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Publisher

Christmas Promises

There are many reasons to celebrate Christmas and the advent of Christ. One of the best reasons for us is the celebration of how God kept His promises about sending Christ to Earth:

 

*    God promised Adam and Eve He would be born miraculously to a virgin, (Gen 3:15), and He was.

*    God promised Abraham that Christ would be a descendent of his (Gen 12:2), and He was.

*    God promised Jacob that Christ would come from the line of his son Judah (Gen 49:10), and He did.

*    God promised David that Christ would come from his Line (2 Sa 7:16), and He did.

*    God told Micah that Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Mi 5:2), and He was.

*    God told Daniel when Jesus would begin His ministry, 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Da 9:25), and He did, in 26 AD.

*    God told Isaiah where Christ would begin His ministry, in Galilee (Is 9:1), and He did.

 

There are dozens of specific prophecies recorded about Jesus, His ministry, and His resurrection. All have been fulfilled, giving us confidence that God’s promises to us will also be fulfilled.

So as we gather to thank God for the greatest Christmas present of all, Jesus Christ, let us also rest secure in the knowledge that God can be trusted to keep all of his promises.

Publisher

Hanukkah and the Messiah

This week, on December 9, the Hebrew feast of Hanukkah is celebrated. The feast memorializes the dedication of the temple in 165 BC, after Antiocus IV Epiphanes attempted to stamp out the Hebrew religion. It also celebrates a miracle where a one day supply of Temple oil lasted eight days.  Thus, it is called both the “Feast of Dedication” and the “Feast of Lights”.

With the cleansing of the Temple in 165BC, the Temple and the Nation of Israel were made ready to receive the Messiah. However, it was 160 years later that He was born and 190 years later that He began His ministry. Jesus celebrated the Feast of Dedication and used the occasion to clarify that he was the Messiah while teaching in the Temple (see John 11:22-39).

 This date of December 9 also marks a significant date leading to the Second Coming of Christ. It was 95 years ago that the Turks surrendered Jerusalem to the British. The British mandate ultimately lead to the U.N. vote to form Israel thirty years later in 1947, and the birth of Israel in 1948. Christians all over the world saw the miraculous rebirth of Israel as preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.

 Few Christians expected the return of Christ to be delayed so long after the nation of Israel was made ready. However, if we look back to the formation of Israel in 165 BC, preparatory to the advent of Christ, then a waiting period of 160 or 190 years is not so surprising. At 95 years, if counting began in 1917 instead of 1948, we would only be half way through a 190 year wait.

Let us then pray over the Feast of Dedication and let us then remember how it made the way ready for the Messiah. And let us also pray that Christians do not get discouraged by the delay in His return, for no one knows the day or the hour.

Even so, come Lord Jesus

Publisher

The Gift of Saint Nicholas

Yes, there really is a Saint Nicholas. He was a fourth century Bishop in Myra, In Asia

Minor. And he really was famous for his gift giving and his concern for the poor and for children.

 In the Middle Ages some enterprising citizens of the Italian city of Bari stole his remains and built a cathedral in his honor in Bari. Because of the importance of Saint Nicholas to both Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the cathedral is one of the few places in the world where Catholic and Orthodox minister under the same roof. Pilgrims of both denominations are welcome there.

When the Charismatic renewal swept through the Catholic Church, one of the leaders in

Bari, Matteo Calisi, wondered if the tolerance expressed at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral could grow into real reconciliation. He and Italian Evangelical pastor Giovanni Traettino reached across the divide and began a movement which has brought Catholics and Evangelicals together throughout Italy. Over the years the reconciliation movement has reached out from Bari to Evangelicals in North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. In addition, the Orthodox and Messianic Jewish churches have also become involved.

The reconciliation movement born in Bari seeks to bring Christians into genuine unity in our diversity. God realizes that we have different practices and beliefs, and we’re told to tolerate our brothers (see Ro14:1-4 and Ro 15:1-7). Our real unity is through Christ, for if we are each in Christ then we are also united in Christ. (see John 17:20-23).

So let us all join Christ in his prayer that we may be brought into complete unity (John17:23).

And we need to thank Him for the gift of the reconciliation movement which was started in honor of Saint Nicholas.

Publisher

Exodus Echos

In 1948, before the establishment of Israel, the 2500 year old Jewish community in Egypt numbered 80,000. Similar communities, numbering about 850,000 in total, were scattered around the Arab world.

 After the formation of Israel, many Palestinian Arabs fled from Israel and received worldwide attention as refugees. Their demand to return, and thereby overrun democratic Israel, is a major stumbling block to Middle East peace. And the war the Arabs began to destroy Israel in 1948 continues to this day, with daily terrorist rocket launches against Jewish civilians.

 Little notice or publicized was the fate of the 850,000 Jews living in Arab countries.

Many were attacked by mobs, burned out, robbed, and forced to flee for their lives. Today it is estimated that only 4300 Jews remain in the Arab countries, and the Jewish refugees are conveniently forgotten by Arabs demanding justice.

 It was just 33 years ago that Anwar Sadat made is historic visit to Israel. He was assassinated for his peacemaking and now the assassins have gained control of Egypt. The world is holding its breath hoping that the Muslim Brotherhood will not launch another war of annihilation against Israel.

 These developments do not surprise us, as we believe that a long period of war between the Arabs and Israel is prophesied in the Bible (see our Special Report “Understanding The Times”). However, as Christians we cannot turn a blind eye towards the suffering of

Arabs and Jews, and we must remember that God loves them all.

 So pray for the Palestinian and Jewish refugees of the long Middle East war. Pray for healing of their mental, emotional, and physical wounds. Pray that they find the true path of peace through Jesus Christ.

 Above all, like the Bible says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.