EVENT IS FREE - SEATING IS LIMITED - REGISTRATION IS REQUESTED We need your support and please honor us with your
presence at this important Night to Honor Israel!
Please urge your House and Senate
members to support resolutions (S. Res. 380 and H. Res. 568) affirming
that it is U.S. policy to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons
capability and opposing any reliance on a policy seeking to contain a
nuclear-capable Iran.
Sunday night CBS reporter Bob Simon
presented an episode of “60 Minutes” that was a pathetic excuse for
objective journalism. He begins the segment by remarking on the tragic
state of Christians in the Middle East, where violence against
Christians has spiked during the recent regional turmoil which some have
dubbed the Arab Spring. His remarks on Christian persecution in the
Middle East last all of two sentences before he plunges into an attack
on the only country in the region where Christians are safe: Israel.
The irony of this story is remarkable.
The irony unfolds in the first 30 seconds of the episode as Simon says
“… In Iraq and Egypt scores of churches have been attacked, hundreds
murdered. In Syria, revolution seriously threatens Christian
communities. The one place where Christians are not suffering from
violence is the Holy Land.” Simon then goes on to present a skewed
narrative filled with misrepresentations and inaccurate facts, which
ultimately paint Israel as the Villain. For those of us who feel deeply
for the persecuted Christians of the Middle East, it is hard to
comprehend what motivates a Journalist to casually gloss over the
travesty of the ongoing annihilation of ancient Christian communities
throughout the region, in order to attack the only country in the Middle
East where the Christian population is thriving.
The damage that this piece of irresponsible reporting inflicts is
two-fold. First, and most obviously – it paints the democratic country
of Israel in a negative light in a blatant attempt to dislodge Christian
support for Israel. Secondly– it deflects attention from the real
tragedy befalling Christians all over the Arab world. The real news
story is that throughout the so called Arab Spring, the rapes, beatings,
murders, looting and terror perpetrated against Christians in the
Middle East have been endemic. At a time when Christians are being
terrorized by Islamic extremists and complacent regimes throughout the
entire region, “60 Minutes” chooses to vilify the only safe haven for
Christianity in the entire Middle East.
Click here
to write to CBS and tell them that this reckless, politicized reporting
will not do! This is a poor example of news reporting and we expect
more from a leading news network.
Secondly we encourage you to speak out now in support of persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Visit the website www.bethlehemfreedom.com
which sends a message to Congressional leaders that US Aid of $600
million to the Palestinian Authority is not acceptable, especially with
its poor record of the treatment of Christians. On this site you can
also learn the truth about who is actually persecuting Christians in the
Middle East (which wasn’t reported by CBS).
Shalom,
Willem Griffioen
Executive Director
Israel Allies Foundation
The media has done it once again! Last night, the CBS show 60 Minutes aired a story about the Christians of Israel
and the Palestinian Authority. The story suggested that the Christian
population of these areas is disappearing and that Israel is largely to
blame for this crisis. Neither assertion is true.
What a wasted
opportunity! The Christians of the Middle East are facing
unprecedented peril. As Islamic terrorists have stepped up their
attacks on the region's Christians, the ancient Christian communities of
Iraq, Egypt and Syria are collapsing before our eyes. Yet 60 Minutes
ignored this true tragedy in order to focus its fire on Israel's efforts
to protect its citizens from the very same Islamic terror.
60 Minutes could have sounded the alarm about one of the great
tragedies of our time. Instead, it chose to attack Israel -- the one
country in the Middle East where the Christian population is growing and
Christians are truly free to practice their faith.
Click
here to tell CBS and 60 Minutes that you object to their decision to air this
biased report which scapegoats Israel and ignores the real threats facing
Christians in the Middle East.
Pastor
John Hagee
National Chairman
Christians United for Israel
David
Brog
Executive Director
Christians United for Israel
P.S. Don't forget -- there's another way you can stand up
for Israel. Join us for our seventh annual Washington, DC Summit from
July 16-18. By coming to DC and sharing your support for Israel directly
with your congressman and senators, you send a powerful pro-Israel message that
no amount of media bias can overcome! Click here now for more
details.
MAOZ: by Katy Sorsher Smith This year Israel is turning sixty-four.
On Wednesday night Israel’s streets will erupt with sounds of joy and
gladness as millions of its citizens will go out to the street to
celebrate our country’s birthday.
For lack of a better comparison, imagine a big street carnival with
many stages, performers, food stands, games for kids etc. – but imagine
it in every city and every town in our country.
Children will be running with Israeli flags, with silly strings and
foam, spraying everyone they see on their way, and (for the most part)
they will be met with a smile.
But just 24 hours before that, at 8pm on Tuesday night, a memorial
day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror started, and for
twenty-four hours Israel will be crying, remembering, and mourning.
In its short modern history, Israel has had eight major wars – not
counting the many various military operations. That’s a war every eight
years!
A day after Ben Gurion’s joyous proclamation of the termination of
the British Mandate and the establishment of the State of Israel, we
were attacked by five Arab armies from neighboring countries. The
Independence War, which was really already in progress since the famous
UN pro-Israel vote on November 29, 1947, intensified on multiple fronts.
The war, which continued until July 20, 1949, is considered to be the
bloodiest of Israel’s wars, with 6,373 killed and 15,000 wounded.
Operation Kadesh, also known as the Sinai Campaign of 1956 lasted 100
hours, during which IDF removed the Egyptian blockade of the southern
city of Eilat, and conquered Sinai, which was later returned to Egypt –
twice! In this campaign Israel lost 231 soldiers.
