Showing posts with label One New Man. Show all posts

Sunday, August 20, 2017

LoveMusic! - Ahava Love Band - Steve & Laurie Martin - Messianic worship music

Ahava Love Band

Steve & Laurie Martin

Messianic worship music

Full worship time recording

Aug. 20, 2017

Greetings LoveMusic! listeners.

During our almost 40 years of marriage (Oct. 7, 2017!!!), Laurie and I have been involved with the worship teams, choirs, and any form of church music we could (including leading worship in home groups). Using the gifts the good Lord, the Living God of Israel has given us, we loved to sing His praises, worship His Name, and help bring others into the presence of the Holy Spirit.

From the days of Victory Church in Peru, Illinois (1977-1980); our years with Shiloh Fellowship/New Covenant Christian Church in East Lansing, Michigan (1980-1987); then seven years in Fort Lauderdale with Good News Church and Cornerstone Church (Davie, FL) from 1987-1994; onto the season with All Nations Church in Charlotte, North Carolina (1994-2000)...we have been involved with Christian music.

During those years we developed a love for Israel and His Chosen people, as we sought to walk in the full word of the Bible. Our hearts and voices then began to express our love for Messianic music, and it was especially revealed through the music we sang. With songs from Paul Wilbur, Barry and Batya Segal, Joel Chernoff and others having influence among us, we shared their music.

Then we walked through our years with other churches in the Charlotte, North Carolina area - Cornerstone Church (Pineville), St. Giles, Antioch International Church (Peter Wyns) MorningStar (Rick Joyner), and now attend Transformation Church (Derwin Gray) in Indian Land, South Carolina. (We were once called "wandering Jews", though of the Gentile flavor!)

Ahava Love Band - Charlotte, NC Highway To Zion assembly

(L-R) Gid Anthony, Laurie Martin, Ron Bowen, Steve Martin, Wane Daroux, Patty Paquette

Along the way, we gathered friends and had a few bands, with our desire to share Jesus (Yeshua) with believers and not-yet-believers. Thus Steve Martin & The Raiders and Ahava Love Band (various phases) came forth. Band members who were with us the longest included our big friend Little Big Eagle (bass), Ron Bowen (drums), and Wane Daroux (bass).

Steve Martin & The Raiders 2001

(L-R) Bernie Lemke, John Rust, Ron Bowen,

Steve & Laurie Martin, Little Big Eagle, Mark DeVito

Also playing with us during those years were Mark DeVito (keyboard), John Rust (guitar), Bernie Lemke (keyboard), Gid Anthony (guitar) Patty Paquette (keyboard), Toni Bogart (keyboard) and Tom Fahey (guitar). We love them all!!!

Our last time leading worship occurred on September 21, 2013 at the One New Man worship gathering with our friend Warren Marcus in Charlotte. Cathy Hargett (Highway To Zion) and her dance team joined in the Saturday evening celebration.

As I always enjoy doing, I brought along my Canon PowerShot camera, placed it on the tripod, and recorded the time of praise and worship. Thus the video you shall see. Not spectacular or professional, but I believe our love (ahava in Hebrew) for the Lord and His people comes forth. I trust you will listen and worship the Lord along with us.

Maybe someday we will sing again in public, and lead worship. What a great joy that will be! Or the Lord may just have us wait until we are in the eternity realms singing His praises - in the glory land of heaven above. That will be the ultimate fulfillment of that desire which He Himself placed within us from the times of our birth.

Be blessed in your blessing others today.

Ahava and shalom. Always.

Steve Martin

Steve and Laurie Martin Co-Founders Love For His People, Inc. (photo -Morris Ruddick at his home Denver, CO 2014)

Ahava Love Band - our last time...

YouTube - Published on Sep 24, 2013

The Messianic worship team, Ahava Love Band, led praise and worship for the One New Man meeting during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). Sept. 21, 2013 in Charlotte, NC. Warren Marcus heads the weekly Saturday night meeting at Steele Creek Church in Charlotte, NC.

