooms. Then in 1985 used some of your capital to buy the Sydney Swans AFL team. By the way, they are my team since I moved here from the US in 1998.

One might describe your career since then as being colorful. You were struck off the medical roll in NSW in 1988, and deregistered in Victoria four years later. In 1990, a Supreme Court jury found you guilty of soliciting hitman Christopher Dale Flannery to assault a former patient of one of your clinics.

You were also convicted of perverting justice by issuing hitman Flannery with a medical certificate that enabled him to postpone a murder trial, thus avoiding a particular judge. You then spent a year in jail, an experience you have described as "life-changing and shattering." I understand that and was in jail only about 2 days in Florida in 1971.

Back in 2010, when Brynne was on your arm, you had 40+ televisions in your apartment and 20 luxury cars in your garage. But life is more than possessions, and you have an impressive string of genuine credentials from reputable Australian institutions. Besides your original medical degree from Melbourne University, there is the bachelor of laws degree from New England University and master's degrees in law, health science, family medicine and sports medicine.

Much else about you might be open to question but your intelligence has never been in doubt. And as you are quoted as saying, "Jewish families think education is extremely important."

Your yichus includes Jewish families on both sides who came to Melbourne from Eastern Europe. All four of my grandparents were also Jewish, and two came from Eastern Europe. Your mum Esther was a Polish baker's daughter. My grandparents moved to the middle of the US into Kansas City, and my zayde was a baker from Ukraine originally.

You have experienced a lot of life, with plenty of friends and enemies, with jailers and wannabes. You have gone through heaps of cash and times of having very little. So, if we had 15 minutes together, what would we talk about? What would I want to tell you?

1) I'd want you to know that God Himself seriously loves you, and no matter what you did or didn't do with the hitman or with your previous wives or others in the clinics... no matter what... He loves you. And He knows all about what you did and who you are. Nothing is hidden from His view. And even so, and no matter how far you might think you can run from Him, or hide in another apartment with tighter security... He will find you and He will share His love with you.

2) I'd want you to know that your Jewish family is God's design as well. He made you a Jew and as such you should know our Book, that is, the Tenach, with its awesome history and intentional plans for us Jewish people. We make plans, but the Great Designer is never far from us, watching over us and helping us to make a good path in this dark world. We are not only chosen; we are also obligated.

3) I'd want you to know that riches bring a lot of 'friends' (Proverbs 19.4), but they may not last very long. And neither might the riches. Solomon was the richest and wisest man in his day (although some may argue about his wisdom in having 1,000 women at his beck and call) and when he pondered what he really wanted out of life, he wrote this:

Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God. (Proverbs 30.8-9)

4) I'd want you to know that Yeshua, the Jewish messiah, foretold in the Scriptures, is alive and well. And that there is a community of Yeshua-loving Jewish people in Melbourne and here in Sydney, who would welcome you as a brother. You don't have to arrive in a luxury car; you are welcome to come on the bus. Yes, you will probably be recognized, but not to be among us as a celebrity, only as a brother. And mate. And at the end of the day, isn't that what we all are craving? Being loved for who we are, not for what we bring? Of course, Gabi could come as well, no worries, but it's not a show; it's a family, a community, a place for you (both) to walk in love as Yeshua loved, and gave Himself as a sacrifice for us all. 

Those are some of the things I'd want to share with you, Geoff. If this doesn't ever happen, then maybe right where you are today on Australia Day, and with whomever you are, you might look up to heaven and pray, ask the Almighty for His direction in your life. Not a bad idea on any day, you know? All the best.

Making choices....whom to follow

The Bible says, "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." (Hebrews 13.7)

This could be a little confusing. Basically the writer of the Newer Testament book of Hebrews is saying this, "If you want to make good choices about theology and about life, look to the people who taught you things, and go with the guys who have a good end-game, whose lives and teachings match where you want to land. Don't follow false teachers. Don't be tricked by your own itching ears. Consider the end, the result, the final landing zone of the teacher... and go with the people who will get you there also."

