Answer the DoorBy Steve Cohen

WE have a unique alarm system in our home in Georgetown Texas. No, it is not the new door-bell camera which shows up on our phone when someone rings the bell. It is our two fur-babies, Sophie and Izzy, ten-year-old Labradoodles.

They have a sharp ear and eye, and when someone approaches the door, they give the whole house fair warning that a stranger is approaching. Since there are many now who, post sheltering, are canvassing neigh-borhoods to scrounge up business, it can be easy to simply not answer the door or tell them through the doorbell camera we are not interested.

People who come our way (and yours too!) are real human beings who have the urgent need for salvation through confessing faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah of Israel. Are we too busy these days to be interrupt-ed and see these people as intruding on our life? I pray that is not the case! Recently, I answered the door and a young college stu-dent named Tate presented himself. He told

The Apple of His Eye Mission Society

April 2020 E-Newsletter

Established August 1, 1996

The

Appl

e of

His

Eye

Adm

inist

rativ

e C

ente

r: PO

Box

164

9 B

rent

woo

d TN

370

24w

ww.

appl

eofh

iseye

.org

me that this was his first day and we were the first house he approached to invite us to inves-tigate his company’s services for pest control. I told him we were very happy with our cur-rent providers. Then I said, “Whoever comes to my door, I ask a simple question. Is it OK if I ask you?” He said, “Sure!” So, I followed up with, “What do you think of Jesus?”

Tate’s speedy response was, “I am Jewish.” As if to say that he was not really interested in things perceived to be foreign to our people. He was surprised to hear that I was Jewish too and that we believe in Jesus as our Messiah. Instead of being put off, he dove deeper into the conversation. “How can it be possible to be Jewish and believe in Jesus?”

I invited him to come in out of the heat to chat, pointing out the Mezuzah (a parchment inscribed with religious texts and attached in a case to the doorpost of a Jewish house as a sign of faith) as he entered.

The conversation revolved around his own Jewish life and how at the college he was go-ing to in Arizona he was a member of the same Jewish fraternity I was back in the 1960’s, Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT). Tate wondered how we could incorporate Jesus into our life and still be Jewish. I shared with him our celebrations

continues next page...

of the Biblical festivals, Passover had just fin-ished. I told him that he was old enough to read for himself the scriptures which speak of Messiah, even though the majority in our community don’t accept it. Truth is never de-termined by majority vote.

Tate gave me his contact information and I have sent him my story as well as the Gospel of Matthew, asking to see through his eyes and receive his opinion of that Jewish book (he did not know the New Testament was Jewish.)

Please pray for God to reveal the truth about Jesus to Tate. He heard from me that God was certainly trying to get his attention to bring him all the way from Arizona to knock on my door and hear about our Messiah.

So, go ahead, answer the door. God is bring-ing people to you who may never come to your church just to hear of what God is doing.

2 Tim. 4:1-5 I charge you in the presence

of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to

judge the living and the dead, and by his

appearing and his kingdom: preach the

word; be ready in season and out of season;

reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete

patience and teaching. For the time is

coming when people will not endure sound

teaching, but having itching ears they will

accumulate for themselves teachers to suit

their own passions, and will turn away from

listening to the truth and wander off into

myths. As for you, always be sober-mind-

ed, endure suffering, do the work of an

evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Portals of Prayer September 2020

For those who are regular readers of Portals of Prayer, please look for the

July, August, September edition for 2020.

Once again, I have written a month of devotions. For September they are focusing on the the Fall Festivals of Israel. Please feel free to share these

with others you know. - sc

You are invited to our next webinar series -

The Messiah and theBiblical Festivals

A four part series

WHEN: Thursdays, May 21, 28, June 4 & 11 2020at 11 am to 12 noon Central time.

HOW: This will be Zoom webinar led bySteve Cohen, Founder of The Apple of His Eye.

This is an interactive live event. Your participation helps us all learn in positive ways.

Register once only in advance for this webinar:https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_

cElu4IKpSYu1HbeRiIpC-A

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about

joining the webinar. Please help us get the word out and forward this invitation to your church, bible

studies, friends and through your social media. Space is limited to the first 100 registrations.

IF YOU CAN NOT JOIN US AT THAT TIMEWe will be recording this event for you to view

through our web site at your convenience.

To view later, Please click here.

NanC’s Corner One Foot in Heaven!

