This is the second post on Ari Bussel’s experience at the
first Christian Media Summit in Jerusalem October 15-18, 2017. Note
though this is Ari’s third submission. I did not post the second submission. This
first post can be read HERE.
The Gospel of Jerusalem - Last but not Least (First
Christian Media Summit) Part 2 (on this blog)
By Ari Bussel
Sent 10/28/2017 10:55 AM
Dear Friends of Zion and Jerusalem,
Dear Colleagues in the Christian Media,
It is said, that we save the best for last.
Indeed, take a peek, and see some of us seated at the
President’s welcoming room.
The staff person who granted us permission and stayed to
supervise us explained, that the President sits on the right, the other head of
state on the left.
So we took turns taking pictures, and ever since, I was
trying to identify this very room in press pictures of visitors of dignitaries.
It turns out that Israel is a hub on the global map, and
numerous world leaders arrive here regularly, possibly more than to any other
destination around the world. No wonder we were only granted an hour, and
were requested to put our phones away (the President does not like it
apparently).
None of the pictures from press releases of the last few
days is from this room, which leads me to believe that “we have seen nothing
yet,” and that there are numerous other receiving halls under different names
and guises in the President’s Mansion.
One thing I would greatly urge the organizers for future summits
is the following request:
If only the President had spent some time greeting us individually,
the representatives of the various Christian media outlets from more than three
dozen countries around the world.
The President could have taken a few minutes to pass through
the center and side aisles and say individual “SHALOM” to us. Here
Frank who gave him a book, there Susan with her Children’s book - Why is
Great-Grandma so Sad? (both books about the Holocaust). And we all
wanted a picture - a picture with the President of the Jewish State of Israel!
This would have been more memorable likely than the entire
speech, that was disseminated to the foreign press about an hour after it took
place. The speech we could read, but to meet the Tenth President of the
Jewish State of Israel is a different story altogether!
It is the personal touch - Israel saying “THANK YOU, DEAR
FRIEND.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!
THANK YOU FOR WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE ALMIGHTY
THANK YOU FOR SPENDING THE TIME AND EFFORT TO COME HERE -
MANY ON THEIR VERY FIRST VISIT
MAKE IT A HABIT - COME AGAIN AND AGAIN
WE VALUE YOUR SUPPORT
WE CHERISH YOUR FRIENDSHIP
WE MIGHT LOOK ROUGH ON THE OUTSIDE, VOCAL, OPINIONATED,
BUT OUR HEART IS THAT OF GOLD, WARM AND CARING
AND WE ARE “THE APPLE OF GOD’S EYE”
IT IS A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
AND WE CANNOT DO IT ALONE
THUS WE COUNT AND DEPEND ON YOUR SUPPORT
IN BAD DAYS AND IN WORSE
IN DAYS OF JOY AND GREAT HAPPINESS
WE - THE SATURDAY AND SUNDAY PEOPLE -
ARE A FAMILY
FOR WE ALL SERVE THE SAME GOD THE ALMIGHTY,
YES, THE GOD OF ISRAEL
AND WHEN WE SOUND THE CRY OF “HEAR O ISRAEL”
IT IS DESIGNED TO THE EARS OF THE JEWS
OF OUR BRETHREN THE CHRISTIANS
AND TO THE EXCLUSIVE ATTENTION OF GOD THE ALMIGHTY
YOU HAVE DONE WELL
FAITHFUL SERVANTS OF THE LORD
CONTINUE
FOR THE WORK HAS ONLY BEGUN
AND FAITH WITHOUT ACTION, AS YOU KNOW, IS OF NO VALUE
[Blog Editor: Not all emailed are displayed due to
repetitiveness. Sorry Ari.]
At the President’s Mansion, Jerusalem, Israel
Note the official symbol of the State of Israel - in the
center the Menorah with seven lamps, on either side an olive branch and the
word Israel underneath (chosen and entered into law in 1949)
Working on the Israeli-Syrian border, extending help to the
real refugees and needy of the Syrian civil-war:
Israel’s First President, Chaim Weizmann
Israel’s Ninth President, Shimon Peres, a dreamer
Mike Evans and the Dutch contingency
“We knew President Navon”
Dreaming, thinking big and doing what no one has done before
Now looking into the future
For - as my father says - it is always the “repeat order,”
not the initial placement of a product that counts!
“A Blessing, I will lead us in a blessing!”
