Dear Friends,
Imagine Bibi Netanyahu and the Beatles shoulder-to-shoulder in the war on terrorists. What a hoot.
An obscure article recently stated that John Lennon was a fan of Ronald Reagan! (http://bit.ly/kauNpk) This may seem inconsequential at first, but consider it. Imagine the iconic symbol of the Woodstock generation, whose anthem Imagine pictured a unified world that transcended the divisiveness of nation-states and religions. According to his personal assistant, Lennon was disenchanted with the direction of the U.S. under Jimmy Carter and believed Reagan would offer a more positive direction for America. Imagine that.
Is it possible that the brilliant songwriter was awakening during the season before his tragic murder in 1980?
It seems that John Lennon—so narcissistic that he claimed his band was more popular than Jesus Christ—was rethinking his revolutionary past. He had long since apologized for his Messianic hubris, but in light of this new disclosure, one wonders what he might have produced had he lived. Is it possible that along with his emerging conservative worldview would have come an electric guitar-driven sound like a rock and roll shofar trumpeting the cause of Israel on the world stage? Imagine ….
For this former follower of all that Lennon represented, I know it is possible to change one’s worldview … with a little help from my friends. Those friends include my wife, several pastors, and Christian leaders who introduced me to the “Friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). Could it be that Lennon’s flirtation with conservative politics was connected with a revelation of Him whom he had previously mocked and denied? I pray that it was so, and that when the maniac gunned him down, John Lennon called upon the “Name above all names” (Philippians 2:5–11). I’d like to imagine that I might see a renewed and resurrected Lennon some day. I believe in hope and change.
In Jerusalem the day of the 2008 American Presidential election, I was co-leading a pilgrimage of Christians who wanted to bless the Messianic Jewish and Arab Christian businesses in the Land. We gathered them in cities from Haifa to Beersheva to listen to their struggles and triumphs, speak encouraging words over them, and pray for their needs. Some of our group became investors and board members; all of our hearts knit with theirs. We marveled at the ingenuity and brilliance of the “start-up nation,” as Israel is aptly tagged. We could see the fulfillment of Scripture in some of the amazing business ideas explained to us:
As promised in Scripture, the desert blooms (Isaiah 51:3). We prayed for a phenomenal couple who have blended technology and agriculture to produce more herbs per square acre than anyone anywhere. In the Negev Desert, no less!
Just as the Bible predicted, the Word is going forth from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3) with new vigor. A spin-off from the electronics company Galtronics, “Mega-Voice” produces a handheld, solar-powered, waterproof audio Bible in more than 400 languages of the unreached tribes throughout the world.
Both these examples share a common theme: LIFE! “L’Chaim,” as the poet says—whether it is edible, green, and sustaining or the eternal Word, Israel is exporting Life! No thought of suicide bombings or terror, just a commitment to improve the lives of others: that is so very characteristic of life in the Holy Land. It was a heady and exciting time, seeing Arabs and Jews, together in the faith, encouraging one another’s efforts to create their own support through indigenous businesses. The American elections were fascinating to Believers throughout the Land and Israelis in general.
Before dawn, I sat in the darkened parlor of the guesthouse where we were staying, watching as the election results rolled in across the airwaves. Soon the Arab kitchen manager joined me. We watched together as the victory of Barack Hussein Obama became clear. My companion smiled from ear to ear. He could barely suppress his joy and saw no need to hide his feelings. “Hussein Obama … Hussein Obama!” he cried. “This is good for my country, and this is good for yours as well. This is good for Palestine and good for America.”
I was quiet. I mulled over the meaning of the election and the future as seen through my viewing buddy’s eyes. I listened for the Lord for a dynamic mental impression, as my Independent Baptist friend calls the rhema (word of wisdom).
The Lord urged me this way: “Pray FOR him … that he can grow in office like Harry Truman.” President Truman encouraged the 1948 rebirth of Israel and rejoiced in it.
Wow. In my unsettled condition this was a tall order. Scripturally sound (Romans 13:1) no doubt, but very daunting. I was in consternation. I returned to America and preached everywhere possible, “Pray FOR our President that he might grow in office … like Harry Truman!”
“Oy vey,” as my grandmother would opine.
You might imagine it is becoming harder to keep my original prayer commitment—enthusiastically promised to God in pre-dawn Jerusalem. Friends, both Jewish and Christian, warned me that I was being naïve in my prayers for America’s leader and that clearly visible to their spiritual eyes was the inscription Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin: “you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting” (Daniel 5:25). At least I stubbornly continue to pray FOR him … through weariness.
