Thursday, August 29, 2013

"Israel Is Forever" Concert at Sea of Galilee

Shalva Band Inspires the Crowd At God TV’s “Israel Is Forever” Concert

Posted by: Doni Kandel August 27, 2013 , 3:10 pm

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. (Genesis 1:27)

Two teen members of the Shalva band joined musician Kim Clement on stage during an “Israel Is Forever” concert in Tiberius. Shalva provides services free of charge currently to more than 500 children with special needs from infants to young adults seven days a week. (Photo: Shalva)

As nearly 1,000 Christian Zionists gathered at the base of the Sea of Galilee for the kickoff of an eight-day tour of the holy land, the children of the Jerusalem-based organization, Shalva, which provides services free of charge currently to more than 500 children with special needs from infants to young adults seven days a week, stole the show.

Kim Clement, a musician based in California, who orchestrated the concert was joined onstage by members of a musical band from Shalva. The two teenage singers and musician from the Shalva bandsang a version of Leonard Cohen’s “Breathe your life into me; put your song inside me; cover me with your love,” Dina, who is blind, sung in Hebrew. “Everything within me longs to feel your heartbeat. I’m forever yours.”

Clement has visited Shalva several times in the last year and has championed its cause, becoming a significant supporter of the Israeli nonprofit. The Shalva center “houses special needs children – the most amazing thing that I’ve ever seen,” Clement said. “It changed my heart. We adopted four special needs children. It’s the heart of God.”

The concert, at which the people gathered to declare “Israel Is Forever”, was put on as a kickoff event for an eight-day tour of the Holy Land put together by the Christian satellite channel, God TV. “I welcome you to the homeland of your faith,” Tourism Minister Uzi Landau told the crowd.

Founded by Rory and Wendy Alec who are also leading the tour, God TV is broadcast from Jerusalem and is available worldwide on a multi-satellite platform in 200 nations and 240 million homes. Other notable ministers on the tour include Lou Engle, Faytene Grasseschi, Patricia King, Angus Buchan, Matt Sorger and the band Planet Shakers from Australia.

Meaningful Questions about Curses and Deliverance from Evil Spirits

Meaningful Questions about

Curses and Deliverance

from Evil Spirits

Jim Croft

Questions from Vince

Jim,

I really enjoyed your book, Invisible Enemies: How to recognize and defeat demons. I have been working to get cleaned out. I have also been reading your articles and I am seeking to apply them to myself where needed.

I have some thoughts and questions. As you know, I come from a Vineyard background. This does not make me special, but I embraced the Vineyard’s history of openness to the things of God.

Anyway, I understand the need for forgiveness, repentance and renunciation of the curses listed in the Old Testament and any sowing and reaping effects.Jim, I notice that in the New Testament, there is no indication that the disciples or Jesus required anyone to ask for forgiveness before ministry of healing or deliverance.

Likewise, neither Christ nor the disciples asked anyone to renounce curses before healing. It appears the same pattern exists when they drove out evil spirits. Of course, I am seeking to apply these principals in your articles and book to my life. But I wonder what your thoughts are on these issues?

My Response

Vince – I’m very pleased about your observation of the absence of specific mention of repentance and renouncements in relation to demonic and curse issues in the New Testament and the Early Church. Miracles were performed without explanatory trimmings of that genre. Were you to exhaust yourself by reading all
of my articles, you would find that I’ve pointed out the truths that you have mentioned.

However, I have thoughts about the evolvement of the practices in question.Though the practices are not specifically addressed in “how to instruction” in the New Testament, they can be arrived upon by reasoning about the implications of the entirety of the Bible’s record.

There are many modern evangelistic techniques that we hold dear that are not explicit in the New Testament. Among them are found altar calls for salvation and leading people in prayers where they ask Jesus to come into their hearts to replace self in Lordship on the throne of their hearts. Nonetheless, millions have been born-again through those methods.It is much the same with the evolvement of how we function in the gifts of
words of knowledge, wisdom and discerning of spirits. We have come up with acceptable guesses about function and the Lord grants results.

Repenting of and renouncing sins resultant of curses and any accompanying demons had similar evolution that came from innuendo in both Testaments. We know of a certainty that Jesus, like John the Baptist, preached repentance and that the Lord’s disciples baptized the repentant. Therefore, it is safe to assume that inclination of repentance permeated the atmosphere of Jesus’ presence.

