Israel's new 'Power' at the UN

Wednesday, July 24, 2013 |  Connie Fieraru , Israel Today

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Samantha Power is set to be the next US ambassador to the UN following overwhelming approval during her Senate Foreign Relations Committee appearance on Tuesday. Power made special note of her intention to defend Israel in the world body and work to secure a seat for the Jewish state on the Security Council by 2018.

After her approval by all but two of the 18-member Senate committee, Power is expected to easily win confirmation from the rest of the Senate.

Power, 42, is an expert on genocide, a champion of human rights, and a Harvard professor. She will replace Susan Rice, who has been appointed as America’s next National Security Advisor. Power earned a degree at Yale and worked as a journalist covering the Yugoslav wars from 1993-1996 before returning to the US and graduating from Harvard Law School.

Power is known to be ‘blunt and outspoken’ and has made a career out of her intellectual and critical engagement with human rights policy, especially on the topic of genocide. She promised to utilize her strong character traits an expertise to advocate America’s interest in the UN and to eliminate bias against Israel.

However, Power has not been received without criticism, especially in light of statements made about Israel in a 2002 interview at the University of California Berkeley’s Institute of International Studies. During the interview, Power was asked to conduct a “thought experiment” on how she would intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to protect human rights. Power responded that, given the opportunity, she would advise the president to “sacrifice billions of dollars in aid to the Jewish state” and instead allocate those funds for “the new state of Palestine instead.”

But now Power is seen openly condemning the UN’s “unacceptable bias” against Israel and pledging to “lobby hard” to get Israel a seat on the Security Council. So, what swayed her thinking? Maybe it was her marriage to Jewish lawyer Cass Sustein in 2008, or perhaps it was her more recent work with the administration in Washington that alternated her perspective.

During the recent confirmation hearing, Power stated, “What I believe in terms of Middle East peace is, I think, what is obvious to all of us here which is peace can only come about through a negotiated solution. There is no shortcut. That’s why Palestinian…unilateral statehood efforts within the UN system — shortcuts of that nature just won’t work.” With such comments Power quickly won over her critics in the pro-Israel community.

But Republican Senator Marco Rubio, one of only two to vote against Power, was unconvinced, saying she had “failed to distance herself” from past statements “and offered insufficient explanation, leaving me with serious concerns about some of her views.”

Coming to Power’s aid was Shmuley Boteach, perhaps America’s most famous rabbi, who wrote in the Times of Israel that when Power was taking questions regarding the accusations against her in a closed door meeting with 40 American Jewish leaders, “she suddenly became deeply emotional and struggled to complete her presentation as she expressed how deeply such accusations had affected her.”

Boteach continued: “Tears streamed down her cheeks and I think it fair to say that there was no one in the room who wasn’t deeply moved by this incredible display of pain and emotion. More than a few of the leaders of the room came over to me afterward and said that, based on her comments and her unabashed display of emotional attachment to the security of the Jewish people…they would never again question her commitment to Israel’s security.”

In the words of Boteach, “the greatest challenge now facing Power will be changing the UN.”

We wait in hope.

Aviel Schneider - Israel Today publisher in Jerusalem (Aug/Sept. 2013 Issue)

Editor's Note: I met Aviel Schneider in his Jerusalem office in October, 2010. Having long been a subscriber to Israel Today it was a joy to sit in his office and just get to know him a little better. I truly appreciate his work, especially as he shares about the Messianic Jews in His Land. Thank you Aviel! Steve Martin

Have Archaeologists Found Prophet Elisha's House?

By Chris Mitchell and Julie Stahl

CBN News Jerusalem Bureau

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Pat Robertson, 700 Club Founder

TEL REHOV, Israel -- During 16 years of excavating Tel Rehov in the Jordan Valley, archaeologists uncovered a 3,000-year-old, well-planned city.

They also found a unique building that might have been the house of Elisha the prophet.

Elisha and Elijah - prophets of God

"The house was full of objects of unique types… two pottery altars that were used for burning incense," archaeologist Ami Mazar told CBN News.

Altar

"We found there figurines, clay figurines. We found large vessels -- like big vessels that were probably used for serving food, not for just the nuclear family, but maybe for a larger community," he said.

