Category Archives: Christianity

June 26, 2013 · 4:05 pm

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet So Tough To Do (Part 4)

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I was so hungry for a Bible. Seeing my desperation, my mother remembered an old man in another village. This man had been a pastor before the Cultural Revolution.

Together we started out on the long walk to his home. When we found him, we told him our desire, “We long to see a Bible. Do you have one?”

The old pastor simply told me, “The Bible is a heavenly book. If you want one, you’ll need to pray to the God of heaven. Only He can provide a heavenly book…”

When I returned home, I brought a stone into my room and knelt on it every evening for prayer. I just had one simple prayer, “Lord, please give me a Bible. Amen.”

Nothing happened. A Bible didn’t appear.

I went back to that pastor’s house again. I told him, “I’ve prayed to God according to your instructions, but I still haven’t received the Bible I want so much. Please, please show me your Bible. Just a glance and I will be satisfied. I don’t need to touch it. You hold it and I will be content to just look at it…”

The pastor saw the anxiety in my heart. He spoke to me again, “If you’re serious, you should not only kneel down and pray to the Lord, you should also fast and weep. The more you weep, the sooner you get your Bible.”

I went home, and every morning and afternoon I ate and drank nothing. Every evening I ate just one small bowl of steamed rice. I cried like a hungry child to his heavenly Father, wanting to be filled with His word. For the next one hundred days,  I prayed for a Bible, until I could bear it no more. My parents were sure I was losing my mind.

Looking back years later, I would say this whole experience was the most difficult thing I’ve ever endured.

Then, suddenly one morning at 4 AM, after months of begging God to answer my prayers, I received a vision from the Lord while kneeling beside my bed.

Later…

I quickly opened the door and there standing before were the same two servants I had seen in my vision. One man held a red bag in his hand. My heart raced as I opened the bag and held in my hands my very own Bible. (The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun, by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway, 2003, Piquant Publishing, pages 27 – 30)

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16)

(Continued in Part 5)

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June 23, 2013 · 8:55 am

Inside Israel

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Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua.  Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

He is precious and to be glorified and blessed, and as His Blood-bought body, how very precious are each of you!  … for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people…” (2 Corin 6:16)  WOW!   May you be blessed and encouraged, as I am today with a fresh ‘glimpse’ of the fact that He is ‘enough’…He is ALL!

I had to giggle as I watched the news brief last night.  In very serious tones it was reported that a ‘caucus’ on the USA has been formed in our Knesset (Parliament – Congress) to ‘study and teach about the United States, it’s government system, history, geography, social systems and culture.’  I always wondered what a ‘caucus’ was but had never pursued it.

In this case I understood it to be a committee formed to study the USA and report back and teach the other Knesset members.  They all looked so serious as they sat around learning like students in a 6th grade class, absorbing new information and ideas.  The reporter explained that everyone thought there already HAD been such a thing for years, but there hasn’t been, and it was high time that we began to understand ‘where America was coming from’.

Of course, as a ‘former American’ this seemed funny to me…studying American culture in particular …but then I realized that it isn’t.  As I wrote in my last email, we are still a third world country dressed up as a first world one. But we are a third world country with a passion for learning and searching out truth (yea!) and I suspect that our policy makers are puzzled at America’s approach to dealing with the current problems in the Middle East.  This has been brought to a head by the situation in Syria and the current ‘policy’ to ‘arm the rebels’.  Everyone here is scratching their heads and so our politicians are now going to study ‘what makes them tick over there?’  Perhaps someone would find this food for prayer.

I want to thank you for your prayers for me personally.  I am walking free in Yeshua today by the power of The Blood and The Spirit, thanks to the help of a dear sister whom He used to pray with me.  How thankful I am for people who pay the price to be spot on (silver bullet prayers I call it…if any of you remember the Lone Ranger) through obedience on their knees.  I see now more clearly how to stand against the occasion that the enemy took to chain me up through the stress that The Lord is exercising me with these days. I am truly flooded with joy, peace AND better health today, in spite of the fact that the stress remains and increases.  He is so very good!  I love the way He uses His body as we walk according to His ways.

I find that I have less and less opportunities on the bus and train these days to talk with people, as iphones and ipods have literally taken over.  Everybody seems to be plugged in and fewer people are talking…or even looking up :-\  in this electronic age.  At work today, however, I had an encounter that perhaps contains a window that is both common to all man and also unique in some ways.

