Opinion

British Midland Airways Limited (BMI) reportedly omitted Israel from in-flight charts on flights bound for the Holy Land, according toTimes Online. “Passengers were shocked to discover that Israel had been wiped off the map by Britain’s BMI airline, which omitted the Jewish state from its digital charts on flights from London to Tel Aviv. Neither […]

Vowing that it will “never forget,” a California church is today unveiling an interactive exhibit honoring the 6 million Jews who died during the Holocaust.

Built by Cornerstone Church in Fresno, the Holocaust Experience will guide visitors through scenes of 12 major events that took place between 1933 and 1945. The scenes span from the rise of Adolf Hitler to Kristallnacht, or “the Night of Broken Glass,” when nearly 1,000 synagogues were set on fire across Germany, to Hitler’s decision to execute genocide as “the final solution to the Jewish question.”

The exhibit, which will be on display until Sunday, is housed in the church’s 10,000-square-foot educational facility and cost nearly $10,000 to build.

My trip to Israel took me to many interesting and fascinating places. On the second day of my travels, I toured Caesarea, an ancient port built by King Herod. There I saw ruins of an ancient vomitoruim (my tour guide, Tison Ben David, explains the meaning of the name in the clip) and a reconstructed Roman theater. When biblical history meets archeology, the Bible truly comes to life.

Israelis shifted gears on Tuesday evening from mourning its fallen soldiers to celebrating the nation’s 61st Independence Day.

Opening the official ceremony at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said, “We have come once again to this hill—on one side the grave of the prophet [of Zionism], on the other the graves of our children—to remind ourselves once again from where we came, and where, with the grace of God, with the blood of our children and with the sweat of our brow, we have succeeded in reaching so far.

Rivlin said that moving directly from Remembrance Day to Independence Day is the “purest preparation” for the subsequent joy. Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a memorial gathering to honor slain Israeli soldiers and that the global threat of terror was greater than ever. “We have no choice but to fight terror until it is obliterated and to defend our lives,” he said.

The Israel Project (TIP) will begin airing a television ad campaign that focuses on the need to teach peace on both sides and to peacefully stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Three ads will air May 2-5 in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. By the end of the week, the commercials will have aired more than 600 times on CNN, CNN’s Headline News, Fox News and MSNBC.

“Today we celebrate Israeli Independence Day and it is a time to focus not only on the tremendous achievements but also on the ongoing threats to Israel’s existence and what can be done to move towards a better future,” commented Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Founder & President of The Israel Project. “I believe there is no question that teaching peace and tolerance to children as Israel does as an official part of their curriculums is paramount. I only hope that Palestinian leaders will adopt this model and stop teaching hate so that together we can work toward a common more peaceful future.”

The day before Holocaust Remembrance Day, Iran’s President Ahmadinejad addressed the United Nations anti-racism conference in Geneva. Here, he did a great favor for all who love Israel—he was honest. He let his virulent hate for Israel and bizarre anti-Semitic conspiracy theories flow from his tongue largely unfiltered. It was an ugly performance.

The delegates from most European nations walked out on Ahmadinejad’s speech. Even UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, was moved to criticism. Most other delegates, of course, remained in their seats. Many cheered.

But Ahmadinejad is rarely so honest. And he is rarely so helpful. It is what this man does in the shadows—not what he says in public—that is most dangerous. And what he does in the dark typically gets far less attention.

Christians United for Israel (CUFI) is providing believers with the opportunity to place their prayers in the Western Wall without leaving home.

Prayers submitted to CUFI web site will be printed out, prayed over at the national office in San Antonio, sent to Jerusalem, and hand-delivered to the Western Wall.

Prayer is an integral part of CUFI, which prays daily for the peace of Jerusalem, the well being of the state of Israel, growth and development of Christians United for Israel and for those in authority, including those in governmental and spiritual positions. Personal prayer requests are also welcome.

In late March I took the trip of a lifetime. I spent seven days in Israel touring historic sites and ancient ruins that date back more than 2,000 years. I discovered the roots of my Christian faith and watched the Bible come to life.

My schedule was packed with many interesting places to see, including the Western Wall, the Garden Tomb and the Upper Room, where Jesus ate the Last Supper. I floated in the Dead Sea and toured the Valley of Jezreel, which overlooks the ancient city of Armageddon, the place of the final war mentioned in Revelation.

But I was haunted by my visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum, located on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. Without any warning, I found myself in tears. 

The media reported last week that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “warned” Israel that if they don’t support peace negotiations with the Palestinians, they risk losing Arab support for combating Iranian threats against Israel. First of all, I was not aware that the Arab nations were supporting Israel in any way. In any case this

As part of his first papal visit to Israel next month, Pope Benedict XVI will stop at several Christian and Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem, according to Israel Ministry of Tourism.

He is scheduled to be in the Holy Land May 8-15, and will visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, Mount Zion and the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane. President Shimon Peres will be the pope’s host and escort.

The visit will mark the pope’s first trip to Israel since accompanying Pope John Paul II on his pilgrimage in 2000. Pope Benedict XVI will deliver Mass at Manger Square in the Palestinian Authority city of Bethlehem on May 13 and another at Mount Precipice near Nazareth on May 14.

Tens of thousands of churches, and literally tens of millions of Christians in the U.S., have a committed belief in the importance of standing with Israel and blessing the Jewish people. The verse most often referred to as their biblical mandate is Genesis 12:3 in which God tells Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Since the birth of the state of Israel in 1948 the theological error known as replacement theology has begun to decline and a theology of Christian Zionism that understands the importance of God’s everlasting covenant with Abraham and the nation he would birth has been increasing.

Everything Christians do should be based upon the biblical text. The following are seven biblical reasons why Christians everywhere should stand up and speak up for Israel. This is taken from the Leadership manual for Christians United for Israel. It’s so good, we got permission to share it here.

1. God has promised to bless the man or nation that blesses His chosen people. History has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the nations that have been blessed the Jewish people have had the blessing of God. The nations that have cursed the Jewish people have experienced the curse of God.

And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed. Genesis 12:3