Israel’s most famous Six-Day War of June 1967 was definitely a
turning point in God’s plan for His people. After two thousand years of
“the times of the Gentiles,” when Jerusalem’s old city has been trodden
down by nations, to the amazement and joy of every Israeli, the Old City
once again returned to Israel’s possession. 776 Israeli soldiers fell
in the Six-Day War.
The War of Attrition (1968-70) was a static exchange of artillery
fire along the Bar Lev line on the Suez Canal. After Israeli Air Force
began bombing attacks against targets in Egypt, Egyptians soon called
for USSR intervention, after which the US, fearing nuclear
confrontation, negotiated a “cease-fire stand-still” formula. Israel
lost 1,424 soldiers between the Six-Day war and August 8, 1970.
These
and other events allowed Egypt in secret coordination with Syria to
prepare for the worst war in Israel’s history, when on October 6, 1973,
on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Israel came under a surprise
attack. 2,688 soldiers fell. The Yom Kippur war was followed by a series
of Separation-of-Forces agreements with Egypt and Syria, establishing a
strip of territory in which no troops would be allowed.
The Lebanon War – Operation Peace for Galilee of 1982, started on
June 6. Ceasefire with Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon which was
declared in July 1981 was broken, and Israel had no other choice but to
launch a campaign to protect her citizens in the north. A total of 1,216
soldiers were killed between June 5, 1982 and May 31, 1985. The
operation was not successful for Israel, and many more soldiers were
lost until Israel decided on a one-sided withdrawal from Lebanon. Years
later, in 2006, Israel would launch another campaign in Lebanon – the
Second Lebanon War, to fight the Hizbullah terrorists, who terrorized
the entire north of Israel with rocket fire.
One other war Israel was a part of, even though IDF was not a
participant, was the Gulf War of 1991. During this war, millions of
Israelis, including yours truly, were practically glued to their gas
masks and the specially-equipped rooms in their homes. Over a period of
more than 1 month, 19 missile attacks were launched on Israel, causing
13 civilian deaths.
22,993. This is the total number of the lost in Israel’s wars,
struggles and terror attacks since 1860. 126 of them since last Memorial
Day.
Tonight at 8pm and tomorrow morning at 11am the sirens will once
again remind all Israel that she is surrounded by enemies, who want this
number to rise exponentially.
In this 24-hour mourning period, each name will be read somewhere in
Israel. Across IDF bases, soldiers will keep watch near a memorial fire,
periodically changing guard. There is not one person in Israel who is
not personally affected by these wars and attacks. Either a loved one or
a friend’s loved one – each home has someone to remember this day.
But just like Psalm 30 says, God has an amazing ability to turn our
mourning into dancing. No waiting, no therapy – just like that – one
minute you mourn – the next you’re filled with joy. Each year Israel is a
great example of this, and one day she will be a wonderful example of
God’s miracle of salvation, when all Israel shall be saved.
For everything there is a season under the sun. A time to mourn and a time to rejoice. A time to die and a time to live.
Today we tell Israel, “LIVE!” We say to the dry bones, “Be filled
with the Spirit of God and arise! Arise, shine, for your light has
come, and the Glory of the Lord is rising upon you!” We mourn with you,
Israel. We rejoice with you, Israel!
Happy Birthday, my dear Israel! You are not only my home, you are
the dwelling place of the Greatest King, who will wipe away every tear,
and restore you to Him!
On April 26th, Israel will celebrate the
sixty-fourth anniversary of her independence. One person who has a
special reason to celebrate is Bracha.
Bracha is a fifty-eight-year-old widow who recently came to Israel after
a long and painful journey from Ethiopia. She walked with her children
and grandchildren for weeks to reach the spot where there was a plane to
take them to Israel. Sadly, not all of them made it: Bracha’s daughter
died along the way. “I continued to walk with my two children and her
two children,” Bracha remembers, “but when we arrived at the plane, it
was bittersweet.”
Despite this deep sorrow, Bracha feels blessed to be in Israel. “When
we landed in the Holy Land, I kneeled down and kissed the ground,” she
says. “I thought, This is the ground that my ancestors have been telling stories about for so many generations, and I kept thanking God that He gave me the opportunity of living out their dream.”
Once in Israel, Bracha struggled to support her children and
grandchildren. “I felt so bad that I couldn’t provide food for them,”
Bracha says.
Bracha soon learned about The Fellowship and how impoverished
Jewish families in Israel can count on us to help during times of urgent
need. “Now, each night when we eat dinner, we appreciate it so much
and thank God and The Fellowship for giving us that blessing,” she says.
Your gift will help us provide basic needs, such as food, clothing, and
medical assistance that so many families, children, and elderly people —
including Holocaust survivors — in Israel need right now.
While the world has changed a great deal since 1948 when Israel became
an independent state, she remains surrounded by enemies, and spending on
defense leaves the government with little to help destitute people like
Bracha and her family. That is why each donation to The Fellowship can make such a meaningful difference.
The Fellowship is proud to be one of the largest humanitarian
organizations in Israel. But that also means that we have a
responsibility to help those who cannot help themselves. We hope that
you will mark Israel’s independence in a very special way this year by
making a generous donation to help needy Jews in the Holy Land.
Part 2:
Dear Pastor and Friend of The Fellowship,
On May 14, 1948, the fifth day of the month of Iyar on the Jewish calendar, Jewish leaders gathered in Tel Aviv to sign the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel—Israel's Declaration of Independence.
