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.
A seven-year-old boy from Beit She’an in northern Israel discovered a small ancient figurine during a weekend family trip to the archeological excavations are nearby Tel Rehov.
The clay female figurine has been dated to the Canaanite period, roughly the 15th to 13th century BC.
Prof. Amichai Mazar of the Hebrew University suggested that the figurine is linked to the Canaanite goddess of fertility Astarte, who is mentioned in the Bible.
The boy’s family immediately reported the find to the Antiquities Authority, which in turn sent an official to the boy’s school to explain to the students the importance of such finds in order to understand the history of the country.
In fact, the boy’s teacher had recently taught on ancient idolatry in the land, so the timing of the find and the visit by the Antiquities Authority couldn’t have been better.
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“Thank You Am Israel” is the name of a new website dedicated to “acknowledging the numerous Jewish and Israeli individuals and organizations who have gone out of their way to provide aid, assistance and medical care to Syrian refugees since 2011.”
The site was created by Aboud Dandachi, a Syrian refugee currently living in Istanbul, who had this to say about the true nature of Israel:
“At a time when numerous countries in the Arab world and Europe have turned away those fleeing the conflict in Syria, Israeli and Jewish organizations and NGOs have, often at great risk to themselves, been at the forefront of efforts to provide assistance to Syrians. In a world where the refugee issue has been exploited by opportunistic political parties in Europe and the United States, Jewish groups have offered assistance to Syrians in need unreservedly and with no expectations of any manner of reciprocation.”
Dandachi goes on to note that “one of the truest moral tests of a society is in how it treats those in need, and who have nothing to offer in return save for gratitude.”
The current generation of Israelis and Jews worldwide have met this standard with flying colors, according to Dandachi, who concluded by thanking Israel and the Jewish people “for showing kindness and charity to Syrians… God bless you and protect you.”
Here's a response to a blog post going viral asking Christians to boycott the 'worship industry.' (Alex Haywood)
A dear friend of mine shared a blog post on her Facebook timeline encouraging Christians to boycott the worship industry. I was very disturbed by this piece since I have some close friends who earn their income from leading worship. Here's why Christians should not boycott the worship industry, but support it:
1. God likes worship. The Old Testament such as Nehemiah is full of Scriptures where people were assigned to sing to the Lord. The singers in Nehemiah made their living from worshipping God. My friends who make a living from leading worship have invested thousands of dollars out of their own pocket and hundreds of volunteer hours in training to lead worship. I don't understand why we will pay top dollar for a doctor or an accountant but we don't want to recognize or reward a gifted singer or musician who loves God. This is pure idiocy.
2. The fact that worship is now considered a legitimate industry should be celebrated and not demonized. Worship was not considered a commercially viable musical genre until groups such as Hillsong and Jesus Culture outsold secular pop artists such as Lady Gaga. We should celebrate and support this trend instead of demonizing gifted Christian singers and musicians who have amassed a following with the message of the gospel. The fact that my 17-year-old son wants to be like Chris Quilala instead of Chris Brown is something I celebrate, not discourage. Maybe God is elevating these young men and women who have a fire burning in their bones for God so our children can have heroes.
3. There are weightier issues to arouse our crusading anger then religious preferences that criticize excellent staging and performance. Get upset about the lack of God's presence in your church or the fact that the widows and orphans aren't being taken care of in your back yard. Get upset about the person with a disability who is being ignored or overlooked. Instead of wondering if light shows are from God, channel your anger by praying for an outpouring of the Spirit in the church. If you're really upset that your worship leader's message to follow Christ is attracting people, donate money to the poor in the church.
4. Worship is a beautiful emotional expression of your love, passion and faith in God. Since when is it wrong to be emotional in our worship? Kansas City Chief fans paint their faces, spend hundreds of dollars, get off work to sit in a parking lot for hours, jump up and down and scream in their own form of worship and adoration. We cry at secular concerts. We raise our hands when our favorite team wins the game. Why would we divorce the very gift of emotions given by God to express ourselves to Him in an act of worship?
Would David's act of dancing before the Lord be called "emotionalism?" Would the woman who poured expensive oil and washed Jesus feet in worship be called "emotionalism?" These acts were driven by their emotional expression of love and worship to the King of kings.
For me, worship is an emotional experience, which doesn't make me weak. I remember the first time I received a bill I couldn't pay at 18 years old. My first response was to go to the lanai, an outdoor patio in Hawaii, sit on the ground and sing to the Lord. I'll never forget those moments when I sang and worshipped God and peace came upon me like a robe.
We are made in His image, which includes all of His emotions. Here are Scriptures that refer to God's emotions:
The bottom line is that the fact worship has emerged as a commercially viable genre is a sign that people want God. My teenage and college-age sons love to worship in a stadium with thousands of other kids their age. We should celebrate and support the worship industry.
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Every year about this time, I write about Jezebel's witchcrafts. I never would have dreamed I'd be writing about U.S. Air Force Academy chapel using tithes and offerings to blatantly support witchcraft. (Flickr/Creative Commons)
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Every year about this time, I write about Jezebel's witchcrafts. I never would have dreamed I'd be writing about U.S. Air Force Academy chapel using tithes and offerings to blatantly support witchcraft.
