Charisma Magazine

Attaining peace through sports is the goal of an upcoming weeklong sports pilgrimage, which includes a 10-kilometer, noncompetitive race that passes Israel's security wall.

Pilgrims of Peace or JPII Games 2010, will take place in the Holy Land April 21-28, and is the seventh marathon-pilgrimage named after John Paul II, who himself promoted sports as a means to peace.

[Photo courtesy of Travelujah.com]

There was a song in the musical Fiddler on the Roof called "Tradition." As this Jewish father sang this song, this message was immediately conveyed: Life is full of traditions.

Traditions can be meaningful, but sometimes they get in the way of the effectiveness of God's Word in our lives, and they can become very burdensome. As you listen to the song "Tradition" in the film, you can hear the frustration and weariness in the voice of the father. He too had worn himself out trying to keep all the traditions. Keeping traditions can also sometimes prevent us from seeing the newness and freshness of life.

Years ago, I took a group of worshipers and intercessors to a large park in Tel Aviv, Israel, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It was a holiday and the area was flooded with hundreds of families having picnics.

We sat down as a group and began to worship. We really felt the presence of the Lord in a strong way, and one of the ladies in our group who had brought several praise flags with her took one out and began waving it to the Lord.

Bob Segal learned early on from his father what it meant to be Jewish. But the elder Segal believed Judaism was a heritage, not a religion, and he passed down his beliefs to his son. Bob was taught that there is no God and that the Bible, even the Old Testament, is a bunch of fairytales. So years later, when Jews for Jesus showed up on Bob's college campus sharing the message of Christ, he says he was infuriated. But what happened next altered the course of his life, and today, Bob has a testimony. To hear his story, watch the video below.

Amir was in a Palestinian prison because he was accused of giving information to Israel concerning attacks on the Jewish people. That information saved the lives of Israelis, but in the eyes of the Palestinian Authority (PA) it was a betrayal.

Men and women who give information to Israel are considered traitors to the Palestinian people. When caught, these so-called "collaborators" are arrested, tortured and many times killed. He was set free by Israeli troops and given permission to reside in Israel proper.