PRAY FOR RUSSIA

Dear friends in Messiah,

In 1999 - a mere 9 years ago - I went with the ministry Hope International on a mission trip to Russia. What a glorious time we had as the LORD opened doors and windows for the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit! We visited orphanages where we sang to the children, gave them toys and candy, and shared with them the life-changing Good News of Jesus. We visited women in prison where I led them in worship and gave my own testimony of being led out of the "prison" of sin and into the freedom of the Kingdom of God. We toured the old warehouse buildings that were being rebuilt into a Christian worship center, to include a soup kitchen and a school.

Yet, in the midst of all this, we knew in our hearts that the window was open for but a brief time. We sensed by the Spirit in our prayer times that this message of relationship with the Messiah, the true and Living God (as opposed to the CLOSED RELIGION of the Russian Orthodox Church) must go forth quickly while there was yet time.

Pastor Alexei and his wife Tanya have labored for the Gospel in Russia for a very long time. They sponsor an orphanage there, they have a widespread, glorious ministry to the youth of Russia, and they have also spear-headed a campaign against abortion, teaching young people the sanctity of LIFE. Today he sent me this article and asked for our fervent prayers for all the pastors and congregations in Russia. And don't forget also to pray for all the Jews in Russia, who come under more and more persecution every day, and who live in abject poverty, rejection, and scorn.

Russia is moving swiftly back into the times of Communism, dictatorship and oppression. Please read below and pray for the Jewish people - and the believers in Christ - who live, work, teach, pastor, and suffer in Russia.

Thursday, May 1, is our "National Day of Prayer" here in America. Wherever you are, please set aside time to intentionally pray for Russia, for Israel, and for those around the world being persecuted for the Name of YESHUA - Jesus the Messiah.

James Hill for The New York Times:
A Crackdown on Russian Protestants
There was a time after the fall of Communism when small Protestant congregations blossomed here in southwestern Russia, when a church was almost as easy to set up as a general store. Today, this industrial region has become emblematic of the suppression of religious freedom under President Vladimir V. Putin.
Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin's surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion, warding off other Christian denominations that seem to offer the most significant competition for worshipers. They have all but banned proselytizing by Protestants and discouraged Protestant worship through a variety of harassing measures, according to dozens of interviews with government officials and religious leaders across Russia.
This close alliance between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church has become a defining characteristic of Mr. Putin's tenure, a mutually reinforcing choreography that is usually described here as working "in symphony."
Mr. Putin makes frequent appearances with the church's leader, Patriarch Aleksei II, on the Kremlin-controlled national television networks. Last week, Mr. Putin was shown prominently accepting an invitation from Aleksei II to attend services for Russian Orthodox Easter, which is this Sunday.
The relationship is grounded in part in a common nationalistic ideology dedicated to restoring Russia's might after the disarray that followed the end of the Soviet Union. The church's hostility toward Protestant groups, many of which are based in the United States or have large followings there, is tinged with the same anti-Western sentiment often voiced by Mr. Putin and other senior officials.
The government's antipathy also seems to stem in part from the Kremlin's wariness toward independent organizations that are not allied with the government.
Here in Stary Oskol, 300 miles south of Moscow, the police evicted a Seventh-day Adventist congregation from its meeting hall, forcing it to hold services in a ramshackle home next to a construction site. Evangelical Baptists were barred from renting a theater for a Christian music festival, and were not even allowed to hand out toys at an orphanage. A Lutheran minister said he moved away for a few years because he feared for his life. He has returned, but keeps a low profile.
On local television last month, the city's chief Russian Orthodox priest, who is a confidant of the region's most powerful politicians, gave a sermon that was repeated every few hours. His theme: Protestant heretics.
"We deplore those who are led astray - those Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, evangelicals, Pentecostals and many others who cut Christ's robes like bandits, who are like the soldiers who crucified Christ, who ripped apart Christ's holy coat," declared the priest, the Rev. Aleksei D. Zorin.
Such language is familiar to Protestants in Stary Oskol, who number about 2,000 in a city of 225,000.
The Rev. Vladimir Pakhomov, the minister of the Methodist church, recalled a warning from an F.S.B. officer to one of his parishioners: " 'Protestantism is facing difficult times - or maybe its end.' "

HORSERADISH FOREVER!

