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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.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
"America at a Cross-Roads" - The Lions Roars Prophetic Newsletter - Karla Shrake
Yom Yerushalayim - Jerusalem Day is May 28, 2014
Yom Yerushalayim
- Jerusalem Day
Jewish Holidays: Table of Contents | Upcoming Dates | Festivals in Israel
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Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day in Herbew) is the anniversary of the liberation and unification of Jerusalem under Jewish sovereignty that occurred during the Six Day War. It is one of four holiday (in addition to Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, andYom HaAtzmaut) that were added to the Jewish calendar in the 20th century. Yom Yerushalayim is celebrated on the 28th of the month of Iyar (one week before Shavuot).
 David Rubinger's famous photograph of IDF soldiers after liberating the Kotel (Western Wall) in June 1967 |
The liberation of Jerusalem in 1967 marked the first time in thousands of years that the entire city of Jerusalem, the holiest city in Judaism, was under Jewish sovereignty. The destruction of Jerusalem was a watershed event in Jewish history that began thousands of years of mourning for Jerusalem, so, it follows, that the reunification of Jerusalem should be a joyous celebration that begins the process of reversing thousands of years of destruction and exile. Jerusalem is central to the Jewish tradition. Jews face in the direction of Jerusalem and all of the prayer services are filled with references to Jerusalem.
The observance of Yom Yerushalayim outside of the city cannot compare to its celebration in reunited Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, thousands of people march around the city and walk through the liberated Old City, where Jews were denied access from 1948 to 1967 while it was under Jordanian control. The march ends at the Kotel (Western Wall), one of the ancient retaining walls surrounding the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site. Once everyone gets to the Kotel, there are speeches and concerts and celebratory dancing.
Rare in the Jewish liturgy, a festive Hallel is recited during the evening prayers. This practice is only done on the first night (and, outside of Israel, on the second night) of Passover and Yom HaAtzmaut. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared that the holiday version of Pseuki d'Zimra and Hallel should be recited. According to the major religious Zionist halakhists (decisors of Jewish law), even those who do not recite the blessing over Hallel (psalms of praise) on Yom HaAtzmaut should recite it on Yom Yerushalayim because the liberation and reunification over the entire city of Jerusalem is said to be of an even greater miracle than Jewish political sovereignty over part of the land of Israel.
Many religious leaders also hold that the mourning restrictions of 33 days of the omer are lifted on Yom Yerushalayim for those who observe them after Lag B'omer. In the Progressive (Reform) community in Israel, the prayerbook notes that Hallel should be recited on Yom Yerushalayim but the Masorti (Conservative) prayerbook does not. The American Conservative siddur Sim Shalom mentions that Hallel is recited "in some congregations" on Yom Yerushalayim. When it is celebrated in liberal Jewish communities the commemoration tends to include special programs on Jerusalem and festive celebration.
Despite the fact that the religious Zionist community in Israel holds that Yom Yerushalayim is even more important than Yom HaAtzmaut, the non-Orthodox diaspora Jewish community generally does not observe Yom Yerushalayim. This may be because the holiday makes politically liberal Jews uncomfortable as the status of Jerusalem in the international community is debated, and the international community does not recognize the liberation and restoration of Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem as valid.
Sources: Yom Yerushalayim," WUJS; "Overview: Yom Yerushalayim," My Jewish Learning
Website: Jewish Virtual Library
John Belt: How The Prophetic Voice Helps The Church
John Belt:
The Elijah List
A Heart of Pursuit
God is wanting to help churches that have a heart to pursue Him in this hour. He is making great efforts, reaching out to help His people. There are adjustments, renovations, and changes He desires to make in congregations, so He is sending help through His prophets that have eyes to see and ears to hear. Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to get a better perspective of what is going on internally in a congregation.
Revelation 2:1-2, 4 To the angel of the Church of Ephesus write, "These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 'I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil...Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.'"
Looking at the Churches addressed in the Book of Revelation, we see that each Church had issues to be dealt with. I love the way God deals with things because He always begins, not by listing what is wrong,
but encouraging them with things that are right.
