Good News from Jews for Jesus in Israel

Mark. That was our final verbal time check for The Line of Fire with Dr. Michael Brown.

We'll have a long tone at 10 seconds before, followed by a short one at 5 seconds. Have a great afternoon, everybody. You're about to hear from two Jewish believers in Israel what God is doing among the Jewish people in the land. It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity.

Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on The Line of Fire. And now, here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. My friends, you have tuned in at the right moment.

This is a show you will not forget. Michael Brown, delighted to be with you, here to infuse you with faith and truth and courage. Last night, I wrote the lead article for our Frontline newsletter. We'll be sending it out in the next day or two. So if you're not getting the newsletters, go to TheLineOfFire.org right now and click on subscribe.

We want to send it right out to you. You'll be blessed, you'll be stirred. Hebrew word of the month, amazing testimony from the Philippines, all coming your way.

But today's broadcast, I'm talking to two colleagues. One American born but has lived in Israel over 20 years. Another native born Israeli. Two Jewish men with amazing testimonies.

And every single day, they go out on the streets of Israel and speak to Jewish people, religious Jews, about Jesus Yeshua. So if you're watching on Facebook, click like and share. If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead, click thumbs up and then tell a friend. If you're watching, if you're listening, get the word out.

You do not want to miss today's broadcast. So first, we will speak with Jeff Morgan. He is American born. I only found out his testimony right before the broadcast today. Because I was asking him, if you've only been in the faith, only been following Yeshua for six years now, how is it you speak Hebrew fluently?

And I thought he just recently moved to Israel. So there is an amazing story here. Jeff, welcome to The Line of Fire.

Dr. Braun, it's great to be here. Thank you. All right, so you moved to Israel over 20 years ago. What were you pursuing? What was going on in your life? I was deep, deep into New Age spirituality at the time.

Searching for peace, searching for truth. I had grown up in a Jewish family. We were, I would say, Reform Jews slash conservative Jews. I had my Bar Mitzvah. We celebrated the High Holidays. Was your Bar Mitzvah like a deeply spiritual event for you? It was like yours. It was a social event with a party like you. I read my Torah portion and my Haftorah portion not knowing anything that I was saying. Just chanted Hebrew words, same as me. I just memorized it and I knew that I was going to get a paycheck at the end. Okay, from the party.

Yeah, from the party. Basically just my friends and family giving me money. So that was exciting for me as a young 13 year old kid. So, growing up in a Jewish family, really it was more focused on Jewish identity rather than religious Judaism. So, my mother was very intent on preserving Jewish identity. And as we were raised, we did that. We celebrated Passover and Sukkot and Hanukkah and we wore yarmulkes.

And we lived in predominantly Gentile communities, not Jewish communities, but we did go to Temple. And when I left the house, I was very insecure and so I would always try to hang on and find things that would give me peace and make me happy. And as I went down and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the arts and entertainment, I found myself getting involved in New Age spirituality and yoga and meditation and all those kinds of things.

It was a very attractive proposal. What was drawing you? What were you trying to become?

What were you trying to find? I was trying to seek a higher level of spiritual enlightenment. A lot of it was pride, to be honest. I wanted to be the best.

And through my schooling, I realized that I was failing in school and then I tried to become an entertainer in LA and I was failing at that as well. And I thought, well, if I can do this, then I can become spiritually enlightened and be above everybody else. I was also seeking peace, seeking truth, but I knew that God existed.

I just didn't know who He was. And so, as I'm diving into New Age spirituality and meditating an hour and a half a day, trying to find peace, and I would find pockets of peace. And it was very empowering in my 20s as a single guy with no responsibility. But as I'm getting older, I'm realizing that my ways and my philosophy were not bringing me the peace and the success, worldly and inwardly, that I was seeking. And I got married and we had two children relatively quickly.

And it was a wonderful thing because it slowed me down a bit. You can't bring that kind of lifestyle into a family and have everybody just jump on board. Hey guys, let's meditate. Let's put your fingers like this. Let's say these crazy mantras that you don't really know what you're saying. But yet you're hoping that it brings you to a higher level of existence. And that's what I thought that life was all about. And as time goes by, I realize that not only am I not achieving worldly success, I'm becoming depressed. I'm becoming anxious, fearful. I'm having suicidal thoughts. I would cut myself occasionally and inflict pain upon myself as a desire to grow in maturity.

Oh, I need to be able to handle pain more. And I would do these things and I would also start to feel spiritually tormented, meaning I felt that there was something controlling me that I couldn't cut off or stop. And I felt that I didn't listen to this impulse or voice that something bad was going to happen to me. Now at this point were you living in Israel?

