WEBVTT 00:00:01.239 --> 00:00:04.500 Welcome to Journey from Jacob. From our first 00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:07.419 breath to our last heartbeat, we are all on a 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:10.660 journey. Jacob was a biblical character whose 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:14.140 journey is documented for our benefit. Like all 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:16.579 of us, there were unforgettable moments along 00:00:16.579 --> 00:00:20.359 the way which required decisiveness. One of those 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:24.140 decisions determined his destination. We will 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:27.160 not only discuss Jacob's journey, but Israel's 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.399 as well, right up to date. May this podcast inspire 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:34.380 you to make choices along your way that will 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:37.340 benefit others and guide you to the destination 00:00:37.340 --> 00:01:00.649 we all long for. name of the podcast, Journey 00:01:00.649 --> 00:01:04.189 from Jacob. This time I'm going to elaborate 00:01:04.189 --> 00:01:07.390 on what we spoke on the first week, actually, 00:01:07.510 --> 00:01:10.930 that the podcast is sponsored by, and it's a 00:01:10.930 --> 00:01:13.670 wing of, it's representative of the Ministry 00:01:13.670 --> 00:01:16.810 of Comfort My People, which is a ministry to 00:01:16.810 --> 00:01:20.010 the Jews in Israel and beyond. I mentioned that 00:01:20.010 --> 00:01:24.950 we sponsor, we support the work of messianic 00:01:24.950 --> 00:01:29.200 community in Israel, which are Indigenous, they're 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:31.819 from, they live in Israel, they're citizens of 00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:34.159 Israel, but they're not necessarily all Jewish 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:38.299 because in Israel you have about 80 % Jewish 00:01:38.299 --> 00:01:42.239 and approximately 20 % which includes Arabs, 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:47.459 Jews, some Bedouins as well, and some other mixed 00:01:47.459 --> 00:01:49.959 people groups in there. There's many of them. 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:52.420 Israel's made up, I said this before, of about 00:01:52.420 --> 00:01:55.439 a hundred plus nations from around the world. 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:59.629 It's a miracle land. And that many people represented 00:01:59.629 --> 00:02:03.069 in such a tiny space is like nowhere else. So 00:02:03.069 --> 00:02:06.849 we're going to speak about why Comfort My People 00:02:06.849 --> 00:02:10.449 exists, where it came from, and how does this 00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:14.229 tie in with Journey from Jacob. So Comfort My 00:02:14.229 --> 00:02:19.009 People is something that I did not invent. I 00:02:19.009 --> 00:02:21.990 did not dream about starting. It was in a plan 00:02:21.990 --> 00:02:25.050 that initiated in my own mind. I was actually 00:02:25.050 --> 00:02:29.120 asked to start it. And it was from a large global 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:33.580 missions organization where I was asked to become 00:02:33.580 --> 00:02:37.240 on staff. So, there's a few steps in going backwards 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:40.180 to the history. But what happened is a kind of 00:02:40.180 --> 00:02:43.659 a unique and unusual, certainly for me, experience 00:02:43.659 --> 00:02:47.500 was that I had in my heart, so I gotta even go 00:02:47.500 --> 00:02:50.120 a little further with background, is that I'm 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.639 a carpenter by trade. Carpenter, cabinet maker, 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:55.960 and remodeler, renovator, builder. And that's 00:02:55.960 --> 00:03:01.099 been my life for since 1979. My own business 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:04.620 I started in 79. But of course I had experience 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:07.139 just from working with carpenters, cabinet makers, 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.740 furniture makers, and renovators. So when it 00:03:10.740 --> 00:03:13.960 came time I started my own business. Short story 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:17.680 of a long story is that I gave my life to Yeshua 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:21.919 in 1980. So the first year I was without him, 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:25.419 went bankrupt, looked... Hopeless. But when I 00:03:25.419 --> 00:03:27.400 gave my life to Yeshua, I said, I'm working for 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:30.680 you and another. So that began my journey as 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:35.099 a tradesman, craftsman. And that was about 19, 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:41.659 that started around 1980. But in 2010, so we're 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:44.639 going up 30 years, I was working. I had my own 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:47.439 business, a cabin making shop and renovations 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:49.500 and things were going really well. But I had 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:52.039 this strange feeling, maybe you've had this before, 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.240 that I had to call somebody. And it was somebody 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:57.199 that I only knew from meeting him a few times, 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:00.419 but I respected him highly. And he was the president 00:04:00.419 --> 00:04:03.199 and co -founder of this large ministry. And so 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:05.180 I failed to call him. It was unusual. I'd never 