There is no doubt that all of us are watching what's going on in the Middle East and Israel in particular, and we're delighted to have today a ministry that is called Friends of Israel. Paul Scharf is the church ministry's representative of the Friends of Israel. He's been on KHC-BB4, and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule. Your schedule will be on a national radio program in just a few moments, but he's given us a few moments to let us know a bit about what Friends of Israel is doing. Now, your ministry actually is based in the States, but you have, what do I say, missionaries, or you have people in Israel right now that are, I guess, in the throes of the conflict that's going on. Well, Bruce, our headquarters is in New Jersey near Philadelphia in the greater Philadelphia area. The Friends of Israel will turn 85 years old next month and we can talk about that. I'm based in Wisconsin and it's a privilege to be back in Texas and to be back here with you at KHCB and with you personally, Bruce. Thank you again for all that you have done for us. But yes, we have workers in Israel who are actually, some of them and their children, called into the military conflict during this time. We want to pray for them and pray for the church congregations they're involved in there, in Jerusalem and in Israel, where many others are also engaged in this current horrendous situation. They've been touched in one way or another, and several of them called into military service. And we can only pray, Bruce, as we see the images on our TV screens, and just imagine what some of them might be called to face. We pray for them, and we pray for their safety. And we certainly pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and we know that can ultimately come only through Christ himself when he returns to establish his kingdom. Yeah, the Prince of Peace coming to earth to establish that. Friends of Israel has been around, as you said, for 85 years. What's the focus of the ministry for those who may not be quite familiar with it? And by the way, they have a website, and we'll give this out a couple of times. The website is always being updated, and they are engaged mightily in trying to help out Israel, so go to the website for details. But let's start first with the focus of the ministry. Well, Bruce, we exist to teach everything that the Bible says about Israel from the biblical past and in the strategic present and through the prophetic future. We believe God still has a future for Israel. He will fulfill every promise he has ever made to the people of Israel, every prophecy he has ever given to them. And that goes back to the book of Genesis, right? Absolutely. Genesis 12 and the unilateral unconditional covenant God made with Abraham that he would give him a land and descendants, the ultimate descendant of whom is Jesus himself, and make him a blessing to the world and bless all the world through him and those who bless him would be blessed. Those who fail to bless him would be cursed. And we believe all those things are still in effect. In fact, that covenant is a paradigm that outlines for us the rest of history, the rest of the Holy Scriptures, all the way to the very end, which are all a Hebrew book, by the way, not just the Old Testament, as we call it, but the New Testament. It's all a Hebrew book. It all comes to us through the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And just to clarify, the book's not all in Hebrew. It wasn't all written in Hebrew, but it was given from a Hebrew mentality. The New Testament, of course, being written in Greek. A small part of the Old Testament were the Hebrew scriptures, even being written in Aramaic, which was an international trade language of the ancient world, instead of Hebrew. But it's still a Hebrew book. It's written from a Hebrew mentality. It's written by the people of Israel. And we can't possibly understand the Bible without knowing something of Israeli culture, history, tradition, et cetera. And of course, without that influence of Israel in the world, Bruce, where would we be at all, even in our own country, without the learning, the knowledge, the wisdom that God has blessed the world Through the people of Israel, he's given that as a gift to the world. And of course, we also have a Jewish savior, and we await life with him in a Jewish kingdom. And that's your goal, right? To preach the gospel primarily to Jews? To share the gospel, and we do that in multifaceted ways. We are often engaged in, not so much here in America as in other countries, bringing physical help and comfort. but always with the goal of bringing the ultimate spiritual comfort. So how was this begun? 85 years ago, right? That's right, Bruce. We've just passed a milestone, and it's not a pleasant one to think about. It actually reminds us much of the atrocities in Israel on October 7th and since. It's called Kristallnacht, the Night of Crystal, or the real meaning that's attached to it, the Night of Broken Glass, November 9 and 10 in Nazi Germany, 1938, a Wednesday night into Thursday, and the Jewish people were terrorized. It was just like October 7th, but 85 years ago. all throughout Germany. This didn't happen in one or two places, Bruce. This happened all throughout Germany and in other Nazi lands, controlled lands. And the whole night is just a blur from the violence, the bloodshed that occurred. It's called the Night of Broken Glass because of the Jewish homes and businesses and synagogues that were destroyed, many of them burned to the ground, priceless artifacts burned and lost. But the big part that we remember, Bruce, 30,000 Jewish men for the first time, including men of, you know, the society who, some of whom had served Germany in World War I. They were doctors, they were lawyers, they were professors, they were businessmen. now marched off to Dachau and Buchenwald, which I've seen on a Reformation tour myself, and Sachsenhausen, never to return, 30,000 Jewish men, the Holocaust begins. But three weeks later, Bruce, on Thursday, December 1st, 1938, as a direct response, the Friends of Israel began. and that took place in Philadelphia. Some very brave people came together with courage and wisdom and tremendous insight, willing to risk their reputations to begin a ministry called the Friends of Israel. All right, and the first of the devastation took place on November the 7th. 9 and 10. It was completed on November 9 and 10. There's a whole interesting story to that, Bruce. In fact, just this past weekend, this whole trip to Texas, I've kind of used to mark this occasion and tell people the story. Started in a church on Thursday night of this past week, and then on Saturday at a men's breakfast at a larger church in the area, and on Sunday at another church, where I presented the story of Kristallnacht, not just to give a history lesson, but to use it to explain some of the things we're seeing today. But I've also tied it back to trying to think of what incident or section of the Bible could we use to make an analogy with both Kristallnacht