Now, personally, I wasn’t able to sleep right away on Saturday night so I was only able to attend the 3 o’clock service and the vesper service at 6pm. So why was I able to say that each service was different from the other? Well, to tell you the truth a friend who managed to attend all services told me and also I was able to notice it from the differences I saw with the 3pm and the 6pm service.  It was amazing for me how Joel still hard the energy to preach and stand up in front of us even though he already did 3 other services prior to the one I attended.

Other than Joel, Pastor David Ortiz also gave his testimony. He told the story of how God allowed him to reach out to the Palestinians near their place in Ariel in the West Bank, and how he almost lost his son Ami in the bombing of their house but how God glorified Himself through that crisis in their lives. Even though I’ve heard that story many times during the times that we were with Pastor David and the others I was still blessed by the message of the story. Pastor David pointed out 3 things we should always remember whenever we’re faced with any trials and challenges. First, Call on the Lord. Second, God Agapes (Loves) us. And lastly, God is powerful, nothing is impossible with Him. I’m sure a lot of people already know these truths but it’s still refreshing to be reminded of them, as we humans are prone to forget easily. To know more about Ami and his story please visit www.amiortiz.com.

After Pastor David’s testimony Joel came up and started to preach. As before, he never ceased to make the message personal by asking the listeners “Are you ready to meet your Maker when He comes back?” And he hit the nail right on the head. Because it doesn’t really matter how much we tell people about God or how God can change our lives, ultimately Christianity is a personal choice in that we can go to church all our lives but still not have Christ in us. And so it’s important to ask people if they are ready to meet Christ and if not, tell them how to ready themselves by accepting Him as Lord and Savior.

After the vesper service, the Epicenter Team in Manila had a chance to have a thanksgiving and farewell dinner with Joel and the others. The dinner took place at Henry and Princess’ home in Dasmariñas Village. It was a cool, calm night, and perfect for everyone who went there as it allowed all of us to unwind a bit, relax and just enjoy the food and each other’s company. Dinner was great. We had Tom Yum Soup, Binagoongan Rice, Fried Vegetable Spring Rolls, Grilled Beef, Pancit Palabok among others and drinks were Chai Tea or Iced Tea.  Yum, Yum! ^_^

After dinner, everyone was given a chance to share their own experiences and testimonies on what happened to their respective teams and committees during the Conference week. I was blessed to hear the stories of how God answered the needs of the Epicenter Asia Team, like how the Leader’s Conference for Thursday only had about 37 tables out of 100 sold a week before the event but God filled the place up, or how the tickets for the Friday event sold like candy that additional overflow rooms had to be opened up to accommodate people. Everything that happened was a validation of everyone’s faith and a confirmation that it wasn’t the team’s work that made everything possible, it was all God. And I’ve seen that for myself, and I praise God for allowing me to witness His hand throughout the whole week.

Joel, Pastor David, Pastor Hormoz, Pastor Ray and his wife Vicky, and Lance (Joel’s EP for Media) were also given farewell gifts by those who went there and were also given by the media team (that’s us!) copies of the photos and videos that were taken of the Conferences and also the different interviews, activities and functions they attended during their stay here. Each of them also had the chance to say something of their experience here and we’re thankful that they were blessed and they enjoyed their stay. Joel said that Pastor Hormoz and Pastor David were people he thought of inviting over to the conference because they happened to be the ones in the frontlines. Two of the people who are day-in and day-out reaching out to the Jews, Palestinians, and the Iranians in their countries. I would say we are blessed that Joel invited them and that God allowed them to be a part of the Epicenter Conference here in Manila because the stories and the experiences they shared are invaluable in putting the right perspective on what is happening to their people in terms of coming to faith there in the Epicenter, the Middle East.

For those who of you who don’t know yet, Pastor Hormoz is an Iranian Shía Muslim turned Christian pastor who hosts a TV show ala 700 Club style. The show airs every Tuesdays to Fridays and reaches millions of Iranians. During his talk on the Friday conference he showed some clips of people who called up their show to tell people about what God has been doing in their lives, and it’s amazing. I have to admit I wish that like most of the Iranian converts to Christianity, I could see Jesus with my eyes or hear God audibly like the Iranians are experiencing. I am blessed and continue to be blessed by the stories that Pastor Hormoz tells of how God is reaching out to his countrymen. To know more about Pastor Hormoz and his ministry you can check out www.IranAliveMinistries.org. Pastor David of course is admirable because of his boldness in sharing the Gospel to Palestinians, so much so that the Jews are becoming jealous because he reaches out to the Palestinians more than to them that they ask him to share the Gospel to them as well. Let’s continue to pray for Pastor David and Pastor Hormoz in the frontlines for God to continually bless and protect them as they continue their calling.

