| We Have a Hung Jury! |
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| Written by Batya Wootten | |
| Wednesday, 22 March 2006 | |
Please Vote Again!Shalom All, The first thing I want to tell you is how good it was to hear from so many of you! To have you take the time to vote on the book title truly blessed me. Also, many of you wrote encouraging personal notes, all of which are truly appreciated, and which I will try to answer as soon as possible. That is the good news. The bad news is that we seem to have a “hung jury.” We essentially have a tie for first place between Israel: Redeemed, Reunited, Restored, and, Israel: Two Houses—One Destiny. Based on the number of votes received the order is:
We also had several people make title suggestions. Jason offered, Israel: Two Brothers—One Destiny. One friend even redid the cover with various title suggestions, such as, Reunited Israel: Our Destiny In Messiah. Some of these titles are shown here with mock covers. Please disregard the various types and sizes, they are not a professionally finished product. Since the “One Stick” and “One People” titles lagged far behind, and since the “two sticks” are depicted on the cover, we will only address three of the titles. Two Houses—One DestinyIn reading your responses, I felt most who voted for Israel: Two Houses—One Destiny were like “pioneers.” Your letters made me feel you are totally dedicated to the cause and want to take a bold stand. Such people are dear to my heart. If truth be known, I think we would be much further down the road of bringing forth the truth about Ephraim and Judah if we were a bit more bold. That does not mean we have to be insensitive or pushy, instead, we need to be a compassionate people who are without compromise. And while this title says much with few words, I must confess that I now question the wisdom of using it for several reasons. As Michelle wrote, “I am finding...many Messianics tune you out the minute you say...’two-house.’” Joshua says this title “might keep some who have been taught incorrectly about the two houses from reading the book.” Sally says, “...a Messianic Rabbi...said he did not believe in the two house theology because in the end we are supposed to become one house.” JC writes, “I have been running across so much negative two house stuff on the web...using the two house title might deter readers rather than draw them.” Israel: Our Destiny in MessiahMarva said of Israel: Your Destiny in Messiah, "’Your’ makes it more personal and emphasizes the point that we as individuals are included in the call to Israel.” On the other hand, Judy said, “We don’t need any more “Your.” We need to come together. It needs to be “Our Destiny.” Harvey said, “This title will entice many of our Jewish brothers and will be very effective in the church.” Patsy writes, “Our Destiny...calls for...people to unite in Messiah....Your Destiny...shows our individual responsibility “ (I agree with everyone, which may be why some jokingly speak of “two Jews, three opinions.” By the way, if we combine the votes for the “Your” and “Our” Destiny titles, we are close to a three-way tie.) On another note, Angus suggests, Your Destiny in Messiah: Redeemed, Reunited, Restored Israel. He feels people will be more interested in a book if it has to do with their personal life, and that this word order would tend to draw people of all religious persuasions. Putting Israel at the end will hopefully send the message that this book is about a different Israel; not the secular State, not the Israel which limits the chosen people to Jews, nor an Israel comprised solely of Gentiles who have accepted Jesus and are waiting for the rapture. Angus feels most people have a deeply ingrained concept of what “Israel” means, and once they see the word, most most will leap to a conclusion based on their ingrained concept. For example, the vast majority would think it refers to the secular State and ignore it. The reaction of many “Gentiles” (non-Jews) would be, “This is a book about Jews. It is not about me.” Likewise, Jews would probably think it was about them and unless they felt it was going to give them new information about the Jews or nation of Israel, they probably would not open the book. We want a cover that will get the most people to pick up the book. Israel: Redeemed, Reunited, RestoredLong time friends, Ephraim and Rimona Frank say they like “Israel: Redeemed, Restored, Reunited,” in that order. We like this order too, but note that, in the natural, there is a certain level of reuniting that is actually taking place between Believers and the Jewish people, and it is happening before all Israel is redeemed in Messiah. Marguerita writes of this basic title, “Israel: Reunited, Redeemed and Restored describes the destiny of the two houses.” David says he likes it and that “Israel NEEDS R&R....” (Boy, you can say that again!) Finally, JC writes, “This title might draw a larger reader base.” I like these words because redemption speaks of Israel’s Redeemer, the Messiah; it is a word that is well received by all. Reunited alludes to the two houses and ties in with the two sticks on the cover. Restored is a comforting word of promise, it speaks of hope. A Final VoteSo, now that we have come this far will you please vote one more time? Based on potential negative feedback, which we would like to circumvent, we feel we need to eliminate the title, Israel: Two Houses—One Destiny. We do this with the prayer that our stalwart pioneer friends will understand that we want a title that has the broadest appeal. That means we are now down to three different titles, each with two different word orders. The titles we now ask you to choose from are:
You can copy the text from one of the titles above, then click on the link below, paste the title into the subject matter and send an email directly to me. (If you hit the “reply” button, it will go to our webmaster and will have to be forwarded to me, which will take longer.) This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Thanks in advance. Blessings on you and yours, PS - We are still open to suggestions, but we are going to have to decide this quickly. |
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