The first post addresses an interesting point: In general, Christians want to convert Jews into Christians. Generally, they want Jews to drop the Torah and all forms of Jewish identity and have them become a member of the Christian community.
It's this loss of Jewish identity that anti-missionary organizations like Jews for Judaism rant about. Orthodox Jews in Israel persecute Messianic Jews in part because they are not seen as Jews any longer, but instead as members of a foreign religion who've strayed from their Jewish identity, and thus, cannot be part of the ancient, historical, God-given Jewish state of Israel.
Given this loss of Jewish identity, Derek asks,
"How important to God is continuing Jewish identity and how does your model of outreach handle identity?"
How does the identity of being one of the descendants of Jacob get passed down?
The Jewish answer for quite a long time has been simple: Jews marry Jews and raise their children as Jews.
Is the answer of the Christian missions movement that this is no longer important? Does faith in the Jewish Messiah bring an end to the Jewish people? Should Jewish people assimilate into the larger Christian community and disappear?
Should Jewish people who believe in Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah of Judaism assimilate into Christianity?
"Your Jewish traits will be assimilated into the Church collective."
(Sorry, all this assimilation talk excited my inner Star Trek nerd.*)
Joking aside, this is a serious question. Should Jews who believe in Messiah lose their Jewish identity?
And the reverse of this argument is that gentiles should lose their gentile identity and become practicing Jews, what of that?
We must remember that before there were Jews, there were Hebrews.
Abraham wasn’t Jewish, but he was a Hebrew: one who crossed over.
What’s the point, you ask?
We’re hearing Jews say they don’t want to turn into gentiles through belief in Messiah.
And we’re hearing gentiles say they don’t want to turn into Jews through belief in Messiah.
Maybe God’s intent is that we all cross over like Abraham did.
If an act of “crossing over” for a Jew, today, is to accept Messiah, then perhaps an act of “crossing over” for a gentile is to enter into God’s commandments and his feasts and his rest.
If either side just lives “as-is”, then we have lawless gentiles and Messiah-less Jews. Both parties need to act. This pointing the finger at each other, each telling the other what to do, is silly foolishness.
I'd love to hear what you fine blog readers think. I'd especially like to hear from all you fineBorg Christian readers. 
(Sorry, all this assimilation talk excited my inner Star Trek nerd.*)
Joking aside, this is a serious question. Should Jews who believe in Messiah lose their Jewish identity?
And the reverse of this argument is that gentiles should lose their gentile identity and become practicing Jews, what of that?
We must remember that before there were Jews, there were Hebrews.
Abraham wasn’t Jewish, but he was a Hebrew: one who crossed over.
What’s the point, you ask?
We’re hearing Jews say they don’t want to turn into gentiles through belief in Messiah.
And we’re hearing gentiles say they don’t want to turn into Jews through belief in Messiah.
Maybe God’s intent is that we all cross over like Abraham did.
If an act of “crossing over” for a Jew, today, is to accept Messiah, then perhaps an act of “crossing over” for a gentile is to enter into God’s commandments and his feasts and his rest.
If either side just lives “as-is”, then we have lawless gentiles and Messiah-less Jews. Both parties need to act. This pointing the finger at each other, each telling the other what to do, is silly foolishness.
I'd love to hear what you fine blog readers think. I'd especially like to hear from all you fine
* Hope you're not offended by the Borg stuff. It's good to laugh, even at oneself. I don't mean anything derogatory by it.