Monday, March 9, 2015

[RUDDICK REPORT] GLORY FROM THE EAST MANIFESTING - Morris Ruddick

Morris Ruddick 

GLORY FROM THE EAST MANIFESTING

In the face of what seems unlikely and impossible, God's ways are always higher. Having spent over 21 months in Vietnam in the last 7 years, we have continually been amazed. God's ways simply defy natural efforts and the best of human capabilities. At the crux has been a remnant committed to prayer.

Behind the Scenes

We've long been acquainted with how over two decades ago the Vietnamese refugee camps in Hong Kong served as Bible training centers. Huge numbers of Vietnamese were coming to the Lord and then being prepared for what God knew, but those held there hardly expected: being returned to Vietnam when China took over Hong Kong. That difficult event for those in the camps changed the balance of power for the house church movement from one end of the country to the other. More than seventy percent of those interred had come from the North.

During that same general time frame, beginning in the early 1990s, many from Vietnam's elite in the North were being sent to Russia for graduate work, business training and assignments, along with positions of influence. In Moscow alone, there was a community of over 100,000 Vietnamese. Most of Moscow's Vietnamese lived in one central high-rise area. THEN, during the time that the Vietnamese refugee camps across Asia started being disbanded, there came a radical spiritual climate change in Moscow. Almost overnight, in the expatriate Vietnamese community, everyone was talking about Jesus and reaching out to know Him.

Parenthetically, the late 1980s to mid-90s in Vietnam were the most brutal for the persecuted house church movement. Raids were made, leaders were jailed. So it was that the prayers of the saints steadily and desperately became more intense. Anointed, high-level Western ministry leaders slipped in to pray in agreement with secret gatherings of Vietnamese leaders. Those fervent prayers of the righteous, oppressed and anointed were heard -- and from Hong Kong to Moscow, grand-strategy alignments from on High were set in motion.

We tend to describe such big-picture alignments as God doing a new thing. While they are, they entail more. A very key factor involves the amassing of prayers from those most impacted, especially those being crushed for their faith. They entail the anticipatory response of a God whose ways are beyond the realm of our short-term perspectives of things. These highlights from more than the last two decades set the stage for what unfolded in our most recent sojourn in Vietnam as we have been privileged to serve as a part of these NEW dimensions being released in God.

Current Parallels
Upon arrival almost six weeks ago, we came out of the chute hard and fast. After a number of meetings in the Saigon area, we headed north. Domestic Vietnamese flights were a zoo this time of year, as we were traveling just prior to the Tet (Chinese New Year) holidays on our own, when there is a massive shift of the population returning to hometowns for family holiday visits.

It was freezing when we arrived in the capital city. Not literally, but with it sunny and
the highs in the Saigon area in the mid 90s, we were facing some days with the highs in the 50s, with it drizzly, overcast and damp. There's no heat in the buildings. The Vietnamese wear winter jackets in this type of weather.

Our first workshop had a mix of leaders: business people, fledgling entrepreneurs, pastors, pastor's wives and even a graduate-school professor whose academic expertise (economic forecasting) closely paralleled my own professional experience. There were several minority group, village leader/ pastors who had traveled distances to attend. Forty to fifty were expected -- the number wound up being 75. The man who arranged it was amazed. The professor who came had such a positive response, that he has offered to have my books translated and published in Vietnam. This very significant offer is an important answer to prayer and our future potential in helping these brethren.

I already knew core infrastructures were being deeply penetrated by the Lord, but this time in Hanoi demonstrated even more. We had dinner one night with a Vietnamese pastor our age, a former field-grade military type, also retired from a high-level position in a Russian firm, who is a product of the sweep of the Holy Spirit in Moscow during the 1990s. He now leads a fellowship attracting field-grade and above vets from the capital city. ONLY GOD, with the prayers of a remnant, could have done this.

