February 2000 Personal Letter

Dear Friends,

I am beginning this dictation on the first day of the new millennium. It seems that the expected Y2K troubles didn’t materialize, and the Lord did not choose to honor our particular calendar with His coming for the Church, so it’s back to ministry as usual.

Now, the newspapers are having wonderful sport with Christian people, as though we swore the Lord had to come now or never. That is a silly idea, since we know that “no man knows the day or the hour…” Our emphasis on prophecy right now is, of course, because the unbeliever is listening. We had a magnificent response to our New Year’s Eve television broadcast, and surely seeds were sown in fertile fields everywhere. Thanks for your help.

There were a number of news items as the year ended that have relevance to our particular ministry. As far as Y2K and its threats of terrorism, George Will pointed out that the Israelis live with these threats day by day. While, in America, we fear the occasional possibility of some terroristic threat, the Israelis indeed have to consider it a reality since they live with the Arabs.

As long as our news media keep touting the Arabs as reasonable and peaceful, and the Israelis as intractable and difficult, we’ll never understand the truth about the situation over there. I think the “Whopper of the Year” award must go to CBS for quoting a tourist in Bethlehem saying, “Tonight we feel secure,” with the implication that now that the Palestinians are in charge, Bethlehem is safe at last. Actually, Bethlehem was perfectly safe in Jewish hands for decades until 1995 when Arafat’s thugs took the place over and Christians began moving out under terrific pressure. Arafat and his people are determined to turn their newfound Christian site into a profit. The Moslems were charging $58.50 to park each bus in Bethlehem during the Christmas celebration. “What a friend they have in Jesus!”

It’s not that the Palestinian police can’t keep order. After all, Arab rules and regulations can be very onerous. An individual trying to smuggle two bottles of liquor into Saudi Arabia was given 75 lashes and four months in prison. We have lately become familiar with the Taliban, the dictators of Afghanistan, because of an airplane hijacking. But know that these lunatics have decimated their country for more than a year now, with their insane, medieval religious rules. Women get no medical care, amputations are done as punishments for petty crimes, etc. As I’ve said many times, these radicals are the true enemy of democracy, and if the Lord doesn’t come soon, the 21st century will be devoted to a war between Islam and the entire free world.

In an instance where Joe Lockhart, the President’s press spokesman, and Madeline Albright, our Secretary of State, forgot to coordinate their fabrications, they had a disagreement as to how much the governments of Israel and Syria will be paid for their present peace posturing. The true amount is some $20 billion! Finally, someone in Washington confessed that a final, comprehensive peace arrangement in the Middle East, counting in all expenses to provide new weapons to guarantee that peace (?), the movement of peoples such as 17,000 Golan settlers to different homes so that Syrians can take over, etc., (including bribes to officials on all sides) will come to $100 billion! All that so we’ll think of Bill Clinton as the President who made peace in the Middle East and not as the President who …

But if Syria gets the Golan Heights, they will do with that territory as they used to, presumably. In the words of The New York Times, “Syria used it to launch attacks…” against civilians in Galilee. They were not above taking potshots at fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, for example. CNN presented what they considered a balanced commentary on the situation by interviewing Israeli protestors in the streets, and then sophisticated Syrians in an expensive restaurant. Naturally, the Israelis were once more made to look like radicals and the Arabs to seem so reasonable. But even CNN had to confess that Syrian behavior is “not terribly friendly.”

The reason Peter Jennings sneers whenever he mentions Israel is that his program has an Arab producer. That is a most significant fact. The Dallas Morning News publishes news releases about Israel from its source in Cairo, a sworn enemy of Israel 700 miles away, therefore guaranteeing a biased, anti-Israel view.

But I don’t mean to sound so terribly negative. After all, the third millennium is off to an excellent start as far as computer glitches and a feeling of kinship around the world go. There was something heartening about watching all the different societies from the South Pacific Islands through all Asia, Europe and America bringing in the New Year every hour. I’m sure you felt it along with me. This is the positive side of a global society. As long as it’s not being run by the Antichrist, then friendship of nations is, of course, a good thing. The problem will be when the one comes along with the power to pervert this global friendship. At that time, there will be real war between man and God, and I’m just glad that we believers will no longer be here to see it!