and the events of our time. And the closest one I can think of is the Book of Esther. And so it's really a message on the book of Esther that uses these other events to illustrate, to amplify, and the book of Esther sheds light on so much of the suffering that the Jewish people have endured through all of history, but especially at Kristallnacht, in the Holocaust, and today. Yeah, anti-Semitism is not something new, unfortunately. That's right, when Esther took her request to King Xerxes to hold off the incredible threat of extinction by Haman, in the days of the Book of Esther, in the time of the Medo-Persian Empire, in the days of the Babylonian captivity of Israel, now turned into Medo-Persia, and we've already had a return of people going back, Ezra chapters 1 through 6, and that's where the book of Esther fits in. Well, she goes to the king, and of course we know that there's a good ending to that story in the book of Esther. I'd like to point our attention to the book of Esther, chapter 7, verse 5, where King Xerxes poses this question to Queen Esther. Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing? Well, we know there's, sadly, there's an answer to that in our modern world, in the Nazi regime, and still today, the terrorists that have attacked Israel. And we want to be there to befriend the people of Israel. And that's the goal, friends of Israel, to not only befriend the nation, but also the people of Israel, and then give them the gospel. That's right. Romans 1, 16 and 17. Not ashamed of the gospel, it goes to both the Jews and the Greek. Friends of Israel has a website for details. They are, I guess, raising money to send over or to somehow help, foi.org. What's the efforts? We're always engaged around the world and in Israel with efforts to help the people of Israel, to give them physical comfort, as will be a means of sharing the good news of Christ, the Messiah, with them. But right now, of course, there's a heightened awareness about our Israel Relief Fund and our Stand with Israel Fund, which is available to help in a variety of ways in Israel. and around the world and through our international ministries also the same sort of the same effect goes forth as people give and pray and get involved. They're helping and we know right now the Jewish people need help not only in Israel but All over the world, they're facing threats and problems and some of those very real, very physical, not just simply spiritual or psychological or something like that, but actual threats. And we're there to stand with them. And those are not always making the news. That's right. So something to think about as well. Paul Scharf, our guest today on KHCBA. He's the Church Ministries representative, Friends of Israel, FOI.org, FOI.org. He also has his own personal, if you want to hear some of the messages he's given, as he just mentioned, whether it's on Kristallnacht or other items. I know you do a message at Hanukkah, you do Yom Kippur, you have a number of them, sermonaudio.com and then backslash pscharf, Paul Scharf, P-S-C-H-A-R-F for details. We have that information here at KHCB. How can we help, Paul, as we wrap up our time? What would be the best thing we could do as far as being in partnership with Friends of Israel? Well, people can certainly get involved as they'd like to do that by, first of all, just utilizing the material we provide. We would love to have them to learn and to enjoy and to experience all the different types of ministries we supply that are available for them. But then beyond that, they could certainly pray for us. They could become involved in our ministry, obviously through giving, as the Lord leads, through volunteering. This may not be the subject for today, but going to Israel themselves to volunteer, of course, that's temporarily on hold. But we also have other kinds of efforts. Even here in the United States, they don't have to necessarily leave the country. We have opportunities for people to volunteer and to come and learn and become involved with the Jewish culture or to attend a Friends of Israel event that may be right near them. You'll have to check our website as you're listening and see different events that are unfolding around the country. We especially in the spring and the fall have events called Prophecy Up Close. We're finishing those up for the fall. I'm involved in one in Wisconsin. in this coming week, Bruce. So lots of ways people could be involved, and they can just start to read about our history and our ministries at foi.org. And yours is an itinerant ministry, and if people would like to have you come and explain more about the church, or to a men's group, women's group, whatever. Yes, I would love to do that, to speak at not only church services, but as you said, as this past weekend I've spoken at a men's breakfast, I just returned last month from Wyoming where I spoke eight times in four days to a local church and also to a pastor's group that was there in combination with that, all on that one trip. So lots of different ways and opportunities and means to share the message. We're open to any legitimate way that we can to speak to people, to teach people about what the Bible says about Israel, really the whole counsel of God, but especially these specific things that we're so known for and that we want to share, things that are on the wane, sadly, often in many churches today. All right, friendsofisrael, F-O-I dot O-R-G for more details. Or, for Paul's personal messages, sermonaudio.com backslash p-sharf, S-C-H-A-R-F. Final verse that you can give us before we go. Of course, with Esther, we think about that one verse for such a time as this, but what's on your heart? That's right. That was the verse I was going to turn to, Bruce, because people will have to go and read the whole book of Esther, because we can't possibly set any more of the context here right now. But when Mordecai was pleading with Esther to go to the king, he said, if you remain silent completely, silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place. I think Mordecai was probably at times speaking more than he fully understood through the book of Esther. He said, but you and your father's house will perish, yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. One thing I know for sure, Bruce, is that the Lord God has placed you and me and everyone else who's listening right now here at this time. He didn't have us live, you know, back in the days of the formation of our country. He didn't have us part of the greatest generation during the Holocaust that we've talked about. He didn't have us in some ancient land and place and time, but He has us here right now and this is the time He has placed us in to serve Him. What an incredible opportunity, what a stewardship we have to be here at this moment in history, this late hour of the Church Age. May God help us to take every advantage of the opportunities He gives us. Amen. Paul Scharf, Friends of Israel, foi.org. Godspeed as you serve. Thank you. You're tuned to Christian Radio, keeping him close by.