Fellowship of All Nations Under a Blood Moon

“And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
32 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the Lord has said,
Among the remnant whom the Lord calls." Joel 2:28-32

Monday morning found us gazing up and observing part of these words. Here we were in Zion the city of our God and taking note of what was being written in the skies. We stood as the wise men, traveling far, foreigners, following the signs of heaven. We were not only symbolically like the wise men. You see, in the last couple of months an old friend has appeared in the heavens. It has not been seen for nearly two thousand years. While we were gazing at the blood moon on one side of the roof behind us was the Star of Bethlehem positioned over the Old City. So a great convergence happened on the roof- the sun began to rise, the moon eclipse went dark and turned to blood, and the Star of Bethlehem observed it all! What can it mean?! I have no idea! But the Scriptures say to watch the skies. It also says that all of Creation is waiting and longing for the sons of God to be revealed. Let us ponder the mystery.

I must say I was a little surprised to find that we were not the only group positioned on the roof to observe and ponder the skies. Many were trying to capture the moment. All of a sudden, I found myself surrounded with a delightful tones of English accents, and as I found out more specifically Welsh accents. We had a delightful time. They came close to look at the version of the Blood Moon captured in my larger camera. Someone expressed sadness that their photos were not turning out so great, so I told them I would find them later at a meal and give them my information so they could get my photos from the blog.

I missed them at breakfast, but found them later that night. Pastor Clive Owen of Wellspring Christian Fellowship in Langstone near Newport, Wales. He said he was given his name long before the famous Clive, I said, “Well then, can I still have your autograph?” We both laughed.

He saw our group and asked several questions. I shared that the group we were apart of had been coming to Israel since the 60’s. I pointed out my grandmother, Bea Mullins, and explained that her first trip was in 1971. He said that his first trip was 10 years later in 1981. I shared the website info with him and greeted their group. After I sat down, I saw that he had gone over and sat down with my grandmother, my Aunt Susan, and mother, Barbara Young. I found out from them that this was his 56th trip since 1981. He had been leading groups from Wales all of that time. We knew they were headed to Hebron the next day. When Daddy heard the story, he said,  “We need to pray for their protection.” So, we did. I met up with him Wednesday night. He said that their trip was tense, but they had no fear. He shared that they would be leaving the next day. Knowing that we were getting ready to return to the Western Wall, I asked if their was any prayer requests he would have us pray for. He asked for prayer for a lady named Gail with pancreatic cancer. I told him we would lift her up.

He then asked me about “the big fellow in blue”. And glanced over in James Miles’ direction. He said, “we could sure use him for our national football (soccer) team.”  I laughed. I said, “Yes, he would be great. Not only is he a big guy, he was a fast one. Since a young age, if you could just get a ball to him, he could do wonders.” I told Mr. Owen that James was following in his dad’s footsteps of starting his career in becoming a physical education teacher. “He not only wants to teach P.E. but he wants to be in the elementary schools because so many of the little guys and girls don’t have a positive male role model in their lives. He wants to be a real presence in their lives.” Mr. Owen shared about his daughter, how she had saved the lives of several children. Saved? This was getting interesting. In her flat (apartment building), a young lady had come to her and asked if she could borrow her car. The subject of why came up. She wanted to use it to go get an abortion. This daughter looked into the eyes of this desperate woman, and said, “We will not be going this day. I will walk beside you through this, I will help you raise this child.” And so they have. Mr. Owen and his family have partnered in covering the live of three children who would have been aborted. The whole Owen family, stands beside these mothers. To father these children. To take them to church, to have them in their homes. He said, one of the little guys asked if they could call him “Da”, “No, son, I’m your “Pa”. He didn’t want to confuse him, because he has a father in the picture, even if he wanders out of the frame every once in awhile. Mr. Owen shared that there were many in this world desperate for the love from a father. He said I want to be one that shows this love because the Father has fathered me. We blessed each other and prayed that some day, we would see one another again. Bless you, Welsh family!

We gathered on the top of the Mount of Olives and looked over the vast skyline of the Old City. Meir began to point out various places to draw our attention to. In passing he mentioned, where the temple would have been positioned and spoke of the two pillars that stood in front of the temple. Their names were Jachin and Boaz. They had names? Yes. Jachin means “establishes” and Boaz means “strength”. I’m curious about knowing more about this. It is making me look at the physical and the figurative pillars of our lives.

