Master Minded Ministries Newsletter - August 2024
Our Leaderless World
by Paster Dave
Idaho delegates to CUFI
Friends, Jer and I had the privilege recently to attend the Christians United for Israel Summit in DC. We’ve attended this for 18 years. There was an incredible lineup of amazing and powerful speakers. One of those speakers really stood out. I’d like to share my thoughts on his presentation.
Idaho delegates to CUFI
It was the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan. This guy set the room on fire. As I sat and listened to him, he really drew me in. I realized several things that I haven’t been able to get away from. Maybe you see them as well when you look at the current condition of our world. We’re running short of real Statesmen. When was the last time that you listened to someone in a position of leadership, who reached out and grabbed you with words you couldn’t get away from. We had a bit of free time in DC and decided to visit Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. The impact that he made on history is significant. The contributions he made are many. He was loved and revered. Many of his day were more loyal to him than the newly born Nation. God used Washington to set America up for success. Across the many years, there have been many Statesmen and Stateswomen who have changed the world.
Think about Margret Thatcher, Marie Curie, Gold Meir, Dr. Ben Carson, Billy Graham, Ronald Regan, Abe Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and so many others. Listening to these caused us to walk away better, motivated to serve and make a difference, stand a little taller, and become more resolute. It’s as though God had anointed each of them for the time. We have no shortage of politics these days, but a statesmanship is harder to find than ever. It’s possible that it's because conventional wisdom is rooted in power, money and control. There’s a crisis in credibility. No one wants to listen or give any attention to a positional leader whose life contradicts his words. It’s no wonder the confidence in Congress is at a record low, which leads to dissatisfaction being so great and so pervasive that it erodes unity, hope and confidence about life and the future.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan
People are hungering for credible leadership that has substance, meaning and common sense. This is what set Ambassador Erdan apart. His passion, his record, his ability to communicate from the heart, and his love for God and people reached out and grabbed the entire crowd. Unforgettable. It reminded me that… The World is Leaderless. There is not one global leader to whom the world looks. Governments everywhere operate like the Keystone Kops, immature, self serving and amateur at best. World War III is on our doorstep as a result. The world is unsure of just who is running the White House. The stage is being set for a Mr. Fix-It, whom the world will celebrate.
They just want stability and someone in charge to enforce peace and security. I hear it all the time from people, “Being leaderless would be preferable to what we have now. It looks that way throughout Europe and the same is true of the UK, too.” Israel is Alone - After she was brutally attacked in October 2023, one would have thought the world would rally to her side. Not so! Even America has put Israel in a position to wonder if we are truly her ally. The U.S. is withholding weapons and intelligence. It’s slow walking any delivery of needed military weapons and ammunition as though they refuse to acknowledge that Israel is at war. The International Criminal Court wanted to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu in May just for defending his country.
Meeting with Senator Risch
The European Union, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the International Court of Justice, have all denounced the Jewish state just for wanting to wipe out Hamas thugs. Zechariah 12:3 is in play. “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: “All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Israel is isolated and is the world’s burdensome stone. The Church is Majoring On The Minors. – Too many Churches seem to be talking about the things that aren’t impacting their people. When this happens, it furthers unsound doctrine and there’s no difference being made in personal lives and their impact on our world.
Meeting with Senator Crapo
There are wolves among the flock. Pastors don’t address the times we’re living in from the pulpit due to the fact that so many of the issues we face have become politicized, so pastors don’t touch it. The end result is that they remain weak and woke. So, even in the world of the Church there is a real sense of being leaderless.
Time is short. Time seems to be passing so fast. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the years are just flying by. It says to me that time is running out. The Bible tells us that as the world winds down, it will usher in the major drama of the end times. Once the Church Age is over, the world will shift into a dramatic and difficult time. The ingredients of our times seem perfect for the Trumpet of God to sound. So, let’s keep sharing Jesus while it’s still day, for night is coming.
All is not lost. Recently I read some sad quotes. It was depressing. Here’s an example: “Smiling has always been easier than explaining why you’re sad.” “Sick of crying, tired of trying, yes I’m smiling, but inside I’m dying.” “My heart finally said, ‘enough is enough.” On and on it goes. The message of God through Micah: “All IS NOT LOST.” When your world is dark, the promise of God enables you to look forward with a fresh revelation from God that He will bring you Salvation and restore you to new life.
