Breaking News. Spiritual Perspective.
An Oklahoma-based pastor and Bible teacher hopes to bolster Christian support for Israel by planting 1 million olive trees.
Curt Landry, founder of House of David Ministries in Fairland, Okla., launched My Olive Tree (myolivetree.com) in Israel to provide jobs for local residents while benefiting the Israeli economy. This fall, Landry will plant and dedicate some 2,000 olive trees in Israel, many in the region of ancient Gilgal.
Christians around the country and in Israel will pray together simultaneously during the sixth annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem (DPPJ) held October 4. The prayer initiative is a response to growing threats, terrorist attacks and international pressure aimed at Israel.
The event will take place in local churches in 175 nations, with more than 1,000 church leaders.
“The Bible declared it. Jerusalem has become a cup of controversy on the global stage,” said Robert Stearns, who is co-chairman of DPPJ along with Jack Hayford, former president of the International Foursquare Church.
We are on the brink of a spiritual breakthrough in the nation of Israel. Today, the number of Israeli Messianic Jewish believers is estimated at 12,000, with about 140 different congregations and home fellowships. God is birthing a new end-time movement of Jewish lovers in Yeshua that is becoming a prophetic voice to Israel as well as to other nations. This is truly a time to rejoice.
Nevertheless, many Jewish believers in Israel regularly experience not only rejection by the traditional Jewish religious establishment but also growing antagonism and hostility from extremist ultra-orthodox elements. What is happening to the Messianic Jews is to be expected considering we are in the end times. Similar persecution is being experienced by believers all over the world.
How do you define “revival”? To some, revival means longer, louder, emotionally packed services complete with signs and wonders. To others, revival is a semiannual, Sunday through Wednesday, camp-meeting style service that includes a guest speaker. Still others see it as an evangelistic campaign in which salvations and rededications are the only thing that matter.
While the intellectuals and religious pundits sort it out, I wonder what revival means to God.
To me, the answer is simple: Revival is God’s people wholeheartedly returning to Him. Revival occurs when God’s chosen ones can no longer be distracted from their commitment to Him, don’t need to be entertained to remain interested in Him and find deep satisfaction in a world that is centered on Jesus alone. Camp meetings and evangelical campaigns have their place, but unless the focus becomes all about Jesus and not about us, we have not seen revival.
My trip to Israel in early spring was life changing. It was educational but most importantly spiritual. Yes, I “walked where Jesus walked” and peered into the Garden Tomb, but I also worshiped Him in song and dance. The music was unfamiliar to me, and I didn’t know any of the choreography. But the Holy Spirit’s presence was evident in the prayer and praises the locals and I offered up to Yeshua. Want to praise Him Messianic style? Click below to watch a Jewish dance.
When you arrive in Israel and drive past road signs to Jerusalem or Nazareth, it is easy to think you have just entered the biggest theme park in the world. Almost a million Christians visit Israel every year. As a native-born Israeli, I am blessed to see these groups walking the land and discovering the world of the Bible for themselves, but I am also saddened to know that few of them connect with local Israeli believers.
I understand that for most people it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk where Jesus walked and that tour companies pack their schedules with trips to as many ancient sites as possible. But what about the living stones—the local people the Lord is building into His spiritual temple?
A New Jersey mosque is spearheading a national prayer rally in Washington, D.C., that organizers expect to attract tens of thousands of Muslims to pray for the soul of America.
Describing the event as the first-ever of its kind, leaders of Dar-ul-Islam in Elizabeth, N.J., expect 50,000 Muslims from around the world to gather for the Sept. 25 rally being held on Capitol Hill.
Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam, said the event, which begins at 1 p.m., will not include political speeches but will focus only on prayer.
“There are a lot of people who are Muslims who feel that the image of Islam has been portrayed very derogatorily, Abdellah said. “We believe that it’s very important that the other side of Islam, the real reason people become Muslim, is portrayed as opposed to what people believe in the politics of Islam.”
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Quarter’s Mideast envoy Tony Blair were recently in danger of assassination by the leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group from the Gaza Strip.
Hamas foiled the plot being planned by Jaljalat (Thunder), a group led by Mahmoud Taleb, a former militia commander for Hamas. Taleb, who has been wanted by Hamas’s security forces for more than two years, described their hands as being stained with Muslim blood, “making it their duty to kill the two.”
Jaljalat consists of former Hamas militiamen who left because they believed Hamas was becoming accommodating to the infidel West. Meanwhile, Carter asserted in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post that most Palestinian leaders he has spoken to recently are “seriously considering” accepting a one-state solution between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Every day in Israel and other parts of the world, Messianic Jews are persecuted for their faith in Yeshua. Family members and the community shun some, while others become victims of character assassination, harassment and even assault. They are targets of ridicule, but they continue to take a stand for Messiah. Christians around the world must intercede on their behalf. Click below to watch the video, and then slip to your knees in prayer.
Nehemiah says, “For the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). We saw this fact demonstrated in a dramatic way when we attended the first Jewish festival that was held in St. Petersburg, Russia. This festival was designed to reach out to the Jewish people.
The music artists shared not only their music, but also their personal testimonies of how they came to know Jesus as their Messiah. The first evening as people gathered into the auditorium, I studied each face. The people seemed expressionless, almost without any emotion, and I did not see one smile. Then the music began.
The Bible says a person who wins souls is wise. If you want to lead your Jewish friends to faith in Yeshua, it’s important to know and understand who they are and their contributions to the world. Whether a Jew is Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist, he or she is part of Klal Yisrael, the community of Israel.