Mazar also pointed out the unique structure of the house.

"Normally the houses had one entrance leading to a large space with rooms all around," he explained. "This house was divided into two wings. The two wings were connected to one another through the backroom and each one of the wings had an opening to the street."

Outside the backroom were incense altars that may have been used to make an offering to God before entering the house to hear the prophet's message.

Rooms in the evacuation

During the excavations, archaeologists discovered a special room inside the house with a table and a bench. They also discovered a pottery shard with the name Elisha on it, dated to the 9th century.

The discovery has led some to believe this was the room of the prophet Elisha.

"We found an ink inscription written in red ink on pottery, but it is broken unfortunately," Mazar said. "But we reconstructed the name as Elisha."

The prophet Elisha was born about seven miles from Tel Rehov in Avel Mehola and went throughout the kingdom of Israel, from Jericho to Samaria to Shunam.

Birthplace of Elisha - Avel Mehola

"You know I cannot say for sure this particular Elisha that we found is the biblical Elisha," Mazar said. "You know it's very difficult to say, but it is very tempting because it is exactly the period when Elisha acted -- the second half of the 9th century BC."

Archaeologist Stephen Pfann calls the evidence compelling.

"With only six other people by the name of Elisha known in that time for a couple of centuries on either side, we can somehow believe that either there was just the luck that this holy man was also by the name of Elisha, or this was Elisha the prophet himself," Pfann told CBN News.

Another discovery pointing to the prophet Elisha are two different inscriptions mentioning the family of Nimshi.

Nimshi family description

"We remember that it was Elijah who was told to anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, to be the king," Pfann explained. "And he passed that on to Elisha who sent out one of his disciples to finally do the anointing."

Another inscription with the same name Nimshi was found about five miles away.

"So I came to this idea that perhaps the entire valley of Beit Shean, this beautiful fertile valley [with] food, springs, water, [and] good land was perhaps under rule, perhaps, or property of this family," Ami said.

This family may also have had an unusual business: bee-keeping.

"Perhaps they were the owners of the apiary because one of [the] Nimshi inscriptions was found inside the apiary just between the hives," Pfann said.

Several years ago, archaeologists uncovered a strange installation.

"We saw that we have here a row of cylindrical, of clay cylinders. Each one of them is about 2-1/2 feet long and about 1 foot in diameter," Pfann continued. "We realized these must be bee hives."

This type of bee came from Turkey not Israel, indicating ancient trade relations between regions. They are the most ancient species of bees ever found in the world.

Many archaeologists shy away from drawing conclusions about the Bible, but some see it as a way of putting the pieces together.

"Archaeology is like a huge puzzle, you know, we add information from one excavation, a second excavation, a third excavation -- Meggido, Tel Rehov, Beit Shean…and together we bring it into a large picture, the large puzzle trying to decipher the material culture of the Israelites," Mazar explained.

For Cary Summers, who heads Nazareth Village, it's even more special.

Dr. Cary Summers

"Well, it's like any other archeological site, in essence…every scoop of dirt it proves the Bible, one scoop at a time. And this site is absolutely magnificent dealing with the prophet Elisha," Summers told CBN News.

In this day and age, he said, it's even more important.

"There is always the skeptic who says, 'Show me the proof' and 'When you have the proof.' Basically, [we have] the tile that [was] found here with the name [and] also just the excavation itself," Summers continued.

"It's one more proof for what we call the doubting world," he said.

"For God to allow this to be unearthed at this time, I think it is again another indication that we are to aggressively go forward with this kind of data, this kind of research, this kind of archaeological dig," Summers said.

The future of the site is uncertain because its mud bricks are deteriorating. Researchers hope, however, it can be preserved to help future generations understand the Bible.

