The dedication of the new "Hurva" Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem prophesies the establishment of the God of Israel's own "New World Order" and the nations of the world are terrified at the competition.

This week saw Vice-President Biden continuing the US diplomatic pressure against the people and land of Israel. Ken Garrison shares his perspective on the failure of the Obama administration and challenges individual Christians and local churches to build up Jewish life in Judea and Samaria.

Where in the world is Kedumim, Israel? And why has a group from Fellowship Church returned there each of the past five years?

When I lived in Jerusalem, I roomed with a guy named Kert from South Africa. Most afternoons (was it every afternoon?) when he came home from work at the Christian Embassy, he brewed tea. Since then, tea has been a mneumonic for those wonderful five months in the eternal capital of Israel. Later, I discovered chai tea. The last time I worked in Kedumim, Raphaella Segal was kind enough to get me a box of Israeli chai masala which I ran out of too long ago. Since then, I have modified a recipe for chai that I must have found on the Internet. If you want a yummy, spicy cup of chai tea latte then mix in a teapot:

• 2 tablespoons of loose black tea (I like Tetley from the ones I have tried)
• 1 teaspoon of "chai masala" mix that I get from the local Indian spice shop (where I get just about everything else I need for this recipe)
• 12 green cardamom pods
• 12 whole cloves
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons of powdered ginger (fresh ginger probably better but doesn't keep so well)
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated nutmeg
• 2 anise seed pods
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Pour

• 6 cups (48 ounces) of boiling water over the tea/spice mix and let steep for 10 minutes (more or less depending how strong and how much caffiene you care for)

Pour tea into 1/2-gallon pitcher through sieve to remove the tea and spices. While still hot, mix in

• 4 tablespoons of honey

Fill balance of pitcher with

• 2 cups of milk (more can be added to individual servings later to taste)

Server hot or chilled. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jews, while you sip the tea.

Today, Vice-President Joe Biden, in Israel for a three hour day tour reportedly made the statement that you don't have to be Jewish to be a Zionist. The pandering stopped, however, when Israel announced it had approved 1600 new housing units in East (Biblical) Jerusalem.

Caroline Glick's recent post about US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel provides four reasons why the Obama administration will fail to win over the Israeli public this go around where the Clinton administration suceeded in 1999. She closes with:

The Israeli public is not interested in a change of tone - from Obama or from the Israeli Left. It is interested in a change of policy. Until it gets it, the public will in all likelihood remain loyal to Netanyahu.

It brings my thoughts to that Israeli public and what they stand for. Of course, it may be a vast oversimplification, but I imagine that much of the Israeli public just want to be left alone to lead the lives that are before them: raising families, earning a living and finding a little leftover time for whatever else is important to each one of them. These people are not the policy makers and do not want to be. They are not the left that seeks to find acceptance in the eyes of the nations, nor are they the Biblical Zionists reclaiming and living on the hills of Judea and Samaria. My hope and prayer is that an increasing number of these everyday people come to see the significance of the people of Israel living throughout the land of Israel.

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Jim Wingerter has written a book entitled Worship, What Have We Been Missing? about worship in the local church. It is available at Amazon for $12.50 (buy two for free shipping). In the book, Jim shares his experience coming to terms with what was his Christian walk:

Years later (as a college student) I was sitting in the middle of another "worship" service in a Baptist Church north of Tallahassee, Florida. We had just finished an altar call, singing the famous hymn "Just as I Am," which (after a few weeks I had realized) was a weekly ritual. Light filtered through stained and clear glass above to my left and right. Ushers moved to their positions with offering plates in hand. Inside my head, a song started:

"Is that all there is?"

Someone up front was making an announcement but Peggy Lee would not be interrupted.

"Is that all there is? If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing. Let's break out the booze and have a ball, if that's all there is."

My Christian experience - and the experience of every Christian I knew - had boiled down to this: a few songs, an offering, a morning prayer and a sermon. Looking back, I have a better perspective on just how processed, preserved and boiled my Christian experience had become. At the time, of course, I was still in the pot, boiling.

Peggy Lee's song became a cry in my heart: "Is that all there is?"

The modern nation of Israel reclaimed land at the heart of "Dar al Islam" and every faithful Muslim must wage jihad against its very existence.

You may have heard of the recent Gallup Poll that found that support for the nation of Israel among Americans is at a 20-year high right now. IsraelMatzav points out a Shmuel Rosner JPost blog on the topic. A comment by Igor at that blog (first comment) observes (my emphasis):

1.In foreign policy, Democrats have generally a more positive view towards other countries than Republicans. The only exception is Israel; and

2.Young generations generally view other countries more positive than the older ones. Again, the only exception is Israel.

Israel has been set apart by the God of Israel from the rest of the nations of the earth (Numbers 23.9) and they cause polarization among the nations between those who fear God and those who are the enemies of God. This is true for all political affiliations and I do not mean for you to infer from this post that Republicans are somehow the "party of God". If the poll accurately reflects reality, it would seem that there is more of a remnant of the fear of God among Republicans than is measured amond Democrats.

For me, the more potentiaqlly troubling fact is that the younger generation in the US rate Israel lower (but still 63% positive) than the older generations. Hopefully, this is not an ongoing trend that reflects a growing negative attitude toward Israel among the US population. As Igor notes in his comment, that poll result may have more to do with the tendancy of the younger generation to have misplaced sympathies. The Arabs in Judea and Samaria, after all, have done their best to portray themselves as Palestinian victims.