Tiny tablet provides proof for Old Testament

London Telegraph
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent

The sound of unbridled joy seldom breaks the quiet of the British Museum's great Arched Room, which holds its collection of 130,000 Assyrian cuneiform tablets, dating back 5,000 years.

But Michael Jursa, a visiting professor from Vienna, let out such a cry last Thursday. He had made what has been called the most important find in Biblical archaeology for 100 years, a discovery that supports the view that the historical books of the Old Testament are based on fact.

Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the tablets, Prof Jursa suddenly came across a name he half remembered - Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, described there in a hand 2,500 years old, as "the chief eunuch" of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.

Prof Jursa, an Assyriologist, checked the Old Testament and there in chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he found, spelled differently, the same name - Nebo-Sarsekim.

Nebo-Sarsekim, according to Jeremiah, was Nebuchadnezzar II's "chief officer" and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, when the Babylonians overran the city.

The small tablet, the size of "a packet of 10 cigarettes" according to Irving Finkel, a British Museum expert, is a bill of receipt acknowledging Nabu-sharrussu-ukin's payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.

The tablet is dated to the 10th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, 595BC, 12 years before the siege of Jerusalem.

Evidence from non-Biblical sources of people named in the Bible is not unknown, but Nabu-sharrussu-ukin would have been a relatively insignificant figure.

"This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find," Dr Finkel said yesterday. "If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."

Cuneiform is the oldest known form of writing and was commonly used in the Middle East between 3,200 BC and the second century AD. It was created by pressing a wedge-shaped instrument, usually a cut reed, into moist clay.

The full translation of the tablet reads: (Regarding) 1.5 minas (0.75 kg) of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple] Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin, son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

My Redeemer Lives!

Job 19
1 Then Job replied:

2 "How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?

3 Ten times now you have reproached me;
shamelessly you attack me.

4 If it is true that I have gone astray,
my error remains my concern alone.

5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,

6 then know that God has wronged me
and drawn his net around me.

7 "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response;
though I call for help, there is no justice.

8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
he has shrouded my paths in darkness.

9 He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.

10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
he uproots my hope like a tree.

11 His anger burns against me;
he counts me among his enemies.

12 His troops advance in force;
they build a siege ramp against me
and encamp around my tent.

13 "He has alienated my brothers from me;
my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

14 My kinsmen have gone away;
my friends have forgotten me.

15 My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger;
they look upon me as an alien.

16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
though I beg him with my own mouth.

17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own brothers.

18 Even the little boys scorn me;
when I appear, they ridicule me.

19 All my intimate friends detest me;
those I love have turned against me.

20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth. ^[a]

21 "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
for the hand of God has struck me.

22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?

23 "Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,

24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on ^[b] lead,
or engraved in rock forever!

25 I know that my Redeemer ^[c] lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. ^[d]

26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet ^[e] in ^[f] my flesh I will see God;

27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

28 "If you say, 'How we will hound him,
since the root of the trouble lies in him, ^[g] '

29 you should fear the sword yourselves;
for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
and then you will know that there is judgment.

July 3rd & 4th, Solemn Assembly @ Harvard University

This is a call to prayer not a regular prayer meeting, but a Solemn Assembly.

The difference between our regular prayer meetings and a Solemn Assembly is the way we approach God. When we, as a community or a nation, come to a great situation of despair, trouble, sin, it is most necessary at such a time as this to face the situation head on, presenting it to God--all the facts--with a contrite heart and with repentance. A Solemn Asembly is a time and season of desperate crying out to God for His mercy and forgiveness, in order to be free again (Joel 2:12-18). Personally, I don't believe we can reverse the curse that sin has brought over the land (Deut. 28:15), without Solemn Assemblies around the country. The land is contaminated by all kinds of sin. There is no short way to get God's grace back. We have to recognize that we and our country have sinned against him, and we must confess and repent of our wicked ways.

