The Gospel in Gaza - ONE FOR ISRAEL

Dr Erez Soref President of  ONE FOR ISRAEL  Shalom! Yeshua, the Prince of Peace, urges us to be peacemakers and to pursue peace. But what does that look like?  True peace is only found in God himself, through the Messiah. The ministry of reconciliation (reconciling people with God) is making peace in a 'vertical' direction - between us and God. But helping people resolve their disputes is another way of making peace in a 'horizontal' direction. We have some great news to tell you about a different kind of peace process in the Middle East - something you won't hear about on the news! "Blessed are the peacemakers,  for they shall be called Sons of God".  (Matthew 5:9) PEACEMAKERS - A COURSE IN MEDIATION Resolving disputes of any size is not easy. But Israel College of the Bible has recently held a course in Mediation which, when accompanied with relevant experience, qualifies graduates to assist in all kinds of situations in Israel. This might include disputes between landlord and tenant, an individual and an institution, or a dispute between neighbors, for example, as a way of preventing such matters going to court. The body of Messiah is also no stranger to conflict, and these newly trained students now have another tool in their belt to help resolve the trouble that bubbles up from time to time in congregations.  A nationally known expert in the field was invited to teach the course, which augments the studies in Christian Counselling already available. Head of the Department of Counselling, Keren Silver, explains, "Counselling and mediation are very different - mediation is very practical. We teach students how to be as neutral as possible in the conflict, and what steps need to be taken in order to find a solution that all sides can agree on".  Twelve students graduated last Thursday and received their certificates, half of whom were Messianic Jewish and half Christian Arab. Even within the class there are widely differing viewpoints on various subjects, but along with the training in counselling which enables students to identify emotions, reactions and solutions, this training is helping students to put out fires of controversy and dispute, and restore peace. Perhaps not on a national scale, but we now have some well-trained firefighters and peacemakers in our communities and in the Kingdom! GAZA GETS TO HEAR ABOUT THEIR SAVIOR Many of us have seen the tragic images of Gaza and the suffering of the people there. Persecution of Christians is serious - a few years ago a Christian bookshop was burnt down and the owner shot dead. There are a few believers, but many never get the chance to hear the Good News about Yeshua. However, we are very excited to tell you that our new videos in Arabic have enjoyed a great deal of exposure in Gaza in particular, where Facebook is used even more than in Israel.  Here's a message from Carlos Damianos, who heads up the Arabic media work: I want to thank the Lord for His goodness, and for leading us to this moment to upload videos to reach the Arab world. The first video has already gained a lot of attention in the closed world of Gaza. God is able to break through every boundary, as he says in Isaiah 45:2,  "I will go before you and make crooked places straight. I will shatter bronze doors and cut through iron bars." Tens of thousands of Muslims have seen it and there have been hundreds of comments and questions - many raised by genuine seekers.  We have a couple of prayer requests: 1) That the Lord would work through the power of the Gospel, through the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who are exposed to videos. Well over 50,000 have watched the video so far. 2) We really need two more people to join the team to help with photography, editing and responding to all those who are commenting and actually searching for the truth. OUR RUSSIAN STUDENTS GET READY TO GRADUATE Did you know there are over one million Russian speakers in Israel? That means 1 in 8 Israelis speak Russian!  Four years ago we developed a two-year "Certificate of Biblical Education" in the Russian language, equipping Russian speaking believers to reach new levels of effective ministry. Here is the class of 2017 that will graduate tomorrow. This program is taught under the leadership of Dr Oleg Korotki, and consists of ten courses (30 credits): Introduction to Theology Hermeneutics and Exegesis Homiletics Soteriology and Christology The Book of Romans Family and Counseling Leadership The Old Testament Survey The New Testament Survey Pastoral Studies Some of the students will continue their studies with us in order to gain a associate degree in Theology. A SHORT HISTORY OF MESSIANIC JUDAISM Ever since the first Jewish disciples of Yeshua, there has always been a remnant of Jewish people who believed in him, even though for most of history they would simply assimilate into Christian churches and become invisible as Jews. It was once assumed that one had to choose between being either Jewish or Christian, and many left their Jewish identity at the threshold when they came to church. Today, things for Messianic Jewish believers are very different. What changed? Continue reading... FOLLOW US:

More at: www.oneforisrael.org

ONE FOR ISRAEL, 47 Pinkas david St. POB 13401, Netanya, 42138 Israel

Confirmed: U.S. is Chief Facilitator of Christian Persecution - BreakingIsraelNews

This report from BreakingIsraelNews is stunning.

Confirmed: U.S. is Chief Facilitator of Christian Persecution

Posted by: Raymond Ibrahim January 21, 2014 , 2:29 pm

Prominent indicators confirm that the U.S. is the chief facilitator of the persecution of Christians around the world today.

According to the recently released 2014 World Watch List, which ranks the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted, Syria is the third worst nation in the world in which to be Christian, Iraq is fourth, Afghanistan fifth, and Libya 13th. All four countries receive the strongest designation, “extreme persecution” (other designations are “severe,” “moderate,” and “sparse” persecution).