The part of my job that I dislike the most concerns a list that we receive every 3 months from the health fund. The job falls to me to call some 80 or so patients who received services during the past quarter but did not pass their plastic card.  (the Doctor gets paid by the card being passed) Now…this entails me disturbing people who may live cross town and to explain to them as patiently as I can in my best Hebrew that, yes they DID order something and that even if they DIDN’T pick it up, we DID do the work, print it out, etc, and that it is all recorded in the perfectly accurate computer (‘No…It didn’t make a mistake…no…I am not lying…No…it was really you…’) and that even though it is inconvenient for them to travel across town, wouldn’t it be nice to pay the doctor (since it isn’t from their pocket anyway).

Sometimes people argue and yell at me and I find that the most distressing part of my work.  This month I approached it with a good and cheerful attitude…until I came to Shlomo Alkalai!  I LIKE Shlomo.  He is a gentle man of about 60 who has had a really tough time.  I called him and asked him to please bring in his card.  I was totally unprepared for the abusive yelling that followed.  I finally said ‘Shlomo…I won’t listen to this.  I am hanging up the phone’ which I did, and promptly folded my list and stuffed it into a corner, heart pounding in my ears.  ‘That’s it for phone calls.  I’m NOT up to this!’ I decided. That was last week.

Just as I was getting ready to leave today Shlomo appeared at the door with his card.  Again he began to yell at me and I simply didn’t answer him.  I didn’t even look at him.  This was hard as I always liked Shlomo and he always liked me…what had happened?  Dr. Meshulam appeared and told him to stop yelling at the secretary ‘Zeh lo na’aim!’ (literally ‘that is not nice’) he said sternly.  Shlomo yelled ‘I am NOT yelling’.  We looked at each other and he began to share with me some things that I already knew, and others that I didn’t.  Shlomo is (I think) an accountant.  He is a kind and gentle man but his wife, Ruthie, suffers for many years from extreme depression for which she has been hospitalized often and remains heavily medicated.  Then she passed through several severe bouts of cancer requiring chemo and radiation that affected her legs (how they don’t know) and she is now in a wheel chair as well.  She has gained about 100 pounds during this time.  They have one lovely daughter who has succeeded in becoming a lawyer in the midst of all of this.  She lives in Tel Aviv.

Shlomo has had to move his office into his home since Ruthie must be watched 24 hours a day.  Their daughter, who works until 8 at night comes home once a week, cooks all night and spends the night so that Shlomo can go out the next day (one day a week) to buy groceries, run errands (like this one that I was imposing on him), pay bills etc.  The bills have piled up and as I listened the tears began to roll down my face.  I was thinking what a burden it was for him to have to come across town to run his card through.  We spoke at great length, both apologizing, of course.  I kept praying for access to The Holy Spirit to speak words of encouragement, but as the words kept pouring out of him I realized that what he needed to do he was doing.

Sometimes when we go through too much ‘trauma’ in our life, we sort of have to ‘recite’ it to ‘validate’ that all of this is really happening.  I learned that through my own experience, particularly when you are walking a lonely path.  All that I could do was listen and trust that as he saw my tears he would receive some comfort.

And now to take him to prayer. He and his family need prayer.  I make a distinction between a ‘religious’ man and a ‘God fearing’ man.  Here, the ‘religious’ fit certain criteria…dress a certain way, eat a certain way, pray a certain way.  Shlomo is a ‘God fearing man’.  A man who prays, goes to synagogue, keeps the kosher laws.

Perhaps someone will be given a burden to pray for this family, and that is why I share.  I want to thank you for allowing The Lord to lay whomever He does upon your heart.  I am always blessed to humility when one of you writes and asks how ‘Molly’ is or tells me that you are praying for ‘Rivka’ or ‘Amos’ or  ‘the taxi driver’.  It only needs to be one…but whom The Lord burdens, He also empowers.  Thank you!

And thank you again for praying for me and my family and for our nation and people. These emails have been a bit anemic lately, and I apologize for that, but I offer it to Him and am thankful for a moment to fellowship with you.  I would ask particularly for prayer for our younger daughter and her husband right now.  Thank you so much.  May we all draw ever closer and ever deeper to His Heart and may we let Him strip away all that hinders, for His kingdom and for His glory,

Lovingly,
your sister J

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June 21, 2013 · 11:07 am

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet So Tough To Do (Part 3)

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We arrived at her apartment by night in order to escape detection. We were in Russia (in the region of Lithuania, on the Baltic Sea). Ellen and I had climbed the steep stairs, coming through a small back door into the one-room apartment. It was jammed with furniture, evidence that the old couple had once lived in a much larger and much finer house.