And speaking of seeing it while there’s time, why not join us in this important year in the Holy Land? Our next tour is April 19 through May 4 (Grand) or April 24 through May 4 (Deluxe). The Grand Tour will follow Paul’s footsteps through Greece and Turkey via a luxury cruise to Mykonos, Patmos where John is believed to have written the Book of Revelation, Rhodes, Corinth, Mars Hill, and Ephesus before joining the Deluxe Tour in Israel. You will visit all the major Biblical sites such as Mt. Carmel, Megiddo, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, the Mt. of Beatitudes, the Jordan River, the Western Wall, the Mt. of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Upper Room, the Garden Tomb (that is now empty), Masada, and the Dead Sea. You will tour the Old City of Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, the holocaust memorial, and the Israel Museum where you will view the Dead Sea Scrolls. Allow God’s Land to take hold of your heart, and it will remain a part of you forever.

If you can’t go, then please be sure to watch our new TV series, “This Is Israel!” or you can do both. This up-to-the-minute series will provide a truthful look at the Promised Land with all the beauty and variety it has to offer. It will begin airing in March.

And remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Your messenger,

SEEKING NEEDY VIEWERS

By Mark Levitt

I’ll never forget how I spent the first minutes of January 1, 2000. At midnight on New Year’s Eve on both coasts, Zola’s prophecy special Is This the End … or Just the Beginning? was airing, and I knew that some of our 1-800-WONDERS (966-3377) callers would get busy signals.

Our midsize answering service, much more affordable than the big ones, was going to be swamped with calls from the largest TV audience in our history. I decided to handle as many of the calls as I could myself at our office, letting the others overflow to our answering service’s operators.

Because we displayed our Internet address, www.levitt.com, on the TV screen plus our new FAM (CBN) airtime, I was surprised how many callers asked me to repeat them. Zola is on FAM on Friday mornings at 6:30 on both coasts, 5:30 a.m. Central Time and 7:30 a.m. Mountain Time. Many callers who get TBN, which is Paul and Jan Crouch’s Trinity Broadcast Network, were surprised to learn about our old airtime, let alone our new—Sunday afternoons at 2:30 Eastern Time, 1:30 p.m. Central Time, 12:30 p.m. Mountain Time and 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time. [Click here for the full US TV schedule]

Another problem: many people who pay for cable and receive FAM and/or TBN have yet to learn on what channel they receive those networks-where they can see Zola’s program. If you are among them, please consult your TV Guide or call your cable company and ask.

What a waste! Zola is on the airwaves, and people who want to see him don’t find him among the vast wasteland of secular programming and mediocre religious teaching. Stewardship question: which is worse-squandering ministry donations or failing to harness opportunity that is served on a silver platter by none other than God Almighty?

Someone compared being married to working backstage, and that’s where you are with this ministry, among only 3% of our TV audience, when you read these newsletters. Knowing that you are reading these words because you value Zola’s teaching, I believe you will be very receptive to my idea for stretching your tithes and offerings and answering your prayers for maximization of our outreach.

Too many viewers, especially those who don’t receive the Levitt Letter, love to watch Zola, but not quite enough to set their VCRs to record him. Maybe they don’t know how. This is where you can please help by using your VCR as a powerful ministry amplification device.

1. Tape Zola’s program.
2. While watching it, decide with whom you would like to share it.
3. Label the tape, “Zola Levitt Presents — day, time and station/network“ on which the tape’s receiver can see Zola.
4. You may want to ask that person to return it in a week to encourage him to watch it promptly and so that you can share it with others who can’t receive Zola’s program.
5. Of course, you can fit up to four programs on a tape and maybe include a Levitt Letter.

To some readers, this idea may seem unreasonable. To others, however, who contribute sacrificially so that we can produce and broadcast location TV programs, this will open their eyes to the tremendous potential of their VCR. It could be recording anointed teaching for sharing with people who have dire spiritual needs.

Imagine the value of your tapes of Zola’s programs, wherever they are found after the Rapture, when Zola will no longer be on the airwaves!

As for the “State of the Ministry,” we went through a financial valley of the shadow of death. Headed for back-to-back years of running in the red, we asked you to help us with the unprecedented expense of our New Year’s Eve Special. At the time of writing this letter, a major thank-you is in order. The dust has yet to settle, but so far it looks like we will be able to forge full steam ahead with production of our new series This Is Israel.

Our recent schedule changes on FAM and TBN were not our choice, yet they will help us make ends meet-but only if the word gets out far and wide enough when and where folks can tune Zola in. That’s why I am formally calling to arms our best troops to help us survive this transition. Your prayers and gifts are still necessary, but our most urgent need at this point is more viewers-viewers who need Bible more than anyone needs anything.

Please copy and share the enclosed air schedule with those who are ready for the meat of God’s Word.