Israel Media Ministries - Reaching Religious Jews Together - Ze'ev Nevo

    Ze'ev Nevo, Founder

Reaching Religious Jews Together

Shalom! Did you know that there are religious Jews that believe in Jesus? Yes there are! We can find them in Israel, the US and around the world - and with God's grace and your prayers and support, many more are coming!

Now that all the presents have been opened, the tree is back in storage and Santa Claus has left the building, it's time to refocus on the great commission that God gave us all - to reach the lost with the greatest gift of all - the message of salvation through Jesus!

I am excited to tell you that 2014 will be a great year for the Gospel. A few months ago Israel Media Ministries has begun working on a new big outreach to the religious Jews. This will be the most comprehensive evangelistic outreach that we did so far. I am so blessed and humbled to work on this project with Dr. Michael Brown, who is widely considered the world's foremost Messianic Jewish apologist.

Dr. Michael Brown

Dr. Brown, who is also graciously serving on our Board of Directors, had a tremendous contribution to the fact that my own father, Joseph, came to faith in Jesus, when he was over 80 years old.

That priceless moment happened just about 18 months before my dad passed and went to be with the Lord. There is no doubt in my mind that my dad's salvation was also instrumental to the salvation of my mom, Ruth, a few years later in 2012. I say all this for you to get a sense of how much I appreciate the apologetic work of Dr. Michael Brown and how it is being used by God for reaching the Jewish people for Jesus - even the most Orthodox Jews you can imagine.

My dad was raised as an Orthodox Jew. After losing his entire family in the Holocaust, he kind of lost faith in God and became secular. It was late in his seventies when I, his only son, came to faith in Jesus.

My dad had many objections to my new faith, many Jewish Objections. You can envision how thrilled I was when I found about a man named Dr. Brown, a Jewish follower of Jesus himself, who wrote a series of books called "Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus." To me, it was like I found a treasure! Finally - answers to every possible Jewish objection to Jesus. What depth! What knowledge of the scriptures and the Jewish belief system! How courageous!!

First I presented to my dad just one of the books (there are 5 total.) Even though it was in English and not in Hebrew, my dad read it from front to back. He simply couldn't put the book down. When my dad turned 80 I knew exactly what gift I should give him... and when I handed him the other 4 books in the series, my dad looked at me and said: "You couldn't have given me a better gift!" I am sure you can imagine how encouraging it was for me to hear that!!

My dad continued to read Dr. Brown's books; very diligently, very consistently, contemplating on one Jewish objection after the other. At the same time someone came up to me with a great idea - "maybe you can reach Dr. Brown and ask him if he will be willing to speak on the phone with your dad?" I was able to contact Dr. Brown through another evangelist that I was serving with.   

When Dr. Brown heard that there is an 80 years old Jewish Holocaust survivor in Israel who is reading his books with great appreciation while fighting cancer - he obviously agreed wholeheartedly. A date and a time were set for Dr. Brown to call from the US to Israel and speak with my dad. It was during that telephone conversation when my father said for the first time "I am convinced that Yeshua is the Messiah!"

A few years later, I met Dr. Brown personally for the first time when he visited Israel. God's timing in arranging this meeting was absolutely amazing. It was shortly after my family and I moved to the US to start Israel Media Ministries. I was still in the process of obtaining a US permanent residency. For that I had to go back to Israel for an interview with the US counselor in Jerusalem. 

There was no telling when this interview will be, so we already moved to the US, waiting for an official letter from the counselor's office. Obviously, I had zero control on the date this meeting in Israel will take place - but God sure did!

When the letter arrived, I jumped on a plane back to Israel. The first thing I did when I arrived to Israel was to call a couple of friends of mine who pastor a congregation in Jerusalem. "This is interesting timing," they said, "Do you know who is in Israel now? Dr. Brown. He is teaching our group in just a few days. Why don't you join us?"

And so I did. It was only then when I met Dr. Brown that I realized that his ministry center is in the Charlotte area... just about 30 minutes' drive from where we moved to ourselves!!

The following day I was invited to a dinner in the Jerusalem area to which Dr. Brown was invited too. As all of us held hands and prayed before the meal, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I received a word from the Lord. When I overcame my shyness (being the youngest) I shared it with all that were there. Dr. Brown asked me more specifically what I meant and had a witness that it is indeed from the Lord.