The old woman was lying on a small sofa, propped up by pillows. Her body was bent and twisted almost beyond recognition by the dread disease of multiple sclerosis. Her aged husband spent all his time caring for her since she was unable to move off the sofa.

I walked across the room and kissed her wrinkled cheek. She tried to look up but the muscles in her neck were atrophied so she could only roll her eyes upward and smile. She raised her right hand, slowly, in jerks. It was the only part of her body she could control and with her gnarled and deformed knuckles she caressed my face. I reached over and kissed the index finger of that hand, for it was with this one finger that she had so long glorified God.

Beside her couch was a vintage typewriter. Each morning her faithful husband would rise, praising the Lord. After caring for his wife’s needs and feeding her a simple breakfast, he would prop her into a sitting position on the couch, placing pillows all around her so she wouldn’t topple over. Then he would move that ancient black typewriter in front of her on a small table. From an old cupboard he would remove a stack of cheap yellow paper. Then, with that blessed one finger, she would begin to type.

All day and far into the night she would type. She translated Christian books into Russian, Latvian, and the language of her people. Always using just that one finger—peck… peck… peck—she typed out the pages. Portions of the Bible, the books of Billy Graham, Watchman Nee, and Corrie ten Boom—all came from her typewriter. That was why I was there—to thank her.

“Not only does she translate their books,” her husband said as he hovered close by during our conversation, “but she prays for these men every day while she types. Sometimes it takes a long time for her finger to hit the key, or for her to get the paper in the machine, but all the time she is praying for those whose books she is working on.”

I looked at her wasted form on the sofa, her head pulled down and her feet curled back under her body. “Oh, Lord, why don’t You heal her?” I cried inwardly.

Her husband, sensing my anguish of soul, gave the answer. “God has a purpose in her sickness. Every other Christian in the city is watched by the secret police. But because she has been sick so long, no one ever looks in on her. They leave us alone and she is the only person in all the city who can type quietly, undetected by the police.”

I looked around at the tiny room, so jammed full of furniture from better days. In one corner was the kitchen. Beside the cupboard was her husband’s “office,” a battered desk where he sorted the pages that came from her typewriter to pass them on to the Christians. I thought of Jesus sitting over against the treasury, and my heart leaped for joy as I heard Jesus bless this sick old woman who, like the widow, had given all she had.  (Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten boom, ©1975, 2008, Christian Literature Crusade, excerpt from Chapter 31, “One Finger for His Glory.”)

Corrie ten boom did not mention the name of this sick old woman who prayed all day long as she pecked away on a typewriter. So, we don’t know her name, but I guarantee you this: all of heaven knows her name.

(Continued in Part 4)

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June 19, 2013 · 2:14 pm

Sponsor A Child – Save A Family

Let’s say your spouse dies, what would most likely happen next?

Your family, neighbors, and friends would show up at your home to comfort you. They would bring food. There would be an outpouring of love shown to you through many different ways in the days following the funeral and the months afterward.

But not so, if you are a wife in rural India, especially in Mula’s case.

Mula and her husband loved each other, but he died from cancer after seventeen years of marriage. When that happened, Mula was blamed for her husband’s death, forsaken by both families, shunned by her friends, and despised by her community. She and her four children faced a desperate future.

Fortunately, her oldest daughter attended a Bridge of Hope school. Through this connection with Gospel For Asia, Mula attended a seamstress school and eventually received a sewing machine. She now earns enough through sewing to feed and clothe her family.

The reasons all this happened:

1. Someone sponsored the daughter for $35/month.

2. Someone bought a sewing machine from GFA’s Christmas Catalog for $85.

What may seem like pocket change to the people who sponsored the daughter or who bought the sewing machine, made a life and death difference to Mula and her family. And oh yes! Mula gave her life to Jesus.

Do you have any spare pocket change? It may be enough to sponsor a child, which may end up saving a family.

