>> Iranian leader Khamenei predicts destruction of Israel
The first Epicenter Conference in Asia is now complete. By God’s grace, we were able to educate pastors and lay people in the Philippines about God’s love and plan for Israel, teach Bible prophecy, and share the work of The Joshua Fund. We explained the increasingly dangerous Iranian nuclear threat, and the urgent need for Christians to get ready and be prepared for the trials around the world and especially in the Middle East that will come in the last days.
Highlights:
* More than 30,000 Filipinos attended the various conference events, including the five Sunday services where I preached on Israel at Christ’s Commission Fellowship (CCF), a dynamic pro-Israel evangelical church that sponsored and organized the conference. Dozens of senior government officials, Congressmen, military leaders, and most of the leading presidential and vice presidential candidates (national elections are in May) heard the message. Thousands more across the Philippines watched by live webcast and satellite TV broadcast, as well as through numerous media interviews.
* Hundreds of people prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. Many more rededicated their lives to the Lord in light of the signs of the times.
* More than 1,500 Christians were trained to become new small group Bible study leaders. Another 1,500 current Bible study leaders received additional training during the conference. On February 14th, CCF hopes to launch several thousand 6-week studies exploring End Times prophecies and God’s love for Israel and her neighbors.
* Israeli Pastor David Ortiz shared the story of how his family was targeted for death in 2008 by a Jewish terrorist. But his son, Ami, has miraculously recovered from his near-deadly wounds. Ami and his family have even forgiven the terrorist who was caught and put on trial late last year. David urged Christians to follow Jesus’ model and commands to “love your enemy and bless those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)
* Pastor Hormoz Shariat — the Billy Graham of Iran — shared his love for both Muslims and Jews after Jesus changed his heart from a Radical Shia Muslim to a born again follower of Christ. He also shared what few Asian Christians have ever heard: millions of Muslims in Iran and throughout the epicenter are leaving Islam and becoming followers of Christ, just as he did.
* American Pastor Ray Bentley urged Asian Christians to pray faithfully for Israel and her neighbors, and gave practical suggestions on how to do just that.
The conference will be turned into a DVD that will be distributed to pastors, ministry leaders and young people throughout Asia to help educate and mobilize a movement of pro-Israel Christians.
Thanks so much for your prayers and financial support to The Joshua Fund that helped make this week of ministry in the Philippines possible.
Now, I’m en route to teach on Israel and Radical Islam at an evangelical Christian conference in Canada, the country with the most pro-Israel leader in the world, Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
January 27, 2010
MORE THAN 30,000 PARTICIPATE IN PRO-ISRAEL CONFERENCE IN ASIA
The first Epicenter Conference in Asia is now complete. By God’s grace, we were able to educate pastors and lay people in the Philippines about God’s love and plan for Israel, teach Bible prophecy, and share the work of The Joshua Fund. We explained the increasingly dangerous Iranian nuclear threat, and the urgent need for Christians to get ready and be prepared for the trials around the world and especially in the Middle East that will come in the last days.
Highlights:
* More than 30,000 Filipinos attended the various conference events, including the five Sunday services where I preached on Israel at Christ’s Commission Fellowship (CCF), a dynamic pro-Israel evangelical church that sponsored and organized the conference. Dozens of senior government officials, Congressmen, military leaders, and most of the leading presidential and vice presidential candidates (national elections are in May) heard the message. Thousands more across the Philippines watched by live webcast and satellite TV broadcast, as well as through numerous media interviews.
* Hundreds of people prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. Many more rededicated their lives to the Lord in light of the signs of the times.
* More than 1,500 Christians were trained to become new small group Bible study leaders. Another 1,500 current Bible study leaders received additional training during the conference. On February 14th, CCF hopes to launch several thousand 6-week studies exploring End Times prophecies and God’s love for Israel and her neighbors.
