Scripture reading for April 12, 2014
Torah: Leviticus 16:1 – 18:30, “Acharei mot” (After death …) Haftorah: Malachi 3:4 – 24 New Testament: Hebrews 9:11 – 28 Gospel: John 3:1 – 21, “Ahchad hafruseem” (A Pharisee …)
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God’s divine retribution against those who are against Israel
By EARL COX, JPOST— A group of Israeli rabbis has issued an open letter warning that the United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s reckless peace efforts, if they should come to fruition, “will result in divine retribution” against those involved. Kerry’s “incessant efforts to expropriate integral parts of the Holy Land and hand them…
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Kerry’s folly
BY CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER— When has a secretary of state been involved in so many disastrous, self-initiated negotiations? First, John Kerry convenes — against all advice and holding no cards — Geneva negotiations to resolve the Syria conflict and supposedly remove Bashar al-Assad from power. The talks collapse in acrimony and confusion. Kerry’s response? A second…
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‘Even the Koran claims Israel belongs to the Jews’
By TOVA DVORIN, ARUTZ 7— Middle Eastern affairs professor Nissim Dana spoke to Arutz Sheva Monday about his upcoming book, To Whom Does This Land Belong?: New Insights into the Koran, and revealed that Islam absolutely does not have a claim to the Land of Israel – even by its own standards. The Professor explained…
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Abbas takes defiant step, and mideast talks falter
By JUDI RUDOREN, MICHAEL GORDAN, AND MARK LANDER, NY TIMES— The Middle East peace talks verged on a breakdown Tuesday night, after President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority defied the United States and Israel by taking concrete steps to join 15 international agencies — a move to gain the benefits of statehood outside the…
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The passing of Pat Mercer Hutchens
Dear friends of The Jerusalem Connection, On Monday night at 11pm, Pat Mercer Hutchens went to be with her Savior in Heaven. After enduring a grueling battle with ovarian cancer for many years, the doctors informed Pat and Jim two weeks ago that they no longer had any treatment options. Her earthly body was rapidly…
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Build a ‘young Israel of the Temple Mount’
By MICHAEL FREUND, JPOST— At first glance it would appear to be a recipe for disaster, a proposal so brash it could ignite a conflagration between Arab and Jew. But the idea to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which was recently put forward by an impressive array of rabbis, professors and…
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Kerry arrives today in Israel
By HERB KEINON, JPOST— US Secretary of State John Kerry met in Jerusalem Monday evening with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, amid reports the US may release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard by mid-April as part of a wider package designed to resuscitate the negotiations. Reuters, citing sources close to the negotiations, said that under the plan…
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The Neophyte President
BY RON JAGER— As we have all watched in disbelief over the past few weeks, we keep wondering when Obama will wake up and understand the ramifications of his strategic concessions. We wonder when Obama will put aside his seemingly childish eagerness for obscure negotiations. When will he put aside his hunger for diplomatic success,…
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Temple Mount education seeks to “rekindle the hearts of humanity”
By RAPHAEL POCH, BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS— On Sunday, the International Temple Institute will be celebrating the fifth annual International Temple Mount Awareness Day in honor of the new Hebrew month of Nissan, which inaugurates spring. The month of Nissan is a time of renewal and rejuvenation and the institute hopes, of rebuilding. The day seeks…
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4 threats to Christian support for Israel
By RYAN MAURO, JUICY ECUMENISM— In 2009, I made my first trip to Israel thanks to the Israel Experience program of Eagles Wings Ministry. It was around that time that I heard the ministry’s executive-director, Reverend Robert Stearns, say that Christian support for Israel was at risk. At the time, I was skeptical of the…
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No time like the present
BY STAN GOODENOUGH, JERUSALEM WATCHMEN— Russia’s annexation of the Crimea is a done deal – a fait accompli. Headlines about the land grab, described March 19 by NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh-Rasmussen as “the most serious security crisis since the end of the cold war,” are muted, barely there. They’ll soon be gone. Nor is Russia…
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Israeli Christians take on anti-Israel facebook campaign
By RYAN JONES, ISRAEL TODAY— The Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum on Thursday came out swinging against yet another malicious propaganda campaign targeting Israel on the popular social network Facebook. The campaign appears to center around a composite picture of six dilapidated local churches that are presented as false evidence that the Jewish state discriminates against…
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Menachem Begin’s bond with Christian Zionists
By RAPHAEL POCH, BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS— Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was the first president to openly welcome Christian Zionist support of Israel. Commemorating the 100th year of his birth, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center together with the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem (ICEJ) have put together an evening which focuses on this unique…
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The peacenik vs. the hegemon
By CLIFFORD MAY, ISRAEL HAYOM— Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, seething over the collapse of the Soviet Empire, wants to become the hegemon of Eurasia — at least. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, outraged by the decline of Islamic power, wants to become the hegemon of the Middle East — at a minimum. U.S. President…
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Review of Schama’s History of the Jews
By VICTOR SHARPE— I watched the first installment of Simon Schama’s TV program. Schama is a historian but one more at home as a modern television personality where authentic history is not always apparent. Schama started what he called the story, strangely not the history, at a period some 3,000 years ago. But that timeline…
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Spot Report: Israeli Christians
Think on this: “You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the LORD–even beyond the borders of Israel!’” Malachi 1:5 Pray on this: Heavenly Father, Please continue to give the Christians living in Israel strength. Protect them from their enemies who seek to silence their pro-Israel voices. Amen.
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Wish I’d said that…
“No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God in a human spirit.”— Oswald Chambers