Last night my family and I celebrated a most blessed, joyous Passover in my little house. My daughter Christina and her 3 children (ages 9, 7 and 3), as well as my parents (84 and 85!) were with me. We began by watching the story of Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea in the FIRST miraculous Exodus (in the movie "the Prince of Egypt") and we talked about how we may be of the generation that Yahweh delivers in the SECOND Exodus! We worshiped Yeshua, our Deliverer, in song and in dance. And then we enjoyed a wonderful Seder dinner, savoring the tastes and the smells, reading the ancient words of the Haggadah (which means "the telling"), and finding all the beautiful foreshadows of Messiah in the story.

I asked them if anyone knew how long God's people are commanded to keep the Passover feast, and my 9-year-old granddaughter correctly answered, "Forever!" Delighted, I replied, "Yes, forever! We are forever to roast the lamb and remember Yeshua's sacrifice, and eat the bitter herbs and the matzah, asking God to remove the leaven from our own hearts, and remembering the children of Israel being delivered from their slavery." With his brown eyes wide in amazement, my 7-year-old grandson, Jackson, said, "Nana, you mean we have to eat this stuff every day now, FOREVER??" What fun! I'm sure he had a frightening vision of having to eat unleavened bread and horseradish every night for dinner for the rest of his life! But we showed him in the Scriptures that the Passover comes once a year, in the spring, on the 14th day of the first month. This is GOD'S "new year's celebration" - the beginning of HIS new year, the beginning of His redemption of His people Israel, the sanctifying of His people through the days of Unleavened Bread, and the fulfillment of His Redemption through Messiah Yeshua's blood sacrifice and Firstfruits Resurrection from the dead! It was the evening (beginning) of the Passover Feast Day when He broke bread with His disciples and explained how He was about to renew Yahweh's Covenant with His people through His blood; and it was toward the end of the Passover Day (next afternoon) when He BECAME the Passover Lamb of God, redeeming you and me from our sins. Hallelujah!

"Nana, do you mean we have to eat this stuff every day now, FOREVER?" Well, Jackson, we don't have to eat parsley and horseradish every day forever; but whenever we gather together with family and brothers and sisters of God, we break bread and drink the Cup and remember what our Messiah did for us -- and EVERY DAY would be good to do that!

Be blessed as the Spirit shows you what "leaven" needs to be cleaned out of your heart this week; and rejoice in the One who offers grace and mercy.
Happy Passover - Hag Sameach!

EARTHQUAKE: MT. CARMEL

Remember last January when President Bush traveled to Israel to try to pressure the Israeli government into dividing the Land, including Jerusalem? A freak tornado struck in the U.S. on that day in a place called Jerusalem, Arkansas, also destroying a church called Mt. Zion Church. I wrote that these things are no coincidence, and that we must open our eyes to see and hear what Yahweh is speaking to this nation -- and how He is warning us against dividing the Land where He has put HIS NAME forever.

Today there was an "unusual" earthquake in Illinois and the epicenter was positioned near a town called Mt. Carmel. Here is part of today's news story on this earthquake:
"In Mount Carmel, 15 miles southeast of the epicenter, a collapsed porch trapped a woman in her home, but she was quickly freed and wasn't hurt, said Mickie Smith, a dispatcher at the police department. The department took numerous other calls, though none reported anything more serious than objects knocked off walls and shelves, she said. Also in Mount Carmel, a two-story apartment building was evacuated because of loose and falling bricks. Police cordoned off the building, a 1904 school converted to residences."

