Monday, April 21, 2014

When You Stand In Defense Of Israel

When you stand in defense of Israel
Dear Tom,

When you stand in defense of Israel, you are joining a long line of heroes who have done their part to defend God's Chosen People. Today, many people harshly criticize Christian Zionists for supporting Israel, but in truth, Christian Zionists are simply men and women who believe the Bible in regard to the covenant God made with Abraham some four thousand years ago. Through the reading of the scriptures, they have been persuaded to support the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Throughout history, some have given their lives, others have prayed and interceded for the Jewish people, and still more have invested their time and funds to help God's Chosen People return, rebuild, and restore the Holy Land.

Across the eons of time, Gentiles have helped the Jews—the daughter of Pharaoh saved Moses, Rahab helped the spies escape from Jericho, King Cyrus freed the Israelites from captivity and allowed them to return and rebuild the walls and Temple in Jerusalem, King Ahasuerus granted Esther the right to save her people from slaughter by the wicked Haman. There was a multitude—those called “righteous Gentiles”—who saved lives during the Holocaust, and still others today who see and meet the needs of the Jewish people in Israel.

Down through history's corridors, the footsteps of a steady column of individuals can be heard—people such as William Blackstone, Cyrus I. Scofield, D. L. Moody, Arthur Balfour, Winston Churchill, John Stanley Grauel, Sir Wyndham Deedes, Lord Shaftesbury, John Nelson Darby, Walter Lowdermilk, Orde Charles Wingate, and Harry S. Truman. These men were instrumental in helping to pave the way for what we now call the State of Israel.

Added to the list of ardent Christian Zionists are British General Edmund Allenby, who ousted the Ottoman Turks from Jerusalem on December 9, 1917, taking care to preserve the holy sites; South African Jan Smuts; Canadian Henry Wentworth Monk; and Australian Colonel George Gawler. Christians who provided aid to and saved the lives of Jews during the Holocaust include Jane Haining from Scotland; Gertrud Luckner from England; Andre Trocme and his wife Magda from France; and the Dutch family of Corrie ten Boom. Today, you and I have the opportunity to add our names to these honored men and women of courage and faith by standing for Israel and the Holy City in a time of crisis.

I am spending time in prayer and fasting each day of April for the financial miracle we need to complete Israel's first Christian museum—the Friends of Zion Heritage Center—and I would like to pray for your most urgent need as well.

Between now and the end of the year, we must raise $6.7 million to cross the finish line with the Friends of Zion Heritage Center. This is in addition to the resources needed for all of our other outreaches, including our major effort to touch the lives of the poor Holocaust survivors of Israel, which we simply cannot delay or cut back.

The nation of Israel urgently needs to see this expression of Christian love right now with looming threats on every side. Your help today will make this miracle outreach a reality this year. We are so close...and we must not fail to reach this goal and begin this wonderful witness from Jerusalem to the entire world.

While I am fasting and praying for this miracle, I have also been directed to pray for your most important prayer request. I believe God is going to work great miracles—both for the Jerusalem Prayer Team and in your life as well—and I don't want you to miss out on this opportunity for us to see God do great things together.

Today, I am asking you to join me in standing for the Jewish people at this critical hour with your gift of support for the Jerusalem Prayer Team.

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