No. This was in the beginning of my process of spirituality that I decided to get into the new age and get into meditation and yoga and I was following a spiritual guru or occult leader of sorts. And at that time I decided that I needed to cut off all my ties with my friends and my family, disconnect, detach, which is a very common philosophy in Buddhism, to detach.

And move away somewhere and start over from scratch so that I could mature. I thought it was an interesting idea. I'd never been out of the United States. And when someone asked me where would I go, I said, Israel. Why Israel? And I didn't know at the time why.

Someone said because I was Jewish, but I didn't know. So I went to Israel, fell in love with it. And as a young single guy running around there meditating in the Negev desert on mountaintops and coming back into town working as a dance instructor, I had a great time. And I would jump back and forth from California to Israel multiple times until I finally met my wife in Israel. And that's where we got married. We had our two children and that's where I started to try to bring them into my new age philosophy.

But thank God they weren't buying it. Fast forward now. How long were you trying to find this inner peace and meaning and fulfillment and enlightenment before you hit a wall? Twenty years, Michael.

Twenty years. When I was in high school there was a guy that used to meditate every day and was really into it. And we found out at one point that he'd been doing it every day religiously but had never really connected or experienced it. He was trying. Were you really zealous and disciplined with this?

Absolutely. I would say that I was the best student I knew because I wanted so much to connect with the higher realm of existence. I didn't know who God was, like I said before, but I knew that He existed or some sort of God existed. And I was looking for Him and looking for Him, trying to fill the void that I had through growing up in a home where God didn't exist. And I was looking for God.

Just looking for all the right things in all the wrong places. So twenty years and you hit a wall. What happened? I came, like a Mack truck hit me. Because I'd gotten up so many times.

Fall down, get back up, fall down, get back up. And I finally realized that I was in debt, didn't have anything to teach to my children, and I was miserable, suicidal. But I was positive, right?

Trying to create a different life through positive thoughts and affirmations. And it wasn't working. And I thought, I'm doing everything right and it's not working. And one day I fell to the floor. I fell to the floor and I'm crying, wailing.

Wailing in my wife's arms. Apologizing her for the failure that I'd become and that I'd led my family into this. And I said, I'm so sorry, I give up. I no longer know what I'm doing anymore. And I'm complete and total failure.

I give up on life. And she looked at me and she said, Jeff, just don't do anything to yourself. And I told her I won't because I'm not that selfish. And I was selfish and I was narcissistic, but I wasn't that selfish to do that to them.

And she realized at that moment that my family wasn't making me happy. I get up off the floor, walking around numb. I go to the gym.

That was my only thing that I had as a hobby. And I run across a couple of gentlemen at the gym who started to share with me about Jesus. And I was instantly compelled, this Jewish guy unsuspecting, instantly compelled. And I started to realize that I was having experiences that were related to Jesus suddenly day in and day out over the course of about a month and a half.

He was everywhere. I missed the point. I'd taken my family. We moved to California as a last ditch attempt for happiness. And I wanted to reunite with my old college buddies and all this stuff. And I hit a wall there. So now wherever you're going in California, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Everywhere. And I'm thinking, what's going on here? And this had not happened in the months and years before.

Never happened ever. And so someone is coming to me handing me a book about Jesus, talking to me about Jesus. I pass by a church and I feel unusually at home. And something's happening and something's awakening. And I start to cry tears of joy.

And I don't know where it's coming from. I'm at the gym and I said, I have to meet this specific person. I go up to him.

He puts his arm on my shoulder. He says, can I pray for you? And I said, what?

That's strange. I said, sure. I have nothing to lose.

I want to die. And he was full of life. He prays to me at the end of the prayer. He says, in Jesus' name.

And I said, what does a Jewish guy in the gym do with that? And I said, amen. Amen.

Why not? Right? Next day I come back and I look for him and I said, give me a little bit more of that prayer. Praise for me in Jesus' name. I said, amen.

And something started to awaken in me. And little did I know that these things were happening to my wife and my older son at the same time, separately. How old was your son then?

Nine years old. Wow. So all three of you, independently? Independently. There you go. It's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Yeah. And we come home and we have these conversations about Jesus and how he's touching our lives for some reason. And my wife was arguing with me saying, I don't want to become a Christian. I'm Jewish. And I said, honestly, I don't care at this point.

I feel like something's happening with me and I don't care if it's Christian. Because we didn't know. We hadn't read the Old Testament or the New Testament. Right.

So you didn't know the Jewishness of Jesus. Right. And so this is happening. I'm feeling awakening, but I'm still feeling spiritually tormented. And I didn't know what that was.