Moving on, I enjoyed the whole dinner experience but personally what touched me the most was when Joel personally thanked me and Corinne by name for what we did with the blogs. I never imagined that he appreciated it a lot and to know that he and his wife did, among others, really touched us. Thank you Joel for your kind words. It was an honor to be able to observe the way you work and your passion for Jesus while you were here with us. God Bless you brother!!!

Well, the Epicenter Asia conference is over now and Joel and the others have left to continue God’s work somewhere else but for us the end is just the beginning. Being aware of what is happening right now in light of biblical prophecy, the challenge and the calling remains for us to “Make disciples of all nations…” Now more than ever, we need courage in sharing the Gospel to others around us. And so for those who haven’t accepted Christ as their Savior yet, what are you waiting for? And for those who profess Christ as their Lord, are we ready to respond to the call of the Lord of the Harvest to reap the harvest?

We’ve only just begun… join us for the next six weeks as we go in-depth into the Signs of the Times and try to find out What On Earth is Going On? – Joshua Daniel Discipulo

One thing that made this conference special for me was the fact that Joel shared his love story, and how God was the one who guided him in choosing his life partner. The audience absolutely loved it as did I. For the benefit of those who weren’t able to hear him, I’ll try to describe the story as I remember it. Joel, I hope you and Lynn would forgive me if I mess up some of the details of the story…

Joel’s father was a Jew while his mom was a gentile. They married in 1965 and even though at the start they weren’t believers of Jesus, God was kind enough to get them to a church that taught them about Christ wanting to have a personal relationship with them, and they accepted Him as their Lord and Savior. Joel was about 6 years old when he started to attend Sunday school in church but it was only when he was 8 years old that he accepted Christ as His personal God.

Then puberty arrived and Joel began to experience the uncertainties of that stage wherein you’re neither an adult nor a kid. He was a Christian, he had friends in church but a growing feeling of loneliness grew in his heart. It caused him to feel despair but it also caused him to cry out to God in prayer. Joel was seventeen by this time.

One night while praying to God, Joel heard an audible voice ask him “Do you study my Faith Book? Joel said “No.” The voice continued saying “Then how do you expect to receive my blessings when you aren’t expecting me?” After that the voice became silent but it was a wake-up call for Joel. He started to study God’s word and not only that, he also gathered together people from his high school and encouraged them to study the Bible and share the gospel to others. His boldness in sharing the gospel caught the attention of his teachers and Joel as well as his friends was told off. Surprisingly though, it just encouraged others to talk about Jesus all the more.

Joel graduated from High School and started studying at Syracuse University taking up Film as his major. And he started dating other Christian women but he felt that they were not serious with their relationship with God or at the very least not on fire. Thankfully, God didn’t allow those relationships to develop into something serious or even to last long.

Joel really wanted to have a wife after God’s own heart, and so he prayed one time “Lord, I know you’re coming back soon. But I do want to get married before you come back. Please let me have someone who loves you so much and is passionate in serving you and sharing your Gospel to others. Someone who loves you more than she loves me, so that for her to be able to love me You will have to be the one to tell her to do that.”

Joel soon met and led a friend named Rob* to Christ. He started to disciple Rob but he had a chance to study in Israel and so he took that chance. After his stint in Israel, he went back to Syracuse University and continued to disciple Rob. Rob came to him one time telling Joel a story about meeting a girl named Lynn who was, according to Richie’s description, “Someone who is really passionate about God and really serious about her Faith walk.” This continued on for a few weeks but when Joel asked Rob if he was going to ask her out, Rob said “Oh! Well… there’s this other girl, Marie*…” and then he tells Joel about how great a person Marie is.

Time passed, Joel was now in his senior year in Film, and a time came when Billy Graham had a tour of New York. Joel was a HUGE admirer of Billy Graham so he invited others to join him in going there. Joel’s parents were also a part of the group with Billy Graham so he would be able to see them there. Only 3 other people ended up going with him—Rob, Van*, and then Lynn. The very same Lynn that Rob used to talk about.