Team members: Steve and Laurie Martin (lead vocals), Ron Bowen (drums), Wane Daroux (bass guitar), Patty Paquette (keyboard and vocal), Tom Fahey (electric guitar).

Song selection included Paul Wilbur's: "Lord God of Abraham", "Where Does My Help Come From", "Let God Arise". and "Kadosh". We also sang the Vineyard song "We Will Dance" and one sung by Robert Stearns "Holy is the Lord." Also spontaneous songs "Beautiful Bride" and "Coming of the Lord."

Videos filmed and shared by Steve Martin - to give appreciation to and love for those we support, through Love For His People, Inc.

Category
- Music
License
- Standard YouTube License

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Israel and the Nations: A Theological Opinion, Part 2 - Ron Cantor Messiah's Mandate

Israel and the Nations:

A Theological Opinion, Part 2

Ron Cantor — August 8, 2017

Part 1

Continuing with our series on Israel and the nations, I want to move to our second statement.

Gentile simply means a member of the nations. When a member of the nations comes to faith, he does not become Jewish. He continues to be a member of his or her nation, but has complete access to all the heavenly benefits found in Yeshua.

What is the ecclesia?

I have heard many believers say that now that they believe in Yeshua, they are Jewish. However, I do not think that this is what Scripture teaches. This is the beautiful mystery of the New Testament Ecclesia (often translated church). I don’t like to use the word church for two reasons:

The English translation of the Greek Ecclesia is not church, but assembly. It is simply a mistranslation. (see video on the subject here)
In our modern culture, the word church tends to speak of something completely non-Jewish (with steeples, etc.), while the one new man (Eph. 2:15) is made up of both Jews and the nations.

It is important to note that when Paul uses the term ecclesia, it is not anecclesia, but the ecclesia. Ecclesia was a common word in his culture, but he ‘branded’ it for something specific. For example, in Richmond where I grew up, we have the Coliseum. In Rome, there was the ancient Colosseum. However, the word coliseum simply means “a large theatre or stadium,” from the word ‘colossal.’ Both in Rome and in Richmond, they took a common noun and made it a proper noun. If I have tickets to a concert in Richmond, I say, “I am going to the Coliseum,” not “I am going to a coliseum.”

One New Man

So Paul is saying there is a new thing, called The Assembly or Gathering. And this Gathering is different in so many ways. It is unique in that it is NEW and it is a UNITED assembly of Jews and Gentiles.

In Ephesians 3, Paul uses the word mystery four times to describe God’s marvelous plan for the nations. He says that this revelation, that has now been revealed to God’s holy apostles and prophets, was a secret in times past.

“The mystery is that, through the Gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Messiah Yeshua. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Messiah, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.” (Eph. 3:6, 8-9)

First, we see that non-Jewish believers become heirs with Israel, not in place of Israel. Second, despite our unique callings, we are one body. Third, Gentiles share in the promise in Messiah—there is equal access to “the boundless riches of Messiah.”

What was the mystery?

He created…

“in Himself one new man from the two [Jews and Gentile], thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” (Eph. 2:15-18)

So God has created a new thing—the Assembly—comprised of Jews and Gentiles. In the Assembly, both groups are reconciled to God and both have access to the Father by the Holy Spirit. There is no hierarchy. Yes, there is leadership (Eph. 4:11ff), but there is no inherent status based on ethnicity or gender or race. All have equal standing in the Assembly, but not the same calling.

Is there Jewish calling?

As stated before, men are still men and women are still women. No one argues that. But when it comes to Jews and Gentiles, it gets a little stickier. For those believers of Jewish background that maintain there is a calling connected to that, it could be an offense to those who feel that we are saying that Jewish status is better status (which we are not saying!). Still, Paul maintains that the unique calling on Israel remains. Romans 11:29 he says this calling it “irrevocable.” In Acts 13:47 he sees the calling on Jewish believers to be connected to Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6, to “be a light for the nations.”