* Israeli Pastor David Ortiz shared the story of how his family was targeted for death in 2008 by a Jewish terrorist. But his son, Ami, has miraculously recovered from his near-deadly wounds. Ami and his family have even forgiven the terrorist who was caught and put on trial late last year. David urged Christians to follow Jesus’ model and commands to “love your enemy and bless those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)
* Pastor Hormoz Shariat — the Billy Graham of Iran — shared his love for Israel after Jesus changed his heart from a Radical Shia Muslim to a born again follower of Christ. He also shared what few Asian Christians have ever heard: millions of Muslims in Iran and throughout the epicenter are leaving Islam and becoming followers of Christ, just as he did.
* American Pastor Ray Bentley urged Asian Christians to pray faithfully for Israel and her neighbors, and gave practical suggestions on how to do just that.
The conference will be turned into a DVD that will be distributed to pastors, ministry leaders and young people throughout Asia to help educate and mobilize a movement of pro-Israel Christians.
Thanks so much for your prayers and financial support to The Joshua Fund that helped make this week of ministry in the Philippines possible.
Now, I’m en route to teach on Israel and Radical Islam at an evangelical Christian conference in Canada, the country with the most pro-Israel leader in the world, Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Comments Off
Filed under Uncategorized
January 24, 2010
DAY NINE: PREACHING 5 SERVICES
UPDATE: What a joy and an honor it was to preach about God’s love for Israel and the Jewish people – and the fact that Jesus is coming back soon – to absolutely packed services. All the seats were filled in all five services. The overflow rooms were all packed. The CCF church staff estimates that between 20,000 and 25,000 people attended all together, and thousands more, they told me, were watching by satellite and the internet. Many told me they were moved by God’s Holy Spirit to rededicate themselves to the Lord to live more holy and pure lives in these last days, to start praying for Israel and her neighbors, and to be more brave in sharing their faith and making disciples before the Lord returns. Just as exciting, hundreds of people prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord throughout the day. Please thank the Lord with me for His amazing grace, and pray with me that the Lord would continue to truly bless all the believers here in the Philippines and give them the power to live for Him and make His Name known in the time that we have left.
ORIGINAL POST: Today is Sunday and with God’s grace I am preaching at all five services of Christ’s Commission Fellowship in Manila — 8:00am, 10:00am, Noon, 3:00pm and 6:00pm. Each service will be webcast live over the Internet. Israeli Pastor David Ortiz is sharing for 10-15 minutes in each service on how a Jewish terrorist nearly killed his son with a bomb because the Ortiz family believes in Jesus, and how their family chose to forgive the terrorist because Jesus says, “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” I am speaking from Matthew 24 and Luke 21 on the signs of the last days, God’s love and plan for Israel, and the urgency of “getting ready” and “being prepared” before we pass away from this world, and/or before Jesus comes back again. Thank you for your prayers. We hope you can join us over the Internet.
* Secret report: Iran nuclear bomb closer than ever
January 23, 2010
DAY EIGHT: YOUTH CONFERENCE
More than 3,000 young people age 9 to 30 packed CCF on Saturday for the youth portion of the Epicenter conference, and several hundred prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord at the end. It was a very powerful afternoon. I had such a fun time teaching from the Word about End Times prophecies, sharing my testimony of how I came to know the Lord and grow in my faith.
I also shared Lynn’s and my love story, which the kids really responded to enthusiastically. (I wish I had more opportunities to tell this story; it was a lot of fun). Explaining that they might be the last generation before the Lord returns, I urged the kids to walk in purity and prayer as the day of the Lord’s return draws near. Specifically, I encouraged them not to date one-on-one in high school but rather have fun in groups and concentrate on developing life-long friendships, not romantic relationships. In college and beyond, I encouraged them to remember that the Lord has created one person especially for them, and them especially for one person. Pray and ask the Lord to let you be asleep in love until you both are ready, and then trust the Lord to bring that special person to you at just the right moment. In the meantime, work on becoming a godly man or woman, worthy of loving someone sacrificially in marriage. And I told the group how Lynn and I made a covenant when we were courting not to kiss unless or until we got engaged. Explaining the power of purity and how the Lord would bless a decision like that, I urged the kids to make the same covenant not to kiss someone until they get engaged.
