february 2020: here's an update of the - rock of israel
TRANSCRIPT
February 2020: Here's an update of theministry in the last month.We LOVE encouraging replies!
DONATE:To support our work click here:
STORE:To visit our online store: http://www.rockofisraelstore.org/
Visit our main Website
OUR 2020 OUTREACHES HAVE BEGUN
South Florida Fair Booth Our first outreach of 2020 is almost complete. The SouthFlorida fair started January 17th and runs until Sunday,February 2nd.
We have been speaking with people (both Jews andgentiles) about the Lord every day. The crowds are notlarge here, but sometimes that means quality overquantity. As always, we have many Jewish conversations at thisfair. Here is a sample: ** Stephanie (Jewish unbeliever) from Connecticutstopped by the booth. Our staff member Greg asked herif she was Jewish. She said she was and was open to allthings. So Greg gave her a book of testimonies called -They thought for themselves. ** Orthodox Jewish man from NY stops to look at who weare. (photo below)
** Dick was a Jewish man who has a relative who is aMessianic Jewish leader. So he knew about Jewish peoplebelieving in Jesus and said he was not opposed to it since allreligions are fine with God. Of course I (Doug) went internallyballistic, but I let him speak. He kept saying that same point, indifferent ways - that all religions are ordained of God - severaltimes not letting me hardly reply. I kept saying that it is notlogical. That all religions cannot be true because they teachvery different things. I said that we believe Jesus rose from thedead. He said “for you that is true.” I said, “No, either He didraise from the dead or He did not. It is not - true for me and nottrue for others - that is not logical” It got a bit heated at times,but I did ask his name and shook his hand before he left so asto leave on a good note.
**A Jewish mother and her son (12) were looking and he wasreading the Hebrew mug. I asked if he was Bar-Mitzvah soonand she said yes. She had a heavy Russian accent as Iexplained that we were Messianic Jews. She listened as Iexplained a few things. She took a book of testimonies andthen called her husband over as she said he was Christian(probably catholic). The local Messianic rabbi was at the booththat morning and I introduced them both to him. He said therewas a Russian who attended his congregation and sheseemed interested. She took his card. It was a greatinteraction.
** A Jewish older man (NY’er) came by being very jovial. Hesaid he was retired from the NYPD. I asked him if he knew mymothers uncle who was a detective on the NYPD fordecades. He said “Sure, I know Irwin.” So we had a connectionthere. He said (about God) that he goes right to the top of thechain of command, and doesn’t need a mediator. He did take aprophecy flyer though when I offered. ** Two Jewish women walked by slowly and looked ateverything. Then they gave me sort of an evil eye and said inHebrew, “Do you speak Hebrew?” I replied in Hebrew that Ispoke a little bit of Hebrew. They seemed surprised and thenwalked off. ** A Jewish young girl came by and she said she kindabelieved in Jesus because she was a Unitarian. That shelistened to Christian music too. I gave her a congregationalcard and was surprised that she knew exactly where it waslocated. I asked if she would read a book of testimonies if Igave it to her. She immediately said Yes! That she would makeit the next book she would read and thanked me for it.
We had many more interactions with people (most verypleasant) and we planted many gospel seeds. Please pray thatsome of these seeds will sprout and bear fruit.
Meet our Neighbor
It is so sad to see an entire booth set up (directly acrossfrom our booth) devoted to the “Virgin Mary.” (That is herlit-up statue in the center.) How we wish we had a signwhich said “Her name was Miriam and she was Jewish!”or “Don’t pray to Mary!” Don’t get us wrong, we do believe Mary (Miriam) wasindeed blessed, for she bore the Messiah of Israel andSavior of the world. However, it is tragic that peoplewould put time and energy (and funds) to propagate amessage of asking Mary to intercede for us when theBible tells us that – “there is one God and one mediatorbetween God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” (1Timothy 2:5)
Doug writes --A Catholic guy across the way (booth worker) came overand wanted to know about us. I explained how it was allJewish. That Mary herself was Jewish and calledMiriam. He agreed with me on many points. I asked if hewas born again and he didn’t know what that termmeant. I showed him in John 3.3 how Jesus said to get tothe Kingdom of God, one has to be born again. He said it(born again) was meant only for the Jewish people at thattime. (What??!!) Then I began to inquire why would aperson need to pray to Mary? I showed him the scripturein 1st Timothy which said there was one mediator. Hesaid that everyone has their “interpretation.” He told methat Mary appeared in Medjugorje and miracleshappened. That she intercedes for people. And he asked ifI believed in the saints. I said Mary was dead and we arenot to pray to dead people. It got quite intense, but Iwould not budge, neither would he.
Jesus is our mediator and we don’t need anothermediator to ask Him for anything for us.