00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:08.740 done that before. So I was in my shop. I went 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:11.460 outside and I got on my phone and I called up 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:15.919 the organization and they put me on hold. And 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:19.860 he came along, said hello. And he said, Paul, 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.459 you've been my friend for so long and you've 00:04:23.459 --> 00:04:25.879 never called me before. And I felt that was a 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:28.540 little strange because I didn't know we were 00:04:28.540 --> 00:04:30.639 really friends. I knew him. I respected him. 00:04:30.660 --> 00:04:34.139 I'd heard him present the gospel and speak about 00:04:34.139 --> 00:04:37.339 his ministry, but that was about it. So I was 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:40.060 wondering why he said that and I felt a little 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:41.860 bit, oh my gosh, I should have been calling him 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:43.560 along. I don't know what's going on. Why did 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:46.139 I call him now? So he says, I need to call you 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:49.560 back. He calls me back. And this time I'm sitting 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:52.779 down outside, a little bit curious about why 00:04:52.779 --> 00:04:55.879 I'm even calling. And he said to me, before we 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:58.360 go any further we need to pray because this is 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:02.540 a holy moment. So he did, he prayed. And we spoke 00:05:02.540 --> 00:05:04.420 a little bit and he wanted to know why I was 00:05:04.420 --> 00:05:06.300 calling. I said, be honest, I don't really know. 00:05:06.779 --> 00:05:09.240 And he said, well, I'd like you to come into 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:12.800 the office tomorrow and we'll talk. So... I'm 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:15.079 like, okay, I wasn't planning on that. I was 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:17.139 working for a living and all this, but because 00:05:17.139 --> 00:05:20.500 I was self -employed and I was on a project that, 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.259 you know, it was... No one else was paying for 00:05:23.259 --> 00:05:25.680 it. It wasn't a time thing. It was just a project 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.519 that needed to be finished, but it was no rush. 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:30.439 So I went to the office the next day expecting 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:35.019 to meet with him and a receptionist called his 00:05:35.019 --> 00:05:38.220 office and he said to have me come in. So I went 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:40.399 to the door. The door was not open, so I kind 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.170 of knocked. cautiously opened the door and I 00:05:44.170 --> 00:05:45.689 realized there was a meeting going on, which 00:05:45.689 --> 00:05:47.509 was kind of strange. I thought it was just him 00:05:47.509 --> 00:05:49.449 and me. He said, no, come in. And then he wanted 00:05:49.449 --> 00:05:53.050 me to say a little bit about my testimony and 00:05:53.050 --> 00:05:55.410 why I was there and what was on my mind. I'm 00:05:55.410 --> 00:05:58.290 like, I didn't bargain for this, but here I am 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:00.269 and I just shared a little bit of my testimony 00:06:00.269 --> 00:06:02.490 and said I really don't know why I'm here. And 00:06:02.490 --> 00:06:05.670 then he got up and said, well, we're going to 00:06:05.670 --> 00:06:07.509 pray for you. And if anyone wants to come up 00:06:07.509 --> 00:06:10.149 and pray for him, just do that. And so here I 00:06:10.149 --> 00:06:12.459 am now. People are surrounding me praying for 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:15.879 me and he prays as well towards the end of a 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:19.319 few others and says, God, you've brought me a 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:22.459 Jewish carpenter and I don't know what to do 00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:25.160 with him and I'm afraid. And he repeated that 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:28.420 two more times and each time his voice boomed 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:32.259 louder and I'm feeling like this is getting stranger 00:06:32.259 --> 00:06:34.959 by the minute, but I knew it was not strange. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:38.360 It was a very well respected ministry, very effective. 00:06:38.569 --> 00:06:43.050 and reaching all these people that work in 79 00:06:43.050 --> 00:06:46.170 nations at the time, but I said, you know, at 00:06:46.170 --> 00:06:49.089 the end I just said, wow, okay, thanks for having 00:06:49.089 --> 00:06:51.069 me, and I figured that was it. He said, no, let's 00:06:51.069 --> 00:06:52.829 come sit in my office now, we're going to talk. 00:06:52.949 --> 00:06:56.709 Go in his office, then in comes this man who 00:06:56.709 --> 00:07:00.089 I knew, he was actually lived down the road from 00:07:00.089 --> 00:07:03.209 me, and I had gone on a mission trip with him 00:07:03.209 --> 00:07:07.250 in Croatia, and we went from Croatia to Bosnia, 00:07:07.310 --> 00:07:10.600 Bosnia to Serbia, and different places in Croatia 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.699 because we were doing a construction project 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:16.360 and that's why I was on it to help him with some 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:18.839 of the work. He was actually not in construction 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:21.240 so it was good for him to have