Friday, November 1, 2013

The Christian pantheon of Holy Land explorers


The Christian pantheon of Holy Land explorers


Walled off, neglected, vandalized, the Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion tells the story of a generation of legendary 19th century explorers who studied the Land of Israel • A new article by Israeli archeologists investigates this unique site. 
Nadav Shragai

The Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion
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 Photo credit: Reuven Milon

Benedict Cumberbatch-voiced film "Jerusalem" IMAX Movie

Benedict Cumberbatch-voiced film "Jerusalem" -

Inside the making of the IMAX movie


Check out this report on the new IMAX film about Jerusalem. Absolutely stunning visuals of the ancient and wondrous capital of Israel.

Click Share and show this clip of beautiful Jerusalem to your friends!

Click here: Jerusalem Movie Clip




Amanda Cochran
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(CBS News) "Jerusalem" - a new movie narrated by actor Benedict Cumberbatch - takes viewers inside the Holy City in IMAX 3D. But how did the National Geographic Entertainment team gain such unprecedented access to the city, which is perhaps the world's most politically and religiously delicate locale?
Taran Davies, co-producer of the movie, said the film - which took five years to make - was an effort that came together "over a million cups of tea."
He said, "Jerusalem, over its 4,000-year history, it's the most fought-over place on Earth. It's been subject to 118 conflicts. It's been conquered 44 times and destroyed completely twice. But, yet, to this day, it is sacred to over half the world's population."

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He explained, "I don't think IMAX footage has ever been shot of the ancient city or of the Holy Land, so this is really a first. These images that you see have never been filmed before. In fact, when we had our script, which we showed to the experts, they sort of laughed at us and said, 'Well, you're never going to be able to get half of what it is that you're asking for.'
"Over the course of ... about three years, we met with every single authority that you can possibly imagine meeting, from the Israeli government, military, the air force, the governor of East Jerusalem, the Religious Affairs in Jordan to name just a few of the organizations we had to meet."
In the process of making the movie, Davies said, "every day was a new problem and one that you never knew that you would get over, but the wonder of the experience of making the film and the fact of bringing this giant-screen experience back to audiences here in the United States, the opportunity to visit the Holy Land, as we presented it here, is something that was worth fighting for every day for five years."
Speaking of Cumberbatch's narration, Davies said, "He's done such a good job, and do you know what he said? He turned to us during the recording, and he said, 'Why didn't anyone teach me about this stuff when I was at school?'"
For more with Davies on the Jerusalem film and the story of life in the city that it tells, watch his full interview above.
© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. 

Recovering From Church Burns: Advice for the Wounded By Wendy Alsup

Recovering From Church Burns: Advice for the Wounded By Wendy Alsup



Here's my advice for those burned by the church. It's simple, yet profound. Here goes:

Trust the church.

I need to qualify that, right? How do you trust the same entity that wounded you deeply? It's fundamentally helpful to distinguish between the church local and the church global.

The global church is made up of local churches, some with organized denominational structures and some without. When you've been burned by a local congregation or even the larger denominational system with which they are affiliated, it's helpful to zoom out in your own head and remember that the "big C" church is way bigger than the particular group that hurt you.

The group that wounded you is really just a very small subset of the larger body of Christ. And the worst thing you can do after being burned by a local congregation is to allow your beliefs on the larger body to fall apart.

We Need Community and Shepherds

Here are my core convictions on the body of Christ, which I think are well supported by Scripture: We will never reach a point of Christian maturity in which we no longer need community. And we will never reach a point in Christian maturity in which we no longer need shepherds. Furthermore, you will probably never need a community with a shepherd quite as much as you need one after you've been burned by a previous community with a shepherd.

I was burned by a church years ago, but praise God He convinced me that I still needed the church. So I crawled in to a new church, wounded and weary. I had listened to their pastor's sermons on podcasts for months, and I knew that, at least according to the sermons, this church valued the Bible and grace.

For a long time, our family was the last one in to sit down and the first one out when the service was over. I observed, and I listened. And over time, I got the courage to reach out.

