Be a Friend to Israel

The cover of Charisma asks an ominous question: Can Israel survive? The answer is a resounding yes. Besides the fact that the Israelis are perhaps the most determined people on the face of the earth, God’s Word says that the Jews are His chosen people, the apple of His eye, and they will survive.

Yet at the same time they need our friendship as never before. With the threat of Iran growing more serious every day, the Israelis seem to have fewer and fewer friends.

One of the groups that consistently stands with Israel is evangelical Christians, who some Jews now realize are their nation’s best friends. Recently my friend Rabbi Aaron Rubinger traveled to Israel and came back with a firsthand report on the seriousness of the situation there, which I shared with the readers of my twice weekly Strang Report e-newsletter. You can read the report by going to rubinger.charismamag.com.

Charisma has supported Israel for many years. At least twice each year we publish articles focusing on Israel. A few weeks ago we sent our associate editor, Valerie Lowe, to Israel. She said she met officials there and felt like a celebrity because many of them knew Charisma and knew of our longtime support of Israel.

On a personal level, I have been involved in Christians United for Israel (CUFI) since its founding in 2006. I have written about the organization many times and encourage all our readers to become involved. This year I invite you to attend the Washington Summit July 19-22 in the nation’s capital. The summit is an opportunity not only to lobby congressmen and senators on behalf of Israel but also to attend seminars to learn about lobbying and other practical ways to support Israel.

I’ll be there. I’m always inspired by the great speeches and music and by seeing the thousands of other people who, like me, love Israel. It’s a reminder that together we can accomplish much more than we can accomplish separately.

Recently pastor John Hagee, the founder of CUFI and my longtime friend, invited members of CUFI to sign The Israel Pledge. In late March he hand-carried 110,000 signatures on the petition to leaders in Congress to let them know how important it is that Congress and the United States stay strong for Israel.

CUFI is continuing to collect signatures. I encourage you to go to our Web site and sign The Israel Pledge, as I have. It states:

We believe that the Jewish people have a right to live in their ancient land of Israel, and that the modern State of Israel is the fulfillment of this historic right.

We maintain that there is no excuse for acts of terrorism against Israel and that Israel has the same right as every other nation to defend her citizens from such violent attacks.

We pledge to stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel and to speak out on their behalf whenever and wherever necessary until the attacks stop and they are finally living in peace and security with their neighbors.

I know many readers love Israel as much as I do. Yet we have room to write about it in print only a few times a year. Now, thanks to the Internet, we can send out a weekly e-newsletter focusing on what is happening in Israel and around the world through ministries such as CUFI and others that are working to support Israel. Named “Standing With Israel,” it is edited by Valerie Lowe, who just returned from her first trip to the Holy Land.

Standing With Israel will initially come out weekly and later twice a week. It will be a compilation of important news about Israel relating to Christian Zionists. The format will be very much like my Strang Report and our Charisma News Online.

We are sending the digital format of this issue of Charisma to 1 million people who are known supporters of Israel. I urge them and you to subscribe to this important new e-newsletter at charismamag.com/newsletters.

During a time when changes in the world are causing many people to feel fearful, it’s important that Christians stand together—and stand strong for Israel—not only for the Jews’ sake. God promises that He will bless those who bless His people (see Gen. 12:3), and we need His hand on us as well.

Steve Strang is the founder of Charisma. He invites you to subscribe at charismamag.com/newsletters to his online newsletter, The Strang Report, which contains information about many of the cultural and political issues facing our nation.