What is a Gentile?

The question is, are Jews still Jews and Gentiles still ethnically Gentile in the New Covenant? Before I answer that, it is important to note that the word Gentile (in Hebraic thought) can have two meanings. The positive meaning is simply a member of the nations. The negative meaning is heathen or pagan—someone outside of God’s covenant. In the context of Ephesians, Paul uses both meanings.

So, the same Paul can say both, “You who were formally called Gentiles,” when referring to the negative usage. And “I am writing to you Gentiles,” (Rom. 11:13) when using it in a positive way.

He makes an amazing statement regarding access to the Gentiles in chapter three:

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Messiah Yeshua.”

If Paul’s intent was that the Gentiles who come to Yeshua are now Jewish, then that would not be a mystery. At the time, there were a myriad of Gentiles throughout the Roman world that attended synagogue and many went through a formal conversion to Judaism. The mystery of the New Covenant, about which Paul is so excited, is that in Yeshua, there is no need for conversion to Judaism, but merely conversion from death to life.

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” (Col. 1:13)

Is there anywhere in the New Testament where Paul specifically refers to a Gentile believer as a Jew? No. And yet, before going into the Temple, he circumcises Timothy (who was Jewish through his mother, but not raised as a Jew). He doesn’t circumcise Titus. Why? Because he is not ethnically Jewish.

One in Messiah

Clearly, the Jews are still Jews as shown in part one of this series. The mystery is that in Yeshua, Jews are still Jews and Gentiles are still Gentiles (or Greeks are still Greeks, and Brazilians are still Brazilians, etc.). And yet, our oneness in Messiah is so awesome, that we can say when it comes to access to God, there are no Jews or Gentiles, male or female, slave or free…we are one in Messiah.

Paul was not ethnically Roman, but he did enjoy all the benefits of being a Roman citizen. That is the mystery of the Gospel of which Paul speaks in Ephesians three, that believers from other nations become “co-heirs” and “members of God’s household” without becoming ethnic Jews. Believers from the nations enjoy all the benefits of citizenship in God’s household, just as if they were ethnically Jewish, though they are not. That is good news! And the truth is, being a new creation is far higher than being ethnically Jewish.

That is Paul’s meaning in Romans 2:28-29, when he says:

“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.”

This is hyperbolic speech. Like when Yeshua said to hate your family or cut off your hand. It wasn’t literal, but because it is the word of God, we struggle with hyperbole. Paul isn’t saying that ethnic Jews are not Jews. He is saying the one who truly pleases God is the one born again—with the circumcision of the heart.

Value in Circumcision

How do we know this? Because, in the very next verse, Paul asks, “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way!” Circumcision through the Abrahamic covenant ties the Jewish people to the land of Israel. Non-Jews were not part of the physical Abrahamic covenant, but can be part of the greaterAbrahamic covenant through Yeshua. But the New Testament does not cancel the physical Abrahamic covenant—which never promised eternal life. The land of Israel and many blessings? Yes. But eternal life is only through Yeshua.

This is why Paul was going nuts when Gentiles were being taught that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved. He is shouting in Galatians that there is no greater benefit than salvation and salvation is free. There is no higher status than “born-again”.

Lastly, if all Gentiles are suddenly Jews when they get born-again, who are the members of the great multitude in heaven?

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” (Rev. 7:9)

The great Assembly of God, the One-New-Man, the Household of God, that great Olive Tree, is made up of regenerated Jews and regenerated members of the nations.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Israel and the Nations: A Theological Opinion, Part 1 - Ron Cantor Messiah's Mandate

Israel and the Nations: A Theological Opinion, Part 1

Ron Cantor — August 4, 2017

Often, well-meaning, Israel-loving people will say to me, “I am Jewish now. I am grafted in.” I never, ever say anything close to, “No, you’re not Jewish.” I focus more on how grateful I am that they love God and pray for the Jewish people. However, it is interesting that the Church went from saying, “You can’t be Jewish and believe in Jesus,” to, “All believers are Jewish.”

