Christians around the country and in Israel will pray together simultaneously during the sixth annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem (DPPJ) held October 4. The prayer initiative is a response to growing threats, terrorist attacks and international pressure aimed at Israel.

The event will take place in local churches in 175 nations, with more than 1,000 church leaders.

“The Bible declared it. Jerusalem has become a cup of controversy on the global stage,” said Robert Stearns, who is co-chairman of DPPJ along with Jack Hayford, former president of the International Foursquare Church.  

“Even America, a nation historically supportive of the state of Israel, has been changing its rhetoric on matters pertaining to Jerusalem, and America has also seen unprecedented instances of hostile, anti-Israel demonstrations on its university campuses and in the streets of its cities,” Stearns said.

Respected Native American and Christian leader K.P. Yohannan, who is said to influence tens of thousands of churches throughout the continent of Asia with the group Gospel for Asia, added his support to the global effort.

“As our Lord told us, we must pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, that He will bless her and use her to accomplish much in these days,” Yohannan said.

While advocating for Israel’s right to defend itself, Stearns maintains Christians must meet the tensions in the Middle East with fervent prayer.

“At the root, the unrest in the Middle East is a spiritual problem requiring a spiritual answer,” Stearns said. “That’s why God continues to stir energy for prayer in the hearts of thousands of Christians, from Latin America to Asia to all over Europe and Africa, on behalf of Jerusalem and all its inhabitants, Jew and Arab alike.”

Organizers say Christians can use their influence by encouraging local pastors to pray on Sunday, Oct. 4, even if for just a few minutes.

Churches can also request free DPPJ packets containing posters, brochures, prayer cards, videos, flyers, and children’s resources at . Materials are available in 20 languages.

Television viewers can watch the event on GOD TV live from downtown Jerusalem.

Nir Barkat, the new mayor of Jerusalem, will give the keynote address along with other speakers including dignitaries such as Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat and Arab Pastor Naim Khoury of Bethlehem.

Chynna Phillips’ mother and father were members of the successful singing group The Mamas and the Papas, and she herself achieved fame as a member of the pop sensation Wilson Phillips. Chynna went on to become a household name in the 1990s with such hits as “Hold On” and “You’re in Love.” But today the Spirit-filled singer sings for Jesus as a member in the new duo Chynna & Vaughan, with artist Vaughan Penn. The two share an encouraging message about God’s power in an interview with The Buzz editor Leigh DeVore. Click below to listen to podcast.

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My trip to Israel in early spring was life changing. It was educational but most importantly spiritual. Yes, I “walked where Jesus walked” and peered into the Garden Tomb, but I also worshiped Him in song and dance. The music was unfamiliar to me, and I didn’t know any of the choreography. But the Holy Spirit’s presence was evident in the prayer and praises the locals and I offered up to Yeshua. Want to praise Him Messianic style? Click below to watch a Jewish dance.

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When you arrive in Israel and drive past road signs to Jerusalem or Nazareth, it is easy to think you have just entered the biggest theme park in the world. Almost a million Christians visit Israel every year. As a native-born Israeli, I am blessed to see these groups walking the land and discovering the world of the Bible for themselves, but I am also saddened to know that few of them connect with local Israeli believers.

I understand that for most people it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk where Jesus walked and that tour companies pack their schedules with trips to as many ancient sites as possible. But what about the living stones—the local people the Lord is building into His spiritual temple?

Just 25 years ago there were only 200 or so Jewish believers in Israel. Today there are more than 130 local indigenous congregations. In a country historically so closed to the gospel, this tremendous growth in just two decades is a miracle. Today there are Jewish believers, “living stones,” all over Israel, and every day they proclaim God’s faithfulness with their lives. More than ever we need intercessors to stand with us as we witness the fulfillment of prophecy.

The body of Messiah is alive and growing in Israel but faces its on challenges. Harassment and persecution from anti-missionary organizations is commonplace. We live in this land, we raise our children here, we pay taxes, we serve in the army, we are active members of society, and yet we experience persecution for our faith. If Christians will not stand with us, who will?