I just knew that there was something controlling me that I couldn't control and disconnect from. And one day I was invited to church, first time in my life, I'm at church, and they were teaching on the transfiguration of Jesus. And this Jewish guy sitting in church for the first time hearing about Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. And I'm thinking, wait a second, what are Moses and Elijah doing on this side of the book? I know these guys, but what are they doing talking to Jesus? This is unusually familiar to me.

What are they doing over here? And so you know the story of the transfiguration and the voice comes out of the cloud talking about Jesus who's radiant in all his glory, saying, this is my son who I love, listen to him. And if you knew me and the discipline I had, I had earphones in my head every day, walking around town, chanting positive affirmations, listening to spiritual teachers, listening, listening, listening. And nothing came of it, nothing. The opposite came of it, depression, anxiety, fear, and frustration, and torment. But when I heard the pastor say, the voice comes out of the cloud, this is my beloved son, listen to him. That was it.

I knew that was the truth. I went home to my wife and I said, honey, it's Jesus, it's Jesus, I know it, all the things that have been happening this last month and a half has been bringing us to this moment. But what do I do? I'm a Jew. Are we supposed to get on our knees and say a prayer?

I had no context in my past. Are we supposed to say a prayer? What are we supposed to do? What if we say it wrong? It won't work. We're going to find out what happened on the other side of the break. Brand new, don't know which way to go, pray a prayer or not. Thank God for His merciful intervention.

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Tell them Dr. Brown sent you. Alright, I'm speaking with Jeff Morgan, works with Jews for Jesus in Israel. So Jeff, you realize after all the torment, this demonic thing you're under, 20 plus years of new age, meditation, and you'd meditate daily? Hour, hour and a half?

Five minutes, sometimes an hour and a half. Wow, an hour and a half. So you went for it. You were zealous. Now you realize it's Jesus. You encountered Him.

This is about six years ago. Tell us, I know we take hours on this, but what happened to your life? Well, I'm in my room with my wife that night. I came home from church. I recognized who Jesus was, like the thief on the cross. Recognized Jesus and that was all it took. But there was a problem.

I was still tormented. And I said, what do I do? Do we get on our knees? Do we say a prayer? What if it doesn't work?

That was my mentality and philosophy, that you do the thing and it's supposed to work. And I said, honey, I'm tormented. She says, you know, I had a dream last night and I was running through a school yard with a group of kids and one of them branched off to the right, went into a room by himself. I went to go see what that kid was doing, opened the door and I see a child there, trembling in fear with a demon standing over him, tormenting him. And I woke up and I thought, weird dream. I'm not going to mention it, but you just told me that you were tormented. And all of a sudden something comes over her. I'd never seen her talk like this.

She points her finger at me, said that child was you. And I knew that to be true. And as soon as those two moments came together and I realized who Jesus was and what was happening to me, all of it fell off. The spiritual torment was lifted immediately. The depression, suicidal thoughts, fear, anxiety fell off of me, almost like it hit the floor. My hands flew up in the sky and I said, I'm free. I'm free.

I mean, 20 years of this feeling that it was gone. And I didn't know that that was supposed to happen to me, Michael. I hadn't read the Old Testament, hadn't read the New Testament, and I didn't know what was supposed to happen, but I knew that I was free. And at that moment, we both fell to our knees and we gave our lives to Jesus. And I said, you put me to work for you. You wasted enough time.

Exactly. I was 45, 46 at the time. And I was like, okay, this is enough time.

Let's get to work. The next morning I woke up, completely different person. I had a foul mouth. I couldn't swear anymore. I couldn't lust after other women anymore and flirt. And I had this insatiable desire to read the Bible that I'd never had before.

It was clear, understandable. I took all the idols that I had in my home and smashed them and broke them and threw them in the garbage. And I said, nobody deserves to have these because they're false and they'll lead you into destruction. You got born again, brother.

I was born again. So you moved back to Israel with your family, an Israeli wife, and you've been working full time sharing the gospel. A lot of people think it's illegal to preach the gospel in Israel.

What's the reality? It's not illegal. We still live in a democracy where we have freedom of religion and freedom of religious expression. And so it's not illegal. It's not something that's well, highly regarded and accepted, but it's legal. You can do it there. You can't witness to a minor. You can't process a minor.

You can't offer people money for becoming… Whoever does that anyway. Right, exactly. So tell us, you get to speak with hundreds of Israelis, religious Jews, secular Jews. What were you seeing in terms of your own experience prior to October 7th and has there been any difference since? Well, prior to October 7th, we were going on as usual.

