Wednesday 17 August 2011

What just happened in Israel This Year is Historic.

 Chris writes:
When some of us were establishing a work outside Paris this is the sequence we saw. 
1. Existing Spirit-filled French family ministering to drug addicts and Parisian street people.
2. More Spirit-filled people from overseas, Portugal,Spain,UK.
3.Things really got started after an apostle visited laying a foundation in the Holy Spirit.
4.An Argentinian dentist flew in to spend a year in intercession to see a church raised up. Direct calling of the Holy Spirit. She felt to treat the whole commission as a 9 to 5 job, praying between those hours non-stop.
5. UK people from Emsworth went to live there.
6. I joined them and the first people to arrive in the church were Chilean refugees who amongst all the good stuff they did, tried to make the work Chilean. But it was a Kingdom work.
7.The next group were at least French, but from the Caribbean island of Martinique.
8. By this time the group was pretty established in running meetings in the Holy Spirit and the true praise of God.
9. The next wave of people were French French!!!! They were evangelicals who had learned the need to be baptised in the Holy Spirit, and were regularly praying all night on Fridays.
10.The first French converts were wandering through the shopping precinct when they heard the sound of praise coming from the hired supermarket basement room.They are part of the church today.These were largely coloured French.

Why is this sequence important?
A very similar sequence has just happened in Israel from the time of its establishing until

this current year. Remember, especially after their experiences with socalled Christian nation Germany, the last thing the Jews wanted proliferating in Israel was Christianity.Europe was still routinely calling Jews "Christ-killers". Into this context came callings such as Lydia Prince, who felt God call her to look after orphans in Jerusalem. Morris Cerullo began to send out leaflets and course literature. Lance Lambert felt called to move there in the seventies and came to talk to us about this in Exeter while Christine and I were at University.
David and Lisa Loden of Shekinah touring company suddenly got the call of God through a preaching of Ed Miller to move to Netanya,Israel where they have been establishing a church.
In the 80s many Christians started to share in the Feast of Tabernacle celebrations. In the 90s Israel needed more overseas workers to supply service industries for the incoming Jews to the nation. In the Morris Cerullo conventions we learned how many of these nationals drawn from Africa and the Phillippines were Christians newly converted and divinely instructed by the Lord to take up these posts. Around 2000 Rory and Wendy felt clearly to establish Jerusalem as the base of their God TV operations. This was absolutely unprecedented, and they quickly found favour over there.
Now during these same years Morris Cerullo had been holding secret schools of ministry in halls and hotels in Israel, but at this stage most of the people attending were foreign nationals. But with new empowering many found release to begin sharing among national Jews.
This year, however, David Hathaway found incredible favour as he was allowed to evangelise openly and the report is below. The whole pattern though has a lot of similarities with how God builds a work in a nation that is quite hostile to evangelism like France. This type of pattern is also occurring right now as Rob Rufus spearheads his church in Hong Kong:City Church International.



From David Hathaway's magazine Prophetic Vision Autumn 2011
for more information click here