They went to the stadium and while they were walking Joel heard an audible voice saying “Wouldn’t it be nice to go out with this girl?!” At first, Joel thought it was Rob who said that but when he turned to look at Rob he was engaged in a conversation with Van. Joel looked at Lynn’s direction but of course it wasn’t her who spoke.

The gathering started and after that Joel and his friends met up with his parents. Joel’s parents invited them to have hot chocolate at their house before going back to campus and Joel said yes for the group. So they had hot chocolate with Joel’s parents and all of Joel’s siblings were also there with him in the living room when he heard the voice again saying, “Wouldn’t it be nice to go out with this girl?”

Joel looked around, and of course, he didn’t see who said it. Joel decided to muster his courage and ask her out. And she agreed. After a couple of dates, he asked if he could kiss her (being the gentleman that Joel is). Lynn said no. She said that she made a covenant with God that she would only kiss the person who, asked her to marry him, and if she accepted that person’s proposal. When Joel heard of it, instead of being discouraged it only caused him to pray harder for their relationship because he thought that he finally found the one.

They continued to date all throughout Joel’s senior year and after the school year Joel and his dad went to a prayer and fast, where Joel fervently asked God to give him a sign if Lynn is the one for him.

God is Faithful; He gave His answer to Joel and also gave him verses from scripture to hold on to. Joel told his parents about God’s answer to his prayer and his parents confessed to him that the night they had hot chocolate at their house, his parents knew that the person they asked God to give to Joel was Lynn. Joel’s mom even went on to say that when she saw Lynn she exclaimed, “Oh my, that’s my future daughter-in-law!!!” And she’s right. Joel and Lynn are now married and have 4 kids…

So what’s the point of the story?  Only this: I believe that we are living in the last days. And whether the youth or young adults today are THE last generation I can’t really say. But time is short and so our actions from this point on must count. Joel and I agree that we don’t want the youth or young adults to get sidetracked on account of them giving their hearts to someone who is NOT the one for them.

To the youth, please be careful with your hearts, and more than that, decide who you will give your heart to now. There is only one person we can give our hearts to who would not let us down. And that person is Jesus. And so if you haven’t accepted Him as your Savior then now is the perfect time to do so. When you give your heart to Christ, I promise you He will safeguard your heart when you allow Him to, then we can rest assured that He will have our backs, and we won’t have to be alone or lonely again.

After the Youth Conference, Joel had another book signing session and then after that he had a Meet & Greet with the Media and Marketing Team who didn’t get the chance to meet him before. I would like to personally thank Joel for allotting some time for us even though we could see in his face that he was already tired from today’s events. Thank you so much Joel, you don’t know how much you’ve blessed us by being a trooper and taking time for us!

Day 03 of the Conference finished, The Epicenter Sunday Services coming up tomorrow! I can’t wait to hear the message! Till tomorrow, God Bless everyone!!! – Joshua Daniel Discipulo

P.S.

The organizers of the Youth Conference told us that there were those who wrote comments about Joel’s message and so of course we want Joel to be able to know some of their thoughts on what happened. Here are two of them:

From Ling Barroga:

Joel, I hope you get to read this. I was really blessed by what you shared at the last part. I want you to know I believe what you shared. I totally agree about keeping ourselves pure. I love how you love your wife and how you say and believe that only a GOD as big as our GOD can make it all possible. GOD bless you! =)

From Fiona Javelosa:

I just want to say thank you for answering God’s call. We are blessed. You are in my prayers. =)

*names have been changed to protect their identity.

Anyway, the event started off in a high note with the high energy songs that the praise and worship team sang and the exciting introduction that Pastor Peter gave. Imagine being in a jam-packed place with 3,300 other people all eager to hear what Joel and his team had to say. And that’s just the main hall! Other rooms in St. Francis were also utilized to accommodate the overflow of people who attended the event. All told, there were about upwards of 4,500 people who went to the whole day conference.

Suffice to say, the whole conference tied in beautifully together as all the topics found it’s way around each other and all somehow pointed to one thing, that we have a God who desires to be known by us… I will try to encapsulate the day through my take-aways per speaker…

At 9am we started the program with Joel talking to us about seeking to answer the question, “Are we in the Last Days?”.