We would go on the streets of Israel, share the gospel with people, bring up interesting questions and conversations to have with people. And people honestly are very open. And we were very surprised.

But it was like a lackadaisical type of atmosphere. Not many people were seeking God that we could see. The secular community. A lot of people were seeking Far East religions. And then the war broke out and everything shifted.

It went from this is daily life to what do we have to do to help those in need? So the Jews for Jesus shifted immediately. It was a wonderful shift that went right into humanitarian aid and right into service of the people of Israel. And we have soldiers from within Jews for Jesus and Jewish believers in Jesus around the country that are serving in the army. There's hundreds of Jewish believers in Jesus that are putting their lives on the line every day for the safety of Israel, the people of Israel. And what we've seen is the country come together in a certain solidarity and a lot of people are really seeking right now God. A lot of people are putting on their tefillin again and their yarmulkes and their prayer shawls and praying, praying tehillim, the psalms, in order to beg God to have mercy on the people of Israel.

We're seeing that rise up of people really reaching out for God right now. And when a Jewish person in Israel, an Israeli, finds out about Jesus, Yeshua, you have to find the right word, you know, tell them who you're talking about to understand, how difficult is it for them to see Yeshua as one of their own? You know, oddly enough, Michael, in Israel a lot of people know Jesus as a Jew and they don't deny that he's Jewish. One of the first answers people give when we ask them, do you know anything about Jesus? Well, he was Jewish.

And, you know, he maybe walked on the water and, you know, they said he rose from the grave and they say this and they say that. So they know some things about him and they understand that he is one of our Jewish people, but he went off and created a new religion and he started something new. And so, you know, we could still consider him Jewish, like a lot of Orthodox Jews will look at me and my colleague, Elisha, and they'll say, well, these guys, they may be wrong, but they're still Jewish.

We would never say they're not Jewish. Right, so there is this recognition of him, him being one of us, but he started a new religion. Are you able to convey that we're not talking about you joining a new religion, we're talking about following the Jewish Messiah?

Absolutely, because the word conversion is brought up and a lot of people will ask, well, what is the purpose of what you're trying to do here? And as Jews, speaking to our people, we say, we're just trying to introduce you to the real Jesus, the real Yeshua. And they don't even know him as Yeshua. And so a lot of people will comment on our YouTube channel, So Be It, with our YouTube videos, The Project of Jews for Jesus, and they'll say, why aren't you using the word Yeshua, his real name?

It means so much more. And I'm thinking because they don't know him as Yeshua, they know him as Jesus. If I say Jesus, they'll go, oh yes. And so then it's up to me to introduce them to the real Jesus. And also point them towards the New Testament, which is the logical progression of the narrative of the Old Testament, which is shocking to most people. And we hand out New Testaments, we open up the first page, and people read from the first verse of the New Testament and see the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, Son of David, Son of Abraham, and they go, what?

Which book is this? What's your YouTube channel? The YouTube channel is called So Be It, A Project of Jews for Jesus.

Right, So Be It, S-O-B-E-I-T, So Be It. And it's just video after video of you guys on the streets talking to Jewish people, ask religious Jews, and you get religious Jews to talk with you. We do, we do, and we find that they're very respectful, the ones that agree to talk with us, because we always ask before every video. We tell them who we are, where we're from, what we're doing, and what the topic of the question of the video is going to be. And those that agree are very respectful and very genuine. We usually end up hugging at the end.

Sometimes we get into pretty serious heated discussions, but it's usually very respectful. So there's nothing duplicitous, you're not trying to hide your identity. That's the whole thing about Jews for Jesus, like, this is who we are. Let's put it on the table for everyone. How can people pray right now? What would be a very good thing to pray? Well, obviously pray for the salvation of the Jewish people. That's the core of what Jews for Jesus does. Our mission is the participating in God's plan for the salvation of the Jewish people. And as individuals in different teams, all of us have gifts, and God uses our gifts in different ways.

I love media, I love talking to people, I love communicating, and I love people. And so it only fits that I would be working the way that I'm working, but we have wonderful teams that serve the poor, serve the hungry, share with them the hope that they have in Jesus. When there's no hope left in this world, what hope do they really have? And so that's what we're doing as an organization around Israel and around the world.

There's nothing duplicitous about it. When we go up to people, Michael, we say, we're Jews that believe in Jesus. And people go, really, what's that? And then you go from there. Yeah, and we go from there. So the prayer that we would ask is the salvation of the Jewish people. Got it.

All right. So that's what you pray for, friends, as we emphasize over and over, for our Jewish people to come to know their Messiah, and through Him truly know their God. The Jews for Jesus, Israeli YouTube channels, so be it. We come back and talk to a native-born Israeli and how he tried to run as far away from God as he could.