An article in the Jerusalem Post reported that a Jewish organization “received $87 million from evangelical Christians last year for a variety of immigration and absorption programs, as well as social welfare and defense needs.” While this effort to support good causes is admirable, none of this wealth was invested into the kingdom. Lives could have been touched spiritually as well as physically. Many congregations also run humanitarian projects, but they are struggling financially.

The body of Messiah in Israel is small, and rising costs make it difficult for congregations to provide facilities.

Tel Aviv is the largest city in Israel and reportedly has the densest Jewish population in the world. This busy, multicultural metropolis struggles with the same challenges other cities all over the world do: poverty, homelessness, alcoholism, drugs, prostitution, homosexuality and religious cults.

The people are spiritually hungry and looking for answers. “How shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14, NKJV). Many Israelis have never heard the gospel, and those who have heard of Yeshua have no idea He has anything to do with the Jewish people. They are usually amazed to discover that Yeshua was Jewish and fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah promised to Israel.

As a local pastor, I have no doubt that God is moving in Israel today. Israelis are responding to the gospel and coming to the Lord. There is an openness that was not evident a few years ago. The harvest is ready.

Israel is not just about wonderful tours of the Holy Land; there are 7 million people here who don’t know the Lord. My challenge to you is this: If you want to make a difference for the kingdom, come and visit us, worship with us, find out what God is doing among the local believers. Make it a priority to stand with your Israeli brothers and sisters. Together we can extend the kingdom of God here in Israel!

Avi Mizrachi is the founder and director of Dugit Messianic Outreach Center and pastor of Adonai Roi Messianic Congregation in Tel Aviv, Israel.

A New Jersey mosque is spearheading a national prayer rally in Washington, D.C., that organizers expect to attract tens of thousands of Muslims to pray for the soul of America.

Describing the event as the first-ever of its kind, leaders of Dar-ul-Islam in Elizabeth, N.J., expect 50,000 Muslims from around the world to gather for the Sept. 25 rally being held on Capitol Hill.

Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam, said the event, which begins at 1 p.m., will not include political speeches but will focus only on prayer.

“There are a lot of people who are Muslims who feel that the image of Islam has been portrayed very derogatorily, Abdellah said. “We believe that it’s very important that the other side of Islam, the real reason people become Muslim, is portrayed as opposed to what people believe in the politics of Islam.”

Mosque members secured a permit for the event in July and have been working since then to gain sponsors and spread word through e-mails, phone calls and a Web site, , that declares, “Our time has come.”

Abdellah said participants will pray for salvation-for individuals, communities and nations-and “that people get along better, and move forward with more humanity toward each other.”

“We’re trying to illustrate the spiritual component,” he said. ” Because there’s too much emphasis on other things in Islam, and that’s the problem. Too much emphasis on the politics as opposed to the spirituality. You’re not getting to heaven for your politics. The politics will get you in hell; spirituality will get you salvation.”

Abdellah, who is African-American, said President Obama’s words at his inauguration, describing the U.S. as a nation of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and nonbelievers, and his speech this summer in Egypt seeking to build bridges with the Muslim world led him and a New Jersey imam to begin discussing the idea.

“He’s articulated a position that’s consistent with the Constitution of the United States, that there would be no discrimination based on race, religion, national origin,” he said. “That was inspirational. He used passages that are more Islamic-friendly than cause tension and intimidation.”

Some Christians also are mobilizing to pray on that day. An email circulating virally calls for Christians to oppose what they see as Islam’s growing influence on the U.S. through prayer.

“If ever we needed to be crying out for mercy for America, it is now,” the email reads. “We must stand strong and speak Truth wherever we are and at every given opportunity. … May there be multitudes come in to the kingdom of God while there is yet time.”