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June 17, 2013 · 9:40 am

Inside Israel

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Due to a glitch in my memory bank, I forgot to post Inside Israel yesterday. This is the newsletter where we will hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua.  So, put on your prayer shawls and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

Greetings in The Name of Yeshua, Jesus, Lord of lords, King of kings, THE only true Messiah,

May He be blessed and glorified, and may you be blessed and edified.  And may we ALL grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him (not through my letter, but just through His working in us and His Word and prayer! – This has been my constant prayer for myself lately.)

When people come to visit this land for the first time, I try to prepare them for one major cultural ‘difference’ that they never seem prepared for: the subject of ‘manners’…or rather the lack of them.  ‘RUDE!’ is generally a word that I hear a great deal when describing Israelis once off the tour bus… and I can understand the misinterpretation of the actions.  I say ‘misinterpretation’ because I believe that ‘rudeness’ should not necessarily be judged by ‘action’ but by ‘intent’.

I had been prepared for the situation before we made aliyah, by my brother in law, who is Israeli but sadly does not live here.  This is how he described it: ‘Israel is a third world country dressed in first world clothing; sort of like a gorilla in a tuxedo’.  He continued: ‘An Israeli will push you over and break your leg trying to get on the bus before you, but then will pick you up, carry you on his back all the way (running no less) to the hospital…pace up and down in front of the operating room while they piece your leg back together, visit you every day with flowers, chocolate and home cooked meals (if not sleep on the floor beside you) AND… you will be at his shabat table and every family occasion for the rest of your life once you recover!’

I found that pretty accurate!  There is simply NO malicious intent in Israeli ‘rudeness’!

When we first came (actually the first week and my very first time on the bus alone) I was downtown and went to get on the bus.  There were lots of ‘old ladies’ (like me now) trying to push on to the bus before me, so, ‘naturally’ I stepped aside to let them on.  Just as I prepared to get on the bus, he closed the doors in my face and took off!  I burst out crying. (Very mature response, but I was still pretty much in shock by all of the changes that immigration was bringing) 

Several women approached me to comfort me and to see if they could help and maybe pour some water down my throat (perhaps I was thirsty?).  ‘What is the matter?’ the one who could speak a bit of English asked.  ‘He closed the door in my face as I was about to get on!’ I blubbered.  They looked puzzled, ‘but you kept stepping aside!’ they reminded me.  ‘Of course…all of those old ladies wanted to get on…’  Now they REALLY looked puzzled.  ‘But why didn’t YOU get on?’  You get the picture?  I soon learned how to push my way on to the bus and not get left behind.

There actually IS a sort of ‘method’ to it all…and it is NOT considered rude.  The truth is…life here is not quite ‘easy’, always pressured…and everyone is trying their best to get something ‘accomplished’ …there is just no time for the ‘niceties’ of ‘space’ between people.

Uh oh!  This became a real testing ground for me…a grinding stone for The Lord to work on areas of my life that I did not want exposed.  (does that sound like your Lord too?)  There are definite reasons that I was born in NYC and had DETERMINED (by the age of two I think!) that I was ‘out of there!’ and going to live in the most far away from people and quiet place I could find.  Thus I lived in the remote Alaska bush for 15 years and never had any intent to leave.  I was a hermit by nature.  Proverbs 18:1 tells me what The Lord thinks about my love of being a hermit:

“A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.”

The King James Version translates it this way:

“Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh [and] intermeddleth with all wisdom.”

The King James version sounds quite different, which I had interpreted to be a ‘good thing’ for many years.  When I read the New KJ translation it sent me to the Hebrew… which I couldn’t understand…so I went to parallel versions.  I have come to see that the NewKJ is far closer to the meaning…and I have had to ask The Lord deal with this area of my flesh that loves its s-p-a-c-e and privacy and quiet etc.  It has not been an easy lesson and I am still learning it, but sharing His love for this nation and its people (in general…He is oh so dealing with my heart to love people INDIVIDUALLY) drives me to want them to be understood correctly.

Now…what was the point of all of this?

A humorous thing has occurred!  I have shared much with you about our ‘new lite rail system’ that is NOT appropriate for Jerusalem!  Its fine in Europe, or Seattle, or probably most places in the world…but in Jerusalem?  It is a disaster, at least for those (like me) who have to ride it daily!  Occasional riders and tourists seem to love it, but it is a nightmare for the commuters and this is not just my opinion. I would say it is nearly 100% across the board express this opinion… vocally …daily, and there have been many demonstrations and ongoing letters to the editor…all a waste of breath. 

