PROPHECY
NEWS
January 2007- issue B
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY:
Empathy--your
pain in my heart.
HOW
DOES ISRAEL
REALLY VIEW THE EVANGELICALS??
Many
religious Jews are quite familiar with some of the evangelical best sellers
such as the Left Behind series. Many Jews inside of Israel
are grateful for Christians support of Israel,
however, many also remain suspicious and guarded concerning some evangelicals
approach to end times.
Jews
are aware of the Christian belief in a Rapture, where they assume good Christians
are taken away to heaven to wait out the great tribulation. Jews on the other
hand, have been painted by the evangelicals as the ones who will suffer a
fate worse than the WW2 Holocaust during the time of Jacobs Trouble, where
it is said that 2/3s of the Jews inside of Israel
will be slaughtered. Some evangelical novels have given Jews the impression
that when the Christian Messiah comes down, He will kill all the rest of the
Jews who will not convert to Christianity.
Now
if we look at the above, we can see there are truths and then there are some
things that have stretched Biblical credibility. Number one, Christ is not
coming down to force conversion to Christianity upon Jews who dont want to
be converted. (I hate the term
converted when applying this word to Jews because it suggests force not the
call of God, and reminds Jews of the Inquisition.).
We
are missing the point when we as Bible believers dont see that Jesus is coming
back to SAVE Israel
and not to destroy it! The
book of Zechariah tells us that Israel
will look upon Him who they have pierced and mourn for Him as if mourning
for an only Son. In other words,
many Jews WILL receive Him! It
is also true that not every single Israeli will be saved. Many Jews and many
Gentiles of all nations will perish in the coming tribulation.
For
Christians to give the impression that Jesus is coming to kill Jews is a terrible
way to witness to a Jew! We need to witness to the fact that God is still
invested in the salvation of Israel
and has not forgotten His covenant with His people.
We need to present Christ as the ANSWER, not the dilemma, nor the curse
of Israel!
When we have the opportunity to tell our Jewish friends about the end
times it might make sense to actually read Old Testament passages that deal
with the subject! Too many Christians act as if the O.T. is completed and
has nothing to offer. I also
recommend some of the end time books written by Joel Rosenberg.
On the ship I talked to five Jewish couples and almost all of them
had been reading these best-selling books written by a messianic Jew who gives
a good and clear witness about Jesus in his books. I found no one I spoke
to was offended by his witness and I pray that God uses these books to straighten
out any misconceptions. I am also letting you know that many, many Jews consider
Christian Zionists to be the very best friends Israel
could have. We need to remember
that a solid majority of evangelicals (59%) believe that Israel
is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
THINGS
I LEARNED ON A CRUISE:
I
just got back from a wonderful one week NCL cruise to the Caribbean
and the ship was filled with folks from many different countries. Even the
staff on board represented 61 nations!
It is a wonderful environment to strike up conversations with total
strangers and give a testimony. We
had Hindu neighbors in the next cabin who blared Hindu music
and got together to sing their hearts out at 7:00 AM! (Not appreciated!)
But I did get to sit with a Hindu man who talked with me about computers,
(he was a software engineer), and I had the opportunity to discuss bio-metrics
with him.
I
also got into a long conversation with a British couple who are seeing Islam
totally taking over in England.
They mentioned that Belgium
controls everything in England
these days through the EU and no one can complain about the intrusions Islam
has made into their country. Now
they say it is far too late! Islam is taking over in every area and these
aged Brits were none too happy about the state they find their country in.
This is a window to tomorrow
if Muslims hold office in our nation. Many Americans are so blinded
by their political need to be polite and multi-cultural, that they are asleep
to the dangers of Islam over running our nation from the inside, like it did
in England.
MUSLIMS
COMING TO CHRIST IN RECORD NUMBERS!! BY JOEL ROSENBERG
(Article
by Joel Rosenberg- abridged) More Muslims converted to faith in Jesus Christ
over the past decade than at any other time in human history. A spiritual
revolution is underway throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and Central
Asia. As a result, a record number of ex-Muslims celebrated Christmas
this year, despite intense persecution, assassinations, and widespread church
bombings. I interviewed more
than three dozen Arab and Iranian pastors and evangelical leaders throughout
the region. Christianity is being
dramatically resurrected in the region of its birth.
Iraq:
more than 5,000 new Muslim converts to Christianity have been identified since
the end of major combat operations, with 14 new churches opened in Baghdad,
and dozens of new churches opened in Kurdistan,
some of which have 500 to 800 members. Also, more than 1 million Bibles shipped
into the country since 2003, and pastors report Iraqis are snatching them
up so fast they constantly need more Bibles.
Egypt:
some reports say 1 million Egyptians have trusted Christ over the past decade
or so. The Egyptian Bible Society told me they used to sell about 3,000 copies
of the JESUS film a year in the early 1990s. But last year they sold 600,000
copies, plus 750,000 copies of the Bible on tape (in Arabic) and about a half
million copies of the Arabic New Testament. Egyptians are increasingly hungry
for God's Word. The largest Christian congregation in the Middle East meets
in an enormous cave on the outskirts of Cairo.
Some 10,000 believers worship there every weekend. A prayer conference the
church held in May 2005 drew some 20,000 believers.
Afghanistan:
only 17 Muslim converts to Christianity before 9/11/01, but now more than
10,000. Dozens of baptisms every week.
Kazakstan:
only 3 known Christians in 1990, but now more than 15,000. Uzbekistan:
no known Christians in 1990, but now more than 30,000.
Sudan:
more than 1 million Sudanese have converted to Christianity just since 2000,
and some 5 million have become Christians since the early 1990s, despite a
radical Islamic regime and an on-going genocide that has killed more than
200,000. Seminaries are being held in caves to train pastors to shepherd the
huge numbers of people coming to Christ.
Why
such a dramatic spiritual awakening? "People
have seen real Islam, and they want Jesus instead," one Sudanese evangelical
leader told me.
Iran:
in 1979, there were only 500 known Muslim converts to Christianity, but today
Iranian pastors and evangelical leaders tell me there are more than 1 million
Iranian believers in Jesus Christ, most meet in underground house churches.
Sheikh Ahmad al Qataani, a
leading Saudi cleric, appeared on a live interview on Aljazeera satellite
television to confirm: "In every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity,"
Al Qataani warned. "Every day, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every
year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity." Stunned,
the interviewer interrupted the cleric. "Hold on! Let me clarify. Do we have
six million converting from Islam to Christianity?" Al Qataani repeated his
assertion. "Every year," the cleric confirmed, adding, "a tragedy has happened."
One of the most dramatic developments
is that many Muslims -- including Shiites in Iran
and Iraq
-- are seeing dreams and visions of Jesus and thus coming into churches explaining
that they have already converted and now need a Bible and guidance on how
to follow Jesus.
BYE
FOR NOW-YOUR NEWS LADY- HOLLIS CARAVETTA-Holliscar@aol.com