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 Book of Genesis describes the inner meaning of the names of each of Jacob's twelve sons. Did you know that all of the sons were named by their mothers, except for Benjamin? Rachel, who died in childbirth, called her son, "Ben-oni" meaning "son of my mourning." But Jacob wanted his son's name to reflect a positive life-calling, and so called him "Benjamin" which means "son of my right side," connoting strength and support. Learn the meaning of your Hebrew name, a hint into your life-calling.
In this week's round-up, Nachum and Malcolm Hoenlein discuss the on-going search for the kidnapped boys as well as the Presbyterian vote to divest from Israel and much more.
A gorgeous sterling silver ring with cutout Hebrew words that mean: "I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me" (a verse from Solomon's Song of Songs).
Welcome to new photographers, Grace & Rick Knelsen! A chance meeting in Jerusalem during Rabbi Tuly's tour led us to the Knelsen's stunning photography. You'll feel you are right here, walking the Land, as you view their photo gallery. Today's photo of grazing cows was taken from Mount Carmel.
I will be travelling to the US this August and would be happy to speak to groups and congregations about Israel, the Bible and Jewish-Christian relations.
Thank you so much! I am very touched and blessed by the meaning of my name and appreciate all the research you put into it. Blessings and Shalom, Kelli B.
I pray for Israel every day and help in anyway I can. I love Israel, G-d's land, and G-d's chosen people. I look forward to each day to reading Israel365. Thank you! Shirley H.
We will present over the next year special features commemorating the centenary of World War I, showing the major battles that shook Palestine, the Jewish population of the Holy Land, and the Jewish soldiers who fought -- on both sides. Below are sample pictures:
Turks prepare to attack the Suez Canal
Austrian Jewish soldiers at the Kotel
Jewish students and teachers after the capture of Rishon LeZion by New Zealand soldiers
According to research from King's College in London, the current model of the Big Bang predicts that our universe should not exist.
New research bears bad news for the Big Bang theory of the universe's origin.
Scientists at King's College in London have found that the current model of the Big Bang would have resulted in a universe that collapsed soon after its formation.
According to the researchers, the rapid cosmic expansion physicists would expect to see after the Big Bang would have caused a good bit of turbulence—a situation worsened, not helped, by the so-called "God particle."
This "God particle," the Higgs boson, should have crushed our universe, shifting it into a lower energy field in which collapse would have been inevitable.
While it is doubtful astrophysicists will discard the Big Bang model, it might suffer a worse fate: the death of a thousand qualifications.
"When we hear the term Big Bang theory, many people assume it was conceived in its present form and has remained unassailed ever since. In reality, it is a very pliable model," wrote Answers in Genesis scientist Dr. Danny Faulkner in September 2013. "Several assumed variables in the equations have been changed to make the numbers match new findings. Today's Big Bang model little resembles the one your grandfather learned, and it is likely to continue morphing."
Conversely, the idea of the "God particle" doesn't really present a problem for creationists. According to them, the Higgs particle tells us about how the universe works now—not necessarily how it originated.
"The Higgs boson particle probably does exist. God upholds the creation with the power of His word, and I think this is just a humanly seen manifestation of that," Faulker said.
Within the creationist system, it is not surprising that godless models of creation come up short. The universe not only requires an ultimate causeless cause, but a constant sustainer keeping it in existence.
Hebrews 1:3a states of Christ, "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power."
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Apostasy Rising: 4 Denominations In Less Than a Week Defy God's Word
Across American Christianity, compromise on sexuality is crumbling at the foundation of holiness. (Flickr/Nathan Bush [edited])
The United Church of Christ (UCC) bills itself as "the church where God is still speaking." Apparently, God's Word is falling on deaf ears of the leadership.
The UCC, which considers itself a mainline Protestant denomination—claiming over 1 million members and about 5,200 congregations in the U.S.—proudly announced it will serve as a major sponsor of the Gay Games. The UCC will now go down in Christian history as the first major denomination to sponsor the homosexual Olympics when the games roll into Cleveland, Ohio, in August.