Now…let’s see if I can describe (just) one of the problems:  the doors.  There has been a serious problem at each stop as perhaps 20 people push to get off while, simultaneously, approximately 20 people push to get on.  There is a ‘stance’:  head down, hands in fists in front of your chest, mouth open yelling a variety of things, and the push and shove begins.  It can get quite nasty (and occasionally funny) and there has been no solution.  There had been ‘guards’ at stops yelling ‘don’t push! Don’t push!  Let them off before you get on!’ to no avail.  Once on the train the conversation always turned to ‘These awful trains!’

Last Friday morning I went to the train stop and was greeted by some new very bright yellow markings all over the side walks; they were lines and arrows resembling traffic lanes.  Not really ‘normal’ traffic lanes, but the kind that you see at very busy intersections where there had been a lot of deadly accidents.  These are seriously ‘aggressive’ lines and arrows that scream ‘This way dummy!  NOW that way!’ 

Since I leave quite early in the morning, there were as yet no people around, but on the way home there were smiling young people dressed in bright red giving out freebies.  We Israelis love freebies!  Who doesn’t? They were giving out a free candy along with a little cartoon booklet showing people how to ‘WAIT’ until the passengers get off BEFORE you try to get on.’  All of the cartoon characters were smiling; they did NOT look Israeli!  We took the little booklet and the candies and waited for the train.  Everyone stood behind the yellow lines and smiled at the red-jacketed workers…UNTIL THE TRAIN CAME.  The battle was on once again!  It is definitely funny.  A dear sis mentioned last night that this campaign was probably started by the complaints of North Americans or Brits and she was likely right!  By the way, the happy cartoon characters also grace posters sprinkled around the train stops.

(I just looked for photos of the campaign for you, but found only this article from a secular Canadian online site that gives you an idea plus photos http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/06/its-unpleasant-and-people-push-each-other-jerusalems-light-rail-transit-starts-a-courtesy-campaign/   It’s funny…but also an eye opener if you read the ‘comments’.  ‘Standing in defense of Israel’ can be emotionally painful as I am sure that most of you are aware. One of the things that I noticed in the article was the mention of the couple (2 I believe) of Jewish kids provoking fights with Arab kids on the train.  There was no mention of the (also 2 I believe) stabbings of Jews by Arabs on the train. Note the hostility.)

Explaining Israel…the Jews…it all comes back to The Word…it has ALL been written…and He has provided us with The Holy Spirit…the Interpreter, The Guide Who will lead us into all Truth so that we can rightly divide The Word of Truth.  I am so thankful that He does all things well and as I have been seeking lately to understand His WAYS IN (His) JUDGMENT and to grasp how we are to respond during HIS TIMES OF JUDGMENT, I am reminded that Israel is to be separate, alone and that He too was despised and rejected.  So my only purpose here it to try to remove some of the stumbling stones from before the feet of those of you who may be able to walk here for a limited period of time as a tourist or short term volunteer.

I have rambled on for a long time and should go, but I find that every time I write, I linger in a sort of ‘virtual fellowship’ and I think of the names of those of you on the list and I am so thankful for His way of weaving us into His body together…praying for one another…building one another up in His Holy Spirit.

I have several unspoken (sorry) personal family requests for prayer and I thank those of you whom He has burdened with ‘carrying my family’.  I also have a prayer request for a dear sister (not here) who has just been diagnosed with cancer and will begin treatment soon, although I will not mention her name.  There is another sister among you to whom I write who has recently been deserted by her husband who unexpectedly turned from The Lord who surely needs prayer.  I know that if He wants any of you to carry these before the throne He will enable and remind.

May The Lord fine tune each of us for HIS GLORY alone, and may we be about His business.  LOVINGLY, your sis here.

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June 14, 2013 · 1:18 pm

Hope for Those Born into Brothels

My good friend Derrick Coy in his recent post, Journey with us through the slums and brothels of India, wrote about the above 2004 documentary film, Born into Brothels. Check out his post for more info on the film.

The first child you meet in the film is a beautiful 10 year-old girl named Kochi who lived in a Calcutta brothel. “They ask me, ‘When are you going to join the line [to be a prostitute]?” she said, looking out the window. “They say it won’t be long.”

Later in the film, a gifted young boy named Avijit, lost his mom because a pimp set her on fire. The police did not even investigate the murder. The devastated Avijit said, “There is nothing called hope in my future.”

