September 7, 2008
SPECIAL EDITION
" . . . if my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. . . " (2 Chronicles 7:14)
[Please note: Due to technical difficulties, this alert is being published one day late.]
INTRODUCTION TO WEEK THIRTY-FIVE | |
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INTRODUCTION TO WEEK THIRTY-FIVE
This week, we continue to press in during WEEK THIRTY-FIVE of our 40 Weeks of Prayer and Fasting, to offer prayers of repentance for the sin in the church, the sin in the nation, and the blessing of Israel.
We now address these areas:
1. SIN IN THE CHURCH: DIVIDING THE LAND OF ISRAEL
2. SIN IN THE NATION: DIVIDING THE LAND OF ISRAEL
3. PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL: HER BOUNDARIES
SIN IN THE CHURCH: DIVIDING THE LAND | |
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REPENTANCE FOR SIN IN THE CHURCH:
DIVIDING THE LAND OF ISRAEL
"The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants." (Levitucus 25:23 NIV)
"I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land." (Joel 3:2 NIV)
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." (Zechariah 12:9)
The Land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob cannot be bartered away. It is, instead, His Holy land, and any nation that seeks to divide that land, according to the Word of God, will bring a curse upon itself:
Sadly, the evangelical Christian community is itself divided on this very issue of dividing the land of Israel. Many, who read and honor God's Word as TRUTH that cannot be negotiated, stand by an undivided nation and an undivided Jerusalem, with no questions asked. Others, however, have fallen prey to a teaching that states, in part, that the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob CAN be placed on the negotiating table, in the name of "peace." [This teaching, called "replacement theology," will be addressed in our next Call to Repentance.]
The depth of this divide within the evangelical Christian community first came to light last summer, when the Jerusalem Post published the article excerpted below. Many of us who love Israel and who grieve to think that our nation is engaged in a "two- state solution" for "peace" in the Middle East, were shocked to read the following on July 29, 2007:
"Evangelicals' Letter Backs Palestinian State"
Many evangelical Christians throughout the United States support a two-state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, and seek "justice" for both sides, reads an open letter to US President George W. Bush published in Sunday's New York Times.
The letter, signed by several dozen evangelical clergy and activists, urged the Bush administration not to "grow weary" in its attempt to negotiate a "lasting peace" in the region. The letter's authors sought to correct what they called a "serious misperception" that all American evangelicals objected to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and said they hoped that the awareness of a large body of evangelical support for a permanent status agreement between Israel and the PA would "embolden" Bush. . . "We renew our prayers and support for your leadership. . . and justice and peace for all the people in the Holy Land," the letter concluded.
A list of the letter's 37 signatories, as well as the article in its entirety, can be read here.
In the same article, Pastor John C. Hagee offered a different opinion and pointed to the divide within the evangelical community, by stating that "The authors of this letter do not represent the views of the vast majority of Bible-believing mainstream evangelicals in America." Hagee was then quoted in detail, outlining the specific concerns of the majority of Bible-believing Christians with this two-state policy.
Meanwhile, in our own prayer closets, and prayer meetings, even as we began to weep before our Lord in repentance for these ministry leaders who are walking in error, their numbers were actually growing. By November, as the Bush administration was calling the world's leaders to a global meeting in Annapolis, Maryland for the purpose of finalizing plans for their "two-state solution," Christianity Today published this headline:
" 80 Evangelical Leaders Reiterate Call for Two- State Solution for Israel and Palestine"
The number of ministry leaders and educators who now were publicly endorsing this policy, and who had written President Bush in support of this "solution" had actually increased -- from 37 to 80! Clearly, this apostate movement is gaining strength; and clearly, we must stand in the gap for the "priests" in the Church, who have lost their way.
· Father God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . the One True and Living God, as we read reports like these, our hearts are grieved, for we know Your heart is grieved . . . for your church, and for your priests. We stand in the gap for this sin, and we ask You to nevertheless demonstrate the "hesed" of Your mercy love in the midst of this chaos. May ALL of our church leaders come to revere and honor Your Scriptures, for Your Word alone is holy and Your Word alone is true. Father God, in Your wrath, we CRY OUT to You, and we ask You to please turn Your anger away, and to show us Your mercy. We ask this in Jesus' wonderful Name, amen.
· "Ephraim surrounds Me with lies And the house of Israel with deceit; Judah is also unruly against God, Even against the Holy One who is faithful."
"Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity."
"I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them." (Hosea 11:12; 14:1,4)
SIN IN THE NATION: DIVIDING THE LAND | |
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REPENTANCE FOR THE SINS OF THE NATION:
DIVIDING THE LAND OF ISRAEL -- PROMOTING THE "TWO-STATE" POLICY
INTRODUCTION:
Not only have some in the church worked to divide the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but so has our own federal government.
