When missionary Dr. David Livingstone was working in Africa, a group of friends wrote him: “We would like to send other men to you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?” Dr. Livingstone sent this message in reply: “If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.”
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My wife has had an interesting life. Here, she shares a small portion of her past: I was born in Israel. My parents divorced when I was a toddler and my mother met and married a hippie American tourist who was searching his roots in Israel at the time. Later, we went back to the States with him. Little did we realize that he was heavily addicted to drugs and this among other things made for a very unhappy family and little on which to live.
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On Saturday night, throughout Israel, on the 17th of Tammuz, Jewish people from around the world will fast and begin a three week period of mourning leading into Tish B’Av (9th of Av). On this day, according to Jewish tradition, Moses shattered the Ten Commandments after he returned from Mount Sinai to witness the children of Israel worshiping a golden calf. In coming devotionals, we will recount the numerous tragic events associated with the 9th of Av, and sorrowfully remembered by Jews each year, but today I want to focus on the events particularly connected to this unique day, Tammuz 17.
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The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the “Days of Awe”, a short but intense time for deep introspection and repentance as the “New Year” begins. During this time, I was spending a few days in Eilat with my family as we concluded hosting a tour with 40+ people in Israel for two weeks.
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Early African believers were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time, the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, “Brother, the grass grows on your path.”
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As U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to announce Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it comes at a historical time as it will be 100 years (2 Jubilee cycles) nearly to the day when Jerusalem was liberated from the Ottoman Empire by the British in 1917. And in 1917, when the British entered into Jerusalem, it was 400 years (8 Jubilee cycles) to the day of when the Turks initially entered Jerusalem in 1517. So this month will mark 500 years (10 Jubilee Cycles) since the Ottomans first captured the holy city. Historically, it will also mark 50 years (1 Jubilee Cycle) since Jerusalem was liberated in the Six Days War in 1967.
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Over the past week, Hurricane Harvey cause catastrophic damage in the United States. In a report today, Joel Myers, president and chairman of AccuWeather, said “This is the costliest and worst natural disaster in American history. AccuWeather has raised its estimate of the impact to the nation’s gross national produce, or GDP, to $190 billion or a full one percent, which exceeds totals of economic impact of Katrina and Sandy combined.”
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