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Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back, friends, to The Line of Fire. You're about to hear a testimony that is one of a kind.

In fact, I'm going to hear it for the first time, a lot of it myself. We are talking today with co-workers from Jews for Jesus in Israel, Jeff Morgan and Elisha. You would say Elisha, like Elisha the prophet in the Bible. Elisha Lazarus. Elisha, welcome to The Line of Fire.

Thank you very much. You are a native-born Israeli. I sure am, yes, in Tel Aviv. In Tel Aviv. And your parents, strong believers.

They sure are. All right, so what happened to you? Born in Tel Aviv and as I was growing up, it's very unwelcome to be a believer in Jesus as an Israeli. So, it's something that I was trying to hide my whole life, you know. It's like if friends would come over, I would hide the New Testament. And as I was growing up in this lifestyle, I was trying to avoid God and particularly Jesus as much as I could. My dad is a pastor.

One of the biggest congregations in Israel back in the time. So, it was very difficult to stray away from it. Everybody's watching you. But I tried as hard as I could and I sure did. And at the age of 13, I was already addicted to drugs. I was snorting. Yes, 13. After my bar mitzvah, I started going into alcohol, which led me into weed and hashish, hash, and started to do a lot of snorting speeds and things like that. That young, wow.

You were ahead of me. Yeah, you were 15, right? Yeah, 14 when I started getting high. So, after this, I really started to dive deep into criminal organizations at the age of 14.

I was living in not such a good neighborhood in Yaffo, in Jaffa, as you know it today. And I was really searching for something. And as I was searching, I kept on going more deep for this joy that I was looking for and if it wasn't drugs or gambling or criminal gangs to go get a thrill and steal a motorcycle. Riding away from the police, chasing me. I had no license. I was running away.

Amazing. Did you ever think about traditional Judaism? Maybe you could find some fulfillment there. Did that ever come up? No, I wasn't really born in this type of situation. It's more in Tel Aviv.

It's like secular, you know, so it's more thinking about the lifestyle, the fun, and that's what I was after. And at the age of 16, I had an incident happen to me that led me into male prostitution. And it was a very, very difficult, shameful event that happened to me.

And through a series of events, my dad found out about it. I was kicked out of the house. I ended up in jail. I was in prison with a lot of files on my personal, you know. And how old were you at this point?

16. I'm a young kid. People was using me, tricking me, causing me to do all these terrible things. And at one point, the friends that I thought I have ended me up on the streets. I had no place to live. I couldn't go home. I was stealing from my dad too. So, it was a very difficult time, and it really led me into this suicidal place. I was pushed out till the end of me. You know, it's like, wow.

Really, really difficult as a minor. Did you have brothers or sisters? Yes, brothers and sisters. They were also into drugs. So, they rebelled also? They rebelled also. I won't share their story too much.

It's their story. We do have my sister's testimony. She was into a lot of things.

She was drugged, almost died on Soviet. You can go watch that. Morial. And my testimony on Jeff's one is too. And so, at the age of 16, I get to the end of myself, and I'm standing like on a...

It's like in Hebrew, intersection. And I have all these directions. I'm in the middle of the night, 3 a.m. I see the direction to the criminal house. I know he will take me in. I can sleep there, but then I will sell drugs for him, and I will go steal things for him. I see the house of the gigolo, and I know that he wants to abuse me and use me. I see the bridge that I want to jump off and commit suicide.

And these were my options. Going home was not an option because I had a lot of shame in me, and it was very difficult. And for some reason, I make the choice to go home, 3 a.m. I go to the doorstep of my house and get on my knees. I knock on the door, and I start to cry. I'm crying like never before because I have no more spirit, no strength, nothing. And I'm broken completely. My dad opens the door, and I look up to him, and I ask him, Dad, I need help.

I need something. Fortunately for me, he knew Jesus, and he said, you don't need me, you need Jesus. Right at the door, he said that. At the door, on my knees, 3 a.m. This is the moment where I decided to change my life and devote my life to Jesus. I got up from my knees, gave my dad the biggest hug, and the next thing he do is take me to get baptized. Right there.

Yes, come on, let's go. He was so excited. So he saw that right at that moment, you received the Lord. The change, I received the Lord, and it was an instant, amazing miracle. It is a miracle. Michael, it's like my addictions, I was going to drug addict places, I couldn't stop doing drugs.

I tried and tried and failed and failed. The moment I accepted Jesus, it's something that changed my heart, new heart. And it was so, so uplifting for my life, and it gave me hope, and it gave me a purpose. And I'm on the streets with my colleague, Jeff, telling people about Jesus.

