By Dan Greenblat
LA JOLLA, California — While fighting continued in Israel and Gaza, over 400 Christians and Jews answered a “call to all people of faith” by gathering at Sherwood Auditorium in. Tuesday night. Standing together, they prayed for the peace of Israel and an end to Middle East violence.
The upbeat and hopeful crowd heard three of San Diego’s most prominent megachurch pastors, and others, focus the meeting on shared values and a shared Biblical call. Singing praise songs in English and Hebrew, the religiously diverse gathering had a remarkable feeling of unified purpose and solidarity.
“This is far deeper than a piece of real estate,” said Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa, “We are all joined together by God because He said I am going to stand with the Jewish people.”
Garlow cited the Old Testament covenants as the basis for the permanent, shared bond between Christians and Jews worldwide. “Why are we so taken with Israel? There are six covenants in the Bible we share, including the ones with Abraham and David. The future may or may not have an America but, if you look deeply into the future, there will be an Israel.”
Adding to the theme, Pastor Miles McPherson of The Rock Church emphasized the significance of the moment. “God sends deliverers in response to our human cries,” McPherson said, “God is not deaf and He is not blind. He created the Jewish people for a purpose. Yet, this is not about you, or just about the Israeli people, it’s about something far larger – this is about God’s purposes. With you and God together, we have a majority over everybody”
McPherson had everyone stand up if they have a family member or friend in Israel, so the crowd could pray for them. About 30 percent of the crowd stood. “God said ‘I will always be with you’ and that is all you need to know,” McPherson prayed, “God is with your people and your army. He knows everything that is happening and He will take care of you.”
An impassioned Audrey Jacobs, Director of the 5,000 member StandWithUs-San Diego, which sponsored the event, poured gratitude on the audience. “Thank you for being friends of Israel – real friends,” Jacobs said. “By standing with us today, we all have an opportunity to bring heaven down to earth and to work for peace for everyone in the entire region. Thank you for seeing through the blizzard of lies told about Israel every day.”
StandWithUs is an Israel education and advocacy group, which provides factual information to the community about Israel and the events in the Middle East. The group was a central force in the gathering of 1,500 Jews just two days before this Christian gathering on Tuesday.
“What is at stake in Gaza is whether America will stand up for a country that has always stood up for us,” Jacobs added, “When you stand up for Israel, you stand up for freedom, for democracy, and for the right of a small, peaceful country to resist aggression. You stand up for our shared Judeo-Christian values and traditions.”
Providing Israel’s official perspective, Dr. Uri Resnick, Deputy General Consul of Israel, explained the military and diplomatic situation. “We are trying daily to find a long term solution and will not be satisfied until we have a genuine peace,” Dr. Resnick said. “First, we need to stop the thousands of missiles from falling on Israel. We pray for the citizens of Gaza to put aside their hostilities and seek a true peace. Our shared value system makes us look on in dismay and horror at a Gaza government that would deliberately put its own citizens in harm’s way.”
Dr. Resnick indicated the early, pinpoint Israeli air strikes, were highly successful in destroying most of the long range Hamas rockets. Also, Hamas’ military leadership was targeted to disrupt terrorist reactions. He cited the US-Israeli developed “Iron Dome” anti-missile system as “a remarkable system that has given us breathing room to find a diplomatic solution.”
“For year upon year, we have endured thousands of Hamas missiles raining upon Israel,” Dr. Resnick observed. “There are 4.5 million Israelis in the line of fire every day. Yet even in the middle of the fighting, Israelis today are sending tens of thousands of text messages to Gaza resident to get away from Hamas to avoid injury or death. Even today, 30,000 thousands of tons of medical supplies and food are crossing the border from Israel into Gaza every week.”
Taking the stage was Phillip MacIntosh, pastor of Horizon Christian Fellowship, to voice a dedicated prayer for the Israel. “No other people has been exiled for 2,000 years from their lands, then come back, and prospered like never before,” MacIntosh said, “You are witnessing God’s miracle.”
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Preceding provided by StandWithUs