Abdellah said he doesn’t understand why Christians would object to Muslims praying. “What is there to fear about that?” he said. “Nobody’s praying for any destruction? We’re praying for reconciliation and that people get along.”

But Nigerian minister Mosy Magdugba believes the Muslim prayer gathering is part of a spiritual battle for the soul of the nation. In an email, the leader of Spiritual Life Outreach in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, called on Christians to fast from midnight until the Muslim prayer event ends at 7 p.m.

“It is warfare time,” Magdugba wrote. “Do not joke with this. If Christians fail to frustrate this game plan in the spirit, you will regret the outcome.”

Florida resident Karen Leach agrees, saying she plans to fast and pray on Sept. 25 because she sees the event as a subtle form of “cultural jihad.”

“I’m very distressed,” Leach said. “I’m distressed when I read the statement, ‘We want to show America how we pray.’ … I feel that any kind of prayer speaks into the heavenly realms. So I feel if they’re going to be speaking into the heavenly realm into the forces of darkness, I want to speak into the forces of light.”

Intercessors for America (IFA), which is based in the Washington, D.C., area included a notice about the Muslim prayer gathering in a recent newsletter. IFA President Emeritus Gary Bergel said Muslim have been holding Jummah prayers on Fridays in the Capitol building for several years now, and he understands why Christians would be concerned that those prayers are being made more public.

But he urged supporters to respond to event such as this not “in a spirit of agitated civil religion” but with a heart of compassion for their Muslim neighbors.

“An appropriate response would be to go in our prayer closet and fall on our face-realizing our own need for mercy, grace, forgiveness and our own redemption-and see how the Lord would direct each one of us to take up this matter in prayer to pray compassionately for our Muslim neighbors.”

“If we live the gospel and demonstrate the love of Jesus, then we can defend the truth,” he added. “Then we’ll get a better hearing, and we’ll get a better response. We won’t just trigger more angry reactions.”

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Quarter’s Mideast envoy Tony Blair were recently in danger of assassination by the leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas foiled the plot being planned by Jaljalat (Thunder), a group led by Mahmoud Taleb, a former militia commander for Hamas. Taleb, who has been wanted by Hamas’s security forces for more than two years, described their hands as being stained with Muslim blood, “making it their duty to kill the two.”

Jaljalat consists of former Hamas militiamen who left because they believed Hamas was becoming accommodating to the infidel West. Meanwhile, Carter asserted in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post that most Palestinian leaders he has spoken to recently are “seriously considering” accepting a one-state solution between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

“By renouncing the dream of an independent Palestine, they would become fellow citizens with their Jewish neighbors and then demand equal rights within a democracy,” he explained. Carter believes that although a two-state solution is preferable, a one-state solution is “a more likely alternative to the present debacle.”

Most Israelis are adamantly opposed to the concept of one bi-national state of Arabs and Jews, due to concerns the Arab population would soon outnumber the Jewish citizens. They argue that such an arrangement would also be unworkable given the decades of hostility between the two peoples.

Source: International Christian Embassy Jerusalem News;

Most of us cannot relate to the depth of Job’s suffering. He had 11,000 livestock, enough hired help to man a mansion and most of all, a wife and 10 children. And then Satan came in and wrecked his life, killing his seven sons and three daughters, the servants and his animals. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Job lost it all, but he never gave up on God.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t always responded to hardships and pain in my life with unwavering faith. I sometimes doubted God, took matters into my own hands, and did whatever I could do to make things better. But nothing changed until my heavenly Father said that’s enough. He not only rescued me from the enemy, but from myself!

Look at how God blessed Job after his ordeal: “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.

“He also had seven sons and three daughters. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations” (Job 42: 12-13, 15-16, NKJV).

God is the same today, yesterday and forever more. He is faithful and will never change. If He delivered Job from the grip of the enemy and blessed his life, He will do the same for you. Hold on, a new day is on the horizon.

So be encouraged and keep your focus, and don’t let the enemy make you curse the Father. He tried that trick with Job, but Job refused to “charge God foolishly,” and we must respond in the same manner.