Which is it? What does the Bible actually say? I will make six statements and then seek to back each one up with Scripture, one blog post at a time:

Jews who receive Yeshua remain Jews, just as a females remain female or a male remains a male, after coming to faith.
Gentile simply means a member of the nations. When a member of the nations comes to faith, he does not become Jewish but continues to be a member of his or her nation.
However, Jewish and Gentile believers are equal in the sight of God. Jews are neither favored above Gentiles nor discriminated against, in regards to non-Jews.
Salvation is free, but rewards in the kingdom are based on merit, not ethnicity. Intimacy with God is based on the desire and passion of the individual believer, not whether they are Jew or non-Jew, male or female, etc.
Jewish and non-Jewish believers make up the One New Man—a mystery that was hidden in times past. Paul calls this the household of God. In this household, the Gentile believers become joint-heirs with Jewish believers—without losing their own ethnicity and without replacing the Jewish people.
Ethnicity is important to God, which is why non-Jewish believers do not become Jews or Israelis (Israelites) after coming to faith. They are called to stand in the gap for their nation.

Blog One: Jewish believers are still Jews

The early believers clearly had zero issues with the idea of being Jewish and believing in the Jewish Messiah. The question with which they wrestled was, “Can a Gentile believe in Jesus, without converting to Judaism?” The apostles, through their lives and teaching, give no hint of leaving Judaism. In fact, rumors were being spread about Paul teaching Jewish believers “to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs” (Acts 21:21). Paul, upon the advice of the Jerusalem apostles, went to the Temple to make a sacrifice so that, “everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.” (Acts 21:24)

Church Fathers turn against Jews

However, the Church Fathers in the second century began to teach that once a Jew comes to faith, he is no longer a Jew. Many were vicious in their accusations against the Jewish people. Peter the Venerable wondered about the humanity of Jews: Truly I doubt whether a Jew can be really human.

Ignatius Bishop of Antioch (98-117A.D.) – Epistle to the Magnesians

For if we are still practicing Judaism, we admit that we have not received God’s favor…it is wrong to talk about Jesus Christ and live like Jews. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity.

They lined up to accuse the entire Jewish nation of killing Yeshua (forgetting that He laid down his life by His own free will for them.) Another, Justin Martyr taught that Christians were the true “Israelite race” and that the Hebrew Scriptures now belonged to the church exclusively. He did not believe you could be both Christian and Jewish. He also taught that circumcision was for judgement (as opposed to being there mark of the covenant of Abraham).

The purpose of [circumcision] was that you and only you might suffer the afflictions that are now justly yours; that only your land be desolated, and your cities ruined by fire, that the fruits of you land be eaten by strangers before your very eyes; that not one of you be permitted to enter your city of Jerusalem.

Apostles continued to live as Jews

However, it was not like this a century before. Paul continued to identify as a Jew, preaching the Jewish Messiah to the Jew first in every city he went. We never see Paul inviting Jews to enter into another religion. To the Jewish leaders in Rome, he shares, “For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain” (Acts 28:20). Certainly the hope of Israel was not a new religion, but the fulfillment of the Hebrew prophets.

We find Jacob (James) the brother of Yeshua, 30 years after the resurrection, praying daily in the Temple. It was said that he was the most respected Jew in Jerusalem from all the sects of Judaism. He was called the “camel-kneed” for the hours that he spent in prayer for Israel. The evidence is clear that he remained a part of the people of Israel till his death.

When Peter preached on Shavuot (Pentecost), he did not present a new religion, but proclaimed to his exclusively Jewish crowd, salvation and forgiveness through Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah.

Paul says in Romans that the gift and calling of God to Israel is “irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). He says, in Romans 3, that there is “much value” in being Jewish (Romans 3:1-4). Clearly, Jewish believers in Yeshua are still Jewish and part of Israel.