“Guard your heart,” I told them. “Don’t give your heart away to anyone until the Lord makes it absolutely clear. Ask the Lord to give you someone who loves Jesus more than you, who is stronger and deeper and more committed to the faith than anyone you can possibly imagine. I did, and it has made all the difference in our marriage.”
More details on the conference weblog.
January 23, 2010
DAY SEVEN: FIRST EVER EPICENTER CONFERENCE
By God’s grace, our first Epicenter Conference in Asia was a wonderful event and I am deeply grateful to Pastor Peter Tan Chi and his entire team of staff and volunteers at CCF here in Manila. Their passion and enthusiasm for creating this conference was infectious, and they surpassed by far even their own expectations. I also want to thank my dear friends, Pastors Ray Bentley, Hormoz Shariat and David Ortiz. These are men who have met and fallen in love with the Living God. They are men of faithful prayer. They are men of great wisdom. And they blessed all of us with their outstanding teaching. The CCF praise and worship team also blew us away with their capacity to bring us into the presence of the Lord with such joyful music and singing.
* Pastor Tan Chi opened the conference sharing his heart for the Church all throughout Asia to get ready for the return of Jesus Christ, to understand the “signs of the times,” to share the gospel, make disciples, be trained to lead small group Bible studies and house churches, and to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus.
* I gave two messages and emceed the conference. My morning message was from Matthew 24 and Luke 21, “Are We Living In The Last Days?” My afternoon message was from Ezekiel 38-39, “What Is The Future Of Russia, Iran and Israel?” During these messages, I walked the audience through dozens of End Times prophecies and explained which ones have been fufilled, which ones are being fulfilled, and which ones seem increasingly close to coming to pass. I urged people to “get ready, be prepared” for the Lord’s return, and gave practical, Biblical suggestions of how to do that. I also shared the work of The Joshua Fund in educating and mobilizing Christians around the world to bless the people of the epicenter, and the charitable work we do in Israel and the region.
* Israeli Pastor David Ortiz shared extensively from the Scriptures on the Lord’s everlasting love for the Jewish people and explained that persecution of the believers will intensify in the last days. He described the persecution he and his family have faced from Arab Muslims and religious Jews in the city of Ariel on the West Bank. He then told the story of how a Jewish terrorist sent a bomb to his home disguised as a gift basket for the holiday of Purim for the purpose of killing him and his family because they are followers of Yeshua (the Hebrew word for Jesus). People at the conference were in tears as he explained how the bomb nearly killed his 15 year old son, Ami, and saw the horrific photo that a neighbor took of Ami just moments after the blast. Choking with emotion, David shared how desperate he and his wife felt as the doctors told them that Ami’s spirit was about to leave his body. But then, he said, as he was crying out to the Lord for a miracle, he suddenly saw a vision of the Lord seated on His throne explaining to him that this event had taken place to bring Him glory. David also saw a vision of the Lord telling the death angel that Ami was not to be touched. David said he knew at that point that Ami would live. The rest of the story is one of the most powerful testimonies of God’s love and mercy for a family that I have ever heard, outside of the Scriptures themselves. It is also a humbling story of a family choosing to forgive their persecutors, because Jesus teaches us to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us.
* Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat explained from Jeremiah 49:34-39 how in the last days God will scatter the Iranian people, judge the government leadership, and then set His throne in Iran so that many Iranians will turn to follow Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Hormoz explained from his own life and ministry how these prophecies are coming to pass in our lifetime. He described his own journey from Radical Shia Muslim to what I describe as “the Billy Graham of Iran,” reaching seven to nine million Muslims in Iran with the gospel each week through satellite TV broadcasting.
* American Pastor Ray Bentley then introduced six Filipino believers blowing shofars (trumpets made from rams’ horns). He then delivered a message from the Hebrew Prophet Joel chapter two.