“Cousins” from across the Pond - US and UK
The artworks adorning the walls are indeed “museum quality:”
They are on loan from the Israel Museum
Line up, please, quickly, get ready:
Note the nine-lamp Chanukah Menorah on the right, and
compare with the Menorah on the State emblem (seven-lamp - as was inside the
Temple and whose work was considered more important than the sacrifices)
2 And he said unto me: 'What
seest thou?' And I said: 'I have seen, and behold a candlestick all of gold,
with a bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven
pipes, yea, seven, to the lamps, which are upon the top thereof;
3 and two olive-trees by it, one
upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.'
(to be
continued … [Ari Bussel])
_______________
Blog Editor: Ari wrote “to be continued”. That is a maybe if the
next email submission is as erudite as this one rather than repetitive. Just in
case, you can email Ari and I am confident he will send you all the updates
related to his experience at the First Christian Media Summit: bussel@me.com
Ari Bussel is Vice President of Operations at Saybrex
International, a privately held family business specializing in the
distribution of fine wines and spirits. He is responsible for the day-to-day
operations of the company and has held various positions in the company since
1993.
Prior to joining Saybrex, Mr. Bussel served as First Lieutenant in
the Center for Systems Analysis at General Headquarters of the Israel Defense
Forces, where he led the implementation of the Logistics War Doctrine in the
Computerized Wargame Program.
Mr. Bussel is involved in a variety of philanthropic and civic
activities. Mr. Bussel completed the Team Beverly Hills Leadership Program and
served on the Environmental Sustainability Topic Committee of the City of
Beverly Hills. He was a member of the Steering Committees of former Beverly
Hills Mayor MeraLee Goldman and the current Beverly Hills City Treasurer, the
Hon. Eliot Finkel. Mr. Bussel also completed and participated in the Community
Emergency Response Training Program of the City of Beverly Hills as well as the
Crisis Response Team of the Maple Counseling Center.
Mr. Bussel was among the founding members and served on the boards
of Gen. Shimon Erem’s Israel Christian Nexus, the Western Region of Friends of
Israel Firefighters and the Israel Institute for Alternative Energy
Advancement. He completed the Salvin Leadership Program of the Anti-Defamation
League.
Mr. Bussel writes regularly. For the past decade, his weekly
columns appeared in print in Israel Jewish Life, Shalom LA, Muslim World Today
and Israeli Week. Mr. Bussel’s articles appear on numerous websites, including
Canada Free Press, Free Republic, NewsBlaze, SlantRight and
OpEdNews. He is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club.
Mr. Bussel received a Master of Science in Operations Research from
Stanford ... READ THE REST
The annual Christian Media Summit
conference is taking place this week in Jerusalem. The four-day summit brings
together a select group of top Christian media broadcasters, publishers,
journalists, and communicators from around the world for discussion and study
on topics related to Israel and the Christian world.
The Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs
and Heritage, together with the Government Press Office (GPO), helped to
organize the event.
Mark Jenkins, the President of the
Words of Visionary Missionaries, said at the conference that the delegates at
the conference were "people who certainly have a heart for Israel. These
are people who are typically Israel advocates in the United States."
James Smith, the Communications
Vice President of the National Religious Broadcasters, said that the conference
is "an attempt to help Christians understand why Israel matters
politically, from a security standpoint, from a historical standpoint, and why
Christians should understand that, and should support Israel's interests."
(Watch: Christian media leaders explain why
Israel matters; By Yoni Kempinski; Arutz
Sheva 7 – INN; 10/16/17 21:38)
The Gospel of Jerusalem - Our Task (First Christian Media
Summit)
By Ari Bussel
Sent 10/20/2017 7:50 AM
Dear Friends of Zion and Jerusalem,
Dear Colleagues in the Christian Media,
A Dream
For the past four days, I was dreaming. I had to pinch
myself, but was afraid to do so, lest I be awakened from a most wonderful
dream.
I went to sleep every night and awoke early the next morning
(ready for a magnificent Israeli breakfast) and turned toward the Temple Mount,
for Jews everywhere around the world turn toward Jerusalem in prayer, and when
in Jerusalem, we turn toward the Temple Mount, and when there, we turn to the
Holy of Holies.
I breathed in, enough air to fill the lungs to capacity, and
refused to exhale. I wanted to cherish the moment, which lasted four
magnificent days, so that it will remain, an endless source of light and energy
to be used forevermore - at a time of great sorrow or dire condition or great
peril; at times of great joy and celebration.
