Israel-Palestinian peace talks

Sometimes I read someone’s writing that is too good & too important to keep to myself, and such is the case today regarding the meetings this week between Israel and the Palestinians.  I highly recommend you read this and pray for God’s wisdom for these leaders.

Heads-up!

If you’re reading this the day it’s posted, you’ve probably already had your head-up looking at the near-record rainfall we’ve been experiencing.  But I’m really wanting to address some important stuff coming right up:

BTW, if you were at morning prayer today, was that AWESOME or what? So pleasantly surprised to see so many out in spite of the storms, and we “prayed up a storm” in the auditorium, too!  You can get in on it EACH Saturday at 8 a.m.

• Backyard Bible Clubs!  We doubled the number of clubs we’re offering after last Sunday’s message – so THANKS to each CLCer who’s hosting or helping reach kids in your neighborhood.  And it’s not too late – if you’re interested, just click here.

• ONE! I’m totally pumped about our new sermon series beginning August 1 at each CLC campus.  (You know what I’m gonna say next, right?) It very well may be the most important & timely series we’ve ever done!  (seriously!) We’re going to explore the ONE thing that’s most important on God’s heart – the ONLY one, the VALUE of one, the POWER of one and ONE like this – so get ready for a terrific August at CLC!

• What’s YOUR story? Can you believe it’s almost time for FRIEND DAY again?  This September 26 at each campus we’re hoping EVERY CLCer will bring a friend, and we want to share “cardboard testimonies” to help reach them.  Here’s a link to the promo from last year (ignore the date, but everything else remains the same.) If you want to be a part by sharing your story on cardboard, please click here.

That’s all coming right up…..but right now I’m SO excited about this weekend, knowing that God is speaking to CLC about our role in reaching the Jewish people, and how HE supernaturally connected us with the right partners to do that……just can’t wait for tomorrow morning when we hear from Daniel Juster in all 3 services at our Tinley campus!

10 reasons

With apologies to David Letterman, here’s my top 10 reasons that YOU should join us at CLC this Sunday:

10.  It’s Sunday! (where else would you rather be?)

9.  The CLC band is HOT!

8.  The speaker, Daniel Juster, is from JERUSALEM! (how cool is that?)

7.  You’ll probably learn something (he’s reportedly the leading Messianic theologian in the world!)

6. Israel is THE key to all “end-times” prophecy! (we’re all interested in the future)

5.  The Middle East is in the news daily! (find out why)

4.  Daniel’s ministry is CLC’s #1 partner in missions-giving! (Scripture says, “to the Jew first)

3.  Destiny: these services have been scheduled for almost a year (ONLY opening on Daniel’s calendar!)

2.  You might win a free trip to Israel! (Probably not, but you never know how the Spirit might move…)

1.  JESUS will be there!

See you Sunday morning at 8, 9:30 or 11:30 a.m.

Outstanding article about Israel

I’ve already written about the recent flotilla incident that brought worldwide condemnation of Israel, so you know my thinking on the subject.  But I read an article in the Washington Post that says it far better than I have.

Read and consider.

And if you’re still troubled by the flotilla incident, let me refer you to this outstanding site.

CLC, we must stand with Israel!

corrected link

Here’s the correct link for the ‘rest of the story’ regarding the flotilla and Israel this week.  (Sorry for the earlier confusion on yesterday’s post)

Once again, it’s important that we stand with Israel in prayer & support!

Israel in the news

That’s not so surprising; it seems that Israel is almost always in the news.  What is disturbing to me is how often the media takes such a biased view against Israel and in favor of whoever else happens to be opposing them.

The incident today with the flotilla attempt to break the Israeli embargo and bring humanitarian supplies into Gaza is a classic case in point.  For those of us who believe Genesis 12:3, there is another explanation of the events that took place – quite different than what we heard and saw from the mainstream media today.

Here’s a much more complete report of what happened.

As things heat up in the Middle East, I know that I know God is speaking to us at CLC to take our stand with Israel by supporting Jewish evangelism as our #1 priority in missions.  I can’t wait for our trip there this November, and I would urge you to consider going with us – it’s not too late!

Israel!

If you’ve been around the last year or so, you know how the Lord dealt with me concerning Jewish evangelism and how “to the Jew first” has become a key strategy in our missions efforts at CLC.

Last night and today I have the privilege of spending some time with Leon Mazin of “Return to Zion” ministries in Haifa, Israel.  He is a co-laborer with our partners in the Land, Tikkun International, and one of the key Messianic leaders that we will connect with during our upcoming missions trip to Israel this November 9-19.

Speaking of that trip: it’s NOT too late for you to join us – get all the details here.  (Our travel agent has even graciously agreed to extend the $100 discount even though we’re past that deadline).  I hope you’ll decide, “this year in Jerusalem!”

ISRAEL trip

Just wanted to let you know that the travel agent has agreed to give us a little more time on the $100 discount.  If you reserve your space by May 15 (at which time the second payment of $2,000 is due, as well as the initial deposit of $300), then you still save the $100 on the total trip cost.