Neither Jew nor Gentile?

What, then, do we make of the oft-quoted Galatians 3:28?

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.”

Bible teachers have used this statement to say that Jewish believers are no longer Jews. But they miss one major issue. If that is true, then male and females no longer have distinctions, and yet, I have never been able to get pregnant!

So, what then is the point of his passage? That being in Messiah overshadows our other roles and callings. I live in Israel. We have many Jewish immigrants from all over the world. Suppose I brought all the Jewish people together from so many nations and said, “Today, we are not Americans, Ethiopians, Russians or Argentinians, but we are Israelis!” Technically, that is not true. I am still American even though I am also Israeli. But anyone with common sense would understand my intention—that I am focusing on what unites us.

While our roles/callings are important, none of them bring any special favor with Messiah. In other words, God doesn’t reward me for what he made me. He rewards me according to faithfulness to that calling (Matt. 25:14-30)

Any person—Jew, non-Jew, slave, female, etc., can freely come to Messiah. This was a major difference between the Old and New Covenants and what Paul was so excitedly shared with his Gentile audience: “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Eph. 3:12), no matter what your background, race, class, ethnicity or gender.

So, in Galatians 3, he is not saying something negative about Jews, but something positive about non-Jews—that there are no restrictions keeping them from Messiah. As Peter said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34-35).

In the second part, we will address are second statement: Gentile simply means a member of the nations. When a member of the nations comes to faith, he does not become Jewish, but continues to be a member of his or her nation.

Friday, September 30, 2016

What the New Jubilee Will Bring God's Church - GRANT BERRY CHARISMA NEWS

Members of God's church should look forward to the new Jubilee with gladness in their hearts. (Grant Berry)

What the New Jubilee Will Bring God's Church

"You shall count seven sabbath weeks of years, seven times seven years, and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the horn blasts on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall make the sound of the horn throughout all your land. You shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee to you, and each of you shall return to his possession, and every person shall return to his family. That fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you. You shall neither sow nor reap that which grows by itself, nor gather the grapes of your unpruned vines. For it is the Jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You shall eat the produce of the field"(Lev. 25:8-12, MEV).

Recently I was having one of my usual prayer talks with my dear friend and co-worker, Rabbi Robert Wolff of Majestic Glory Ministries, and we were discussing the exact dates of the Jubilee year. Initially, we disagreed on when this period was because Bob was focused on the amazing occurrences that had taken place during this period in other Jubilees. However, as we reviewed it, we both soon recognized that these happenings actually took place at the beginning of the next Jubilee period and not in the Jubilee year itself.

On October 2, as we light the Rosh Hashanah candles, this Jubilee year will come to an end and we will commence the next official Jubilee period (50 years). What will it bring and what is anticipated during this most crucial time on the Earth?

However, before I address this, let me draw your attention to those occurrences that Bob raised in our discussion that actually took place at the beginning of other Jubilee periods.

On December 11, 1917, General Edmund Allenby of the British forces, a believing Christian, dismounted his horse, and humbly walked through the Jaffa Gate to commemorate the taking back of Jerusalem from Islam. In the same year the League of Nations declared the area as a homeland for the Jewish people.

In 1967, exactly 50 years later, at the beginning of the next Jubilee period, Israel took back control of the city of Jerusalem from Jordan. As I often write, when God does something sovereign with His land, there is a reaction in the Spirit. And it was during this same time period that all of a sudden, some 10,000-15,000 Hippy Jews get saved out of the Jesus movement, which marked the beginning and re-emergence of God's first-born children and the re-birthing of the remnant of Israel. Wow! So, having seen from past Jubilee periods that significant shifts take place during these times, what can we now expect from the next Jubilee?