• Joel believes (as do I) that we are in the last days, primarily because of the fulfillment of biblical prophecy pertaining to the resurrection of the state of Israel.
• The Philippines is instrumental in that prophecy being fulfilled, being the decisive vote when the Philippines voted yes to the Partition Plan.
• Whatever may be happening around the world, it’s always about our personal decision on what we’re going to do with our life. The best decision we could make that would last ‘til eternity, is to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Pastor Ortiz, our special guest speaker spoke about “How can we strengthen the Church in Israel today?”…

• It is our calling not only to pray for Israel but also to share the Gospel to them because ultimately the reason why the message of salvation reached us is because they rejected it but now that we have it we need to spread the Good News to the Jews as well and have them accept Jesus because Jews need Christ too.
• Hold on to God’s promises no matter what!
• With everything that happens to us, we can always have victory with God. Even though there are times that we may become victims of cruelty and evil we can always give it back to God so that He can use it for His glory and the situation becomes His story. Victory= Victim+Story (of God’s glory)

Pastor Hormoz Shariat, shared his testimony and taught on “How can we strengthen the Church in Iran and the Muslim World Today?” Pastor Hormoz believes that for us to be able to strengthen and reach the Iranians today, we must:

• Change our Mind about them. Instead of hating and fearing them or even not caring about them, we should know that Iranians are open to the Gospel, and that the most influential factor for them accepting Christ as Lord and Savior is the behavior that they see in us Christians.
• Change our Heart about them. We should start praying for the Iranians because they need Christ as much as we need Him. If we ask God to let us feel for them then there’s no reason why God would not answer that prayer.
• Change our Action. Changing our action for me means we should allow God to be the one to dictate our actions. In the context of strengthening the church in Iran, it might mean becoming a missionary to reach out to them and minister to them, or it could be something like praying for the church there, or even supporting the work of God by offering our resources.

Pastor Ray Bentley talked about “How should we pray for the people of the Epicenter?” He encouraged everyone to:

• Support Israel and bless the country by praying for the people to be saved.
• As we bless Israel then God’s promise to Abraham that “He (God) will bless those who bless Israel” would allow God to bless our country.
• Take the time to wrestle to God in the same way that the Prophet Daniel did, not outlining other people’s faults but being the ones to stand in the gap for the sins of our country.

A lot of other lessons and insights were given by the speakers throughout the whole day conference. Attendees were also encouraged to attend the training for the 6 week follow-up studies on the Signs of the Times Conference but through all that’s happened, the whole point that we do this is because we understand the need for people to be prepared now in the Final days and we don’t want to be a church who sees a storm coming but doesn’t do anything to prepare people for it.

Day 07 of Joel’s visit and Day 02 of the conference finished, Facilitator’s Training and Youth Conference tomorrow!!! Let’s all continue to pray for Joel and his team

P.S. I have to give props to Joel for attempting to conquer the world record for most number of book signings in less than 3 hours. Joel must’ve signed more than 2,000 books after the conference… To Joel, thank you so much for accommodating your Filipino fans

10 in the morning, while Joel was preparing for the conference and everyone else was finishing up the setup of the Grand Ballroom, Pastor Hormoz Shariat proceeded to the CBN Asia Studio to have an interview with them. Pastor Shariat is an Iranian scientist turned Christian pastor and the story of how he became a Christian is a powerful testimony of God’s grace in his life. Hopefully you will get to watch his life story sometime in February in the 700 Club.

Fast forward to 7:30 in the evening, and the place is packed with over a thousand people—leaders in the fields of politics, business, religious leaders, celebrity personalities, and even candidates of the upcoming elections trooped to the Grand Hall of the Crowne Plaza to witness and hear Joel Rosenberg talk; about what is happening in the Epicenter of the world, the Middle East, and how it relates to us. Now, I could go on and on and tell you all about what it is Joel talked about but since a picture paints a thousand words, I’ll let the pictures tell you the story of what happened tonight…

Thank you to our wonderful, accommodating and helpful Photo Ministry peeps Mic Narra, Andy Samaniego, Peter Alhambra, Marissa Buenaventura, and Edison Tan for the wonderful shots they took of the event! Praise God for everything that happened. Seeing what happened tonight makes me all the more excited for what’s going to happen to the whole day conference tomorrow! See you all there!

Anyway, today is probably one of the less hectic days for Joel Rosenberg. He started out the day with a taped interview for one of the radio programs of Far East Broadcasting Company. As usual Joel was very straightforward with his answers, taking time to explain the reasons why he believes that Israel is important in the coming days and why he considers it the Epicenter of the world, physically in terms of geography, as well as spiritually being the place where the Gospel of Jesus started before spreading throughout the world. As before, I liked the fact that Joel, who probably explained the same things to millions of other audiences around the world, was able to make the listener appreciate his ideas.