We’ve already got a great group of CLCers scheduled to travel with my wife and me, as well as our friends, Pastors Eddie & Sherri Cupples, so I hope you’ll plan to join us as well.  Get all the details here or print out your registration form and get it in to Mauro Travel & Tours before May 15!  You can also get questions answered at the Missions booth at the Tinley Park campus or email us here.

It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime!

The only error at Sunday’s celebration…

It’s almost been 48 hours since we gathered at the Tinley Park Convention Center, and I’m still messed-up! Not only were your affirmations of love to us simply overwhelming, but I was honestly blown-away by every part of the service.  Most amazing to me was that such an elaborate schedule with each campus pastor playing an important role came off without a hitch or a hiccup – from the first “Uffda” (that really was a CLC first, Kristen) to the confetti cannon ending (another CLC first!) except for one glaring omission, and the culprit was yours truly.

We knew that having everyone together from all our campuses was the perfect opportunity to explain and promote the upcoming CLC missions trip to Israel this November 9-19, and the staff had asked me to share my heart regarding Israel.  It was on the schedule and it was in my notes, but I completely forgot!  So here goes:

• The Holy Spirit dealt with me very strongly while I was in the Philippines in June of 2009 over the fact that CLC is so missions-minded, with almost $4M sown into missions in our history, but until that point, not one penny had been given to reach the Jewish people.  I repented and promised the Lord that I would change that once I returned home.
• Since that encounter, as I’ve studied more and listened further, I’ve purposed in my heart that Israel will actually become our #1 priority in missions, ahead of any other nation in which we’re involved – in the words of Scripture, “to the Jew first!”
• Perhaps the most exciting development in these nine months is the connection we’ve made with Tikkun International – a Messianic, Spirit-filled coalition of ministries both in Israel and in the USA led by Daniel Juster. Dan is considered the leading Jewish Messianic theologian in the world today, and he’ll be ministering at CLC this July  25! And we already are sending more support on a monthly basis to them than to any other nation or ministry with which we partner.)
• This November 9-19 we will be leading a team of CLCers (hopefully from each campus) to the nation of Israel, where we will not only enjoy a tour of the Biblical sites, but also serve alongside these Messianic ministries.  We’ll enjoy a Shabbat service together; we’ll serve the poor & needy Jews; and we’ll have an opportunity to encourage our partners there.  I believe it will be the trip of a lifetime!
• All of the information you need is on our website (including a sample letter you can use to solicit help from family, friends and co-workers). In all my years of leading missions trips, I’ve never known of anyone who truly wanted to go who was not able to raise the necessary funds.
• But you must act soon! The deadline for the initial deposit to reserve your seat was April 1 – but I’ve asked the travel agent to give us a few more days.  I would urge you to get your deposit to Mauo Travel & Tours by April 15.  (Again, all the info is right here)

The Jews often say, “Next year in Jerusalem!”.  I’d like to suggest, for CLCers, it’s “This year in Jerusalem!”

If you have questions for me, leave them below-

interesting article about Israel

One of our ministry partners in the land of Israel sent this article regarding the recent tension there.  I found it quite interesting, and just one more example of the fact that we never seem to get the full story from our media sources:

Tension over Building in Jerusalem

By Frederick Solomon Intrater

Recently the US government has expressed disdain for the Israeli government’s policy of building houses in East Jerusalem. This has been communicated by the three top American officials Obama, Biden, and Clinton. The uniformed character of their response gives the impression that it was premeditated and coordinated. This week I attended a seminar with Nir Barkat, the Mayor of Jerusalem. Barkat outlined the international conflict over Jerusalem, of which the current diplomatic commotion is an example. Barkat explained that the Americans were misinformed. The expansion of construction is in accordance to a plan ten years old. (emphasis mine) This plan expands Jewish and Arab neighborhoods alike and in relative proportions to maintain the status quo of approximately 1/3 Arab civilians, 2/3 Jewish civilians.

The particular neighborhood in conflict is Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-orthodox community, located in the northern part of the city, between three large Jewish neighborhoods: Ramot, French Hill, and Ramat Eshkol. Next to Ramat Shlomo is also a large Arab town named Sho’afat, which was not part of Israel prior to 1967.  East Jerusalem, which was also not part of Israeli sovereignty until 1967, is in a different and separate part of the city. Yet again and again Ramat Shlomo is mentioned in the news as “East” Jerusalem. No one locally thinks of Ramat Shlomo as part of East Jerusalem. There are other Jerusalem neighborhoods much larger than Ramat Shlomo, and much deeper into formerly non-Israeli territory (such as Neve Yaakov). The question arises as to whether the American response was a reaction to new developments or an intentional strike at US-Israeli relations.

By the way, the deadline to save $100 on the cost of our CLC missions trip to Israel this November is fast approaching. It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime, and I encourage you to make plans to join us!

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