More than 160 dinner guests commenced Biola University’s Israel, the Church and the Middle East Conference with a resounding “Shabbat Shalom” on Friday, March 23 in Biola’s Talbot East Andrews banquet room. The traditional Jewish Shabbat dinner began at sundown and was followed by the first session of the conference.

Biola’s Talbot School of Theology and Chosen People Ministries were the hosts of the Israel, the Church and the Middle East Crisis conference, with nearly 2,300 people attending to hear from speakers that included Joel Rosenberg , Dr. Walt Kaiser, Dr. Mitch Glaser, and Dr. Mark Saucy.


Jewish conference speaker Mitch Glaser led the group in the traditional ritual of a Jewish Shabbat on Friday evening by lighting the two candles representing the two commandments of zakhor which means “remember” and shamor meaning “observe.” He then recited the Kiddush, a prayer over the wine sanctifying Shabbat followed by the prayer over the challah, a sweet, eggy bread, and the feasting began.

The dinner included infused Jewish tradition down to the smallest details, serving glazed chicken with cooked asparagus and a mixed potato cake, followed by a chocolate mousse cake served with coffee. While the dinner guests were enjoying the last half of their meal, several of the featured conference speakers, including Joel Rosenberg, Walter Kaiser, Mitch Glaser and Michael Zinn, held a condensed panel discussion. The discussion highlighted a few of the key points as a preface to the conference. At the end, emcee Rich Freeman, Vice-President and Director of Church Ministries and Conferences for Chosen People Ministries led a question and answer time.

After the traditionally rich dinner, the guests ventured on to the first official session of the conference, which began with worship led by Marty Goetz and the testimony of Michael Zinn who has been leading Chosen People Ministries in Israel. The featured speaker for the evening was New York Times best-selling author, Joel Rosenberg, who spoke about the current Middle East conflict and the growing tensions among U.S., Israel and Iran. Joel addressed these matters in the context of Old Testament scriptures. The first night concluded with music by the five-time Grammy Award nominee, Steve Wiggins.

Saturday morning’s full schedule was a continuation from the prior evening with hardly a seat available in the Chase Gymnasium as Dr. Walt Kaiser, Joel Rosenberg and Mitch Glaser led the opening lectures. The audience was also introduced to Hormoz Shariat, President of Iran Alive Ministries, as he shared his testimony of coming to Christ and how the Lord has been working in Iran.

After lunch on the Metzger Lawn, conferees attended various workshops such as Reaching Jewish People for Jesus, Reaching Muslims for Jesus or The Impact of the Middle East Crisis on Ministry Among Jews and Arabs. The workshops were hosted in different locations across campus with a variety of speakers.

The conference closed Saturday evening as Marty Goetz led the crowd in worship and Michael Zinn shared updates about the work of Chosen People Ministries in Israel. Joel Rosenberg concluded the conference by reminding those in attendance that their duty as believers in Christ goes beyond attending a conference to sharing the good news of Christ until His return.

Written by Jordan Zepeda and Ashleigh Fox, Media Relations Intern. For more information, contact Jenna Bartlo, Media Relations Coordinator, at 562.777.4061 or at jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.