That was the day that the vision for this evangelistic project was conceived. It was just over three years ago. That's quite a long "pregnancy" but it will be well worth the wait. As I am writing these lines to you this vision is becoming reality - and in a few months it will be born! I trust that many Jews, including many Orthodox Jews, will come to faith in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and be born again into the Kingdom of God. God's Word never returns void!! (Isaiah 55.11)

There is still a lot of work to be done for this big project to be completed, as the plan is to have it in multiple languages to enable us to reach Jewish people in their own heart language, whatever their background is and whenever they are on the globe.

There is also a lot of work to be done in general terms when it comes to Jewish evangelism, as only a very small percentage of the Jewish people believe in Jesus. Well over 99% of us Jews are still waiting for someone to come and share the Gospel with us.

"...my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal in not based on knowledge... How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (Romans 10:1-2, 14)

Your partner for Israel's salvation,

Ze'ev

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By Ze'ev Nevo

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CharismaNews - Steve Strang "Why Christians Must Pray for and Support Israel"

Why Christians Must Pray for and Support Israel

11/21/2013 STEVE STRANG, Charismanews

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Steve Strang (center) poses for a photo in Efrat, Israel, with (left to right) rabbi David Nekrutman, Anne Ayalon, Sherry Khoury and her husband, pastor Steven Khoury, at the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation.

JERUSALEM, Israel—My sixth trip to Israel makes me realize more than ever the importance of Bible-believing Christians standing with Israel.

Nearly all my adult life, I’ve supported Israel by raising money to help the Jewish people, sponsoring events that foster support for Israel with other leaders such as John Hagee or encouraging people to travel to Israel, as my wife and I are doing this week with our friend and author Perry Stone.

I flew to Israel early, before the tour, to network with key leaders in a whirlwind couple of days of nonstop meetings that will provide story ideas for our print magazines or online. As soon as I have time to digest all I saw and learned, I will write articles about the interesting people I met.

But now I want to give an overview of who I met and what I learned, much of which is important not only for me but for each of us.

1. We must stand with other Christian believers in the land.

I met with Dan Juster, one of the apostolic leaders that is also one of the deepest thinkers in the modern Messianic movement. He helped me understand spiritually what’s going on in the land and how believers need prayer and support.

I then attended the exciting King of Kings congregation in downtown Jerusalem, pastored by my friend Wayne Hilsden. I had time to only attend one service while in Israel. While I would have enjoyed being at a service in Hebrew, I was more comfortable in Wayne’s English service that had the same spirit and style I’m used to in my own church. You can see their worship here.

I also learned firsthand of the opposition and persecution some believers face in Israel. Wayne pointed out an “anti-missionary” standing outside the service to urge young Jewish believers in Yeshua to turn away.

2. We must pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for a spiritual awakening in the land.

King of Kings has prayer 16 hours a day atop a 17-story building. The view over the city was magnificent. What a strategic location! The next day, I visited another 24/7 prayer ministry in a mixed Jewish and Arab area south of the Old City. To avoid attention, this group posts only small signs that say “24/7,” which the initiated know means intercessory prayer is offered there around the clock.

The prayer room is located in the TBN building and has a view of the Dome of the Rock. I didn’t interview anyone there. Instead, I joined the prayers for the peace of Jerusalem for strengthening believers, for nations standing with Israel and for ways to reach the Arab community with the gospel.

3. The Arab Christian community needs our support.

It is well known that at one time, the majority of the population in Bethlehem was Christian. According to a 2012 article in Israel Hayom, the municipality says that 40 percent of the 32,000 residents of Bethlehem are Christian. But, unofficial data suggests the percentage is actually lower. While many Arab Christians are nominal Christians whose families have been Christians for generations, there is a small and struggling evangelical Christian Arab community there.

One of the most impressive meetings I had was with a young Arab pastor named Steven Khoury, whose Calvary Church reaches about 400 people a week in the part of Jerusalem around the Mount of Olives. It is the only evangelical church in that area. They have a hard time even finding a place to meet. Members of his church have been killed by radicals, and he has had trouble raising the funds he needs to operate and buy property. I was impressed by this passionate young man, and I plan to write more about his church later.