The existence of a particular habitual sin and demonic infestation within a person are evidence that either the Adamic curse or a self-induced curse is in effect. There is a vernacular way to define renouncement. It is verbal or physical indication that a person wants riddance of the curse of a sin and/or a demon.

People made physical indication that they wanted liberation from the aforementioned when they presented themselves to Jesus for healing from affliction.With all of that said I rarely bring up demonic and curse issues during first prayer encounters with people’s sicknesses and negative life situations. I simply pray with faith’s expectation and routinely see positive results.

Countless secular people and many nominal Christians are not familiar with the idea of evil spirit and curse affliction. If introduced prematurely, those concepts can derail attempts for effective ministry. With that in mind, I hesitate to venture more than subtle reference to evil spirits and innuendo about curses when ministering to them.

The phrasing could go something like this: “I command the aspect of John’s personality that compels him to be excessively confrontational to leave his psyche. (Speaking about demons) If John’s parental guardians exhibited habitual contentious interaction with others, I break ancestral influence in his life. (Pertains to curses)”

It is my conviction that the generic repentance and forgiveness of initial salvation dissolves many curses and puts most demonic entities to flight. I do not bring the possibility of demons and curses to bear, unless a Christian incessantly has the same issues after prayers of faith. In that event, I surmise it is legitimate to do so under an extension of the “confess your faults” clause of James 5:16.

In conclusion, the concept of renouncing curses has become ingrained in the collective psyche of a sector of the Church. Due to this, it is better to address the matter on common ground than to try to stop the momentum of what so many reliable voices assert.

We can offer thanks to the Lord for allowing us innovation in our efforts to see captives of life’s bondages liberate.

jcm888@comcast.net

Note: Following artwork added by blog editor. :)

Steve Martin

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Rosh Hashanah Desserts - Lightened-Up Jewish Apple Cake (Pareve)

Rosh Hashanah Desserts

On the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, Jews eat foods that symbolize good things they hope for in the coming year. Desserts are particularly popular on this holiday as Jews hope for a sweet year.

Pomegranate Granita (Pareve)
A recipe for pomegranate granita made with homemade vanilla simple syrup and pomegranate juice.

Lightened-Up Jewish Apple Cake (Pareve)
Jewish Apple cake gets a healthy makeover in this low fat, reduced sugar recipe made with white whole wheat flour.

Lightened-Up Jewish Apple Cake (Pareve)

By Miri Rotkovitz, About.com Guide

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Sugar Free Cake Recipes ChewOnIt.com/Sugar-Free-RecipesTastes Just Like The Original! Get Sugar Free Cake Recipes Now.

Rosh Hashanah Greetings www.shanatova.orgSend & Receive a Shana Tova eCard from Israel & friends. Send Now!

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I adore my grandmother's Jewish Apple Cake recipe, but I always wondered what it would taste like if I gave the recipe a healthy makeover. This version has less sugar and half the fat of the original. All-purpose refined flour is replaced with white whole wheat flour, which is softer and finer than regular whole wheat flour, but just as full of fiber and nutrients.

In fact, "lightened-up" may be a bit of a misnomer -- like the original, this is a sturdy cake with a dense crumb. It's also still delicious, and since it's so wholesome, it's even easier to justify eating leftover apple cake for breakfast.

Tip: Choose firm, crisp apple varieties that stand up well to baking. I like to use a mix of sweet-tart apples such as Pink Lady or Lady Alice, Galas, and Fujis.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Yield: Serves 10 to 12

Ingredients:

For the Apples:
4 large or 6 small firm apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
For the Cake Batter:
3 cups white whole wheat flour (or a mix of all-purpose and white whole wheat flour)
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of mild-flavored oil, such as expeller-pressed canola, grapeseed, or walnut oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation:1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. (If you are using a dark or nonstick pan, preheat the oven to 325° F to prevent burning.) Grease a tube pan with a removable bottom.

2. Place the apple slices, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl, and toss together gently, until the apples are evenly coated with the cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the oil, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla, and stir with a sturdy wooden spoon just until you have a smooth, thick batter.

4. Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the prepared tube pan. If necessary, use a spatula to spread the batter so it covers the bottom of the pan. Layer about 1/3 of the apple slices over the batter. (If possible, try to avoid touching the sides of the pan with the apples to prevent sticking.) Continue layering the apples and batter so you have 3 layers of each, ending with the apples. For an especially pretty cake, arrange the final layer of apple slices in slightly overlapping concentric circles on top of the batter (the apple slices will spread out as the cake bakes). If there is any cinnamon sugar "syrup" remaining in the apple bowl, drizzle a little over the cake.

5. Place a cookie sheet or piece of foil on the bottom rack of the oven to catch any drips. Place the cake on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, or until a tester comes out clean and the top of the cake is golden.

6. Place the cake on a wire rack and allow to cool in the pan. When it has cooled completely, run a knife or offset spatula around the edge. Carefully remove the outside of the cake pan. Gently run a knife or offset spatula between the cake and the pan bottom to loosen. Invert the cake over a plate and ease it off the pan bottom (the cake will be upside down on the plate). Place a cake plate face down on the bottom side of the cake, and holding both plates, flip the cake, so it is right-side (apple-side) up. Enjoy!

For more: About.com Kosher Food website

Rosh Hashanah - Apples and Honey in Diana's Recipe Book

Apples and Honey

in Diana's Recipe Book

Average Rating:

(total ratings: 2)
[Read reviews] [Post a review]

Comments:
Apples and Honey for the Jewish New Year

During Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), it is traditional to eat apples dipped in honey, to symbolize our hopes for a "sweet" new year. The apple is dipped in honey, the blessing for eating tree fruits is recited, the apple is tasted, and then the apples and honey prayer is recited:

Barukh atah Adonai, Elohaynu, melekh ha-olam
Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe

borei priy ha-eitz. (Amen)
who creates the fruit of the tree. (Amen)
Take a bite from the apple dipped in honey, then continue with the following:

Y'hee ratzon mee-l'fanekha, Adonai Elohaynu v'elohey avoteynu
May it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our ancestors

sh'tichadeish aleinu shanah tovah um'tuqah.
that you renew for us a good and sweet year. (Amen)

Ingredients:

Red, Green or Yellow apples (or combination of apples) washed, cored and sliced into wedges (apples do not have to be peeled)
Kosher honey, for dipping

Instructions:
Place the apple wedges on a festive plate with a bowl of honey. Place a serving spoon (or honey spoon) with the honey.

Dip apple wedges in the honey or spoon the honey over the apple wedges with a honey spoon or serving spoon.

If serving challah bread, tear off pieces of challah and dip challah pieces in the honey also.

Photograph taken by Diana Baker Woodall© 2004

Source: DianasDesserts.com

Date: September 2, 2004

Reviews

Reviewer: Susie
Rating:

Review:
I can't believe that this age-old dish has not been reviewed! It's delicious and will definitely get you psyched up for a sweet year.

Reviewer: Elizabeth
Rating:

Review:
Elegant simplicity. I vary it with several kinds of autumn apples and different sorts of honey on one, big platter. People love it!

Dianas Desserts Website

Egyptian Christians' 'Radical' Response to Islamists

By Chris Mitchell

CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief

MINYA, Egypt -- The city of Minya sits at the epicenter of the persecution against the Christian Church in Egypt. During the past two weeks, Christians have suffered the worst attacks in centuries. Radical Islam spurred the violence, but the onslaught is being met with the love of Christ.

Worst Violence in Centuries

The Amir Tadros Church in Minya is just one of dozens of churches that have been burned down throughout the country.

The interior of the century-old church was completely destroyed.

One expert told CBN News the violence against Christian churches in Egypt is the worst in nearly 700 years.

Exclusive video shows that the inside of the sanctuary is completely gutted and the altar destroyed.

Now the church is holding its services at 6:30 a.m., using a makeshift altar erected outside. Engineers say the church would need to be torn down before it could be rebuilt.

"To be sure that everything is burned, they put fire in every place," Ezzrat, a U.N. human rights officer, said.

"Before this time they make a sign for Christian places or cars or houses or buildings. And if the place has an X on it, they burned the place," he explained. "And that shows that they planned this before."

Loving Your Enemies

The churches weren't the only targets. Cars, schools, and businesses owned by Christians were also destroyed. Muslim radicals marked Christian businesses with a black X before torching them.

Perhaps most shocking was the destruction of a Christian orphanage.