Mt. Carmel is also a mountain in Israel, as you will remember. It is located in northern Israel and what we now call "The West Bank" - an area the U.S. is pressuring Israel to give over to the "Palestinian Authority." If we really want to look at this earthquake in the Spirit, we need to look to God's Word and what happened on Mt. Carmel when the prophet Elijah went up there to confront 450 prophets of Baal (prophets of witchcraft and the enemy):
"...so Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied, "but you have. YOU HAVE ABANDONED THE LORD'S COMMANDS AND HAVE FOLLOWED THE BAALS. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mt. Carmel. And bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mt. Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, "HOW LONG WILL YOU WAVER BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS? IF THE LORD IS GOD, FOLLOW HIM; BUT IF BAAL IS GOD, FOLLOW HIM." (1 Kings 18:16-21)

I hear a two-fold message from the Lord in this earthquake that struck Mt. Carmel, Illinois. It is to both the United States and Israel: "IF THE LORD IS GOD, FOLLOW HIM; BUT IF BAAL IS GOD, FOLLOW HIM." And if we are following and trusting in YAHWEH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we will not be fearing or giving away land to ALLAH, the false moon god of Baal!
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray against the division of Jerusalem and the Land. Pray that our leaders and Israel's leaders will FOLLOW THE LORD, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL.

THEREFORE LET US KEEP THE FEAST!

Last night I had a strange dream. I dreamed I had sacrificed my little kitty to the Lord. Yes, the cute little orange kitty pictured here, snuggled in my bed! Her name is Esther. When my daughter gave her to me I said, "She is Esther, for such a time as this!" (My daughter felt I needed a pet because I live all alone - and that it was time for me to have a "companion")!

As you can imagine, this was not an enjoyable dream, but I knew immediately why the LORD had given it to me.

As Moses gives the people God's instructions for keeping the Passover Feast, he says to them, "Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight" (Exodus 12:3,5-6).

Why did the LORD tell the people to bring those little lambs into their households and take care of them for four days before they have to slit their throats and then "take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs"? (Ex. 12:7) There were two reasons. First, for these four days, while they are "taking care" of these lambs, they are also examining them, to make sure they are "spotless and without blemish," meaning without any physical defects, as was commanded by God. This is a shadow and picture of Yeshua, who was examined and tried over a period of four days by Caiaphas the High Priest and the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Ruling Council), and then by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate found no fault in Yeshua (no blemish, no defect!) and he "took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your responsibility" (Matthew 27:24). Then Yeshua was sent to His death on an execution stake, sacrificed as the true Passover Lamb, whose blood covers the "doorposts" of our lives, atoning for our sins and keeping us safe from the plague of death.

The second reason the people are told to "take care of the lambs for four days" is that by the time they have to sacrifice them, it is painful. They have undoubtedly become close to the fleecy little lambs running around their households, playing with their children. Where it would have been simple and easy to go out into the midst of the flock, choose a lamb and kill it, now it is hard. That's what makes it a sacrifice! It gives us some small grasp of the unspeakable pain it must have been to the Father to sacrifice His own Son.

Exodus 12:14: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD - a lasting ordinance." Therefore let us keep the feast!

WITNESSING AND REJOICING

On Monday evening, April 7, the new moon was sighted in Israel. This new moon heralded the first month of the biblical Hebrew calendar, the month of Nisan. In the eyes of the LORD, this then was the beginning of a new Hebrew year.