Why Harvard University?
Harvard University, the first college established by Christian leaders in this country in 1636, is a historic location and a strategic institution for our prayers. The early history of Harvard shows us that one of the most serious subjects in the lives of the students was the morning and evening prayer meetings. Next to Harvard University's campus is the Cambridge Common, where George Washington established the Continental Army on July3rd, 1775, one year before Independence Day. As we do every year, we are going to use the same location for a Solemn Assembly and prayer, spending time under the same tree that Washington and his army met under on July 3, 1775. We are inviting you to pray with us on behalf of higher education in America. Please help us to PRAY and mobilize intercessors to dedicate July 3rd and 4th for Jesus. These dates are very important and are very prophetic dates, as we will be proclaiming total dependence upon and submission to our Lord Jesus. Our cities, towns, communities and institutions should be taken from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Light (Col. 1:13-14), in the name of Jesus Christ as we pray, "Then your light shall break forth like the morning. Your healing shall spring forth speedily. And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call and the Lord will answer, YOU SHALL CRY AND HE SHALL SAY, HERE I AM." (Isaiah 58:8-9) "Those from among you shall build the oldwaste places; You shall rise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach; The restorer of Streets to dwell in." (Isaiah 58:12)

Where: Harvard Square (Cambridge Commons, next to Geo. Washington monument), Cambridge, MA
12 noon, July 3rd - 12 noon, July 4th, 2007

Preparation: Please increase your daily prayers and ask God to honor us, releasing protection, anointing, revelation and grace.

• Increase your Bible reading on a daily basis and ask God to give you scipture passages and prophetic words.
• The Daniel Fast starts June 27th and ends on July 17th. (Vegetables, fruits, natural juices, water, no meats, no milk, no sodas). Other options, skip one meal a day; stop drinking coffee, sodas, sweets or something very important to you. Under medication or special diet? Ask your doctor.

What to bring: Bible, notebook, prophetic words and verses God gave to you. Instruments you like to play. Blanket, water, food. God bless you for your prayers and for your desire to usher in the glory of God and to build a spiritual climate for Revival and Transformation.

Edson & Eneida Porto Joshua Project - Reclaiming Colleges for God
Cell# 617-642-9549
email

Stand with Israel

Psalm 122

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the LORD."

2 Our feet are standing
in your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built like a city
that is closely compacted together.

4 That is where the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD,
to praise the name of the LORD
according to the statute given to Israel.

5 There the thrones for judgment stand,
the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May those who love you be secure.

7 May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels."

8 For the sake of my brothers and friends,
I will say, "Peace be within you."

9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your prosperity.

New Wave of Christian Persecutions in Iran

IRAN – On June 19, 2007, The Voice of the Martyrs confirmed reports that believers in Iran are being detained, interrogated and in one case, imprisoned because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

According to VOM sources, this new wave of persecution is coming against Christians that meet to worship God in the privacy of their homes. VOM sources said, “We have confirmed reports that several believers have been interrogated and one house was stormed by an elite police team that confiscated a computer, several CDs and Christian materials. A Christian was arrested in this attack, and remains in prison.”

Christians in Iran are concerned about these recent incidents. Pray believers in Iran will remain steadfast in their faith despite this new wave of persecution. Pray for the release of the believer in prison and for protection for all Christians in Iran.

“Clearly, Iran’s government is alarmed at the growth of the Christian faith there,” said VOM spokesman Todd Nettleton. “This is a key time for the church in Iran. We call on Iran’s government to release this Christian believer who is being held, and we call on Christians around the world to pray for our brothers and sisters in Iran.”

-Stacy L. Harp - VOM

Isaac Newton deeply spiritual, decodes scriptures

His famously analytical mind worked out the laws of gravity and unravelled the motion of the planets.

And when it came to predicting the end of the world, Sir Isaac Newton was just as precise.

He believed the Apocalypse would come in 2060 – exactly 1,260 years after the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire, according to a recently published letter.

....The exact words from the Book of Daniel that inspired his prediction are not clear.

But he got at least one thing right – in another document, he interpreted biblical prophecies to mean that the Jews would return to the Holy Land before the world ended.

The Truth About Israel & Jerusalem

Memorial Day 2007

The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

-Thomas Paine

Almighty God: our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their load will long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest – until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom…I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God, Amen.

-President Franklin D. Roosevelt , June 6th 1944

AIDS in Africa - Its not OK with Janine Maxwell

...that every 14 seconds a child is orphaned in Africa due to AIDS. And that 30,000 children die in Africa each day from starvation and malnutrition.