me and it was 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:23.199 great experience for me to be there and I was 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:26.000 just enjoying the opportunity to help this ministry 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.519 in Croatia that needed, you know, they needed 00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:30.860 help. And so we did that. There was one other 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:33.800 fellow with us and, you know, things are going 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:37.199 well and every evening though the pastor who's 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:39.920 church we were working on, and he'd been working 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:43.519 on it for seven years and still was in need of 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:46.439 much more work. But each evening he wanted me 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:50.800 to either share the testimony in his church or 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:54.379 share my testimony and do a Bible study in different 00:07:54.379 --> 00:07:56.639 places. So every night we went to different places, 00:07:56.819 --> 00:08:00.000 not only in Croatia with amongst some very, very 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.860 poor people and people who were struggling in 00:08:02.860 --> 00:08:06.660 so many ways. In their homes we went, no electricity, 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:10.180 no running water, no line yards, but they were 00:08:10.180 --> 00:08:13.360 very warm and welcoming and wanted me to speak, 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:17.839 which I found strange. So, here I am in this 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:20.980 foreign country, and I'm speaking to people in 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:25.100 different locations, and then he took us to Serbia. 00:08:25.639 --> 00:08:28.420 Serbia was the next place we went to. Same thing, 00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:31.699 even poorer people, but the room was just... 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:33.919 So they knew ahead of time that we were coming. 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:37.500 People were standing outside and listening outside 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:41.700 from the window of this facility. And he asked 00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:44.940 me to share. And so some things happened that 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:47.860 night that were really remarkable. Obviously, 00:08:48.059 --> 00:08:50.360 God, I love to tell these stories, but there's 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:52.799 too many of them and too many details. And then 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:55.639 from there we went to Bosnia. And Bosnia is like 00:08:55.639 --> 00:09:00.100 90 % Muslim. And so I'm speaking in two churches 00:09:00.100 --> 00:09:03.360 there. We stayed in a Muslim's apartment. She 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:06.120 actually left so we could stay there. And she 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:09.820 took us around and wanted me to see the synagogue, 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.480 the largest synagogue that was in Europe up until 00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:16.440 Hitler's time when he got rid of all the Jews. 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:19.440 And they were sent to concentration camps where 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:23.360 they were killed, massacred. And so I spoke in 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:26.100 these places. I spoke in two churches, plus in 00:09:26.100 --> 00:09:28.970 this family's home, a smaller group. But the 00:09:28.970 --> 00:09:31.049 weird thing is why did they want me to speak? 00:09:31.370 --> 00:09:33.529 They didn't know me from a hole in the wall and 00:09:33.529 --> 00:09:37.070 I just didn't get it. But they were fascinated 00:09:37.070 --> 00:09:40.730 that I was Jewish and that I was a believer because 00:09:40.730 --> 00:09:44.090 they read the Bible. Now this is repeated and 00:09:44.090 --> 00:09:46.610 I'll tell you that this was my first experience. 00:09:47.090 --> 00:09:48.929 So I don't want to go too far into the story 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:51.990 without going back to that day when I had made 00:09:51.990 --> 00:09:54.250 that phone call and the next day when I was in 00:09:54.250 --> 00:09:56.970 the office. But I will continue on. And as I 00:09:56.970 --> 00:10:01.629 told you, I speak in circular... I think in circles. 00:10:01.929 --> 00:10:05.370 That's similar to much of Hebrew thought. It's 00:10:05.370 --> 00:10:10.049 circular rather than linear. But I don't want 00:10:10.049 --> 00:10:12.909 to go too far, of course. So, I'm going to go 00:10:12.909 --> 00:10:15.669 back to that day when I'm sitting in the office 00:10:15.669 --> 00:10:18.769 and this man who I went to this mission trip 00:10:18.769 --> 00:10:21.929 with in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia, he walks 00:10:21.929 --> 00:10:24.750 in. Like, he wasn't invited in, he just walked 00:10:24.750 --> 00:10:27.370 in to talk. with this man, who was the leader 00:10:27.370 --> 00:10:29.710 of the ministry, and he looks at me and says, 00:10:29.809 --> 00:10:32.110 what are you doing here? I said, I don't know, 00:10:32.190 --> 00:10:35.090 I'm trying to figure that out. So the president 00:10:35.090 --> 00:10:37.529 said, well, do you know this man? He says, yeah, 00:10:37.669 --> 00:10:40.850 yeah, he came on a mission trip with me. He goes, 00:10:40.970 --> 00:10:42.230 well, what are you thinking? He goes, well, I've 00:10:42.230 --> 00:10:45.250 been praying he would become my assistant and 00:10:45.250 --> 00:10:48.149 help me in these efforts of going to different 00:10:48.149 --> 00:10:52.149 countries. So next thing I know, I'm asked to 00:10:52.149 --> 00:10:55.330 join the staff. come back, you know, pray obviously 00:10:55.330 --> 00:10:59.830 myself, pray with my wife, come back and make 00:10:59.830 --> 00:11:04.230 a decision. So I went back home, like still not 00:11:04.230 --> 00:11:06.850 sure what all happened, you know, but my world 00:11:06.850 --> 00:11:09.710 was kind of rocked and I told my wife and she 00:11:09.710 --> 00:11:12.529 says, you know, you've been asking the Lord for 00:11:12.529 --> 00:11:14.950 direction, you know, ever since we got saved 00:11:14.950 --> 00:11:16.909 and, you know, I've always said that you need 00:11:16.909 --> 00:11:19.730 to be out there more, you need to speak more, 00:11:19.830 --> 00:11:22.120 you need to share. what you've learned from the 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.960 scriptures and from relationship with God, etc. 