In his weekly forum on the web, Rabbi Chaim Richman, Director of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem recently posted this piece:

"Two history making events took place on the first day of Nisan, within the space of one year. The first was when G-d, for the very first time directly engaged the entire nation of Israel and commanded them to begin marking time from the new moon of Nisan. Though still in Egypt, this marked the beginning of the end of Israel's exile as G-d has re-engaged the people. He takes them out from exile and places them in His world, as it were, the desert. But man is meant for this world and to exist indefinitely on the rarefied level that the Israelites now found themselves in was simply not viable. In order to make permanent and eternal their convenant with G-d, He had to be brought into man's world. And this is the intention of the tabernacle: to make a place, around which the entire nation is arrayed, in which G-d's very presence can dwell and be made manifest to the people. This is what took place on the first of Nisan, in the second year in the desert. And this is what G-d desires most of His children: to be welcome in this world.
And now we know why spring occurs each year during the month of Nisan: "The heavens rejoice and the earth is glad." (Psalms 96:11) The heavens and earth are rejoicing because G-d is "happy." His "dream" his been fulfilled. His children have returned to Him, and He to His children. Therefore we make the blessing in the month of Nisan: "Blessed are you, G-d, King of the universe, in whose world nothing is lacking, and has created beautiful things, and goodly trees for man to take pleasure in." What could possibly be lacking in a world in which G-d is present and His presence is manifest? Even the flowering trees, like the two witnesses who testify to the appearance of the new moon, these two trees that we bless, like all of nature, are witnessing G-d's nearness. Witnessing and rejoicing."


Does your heart soar, as mine did, when you read what Rabbi Richman wrote? God desires MOST to be made manifest to His people in a tabernacle where He can dwell! Oh, I just wrote of this a few days ago, didn't I? I wrote how we who are in Messiah Yeshua now ARE living tabernacles where God dwells! Filled with His Spirit, we invite Him to dwell within us, we "welcome Him in this world." Glory!


In the second part of the good Rabbi's post he mentions the number two twice: "two witnesses who testify to the appearance of the new moon," and "two trees that we bless, witnessing God's nearness." How thrilling to see the Rabbi writing of the "two" so prevalent in Scripture - and to know in my heart that these "two" are the very ones spoken of in Romans 11 (the two olive branches) and Ezekiel 37 (the two sticks) and Zechariah 4:3 and 4:11(the two olive trees). Zechariah 4:14 says, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth."


Many of us believers were out looking for that new moon, which begins the month of Nisan and sets the timing for the Passover Feast and all the feasts to follow - witnessing and rejoicing! And the rabbis of Israel were out looking for that new moon too - looking forward to the Passover when they will recall their deliverance from bondage in Egypt - witnessing and rejoicing! Indeed we are the two - the Church of Yeshua and the Jewish people - the two trees, like all of nature, witnessing God's nearness!

THAT ONE SHEEP

My heart is racing. It feels like it did when I was standing in front of 200,000+ Nigerians in Africa, coming forward to accept the Lord Jesus for the first time. Yet, this time it is only one. Suddenly I understand what Jesus meant when He said, "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off!" (Matthew 18:12-13).

Not only do I deeply relate to that Scripture today, but I also fully grasped for the first time why the Father has had me working in our small town chiropractor's office for the past several months. Many days I've questioned Him, "Is this where you really want me right now, Lord?" and I confess I haven't heard any answer. But all along He's been showing me. First I began praying for the Lord to prosper this practice where I'm working, and He began answering that prayer in showers of blessings that the doctor could not ignore! It opened the door for me to share my faith, and at this point I am openly praying with and over her for our patients and for all the hurdles that have had to be overcome. Then, last week a patient heard me speaking to someone about the Jewish roots of our faith, and she got very excited. She told me she has had a hunger to learn about this for a long time, and wondered if I'd be open to offering a Torah study for several people from her church. Two days ago another patient noticed my necklace with the name Yeshua in Hebrew letters. He recognized that it was Hebrew and asked me what it spelled, and I told him. With raised eyebrows he said, "Wow. My family is Jewish. I'd like to talk to you sometime."

