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You Are Connected and Aligned with Israel! |
Dear Friends and Israel Supporters:
I am so grateful for all of you who pray for the shalom of Jerusalem and the Lord’s purposes for His covenant people. We are blessed to have regular updates to help focus our prayers for the land and people of Israel. Below are two updates … the first from Daniel and Amber Pierce and the second from Martin and Norma Sarvis. Amber’s testimony of sharing the Good News is something that will stir your heart to pray in a new way. Martin and Norma Sarvis give a special update in light of the recent bombing in Jerusalem. For those of you who would like to give so our new ventures and on-going efforts are developed, you can give online or by calling 1 (888) 965-1099 or 1 (940) 382-7231. If you do not already receive our Prayer Updates from Israel, please visit our website and select the blue “Member Services” box. This will then provide you the option to subscribe to the Israel Prayerlist.
Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
Don’t Hesitate to Share the
Faith and Good News!
Today has been a great day! I’m giving testimony to God’s using Daniel and me
in one of those very divine moments when someone’s life is forever changed.
Nothing excites me more - this is what I was made for. This morning was
exciting in itself because a plumber (a man named Isaac) was to come and
install a dishwasher and spray nozzle for the kitchen sink. He began to work
and I offered him something to drink and eat. He felt comfortable, I guess,
and started to talk about his life. He told me how hard it is to live in
Israel. He asked, “Why would you come to a place like this?”
I didn’t have a chance to get a word in before he began to tell me how much he hated God. He went on and on, and I just decided to sit and listen. I was waiting for a wise opening, something that would speak to his heart. Then he said he was an Atheist. I said, kind of softly, “You can’t really be atheist if you have such strong feelings of hate toward God.” He knew that was right.
I asked what his background was. His parents were Jewish and he spent an intense amount of time studying Kabala. Isaac shared that he spent 4 years praying on his knees, working hard, doing everything Kabala required. I said, “Well, do you think it’s possible that perhaps the Messiah already came?” He actually said, “Maybe…” I said, “Because you know we are saved through Yeshua by grace, it doesn’t matter how hard you work, and that’s the only way to God the Father in Heaven.” Then he told me to keep my nose out of his business!
At that point Daniel came out of the bedroom wondering why I had made the plumber so angry. Then Isaac cursed God more. I said, “No problem”, and went about my business with Lily. She was in the other room watching a DVD on our computer, so she was spared all of the cursing. It was intense. Isaac was the most demon possessed person Daniel or I have ever seen!
A little time went by and I got Lily ready for a nap. Daniel and I sat on the sofa while Isaac worked. He was compelled to tell us more about Kabala. It was eye opening for us. We didn’t realize the level of occult that is involved in Kabala. Isaac said, “You’re here in body but not in mind.” He even claimed he went to heaven and hell. He shared how he couldn’t sleep but instead sees lights and hears voices all the time. He was in the supernatural all the time. He said that most people who leave Kabala from the high level that he was operating in have to go to a mental institution. He left Kabbalah 4 years ago and shared that he desperately wants his mind back.
I asked him what he thought about Madonna, since she studies Kabala. He said she is a joke and proceeded to explain the realities of this cult. Daniel and I went in the other room and talked privately for a moment. Daniel said, “You know, normally I would want someone that crazy out of my house as soon as possible, but God is really doing something here.” Daniel shared with me that he felt we had to pray for him, and I agreed. I then shared that we’d cast out demons because that what the Bible says for the Lord’s disciples to do.
After Isaac’s work was finished we asked if we could pray for him. He said, “Yes, if you think you can help me.” Daniel began to pray and I anointed his head with Shalom oil. You could see an immediate change in his demeanor. We gave him the new The Promise CD for worship.
After we prayed, Isaac invited us to his home. This all took place in a 7 hour period of time. And I believe Isaac will be in our lives as he will need much discipleship. Continue to pray for Isaac and others like him. We are hopeful that this is the first of many encounters of this nature. Today we purchased a Hebrew Bible for him.