All is not lost. Up to this point in Micah the words are judgment, judgment, judgment. Suddenly: BOOM ~ the great promise of God to gather together his people and lead in triumphal procession. I like the way the NLT translates the first word of Micah 2:12: SOMEDAY. The day is coming, Someday. As Micah speaks to the people they are in darkness, but Someday God will gather his people… Hold On! All is NOT lost. Be sure to check out Micah 2:12
What Do You Want?
by Jerri McGarrah
I ask myself often; “How is it that God is so good to me and why has He entrusted me to be a part of this time when it is so obvious there are so many others who are more capable and deserving then me?” I am so privileged to be a part of what He is doing through MMM and CUFI.
We just returned from the Washington DC Summit where over 2000 people gathered together to stand with and for Israel, the Jewish people and against the tremendous rise in anti-Semitism in our country and around the world. Yes, I heard all the statistics, heard the stories from the families of the hostages, cried with the reality of the holocaust happening again in our time. Unbelievable, unimaginable and reprehensible! We had protesters this year that infiltrated our gathering and security stepped in and helped them out, literally! But we’re here! Now what? Is there greater purpose than just showing up and being interested? What’s next?
I have done so much soul searching and asking the Father what in the world is my small effort and is breaking my heart the goal of all this information? I have to tell you that lately I feel like He is telling me that it’s very important that I ask Him. His question to me is “what do you want?” Jesus asked many of the people who came to him, “what do you want me to do for you?” “I just want to see!” “My son…my daughter…my brother…I need to be healed.” Lots of needs for sure surrounded Him. But did one person ask to be a part of the Kingdom that He was preaching about? My point? They wanted to have the stuff of the Kingdom, but were they wanting the Kingdom to come, to be a part of it?
Just like Peter, James, John, and all the disciples, Jesus called them to drop everything that was not a part of the Kingdom and leave behind their livelihood to become part of the Kingdom. Drop and follow! What they saw was Jesus restoring, rebuilding, renewing what had been lost. (Isaiah 61). Why don’t we see the Kingdom of Heaven coming to earth? Maybe because we haven’t dropped and followed? (That is truly a question.) I’m wondering if we just want the stuff of the Kingdom, the healing, the feeding, the miracles.
My viewpoint is horizonal and He wants us to look up and see that His plan is being fulfilled and we find our hope, strength and direction from above whether we understand it or not! I know that sitting in the auditorium with the thousands of likeminded Christians, I asked myself if we are doing what we’re doing because it’s the right thing to do or if we want to see God’s Kingdom come in us to the point that He is able to restore, rebuild, renew what He has in mind. Israel won’t be changed by us! Israel will be changed when they see their God is God! We reveal the Kingdom by our faithfully obeying His direction from Heaven! Thank God that my question is irrelevant!
He’s going to accomplish whatever He is going to accomplish because He is God and I am not! However, if we don’t have the empowering work of the Holy Spirit and the direction of Heaven, our efforts are at best just an effort in our own strength. When the “drop and follow” comes at a cost then it becomes a divine calling and appointment. We find ourselves equipped to serve the King whatever He asks us to do. I think activism is probably at an all-time high. Everyone has an opinion, an emotional reaction to something political, something that is more reactive than anything else. The enemy has found a new button to push – opinion and emotional response to divide and conquer.
I pray that as we keep our eyes on Jesus that our hope comes from Him, continuing to overcome and bringing the victory that allows us to rejoice in Him at all times. Our tears and awareness simply brings us to the end of ourselves and opportunity to trust Him more. “Ask, and it shall be given. Seek and you’ll find. Knock and it shall be opened to you.” “Seek the Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you.” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom but only those who do the will of my Father.” He asks you today – “What do you want?”
Armageddon Notwithstanding
By Jonathan Feldstein
I’d be lying if I told you that things are not tense in Israel right now, nationally and personally. As always, one way to get through it is with humor, even when the situation is far from funny. One of the best social media posts I saw was on Friday, asking what traditional pre-Armageddon food one should prepare for Shabbat, the Sabbath. Indeed, many Israelis went into Shabbat, the day of rest, very ill at ease.
As Orthodox Jews who typically shut off all devices on Friday night for 25 hours, this Shabbat, we – and many others – left phones on, on silent set up our bomb shelter with food and drinks, and activities for our grandchildren. We tuned into a silent radio station that broadcasts nothing unless there is an emergency. All this is to be able to enjoy a peaceful, restful Shabbat according to Jewish tradition but to be aware of any life-threatening emergency protocol above and beyond the air raid sirens that we are used to.