* The CCF team had hoped that 3,500 pastors, ministry leaders and lay people would attend, but the final attendance was more than 4,500. What’s more, they were able to make the conference available to thousands more through a live webcast and a live satellite TV broadcast all throughout the Philippines. Soon the conference will be distributed to churches all throughout Asia on DVD to help build a global movement of believers preparing for Jesus to come back and ready to love the people of the epicenter with unconditional love and unwavering support.
* Thanks so much for your prayers. But don’t stop praying yet. Saturday CCF will be training small group Bible study leaders and holding a youth conference where I will be the keynote speaker. Then, on Sunday, I’ll be preaching at all five Sunday services at CCF so that 17,000 to 20,000 more people will hear the message and be mobilized for this extraordinary moment. God bless you and the people of the Philippines.
January 21, 2010
DAY SIX: LEADERSHIP DINNER
January 20, 2010
DAY FIVE: TRAGEDIES, AND OPEN DOORS
It’s just after 8am here and we just learned that tragedy has struck in Manila: overnight, a fire destroyed a slum here leaving one dead and 4,000 homeless….and the press secretary of President Arroyo was just found dead in his home after a massive heart attack — we had just met him and chatted with him at the presidential palace on Monday….both are terrible tragedies and sobering reminders that we are all in our “last days”….none of us know whether we will have another day, or another hour….we don’t know what the future holds, but we can know the One who holds the future…we can know God in a real and personal way, have our sins forgiven, and be assured of eternal life in heaven when we pass from this world….how?….the Bible teaches in Romans 10 that we must receive Jesus Christ as our Savior by faith, confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and then we shall be saved…please pray for the Lord Jesus to care for all these dear people and for the Church to know how best to help.
In a short while, I begin a day of media interviews and an address to businessmen at a luncheon sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce….please pray that the Lord gives me just the right words to say to bring God’s comfort and his message of eternal life.
UPDATE: Thank you for all your prayers. The Lord really blessed our day and opened some remarkable doors. Israeli Pastor David Ortiz, Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat and I were invited on a live, well-rated Filipino TV talk show for an entire hour. The host asked us to explain what the Bible teaches about End Times prophecies, to explain how each of us had discovered a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and how Christ has changed our lives, to explain God’s love and plan for the people of the epicenter, and how we can truly bless Israel and her neighbors in real and practical ways. David’s story of how a Jewish terrorist tried to kill his family with a bomb in March 2008, and all the miracles God has done to safe the life of his youngest son, Ami — and how Ami and the family chose to forgive the terrorist and now even hope to care for the man’s four children when he is sent to prison for the rest of his life – was so powerful the host said she was almost about to begin crying on live television.
Our time at the American Chamber of Commerce luncheon was also wonderful and well attended with several hundred business leaders there, including the presidents of several major U.S. and Filipino companies. I spoke for about 30 minutes on “Israel, the Iranian Nuclear Threat, and the Next War in the Middle East,” put the current crisis in the context of Bible prophecy, and took questions for 10-15 minutes. I thanked the audience for graciously listening and the Chamber for inviting me despite the fact that this was not the usual topics they discuss. My hope and prayer is that many hearts were stirred to give their lives wholly and completely to the Lord Jesus Christ given that all of us are in our “last days” — none of us know whether we have decades to live, or just another 24 hours, like the presidential press secretary, Cerge Remonde. [Would you like to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and be assured of going to heaven when you die?]
HEADLINES TO TRACK:
- What is Sen.-elect Scott Brown’s position on Israel? Click here for a PDF of his campaign position paper
- Candidate Scott Brown speaks out on Ahmadinejad
- Haaretz analysis: Obama’s lost Senate seat is a victory for Netanyahu
- Jordan: Iran ordered attack on Israeli convoy
Comments Off
Filed under Uncategorized
January 19, 2010
DAY FOUR: LUNCH WITH ISRAELI AMBASSADOR
- Israeli Pastor David Ortiz began the day by teaching the Bible at a 6am prayer meeting of more than 1,000 Christians.