Five years later, I have never once regretted opening myself up to that body. Now, this is not to say they are perfect or the pastors never make a mistake. It's not to say that one day I won't be burned by this congregation (or that I won't hurt others). But the bottom line of the Christian life is that we need community, and we need pastors.

Though I may be hurt again by my community or my pastors, I still need them. The possibility of being hurt in the future is there, but it is only a possibility. However, my need for them is not a possibility. It is an actual, factual, present need.

The Good Shepherd

About a year into my time at my current church, my pastor preached this sermon from Philippians 2. He made two particularly important points. First, God's good under shepherds are recognized by their humility, not their giftedness. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, and He is the model for His under shepherds.

Beware the shepherd whose personal burdens and needs drive the church's agenda or eclipse the needs of the sheep. When the needs of the sheep must submit to the needs of the shepherd, this is not leadership like Christ (or Paul, Timothy or Epaphroditis).

Second, when God has brought the humble under shepherd into your life, like Paul's exhortation concerning Epaphroditus in Philippians 2, welcome them with joy and receive them with honor.

The imperfect but humble under shepherd still exists! God didn't abandon us to only poor leaders after Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus passed on. It is to our benefit, not detriment, to receive them and honor them in the name of Christ. 

My son pulled a hot curling iron down on his hand when he was 1 year old. I picked him up before he even started crying and ran to the sink to run cold water over his hand, followed by an ice pack I held periodically on the burned area. Later, in the emergency room, a nurse told me that was absolutely the best thing to do for his burned hand.

Sure, we got the heat away from his hand first, but then we needed to apply the opposite, a cold ice pack, to really undo the damage the heat - even removed from his hand - was still doing to his skin.

You Need a Pastor

I am growing a firm conviction that this is the remedy for those burned by the church. If you were wounded by a self-serving, proud, authoritarian pastor, the answer is not to never allow yourself to sit under another pastor. The answer is to find a humble, sacrificial pastor who is willing to lay down his interests for those of his sheep.

Sitting under humble leadership is the antidote to the sting of the burn from the proud. Like my son, you may still have a scar when it's all said and done, but the scar of distrusting all Christian community and leadership for all time is so much worse than the one you may have when you allow yourself to re-enter community and sit under Christ like leadership.

If you've been burned by a pastor, you need a pastor.

"So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble'" (1 Pet. 5:1-5, ESV).

Wendy Alsup

Building Your Life on the 
Basic Truths of Christianity

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ISRAEL TODAY - "I like it so much I even put it on my blog." Steve Martin



Love For His People Editor's Note:

As I said in the header, I do like Israel Today, and Aviel Schneider. I have been to their office in Jerusalem and spent a short time with Aviel. 

Aviel Schneider (on right)

Being Messianic Jews, they share a perspective that I like getting from Israel. I hope you will subscribe to either the printed or online editions. Or even get their daily e-mails, so you can keep up with the news from Israel. (I get it all.)

Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. Our work receives no renumeration for sharing the ISRAEL TODAY or their advertiser's product. We just like to bless, as we owe a debt to Israel and those of our Jewish roots, as Christian believers. You too can bless, and I encourage you to do so!

The Impossible People: Lynne Hybels

The Impossible People: Lynne HybelsPerhaps unwittingly, mega-church pastor Lynne Hybels is carrying on Christianity’s awful anti-Semitic legacy
more...

Israeli Christians Seek Official Christian School Curriculum

Israeli Christians Seek Official Christian School CurriculumLocal Christians say they don't want to learn Arab and Muslim history, ask Israeli government to change curriculum
more...

