Channel Surfing

SPOTLIGHT

Praying in Jerusalem

TheCall and the Global Day of Prayer mark Israel’s 60-year anniversary.

Thousands of Christians are expected to journey to Israel this month to celebrate the 60-year anniversary of its modern statehood with music, prayer, fellowship and historical tours.

On Pentecost Sunday, May 11, global Christian broadcaster GOD TV will air live footage of worship and celebration events that bring together two of the world’s leading prayer movements—Lou Engle’s TheCall and Graham Power’s Global Day of Prayer (GDP).

Power will join GOD TV co-founders Rory and Wendy Alec inside their Jerusalem TV studios to pray in concert with millions worldwide while Engle will simultaneously rally intercessors across town for TheCall Jerusalem at the Jerusalem Convention Center. Mike Bickle of the International House of Prayer and Cindy Jacobs, co-founder of Generals International, will join Engle at TheCall.

The prayer events fall in the middle of a week of festivities being hosted by GOD TV as part of its Israel Tour 2008, which includes a concert at Mount Carmel featuring prophetic minister Kim Clement and a 60th anniversary celebration by Hillsong’s worship team at the Western Wall. A potential audience of tens of millions of viewers worldwide will be able to tune in to GOD TV’s coverage of the rallies and lend their prayer support to local Messianic and Arab believers in the Holy Land.

“This is a huge undertaking, as we literally bring the world together in prayer via television,” Rory Alec says. “We believe we will be impacting the destinies of our nations as we join together in mass prayer, humility and repentance.”

One purpose for praying, according to Engle’s Web site, is to marshall both Jews and gentiles to “ascend the hill of the Lord” and “contend for the fullness of the Holy Spirit to be poured out on His people in Israel and the Middle East.” He adds: “We do not come with a political agenda but to seek God for a spiritual breakthrough.”

Marking the first time both prayer movements have united, TheCall Jerusalem (thecall.com) aims to inspire Christians to pray and fast while the GDP (globaldayof prayer.com), a council of prayer that convenes each year on Pentecost Sunday, calls all nations to confess God’s sovereignty, repent of sin and ask that His kingdom come.

“We believe this combined event is going to release God’s anointing in an unprecedented way,” Wendy Alec says. “[It] will have a divine impact not only on Israel and the world, but also in our personal lives. We are trusting the Lord to turn things around for everyone who participates, even in a day.”
SUZY A. RICHARDSON

America’s switch from analog to digital television, ordered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to begin Feb. 17, 2009, will affect TVs in millions of homes that currently receive over-the-air analog signals via dipole antennas (rabbit ears). For families wishing to continue using analog-based TVs after the February deadline, a limited supply of government-subsidized $40 coupons, which can be found at www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon, are now available to help cover the cost of digital-to-analog converter boxes. Most new television sets, especially those sold after March 2007, are equipped with built-in digital tuners, which do not require a converter box and therefore are not at risk of losing reception after the deadline. Customers receiving television services by cable, satellite or a telephone company will not be affected by the transition. Though advocates for digital TV point out the potential for higher-quality image and sound, the coming switch-over is more likely due to the world’s limited airwave spectrum. A digital signal enables networks to broadcast multiple programs over the same bandwidth, a process called multiplexing, which makes better use of the airwaves in today’s increasingly wireless world.

Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI) recently celebrated 40 years of preaching the gospel to Jews and gentiles across the globe. Jonathan Bernis (above right), executive director of JVMI and host of Jewish Voice With Jonathan Bernis, is a Messianic rabbi who discusses with guests topics such as archaeology, the Jewish roots of Christianity and parallels between world events and Israel in prophecy. The weekly program airs on TBN, Daystar, INSP, LeSea and GOD TV. Daystar also carries it in Israel.