Seven years ago this week, Secretary of State Colin Powell was preparing to fly up to New York City to attend a series of pre-conference sessions at the United Nations. In his briefcase was a document called "The Roadmap to Peace" - to be introduced for the first time that Saturday when the United Nations was to host its annual meeting. The date was Tuesday, September 11th. Before Secretary Powell left that day for New York City, 19 Moslem Jihadists attacked the towers of the World Trade Center. Powell's meetings at the U.N. were postponed; and he never left Washington that day.
Was this timing a coincidence, or was it a sign from GOD - a warning that His protective covering over our country would be lifted if we even were to consider touching His Holy land?
In his groundbreaking book, Eye to Eye - Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, Bill Koenig has revealed "tit for tat" how natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and economic downturns have followed each attempt to part Israel. In this book, Bill Koenig provides undeniable facts and conclusive evidence showing that indeed the leaders of the United States and the world are on a collision course with God over Israel's covenant land.
For example, in his book Koenig asks this question . . . and then gives the answer:
"What do these major-record setting events have in common?
· Nine of the ten costliest insurance events in U.S. history
· Six of the seven costliest hurricanes in U.S. history
· Three of the four largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history
· Nine of the top ten natural disasters in U.S. history ranked by FEMA relief costs
· The two largest terrorism events in U.S. history
All of these major catastrophes transpired on the very same day or within 24-hours of U.S. presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush applying pressure on Israel to trade her land for promises of "peace and security," sponsoring major "land for peace" meetings, making major public statements pertaining to Israel's covenant land and /or calling for a Palestinian state.
Are each one of these major record-setting events just a coincidence or awe-inspiring signs that God is actively involved in the affairs of Israel? "
NOW: SEVEN YEARS LATER - (Have we gotten the message yet??)
REPORT: JERUSALEM IS ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
(Source: Intercessors for America)
According to top diplomatic sources, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited the region last week, pressed Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would include Jerusalem by offering the Palestinians a state in Israel's capital city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Most Israelis and Americans, including the influential U.S. Jewish community, are in the dark about the Jerusalem negotiations, allowing the Israeli government to continue the virtual chopping up of Israel's capital city without any major protest or distraction.
The U.S. government is heavily involved in the Jerusalem negotiation process, offering the Israeli and Palestinian teams staged proposals on how to split the holy city and pressing Israel to include pledges to evacuate parts of Jerusalem in a document expected to be released before January outlining a Palestinian state.
According to informed sources, Jerusalem talks are being held under secretive conditions, with a small number of Israelis and Palestinians on each negotiating team. The Israeli team is led by Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni, a front-runner for this month's leadership primary in Olmert's Kadima Party. (WorldNetDaily, Aaron Klein 9/3/08)
CONCLUSION:
As we write this alert this evening, Hurricane Ike - a monster, Category 4 storm - is once again Bearing down on the Gulf Coast and is due to make landfall later this week. [For more on this developing story, please see the article below, titled "How Many Warnings More?" written by Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director; International Christian Zionist Center.]
In addition, and turning our attention to the economy, Reuters is reporting the following news:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) on Sunday, the Treasury Department said. The officials are expected to announce plans for a federal takeover of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FRE) and Freddie Mac (FRE). FHFA regulates the two companies, the largest sources of U.S. home mortgage finance.
The move to take control of the two companies, which could amount to the largest financial bailout in U.S. history, is a bid to ward off further damage to a housing market in its deepest downturn since the Great Depression. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee almost half of the country's $12 trillion in outstanding home mortgage debt. They have suffered combined losses of nearly $14 billion in the past four quarters.
How many ways can you spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R??
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem?" (Zechariah 12:9)
A PRAYER OF REPENTANCE:
Father God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, we come before Your Throne of Grace tonight in fear and in trembling, for once again, our nation is moving aggressively to defy Your Word, to violate Your Law, and to divide Your land.
How long, O Lord, can we continue to pursue this policy, and not encounter Your wrath?
How long, O Lord, how long, we ask?
We take up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and we sever the apostate church from these moves of our government, and we ask that You would nullify the voices of our church "leaders" who have given our president this wicked counsel.
We ask You to forgive President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and all who are on their administrative council, for they don't even yet understand the severe consequences that will befall a nation that seeks to part Your land.
We thank You, Lord, that Bill Koenig's book is now in the hands of President Bush. We ask You to move upon his heart to understand the message of Eye to Eye - for we face yet the eye of another devastating hurricane - another warning - about to hit our land.
Father God, just as you gave the warning to King Belshazzar in the time of Daniel, by showing him the writing on the wall, we ask that YOU, dear Lord, would do the same for our "king," President George W. Bush. We ask that You would even visit him in the night, and open his eyes to understand the imminent danger now facing our nation, lest we repent and turn back to Your ways.
