Israeli Messianic Leaders: The Church Needs Israel

Thursday, December 18, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff

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Messianic Jews

Veteran Israeli Messianic leaders Jacob Damkani and Joseph Shulam got together for a little chat about the faith and restoration of Israel on Damkani’s online studio program, and the result was something that should be watched by Christians trying to get a handle on Israel and the Jews (see below).

The underlying theme of the chat was how to deal with the notion that Israel and its Jewish population must “convert” to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) in order to complete the restoration process.

“Israel is not being reformed, it is being restored,” said Shulam, director of Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry. “It began 105 years ago with the first pioneers, through whose strength and courage, and with God’s help, this land has become one of the most advanced nations in the world.”

Damkani, an outspoken street evangelist, continued, “And here we are doing the same work of the pioneers on the spiritual level. They laid the foundation for the restoration of Israel physically, and now there are pioneers in the body [of Messiah].”

Then came the more difficult question of how to return the Gospel to its proper, Jewish context.

“The Jewish people are rediscovering our relationship with Yeshua… [following] a bloody past with the Christian world,” explained Shulam. “You cannot restore something without first clearing out the garbage, both on the Jewish side and the Christian side.”

Damkani chimed in by noting that “we received things in a certain way from the Christian world, and we need to really undress Jesus [of his] blonde [hair and] blue eyes…and discovery him anew so our people can relate to him.”

Shulam pointed out that this process was not only beneficial for the Jews, but for the Christians, as well.

“Christians [around the world] are beginning to realize that they don’t need to import all the division and tradition and man-made institutions from the West, that they can [instead] go straight to the Word of God,” he said. “And all of this through a connection with the historical Yeshua and the historical people of God, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel.”

Shulam insisted that Christians reconnecting with this biblical foundation “is a key to the restoration. …You cannot have a biblical Church without the Jews being part of it.”

Damkani wondered what it would take to teach the wider Christian world that “it cannot do without Israel, and Israel cannot do without the Church, either.”

Shulam responded with the story of a famous Jewish rabbi who came to faith in Yeshua and who explained the faith-based relationship between Israel and the Church as being like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

“The Jewish people have 70 percent of the pieces, but the Church has the centerpiece,” the rabbi was said to have taught, concluding that “we can never finish the puzzle without the Church, and the Church can never finish the puzzle without Israel.”

Watch the full discussion:

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Netanyahu Accuses Europe of 'Appeasing Terrorists'

By Julie Stahl and Chris Mitchell

CBN News Middle East Bureau

Thursday, December 18, 2014

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JERUSALEM, Israel -  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Europe is falling into the trap of appeasing terrorists by pressuring Israel.

"Today we witnessed a series of examples of European naivety, and may I add, hypocrisy," the Israeli leader said.

Those examples include the following:

• The European court removed Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations. 
• The European parliament voted in principle to recognize a Palestinian state.
• And some parties to a fourth Geneva Convention called to investigate Israel for war crimes.

"Now all these point in the same direction," Netanyahu said. "They point to a spirit of appeasement in Europe of the very forces that threaten Europe itself."

"Too many in Europe are calling on Israel to make concessions that would endanger not only the security of Israel, but also paradoxically, the security of Europe itself because Israel is the forward position of European civilization," he charged.

The European actions came on the same day Jordan submitted a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council, calling for peace between Israel and the Palestinians within a year and an Israeli withdrawal from biblical Judea and Samaria within three years.

Speaking to foreign journalists at the annual New Year's toast, Netanyahu described Israel as an "embattled democracy" in a region plagued by tyranny and Islamist terrorism.

"Israel is forced to defend itself against terrorists who time and again try to target our civilians," the prime minister said. "This summer they fired thousands of rockets on our cities, and they used their civilians as human shields. That's a second war crime."

Netanyahu said peace won't last in the Middle East unless it can be defended, and European declarations against Israel only reinforce Palestinian intransigence and push peace away.

"Peace will only come when the Palestinians are willing to confront their own extremists," he challenged. "And instead of rewarding Palestinian intransigence, the European democracies should support the one and only democracy in the Middle East and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the State of Israel.

The increased pressure comes at a time when Israel is preparing for national elections. Some believe the European moves are intended to weaken Netanyahu because he's an Israeli leader who resists the move to appease Islamic terrorism.

Hanukkah artwork by Alex Levin

 Hanukkah artwork by Alex Levin

All art: Alex Levin

"The Lord Answered the Prayers" ✡ Join a New Prayer Group!

