Yeshua Israel

 
Why Jerusalem Matters to You

 

If Israel is the apple of God’s eye, Jerusalem is the apple of Israel’s eye. The center of the center.  The core of the core.  The physical location where the presence of the only Living God dwelt among men. It is the place where God asked Abraham to offer his only son...
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The Israel Family Fund (IFF)

 

If you’ve been following Yeshua Israel Ministries for any amount of time, you know family is an important part of our mission. While street evangelism is a common approach to spreading the Gospel, in Israel it rarely brings about long-term fruit. On the other hand, mentoring and supporting Israeli families is the most effective way for long term expansion of the Kingdom of God and rooting its influence deep in the heart of Israel. READ MORE

 
Yeshua Israel Worship Initiative

 

It was a corporate worship experience that got me back on track with God. I was about 15 when I attended a worship service (not by choice :)) and experienced God so powerfully that all the rebellious things I’d so passionately pursued suddenly seemed so dull. The worldly music I used to find solace in suddenly felt empty, and the thrill of doing things I wasn’t supposed to felt stale. I became so keenly aware of God when songs about Him played that it was easy for me to get caught up in the moment and worship like no one was watching.

My grandmother, Freda Lindsay, co-founder of Christ for the Nations, always seemed to have some intuition about my calling to worship and often asked me if I was practicing my singing and piano. I studied various instruments and voice, but I was married with children before a great team of musicians would initiate an intensive season of worship leading and songwriting for me.  READ MORE

Yeshua Israel Worship Initiative Video

Illit Bat Mitzvah Video

 
Unrest in Jerusalem

 

For the past few weeks tensions have once again reached their tipping point and spilled over into our lives here in Jerusalem. Collective chants of Allah Akbar echo across the ancient stones of buildings built long before Mohammed ever declared Allah the one true god.

You may or may not have heard on the news what sparked the latest flare up. Two weeks ago, two Islamic terrorists took a selfie of themselves in front of the Dome of the Rock and then started firing their smuggled guns killing two Israeli guards before being killed themselves. The strange part of this story is that the Temple Mount is generally frequented only by Muslims and tourists - not Jews. The role of security forces stationed there is to keep the peace - and make sure no non-Muslims attempt to pray on the grounds. So, it’s confusing as to why they chose this place to attack. Perhaps, they realized the chaos it would breed. READ MORE

 
Make a Joyful Noise (in Hebrew)

  by Shani Ferguson

 
You would think the many challenges of a new life in a new land would discourage believers from investing long hours writing music in their newly learned Hebrew language. However, something in the heart of these pioneers understood that worship was historically a core part of Jewish culture and therefore an essential element for getting properly established in the land.  READ MORE

 
2017 Already Intense for Israel
  by Shani Ferguson

Already 2017 has proven to be a year like many others in recent memory. The latest international gathering in Paris was just another attempt by world leaders to once again try to force Israel to give up her land. In return, they offered the empty promise that Islamic terrorists will suddenly leave Israel alone. Thankfully, that convention experienced mass confusion and only resulted in yet another symbolic gesture against Israel without any lasting consequences.  READ MORE

 
‘Tis the Season for Family
  by Shani Ferguson

As our family grew, we came face to face with the challenge of giving our all to both our dreams and our family. We wrestled in our hearts between our passion for what we knew God had called us to do - and the family we knew He gave us to raise.  READ MORE

 
Hebrew Myths 101
  by Shani Ferguson

There should be some credibility given to the idea that Hebrew, like other languages, has unique and beautiful aspects to it that are too complex to translate in one word. Reading any text in a language other than the authored language can result in something “getting lost in the translation.”
Take a simple example of the name of the great I AM, who was and is and is to come - Yahweh (יהוה). Did you know that this name in Hebrew is a combination of the words “was”, “is” and “is to come” all wrapped into one word?   READ MORE