For what we have uncovered together was nothing short than
the essence of God the Almighty, residing among His people at the place of His
choosing - right here in Zion Jerusalem. It was a gift of a lifetime, the
culmination of years in the making and the source of all time to come.
So when the time came to say goodbye and for each of us to
leave back - to the States, UK, Holland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Hungary,
Ukraine, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Guatemala, Nepal,
Korea and to more than two dozen other countries - I simply refused!
Alas, each of us had to take a plane, but we know that the friendship
crafted during this First Christian Media Summit will be with us,
for it is indestructible.
2 Then was our mouth filled
with laughter, and our tongue with singing; {N}
then said they among the nations: 'The LORD hath done great things with
these.'
3 The LORD hath done great
things with us; we are rejoiced.
Praise and Song to the Almighty
2017 is a most significant year to Israel and the Jewish
people. The year marks:
* the 120th anniversary of the
First Zionist Congress in Basel,
* the 100th anniversary of the
Balfour Declaration,
* the 70th year of the UN
Partition Plan,
* the 50th anniversary of the Six
Day War,
* and 50 years for the
Reunification of Jerusalem.
In Los Angeles, the City of Angels saluted the City of
God in a series of events that took place earlier this year. Here is some
background material we prepared for the press that you might find useful:
In 2017, and for the past 50
years, there is only one place in the entire Middle East and the African
continent where freedom of religion is paramount, and people as well as holy
sites flourish, as they are protected by law and by practice.
This place is Jerusalem,
Israel’s capital from Biblical to present times. For two thousand years,
the Jewish people yearned to return to their homeland and to the holy city of
Jerusalem.
Here, Abraham prepared to
sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of his loyalty to God the Almighty; Jacob
dreamed of the ladder with angels ascending and descending; King David
conquered the city and made it his capital, bringing the Ark of the Covenant
here; His son King Solomon built the First Temple, a magnificent marvel; the
First and Second Temple were then destroyed, but a portion of the Western Wall
remains to this very day; and here is where Jesus walked in the Way of
Suffering, Via Dolorosa, was crucified and then resurrected.
The Prophet Isaiah instructed and
highlighted (66:10): “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her,
all who love her!” the city "Jerusalem that is built as a
city which is joined together” (Psalms 122:3) and which is remembered
and constantly highlighted “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right
hand forget her cunning, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I
remember thee not, if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy”
(Psalms 137:5-6).
It is in this spirit, 50 years to
the date from when the Israeli flag was raised over the Temple Mount, that
Christians and Jews and other minorities will gather and declare:
There is no other place like
Jerusalem, Jerusalem of Gold, the City of God!
Throughout the Middle East and
Africa Christians and other minorities are being raped, sold to slavery,
executed en masse (including Muslims in the hands of other Muslims) and
murdered, and holy places (churches, mosques, etc.) are desecrated, burned to
the ground and destroyed. Jerusalem is the only place where
freedom of religion and protection of religious rights and institutions is by
law and practice.
Jerusalem is the
only place that for the past 50 years church bells can be heard, as well as the
Muezzin call to prayer. Jews walk freely, living their daily lives side
by side other minorities. Jerusalem is the only place in the entire
region and beyond where the Christian population experiences a net positive
growth; where minorities feel safe and welcome.
This is the theme being
highlighted, celebrating a Jubilee of humanity flourishing.
###
We celebrated Jerusalem in a night of Song and Praise
(Shir ve Hallel) to God the Almighty. We called it Jerusalem of
Gold. We rejoiced and gave thanks. We stood together -
Israelis, Jews, Russians, Iranians, Armenians, Korean, …; Christians of all streams; Latinos;
whites and blacks; men and women; old and young; and we were blessed. (There
are 18 clips available for viewing:
השיר "ירושלים" מאת משה חלימי ובביצוע אסתר
פורשיאן. הופק ובוים על ידי: לביא פ. אנטרפרייז בע"מ - הוצאה לאור עם מגע
אישי/הפקות.
The song "Yerushalaim"
by Moshe Halimi, singer: Esther Porshain, directed by: Lavi P. Enterprises Ltd.
- Publishing House/Productions. Please make your own video clip about
Jerusalem, based on this song and send it to us. the best one will win a prise
(laviph@gmail.com)]
Also, Mayor Nir Barkat’s office prepared the following
three-minute segment to communities around the world, Voices of Jerusalem.
Please use it freely!
