An offer to help, a smile and a kind word will reduce the heat of everyday responsibilities

The first command God gave mankind was to be fruitful and multiply (see Gen. 1:28). But fruitfulness involves more than merely growing physical fruit.

As a Christian, the Spirit of God has already been planted within you, now it’s your job to cultivate the seed of His nature. And it is not going to be an easy thing to do all the time.

The farmer’s seeds must push through a layer of dirt in order to reach the sunlight. That dirt outweighs that little seed, and it will have to struggle hard to break through. In the same manner, God’s Spirit has to push through the dirt we call our flesh.

Our flesh may be innately selfish, rude and indulgent. The Spirit of God inside of us is none of those things. Thus, there is resistance; there is conflict. And in marriage, these can pose numerous problems in the way we communicate with our spouse.

Take the case of James, who comes home after a rough workday. The computer program he’d worked on around the clock for weeks wasn’t running. After a tense meeting with his concerned boss, James headed home exhausted.

When he opened the door to greet his pregnant wife, he was confronted with the words, “I hope you won’t work all hours of the day when the baby is born!” Without saying a word, James watched his wife set out the meal she had prepared hours earlier. He knew he was desperately in need of something, but couldn’t put his finger on it.

Then there is Charlotte, a homeschooling mother of four, who also had a tough day. Shortly after her husband left for work, one child developed a fever combined with nausea.

After a stressful day of serving as both impromptu nurse and schoolteacher, Charlotte was preparing dinner when her husband entered and said with a smile, “This house looks like a disaster area. What did you do today?” Not returning the smile, Charlotte became defensive as she set the table. She also needed something, but felt too overwhelmed to express it.

What James and Charlotte needed was an act of kindness. James needed a hug and a “Boy, I’m glad to see you, you hard-working man.” Charlotte needed her husband to notice her overwhelmed state and come to her aid.

Every spouse needs kindness daily. Many of us feel that life is like an overworked, fast-moving engine. In mechanical terms, an engine receives a constant supply of motor oil to prevent friction and overheating. Likewise, random and intentional acts of kindness lubricate marriage relationships, easing life’s friction.

An offer to help, a smile and a kind word will reduce the heat of everyday responsibilities. Knowing that someone cares enough to notice and say thank you makes the day-to-day routine a little easier to handle.

Kindness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and when it’s displayed, it can make anyone feel special. Think about the last act of kindness your spouse did for you, and how it made you feel. The fruit of kindness is sweet to the soul.

You’ve Got It In You – Through the Spirit of God, the power of kindness dwells within you, ready to be released. Any act of kindness you show to your spouse plants a seed that will eventually grow into a fruit-bearing tree of kindness. Will you reap a plentiful harvest because of your continual planting and nurturing, or will your harvest be small?

In Colorado where I live, huge trees grow right through rocks and boulders. It’s amazing that the power of a tiny seed is greater than the power of the large surrounding rocks. Similarly, your decision to exhibit the fruit of kindness is not hindered by the attitude of your spouse. Even the strongest will cannot weaken the power of the seed.

In marriage, you have been given the strength to be kind in order to fortify the spirit, soul and person of your husband. He, in turn, will grow because of your encouragement. King David, one of the greatest Bible characters and a friend of God, referred not to God’s power or wisdom, but rather to His gentleness as the thing that made Him great (see 2 Sam. 22:36; Ps. 18:35).

In essence, kindness is shown when one person chooses to use his or her strength in a gentle manner toward another. Take note of the following ways in which kindness can be expressed in your interaction with your mate:

Spoken kindness. The first seeds of kindness we can sow in the heart of our spouse are in the thoughtful words we speak. Often, out of laziness or familiarity, we begin to be gruff, sarcastic, or demeaning in our responses to normal questions. Our answers seem sharp instead of seasoned with grace. We should respond as though every question our spouse asks is an intelligent one. We should take time to listen fully and give a sincere answer.

Spoken kindness is expressed also in the tone of speech we employ. It’s possible to never say a wrong thing yet communicate an unkind attitude when we speak. Next to God, you are the loudest and most consistent voice your spouse hears. It’s your choice to use a kind voice that supports and encourages your spouse, or a gruff voice that discourages, degrades and minimizes.