You'd think all this would have been enough to convince me that I am planted exactly where Abba Father wants me - but what happened today was the event that left my heart racing. A patient who wanted to try my "Detox Recipe" that I use for chronic viruses and infections asked if she could come by my house later in the afternoon to pick up a sample. She is suffering from ear infections that won't go away. I gladly invited her to stop by. When I answered my doorbell, she stood there with her mouth open, looking at the mezzuzah and the plaque that says "Shalom" on my doorpost and exclaimed, "Are you Jewish?" I answered, "No, but I worship the Jewish Messiah Yeshua." She was genuinely shocked and responded, "My maiden name is Cohen. I don't believe in Jesus. But I didn't grow up understanding my Jewish faith either. We used to color Easter eggs in my house, and I knew we were just all confused!"

She continued to glance around my living room, eyeing the menorah and the shofar on my coffee table, and the prayer shawl that just happened to be where I left it on the couch last night. "Wow...this is amazing. But I don't worship three Gods. I think there's only one." I asked her if she'd ever read Isaiah 53. She said she's never really read the Bible at all. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, I gave her a copy of Isaiah 53 I have printed out - and a copy of Asher Intrater's article from Israel last week entitled "Head of the Church and King of Israel." Asher writes, "The mystery of the kingdom of God develops out of Yeshua's two-fold nature: both the Son of God and the son of David. It is in the perfect combination of being both divine and human that we find salvation and destiny. On the one hand He is God; on the other hand He is a Jew. Note that the mystery of the reconciliation of Israel and the Church is IN HIM."

Building bridges to bring the two families of God together is my heart's cry. That is the restoration of all Israel! That's why my heart was racing! In my living room stood a person who was about to come into the fullness of this understanding for the first time - through her Cohen family (which means "priest" in Hebrew) and through the love that was reaching out to her for the first time in the Person of Yeshua. I put His arms around her and held her. I told her we would talk again after she'd had a chance to read. And she blurted out, "I am SO excited! I've wanted to understand this all my life!"

Like I said, my heart is racing - like Yeshua, I am happier about that one sheep...!

TABLETS OF HUMAN HEARTS

"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel, and with the House of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke My covenant though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my Torah on their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people." Jeremiah 31:31-33


What did God mean when He said that His "new covenant" would be to put Torah on our minds and write it on our hearts? How is this covenant different from the old?


This covenant is not actually "new" - it is "renewed." It is a renewal of the marriage covenant God made with His people at Mt. Sinai when He first gave them His teachings and instructions, His Torah (the "Law of Moses" or the ten commandments). He became a husband to His people Israel that day, and He guarded and kept them on their journey to the Promised Land. But His people broke that covenant by turning away from Him and worshiping other Gods, breaking His commandments. In this prophecy through Jeremiah, Yahweh is telling us how He will RE-NEW His covenant with us: by putting Torah on our minds and hearts.


How will this be? In the person and spirit of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, whom He sent to perfectly FULFILL the Torah. Yeshua lived it out for us perfectly while He walked the earth. He unraveled the mysteries of God's commands, and showed us that it is not ritual and religion, but relationship and LOVE. And now, those of us who believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One of Israel, have His spirit living within us! His commands are written upon our hearts and by His Spirit we greatly desire to keep them. We no longer want to look and smell and taste like the world - our minds and hearts now desire to obey God and be holy (which means set apart). As the apostle Peter said, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do." (1 Peter 1:13-16)


Our LORD did not do away with the Torah (the "Law") when Jesus came. In fact He Himself said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matthew 5;17-18)


The Torah is now written on your minds and hearts because the Incarnate Torah, Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus Christ),the One who wrote the commands upon stone at Mt. Sinai, and the One who fulfilled the Torah, LIVES IN YOU! He is in your heart and in your mind. He is the WORD, who was made flesh and dwelt among us. And the WORD is very near you! As Yahweh says, "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. No, the Word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it." (Deuteronomy 30:11, 14).


Now, my friends, we no longer have our God on tablets of stone - but on tablets of our human hearts! As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "You show that you are a letter from Christ...written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." (2 Cor. 3:3)