- My day began a little later (fortunately!) with an hour-long TV interview for a documentary that’s being produced here in Manila on the End of Days. The program is expected to be aired on a national network here in a few months. The reporter asked me to explain why I believe we are living in the “last days,” what the prophecies of Matthew 24 and Luke 21 mean, and what the prophecies of Ezekiel 38 and 39 and the “War of Gog and Magog” mean and whether they could come to pass soon. She asked if the U.S. is ever mentioned in the Bible in last days prophecies (it isn’t), and why not (we don’t know for certain; could be the Rapture, nuclear war, financial collapse, natural disasters, political timidity or some combination thereof neutralizes our capacity to project force in the not-too-distant future).
- After a time of individual prayer and Bible study, we headed to a restaurant on the other side of town and had a great time at lunch with Israeli Ambassador Zvi Vapni. He has served several tours as a diplomat in the U.S., Ireland and elsewhere, and I found him very sharp, very engaging, well versed on U.S. and Filipino diplomacy, and very intrigued with — and supportive of — building strong ties between Israel and evangelical Christians. We discussed the Iranian nuclear threat, the eschatology of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and whether the Iranian leader really believes what he’s preaching, the relevance of the Book of Esther in our time, and why the Arroyo adminstrationmay have voted against Israel in the U.N. over the Goldstone Report. He thanked us for the work we’re doing to mobilize Christians to support Israel, and I invited the Ambassador to come to our Epicenter Conference on Friday and make some remarks as we open the event. We hope he can attend as we really enjoyed our time with him.
- From there, the team and I headed to the studios of CBN Asia. There, Pastor Ortiz, Pastor Ray Bentley, and I were each interviewed separately for an hour or more about our love for the Lord, our love for Israel, and our passion for mobilizing followers of Jesus Christ in Asia to show the Jewish and Palestinian people unconditional love and unwavering support. We were asked about how we came to faith, our understanding of End Times prophecies, and how the Church in Asia can and should live in light of the historic times in which we live. The interviews will soon run on CBN all throughout the Philippines, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
- Pastor Bentley then went to teach the Bible at an evening prayer service of more than 1,000 believers, while the rest of us had a little time to catch up on emails, phone calls, etc. Then we gathered for dinner at a wonderful Chinese restaurant and met up with Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat who had just arrived in country. Hormoz shared with the group of two dozen or so Filipino pastors and ministry leaders the amazing story of how he went from being a Radical Shia Muslim in 1979 shouting, “Death to America!” on the streets of Tehran to a follower of Jesus Christ and the “Billy Graham of Iran,” broadcasting the gospel to between seven and nine million Muslims in Iran every Tuesday through Friday night via satellite TV. It was so encouraging to see these dear leaders getting the rare opportunity to meet and spend time with one of the most remarkable “Muslim Background Believers” (MBB) in the world, and ask him deep and probing questions about the spiritual awakening underway in Iran and what Hormoz believes the future there holds.
- It’s almost midnight here, so I’m shutting down for the night, very curious about the election underway in Massachusetts at the moment.
- P.S. — We haven’t received any pictures yet from the palace with the President and our team. If we get them as promised, I’ll be sure to post them.
- God bless you guys. Thanks so much for your prayers.
Comments Off
Filed under Uncategorized
January 18, 2010
DAY THREE: LUNCH WITH PRESIDENT ARROYO
Today Filipino Pastor Peter Tan Chi — senior pastor of Christ Commission Fellowship, a wonderful evangelical congregation here in Manila — and our Epicenter conference team and I had the honor of lunch at the palace with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo. She and her staff were very gracious and we had a wonderful time of discussion and prayer.
For protocol sake I cannot share any comments she made to us, but I can give you a quick summary of the meeting from our perspective.