I guess my jaw shouldn't have dropped when I read the news, considering the UCC in April filed a gay marriage rights lawsuit in North Carolina. But not only did my jaw drop, I'm shaking my head. J. Bennett Guess, one of the UCC's national officers and its first openly gay church executive, calls it a social justice issue and says the denomination prides itself on "being a bold voice for progressive Christianity."
In case you aren't familiar with what the term "progressive Christianity" really means, let's take a moment to define it. Progressive Christianity has a strong focus on social justice and environmentalism. Progressive Christianity focuses on concepts like "collective salvation"—where entire cultures and societies, rather than just individuals with faith in Christ, are redeemed—and bends toward a Marxist economic philosophy. And Progressive Christianity does not subscribe to the biblical doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture.
That last line explains a lot. For example, it explains why the UCC was the first mainline denomination to affirm equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. It explains why the UCC was the first to ordain an openly gay man. And, overall, it explains why the UCC has fallen into the deception of sponsoring events that celebrate LGBT people instead of trying to love them to Christ.
Saints, we're seeing 1 Timothy 4:1 playing out right before our very eyes. It's called the Great Apostasy and it's well underway. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons..."
Back in 2012, I wrote an article titled, "Is the Great Falling Away Already Underway?" In it, I explained that some have indeed departed from the faith because they have engaged with deceiving spirits and embraced doctrines of demons. We've witnessed more than one man of God with a major ministry platform bow a knee to doctrines like universalism, deceiving and being deceived with this deadly heresy. Despite many in the church lifting their voice against heretical teachings, these deceived ministers hold fast to their demonic doctrine.
In the article, I show other examples. I would not have imagined that 18 months later I would have an overflowing list of new ones. That's why I am praying for a third Great Awakening. I am committed to crying out to God to see a cultural transformation—a spiritual revolution.
Although the Great Falling Away is going to happen because it's prophesied in Scripture, I am contending for a revival—a Great Awakening—that will sweep through the nation and cause people to turn back to God. I will not give up. The arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear (Is. 59:1).
Before each of the last Great Awakenings, people of God thought it was hopeless—and they didn't see the half of what we're seeing. But I am convinced God wants to turn this around—and I am convinced God can turn this around. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). A Great Awakening is our only hope for this nation. Will you join me in praying for another Great Awakening?
Jennifer LeClaireis news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, includingThe Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at
Prayer is more than just speaking to God. It also means listening to God. It can mean quieting the soul, being still before Him, momentarily letting go of a busy schedule—and just listening.
The greatest “noise” that hinders us from hearing Him comes from our minds. My life is so full that my time is usually spoken for, and my mind is constantly working. Demands are placed on me. I’m recovering from radiation therapy and facing potential surgery. There is a lot of “noise” in my life right now.
In order to hear the still, quiet voice of the Lord in the midst of chaos and distraction, we need to develop the habit of meeting with Him on a regular basis. There, in His presence, we can practice two things that are capable of changing our lives forever.
1. Meditate on God
Some of my favorite times of prayer occur when I am meditating on God, focusing on His splendor and glory. When you look at Him—really, truly give Him your attention—you start to remember that He is good, that He is great, that His love is powerful and true, that nothing is too hard for Him. It is not uncommon to sit in His presence and wonder, How could I have forgotten that about You? In His presence, you remember who He is.
David would actually remind the Lord of what He had done in the past. These prayers have tremendous power as we recall the multi-layered promises God has given us: “Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, for they are from of old” (Psalm 25:6).
2. Meditate on His Word
Second, you can meditate on God’s Word by slowly and deliberately reading the Scriptures. This is called Lectio Divina, which means “holy reading.” Essentially, it is praying God’s Word. You meditate on a particular passage and wait for God to give you greater understanding about it.
Lectio Divina is about taking it slow and really sinking your teeth into one section of Scripture at a time, letting it soak down into your heart. It is a way to practice giving God your full, undivided attention. The more you practice this method of reading the Scriptures, the easier it becomes to focus on God without the distractions of the day taking over your consciousness.