Oh, you have to hear about this good news, the hope that he gives us. So how many years ago was this? This was, I'm 31 today, this was when I was 16, almost 17.

14, 15 years. Yes. And the fire is burning bright.

Oh, so hot. So it wasn't just a momentary thing, you got free, you were changed. Yes. And you stayed changed. Amen. And you continue to experience the goodness of God.

All the time, it's such a proper, correct way to live life. It gives me the answers to everything, to everything I have coming up to my mind. Any doubt, I go to Jesus and it's just there, the answers to life.

Amazing, amazing. As you share this with other Israelis, Jeff mentioned, especially since October 7th, there's more spiritual seeking there. One of my friends was telling me on secular news channels, they're praying the Psalms, et cetera, and they hear your story. What happens, obviously some will reject it, but what happens when people hear your story and they see what's happened in your life? So, a lot of my friends back in the day who would see me, they would point at me and some even believer friends, they would point at me and say, this is the last man that's going to believe in Jesus. And today I'm a walking testimony of don't give up on praying for your friends, your family, your co-workers.

God is in control of everything, you know? So, I'm a testimony not only to the people who believed in Jesus, but also to my friends, they see how my life changed. I'm a married man, I have a beautiful child, I have a job, I'm consistent, I'm diligent, you know? They can see the fruit of my healthy smile. So, it's really been such a change and such a testimony to my friends to see how from this criminal who they couldn't even leave me alone in their own house to trusting me. And it's just been such a fantastic testimony for them to see that. The new birth, the ultimate proof of the new birth is the new life. You know, in my drug days before I used LSD, I heard about it and they called it taking a trip. And I didn't know what it meant until I got high the first time on LSD and I took a trip.

So, when I got saved, I would tell all my friends that were also drug users and would trip on LSD, I said, remember, we didn't know what it meant to take a trip until we took a trip. I said, well, being born again, when you're born again, it really is. You start a new life. It's something, it's a different person on the inside and it's undeniable.

I mean, you've lived it out, you've experienced it. People say, well, it was just time for change. You tried to change. You hit the wall. Again and again and again and again.

Right, right. And then something just happened. You cried out for mercy. And for sure, the prayers of your parents for many, many, many years, they were building, building, building. So when the answer came, it was like a flood, which is encouragement.

Just to say this to everybody watching and listening, don't be discouraging your prayers for your family because those prayers are having a cumulative effect. And when the answer finally comes, it's going to be like a torrent of rain pouring out all the years of praying and God answering dramatically. So, Alicia, in your own life now, how is it that you just found the place? I just want to tell people about Jesus every day. How did that happen? Well, it gave me such a huge change of my life that it's like if you have something that is so good, like I'm a person who I want to share it with everyone, you know, I have something good.

Take a look at this. It's with anything in life. You have a nice day, something that works in home, something that nice cars, something that works really nice. You're going to share it with your friends. It's something that you can't contain. And Jesus did something in my life and I cannot contain it. So I share it with anybody and everybody I meet. It's such an amazing experience for me to share Jesus with people in Israel. And that's the way it should be out of the overflow of our heart. We share it with others. And within Israel now, times of extreme pressure, I want to talk with you in a moment.

You served in the army and the IDF. So I want to talk about that and what life is like in that respect. But people of Israel could use some joy right now, couldn't they? Some hope.

Yes, they could. They are very lost and they're feeling like their whole life where they felt like it's steady, 710 happened, and then it's become a roller coaster. They don't feel so safe. And now they feel like something that they thought they had, which was steady, is not anymore. So they are searching for that steadfastness. And I believe that Jesus is the answer for that.

Yeah. And you know, I get a call periodically from a former Haredi Jew, former ultra-orthodox Jew in Israel, kind of lost his way and he doesn't completely reject God, but he doesn't believe anymore. He called one day and said, can you tell me how to have peace without God?

I said, I'm sorry, I can't. But he was telling me at the Nova Festival that there were friends of his or friends of friends. They were former Haredi Jews. Now they're into new age. Now they're dancing in the statue of Buddha. Now they're doing drugs and at rave parties and they're lost. They struggled with traditional Judaism. They found the traditions kind of stifled their lives and didn't bring them to God.

They run the other direction. It's like what you need is Yeshua is Jesus. That's the one. That's the answer.

Our friends, we come back. I want to talk to Alicia Lazarus about serving in the army in Israel, what life is like and being a witness in the midst of it. Their YouTube channel, Jeff and Alicia, the Jews for Jesus Project in Israel. So be it. So check them out on YouTube. Subscribe to their channel. You'll be blessed. You'll enjoy it. I've been watching some of the videos and just thrilled to see the open door they have to have amazing conversations from the most secular Jew to the most religious and they're unashamed they are sharing the good news about Jesus, the Messiah.