I know, those aren't the translations, and not the actual text, but it might help someone today who is caught in the either/or place of discomfort brought about by anti-missionaries whose apparent only care for Jewish souls is after they have come to faith in Jesus. I've never seen a "Jews for Judaism" brand anywhere where there is not a messianic Jewish success. They seem only to show up to dissuade and only to make unbelief a thing. That's not a good gig. In fact, that's a very sad mission. It might be better to title them "Jews against Jesus" rather than that they are 'for' anything.

That makes sense to me, that the writer of Hebrews should have had the same difficulties as we sometimes have with anti-missionaries. The two words to note in this Bible book are 'better' and 'warning.' The author says that everything we have in Yeshua, in fact Yeshua Himself also, is better than what we had before. The Messiah is better than angels, than the prophets, than Aaron, than Moses, and we have a better country, sacrifice, possession, promises, covenant, and hope. So count on Yeshua...He's not only Better...he's the BEST!

Then there are five warnings to the Hebrew Christians (a former term for Messianic Jews, which is the current nomenclature). Warning against the five dangers: 1. The danger of drifting (Chapter 2)
2. The danger of not entering into rest (still working to get 'there' on our own) (Chapters 3-4)
3. The danger of not going on to maturity, but rather being spoon-fed (not serving others) (Chapters 5-6)
4. The danger of willful sin, especially staying away from the fellowship of other Messianic people. (Chapter 10)
5. The danger of indifference to the point of denial. (Chapter 12)

There is a progression in these warnings. It starts with being careless about salvation and indifferent to spiritual things until finally one comes to be perfectly satisfied with being indifferent, even hostile to the very God who got you there.

Let me expand these five. First, Hebrews challenges us to ask ourselves how we plan to escape judgment if we neglect and reject so great a salvation, a salvation planned from the foundations of the world. (2.3) Secondly, the place of the Word of God is crucial. The second warning (3.12) is to take care we do not develop an unbelieving heart, and he uses the next several verses to help us overcome unbelief – exhort each other, share in Messiah, hold confidence, even to fear failure. We need to be aware that it is possible to harden our hearts against the Bible/ God's Word, and miss salvation. Third, (5.11-14) When we are not growing spiritually, skepticism, indifference, and apostasy may find room to creep in. An arm kept in a cast for several weeks quickly becomes smaller and weaker than the arm being used every day. Growth takes effort on our part, and it is something we should be working toward every day.

Fourth, in 10:26-31, the author addresses the dangers of deliberate sin, specifically quoting from Deuteronomy 32. Again, these are things his readers are familiar with from Moses’ teachings, but now it is being applied to rejecting Yeshua's sacrifice, a sacrifice sealing a covenant greater than the one brought by Moses. And it involves a separation from the people of God, the community of faith in Messiah. Some messianic Jews were walking away, turning away, even choosing the 'synagogue' over the 'church' (in today's language) and rejecting Messiah's sacrifice publicly. This was a major warning from the author-- don't do that!

Finally in chapter 12 we read the fifth warning, denial of Yeshua. In verse 25 we read, "see to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven." The abandonment of the people of God by these backsliding Jewish believers in Jesus was not good. The author is calling them back. Don't deny Yeshua... you will do so, by the way, if you walk with the wrong crowd. Don't spit on the sacrifice. Don't reject me, he says, because I'm sharing with you eternal truths.

Finally, he drops in this comment with which I started. Consider the result of the faith of those with whom you associate. And go with the system which is the better. In other words, which system appears to demonstrate things that you know to be true, and which has resultant behaviors in people whom you respect and long to replicate. That's the one you need to follow. And from whom to learn. And with whom to deeply associate. Make a good choice... go with the believing community. How do we know that? By looking at the end-game... where are they going? With whom are they going? When are they going? On what do they base their going? It's all about Yeshua and what He did for us. Make your choice. Go with the Yeshua people. Therein is wisdom.