Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May those who love you be secure."-Psalm 122:6
I (Sal) was about to visit the "promise land" in 2000 for a conference called 2000 AD and Beyond (global-wide missions conference). I already bought the airline and conference registration tickets (didn't RVSP any hotel space yet), but got a notice that this was going to be cancelled less than a month away. There was also a lot of tension in the area during that time, which was one of the factors for this conference being cancelled. I'm still waiting for that perfect "God-time" to visit t his place someday.
It's made it on the news again this past week (August 15th-19th), the ongoing Gaza Strip territorial (West Bank) dispute. I have been watching ABC Nightline this week on this whole global issue, which I decided to do some research...
Ironically, this past Wednesday, I was at the weekly Wednesday Morning Prairie Community Services' Bible Study. We read Biblical Prophecies relating to Israel, which one of them I meditated last night (Thursday, August 18th)...
"So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out against us because of our sin. 12 You have done exactly what you warned you would do against us and our rulers. Never in all history has there been a disaster like the one that happened in Jerusalem. 13 Every curse written against us in the law of Moses has come true. All the troubles he predicted have taken place. But we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth. 14 The Lord has brought against us the disaster he prepared, for we did not obey him, and the Lord our God is just in everything he does.
15 "O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness. 16 In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city of Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors."
*first movie I seen her acting is in Star Wars-cool! " Born in Jerusalem, Israel, to her artist mother and fertility specialist father,Portman caught the acting bug after her parents relocated to New York during her childhood. An agent contacted Portman at age 11 and she quickly earned plum acting roles on stage and in film.
Portman made her Broadway debut run in the title role of The Diary of Anne Frank. Directed by James Lapine and adapted by Wendy Kesselman, the production took a fresh look at the play, incorporating new material from The 1995 Definitive Edition of Anne Frank's diaries."
Related Sites: Wikipedia "In 2004 and 2005 she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in poor countries.[12] In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria she discussed micro-financing.[13"
From: "Poniman and Linda"
To:
Subject: Fw: Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning-Amen
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:06:08 +0700
"
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.
She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"
In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world 's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they beli eve, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards.
Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein
Amen!
"...The Israelites traced their common lineage to the biblical patriarch Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. Jewish tradition holds that the Israelites were the descendants of Jacob's twelve sons (one of which was named Judah), who settled in Egypt. Their direct descendants respectively divided into twelve tribes, who were enslaved under the rule of an Egyptian pharaoh. In the Jewish faith, the emigration of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan (the Exodus), led by the prophet Moses, marks the formation of the Israelites as a people.
Throughout the centuries, in spite of oppression, banishment, and slaughter, there was an uninterrupted continuity of Jewish life in the country. The Jewish community in the land of Israel has always played a unique role in Jewish history.
This article refers to the history in the Land of Israel in the boundaries defined by Canaan or as the region later also known by the Roman name of Palestina....
Article:
"... "If it wasn't for what the Jews brought to Christianity, there would be no Christianity," Christofaro said. "There is a promise to those who bless Israel to be blessed. Those who curse it will be cursed..."
" The history of the Jewish people begins with Abraham, and the story of Abraham begins when G-d tells him to leave his homeland, promising Abraham and his descendants a new home in the land of Canaan. (Gen. 12). This is the land now known as Israel, named after Abraham's grandson, whose descendants are the Jewish people. The land is often referred to as the Promised Land because of G-d's repeated promise (Gen. 12:7, 13:15, 15:18, 17:8) to give the land to the descendants of Abraham.
The land is described repeatedly in the Torah as a good land and "a land flowing with milk and honey" (e.g., Ex. 3:8). This description may not seem to fit well with the desert images we see on the nightly news, but let's keep in mind that the land was repeatedly abused by conquerors who were determined to make the land uninhabitable for the Jews. In the few decades since the Jewish people regained control of the land, we have seen a tremendous improvement in its agriculture. Israeli agriculture today has a very high yield.
Jews have lived in this land continuously from the time of its original conquest by Joshua more than 3200 years ago until the present day, though Jews were not always in political control of the land, and Jews were not always the majority of the land's population. "
"The answer is really very simple. God gave the land of Israel to Abraham (Genesis 17:8) and to his descendants through Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5) and Jacob (Genesis 28:1-4,13-14).
That means the land belongs to the descendants of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. In other words, the land belongs to the children of Israel, referred to in the New Testament as the Jews (Romans 1:16). "
"From an interview with a Muslim Scholar teaching Religious Studies at San Diego State University:
FP: You are yourself a Muslim and yet, quite unconventionally amongst Islamic clerics and scholars, you teach that the Koran says Israel belongs to the Jews. Can you educate us on this Islamic teaching?
...
The Qur'an refers to the exiles, but leaves it open for return...saying to the Jews that if they keep their promise to God, then God will keep the divine promise to them. WE may argue that the present state of Israel was not created in the most peaceful means, and that many were displaced--for me, this is not the issue. The issue is that when the Muslims entered that land in the seventh century, they were well aware of its rightful owners, and when they failed to act according to divine mandate (at least as perceived by followers of all Abrahamic faiths), they aided and abetted in a crime. And the present situation shows the fruits of that action--wherein innocent Palestinians and Israelis are being killed on a daily basis. ..."
"God wanted to give Avraham a double blessing, through Ishmael and through Isaac, and ordered that Ishmael's descendents should live in the desert of Arabia and Isaac's in Canaan.
The Qur'an recognizes the Land of Israel as the heritage of the Jews and it explains that, before the Last Judgment, Jews will return to dwell there. This prophecy has already been fulfilled.
"
"..There are 22 Arab countries and over 30 Muslim countries in the world.
There is only one Jewish homeland: Israel.
As for a two state solution, how is that supposed to work?
After all, Israel evacuated thousands of Jewish families and gave huge tracts of land to the Arabs over two years ago.
Since then, no homes or schools were built on that land.
Instead, the Arabs are using that very land to fire rockets into Israeli towns.
It seems that there will never be peace..
-name "Israel"
came from Judah-from Bible Study on how Jews came about... "...And he said unto him, What [is] thy name? And he said, Jacob.
Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeConcordance and Hebrew/GreekList Available Commentaries
Images / MapsVersions / TranslationsDictionary Aids
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeConcordance and Hebrew/GreekList Available Commentaries
No Images or Hymns AvailableVersions / TranslationsDictionary Aids
And Jacob asked [him], and said, Tell [me], I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore [is] it [that] thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there."-Genesis 32:27-29
Related:
Judah Isreali History-Wikipedia, Judah-Wikipedia, Judah Ministries, State of Israel, "When Israel became Israel..."-Bible Study
"“At that moment, I saw the difference that these trips make. Just having these youth come together and be in one place, hearing each others’ languages and knowing they have the same Father, is very important. This will be something they remember. We cannot know what God has in store for each of the youth who attended, but I know that He will use this encounter to His glory. This is a time when you can speak either Arabic or Hebrew and no one will look at you funny or think negatively of you, in sharp contrast to the reality around us. ‘Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.’ If we get off our boats and focus on Jesus, there is nothing we cannot do.”
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