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:27.960 And so this is God speaking, I believe, and I 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:31.120 agreed with her. As strange as it seemed. So, 00:11:31.299 --> 00:11:33.519 the next day I go there, I start signing papers 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:37.320 and I'm on staff. There's no salary, I find out, 00:11:37.460 --> 00:11:39.860 but it's all by faith. You're supposed to get 00:11:39.860 --> 00:11:42.919 raised money. And I said, I don't know how to 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.419 raise money and I would never ask anyone to support 00:11:45.419 --> 00:11:49.000 me for doing something that doesn't benefit them. 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:51.559 So I didn't tell them that, but I said, this 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:54.659 is just not who I am. But I told God, I said, 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:56.440 so I'm trusting you. If this is you, then you 00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:59.080 will take care of us. And so that's how we started. 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.080 Now, three years later, three and a half years 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:05.279 later, I'm in my office now. I've been going 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:08.139 on trips and I'll just run down some of them 00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:11.059 because in every single country that I went to, 00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:14.360 the leader of the ministries asked me to speak 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:17.539 or do a Bible study. and share my testimony, 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:19.820 who I am, why I'm here, how did I get saved, 00:12:19.860 --> 00:12:22.980 things like that, and just let God speak for 00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:25.500 me. I was like, why do they want me to speak? 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:28.740 They don't even know if I can string three sentences 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:32.879 together to make sense, let alone be responsible 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:35.740 for a message from the scriptures. But they did. 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.059 And so I put two and two together. Finally, it 00:12:38.059 --> 00:12:41.840 took me some time. But I was asked to speak because 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.259 the same reason I said before, initially, was 00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:47.590 that They knew I was a Jew, they heard I was 00:12:47.590 --> 00:12:51.490 a Jew, or in my testimony, somehow. And they 00:12:51.490 --> 00:12:53.529 just knew that Jews are supposed to be a part 00:12:53.529 --> 00:12:55.610 of this biblical story, but they've been missing 00:12:55.610 --> 00:12:57.870 for so long. Where are they? When are they returning? 00:12:58.169 --> 00:13:01.470 And now here they are. So I'm in India a few 00:13:01.470 --> 00:13:03.690 times, some of these nations a few times. I was 00:13:03.690 --> 00:13:06.990 in England working at a ministry, an Iranian 00:13:06.990 --> 00:13:10.230 ministry, that translates Bibles for the first 00:13:10.230 --> 00:13:13.129 time in history into Farsi. And they're shocked. 00:13:13.330 --> 00:13:15.549 I'm a Jew who believes in Yeshua and all this, 00:13:15.669 --> 00:13:18.269 and they want me to speak, answer questions and 00:13:18.269 --> 00:13:21.250 stuff, and it's really fascinating me. So, Mexico 00:13:21.250 --> 00:13:24.029 and some really, really tough places repeatedly. 00:13:24.889 --> 00:13:27.190 India, I don't know if I said that a few times. 00:13:27.610 --> 00:13:30.970 Gosh, I can't remember them all. Ukraine. Kenya. 00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:34.230 I can go on and on. So, but every single place, 00:13:34.490 --> 00:13:37.230 they were fascinated that I was a Jew who believed 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:40.059 in... in Yeshua. Some made me just go over, before 00:13:40.059 --> 00:13:41.659 I would leave the church, I had to go around 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:43.759 touching people and blessing them, because they 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:46.000 heard about the Abrahamic blessing. And I'm trying 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.980 to explain, look, this is not like that. It's 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:51.700 not what it means, you know, but I didn't want 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:54.139 to be rude or anything, so I was glad to pray 00:13:54.139 --> 00:13:55.860 for them and all, but I didn't want to think 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:58.259 that this is a magic thing or rubbing a rabbit's 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:00.299 foot or something in that line. But what I'm 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:03.139 getting to is that we're going to go back now 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:06.899 to that day, the first day in the room with the 00:14:06.899 --> 00:14:09.909 director. the leader of that ministry, found 00:14:09.909 --> 00:14:13.549 it. And he said, God, I don't know what to do 00:14:13.549 --> 00:14:17.529 with this man, he's a Jewish carpenter, and I 00:14:17.529 --> 00:14:19.929 don't know what to do with him, and I'm afraid. 