This extraordinary document states, "By virtue of our natural and
historic right and on the strength of the resolution of the United
Nations General Assembly, [we] hereby declare the establishment of a
Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel."
With this bold declaration, the modern State of Israel was born. And so
it is that every year at this time Israel Independence Day is observed. Yom HaAtzmaut,
as it is known in Hebrew, is a day of jubilation—a day for Jews to mark
the re-establishment of their sovereign nation after generations of
exile, and to celebrate the history and accomplishments of the modern
State of Israel.
From the very beginning, Israel extended a hand of friendship to
neighboring states, encouraging them, as Israel's Declaration of
Independence puts it, to "establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help
with the sovereign Jewish people."
Despite this, most of Israel's neighbors still do not recognize the
Jewish state. Some, in fact, are preparing themselves for the day that
they can, in the words of the Iranian president, "wipe Israel off the
map."
Even in the West, with its values of democracy and personal
liberty—values fully embraced by Israel—her legitimacy is routinely
questioned in academic circles, on newspaper op-ed pages, and even in
some churches. Sixty-plus years after its birth, it seems Israel is
still the only nation on earth that is continually called on to justify
its existence.
For Israelis and friends of Israel—indeed, for any fair-minded person
who values democracy and freedom—Israel Independence Day should be,
first and foremost, a day for celebration. On this day, let's thank God
for a nation that stands as a beacon of democracy in the midst of
authoritarian regimes… for a nation where every day scientific and
technological advances are made that benefit the entire world… for a
nation that, since its inception, has worked to fulfill the biblical
promise, "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn" (Isaiah 60:3).
U.S.Israel Relationship: Ties that Bind
While Israel's Arab neighbors reacted with hostility to the founding of
the Jewish state, the U.S. became the first nation to recognize Israel.
It is instructive to remember that the man primarily responsible for
this was a devoted Christian—President Harry S. Truman.
In Truman's administration, there were those who spoke forcefully
against U.S. recognition of the new Jewish state. One of these,
Secretary of State James Forrestal, summed up this viewpoint by saying,
"There are thirty million Arabs on one side and about six hundred
thousand Jews on the other. It is clear that in any contest, the Arabs
are going to overwhelm the Jews. Why don't you face up to the realities?
Just look at the numbers!"
Harry Truman was not without his faults. He occasionally displayed in
his private correspondence some of the anti-Semitic prejudices that were
all too prevalent at that time. But, ultimately, it is to his
everlasting credit that, as far as the right of Israel to exist was
concerned, Truman was unimpressed by "the numbers."
In his memoirs, Clark Clifford, who was special counsel to Truman,
remembers Truman's strong counterpoint to Forrestal's position: "From
[Truman's] youth, he had detested intolerance and discrimination. He had
been deeply moved by the plight of the millions of homeless of World
War II, and felt that alone among the homeless, the Jews had no homeland
of their own to which they could return."
As a Christian, Truman had other reasons to support the Jews' return to
their homeland. Clifford continues, "[Truman] was a student and believer
in the Bible since his youth. From his reading of the Old Testament, he
felt the Jews derived a legitimate historical right to Palestine, and
he sometimes cited such biblical lines as Deuteronomy 1:8: "'Behold,
I have given up the land before you; go in and take possession of the
land which the Lord hath sworn unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob.'"
Truman never regretted his decision to recognize the Jewish state—a move
he took just eleven minutes after Israel declared its independence. "I
had faith in Israel before it was established, I have faith in it now,"
he said in 1952. "I believe it has a glorious future before it—not just
another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of
our civilization."
Call for Support
In light of the threats today against Israel and the rise of
anti-Semitism worldwide, it is time for friends of Israel and the Jewish
people to speak out. One of the most important battles Israel must
fight is the battle for public opinion. You and your congregation can
help Israel win this battle through prayer, advocacy, and by spreading
the truth about Israel's ongoing struggle for peace and security. One
easy first step you can take is to visit our Stand for Israel website (StandForIsrael.org) to see how you can become involved.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President
Part 3:
April 24, 2012
Joseph,
As
Israel prepares to celebrate her 64th year of independence on April 26,
I invite you to reflect with me for a moment on how far she has come in
such a short time.
Today,
Israel is among the world leaders in both business and technology —
ranking second in both venture capital funds and hi-tech start-up
companies, with the highest rate of entrepreneurship among women of any
country in the world. Despite her hostile neighbors, Israel is still
standing strong as the only democracy in the Middle East.
While
there is much to celebrate about Israel and her people, she must
unfortunately remain among the world’s leaders in defense spending.
That is why, since 1983, The Fellowship has been dedicated to providing as much humanitarian assistance as we can, to help the most vulnerable in Israel.
Through our Guardians of Israel
program we are reaching out to victims of terror, the elderly, youth
and families every day. We provide food to hungry families, daily
necessities to impoverished people, and bomb shelters to help protect
Israel’s most vulnerable communities.
As one of the largest providers of social services in the country, The Fellowship
has a unique bond with Israel and her people. We hope you will join us
in wishing Israel a safe and very happy Independence Day.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President
PS
You can show your support for Israel and her people by making a generous gift to help The Fellowship provide basic necessities and lifesaving protection today. Thank you
Part 4:
We have much to remember and also
to give thanks for in our prayers this week. Although attacks on the
Jewish state persist in all manners, we celebrate Israel's Memorial Day
and Independence Day with grateful hearts. We take comfort knowing
that, in times of war and in times of peace, God always show us his
unfailing love. For this we rejoice!
