Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
The world truly needs to see the real Jesus, and real believers. We are the ones called to show Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach, to the world. Let each of us do our part.
What is the basis of real spiritual community? A large number of people showing up on Sunday morning? Having a deep spiritual experience, whether in a worship service or in personal devotions? Or is it a dedicated commitment to live a certain way and follow the rules?
All of these elements show up in the story of Jesus. Lots of people certainly showed up to hear him preach. At times, Jesus seems like some kind of homeless mega-church pastor. So many people come to hear him that he often has to run away or get in a boat just to find some breathing space! Yet, it seems clear that Jesus' most important ministry is not with the crowds.
Throughout Jesus' ministry, there are regular signs and wonders, healings, and deep times of spiritual reflection and religious experience. Yet, as important as these dramatic moments are, personal experience for its own sake does not seem to be the most essential part of Jesus' message.
Jesus asks very hard things of his followers. He tells them that for a person to enter the kingdom of heaven, their righteousness will have to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees - those best known for following all the commandments of Torah down to the letter. Yet, Jesus is not slave to rules and regulations. He and His disciples regularly break the Sabbath in order to accomplish their mission of love. Jesus challenges the ruling authorities, and is eventually executed as an outlaw.
Jesus is neither a crowd-pleaser, experience-addict, nor a legalistic rule-follower. What is he? What lies at the heart of his ministry?
Committed as His Disciple
Jesus' ministry is not about breadth of numbers, but depth of commitment. It is not about highs of ecstasy, but patient endurance and willingness to suffer for truth. The model that Jesus offers is not a list of rules that makes me feel safe, but rather a dangerous invitation to become His disciple, His friend. He calls me to become like He is and walk as He did.
As a friend of Jesus, my work is not to gather crowds; I am to make disciples. Jesus calls me to break my addiction to religious experiences, to move beyond the fluctuations of hormones and emotion and embrace true love. I can no longer justify myself through head-knowledge and checklist morality. Instead, the Spirit invites me to embrace the mystery of who Jesus is, allowing Him to humble me and fill me with His character.
What would it look like to live in communities where this kind of disciple-making could take place? Instead of measuring our faithfulness by numbers of worship attendance, what if we focused on the people that we are able to actively mentor and partner with in discipleship?
As an alternative to the rule-book mindset we find in much religion, what if we emphasized the radical power of a living relationship with Jesus? (He's risen from the dead, not entombed in a book!) What would it look like to be part of a community that honored spiritual experiences, but valued the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - even more?
I like mountains. I like these awesome creations of the Lord around the world. Standing in front of them can overwhelm your heart with gratitude and goodness, dwelling on His majestic power and sheer love that He daily has for us.
Our lives can be challenging as we face mountains ahead, but we can be overcomers as we keep our eyes fixed on Him, and make the climb with the Lord at our side, and His Holy Spirit as our Guide. As you read these inspired and encouraging chapters, I trust they will bring more hope, faith and love into your spirit and soul.
Experiences shared by those who have walked ahead enable others to choose more wisely and confidently in their walk. I hope these words do so for you.
These messages that I share with you in this book were originally written for my blog as NOW THINK ON THIS. You can read those on a weekly basis.
This review is from: Mountain Top View: Onward & Upward (Kindle Edition)
Steve Martin’s books, as well as his blog, have an engaging dimension of making you feel a part of the journey he’s on. He’s always reaching for something more in God while facing the realities of life. He’s very real as he traverses the pathways of life. What’s important to him is not arbitrary, but the result of the honest reflections he describes as he makes the reader to relate and feel a part of his journey. His writings reflect the adventure that God intended our lives to be, with Him at helm. He has not fallen short in the adventure that his life has been and is. Encouraging, inspiring and highly recommended.
Chris Mitchell, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief CBN News
JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing Jerusalem will never be divided. He made the declaration Wednesday as Israelis celebrated Jerusalem Day, a holiday marking the capture of the Old City during the 1967 Six-Day War.
On June 7, 1967, Israeli paratroopers entered Jerusalem's Old City through the Lion's Gate and headed toward the Temple Mount. Their advance meant that for the first time in nearly 2,000 years, Jerusalem was reunited under Israeli sovereignty, with the Jewish people controlling the Old City and the Western Wall.
Many Jews and Christians call that battle a miracle and an historic turning point and that's why Israelis celebrate Jerusalem Day every year.
Thousands of Israelis flood the streets on Jerusalem Day, waving flags, dancing, and singing. It's just one outward sign of how important Jerusalem is to the Jewish people.
"Jerusalem is the heart of us and the heart of the world," Gideon Bashan told CBN News.
"Jerusalem is the place we connect to God," one young man from Kfar Saba near Tel Aviv said.