As Meir was discussing, we heard some loud cracking noises, and small explosion, and some other noises coming from the direction of the Temple Mount. At first, it sounded like fireworks. Meir said, “those weren’t just fireworks.” I walked beside him as we proceeded down the hill. He said it was probably a clash with the police. He said apart of it was because of the blood moon. According to the news, the Muslim groups that like to stir up the people to a frenzy, they had been calling for “A day of revenge”. “Well, that’s delightful,” I responded. I found out later reading in the Jerusalem Post that because of some violence the day before, the police had restricted access to the Temple Mount. Only women and men over 50 were allowed for the day. I guess a group of teenagers threw fireworks at the police, which cause the police to have to shut down the riot that was beginning with loud, blank explosions, and rubber bullets. I spoke to Mr. Owen and he said, “Oh that’s what happened… we had just walked past a group of men at the entrance to the Dome of the Rock. After, turning the corner, we heard the explosions.”

I was glad to have been on the opposite mountaintop, but, guys, there is something entirely eerie about looking over the city and hearing explosions. We must really pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

We stood to leave and the piazza filled with people. We were trying to share a staircase. Someone explained later that this is the time to channel your inner Israeli elbow. There is always time for politeness, but sometimes you must press to get to where you are being led. So politely push your way through the “buffeting” immediately on the other side of the crowd you can breathe freely and get to where you are supposed to be.

Pastor Thomas shared with us at our next stop:

“Keep your passion with your face toward Jesus. Your heart toward God. We only have one
appropriate response to the end times: I died to the world a long time ago. When I gave my life to the Lord, I gave up everything to that point, so I have no fear of any further taking. It cannot be taken, but it can be given. Keep you heart focused on the king of glory. You are on the front lines right now and it is not time for fear or to worry. It’s time to believe. There has not been a major change without passion behind it. We are in an interesting time and in an interesting place with people. I tell you that to bring you more at rest than anything. This man, Meir, is a trained warrior. He would never take us anywhere that was unsafe. Be comforted. Push fear aside. We are in change. Amazing things can happen this week.  Don’t be afraid but you may feel free to pray as much as you want.”

We entered the grounds of Dominus Flevit. This is where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. The chapel here is in the shape of a tear. Upon each of its four corners are phials (vials) to collect the tears Jesus wept over the city. The artist/architect positioned the church in such a way so that the window on the inside of the church marks a specific place on the Jerusalem skyline. If you stand perfectly behind it. The cross in the window is placed over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, better known to you all as Calvary. This is one of the few churches we go to that does not have colored stained glass windows. To me this speaks that Christ fixed his eyes on Calvary as he wept for Jersualem with total clarity. Full knowledge, except for one piece: obedience. He knew why he did what he did. Along the way, Hebrews 5:8-9 says, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”

Sally Leist begins to pray over the city. May our faith become sight.

Pastor Jerry Keller shared that many people when they first see this vista are moved by the immensity of it. When Jesus wept here, it was not simply because he was stirred. He wept because if Jerusalem and her children would have listened, he would have gathered them to himself. So Jesus wept because He was listening and others weren’t, not because of simply an emotional stir over the
sight. Molly and Taylor sing “Running”.

Once again, the crowds pressed in, pushing us out. We continued down the Triumphal Entry. Here would be a great place to mention an insight I heard a couple of weeks ago in a meeting with Bible teacher, Beth Moore, in Greenville, SC. She explained that the Presence of God over the course of the book entered and exited the city on the same path. When the presence came to dwell in the Temple. It came from this mountain and into that side of the temple. When the glory departed, it retraced its steps up the Mount of Olives. When Jesus came into the city, he used this path. When he ascended into heaven, he came back up on top of this mountain. When He comes again, he will return from the direction he left from. Jews and Christians believe that those on this mountain will be the first to arise when He comes. Fascinating thought!

At the Church of All Nations that is surrounded by ancient olive trees, we each took some time to
wander around the property. As we were soaking in the beauty of the Garden of Gethsemane, a portion of group of 700 people from Indonesia came through. They were singing and rejoicing. They were down below the porch we were on, outside the Garden gate. Several of our ladies began to rejoice with them, waving and dancing. The crowd below became so excited, they started sharing gifts with us. Throwing them up to us. Some handmade bracelets, some souvenirs you know they had just purchased. The exchange was so beautiful. One lady came up to Michelle and gave here a handful of handmade bracelets. They had been praying over their trip and felt like they were to find those to come into unity with and give these bracelets to. They represent the fire and the presence. Michelle thanked them and distributed them to the people in our group that we may carry the fire and the presence with us. I’ve seen a couple from our group still wearing and carrying the fire of the presence everyday! Beautiful! It really was a Church for All Nations in that moment.

Early that morning, we stood shoulder to shoulder observing the skies with our friends from Wales and by lunch we extended our arms to the Far East, embracing and worshipped with our brothers and sisters of Indonesia.

The day didn’t end there…
So until our next installment, blessings to you!