In a Friday radio interview, I quipped to the host that while I was glad that most of our kids and grandchildren would be with us for Shabbat if anything happened, packing 12 people into a one-room bomb shelter might be stressful, as much as it would be important that we are all together, especially since four of our children live in buildings without bomb shelters. “On the other hand,” I told him, “while I will have my phone on for emergencies, if the anticipated Iranian attack happened on Shabbat, I would not be able to film it.” After the April 13 Iranian attack with over 300 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles, and having seen up close one of the missiles (11 meters long with a massive warhead), even if I am in my bomb shelter, were one to hit my building I’d probably not survive anyway. “I’d rather go out and get a great video and hope my phone survives.” He was concerned by that and told me it was unsafe, so I should go to my bomb shelter.
I joked that he was like my mother and that I was sure he’d really love to see the video. He confessed he would, but still. Shabbat passed uneventfully. We recounted getting on an airplane with five kids from 3 to 11 exactly 20 years ago to move to Israel. Despite the challenges, and indeed, there have been many, including those exacerbated by the now 10-month-old war, even with no end in sight and a feeling of Armageddon on the horizon, or something close to it, we agreed it was the best move, and we’d do it again every day.
That doesn’t make the reality more accessible. Trying to keep up with the pace of life, we’re second-guessing plans, planning not to be too far from home, just in case. I have three days of meetings scheduled as of now, but I understand that anything could change at any moment. My daughter and son-in-law are expecting their fourth in a month and have plans to get away for a night this week with us to watch the grandchildren. Like any good mother, even my radio-host friend, she’s uneasy being an hour away from home and her kids, just in case. They need to get away, and I hope they will. Canceling their plans will not be the worst thing to happen if there is a major escalation.
But we need to keep on living, not existing in fear. My meetings have been arranged with the unspoken understanding, “barring escalation.” The truth is if/when something happens, I don’t want to be away from home either. So I am trying to stay close, yet to plan my schedule as if nothing were different, even a travel program to Israel that I am organizing. The truth is that I have to do that because with my work, building bridges between Jews and Christians in support of Israel, I need to be present, to plan for what I can plan, to communicate to the many who look to me for updates, who are praying, advocating for, and donating to us.
Just before Shabbat, there was a kind of reprieve to our nervousness that something might happen imminently with reports that Iran was planning to attack Israel on next week’s observance of Tisha B’Av. All this is part of their psychological warfare, or possibly, as I said to my kids, even a disinformation campaign: by us toward the terrorists or by the terrorists toward us. They could indeed be planning for that date (August 12-13) because of the symbolism, being the anniversary of numerous calamities that have befallen the Jewish people on that date throughout history. Or not. Or just to try to catch Israel off guard.
Or maybe something will happen as early as tomorrow, as some reports indicate. Who knows. The one thing I am pretty sure of is that Iran has now created the expectation domestically and globally that they have to retaliate, if not for the assassination of Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in Beirut a week ago for which Israel openly took responsibility/credit, then indeed for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an IRGC facility in central Tehran the next day, for which Israel has not taken responsibility. It would be very unlikely that the bloodthirsty Iranian Islamic regime won’t respond and that it won’t do so forcefully.
April’s drone and missile attack on Israel was unprecedented in the world. Iran could do worse on its own or unleash Hezbollah (with at least 150,000 missiles and rockets, along with an untold number of drones) in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, who have long-range Iranian weapons, the remnant of Hamas in Gaza, and even Hamas and other terrorists in Israeli territory. A multi-front attack will indeed be massive. I don’t know that anyone knows for sure, but I have heard estimates of as many as 500 Israeli casualties a day in the first weeks. There’s a lot going on and no less uncertainty. I expect to keep up with these regular updates for people asking and wanting to know what’s really going on. Armageddon notwithstanding.
About Masterminded Ministries
Discovering the Jewish Roots of Christianity
Master Minided Ministries is a non-profit ministry that teaches, disciples and preaches the Jewish roots of Christianity. We support a radio program called “The Teacher and the Preacher” that can be heard each week on 20 different stations across the US. Each weekly program features Pastor Dave and Aaron Lipkin, an Orthodox Jew who lives in Israel, talking about the ways we can learn from each other and benefit our Judeo-Christian country. It is common to hear from guests who contribute new and fresh insights from what’s really happening on the ground in Israel, to what’s the best thing we can do to love and support each other and bridge the gap for Christians and Jews.