It is at the end that He brings the tough stuff that the Churches need to deal with. We can also see this in the letters of Paul. He begins with greetings, salutations, and encourages them in how great they are doing in various areas – then he speaks the hard truth that they need to hear and the adjustments that they need to make to keep them on the narrow path that properly represents the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Embrace The Prophetic Voice
So it is in this hour. Leaders of local congregations must wisely, prayerfully, and discerningly open themselves to legitimate exterior prophetic voices that have eyes to see what is going on in their congregations.
Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. As we move into this new hour of the Church, those that will fully and wisely embrace the five-fold ministry will enjoy the fruit of living by God's scales and balances. All of the offices (apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, and evangelist) bring the fullness of God's scales and balances to a congregation so that people may grow into the fullness and stature of Christ (see Ephesians 4:11-13).
God loves His Church. Therefore He brings help from the outside to sustain that which remains that it may grow rather than be taken away. There is cutting edge of the prophetic voice that brings a clear challenge to pastors, because so many times it goes against the grain of who they are or how they would typically view things.
Just as Jesus comes in forms that may offend our natural mind, we must be humble enough to recognize the form that He chooses to reveal Himself to us.
What we can know for sure is that it is always for our good, to help us grow, to prune us as needed that we may flourish in the courts of His presence.
As Paul said, pruning is not pleasant at the time, but later bears the fruit of righteousness in our lives. A wise man loves good, helpful correction. We must learn to love His pruning, because we know that it will help us dramatically.
(Photo © Copyright Richard Williams and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons License)
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
If you are a pastor, I would encourage you to open your heart to pray that God would give you eyes to see and ears to hear what He is wanting to show and say to you. What adjustments need made? Maybe He will reveal these things directly to you, or maybe He will come to you in a form you may not expect that would be contrary to your normal culture.
God knows how to shake us up and shake things up so that we won't find our confidence in anything other than Him.
Prospering Through Prophetic Release
In the Book of Ezra they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah. Here we see the power of the prophetic voice in action. The people heeded the prophets and they prospered in building.
Ezra 6:14 So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo.
And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel...
Local congregations represent people, the living stones, that God is building for a habitation of His presence. God is looking for local congregations that will commit to the prophetic preparations necessary to be sanctuaries of His presence.
(Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
The Holy Spirit cannot be a side item, rather central, as He is God manifested in the earth. He is Christ in us the hope of glory. As we welcome Him into our hearts and congregations, we welcome the nature of God in His holiness in our midst, because He is the "Holy" Spirit.
The litmus test of whether we are welcoming the Holy Spirit is if we are rejecting that which is displeasing to God, profane and unholy. Jesus did. The fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil and sin (see Proverbs 8:13). God wants a pure people that are committed to His heart in purity. Anything less is settling for less than the best God has for us.
Welcome the Holy Spirit, ask the Lord for grace, wisdom, discernment, and His prophetic input into your life and congregation. Be honest, and see what God sees from the outside that you cannot see from the inside. As we yield our hearts to His presence, He is faithful to lead us in His ways, help us on our journey, and build up His Body for His glory.
His Love Never Fails!
John and Brandi Belt
Overflow Global Ministries
Overflow Global Ministries
Overflow Global Ministries is the ministry of John and Brandi Belt. The heart of their message is that God's greatest desire is to indwell His people with His presence. They believe that man was created to be inhabited by God through His Spirit. With a sincere devotion to God through the Holy Spirit, people can live in a place of overflow in His presence.
This overflow translates into touching the lives of others through living encounters with God. When John and Brandi minister, the intimate presence of God is manifest – being accompanied with demonstrations of God's power to heal, revive, and restore.
To subscribe to The Elijah List go to:http://elijahlist.com/
What Is Celebrate America All About - The Details
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John Kerry Gives Up on Peace in Israel
John Kerry Gives Up on Peace in Israel
“For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his Air Force jet for a flight to Paris, France, after a day trip to Israel and a meeting in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 15, 2013. (Photo: US State Department)
The Obama administration has given up when it comes to peace in the Middle East. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed in a briefing on Wednesday that the United States is no longer planning on presenting new initiatives for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to Psaki, Secretary of State John Kerry has turned his attention to more pressing matters in the international arena.
