It would be better to pray in a mosque than to step foot into a Church

"It would be better to pray in a mosque than to step foot into a Church"

“It would be better to pray in a mosque and do so with meaning and after the sun rises, rather than at home, at dawn or at the airport and without meaning,” 

After witnessing the bizarre video recently posted to YouTube (Below) of Bishop Eddie Long being “crowned” at his church in a truly weird ritual. In the video, a “rabbi” named Ralph Messer wraps Long in what he describes as a 300-year-old “Holocaust scroll,” then drapes him in a shawl and hoists him in the air before declaring him a king.

It’s all very strange, not least because Long, the pastor of an Atlanta megachurch, was disgraced last year in a scandal involving his sexual relationships with at least four underage parishoners. (Long has been vocally anti-gay throughout his career, and the parishoners were male.)

There’s nothing that’s not creepy about the whole thing, and it’s been greeted with the mockery it deserves, but there’s one piece of the story that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention but should:
Rabbi Ralph Messer isn’t Jewish.

Messer is a proponent of so-called "Messianic Judaism", a religious movement founded in the 1960s that wraps evangelical Christian theology in Jewish cultural trappings.
Put simply, it’s a Christian movement. Messer is a Christian minister.

No wonder and for good reason Meimonedes (Ram Bam) gave the ruling centuries ago.

Rabbi Baruch Efrati: Pray in Mosque -

There is nothing new in this old jewish ruling  - but today as Islam terrorises the whole world....pray in the Holy place of a religion who's main goal is to terrorise and destroy Jews and their homeland - Israel....OK correction, terrorise and destroy any infidel..Christians, Catholic, Hindus even Muslims who try to oppose the way of Islam.  If that's not enough, there's more....
Praying in Churches completely and strictly forbidden????

Meimonedes ( ram bam ) gave that ruling centuries ago.
However there was an interesting caveat in meimonedes ruling.
Jews are allowed to pray in a mosque but not in a church!





Rabbi Baruch Efrati:

“It would be better to pray in a mosque and do so with meaning and after the sun rises, rather than at home, at dawn or at the airport and without meaning,” Rabbi Baruch Efrati determined recently in a response posted on the Kipa website recently.

The surprising ruling came in response to a question posed by a web surfer living abroad who travels frequently for work purposes: “Most of the time the flights leave very early in the morning. I manage to put on tefillin at home after daybreak, but I don’t have time to wait until I can complete morning prayers,” he stated.

“On the other hand, if I pray at the airport – I feel extremely uncomfortable, because people stare and I find it hard to focus on my prayers.”

He wished to know how to act – and Rabbi Efrati had a surprising response: “Some airports in Europe and Asia have mosques, and they are usually empty of people who are not praying and so it is quiet,” he noted and suggested that the traveler inquire at the airport.

“Of course, this solution isn’t perfect,” the rabbi added, “but it is the best option. There is no prohibition on praying in mosques (apart for the Ran’s – Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven ruling, which was not accepted).”

Rabbi Efrati noted that an example was the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, which has a mosque.

Either way, the rabbi ruled that if the traveler has trouble praying with meaning in the airport – he shouldn’t pray there. In addition, he stressed that praying in churches was completely and strictly forbidden. In fact, it is forbidden to step into a church, he said.
**

for anyone who's having a hard time believing what you have just read, her source link

Ralph Messer Message on Paula White's TV Program being wrapped in a Torah Scroll:

Today on Super Bowl Sunday, I was invited to preach at Cathedral of Power International Church in Clermont, Florida. As the former chaplain of the Minnesota Vikings, It was my intention to focus on a sports/biblical theme for this special service. However, I was asked to address an encounter I had with Reggie White and Ralph Messer ten years ago. In memory of my friend, the late Reggie White and in honor of Black History month, I took some time to respond to the firestorm surrounding Ralph Messer and the crowning of Pastor Eddie Long as a king. It is my position that Pastor Long was unaware of the planned "ceremony" and was another high profile African-American used to promote Messer's agenda. I am calling for Ralph Messer to cease and desist from the dangerous and unbiblical teaching that he is directing toward African-American congregations around this country. It is also my hope and prayer that he will add the African-American community to his list of those whom he has offended and will sincerely ask for forgiveness for the damage he has caused.

Here is the public statement I made BEFORE I watched the entire message Ralph Messer presented at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday January 29th 2012.

People around the world have been shocked by the Messianic "rabbi" who crowned Eddie Long king. Newsflash: Ralph Messer has been exploiting African-Americans and making a mockery of the Hebrew roots of the faith for years. I first encountered Messer eleven years ago when my friend the late Football Hall-of-Famer Reggie White paid him an inordinate amount of money to learn Hebrew under his tutelage as a "rabbi." A year went by and Reggie never received even a single Hebrew lesson. I decided to confront Messer with Reggie and Pro-Bowler Hardy Nickerson as witnesses. In their presence "Rabbi Ralph" admitted he had never formally been ordained as a real rabbi. I then challenged Messer to read from my Hebrew Bible and he responded by making excuses for an hour about why it was "dangerous" to learn the language. I continued to insist he read from my Bible in Hebrew and with great effort Messer managed to slowly sound out the first verse of the Bible one syllable at a time. It was obvious to everyone present that Messer did not possess the knowledge to read the Hebrew language let alone to teach it. For the past ten years, I have seen Messer continue to throw around Hebrew terms he does not fully understand and misuse holy objects such as Torah Scrolls to manipulate people and bring them under his authority as a "rabbi" and a supposed "representative of the Jewish People and the Land of Israel." As a United Methodist pastor who believes in the importance of the Hebrew roots of our faith I am deeply offended by what he did this past week at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. It is my sincere hope and prayer that by speaking out others will be spared from falling prey to his manipulative practices that offend both Jew and Gentile alike.

