Our Call to Israel
When we received the call to go to Israel, we did not have an
over-arching vision or purpose in our minds, except the love that we
felt for the ancient homeland of God’s
people, and our desire to live
and work there. In a sense that still remains true.
The Scripture that we were given when we were praying and meditating
about the move was Psalm 102:13, “You will arise and have mercy upon
Zion, for the time to favor her, yes, the set [Appointed] time has come.”
Hence the name of our ministry: Appointed Time Ministries.
However we do have a vision, and that is that the Jewish people as a
whole will one day come to recognize their Messiah, Jesus the Nazarene,
who lived and walked the streets and paths of Galilee and Judea so long
ago. It is our belief
that because of the veil over the hearts and minds of the Jewish people,
it takes a sovereign act of God to bring a Jewish person to faith.
Because of two thousand years of bad relations between Church and
Synagogue, Gentiles must now leave “conversion” up to God.
In the meantime, however, we can show love and compassion to the
Jewish people. This love and compassion must be genuine. We do not view
them as “conversion-fodder,” so to speak. We view them as God’s chosen
people. We view them as a misunderstood, vilified, and wounded people.
We owe them a deep and heartfelt apology for our treatment of them over
the years. Many of them will not accept that apology, but we must
offer it.
We view our calling as, in part, a mandate to help train a leadership,
not only for the messianic work in Israel, but for the Church worldwide.
To that end, I am teaching in several different institutions in
Jerusalem. The Great Commission has two parts: (1) to make disciples,
and (2) to teach them “all things whatsoever I have commanded you”
(Matthew 28:19, 20). We are engaged in the teaching portion of that
Great Commission.
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