David built an altar there to the Lord, and he offered elevation-offerings and peace-offerings. The Lord then answered the prayers of the Land and the pestilence ceased from Israel. II SAMUEL (24:25)   וַיִּבֶן שָׁם דָּוִד מִזְבֵּחַ לַי-הֹוָה וַיַּעַל עֹלוֹת וּשְׁלָמִים וַיֵּעָתֵר יְ-הֹוָה לָאָרֶץ וַתֵּעָצַר הַמַּגֵּפָה מֵעַל יִשְׂרָאֵל שמאול ב כד:כה va-yi-ben sham da-vid miz-bay-akh la-a-do-nai va-ya-al o-lot u-sh'-la-meem va-yay-a-tayr a-do-nai la-a-retz va-tay-a-tzar ha-ma-gay-fa may-al yis-ra-ayl

Today's Israel Inspiration The offerings described throughout Scripture are often hard to relate to in our modern times, but the Hebrew word for sacrifice sheds light into their deeper significance. The Hebrew word for sacrifice is קרבן / kor-BON which has at its root,  ק-ר-ב meaning, ‘to come close.’ Sacrifices were meant to bring people closer to the Eternal One. Now that we no longer have sacrifices, it is prayer through which we can connect and come close to our Father in Heaven.   Join a New Prayer Group » 8 Nights of Light With over 2 million views and a White House performance, this upbeat music video by the Maccabeats will really get you into the Hanukkah spirit!   Watch here » 200 Countries Unite to Pray for Jerusalem Prayer gatherings were recently held across the globe in over 200 countries as part of the Peace and Safety of Jerusalem and Israel initiative.   Read more » Beautiful Menorah for 25% Off! Bring the light of Hanukkah into your home with this elegant pewter Menorah. With its rounded, smooth branches, it makes a gorgeous and meaningful gift from the Holy Land. Expedited Shipping to the U.S. Get 25% off with coupon code: Hanukkah25 » Today's Israel Photo Hanukkah lamps decorate the streets of Jerusalem near the Tower of David.   See more Scenes of Israel » Thank You Please help us continue to spread the beauty and significance of the Land of Israel! Sponsor a day.   Sponsor a day » “Your Website is a Blessing to Me” It’s great to hear from so many of you - stay in touch and let us know where in the world you are enjoying Israel365!   Stay in Touch » I want you to know how much your website is a blessing to me. Shalom, Allan D. I enjoy receiving your emails which I view with interest. Gordon J. Shalom, Rabbi Tuly Weisz RabbiTuly@Israel365.com

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Rediscovering Jesus in the Christmas Madness - J. Lee Grady

Rediscovering Jesus in the Christmas Madness

12/17/2014 J. LEE GRADY  CHARISMA MAGAZINE

It's discouraging for believers when Disney Christmas ornaments outsell nativity scenes. (iStock photo)

I've often wondered what extraterrestrial aliens would think if they came to earth during December and watched people celebrate Christmas. Would they be able to figure out what this holiday season is about? I doubt it.

Today the story of Jesus' birth is pretty much buried under tons of stringed lights, crass materialism, political correctness and songs about cold weather (which is odd, considering the fact that most people in the world celebrate Christmas in warm climates). Somehow we forgot the point of this celebration.

I proved this last week when I went to a large store to find a nativity scene. This well-known discount retailer had rows and rows of Christmas trees, Disney ornaments (because anything with a Frozen theme sells), Hello Kitty ornaments, martini ornaments (Christmas is about drinking?), inflatable penguins, Santa Claus toilet seats, Darth Vader nutcrackers, reindeer oven mitts and battery-operated Christmas hats.

But no nativity scene. When I asked a manager why they didn't have any, he said apologetically: "You're right. We should probably stock those."

But I'm not going to depend on Target, Wal-Mart or Macy's to show me the real meaning of this season. I always read the gospel accounts of Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke during the month of December so I can rediscover the miracle of the Incarnation.

I encourage you to study those passages as well. And as you do, meditate on these seven different names of Jesus that are recorded in the Christmas story:

1. He is the Son of David (Matt. 1:1). Matthew's gospel, which was written primarily to Jews, stresses that Jesus was in the royal lineage of Israel's kings. The genealogy that appears in Matthew 1 traces Joseph, the husband of the virgin Mary, to David's line—and then back to Abraham. Even though Jesus was not the biological son of Joseph, He could legally claim the family name. He was King of the Jews in the truest sense; yet unlike the sinful kings of Israel, Jesus was the perfect ruler—and His kingdom will never end.

