I Am Newish Jewish: A New Testament Perspective of the Biblical Feasts and Holidays

Caliendo, Julie: - Julie Caliendo grew up on the south side of Chicago attending a Baptist church, but also participated with her family in the Catholic church for special occasions. Her father was one of six brothers, three were Baptist, and the other three were Catholic. It was a family thing to respect both places of worship. This gave her the ability to view her Christian faith from two perspectives leaving her open to broader horizons ahead. At eleven years old Julie gave her heart to Jesus and was baptized in the Baptist church. Julie is an ordained minister and has been serving the cause of Christ for over thirty years. In 2019, she was introduced to the pastors of Son of David Messianic Fellowship, a group which would be holding Saturday services at Chandler First Assemblies of God Church, which is where she worshipped. As an avid student of the Bible, she ventured in with open heart and mind to see what they were all about. Through their teaching, she saw the Bible with eyes of discovery. There was so much she didn't understand about the Torah, the feasts, and Old Testament commands of God. Sermon after sermon, she compiled copious notes as part of her methodical learning process. It was as if she was reading the Bible for the first time. Such excitement! Thus, her journey began, with a voracious appetite.Julie's professional life: She worked for eleven years as an instructional designer in the fraud department for a major credit card company in Phoenix. She wrote training manuals and materials for fraud investigators. She was also a contributing editor for an internal news publication, Express It, with a staff of reporters.As a retiree now, Julie serves the cause of Christ in full-time ministry. When her husband died in 2016, she attended a Bible-based, Christ-centered grief recovery program: GriefShare. After participating in her first series of classes for herself, she started a grief recovery ministry at her church and has been a facilitator and ministry leader ever since helping others overcome their loss of loved ones. This lady keeps busy with various community organizations: Toastmasters International for over twenty-five years to hone her public speaking and leadership skills, Widow Warriors ministry to support other widows, Mesa Christian Writer's Group to raise the bar on her writing skills. Clear communication is important to Julie. She is not only a public speaker and author, she served in church as an interpreter for the deaf for many years. She graduated from the Phoenix College Interpreter for the Deaf Training Program and has been involved in Deaf Ministry since 1988. She published her first book: A Christian Interpreter's Code of Ethics. Her goal was to raise a standard and equip church interpreters to serve God in the deaf community.Julie embraces her Christian faith through participation in two churches, just as she did as a growing child. Once again Julie is bridging a gap between two worlds: Baptist and Catholic, Deaf and hearing lives, Christian and Jewish/Biblical beliefs. On Saturdays, she is an active member and Elder of Son of David Messianic Fellowship, which inspired this book. On Sundays, she attends Chandler First Assembly, who hosts the GriefShare ministry. God uses her now to impact both Christian denominations. She is Newish Jewish on Saturdays and Pentecostal on Sundays. What a calling!