US Tour Report
By Stan Goodenough
On June 7 this year, International Christian Zionist Center Director Jan Willem van der Hoeven and I returned to
Although we had prayerfully planned our way, it was not until we were on the road that we began to see the strategic significance of the route we would take.
Our journey took us from the northeastern to the southwestern corners of
We were accompanied for nearly half our time there by Don Cobble, a pastor from
Wherever we had the opportunity to speak – in churches, synagogues and lawmakers offices, to Jews and Christians, ordinary citizens and political leaders – we invoked God’s promise and warning: that He will bless the nation that will serve
Boston
The capital of
Today this city has become a primary gateway for the corrosive secular-humanism that is eating away at those very foundations, infecting the
Boston’s State House speaks to these extremes in
It was in this State House, on Sunday evening, May 13, 2007, that what Bostonians called an “historic occasion” took place, when hundreds of Christians and an estimated 100 Jews came together for “A Time to Bless
Jan Willem was the keynote speaker at the event, which was launched with the sounding of shofars on the Grand Staircase and the parading of 12 glorious banners for the tribes of
According to Dr. Shelli Baker, the event arranger and director of the sponsoring Boston Bless
“Never in all the history of our State House does anyone recall such favor, to use the entire structure for a time to worship God with Christians and Jews together!”
Walls that in recent years have witnessed the passing of immoral laws, and inside which those prosecuting America’s war against jihadist forces in Iraq have frequently been condemned, now heard the warning from a Bible-believing Dutch preacher, that the United States is almost irreversibly en route to humiliation and defeat in the Middle East.
His voice thundering from the platform, Jan Willem riveted the audience in their seats as he decried the utter foolishness of a Democrat-led Congress and Senate which would – should they achieve their goal of pulling US forces out of Iraq too soon – “with one stroke” give Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the prize he is after: Number one regional superpower status as he moves swiftly to fill the vacuum America will leave behind.
With 40 percent of the world’s oil in his hands, Ahmadinejad would be able to pursue his nuclear program unhindered, while putting an end to the so-called moderate trends the State Department has for decades worked to nurture in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
Having consolidated his position and taken the measure of today’s spineless, liberal world, the new Hitler would turn to Europe and threaten to cut off the Continent’s oil supply unless the Europeans agreed to look the other way – as they did 60 years ago – and “give Iran the Jews,” thereby facilitating the final solution of the Israel question.
After Jan Willem spoke, the suddenly-sobered audience listened to a former general in Saddam Hussein’s army spell out the chilling realities of Middle Eastern politics that will guarantee the realization of the bleak scenario the ICZC director had just painted, (but which the general had not been present to hear).
Washington
Leaving
Among those we visited with were Senator Jeff Sessions (R) Alabama, who serves on the Armed Services Committee; Congressman Robert B. Aderholt (R) Alabama, who serves on the Appropriations Committee; Congressman Kendrick B, Meek (D)
We also met with former Republican senator Rick Santorum who heads up the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter (
Driving home the warning, Jan Willem described how Ahmadinejad would crow, declaring Allah triumphant over the infidel Americans as
Was this the “wisdom” of the Democrats, Jan Willem wondered aloud: to cut funding for the war and force the compliance of their Commander in Chief, to their own nation’s terrible detriment and defeat?
We also spoke strongly against President George W. Bush’s “two state vision” that has so terribly eroded-Israel’s security in the face of the ever-burgeoning threats from around and within the Jewish homeland. Specifically, Jan Willem pinpointed
The implementation of this policy would mandate the forceful removal of hundreds of thousands of Jews from their homes, resulting in the final relinquishing of
As they did with such alacrity and success in southern
What is certain is this: that the judenrein “West Bank” will instantly become an Islamic terrorist state, with rocket-armed Arabs positioned on the hills less than 20km from
How on earth, Jan Willem demanded, if more than 100,000 US marines are unable to secure and defend the fledgling democracy America has paid so high a price to plant in Iraq, would Washington ever be able to ensure that the newly created “Palestine” would become anything remotely resembling the “democratic, secular Arab state … side-by-side in peace with Israel” the Bush administration insists it wants to see established?
These words seemed to impact some of those we spoke to. One congressman went so far as to request that we “help” him become a voice of reason against such madness.
Distressingly, ignorance of what Islam really is – together with the mass-emasculation that has resulted from the “need” to remain politically correct in dealing with this dangerous religion – appears widespread in Washington, and in the US on the whole.
A former senator told us he believes militant Islam can be dealt with from within by introducing a pluralism which over time (what time?) will moderate the religion, and defang it.
Don was shocked and disappointed by this blindness, as were we all. And it is combined with the sense of helplessness on the street that has neutralized many Christians – preventing them from warning against the mortal danger of Islam, and from demanding that their politicians restrict its encroachment on their country.
The impression that grew increasingly as we traveled is that the
Nashville – In search of heavenly music
Leaving
A family, extraordinarily gifted in worshiping through art, music and dance – but whose ministry has weathered tremendous spiritual attack – was waiting near
By the time we left, a number of them had committed to coming to the Feast (September 25 through October 5) and we are anticipating glorious and powerful worship as we gather to carry out “the exploits of God.”
St Louis – Global Day of Prayer in the Gateway to the West
From
St Louis’ new Busch Stadium lies just beneath the Arch, and was the venue for Pentecost Sunday’s Global Day of Prayer, where Jan Willem was invited to bring a petition on
A spontaneous response erupted from many in the 3000-strong crowd as his powerful prayer for God’s ancient people and land ascended into the overcast night sky.
Christians in the city who heard Jan Willem speak over the subsequent two days responded from their hearts, and enthusiastically agreed to come up to Jerusalem for the Feast. Many wanted to pay their deposits on the spot. A radio talk show host offered to invite his listeners to sign up too.
San Diego – ‘Jacob’s trouble is over’
Palm trees brush the sky above this pretty Pacific Ocean city – the second-largest in
We spent a couple of intensive hours with Bill MacKay, producer of the astounding television series “Against all Odds – In search of a Miracle” which so vividly shows how God has moved in supernatural ways to bring about Israel’s rebirth in her ancient homeland. The series has been shown on TBN, is about to be screened on PBS, and a feature-length film has also been produced. Bill shared with us some spirit-soaring developments that will have a far-reaching impact on
Our message to the believers at the Maranatha Chapel – which has already taken a strong pro-Israel stand – began by centering on the loneliness and growing hopelessness today felt by so many of the Jewish people in their land.
Jan Willem went on to confront the troubling, widely-held belief in Evangelical American Christianity that
He recounted the centuries of suffering experienced by the people of
“How many two-thirds do the Christians want?” he cried, “a third two-thirds, when they go on and on about how the Jews have come home, not to see the grace and favor and the spirit of God, but for another Jacob’s trouble?!
“It is a lie from the devil! For the Bible does not say that the Jewish people will brought back to be slaughtered again! Two thirds of them have twice been slain already!”
Only the Spirit of God will be able to break through into the hearts of Christians with this vital message that is needed to set straight the American church. So many of those who already love Israel have embraced as biblical truth the man-made teaching of a coming Jacob’s trouble for Israel while the Church is raptured “out of here.”
Our future lies with the Jewish people, Jan Willem continued, not separated from them. We are being called to stand alongside and around them, in some ways even between them and a God-hating world, through whatever lies ahead.
He shared the calling from God and his vision to establish a “mother center” in
Should the
Not for the first time was this staggering but barely understood truth communicated to those we spoke to:
If a mere 10,000 Christians had come to Israel in July 2005, and had placed themselves as a wall between Israel’s security forces and the 9,000 Jews they were set to forcefully uproot from Gaza (under the world’s approving gaze) – the “Disengagement Plan” could well have been foiled. Never mind the “50 million Christian Zionists” some insist exist in
You can watch the Maranatha Chapel service here if you have Windows Media Player or Real Video Player: http://www.maranathachapel.org/webcast/index.php?section=archive&id=1013&event=3
JH Ranch – A kiss from heaven
Our tour was nearly over. We had one final stop to make together – this time at the breathtaking JH Ranch in the
After a day stranded at San Francisco Airport due to bad weather, we reached the ranch in the early morning of June 1 and, a few hours later, met with the dozens of young people who have volunteered to staff the ranch’s special summer relationship-building programs.
The spontaneous and sincere responses and the outpouring of prayer from these boys and girls after they heard Jan Willem speak led me to bless them in my own words of greeting, describing our fellowship with them as a “kiss from heaven” to mark the end of our visit to
JH Ranch has found a special place in the hearts of the people of
North Carolina and
Two more meetings were scheduled for Jan Willem before he left the
The first was in the
Jan Willem brought a strong and prophetic word for this hard-pressed congregation. In spite of all they have been through in various trials, a large group from this area will be coming to the Feast of Tabernacles this year.
The final meeting was in
Suffering Saints
As we traveled across
Gathering the Gideonites – Establishing a national network for the ICZC
I want to add a few words about something unplanned and exciting that developed as we went from place to place: In Boston and Albany, in Nashville, from Augusta, GA, and in St Louis, we met exceptional individuals whose hearts are consumed with love for God and a zeal for Zion and who, as they heard more about the vision of the ICZC, identified with and embraced it. Many will be coming to the Feast, where they will be prayerfully commissioned to network involvement with the ICZC on the ground in the
Conclusion – Wither
Any Christian who has eyes to see – and who chooses to see – will know that the Land and the People of Israel are in the throes of a transition that will see them either finally brought into the glorious future and blessing God has ordained for them, or left desolate and forsaken once again.
The hour is very late. The odds – in the physical – are stacked high against
Jan Willem and I traveled to the
We also challenged American Christians to be willing to physically stand with
It is time for all who REALLY care about
May the
© Israel My Beloved
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