00:14:19.929 --> 00:14:22.629 He repeated that three times. And I could never 00:14:22.629 --> 00:14:24.950 understand why he said he was afraid. I mean, 00:14:25.029 --> 00:14:28.090 I was nothing to be afraid of. I'm a Jewish guy. 00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:31.570 Jews are not to be feared, really. We don't have 00:14:31.570 --> 00:14:35.669 a history of fighting, except biblical history. 00:14:36.779 --> 00:14:40.080 more modern history for sure, but we're not. 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:43.720 The Israel army is a defense force counter to 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:46.620 what people say. Israel is not a colonialist 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:49.860 empire. It doesn't go and steal territory like 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:51.980 other empires. They're not an empire, period. 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:55.860 They're a tiny country surrounded by humongous 00:14:55.860 --> 00:14:59.399 Muslim nations and they all hate them to some 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:02.860 degree or another. So they don't go out conquering. 00:15:03.100 --> 00:15:08.000 Had to get that out. So anyway, In 2013, after 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.919 about three and a half years or so going to different 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:14.320 nations, I was asked by the president if I would 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.340 be willing to start ministry in Israel. And I 00:15:17.340 --> 00:15:19.919 was kind of curious about that, but, you know, 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.799 facetiously, and this is kind of my humor, I 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:24.679 said, well, give me 15 seconds and I'll pray 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.100 about it. And he didn't have the same sense of 00:15:28.100 --> 00:15:29.480 humor I didn't know I was talking about, but 00:15:29.480 --> 00:15:31.899 I said, no, I'd be glad to. I know this is... 00:15:31.899 --> 00:15:33.820 I don't have to pray because I know that God's 00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:36.330 been waiting for this to happen. And the reason 00:15:36.330 --> 00:15:39.330 is because my people never had the gospel in 00:15:39.330 --> 00:15:41.490 a language that they couldn't even understand, 00:15:41.950 --> 00:15:44.870 let alone come to faith in Jesus whom they were 00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:48.850 accused of killing for two thousand years. And 00:15:48.850 --> 00:15:52.070 so they were void of the gospel. I could speak 00:15:52.070 --> 00:15:54.830 a little bit about this, but the Jews are the 00:15:54.830 --> 00:15:57.490 most unreached people group in the world for 00:15:57.490 --> 00:16:00.059 the longest period of time in history. So they 00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:03.039 need the gospel, they need to be told how beautiful 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.299 are the feet of those who bring good news, news 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:09.740 of salvation in Yeshua. So this opportunity wasn't 00:16:09.740 --> 00:16:13.360 for me to go and do it, but to meet believers 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:16.820 in Israel who were doing that and come alongside 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:20.159 them with support. So, you know, the opportunity 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:24.460 was just phenomenal. And I said yes. But I had 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:26.740 no idea what to do about that. Well, then it 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:29.440 had to go through the ranks of the leadership 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.779 there to make sure everyone was in full agreement, 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:34.639 which took some time. I had three different interviews. 00:16:35.179 --> 00:16:37.419 Because this is a ministry that was reaching 00:16:37.419 --> 00:16:40.879 unreached people groups. So the question was, 00:16:41.019 --> 00:16:44.220 well, why should Israel be one of our nations 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:46.779 we haven't supported in Israel previous? Why 00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:49.360 now? They're not an unreached people group. They 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.759 broke the Bible and everything. Of course, they 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.580 are the Bible. That people go there. It's the 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:55.960 holy land. They're not an unreached group, so 00:16:55.960 --> 00:17:00.840 I had to really find reasons to say, well, you 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:03.080 know, they are. I just knew they were unreached, 00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:05.619 but I didn't know all the statistics about it 00:17:05.619 --> 00:17:08.160 until I inquired from the Lord, how do I find 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:10.460 this out? Turns out there was a man that I had 00:17:10.460 --> 00:17:13.579 met previously who was in charge of all the data 00:17:13.579 --> 00:17:17.200 for this ministry, and he had done all the research. 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:19.880 And according to the research he had done that 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:22.420 was already reported from larger ministries, 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:24.640 that's all they do, look for unreached people 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:28.119 groups and different nations, that Israel was 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:31.019 literally the most unreached people group in 00:17:31.019 --> 00:17:33.119 the world for the longest period of history. 