Speaking thoughtful, gentle words to your spouse in front of your friends and your children is yet another expression of spoken kindness. Always thank your spouse when he or she is serving you in some manner. But instead of just saying, “Thanks, Honey,” be specific. Saying “Thank you, Honey, for getting the butter; that was kind of you,” communicates that you actually notice your spouse’s acts of kindness.

The words you speak and the kind way in which they are spoken will soon become the heart of your everyday lifestyle. As your heart becomes kind, so your words will also, and your spouse’s heart will be motivated by your example to do the same.

A kind touch. Sometimes a touch can communicate kindness more loudly than words. Holding your spouse’s hand, gently caressing his back or even giving him a private foot massage can express volumes of kindness.

There is a kind of touching that is expressly meant to communicate kindness without any hint of sexuality or need for reciprocation. This soothing, unselfish, gentle type of touch is a great way to plant kindness in your spouse’s heart. Although verbal expressions may be deflected or discounted, a touch is rarely rejected.

The expression of “teamfulness.” I use the word “teamfulness” as a means of defining the way a husband and wife operate in unity. They anticipate each other’s actions and, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each other, capitalize on these strengths for the good of the team.

Here is how teamfulness works: When you see the laundry, you do the laundry because you’re part of the team. If you see a situation that must be dealt with regarding one of your children, you handle it without passing it on to your spouse. You know your husband’s schedule, and you cover for him without an attitude.

In the same way, your spouse-the other team member-is so in touch with your world that often he sees a need before you do. In this way your spouse throws you the ball, so to speak, and you both score.

Kindness is something you can offer your spouse freely every day. It should be both intentional and spontaneous.

Intentional kindness means purposefully releasing the kindness you possess on a regular basis. Along these lines, one piece of advice I offer husbands is to give their wives a night away from home once a week. This should be a time for her to spend as she chooses. I explain to them that their wives need time to relax or play, when she does not have to be a mom, a wife, a cook, the clean-up crew and the leader of bedtime rituals.

Similarly, a wife can plan intentional acts of kindness for her husband based on his interests. Some wives who are gifted cooks may want to select one day a week to prepare a gourmet meal for the family.

We also need to recognize the importance of spontaneous kindness. Don’t become so mechanical in your plans that you fail to capitalize on those great daily opportunities that arise to be kind to your mate.

My wife, Lisa, is regularly kind to me. When I come home on a warm day, I first like to spend about 15 minutes on the hammock in our backyard. It’s magical the way both my soul and body become relaxed and refreshed. Lisa usually protects this time, so I am not interrupted. This is a much appreciated, spontaneous act of kindness she gives to me.

Commit to Kindness – Just as a seed in the natural realm contains the nature of the fruit it will become, so, too, within that seed of the Spirit planted in you is the very DNA of God: His heart, His mind, His will and His nature. The seed in you desires to be respectful and kind.

The first step in making kindness a greater reality in your home is to break previous agreements you may have made with unkindness. Confess your sins against God and your spouse. Seek forgiveness for any actions, attitudes or beliefs that have fueled unkind habits in your marriage. And in the name of Jesus, break any spirit, soul or body agreements with meanness. Eliminate all traces of it from your behavior and speech.

Make an official declaration of your decision to uproot old habits and create new beliefs and attitudes. Prayer will help you establish a great foundation for your new resolve to be kind, and the Holy Spirit will strengthen you to carry out your commitment. Be intentional toward your mate, but also respond to those surprising opportunities to practice kindness that come along every single day.

You and I have a lot of farming to do. Oh, yes, it’s work. And yes, it’s daily. Some parts of the field will be easy to plow, and some will be harder.

But imagine the increased fruitfulness in your marriage, and in the lives of your children and grandchildren. Feel the hand of Jesus on your shoulder, and see the smile on His face when He will say to you, “Well done!”

So get ready to plow. There is plentiful harvest of eternal joy ahead of you.

Douglas Weiss, Ph.D., is the author of The 7 Love Agreements (Charisma House), from which this article is adapted. For more on his ministry, see “Meet our Authors.

