Today as the group gathers in the John F Kennedy airport, the sense of mission and destiny is profound. To answer "the call" is to step into something more than just our own wants and wishes, it's rising to something much higher than that.

Good morning. I just finished a great time with the guys who are on the trip that are staying at this particular hotel. I can already sense that God is at work.

Here's the scripture for the day that you can passalong to others:

"I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe...in Judea and that the offering I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord's people there, so that I may come to you with joy, by God's will, and in your company be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. Amen"

I’m hearing this from so many people these days as they listen to the news and hear of the “disproportionate” actions of the Israeli Defense Forces clearing Hamas from Gaza. So, let’s take a look and let me give you some background. This is a quick, simple overview that deserves a deeper dive, but time and space in this newsletter doesn’t permit a thorough teaching.

First and foremost, this issue is both spiritual and historical. Let’s start with spiritual. It starts back in the book of Genesis with the story of Abraham and Sarah when God promised them a child, but didn’t fulfill the promise in their timely manner, so Sarah decided to do God’s will her way.

There was an age of godlessness in Israel. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel were terrible rulers and God had Elijah curse the land because of them. There was no rain for three years! 1 Kings 17 and 18 tell the story of the prophet confronting the king and the severe famine that came on the land. Famine and drought didn’t change their minds or get their attention, but in chapter 18 God has decided it’s time for a confrontation of the gods. Elijah challenged Ahab to bring all the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel and see which god would answer their prayers.

Elijah’s words echo through the ages – “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him. But the people said nothing.” I Kings 18:21,22.

Today, once again, we are facing this confrontation of gods. The world and the culture are screaming for acceptance and demanding approval. The famine is a bit different, but, in all reality we are lacking the rain from Heaven and the bread of Life.

Master Minded Ministries welcomes Aaron Lipkin as the new “Teacher” on The Teacher and The Preacher radio program and podcasts! As many of you may know, our previous teacher and partner for the past six years has been Harold Berman. Harold was a wonderful partner, contributor, and friend. Harold stepped away from the seat back in October, and we have been praying that God would provide the right next person. These are not easy shoes to fill. Harold was a big contributor to the radio programs every week. He brought many fantastic guests for us to interview. He’s been a wonderful blessing!

Back in January, God led me to reach out to a longtime friend to ask him to prayerfully consider filling this empty seat, and graciously Aaron accepted. Aaron was born and raised in Israel. He is an observant Jew. Aaron has been working in tourism since 1997, bringing thousands of tourists to Israel. Aaron is also an Israeli Bible scholar who specializes in the Biblical archaeology of Israel and lectures in many churches, synagogues, TV and Radio stations.

For all intents and purposes this time of year can be difficult for many. We love lights but feel pressure to get everything done. We love people but find that we’re missing those who are absent. Let’s find some hope today. Hope

Where does hope come from? Is it simply a feeling that we muster up when we feel bad? I’ve learned something just researching this word. If you know me, I love to do word searches. If you were going to describe hope to someone, you might tell them that it’s anticipating something better for the future that you don’t have now. You might imagine that you have it already and live on the feelings or anticipation that it brings just thinking about it, but hope in Hebrew has two main words that we translate – hope. Yakhal which means “to wait for” and Qavah – which is a picture of a cord being pulled tight until it breaks loose. It is the waiting time before release. Both words have other pictures expressed in the Prophetic books of Isaiah, Psalms, Hosea and others that paint the picture of a farmer who plants seeds and waits for them to germinate and grow, also, the shepherd that waits for the dew in the morning.

The Apostle Paul can sometimes be a difficult man to understand. He’s zealous for his faith and lives “on the edge.” His words come tumbling out so fast that there are times he forgets to even punctuate the sentences in his letters to the churches he is encouraging. I can imagine him being so caught up in what God is showing him that he may have even forgotten to eat. I can picture him being enraptured by the forgiveness of God and the grace he found in Jesus. I know that there has to be a back story to some of his words. I’d like to explore that with you.

Paul’s letter to the Romans is so full of the deeper things that Paul is trying to communicate to the churches and, if it were me, I would have encouraged him to take the verse in chapter 15:4 of Romans and put it in the first chapter. Sadly, he didn’t ask me. That verse says:

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

It’s never too early to start planning for what’s coming up next, is it? My heart for the next generation has really felt a burden to somehow connect them to Jesus. I remember so well how the Lord impacted me and a generation of young people with revival that I’ve been praying for the Holy Spirit to somehow pour Himself out on the students who are under attack by every conceivable evil out there.

For me, it was drugs and the “free-spirit” that was an enticing temptation. My faith was rock solid on Jesus, so I didn’t fall for it, but today the overwhelming pressure from every angle is to erode faith and prepare our students to become victims of the sexual “revolution” of anything and everything is okay. I can’t even imagine how confusing it must be for our kids to question their identity and sexuality and this starting in kindergarten!

Master Minded Ministries is really a multilevel organization. The basis of this ministry is to explore, educate and support the Jewish roots of our Christian faith through teaching and preaching, Biblical journeys, taking people to biblical and historic places, and reaching out to join and support efforts to bless Israel and the Jewish people.

We believe that God gives us this mandate in Romans 15:27 “For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.” And also, in Hebrews 11 where we find the “hall of faith” hero’s, we find these words: “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.

Have you heard about the C & E Christians? They’re the ones who show up on Christmas and Easter. It’s their “family tradition,” and evidently it satisfies the requirements to put them into the religious category. They could probably give several of the highlights for the season, but it remains a holiday for families and little else. You’ve got Santa Claus and Easter bunny, and then you might throw in a little Jesus. With the gap in the middle, we go from birth to death of Jesus and really no reason to know much more.

Most of the time when we hear about Hanukkah, we think it’s a “Jewish Thing.” However, you may be surprised when you hear a bit more about it. A couple of days ago, on Tuesday, December 12th, the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah began. Many Christians are familiar with the eight-day festival of Hanukkah because of its proximity to Christmas. It is commemorated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, and falls sometime in late November or December.

Over 11 days, 4,340 rockets launched from Gaza and over 261 dead. Hamas declared war on Israel and the Palestinian people paid the price, caught in the middle.