00:17:33.460 --> 00:17:35.720 And so I had to come up with those facts to present 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:38.960 to this leadership group so that they could see 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:41.859 just the authenticity of even having a ministry. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:45.259 So it comes out true. So there's at the time, 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:50.269 2014, 13, 14 around that time. The statistics 00:17:50.269 --> 00:17:56.170 were that in Israel there was approximately 12 00:17:56.170 --> 00:17:59.650 ,000 to 15 ,000 messianic believers. Now that 00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:02.470 included Gentiles. So there was a mixture of 00:18:02.470 --> 00:18:04.990 Jews and Gentiles who were considered and still 00:18:04.990 --> 00:18:08.710 are the messianic community. These Gentiles come 00:18:08.710 --> 00:18:11.730 there because God led them there. It's an incredible 00:18:11.730 --> 00:18:14.190 phenomena. But they go there feeling God led 00:18:14.190 --> 00:18:16.609 them there, and they click, and they meet Jewish 00:18:16.609 --> 00:18:19.009 believers, and sometimes they lead Jews to faith 00:18:19.009 --> 00:18:21.910 and join forces. It's be like the body of Christ 00:18:21.910 --> 00:18:25.630 in America. There it's the body of Messiah. So 00:18:25.630 --> 00:18:29.549 the percentage of these messianic believers was 00:18:29.549 --> 00:18:35.930 approximately 0 .5 % of the population. So, but 00:18:35.930 --> 00:18:39.210 if you extract the Jews from the messianic community, 00:18:40.190 --> 00:18:44.380 that number becomes much less, and it was at 00:18:44.380 --> 00:18:50.319 the time, 0 .025 % of the population. Tiny number, 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:52.880 fraction of a tiny country at the time especially. 00:18:53.539 --> 00:18:57.099 So they certainly qualified to be an unreached 00:18:57.099 --> 00:19:00.779 people group because in order to be factored 00:19:00.779 --> 00:19:04.440 in as a unreached people group with the Joshua 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:10.259 Project, you had to be less than 2 % of the population. 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:14.079 That meant that you were somewhat like an evangelical 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:16.339 believer, the Bible was true, you believed it 00:19:16.339 --> 00:19:20.559 was true, Jesus was God, and you know, you abided 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:25.059 by His Word and faith and practice. So Israel 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:28.839 qualified to be about 0 .025 % of the Jewish 00:19:28.839 --> 00:19:32.759 population, which is remarkably low. So obviously 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.680 they qualified and then it became almost like 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:38.460 shocking. It was shocking to me. And so I said, 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:40.299 this is, you know, this is something that is 00:19:40.299 --> 00:19:43.859 definitely a current need. Fortunately now, fast 00:19:43.859 --> 00:19:49.460 forward 2025, and that number has, it's still 00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:54.180 below the 2%, but it's gone up to, they're not 00:19:54.180 --> 00:19:56.339 even sure, because it's hard to keep track, especially 00:19:56.339 --> 00:20:00.359 with this war, but it went from 0 .025 to about 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:05.339 0 .2 or 3%, which seems like nothing, but it's 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:09.819 like five times of what it was. in 2013. I'm 00:20:09.819 --> 00:20:11.839 not saying that, wow, we've got to sing and dance, 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:14.859 the story's over, they've been reached, people... 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:16.920 No, they're not. And they still don't have a 00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:18.839 Bible in their own language, which is coming 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.400 close because of one of the ministries we support, 00:20:21.619 --> 00:20:24.400 which I will speak about in another time. So 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:29.740 all this said that I saw the need to go. But 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:33.180 I didn't understand why, when I go back to the 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:37.789 day when this ministry leader said, to God, you 00:20:37.789 --> 00:20:39.910 know. I have this Jewish carpenter, I don't know 00:20:39.910 --> 00:20:41.690 what to do with him, and I'm afraid. What was 00:20:41.690 --> 00:20:43.569 he afraid of? I never asked him, I didn't feel 00:20:43.569 --> 00:20:46.769 it was really for me to ask, but I was still 00:20:46.769 --> 00:20:49.809 curious until it dawned on me, because I was 00:20:49.809 --> 00:20:52.190 starting to understand the opposition that was 00:20:52.190 --> 00:20:55.970 out there, which I was previously somewhat ignorant 00:20:55.970 --> 00:20:59.470 of, and I feel somewhat sorry about that, was 00:20:59.470 --> 00:21:04.369 that even though I was born again, my wife and 00:21:04.369 --> 00:21:07.900 I were part of it. a church from basically the 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:11.059 time we got saved. We started going to a church 00:21:11.059 --> 00:21:13.220 and we were the only Jews there. But that didn't 00:21:13.220 --> 00:21:15.240 matter to us because we were welcome. We were 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.059 loved and respected. And you know, we just felt 00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:20.579 like we belonged. And that was for quite a while. 