“And as it appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”Hebrews 9:27

What a strange time we are living in, as the Lord prepares for His return. We have a daily death count. Fear, anger and frustration are rampant. As believers, how are we supposed to respond and behave? Well, it seems to me that now our walk will be on display in a way that is larger than ever. A billboard type display. How do we deal with this new world? Here some helps that I have ascribed for myself:

• Thought life. Satan uses our thoughts to totally destroy our joy, peace and fruitfulness.o Read Philippians 4 and put it into practice. Copy it to a 3x5 card, read it daily, and memorize it.

Psalm 119:11 says “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.”o Verse 8 literally tells us what we are to think about:

§Whatever is Truth, Whatever is Honorable, Whatever is Just, Whatever is Pure, Whatever is Lovely, Whatever is a Commendable - Think on these things!

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, what-soever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9

• Trust. Remember the LORD is my Shepherd – not the government, not the news reports, not the Next-door App, and guess what, not the Pastor. None of these things or people are bad, but we have gotten away from putting our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, the Bible. There is no human on earth that can take your cares and fears outside of God. “Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you” 1Peter 5:7 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” Isaiah 26:3

• Daily Devotions. Its one thing to be in a small group, it is clearly another to be in a daily one on one with our Heavenly Father and His Word. Just as we need fellowship with other believers, God desires fellowship with us. Some Daddy time, so to speak. The Bible is how God speaks to us. Set aside a time daily to read the Bible (not a man written liturgy or thoughts; read the BIBLE).

o Remember: Satan doesn’t want you to know God’s Word. He will make you sleepy, put other thoughts in your mind, and mock the precepts of God.

o Start in a book (i.e. James, John, Psalms, Matthew, etc…) You can read the entire chapter or just read one verse daily. Meditate on your reading. Ask: What does this passage say? / What does this passage mean? / How does this apply to me?

o It could be helpful to memorize the names of the books of the Bible. I taught my children when they were toddlers the names of the books of the Bible.

o • Prayer. I know I have beaten this horse to death – but it needs to be reiterated. Prayer should be a natural

practice that we do without hesitation. Talking to God is as easy as…well, talking to God! If you can talk to your friends – you can talk to God. He cares. He created you. He knows your heart. He longs to hear from you. Remember He came to earth just to walk in the garden with Adam and talk! Uh...by the way, He also likes the minutia. Nothing is too small for Him. I prayed fervently for Steve when he almost died (and I didn’t have to introduce/reintroduce myself). I once prayed and asked for a yellow kitchen, when I was in Russia looking for a flat in a village. They didn’t have colored paint at that time. Guess what, the flat I

Nancy & granddaughter Paige

rented had a yellow kitchen – unheard of! Easy peasy for God! He’s not a Santa or “Fairy God-Father”, but he is my Dad, my creator, lover of my soul, and my personal care giver. During these uncertain days, make prayer your passion. Turn your needs and hurt and fears to your Father. He loves Y-O-U!

• Stay Positive. Negativity is a slippery slope and is as addictive as cocaine. Go back to the 1st point and watch your thought process. Turn off the t.v. Stay away from negative people. Misery truly does love company. I slough off the downers and have tried to surround myself with happy positive people. Find something good in everything and everyone, and pass out compliments and encouragement. People need encouragement right now. People are hurting. Maybe you are hurting. Encouraging others will lift you up. Ask God to use you as an encore and to encourage you whenever you have a meal with a friend, go to church, call a family member, or interact on social media. Sincerely, encouraging others is better than a glass of wine or therapy and it lasts longer in your heart! Remember, you reap what you sow.

There you have it. These are just five ways I maintain my sanity. J I pray they bless you as well.A family member of mine worked with a man in his mid-thirties, who was kind, a skilled professional, and an excel-lent employee. Suffering from a bad case of the flu, he went to the doctor. Much to his shock, he learned that he was in the last stages of cancer and had days to live! He called his fiancé to the hospital, and they were married in ICU before he passed. It was a shocking, sobering event that truly caused everyone to re-evaluate their lives. One thing that he said, that truly caught my attention was: “all my problems and cares before this are nothing to me now”. When faced with the end of his life, last weeks bills, fears, arguments, etc., became irrelevant. Within a week of his doctor’s visit, he did indeed die.

I began to think that we should all live with one foot in heaven.

Our responses to our present-day situations should reflect the hope we have in Yeshua. It is a wonderful opportunity to display the love of Yeshua through our contentment, “counting it all joy when we fall into diverse trials” James 1:1 Peo-ple are thinking about eternity and God more and more. Please be prepared to give every man an answer and invite them to Yeshua. It is not just about going to heaven, it is about living the abundant life in the Messiah!