We'll be right back. I'm Paul Burnett, a board certified doctor of holistic health, and I want to introduce you to Trivita's multi collagen formula. If there was ever a message I would want the world to hear, it would be about the importance of supplementing the body with its most abundant protein known as collagen. Studies have shown multiple health benefits by supplementing with collagen. Trivita's multi collagen formula does not have just one or two types of collagen or even three, but five forms of collagen shown to support healthy tendons, ligaments, skin, hair, nails, bones, muscles, gut lining, and even the arteries and veins.

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Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. It was also about a decade ago, my friend Rabbi Shmueli wrote a book called Kosher Jesus, and God stirred me right a response now. From the day I started writing the book to the day the book was published was literally 10 weeks. And that book, The Real Kosher Jesus, has been translated into Israel and is used as an outreach tool by Jews for Jesus. Alisha, can you tell us about that? Has the book been given out a lot? Yes, it has. It's been given out not only in English, but also in Hebrew. And it gives a lot of answers to a lot of objections that people have, a lot of questions that they have. And it's just been such an amazing tool for Jews for Jesus to have in their itinerary, you know? They have a lot of things that they can just give out and it's been such a big blessing for us. And not only for the people questioning, also for the missionaries, for us as missionaries.

Great resource. So friends, all of you who helped us get that translated into Hebrew, paid for that and helped work with the publisher, and so the book is going to be given away, you are making a difference, you are bearing fruit. So like every young man in Israel, unless you're ultra-orthodox and have an exemption, you served in the army, but you are now a believer. So how was that being a believer in the IDF?

Wow, that's a great question. So I joined the army when I was 18 years old. As a believer, I joined the unit Iron Dome.

We are the unit that intercepts the missiles that are coming in from out of the borders. And it was difficult to be a believer, a believing soldier. You feel isolated. It's like a spiritual desert.

You're all alone. You don't have other people who believe in Jesus. Sometimes you come home once a month, so you don't have that community to go to once a week. And it can get tough at times, especially as a new believer or depending on where you're at.

So it's tough. But today I'm a much more mature believer in Jesus, and I have been serving in the army since 710. I've been drafted in twice. Okay, so on reserve, so hundreds of thousands of Israeli men have been drafted back in.

Yes, me, my brother and brother-in-law immediately joined into the military to protect our homes. It was very like a shock, you know, everybody going in, and it was very, very intense for us. And we're doing what we have to do, and I want to talk a little bit about the question you had for Jess about if people are coming to faith in God during these times. And I can tell you, when you're in a bunker seven floors underground, when missiles are coming in, you can see a big line to the synagogue waiting. People are going in, they're hoping, because they've seen the end of the materialistic life that they have here. And it's like, okay, I have to find an answer. So they are looking, they are searching. And me being a soldier has been giving me a lot of opportunities to share, not only of sharing like, hey, we're about to die, here's Jesus, but sometimes I'm very brave.

I had a lot of stories where we had an infiltration in our base, and alarms were going off, helicopters were scrambling, and I was on the floor with a gun loaded, you know, all ready to protect my home. And amidst all of this, all of a sudden, I feel peace. I feel calmness. I feel God in control. Incredible. And it was such a testimony for me, knowing that no matter what happens, God is in control.

And I could share that with my friends. I'm brave because God is in control. Yeah, and that's real life. That's real life. And we can't get into this at great length, but you know, the constant attacks against Israel and the Israeli army and genocide and cruelty and all this. So this is not to say that everything the government does is perfect, everything the IDF does is perfect, but what are you taught about preserving civilian life? What ethics are you taught as a soldier? Well, that's a great question. So we really, really value, first of all, it's a religious country and we have the values from Bible.

Okay. So we bring that into our daily lives and our daily lives are military in some way. And so we don't go into the army with an intention to attack or to kill. We go into the army to protect and to make sure that the people who are being kidnapped will be brought back. We are trying to free Palestine from Hamas. They are really beautiful people. They are our cousins, you know, the Palestinians.

Yes. And we want to help them. And that's our intention. Like you, my conversations with my friends, it's not that we want to go kill Palestine. No, we're after the Hamas, the people who have been in charge of what happened on 7-10. And that's what we are wanting to do. We want to make sure that this won't happen again, not only for us, but also for the people who are living in Gaza.