Our next workshops included all successful business people -- whose desire is to follow God's ways of business. When I learned of the makeup of those attending, I re-shuffled the presentation and raised the bar. The new format has been well received with invitations for more. Our final group teased us with their desire for "more" by telling us that they would allow us to go ONLY if we agreed to come back in May with additional teaching. We agreed!

New Potentials and Challenges
We visited two of the orphanages our chief host supports. One has 22 kids who were rescued from human trafficking. We usually come with a small supply of Hershey's chocolates. It brought tears to our eyes to see those kids take their first bite of chocolate and see their eyes get real big at the taste of it.

The eagerness we're experiencing among business practitioners dovetails with another dimension of the big-picture alignment that ONLY GOD could be orchestrating. One of our earliest trips to Hanoi (2008) unveiled a move of God among the sons and daughters of high-ranking government officials, young professionals in their late 20s and 30s being completely delivered from hard-drug addictions after government drug-rehab programs had repeatedly failed.

NOW! Now there is a shift underway by authorities in the acceptance of the role of local Christians working with addicts.

As we've become a part of what is unfolding with business leaders in both Hanoi and Saigon -- it has brought the Joseph-Daniel Calling dimension of my message into sharp focus. So, in addition to our workshops to birth new businesses, we've begun to collaborate on bringing these business leaders together from across the regions to strategize on their joint mobilization. Discussions on plans to establish funds to train the youth entrepreneurially, as well as to help mobilize poor communities economically are in motion -- as Vietnamese leaders embrace the responsibility of helping their own.

Advancing opportunity -- with God's proclamation of the Vietnamese brethren being the head and not the tail -- is being facilitated, cooperatively by both the North and the South. As we have witnessed these "beyond expectation" dynamics, I marvel at the rich, personal relationships we've come to enjoy with the brethren in the North.

In line with these thoughts were some recent and very key Kingdom connections. One brother in particular is a genuine modern-day Joseph, a business-owner and product of the Vietnamese-Russian revival, who has an amazing story of how God supernaturally birthed his company and how he has intertwined his business with Kingdom purposes. His vision and zeal make him a major force for change in this simultaneously challenging, yet opportunistic spiritual environment.

We found our burden to start a business-school of values for the secular marketplace shared by ones who we might collaborate with in the days ahead. Step by step, the Lord is bringing the pieces together.

We visited and received feedback from a businessman who six years ago slipped us into a major stronghold of this nation. During that time we helped start businesses that have not only grown, but have built up the local body, as our self-sustaining program has continued to spawn new businesses. The "value-added" to what he shared was in the faith-filled way he now saw these brethren THINKING.

Contrary to ones culturally tainted by Western doctrinal precepts and ambitions, these brethren culturally are very biblical in their thinking while retaining a faith that is Vietnamese in its identity. With a culture closer to the Jewish roots to the faith than most other Asian cultures, it explains their ready grasp of deep matters of faith.

The Bible is culturally Jewish and from an Eastern mind-set. So it is that these brethren have embraced community-based mind-sets that look to the Lord, that are inclined to reach out and help one another AND to expect miracles. It's one of the reasons revival is taking root so strongly. In the face of adversity, these brethren have not only been prospering, but growing as a community spiritually. In so doing, they have become truly a light on a hill to their neighbors.

Yet, alongside these positive developments is a reality and deep concern. It involves leaders whose hearts have strayed from the purity needed in the high stakes of this spiritual environment and have become ambitious. The impact ranges from those who inform on one another (to local authorities) for their own gain, to those whose out-dated and short-sighted grasp of the spiritual big-picture short-circuits the alignments emerging from the long-term amassing of prayer.

I'm sharing these matters with the hope that it will engender prayer that supports the move of God underway, rather than the move of man.

Overall however, what we've been witnessing is how uniquely and strategically the Spirit of the Lord orchestrates things when people are praying. Alliances are being mobilized and Kingdom strategies planned and set in motion. With such a unique intertwining of fervent prayer and developments over the last two to three decades, there is emerging today, against all odds, something vibrant that taps His glory with results beyond chance expectations.