The 4th Wave and the Coming Jubilee

James Goll and Cindy Jacobs, among others, have prophesied recently concerning the coming of the 4th wave, and that it is now upon us. This is a reformation of the church to realign the body of Messiah/Christ, to properly prepare us for God's final plans upon the Earth before the Lord's return. It is spiritual renewal in the strongest sense of the word; it has washing and cleansing in its wings that will cause His church to rise as a great light in the Earth. It will re-establish the authority of God through His body that will enable us to overcome and defeat the strongholds and principalities that are aligned against us in accordance with God's will.

At the heart of the reformation is the reconnection in the Spirit in the One New Man between Jew and Gentile. This is aligned to its apostolic 5-fold governmental authority that was established through Israel's apostles and prophets, with Yeshua/Jesus Himself as the cornerstone of the church (Eph. 2:20). From this core and its restoration, comes the final outpouring of His Spirit upon the Earth.

For what does Scripture tell us here that Israel's spiritual restoration will bring, but resurrection power. Life from the dead! This power of God, which comes from the Father's heart to unite and restore His family, will flow through a renewed and empowered body to effect and change the world for the kingdom of God and bring the last great harvest of souls. The Israel piece and its 5-fold mantle is the final part of the church's restoration. It is the power equation that ignites the rest, that as the wires are reconnected, the fires will be loosed!

The outflow of the 4th wave is the ability to impact what is now being called the seven cultural mountains:

Religion
Government
Education
Business
Family
Media
Arts & Entertainment

In preparation for this change over the past 15-20 years, God has been raising up new leadership in the church and Messianic bodies that is focused on the 5-fold governmental giftings, so that we may be prepared for what is coming. I don't have space in this article to list them, but most reading are aware of whom I am writing.

These leaders, both men and women alike, are first free from within, cleansed, washed, prepared and are carrying new mantles of God's authority in each of their ministries. Plus, His blessings are clearly upon them. These ministries are paving the way for the rest of His church to reform and it is going to be glorious. So what can we expect?

The 12 Decrees

A re-united One New Man between the Gentile church and the remnant of Israel
A new spiritual governmental approach to the kingdom of God upon the Earth through the 5-fold
The re-emergence of David's tent upon the Earth (24/7 worship and prayer)
A new focus in the church to move us to prayer
A new focus on intercessory prayer in the church to train up the watchmen
Local churches uniting in their communities and states through worship and prayer
Greater revelation and understanding of the authority of God upon the Earth
Reformation in total trust and faith in the Lord in the area of finance
The outpouring of God's Spirit
Impacting our towns and cities across the United States and throughout the world with the gospel
The broken off branches of Israel being restored
The last great harvest of souls

In fact, I'm so excited about this, that we have dedicated our Rosh Hashanah service this year at Messiah's House in Greenwich, Connecticut, and teamed up with the 10-Day Prayer Movement in Connecticut to declare and proclaim the New Jubilee period. Come and join us! For those of you out of town, we will post the video of this meeting on our reconnecting website. Click listen now!

Click here for the flyer and this link for the rest of the 10-Day Prayer Movement meetings through the 10 days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Grant Berry is a Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus and author of The New Covenant Prophecy and The Ezekiel Generation. He founded Reconnecting Ministries with the specific focus to help the church reconnect spiritually to Israel and considers it vital to the kingdom of G-d in the last days. His message focuses on the unity, love and healing that the Father wants to bring between Jew and Gentile yet clearly points out the differences and misunderstandings between the two groups. Now is the time to look more carefully into this mystery to make way for healing and reconnection in the Spirit. For more information, please visit reconnectingministries.org.

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Friday, September 9, 2016

Why It Is Crucial for Jews and Gentiles to Reconnect Now in the One New Man - GRANT BERRY CHARISMA NEWS

Our Father in heaven is longing for this reconnection. (Flickr )

Why It Is Crucial for Jews and Gentiles to Reconnect Now in the One New Man

Just recently I was asked to write an article for the 10 Days Prayer Movement. This new and exciting Prayer Ministry has a vision to mobilize the church to pray and intercede around the Feasts of the Lord; and it is spreading like wild fire across the United States.