More rockets have been fired by
Palestinian terrorists in Gaza into the south of Israel. Please pray for
safety for those Israelis who live in constant threat of danger, and as
always, for peace in the land. “So Israel will live in safety; Jacob will dwell secure in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens drop dew" (Deuteronomy 33:28).
This week, as we celebrate Israel’s Memorial Day (Yom Ha’Zikaron) and Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut), give thanks for the freedom of the Jewish state, and remember all those who lost their lives to secure that independence. “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts” (Psalm 119:45).
Pray for the family, friends, and all those touched by the life of
Charles Colson, noted Christian leader and longtime friend of The Fellowship. Colson passed away this weekend, but his memory will live on. “May your unfailing love be my comfort” (Psalm 119:76).
Please pray for all of those who will make aliyah (immigrate to Israel) this spring. May they find security and comfort in the transition to their new home. “You
shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you,
and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land
of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:33-34).
Pray for wisdom for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama, and all other world leaders who seek peace. “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (2 Chronicles 1:10).
ME: Happy Birthday Israel and congratulations for your Independence's Day! God will blesses you today and forever! Shalom!
Prophet
Elijah was a man of God deeply involved in political activities. He was
not a politician, but he admonished and rebuked politicians.
Elijah
began his ministry with no fear to deliver a hard message to King Ahab
(a political creature like president Lula in Brazil and like former
president Clinton in the US):
“You’re the troublemaker… You and your family have disobeyed the LORD’s commands by worshiping Baal”. (1Kings 18:18)
Elijah
kept confronting King Ahab subsequently through many other prophetic
messages. (To see how God used Elijah in the political realm of Israel,
read the chapters 17, 18, 19 and 21 of the book of 1 Kings and the
chapter 1 of the book of 2 Kings, in the Old Testament.)
After
fulfilling incredible prophetic missions in the politics of Israel,
Elijah was taken by God (see the chapter 2 of the book of 2 Kings). Yet,
he did not experience death. According to the book of the Prophet
Malachi, Elijah will return. God says: “See, I will send you the prophet
Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will
turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the
children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a
curse”. (Malachi 4:5-6 NIV)
However,
even before Elijah’s return, a partial, unexpected fulfillment has
already happened (just as other partial, unexpected fulfillments are
possible to happen):
Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already,
and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise
the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” Then the
disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:11-13 NKJV, the italics is mine.)
When Jesus said that Elijah will restore all
things, he also meant that Elijah will put everything in order —
especially in the political sphere. The Philips New Testament says that
Elijah will “begin the world’s reformation”. The political world, in all
its corruption, hypocrisy and wickedness, needs order, and God will
send Elijah for this purpose.
John the Baptist: the first man to have Elijah’s anointing?
In
the life of John the Baptist, Jesus himself recognized and explained
that there was a partial fulfillment for that prophecy, that is, in
addition to Elijah’s return, John the Baptist was also an Elijah of God
to the world. Probably, the ministry of John the Baptist also shows that
God can raise men in the Elijah anointing. Receiving the Elijah
anointing, John the Baptist did what Elijah did. What did Elijah do? He
rebuked rulers according to the powerful Word of God.
Just
as Elijah, John the Baptist led his life in a prophetic seclusion “in
the wilderness”, as a best way to seek God, as a best way to for him to
hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and be a powerful tool of God in the
society.
Having
the Elijah anointing, John the Baptist confronted Herod (other
political creature like President Lula of Brazil and former President
Clinton) because of a sexual sin in his life:
For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife”. (Mark 6:18 NIV)
Other
Bible translations reveal that John made that rebuke frequently to
Herod. Not only once, or twice, but whenever he saw Herod, John opened
his mouth. He did not lose any opportunity to say that the king had
broken God’s legal limits.
Strangely,
what John was doing was the partial fulfillment of God’s promise in
Malachi. Yet, no one could imagine that included in that promise was
also the return of the Elijah anointing. John the Baptist may have been
the first servant of the Lord to enjoy that anointing.
The
prophetic mission of John the Baptist was to prepare the heart of God’s
people for the greatest visitation of the Lord in the human history. Of
course, spiritually, the Lord will keep visiting his people, to make
great works, and servants of the Lord will help prepare the heart of
God’s people for the visitations of the Holy Spirit in these last days.
If the Lord keep pouring out the Elijah anointing, we will see men bold
in the Holy Spirit, ready, according God’s Word, to rebuke rulers in sin
and corruption.
What
John the Baptist did frequently before Herod is a startling contrast
with the reality of our days, where ordinary men and women who profess
to be from God support politicians and rulers having a moral and sexual
behavior worst than the behavior of Herod. Yet, the political
involvement of John went as far as where those men and women do not dare
to go. His political involvement did not flatter the powerful, but did
reflect faithfully God’s perspective to deal with specific and serious
moral problems.
Where
the Elijah anointing goes in, goes in too the prophetic ministry before
political authorities, so that their politics get aligned with God’s
politics and so that politicians get morally aligned with God’s will and
laws.
While
Elijah in the Old Testament used to exhort the Jew rulers to lead a
righteous lifestyle to please God, in the New Testament John exhorted
Herod (who was not a Jew) to correct his sexual behavior. Herod had many
serious problems (including dishonesty, corruption and violence) that
deserved sharp rebuke. John could have confronted all of theses sins,
for he had knowledge, through his parents who were from priestly
families, of the important role of the Old Testament prophets in the
denunciation against the corruption and oppression against the poor by
government offficiais.
However,
he acted according to the righteous priority God had put in his heart,
perhaps because it did not much sense to press a politician to try to
“fix” the things in the society when his life needed a moral “repair”.