After the interview, Joel had some down time before his next appointment which was a luncheon with the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines or AmChamb. By 11 in the morning, Joel, along with everyone else on his team was on their way to the meeting place.

The Luncheon with the AmChamb took place at the Rigodon Hall of the Peninsula Manila in Makati. They had lunch after which Joel started his talk after about the Middle East being the Epicenter of the world and Israel as the Epicenter of the Epicenter, citing biblical passage stating that Israel was placed “at the navel of the earth”, hence the center of the nations with all the other countries placed around it. He continued his speech with an explanation of Scripture detailing that in the last days the eyes of the nations will be riveted on Israel. And while that statement wasn’t possible before 1948, due to the non-existence of the State of Israel, it is true now. And that in itself is a fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy.

As with other talks and interviews that he had, Joel outlined the danger of a Nuclear Iran, stating that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes it is Allah’s mandate for him to prepare the way for the Twelfth Imam, the so-called Islamic Messiah, or the Mahdi. And that to hasten the Mahdi’s return he has to commit genocide against America and Israel.

Joel then proceeded to say that with everything going in the world right now, we need to refer again to Scripture because Jesus said that when wars and rumors of wars, and disasters and troubles happen, we should know that He is standing at the door, ready to return to the world and step in into History once again. Joel then proceeds to make things more personal. He said that while Iran waging war against Israel would have dire consequences in the balance of power in the Middle East and to the whole world in general, each of us as people, are also living in our last days. And he’s right. It doesn’t matter how old we are or how young we are, because the reality is that we don’t know how long we will be here on earth.

After the talk, Joel entertained some questions from the audience after which he proceeded along with his team to the ABS-CBN News Channel Studios for his live interview with Pia Hontiveros for her show Shoptalk. I never got the chance to see how to interview went, as I wasn’t able to accompany them there due to the limited number of people that could be allowed to go with them.

We still have pictures of this nonetheless

But as I was on the way back to the office Joel’s questions from his talk with AmChamb came back to me. He asked, “Are we ready to meet our maker? And where are we in our relationship with God?” The questions he posted reminded me of the bible verse in Matthew 16:26 that tell us “What does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and yet forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” For me this is an important question now more than ever. Because in the end, it doesn’t matter how much we acquire in this life, ultimately all of us will meet our Maker. And in that day, success in life will not count. How much money we’ve accumulated will not count. Even the good works that we did will not count.  The only thing that would matter is if we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior.

I believe that we are in the last days. So now is the perfect time to ask ourselves, “If I’m in my last day, am I ready to meet the Maker?” Think carefully. The answer we have to that question, will ultimately determine our final destiny. – JDD

Joel again had an extremely busy day and he started it with an interview with Ms. Valdez. As before, the day started too early for my taste (being a night person) but I was nevertheless excited for what surprises Tuesday would bring. The media crew setup their equipment and by 9 in the morning the interview started. Luchi asked Joel questions about why he believes we are living in the last days, what passages in Scripture he can connect it with, what the “War of Gog and Magog” is and what it means in our time, and why America doesn’t seem to be mentioned in Scripture pertaining to end times.

Joel was also asked what the span of time is between now and when the War of Gog and Magog will take place. I liked the fact that Joel was honest enough to admit that there really is no set time that he could set for when the war might take place, and that the Bible doesn’t encourage people to make wild guesses. Still, he stressed the importance of being in the know on what the Bible says about the events that would take place in the last days, since the prophecies act as kind of an advanced weather report, an early warning system that tells us what to watch out for to tell when the storm might be coming.

After the interview, Joel’s next appointment was with Israeli Ambassador Zvi Vapni. The said meeting took place over lunch at French restaurant Le Soufflé in Rockwell, Makati. Joel presented the ambassador with a copy of his book Inside the Revolution as well as a DVD version of it, and then Joel proceeded to outline the plot for his next book which he will entitle “The Twelfth Imam”. I got excited about the book from the limited information he gave about its plot, but I guess I would have to wait ’til about October 2011 to find out for myself how the story will unfold.