Muslim mobs attacked and destroyed a Coptic Christian orphanage called Christ Soldiers, leaving about 200 children without shelter.

The Christians who run the orphanage left a message for the attackers on the building's exterior wall: "You meant to hurt us, but we forgive you. God is love. Everything works out for good."

They also wrote, "Love your enemies."

Evangelical ministries bore the brunt of many of the attacks. There's not much left of the Bible Society of Egypt's bookstore in Minya. Their store in nearby Azuit was also destroyed.

Those bookstores used to look like the Bible Society's main bookstore in Cairo. Now the Bibles, books, and children's materials are in shambles.

"For the last 130 years we have been operating," Bible Society of Egypt Vice President Ehad Tanas told CBN News. "We have bookshops in the streets and the main cities in Cairo and Alexandria, Tantur, Upper Egypt and it [the destruction] has never happened before in the history of the Bible Society."

According to one Egyptian website, angry mobs attacked more than 60 churches from Minya to Alexandria to Giza and Suez and throughout Egypt.

Muslim Brotherhood vs. Christians

The rampage began after Muslim Brotherhood supporters targeted the churches as scapegoats for the army's decision to break up two Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo.

They also blamed the church for allegedly participating in the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Yet Christians point out many of their Muslim neighbors defended and protected them.

They don't see this as a Muslim against Christian issue, but as the Muslim Brotherhood against the Christians. And even though they've been targeted, they're responding with forgiveness and pressing on in the face of persecution.

A Sunday school class at the Amir Tadros Church now meets in an alcove off the main building. They're learning about the namesake of the church, who was a Christian martyr. It's not your typical Sunday school lesson.

"This day I think the children have a life experience," Sunday school teacher Marka William told CBN News. "They see their church burned. They see how they are treated all the day. They see us forgive our enemies."

"We respond as every other Christian has responded," Tanas said. "We are in Egypt to serve. We are in Egypt to demonstrate the Christian love. We do every effort to be self-restrained and to show the Christian love that the Lord has taught us to show."

'Pray for Us'

The churches are asking for prayer and support from the Church worldwide.

"They can pray for us all the time [and] ask Jesus to save us," William said.

"What happens in Egypt affects the Middle East, so we ask them to pray for the country," Tanas said. "We ask them to pray for Christians. We ask them to pray for the Middle East."

"We also ask them to pray for the government, the existing government that the Lord will give them wisdom and guidance in every decision they make," he added.

While living under threats, they vow to continue their ministries. They say the buildings have been destroyed, but the Church goes on and their faith remains in Jesus Christ who promised He would build His church.

Israel is NOT apartheid state, says South African leader's daughter

Wednesday, August 28, 2013 | Israel Today Staff

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The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that wants to label Israel as an apartheid state continues to suffer major setbacks, not least of which are outright denunciations by the people who know apartheid best - black South Africans.

In an interview with news blog Democracy Broadcasting, Esther Meshoe, daughter of conservative South African parliamentarian, Dr. Kenneth Meshoe, slammed the BDS movement as nothing but false propaganda.

"The truth is there is no apartheid in Israel," said Meshoe. "My parents suffered through apartheid."

Sadly, many South Africans have been taken in by the BDS claims against Israel. Meshoe recalled the recent visit to Israel by a family friend who was shocked to find the Jewish state very different from what he was told.

"A family friend of ours went to Israel two years ago, and he was in an accident, unfortunately, and he was taken to a hospital. On his right was a Jew, on his left was an Arab, being treated. So here he is, a black man, a South African, and he says to himself, 'This is not apartheid. what apartheid are they talking about?'"

As damaging as the lies against Israel is the fact that the BDS propaganda significantly downplays the suffering of those who went through real apartheid.

Meshoe noted that in South Africa, Nelson Mandela and his followers had to fight for basic rights, like the right to vote, go to school, move about freely and receive health care. If Israel were truly an apartheid state, then the battle that Mandela fought is already won, as Arab residents of the Jewish state already enjoy all these freedoms and benefits.

Addressing fellow Christians who would make the mistake of supporting the BDS lies against Israel, Meshoe had this to say:

"We need to speak up and tell the truth that Israel is not an apartheid state. We love the Jewish people, but more than that we love the truth. And the God that we serve is a God of love and truth. And in our Bible we are taught to be people of the truth."

Watch the full interview: