Britannia Radio

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * FMR. SENIOR ISRAELI OFFICIAL: "WE MAY HAVE TO ATTACK IRAN BY DECEMBER" * Joshua Fund praying for peace, preparing for war * Audio & video archive of 9/11 event now online By Joel C. Rosenberg (WASHINGTON, D.C., September 16, 2009) -- War clouds over Iran are building rapidly. On Friday night during the 9/11 National Town Hall Meeting, I explained that because Washington and the Western powers are doing nothing decisive to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, there is an increasingly likelihood that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will feel the need to matters into his own hands, and soon. In light of that assessment, I would draw to your attention to two sobering and must-read articles that are posted on my weblog. 1) A column yesterday by Wall Street Journal editorial writer Bret Stephens entitled, "Obama Is Pushing Israel Toward War." Excerpt: "Events are fast pushing Israel toward a pre-emptive military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, probably by next spring. That strike could well fail. Or it could succeed at the price of oil at $300 a barrel, a Middle East war, and American servicemen caught in between. So why is the Obama administration doing everything it can to speed the war process along?" 2.) A story in this morning's Jerusalem Post entitled, "We may have to attack Iran by December." Excerpt: "Israel will be compelled to attack Iran's nuclear facilities if Western powers do not impose serious sanctions against Teheran by the end of 2009, former deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh said on Wednesday. 'We cannot live under the shadow of an Iran with nuclear weapons,' he was quoted as telling Reuters in an interview on a visit to the UK. 'By the end of the year, if there is no agreement on crippling sanctions aimed at this regime, we will have no choice.'" How should the Church respond to such threats posed by Iran and other Radical Muslims? Pray for peace, but prepare for war. In Psalm 122:6, the Lord commands us to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" and we certainly need to do that now more than ever. I would encourage you to gather your family, entire church congregations, small group Bible studies, home fellowship groups, schools, and other organizations to set aside time this week to pray and fast for the Lord to bring true peace to Israel and her neighbors. The situation really is growing more urgent by the day. At the same time, Jesus said in Matthew 24:44, "you must be ready." Joshua said in Joshua 1:11, "Get your supplies ready." The Lord said in Ezekiel 38:7, "Get ready, be prepared." That can take many forms, but I would ask you to prayerfully consider financially helping The Joshua Fund pre-position food and other relief supplies in Israel ahead of this coming war. STOCKPILING FOOD -- In late 2007, The Joshua Fund made a commitment to help one of our allies stockpile 400 tons of food in a warehouse in northern Israel by the end of 2010. In light of these growing threats of war, we are completing that task by the end of 2009 instead. That means doubling the amount of food we help this ally purchase in the next few months. OPENING 3 NEW FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTERS -- TJF has just helped open three new food distribution facilities around Israel. Lord willing, these will now operate along with the center we helped get up and running in the Israeli town of Sderot, near the Gaza border, in January during the war with Hamas. Working closely with our Jewish and Christian allies in Israel, we will be able to help distribute 20-30 tons of food and other relief supplies a month to the poor and needy in Israel through these four centers. We will also be working closely with those who run the centers to develop plans to deal with a coming war. PURCHASING VEHICLES TO DISTRIBUTE RELIEF AID -- TJF is preparing to purchase delivery vehicles for each of these centers who have a need for transportation so their staff and volunteers will be able to deliver food and other relief supplies for those who need them most. PRAYING FOR A WAREHOUSE IN CENTRAL ISRAEL -- Over the past year or so, we've seen the Lord close the door to three warehouse opportunities. But we continue to pray that the Lord will lead us and guide us to just the right facility. We would be grateful if you would pray with us. A Joshua Fund warehouse in central Israel would enable us to be able to purchase food and other relief supplies in bulk at lower prices, distribute more to those in need, stockpile more for the future, and continue to bless Israel and her neighbors in real and practical ways. LEARN: To read the WSJ and Jerusalem Post stories -- and the latest news and trends from Israel and the epicenter -- please click here LEARN: To purchase a copy of the "Inside The Revolution" documentary film on DVD from Barnes & Noble (35% off), please click here PRAY: Join 106,000 other subscribers to Joel's email alerts and receive the latest news and analysis from the Mideast, Joshua Fund project updates and prayer requests. GIVE: Would you help The Joshua Fund bless Israel and her neighbors by making a tax-deductible donation of $25, $50, $100, or a monthly commitment? Please click here. GO: Visit www.insidetherevolution.org to watch or listen to the 9/11 National Town Hall event and to find more resources on how you can go share the love of Jesus Christ with a Muslim and strengthen the Church in the Middle East. JOSHUA FUND HELPS FINANCE THE "BACK TO JERUSALEM" PROJECT TO REACH THOUSANDS OF ARAB MUSLIMS WITH THE GOSPEL One of the ways to bless Israel is to share the love of Jesus Christ with her Arab and Palestinian neighbors and enemies so that they might truly discover God's mercy and forgiveness and have their hearts transformed from enmity to love. Jesus -- a Jewish carpenter living in Israel -- taught His followers in Matthew 19 and Matthew 5 to "love your neighbors" and "love your enemies." This summer, therefore, The Joshua Fund sought to obey the teachings of Jesus by helping finance the "Back To Jerusalem" conference and outreach, a project organized and run by Arab followers of Jesus Christ in Israel and the West Bank. TJF also sent a team of staff and volunteers to participate in the project. The goal of the conference and outreach: to pray with and encourage Arab followers of Jesus Christ to be strong and courageous in their faith and live in unity with one another and with the believers in Israel, to train and equip Arab believers to distribute Bibles and Christian literature with Arab Muslims as well nominal Christians, and to help Arab believers share their faith in Christ with their neighbors. The local Arab evangelical leaders were very encouraged by the project's success, as were we. More than 300 evangelical Christians from the U.S., South Africa, and the Arab world attended the initial three-day conference in July. Josh McDowell was the main speaker, teaching from the Word of God and sharing his testimony of how he discovered the joy of having a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. On the second day of the conference, project participants - foreign believers as well as local believers from dozens of Arab congregations - went into the streets of east Jerusalem with distinctive green bags filled with packets of Christian materials. Each packet contained between five and seven pieces of Christian material, including Arab-language copies of the New Testament, the JESUS film on DVD or the Magdalena film on DVD in Arabic, and small books and pamphlets explaining the good news of God's love for all people. In one day, the group distributed some 2,500 packets to Muslims and nominal Arab Christians that they encountered. For many of the local believers, it was the first time for them to distribute Bibles and Christian literature and to talk openly about their faith in Christ with other Arabs. After the three-day teaching conference was completed, each attendee then participated in a week-long outreach in Arab towns and villages, including Jesus' birthplace in Bethlehem (on the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank) and in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth (in northern Israel, not far from the Sea of Galilee). During this time, they distributed more than 25,000 packets of materials. Since each packet contained between 5 and 7 items, at least 125,000 pieces of Christian literature and DVDs were distributed. Local organizers conservatively note that if the contents of each packet are read and viewed by at least two people in a household, then some 50,000 Arab Muslims and nominal Christians could have been reached with the gospel during the course of the 10 day conference and outreach. More details -- including pictures -- are available on TJF's weblog. As always, we will do our best to keep you up-to-date on the kinds of projects we are doing, and brief you on how those projects are proceeding. We will also let you know about the kinds of projects we are developing for the future. In no way do we want to pressure anyone to give financially. We fully believe the Lord will provide for the needs of the people we seek to serve. But if you or others wish to help, we gratefully welcome your support, and all financial gifts are tax-deductible in the U.S.A. If you would like to make a contribution to the on-going work of The Joshua Fund please make your check payable to "The Joshua Fund" and send to: The Joshua Fund 18940 Base Camp Road Monument, Colorado 80132-8009 DESIGNATED GIVING: If The Joshua Fund is successful in raising our financial goal for a specific project for which you have designated your donations, all excess funds for that project will be applied to related projects or to the general fund of TJF. Thanks so much and may the Lord richly bless you and your family as you bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus -- especially at this critical moment in the history of the epicenter. To make a one-time, tax deductible gift of $250, $500, $1,000 or more to The Joshua Fund, please click here To visit The Joshua Fund's weblog -- which includes project updates and prayer requests -- please click here