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Imagine Christ's view from atop the mountain where He preached to the multitudes about the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful and the pure of heart. As He preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), Jesus looked down on a sea of faces that hung on His every word because He didn't teach as the scribes did but as one with authority—and He was moved with compassion for their souls.
A new book, Multitudes, helps readers imagine what Christ saw as He taught about anger, adultery, oaths, revenge, loving your enemies and charitable giving, fasting and heaven. Steffi Geiser Rubin, an artist commissioned by Jews for Jesus to create original art for the Messianic Jewish evangelistic organization's new book, says its cover gives Jesus' eye view perspective from that mount in Galilee.
"The cover, which is made up of faces from the illustration of Matthew 5-7, is to show what Jesus saw when He looked out," Rubin says. "He was able to see beyond the exterior into the hearts and souls and needs of the people. This is an image of Jesus that Jewish people can understand because there has been a lot of suffering among Jewish people, and, therefore, a lot of compassion toward those who suffer."
Reaching Jewish Multitudes
The coffee table book—combining the Messianic Jewish Tree of Life version of the book of Matthew with 20 original, full-scale paintings—is part of an artistic outreach to share Yeshua's love for the "multitudes" with the Jewish people and, ultimately, the entire world.
"I love that verse and the way Matthew paints such a graphic picture to help us understand what Jesus was feeling," David Brickner, executive director of the San Francisco-based ministry, wrote in Multitudes. "If we are to care with the compassion of Messiah Yeshua, we need to see past the veneers to understand people and circumstances as He sees them. We need to see that the multitudes who are without Yeshua are lost and without hope because they are without God in this world."
Multitudes is not just a coffee table book; it's also a traveling exhibition. The paintings were displayed at recent art shows in San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; and New York City, an exhibit that drew 500 people its first night. More shows are planned this year in Paris, Tel Aviv and across Israel.
Susan Perlman, associate director at Jews for Jesus, says the shows attract the curious—just like Jesus did when He walked the earth. That curiosity opens the door for Jews for Jesus staff to introduce the curious to Yeshua.
"People are really taken by these art shows," Perlman says. "It does cause dissonance: 'Wait a minute, they're Jewish, but they believe in Jesus. But what we're experiencing is especially very Jewish and Christian at the same time.' The combination—it makes people do a double take."
Multitudes' Prophetic Inspiration
Inspiration for the project began when Marc Sternberg was teaching on Matthew and realized the apostle was a Jew writing to Jews who didn't yet believe in Yeshua as the Messiah. He thought: "Wouldn't Matthew be a great vehicle to reach Jewish people today."
Later, while driving home, Sternberg says the Lord inspired him in a "waking vision-dream" to begin work on the illustrated Gospel of Matthew book that is now Multitudes.
"I believe that the art of Multitudes is a non-threatening platform for sharing the gospel," says Sternberg, director of the Jews for Jesus Store. "Almost each of the paintings has a Messianic prophecy that Jesus is actually fulfilling in that passage of the Bible, or that He is quoting directly from the Old Testament Scripture."
Following the "vision-dream," Jews for Jesus commissioned Rubin, its first art director and a founding member, to create original artwork as a vehicle for communicating the Jewishness of the Gospel of Matthew. Rubin joined Jews for Jesus after encountering ministry Founder Moishe Rosen at a Bible study at University of California, Berkeley in 1971. He asked her, "What do you think God wants from you?" After reading the Gospels, she put her faith in Yeshua.
Rubin's paintings represent the major themes, events and messages within the book. The key verses, Old Testament references and image ideas were a collaborative effort between Rubin and Jews for Jesus.
Disrupting Jewish Thinking
"Multitudes is Jesus' perspective of the gospel," Rubin says. "(It's) what inspired Him when He delivered the Sermon on the Mount. The whole background, the whole history of Jews for Jesus, is one of disruption—changing what people think when they hear 'Jesus,' changing what people think when they hear 'Jews.' These paintings are all so disruptive."
Perlman hopes the project will not only touch hearts, but will expand the understanding Jews have of Yeshua.
"Most importantly, it will transform them in terms of their understanding of the Creator Himself, and how both visually and in the written word, we can find that He is the way, the truth and the life," Perlman says. "It's a gospel tool and also a validation of our faith."
Watch how Jews for Jesus can reach people for Christ through the Multitudes Art Project at multitudes.charismamag.com.
Troy Anderson is the executive editor of Charisma, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and co-author of The Babylon Code. Follow him on Twitter(TroyMAnderson), Facebook (troyandersonwriter) or online attroyanderson.us.
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Rick Wiles greets trend economist and joint partner in Jim Sinclair’s Mineset, Bill Holter, to discuss the impending crash of the global credit markets. Rick will also be joined by Pastor Rafael Cruz, the father of GOP contender Ted Cruz, to make the case to America once more, why we as a nation must return to our Judeo-Christian values or face ruin.