- An American evangelical Christian pastor — Ray Bentley from Maranatha Chapel in San Diego – thanked the President for the tremendous and historic friendship between the Philippines and the United States, including the republic’s support in the war against Radical Islam throughout the islands (against jihadist groups such as “Abu Sayyaf” and even in Iraq where they sent peacekeeping forces to help our coalition in 2003 and 2004).
- An Israeli pastor — David Ortiz from Ariel (whose 15 year old son, Ami, was nearly killed in 2008 when a terrorist sent a bomb to his home disguised as a Purim gift basket) – thanked the President for the wonderful, historic friendship between the Philippines, the Jewish people and the State of Israel. He noted that many Filipinos work in Israel and are hard-working and much appreciated, and that quite a few even marry Israelis.
- I added my thanks in both areas, noting that in 1939, then-President Quezon offered saffe haven to 10,000 European Jews trying to flee the Nazi Holocaust. While only about 1,200 were able to make it here before the country fell to Japan, it was still tremendous offer. Then, on November 29, 1947, the Philippines gave the decisive final vote in favor of the Partition Plan at the United Nations. I noted that this gave the way to the creation of the modern State of Israel and thus the Philippines helped fulfill Bible prophecy. The Philippines was the only country in Asia to voted for Israel, and the only Catholic-majority country to do so.
- As the luncheon continued, the pastors, their wives and I discussed with the President the continuing threat of Radical Islam to the Philippines, Israel, the U.S. and free societies around the world.
- We discussed the threat of Iran gaining nuclear weapons and her administration’s position on this.
- With all respect and deference, I asked the President in light of the strong historic ties between the Philippines and Israel to please graciously reconsider the vote the Philippines cast at the U.N. against Israel last fall over the Goldstone Commission Report. The U.N. resolution that passed asked the Security Council to consider war crimes charges against Israel because of the Gaza war. It did not, however, even mention the word “Hamas” or note Hamas’s terrorism or the fact that Operation Cast Lead (the war in Gaza in January 2009) was not an offensive action initiated by Israel but was a response to 12,000 rockets and missiles fired by Hamas terrorists from Gaza at the innocent civilian population in southern Israel over the course of many year. Israel responded when the U.N. wouldn’t. The issue will come back up for discussion in the U.N. in February and I shared that many Christians around the world will be praying that the Philippines reconsider their position and find a way to reaffirm Israel’s right to self-defense, while also expressing compassion for the Palestinians suffering under Hamas rule in Gaza.
- I presented her a signed copy of Inside The Revolution and a copy of the documentary film DVD and was able to explain the basic premise of the Radicals, the Reformers and the Revivalists.
- Finally, we prayed with and for the President that the Lord would bless her and her family and give her wisdom to lead the country as her10-year administration comes to an end. Presidential elections will be held in May.
- The president sent a police escort to pick us up from our hotel and to return us there after the meeting.
We would be grateful for your continued prayers for us. We are under heavy armed guard here due to the risk of radical Islamic terrorism. Yet we are grateful for the doors the Lord is opening. Later this week, we will be doing media interviews; meeting with the Israeli ambassador; speaking to a dinner of business, government and military leaders; and then Friday we will host the actual Epicenter conference.
HEADLINES TO TRACK:
- Netanyahu and Israeli cabinet have joint cabinet session with Merkel government in Berlin
- Iran tops agenda in Berlin meetings
LEARN: To sign up for Joel’s (free) Flash Traffic email updates, please click herePRAY: To join the “Epicenter Team” on Facebook and track regular prayer requests, please click here GIVE: Would you like to help The Joshua Fund stand up a new warehouse in Israel; provide food, clothing, medical supplies and other aid to the poor and needy in Israel and the epicenter; stockpile supplies for the next war and/or natural disaster; and educate and mobilize Christians around the world to pray for the peace of Jerusalem? If so, please click here
GO: Get a copy of the “Damascus” film in English to share with a Muslim neighbor
You must be logged in to post a comment.