Dr Richard Parkhouse, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Eurovision, reflects: My wife Rachel and I have just returned from the most extraordinary mission in Israel with David Hathaway. He is a man of courage and steadfast conviction, forged in the fire of a faith that has deliv­ered him through prison and from can­cers. Such a track record speaks for itself and empowers his ministry of repen­tance and healing. Yet, despite the amazing way in which the Lord has con­sistently blessed his ministry throughout Russia and the former Soviet States, David remains the most modest and untrumpeted of evangelists. Sadly, David is seriously underfunded. But look what God can do!
It is one thing to read about success in missions, but quite another to be there. David is a man of passion who speaks the living Jesus to ordinary men and women, much as Jesus himself did as He passed through the streets of the very land where we were. A simple Bible story comes to life as David's listeners realise its relevance to themselves and to their own needs, which the living Jesus is there to meet - and He does!
But could it really happen in Israel?! Rachel and I have much to repent of: we were brought up to believe that because the Jews crucified Jesus, their
race is blighted forever. This flatly contra­dicts Old Testament prophecy, God's promises, and Paul's emphatic instruc­tion in Romans Chapters 9-1 1. Such an idea amounts to placing a curse upon Israel, against which Genesis 12:3 speaks an ominous warning: 'I will bless those who bless you; and whoever curses you I will curse.' God made an eternal covenant with His people that He will never break. God says in Jeremiah 31:35-37 that He will never cast off the offspring of Israel because of what they have done; and Paul writes in Romans 3:3 that the unfaithfulness of His people will in no way nullify the faithfulness of God. Reading such things in the Word is God's truth, but how would it work out on the ground, the very ground that Jesus trod? Persecuted by the church for 2000 years, could the prejudices and mutual suspicions of the past between Christian and Jew be overcome?
What was to happen in the mission itself went way beyond all our expectations, and the boundaries of our previous experience were blown wide open. Most who attended were Russian-speak­ing and much credit must go to the local pastors that so many holocaust sur­vivors came forward. To have filled the indoor stadium to capacity with over 90% unbelievers on the Friday was an amazing achievement.
David's message identified their Yeshua, Jesus, with the very people for whom He was sent, followed by a call to repentance. Then the Holy Spirit confirmed the Word and anything became possible! Afterwards it was the greatest privilege of all, as members of the prayer team, to be able to pray individually for God's chosen people, knowing that the blessing of God was waiting to happen! Jesus, Yeshua, was being welcomed back by His very own! It was too wonderful to describe! We saw long term despair sud­denly turn to great joy - that inner reali­sation in the heart and upon the face -the most precious thing we could ever hope to see - a transaction of forgive­ness and love done in Heaven! It is His work and His are the miracles! The team learned later from the pastors, that many discovered their miracles of heal­ing going home on the coach, through­out the night and even the next day.
And we, by the miracle of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our new hearts, discovered the love as God has for His chosen peo­ple! The healing power of His love is immense, and we can only sense the joy Jesus, Yeshua, Himself has in being received back by His chosen race by whom He was first rejected. These are the most precious of people in the most contested of lands today...
 Second Report - Pastor Israel,Ashdod
Last week (April), we organised an outreach con­ference with international evangelist and friend of Israel, David Hathaway, who has ministered world­wide for over 60 years. This year he celebrated his 50th anniversary since his first ever visit to Israel in 1961! It was a very joyous celebration with the theme: 'Israel - yesterday, today and forever'. David has a big heart and a big passion for Israel and the people of Israel, and it was reflected in his message.
Over 3000 people attended the 3-day confer­ence. Most of them NON-believers and many of the guests at the conference were an older gen­eration, Holocaust survivors, and many other Israelis. For most of them it was the first time they had ever heard the Gospel of a Jewish Messiah -Jesus, Yeshua - preached to them. Their response was overwhelming!
On the first night in Karmiel more than 300 people responded to the call to repentance and came forward to receive Yeshua as their Messiah! The second night over 400 people also gave their lives to Yeshua. The third night hundreds rushed forward for salvation! It has exceeded all our expectations! We have never seen such a large number of peo­ple in Israel responding to the message of Yeshua!
We saw what a difference our social work makes. The love, patience and help to people works won­ders. We thank God that 'Voice of Judah' is a min­istry that continuously bears such fruit.
It was genuinely a historic event; something that hasn't been seen in Israel in modern times. Countless people came forward to receive prayer for healing and the testimonies kept pouring in from people who were amazed to discover they were healed!
Ezekiel 37:1-14 speaks about 'dry bones':
God said, "These bones are the people of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off...' (vl 1.) This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 0 My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I
will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live..." (vvl2-14 - NIV.)
When the British, American and Soviet soldiers liber­ated the concentration camps, many of them saw the same horrifying image that the prophet Ezekiel saw: piles of bones and dead bodies. The survivors that they found in the concentration camps didn't look any better. They were literally walking skeletons.
But God made a promise and He kept it. He opened up the graves (concentration camps) and took His people out of there. He brought them into the land of Israel and restored the nation of Israel in 1948. Some of these Holocaust survivors are still living among us and the world witnessed the fulfilment of the first part of the 'dry bones' prophecy - the physi­cal restoration of Israel.
Last week at the conference we were awestruck to see God in action as He is fulfilling the second part of the prophecy - the spiritual restoration of the remaining generation of Holocaust survivors.
While many times the youth gets all the focus of what God is doing among the young generation, it was indescribable to witness how God made a point of showing that He is far from done with the older generation, when hundreds of people answered His call during the conference to restore them spiritually after restoring them physically as a nation.
The Spirit of God was poured out mightily over the 'dry-bones' generation last weekend and we have seen what has not been seen in Israel yet: the over­whelming response to a call to repentance of about 1000 Israelis in Tel Aviv and Karmiel!
It brings tears to my eyes to realise how tremendous­ly privileged we are to be living in Israel during these days and witnessing how God is fulfilling ancient prophecies right before our very eyes.
Pastor Israel, Ashdod
During our evangelism in Israel, Palestinian terror group Hamas signed an accord with Fatah to work together against Israel to establish a unilateral Palestinian state. US President Obama declared in a speech that reached the world, that Israel must make peace within its pre-1967 bor­ders. - But these are indefensible borders, which Israel calls its 'Auschwitz' borders - because they prefigure a second extermination of the Jewish people, just seven decades after Hitler's Jewish Holocaust.
On 25 May, the Israeli Embassy in London published in full an address given by PM Netanyahu to President Obama and members of the US Congress. Here are some extracts: 'Two years ago, I publicly committed to a solution of two states for two peoples: a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state. I recognise that in a genuine peace, we will be required to give up parts of the Jewish homeland...
'In an unstable Middle East, Israel is the one anchor of stability... My friends, you don't need to do nation building in Israel. We're already built. You don't need to export democracy to Israel. We've already got it. You don't need to send American troops to defend Israel. We defend ourselves. You've been very generous in giving us tools to do the job of defending Israel on our own. Thank you for your steadfast commitment to Israel's security...
'Support for Israel's security is a wise investment in our common future. For an epic battle is now unfolding in the Middle East between tyranny and free­dom... This historic moment holds the promise of a new dawn of freedom and opportunity... Yet as we share their hopes, we must also remember that those hopes could be snuffed out as they were in Teheran in 1979... The brief democratic spring in Iran was cut short by a ferocious and unforgiving tyranny. This same tyranny smothered Lebanon's Cedar Revolution, and inflicted on that country the mediaeval rule of Hezbollah.
'So today the Middle East stands at a fateful crossroads. Like all of you, I pray that the peoples of the region choose the path less travelled, the path of liber­ty... Israel has always embraced this path, the Middle East has long rejected it... We have a free press, independent courts, an open economy, rambunc­tious parliamentary debates...