Authentic Shofar (Ram's Horn)

Authentic ShofarThe shofar is one of the earliest instruments used in Jewish music. The shofar would also be blown to call up the troops for battle, and the Scriptures tell us it will announce the coming of the Messiah!
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October 2013 IssueIsrael Today November 2013
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Authored and edited by Israeli Messianic believers, Israel Today Magazine is the essential companion to our daily online news.
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ISRAEL TODAY: Israeli Christians Seek Official Christian School Curriculum

Israeli Christians Seek Official Christian School Curriculum

Thursday, October 31, 2013 |  Israel Today Staff  
The growing movement of local "Arab" Christians who identify with Israel are now asking the state to establish an official school curriculum.
The Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum, which encourages young local Christians to join the Israeli army, is behind the new petition.
"As many know, the Arab schools only teach the history of the Arabs and Islam," the group posted on its Facebook page. "We do not learn anything about the history of the Christian community."
The Forum has teamed up with the Israeli Zionist movement Im Tirzu to prepare a position paper to present to the Ministry of Education requesting the establishment of an official, state-backed Israeli Christian school curriculum.
Opponents of the move would argue that these local Christians are Arabs, so should be satisfied with learning Arab history in the region.
But, in a recent interview with Israeli media, Father Gabriel Nadaf, one of leaders of this new movement, said it was wrong to classify local Christians as Arabs, since the Christian community in the Holy Land far predates the Arab Muslim conquest.
Israel Today interviewed Shadi Haloul, director of the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum, in our October 2013 issue. Don't miss future stories regarding this movement - SUBSCRIBE NOW >>
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Son of God: A message from Roma Downey and Mark Burnett




Movie trailer click here:




"The Father" - Ahava Love Letter (Steve Martin)

                

             “The Father” 

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 

For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.” John 5:19-20 (NASB)


Dear family of friends,

Manhood, and particularly fathers, have taken an image beating in the American culture over the last 30 or more years. We have been made to look foolish, even stupid, on a regular basis. Any TV program that is popular reminds many of that nightly.

And honestly we have, in far too many cases, had it coming, for we have been out of the picture. Men, even as making up half of the population, have basically lost the role they were created to fulfill. They let it go, and now can’t seem to get it back. I share this from my man’s perspective.

Some of this action has been the result of what one Bible teacher in the 1970’s called the “renegade male” – we abdicated our role as fathers and husbands, concentrated far too much on our daily work, and let the family grow up without the proper presence of the husbands and fathers on the scene. “Let the women do it” has resulted in that – the women have done it. For that I am thankful for, but we have surely missed the absent husbands and fathers.

Our culture has thus extremely paid the price – men and women from my generation missed the instruction and correction that fathers were to give. Without that male model in their lives, our own children have now grown up, many with no father influence in their lives at all. Maybe they see Dad now and then, but it is as if they are just another man who they know little about, or receive any love from at all, other than a material gift or two at a birthday or holiday time.

In my recent regular morning Scripture reading, I have been in the Gospel of John (Yochanan was his Hebrew name, being a Jew.) The Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) has begun to open my eyes, and my heart, to the many times Jesus (Yeshua) spoke of His Father.

Jesus had a special relationship with His Father. Of course, being they are One from all eternity (which someday we will understand, once fully in their presence) there is no separation or distance between the two.

And yet, Jesus spoke, as quoted in John 5:19-20, that His earthly mission depended upon further knowing, hearing, following and learning from His Father. And as Yeshua did that, His Father clearly showed Him what to do, when to do it and how to do it.

You know, I want that relationship with my Father too. I long to be so close to knowing God the Father, that I can walk more confidently and boldly in the tasks He has given me to do. I want that same relationship that Jesus has with His Father, Who now is also my Father in heaven.

God the Father, the One who loves us so much that He gave us His Only Son, is committed to restoring that relationship with us. We may not have received the love, encouragement and ongoing nourishment from our human limited earthly father, but we certainly can now from our Heavenly One.

I want to get to know my Father more. I hope you do too.

Ahava to my family of friends,

Steve Martin

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Ahava Love Letter #83   “The Father”  ©2013 Steve Martin 
Date: In the year of our Lord 2013 (11/01/13 Friday at 5:30 am in Charlotte, NC)

All previous editions of Ahava Love Letter can be found on this Blog, and our newest website: Ahava Love Letters