We are facing what may be the most serious season in America’s young and surely exceptional life. The “Palestinians” are preparing to unilaterally declare a nation state before the United Nations this September. This would mean:
Uprooting hundreds of thousands of Israelis from their ancestral homeland in Judea and Samaria. This “West Bank” is the land that the patriarchs’ feet trod, the land where Jesus walked, and the land that belongs to the God of Abraham and Abraham’s seed through Isaac.
Yielding the strategic Golan Heights to Syria, whose proxy, Hezbollah, has 50,000 rockets aimed at Israel from Lebanon. This would also allow Syrians to control the water from the north, which flows into the main Israeli source, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) where Yeshua began His ministry.
Dividing Jerusalem, bringing Jewish and Christian holy sites under Muslim rule.
Reverting to the “pre-1967” borders, and returning all the land that Israel won when it defended itself from warring Muslim neighbors in the Six-Day War.
These “new peace concessions” place Israel one giant step closer to annihilation, as called for by the unchanged charters of Fatah and its new partner, Hamas. This is the same Hamas who, after being elected in Gaza, threw Fatah members off high buildings to their deaths.
Again, I say with Grandma, “Oy Vey.” What can we do? READ ON:
To Do List:
KEEP PRAYING. I was right about that, but need to adjust my prayers to fit the “times and seasons” we are in, to emulate the sons of Issachar. (1Thes 5:1, Eccl 3:1). We are in a “tipping point” season as a nation, so we must stand as watchmen on the wall more than ever (Is. 62:6). Humbly but fervently awaken your fellow Believers to the roots of the faith and our debt to Israel.
USE OUR VOTES and implore our legislators to stand with Israel: Senators—http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm Representatives—http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/ Let them know you WILL vote based on their stance for or against Israel, our only democratic ally in the Middle East.
SUPPORT LEGITIMATE MINISTRIES like ZLM that are sounding the Shofar in the Spirit—the alarm to war in the heavens (2 Corinthians 10:3–5).
PREPARE FOR THE WORST but BELIEVE for the BEST—that God will continue to bring in a bountiful harvest of Souls in ever-increasing numbers as we look to His coming (Matthew 9:38, 13:39, Revelation 14:15).
STAND WITH THOSE on “the finish line” as Pastor Peter Tsukahira of Carmel Assembly in Haifa calls the Israeli ministries—support them in prayer and finance (Romans 15:27).
Hormoz ShariatPRAY IN the great Muslim harvest that God desires—many of these poor deceived people are sick of Islam, but they need a dynamic encounter with the living God. Hormoz Shariat, the “Billy Graham of Iran,” is overseeing the transformation of entire families and their neighbors as they tune in to his Gospel show broadcast into Tehran from California. The Persian people want relief from the oppression of Islam. I composed a song for them, The Bride Behind the Veil (http://bit.ly/ZtSiz), circulated in the underground Church by DVD. They laughed aloud when they heard that a Jew named Mordecai wrote a song for the “Esthers” of Iran. Remember the words of our Orthodox Jewish friend Avi Lipkin in Israel exhorting Christians regarding the Muslims: “Either you bring them the Lord or they’ll bring you the sword!”
PRAY FOR ISRAEL’S LEADERS: That the spirit of wisdom and revelation would guide them in the days ahead. That the political and military leaders would act as one, in submission to the mandates of Scripture.
EXPOSE THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE between humanistic atheists and Islamic ideologues—this bewildering brew is like the alliance between Pilate and the Pharisees: the secular and the religious in league, temporarily. Pray for awakening before it is too late.
Imagine Bibi and the Beatles standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the war on Islamists (militant Muslims). God is able to do the impossible. He can rescue commies, terrorists, and garden-variety lost souls. He can bring us a supernatural ability to stop calling good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20).
As I write this, the world awaits September’s United Nations drama. Some of my friends insist that the UN stands for “United Nothing” because this once-beautiful idea has so degenerated that it is unrecognizable. This previously august body is now a global forum for anti-Semitism. According to the UN, Muslims are “being demonized and dehumanized,” treated like the Jews of 1930s Europe.
Muslims treat the UN forum as the premier place to gripe as if a moral equivalency exists between their acts of murderous terror and the “defamation” caused by cartoons of Mohammed and remarks by international reporters. The teachings of Goebbels and Himmler are afoot. The Human Rights Council of the UN is dominated by the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference), a consortium of 56 (57 if you count, AS THEY DO, “Palestine”) Muslim countries. This is the largest single voting bloc in the United Nations.