Love, from my heart, nanC

(If this article has blessed you – share it)

Have you had a victory in these days of separation? Do you have a story to share? Please send them to me nancy.cohen@appleofhiseye.org

I would love to hear from you and how God is blessing your life.

All Dr ied Up!Shavuot/Pentecost 2020

Numbers 11:24-30 & John 7:37-39

On Thursday, May 28, 2020, beginning at sunset and ending at nightfall on Saturday, May 30, 2020, Jews around the world will celebrate God giving to His people, Israel, the Feast of “Weeks”, or Shavuot (shah-voo-awt). This day comes 50 days after the second night of Passover. It is no coincidence that Shavuot serves as the foundation for what the Christian Church calls Pentecost, which is celebrated on Sunday, May 31, 2020. In my biblical study of this Jewish Holiday, it seems that Shavuot has a double significance. It marks the all-important wheat harvest in the Land of Israel (Exodus 34:22); and it also commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19: 1, 10-17); although the association between the giving of the Torah and Shavuot is not explicit in the Biblical text.

Again, it is no coincidence that God as part of His plan of salvation, chose to give to His people, Israel, and to all believers in Y’shua the Messiah, on Pentecost, His Holy Spirit. That is exactly 50 days after the resurrection of Y’shua. Both Shavuot and Pentecost are historically and theologically linked with a similar theme of . . . the giving of divine knowledge. However, sometimes that divine knowledge given to us so freely by God at Shavuot and Pentecost seems so difficult to understand!

Do you ever feel like you’re running dry and burning out? You usually don’t notice it right away. That’s because life gets more hectic and stress saps you dry. Fear takes over especially at times like we currently are living in with COVID-19 and this world pandemic. Our tempers are short, the pressure to get everything done in this “new” normal increases and everything’s a blur. Suddenly, you realize that your original, child-like zeal for Y’shua has dried up. Not only can’t your faith move mountains, your faith is crawling deep into the desert of despair; and your joy is gone. You find yourself constantly questioning God or hollering at him with a hurting heart. Your marriage, your friendships and even other relationships are reeling. Even your relationship with God has dried up; your prayer life doesn’t exist, and you are burned out!

This is how God’s Chosen people felt as we read from the Torah in Numbers, chapter 11. All they did was com-plain, complain, complain! However, God wasn’t having any of it then and He isn’t having any of it today either. Why? Because God has provided for all of us a “Helper, a Counselor, an Advocate, in the gift of the Holy Spirit!

No doubt, God’s message at Shavuot and Pentecost is . . . The Holy Spirit refreshes us. It’s the Holy Spirit that refreshes our dry souls with God’s Word. That divine knowledge given to us on Shavuot and Pentecost. In this marvelous gift God re-hydrates and re-fuels us with new life through his boundless forgiveness and unbroken promises. So, here’s why we often feel so dried up in our lives, we lose our focus on the things of God, not because we don’t have the Holy Spirit in our heart, but because our connection with him has grown weak. Satan works on us, so our Bible study becomes shallow; going to church to worship becomes routine whether in person or on the internet and life in general becomes difficult!

Moses understood this as he led God’s people, Israel, through the desert. We read what he says in Numbers 11:29b, from the Old Testament reading for Pentecost, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” No doubt, God’s message at Shavuot and Pentecost is . . . The Holy Spirit empowers us.

God’s Holy Spirit empowers you through that mighty Word of God, that divine knowledge given at Shavuot and Pentecost! Y’shua explained it this way in the Gospel lesson for Pentecost from John 7:37-39, “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Just consider that first Pentecost. A bunch of unschooled, ordinary, men from Galilee of all places, preached a ser-mon so powerful that 3000 people were converted to Y’shua the Messiah in one day. How did it happen? Through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers us.

That’s not saying it’s all going to be perfect from here on out. It seems as if we have a long way to go yet before this COVID-19 will be defeated. Hang in there during these difficult days. Many people think that Christianity is a crutch, a religion of weakness for the weak-minded; however, it’s a religion of power and victory! God has given us the victory in Y’shua as Messiah. BOLDLY sharing Him with others even in times like this is not impossible . . . only different. Shavuot and Pentecost guarantee it!