All through the disturbing film, which I watched twice, I thought about K. P. Yohannan’s dream of harvest fields in Asia:

…Right in front of me was a river so wide and raging that I dared not step closer or try to cross it…

My heart broke. Was I only going to look at the harvest but not be able to embrace it? I stood there weeping, feeling so helpless and full of despair.

All of a sudden there appeared before me a bridge reaching from one side of the vast river to the other. It was not a narrow bridge, but one that was very broad. It was completely filled with children from all over Asia − poor, destitute children, like those I’d so often seen on the streets of Calcutta, Kathmandu and other Asian cities.

Then it was as though someone spoke to me and said, “If you want to have this harvest, it’s all yours. But this is the bridge you must cross to get it.” (Except from No Longer A Slumdog by K. P. Yohannan, ©2011, page 90)

K.P. Yohannan’s dream became the basis for the Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope. So far, more than 500 Bridge of Hope Centers provide over 60,000 children with the love of Jesus, quality education, daily meal, and medical care. As these young children begin to understand God’s love, they carry the gospel home to their families.

Zani Briski, the main English speaking character, voiced her frustration in the documentary. “I’m not a social worker. I’m not a teacher even. That’s my fear, you know, that I can’t really do anything…” she said.

Bridge of Hope does something, by offering hope for the poor children of India, even those born in brothels.

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June 13, 2013 · 10:33 am

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet So Tough To Do (Part 2)

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The vibrant sounds of Mozart’s Piano Concerto Number Seven swirled through the Beacon Hill mansion’s ballroom. The fifteen females seated around the grand piano, listening to the maestro, had proper Brahmin names like Cabot, Coolidge, Forbes, Lodge, and Shaw. Each traced her ancestry back to the earliest Puritan settlers of Boston. This blueblood lineage insured their invitation to the social tea, no nouveau riche Johnny-come-latelies were among the invitees.

When the pianist completed the piece, he stood and bowed. The women showed their appreciation with warm applause. One of the ladies put her white gloved hands to her mouth and said, “Oh, I would just do anything to be able to play the piano like that.”

The maestro turned and stared at her. His eyes exploded with fire.

“No you wouldn’t,” he said.

The crowd collectively gasped. All felt sorry for the woman who had been openly rebuked by the man’s insensitive words.

As for the lady, she sat stunned, paralyzed by his harsh eyes, tears rolled down her cheeks. Then, as if she remembered her privileged pedigree, she mouthed three defiant words at the pianist: “Yes, I would.”

“No you wouldn’t,” he said again, leaning over the piano toward the lady.

“Because if you really meant what you said, you would have been willing to give up your youth, your teenage years, and eight to ten hours every day practicing on the piano. You see there is a price to sit on this bench. I’ve been willing to pay it, and you have not!”

(Short story from my e-novel, Deceived Dead and Delivered by Larry Nevenhoven, ©2012, Amazon.com)

Like playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto Number Seven, prayer demands an all-effort on our parts if we really want to see God move through our petitions and supplications for our families, friends, neighbors, and cities. How costly will the price eventually be for each of us?

It will cost us everything!

(Continued in Part 3) 

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June 9, 2013 · 8:18 am

Inside Israel

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As you have probably guessed by now,  I’m not Debbie, but since she’s taken a sabbatical, I will host Inside Israel where we will hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua.  Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

Greetings dear sisters and brothers,

Oh, I am blessed!  I have had a rare day of being able to stay near home and not need to ride the public transportation that provides so many interesting stories. But all around me this land bares witness to the absolute faithfulness of the eternal promises as given by The covenant keeping Almighty God, and so I am thankful for a space to write to you.  May HE be glorified and may you be blessed.  And may I be a faithful witness – eyes to see for you here, where His temple, His body, IS being built!

As I walked to the shops and to the bank this morning, I was ‘nudged’ in the spirit to ‘notice how quickly things change.’  As we all attempt to adjust to the dramatic climate changes, I am sure that I am not the only one looking with wonder at some of those changes.

Today is a lovely break from the early heat waves that we have had (the ‘sha’arav’ or ‘ham’seen’ – which are hot dry winds from the deserts to the south) and I looked around to see the first miniature pomegranates swelling the bulbs of what were spectacular blooms on the trees just earlier this week. Whereas the grapes were also minute but perfect clusters, each tiny grape is now elongated and defining itself while the appearance of similar clusters on the pepper trees signal the developing handfuls of red pepper corns that promise to appear later in the season.