Ambassador Vapni and Joel, along with the conference team had a lively discussion that touched on topics from the threat of a Nuclear Iran, to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and whether he is a true believer of Shía Muslim Philosophy or just using religion as a tool for politics, to what the book of Esther is about for Joel and how it gives the key to the solution of problems that Israel is facing. At the end of the talk Joel graciously extended an invitation to the Ambassador for the Epicenter Conference on Friday.

The day continued on with a stop at the CBN Asia studios where Joel, Pastor Ray Bentley, and Pastor Ortiz were interviewed about their testimony and how they came to their faith.

What I liked most about this interview is that Joel was able to share the story of how he came to accept the Lord Jesus Christ. He was asked by the host why he believes in Jesus Christ as being the promised Messiah that Moses talked about even though he is an Orthodox Jew, and Joel enthusiastically answered the question.

Joel said it was his father that first came to accept Yeshua as the Messiah. His father, who was then an Orthodox Jew had a “volcanic” temperament that could and would just explode at the most inopportune times. But then one day his father came to believe in Yeshua and accepted Him as Lord and Savior and wonder of wonders, from that moment on, Joel’s father became a changed man. What was before a person with a “volcanic” temperament became a person with a gentle spirit, and it was Joel’s mom who brought his father to church. Joel was not blind to the radical changes that happened to his parent’s lives, and so concluded that if Yeshua can change a person’s heart, then He must really be the Messiah that the Evangelical Christians worshipped and so made a decision to accept Christ in his life as well.

Joel also shared that when he set out to write books, he didn’t have the know-how to write an engaging novel and what plot he’s supposed to write about, but God was gracious enough to reassure Joel of His sufficiency when Joel prayed for guidance by giving him Jeremiah 33:3. “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” And God was true to His word, as Joel now has 7 bestselling books under his belt. Amazing isn’t it?

Being with Joel and his team the past few days the way I have been, I can see that Joel is staying true to his word and his God-given mission in encouraging people to think carefully about how they would live their lives, in light of Scripture telling us that we are now in the last days. Because I always hear him talk about the good news of the Gospel, and really this is what life is all about. So the question I guess we need to think about is if we are in the last days, how will we live our lives? That is a question that is worth considering carefully, since the answer to it means our life and death. – JDD

To read Joel’s account of his 4th Day, click here.

More pictures of the day…

We arrived at the lounge and saw all the others from the Epicenter Conference team already there but Joel wasn’t. Turns out he stepped out to get a cup of coffee at the nearest Starbucks outlet. So we headed there and we saw him chilling out with another member of his team, Pastor Ray Bentley. We waved to them to catch their attention and we proceeded to brief them about the schedule for the day.

There was actually a delay in the schedule of the meet as the President apparently just arrived from a trip to Pakistan today. The original schedule of when she was supposed to meet them got changed a couple of times until a time was set wherein the President would be able to meet with Joel and everyone else.

The Palace hosted a luncheon in honor of Joel and after that the President joined them for dessert. We didn’t get to take pictures or video footage of Joel Rosenberg’s meeting with the President, since taking cameras or any other type of recording equipment and or device is prohibited in the Palace…

So I’m just going to share two of the things I learned from my encounter with Joel today:

1. Joel thanks the Philippines for the historical support given by The Philippines over the 1947 UN Partition Plan that created a Jewish and Arab State in Palestine. It seems that days before the vote for the Partition Plan was to take place, the plan to grant land to the Jews in Palestine was 3 votes short of the 2/3’s vote needed to enact the plan. On the day of the voting the Philippines was one of the countries who voted “Yes” to the UN Partition Plan, even though originally our vote was going to be a “No”—hence making it possible for the State of Israel to be reborn in 1947, making us a part of the story of how a biblical prophecy came true.
2. Joel is concerned about the seriousness of the threat of a Nuclear Armed Iran. Iranian Leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been open about his plans to create a Nuclear Iran, believing that it is his allah-given mission to annihilate the US (The Great Satan) and Israel (The Little Satan) to usher in the arrival of their Islamic Messiah, the Twelfth Imam, or The Mahdi. And although President Barack Obama of the United States believes that America can go to the table with Iran and negotiate for terms, Joel believes that it is not possible for the US to do so simply because there is nothing that they could offer that Ahmadinejad would accept. Whereas the US was able to broker a deal with Russia before during the cold war because of the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction, Joel knows that America could offer Iran nothing it would accept since for Shī‘a Muslims, martyrdom is lauded because radical extremist muslims believe that they will go to paradise and have for themselves 70 virgins if they die in martyrdom killing infidels.