2. He is the Son of Adam (Luke 3:38). Luke's gospel, written to a Gentile audience, focuses on Jesus' humanity. And the genealogy that appears in Luke 3:23-38 is not about kingly succession. Instead, it traces Jesus' lineage through Mary's family tree and goes all the way to Adam—establishing the case that Jesus was a descendant of the first man. Through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, God's eternal Word impregnated Mary, making her child both God and man. Yet Jesus, unlike Adam, never disobeyed God. He remained sinless so He could sacrifice His life for us.

3. He is Emmanuel (Matt. 1:23). An angel told Joseph in a dream that Mary would conceive a son miraculously—and that His name would be Emmanuel, which means, "God with us." Wrapped up in this name is the mystery of the Incarnation. Jesus is, as John's gospel emphasizes, the Word that "became flesh" (John 1:14). He was with God before the creation of the world as the glorious firstborn Son, but He left the glory of heaven to dwell among sinners on earth.

4. He is Jesus, the Savior (Matt. 1:21). The angel told Mary she would give birth to the "holy child" and that she would call him Jesus, which is the Greek form of the name Joshua (or Yeshua in Hebrew). Jesus means "the Lord saves." Just as Joshua in the Old Testament succeeded Moses and took God's people across the Jordan into the Promised Land, Jesus led us out of the wilderness of sin and ushered us "by grace" and "through faith" (Eph. 2:8) into the blessings of salvation.

5. He is the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). Angels said to the shepherds in Bethlehem: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased" (Luke 2:14). This harkens back to Isaiah's ancient prophecy that the Messiah would institute peace on earth. The gift of Christ was, in fact, the greatest peace treaty ever enacted. Wherever the true gospel of Christ is preached and believed, hatred is uprooted in human hearts and wars and violence cease.

6. He is the Light of the Gentiles (Luke 2:32). Simeon, the old prophet who met Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus outside the temple in Jerusalem, recognized that the long-awaited Son of God was not sent just to Israel but to all people. Jesus' mission was a global one. This was also confirmed by the visit of the mysterious magi—wise men from a Gentile country who bowed before the Christ child and honored him as a true king. They knew that some day this King would be worshipped everywhere.

7. He is the Messiah, Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). This is how the angel described Jesus when he spoke to the shepherds in Bethlehem. The word "Christ" means "the anointed one"; the Hebrew word is Ha-Mashiach, or Messiah. It speaks of the Deliverer God promised to send to earth. Abraham saw Him from a distance; King David sang and prophesied of Him; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Micah, Haggai, Malachi and many other prophets foretold His coming. He was not only anointed by the Holy Spirit to heal the sick and raise the dead during His short time on earth; He was anointed to die on the cross for our sins and to be raised from the dead so that we could live with Him forever.

Amid this crazy holiday madness we endure every year, let's simplify. Filter out all the noise about snow, elves, gift cards, holiday sales and buying sprees and instead rediscover the point. Find the manger scene again—and put Jesus in the middle of your Christmas.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady (He finally found a manger scene at Michael's craft store).

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Atheists Couldn't Stop This Flash Mob of Amazing Grace

12/17/2014 JEN THOMPSON  CHARISMANEWS

"Amazing Grace" flash mob in Michigan (Screengrab)

When one lady asked for volunteers to join her at a Rivertown Mall in Grandville, Michigan, to sing "Amazing Grace," 250 people responded with RSVPs, and over 1,000 showed up at the mall. 

What makes this different from other "flash mobs" is that the lyrics were given out in a high-quality gospel tract form (so that anyone could join in with the singing). 

"Fortunately the singing at the Rivertown Mall was video-taped, and it brought tears to my eyes," says Ray Comfort, who came up with the idea. "In the clip you can see people holding the tracts as they sing, and at the beginning security guards are walking through the crowd not knowing who to stop.

"I believe that the average American loves the original message of Christmas, and they're tired of whining atheists threatening to sue those who display nativity scenes, etc., in public places. So here is one way they can proclaim their faith and no one can stop them. These song bursts are taking place throughout the nation. May someone do this on Capitol Hill and state properties all over the country and bring a bit of joy to the nation."



Watch: Amazing Grace Flash Mob

Saeed's Christmas Message from 'Hard, Cold' Prison

CBNNews.com

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

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Saeed Abedini has penned a Christmas letter to his family and supporters from the confines of the brutal Rajai Shahr Prison in Iran.

The American pastor was jailed by the Iranian government two years ago for refusing to recant his faith. In his letter, he notes this is the first time he'll be spending the holiday without his family.

"These conditions have made this upcoming Christmas season very hard, cold and shattering for me. It appears that I am alone with no one left beside me," he wrote.

But for Abedini, his brutal circumstances have only served to drive home the meaning of the holiday.