As I looked around I saw all of the lush summer colors and deep heavy green leaves and fronds that have begun to replace the sweetness of the spring exhibit.  Neither is more delightful to the eyes, senses or spirit then the other…all truly speak to me of the faithfulness of God, His capacity for beauty (as beautiful as this is it is only of seed of what we shall see in heaven!),  His order in the changing seasons and His patterns reflecting His majesty.

When we first made aliyah we saw bouquets of BLUE flowers hanging from vines that climbed up tall trees…something we hadn’t seen before.  They have become commonplace to us now as have date palms and the public gardens filled with sweet-smelling herbs, nuts and fruits.  All of this beauty around us and yet He must exhort me again and again to ‘worship Him’ to ‘praise Him’ to ‘glorify and magnify and LOVE Him’.  Truly He is ALWAYS ONLY worthy of all praise!…even in the shops.

As I went into the shop, all of the workers were busy replacing every price in the store with a higher one.  New signs had gone up on Sunday reminding everyone of a fact that we all knew too well: ‘Value added tax has now been raised to 18% as of today.  Prices may be higher at the cash register then they are marked on the item.’

It was just a few years ago that a law went into effect requiring stores to post prices.  Before that it was always a big surprise and you could haggle about it.  It was also only a few years ago that value added tax was placed on food items at all!  I commented to one of the clerks that 1% DIDN’T mean 1 shekel (about 30 cents in USD a 5th of a British pound.).  She smiled sadly and shrugged knowingly.  ‘I know…they are just raising ALL of the prices more then the 1%!’  Only fruit and vegetables have been exempt from this new tax…AND (a blessing for those of you who come and visit) v.a.t. is refunded to tourists at the airport as they return and present their purchase stubs.  That was a BIG fight in the Knesset.

Indeed, this year’s budget was a huge issue all around.  An interesting thing took place; over the past couple of years there have been ‘social demonstrations’ due to the state of the economy.  The situation changed the results of the elections here dramatically and the ‘darlings’ of the social change movement rose to receive much power.  Our Prime Minister wisely (I think) took the most outspoken leader elected from this movement…and made him FINANCE MINISTER!  He basically said; ‘Ok.  You want change?  Here are the facts and figures.  YOU are responsible for them.  YOU do it!’  He had ZERO experience in this area.  He was faced with the reality of the numbers and immediately…raised taxes.  The most painful of these to the poorer people (more then 50% of the population) is the value added tax.

Most of us don’t pay for more then housing and food as it is…and now the food is even higher and the housing NOT more affordable but going up as well.  The addition of value added tax for tourists ALMOST passed, but the tourist industry is too important here…both as an ‘industry’ AND as a moral value:  Our government is very aware that when a tourist comes he may well see the truth for himself…and…if he sees…he may speak out and influence others.  So, you, as a tourist, will receive an 18% refund on your purchases IF you present your receipts (KEEP THEM AND DO THIS!) at the v.a.t. desk in our airport before you leave.

A heart warming thing happened last night as my husband and I went to sign our Granddaughter up for summer ‘kay’tina’, which is summer day camp.  Kay’tina is a big thing here…not just in summer, but year around.  It is likely an outgrowth of the kibbutz movement upon which the modern state was founded.  Everybody lived and worked communally and the children were also cared for communally.

Since everybody is STILL working ‘communally’ – the after school movement – ‘kay’tina’- has grown and refined into a lovely and creative ‘institution’ of sorts.  Children can go to kay’tinot that are about cooking, sport, animals, creative arts, academics, any sort of interest…or simply PLAY.  Since I will need to be working during part of the time that our Ana will be with us, we chose the YMCA kay’tina after receiving tons of recommendations.  The YMCA is in a very impressive building near the old city walls here in Jerusalem where it has stood for more then 80 years!  (you can see some beautiful photos of it here.)

Most of you have likely read the great soldier of faith OSWALD CHAMBERS’ My Utmost for His Highest or one of his other books.  He had a room in this YMCA where he did much writing.  It serves people from all communities here, both Arab and Jewish as well as internationals.

Having prayed for direction, we went to inquire about registration (feeling VERY old and nervous among all of the young parents) when a friend from kehila (fellowship or ‘church’) came along side to help and encourage us!  She works there.  This was a ‘big mountain’ for me…a step of faith in many ways and venturing into an area that I haven’t dealt with before as our youngest daughter was already 13 when we arrived.