“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” -Jeremiah 6:16
Edward is a US Army veteran who turned to Christ in 2012 & has a fire for bringing truth to the world of online and broadcast media. If you have any tips please email him at Edward.Szall@trunews.com / How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” - Isaiah 52:7
Read more at https://www.trunews.com/trunews-020416-pastor-rafael-cruz-bring-america-back-to-god/#qsr3vaZIT7ypWjBa.99
Pope Francis met with the leader of Iran in a meeting Breaking Israel News dubbed the prophetic fulfillment of Esau and Ishmael uniting against Israel. (Reuters)
The Prophetic Meeting of Major World Leaders No One's Talking About
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Pope Francis met with the leader of Iran in a meeting Breaking Israel News dubbed the prophetic fulfillment of Esau and Ishmael uniting against Israel.
"For Bible believers, these and similar news items that reflect increasing cooperation between the Arab world and the West should be viewed as fulfillment of ancient Jewish prophecy," BNI's Rivkah Lambert Adler writes.
"Jewish tradition contains a 2,000-year-old prophecy that the children of Esau (today's Western nations) and the children of Ishmael (today's Arab nations) will unite against the Jewish people at the end of days," Adler continues.
According to the New York Times, Pope Francis met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to encourage Rouhani to find political solutions for the various Middle Eastern conflicts.
Pope Francis also praised Iranian Nuclear negotiations.
"In hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world," the pope said, according to Bloomberg News.
Though Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has virtually moved on from his vehement protests against the Iran Nuclear deal, he still voices many concerns.
"Let's block Iran's other aggression in the region, because they're doing everything. They're trying to encircle Israel with a noose of death," Netanyahu said, according to CNN. "They're sending weapons to the Houthis. They're in Iraq. They're in Afghanistan. They're all over the place. In Yemen, of course. Let's bolster those forces to stand up to Iran's aggression in the region, and none is stronger, none is more reliable than Israel."
Yet Iran continues to mock Israel, threatening to rain down 80,000 missiles on the Jewish nation.
But with the pope supporting Iran nuclear negotiations and the recognition of the Palestine State, people like Adler and end-time expert and author Rabbi Pinchas Winston believe it's traditional Jewish prophecies coming to pass. Adler says the alliance was forged in the book of Genesis.
Winston explains the modern application: "Many in the West, especially in Europe, have overlooked the 'sins' of the Arab world while ignoring the virtues of the Jewish state. They also either make up Israeli flaws or overexaggerate smaller ones.
"In short, they have confused David for Goliath and Goliath for David, with little or no remorse at all. For believers, this is nothing short of a miraculous but disturbing fulfillment of prophecy and a serious wake-up call," Winston says.
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The Pool of Siloam is proof the Gospel of John is true. (YouTube)
Pool Where Jesus Healed a Blind Man Discovered, Proves Gospel of John Is True
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Archaeological evidence now proves the Gospel of John is true.
Though discovered more than a decade ago, the pool of Siloam continues to make headlines, most recently in an analysis by author and speaker Eric Metaxas.
In John 9, Jesus spat in the dirt, rubbed the mud on a blind man's eyes and then commanded him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam.
Workers stumbled upon this very pool in 2005 while repairing sewage pipes.
"Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit" to illustrate a point, New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth told the Los Angeles Times. "Now we have found the Pool of Siloam ... exactly where John said it was."
The site of Jesus' miracle is just one of many in archaeological discoveries verifying the authenticity of the Bible.
The news isn't so much in the discovery, but in what the site stands for, Metaxas says.
"The point is that it's become increasingly clear that the default scholarly position of disbelieving the Bible because it is the Bible is untenable," Metaxas writes. "Of course, Christians should already know that. But it's still gratifying to see that other people are able to see it, as well. Even if they have to go to the Pool of Siloam to do it."
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You are Israeli. You are eating dinner with your family. Suddenly the floors start shaking. Your son ask you, “Dad, what is that? Why is the food moving on the table?” Do you tell him? “Avi, that is just Hamas rebuilding tunnels so they can attack us here in the kibbutz [i].”
Shaking Floors
That’s right. Residents of Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip “complained that tunnel digging into Israel from Hamas-run territory has come so close to their homes that it has caused their floors to shake.” (timesofisrael.com)
Stealing From Their Own People… Again
This came to light about a week ago on several television news shows and, until just a few days ago, our government had done little to stop it. Hamas is digging tunnels into Israel—by the way, using materials that are supposed to go to rebuilding the city—in order to carry out terror attacks and we are doing almost nothing to stop them. Hamas is taking the 3.5 million tons of building materials donated to the people of Gaza and instead of rebuilding homes (the intended purpose of the aid), they are building terror tunnels into Israel. The E.U., which often criticizes Israel when a Palestinian stubs his toe, has been largely silent in condemning Hamas.