He did not waste his energy attacking all the sins of a politician. He
began attacking head-on the sin his spiritual vision saw as the most
critical in that point. His absolute priority was to deal directly with
the moral issue, even though he did also condemn other sins in King
Herod. For his attitude of rebuking the sexual sin of a man in the
government, John eventually suffered prison and death.
Jesus
endorsed the prophetic behavior of John. While John was in the prison
because of the “crime” of condemning the sexual sin of Herod, Jesus had
only kindly comments about him. “I can guarantee this truth: Of all the
people ever born, no one is greater than John the Baptizer… If you are
willing to accept their message, John is the Elijah who was to come.” (Matthew 11:14 GWV, emphasis is mine.)
If
he lived in our days, there is no doubt that John would open his mouth
before politicians like President Lula in Brazil, who actively promotes
abortion and homosexuality in the society. Yet, who could say that the
Elijah anointing cannot be given to men of God in Brazil? While the
pouring out of this anointing is not seen, nothing keeps God’s people
from crying out ceaselessly: “Lord, Brazil has in its government Herods
and Ahabs, but where are your Elijah for Brazil?”
Restoring and reforming the political world
At
the same time he declared John symbolized Elijah, Jesus made also clear
that Elijah will really come to restore everything and begin the
world’s reformation. There are many crooked, perverted and wicked things
in the political leaders and in the politics and laws themselves made
by them, and Elijah will come with the powerful Word of the Lord to
rebuke the political world, to manifest to the haughty world rulers that
God demands governments and nations to behave according to the
righteousness of God’s Word.
Perhaps,
as the example of John the Baptist, God will be able to raise also in
these last days men to represent Elijah. After all, there are many Ahabs
and Herods in the modern governments and they also need to be rebuked
according the Word of the Lord. They need to know and recognize that God
does not move only within the Christian churches, but also among the
haughty world rulers. They need to feel, through the prophetic Elijah
anointing in the servants chosen by God, that their politics and
behavior are an abomination in the God’s eyes.
The
Ahabs who promote the state idolatry, witchcraft, prostitution and
homosexuality need to know God’s power through his prophets. The Herods
who live wicked sexual behaviors need to be rebuked by the prophets
having the Elijah anointing.
The
world rulers have no right to do as they see fit, for God gave them the
specific responsibility to serve God chastising the wicked and praising
those who do good. God’s Word makes clear that governors “are sent by
him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.” (1 Peter 2:14 NKJV)
All human government was called to be God’s servant in this fundamental obligation:
“For
[the State] is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be
afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s
minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.” (Romans 13:4 NKJV)
However,
the modern State intrudes even God’s realm promising to grant
everything (health care, education, etc.) to the population and meet all
of their needs, as if it were God himself! Gerald Ford, US president in
the 70s, said a great truth about government:
“If the government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is big enough to take away everything you have”.
When
a government fails to be a minister of God in the mission God gave it
to punish the wicked and praise those who do good and intrudes areas
that God did not allow it (the control over children and education),
then the State becomes a Monster.
The
Brazilian government has been steadily failing in its responsibility to
make Brazilian people safe from criminals, which is its obligation and
also the duty God imposed on it. It has also been steadily failing in
education and health care, which God did not entitle it. Result: the
government takes away almost everything from its citizens, but it gives
them almost nothing in return, and the little quantity the people
receive is precarious and poor.
When
the State wants to do everything, eventually it does almost no thing,
except overburdening the population by a great number of high and unjust
taxes. So much money for security, health care and education taxes and,
at the end, citizens end up with no money and no one of the many state
“promises” they were forced to pay at so high prices.
No
government has God’s call to get involved in the control of families,
children and promotion of politics of abortion, homosexuality and other
perversions. The basic responsibility God gave the government is “to execute
wrath on him who practices evil”. Everything that is beyond this
obligation is state intrusion and may seriously be considered as
illegality in the God’s eyes. The Elijahs of God will confront
presidents, governors, mayors and other elected officials for the
negligence of their obligation and will rebuke them for intruding
spheres that are not proper for them.
Yet,
where are the Elijahs of God to warn presidents and other governors
that their government and their politics are unlawful in the God’s eyes?
Where are the Elijahs of God to tell the government that its
responsibility is just public security? Where are the men of God to
imitate John the Baptist and say to the modern-day Herods: “What you are
doing is against God’s Law”? It is very easy to come near a president
or another corrupt and immoral public official and limit oneself to
praise and flatter. Multitudes of religious leaders meeting high
authorities do exactly so. They do not seek God’s face and when they are
face to face with a governor, they have just praises, and often the
governor rightly deserves rebuke and warning. There are abundant
flatterers. But where are the Elijah? Where are the men with the
anointed courage to tell to the presidents that their government broke
the limits God gave?
The key to cultivate the Elijah anointing: the direct involvement of parents in the upbringing and education of their children
Where are the Elijah of God? They are, or they may be, in the spiritual environment proper for their development. God says:
“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse”. (Malachi 4:5-6 NIV, emphasis is mine.)
In
our time, the State has been getting children to distance themselves
from their parents, for parents are not properly committing themselves
in the lives of their children. With such state-induced separation, it
has been very easy for parents to turn from children and children from
parents.
The
State, that Elijah and John the Baptist so much rebuked, has today as
one of its supreme goals to control children — through schools. The state control over children and education is a recent novelty in the human history.