He was like anyone else looking to express himself through the things he loved such as, graphic design and art. Yet Avner Valer lived a life of “darkness” and sin. But when he came to faith in Yeshua, he started using his gifts and skills to further the gospel in Israel. Scripture says every “good and perfect gift” comes from God. What are you doing to spread the Word? Watch the video below.

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The Hurva Synagogue reopened Monday to the public after an extensive four-year construction project in the Old City of Jerusalem. Built in 1864 atop ruins of an earlier synagogue, the Hurva Synagogue was the largest and considered the most important synagogue in Jerusalem.

It was destroyed in 1948 during Israel’s War of Independence. After the city was reunified in 1967, a 52-foot arch was erected on the site to commemorate the giant dome of the destroyed building, and this arch has been incorporated into the dome that is the centerpiece of the new building.

The new Hurva Synagogue features wall paintings based on the building’s original murals, including depictions of the Tower of David, Rachel’s Tomb, the Sea of Galilee and the Cave of the Patriarchs.

“The opening of the Hurva Synagogue is a highly anticipated and historic event in Jerusalem,” says Arie Sommer, Commissioner for Tourism, North and South America, “And the re-imagined wall paintings will bring new life to one of Israel’s most important synagogues.”

Christian supporters of Israel flooded the White House this week with e-mails urging the Obama administration to end what some have called a crisis in relations.

Some 20,000 e-mails calling on the administration to “end this unnecessary crisis, return to a more productive approach, and stand with our ally Israel” had been sent in the first 24 hours after Christians United for Israel (CUFI) launched the initiative Tuesday.

“By choosing to employ unprecedented pressure to stop building in Jerusalem, you do not further the cause of peace,” the e-mail states. “Instead, you embolden those who wish to place new preconditions on negotiations. And you give great comfort to Israel’s enemies-who are also our enemies.”

“I’ve read that in a typical day the White House gets around 100,000 e-mails,” said CUFI executive director David Brog. “We hit 20,000 within the first 24 hours. That means if it was a typical day, 20 percent of the e-mails they got, one-in-five, was from us on this issue. That speaks very loudly.”

The e-mail campaign came on the heels of a heated exchange between Israel and the Obama administration that began last week while Vice President Joe Biden was in Jerusalem to restart peace talks. During the visit, Israel’s interior minister announced that permits would be issued for new homes in East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future state, and the Obama administration wanted Israel to stop all settlement building in the area to restart peace talks. Israel in November agreed to a10-month partial freeze on new settlement building in the West Bank, but exempted Jerusalem from the moratorium because it considers East Jerusalem part of its united capital.

In an effort to get peace talks back on track, the Obama administration on March 12 pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reverse the approval of the housing units, make a significant gesture toward the Palestinians, and declare that all of the “core issues” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the final status of Jerusalem, be included in upcoming talks, the Washington Post reported.

Washington canceled a planned trip to the region by its special Middle East peace envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, “pending the Israeli response.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took a softer tone on Tuesday, saying the U.S. has “an absolute commitment to Israel’s security,” the Associated Press (AP) reported.

In an interview with Fox News Wednesday, President Obama said there was no strain in relations. “We and the Israeli people have a special bond that’s not going to go away,” Obama said. “But friends are going to disagree sometimes. There is a disagreement in terms of how we can move this peace process forward.”

Brog said the change in the president’s tone is welcomed, but the fact that the exchange took place is a cause for concern.

“I think what we saw earlier in the week was troubling,” Brog said Thursday. “We saw a willingness to manufacture a crisis out of something that was not in any way new and which has never before been a barrier to relations or negotiations with the Palestinians. Making an issue out of it now and manufacturing a crisis out of it now was a troubling sign. We just have to be aware and be wary that this kind of thing may happen again in the future. We hope not.”

Although the president got an overwhelming percentage of the Jewish vote in 2008, Brog said those who were suspicious that Obama did not have the “pro-Israel instincts” of previous presidents may have had those suspicions confirmed this week. “I’m not sure,” Brog said of the administration’s stance toward Israel. “All I can say is we need to be careful and we need to continue to communicate with the White House.”

Brog worries that the exchange between the U.S. and Israel contributed to Palestinian riots and protests in Israel this week, and CUFI is urging the president to “be a more careful steward of relations.”