Iran confirmed the resumption of tunnel digging by posting a video Sunday of a Hamas terrorist in one of the tunnels, boasting that it is 3.5 kilometers long and goes into Israel. The Iran report was clear, celebrating the intended goal of the tunnel—to carry out acts of terror.
The Israeli Left Demands Action
Only after massive criticism from the left-leaning opposition here in Israel, as well as a national outcry for the Netanyahu government to act, did the government begin to do something. Well, we assume it is the government—it may just be the hand of God.
Major General Yoav Mordechai warned Hamas today of consequences if the terror tunnel digging continues, “The tunnels that Hamas is digging will bring disaster to the Gaza Strip. They are tunnels of death.” (jpost.com)
IDF or the Hand of God?
This week three different tunnels collapsed on terrorists. Two terrorists have been confirmed dead and eight others missing. A week ago seven terrorists were crushed to death as a tunnel collapsed upon them. Ironically, as 250,000 Gazans came out to honor the dead terrorists at their funerals, a roof collapsed as several young men were standing on it, injuring many more.
It is unclear if these tunnels collapsed on their own, due to rains (as Hamas claims) or because of action from the IDF.
“When asked whether or not Israel has had a hand in the collapse of the terror tunnels in recent weeks, [General] Mordechai responded saying ‘God only knows.’” (jpost.com)
This is a serious escalation and despite the fact that the Islamic terror problem is growing globally, the E.U. still sees Hamas as a legitimate representative government of the Palestinians in Gaza. Instead they should be viewed just like ISIS. Silly western cowards believe the Hamas rhetoric and not their actions. Today Hamas denied that it has any interest in renewing the fight with Israel.
If that is true, then why is Avi’s kitchen table shaking?
[i] a communal settlement in Israel, typically a farm
Ron Cantor
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THE 15 MOST IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN CONFLICT!
Posted: 04 Feb 2016 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG
As bad as the month of January was for the global economy, the truth is that the rest of 2016 promises to be much worse. Layoffs are increasing at a pace that we haven’t seen since the last recession, major retailers are shutting down hundreds of locations, corporate profit margins are plunging, global trade is slowing down dramatically, and several major European banks are in the process of completely imploding.
I am about to share some numbers with you that are truly eye-popping. Each one by itself would be reason for concern, but when you put all of the pieces together it creates a picture that is hard to deny. The global economy is in crisis, and this is going to have very serious implications for the financial markets moving forward. U.S. stocks just had their worst January in seven years, and if I am right much worse is still yet to come this year.
The following are 22 signs that the global economic turmoil that we have seen so far in 2016 is just the beginning…
1. The number of job cuts in the United States skyrocketed 218 percent during the month of January according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
2. The Baltic Dry Index just hit yet another brand new all-time record low. As I write this article, it is sitting at 303.
4. In the U.S., the Restaurant Performance Index just fell to the lowest level that we have seen since 2008.
5. In January, orders for class 8 trucks (the big trucks that you see shipping stuff around the country on our highways) declined a whopping 48 percent from a year ago.
6. Rail traffic is also slowing down substantially. In Colorado, there are hundreds of train engines that are just sitting on the tracks with nothing to do.
8. A series of extremely disappointing corporate quarterly reports is sending stock after stock plummeting. Here is a summary from Zero Hedge of a few examples that we have just witnessed…
SHARES OF LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT FALL 5 PCT IN EXTENDED TRADE AFTER QUARTERLY RESULTS – RTRS
TABLEAU SOFTWARE SHARES TUMBLE 40 PCT IN AFTER HOURS TRADING – RTRS
YRC WORLDWIDE SHARES DOWN 16.4 PCT AFTER THE BALL FOLLOWING RESULTS – RTRS
SPLUNK INC SHARES DOWN 7.6 PCT IN AFTER HOURS TRADING – RTRS
LINKEDIN SHARES EXTEND DECLINE, DOWN 24 PCT AFTER RESULTS, GUIDANCE – RTRS
HANESBRANDS SHARES FURTHER ADD TO LOSSES IN EXTENDED TRADE, LAST DOWN 14.9 PCT – RTRS
OUTERWALL SHARES FALL 11 PCT IN EXTENDED TRADING AFTER QUARTERLY RESULTS – RTRS
GENWORTH SHARES DOWN 16.5 PCT AFTER THE BELL FOLLOWING RESULTS, RESTRUCTURING PLAN
9. Junk bonds continue to crash on Wall Street. On Monday, JNK was down to 32.60 and HYG was down to 77.99.
10.On Thursday, a major British news source publicly named five large European banks that are considered to be in very serious danger…
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Santander, Barclays and RBS are among the stocks that are falling sharply sending shockwaves through the financial world, according to former hedge fund manager and ex Goldman Sachs employee Raoul Pal.