We are now scheduling our 2020 speaking calendar. If you are in one of these states: * Florida,* New York,* New Jersey,* Ohio,* Michigan,* Illinois,* Indiana,* Iowa,* Wisconsin,* Missouri* Or anywhere else (you never know where we can befound) and wish for us to come and share with your: * Church* Large Sunday school* Home Bible study Let us know! We have information that we can send to your pastor. Call: 513.874-2566 / ORemail: [email protected]
There is no doubt that many of you have heard of the“International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.” Somany times we have believers come up to us to say“we support them.”
Our reply is, “You do realize that they are not believers inJesus and are opposed to sharing the gospel withanyone Jewish.”
Their founder, the late Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, was anOrthodox Jewish man who rejected Jesus asMessiah. Yet, they have very slick TV ads (withscriptures) which must work.
In 2017 alone, they took in over $121 MILLIONdollars. As far as we know – not a penny of that went toany Messianic believers in the land of Israel who are alsodoing humanitarian aid. The difference is – Messianicbelievers do the work in Yeshua’s (Jesus) Name. So on Robert Specter’s recent trip to Israel, he and hiswife Carrie got to meet with a number of Messianicbelievers who are doing the work of helping the needy.
They visited and gave donations from the Rock of Israel(a total of $1,450) to seven ministries.
While we cannot compete with the TV work of the lateRabbi’s organization, we trust this small offering (incomparison) will go a long way with God’s blessing uponit.
Here are those who received a gift from us (really fromYOU - our supporters.)
· Effraim Goldstein, Missionary & Pastor in Naharia· Jacob's Hope (Humanitarian aid)· Dugit (Avi Mizrachi, Tel Aviv evangelism coffeehouse)· Voice of Judah (Ashdod Humanitarian aid,congregation, & evangelistic outreach)· The Shelter, Eilat (Hostel providing Bibles andliterature, Shabbat meals and service for hikers andIsraeli tourists)· Josephs Project (MJAA, Humanitarian aid)· Joseph's Storehouse (Vision of Israel, Barry & BatyaSegal Humanitarian aid, backpacks for school children,etc.)
Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses. He took usforty years into the desert in order to bring us to the one place inthe Middle East that has no oil. ---Golda Meir
THIS MONTHS TRIVIA:
What is the difference between a BarMitzvah and Bat Mitzvah?
A) One is for those over 13, other for those under 13
B) One is on the Sabbath, the other is not
C) One is for a boy, the other for a girl.
D) There is no difference, just alternate pronunciations.
Answer near bottom
This Months Jewish HumorIsrael is the land of milk and honey;Florida is the land of milk of magnesia.
What is Zionism?
Pictured above: Theodore Herzl, 19th century Hungarian Jewish journalist and founder ofthe modern Zionist movement.
With all that has been in the news about Israel lately -you might hear this word mentioned in some newsstories: ZIONISM. So what is Zionism? The root of Zionism is the word'Zion.' Zion originally referred to the mountain inJerusalem on which stood the Jewish Temple. Eventuallythese terms became interchangeable. So Mount Zion andJerusalem are equivalent. And Jerusalem, of course, isthe heart of the land of Israel. Zion now has grown inmeaning to include all of the land of Israel. So Zionism is the heartfelt desire of the Jewish people tolive in their God given homeland. Simple right? So strong was this desire, that when they were takencaptive to Babylon - it was a subject still deep on thePsalmists heart.
PSALM 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
This is Zionism! The longing of the Jewish captives in Babylon to goback to Israel (their homeland) is an expression ofZionism. And it is still alive today. Today, modern Jewish people still feel this same senseof longing - to live in their homeland. The land of Israel isa magnet to them. This is Zionsim. However, Zionism is a bad word among those who areopposed to the Jewish people living in the land. And so,when Jewish people’s desire to live in their homelandmeets head on with those who are opposed to that issue- you will have conflict. There is no simple answer to this conflict politically, butyou can be sure of this - when the Messiah returns - allwill be as God wishes it to be. Israel is His land.
QUIZ ANSWER:
Answer - C) Bar Mitzvah is for a boy, Bat Mitzvah is for agirl.
We need your support each month to do this work.We are not a big ''world-wide'' TV ministry
with millions of donors.
We are a small ministry seeking to do BIG things for the Kingdom of God.
Our office staff are waiting and ready to help you with any questions you might have. 513-874-2566.
Three ways to give: 1) Postal MailRock of Israel MinistriesPO Box 18038 Fairfield, OH 45018
2) Card (Visa, MC, etc.) at our website ''donate'' link
https://www.rockofisraelstore.org/products/donate
or
Call (Tues - Fri) 800-722-7625 // or // 513-874-2566
3) Paypal
Paypal donations: [email protected]
Or click herehttps://www.rockofisrael.org/donation/