This movement was founded by spiritual leader Jonathan Friz, who has been given this vision to help unite the body of Messiah/Christ into a deeper prayer and intercessory focus, and what better time to do this than around God's Feast dates?

As some of you may know, those who have read my articles, I truly believe that the Feasts of the Lord are appointed times to come before Him for all of His children, and that during these dates, the heavens are just that much more open and receptive. It is like the openings to the portals of heaven are wider during these times.

Here is the article and the link to the 10 Days Prayer Movement, which commences on Oct. 2 in numerous cities across the country. Please visit the site for more information:

The Hope of Salvation for the Jewish People

As we draw close to the end days before Yeshua/Jesus returns, Israel's salvation becomes paramount in God's plan to glorify His Son upon the earth (Ezek. 36:22-27).

When we read Romans 11 carefully, we can see that the apostle Paul asks three separate questions relating to Israel's plight and journey and in the third question he asks is: "Did they stumble beyond recovery? Not at all." He then goes on to explain how the Gentile part of the family has a significant role to play in Israel's salvation experience, to help draw them to jealousy and to release God's mercy back to them (Rom. 11:11; 30,31).

In fact, I believe that the whole purpose of Romans chapters 9 and 10 is to lay a foundation to help unravel the great complexity of Israel's salvation experience, which apart from the remnant of Jewish believers (Question 1, Rom. 11:1-6), would come down at the end.

This salvation experience has already begun in a number of ways: in the natural realm through the re-establishment of Israel as a nation, with over 7 million Jews already being drawn back to the promised land from over a 100 nations. Spiritually, we have witnessed the beginning of Israel's awakening through the Messianic Movement, which began en masse in the late 1960s after Israel took back the physical domain of Jerusalem.

These Jewish Messianic believers and those in the church now make up the modern remnant of Israel. It's paramount for Gentile believers to reconnect with Messianic believers as one family to help reunite the kingdom between Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:19). Gentile believers have a role to fully encourage and bless them into their Jewish identity, so they may reflect Yeshua back to their own people as a Jewish faith.

Restoration and Reconnection

If you are willing to accept it, Israel's restoration has begun. But God needs our help to complete it, as we have a most crucial role to play. So we must be willing to make adjustments for this time, just as the Jewish believers did when the Gentiles first started to come in. "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins" (Rom. 11:25-27; Deut. 30:4-6; Ezek. 36:22-27).

As this happens, God will not take anything away from the Gentile church but rather bring us into the fullness of the harvest through the unveiling of this mystery that is happening before our very eyes, as His covenants toward Israel are fulfilled. This is a key element here to our understanding in God's end-times glory plan and the two are intricately linked together.

This is why we must now spiritually reconnect to our roots and heritage, as we will never fulfill our end time call as a church operating as a separate entity away from Israel. Nor have we replaced them, but rather are a part of them (Eph. 2:19,20). It may have been permissible to act this way during the "time of the Gentiles," but as we move into this season of fulfillment, we need to reconnect spiritually as family in order for this spiritual transaction to properly work through us.

Unity Through Diversity

When the apostle Paul wrote about the unity of The One New Man (Galatians 3:28,29), he never meant to eliminate the distinction between Jew and Gentile.

When the church was first formed, the Gentiles coming in were naturally associated to its Jewish roots and expression without having to follow the law. However, when Rome took over the church it looked to eliminate this influence and set it apart and so its link to Israel was severed. The unfortunate influence of these successionist teachings have affected the church for some 1,600 years and now need to be broken off of us.

Just look at how Paul behaved when he returned to Jerusalem and how apparent it was that the apostles living there were still following Jewish customs (Acts 20:20-26). This is why he used the example of a man and a woman in the same text. As Jewish and Gentile believers, and as men and women, we are now one through Messiah/Christ in the Spirit through our salvation and are now co-heirs; however, we still perform different roles and have different expressions.

