Provoke the Jews to Jealousy

Most Christians know the Great Commission, which says: “Go into the world and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). But this isn’t the Great Commission for Christians; it’s for Jews!

All the men addressed in this verse were Jewish. In this statement Jesus was telling the apostles to go to the gentiles and nations, and make disciples of them. Messiah was actually telling them to teach these pagans (since that’s what they were) about the God of Israel and his Messiah.

Jews going to gentiles was what the Great Commission was initially all about, even though it has been expanded to Christians going to the lost.

In chapter 11 of Romans, Paul (Rabbi Saul) wrote to the believers in Rome about his people, Israel. He spoke of them as “natural” branches of the olive tree, whereas he considered gentiles to be “wild” branches (11:16-24).

The Jews Seek a Sign

When we went to Russia to be intercessors for a music festival in St. Petersburg, we heard many testimonies from Jewish people. As they shared how their lives had been changed when they received Yeshua (Jesus), these testimonies all had a common theme. I do not recall hearing one testimony that did not include some type of sign that God used to reveal His Son Jesus to them as their Messiah.

In 1 Cor. 1:22-24, we see Paul’s insight into those with whom he was sharing the good news. He says, “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

When Messianics Share the Message

Though Jesus was born in Bethlehem, taught in Jewish synagogues, and spread His message “to the Jew first,” the majority of people in His homeland do not recognize Him as the Messiah. But thanks to what they say is a spiritual awakening unfolding in the Holy Land, many Jewish believers are sharing the gospel and leading their brothers and sisters to Christ. Click below to watch the video.


How to Repair the Jewish Breach

Are you aware that your Christian faith was built on a Jewish foundation? Think about it: Jews wrote the entire revelation of Scripture—both Old and New Testaments—except perhaps for the books of Luke and Acts. The Old Testament prophets all were Jewish. The apostles all were Jewish. And Jesus was not born a Christian—nor did He later convert. He was born a Jew and grew up to become a Jewish rabbi.

On Pentecost, it was Jewish men and women who first received Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah and who were endued with the power of the Holy Spirit. They went out to tell the things they had seen and heard, and when they were dispersed through persecution, they became witnesses to the gentiles.

Christian Coach Sues Over Dismissal by Muslim Principal

A veteran high school coach in Michigan has filed a federal lawsuit claiming he was fired by a Muslim principal because of his Christian faith and his association with a Pentecostal minister who helped lead a Muslim student to Christ.

In a lawsuit filed Monday, Gerald Marszalek, a wrestling coach for 35 years at Fordson High School in Dearborn, accused Dearborn schools and Fordson Principal Imad Fadlallah of violating his constitutional rights to free speech and exercise of religion, as well as Michigan laws against religious discrimination.

What We Can Learn From Yad Vashem

In the hills outside of Jerusalem, the Israelis have built a memorial to the greatest tragedy in Jewish history, the Holocaust. This memorial, called Yad Vashem, houses a large and graphic exhibition detailing the murder of 6 million Jews. This display achieves its intended effect: it is impossible to walk through it and not be burdened by the enormity of the crime that the Nazis and their henchmen committed against the Jewish people. Visitors exit the hall carrying a heavy weight.

Outside the museum, nestled in a wooded campus, Yad Vashem hosts a more uplifting memorial: the Garden of the Righteous Among Nations. Here, scattered among the trees, are plaques in honor of the thousands of non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. This part of Yad Vashem also impacts the visitor’s state of mind. A detailed display of the depths of human cruelty ends, in this garden, on a note of hope.

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

Hundreds of years ago, God the Father gave to Abraham—and his descendants—the land of Israel. He established an eternal and everlasting covenant with Abraham, promising that his seed, through Isaac and Jacob, would possess the land forever. Out of all the nations of the earth, He chose Zion to be His special people.

Yet Christians often wonder what their responsibility ought to be regarding Israel and the Jewish people. Some are indifferent toward or ignorant of the believer’s role in the nation’s history; others are opposed to lending their support because they don’t understand what such a commitment means.

Support of the nation of Israel does not mean a person endorses every political action of the government. Support of Israel means the support of biblical Zionism, and those who know the Bible know that it is not an option for the committed Christian.

Pray for the Children

During my trip to Israel several months ago, I ran into a group of Jewish kids on a field trip in the Old City. They reminded me of my nieces and nephews, running around playing and giggling nonstop.

But not far from Jerusalem are children whose faces have been draped with anger and rage. Radical Islamists who seek only death and destruction have seared their minds with lessons of hate. But these children need our prayers too. Click below to watch the video, then ask God to turn their hearts toward Him.

Will Revival Come to the Jews?

Several years ago the Lord told Oral Roberts, “This is the hour Jewish people are being drawn to God.”

Proverbs 11:30 says, “He who wins souls is wise” (NKJV). Why? Because souls are the only thing we take to heaven. Earth is a war zone and the battle is for the souls of men. God’s order has always been to evangelize the Jew first. God started with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people.

Jesus followed this pattern as well. He said, “‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel'” (Matt. 15:24). The apostle Paul also spoke of the gospel’s being for the Jew first (see Rom. 1:16).

Pro-Israel Supporters Lobby Lawmakers at Annual Summit

Pro-lsrael Christians from across the U.S. gathered in the nation’s capital this week to participate in the fourth annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Washington Summit. The event gave some 4,000 participants the opportunity to demonstrate their support for the Holy Land by lobbying U.S. lawmakers to back the Jewish nation.

“America really shouldn’t be pressuring Israel to make concessions Israelis don’t want to make,” said CUFI executive director David Brog. “Israel has been devoted to the peace process.”

Let’s Not Forget to Remember

Tisha B’Av is a day of mourning when the Jewish people remember the destruction of both the first and second temples. Tradition holds that the temples were destroyed some 656 years apart but on the same date. This year, Tisha B’Av begins on the eve of July 29 and ends at nightfall on July 30.

Traditionally, it is also believed that many other tragic events occurred on the 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av):

Can You Be Trusted?

No matter how good your explanation is of the gospel, and no matter how well you know the Bible, if your Jewish neighbor doesn’t trust you, your witness will fail. But what makes a person trustworthy?

In my 35 years of talking to my people about the Messiah, I’ve found that the first step in gaining someone’s trust is honesty. This is especially true between Christians and Jews.

All Jewish people know that during the Crusades and Spanish Inquisition vast numbers of Jews were killed “in the name of Christ.” Even more so, many Nazis gassed Jews and went to church on Sunday. Many Jewish people have negative feelings about Christians, because of 2,000 years of anti-Semitism from those who named the name of Jesus.


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