Of course, the State alleges to defend “the right to education” of the
children. Yet, even though parents have post-graduate college education,
the Brazilian State, for example, does not give to those parents the
right to homeschool their children, under the pretext that it wants “the
best interests of the children” — which are, in fact, just a disguise
to protect its best interests.
A
child learning at home may receive a good education, if her parents
have the means to sacrifice themselves in that education, and the State
will have a hard time to sow its new and strange values in her while her
parents are near. At school, even when children do not receive a proper
education — and studies show that the Brazilian education is not well
—, the important thing, for the State, is that faraway from their
parents at least it is easier to put children in touch with different
values from the values from their parents, values approved by the state
criterions. The state god demands the sacrifice of children in the altar
of the government indoctrination.
What
is in stake is the life direction and values of the children. The State
knows very well that the control over education and children is
fundamental. So the government does not give up its own law that
requires children to attend institutional school. The aim per se
is not education. It is to distance a child from her home and keep her
in the institutional environment — faraway from her family and their
values — the most time possible. The result? After some years exposed to
the state indoctrination, many teenagers from Christian families begin
to fall away. When they finish a college, the majority get detached from
God and his values or from family and their values. They end up
“educated” and immoral, “educated” and rebel, “educated” and faraway
from God, “educated” and faraway from the family values.
“Educated”
is an expression virtually empty of its real meaning, for most
schoolchildren who finish school today are functionally illiterate,
writing and reading poorly, but very “educated” in completely
unnecessary issues, as dating with birth control, abortion and free sex
and pornographic sex education with a right to homosexual immorality.
The
fact is that children are turning away from parents and their values,
for their parents delivered them to the harmful influence of the state
indoctrination of the institutional schools.
What
is the advantage in a great “education” when the cost is the life and
spiritual values of our children? Probably, the apostles of the Lord
Jesus Christ would quickly sacrifice such academic opportunities,
instead of sacrificing their children for the sake of this kind of
education. They would never see education as more important than the
life and spiritual values of their children.
If
the apostles had just those two options, of course they would choose to
protect their children. Yet, there are not only those two options. Where education is concerned, the institutional school is not the only choice!
When the heart of the parents turns to their children, taking on the
direct supervision of their education and upbringing and refusing to
turn them over to the state Monster, the heart of the children turns —
not to drugs, rebellion and wicked behaviors. Their heart turns to their
parents. It is no coincidence that in the homeschooling movement most
children admire and respect their parents, a behavior increasingly
difficult when their children have already been attending an
institutional school for some years. Education is the key. The State
knows it. God’s Word teaches it. It is up for parents now to discover
that important truth.
He who has control over the education of a child will have decisive influence over her values. That is why the State demands that control, even when parents have a great education.
The State needs to control the education, so that it may have total
freedom to preach and teach its “democratical” values — that are not
anything more than its “gospel” of humanism, socialism, feminism,
homosexualism and liberalism. The State needs to control the children,
so that it may have total freedom to turn them into disciples of that
“gospel”.
The
state Monster uses the educational system to create small and big
monsters according to its own image and likeness, so that they may learn
from the state masters that what is an abomination in God’s eyes is
normal for the state Monster, and that what is just and right in God’s
eyes is abomination for the state Monster. There are abundant examples
of that reality. The state Monster in Brazil sees as abomination the
instruction of Proverbs giving parents the right and full freedom to
discipline, through a rod of correction, the wicked behavior of their
children. But it sees as normal and just to deliver, in adoption,
children to gay couples.
The
Brazil Without Homophobia campaign of the Lula government wants all
Brazilians to respect sodomy. Parents not respecting sodomy run the risk
of losing the custody over their children — which may be granted to a
homosexual “couple”. Only a Monster could behave this way. And such
Monster is real: it is the State.
The
state Monster sees as normal to deliver unborn babies to the
extermination of the legal abortion. For it, it is normal to teach
schoolchildren that homosexuality and sex without marriage are life
options and deserve respect.
The
state Monster requires, in the religious classes in the public schools,
Jesus Christ to be put in the same level of the gods of Candomble and
other pagan and Afro-Brazilian religions.
The
state Monster requires the exclusion of God and his values from schools
and the social realm, under the pretext that the State is secular. The
exclusion is willful, so that the place of God may be occupied by the
state Monster. So, the modern State is like the old kingdoms, where
paganism usurped the place that belonges to God. Today the usurper is
humanism, statism, secularism, socialism and other similar ideologies.
Even
with so a strong control and with draconian policies and laws governing
education, the Lula government, after several years investing in the
“improvement” of education, recognizes that its “objective failed” and
that in the Brazilian education the “picture is negative”. In fact, it
also recognizes that, even though institutional education is compulsory
and homeschooling is banned, illiteracy is relatively high and that
children finish fundamental education virtually unable to read and
understand what they read. In other words, the government itself is
saying that its education is a disaster!
In
spite of that much-recognized failure, the Lula government was able to
lower the compulsory school age, changing the law so that parents may be
forced now to send their children to the state indoctrination of the
institutional school no more at the 7-year age, but at 6. Yet, the state
goal is much more ambitious:
“Information
by the National Campaign for the Right to Education reveal preoccupying
figures… More than 50% of the children between 0 and 6 years are not at
school…”[1]
That
information indicates a scary reality: in spite of the state failure in
its education for children above 6 years who are forced by law to
attend an institutional school, now the State worries that, below 6 years, only 50% children attend schools.
The solution? Make school attendance below 6 years old compulsory too!
The State is considering legal and political measures to extend its
control over those little children.