This type of prayer, meditating on the Word, will radically transform your life. It has certainly transformed mine.
The Raging River of Hope
I often tell people, “What you focus on is what you make room for.” In other words, when we focus on the Lord, we make room for Him in our lives. The apostle Paul talks about this principle in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed.” Beholding the glory of God transforms us. We become the people we were made to be—children who look more and more like their Father. Hope washes like a wild river through our souls, and we are restored.
As we develop a habit of meeting regularly with God, we prepare our spirits to hear from Him in times of peace as well as in times of crisis. We’re able to hear His voice even in the midst of “noise,” and the distractions that pull at us from the world will seem like actual distractions. We will recognize them for what they are, because we know the more important thing.
The Art of Praying the Scriptures book, CD-Set and Study Card are all valuable tools that will help prepare you to pray God’s Word back to him. The book contains 175 pages of practical instruction on the process of meditating on and praying God’s word and it includes some of John Paul’s favorite Scripture verses. The 2-CD Set goes deeper into this teaching with John Paul sharing several stories and anecdotes. To see the Art of Praying the Scriptures teaching series.
Just a few weeks away from his crucifixion, Yeshua decided to reveal some secrets of the end times… that many believers still misunderstand today.
He describes that, in the end times, things will be as they were in the days of Noah and Lot — eating drinking, marrying — and includes the famous quote:
“whoever shall seek to save his possessions shall lose his life; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (Luke 17:33 [event 151 in The Chronological Gospels])
But then come the verses that so many people confuse, and from which many a rapture theory has been devised:
“I tell you, in that night there shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken and the other left. Two shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” (Luke 17:34-36)
To “their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16), many believers stop at this point, referring to these verses as “proof” of a pre-tribulation rapture, saying that being “taken” is to be caught up in the clouds with the Messiah.
However, what the Messiah says in the very next verse (Luke 17:37) completely dismantles this theory:
“Wherever the bodies are, there will the vultures be gathered together.”
If they would only read on, they would discover that those who are taken… are dead!Their bodies are vulture food!
It’s not those who are “taken” that are saved, it is those who are “left behind.”
The next time you read the Bible, try reading an entire book of it from beginning to end to get the whole context; context is everything!
And context includes chronology.
Without knowing the precise time that a certain event happened, it is often very easy to slip into mistaken thinking.
That’s exactly why The Chronological Gospels was created — to clear up centuries of misconception, simply by putting things in order.
You can read more about this story in event #151 in The Chronological Gospels (click here to get your copy).
Want more?
How about a FREE timeline of Yeshua’s 70-week ministry, PLUS a $20 coupon toward the purchase of The Chronological Gospels?
Obama administration officials have praised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as someone with whom Israel can do business.
Yet he recently chose to do business with those committed to Israel's destruction.
Abbas struck a deal with Hamas making the U.S.-designated terror group part of a united Palestinian government.
Although that unity deal may soon be dead following Hamas's alleged kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, Abbas's initial embrace of the terror outfit raised serious questions about his commitment to peace.
Financing the Flames
"Peace doesn't have a chance because peace doesn't pay," said award-winning investigative journalist Edwin Black. "Because anytime that they want some income, all they've got to do is commit an act of terrorism."
In his latest book, Financing the Flames, the New York Timesbestselling author details how the Palestinian Authority rewards terrorists who have killed Israelis.
"As soon as a terrorist commits an act of terrorism against an innocent civilian in Israel -- whether that's cutting the throat of a child or stabbing a man standing at a bus or blowing up a building," Black said. "As soon as that man does that, he goes on a special salary from the Palestinian Authority, under Palestinian law -- a law known as the Law of the Prisoner."
The more Israelis killed, the bigger the financial reward.
"He gets a graduated salary depending on how heinous the crime is," Black continued. "If he kills five people and gets five years, he gets one salary. If he kills double that number and gets double the sentence, he gets double the salary. And so this actually incentivizes the misery, mayhem, and carnage that the terrorists commit."