With our next trip in May, as well as our September trip almost filled up -- we are
already setting up activities for after the first of the year in 2016. The exposure we've had has tapped not only all the major house-church networks, but most major denominations. God has helped us in discerning the true voices of wisdom in this volatile spiritual environment.

I've been systematically tracking and mapping out these historical developments of the revival in Vietnam. Understanding the cultural overtones to the parallels between Vietnamese and biblical, Jewish culture is an important key to what lies ahead. God's ways are always higher. The prayers of a remnant have been triggering His glory. As they have, this fervent, effectual prayer combined with strategy impacts the spiritual atmosphere and brings change. It brings the change that only can be explained by God.

Thank you. We deeply appreciate your prayers and support in our efforts to build up these most remarkable brethren. 

With every blessing,
Morris-copy  
Morris Ruddick
Global Initiatives Foundation
www.strategic-initiatives.org
www.strategicintercession.org

Global Initiatives Foundation is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize the persecuted church to be the head and not the tail. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at http://strategicintercession.org/support/

Is There a Spiritual Side to Sex? - Charisma Magazine

God created sex for married men and women, so it stands to reason that there is a spiritual side to it.
God created sex for married men and women, so it stands to reason that there is a spiritual side to it. (iStock photo)
New Man
It's silly not to talk about the No. 1 issue, the No. 1 temptation, the No. 1 economic engine in culture for menand that's sex.
Testosterone never goes away; your sex life isn't just a physical thing. God knows where your sex life really is—on the inside. There is so much sexual confusion, so much brokenness. I have never met a man who hasn't, in some way, been impacted or broken in the area of sex in one form or another. 
God's mind on sex is very positive. Sex is a gift. That's how He created you. Sex is a good thing. He wants you to use that aspect of your life for positive things, not to misuse or abuse it.
God hates sexual sin, not because He hates sex, but because He loves life. Our identity as God's men, our energy and expression sexually is to honor, worship and glorify God.
But the message from culture is that sex is a compartmentalized, private aspect of your life that you really shouldn't talk about a whole lot, and that it's a deeply personal and individualized choice and experience. It's almost a separated functionally in our physical and spiritual lives.
Unfortunately for all of us, culture is wrong, and you can't separate sex and spirituality because God created it. It is not just another bodily function. It's not just another pleasurable experience. It's far more than that. To deny the spirituality of sex is disastrous in your life and the lives of those you've hooked up with.
Let's take a look under the hood. We are going to look at the body. We will eventually go body, mind and spirit, but for this series, we are going to look at the physical aspects of sex and masculinity.
What is going on in your body? Men have testosterone. Our male physical development hits its peak at an early age. It has this bell curve we are all familiar with, but did you know that men have what we would call a man period—or a man's cycle?
Women get blamed for their week of the month. It's not a good time and they are suffering all the time. You know, she's in a bad mood, with good biological reason.
After doing some research, I realized that men have a period too—or a man cycle—connected to their testosterone.  I'm going to prove to you emphatically, from your own personal experience, that this is true.
Testosterone levels are highest when: morning or evening?
Testosterone is highest in the morning. That's why you are going hunting in your shorts in the morning. When you wake up, that's when there is blood flow. I don't know why God did that, but for men it's highest in the morning and lowest at bedtime.
Do you know that men also have emotional cycles related to their testosterone levels? It runs in a four- to six-week rhythm.
There are also periods of low testosterone levels, whether you're older or younger. The lowest levels are generally in the spring, usually in April. The spring would be the male sexual winter. When we are in that season of four to six weeks, the key feelings that men have are apathy and indifference.
The peak time is November. I don't know why that is, but maybe that's why it's football season.    
Here's where it's actually more serious. Testosterone is very intimately linked to your level of stress, anxiety, depression, aggression and mood. This is very important because negative emotions have a negative impact on the people around you.
Is this a physiological thing? Is this fate? Can we control our hormones' behavior?
Yes, testosterone has the ability to produce more stress, depression, aggression and anger in your life, but you have control over that. It's all about who you are: your beliefs, your values and where are you going to go with those negative emotions and the impacts of testosterone in your life.
That's where we'll go in Part Two, because if there is a natural physiological presence of testosterone, and I'm single, I'm married, I'm more mature, my body is more mature or I'm single again, where do we go with it?
Kenny Luck is the president and founder of Every Man Ministries. As the former men's pastor at Saddleback Church in California and current leadership pastor at Crossline Community Church, Kenny has found the proven way to improve men's ministries around the world. Sleeping Giant is this blueprint, and gives men the tools they need to lead and understand their own men's ministry. Watch Kenny's teachings at everymanministries.com and start your men's group today!
Follow Every Man Ministries now on FacebookTwitter (@everymm,) and YouTube.