Judicial Watch just issued a report that reveals the academy used its "Chapel Tithes and Offering Fund" to pay for cadets to participate in worship services marked by witchcraft, "Faery Magick" and voodoo. According to the watchdog group, records show the academy shelled out money to send cadets to a Wiccan festival and a Denver Witches Ball in 2014. A group called "Spiritual Programs in Religious Education" hosted the events at the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel Falcon Circle on the Academy campus.
Chapel tithes and offerings were also used to pay for registration and meals for cadets attending the "Earth Centered Beltania festival," which is "a retreat and festival for all who follow Earth-honoring religion or spiritual path." At the festival, attendees are encouraged to "dance with ecstasy around the maypole," "drum with the heartbeat of Mother Earth" and "conjure Springtime within nature and yourself."
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According to the Spiritual Programs in Religious Education brochure, the organization encourages festival participants to engage in "Earth Centered paths," including: Wicca, witchcraft, Faery Magick, Druidism, heathenism, Native American traditions, Voodoo, African Orishas and Goddess Spirituality. I don't have room in this article to offer in-depth definitions of all these practices, but it boils down to witchcraft. All this happened at the same time the Air Force started allowing airmen to omit "so help me God" from establishment oaths.
"The Air Force Academy leadership is attacking traditional Christian beliefs but will fund witchcraft and 'faery magick'?" says Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "These records show the misplaced priorities in the Air Force and why traditional Christians increasingly feel unwelcome in the Air Force Academy."
But it goes deeper than that. Our government—one nation under God—is not only embracing witchcraft in its many expressions, but it's also funding it. America is indeed a melting pot of many nations and religions. The right to freedom of religion must be protected. But to use tithes and offerings to fund witchcraft parties while removing God from the oath of service is a shocking picture of where our nation really stands.
Thank God there is a remnant of praying people. Thank God there are at more than 7,000 who have not dropped a knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). Thank God that witchcraft must bow at the name of Jesus (Rom. 14:11). Thank God He is coming back for a glorious bride without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27). Thank God, He is not done with America.
Clearly, there are anti-Christ agendas gaining rapid ground with dark strategies to push back the light of Christ in our nation. So while I'm disgusted that the government is using tithes and offerings to support witchcraft, I'm also encouraged because I believe John 1:1-5:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it."
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We struggled with whether or not to post this security camera footage of Tzvika Cohen, a 48-year-old father of four, being brutally and mercilessly butchered by an ax-wielding Palestinian terrorist.
The attack occurred last Thursday at the shopping mall in the Jerusalem suburb of Ma’aleh Adumim, where Cohen worked as a security guard.
Cohen remains on life support after suffering severe injuries to his head and upper body.
The terrorist, 20-year-old Saadi Ali Abu Ahmad, was apprehended by security forces.
It was later revealed that Abu Ahmad worked at the mall, and exploited his access to carry out this horrific attack against an unarmed man.
While difficult to watch, the video shows the level of brutality present in Palestinian society, and with which Israel must contend on a daily basis.
I had an interesting vision today in worship, where I saw the Lord dressed as a mighty warrior and I saw Him marching, and behind Him were hosts upon hosts of angels. I then released that He was walking into the enemy's camp in the lives of believers and as I looked around, I could see things that belonged to the people of God that the enemy had stolen.
I saw the Lord walk up to the enemy and He grabbed him by the throat. The thing is, as the He grabbed the throat of the enemy, the enemy turned into what looked like a cartoon character. The Lord squeezed him and shook him and I saw the eyes of the enemy begin to bulge and bulge as the Lord began to shake him. The Lord is suffocating the enemy in your life in His defense of you. As I watched the expressions on the face of the enemy I began to laugh as it was so apparent who was the ALMIGHTY ONE, the One who holds ALL POWER and the one who has NO POWER! Again, I was reminded that the only power that the enemy has is the power that we give him as the people of God in our agreement, alignment or declaration.
As the Lord began to shake the enemy violently I saw all these things that the enemy had stolen, things that were in his possession that he had stolen from the people of God and they began to fall out of his hands and pockets. Things he had stolen and hidden were all falling out. He was losing his grip and there was nothing he could do about it. He was being reminded again by the Lord of his fate as the DEFEATED ONE.
A Great Comeback
I saw the angelic hosts begin to move through the enemy's camp and they were taking back everything that he had stolen. They were filling what looked like wheelbarrows full to the brim with possessions that belonged to God's people.
Where the enemy had attempted to bring SETBACK the Lord was establishing the great TAKE BACK, which was going to turn to a great COME BACK for the people of God.