00:21:20.700 --> 00:21:23.259 It was the only church we had ever gone to, other 00:21:23.259 --> 00:21:26.700 than a visit here and there. But for the first 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:30.799 17 to 18 years of our faith, that was the only 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.539 church we knew of. And so we thought that all 00:21:33.539 --> 00:21:36.339 believers loved the Jewish people. All who loved 00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:39.460 Yeshua also loved the Jewish people and wanted 00:21:39.460 --> 00:21:42.460 to see them saved. But that was not the case 00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:45.160 with most of the world. We never realized how 00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:48.039 rare it was in the church where we were going 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:53.559 to, that it was very rare. And in the Christian 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:58.599 faith, the denominational faith, most denominations 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:02.670 had one form or another of replacing theology. 00:22:03.130 --> 00:22:06.930 Some very outright, and some somewhat hidden. 00:22:07.329 --> 00:22:10.289 Not hidden on purpose, but underlying. And this 00:22:10.289 --> 00:22:12.390 is where it takes a little bit of an education, 00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:14.930 and I'm going to pretty much bring this to a 00:22:14.930 --> 00:22:19.849 close soon. But the Christian faith, which has 00:22:19.849 --> 00:22:23.250 all the evangelical denominations lumped together, 00:22:23.670 --> 00:22:28.069 so I can't say that one denomination is a blank 00:22:28.069 --> 00:22:31.859 statement for all. churches, denominations, but 00:22:31.859 --> 00:22:35.200 the fulfillment theology, it was the same thing 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:38.059 as replacement theology, says that the Jews had 00:22:38.059 --> 00:22:41.380 their place in time, which is the time being 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:44.579 the Old Testament portion of the Bible, but from 00:22:44.579 --> 00:22:48.380 the time of Matthew on the New Testament, the 00:22:48.380 --> 00:22:51.740 Church is the leading figure, the chosen people, 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.599 and not only that, but all the promises that 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:59.400 were given to the Jews was negated because of 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:04.980 their disobedience and God abrogated those promises 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:08.140 and transferred all the promises from the Old 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:11.279 Testament to the Church in the New Testament 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:15.460 and leading up to current times. I couldn't understand 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:17.680 that when I first heard that. To me it's like, 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:19.720 how could you actually read the Bible and come 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:22.880 to that conclusion? But they did and it's been 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.470 done. We will talk a lot about this as time goes 00:23:26.470 --> 00:23:30.470 on because it's too large of a subject, but the 00:23:30.470 --> 00:23:34.690 fear, which I didn't understand then, was because 00:23:34.690 --> 00:23:39.009 the support of the ministry, any global ministry, 00:23:39.170 --> 00:23:41.910 any Christian denominational ministry, inter 00:23:41.910 --> 00:23:44.809 -denominational ministry, non -denominational 00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:48.049 ministry, was still supported by Christians who 00:23:48.049 --> 00:23:51.970 were part of Christian denominations. And very 00:23:51.970 --> 00:23:56.150 few of them didn't have some level of replacement 00:23:56.150 --> 00:23:58.690 theology. Now, you're going to say, well, now 00:23:58.690 --> 00:24:00.630 my church, our church is totally pro -Israel, 00:24:00.890 --> 00:24:03.069 and I would have to really give you some more 00:24:03.069 --> 00:24:05.930 information about what that means, which I will 00:24:05.930 --> 00:24:09.390 do in very little right now, but it starts back 00:24:09.390 --> 00:24:14.369 in the garden of Eden, and then it becomes an 00:24:14.369 --> 00:24:18.950 issue with the calling of Abraham out of his 00:24:18.950 --> 00:24:21.809 land to come to a nation which I will show you. 00:24:21.819 --> 00:24:24.920 and you will be the father of a people who are 00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:28.059 yet to be born. You will be the father of many 00:24:28.059 --> 00:24:31.519 nations." So that was the promise. But in that 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:34.680 promise he said, you will be a blessing to all 00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:37.180 the families of the earth, through the nations 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:41.960 of the world. And in you I will bless, and I 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:44.640 will bless those who bless you, and I will curse 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:47.180 those who curse you. And he repeated the same 00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:51.259 promises to Isaac and to Jacob. and then to Jacob's 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:54.299 descendants, which make up 12 tribes of Israel, 00:24:54.700 --> 00:24:57.839 which are the Jewish people from that time leading 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:00.539 up to today. We take that all the way into the 00:25:00.539 --> 00:25:05.000 New Testament, where there's 12 tribes, 144 ,000 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.160 from each, 12 ,000 each from the 12 tribes of 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:12.420 Israel. So they go right to the very end of time, 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:16.259 at the end of the book of Revelation. So, the 00:25:16.259 --> 00:25:19.539 bottom line is What do you do if you bring this 00:25:19.539 --> 00:25:23.220 Jew here? Now, this is my extrapolation because 00:25:23.220 --> 00:25:25.839 I didn't want to go in this conversation, but 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:28.059 I was wondering all the time what the fear was 00:25:28.059 --> 00:25:30.640 from a man who was really not a fearful man. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:32.880 I mean, he'd been to places that most people 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:34.680 would cringe because he was very courageous. 00:25:35.099 --> 00:25:38.680 But the fear was what's going to happen when 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:41.660 there starts to be this theological confrontation 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:44.819 that now we're supporting ministry in Israel? 00:25:45.049 --> 00:25:47.509 This is not the Israel of the Bible. This is 00:25:47.509 --> 00:25:49.630 a different Israel. It's some made -up thing 00:25:49.630 --> 00:25:53.230 that took place from, you know, these wealthy 00:25:53.230 --> 00:25:56.289 entrepreneurs that created Israel and started 00:25:56.289 --> 00:26:00.250 buying all this ammunition and warfare equipment. 00:26:00.890 --> 00:26:04.250 And so that's one of the thoughts. But they don't 00:26:04.250 --> 00:26:06.829 think that this is modern Israel. Some do, and 00:26:06.829 --> 00:26:09.369 they support it. But if they support even that 00:26:09.369 --> 00:26:12.609 way, it's got its limitations, which I will speak 00:26:12.609 --> 00:26:16.279 about, because Those who bless Israel will be 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:19.140 blessed, but those who curse will be cursed. 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:22.900 Blessing and cursing have definitions in Hebrew, 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:25.660 using the Hebrew words, that are very specific, 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:28.980 which we won't talk about now. But the reason 00:26:28.980 --> 00:26:32.039 we call ourselves come from my people is because 00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:35.460 I had to give a name for this ministry, and I 00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:37.319 didn't even know what to do about that. Well, 00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:39.880 Israel ministry, something like that, very generic. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:41.680 And I asked the Lord, what would you want us 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:44.490 to call this? And He said, comfort. my people. 00:26:45.130 --> 00:26:48.250 And so I started really doing it. I knew where 00:26:48.250 --> 00:26:51.529 it came from. I had read Isaiah many times and 00:26:51.529 --> 00:26:54.750 I knew it was in chapter 40, verse 1 and 2, where 00:26:54.750 --> 00:26:56.670 we're going to get this from. Actually one of 00:26:56.670 --> 00:26:58.930 my favorites. I had memorized that some years 00:26:58.930 --> 00:27:01.029 ago, the entire chapter, which it's hard for 00:27:01.029 --> 00:27:03.710 me to do now. So I love that chapter. But the 00:27:03.710 --> 00:27:06.430 beginning of it is one that I'd never heard taught 00:27:06.430 --> 00:27:10.230 before, where it says, Comfort my people. Comfort 00:27:10.230 --> 00:27:12.809 my people. It's a commandment. says it twice, 00:27:13.009 --> 00:27:15.990 and it's an imperative in Hebrew. And so this 00:27:15.990 --> 00:27:21.369 ministry had to have a attachment to this verse 00:27:21.369 --> 00:27:24.309 and verse two, to be tenderly, speak to the heart 00:27:24.309 --> 00:27:26.529 of Jerusalem, tell her that her warfare is over 00:27:26.529 --> 00:27:29.009 for she has received double from the Lord's hand. 00:27:29.230 --> 00:27:31.750 This needed an explanation because if it was 00:27:31.750 --> 00:27:33.829 preached, taught, and maybe you've heard it, 00:27:33.829 --> 00:27:36.109 I never heard it before taught or preached, but 00:27:36.109 --> 00:27:38.789 I knew that I had to understand this way better 00:27:38.789 --> 00:27:41.049 than I did because I'm going to start explaining 00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:44.519 why we're calling this Come From My People. So 00:27:44.519 --> 00:27:46.759 I'm going to have to go from there because our 00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:51.359 time is up and I'll just bid you Shalom and hope 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:54.539 that you could continue to listen. I know that 00:27:54.539 --> 00:27:56.720 I kind of jump around which might bother some 00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:59.180 of you but I'm trying to get a point across that 00:27:59.180 --> 00:28:02.500 is ancient in nature and it's hard to just do 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:06.500 it like ABCs or 123 break things down in outline 00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:09.460 form. Some would have no problem with that but 00:28:09.460 --> 00:28:13.410 for me I'm so personally engaged that it's hard 00:28:13.410 --> 00:28:15.329 for me to drop the emotions while I'm trying 00:28:15.329 --> 00:28:18.490 to teach something that is historical and biblical 00:28:18.490 --> 00:28:23.569 and yet denied and avoided for 19 centuries plus. 00:28:24.190 --> 00:28:28.529 Shalom. Shalom. Till next time. We bless you 00:28:28.529 --> 00:28:30.990 for taking the time to consider this message. 00:28:31.490 --> 00:28:33.869 May it cause you to be fruitful and effective 00:28:33.869 --> 00:28:36.549 and lead others along the way with confidence 00:28:36.549 --> 00:28:40.710 and determination. Check out our website at comfortmypeople 00:28:40.710 --> 00:28:44.369 .com to become better informed and equipped to 00:28:44.369 --> 00:28:46.829 restore righteousness to the people of Israel, 00:28:47.009 --> 00:28:50.710 America and beyond. Please consider sharing this 00:28:50.710 --> 00:28:54.630 and visit us on social media. Shalom and blessings.