A group is rushing to finish an 11,600 seat arena in Jerusalem to host what could be the biggest Christian Pentecost Sunday celebration in the history of Israel.
The workers said they know the event could be huge and that “the Christians are coming.”
Empowered21 Global Congress is organizing the event that is scheduled to run through the 25th. Spirit-led leaders from around the world are coming to the Holy City such as Teen Mania founder Ron Luce and Samuel Rodriguez, Jr. of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
William M. Wilson of Oral Roberts University, co-chair of Empowered21, called the event a “landmark.”
“This is a pivotal moment in history for the global Spirit–empowered movement,” said Wilson in a statement. “The Impartation service, which will pass the mantel of the global Spirit–empowered movement on to the next generation, is of particular significance. Our prayer is that this service will be a catalyst, igniting the hearts and minds of young people from around the globe with the fire of God’s love and power.”
“The Global Congress will be a powerful time of worship and ministry for Spirit–empowered Christians from every continent,” noted Empowered21 global co–chair George O. Wood. “We anticipate many changed lives as thousands of Spirit–empowered Christians gather together to seek God and bless the Holy Land.”
The group is moving into the event after a weekend event in Amman, Jordan which drew 1,000 Christians from 15 different nations.
A Palestinian terrorist drove his car into a group of people waiting for a train in East Jerusalem injuring seven people before being shot by guards.
Six of the wounded were female Israeli soldiers.
The terrorist jumped out of the car after plowing into the crowd waving around a knife. He was able to stab one pedestrian before he was shot by security.
“The swift and determined response stopped the attack as it was beginning and prevented more innocents from being injured,” said Moshe Edri, regional police commander.
The attack happened during the Jewish holiday of Purim and police officials say that it’s not likely there is not a connection between the attack and the holiday. However, local officials said that all holiday celebrations will continue as planned.
“We will not let terror disrupt our daily routine, and we will fight it without compromise,” said erusalem mayor Nir Barakat. “I invite all residents of the country to celebrate Purim in Jerusalem and to support it.”
A Greek Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem was burned Thursday and anti-Christian graffiti was sprayed on a nearby wall.
Police in the area say it’s clearly a hate crime.
The bathroom and corridor of Dormition Abbey was set on fire around 3 a.m. by unknown assailants. As firefighters extinguished the flames, they saw the crudely written graffiti mocking Jesus Christ.
A court has issued a gag-order for most of the details of the crime but a witness shared what they saw about the attack.
“Two people who were hiding their faces came from the east side of the structure near the cemetery and the Catholic church,” he said. “From there they threw flammable liquid at the seminary’s bathroom.”
Israeli President Reuvin Rivlin was outraged by the attack.
“It is inconceivable that an act like this could happen in a house of prayer,” Rivlin said in a statement.
“This is a heinous crime, there must be an investigation and those responsible must be brought to justice. Such criminals not only threaten to set fire to places of worship holy to all of us, but ignite the regional powder keg upon which we all sit.”
The mayor of Jerusalem and his security guard wrestled a Palestinian attacker to the ground on Sunday after he stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jew at an intersection.
Mayor Nir Barkat is shown on security footage walking to the attacker with his security guard before lunging at him and pinning the attacker to the street. Once the man was subdued by the Mayor, other residents came and restrained him until police arrived on the scene.
The video shows the attacker waving a knife around in the air before stabbing one man and attempting to stab a second. The victims were not seriously hurt according to police officials.
“My bodyguard took out his weapon and when he aimed at the terrorist, the terrorist dropped his knife and we immediately tackled him on the ground to make sure that he cannot continue with the terror attack,” Barkat told reporters.
Barkat was an officer in a paratroopers unit before going into business and politics.
Over 100 tablets that have been dated back to Nebuchadnezzar’s era in Babylon have provided further support for the Scriptures showing the exile of the Jewish nation.
The tablets, which have just gone in display in Jerusalem, provide a look into the lives of the Jews as they lived in exile. Among day to day life items, the tablets trace a Judean family over four generations.
The tablets had been discovered in Iraq and rescued from ISIS by a UK-based Israeli collector. The artifacts are written in ancient akkadian cuneiform script.
“We started reading the tablets and within minutes we were absolutely stunned,” Babylonian expert Filip Vukosavovic told reporters. “It fills in a critical gap in understanding of what was going on in the life of Judeans in Babylonia more than 2,500 years ago.”
“On the one hand it’s boring details, but on the other you learn so much about who these exiled people were and how they lived,” he added.
The tablets will be displayed for one year at the Bible Land Museum in Jerusalem.
A team of Israeli archaeologists believes they have found the place where Jesus was placed on trial.
After 15 years of excavation in Jerusalem, the team found the location under an abandoned building next to the Tower of David museum. The building, which once served as a prison during Turkish and British rule, was believed to be built over a palace when excavation was proposed almost two decades ago.
The scientists now say the palace is King Herod’s palace is located under the building.
Luke 23 states that Jesus was sent to Herod after Pilate discovered he came from Galilee.
“And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time,” it reads. “And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see Him of a long season, because he had heard many things of Him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned with Him in many words; but He answered him nothing.”
The archaeologists say the discovery lines up with Scripture.
“There is, of course, no inscription stating it happened here, but everything—archaeological, historical and gospel accounts—all falls into place and makes sense,” Shimon Gibson, an archaeology professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, told the Washington Post.
Schools have been shut down for at least three days across Jerusalem and many government offices are closing ahead of a massive blizzard that is expected to blanket the city in snow and ice.
The Israel Defense Forces are also moving to a heightened state of alert because of the storm, sending tanks into parts of northern Israel that could face being cut off because of high snowfall on roadways.
At least 1,000 soldiers have been deployed to northern Israel and Jerusalem to assist residents during the storm. The troops will make sure that all area hospitals will remain operational if doctors and nurses cannot make it into their offices because of the storm.
The front wave of the storm brought 45 mile per hour winds to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, downing trees across the region.
Last year a similar storm left wide areas with electricity, water or road access for days. The government will be shutting down major roadways ahead of the storm to avoid having vehicles trapped on the highway as they were in December 2013.
Residents have been spending the week stocking up on basic food supplies.
Officials at the United Nations say Palestinian leaders are quietly putting together a draft resolution that would recognize statehood for Palestine.
Despite opposition from Israel and U.S. officials, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would be pushing forward with the resolution that calls for a peace deal with Israel within a year and an “end to occupation of Palestinian territories by 2017.”
“Today the Arab group will meet in New York, and we will submit the original draft resolution to the Security Council hoping to conclude the vote by tomorrow or the day after,” senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat told Reuters.
The crux of the resolution would be negotiations for the deal with Israel that would require the land captured by Israel in the 1967 war be returned to Palestine.
The proposal would also say that East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state and calls for an end to Israeli settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
“We will continue to rebuff vigorously attempts to force terms that would jeopardize our security,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An Illinois resident has been charged with plotting terrorism against Israel.
Adam Everett Livix, 30, has been charged with possession of weapons. Israeli police say that he intended to blow up various Jerusalem holy sites. Police said they have evidence that he turned down an officer from Palestinian officials to assassinate President Obama during his 2013 visit.
“He categorically denies the charges in the indictment,” Livix’s attorney Gal Wolf said. “He says it is nonsense.”
Livix reportedly had overstayed his visa in Israel for a year.
The Justice Ministry said Livix later cooperated with his roommate, a serving soldier in the Israeli military, to obtain 3 pounds of explosive material to blow up the unidentified Jerusalem holy sites. The ministry said police discovered the plot in October.
Livix had fled to Israel after facing criminal charges in Indiana.