The
government is not happy with its performance in the illiteracy of the
Brazilian children, but it is satisfied that its own laws keep children
more under its own control and supervision than under the control and
supervision of parents. What can then the government do when children
are faraway from the direct supervision of their parents?
The
Lula government has confessed its failure to educate schoolchildren in a
minimally satisfactory way, but it wants to guarantee that they may
have access to condoms and pornographic books at schools. The Brazilian
State wants to make up for its educational failure through condoms and
pornography. So schoolchildren will not worry about their low grades,
for they will be intoxicated by free sex and a self-esteem induced by
psychological techniques of brainwashing. They will become happy morons.
Parents
who desire to invest themselves in their children for the sake of
Jesus, upbringing children having their heart turned to their parents,
will need the Elijah anointing, so that they may challenge the immoral
state impositions requiring control over children in the education. In
fact, the Superior Tribunal of Justice, perceiving the “threat” of
homeschooling to the state ambitions, affirmed that “children do not
belong to their parents”, in a judicial decision against a homeschool
family in Brazil. The modern State, as the old pagan kingdoms, demands
child sacrifices in its altars, and all effort by the Christian parents
to rescue their children from that secularist and pagan sacrifice
requires the Elijah anointing, requires the parental sacrifice in the
lives of their children, taking on their education and the supervision
and formation of their values.
The
Elijah anointing is for these last days. It is for parents — to enable
them to face the state absolutism. It is for parents — to enable them to
dedicate themselves to the total education of their children. It is for
parents — to give them courage not to deliver their children in the
educational altar of the state Monster. It is for parents — to enable
them to raise up prophetic children, in the anointing of Elijah and John
the Baptist.
Elijah
(and his last-days prophetic anointing) will convince parents to take
on completely the upbringing and education of their children and the
children to respect and admire their parents. That purpose has already
been fulfilling itself in a startling way in the homeschooling movement,
where parents turn to their children and children turn to their
parents.
The homeschooling movement offers excellent opportunities to raise men and women in the anointing of Elijah and John the Baptist
Elijah
(and his last-days prophetic anointing) will convince parents to reject
the unfair state impositions in the sphere of upbringing and education
of children. This anointing will challenge governments and politicians.
It will be anointing to shake what needs for so a long time to be
shaken. Before the determined state opposition to homeschooling, it is
impossible for parents to get involved in that prophetic movement
without challenging the corrupt, pagan and immoral State.
Yet,
the cost is worthwhile. There is no greater blessing, for a family,
than to have their children at the Lord Jesus’ feet, not under the paws
of the state Monster and its immoral values. In order that such blessing
may be a reality, God’s people, as Elijah did, will have to confront
governments and authorities.
The fundamental characteristic of the prophetic lifestyle of Elijah, which will be active in the last days, is the prophetic isolation.
Elijah lived completely isolated from the social sins. Surely, if there
were public (state) schools in Israel in his time and if he had a
family, he would not send his children to school. He would take on their
education, in the Lord. That necessary isolation is part of
homeschooling, where Christian children receive a good education,
without the state indoctrination and without the pressures and influence
of classmates who have morally problematic behaviors.
In
his isolation, Elijah always sought God and got prepared to attend
whenever God called him to go to society and confront its political
leaders and wicked values. In homeschooling, committed parents have the
opportunity to invest deeply in the spiritual, moral e educational
formation of their children, preparing them to attend to God’s call in
the social sphere, combating harmful values. Like Elijah, the
homeschooling movement offers excellent opportunities for the parents to
raise and educate children who will challenge the modern secularist,
pagan, abortist, homosexualist and immoral political system.
While
the aim of the Lord in the education is for parents to form their
children in the Elijah anointing in these last days, the aim of the
state Monster is to form the new generation in the ethical, sexual and
spiritual anormality of Ahab and Herod.
Brazil and the world need Elijah’s return and many other men like him and John the Baptist.
We
do not know how or when Elijah will come, but Elijah or the men having
the Elijah anointing who will come will do a prophetic work of
restoration in the governments, shaking the structures of sin and
arrogance. Those men will have a life preparation as the life
preparation Elijah and John the Baptist had.
It
is much a possibility that God may have chosen the homeschooling
movement to give parents the opportunity to raise children in the Elijah
anointing. Those children, raised and educated isolatedly from the
state indoctrination, will be strengthened in Bible values which will
enable them to be God’s instruments to rebuke futurely political
leaders, their immoral behaviors and their unfair policies.
Homeschooling,
where parents turn to their children and children turn to their
parents, is the proper soil for the “cultivation” of new Elijahs. Only
this way it will be possible to escape from the curse that will occur as
punishment to our nation because of the separation between parents and
their children and children and their parents and because of the
perverted policies of the state Monster that provoke and facilitate that
separation. (See Malachi 4:6)
The
opportunities of blessings are many in the homeschooling movement, but
the parents who want the Elijah anointing for their children will need
to pay a high cost because of the violent threats of Ahabs, Herods,
Lulas and other menials of the state Monster. They demand complete
control over the education of our children, a control God did not give
them authority or permission to require.
In
the past, the state Monster used to demand child sacrifices. That
requirement has not changed. The state Monster is still thirsty for
children.
Whom then we will deliver our children to? Which altar will we offer them in?
Whether
by homeschooling or other Holy Spirit movements, the God who acted
through Elijah is going to show to the world that he has not stopped his
activities in the political world. He is going to show that he has not
stopped confronting politicians in their immorality and injustice.
Your sons and daughters (or/and you) can be the Elijah in the future if you teach (or/and learn) the real values of God. God blesses you and your family! Shalom!