  
Discovering Hebrew Roots
by Shani Ferguson

If you're Christian, are you the New Israel? What does it mean to be Jewish?  Is being a Messianic Jew an upgraded version of being Christian? These are age-old questions that have been argued over in living rooms and courtrooms around the world. These questions have fueled religious wars and the slaughter of entire villages. And yet, these questions hold within them a promise of hope and destiny for us all.  READ MORE

  
Beyond Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem PART II
by Shani Ferguson

Part II - Because of the amount of relevant categories for prayer in regards to Israel, this article has been broken into two parts. The first part (sent last month) deals with physical issues such as land, government and security. This issue, the second part, deals with spiritual issues such as ministry, character and the Body of believers in Israel

Part I of Beyond Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem included physical prayer topics for Israel such as land, government, economy and immigration. These topics are the usual things that get people arguing in regards to right and wrong, justice and warcrimes. But if the spiritual aspects are dealt with, often the natural things fall into place. So let us delve into the spiritual needs of the Jewish people and the Promised Land. God promised to bless the earth through the families of Israel. It is their calling and destiny whether they recognize it or not. And yet, when Israel is in right standing with the Lord, how much more will we see the nations experience the Kingdom of God manifest on the earth? It’s not a hope, it’s a promise. So let’s dig in our heels together and contend for God’s ancient plan to be fulfilled in the hearts of the children of Israel and ultimately in our own lives. (Rom 11:15)   READ MORE

  
Beyond Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem
by Shani Ferguson

If you watch a variety of Christian shows about Israel, you might honestly believe that the greatest prayer need in Israel lies somewhere between the 6th trumpet blast and the rebuilding of the third temple. I mean no disrespect, since any attempt by Christians to bring Israel to God’s attention is greatly appreciated by both Him and us Jews! Yet, I can only assume the reason these things become the focus of prayer is because, although Christians worldwide get tremendous insight from the Bible, they often lack updated information to make their prayers for Israel more specific and relevant to the times. The quickest way to overcome this problem is simply to go to the best source for things going on in modern day Israel – Israeli believers.   READ MORE

  
How We Reach Israel
by Shani Ferguson

Having been born and raised in Israel and officially founded Yeshua Israel in 2001, we have discovered that when pursuing the restoration of the Jewish people to God, the patient, long-term approach is by far the most effective. It is not one big prophetic event, but rather countless, constant small efforts that will serve as the hammer that shatters the stony casing around Jewish hearts.   READ MORE

  
When the Levites Return to Their Posts
by Shani Ferguson

“Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who writes its laws.” This brilliant piece of wisdom is attributed to 17th century Scottish poet and politician Andrew Fletcher. With his hands in both the arts and legislation, he found that when properly applied, the arts carried more influence on the behavior of society than the weight of law. Fletcher’s thoughts were echoed in the hippie, counterculture movements of the 1960s and 1970s, where a famous guitarist was quoted saying, “I use music to open up people’s souls; then, I preach whatever I want.”  READ MORE

  
The Journey to Justice

If I had a shekel for every time my kids declared an issue in their life “not fair,” I would probably already have enough money to send all of them through college - twice. It seems inherent, as if every child is born with a natural sense of things needing to be right - and a drive to make it right when it is not. We all grumble inside when the team member who caused the most problems gets praised for a job well done. We also all smile inside when a guy acting like a jerk turns around and walks straight into a not an instant gavel that can be brought down.  READ MORE

 
  Why are ‘Normal’ People Joining ISIS?

While world leaders sit around scratching their heads regarding what to do about ISIS, it is becoming clear to many that there are two types of people in the world - those who don’t like ISIS and those who join them. No terrorist group - or modern day organized military for that matter - has been able to ignite such excitement in a generation.  READ MORE

  
The Four Winds & The Walking Dead
   Yeshua Israel Report

A fully alive and restored Israel is the most incredible testimony of God’s redemptive power and loyalty to humanity. This also makes it one of the greatest threats to the kingdom of darkness. The enemy of heaven cannot stop the wind once it begins to move. But he can try to keep the message from reaching the four winds, that it’s their time to blow.