Although Brog believes the campaign has been successful, CUFI will continue to forward e-mails to the White House.

“It does look like things are starting to go in a more positive direction,” Brog said. “But it doesn’t hurt to send the message that I think we’re sending, and our message is that if you’re going to create an unnecessary crisis with Israel and if you’re going to exaggerate what has never been a real barrier to close relations in the past, it’s going to be viewed unfavorably by a very large segment of the Christian community.”

Jesus made a remarkable statement to His disciples: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Luke 11:2, NKJV). This was a futuristic prayer for the disciples, but not for Jesus. And it’s not futuristic for us either because it applies right now. Allow me to explain.

The Pharisees had problems with Jesus since He hadn’t come on the scene the way they expected. When He showed up-a Nazarene, a carpenter from a poor family, and a friend of prostitutes and mafia (tax collectors were the mafia of the day)-they didn’t buy in to Him as Messiah.

So they confronted Jesus and He answered: “The kingdom of God does not come with indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21, NKJV)

“The within you”? Jesus was speaking of those who would be born again and filled with His Spirit. He had earlier promised to those who loved Him, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32, NKJV).

But when was the kingdom to be given? Jesus’ disciples asked Him this nagging question after He was raised from the dead. Put yourself in their shoes. It was finally clear: Jesus, alive and well, was standing before these faithful followers-but where was the kingdom? They were still confused about this even just before His ascension.

They too were still looking for a physical kingdom to manifest itself. While looking for this literal throne on earth, they forgot His words: “The within you.” So He corrected their thinking:

“The times and occasions are set by my Father’s own authority, and it is not for you to know when they will be [the establishment of His physical kingdom upon His return]. But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power [the kingdom within].” (Acts 1:7-8, TEV)

“Filled with power” from the Holy Spirit to do what? Advance the kingdom! This was not only for them but also for us. Once the Holy Spirit came to dwell within humankind, the kingdom and all its power would be within us! We now possess the power to advance the kingdom in the hearts and lives of others. And we can now do the works Jesus did in advancing the kingdom—and even greater works!

Marked by boldness and passion, John Bevere delivers uncompromising truth through his award-winning curriculum and best-selling books now available in over sixty languages. His newest book is Extraordinary: The Life You’re Meant to Live. More information is available at .

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NKJV). The baptism in the Holy Spirit is for every single believer who names the name of Christ. It not only enables you to live holy; it also empowers you to be a spokeswoman for God in your community, city and the nation. Let Sharyn Culp of His Majesty Ministries pray with you that the Father would endow you with “power from on high.” Listen to podcast below.

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Sharyn Culp is the founder of His Majesty Ministries and Prayer
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It has been two months to the day that a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti, leaving scores of people dead and thousands wounded. Within days of the quake, an Israeli medical team of doctors, nurses and other personnel arrived in the region and erected a state-of-the-art field hospital that the media called the “Rolls Royce” of emergency medical care. Israel’s readiness comes from experience. Being the victims of war has taught Israelis how to respond to crisis. Watch the video below.

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Moishe Rosen spends a lot of time resting now as he copes with the effects of prostate disease that metastasized into bone cancer. Last fall, he nearly died after surgery for an intestinal blockage.

Although outlasting the doctor’s prediction in January 2008 that he wouldn’t live past Thanksgiving, soon after that surgery Rosen considered hospice care. Ultimately, he rejected it, reasoning he didn’t want it until he was unable to get out of bed.

“At 77, how much longer should I live?” asks the outspoken founder of Jews for Jesus (JFJ), who turns 78 if he survives until April 12.

“Do I mind going?” he asks. “I don’t know if I’ll like the journey, but I’ll let you know when you get there.”

That humor demonstrates the wit that long ago prompted Brooklyn’s Jewish Press to declare that Rosen was obviously using Madison Avenue advertising writers. No simple evangelist could write so persuasively, the newspaper theorized.

Though the Press didn’t know it was praising Rosen, his flock of admirers has no such reticence. They know that this somewhat cantankerous guy is one of the true fathers of Jewish evangelism in the modern world.

For Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), memories of Rosen go back to 1987, when the two men stood outside the U.S. Supreme Court building. Sekulow had just completed oral arguments in defense of JFJ’s right to distribute gospel tracts at the Los Angeles International Airport.