Ukraine Christian Sounds Alarm on Putin's Ambitions

Ukraine Christian Sounds Alarm on Putin's Ambitions

Britain is considering a new round of sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine conflict.


The West has long accused Russia of backing separatists in Eastern Ukraine with soldiers and weapons. Russia continues to deny the claim.


Meanwhile, in the United States, top Republican and Democratic leaders are asking President Barack Obama to send lethal weapons to Ukraine in its fight against pro-Russian rebels.


House Speaker John Boehner called the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine a "grotesque violation of international law." More than 6,000 people have died in the conflict since last April.


CBN News spoke with Ruslan Maliuta, a prominent Ukrainian evangelical leader and founder of Ukraine Without Borders, and Karen Springs, an American who has lived in Ukraine for 10 years. Springs works for CBN's Orphan's Promise ministry in Kiev.


Maliuta said Putin's territorial ambitions don't end with just Ukraine.


"My personal opinion is that Putin will not stop and we just need to realize that," he told CBN News. "Putin will not stop just with the Eastern part of Ukraine, he's not going to stop with Mariupol, he's not going to stop with Ukraine...If a country has a border with Russia they should be concerned."


Watch more of Maliuta and Springs' analysis and how the church around the world can pray for the situation in Ukraine and Russia.

Watch now: Full CBN interview

Dominque Francois: "It's Ireland's Time"


"It's Ireland's Time!"
Dominique Francois, Paris, France

"Ireland! Put on the Garment of Praise!"

The first section of this article was originally posted on The Elijah List on February 15, 2000. Click to read the original post here.

Although I have been a born again Christian for over 30 years and have been in this prophetic renewal for many of those, I have never, ever received a vision and a word like the one God seized me with for Ireland this morning.
As I was listening to the song "O, Consuming Fire," I saw the map of Europe circled by a high and thick wall, like a fortified city. Coming from the west, I saw the stern of a big ship – an ice-breaker type thing, only much bigger – knocking this wall down and making a breakthrough in Europe through Ireland.
I said: "God, are you going to bring a revival or a renewal to Ireland?" He answered: "No. Revival or renewal are not adequate words for what I am about to do in this country. 

It is going to be an outburst, an explosion, an invasion of My Spirit in the land of Ireland. 

All they have known for decades is civil war, terrorism, bombs, bullets, explosions, and slaughters, which were the works of the enemy, because satan knows what an exceptional destiny I have for the Irish people; but now I come. I come with might and power, I come with glory and splendor, I come with a divine explosion." (Photo via Freeimages)

Then the Lord led me to listen to the first song of "Revival In Belfast" (Robin Mark; Hosanna Music), titled "Garments of Praise," and the sobs of the Father's heart for Ireland seized me with violence. The lyrics say:
"Put on the garments of praise
F
or the spirit of heaviness;Let the oil of gladness flow down
From Your throne!"
Ireland, REJOICE! The Lord of glory is coming to you in an unprecedented explosion of His manifest presence, and all of Europe will be impacted and in awe of what God has done for you.

When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting. Then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. Psalm 126

May this word stir up your hearts, renew your courage and hope, and enlarge your vision. We cannot fathom what God is about to do.

Now, Fifteen Years Later...

I have returned to Ireland several times since the above word was published in 2000 to attend intercessor's meetings and conferences.

Our very first contact when we arrived in Ireland almost fifteen years ago was Marie Lacey, who is now a close and cherished friend. She is the initiator and director of the amazing Belfast Community Gospel Choir. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

At the end of 2013, my partner in ministry, Sandra Haven, and I felt called to return to Ireland for an extended period of time. It was then that God began to multiply our contacts, connecting us rapidly with key people, leaders, and intercessors from the North and the South. We are now based here in Northern Ireland until mid-April 2015.

ElijahList Prophetic Resources

Divine Appointments and Preparing the Way of the Lord for Ireland!

Shortly after we arrived, we went to a store in Bangor (Northern Ireland), and as we ascended the escalator, we were greeted at the top by two women, and one of them was telling the other that she should meet us.

The one that should meet us was Deborah, and here is her side of the story: "Coming into 2014, I felt that things were changing, and that it was a new season for me spiritually. I had been involved for several years with a group of women. Nothing had happened between us to cause a break up, it was just as if our hearts were turning in different directions – mine back to Ireland. I had had a real heart for our land years before, but it was as if something was stirring again. My friends were supportive and excited. I was back in a place where I wasn't sure what direction to take or who to meet up with! In my heart one day I asked, 'Lord, connect me with the right people.'

"Later that same day, I was out shopping and was upstairs looking around, when I met an old friend. We chatted briefly, and I can hardly remember what I said to her, or if I'd even mentioned to her about my heart for Ireland...when she got excited and said, 'Oh! You have to meet Dominique and Sandy. The Lord has called them to Ireland!' The words weren't right out of her mouth when...up the escalator came the two ladies. They were standing right in front of us! 

Wow, that was a quick answer to my prayer for the right connections! We met up that week, and it was as if we had known each other for years."

In March 2014, Deborah took us to Athlone to a meeting for intercessors and leaders. There, we met Norma, a woman I can only describe as a "Mother to the nation," an apostle, a key leader in the future of God's plan for Ireland.

This is what Norma said to us: "I was in a meeting, when I felt my arms turning constantly in motion like a locomotive, slowly at first, but then with great speed. Next, after a long period of this action, I saw this magnificent, glorious, green train with gold markings, engine and carriages. It was a brand new train that had never been out of the station. 

All carriage doors were being slammed closed one after the other – guards all in – until we came to the front where the conductor was standing with one foot on the step of the train and the other on the platform, whistle in mouth ready to blow for takeoff. Waiting, waiting, always waiting...for three long years, but when I met Dominique and Sandy, I knew that they were the people that the conductor was waiting for, and when they got on the train, it left the station." (Photo via Pixabay)

After we returned from Athlone, we visited many churches of different denominations in order to feel the spiritual pulse of Northern Ireland. Everywhere we went, in every church, concerts and various meetings, we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, mightily at work among the people.

In one of these meetings, I had an encounter with a woman that I will never forget.

This was her experience: "For many years as an intercessor I have prayed for a revival and a move of God in my beloved Ireland. On Saturday, February 19th, 2000, after our prayer time, my pastor gave a copy of a prophetic word for Ireland from Dominique Francois in Paris, which had just been published by The Elijah List. When I read this word, it hit my Spirit. I not only felt emotional, as it captured my heart, but I have faithfully prayed and declared it since as the Spirit led me in both north and south of Ireland.

"I longed to meet this prophet who so loved and cried for our land, so I asked of the Lord, 'Could I meet Dominique?' In early 2014, I heard she was in Northern Ireland, so I tried to meet her. Three times I just missed her! Although I did not know her, I felt spiritually connected to her, and a grief-like feeling came over me that I missed her again!