Mission accomplished, we went out and found the train about to arrive.  Finding a seat we were soon informed by loud speaker that there was a ‘hefetz hashood’ ahead (unidentified object) and that we would be delayed as the bomb squad was dealing with it.  Groan!  Not again!  A whir of sirens filled the air as the bomb squad rushed passed.  We settled into our seats, thankful for them as it was late, and I pulled out the papers and read them thoroughly.  Suddenly I jabbed my husband in the side and pointed to a line at the bottom which read “DUE TO THE CURRENT COST OF LIVING WE HAVE DECIDED TO REDUCE OUR PRICES”!!  We knew that we had made the right decision!  Wasn’t that a lovely thing that they did??

I thought about it again as this morning during devotions  as I was touched by John 21:6 –

“And He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.”

I thought about it and about the way I walk through my daily life:  They were ‘fishermen’.  It was their trade.  They were good enough at it to have earned their livelihood.  HOWEVER…they became the servant of Another Master.  They didn’t grow rusty or lose their talent…but they were in the flesh and not in the Spirit.  How often I try to make plans and decisions in the flesh!  How often He must remind me that I am NOT ‘my own’ but have been bought with a price!  He will not prosper plans that I make on my own.

“Trust in The Lord with ALL your heart and lean not unto your own understanding.  In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He WILL direct your path.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Why do I need to learn this lesson daily?  He is just so very patient with me!  And so, I trust Him to lead us in all that lies before us.

Our defense spending cuts were just announced as I watched the news, and the reserve soldier’s training has been cut…not good.  The battles in Syria rage, taking a huge toll on human life there, but no good outcome either way.  On one thing both sides agree: as soon as this is over, the announced focus is to turn to the Golan Heights…our North.  Meanwhile, the Turkish uprisings which appeared to be a small rebellion, is heating up surprisingly and has become a question mark.  And Egypt?  Still full of unrest and shaking.  Islam is entrenching itself in full leadership in country after country around us.

It is past time for me to go and get dinner ready so I must close.  We have truly been blessed by friends and friends children (also friends) who have visited over this year…and those of you who write.  God bless you all.  May we walk together to glorify Him and finish the work that He has given each of us.

Lovingly, your sis

J

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June 8, 2013 · 1:13 pm

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet So Tough To Do (Part 1)

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Almost twenty-five years ago, I read an interview of David Yongi Cho in Charisma Magazine which really bummed me out. It was a long interview which dealt with his life and founding of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, which then had 700,000 members.

What particularly bummed me out was when the interviewer asked: “Will America ever have a church as large as Yoido Full Gospel Church?”

“No,” replied Cho, “because Americans aren’t willing to pay the price in prayer that it takes to build a large church like Yoido.”

Slap! His words felt like a glove slap to my face, challenging me to a duel.

I readily admit to being full of myself at the time because I prayed 3 to 4 hours each day which is what Cho and his 400 elders averaged. So, I thought: “All I need to do is find a few believers like me who enjoy praying and voilà! America will have a large church.”

Well, after journeying over hundreds of miles of life’s back roads and through more than enough deep valleys, I have arrived at this conclusion: Cho was right. America will never have a church like Yoido Full Gospel, which now has over 1 million members.

“What?” you proclaim, picking up your gloves, readying to slap my face. “Do you still believe that the Lord’s house is called to be a house of prayer?

“Yes, I do,” I reply, keeping my eyes on your hands.

“Then what’s your problem?” you say through clenched teeth, still ready to slap me.

I shrug. “It’s a long story. Do you really want to hear it?” I whisper.

So, over the next few weeks, I will write on prayer. Some of the articles will deal with my prayer heroes. Some will deal with the mistakes of different prayer movements. Some will deal with my mistakes and lessons I’ve learned about prayer.

But hopefully, we will all end up trusting and loving the Lord more than we do now.

(Continued in Part 2)

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June 7, 2013 · 3:25 pm

Got Room For One More in Your Heart?

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My prayer is that every abandoned and unwanted child in India can hold up a picture of a family who has decided they have room in their hearts for one more child. This is not a little prayer, but a monster one. You see, there are 11 million abandoned children in India, of which 90% of them are little girls, like the one above.

If you have room in your heart, check out Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope ministry as soon as possible.

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