Janine Maxwell, former Public Relations maverick, was thrown into a deep depression after being caught in Manhattan Island on 9/11/01. An invitation from Christian friends brought her to Africa where she met homeless orphaned children living on the streets. Her life changed forever, as described in her book Its Not OK With Me.

For more information on what you can do, please visit Heart for Africa.

In the flood waters

Today was another glorious Noon hour -- another foretaste of the Awakening. I know I keep saying that, but if you think it's exaggeration, ask any of the 50 who were there today. Even better, come next week!

The best part, of course, was God's Presence, which was with us from the beginning. We did not have to invite Him. We did not have to plead for Him to come. When we got there, He was already so there (as our young members might put it) that we even laughed about it.

And as last week, there was a sense of expectation, of imminence. Which He encouraged.

Prepare to shout for joy.

Prepare to shout in exultation.

For the glory of the Lord will be here,

Sooner than you imagine.

Shouting and praising and weeping,

Come to me,

For I am coming to you

With more glory than you have ever seen.

After the hour was over, and the benediction was spoken (by first-time visitor Reggie who came all the way from Maine), hardly anyone left. We just wanted to linger in His Presence. I began to wonder if maybe the first preliminary wave of the Revival had already come ashore. He did seem to indicate that in a word to Kathy, one of our regulars, who sent it to me earlier in the week:

I woke up with the words: I am commandeering my churches. It is a matter of conscience. . . . At that point I came fully awake, ad He continued to give this word to me: The wave I have sent is a wave in which to soak. What I have started, only I can complete. Some will walk away at this time. . . . Just as when I told my followers: you must eat of my flesh, to have life in you. The teaching was too strange, too difficult to understand. Many walked away. But those I had chosen, remained. They knew that there was no other way.

There is no other way today, than the one I have chosen. If you will be humble and reject your understanding, you will receive my understanding. The waters of this first wave are flood waters that will tap into the wellsprings of salvation. Waters from deep ancient wells beneath your feet will rise to the surface. At first, there will be an oozing, and then, a gushing. Do not strike my rock again, in impatience. The gushing will come!

* * *

For those who would like to be on intimate terms with God, able to hear Him speak to you in your own heart, the next Hearing His Voice workshop will be on Saturday, the 28^th , from 10:00 till 3:00, in the little chapel at Tremont Temple. While He may not call you to be a prophet, He is calling you to hear Him, as His prophets do. These are prophetic times, for a prophetic people. If He would have you join us, you know who would not have you there, so. . . . beware of sudden obstructions, and take a moment now to send me an email.

-David Manuel

Master Surgeon

Last Wednesday, we had another wonderful Noon Hour. And each week, as the hour progresses, His Presence grows stronger. Now at the end of the hour, we are beginning to experience miracles, and each week one or two come into the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If you think that's speaking evangelistically, ask anyone who's been recently. Better yet, come and see for yourself.

Several of us are now receiving words of encouragement from the Lord.

My faithful watchers on the wall, Your hearts continue to please me. You have been patient, when strongly tempted to impatience or indifference. You have been steadfast in your love for me, whether in season or out, convenient or inconvenient, in stormy weather or sunny climes.

You have received my love, and you have freely given my love. Know that you have delighted my heart, and for this reason, what I am about to do in Boston will be centered here and a few other places. You are my foundation stones, well placed and well laid, and on your love will I build my Awakening.

That word was confirmed by Lois, a first-time visitor from another prayer fellowship, who declared we do not have much time, and we must prepare our hearts for the first layer of the Joel 2 Anointing. We also had five visitors from a prayer fellowship that meets on Mondays. We hold them up in prayer each Wednesday, just as we do the Revere men's prayer group that meets at Noon on Wednesdays, and as they do us. In fact, praying for one another's prayer groups, attending one another's events, spreading the word of each other's initiatives all of this is part of God's new pattern (and so different from what has happened in the past).

And it's happening everywhere. Bob Weiner's wife Rose says that they, too, are experiencing miracles. She's asked me to come pray with them this Sunday evening in the Longfellow Room of the Charles Hotel at 7:00 an invitation I extend to all of you. And Tatsuo, a Japanese-American evangelist on the West Coast called a moment ago, to say that God is starting to do the same things there that He is doing here. He knows this, because he shares these updates with his prayer groups there, where God is striking the same chords.