Video of Elisha's House site on CBN News

King David in Hebron, Israel (Judea)

The number of days that David was king over the House of Judah in Hebron was seven years and six months. II SAMUEL (2:11) וַיְהִי מִסְפַּר הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר הָיָה דָוִד מֶלֶךְ בְּחֶבְרוֹן עַל בֵּית יְהוּדָה שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים וְשִׁשָּׁה חֳדָשִׁיםשמואל ב’ ב:י’’א va-ye-HEE mees-PAR ha-ya-MEEM ah-SHARE ha-YAH da-VEED meh-LEKH be-khev-RON al bayt yeh-hoo-DAH she-VA sha-NEEM ve-shee-SHA kha-da-SHEEM

TROUBLE IN THE HOLY LAND

'SECRET OBAMA PLAN' FORFEITS TEMPLE MOUNT TO PALESTINIANS

Formula for Israel-Arab talks leaked to WND

Published: July 21, 2013

 AARON KLEIN About | Email | Archive

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The Obama administration has quietly presented a plan in which the Palestinian Authority and Jordan will receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel will retain the land below the Western Wall, according to a senior PA negotiator speaking to WND.

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.

The proposed plan is part of the basis for U.S.-brokered talks that are set to resume in Washington next week after Secretary of State John Kerry announced that both Israel and PA President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to open negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state.

Israel has not agreed to the U.S. plan over the Temple Mount, with details still open for discussion, stated the PA negotiator.

The negotiator, who is one of the main Palestinian figures leading the Arab side of the talks, further divulged Kerry’s proposed outline for a Palestinian state as presented orally to Israel and the PA.

He said Jordan has been invited to play a key role in the discussions surrounding both the Temple Mount and Jerusalem while it will be the PA, with some Jordanian assistance, that would ultimately receive control of some of those areas.

WND was first to report in 2007 that Jordan had been quietly purchasing real estate surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem hoping to gain more control over the area accessing the holy site, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.

Meanwhile, regarding the rest of Jerusalem, Kerry’s plan is to rehash what is known as the Clinton parameters. That formula, pushed by President Bill Clinton during the Camp David talks in 2000, called for Jewish areas of Jerusalem to remain Israeli while the Palestinians would get sovereignty over neighborhoods that are largely Arab. Most Arab sections are located in eastern Jerusalem.

WND previously reported the Palestinians are building illegally in Jewish-owned areas of Jerusalem, resulting in Arab majorities in some neighborhoods.

For the strategic Jordan Valley, Obama’s proposal calls for international forces to maintain security control along with unarmed Palestinian police forces, the PA negotiator said. Israel will retain security posts in some strategic areas of the Jordan Valley, according to the leaked plan.

When it comes to the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Israel’s main population centers, Israel is expected to evacuate about 90 percent of its Jewish communities currently located in the territory, as outlined in Kerry’s plan.

Israel would retain strategic security posts along with the West Bank’s main blocs, Maale Adumin, Ariel and Gush Etzion. In return, Obama is calling for an exchange of territory with the Palestinians in other locations inside Israel, with discussion being open for the Palestinians to possibly receive land in the Israeli Negev in the country’s south.

The PA negotiator further said Israel rejected a Palestinian request that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree not to place the final peace plan up for referendum in the Knesset.

Indeed, Netanyahu announced today any plan must receive final approval in a national poll.

“I am committed to two objectives that must guide the result … if there will be a result. And if there will be a result, it will be put to a national referendum,” he said at the start of the cabinet meeting.

“Negotiations with the Palestinians will not be easy, but we are entering them with integrity, honesty and hope,” Netanyahu added.

The PA negotiator, meanwhile, said Netanyahu agreed that as a gesture to restart talks, Israel will enact a temporary freeze on all Jewish construction in the West Bank outside the main settlement blocs. According to Israeli sources, such a freeze has largely already been in place for several months now anyway.

The negotiator warned that one of the toughest issues centers on control of water, with Kerry already reaching out to Turkey about the prospect of selling water at a cheaper rate to a future Palestinian state.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/secret-obama-plan-forfeits-temple-mount-to-palestinians/#RW13pqp8BZiypILq.99 

Leadership Through Love - (Chapter 9) - "Practically Speaking…and Walking" (Steve Martin)

Chapter 9 - Practically Speaking…and Walking

   Handle each piece of paper once

    - File so you can find it!

   Early morning – before the others come

   Take a Break

Every job has some tools that can be applied, and some guidelines and methods that help do a good work. Over the 33 years of management with businesses and ministries, there are some helpful methods that have worked for me, and which I’d like to pass onto you.

From time to time I felt it helpful to attend “day seminars”, to learn any possible new thing. One that proved to be very beneficial, and made it worth the $99 paid back in the early ‘80’s, was this: handle a piece of paper once.

How many stacks of paper do you currently have on your desk? How many file folders do you have, in the two-drawer or four-drawer filing cabinets? How many times have you picked up the same irritating piece of paper, that you just didn’t want to deal with, and then put it back in the stack to pick it up again the next hour, or the next day or week?

A former office desk of mine (2008)

After one seminar, where the spokesman had given a list of helpful, daily “To DO” items, one I actually tried to master was this: handle a piece of paper once.

I had heard that it takes 90 days to learn a regular discipline, and so I tried this one, determined to “pay for” that $99 investment. Beginning the next day at the office, I picked up a piece of paper that had been sitting on my desk, and I did one of several things:

1. I marked the date I received it, with my initials.
2. I wrote what action I was going to take with it – file, call, or write a response.
3. I did what I wrote I was going to do – I made the call, wrote the response, and filed it in a paper folder for the file cabinet.

If I needed to retrieve it later, I knew what file folder I had placed it in, and I didn’t have to look through the stack of papers still on my desk, in several piles.

As I went through my stacks, I did the same thing – mark date received, action taken, file away for later retrieval as needed. My stacks began to shrink in size, and the daily pressure I had often previously, when I arrived at my desk and looked at the stacks, lessened.

                               The "Wall of Friends" in my office (2008)

In association with this, I am big on filing. But not only to file, but to know where you filed it in order to get it, when you need it. It doesn’t do a whole lot of good to file documents away and then not be able to find them. It is critical that the hanging file folders, and the computer data folders, are labeled in such a way that you know under what label you put it.

On several occasions, there may be several choices under which to file a certain piece of information. In this case, I learned to think which category would I first think it would make sense to file it under, and so I did. Just as a library has more than one listing for a different book, you may also need to do this, just in case you forget which file you used.

When you have someone process your daily mail, I have found it most helpful to use two colored file folders. One is marked “Priority Mail” (I like a green folder for this) and the other, of another color, is marked “Misc. Mail”.  The personal letters, cards, and invoices from vendors go into this folder, while advertising, appeal letters, and such are put in the other folder. Magazines and catalogs are not placed in either folder. I can view them quickly, placing half immediately in the garbage can, along with the other junk mail.

When you have time to only look through some of the mail, it is the green “Priority Mail” folder that you will know to grab first.

Every administrator knows that interruptions are a daily occurrence, and that we just need to expect them. No matter how well you set up appointments, schedule daily or weekly tasks, or arrange meetings to administrate upcoming events, there are always interruptions that seem to take preference over anything else.

To offset ongoing, daily “fires” that needed putting out, I began coming into the office at least an hour before the other staff members. Just having that extra hour gave me needed time to get my day in order as best I could, or to complete a task that didn’t get done the day before. As much as you can, as the administrator of the business or ministry you work with, try to book these times where you know that it would be a major event to get you away from this “quiet, get it done” time. Even make it known to others ahead of time, that unless the church is burning down, you need uninterrupted time to yourself. For me, this is first thing in the morning.

The credenza in my former office (2008)

-used for filing and other things!

During the day, take breaks too! If much of your work is performed at the desk on the computer, then you need to take breaks by just getting up, walking to greet the others, or see how things are going on in other locations other than your room. Just moving from one spot to another can clear your head, give you a chance to think about other things, or simply to stretch. Too much concentration on one subject in one sitting made me too weary to give it what I needed. A short break helped the blood flow a bit better, to get back to the task at hand.

(Hey, and for what I paid for the $99 day above, look what you just saved by reading this instead. This chapter was worth the price of the book alone!)

Ahava ("love" in Hebrew) and shalom!

Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858.  Tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation.

Love For His People, Inc. truly appreciates your generous support. Please consider sending a monthly charitable gift of $5-$25 each month to help us bless Messianic Jews in Israel. 

You can bless this ministry work now, through: Online PayPal gifts

You can also send checks to the address below. Todah rabah! (Hebrew - Thank you very much.)

©2013 Steve Martin      Love For His People, Inc.  12120 Woodside Falls Rd. Pineville, NC 28134      

E-mail: loveforhispeople@gmail.com 

Facebook pages: Steve Martin  and  Love For His People       

Twitter: martinlighthous, LovingHisPeople and ahavaloveletter 

Blog: http://loveforhispeople.blogspot.com         

Full website: www.loveforhispeople.org

YouTube: Steve Martin (loveforhispeopleinc)

Note: To read the Intro, Chapter Listings and first eight chapters, please use the Search Box in the top right hand corner of this Blog, and enter "Leadership Through Love." Be blessed in your reading!

Leadership Through Love

Chapter Listings

1.      A Gift for His Purposes

- The Early Years

- On the job training

2.      Use the Tools You Have, But Not the Staff

- Treasure the people, while digging the foundations

- Do unto them as you would…

- Bless and curse not: honor those who serve with you

3.      Right Man (or Woman!) for the Job

- All are created equal – make the most of this!

- If the Shoe Fits, Have Them Wear It

4.      Train and Let Loose

- It IS Who You Know and Are Known By

- Hire To Complement Your Strengths

- if you are weak, then they are strong

- Outsource as needed

5.      Burn Candles At Both Ends? – NOT!

- Rest and Sabbath Days

- Mornings with the Lord

- Trust in Him at all times

- We all are given 24 hours each day

6.       The Visionaries Need You!

-          They dream it - you make it happen

-          It takes a team

-          Head Won’t Get Far without the Neck

(or heads will roll)

  

7.      Field Trips and More!

- Staff Retreats

- Party Time!

- Birthdays and BBQs

- After Hours

8.      It Doesn’t All Depend On You

- The Lord is the Rock – Not You

- Whose strength  - yours or His?

   - Key Staff to Lean On

    - Trustworthy managers and assistants

9.      Practically Speaking…and Walking

- Handle each piece of paper once

- File so you can find it!

- Early morning – before the others come

- Take a Break

10.  Meetings – Time-manger or Time-waster?

- Do you really need all those meetings?

- Group or One-On-One?

- Why Morning and Mid-Week?

 - Prov. 24:6 “By wise counsel…multitude of counselors

11.  Acknowledge Him in All Your Ways

- Heart of Thankfulness

- Heart of Worship

- Heart of Service

12.  Another Man’s Vineyard

-          Follow & help fulfill their vision

-          Faithful with another’s

-          Learn and growth until your time

-          The proper way of moving on

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Daily.

We pray daily for our friends in Jerusalem and all of Israel, whether "in season or out".

As believers in Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiach), we lift up our brethren, as fathers in the faith.

The Jewish people have been, and are being used by the Lord (Adonai) to show His love and purposes for all people in all nations. We are wise to take heed.

I use the above pictured proclamation card in my daily prayer time, from Derek Prince Ministries.You can get a copy for your prayer time (in black and white), if you write to me using the address below.

Blessed are those who pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Blessed are those who bless the Jews, even as Scriptures states in Genesis 12: 3:

"I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed." (CJB - Complete Jewish Bible)

Our love for His people is constant, unchanging, and eternal.

We share His love with ongoing support for our Messianic friends in the Promised Land, Eretz Israel. We welcome all who will join us in expressing His love.

Shalom,

Steve & Laurie Martin
Charlotte, North Carolina
USA

Jerusalem - the eternal capital city of Israel, 

and the King of kings and Lord of lords.

So do we Charlie Brown!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; those who love you will be serene.PSALMS (122:6) שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם יִשְׁלָיוּ אֹהֲבָיִךְתהילים קכ''ב:ו Sha-ah-LOO she-LOME Ye-roo-sha-la-YEEM yeesh-la-YOO oh-ha-va-YEEKH Pray for the peace of Jerusalem Love For His People, Inc.  12120 Woodside Falls Rd. Pineville, NC 28134       E-mail: loveforhispeople@gmail.com martinlighthouse@gmail.com Facebook pages: Steve Martin  and  Love For His People        Twitter: martinlighthous, LovingHisPeople and ahavaloveletter  Websites: http://loveforhispeople.blogspot.com         www.loveforhispeople.org YouTube: Steve Martin (loveforhispeopleinc)