Breaking News. Spiritual Perspective.
A Muslim prayer rally on Capitol Hill Friday drew between 3,000 and 5,000 participants, a figure well below the 50,000 organizers hoped to attract.
Among those gathered were several dozen protestors. Some stood at the rear of the crowd holding Bibles and praying. Others yelled “repent” from across the street, where they gathered with banners and crosses, the Washington Post reported.
As we continue to think of our Jewish brethren during these High Holy Days, we only have to wonder how they have missed seeing the Messiah clearly presented in their prophets, the psalms and even the Pentateuch. The only explanation is what Paul speaks clearly about in Romans. The Jewish people have a veil over their eyes that has been placed there by God. Should we pray for this veil to be dropped if this is God’s will? The answer to this is a resounding yes.
We have the hope and promise of God that this veil will be dropped, and the day will come when the Jewish people will recognize Jesus as their Messiah. Until that day we can be diligent in prayer for the Jewish people. Today many Jewish people are accepting Jesus as their Messiah. Our recent trip to Israel revealed much more openness on the part of secular Jews to discuss faith with others. I believe this is a direct result of the prayers of many Christians for Israel and the Jewish people.
Buried deep beneath the earth in the outskirts of Jerusalem’s Old City are said to be the ruins of King David’s palace. World-renowned archaeologist Eilat Mazar unearthed ruins from the Second Temple Period, and beneath those remains she discovered the foundation of David’s palace, inscriptions of Hebrew names and other ancient artifacts. The palace is said to be one of the most significant discoveries in modern-day Jerusalem. Here’s why. Click below to watch video.
Many students of Bible prophecy do not know what to make of fundamental Islam or how it figures into the end-times scenario. Perhaps what will be shocking to many is the most traditional Protestant Bible scholars of old believed that an Islamic and not an exclusively European paradigm will categorize the end times.
Such a view was held by John Wesley, Hilaire Belloc, Gregory Palamus of Thessalonica, Josiah Litch, Cyril of Jerusalem, Sophronius, Maximus the Confessor, John of Damascus, Eulogius, Paul Alvarus, the Martyrs of Cordova, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards and Sir Robert Anderson, who all believed that Islamic nations will be the major players in the end times.
During the 2008 campaign, President Obama said he was willing to sit down for talks with Iran about its nuclear program “without preconditions.” Given Iran’s long record of delay when it comes to such negotiations, the president clarified early on in his administration that he would not wait indefinitely for Iran to come to the table and join the discussion. The president and our allies set September as the deadline for talks to begin.
When September arrived, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sounded a note of complete defiance. Taking a break from arresting and torturing his political opponents, Ahmadinejad declared “the nuclear issue is finished” and that “we will never negotiate on the Iranian nation’s rights.” Days later, Iran followed up by saying talks would be limited to a narrow list of topics of its own choosing. Notably absent from this list was its nuclear program.
Over the years I have accompanied thousands of people to the Holy Land. I am always thrilled to see people on these tours with their Bibles open, eagerly reading Old and New Testament passages that identify the very places they are seeing for themselves. I’ll never forget an elderly gentleman in one group who kept peppering me with questions about biblical prophecy such as: “When Jesus returns, exactly where will He appear?” and “What else must happen before the Second Coming?”
His questions reflect an understanding about Israel that is so important for us as Christians to have. It is that everything God does on this planet, He does according to His dealings with Israel.
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year observed by Israelis and in other parts of the world where Jews live. It marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar. The holiday calls for introspection, when Jews reflect on their lives and “repent for any wrongdoings” committed during the previous year. This act is called teshuvah. But you don’t have to be Jewish to repent for past sins. Yeshua will cleanse you from all unrighteousness if you ask Him to. Click below to learn more about this special day.
Though Jesus clearly said of His return to the earth, “Of that day or hour no one knows” (Matt. 24:36, NKJV), there are signs throughout Scripture that point to the second coming of the Lord. One of them is the increasing number of Jewish people who are coming to recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah, and another is the growing body of Messiah in the land of Israel itself.
The Messianic movement refers to the growing number of Jewish people who have become believers in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel. This movement began with the Jewish disciples, continued into the first four or five centuries and then was lost. After a terrible season of forced conversions during medieval times, more reasonable attempts to help Jewish people find Jesus began during the post-Reformation period.
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.