My heart truly breaks for the millions of Jews
who suffered the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust. But I am also
deeply saddened for the thousands of survivors who now, in the twilight
of their years, find themselves living in abject poverty and desperate
conditions.
Tomorrow sundown, April 18, begins Yom Hashoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day. I invite you to light a candle of remembrance to honor the victims.
This day has special meaning for Jews and Christians all over the
world. In Israel, all activity comes to a halt as the entire nation
observes two minutes of silence. And around the world, Jews — often
together with Christians — gather to memorialize the 6 million Jews
murdered simply for being Jews. Among the people stopping to reflect
will be a Holocaust survivor from Romania named Perla.
Perla now lives in Israel. She is 76 years old and has no family. She sleeps in homeless shelters and depends on a Fellowship-sponsored soup kitchen for her only warm meal each day.
“The Fellowship really cares for the neediest
people in Israel and is the only place for me to turn to for help,”
Perla says. “Thank you for being like my family during these difficult
times.”
As Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, our work takes on an added
sense of urgency. Not only because of the desperate conditions so many
elderly survivors like Perla are experiencing, but because the
circumstances that allowed the Holocaust to occur are tragically once
again taking shape before our eyes.
Today, Israel is under constant threat from her enemies.
Anti-Semitism is once again on the rise around the world. There has
never been a more critical time for us to stand united with the people
of Israel and Jews everywhere and shout: “Never again!”
Please join with me and the thousands of Fellowship friends around the world by lighting a candle of remembrance honoring those who were murdered during the Holocaust and by praying and helping those poor survivors who still need us today.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President
PS
If you feel
as strongly as I do about the heartbreaking conditions these elderly
men and women now face, then I urge you to light a candle and make a generous gift to help them today.
by Katy Sorsher Smith
This
morning started just as any other weekday morning in Israel. People
went to work, making their way through the busy highways. Students went
to school. The streets of every town were busy as the vendors opened
their shops and boutiques. After all, this is just another Thursday.
But as the clock handles started
approaching 10am, suddenly, the atmosphere started to change. In every
school across the country, students were gathering outside. At the Yad
Va'Shem Holocaust Museum a big crowd gathered. But the crowds were not
what you would expect them to be... they were silent and that silence
was heartfelt and deafening.
At 10:00am sharp, one after another, from every part of every city in
Israel, sirens started wailing. They started at the lowest note, making
their way up the scale, and when topped off continued their alarming
sound.
As this started happening, people from every shop and business on the
bottom floor went outside and stood in silence with their heads bowed.
Every car on every road - even the highways - stopped in the middle, and
the drivers with the passengers came out to stand with the entire
nation as they remembered the 6,000,000 Jewish men, women and children
who perished in the Holocaust.
In this silence, with just the sirens whistling, I always think about
the silence in the gas chambers that came after the desperate screams
and pleas - of people who were grasping for just one more breath of air
- stopped. Because I grew up in Israel, I also see before my eyes the
horrible pictures that documented these atrocities. Their voices will
never be heard again.
It seems endless, but the sirens continued just for two short
minutes. Then they made their way back down the music scale and died out
completely. Students continued a ceremony of commemoration, as did
those in Yad Va'Shem. Everyone else got back to work and to their cars,
and continued with their daily routine. Aside from special TV
programming that will continue until this evening, it is, again, just
another Thursday.
Every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day the same thing happens across
the nation of Israel. This will continue until the end of time -
because we are the only voice the victims now have. The Jewish people
who survived WWII swore to never forget. And we never will! No amount of
Holocaust deniers will change that. Ever.
If you would like to be a part of this Day of Remembrance, we invite you to watch this video made by our Maoz media team.
You
might have seen it before. You might have seen it more than once
before. But just as Israel remembers every year anew, we ask that you watch and remember again - and then click "Forward" to share this email and this video with everyone you know.
Let's let everyone know that we will
remember, and never forget... but more than that - we will never allow
this to happen again!
Please Pray...
- Pray for the Holocaust Survivors, whose numbers are decreasing with
each year, for God to touch their hearts and bring them salvation.
- Pray for the families of Holocaust survivors and victims to have hearts open to God and His Good News.
- Pray for the Lord to protect Israel from her enemies, and that He will never allow another Holocaust.
- Pray for salvation of all Israel.
More news and Messianic news are available as they happen on www.maozisrael.org
NEVERMORE THE HOLOCAUST! GOD PROTECT THE JEWS! SHALOM!
The Israel haters are not an ocean away. They are right here in own backyard. We experienced this personally on Monday when vandals destroyed a CUFI billboard outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico purchased and placed by local CUFI members.
The way we respond to this attack will define us as people and as an organization. Will we back down? Will we get angry? Or will we rededicate ourselves to sharing our message? This last option is the Christian answer. We must respond by speaking out undeterred! We must respond by building CUFI!
Please help us demonstrate loudly and clearly that we will not be silenced. Please help us turn what was meant for evil into something positive! Please help us respond to this attack with more billboards, more pro-Israel events, and more CUFI members!
Thanks to friends like you, Natalia and thousands of other hungry Jewish people in Israel and the former Soviet Union received food boxes filled with lifesaving staples and the special foods needed to observe Passover with dignity this year.
Yet, the suffering of the poor knows no season — and destitute Jews like Natalia need your help throughout the year. Please reach out today to show them that you care.
With the Middle East experiencing extraordinary chaos and instability, lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 (H.R. 4133 and S. 2165), which recommends several ways to strengthen U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation in such fields as missile defense, homeland security, energy, intelligence and cyber-security.