These are just some of the things I managed to learn from Joel, and if you want to know more, then you need to go to the conferences that we’ll be having on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You could even attend the Sunday Services on January 24, 2010 at CCF where Joel will be the one to speak the whole day if you can’t be at the scheduled conferences.

Read more about the meet with PGMA from Joel himself here.

After the meeting with the President, Joel and his team had a private dinner with Pastor Peter Tan-Chi and his family. His day ended on that note. I’ve been observing Joel for the past few days that I’ve been blessed to accompany him, and I would say that he is one person that I respect for his fervency in sharing the gospel, and not only that but also for the way he makes people appreciate biblical prophecy with the simple way he explains it.

Day 03, done! Day 04, you’re next!

I began my Sunday the way I usually do. Pray, wash up and then go to church. I am a volunteer in CCF Eastwood and so I usually attend Sunday Services there. This Sunday though, a friend of mine texted me to encourage me to attend the service in CCF St. Francis since she said that Pastor Peter would be talking about Eschatology in preparation for the Signs of the Times Conferences happening this week. So, instead of heading to EW like I usually do, I ended up going to St. Francis instead.

Well, surprise, surprise!!! Ptr. Peter did NOT talk about end-times prophecy, but instead spoke about 1 Cor. 4:9-10, which was about the Prayer of Jabez. I’ve always liked the Prayer of Jabez, so instead of being disappointed about the fact that Ptr. Peter didn’t talk about end-times prophecies, I was blessed with the message he gave entitled “Lord, Blessed me indeed!” In fact, I wondered how God will bless me while listening to Ptr. Peter’s message since I asked Him to bless me that day.

No sooner had I thought that that someone from the Rosenberg Team texted me asking me if I wanted to join the welcome dinner for Joel. “Are you serious?” I asked. “Because that’s something that I would really want to be a part of!” She said yes, she was serious about the invitation so I immediately went home after the service, dressed up, and left home for the dinner.

8 hours after I received the invitation for the welcome dinner I personally met Joel C. Rosenberg. He’s about 5”7’, a very amiable person who’s bursting with an infectious energy and who is very accommodating. I, along with some of the people there took the time to have him sign his books that we brought. He was very warm and allowed everyone who wanted to have photos taken with him to do so. Apart from that Joel to me looked to be so full of vitality that night even though he was fasting! Imagine that!

Joel had a short Q&A after dinner and he answered some of the questions that the guests wanted explained. Some of the questions that he entertained that night were on whether: the Messiah will come before or after the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt; The War of Gog and Magog and its difference from the War of Armageddon; The Rapture; as well as the role of Iran and the United States in the coming days. What I liked about the way he answered all of these questions was the fact that even though he had everyone’s attention while he was speaking, he made sure that his answers were long enough to explain the reasons for his beliefs, and yet short enough to not take too much time to answer, a balancing act that few speakers are able to pull off.

Joel also took the time to share the gospel during his talk, and I was awed by his fervency in talking about the gospel in every opportunity that he could. He said that God’s offer of salvation for us is a Limited Time Offer in the sense that the only way we could take hold of it is if we decide to surrender our life to Christ while we’re still on this earth. If we hear the message of salvation yet for some reason or another we choose to hold off on accepting Christ in our life, the moment we die, we’re done for. And I agree with him. We can’t be here forever, and that’s why every action that we do here on earth counts, and the best decision that anyone can do is to accept Christ in his or her life.

After the talk everyone said their farewells and the night ended. Even though this was something unplanned for me, I still thank God for answering my prayer for Him to bless me indeed by allowing me to meet a remarkable person like Joel Rosenberg.

She said…

I got a text yesterday asking me if Joel Rosenberg will be preaching in CCF St. Francis at the 10AM service. People caught wind of the fact that he will be in CCF at the time and thought he would be preaching. Made me realize how excited people are to hear him speak!

I had the privilege of being invited to the Sunday luncheon with his team. During the sit down lunch, he shared with us the plot for his new book coming in 2011 entitled The Twelfth Imam while answering questions from the team. It turned out to be a very enriching lunch, not only physically (as I was breaking my fast) but also spiritually and mentally with everything that he was sharing with us.

We had to break up the group at around 3pm as we needed to regroup again by 6pm for the welcome dinner. Just thinking about eating again made me dizzy!