There’s an organic connection between your friend and Jews everywhere. We Jews are all part of one people, and we have been chosen by God to be a light to the Gentiles (see Isaiah 49:6).
There is a wide range of theological views among my people. Some Jews believe the land of Israel is essential, whereas others don’t think too much about it. Some believe in the afterlife, and some don’t. Some Jews think the Messiah will come one day, while others think He is not real. Some Jewish people keep kosher, and others couldn’t care less. Even though my people have different opinions about various topics, there are certain views most Jews hold true.
Today’s Palestinian-Israeli conflict can be reduced to one basic question: Who owns the land? To the Arabs, it was illegally seized from them after World War II by pro-Israel international governing bodies. To the Jewish people, however, the territory has always been rightfully theirs and was given to them by almighty God Himself.
The three great religions of the world—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—were all birthed in the Middle East and share one common denominator. They trace their lineage to Abraham.
Once, when I was in Jerusalem, I was introduced to a woman who was passionate about building financial support for Jewish settlements all over Israel—including the West Bank (biblically known as Judea and Samaria). She told me in no uncertain terms, “This is our land. God gave it to us, and we don’t really care what politicians think or say. It will never change.”
A Messianic congregation is suing the chief rabbi of Beersheba, Israel, and a Jewish anti-missionary organization for damages incurred during a riot that lasted more than three hours and interrupted regular Sabbath services on the premises of the congregation.
On Dec. 24, 2005, hundreds of Orthodox Jews forced their way onto the property of Nachalat Yeshua (“Jesus’ Inheritance”), throwing chairs, equipment and punches at some worshipers. Police testified to arriving on the scene shortly after the riot began, witnessing the violence and arresting some of the rioters.
The Obama administration has dropped demands for a Jewish construction freeze in eastern Jerusalem, according to a report filed by Ha’aretz on Thursday. The news comes as a result of a meeting held this week in London between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. special Mideast envoy George Mitchell.
While rejecting a total freeze in settlements and stressing the need to guarantee “normal life” for Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, Netanyahu proposed a nine month halt to settlement construction in the West Bank. Besides Jerusalem, the agreement would also exclude about 2,500 Jewish homes in disputed territories already under construction.
Pnina Pie is a successful baker in Tel Aviv,
Did Israel go far enough earlier this year in its battle against the terror and rockets of Hamas? The Bible holds the key to understanding this question.
The Jewish prophet Amos wrote, “Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, who cause the seat of violence to come near” (Amos 6:3, NKJV). The ancient Hebrew word for what our English Scriptures translate as “violence” is the word hamas. In fact, many of the Hebrew Scriptures use the word hamas wherever it says “violence.”
As I read Romans 9 and 10, I see in my mind’s eye the religious Jews in Israel as they bobbed back and forth, their prayer shawls waving gently with their movements while they prayed earnestly at the Western Wall. I just returned from Israel and saw this same scene, which always brings tears to my eyes. They are praying for Messiah—when Messiah has already come.
These Jews have great zeal in their religious activity, but they are without knowledge. Paul recognized this. He says about them, “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:2-3).
If ever there was a justification for despair and terrorism, the Holocaust provided it. After the Nazis and their allies systematically murdered 6 million Jews, it would have been easy for survivors to abandon their faith in God and humanity and succumb to hate. Yet the Jews who survived the Holocaust never sought revenge or destruction. They wanted only to get on with life, to build families, homes and cities.
This embrace of life characterizes Israel down to the present day. But those who wish to destroy Israel—and the Jewish people—remain. They have armed themselves and continue to attack. Meanwhile, the Israelis continue to build.
Every time I go to Israel I am struck by its progress. The Tel Aviv skyline continues to grow broader and push higher. An ever expanding list of Israeli companies churns out a steady stream of innovations that improve our daily lives. Israeli culture produces books, poetry and music at astounding rates.
The Sea of Galilee is one of the most popular tourists spots in Israel. This historic body of water is home to 27 species of fish, but in biblical times, Yeshua stood on its shores—and sometimes on the sea—and performed many miracles. He saw Peter and Andrew casting their net into the water and said, “‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men'” (Matt. 4:19, NKJV); He walked on water (see Matt. 14:22-33), and fed more than 5,000 people with five fish and two loaves of bread (see Matt. 14:13-21). To learn how to cast your net in this ancient sea, click below to watch the video.
There comes a time in a nation’s history—and there comes a time in the church—when spiritual fog and religious deception must be removed by a clear, unbiased, passionate pursuit of truth. America and the church are now in a spiritual fog over the issue of Islam.
But Islam and Christianity are not “sister faiths,” and a side-by-side examination of the texts of the Bible and the Quran will quickly identify some of the differences related to Islam’s teachings about Christ and the truths of our own Bible about the Son of God.
Islam instructs its followers to kill their enemies, but Christianity in-structs its followers to love their enemies.
The Quran says to “fight and slay the Pagans wherever you find them” (Surah 9:5). But our Holy Bible tells Christ’s followers to: “Love your ene-mies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44, KJV).
Television evangelist and author Benny Hinn documents his unique perspective of Middle Eastern world affairs in the new release Blood in the Sand. The book—Hinn’s first major release in several years—centers on the cultural war between Muslims and Jews for control of Israel and how it affects the rest of the world.
“I have spent all of my adult life as a student of prophecy, and I believe these recent developments in Israel and across the Middle East are signaling a hot, accelerated and unprecedented prophetic season that will quickly change the course of history,” he writes.
Hinn’s perspective on the conflict is unique. He was born in Jaffa, Israel, to parents of Armenian, Greek and Lebanese descent, and through the years he has traveled extensively to the area to meet with Jewish and Arab leaders.