This has become apparent through the Messianic movement and their differing expressions of the faith. Gentiles were not called to practice exactly the same way Jews do, which was seen through the Church in Jerusalem, but also now in the way in which Messianic believers worship and celebrate. Yet we are called to be one in Spirit with Israel's Remnant; to love one another as Messiah loves His church. Especially now so our Lord can return to us, we must be re-united as one family; to be able to freely bless each other from within the unity of the one new man.

Our Father in heaven is longing for this reconnection. It is His design and footprint for this time and the very heart of Jesus' prayer in John 17, that His end-times power would be unleashed upon His church through the unity of Jew and Gentile.

We are entering a new day in the Spirit, and He is beginning to draw His body together back into the fullness of the one new man so greater unity and power will flow through us to reach a lost and dying world. In this light, there is a huge need for prayer and intercession to help bring this about, not only for Israel's salvation, but also to awaken the church into this end-times role.

Grant Berry is a Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus and author of The New Covenant Prophecy and The Ezekiel Generation. He has founded Reconnecting Ministries with the specific focus to help the church reconnect spiritually to Israel and considers it vital to the kingdom of G-d in the last days. His message focuses on the unity, love and healing that the Father wants to bring between Jew and Gentile yet clearly points out the differences and misunderstandings between the two groups. Now is the time to look more carefully into this mystery to make way for healing and reconnection in the Spirit. For more information, please visit reconnectingministries.org.

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Monday, March 14, 2016

"I can't keep silent" - Cathy Hargett testimony (Highway To Zion & One New Man)

Shalom, Shalom, Dear Friends!

Today I was searching for a video to send to one of my friends and came across this one - it is me giving my testimony about Israel for an event that was held at Steele Creek Church in Charlotte, NC. I was representing the Messianic group, One New Man, at Steele Creek.

Just wanted to share my heart with you! And especially want to share with you who are going up to Zion with us this year - particularly for first-timers!

Click on the link below - it's a short vimeo - about five minutes.

Watch here: Cathy Hargett testimony

Loving you in the Name of the One Called Faithful and True - Yeshua ha Mashiach!

Cathy

Cathy Hargett

Highway to Zion Ministries, Inc.

www.highwaytozion.org

YOU ARE INVITED!

Highway to Zion Assembly!

Friday, March 18, 2016

7-9:30 pm

Raintree Country Club

8600 Raintree Lane

Charlotte, NC

RSVP

highwaytozion@aol.com

Messianic Worship, Dance, Teaching,

Prayer, Times of refreshing and hearing from Elohim!

With Our Very Special Friend,

Scott Volk of Together for Israel

www.togetherforisrael.org

Scott Volk is Messianic Jew who came to faith in 1975. After graduating from North Central University in Minneapolis in 1988, Scott has served in various pastoral capacities in Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina.

After more than 20 years in pastoral ministry, Scott founded Together For Israel, a non-profit ministry that exists to partner with the Church for the salvation of Israel (Rom 11:26).

Scott and his wife, Beth, have been married for over 25 years and have a heart to see
Jew and Gentile united as ‘one new man’ in the Messiah.

They have five children and reside in Charlotte, North Carolina.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I met Scott several years ago, and it has been such a blessing to get to know him. He has such

a genuine love for people and such a caring heart, and he, like Abba, is zealous over Zion!

He is so transparent about his journey as he tells how he, as a Jewish believer in Messiah Yeshua,

only recently embraced the calling for Israel. I was so mesmerized by his story of how the

Lord spoke to him after a visit to the Land. He founded and directs Together for Israel.

I so support and believe in what he is doing with Together for Israel.

Scott is an anointed messenger of Elohim!

Come hear for yourself on March 18th!

Hope to see you there!

Cathy Hargett, Director

Highway to Zion Ministries, Inc.

Hope you will join us this Friday night, 3/18!

Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai! (Matt. 23:39)

Love in Messiah Yeshua!

To RSVP

or for additional info -