'Courageous Arab protesters are now struggling to secure these very same rights for their peoples, for their societies. We're proud that over one million Arab citizens have been enjoying these rights for decades. Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights. Of those 300 million Arabs, less than one half of one percent are truly free, and they are all citizens of Israel! This startling fact reveals a basic truth: Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East...

3 comments:

Cheap hotels in Israel said...

A very interesting article!! its certainly makes you examine this whole issue from another angle

Anonymous said...

I lived in Israel/Palestine for 12 years; not as an American but as a local. I came with the exact same ideology as this article puts forth. And as stubborn as I was that what I believed was truth, I finally had my eyes opened and can say without hesitation that 95% of what this article teaches is false. Just go to the West Bank or Gaza and live for a year; not like an American or European, but like a Palestinian. It will wake you up.

Anonymous said...

I can agree with the comment from Anonymous. There is no democracy for the Palestinians. They are treated with brutal cruelty by the IDF and Israeli government. Children as young as 3 years old are taken off the streets and put in prison. Houses are ransacked and property is stolen. Adults are imprisoned and held indefinitely without a lawyer or a trail. I agree, go live in the Arab areas of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, and your eyes will be opened. The saddest part is that the US, my country, gives billions of dollars to support this tyranny. Father forgive us and enable us to take a new mind.