Psalms 48 tells us that our Lord is Great, and it directs
us to take what we have seen and heard, the Glory of God the Almighty. It
tells us to go ‘round Zion Jerusalem, study and learn it in detail, and tell
what we have learned and experienced - tell LeDor Acharon (to the
last generation):
14 Mark ye well her
ramparts, traverse her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation
following.
We have been driven inside and around the City, we went
under the ground and emerged on the Temple Mount, we circled the City from
outside, we went to her tops, climbed her hills and mountains, and we descended
down into the earth underneath her. We saw excavations and new discoveries,
and we stood in awe under the magnificent skies, at a place closest to God; and
we said a prayer
a prayer with our entire body and
soul
for it is here that all had
started - the very Creation -
where the past comes alive
giving us meaning and a purpose
and it is here, in Zion
Jerusalem, that the fulfillment of our very being
is being accomplished
at present time and in the future
And so we step forward
for we have been anointed with a
task
a responsibility that we carry
with us
right from Zion Jerusalem to all
ends of the world
1 For Zion's sake will I not hold
My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her triumph go
forth as brightness, and her salvation as a torch that burneth.
6 I have set watchmen upon thy
walls, O Jerusalem, they shall never hold their peace day nor night: 'Ye that
are the LORD'S remembrancers, take ye no rest,
We must not be silent! We must act - day and night,
all the time.
What a tremendous assignment;
Indeed what an astonishing honor;
what an amazing experience of
having the Bible assume life
and we - the dry bones - be
breathed life by God Himself
and sent to fulfill His task!
Let us hear the Word of the Lord
-
as He spoke to Ezekiel (37) after
taking him all around the valley full of dry bones
and He told Ezekiel to prophesy,
so that the dry bones hear the word of the Lord.
There we stood on the mountain, and we saw the wind, and
we heard the noise; and we saw the fire; and then - utter and complete silence.
(1 Kings19:11-13)
Now that we left the Garden of
Eden, we have a task upon us;
and the task is enormous
yet magnificent
challenging, almost
insurmountable, but absolutely doable
if we only set our hearts and
minds to it
and pray with all our might
to be guided properly
to be supported when needed
and to have the strength to
continue
so that we can do what is
expected
so that tomorrow can rise
a better day
a different day
a day when the words of the
Prophet Zechariah (9:3-5, 22) are fulfilled:
3 Thus saith the LORD: I return
unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be
called the city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy
mountain. {S}
4 Thus saith the LORD of
hosts: There shall yet old men and old women sit in the broad places of
Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
11 And the LORD uttereth His voice
before His army; for His camp is very great, for he is mighty that executeth
His word; for great is the day of the LORD and very terrible; and who can
abide it?
27 And ye shall know that I am in
the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and there is none else;
and My people shall never be ashamed. {P}
Ari Bussel is Vice
President of Operations at Saybrex International, a privately held family
business specializing in the distribution of fine wines and spirits. He is
responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and has held various
positions in the company since 1993.
Prior to joining
Saybrex, Mr. Bussel served as First Lieutenant in the Center for Systems
Analysis at General Headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces, where he led the
implementation of the Logistics War Doctrine in the Computerized Wargame
Program.
Mr. Bussel is
involved in a variety of philanthropic and civic activities. Mr. Bussel
completed the Team Beverly Hills Leadership Program and served on the
Environmental Sustainability Topic Committee of the City of Beverly Hills. He
was a member of the Steering Committees of former Beverly Hills Mayor MeraLee
Goldman and the current Beverly Hills City Treasurer, the Hon. Eliot Finkel.
Mr. Bussel also completed and participated in the Community Emergency Response
Training Program of the City of Beverly Hills as well as the Crisis Response
Team of the Maple Counseling Center.
Mr. Bussel was among
the founding members and served on the boards of Gen. Shimon Erem’s Israel
Christian Nexus, the Western Region of Friends of Israel Firefighters and the
Israel Institute for Alternative Energy Advancement. He completed the Salvin
Leadership Program of the Anti-Defamation League.
Mr. Bussel writes
regularly. For the past decade, his weekly columns appeared in print in Israel
Jewish Life, Shalom LA, Muslim World Today and Israeli Week. Mr. Bussel’s
articles appear on numerous websites, including Canada Free Press, Free
Republic, NewsBlaze, SlantRight and OpEdNews. He is a member
of the Los Angeles Press Club.
Mr. Bussel received
a Master of Science in Operations Research from Stanford ... READ THE REST