We Have Been Positioned in the
NEW PRAYER TOWER in Tel Aviv!
Daniel and I have been asked to train and oversee the young adults in prayer
and intersession. They are an extremely talented and gifted group consisting
mostly of Israeli natives. The congregation’s worship leader and many other
musicians will be attending our prayer watch on Wednesday nights. We are
asking God to hear a new sound come out of Israel!
Dugit Messianic Outreach Center
We have spent the day at Dugit Messianic Outreach Center where curious people
of the land come for free coffee, and to feel out the Gospel and explore the
possibility that the Messiah may have already come. (In Hebrew, Dugit means
small fishing boat.) Dugit actually gets lots of protests and ridicule because
the sign includes the term Messianic.
Much debate, prayer, and salvation takes place here. We've watched Dan H. (pictured above) in amazing anointed action! Dan made aliyah last year, and works in the Coffee Shop. Such an honor, blessing, and encouragement to be here!
We appreciate your prayer and giving for Israel. Our apartment is finally coming into an order. Apostle Joe and Vonnie Askins from New York are here with a team. We will spend the day with them.
Shabbat Shalom and Blessings,
Daniel and Amber Pierce
PRAYER UPDATE FROM ISRAEL (March 23, 2011)
1. ROCKETS, MORTARS, BOMBS
This afternoon around 3:00 a large bomb exploded next to a # 74 bus pulled up to a crowded bus stop across from the central bus station in Jerusalem. As of this writing, a 59-year-old woman is dead, at least 31 are injured, between three and seven seriously. The bomb was evidently left in a bag against a light pole alongside a bus stop across from Israel’s central bus station. It was packed with shrapnel so as to cause as much injury as possible.
The attack came a few hours after two Grad rockets fired from the Gaza Strip slammed into Beer Sheva, one landing in a residential area, damaging a synagogue and lightly wounding one man and causing a number of people to need treatment for shock. Earlier still, seven mortar shells landed in the Eshkol region of the western Negev and another at the Gates to the Negev area—and another Grad exploded in Ashdod. Even as we write, there is a report of seven more mortar shells being fired into Ashkelon. Prime Minister Netanyahu has cancelled a trip to Moscow planned for this evening and called an emergency meeting of top ministers to determine what measures must be taken.
This past Saturday morning within a fifteen minute period 54 mortar shells rained down onto Israeli communities near the border. Israel’s diplomats were instructed to lodge a complaint in the United Nations. Israel’s Foreign Minister said that it showed that the international support for establishment of a Palestinian state was in fact “support for establishment of a terror state whose primary aim is the destruction of Israel.”
Yet the barrage on Saturday received scant coverage in the international media, as had the Israeli apprehension of a ship last week loaded with tons of Iranian weapons headed for the Gaza Strip, and the brutal murder of five members or a Jewish family in Samaria the week before. Instead, headlines in for example, the London Telegraph showed pictures of Palestinians wounded in a retaliatory strike by Israel with headlines such as
“Gaza and Israel Launch Attacks”, “Israel launches Five air strikes on Gaza Strip”, “Israel kills Four Gazans as border violence Spirals”.
Within Israel there is the sickening feeling of whether, after several years respite, we may be headed into the sort of terrorist violence in the streets, buses and other public places experienced during the last intifada (the last terrorist attack involving a bomb was over four years ago). And there is the grim realization that with the continued provocations from Gaza, Israel will soon be forced to make a serious response, just as she was forced to do with the Cast Lead incursion into the Strip in late 2008.
