Category: Opinion

In an overwhelming show of support, the House of Representatives passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009 on Tuesday.

The bill, which passed 412-12, requires “the president to report to Congress three months after the law’s enactment—and every six months thereafter—anyone who has provided Iran refined oil, helped to import oil or helped it develop its domestic refining capacity,” the examiner.com reported.

Our group enjoyed another jam-packed day in Israel as we visited Bet Yigal Alon Museum, Tel Dan, Hazor, Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Peter’s Primacy and the Ein Ayub, the spring of Job.

And today I learned dreams really do come true. When I heard earlier this year that my name had been submitted for consideration, I struggled whether or not I should accept the invitation. The thought of making this trip without my wife Wendy really bothered me—until I had a dream one night in May.

Current events in Israel have brought much to mind regarding those in Messianic ministry today. Whatever the sociopolitical problems faced by those ministering in Israel, too many engaged in reaching the Jews are misunderstood. So, my review here is with an eye toward equipping leaders to help others understand this timely, prophetic and uniquely difficult ministry.

One of the characteristics of prophetic revelation is that it is sometimes allegorical or symbolic, and it is fully understood only after future events have taken place. From the Old Testament perspective, it was not altogether clear what the Messiah would look like.

The prophets foretold the coming of both a kingly Messiah and a suffering servant, but no one even remotely considered that both were the same person.

Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran (CLNFI) sent a letter to Congress today urging lawmakers to place sanctions on Iran to prevent the Middle East country from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Representing millions of evangelicals, Roman Catholics and other Christians, CLNFI told Congress the time has come to “act.”

“Now that super-majorities in the house and senate have made their support for sanctions known, and now that the Iranian regime has made its increasing defiance clear to the world, the time for Congress to act has arrived,” said Richard Land of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

What a blessing it is to be grandparents. Psalm 128: 1-6 promises the children of Israel that they will see their children’s children. “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table” (v. 3, KJV). “Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel” (v. 6, KJV).

We are so grateful for the fruitfulness of God in our lives. We are going to have to expand our dining table because the olive plants are already crowding the table. The Father loves to be surrounded by many children.

You’ve seen her—the veiled, dark-robed woman in the checkout line at Wal-Mart or Target. She’s Muslim, you think to yourself, probably from the Middle East or Asia.

But on closer inspection, you discover that she has blue eyes. A few strands of sandy blond hair peek out from her head veil. Or perhaps she’s black and speaks with a distinctly American accent.

She’s not from the Middle East, you realize, but from your own backyard! In fact, she could be someone you went to high school with.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday Israel and its Western backers “cannot do a … thing to stop Iran’s nuclear work.”

In a televised speech at an Iranian uranium conversion plant in Isfahan, Ahmadinejad rejected the “illegal” censure of his nation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He said the agency was “under pressure from a few superficially powerful countries.”

Christians have long made pilgrimages to the ancient Village of Cana where Jesus performed His first miracle. More recently, couples have begun visiting the Franciscan Wedding Church to get married or renew their marriage vows.

Jesus performed His first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding, thereby validating and blessing the covenant of marriage.

Father Garret Edmunds, a pilgrimage leader to the Holy Land, points out that Jesus’ primary reason for being there was for the wedding.

In Hebrew, the sacred, divine name of God is spelled with four Hebrew letters: yod, hei, vav, and hei, or, in English, YHVH. This four-lettered name is called the tetragrammaton, which means “four letters.”

This name, YHVH, is found 6,823 times in the Hebrew Bible. Hebrew scholars and rabbis all agree that the exact pronunciation of these four letters has been lost throughout the centuries. Some suggest the name is pronounced Yehovah or Yahweh, while westerners say Jehovah, replacing the first letter Y (yud in Hebrew) with the English letter J, which does not exist in the Hebrew alphabet.

Most news we hear from Israel involves suicide bombings, military skirmishes and ethnic tensions. In the time since the Jewish state was created 61 years ago, it seems its history has been written in blood as Israeli leaders have fought to defend the land that was given to them by God thousands of years ago.

Yet this place we call the Holy Land cannot be defined by religious conflicts and territorial disputes. Pilgrims who have traveled there from around the world have discovered that Israel defies the stereotypes and the political clichés: They have discovered a land rich with history and a diverse people who want peace more than war.

The Bible says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:18-19). The “acceptable year of the Lord”—the Year of Jubilee—was the last in a 50-year period.

During the first 49 years, the Israelites could own slaves, sow their fields, prune their vineyards, and gather the harvest; but each seventh year was set apart as a Sabbath for the land. At the beginning of the fiftieth year, the trumpet sounded, proclaiming the Year of Jubilee. This was a year when the ground wasn’t worked, slaves were set free, and debts were erased. It was a year of rest for the entire land.

The great theme of faith continues as we study the book of Hebrews. We have learned that faith sees the unseen, and we endure in faith and hope when we keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Now we turn our eyes heavenward to look into realms of glory in heaven.

I have often wondered why some great men and women of faith die young. Recently a great servant of the Lord named Ruth Heflin died. I personally felt she had many more years of service to offer the Lord here on earth. She wrote a book called Glory.

Officials in Israel last week indicted the man accused of sending a bomb to the home of a Messianic minister in March 2008 that nearly killed the pastor’s teenage son.

Jack Teitel, 37, was indicted for attempted murder, among other charges, for allegedly sending a bomb hidden in a gift basket to the home of David Ortiz, pastor of a Messianic congregation in Ariel, Israel.

(Photo of Ami Ortiz, Compass Direct News)

Your personal Bible may have a black, brown, blue, or red leather or imitation leather cover. The words may be a fine-print, red-letter edition distinguishing Christ’s words. Your translation may be the popular 1611 King James Version, New King James Version, Amplified, or New American Standard. It may have a red ribbon inserted to mark selective passages. Your Bible might be a translation from a language other than English. In the Jewish synagogue, the Torah is in the form of a scroll and not a leather-bound book.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said President Barack Obama must choose between Israel and Iran. The comment was made Tuesday in Istanbul during an economic address before the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“The support of both Israel and Iran can’t go hand in hand. No change is made unless great choices are made,” said Ahmadinejad. “We will clasp any hand that is extended sincerely toward us, but changes should be made in practice.”