"It's important because it's our history," said an immigrant from the United States, who lives here with his four children, 17 grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. "This is our capital. This is what the world thinks of us is Yerushalayim."
Netanyahu declared Israel will continue to build everywhere in Jerusalem.
"Jerusalem was unified 47 years ago and it will never be re-divided," Netanyahu said during ceremonies at Ammunition Hill, where one of the most decisive battles for Jerusalem took place.
"Since that day, Jerusalem has developed," he continued. "It is prosperous and flourishing and we meet here [at Ammunition Hill] every year to ensure that this prosperity will be even greater, that the construction will be even broader and that it will flourish even more."
But Palestinians say they want Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. Senior Palestinian Authority official Abu Ala told CBN News there can be no peace agreement without Jerusalem.
"It is the second holy place for the Muslims in the world. For the Palestinians in addition to that, no availability of a Palestinian state without Jerusalem," he said.
Israel Police shut down the Temple Mount on Jerusalem Day after Muslims harassed Jewish groups, some wanting to pray on the Temple Mount. But current rules forbid Jews, Christians, or any non-Muslims from praying at the site. Many believe because of this tension, the Temple Mount could become more and more of a flash point in the future.
In the meantime, Israelis celebrate the reunification of the city.
Lila Rose, president of the pro-life youth led organization Live Action, distributed a 60-page six-year investigative report on Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, to members of Congress Wednesday, asking them to defund the organization.
(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST/SONNY HONG)
Lisa Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, speaks outside the Russell Senate Office Building about the release of a 60-page multi-state investigative report, "Lies, Corruption, and Scandal: Six Years of Exposing Planned Parenthood," on the nation's largest abortion provider, Washington, D.C. on May 28, 2014.
According to Live Action's multi-state investigative report, "Lies, Corruption, and Scandal: Six Years of Exposing Planned Parenthood," which was distributed to members of Congress and is available online here, Rose and her investigative team have documented the abortion provider covering up the sexual abuse of children; aiding the sexual exploitation of girls; accepting donations to abort black babies and girls; and not informing women about post-abortion PTSD, among other illicit and illegal activities.
To launch their new national campaign, Rose, along with volunteers and interns, walked the halls of Congress to deliver their findings to Republican and Democratic Senate and House members, asking them to review the report and pass legislation to stop using taxpayers' dollars to fund the abortion provider.
"Over the last six years, Planned Parenthood has been investigated by our organization and others, and exposed for rampant lawlessness, abuses, and many other illicit activities," Rose told The Christian Post during an interview at the Russell Senate Office Building on Wednesday.
Rose continued, "We are going through the halls of Congress and dropping off this six-year report, along with a letter to each member whether they're in the Senate or the House, explaining what this report is, and the importance of reviewing the fact that $500 million every year is going to fund the biggest abortion chain in the country, Planned Parenthood."
"We're calling on Congress to immediately review, investigate and stop taxpayer funding of this abortion giant, especially in light of the 320,000 children who are killed every year in their facilities, and the many abusive and illegal activities taking place," Rose told CP, noting that the Planned Parenthood is a billion dollar organization.
Along with the 60-page investigative report, Live Action has simultaneously launched a video campaign atwwwPlannedParenthoodExposed.com and a petition for people to sign asking lawmakers to defund Planned Parenthood.
The petition highlights that the organization's surgical abortion centers have quotas to meet, and states that Planned Parenthood's staff "routinely puts women's lives at risk."
"Planned Parenthood staffers, nurses, and managers have been documented coaching and covering for sex-traffickers, ignoring the sexual abuse of young girls, and putting women's lives at risk. The corporation is awash in deaths, injuries, and allegations of and settlements paid for massive fraud," the petition reads, in part.
According to Rose, Planned Parenthood's latest annual report reveals that the organization received $540.7 million in taxpayer funding in 2011-2012, and the corporation performed 327,166 abortions during that time.
"When I first began to go undercover in these facilities in 2007, I thought I would find illegal and harmful activity," she said. "But even I had no idea of the huge, company-wide commitment to abortion at any cost — the fraud, the lies, the cover-ups."
"It's a grave injustice that our government and president actively promote this extreme form of violence. It's a disgrace that we are all forced to fund it. … These facilities need to be investigated, inspected, and shut down," Rose asserted, adding that a majority of abortionists regularly skirt or violate state statutes on abortion and patient consent.
WATCH THE CHRISTIAN POST'S INTERVIEW WITH LILA ROSE BELOW:
CP Insider: Lila Rose on Planned Parenthood Exposed
Our feet did stand firm within your gates, O Jerusalem
Jerusalem, built up, is like a city that is united
- Psalms 122
Israel celebrated "Jerusalem Day" May 28, 2014, commemorating the reuniting of the city of Jerusalem during the 1967 war. For 19 years, between 1948 and 1967, the city was split between warring Jordanian and Israeli forces. Thousands of Israelis visited Jerusalem, danced to the Western Wall, and marched around the Old City's gates. We present here antique pictures of the gates, some taken 160 years ago. Click on the photos to enlarge, click on the caption to read more about each gate.
Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." Matthew 9:37-38 NKJV
In this text, we see the word Lord in the context of the harvest. The Greek translation of Lord used here means "One who can empower harvesters; one who can literally oversee the harvest; one who can be empowered for harvest" [1]. Interestingly, the Greek word translated as "send out," ekballo, at the root level means "to drive out." Ballo is where we derive the English word ballistic.
In this we can see the force and sense of urgency, a driving out, a thrusting out of laborers into His harvest. We may be the instruments God uses, but God is the moving force for the harvest.
We see this same word used in Mark 1:12 to describe Christ's actions after He was filled with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan River. It says, "Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness."
With that sense of urgency, Jesus isn't going to thrust us out ill-equipped. No, He's going to give us His effectual wonder-working power and authority to help us bring in the harvest quickly. He's going after the harvest, and He's empowering us for it!
As we see in Matthew 10:1, "...He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease." The Lord of the Harvest empowers us to harvest dormant promises and re-dig old wells in desolate places so we may see His harvest.
He's giving us boldness to cast out every hindrance to breakthrough, to restore the lost dreams and visions of long ago. He's empowering and sending us out – and quickly!
(Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
Like He commissioned and sent out His disciples, He is sending us out today.
And as you go, preach, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8
As you go, preach! God calls every Believer to preach the Gospel with power. God will empower us to preach, to heal, to cleanse, to raise the dead, and to cast out demons – all to fulfill His purposes for each one of us. It's a multi-faceted purpose, for God will give us a word, commission us, and release us to fulfill it. Then He will give us another word and release us for another and another fulfillment of it until the harvest is in.
Likewise, we'll go from fulfillment to fulfillment to fulfillment of every true prophetic word ever spoken over our lives. His word will be in our hearts like a burning fire shut up in our bones. We won't be able to hold it back, just like Jeremiah: "But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not" (Jeremiah 20:9b).
As the Word becomes like a burning fire in our hearts and bones, our focus will be on the harvest, and it won't be denied us because we have freely received the Word and freely given the powerful Word of the Lord.
With the workings of the Word in us, we will become slayers of any giants that stand in the way of the harvest. Even if there's a wall, we will leap right over it, slaying the giants to bring forth the victory.
Get ready, precious friends! The Lord of the Harvest is releasing a fresh zeal of the Lord through His Word and the power of the Lord for harvest – harvest glory.
Not only will this mean multitudes of the lost coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but also a fresh zeal to stir up the Word of the Lord for our lives that releases the perpetual and ever-increasing flow of His power to see harvest of the promises of God for our lives, our families, our communities, our regions, our states, and the nations!
The Word and the power of the Lord are flowing together to release the plans and purposes of the Lord, according to the constant and ever-increasing flow of His power and ability.
Lord, thank You for the harvest! Empower us for the harvest, precious Lord. Let this time be one of increase for harvest glory – harvest for Your glory, precious Lord.
[1] F. Wilbur Gingrich, revised by Frederick W. Danker, Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Second Edition; University of Chicago Press, 1983), 58–59.
Keith and Janet Miller Stand Firm World Ministries
Keith and Janet Miller minister throughout the U.S. and internationally, across denominational boundaries, with a vibrant teaching, preaching, and ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit, seeing entire cities and regions impacted by the glory of the LORD! Keith and Janet have founded and pastored a church. Keith is also a conference speaker, and he and Janet are regular guests on Christian television.
They have put together Apostolic Revival Teams to see entire regions powerfully impacted with a fresh anointing, fresh oil, and an increase of a deeper passion for JESUS. Keith and Janet's hearts are to see God's people released and walking in their destiny for the LORD, to see the advancement of the Kingdom of God through each person's life, and the effective working of HIS mighty power through the Believer's life.
What is the basis of real spiritual community? A large number of people showing up on Sunday morning? Having a deep spiritual experience, whether in a worship service or in personal devotions? Or is it a dedicated commitment to live a certain way and follow the rules?
(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST/SONNY HONG)
Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." Matthew 9:37-38 NKJV
With that sense of urgency, Jesus isn't going to thrust us out ill-equipped. No, He's going to give us His effectual wonder-working power and authority to help us bring in the harvest quickly. He's going after the harvest, and He's empowering us for it!
As the Word becomes like a burning fire in our hearts and bones, our focus will be on the harvest, and it won't be denied us because we have freely received the Word and freely given the powerful Word of the Lord.