More grist for the mill: last week Rose sent me a prophecy from Hope Reeder in North Carolina, that pretty much confirms everything that God has told a number of us He's about to do in New England. Many of you have already seen and passed along that prophecy, but in case you haven't seen it, it's attached.

One thing is becoming increasingly apparent: God expects all of us who love Him, to hear Him in our hearts with the same confidence and clarity that His prophets do. Regarding that, a number of you have asked when there will be another Hearing His Voice workshop at Tremont Temple. I'm happy to announce that the next one will be on April 28th, a week from this coming Saturday, from 10:00 until 3:00 in the little chapel. If you're interested, drop me an email.

Many of you have asked about Alex. In meeting with him recently, his surgeon could not have been less optimistic. And yet, the Master Surgeon, who met with him this morning, could be more encouraging! Here is what He told Alex: I know that you are not anxious about the status of your healing (a gift from heaven), but my grace has strengthened you to yield more fully to my gift of faith, as expressed in the now.

As I said to Martha just before I raised Lazarus from the dead, I now say to you, my son, regarding your full restoration of health: "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? "It shall come to pass, my son, that the word I spoke to you recently has come to pass: This disease has not been given to you for your demise, but for the sharing forth of my glory." (John 11)

-David Manuel

Minutemen of God

We had an extraordinary Noon Hour yesterday. The presence of the Lord was so strong, we thought the building wave of the Awakening might finally be ready to break.

Kathy received a word which witnessed to many hearts present:

My children, I am calling you to be my Minutemen today. You must be prepared to take up your arms at a moment's notice. Like the Minutemen of old, you will be both farmers and warriors. You will be farmers, sowing and reaping the Great Harvest. You will be my soldiers, wielding the weapons of the Spirit. Your ammunition will be my love, and my mercy. I will take some of you into my War Room, into my counsel, and I will show you my battle plans. Others will be called into the Throne Room, for I tell you, the fragrance of this battle will not be gunpowder but the incense of worship. I have stationed watchers to see my signal light. The time for the midnight ride is here. The enemy is entrenched in the land, but the Spirit of the Lord comes in by the sea. The Living Waters of my Spirit will rush upon this land and will overtake the enemy. Be alert, be ready, Minutemen of God! Make ready for battle!"

Towards the end of the hour, Bethany Yeo, the young leader of the Justice House of Prayer in Boston, stirred our hearts with her battle call to prayer. Reminding us of Dutch Sheets' prophecy, she declared that Massachusetts was the spiritual birthplace of the nation. What is birthed here, will be birthed throughout America. And what is allowed to die here, will die everywhere else.

Then she shared the dream of one of her young prayer warriors. In the dream Goliath was coming up a hill that overlooked the city of Boston. Several of his lieutenants were with him. As they reached the top of the hill, the giant chuckled and spread his arm out in a gesture that took in all they surveyed. "This city was supposed to be the wellspring of the Revival. . ." and he just laughed.

The boy woke up then and Bethany said that God had awakened him before the end of the dream, because we can still affect its outcome. We cannot grow weary. We cannot turn away in discouragement or despair. We are soldiers of the Cross, and we will pray, pray, pray as long as it takes! And we will have the victory!

I was stunned. Last Sunday, I'd been led to preach on Goliath, having not thought of him in years.

For each of us, the giant down there in the valley represents our worst fear. Every morning and evening we listen to him taunting us, mocking the army of the Living God, cursing us by his own gods. And he will keep it up, until we go down there and shut him up.

In his inaugural address three months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt reminded his countrymen that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. That is as true today, as it was in 1942.

At God's prompting, I've had to confront my own worst fear: death. Not a normal or anticipated death, for which I can be prayed up and ready to go home, whenever He calls me. Nor a sudden, accidental death, in which there is brief flash of pain before joining Him.

My greatest fear is a martyr's death deliberately cruel and prolonged, extraordinarily painful, and wholly out of my control. The sort of death some of us might actually have to face in the darkest of the dark times ahead.

Offered the choice of recanting my faith to save myself, I would have to refuse and face the lion, in whatever form it took.

A few years ago, in Kenya on the Masi Mara, I marveled at the world the way God made it, before man messed things up. I bonded with a pride of lions, spending several days just hanging with them. For those unable to go, The Lion King gets it right. The only part about the Circle of Life I wasn't comfortable with was the kill when the lions pull down a wildebeest or a zebra. Being a writer, I identified with the stricken animal.