Keith Johnson
Founder of Biblical Foundations Academy
Former chaplain of the Minnesota Vikings

_________________________________________________________________
Rabbi Ralph Messer on Pastor Paula White's TV Program being wrapped in a Torah Scroll: Note @1:14 in this video you can clearly see that Ralph has ripped the Torah scroll by doing this. That alone should speak volumes.

FROM THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF: Daniel Beirute, attorney for Florida-based televangelist Paula White, unconditionally denied that White would be 'coronated' as was Bishop Eddie Long in a widely ridiculed ceremony in Lithonia, Ga.’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church that went viral on YouTube. He also denied that White had ever been previously ‘crowned’ by erstwhile ‘rabbi’ Ralph Messer.

White is now pastor of New Destiny Christian Center, founded by the late Zachery Tims. New Destiny is one of Central Florida’s largest churches. She is also pastor of Without Walls International Church, one of Tampa’s largest churches.

Beirute denied a rumor that started in Orlando that White was somehow affiliated with Messer, who made Long a ‘king’ according to what Messer alleged was Jewish tradition. West Orlando News Online reported  "rumors that Messer will be in Orlando over the week-end to crown pastor Paula White, new leader of the New Destiny Christian Center (NDCC), queen."

"There is not a single shred of truth in it, and we cannot fathom where such ridiculous fantasy may have come from. Pastor White has no ties or affiliation with Mr. Messer. She does not endorse him in any way, and she would never consider participating in any so-called coronation under any circumstances, whatsoever," Beirute said in an email to Florida Courier Publisher Charles W. Cherry II.

Allegations of a Messer-White connection was mentioned on local talk radio, corroborated by a local rabbi, reported on the Florida Courier website – then went viral.

Harsh criticism

On Friday, Orlando’s WEUS-AM 860 aired a live episode of “The Don Miller Show” that harshly criticized both Long and Messer. Featured guests on the show were Rabbi Ira Michaelson of the Beth Tefillahcongregation in Clermont, just outside of Orlando; Keith Johnson, a minister and author; and the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, an associate professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

Gafney wrote a blogpost entitled, “Christian Zionist Messianism Run Amok: Eddie Long's Torah Coronation,” that was reproduced on the Huffington Post. In it, after viewing the video of Long, Gafney cited 26 ways in which the ceremony misrepresented Jewish thought and practice.

‘Deeply offended’

Johnson, in a news release, had told of his previous experience with Messer.

"Ralph Messer has been exploiting African-Americans and making a mockery of the Hebrew roots of the faith for years," Johnson, who says he is a former NFL Minnesota Vikings chaplain, wrote.

"I first encountered Messer eleven years ago when my friend, the late Football Hall-of-Famer Reggie White, paid him an inordinate amount of money to learn Hebrew under his tutelage as a 'rabbi.' A year went by, and Reggie never received even a single Hebrew lesson. I decided to confront Messer with Reggie and Pro Bowler Hardy Nickerson as witnesses.

Couldn’t read Hebrew

"In their presence, 'Rabbi Ralph' admitted he had never formally been ordained as a real rabbi. I then challenged Messer to read from my Hebrew Bible, and he responded by making excuses for an hour about why it was “dangerous” to learn the language. I continued to insist he read from my Bible in Hebrew and with great effort, Messer managed to slowly sound out the first verse of the Bible one syllable at a time. It was obvious to everyone present that Messer did not possess the knowledge to read the Hebrew language, let alone to teach it.

"For the past ten years, I have seen Messer continue to throw around Hebrew terms he does not fully understand and misuse holy objects such as Torah Scrolls to manipulate people and bring them under his authority as a ‘rabbi’ and a supposed 'representative of the Jewish People and the Land of Israel.'

"As a United Methodist pastor who believes in the importance of the Hebrew roots of our faith, I am deeply offended by what he did this past week at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. It is my sincere hope and prayer that by speaking out others will be spared from falling prey to his manipulative practices that offend both Jew and Gentile alike," Johnson wrote.

Fever pitch on radio

Messer’s coronation of Long was the sole topic of discussion for the hour-long radio show. About 10 minutes into the broadcast, host Don Miller confirmed that rumors were flying around Orlando that Messer was coming to town.

“I just heard he’s going around the country doing this...I just heard he’s heading to Florida and he’s going to do this at another church,” Miller said.

In response, Michaelson said, “He actually already did this to Paula White some years ago...this was after she was divorced from Randy White and before the scandal with Benny Henn came out. He took her and wrapped her in a scroll and said the same thing - ‘She’s wrapped in the Word of God.’”

For the remainder of the hour Miller, Michaelson and Johnson gave strong opinions about the meaning of Long’s coronation, calling it “blasphemy” and symptomatic of a “slave mentality” within some Black churches.

Denies it happened

When asked directly about whether Michaelson’s charge was true, Beirute, Paula White’s attorney, wrote to the Florida Courier, “I don’t know where Rabbi Michaelson gets his information, but my client categorically and unequivocally denies that that ever happened.”

Johnson expects that this is not the last word about Long’s coronation.

“Both heaven and earth now have the attention of what happened,” he said on the broadcast.