I then saw the angelic hosts wheeling in gold wheelbarrows and they all lined up alongside the Lord on His left and His right. He lifted His hand and eyeballed the enemy, and He spoke: "RETURN SEVENFOLD!!!!!" (Proverbs 6:31b) Suddenly I heard the LOUDEST thunderstorm. It was like a battle was being waged in the spirit, a fighting against a REPAYMENT to the people of God. Again, the Lord spoke with such authority "I SAID RETURN SEVENFOLD." Instantly, it began to rain, it poured so heavily, torrential rain. As it rained, it was raining a SEVENFOLD INCREASE and MULTIPLICATION into the lives of God's people in EVERY area the enemy had stolen, killed and destroyed. The golden wheelbarrows were being filled to overflowing with the sevenfold COMPLETE multiplication and increase. I wondered why the wheelbarrows were golden and suddenly the sense surrounded me that the sevenfold multiplication and increase was coming with great favor and anointing! THE BEST!!!
Stopping the Enemy in His Tracks
The Lord released the enemy and threw him to the ground and began to walk out of the enemy's camp. He then turned around and He BLEW fiercely upon the enemy's camp and confusion was sent upon them. The enemy was being stopped in his tracks with any rising up in retaliation against the people of God in this restoration and increase.
The Lord is rising as your strong defender! Just watch and see how He is going to show Himself strong on your behalf. Watch the sevenfold return that is entering and going to enter into your life.
The stage has been set.
Where the enemy brought SETBACK, the Lord is establishing the great TAKE BACK, which is turning to a great COME BACK for you as you arise in more than you had before, stronger than you were before, and walking in a greater revelation of your authority in Him to overturn the works of the enemy.
We're often told not to quit, but sometimes it's actually a good thing. (iStockPhoto)
I quit everything. Nothing I was doing was what I really wanted to do, and it was killing me. I had to focus on loving and taking care of myself, or I wouldn't be around to do anything anymore.
I had started gaining weight again after having the monster fix of gastric bypass surgery. Most everyone who has the surgery loses weight at first. With less weight and more energy, I began my normal trend of doing everything anyone asked me to do.
No Time for Help
I sat on any board of directors of any organization who asked. I wrote articles for organizations, published their newsletters, helped promote events, led small groups, led various training events, helped with seminars, built a website, started blogging, served on church committees, ran a business and managed a family, which included doing laundry, grocery shopping, bill paying and fixing meals.
Nothing I was doing was bad. Everything I had my hand in was good, and I liked helping others. I just didn't have enough hands to do it all. When that happens to me, I turn to food to stave off the overwhelming burdens I feel.
About a year after surgery, I discovered I could eat sugar and other foods I couldn't before. Surgery did not fix the core reasons why I ate in the first place. I began eating all my old comfort foods again. Before I knew it, I was once again in the morbid obesity category.
"Enough is enough," I said. "I'm doing something about this."
Working on Me
I had to understand what my issues were such as, why do I keep running back to certain foods whenever I can? I needed help, but I had no time for help. Understanding that monumental truth helped me revise my to do list.
One at a time, I let go of the priorities everyone else had for me. I quit everything.
Then, I started working on me. I began going to a weight loss group. I started seeing a holistic doctor who helped me start various vitamins, minerals and natural hormone supplements. I saw an allergist and a chiropractor who both believe in wellness therapy. I got a trainer, and began seeing a physical therapist.
I exercised at least six days a week for an hour. I stopped eating sugar and flour and started eating protein, vegetables and fruits. I took life purpose coaching training, which also helped me understand myself more.
Most importantly, I allowed God to teach me what my core issues were, and how to walk through forgiving others, renouncing lies and hearing God's truth for my life. I allowed God to transform every part of me—body, soul and spirit.
I also evaluated the things I had been doing. Was there anything I had been doing which tugged at a deep part of me? Something I truly missed? What was the cry of my heart, the thing that made me tick?
Write the Vision
Among the entire list of things, the one I loved the most was blogging and writing. Years ago, I chose a life verse. This needs to be one that shouts at me every time I see it in Scripture or think about it.
Mine is: "Write the vision. Make it plain so those that read it may run with it" (Hab. 2:2). There it is. That's who I am. Everything else pales in comparison to that. If I have to choose one life action, that would be it.
It's not just about writing. It's about writing the things which matter in a way that will help people incorporate the truths into their lives. In order to do that, I have to be connected to the One who makes my one thing matter.
Vibrating With Life
Trusting God with my entire heart means not leaning on what I think, rationalize or understand, but surrendering completely to Him. When I do that, He will show me the next step.
God says surrendering to Him brings results that align with my ultimate goal of being whole, healthy and happy, living a life full to overflowing with His purposes.
That's what began to happen when I quit everything and concentrated on only doing what fit into His purpose for me.
I decided to love myself in the same way God loves me. I decided to listen to that still, small voice inside, and be the best me possible. I decided to run with the thing that makes me light up inside. In the process, I lost weight, but gained so much more.
Teresa Shields Parkeris a wife, mother, business owner, life group leader, speaker and author of Sweet Freedom: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off With God's Help, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God's Favor andSweet Grace Study Guide: Practical Steps to Lose Weight and Overcome Sugar Addiction. Get a free chapter of her memoir on her blog at teresashieldsparker.com. Connect with her there or on her Facebook page.
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