Black told CBN News this is a long held policy. He spent time on the ground interviewing Israeli and Palestinian officials and found that the PA does not hide this cash-for-killers program.
"There's an entire ministry, called the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners, that actually oversees the distribution of this money and there is its counterpart in the civilian sector known as the Prisoner's Club," Black explained.
"Now this money constitutes some of the best salaries in the Palestinian Authority," he continued. "So you can literally go from poverty to wealth in the Palestinian Authority by committing an act of terrorism."
"This amounts to about 6 percent of the Palestinian budget," he said. "This money is paid on a priority basis. You can make as much as $3,000 or $4,000 a month while in prison just for committing this act of terrorism."
US Footing the Bill?
According to Black, some of the money can be tracked back to American taxpayers because the U.S. currently provides $400 million per year to the Palestinian Authority.
"There's a law against any of our money benefitting terrorism," Black said. "But in point of fact, approximately 6 percent of all the money we fund to the Palestinian Authority is probably diverted by them to fund terrorists' salaries."
"The money comes. It goes right to the prisoner. The prisoner signs a P.O.A. -- a power of attorney. He transmits that money to his bank account, to his lawyer, to his girlfriend, to his family, to his mother, to his organization," he explained.
"And this is the system we have in place. Our State Department knows it. Our administration knows it," Black told CBN News.
In the wake of Abbas's deal with Hamas, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced legislation that would cut funding to the Palestinian Authority.
The Obama administration, however, plans to continue engaging the PA -- meaning more terrorist salaries paid for, in part, by U.S. taxpayers.
"They would rather starve than see their prisoners, who are their heroes, go without remuneration for the acts of violence that they have committed against innocent civilians, homes, buses, trains," said Black. "It's an astonishment. And I think it's time for America to wake up."
“The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.” (Proverbs 19:23)
The abandoned Saint Elijah’s Monastery—the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq—located in the Nineveh Province, just south of the city of Mosul. (Photo: Doug/ Wikimedia Commons)
By Sean Savage/JNS.org
For most Westerners, Iraq is a foreboding and dangerous place that is filled with extremists and daily violence. Yet as little as 75 years ago Iraq was a vibrant country that was home to many different ethnic and religious minorities, including large Jewish and Christian populations.
But the latest round of violence spearheaded by the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), which is driving through the heart of Iraq to the capital of Baghdad and inflicting medieval-style Islamic justice on anyone in its path, might be the last gasp of Iraq’s ancient Christian community, which faces extinction like Iraq’s Jewish community before it.
“Iraq used to be a beautiful mosaic made of many different faiths, including Judaism,” Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, told JNS.org.
Like the Jewish people, the Christians of Iraq have a long and storied history that can be traced back to the very foundations of human civilization.
Most Iraqi Christians belong to an ethnic group known as the Assyrians. The Assyrian people consider themselves to be direct descendants of the numerous ancient Mesopotamian civilizations such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians.
“The Assyrians, also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs are the children of Sumerians, the original people of Iraq,” Taimoorazy said.
Mentioned numerous times in the bible from Genesis and onward, the peoples of Mesopotamia were key in formation of Judeo-Christian history. It is the land from which the biblical patriarch Abraham hailed. And later on, the Assyrians played a notable role in Jewish history, as they conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel and expelled the Jewish people to Mesopotamia. That led to the creation of Iraq’s Jewish community, which continued until the 20th century. Additionally, the Mesopotamians’ successors, the Babylonians, were the ones who later destroyed the First Temple in 587 BCE.
Christianity was first brought to modern-day Iraq by Jesus’s Apostle St. Thomas during the 1st century CE, making it one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Christians formed the majority of the country’s population until the 14th century. The region’s Christians have subdivided since then into a number of churches, with the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East forming the largest denominations.
Today, the Assyrians are based in northern Iraq’s Nineveh plains, where they have fought to preserve the customs, culture, and languages of the area’s past, despite facing numerous waves of persecution, mass killings, and expulsions since the invasion of Islam in the 7th century CE.
“For hundreds of years Christians have been marginalized in the Islam-dominated part of the world. After the fall of Saddam the situation has been devastating for Christian Assyrians and other minorities such as Mandeans and Yezidies,” Nuri Kino—a Swedish-Assyrian Christian who is an independent investigative reporter, filmmaker, author, and Middle East and human rights analyst—told JNS.org.
“More than 60 churches have been attacked and bombed. Rapes, kidnappings, robberies and executions [are all prevalent],” Kino added.
Kino, who has been in constant communication with friends on the ground in Iraq, said that these attacks are all a part of daily life for Assyrians “who don’t have their own militia or any neighboring country to back them up.”
According to Taimoorazy, who has also been in regular contact with a number of people in Iraq, the situation has deteriorated rapidly since the jihadist invasion.
Taimoorazy said that “water and electricity have been cut, there is a shortage of cooking gas, clean water is running out and there is a fear of an outbreak of illness where the refugees have fled.”
“This is a complete disaster for the wellbeing of our nation,” she added.
Before 2003, it was estimated that around 130,000 Christians lived in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, but only about 10,000 remained before the recent ISIS invasion a week ago. Now, residents say around 2,000 Christians remain in the city. Many have gone to the surrounding countryside or to Kurdistan. Additionally, many are seeking to flee the country altogether.
The flag of the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), which is driving through the heart of Iraq to the capital of Baghdad and inflicting medieval-style Islamic justice on anyone in its path. (Photo: Wiki Commons)
“Mosul is also very important for Christians, the prophet Jonah is buried there and also Abraham is supposed to be born in that part of Iraq,” Kino said,
“I have spoken to more than 20 Assyrian refugees [in recent days]. They are all saying pretty much the same thing: ISIS is a radical Sunni Islamic group who preaches and demands Sharia laws. That means that Christians have to pay a certain tax for protection, convert, or die,” she said.
The latest attacks are nothing new for Assyrian Christians and other minorities. They have faced nearly a century of continuous assault on their way of life.
“We lost 75 percent of our nation during the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocide from 1914 through 1918,” Taimoorazy said.
This has accelerated over the last decade, where nearly two-thirds of Iraq’s 1.5 million Christians have fled the country since 2003.
As the jihadist invasion continues, Iraq’s Christian leaders fear that this may very well be the end of Christianity in Iraq.
“After more than 2,000 years, during which we have withstood obstacles and persecutions, Iraq is today almost emptied of its Christian presence,” Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Saad Syroub of Baghdad said in an interview with the international Catholic charity group Aid to the Church in Need.
“We fear a civil war. If the various different opposing internal parties do not succeed in finding an agreement, then we must expect the worst. Another war would mean the end, especially for us Christians,” added Syroub.
The modern persecution and expulsion of Iraq’s Christian and other minorities draws many parallels to the waves of attacks on and eventual expulsion of Iraq’s Jewish community during the mid-20th century, when nearly 135,000 Jews were forced to leave from 1948 onwards. Overall, nearly 900,000 Jews were expelled from their homes across the Middle East, many settling in Israel, Europe, and North America.
Similar to Iraq’s Jews, who were targeted for their success and accused of supporting Israel, Christians in Iraq are also being targeted for their relative success and supposed ties to the West, especially the United States.
“The history of Jews and Christians in the Muslim dominated part of the world goes hand in hand. Massacres and atrocities to the members of the two religions have been going on for centuries,” Kino told JNS.org. “It is very sad that the colorful and very cultivated Jewish community of Iraq vanished.”
For Iraqi Christians—as well as those in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the Middle East—their ancient communities may soon also vanish, as many flee for safety in Europe and North America.
“At the current rate, with the mass exodus which is being witnessed by the world, the number of Christians left in the Middle East will be slim to none,” Taimoorazy said.
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/17228/like-jews-iraqs-christians-may-face-extinction-jihadist-invasion/#WHwr3PbeM2u6oGvO.99
