Historian: Obama helping to resurrect Ottoman Empire?

Posted by Joel on May 30, 2013 in Updates | 10 comments

Interesting piece by Robert Kaplan at Gatestone Institute. I disagree that Germany is behind Turkey’s regional expansion of power. But I can only agree that the US, particularly under the present administration has done much to further Turkey’s regional goals.

Update and Prayer Requests

Posted by Joel on May 25, 2013 in Updates | 2 comments

I’ve just returned from a few weeks of traveling in Israel, Egypt and Jordan along with a small camera crew. We are presently working on a very important project that I will be announcing in more detail in the weeks and months ahead. Needless to say, we had the opportunity to visit with the believers in each of these countries and have some fantastic reports concerning what God is doing throughout the region.

In Israel, we were able to meet with several Messianic Jewish and Arab Christian leaders to get a solid reading on the temperature of the believers in Israel. We were also able to meet with a few Muslim leaders while there, including the son of the former Mufti of Jerusalem.

In Egypt, we had the tremendous opportunity to visit with Pastor Sameh Maurice of Kasr El Dubara Church. This is not only the largest evangelical Church in the Middle East, but it also sits on the edge of Tahrir Square, where the revolution broke out and in many ways, continues today. This church is making a tremendous impact on the nation and the surrounding regions as well. We were also blessed to be able to gather privately with many other friends and hear about the tremendous revival taking place among Muslims throughout Egypt. Despite the intense difficulties in Egypt, the Lord is moving in dramatic ways. I look forward to sharing some of the many stories that testify to the Lord’s goodness in the midst of difficulty.

Finally, we were able to visit with some dear friends who are serving the Lord in the nation of Jordan. the day we were leaving a small city of about 40,000, there were approximately 60,000 Syrian refugees heading to the outskirts of the city to a refugee camp. The opportunities in the region for ministry are endless. The Middle East truly is a playground for those who love to be a part of what God is doing.

I would ask you to please remember my team in prayer as we continue our travels in the month of June. Please pray for our health and safety, and for all of the various circumstances to be divinely orchestrated. We also have some significant financial needs. If you are able to give toward the project in small or more significant ways,

There are presently two ways to give:

To send a tax-deductable donation by check, make it out to “I2 Ministries” write nothing in the memo line and send to the following address:

Joel Richardson
Grandview MO
PO Box 776
64030
USA

If you wish to make a non-tax deductible gift online, you may use the following button:

Paypal:

Thank you for your prayers and support. I look forward to sharing more details and updates in the days ahead. Blessings!

Dalton Thomas and Joel Richardson in Cairo: The Arab Spring and the Gospel of the Kingdom

Posted by Joel on May 20, 2013 in Updates | 3 comments

The Arab Spring and the Gospel of the Kingdom from Frontier Alliance International on Vimeo.

Dr. Furnish on Mahdism in Africa

Posted by Joel on May 7, 2013 in Updates | 2 comments

Another excellent, albeit brief article on Mahdist belief in Africa… Read it at the Research on Islam and Muslims in Africa blog.

Dr. Furnish Analyzes Pew Research Study

Posted by Joel on May 2, 2013 in Updates | 1 comment

As always, Dr. Furnish has written an excellent analysis of the Pew Research firm’s most recent survey of Muslim opinions and views. I would encourage all interested to read the article at ZenPundit.

Joel Richardson on Jewish Voice Today with Jonathan Bernis

Posted by Joel on Apr 26, 2013 in Updates | 12 comments

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Bernis of Jewish Voice Today to discuss my latest book Mideast Beast.

Boston Bombers: Expecting the Mahdi

Posted by Joel on Apr 19, 2013 in Updates | 20 comments

Well, surprise, surprise. It has now become quite clear that the two brothers who committed the terrorist attack in Boston this past week were not merely radical Muslims, but Mahdists as well. This is to say that at least part of their worldview was formed by Islamic eschatological expectation concerning the Mahdi. In a video posted on the now deceased Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s YouTube account, we are taught about “The promised emergence of the black flags from the promised land of Khorasan”. The black flags, as I discuss in my book, Islamic Antichrist, are a reference to Muslim armies that are prophesied to come from the region of North-east Iran / Afghanistan / Pakistan under the leadership of the Mahdi. According to the video, these armies are now forming and will soon march to Jerusalem to establish the seat of global Islamic leadership from the Temple Mount. Despite the desperate efforts of the mainstream / left-wing media to downplay the foundational nature of Islam in the Tsarnaez brother’s worldview and murderous acts, what has happened once again on American soil is clear. The Islamists have hit us again. Meanwhile, large portions of the Church are all too determined to believe in conspiratorial syncretistic / improvisational apocalyptic theories, yet the reality of what is coming is right in front of us. Turn on the TV. Radical Islam is not going away. Denying reality or hiding our heads in the sand will not delay the inevitable.

See the video below: