Dear Friends,
I’m writing to you from Jerusalem, Israel, where I’m putting some finishing touches on our Ezekiel and the Middle East “Piece” Process. In it, I’ll map out what Scripture says about personal peace and security, and speak about God’s plan to bring peace to the Middle East and security to the world.
With so many politicians offering their perspectives on the Middle East, I want to get biblical perspectives into the minds and hearts of the many hundreds of thousands who watch this program and who will evaluate the politicians’ platforms. I anticipate that in this way we’ll reach the “lost” and teach the “found.” In effect, we are running a “lost and found” department of discarded and neglected biblical perspectives.
I really appreciate your support for Zola Levitt Ministries’ teaching and preaching from a Jewish perspective, and for sending me to Israel to tell newsworthy and timely biblical stories. As I’m writing from Israel now, I would like to switch gears and give you an insider’s update on a tragedy that recently unfolded here.
Shortly after my arrival in Tel Aviv, the following horror came to my attention and it hit home personally. Take note of this report from the Messianic Action Committee in Israel:
On the eve of the feast of Purim here in Israel, fifteen-year-old Ami Ortiz eagerly opened a brightly wrapped “Purim basket” which had been left anonymously on the family’s doorstep. The transparent cellophane wrapping showed a collection of candies within, the traditional contents of such gifts given and received by families throughout Israel at the holiday. Suddenly, with a deafening blast, the pipe bomb hidden beneath the sweets exploded, throwing Ami backwards into the kitchen and perforating his young body with hundreds of metal shards, nails, and screws which had been imbedded in the bomb for maximum killing power…
Alone in the apartment, Ami had stayed home from school while his parents, Messianic Pastor David and Leah Ortiz, traveled to Jerusalem for the day. A friend who had just left the home after cleaning the apartment rushed back in to find Ami hanging between life and death and heard him murmur, “Yeshua, I need your help now.” Emergency medical personnel arrived quickly…. [At the hospital] a team of surgeons took turns caring for massive open wounds on his limbs and torso, serious burns from the blast, a collapsed lung (with several screws and bolts lodged within), and damage to his right eye. Only after five days of surgeries and intensive care—and the medical staff’s repeated exclamations of “it’s a miracle!”—were the doctors able to say that Ami had a good chance of survival….
Needless to say, your prayers for Ami and his family are appreciated at this time.
Though initially the bomb was thought to be the work of Arab “terrorists,” the Israeli press now believes that the terrorist act may well be the work of ultra-religious, anti-Messianic Jewish extremists, enraged at those of us who advance the Gospel amongst our Jewish people.
For this reason, Ami’s horrible experience really affected me.
At thirty years and counting, Zola Levitt Presents is one of the longest-running TV programs in broadcast history. When I inherited Zola’s post at this nationally-syndicated television outreach, I did so mindful that certain risks came with the job. To be honest, I was set a bit “on edge” at the start when a close, personal friend of Zola’s told me that Zola was concerned that a terrorist might one day come and “take him out.” Zola made and I continue to make friends and enemies around the world: I have anti-missionary enemies on the one hand, and friends like you on the other.
Neither we at ZLM nor the Messianic movement generally are interested in “circling the wagons” and taking a defensive position. Truly, we are more intent than ever on being assertive and advocating for our Messiah in this world. Having just finished filming the Ezekiel series, I am ready to put it all together with our excellent production team when we all get back to the States. Then it’s on to you and to unknown millions of viewers—some who will make decisions to follow Israel’s Messiah!
Isolated attacks like Ami’s alter neither our ministry’s outreach vision nor our Israel travel agenda. I will be there four times during 2008. Do you want to come along? Unlike in days past, tourists are not the objects of terrorist attention. The rocket fire from Gaza that we hear about every now and again targets Israeli towns far-removed from the tourist sites where pilgrims visit—and it seems that the terrorists who vent their socio-pathologies are happy to leave it like that. The Ortiz family was targeted specifically because the parents are Messianic-Jewish leaders.
Israel remains an ideal place to visit. Like Zola, I have more concerns about strolling through downtown Dallas.
The eighty tourists who visited Israel with Sandra and me this March-April had the absolute “time of their lives.” If you think it’s about time that you treated yourself to the greatest experience of your life, our office is ready to answer your inquiries. Sandra is forever pleased to guide you to and through the holy sites. My wife, Patty, joins the trip, as do our kids. I come too, of course. Come! The experience makes for a great personal time, and also a fantastic family time. This summer’s Discovery Tour will run from June 9 – 19, and our four Fall Tour options depart October 14 and 19 and return October 29 and November 2. Call (214) 696-9760 so our travel manager Abel can send you a colorful brochure with all the details.
Whether or not you go with us to Israel to walk in Jesus’ footsteps, may I ask you to help us take Jesus’ impact to the millions who have neither the time nor the means to make such a trip, or who simply have never considered it?
Your contributions help us make Jesus known in this sin-drenched, darkened world. When people’s interior lights are turned on through God’s grace and Spirit, their regenerated hearts often draw them to appreciate Israel—the Bible’s land. Your gifts help us bring them God’s gift to the world. Thank you for your past support.
Whether we bring you to Israel (via a tour) or whether we deliver the Bible experience to you (via TV, music, books, articles, newsletters, or the Internet), let me say again “thanks for caring.” To those of you who participate in this ministry by giving, “thanks for sharing.”
Your messenger,
Jeff Seif
P.S. Donations to the ministry were down last month as people seem legitimately concerned about the cost of putting gas in their engines. Your donations keep our high-octane ministry engines running, and I am particularly grateful for those who share with us at this time.
Dear Jeff,
I’ll remember the Ortiz family in prayer, and also other Messianic leaders around the world.
“Here is my gift for May. Please continue your anointed teaching and help Jews to know Jesus and gentile Believers to know the Jews.”
In this twelve-part TV series, Dr. Jeffrey Seif sheds light on the Apostle Paul, his movements, and his message. After examining Paul’s travels throughout the Roman Empire, Jeff analyzes Paul’s divinely inspired letters to early Church congregations, preserved in the New Testament.
Thirteen of the New Testament’s 27 books bear Paul’s seal and signature. Consequently, he is the New Testament’s principal interpreter of what it means to be “Christian.” Jeff looks closely at Paul and the fact that the major “Christian” interpreter lived, acted, and thought as a “Jewish rabbi.” St. Paul, a rabbi?
Zola’s Ultimate Hebrew Primer teaches both print and script, so you will be ready to read, speak, and write Hebrew in Israel and in Heaven. Assumes no prior knowledge and progresses gradually, so even the fainthearted will find immediate value.
Remarkable stories of Orthodox Jews who accepted their Messiah even in the concentration camps of World War II Europe! Some of the most dramatic testimonies in print.