It seems almost certain that this last is what at least some of the militants are after. No entrance by Israeli military into the densely populated Strip, whether to simply put a stop to the provocative attacks on our sovereignty, or to attempt to dislodge Hamas itself, can be accomplished without loss of civilian life. Hamas has a history of using its own people as shields. Within a day there will again be cries around the world of “Disproportionate response!” and graphic pictures of torn and suffering civilians. Might it be possible that this is an attempt to capitalize on the recent scenarios of violent, ruthless Middle Eastern despots attempting brutally to quell the efforts of heroic freedom-fighters for democratic reform—only this despot will be Israel killing and injuring scores of innocent Gazan civilians long oppressed by Israel’s tyrannical rule (not that of Hamas itself which destroyed all government and wrested total control after being elected to power).
PLEASE PRAY:
*That “Elohei-Ma’arkhot Yisrael”—the “Arraying God of Israel”—will array His armies on her behalf. That Israel’s leaders will turn their hearts to God for counsel…and hear what they are to do.
*For Israel not enter miss-step in regards to the timing of an entrance into Gaza.
*For mercy and healing grace over those injured and traumatized by the bombing in Jerusalem this afternoon.
*For believing soldiers in Israel…to be prepared in spirit and before their God…and allied together for the calls which may soon be sending them into combat.
2. FORMER PRESIDENT SENTENCED FOR RAPE
This morning former Israeli President Moshe Katsav was sentenced to seven years in prison, for two counts of rape while serving as a Cabinet minister and one count of sexual harassment while in the office of President. In passing the judgments, the court said “Rape is one of the most serious offences in the statute book…The defendant committed the crime and must bear the punishment as any other man…Rape hurts and ruins man’s soul…sexual harassment trampled the dignity of the complainants…The defendant is a symbol. The fact that Katsav committed the acts while serving in a high-ranking post is reason to judge him severely.” The current President Shimon Peres called it “a sad day, but everyone’s equal before the law.” Prime Minister Netanyahu commented, “This is an important day for justice in Israel. It showed that there is equality before the law and that no one is above the law. It also showed that women are equal and it is forbidden to harm them.” Comparing Israel with its surrounding neighbors, he called her “a fortress of the rule of law.”
PLEASE PRAY:
*For an awakened zeal for righteousness government in Israel…for unrighteous, wicked, corrupt and violent practices to be exposed within the leadership of the land and judged with truth and equity.
*For the respect and honor of women in all echelons of the government to be realized and insisted upon.
*For healing of those women violated by this man…that they might come to know the One who can restore, make new, and release life and a future for them.
*For the Fear of the Lord to come upon those who would violate His charge in placing them in high positions of authority over His people and Land.
THIS WEEK’S TORAH PORTION:
From ancient times there has been a weekly portion (Parashah) from the first five books of Moses (The Torah) and an ending (Haftarah) from the Prophets read on the Sabbath in synagogues around the world. This portion is given a Hebrew name drawn from the opening words of the Torah passage. An illustration of this practice appears to have been recorded in Luke 4:16 where Yeshua (Jesus) arrived in the synagogue in Nazareth and was asked to read the portion (Isaiah 61) from the Prophets. We have found that in perusing these weekly readings, not only are we provided opportunity to identify in the context of God’s Word with millions of Jewish people around the world, but very often the Holy Spirit will illumine specific passages pertinent that week in our intercession for the Land and people of Israel. All texts are those of English translations of the Scriptures.
This week (March 20-26) the readings are called Shemini (“Eighth” day…):
TORAH: Leviticus 9:1—11:47
HAFTARAH: II Samuel 6:1—7:17
*Leviticus 10:3b: “By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.”
*Leviticus 11:44-45: “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean…For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.”
This week’s readings center upon the Holiness of Israel’s LORD—including the consequences to his children of not honoring that holiness. In Leviticus 10, Nadav and Avihu offer “strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them”, and fire comes out from His presence and consumes them. In the II Samuel passage, Uzzah touches the Ark which was being carried improperly, and “the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for the irreverence, and he died there by the ark of God.” Malachi 3:2-3 says that “He is like a refiner’s fire” and will “purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.” Please Pray—for a sense of the ‘holy’ in the Body of Messiah in Israel—that we will not be presumptuous in our worship, yet will at the same time yield ourselves to the refining, that the offerings which we offer up will be done in righteousness, in spirit and in truth.