Aside from being so closely and harshly ranked, these four nations have something else in common: heavy U.S. involvement. Three—Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya—were “liberated” thanks to U.S. forces, while in the fourth, Syria, the U.S. is actively sponsoring “freedom fighters” against the regime, many of whom would be better labeled “terrorists.”

The Syrian situation alone indicts U.S. foreign policy. According to Reuters:

Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said. “This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm,” said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by other Christian groups put the annual figure as high as 8,000.”

While most Americans are shielded from the true nature of the war by the U.S. media’s reluctance to report on it, Arabic media, websites, and activists daily report and document atrocity after atrocity—beheadings and bombed churches, Christians slaughtered for refusing to convert to Islam, and countless abducted for ransom or rape—at the hands of those whom the U.S. supports.

Sen. John McCain meets with “Syrian rebels,” many of whom are not Syrian, and one of which is a known kidnapper (L – Muhammad Nour). (Photo: Raymond Ibrahim)

It’s enough to point out that “the largest massacre of Christians in Syria,” to quote a top religious leader, was left wholly unreported by any major U.S. news network.

At any rate, the statistics speak for themselves: Syria, which used to be religiously tolerant, is now, in the context of the United States’ trying to bring “democracy” to it, the third worst country in the world in terms of “extreme persecution” of Christians.

The Blaze reports that Dr. David Curry, president of Open Doors,

charged that the Obama administration has essentially declined to make the protection of religious minorities a priority . . . “There are many instances where the vacuum of leadership and spokesmanship has created a real problem,” said the human rights leader. “I would say that every significant data point on this year’s ‘2014 Watch List’ is worse—and I think a factor in it is a lack of leadership from Western governments including . . . the U.S. in terms of religious freedom.”

But it’s worse than that. Far from taking any action or providing leadership—or simply ceasing to support the terrorists responsible—the Obama administration recently tried to go to war with Syria on behalf of the “freedom fighters,” amazingly, in the name of “human rights” (Apparently the unsubstantiated rumor that Assad massacred people is enough for the U.S. to go to war, but the ongoing and well-documented massacres of Christians and other civilians at the hands of the opposition is not enough for the U.S. to stop supporting them.)

What’s worse, even the most misinformed mainstream-media-watching American today knows that the so-called “Arab Spring,” which was hailed to justify U.S. support for “rebels” of all stripes—in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood (which months ago destroyed some 80 churches); in Libya, al-Qaeda, which has turned Benghazi into a terror zone; and now the “freedom fighters” in Syria—is not what it was touted to be.

In other words, at this point, whenever the U.S. intervenes in an Islamic nation, Islamists come to power. This is well demonstrated by the other three nations to which the U.S. brought “democracy” and where Christian minorities suffer “extreme persecution”:

• Afghanistan: The supposedly “moderate” Karzai government installed by the U.S. upholds many of the draconian laws enforced by the Taliban—including the apostasy law, fiercely persecuting those who seek to convert to Christianity—and, in 2011, under U.S. auspices, it destroyed Afghanistan’s last Christian church.
• Iraq: After the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein, Christian minorities were savagely attacked and slaughtered, and dozens of their churches were bombed (see here for graphic images). Christians have been terrorized into near-extinction, with well over half of them fleeing Iraq.
• Libya: Ever since U.S.-backed, al-Qaeda-linked terrorists overthrew Qaddafi, Christians—including Americans—have indeed suffered extreme persecution. Churches have been bombed; Christians have been tortured and killed (including for refusing to convert); and nuns have been threatened.

Surely a common theme emerges here: Where the U.S. works to oust secular autocrats, the quality of life for Christians and other minorities takes a major nosedive. Under Saddam, Qaddafi, and Assad, Christians and their churches were largely protected.

Moreover, while George W. Bush was responsible for Afghanistan and Iraq, the argument can be made that, back then (2001 and 2003), this pattern of Islamic radicalization that erupts once autocrats are gone was less well known than it is today. There weren’t many precedents.

Conversely, the Obama administration has had both Afghanistan and Iraq to learn from—and yet still it supports Islamists and jihadis. But by now, what happens once they assume power—religious persecution, terror, oppression—is no longer a secret.

Incidentally, those who care little for the fate of Christians or other minorities in the Islamic world would do well to remember a simple truism: Wherever anti-Christian elements come to power, anti-American forces come to power. The two are synonymous.

Put differently, Muslim persecution of Christians is the litmus test of how radical an Islamic society has become. In all those Muslim nations that the U.S. has interfered in—Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt (till the Egyptians revolted, to the chastisement of the U.S.), and now Syria—the increase of religious intolerance is a reflection of the empowerment of forces hostile to Western civilization.

I am often asked, “How can we help persecuted Christians?” At this point, one must respond: “How about starting with getting the U.S. government to stop being the chief facilitator of Christian persecution?” Altruism aside, it would be in the interests of all who value freedom, religious or otherwise—and especially their descendants.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/confirmed-u-s-chief-facilitator-christian-persecution/#v6YSdAg2LPBkP3LT.99