Down to the Bare Rock

Rosemary Bamber reviews the latest of Steve Maltz's Hebraic roots conferences, which took place earlier in December.

Foundations Conferences are a new and interesting phenomena! Until recently, they have been 5-day conferences held annually (more or less) in the spring, at The Quinta in Shropshire. However, founder Steve Maltz and his team are now branching out with smaller weekend regional conferences. This year, the second of these took place at the beginning of December, in the comfortable, pleasant surroundings of Brunel Manor, Devon.

A large percentage of delegates had never been to a Foundations Conference before (I had previously been to three out of the seven held in Shropshire and so was considered to be a bit of an 'old hand'!). Testimonies now featured on the Saltshakers website show the things that delegates most appreciated:

• "the friendliness. The Holy Spirit leading, the gathering together of like hearts and minds" (Cheryl)
• "dedication of the organisers and a sense of oneness of participants, freedom to express oneself with new and innovative ways to explore, genuine love for the Lord and a desire to please, worship and obey Him" (Anita)
• "relaxed atmosphere, genuine fellowship, opportunity to express gifts, free worship, excellent teaching" (Colin)

Putting Our Confidence Back in Scripture

The Foundations Conferences have grown out of Steve Maltz's books and ministry. The idea is not only to learn about his definition of Hebraic church, but also to have a taster of it. Each of the Conferences has accompanied the launch of his latest book and so their content has run parallel to his books as they have come out.

Steve has succeeded in his books to convey in an engaging manner important truths about the contrast between Greek and Hebraic thinking. Building on that understanding, he has shown where the Western Church has been influenced by Greek philosophy, leading to departures in certain areas from Hebraic thinking and biblical truth. Examples would be the adoption of Replacement Theology and liberal theologies, and the silencing of the 'laity'.

Foundations is putting out a call to return to a confident trust in the Bible as our ultimate source of authority and revelation and with that, a return to understanding the Hebraic or Jewish roots of the faith.

Foundations is putting out a call to return to a confident trust in the Bible as our ultimate source of authority and revelation.

Doing Hebraic Church

The Devon conference really drew on the supreme success of 'Foundations 7', the 'bravest' of Steve's conferences to date where he decided to include a day putting Hebraic church into practice. This meant that we had a worship session which wasn't led from the front but was led by all according to the direction of the Holy Spirit. The use of spiritual gifts was encouraged, so that the whole body could be released and built up.

We also had long free times when people could choose their own activities. They could preach, debate Scripture, read or listen to the Bible, go on a prayer walk, do creative activities, learn Israeli dance, sing in a choir, or pray alone or with others.

This formula from Foundations 7 was carried over into the Devon weekend conference. There were four teaching sessions, but there were also free times when people could participate in different activities designed to release us in our gifts - or simply allow us to try something new.

Hebraic Roots Teaching

The four teaching sessions on the Hebrew roots of the Bible and the need for a correct interpretation of Scripture based on its Jewish history and context were given by José de Silva. José has clearly studied this subject deeply and is very knowledgeable. He taught about the two olive trees (i.e. Jew and Gentile) in Zechariah 4, and about how the Jewish Rabbinic teaching on the logos (memra in Aramaic) is clearly outlined in John 1.

José showed how New Testament theology is based clearly on the Jewishness of the Old Testament. There was an emphasis on the errors of Replacement Theology and how the Church has been robbed of the understanding of God's everlasting covenants towards the Jews. José exhorted us to have an expectation that all Israel will be saved (Rom 11:26) and to understand that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Rom 11:29).

The Devon conference made plenty of time to put 'Hebraic church' into practice.

Where Next?

The interesting question raised at the conference is: where do we go from here? Studying these subjects and exploring our Hebraic roots is undoubtedly fantastic, but inevitably throws up questions which will have to be tackled as the movement grows; such as: how do we engage with the Church without becoming separatist or elitist? And how can we best engage with people who have different emphases and outlooks?

Nevertheless, these conferences always provide a really special time and come very highly recommended. The testimonies of delegates speak for themselves:

• "Thank you for a truly wonderful weekend. I was so excited on the Friday night that I texted back to my church leaders that 'I thought I had died and gone to heaven' with the worship!!!!! Whew." (Marion)
• "I was only there for the day but wanted more! Although active and fairly intense, I was energised and invigorated by the whole experience. This was Church!" (Betty)
• "For me it was akin to arriving at Elim with its 12 springs of water after a long and thirsty walk through the wilderness!...Having sampled Foundations for a second time I am now convinced that this is a move of God. May the Lord fulfil this vision in this nation and beyond for the sake of the house of the Lord our God!" (Barry)