We thank You, Father God, for the promises of Your Word, for it is written:
"In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumbering upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction." (Job 33:15-16)
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." (Proverbs 21:1)
Father, we thank You that You are able to turn the heart of our king back to You, and we ask this prayer tonight, by faith, in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL: HER BOUNDARIES | |
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PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL:
THE BOUNDARIES OF ISRAEL
Prayer that the bounderies of Israel would not be touched
" Don't move your neighbor's boundary markers, the longstanding landmarks set up by your pioneer ancestors defining their property." (Deuteronomy 19:14)
No individual has the right to give up the inheritance of Israel for the future generations of the Jewish people. Prayer for protection and limiting of the government as it enters into a caretaker stage. That no agreements would be made to move the boundaries of the nation.
We recognized the double curse or robbery in the moving of the boundaries and a curse in those lands that are ceded no longer giving honor to the Almighty. Example of Gush Katif now standing desolate.
(Source: Intercessors for Israel)
HOW MANY WARNINGS MORE? | |
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HOW MANY WARNINGS MORE?
As Gustav has left destruction in its wake, Hannah lashes its way up the East Coast, Ike charges towards the Gulf of Mexico, and Josephine picks up steam behind it, WHERE ARE THE MEN who can warn President Bush, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice loudly and with enough impacting authority for them to FINALLY get the message and CEASE their tampering with God's land and borders in a bid to please the Arab and Muslim world.
Enough is enough, in God's eyes, and I wish someone would say so to Mr. Bush and Ms. Rice.
God has had enough of all this pressure - as Rice again just mercilessly brought to bear on the Israelis in her bid to please the president with at least one political "success!"
When will the president heed God's message? Will he, like Pharaoh, close his ears in the face of disaster after disaster? Does the U.S. need more terrible destruction before Mr. Bush realizes that he is on a collision course with God Himself? Can't SOMEBODY tell him, robustly and with authority, that unless he turns away from his two-state solution which aims at dividing God's land, everything will go wrong in his remaining months in office?
May God find a prophet among His children who will be able - as Moses and Aaron did for Pharaoh - to interpret these disasters to Mr. Bush in such a way that he, and those with him, will finally understand that the one who touches and pushes Israel touches the apple of His eye.
How amazingly appropriate are the words of Psalm 105. Although the whole psalm is highly significant, here are some of the most important verses:
O seed of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance," when they were few in number, indeed very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people, He permitted no one to do them wrong; yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying, "Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm." (Psalm 105:6-15)
The rest is the story of what God did through many plagues to Egypt as He will do to America unless there is a definite change. How many plagues have to hit the people of the US before the President finally lets Israel free to possess all its land, as God intended.
Who will bring THIS MESSAGE to Mr. Bush like once Moses who stood up before Pharaoh? This is a cry written in love and deep concerns for an already too maligned President. May he heed the warning of God and redeem these last few months of his presidency as no other president yet in love and service for God and Israel-I pray.
Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director
International Christian Zionist Center
(Next week: D.L. Moody) | |
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Hymn of the Week . . . | |
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ZION STANDS BY HILLS SURROUNDED
"As the mountains are around Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even forever." (Psalm 125:2)
Words: Thomas Kelly, 1806 Music: Thomas Hastings, 1830
ZION STANDS BY HILLS SURROUNDED
Zion stands by hills surrounded,
Zion, kept by power divine;
All her foes shall be confounded,
Though the world in arms combine;
Happy Zion, what a favored lot is thine!
Happy Zion, what a favored lot is thine!
Every human tie may perish;
Friend to friend unfaithful prove;
Mothers cease their own to cherish;
Heav'n and earth at last remove;
But no changes can attend Jehovah's love,
But no changes can attend Jehovah's love.
In the furnace God may prove thee,
Thence to bring thee forth more bright,
But can never cease to love thee;
Thou art precious in His sight;
God is with thee-God, thine everlasting Light,
God is with thee-God, thine everlasting Light.
[To hear the music for this magnificent hymn, go here.]
Who We Are | |
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Capitol Hill Prayer Partners (CHPP) is a ministry dedicated to encouraging prayer for our leaders, and for issues involving our national security. We are a 501 (c) 3, tax-exempt nonprofit ministry, relying solely upon the gifts of our friends to maintain this work.
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Past Issues are Archived on our Blog | |
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Thank you all for your own prayers of agreement as we continue to work through 40 WEEKS of Prayer and Fasting, before our Lord, for our sin as a church and as a nation. Amen.
posted by A Call to Repentance @ 11:38 AM
..A Call to Repentance!