We were guests in the home of Glenn and Jackie Yu who took care of all the preparations for the dinner that night. Dinner was a sumptuous Japanese buffet served on their beautifully decorated garden. Since we already met each other over lunch, seeing Joel and his team again was just like meeting old friends.

Joel once again entertained a round of questions from the team and we had a mouthful listening to all he had to say about eschatology. I, being an end-times fan, was just thrilled to be in his presence.

Pastor Peter’s Sunday message talked about the Jabez prayer and with all my heart I prayed for God to bless me as we closed the service. Little did I know what God had in store for me right as I walked out the sanctuary. I am blessed… blessed indeed!

Joel believes that it is not adequate to view events happening in the world right now only through the eyes of Politics or Economics or the political and economic lenses, as he calls them. Rather, what’s more important is to see events in light of what he calls the third lens, which is the Bible, or Holy Scripture. And even though Joel doesn’t have clairvoyance when it comes to seeing future events, he does have the extraordinary insight of explaining passages in the Bible dealing with future events and connecting the dots from Scripture to world headlines and events that are happening around the world in a manner that is clear, concise and easy to understand.

Probably the most relaxed time for Joel Rosenberg and his team for their whole stay here in Manila was the day they arrived because they didn’t do a lot of things except check-in to their hotel, take a tour of CCF, and join the 6^th night of the Church-wide prayer and fasting. After that they went back to their hotel and retired for the night.

Whatta day so far! Looking forward to more action in the days to come…

By Daniel Buenafe (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines – One look at today’s news headlines would have even the worst skeptics’ heads spinning. Earthquakes, threats of terrorism, war, tsunamis and pestilence, a looming volcanic eruption, major financial debacles with global repercussions, global climate change, and continuing talk of the coming imposition of a new world order. All this seems to have been ripped right from the pages of the Bible because of its somewhat-apocalyptic tenor.

New York Times best-selling author Joel Rosenberg hasn’t been helping the mood any, what with his penchant for assiduously following news headlines and tying them in with 2,000-year-old Bible prophecies.

The mild-mannered communications strategist was catapulted onto the world stage when elements of his stories began occurring in real life just months after he had written them. Reviewers found his political thrillers set in the present day to be “eerily prophetic” and “almost prophetically forecasting what you’ll read in tomorrow’s headlines.” US News and World Report even called him “the modern Nostradamus,” a label Rosenberg is uncomfortable with, saying, “I am not a clairvoyant, a psychic or a modern Nostradamus as some have suggested.” Joel explains that all he is is an avid student of Bible prophecy, although clearly he is one with an imaginative yet realistic bent.

With over a million books sold, the unassuming Rosenberg began public life as a campaign adviser and political consultant to figures who loom large on the world stage: former US presidential candidate and multi-millionaire Steve Forbes, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, and now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When Netanyahu failed in his 1999 bid for the post of prime minister, Joel decided to start writing, an obviously fortuitous choice not just for him, but for fiction enthusiasts as well. Hollywood has also taken notice of his success, and already optioned two of his novels. As action-packed as the five-book series is, filmgoers can look forward to a thrilling, edge-of-the-seat ride.

Rosenberg keeps blog subscribers abreast of notable world events through his weblog at http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/, where he analyzes how the news may affect our day-to-day existence. Top on Joel’s watch list of late are radical Islam and known state sponsor of Islamic terrorism Iran, where the ayatollahs have found a true believer in their fiercely religious president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rosenberg is watching Ahmadinejad carefully not just because of his propensity for calling for the decimation of the Jews and the tiny nation of Israel, but also because he is moving to acquire the nuclear weapons with which to fulfill his dream of “wiping Israel off the face of the map.” No doubt Iran’s very recent and successful test of a missile capable of reaching Israel as well as Iran’s other neighbors only reinforces the threat Ahmadinejad’s oppressive regime poses, even to its own people. And everyone should know by now that fresh trouble in the Middle East will result in yet another — possibly huge — jump in oil prices, which would be the death knell for many already struggling national economies.

Joel is coming to Manila in January for a series of speaking engagements, and will be bringing with him a team of global security and political affairs heavyweights to help Filipinos better understand the world that is evolving very swiftly around them. Considering his track record of accurate predictions thus far, we would all do well to pay strict attention to what he has to say.

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Updated January 10, 2010 12:00 AM