11. Deutsche Bank is the biggest bank in Germany and it has more exposure to derivatives than any other bank in the world. Unfortunately, Deutsche Bank credit default swaps are now telling us that there is deep turmoil at the bank and that a complete implosion may be imminent.
12. Last week, we learned that Deutsche Bank had lost a staggering 6.8 billion euros in 2015. If you will recall, I warned about massive problems at Deutsche Bank all the way back in September. The most important bank in Germany is exceedingly troubled, and it could end up being for the EU what Lehman Brothers was for the United States.
13. Credit Suisse just announced that it will be eliminating 4,000 jobs.
14. Royal Dutch Shell has announced that it is going to be eliminating 10,000 jobs.
15. Caterpillar has announced that it will be closing 5 plants and getting rid of 670 workers.
16. Yahoo has announced that it is going to be getting rid of 15 percent of its total workforce.
17. Johnson & Johnson has announced that it is slashing its workforce by 3,000 jobs.
18. Sprint just laid off 8 percent of its workforce and GoPro is letting go 7 percent of its workers.
19. All over America, retail stores are shutting down at a staggering pace. The following list comes from one of my previous articles…
-Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, including 154 inside the United States.
22. The global economy desperately needs the price of oil to go back up, but Morgan Stanley says that we will not see $80 oil again until 2018.
It is not difficult to see where the numbers are trending.
Last week, I told my wife that I thought that Marco Rubio was going to do better than expected in Iowa.
How did I come to that conclusion?
It was simply based on how his poll numbers were trending.
And when you look at where global economic numbers are trending, they tell us that 2016 is going to be a year that is going to get progressively worse as it goes along.
So many of the exact same things that we saw happen in 2008 are happening again right now, and you would have to be blind not to see it.
Hopefully I am wrong about what is coming in our immediate future, because millions upon millions of Americans are not prepared for what is ahead, and most of them are going to get absolutely blindsided by the coming crisis.
Israeli archeologists unearthed Greek and Aramaic inscriptions in northern Israel, suggesting a Jewish presence in the land dating back to the first century.
The three 1,700-year-old epitaphs were discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority Wednesday in a cemetery dating back to the ancient Galilean capital city of Zippori.
"Zippori was the first capital of Galilee from the time of the Hasmonean dynasty until the establishment of Tiberias in the first century CE. The city continued to be central and important later on," researchers explained in a press release announcing the discovery.
So far, researchers have been able to decode one Greek word meaning "Jose," a common Jewish name at the time, and three Aramaic words meaning "the Tiberian," "forever," and "rabbi." The researchers believe that Aramic was the language spoken by Jesus.
Motti Aviam, of the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archeology, said in a statement about the discovery that the inscriptions were surprising.
"One of the surprises in the newly discovered inscriptions is that one of the deceased was called 'the Tiberian,'" said Aviam. "This is already the second instance of someone from Tiberius being buried in the cemetery at Zippori."
However, the discovery has left researchers unsure who "the Tiberian" was. Aviam explained that the researchers have two theories about who "the Tiberian" could be.
First, deceased Galilean Jews could have been brought for burial in the Zippori cemetery because of "the important activity carried out there by the Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi," a second century rabbi who edited post-biblical Jewish traditions.
Aviam also suggested that the "the Tiberian" could simply mean that the man's hometown was Tiberias.
Another surprising find was the Aramaic word "le-olam," meaning "forever." Researchers said that was the first time that word had appeared in Zippori.
"The term le-olam is known from funerary inscriptions in Bet She'arim (in Galilee) and elsewhere and means that the deceased's burial place will remain his forever and that no one will take it from him. Both inscriptions end with the Hebrew blessing 'shalom' (peace)," Aviam explained.
Although the Aramaic inscription mentions a "rabbi," researchers admit that they are unsure what that meant 1,700 years ago in Zippori, a city characterized by its numerous Torah scholars.
The discoveries of the archaeologists and researchers confirm an already extensive knowledge of a Jewish presence in ancient Israel.
Researchers also noted that the Greek inscription of the common Jewish name "Jose" shows that although Aramaic was the primary language, some Jews spoke Greek.
The IAA explained in a press release that their discoveries confirm what they already believed to be a thriving Jewish culture in ancient Zippori and surrounding northern Israel.
"The Jewish life in the city was rich and diverse as indicated by the numerous ritual baths (miqwe'ot) discovered in the excavation; while at the same time the influence of Roman culture was also quite evident as reflected in the design of the town with its paved streets, colonnaded main roads, theater and bathhouses. The wealth of inscriptions from the cemeteries attests to the strong Jewish presence and the city's social elite in the late Roman period," they concluded.
The findings of this excavation contradict the Palestinian Authority's fervent denial of a Jewish connection to the Holy Land and insistence that Israel is "Judaizing" the country.