“Moishe turned to me and said, ‘I think you’re going to be here often,'” Sekulow recalls. “I laughed because nobody was here that often, especially in those days. One out of 10,000 lawyers maybe argues a case, and that’s probably an overstatement.”

Sekulow not only secured a victory for JFJ, he has returned to the high court 13 times while serving as a thorn in the side of liberal activists.

Marveling at Rosen’s insight, Sekulow remembers later walking by a building at Second Street and Constitution Avenue. Noticing a “for sale” sign, Rosen remarked that his attorney ought to buy it. Though Sekulow scoffed, close to a decade later ACLJ did just that.

“The guy had tremendous foresight in a whole lot of areas,” Sekulow says. “And he was relentless. I never saw him take a setback as something that was going to be a permanent situation.”

Add to that toughness a pioneering spirit, says JFJ board member Lon Solomon. When the suburban Washington, D.C., pastor became a believer in 1971, he reasoned that he must be the only Jew who believed in Christ as Messiah. After all, he didn’t know any others who did.

Now if a Jew makes that decision, it is no secret that he has company. Solomon credits this shift in cultural awareness to JFJ’s overt, unashamed proclamation of the gospel to Jews.

“More than any other single person, Moishe has been responsible for putting the idea of being Jewish and believing in Jesus on the map,” says Solomon, pastor of McLean Bible Church in northern Virginia. “He has inspired several generations of young Jewish men and women to have a burden to reach their own people. He has been a marvelous example.”

For The Messianic Times editor Paul Liberman, Rosen is an inspiring figure. Back in 1986 Liberman was struggling with God’s direction for his career.

A call to Rosen prompted a personal visit from his mentor. After a long talk, Liberman asked Rosen to summarize in one sentence why he had come.

Noting his protégé’s struggles, Rosen replied, “My sentence is: I want you back in the game.” Energized, Liberman started the messianic church now led by his son before he later moved to Israel for nine years.

“To me it was a crossroads in life,” says Liberman, who until last summer was also director of the Jewish Messianic Alliance but today is back in California. “He’s always been a hero of mine. He provided a lot of energy and showed us we can evangelize Jews. He was a leader by example.”

Various adjectives apply to Rosen, whether “prescient,” “brilliant,” “outspoken” or “humble.” Others use terms such as “authoritarian,” “overbearing” and “controlling”-critics who see him as anything but kind. There were enough of the latter that in 2004 Rosen posted a letter on JFJ’s Web site apologizing to anyone he had offended.

“It’s true,” Rosen says of his aggressive nature. “Most people who are in charge of things-you will come up against them. Those are things about my personality, but it didn’t stop me from doing what I needed to do.”

Book editor Steve Lawson, who once worked under Rosen as JFJ’s director of publishing, never found the major accusations valid. He mentions the meeting where staffers discussed a negative article and Rosen remarked, “If we’re a cult, how come I can’t get you guys to do what I want you to do?”

“Everywhere I go I meet Jews who have been offended by Jews for Jesus,” Lawson says. “Nobody’s perfect. … Moishe Rosen is the first to admit it. There have been people hurt because of mistakes or something done wrong, but a larger number have been offended because of the gospel.”

When it comes to how her father will be remembered, Ruth Rosen says it will depend on the speaker’s perspective.

Currently writing his biography, the longtime JFJ editor says many will see him as the person who helped them discover God. Others will label him an eccentric and some a traitor responsible for so many Jews turning to Jesus, she says.

As for former cohorts who founded the bitterly critical organization called Ex-Jews for Jesus, Ruth Rosen hopes they understand her father’s legacy doesn’t focus on his greatness but God’s.

“Moishe Rosen never thought he was God’s gift to Jewish evangelism,” Ruth says. “It was always the other way around. He always felt that telling Jewish people about Jesus was a gift and a duty that God had entrusted to him. His legacy is to pass that gift and that duty to others.”

In a sense, he already has. Though still a board member and missionary, Rosen is so often publicly identified with Jews for Jesus that some forget he stepped down as executive director in 1996.