4. There is a new era of understanding between evangelicals and some Orthodox Jews.

Steven Khoury is a good friend to a young Orthodox rabbi named David Nekrutman, the executive director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation. In the biblical town of Efrat, it is the first example I’ve seen of the Orthodox community reaching out to evangelicals. That impressed me as well, and I will also write about it later.

My personal experience with the Orthodox has been no cooperation and often hostility. So I’m encouraged to hear about the breakthroughs between the two groups and to hear that at least at this center, the Orthodox seem to value the support that Christian Zionists give Israel.

5. It’s good to know a networker in a foreign land.

The friend who set up most of my appointments is Anne Ayalon, the wife of Danny Ayalon, who has served as an Israeli ambassador to the United States, in the Knesset and in many other important posts. Anne is a humble woman who has done as much as anyone I know to bridge the evangelical Christian and Jewish communities. Born an American, she converted to Judaism when she got married but describes herself only as a “woman of faith.” She declined to be interviewed because she prefers to be behind the scenes, where she is a connector and influencer.

I had many other wonderful meetings, including one with Chris Mitchell, bureau chief of the CBN Jerusalem bureau, who recently wrote an important new book called Dateline Jerusalem, which he calls an “eyewitness account of prophecies unfolding in the Middle East.” I also met some Israeli intellectuals who teach leadership principles from Bible characters to officers in the Israeli Defense Forces. And I got a very quick tour of the Bible Lands Museum by its director and saw the "Book of Books" display. I plan to go back to spend hours learning more about this wonderful land that gave us the Bible, which is God’s revelation to man.

My meetings have not ended. Later, I’m meeting with leaders of Magen David Adom—the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross which is the first responder in disasters—and with leaders of Operation Lifeshield. Both are charities for which we’ve raised money in the past. I also am meeting the head of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and a local publisher.

As I process what I’ve learned and do more research, I’ll write more. And I’ll tell you about this amazing tour with Perry Stone. My head is spinning after the first day of visiting the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of the Ascension, the Hill of Ill Counsel, the recently discovered Pool of Siloam, a kibbutz where a pivotal battle was won in the war of 1948, and some archeological digs south of the Temple Mount with actual pavement where Jesus would have walked. I can’t wait until tomorrow. I have six more days before the trip ends!

If you stand with Israel, if you’ve had a life-changing trip to Israel or if you learned anything from this column, leave your comments below.

Steve Strang is the founder and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter at @sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).

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Where Were These People Marching 100 Years Ago in Jerusalem? To a Funeral, Apparently

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Where Were These People Marching 100 Years Ago in Jerusalem? To a Funeral, Apparently Posted: 07 Oct 2013 10:42 AM PDT A procession -- but to where? As we post this feature, the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is taking place in Jerusalem with more than half a million mourners.  To mark the sad event, we are reposting a two year old feature. The pictures here were photographed more than 100 years ago in Jerusalem.  What was the occasion? "A Jewish procession to Absalom's Pillar" is the caption on the Library of Congress' photo, which as dated sometime between 1898 and 1946.  That's a huge window of time.  The procession is walking down a ramp from the southeast corner of the Old City wall into the Kidron Valley. Presumably the hundreds of Jews came out of the Old City through the Dung Gate or the Zion Gate. Why was there a procession to the tomb of King David's rebellious son, Absalom?  It's not a very popular destination for Jerusalemites today.  Some historians relate that there was a custom to take children to the shrine and throw rocks at it to remind the children to behave.  Were there so many mischievous children?  The long dresses on many of the people in the procession suggest many women were also involved.    An enlarged segment of the procession picture   Luckily, the Library of Congress site provides a TIFF download that permits enlarging the photo and provides incredible detail.  And the enlargement shows that the procession consisted almost entirely of ultra-Orthodox men wearing their long caftans.      The funeral near Absalom's Pillar  Also fortuitous was discovering another picture elsewhere in the massive Library of Congress collection entitled "Various types, etc. Jewish funeral."  It shows a funeral party at the bottom of the Kidron Valley moving up the Mount  of Olives.  It may very well be the "flip side" of the same procession, with two photographers on either side of the valley.  The shadows suggest that the time of day -- morning, with the sun shining in the east -- was nearly the same.  The second picture, however, does include women walking up the ramp from the Valley.  And yes, the women are Jewish. Despite the dark scarves on their heads, they are neither nuns nor Muslims. Women heading back to the Old City Lastly, while the Library curators recorded a number, 4340, on the first negative, they missed that the second photo, dated between 1900 and 1920, had the number 4343, suggesting that the two were part of a series.  This match was pointed out to the curators who will finally pair the two photos after almost 100 years. Today, this notation appears on the caption:LoC: "May be related to LC-M32-14232 which has "4340" on negative. (Source: L. Ben-David,Israel's History - A Picture a Day  website, August 19, 2011) If you want to receive A Picture a Daydelivered to your computer, just sign up in the "Email" box in the right sidebar.   ===================================================   Reposting:  The Library of Congress' photo collection also includes this 1903 (1908?) photo of the "Funeral services for a Jewish Rabbi, Jerusalem."   Is it possible to determine where in Jerusalem the photograph was taken?  Most definitely.   1903 funeral in the Old City of Jerusalem The building is the Rothschild building in the Batei Machaseh compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, donated by Baron Wilhelm Karl de Rothschild of Frankfurt.  The building still bears the Rothschild family's coat of arms. The compound was built between 1860 and 1890 to provide housing for Jerusalem's poor.  An old lintel stone nearby reads "Shelter home for the poor on Mt. Zion."

