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Posts Tagged ‘Christians’

November 13th, 2011

Israel – Light to All Nations

By Donalda Shell -
The great nation of Israel has given the world numerous blessings with the Messiah being the most important. It is also stated that Israel is the chosen people to reveal God’s character and personality to the world.

In God’s covenants with Israel, God’s character is revealed.  We can see God’s faithfulness and grace in the covenants as well as justice.  There is a delightful passage in the book of Exodus that describes how God relays his own attributes to his beloved Moses on Mount Sinai.

“Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation’” (Exodus 34:5-7).

According to this passage, God reveals himself through Israel in relaying his presence to the world.  He also relays what he is like and what displeases and pleases him.  The event at Mt. Sinai shows us that God is the almighty creator, and he loves what he has created and wants to interact with us.  We learn in the events that occurred at Mt. Sinai that God does not tolerate rebellions against him.  God is a jealous God and he demonstrates this point with lashing out at sin with punishment not only aimed at the sinners but their generations.  This is a profound reminder that our sins have consequences.

The symbols of light which God placed in the tabernacles in the Wilderness and Temple, the menorah and holy fire that fell on the altar.  God’sbeauty and spirit was viewed in the pillar of fire that helped lead Israel in the wilderness and his glory shined brightly in the face of Moses after speaking with him in obtaining the Ten Commandments.

The nation of Israel has carried the glory of God for generations.  The Apostle Paul wrote that the glory God has given to Israel is a gift to the world.  Christians worldwide should always be grateful for the divine light that has come to all of us through the nation of Israel.

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October 11th, 2011

The Feast of Tabernacles Is Proof of God’s Promise and Love for Christians

sukkot in israelBy Judith Goodall -
Five-thousands plus Christians worldwide travelled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.  Thousands of God’s believers were able to experience this wonderful event thanks to The International Christian Embassy.

One highlight of the event was when Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat spoke about Jerusalem and the unity of not only Jerusalem but Israel as a whole.  He also spoke about the international community and their desire to split-up the land of Israel.

Mayor Nir Barkat spoke passionately about the unity of Israel and how the country represents a heart that refuses to break.  This proved inspiring for all Christians in attendance to this inspiring speech of the Jerusalem mayor.

Read more >

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October 6th, 2011

The Global Day of Prayer: International and Local Christians Leaders Unite in Demonstrating the Power of Prayer

pray for peace in JerusalemBy Donalda Shell -
International and local Christian leaders met in Jerusalem for the Global Day of Prayer.  This day was founded in praying for peace of Jerusalem and has been performed dating back to year 2002.  Millions of Christians worldwide representing more than thirty-thousand churches registered for the event.  There are numerous underground churches from countries such as Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and China that took part in this glorious event.  Unbelievably, a religious figure from Indonesia which holds the largest Muslim population worldwide registered for the event.

The Global Day of Prayer was televised for the viewing pleasure of millions of Christians worldwide who cannot attend the ceremony.  The event was hosted by Robert Stearns who co-founded this special day.

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September 6th, 2011

A new free service: Send your wish
to the Western Wall

Western Wall, JerusalemFor 2,000 years the apex of holiness on earth, the node connecting heaven with the material are the remnants of the Jewish Temple. The sublime limestone structure that is the Western Wall or Kotel is found in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem. For centuries, sojourners to the cite have placed private messages written on scraps of paper in the cracks between the ancient lime stones, petitioning the Kadosh Baruch Hu – the Holy One Blessed Is He.

Well, now WesternWallWish.com allows all who cannot be present at the Kotel complex in Jerusalem to submit a personal wish at the Holiest site on earth.

Today, more than a million prayer notes and wishes are placed in the Western Wall each year. You can find notes in any language or format placed in the wall. WesternWallWish.com provides this as a free service and profusely appreciates any donation that you can make. When you make a donation, the organization even provides you with video recorded “Wish Placements” which are sent to you when you make a donation. You can submit to WesternWallWish.com a picture, a scanned note, a prayer or blessing or a handwritten note and it will be responsibly placed in one of the fissures between the stones of the ancient Western Wall, remnant of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Israel.

Most of the Western Wall or Kotel of the Temple Mount, which is roughly 485 meters long, is obscured by the adjoining, newly built buildings in the area. Until June 1967, however, the portion of the wall accessible to sojourners was less than 28 meters long. The aboveground part consisted of 24 rows of stones of various age though mostly dating back to the original structure. The stones were 18 meters, with six meters found above the Temple Mount level.

 

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September 5th, 2011

The Amazing Discovery of the Galilee Boat

Jesus BoatBy Alfa Ellita -
The Galilee Boat is one of the most meaningful archaeological treasures in the world in the history of Christians. Two fishermen from the town of Ginosar, was fishing on the shore of Galilee in January 1986, and discovered a peculiar object sticking up out of the mud.

This discovery led to the Galilee boat witnessing the light of day 12 days later.  This historical vessel sank nearly 2,000 years ago.Scholars have stated that the boat was utilized as a fishing boat as well as a ferry boat.  The scholars also stated that the Galilee Boat might have been used in a sea battle against the Romans.

Even with the assumptions and educated statements of the scholars, the fact remains that the Galilee Boat according to Christians worldwide, the boat will and has always been “the Jesus boat”.  No one knows precisely who rode in the boat or what its’ specific purpose was but it serves as a beautiful and powerful visual reminder of the biblical story of Jesus and his disciples who were fishermen themselves. Read more >

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June 28th, 2011

Christians and the Jerusalem Syndrome

Jeusalem SyndromeBy Alfa Ellita -
This syndrome is a bizarre phenomenon of people who find themselves victims of their own mind.  It has been estimated that the “Jerusalem Syndrome” affects approximately one hundred people annually with forty people requiring admission to hospitals.   This statistic was gathered from two million people that visit Jerusalem each year. This syndrome consists of fixations as well as intoxications experienced after visiting the Holy City. This rare travel psychosis was identified in the year 1980 by a Doctor Yair Bar-El of the Kfar Shaul Psychiatric Hospital in Jerusalem.

Sure signs and symptoms of the Jerusalem Syndrome are as follows:

  • Anxiety
  • Nervousness
  • Strong desire to visit the holy places of Jerusalem.
  • The need to perform purification acts while continually washing themselves
  • Shaving off their body hair
  • Cutting their nails

Some people suffering from this syndrome have the compulsion to don white robes while replicating biblical figures.  Some popular biblical figures are the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.

It has been documented that the condition lasts for approximately one week with people suffering this condition running/walking around chanting, singing and delivering sermons (even though they are not certified preachers/rabbis).  These people believe that they are living during the era of Christ.  Can you believe that 42 people out of 470 have suffered from The Jerusalem Syndrome with 40 of the sufferers surveyed being protestant stemming from mid-American families and not having any history of psychiatric problems?

Why would someone suffer from this rare and bizarre syndrome while visiting the Holy City?  Christians not unlike other religious people have the strong desire to feel as close to God as possible.  We Christians wholeheartedly understand that we can communicate with God while viewing all of his blessings on a daily basis.  The one thing we do not have is the physical aspect of feeling God up, close and personal. Read more >

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