In His service . . . and yours, Rev. Dr. Robert M. Roegner robert.roegner@appleofhiseye.org

Bible Teacher to Israel

A b i d e W i t h M eIn recently speaking with a friend grieving the loss of her mother, I mentioned that though my mom received her crown of glory 22 years ago, I still have a hard time getting through the hymn Abide With Me without tears. The hymn’s lyrics have struck anew since that conversation. Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

“Abide” is a verb. It is active. This turbulent pandemic has shown me that the Lord doesn’t want anything from me right now. I’m less distracted, and He wants to abide with me and have me abide with Him. He wants to hold me, listen to me, to teach and guide me. Abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me. Change defines everyone’s lives right now, as the world has been totally upended! Yet we are reminded that God and His love never change, whatever our world brings. Abide with me. I need Thy presence every passing hour. What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power? Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me. We are not alone. We may be socially isolated, hospitalized, out of work, lonely, frightened or scared of exposure to this dangerous virus, but through cloud and sunshine, God is there. Abide with me. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me! One “foe” these days is a virus that threatens our community, our economy, and our very lives. But an even worse foe is the sting of death (sin). “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). In Christ, we have victory over sin! Abide with me. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes, Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies; Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. This verse is a reminder that for believers in the Savior death is not the end. Unfortunately, many Jewish people haven’t heard that good news message. God calls us to hold the cross up to them, point them to the Messiah, and tell them that because of what Jesus did through His death and resurrection, they, too, can hope in the Lord. Jesus said we can bear fruit if He “abides” in us (John 15:4-5). Therefore, we depend on the Lord to stay focused on proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah to Jewish people and to others. May the Spirit produce much fruit for His kingdom! Abide with me.

To God be the Glory! - Kristi Roegner

Letters from prison by David A. Stuerman Sr.

~ Legacy ~ Shalom!

Beloved, I pray all is well, and that you have found favor with Our Lord and Savior Y’Shua. So let me ask you What is your purpose in life? What is the legacy that you’ll leave behind? Let’s face it ... life is short!

How do you think others will remember us when we’re gone? I believe that, it is so important to reflect on our own mortality, especially in this day of constant reminders in the news of deaths by Covid-19. You see, by being mindful of our own mortality, we then become acutely aware of how pre-cious, our time really is. Then, with the right perspective, can truly learn to live our life to the fullest. Can we ever truly come to understand the impact, that we will make on the lives of others ? The question then becomes, was it a positive one ... or was it a negative one? What will be the footprint that you leave behind ? What will be the lasting impact, that it has on the world? No... Really... Stop... Right Now... Right where you are at... and meditate on it. Ask yourself, a deep and sobering question... How do you think Y’Shua will see the footprint that you’ll leave? Is it not hard to take a deep look in the mirror ? It can be quite frightening at times, right? Nev-ertheless, it is completely and unequivocally a necessity! The Word says, “ to look at oneself with sober judgment.” This is a very important principle.

When we perceive ourselves with sober judgment we can then easily see the need of Y’Shua in our life’s. We place ourselves up to the ruler for measurement that is God’s alone. The Word calls us to be Christ - like. It is important that we line ourselves up with The Messiah. Should we do so, how then will be your footprint? What then will be your legacy? More importantly, how will you have effected others? How will you be remembered?

My prayer is that you be remembered Glorifying Our Lord and Savior Y’Shua the true Messiah!

Debby & Richard Wilson - Wichita Kristi & Bob Roegner - Israel Toi & Richard Powell - Texas

Nancy & Steve Cohen - Texas Laura Rizzo - Brentwood,TN

Please Pray for our Mission Family

Izabela & Lee Cormier - NOLA

Social distancing should be renamed physical distancing. We need each other and should strive to be connected through the tools of technologies and gracious helps which connect us. We all need stronger connections. - steve cohen

Please pray for my son,Micha and Leah: the rehab facility in Glenbridge, Illinois has closed its doors to outsiders including family members at this time. Leah can not visit him as she regularly has and it brings frustration.

Please pray for my brother, Dennis and me as we remember our mother, Barbara Cohen.

From Bob: Please pray for the AOHE’s Israel partners, Immanuel Lutheran Ministries, Immanuel Church Lu-theran, Norwegian Church Ministry in Israel, Jews for Jesus, and Beit Immanuel Hostel, that even in this most difficult of times related to COVID-19, God will continue to bless them through a “new normal” of BOLDLY sharing Jesus as Messiah with all unbelievers in Israel, both Jews and Gentiles!