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) in Israel - May 8, 2013

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) in Israel

Quick Facts

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) is the anniversary of Jerusalem's reunification.

Name

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day)

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) 2013

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) 2014

Wednesday, May 28, 2014
List of dates for other years

Yom Yerushalayim, also known as Jerusalem Day, commemorates Jerusalem's reunification in 1967. This day begins on 28th day of the month of Iyyar in the Hebrew calendar.

Yom Yerushalayim is a public holiday in Israel but is observed by many Jewish people worldwide.

What do people do?

Throughout the world, including the United States, Zionist Jews mark Yom Yerushalayim with a range of events. These include: recitations of the Hallel prayer for praise and thanksgiving in synagogues; street parades, parties, singing and dancing; special meals; and lectures on the history and future of Jerusalem and Zionism. In Jerusalem, a public reception by the mayor of Jerusalem, state ceremonies and memorial services for those who died in the Six-Day War are also held. In Israel, some people mark the occasion by traveling or even hiking to Jerusalem. Non-Zionist Jews and Arabs may see the day as one of mourning and wear black or fly black flags.

Public life

Yom Yerushalayim is a public holiday in Israel. It is not a public holiday in countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom or the United States. However, many Jewish organizations may be closed or offer a limited service so special events can be held.

Background

After Israel declared its independence in 1948, it was attacked by the neighboring Arab countries, resulting in the Arab-Israeli War. At the end of this war, the city of Jerusalem was divided. Israeli forces controlled most of the city and East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was controlled by Jordanian forces. The Old City was important for strategic and religious reasons, as many sites of religious importance are in this part of the city. These include: the Dome of the Rock and al-Asqa Mosque (Muslims); the Temple Mount and the Western Wall or Kotel (Jewish); and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christian).

On June 7, 1967, one day into the Six-Day War, Israeli forces captured the old city of Jerusalem. This resulted in the reunification of Jerusalem as part of Israel. According to the Hebrew calendar, it was the 28th day of the month of Iyar in the year 5727 and the anniversary of this date is known as Yom Yerushalayim or Jerusalem Day.

The 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem was in 2007. The slogan for the celebrations in this year translates as "Something special for everyone", with a play on the Hebrew words for "special" and "united". A special logo representing the number 40 and the city walls was presented and the approach to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv was decorated with blue lighting.

The anniversary of the reunification of the city of Jerusalem under Israeli control is not celebrated by everybody. Many Muslims and non-Zionists or Orthodox Jews see Jerusalem Day as an occasion for mourning. They may mark this with parades or special prayers on the same day as Yom Yerushalayim or on the Day of Quds on the last Friday of the Islamic month of Ramadan.

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/israel/yom-yerushalayim