Yet the organization hasn’t suffered. Today it employs more than 100 missionaries in 11 nations. The ministry has 148 volunteer chapters and 200 volunteers who accompany staff on short-term evangelism projects, camps and internships. JFJ personnel distributed approximately 2.8 million tracts last year and spoke in 2,700 evangelical churches.

David Brickner, who held seven staff positions before replacing Rosen, says his preparation for leadership was the same as other candidates: a combination of mentoring, challenging, opportunity and hard work.

“He is a man who never stops teaching and is a man of insatiable curiosity,” Brickner says. “His questions and ponderings about life, ministry and the Scriptures were conversations we were invited into whenever we were with him.”

The director says the ministry’s 37 years of existence is a testament to the systems, values, and biblical and ethical principles Rosen put in place that have stood the test of time.

The leading principle that still drives the ministry is direct Jewish evangelism, something that includes constant rejection, hostility and lawsuits. The latter included one from comic Jackie Mason after his picture appeared on a tract in 2006 (JFJ withdrew it after an apology).

“We strive for excellence in all we do,” Brickner says. “If we say we’re going to do something and we fall short of doing that, then we want to be honest enough to say we fell short. We’re not going to call failure a victory.”

The victories range into the thousands. According to Solomon, more than 50,000 Jewish people worldwide follow Christ, a figure attributable to many ministries, yet still one that reflects JFJ’s impact.

A Miraculous Ministry

Born in Denver, Rosen came to Christ in 1953, the same year as his wife, Ceil. Though he often cited the arguments of atheist authors, nothing shook Ceil’s faith. One evening as Rosen read a pamphlet about heaven in a mocking tone, its truth penetrated his heart.

A year later came the first of many miracles he would experience. It happened en route from Colorado to a Bible college in New Jersey. One night near the end of the trip, as he was about go to sleep, Rosen heard a voice say: “Tires. Check the tires.”

Since he had inspected the car prior to the trip, he wondered why. Still, he went outside to look. Nothing.

Back in his room, ready to go to sleep, he heard the voice again. He took a flashlight outside and crawled under the car. There he saw a huge bulge in the right front tire’s sidewall.

“When he got to the tire shop the next morning, the man couldn’t believe he had made it from the hotel,” says Ruth, who learned of the story during book research. “That was a crisis averted-one of those special times when God showed He was definitely watching over him.”

Another occurred in 1966 when Rosen was on his first deputation tour with the American Board of Missions to the Jews (now Chosen People Ministries). Driving through Arizona one morning he stopped at a convenience store, where a stranger stuck a knife in his ribs and said, “Your money or your life.”

“You can have my money,” Rosen replied. “You could never take my life, because it belongs to Christ. But if you kill me, I go to be with Him. Well, what about you?”

“Are you a Baptist?” the man responded before breaking into tears and halting his robbery attempt. The next morning, Rosen found a switchblade on the seat of his car.

One of the more dramatic moments in Rosen’s life occurred in 1982 when he sent an appeal letter to raise $120,000 to place gospel ads in 10 major newspapers. The letter raised $400,000. Since he had pledged to spend the funds on advertising, he included outlets such as Time magazine to finish the job.

As gratifying as such experiences are, Rosen laments what he feels is evangelistic ground being lost as he draws near the end of his career.

He sees the battle receding on several fronts. One is confronting people with the gospel, a tactic he fears is fading from the influence of “friendship evangelism.” Making friends with someone so they will then listen to you on matters of faith doesn’t work with serious Jews, he says.

“I’m not against friendship and I do have many friends among the Jews,” Rosen says. “But these are friends who have made it clear to me that we’re going to be friends until or unless I start trying to persuade them about Jesus.”

Another is ecumenical ministries that emphasize Christian-Jewish relations but at the expense of foregoing efforts to share the gospel. He cites the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which raises more than $80 million a year, 10 times as much as Chosen People’s evangelistic outreach.

Among other disappointments are leaders who asked to visit JFJ to learn how to run a successful ministry but after arriving only wanted lessons in fundraising.

Still, Rosen reflects, you give what you can and hope that people will respond: “Some respond well, and others respond with treachery.”

