Welcome to "Covenant and Conflict," a new podcast produced by Gateway Center for Israel. We look forward to being a regular part of your faith journey as you seek God's heart during these challenging days. Join Executive Director Nic Lesmeister and Teaching Pastor David Blease in this first episode as they share their hopes that this new resource will: Help Christians examine long-held perspectives in the light of Scripture, develop a biblically-based understanding of Israel and the Jewish people, and facilitate an ongoing conversation about God's ultimate purposes in a post-October 7 world.

In this episode of “Covenant & Conflict,” Gateway Center for Israel Executive Director Nic Lesmeister and Teaching Pastor David Blease respond to recent claims made about Messianic Jews (or Jews that have professed faith in Jesus as their Messiah) by a traditional Jewish media site. Nic uses biblical references and historical accounts to debunk such theological statements as: Any Jew that believes in Jesus has converted and is now a Christian, Judaism and Christianity have been separate religions since the second century, and Christian and Jewish theology cannot co-exist.

Nic Lesmeister introduces his friend Yoel Shoshani, a native-born Israeli and Jewish believer in Jesus, who served in the Israeli military reserve force immediately after the horrors of October 7th. He shares his sobering eye-witness observations as an Israeli military escort to international journalists – some of whom were very cynical – as they toured the terrorized villages in the massacre’s immediate aftermath, as well as how he and his family have personally processed the life-changing realities of war. Yoel discusses the major worldwide shift since Oct. 7 that has released a whole new level of hatred against Jewish people just because they are Jewish – and offers suggestions on how believers can connect, love, and care for war-traumatized Israelis and Jewish people in general due to the resulting global rise of antisemitism.