“It remains in the hands of the parties to take – make the choice necessary if they want to resume discussions. Obviously, there’s a great deal going on in the world, and Secretary Kerry is focused on everything from Ukraine to South Sudan, all the issues we talk about in here every day,” Psaki said.
While the US is no longer planning on brokering peace agreements, Psaki stressed that it was “Still engaged with the parties” and that “at this stage we’re in, we’re clearly in a hiatus from the talks. Nothing has changed from that.”
The last round of peace talks took a downward spiral when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas demanded more concessions from Israel without returning any guarantee of engaging in future peace talks with Israel.
Negotiations completely collapsed several weeks ago when Israel suspended all talks with the PA in response to a surprise announcement of a Hamas-Fatah unity agreement. The new agreement will make Hamas, a Gaza-based terrorist organization, part of a new, unified Palestinian government.
Israel stated that it would never negotiate with any Palestinian government in which Hamas, who vows armed and violent resistance against Israel, is a part of.
US envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations Martin Indyk is stepping down from his post and dissolving his negotiating team in light of the recent “failure” of peace talks, Maariv reported.
Kerry has appeared optimistic about kick-starting a new round of peace talks, meeting recently with Abbas in London in “informal” discussions to discuss terms. However, the secretary has admitted it is now time to take a “pause” from talks. Kerry told Israel and the PA that the road to peace now lies in their hands.
The Obama administration, realizing the failure of peace talks, has ordered Kerry and the State Department to refocus its efforts on other international matters. According to a report last week in The New York Times, President Barack Obama is stepping away from the peace process in order “to let the failure of the talks since in for both parties, and see if that causes them to reconsider.”
An anonymous official in the Obama administration told the newspaper that the president blames Israel for the failure of peace talks, citing new construction in Judea and Samaria as the main reason.
The report noted that Obama instructed Kerry and his team to turn their attention on the crisis in Ukraine, nuclear negotiations with Iran, and long-term American strategic shift to Asia.
Love For His People Editor's Note: YEAH!!! You can't divide the land the Lord God of Israel gave to the Jews. So quit trying once and for all!!!
Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People, Inc.
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China Buys Control of Israel's Dairy Conglomerate
China Buys Control of Israel's Dairy Conglomerate
Thursday, May 22, 2014 | Israel Today Staff
China’s state-owned Bright Food Group on Wednesday completed its $2.5 billion purchase of a controlling stake in the Israeli dairy conglomerate Tnuva.
Tnuva controls over 70 percent of the Israeli dairy market. Following the deal, China now owns 56 percent of the company.
The sale has for months been vigorously opposed by members of the Israeli Knesset and the numerous farmers who make up the Tnuva conglomerate.
They argue that selling such a large and important Israeli supplier into foreign hands creates a food security risk for the Jewish state.
The truth is that a majority of Tnuva has been owned by foreigners since 2007, when British investment firm Apax Partners bought a controlling stake in the company. Then, too, Tnuva farmers protested, but most were convinced to sell their shares after Apax negotiated acceptable supply agreements.
Now, the Israeli farmers fear their new Chinese owners will want to renegotiate those agreements.
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Billy Graham: 4 Ways Christians Should Respond to the Spirit of the World
Billy Graham: 4 Ways Christians Should Respond to the Spirit of the World
When Rome was at the height of her glory and power, there appeared a disturbing sect called Christians. Because of a fire that burned within them, these people dared to be different.
In an era when immorality, lavishness and luxury were stylish, Christians refused to be defiled by the sensual practices of a disintegrating civilization. In a period when human life was cheap, they put a high value upon human beings, their souls and their destinies.
These Christians refused to be absorbed into the godless society of Rome. They had not heard of the rule that we hear today: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." The Roman high tribunal initiated a drive to stamp out Christianity as a disturber of pagan unity.
The Romans had a false notion that a person's conscience could be controlled by law, so they made it illegal to be different. All had to bow to Caesar. All had to conform to pagan custom. All had to behave like true Romans.
Nonconformists were threatened with death, and many chose death rather than to conform to Rome and to compromise their consciences.
A Roman Christian named Paul took up his pen and wrote a word for all Christians of all times: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2).
Times have changed, but human nature hasn't. The pagan world is still trying to put its stamp of conformity on every follower of Jesus Christ. Every possible pressure is being brought to bear upon Christians to make them conform to the standards of the world.
The Apostle Paul urges Christians everywhere in all ages to be nonconformists as far as the world system is concerned. A true Christian, living an obedient life, is a constant rebuke to those who accept the moral standards of this world.
In our desire to make Christ known and to increase the influence of the church, we are prone to think that Christians and the church can be made popular with the unbelieving world. This is a grave mistake. Christ crucified is anathema to Satan, and the message of the Gospel is still a stumbling block and foolishness to the world. Our Lord warned His disciples, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you" (John 15:18). The Apostle John writes, "Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you" (1 John 3:13).
Christians may be shown a grudging respect at times, but if we are faithful to Christ, we will surely incur the wrath of the world. "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution," says the Scripture (2 Timothy 3:12).
The Scripture teaches that popularity with the world means death. Satan's most effective tools are conformity and compromise. He is aware that one man standing in the midst of a pagan people declaring, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16), can move more people in the direction of God than thousands of insipid professors of religion.
We often ask ourselves, "How could the early disciples turn the world upside down when millions of Christians can't even keep it right side up today?" The answer is simple. They didn't conform their faith to the world. They had the truth, and they refused to water it down. They held a faith that would not compromise.
Because they dared to buck the tide of public opinion and be different, because they dared to believe when other people doubted, because they were willing to risk their lives for what they stood for, because they chose death rather than to live an empty life, the world took notice of what motivated these men and women. In due time, they turned the philosophical and religious world upside down.
The words of Paul, "Do not be conformed to this world," have tremendous significance and meaning for us today. These words cut like a sharp sword across our way of life. They are not comfortable words. They have the tone of the battle call in them. They separate the weak from the strong. But they are words of inspiration, and we need to hear them today.
First, we must not be conformed to this world mentally. The world—by its advertisements, its conversation and its philosophy—is engaged in a gigantic brainwashing task. Much entertainment is slanted to those who feed on violence, sex and lawlessness. It seems that some diabolic mastermind is running the affairs of this world and that his chief objective is to brainwash Christians and to get them to conform to this world. The world's sewage system threatens to contaminate the Christian's thought. Satan will contest every hour you spend in Bible reading or prayer.
However, above the din we can hear the voice of Scripture: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). And: "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2).
Second, we must not conform to the world physically. These bodies of ours are intended to be temples of the Spirit of God. We are not to prostrate them before the temples of Baal. We are to present them wholly to God as a "living sacrifice." Our dress, our posture and our actions should all be for the honor and glory of Christ.
Third, we must not conform to the world socially. The world attempts to absorb us into its secular society and to conform us to its earthly image, but Christ urges us not to conform. Clearly He says of those who believe in Him, "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:16).
Jesus dined with publicans and sinners, but He did not allow the social group to conform Him to its ways. He seized every opportunity to present a spiritual truth and to lead souls from death to life. Our social contacts should not only be pleasant, they should be opportunities to share our faith with those who do not yet know Christ.
Fourth, we must not conform to the world spiritually. We are not to be conformed to the world's definition of what it means to be religious, but we are to make sure we have met God's requirements for discipleship.
No nation was ever more religious than Israel in the Prophet Isaiah's day. The Temple was filled. The altar ran red with the blood of sacrifice. The religious festivals were strictly observed, and the voice of prayer was heard in the house of God. But there was a lack of true devotion in Israel's worship. The nation was deteriorating morally. Speaking as God commanded, Isaiah said, "Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting" (Isaiah 1:13).
Then Isaiah told them how they could be cleansed from their sin. He said: "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil. ... 'Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool'" (Isaiah 1:16, 18).
There are thousands of people who do not give themselves to Jesus Christ, because they have conformed to the world. They are afraid of being called fanatic, pious, puritanical or religious. A true Christian is a nonconformist.
I'm asking Christians everywhere to become committed followers of Jesus Christ—not conformed to the world, but conformed daily to the image of Jesus Christ. Why don't you, right now, give your life over completely to Jesus Christ?
Click here to read the original article at BillyGraham.org.
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