So that's it. And you feel that sentiment is widespread among Israelis or among soldiers? 100 percent, yes. Of course, in any people group you have the... Yes, yes. And then what about guidelines where you have to take precautions to make sure you don't kill civilians? Is that part of your training? Us, no, because we are in defense. A defense iron dome, right.

Yes, so not, but yes. Even though I'm in the defense unit, we are taught a lot of precautions before we pull the trigger. And I'm telling you, it's become to some people a bit ridiculous. It's like, wow, we are really trying to make sure we do not harm an innocent person. That is like really what we're trying to do. Which is why almost 300 Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza. If you want to commit genocide, just bomb everybody and kill everybody. Just wipe everybody out.

It's never been the goal. And I would get prayer requests over the years from the parents. You know, my son just went to the front lines where they're trying to take out this terrorist base here or there. Pray because they have all these precautions before they can use their weapon that they have to be sure, etc. So that's the reality that you've lived with and that's the ethic among the people. Which is very needed because us as a nation and even the army, a lot of my friends wouldn't be in the army if it weren't for those precautions. I have a lot of pilot friends who are saying that we won't want to go into the plane if we don't know for sure that what we're shooting down is 100% safe and ready. So it's very important that we have these precautions because we as a country have good values. I really believe this.

Yeah. So even though the majority of the country is more secular in terms of religious observance, there are these foundations that we're supposed to be different and hold to the value of life as Torah-observant Jews. Which is why even within Israel you have so much self-criticism. But if you went over say into Gaza and tried to speak up against Hamas, you're dead. And you get these crazy things in America like queers for Palestine. It's the most ridiculous thing I've seen because if they would do it in Gaza, their head would be off in less than two seconds.

And it's like you're supporting something who don't support you and it's just so ridiculous for me. Is it important for you as an Israeli to know that Christians around the world are standing with you? Michael, you may give me a smile on my face because I'm telling you the knowledge of the Christians praying for Israel and especially for me as a person, a lot of people have been reaching out telling me that they've been praying for me, has made the biggest impact in my personal life. It's been such a testimony to know that the people who have been praying for me, it's been like something that's been giving me strength and power to serve and help. And it's just, wow, prayer, it works. And I'm telling you, I'm a testimony of it. And the way God has been keeping me and holding me while I was in the army, it's because people have been praying for me and I know it. And does your average Israeli know that they have Christian supporters around the world, that many governments turn against Israel, but many Christians still stand with Israel? Yeah, and it's been such a good tool.

I don't want to say tool, but my friends... If it's undone, look, all the anti-Semitism in the church and all the ideas that Christians hate Jews, well, the ones that did didn't really know God properly or they walked away from the truth. The Christians I've known for decades that love God also pray for the Jewish people and love Israel. That's right. So, a lot of the Christians who would give like equipment, material stuff, and even like basic essentials, a lot of my friends would receive this, like my army friends. And it was just so exciting to share that with them that, hey, this is from people who believe in Jesus and I believe in Jesus. And it was just such a nice opening.

They're like, why are we getting this? Why are they loving us so much? And it was just such a great opportunity for me to share about Jesus and the love that he has for them. And it was so beautiful. So, all the support that came in from the Christians to the military to Israel has not been gone unnoticed and it was really amazing. So, thank you guys so much for that.

Thank you. So, friends, you heard it as we say out of the horse's mouth, straight from Israel, straight from the front lines in Israel, from someone serving in the military right now, that your love is being felt. And again, hear his heart for the Palestinians, as many Israelis say, you're our cousins and you want to free Palestine, free Palestine from Hamas. The Palestinians have been hurt and misled by their leaders, by corrupt leaders. The same with Mahmoud Abbas, elected once in all these years, still in power.

With so much corruption there, so much money that's sent in to help the people gets into the pockets of the leaders or into military equipment and things like that instead of bettering the people. So, if you really care about the Palestinians and want to see their best interest, and that's what you have in mind, then pray for freedom from corrupt leadership, especially from the leadership of radical Islam. And every believer, as we've urged you to stand with Israel, to make it known that you recognize it's God who called the Jewish people, who brought the Jewish people back to the land, and therefore Satan who wants to wipe us out and drive us out of the land. As you stand with God, you stand against the devil, you're also standing with what's best ultimately for the Palestinian people. But know that your love, your prayers, your support, they are making a difference in Israel. The people of Israel recognize that while the world hates them, many Christians love them, and it's a great way to show solidarity as well as to open a door to share the Gospel more. Remember to visit on YouTube the So Be It YouTube channel, subscribe, share it with your friends, and together as we work together in the land, we are making a difference. The Magic Static, call me a fanatic, it's our world, they can never have it, this is how we rise up, it's our resistance, you can't resist us.