I asked God about that, and in the Nairobi airport awaiting the flight home, He provided the answer. In an article in a travel magazine, a South African naturalist explained that the moment the predator's claws sink into the prey, the latter goes into complete shock and does not feel a thing that is being done to it. I marveled at God's infinite mercy.

Christians in the Coliseum, about to be forced out into the arena where roaring lions prowled about, seeking whom they might devour, had the same fear. Transparent with one another, they did not hide it, but shared it. They agreed to a signal: whoever went out first, when the lions struck them, if there was no pain they would sing, so their brothers and sisters would know. That was how it was, and that was why the next batch of Christians went out singing, even before the lions reached them.

When I shared that last Sunday, someone pointed out a piece in the Berkshire Eagle that very morning. In his 1857 book, Missionary Travels, Dr. David Livingstone, the renowned Scottish explorer, described what it felt like to be attacked by an African lion, which was eventually scared off by a friend firing a gun. "Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though [I was] quite conscious of all that was happening."

That explained how martyrs could face hideous deaths with such sublimity. William Tyndale, burned at the stake for having translated the Bible into English, preached for four hours, as more and more wood was piled on the fire. Jean Brobeuf, burned at the stake by the Iroquois, praised God and shouted out encouragement to other captives for so long that his awed tormentors ate his heart in the hope of consuming his courage.

For me, the enemy's ultimate intimidation was martyrdom gruesome torture followed by an agonizing death. Because if, God forbid, I am called to go through such an ordeal, His mercy will be instant, total, and eternal. And consider this: any man or woman unafraid of death, cannot be intimidated.

God had a word for us last Sunday:

My children, I have been training you as an army of spiritual warriors who have the quiet confidence to face any giant the other one puts before you. Heed not his taunts. Quail not at the length of his spear or the weight of its tip. Do not think to cover yourself in the world's armor. Though others see you as a stripling, I have already preserved you from the paw of the lion and the bear. When they came for your sheep, I filled you with righteous anger and guided the stone from your sling. You felled them, as you will the giant. Because you know the battle is not yours, but mine. You are the army of the Living God, and you are in close fellowship with me.

-David Manuel

Nineveh & Boston

In all things spiritual (and many things temporal, too, it seems), God is teaching us patience. It is not an easy lesson to learn, and a lot of us are having to learn it..

Alex will soon be done his chemo and radiation. Thanks to your prayers, he has come through both procedures at the top of the charts. But he still has cancer. And recently God reminded him (and us) that while He will heal Alex totally and completely, it will be a long process.

Through prayer Marilou received a miraculous healing; for the first time in months, her hips are in alignment, and she can walk without a limp. But she is still in pain, and still has two steel rods holding her spine straight. Kris is fighting a long uphill battle to preserve the sanctity of traditional marriage in Massachusetts, aware that the enemy is attacking the family unit, the foundation stone of God's social order. It is a battle being waged in the Heavenlies, which requires wave after wave of sustained prayer. We cannot stop praying, no matter how weary we are.

Shelli is also fighting an uphill battle, as she raises awareness and support for CUFI's Night to Honor Israel, the black-tie event at the Statehouse, on the night of May 13. She has experienced mini-miracles, but none of the magic-wand, now-your-troubles-are-over variety.

God could do instant, transformational miracles, if He chose. Yet in many of our lives, He is choosing not to. What we hoped would be a dash, has turned out to be a marathon. And we have no choice but to heed Paul's advice and run with patience the race He has set before us. [Heb. 12:1]

Why is everything, including the Revival, taking so long? He is building stay-the-course endurance into us, the true grit we will need to finish the race, breast the tape, and gain the prize. Because when the cresting wave of Revival finally breaks, there will be no rest, no time to enjoy the laurel crown. The new course will be already set before us, and He will be beckoning us to the starting line.

It is coming. At the last Noon Hour, Dick heard in his heart: My people, your prayers for Boston have ascended to my throne. Like Nineveh, I will turn Boston back to me. But unlike Jonah, my servant, you are interceding for Boston. I hear, and I will bring Revival to Boston.