Martin and Norma Sarvis
Jerusalem
[The Torah and Haftarah portions for next week (27 March-2 April) are called Thazria (“Quicken with Seed”--Conceive) and include TORAH: Leviticus 12:1—13:59; HAFTARAH: II Kings 4:42—5:19]
Key Resources to Help You Understand Your Covenant Promises
God's Unfolding Battle Plan by Chuck D. Pierce
THE SPIRITUAL WAR AROUND US IS UNFOLDING. A people without knowledge perish. God's Unfolding Battle Plan and the revised Future War of the Church will help you understand how to stand in victory in the times we are living in. God's Unfolding Battle Plan: A Field Manual for Advancing the Kingdom of God will point you into an understanding of the warfare we are presently fighting and what is ahead for us in the future. This book will also give you great insight through the next 20 years and beyond!
($13)
The Messianic Church Arising by Robert Heidler
Also available in Portuguese ($12) and French ($12)
This book will help you experience the fullness of Christianity and to know Christianity as God intended it. Robert Heidler purposes to assist any Christian in regaining the blessings of our lost inheritance! Once you see the root you are grafted into, the power of the Life of the root springs forth in you, and you will bear fruit! Don't miss the chapter on the Cycles of God which will help you understand how the Feasts allow us to see our path to future promise.
($12)
Over the Dead of the Desert: Releasing Waters for Zion by Martin Sarvis
Hear the sound of Israel! Martin and Norma Sarvis work with Succat Hallel and lead worship in Israel. They are also hosting us this week in Israel. Martin has a CD produced by John G. Elliott that is just wonderful. Titles include: Fertile Ground, There Will Never Be, Lament in D Minor, Rachamin Avakesh (I Will Ask for Mercy), Holy is He, La’Menatze’ach (To the Chief Musician), For Jerusalem: The Lord Himself will be a Wall of Fire Around Jerusalem; May there be Peace within Your Walls; the LORD Himself, Ekhra Berech (I Bow my Knee), Shir Ahava (Love Song), Run to You, and Hodu La’Adonai Kiru BiShmo (O Give Thanks to the Lord).
($14)
The Promise - Volume One is the culmination of almost four years of studio work. Joined by Aaron's longtime friend and musical confidant Sam Dickson, and producer Justin Rana, this CD is the compilation of a journey that has taken this team into marriages, through miscarriages, a studio move, and even a broken bone or two. The album consists of ten songs that, in one way or another, reflect on a wide range of emotions, experiences, and exhortations that Aaron and Tiffany wish to convey to their audience. The song “Finales and Futures” is so key for this hour.
Songs include: Ready to Go, Do it Again, Have Your Way, Be Thou My Vision, Teach Us How to Pray, Finales and Futures, The Architect, Corridors, The Promise, and Anatomy of Desperation.
SPECIAL: $12 (regularly $17)
"Shalom" Anointing Oil and Candles – with All Essential Oils!
Along with New Wine Lights, we developed this anointing oil and candle set to begin our new year. We carefully selected four essential oils to develop an anointing oil and candle which could represent the concept of shalom:
- Sandalwood and Lavender (used to overcome anxiety and produce peace)
- Frankincense (which for centuries was used for healing wounds)
- Myrrh (known as the “blood moving” oil to aid with circulatory issues)
Furthermore, this anointing oil is made with all essential
(therapeutic grade) oils. When you use it, declare that His SHALOM –
rest, peace, health and wholeness – will manifest in your life!
Anointing Oil: $10; Candle: $12;
Special: Anointing Oil with Candle: $20 (regularly $22)
These and many other resources are available by going to www.gloryofzion.org or by calling (888) 965-1099 or (940) 382-7231. Special good through April 1, 2011.