Gather the Worshipers

THERE ARE APPOINTED TIMES AND SEASONS when God calls His people apart from the mundane - as a corporate body - to simply worship Him. Then there are other specially appointed times where He has arranged a meeting place, gathering together His people from the four corners of the earth, with a divine mandane to read His Word and "wait" upon Him: Bringing the Israelites into the desert out of Egypt; waiting at the foot of Mount Sinai for the giving of the Torah; the regathering of the exiles from Babylon in Jerusalem with Nehemiah; 120 in the upper room in Jerusalem with the Disciples of Yeshua. (Photo above - Ron Cantrell: Crowds of Christians at the International Convention Center Jerusalem, July 22-25, 2007)

The purpose of gathering the worshipers is clear: God has something important to impart which requires our full and undivided attention. By leaving our homes and normal business, and "camp out" in His presence, we are more able to hear from His Ruach Ha Kodesh. (photo-Ron Cantrell: Pastor Jack Hayford of Church on the Way in Los Angeles, with the Foursquare Convention of 3,000, Member of Knesset Benny Alon, shofar blowers)

This week there were two such gatherings in Jerusalem, in fact, simultaneously: Three thousand Christians gathered from 30 nations at the Jerusalem Convention Center, and thousands of Jewish families from Israel and the nations gathered at the Western Wall Plaza to commenorate Tisha B'Av, the destruction of the Temple. Traditionally, the Temple Mount Faithful attempt to set up a foundation stone for the Third Temple on Tisha B'av, and the police routinely prevent them from doing so. The occasion is remembered as the anniversary of the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and that of the Second Temple in 70 CE, both said to have occurred on the same calendar date. (Photos-Ron Cantrell: Tisha B'av worshipers gather in Western Wall plaza for all night vigil)













As our Jewish neighbhors read Lamentations all night long in the Western Wall plaza, crying out with a passion to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. . . (Photo-Ron Cantrell: Reading Lamentations all night, remembering the destruction of the Temple)














. . . the Christians were pleading God for a fresh anointing of the Spirit of God upon their lives as they returned to the nations from where they gathered.

(Photos below-Ron Cantrell: Worship leader Tommy Walker and the backup ensemble)



May the One who hears our heart's cry, answer from Heaven, and empower His people to carry out His purposes according to His Word, especially in this hour. May His Word go forth from Zion - with a fresh and greater anointing. Amen.