Many of these nations routinely practice female genital mutilation and polygamy, and they hang homosexuals, and stone women who besmirch the “family honor,” e.g., by being RAPED or dressing in Western style. These medieval nations sit in judgment of the West, especially Israel. They issue no criticism of suicide bombings against Israel and America, honor killings throughout the Middle East, public stonings in Iran, systematic torture of Christians in Egypt, or genocide in Sudan.
They overlook the fact that Jews and Israelis are officially banned from Muslim
countries, yet they call Israel an “apartheid” state. Of the human rights violations calling
for UN resolutions, 70% were aimed at Israel.
Imagine that!
Now our president, who refers to the “international community” as a necessary arbiter of American policy, is faced with a challenge. With a veto, the U.S. can declare its alliance with Israel and Obama can take a step toward being more like Harry Truman. Or maybe … John Lennon.
Shortly before his death, Martin Luther King, Jr. had the moral courage to confront the burgeoning Jew hatred. For example, during a 1968 appearance at Harvard University, he stated bluntly:
“When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking anti- Semitism.” The Socialism of Fools: The Left, the Jews and Israel by Seymour Martin Lipset; in Encounter magazine, December 1969, p. 24.
Our hope here at ZLM is that America will follow in the footsteps and express the same heart as the civil rights giant, Dr. King. Let’s pray that this coming autumn, America will stand with Israel in the United Nations. You may say I’m a dreamer … but I’m not the only one.
Join me for a study tour of Israel. Explore for yourself the Land that God loves. Though our fall tours sold out, the spring 2012 options remain open.
When the Israelites made their three required annual trips to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts that God commanded in Leviticus, they sang songs—psalms. In August, we will air the first four segments of our eight-part Psalms of Ascent TV series, each featuring Eitan Shishkoff (“Our Man in Haifa”) and music by Marty Goetz.
- “Inclusion” (In the Footsteps of the Rabbi from Tarsus)
- Sandra and Jeff discuss all of Paul’s writings in the context of his life events. Viewers are encouraged to accept Christ and get into a Bible-believing church. Letters from viewers are reviewed.
- 1. Psalms 120 & 121
- From the UN headquarters in Jerusalem and nearby Ein Pratt, Jeff reminds us that King David had to deal with deceitful enemies and times of distress but realized that his sure source of help was the Lord.
- 2. Psalms 122 & 123
- A mantra of this ministry is “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” from Psalm 122. This city has had its share of battles, yet it is still central in the hearts of Jews and Christians as we look to the Lord for mercy and ultimate deliverance.
- 3. Psalms 124 & 125
- Even though Israel’s opponents have been many and fearsome, the Lord has sustained Israel these many centuries. King David saw divine protection and likened it to the mountains that surround Jerusalem.
- 4. Psalms 126 & 127
- Out of captivity and sorrow, the Lord brings joy through deliverance. The Israelites have returned to the Promised Land. At the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, Jeff reminds us that human efforts to build are in vain without the Lord’s protection.
I’m counting on your continued support as we finish production on the Psalms of Ascent programs and prepare for our next television series, tentatively entitled Acts: Then and Now—The Story Continues. Please … help this ministry, and please “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!”
Your messenger,
Myles Weiss
P.S. How will the U.S. handle the unilateral declaration of a strategically placed terrorist “Palestinian” state? We can only imagine … and pray.
Dear Myles,
Whether it is edible, the eternal Word, or medical innovations, Israel is exporting Life!
“Here is my gift for August. I want to be a part of completing the Psalms of Ascent TV series and starting production on Acts: Then and Now.”
Dr. Jeffrey Seif takes readers through Bible texts that speak about the devil. Introductory in nature, The Dark Prince gives individuals a behind-the-scenes look at Evil’s workings at the ragged edge of human history, and its ultimate uprooting when Christ returns.
Beautiful and useful, this lovely Jewish calendar provides the dates of all the biblical feasts and sabbaths. Learn the names of the months, the Holy Days and all the rest through the English phonetics like in our monthly Hebrew Lesson in the Levitt Letter.
Various theories of the Lord’s return and the Kingdom examined in detail. The return of the Lord and the establishment of His Kingdom on Earth. Exact scriptural information contrasting the Second Coming and the Rapture of the Church.