"Then, I was invited to a meeting on the 26th of March in 2014. I sat at the very back of the room. The worship was amazing, but during this time, I sensed the Holy Spirit say, 'If you turn around you will see Dominique!' I knew what I had heard, but I was a bit 'shaken'! In obedience I turned, and there, in that vast empty space, was a lady standing alone, lost in worship.

I gently went to her and whispered, 'Are you Dominique?' She said, 'Yes,' and I shook and cried. We hugged and couldn't let go! Our hearts were divinely connected in the Spirit. I have no words to explain the impact that first meeting had, not just for Ireland, but for me on a personal level. Dominique has imparted something beautiful and spiritual for Ireland. After carrying this prophetic word for now 15 years, I sense the power and the authority of the words given are truly only a prayer away."

Aren't these people so attractive, so passionate, and so radical about what they expect the Lord to do for their beloved land?

He Is Coming Like a Tidal Wave!

We are in Northern Ireland to encourage Believers to prepare the way of the Lord and to strive for unity. God will not release the magnificence of His presence on a divided Church. We may have different ideas, ways of worship, music, versions of the Bible, and denominations, but He wants us to display the sign that we are Christians by the way we love and prefer one another. He commands His blessing when we walk in unity. (Photo via Pixabay)

The manifest presence of the Lord is coming like a tidal wave to Ireland, and it will definitely be unprecedented. For sure, "Aslan is on the move." He is about to mightily restore the things that have been lost. His Spirit is raising an army of people who will have the awesome mission to take that fire to the ends of the world. These people of all ages, different backgrounds, social statuses, denominations and races, will walk as one man, shoulder to shoulder, in perfect unity to bring God's mighty, end-time purpose to fruition.

May His mighty name be exalted forever!

Dominique Francois
Email: all4ireland@gmail.com

Dominique Francois has been a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ since her conversion in 1970. In the years that followed, she had a leadership role in women's ministry, prayer groups, and Bible studies. She has a powerful prophetic prayer ministry and loves to encourage, edify, and comfort the Body of Christ. 

As a French/English translator for most of her adult life, she has translated hundreds of articles, five Christian books, and many manuals to train pastors. She has also translated simultaneously in conferences held in the United States and for prominent speakers who come to France. She is The Elijah List translator for the French list. 

Her passionate desire is to come alongside the people of Ireland as they experience the unprecedented outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will catapult them into their destiny as a nation.

To subscribe to The Elijah List go to:http://elijahlist.com/subscribe

The Ottoman Empire Archives -- A New Source for the History of the Holy Land The Istanbouli Synagogue in Jerusalem

Posted: 07 Mar 2015
We thank the Ottoman Empire Archives for digitizing their photographs and drawings.  We encourage all archivists and librarians to save their treasures and digitize them.

We recently posted rare photos from the Ottoman Archives showing the forced conscription of (apparently Jewish) residents and looting of Jerusalem homes by the Turkish army prior to World War I.  We present here an illustration found in the archives drawn almost 100 years earlier, prior to the invention of photography.

The Istanbouli Synagogue in Jerusalem (circa 1836, Ottoman Imperial Archives)
 
The illustration above appeared in the travelogue of a British writer, John Carne, who published Syria, The Holy Land, Asia Minor, &c. Illustrated in 1836  It is believed to show the Istanbouli Synagogue, established in Jerusalem's Old City in the 1760s by Turkish Jews.
  
In 1898, the Emperor of Germany visited Palestine.  The Jews of Jerusalem constructed a welcome arch to receive him.  Upon enlarging the photograph, we were surprised to see the curtains from various synagogues' Torah arks adorning the walls of the arch, including one with the name of the Istanbouli Synagogue embroidered on it.