-David Manuel

Alex Update from David Manuel

As you know, last December, my co-steward of the Boston Noon Hour, Alex Canavan, was diagnosed with colon cancer. As it had recurred for the third time in the same place, the prognosis could not have been less promising.

We went into prayer. You prayed, we prayed, Alex prayed, we all prayed often with the laying on of hands.

From the beginning, Alex's faith never wavered; in fact, the further he went into the shadow valley, the firmer his faith became. God had told him, as He had told a number of us, that He was going to heal Alex, though it would be a long process.

When he went in for surgery at Mass General, the surgeon discovered that it was far worse than anticipated. There was a mass behind his sacrum at the base of his spine, where it had been hidden for years from the CAT scans. The doctors decided to shrink it as much as possible with focused radiation.

At the next Noon Hour, while Alex was in hospital, we came against the cancer with spiritual radiation, focusing with our prayers on all aspects of his healing. At the end of the hour, God gave me a word which I shrank back from declaring. It was too explicit, too extreme. But I checked it with Basil, who had gotten the same word.

So with more holy boldness than I really felt, I declared that Alex would be totally and completely healed, and that his healing would be one of many miracles associated with what God was about to do in Boston. Afterwards, Dick O came up to me and said that if I hadn't declared that word, he would have. Because he'd been given the exact same word.

Last Wednesday Alex attended the Noon Hour. He looked good and felt great. Leading the worship with gusto and exuberance, he was the old Alex and then some. But that night, the bleeding from his rectum, which had gone on for weeks, built to a crescendo. He was up all night with the heavy bleeding which continued into the morning. Though he refused to dwell on it, he began to wonder if this was the beginning of the end.

Later in the morning he got a call from an old friend out in Seattle, Ronnie Svenhards, whom he had not seen or heard from, since they were together at the world convention of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International fourteen years ago. Ronnie, who had been International Vice President of the FGBMFI, when Alex was an International Director, had learned of Alex's condition from Diane Scott, executive secretary to Demos Shakarian, the late founder of FGBFMI. She did not tell Ronnie the nature or location of Alex's cancer, only that it was life-threatening.

As Ronnie went into prayer for Alex, the Lord abruptly directed him to Mark 5:25-34 the account of the woman with the issue of blood, who had been suffering from it for twelve years. The moment she touched the hem of Jesus' garment, she was healed. After Ronnie finished reading it, the Lord told him to call Alex and tell him that the Lord was giving Alex that Scripture as a gift.

Alex thanked Ronnie, but several hours passed before he realized that he was no longer bleeding. Not a drop. It has not recurred and it has been six days.

Wisdom might dictate keeping silent for a season. Let's make sure the bleeding really has stopped. We don't want to get everyone's hopes up, only to have them dashed. Besides, if you hold up Alex as an example of God's miraculous healing power, you're only inviting the devil to take him down. And don't go overboard prophesying complete healing for him. If he dies, you'll look like a fool.

But that would be conventional wisdom. What we're dealing with here, and have been from the beginning, is highly unconventional wisdom. Supernatural wisdom. If Alex and I had been careful, if we had heeded the counsel of cautious friends, we would never have started the Noon Hour. What could be more ridiculous than to think that in the stressed-out marketplace, anyone would have time to give an hour in the middle of their busy day in the middle of the work week, to just come and pray.

Speaking for myself, I've already burned all my bridges behind me. If I turn out to be a false prophet, it will be a relief. (Nobody in their right mind would want to be a prophet.) Meantime, we'll just keep on keeping on. Here's what I heard in my heart, as I asked the Lord about all of this:

I want you to proclaim this far and wide. It is only part of the healing I am doing in your brother Alex, but it is an important part.

Should I put it out in an update?

Absolutely. Write with economy. Let the story tell itself, and I will do the highlighting, as each one reads it.

Grace me, Father. Do you have a word for the Noon Hour?

I do.

My children, gather close, for the time is drawing close. You have seen my hand on Alex. Soon you will soon see it on all of you. Not one heart that enters my temple on Wednesday will leave untouched.

Open your hearts to me, and from my heart I will give you more love than you have ever experienced. When you fell in love with me at the beginning of our walk together, you experienced a sense of awe and wonder, that the Creator of the Universe could care so much for one of His creations.

You are about to experience it again.