Though some point to the longevity of JFJ as one of Rosen’s notable accomplishments, the founder shrugs that he didn’t start a ministry; he just answered God’s call to become a missionary. That he had to wade through considerable opposition never bothered him.

“I’ve always found that when I was doing God’s will, I was fighting the hardest,” Rosen says. “The battles were always hard-fought, hard-won, and you had to hold on very hard. I usually knew that I was in God’s will because of the opposition.”

That’s a good lesson for any evangelist to remember.

Ken Walker, a writer based in Huntington, West Virginia, has written previously about Jews for Jesus for Charisma.

In Genesis 12:3, God makes a promise to Abraham: ‘”I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'”

In my own life I have seen proof of this promise; when I have blessed Israel and the Jewish people, God has showered His blessings on me. That is why we have set up the “Bless Israel” fund through Christian Life Missions.

Over the last several years through Christian Life Missions and friends like you, we have helped buy an ambulance for Israel; helped rebuild a war-torn city near the Lebanese border; and provided bomb shelters near the Gaza Strip where Kassam rockets from Hamas rain terror on Israeli citizens who had no where to run and hide.

Many ministries raise money for Israel. However, some raise money for Israel but the funds never get to the intended destination, according to what I’ve been told by Israeli insiders. This has also motivated me to make a way for those who want to bless Israel to do so with integrity through a ministry like Christian Life Missions.

We are a small ministry with little overhead expense. Most of what you give will go directly to “Bless Israel.” Christian Life Missions has been around since the mid-1950s and has been a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability since 1980.

Over the years Christian Life Missions has functioned with the utmost integrity and without a shred of controversy, so you can give with confidence.

As we think of places to give in 2010, won’t you band together with others who (like me) believe in blessing Israel? If your gift is at least $30 we will give you a copy of David Brog’s book Standing With Israel, which tells from a Jewish perspective why Bible-believing Christians are Israel’s best friend.

My company donates the books so everything you give can go to bless the Jewish people and Israel. We have sold or given away nearly 150,000 copies of this important book. If you haven’t read it, you need to because it will bless you.

Never before have we asked for donations from the readers of the Standing With Israel e-newsletter. But as we sent out this request to our regular Christian Life Missions donors we decided to include readers of this newsletter because we want you to also receive a blessing by blessing the Jewish people and Israel!

Donations can be made by sending a check made payable to “Christian Life Missions,” designated for “Bless Israel” in the check’s memo line, and sent to Christian Life Missions, 600 Rinehart Road, Lake Mary, FL 32746.

Donations can also be made online at with a credit card or through PayPal. To me, that’s an even quicker and easier way to give.

Please check out Christian Life Missions’ new Web site, , which tells about all the ministries we support. But the ones closest to my own heart are those that bless God’s chosen people. Won’t you dig down and give a generous offering-as I’m doing?

God bless you for your generosity.

Steve Strang
President, Christian Life Missions
Founder and Publisher of Charisma magazine

Some of us find it easier to be open to the Word than to the Holy Spirit. Being open to the Word directly is to be open to the Spirit indirectly—as the Spirit applies that Word. But being open to the Spirit is when He manifests Himself in an immediate and direct manner.

We feel safe with the Word but fearful that the Holy Spirit may lead us out of our comfort zone. But the Holy Spirit to whom we should be open is the Author of the Bible, and He will not lead us in any way that is contrary to what He has written through His sovereign instruments. We are as safe with the Spirit as we are with the Word. And yet if we are not open to the Spirit, we will likely never experience some of the very same things described in the Word.

When one is offended by the Spirit, it is because he is offended by God. It is not possible to find God pleasant and to find the Holy Spirit offensive. It is incongruous to affirm all that Jesus Christ was and did, then turn around and reject the Holy Spirit. The persons of the Godhead are united. Equally, each has His own stigma.

The Holy Spirit mirrors the other persons of the Godhead; therefore, how we respond to the person of the Spirit may show what we really feel about either the Father or the must affirm God as He is-the Holy Spirit is God. When our hearts are truly right with God, we will find that God is not offensive at all! We will instead find Him glorious! But we must take God as He is and be prepared to affirm the presence of the Holy Spirit-however God may sovereignly choose to reveal Himself.

Excerpted from The Anointing: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (Charisma House, 2003).