Read Pastor Saeed's full letter below:

Merry Christmas!

These days are very cold here. My small space beside the window is without glass making most nights unbearable to sleep. The treatment by fellow prisoners is also quite cold and at times hostile. Some of my fellow prisoners don't like me because I am a convert and a pastor. They look at me with shame as someone who has betrayed his former religion. The guards can't even stand the paper cross that I have made and hung next to me as a sign of my faith and in anticipation of celebrating my Savior's birth. They have threatened me and forced me to remove it. This is the first Christmas that I am completely without my family; all of my family is presently outside of the country. These conditions have made this upcoming Christmas season very hard, cold and shattering for me. It appears that I am alone with no one left beside me.

These cold and brittle conditions have made me wonder why God chose the hardest time of the year to become flesh and why He came to the earth in the weakest human condition (as a baby). Why did God choose the hardest place to be born in the cold weather? Why did God choose to be born in a manger in a stable, which is very cold, filthy and unsanitary with an unpleasant smell? Why did the birth have to be in such a way that it was not only hard physically, but also socially? It must have brought such shame for Mary and her fiancé that she was pregnant before marriage in the religious society of that time.

Dear sisters and brothers, the fact of the Gospel is that it is not only the story of Jesus, but it is the key of how we are to live and serve like Jesus. Today we like Him should come out of our safe comfort zone in order to proclaim the Word of Life and Salvation though faith in Jesus Christ and the penalty of sin that He paid on the cross and to proclaim His resurrection. We should be able to tolerate the cold, the difficulties and the shame in order to serve God. We should be able to enter into the pain of the cold dark world. Then we are able to give the fiery love of Christ to the cold wintery manger of those who are spiritually dead. It might be necessary to come out of the comfort of our lives and leave the loving embrace of our family to enter the manger of the lives of others, such as it has been for me for the third consecutive Christmas. It may be that we will be called fools and traitors and face many difficulties, but we should crucify our will and wishes even more until the world hears and tastes the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas means that God came so that He would enter your hearts today and transform your lives and to replace your pain with indescribable joy.

Christmas is the manifestation of the radiant brightness of the Glory of God in the birth of a child named Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

Christmas is the day that the heat of the life-giving fire of God's love shone in the dark cold wintry frozen hearts and burst forth in this deadly wicked world.

The same way that the heat from the earth's core melts the hard stones in itself and produces lava, the fiery love of God, Jesus Christ, through the virgin Mary's womb came to earth on Christmas to melt the hard heart of sin and wickedness of the world and removes them from our life. In the same process, the work of the Holy Spirit is a fiery rain of God's Holiness and Mercy that flows into our body, soul and spirit and brings the light of Christ into us and through us making this dark, cold, wintry world into radiant burning brightness. He is turning our world into a world full of peace, joy, and love that is so different than the dark, cold, and wintry world that we used to live in. Hallelujah!

So this Christmas let the lava-like love of Christ enter into the depth of your heart and make you fiery, ready to pay any cost in order to bring the same lava love to the cold world around you, transforming them with the true message of Christmas.

Pastor Saeed Abedini

Soaking in the lava love of Christ

New Archaeology Supports Existence of King David

Wednesday, December 17, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff

Detractors of the biblical text like to assert that its passages are filled with little more than folklore and myth. But new archaeological finds have again provided evidence that biblical figures like Kind David did exist and did rule over a large portion of the ancient Near East.

Leading journals recently wrote on the discovery of eight significant sites in Turkey and northern Syria which revealed the existence of a large Philistine kingdom under the rule of Tai(ta) of Hamath.

Prof. Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa says this is clearly the same regional ruler as the "Toi, king of Hamath" referenced in II Samuel 8:10, which records that when this king "heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, he sent his son Joram to King David, to greet him and to congratulate him on defeating Hadadezer in battle --- for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi."

According to Prof. Galil: "We know for sure now that Toi of Hamath existed, and that he was indeed a historical figure. The biblical text in the Book of Samuel is therefore well supported by the historical reality of the 10th century BC."

These discoveries also helped to clarify more earlier Egyptian finds according to which the Ramses III boasted of having conquered Philistine cities in northern Syria. Previously, archaeologists had believed the pharaoh was exaggerating.

The finds in Syria and Turkey coincide with the recent discovery of a stele, or stone slab, from a later Aramean king, Hazael, who spoke of having killed 70 rival kings during his conquests. Among his listed victims are kings from the "House of David."

This new evidence backs up the biblical account not only of the existence of King David, but of the fact that he was far more than a small-time, hill-top chieftain.

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