The Jewish arch built for the German Emperor (1898)
See more on the Jews and the Emperor here
The curtain with the name
 "Istanbouli congregation"






















The picture below, apparently of the Istanbouli Synagogue in the late 19th century, was found in the massive Keystone-Mast Collection at the University of California, Riverside.
 
 Inside a Jewish synagogue showing holy place and readers platform. Jerusalem.
(Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography 
at UCR ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside)
The Library of Congress archives contains newer pictures taken in the 1930s by the American Colony Photographic Department. 
 
Interior of the Istanbouli Synagogue, Jerusalem (Library of Congress, circa 1935)

Ancient Torah scrolls in the Istanbouli Synagogue (Library of Congress, circa 1935)

Friday, March 6, 2015

4Him music video - "The Real Thing"



Uploaded on Jan 19, 2012
4Him The Real Thing...I do not own this song. But is presented under the fair use act.

What Speech Means for Netanyahu's Political Future

What Speech Means for Netanyahu's Political Future

Associated Press photo
JERUSALEM, Israel -- While in the U.S., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a warm welcome and much praise. Speaking before Congress, he made a strong case against Iran in what some termed the speech heard round the world.
Now that he's back home, the question is will it make a difference in the upcoming national election.
Some Israeli political analysts say the performance helped his party's chances, but a lot could happen before voters go to the polls in two weeks.
"For voters who have voted Likud in the past, and now are not sure, that Netanyahu's [congressional speech] would be an important help for him. Setting the agenda on security issues, I don't think it clinches the election for him. There's still a long way to go," Guy Lurie, with the Israel Democracy Institute, told CBN News.
According to one poll after the speech, Likud gained two seats. It also showed 44 percent of Israelis believe Netanyahu is most qualified to be prime minister.
While the two main parties remain far apart on issues like economics, the rivals agree on the Jewish state's biggest threat. 
"There is not much difference between [Yitzhak] Herzog and Labor and Netanyahu and Likud when it comes to the negotiations with Iran," Bar-Ilan University Prof. Eytan Gilboa told CBN News. 
Surprisingly, many commentators from the Gulf Arab nations stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Netanyahu's warning to the United States and criticized President Barack Obama's negotiations with Iran, a country they consider a mortal enemy.
One influential Arab commentator called Obama "the ally of political Islam, [which is] the… mother of [all] the terrorist organizations."
"I am very glad of Netanyahu's firm stance and [his decision] to speak against the nuclear agreement at the American Congress," Saudi columnist Dr. Ahmad Al-Faraj wrote in Al-Arabiyah. "I believe that Netanyahu's conduct will serve our Saudi interests, the people of the Gulf, much more than the foolish behavior of one of the worst American presidents."
And Times of Israel political analyst Haviv Rettig Gur wrote that Netanyahu's speech assured "Sunni Arab peoples and governments… [Notes:that] Israel will hold the line even if America fails us on Iran."
While control of the Knesset is at stake in the upcoming election, the results will be felt throughout the region and around the world.

When Christians Turn Mean and Hateful by Lee Grady

When Christians Turn Mean and Hateful by Lee Grady (Identity Network)

People have always been rude, thanks to human nature. But have you noticed that rudeness has gone to a whole new level since the advent of social media? What people were ashamed to say to someone's face can now be easily posted on Facebook, or tweeted, or typed anonymously on a blog or web forum.

Why are we so mean today? Maybe people have watched too many angry political slugfests on television or read too much hateful banter online. Maybe all this toxic dialogue has desensitized us, and we just don't know how to bite our lips and say anything kind. And while I'd love to say that Christians are immune to this epidemic of harsh conversation, that's not the case. Sometimes we are just as mean as everyone else, even if we don't drop F-bombs as often.

 I recently visited a web forum that specifically caters to Christians, but I had to exit quickly because the tone of the discussion was so caustic. Christians were skewering each other, name-calling and judging people they've never met in person. There used to be rules for arguing, but today - at least on the Internet - the gloves are off, all weapons are allowed and there are no referees. It's a bloody free-for-all.

The father of the modern Pentecostal movement, William "Daddy" Seymour, knew that there is a direct correlation between the level of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the way we treat people. He said: "Pentecostal power, when you sum it all up, is just more of God's love. If it does not bring more love, it is simply a counterfeit."

Ouch!

A Revival of Genuine Love

What we need today in the church is a revival of genuine love. If you want to see such a revival in your own heart, start by taking these steps:

  • Let go of all unforgiveness. The No. 1 reason people have anger seething under the surface of their hearts is they have not forgiven people who hurt them. Holding resentment in your heart is not only unhealthy for you (it can cause disease); it is also toxic for those around you, because they are subjected to your bitter venom when you speak. Forgive people quickly and allow the sweetness of God's love to neutralize the poison.

  • Get healing from past abuse. Many people are verbal abusers because they were abused, bullied, rejected or judged in the past. If that was your story, you can break the cycle through the power of Christ. Let Him teach you how to love people, even if no one in your past knew how. Also, open your life to a mature mentor who can model Christian love to you, and take the risk of building healthy friendships.

  • Go on a fast from negative words. Many Christians fast at the beginning of each year to ask God for personal revival. But you can fast from sweets, carbs and proteins for 21 days and still be spiritually unchanged if you are complaining, grumbling, criticizing or spewing hateful words from your mouth every day. Ask God to set a guard over your mouth to instantly convict you of unkind words and actions that quench the Holy Spirit.

  • Stop bashing the church. Today there are a growing number of disillusioned Christians who have given up on the church because they were hurt by a pastor or a fellow believer. These so-called "dones" (people who are "done" with organized churches) sometimes feel compelled to vent in public forums about how the church has failed them. Yet bashing the church is never going to make anyone feel better; it will only drive them farther from God and His reconciling power.

We must remember what British preacher Charles Spurgeon said: "You are no lover of Christ if you do not love His children....Love Christ and you will soon love all that love Him." God loves His church with all of its flaws, and so should you.
  • Let God stretch your love. The apostle Peter wrote: "Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart" (1 Peter 1:22 NASB). The Greek word for "fervently," ektenos, means "stretched." It implies that if we want to love people like God loves them, we will be stretched to the max. Stretching hurts, but in a good way!

God wants to put His very heart inside you, but He can't until you make room by getting rid of every hateful attitude. Open your heart wide, and let His love invade the places you have closed. His fervent love can change a bitter, angry, cynical critic into a kind, gentle, affectionate lover of people.

Lee Grady


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Syrian Christian Worries for Friends Kidnapped by ISIS

Syrian Christian Worries for Friends Kidnapped by ISIS



The fate of more than 300 Assyrian Christians kidnapped by ISIS in Syria is still unknown. Assyrian leaders, working with Sunni tribal leaders, are reportedly in negotiations for the release of all hostages.
On February 23, ISIS attacked 35 Assyrian villages in northeast Syria. The Assyrian International News Agency reports that four Christians taken by the Islamic State during the raids have been released, including a 6-year-old girl.
Hadeel Kouki is a 24-year-old Syrian Christian. She escaped from Syria in 2012 after being repeatedly imprisoned and beaten by Syrian intelligence.
She played an active role during the early days of the political uprising against President Bashar-al-Assad, calling on Syrians to peacefully march for freedom.
She lives in the United States today and continues to speak out on behalf of persecuted Christians in Syria and across the Middle East. She told CBN News that she has friends and neighbors among the hundreds of Christians kidnapped by ISIS.
Despite recent gestures by the Islamic terror group to release some of the kidnapped Assyrians, Kouki is concerned many of the Christians could face the same fate as the 21 Egyptian Christians killed in Libya last month.
She also warns that unless something is done to stop them, ISIS will eradicate Christianity from the Middle East. She's calling on the Christians around the world to pray for fellow brothers and sisters suffering for their faith in Syria and beyond.