March 21, 2010
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Sue
and I just got back from a ten day trip to Rome and
Israel with Ken
and Barbara Gaub.
We recommend it! They are parents of our Forex trading mentors Dan
and Nathan.
Small world,
isn’t it. The
Trip
- Our guide was a Jewish believer who had great insight into all the
history in
Israel. From St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to the Sea of Galilee,
Masada, the
Dead Sea, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, I was struck by the history and the
religion. Nearly every “holy” sight has a catholic or orthodox church
on it. Jerusalem
has been conquered and partially
destroyed 45 times in the name of religion. Contrary to the impression
from the
news media, few Jews, Arabs or Italians are practicing believers.
Although the
architecture and the history are fascinating and impressive, what
remains has
an air of irrelevance to the local culture. The Wailing Wall is
occupied by the
prayers of orthodox Jewish sects that don’t pay taxes, live on
government
welfare and try hard to keep themselves separate from society. The
Muslim
mosques seemed empty and equally irrelevant to the rest of the Arab
society. The
atmosphere
- What struck me most was the potential for Jews and
Arabs to unite around the person of Jesus. Ironically, what is missing
from
Jerusalem is the sense of God’s presence. Jews and Arabs alike are
hungry for
something real – not something orthodox. Like here, revival will come
to the
younger generation through the marketplace instead of traditional
religion.
They are not encumbered by creeds and traditions, and they have a value
system
that will allow the dividing lines between Jew and Arab and gentile to
disappear. Listen to the promise: In that day
there will be
a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the
Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship
together. In
that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a
blessing on
the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt
my
people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." Isa 19:23-25
NIV The
3rd Temple
– The by-product of “religious tradition”
is a fascinating exercise in futility – same as in Jesus’ day. The
Muslims
built a Mosque on the prior site of the Jewish temple. The Jews believe
the
messiah will return through a gate on the east wall, so Muslims built a
cemetery
on that side (priests are not allowed to pass through a cemetery). On
the west
side the Jews have built a full size replica of the golden candlesticks
and
housed it in a glass case in full view of the mosque 400 yard away…
sort of baiting
one another. There is talk of training priests and making preparations
for the
3rd temple. The orthodox Jews apparently want to
reinstitute animal
sacrifices in a rebuilt temple to keep the law. The Muslim fanatics are
committed to preventing that from happening. 98% of the culture is
interested
in stable employment and a peaceful family life. In
charismatic circles in the US, the clamor to rebuild
the temple is waning along with interest in many other “religious”
topics. The
traditional logic was that prophecies about the destruction of the
Jewish
temple were placed in the future… so we need to rebuild it before it
can be
destroyed again. That puts some Christians on the same team with
orthodox Jews
to start the building program and find some red heifers to sacrifice -
Pretty
amazing when you think about it. For
more info
– a newsletter is the wrong place to start a detailed
discussion of sound eschatology. So I’m going to suggest three
resources: 1. Releasing
Kings Chapter 9 has an excellent summary of this issue that
you can read in
a few minutes. See the link and get a hard copy of Releasing
Kings. 2. Harold
has written two excellent books on
eschatology that are well worth reading. Bringing
the Future into Focus and Victorious
Eschatology. Your
theological choices are: 1) put all prophecies in
the future (futurist); 2) put them all in the past (Preterist); or 3)
decide
from the context which are already fulfilled and which are yet to be
fulfilled
(Partial Preterist). Most who receive
this newsletter have had some training in the futurist camp and no
exposure to
any other possibility. I’m including pastors in this observation. It is
not
necessary that you share Harold’s or my views, but you should realize
that it’s
hard to be optimistic and industrious about business in specific, and
the
future in general, if you believe we’re on the eve of wars,
earthquakes, the
antichrist, persecution, apostasy, and a soon-coming rapture for the
elect that
remain. The rapture mindset is prone to conspiracy theories and has
little
sense of overcoming the enemy. As
Kings, we have some really good and scriptural reasons
to build the Kingdom now and bless the nations through marketplace
ministry…
and we don’t need a 3rd temple to do it. Things
are not getting
worse; they are getting better on every front. It’s our job to make it
so and
we have the power and the time and the mindset to do it.
Desire to Destiny is available now at our store along with reviews. Not sure what your dream is? This book will help you pull the curtain back on your future. Newsletter - If your newsletter comes incomplete (filtered), you can always catch the latest version in our archive along with 200 others. 1800+ people from around the world get Kingly encouragement from our weekly newsletter. Invite a friend to subscribe - they will be blessed. How to Start a Small Group - Kings are increasingly getting involved in Bible study or mentoring groups to facilitate their "Release." Here are some helpful suggestions www.Releasing-Kings.com/Starting-a-Group.html. We've also updated our Vision Brochure with graphics to show how to become a King and how you can help Release Kings. Lastly we've created a guideline to help you take your dream to the next level by considering the elements of a business plan. See Write Your Business Plan. French Translation - Releasing Kings is now available in French thanks to the efforts of Cees Bakker and Support Ministries in the Netherlands. In France, copies can be obtained from Editions Menor or Librairie Chretienne CLC. The Title in French is “Libération des Rois pour le ministère dans le monde du travail”. Cees is also the guy who made the Dutch translation possible - available through his website. He can be contacted for Releasing Kings conferences in France and throughout Europe. Facebook - I'm posting more information on Face book at http://www.facebook.com/john.garfield1
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