-David Manuel

A Shi'ite Muslim tells of Jesus appearing to him

We had an extraordinary event at the Noon Hour yesterday, thanks to a divine miscommunication and the kindness of Bob Weiner's wife Rose who shares his burden and ours for the coming Awakening in Boston. We heard the testimony of a Shi'ate Muslim from Iran, to whom Jesus appeared, and who, faced this supernatural but unshakable reality, gave his heart to Him.

We've all heard the stories "little more than rumors" of Jesus appearing to Muslims throughout the Middle East. We hoped they were true; our hearts told us they were. But I had actually met only one eleven years ago in a refugee camp in Croatia. Ruja was a badly-frightened young woman in Mostar at the height of the Bosnian War. On a night when the entire city was reeling under the shelling of Serb gunners on the surrounding mountains, the Lord appeared to her in her room.

She had been a cultural Muslim; she became a vibrant Christian. Kamran Yaraei, the very tall, very humble, very likeable young man who shared his story with us yesterday was no cultural Muslim. From childhood he had known God was real, and he had a deep love for Him. Islam was the only religion he knew, so of devout Muslims he became the most devout. He read the Koran faithfully and prayed five times a day. Year after year he poured out his heart to Allah, who never replied, never gave him the slightest indication that his prayers had been heard. Never returned his love.

Disheartened, Kamran came to America, to Atlanta, to become an actor. As it turned out, his acting coach was a deeply-committed Christian. She started challenging his faith. If he loved God so much, why was he angry at Him? "Because He doesn't love me back!" Maybe you should try praying to Jesus, the Son of God.."That's blasphemy!" Kamran exclaimed. "God is too holy to have a son!" She smiled. "The God I worship could not be more holy, and He does have a Son. Try talking to Him."

So Kamran told Jesus that he didn't believe in Him. But “ if He was whom his coach said He was, then he was willing to be convinced. A little while later, at the urging of his friend, he attended a big church in Atlanta. That Sunday there were several thousand people in the congregation. He was late arriving, so an usher took him to one of the only seats still available in the front row.

Soon the pastor was preaching up a storm, pacing back and forth in front of the congegation. And behind him there was another man, robed, with a rod in His hand. He, too, was walking back and forth. Then He came over to Kamran, touched his heart, and stepped inside of him. Instantly Kamran felt so much love, he could not move. He could not speak. All he could do was weep at the overwhelming love that Jesus had brought with Him. Love was all he had ever wished for from God, and now He had so much, it blew out all his receptors.

The rest of the story is charming and delightful and too long to go into here. (You can check out his website at holyspiritadventures.org.) Last night he spoke at Harvard, in the Law School, to some eighty students of all ethnic backgrounds. They were more than captivated; they were enthralled. He's speaking again at Harvard tomorrow night, and undoubtedly there will be a far greater number attending. Pray for him, as we did yesterday, for the Lord to mightily anoint him, for warrior angels to surround him, that all attempts of the enemy to challenge and disrupt be thwarted, and for God to be glorified.

Other news: Alex was with us and in fine fettle, leading the worship with gusto. Medically his situation has not improved, but he feels great, and his faith is through the roof. Keep praying for him. He has been receiving daily radiation for a week and the chemo starts today.

A number of you have asked about my workshops. Next Thursday and Friday, the 8th and 9th , at Gateway Christian Fellowship in West Haven, Connecticut, I'm doing a two-day distillation of the five-day workshop I lead each summer at Gordon Conwell Seminary (August 6-10 this year). And then on Saturday, the 11th , also at Gateway, I'm leading a day-long hearing God's voice workshop. If your spirit quickens to either (or both) of these, don't do as we so often do, and put off making up your mind till the last possible moment. Last year, so many came to the hearing God workshop that we had to turn people away. So call now to register [203-934-0880]. And remember, if God wants you there, guess who doesn't? Don't let the other one distract you with schedule conflicts and/or last-minute emergencies. A description of each workshop is attached.

Finally, Dick O. heard this in his heart this morning; You noticed how the maturity and strength of those there, are increasing weekly. That will continue until my call for Awakening sounds. You are all readying, although you will never be ready in your own strength. But you will be mighty warriors in My strength. Be still, and know that I am God. Listen to me and pray, pray, pray.

-David Manuel