The process of forgiveness is activated by a conscious decision to respond in obedience to the movement of God’s Spirit upon the heart. Feelings confirm what was accomplished by faith.

Read Num. 14:18-19, Ps. 103:8-18, Ps. 118:1-14, Matt. 6:14-15, Matt. 18:21-35, Eph. 4:31-32

Heart Issue

Be grateful that in spite of your own failures, you have known mercy in Christ. Now, apply that same mercy to the one who has hurt you. By an act of your will, forgive. Don’t hesitate. It is an essential condition for the Father’s forgiving you.

Prayer

God, our Father of mercies, Your kindness reached us before we knew to call Your name. Enable us to deal mercifully with others. To know You is to know life eternal. Free us from things that the enemy would use to hold us in bondage. Amen.

A Messianic congregation is suing the chief rabbi of Beersheba, Israel, and a Jewish anti-missionary organization for damages incurred during a riot that lasted more than three hours and interrupted regular Sabbath services on the premises of the congregation.

On Dec. 24, 2005, hundreds of Orthodox Jews forced their way onto the property of Nachalat Yeshua (“Jesus’ Inheritance”), throwing chairs, equipment and punches at some worshipers. Police testified to arriving on the scene shortly after the riot began, witnessing the violence and arresting some of the rioters.

But authorities never filed charges against the perpetrators, and the incident seemed set to go away. So leaders of Nachalat Yeshua, led by pastor Howard Bass, sued the men accused of organizing the riot, which was the second attack against the congregation in seven years. “Having already turned the other cheek once in a big way, and numerous times in smaller incidents … and after counseling with other Messianic leaders around the country, we decided to sue the Sephardi chief rabbi of Beersheba and the anti- Messianic organization Yad L’Achim,” Bass wrote in a June 25 Jerusalem Post editorial.

Attacks against believers have escalated in recent years, culminating with a bomb disguised as a gift package that nearly killed Amiel Ortiz in the northern town of Ariel last year. No arrests have been made in that case, which is still under investigation. “[The violence] is progressing,” Bass said. “The outcome of our case could bring more attention to the situation in Ariel and in Arad,” where Orthodox Jews have demonstrated against Messianic Jews and Christians regularly since 2004, many times violently.

In the first Beersheba attack in 1998, some 1,000 Orthodox Jews marched to Nachalat Yeshua, threatening congregants and throwing stones, but remained outside the property. In the 2005 attack, hundreds of Orthodox Jewish trespassers forced their way onto the grounds, attacked worshipers, damaged property and pushed Bass into the baptismal pool, witnesses said.

Bass stressed that the lawsuit should not be construed as an attack against the Jewish people and should not be used to perpetuate anti-Israel sentiment. It is simply a matter of law, he says. He writes in his editorial that the point of the trial is “to uphold the legitimate right to express the true Messianic faith in Yeshua here in Beersheba and in Israel, according to the existing laws which supposedly govern the State.”

The case will continue Nov. 23 in Beersheba Magistrate’s Court. The judge then has a month to render a verdict. Nachalat Yeshua is one of about half a dozen congregations in the southern Negev city. It supports organizations that feed the hungry and helps the poor in the region.

Nicole Schiavi in Beersheba, Israel

Princess LaVear was enjoying life until a business venture that went bad sent her into depression. She said instead of taking antidepressants, she found healing in quoting God’s promises from the Bible. And in 2005, Princess created the biblically based Self-Talk From the Scriptures to help others overcome life’s problems. These CDs address issues such as peace and joy, success and prosperity, healing and more. Want to hear what the Bible has to say to you about worry and fear? Click below to listen to the SpiritLed Woman eMagazine podcast.

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Today’s complimentary self-talk session titled Peace & Joy is read by Marissa Guerra, and is provided by Princess LaVear (pictured), founder of Living Word Enterprises. For more information or to order the full version of today’s program, go to .