There is nothing that would make the enemy happier than to have the Church take one look at Israel and walk away with disgust, not realizing Israel is in that crucial stage between birth and it’s first breath.  READ MORE

   Living in Israel 2013: Difficult but Awesome

I'm a mother of four little kiddos and a wife to a hard working man. I grew up just outside of Tel Aviv and moved to Jerusalem 5 years ago.

I have options, I don't have to live here. And every subsequent visit to the US screams to my maternal instincts, "It'll be so much easier if you just move here!"  READ MORE

 
December 2012 Yeshua Israel Report
  How Gentiles Saved the World

Irena Sendler was a Polish Gentile who studied to become a social worker at the Warsaw University. When the Germans occupied Poland in 1939, she became a part of an underground movement and even recruited many of her friends to work toward saving Jewish children from the Nazi’s. Since social workers were not allowed in the ghettos, Irena obtained fake documents and passed herself off as a nurse. READ MORE    

 
  To Strike or Not to Strike Iran (That is the Question)

If Israel does not strike Iran before it creates a nuclear bomb, smaller Arab countries will have to abandon their alliances with America and create an alliance with Iran out of self-defense. Then where will America station her soldiers in the Middle East? And who will she buy oil from?

I am confident the Jewish people will ultimately survive. But how many Jews survive is still up for grabs in my mind. Biblically, the amount of protection Israel enjoys is directly affected by the amount of prayer that is sent up to heaven by believers worldwide on her behalf.    READ MORE

 
  The Rise of the Sabra Believers

Today, for the first time in 2,000 years there are hundreds of native born Israelis who grew up in Israel as Jewish believers in Yeshua. We are more commonly referred to as Israeli Messianic Jews.
We are now teens and young adults. We’ve lived through missiles, gas masks and endless hours sitting in bomb shelters. We’ve spoken openly of being “born twice” - which is a hard one to explain in Hebrew. We endured the scoffing of our peers, and the mocking of our teachers about our belief in the “Christian God who kills Jews.”    READ MORE

  September 2012 Yeshua Israel Report
  Demystifying Israel

We’ve all seen it - the endless flow of television shows about Israel and her history.  Some have footage of ancient caves in the hills of Judea, or buildings in Jerusalem with thousands of years of history. Others  go with an in-studio format, boasting a host clothed in priestly robes anxious to tell you about the latest in biblical prophecy and the mystery of the Jewish people.

These shows fascinate many Christians who want to understand the significance of Israel. The problem is that they can leave people more confused than informed.   READ MORE

  Abraham's Secret

If you’ve never considered your life activities in light of a multi-generational vision, perhaps it is because you’re thinking, “Why bother since Yeshua’s return is imminent?” Consider the term ‘hitting beyond the ball.’ It’s a classic rule in games like golf and baseball. It is derived from a simple law of physics: those who try only to hit the ball will not hit it nearly as well as those who continue swinging after the ball is hit. So let us live ready for Him to return any day while planning for His arrival in 100 years.

Even in His parables, Yeshua was clear that His arriving while we are busy doing His will will be much better received than His arriving to see us standing staring at the sky. READ MORE

  December 2011 Yeshua Israel Report
  Pilgrim's Progress
Look How Far We've Come

The late 70’s in Israel were as much about the birthing of the modern Messianic movement in Israel as anything else. The Jewish belief in Yeshua had gone into a figurative exile as Jewish people lived in literal exile. This all began to change once Israel was reborn.

Some of the most devoted hippies of the 1960’s were abruptly captured by the heart of God during the “Jesus movement” of the 1970’s. Come to find out, an astounding number of newly transformed hippies were Jews. Not only did many of them become born again, many of them answered the call to return to the home of their ancestors - Israel.  READ MORE