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Resource Notes
Corporate Prayer Resources

The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which will be celebrated September 26th this year, should be a significant time for Christians to pause and learn from our Jewish Brothers.

The Yom Kippur holiday is one of the Seven Feasts of Israel which was established in the Bible by God’s command. Three of the Feasts, Passover, First Fruits, and Unleavened Bread, are associated with the death and resurrection of Christ. The fourth, Pentecost, points to the birth of the Church on that very day. The last three, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles speak prophetically of the return of Christ. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, reminds of that Christ has made atonement for us so we can live as children of God.

A second truth we can take from Yom Kippur is the understanding that Christians have failed to appreciate their Jewish roots for most of the Church’s history. Beginning of the Church’s rejection to Jewish God-given calendar at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, the Church has marginalized its Jewish Believers . Later on, the Church brought shame upon itself by persecuting the Jews in direct contradiction to its own Scriptures (See Romans 11:25-32). The Day of Atonement is a good time for the Church to repent and acknowledge its Jewish roots.

Finally, we were reminded on Yom Kippur in 1973 that God has miraculously formed and kept modern day Israel, when Israel was attached by its neighbors. In that war, as in the previous wars, the world was amazed by the unexpected victory of Israel against the overwhelming odds. The world simply can’t see that God’s plan for Israel cannot be thwarted. Let us pray that we can share in the blessings as Israel’s friend, and not share in the curses reserved for its enemies.

So we Christians have a lot to think about and a lot to pray about this Yom Kippur.

And don’t forget to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Shalom!

Resource Notes
Corporate Prayer Resources

On this day in 1582 Pope Gregory III instituted his calendar reform by resetting the date from October 5th to October 15th. Not everyone agreed.

Most agreed that the calendar was badly in need of reform. This was because the calendar in use, developed by Julius Cesar, had leap years every four years based on the assumed length of the year at 365.25 days. However, the actual length of the year is 365.2422 days and over fifteen centuries that small difference threw the calendar out of kilter. Gregory’s solution, removing ten days and eliminating leap years on century (00) years, reforms the calendar for the next 3000 years or so.

The problem with these reforms was that they came about 100 years to late and landed in the middle of the religious wars in Europe. So at first only the Roman Catholic countries accepted the reform. Protestants rejected the new calendar, as did the Eastern Orthodox. Thus, the scandal of division caused there to be two calendars: the “Old Style” Julian and the “New Style” Gregorian.

Gradually the wisdom of Pope Gregory’s reform took hold as the religious wars faded into the past. By the end of the 18th century Protestant Europe had adopted the reform and operated on the same calendar. None of the Eastern Orthodox churches adopted the reform until after World War I, but even then the old style calendar was retained for the religious calendar. And the churches in Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia and some Greek monasteries continue to use the Julian Calendar. As a result the Eastern Orthodox celebrate Christmas and Easter at a different time than the Catholics and Protestants.

Our prayers of course are not focused on the two calendars, but instead are focused on the Christian divisions exposed by the two calendars. If we can move into a true Christ centered unity between Christians, the calendar will take care of itself.

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Corporate Prayer Resources

Corporate Prayer Resources is a ministry promoting intercessory prayer and Christ centered unity.

Our main focus is to promote and empower group prayer (i.e. “Corporate Prayer”) in prayer groups, churches, Interdenominational meetings, prayer networks, and prayer journeys. We partner with ministries on the local, state, national, and international levels to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We believe that winning the lost is the only answer to the world’s problems and we work to bring the power of prayer into play in our relationships with Mission America Collation, Jesus.net and other evangelistic outreach ministries.

The Babylon book was birthed out of our desire to understand the spiritual forces which have opposed the Kingdom of God in the nations. Our search for the root of these strongholds led us back to the city of Babylon and its pagan religious system. As we then move through time and the nations we can witness the spread of the pagan Babylonian System through the world, and the rise of its spiritual sisters of Islam, Secularism, and the New Age Movement. But we can also see how God has advanced His Kingdom as we await the final destruction of His enemies when Christ returns.

As we approach the end of the age, millions of people have been liberated from the religious system of Babylon and her sisters. This is the age of the harvest, and we are blessed to live in the best time of history. With insight and God’s leading, we can join the harvest by praying that the blind eyes will be open, and watch as the strongholds are over thrown one life at a time.

So we invite you to pray with us for the evangelization of the nations. You are also welcome to visit our website, www.corporateprayerresources.com, for prayer points and participation in our internet prayer network.

But whatever you do, keep praying.

Prayer, Don’t leave home without it.