Brief History of “It Is Time Israel”

First let me (Bart) make it clear that the accuracy of this document is only as good as my memory. I did not foresee all the things that have happened and are happening to date and did not keep written records.

I am a retired chemist who was radically transformed in Jesus Christ in the 1970’s and formerly served in an ordained position on the MorningStar Ministries team and Rick Joyner’s leadership team. My wife Carolyn is also ordained and a former manager with MorningStar.

In the summer of 2009 we were invited by Fred and Donna Hoover (founders and current leaders of Abide in the Vine Ministry in Owego, NY) along with their assistant pastor Bob Seymour to accompany them and a few others to Israel; the goal, to bless Israel. Fred, Donna, and Bob have been there many times and Fred is on the board of an Israeli ministry in Tel Aviv called Dugit (as of this writing I too am on that board).

Donna is a confirmed prophet and Fred is a pastor and great encourager to the saints. Bob just hears from God and will tell you.

At the start of the trip, boarding our aircraft in NY, Donna pointed me out and stated things like “this guy is equipped” and “The Lord is going to use this guy in great ways”, etc. As she was speaking these things I thought to myself “Bart, she is really missing it; I’m still trying to figure out why we are going on this trip, much less possessing the stuff she is speaking of”!

Upon arrival in Israel and resting from jet lag, we participated in several roundtable meetings (i.e. giving and receiving prophecy and words of encouragement with the local Israelis) and a local congregational meeting. Later, we mobilized across the land.

I received much encouragement as we traveled thru the land of Israel. One of Fred’s most memorable exclamations was “dare to believe!” We heard him declare that many times. It finally caught on in my heart and I started daring to believe that the Lord just may use Carolyn and I to accomplish significant things in Him for Israel.

We seemed to have accomplished much on that first trip; the roundtable meetings, going thru the land anointing specific areas with oil, praying for the saints; doing spiritual battle everywhere we went to recover the ancient ruins, and generally blessing Israel.

I felt a little out of place and I could only follow and support those (which were most of them) on the team who really were anointed for this trip. It also seemed improbable for me to ever have a close relationship with any of the Israeli leaders.

All the while, I’m continuing to get prophecy and words that God was going to use me and Carolyn for Israel. I still didn’t get it!

When we arrived home in the US I realized that Israel had somehow become part of us and this feeling would not go away.

One day I found myself assessing my life before God and declared to Him something like “Lord, if you don’t have anything really significant for me to do then it’s alright with me to take me home”! My prayers became pleas to Him to please “send me”! “I am willing”!

Shortly afterward I became aware of the following Scripture and it became seared in my heart:

Ezekiel 28:25-26
25 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
26 And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”

I suddenly became alive when I saw that the solution to Israel’s myriad problems is stated clearly and simply in two passages of Scripture (of course the whole written counsel of God is revealed through all of the Scriptures, but He sometimes has a way of declaring the substance of His whole plan by opening one doorway!) . When they decide to put off politics and put all of their trust in the One Who called them to be His own long long ago, He will show Himself to them and to the entire world that He (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) is The Lord their God and the world’s!

My heart burned to write a letter to the Prime Minister of Israel and to have a logo made that would encapsulate these two Scriptures (both letter and logo can be seen on this website).

The letter is to encourage the Israeli government to lead the way to get all Israeli citizens on board to start hallowing and honoring God, while the logo is obviously a picture encapsulating, Ezekiel 28:25-26. Notice the phrase ‘It Is Time’ on the logo? I don’t recall telling my graphic artist to add that, but he did and I liked it and kept it. I’ve come to believe that it was the Lord Who inspired the inscription ‘It Is Time’ to appear on it!

The Lord showed favor and brought wonderful people (they know who they are) to aide in this project. Some helped edit (thanks Mary Anne Hardiman and a friend in Switzerland not wanting to be named), while others gave spiritual advice and just plain support (thanks McLaughlin’s and Stoker’s). Bob told me that this was the beginning toward fulfilling his dream for Israel, that he had envisioned this some time ago but did not know how it would be launched.

At this point, I am realizing that I have been working rather diligently but not feeling the pain of work (becoming aware that His yoke is easy and His burden is light) for the Lord Himself is doing this and that we are along for the ride!

In 2011, with much of the same team, we took off to Israel again to participate in the same sort of things, roundtables, etc… But this time I would bring the project which would become a topic on the table.

After much review and prayer with both the Gentile and Israeli believers, both prophecy and a literal iron key were given to me by an Israeli leader Avi Mizrachi, to remind me that “The Lord has given me the key” to unlock this project.

Around this time my wife Carolyn had an open vision; seeing two golden bars shaped like a type of tuning fork. They were standing vertically in close proximity to each other, with the same height and width then merged into one another at the bottom. The Lord showed her that one bar was the Gentile Church and the other was Israel merging into the one new man, Ephesians 2:15.

I asked the Lord to send me someone in Israel to help promote the project and He miraculously sent a woman who, with her husband, lives part-time in Jerusalem and is connected to some high ranking people in Israel. This was Carol and Vern Lefler; wonderful folks who love and support Israel in Yeshua (Jesus).

Carol stirred up folks in Israel and the project became somewhat known in certain circles.

Lt. General (retired) William Boykin was an invited speaker at a conference in Israel and was ready to take the project with him to hand deliver to the Prime Minister. A tragic event beset his family and the trip was canceled at the last minute. The Lord has His own timing.

A time came in 2011 when the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu visited the US and addressed Congress. Again the General planned to hand deliver the project to the Prime Minister but again something happened to thwart it. He handed it to Netanyahu’s aides and asked them to ensure that it would get to him personally. We had no way to know if they ever did or not. The Lord’s timing at play again.

In the meantime, Avi Mizrachi’s team in Israel had made and posted 500 full-sized posters of the logo (in the Hebrew text) around the city of Tel Aviv. Praise the Lord that more seed is being planted!

I was later speaking at a roundtable in Canada and a woman came up to me and asked for copies of the project. She sent it up to a higher authority who supposedly deals with leading members in the Israeli government. She reviewed and prayed over it but decided it was too hot politically to submit to them but wished us Godspeed anyway. The Lord’s timing again.

After these and other miraculous things (too lengthy to write in this brief) had transpired, when I should know by now that God truly is in this and is answering my prayer to send me, I felt myself at a very low point one day and questioned the validity of the whole thing; “are the things I have been working at with respect to Israel just conjured up from my fleshly imagination or is God truly working a plan with me and Carolyn in it”?

Before turning into bed that night, I asked the Lord to give me some small sign that I was walking in His plan and not my imagination. After all, who do I think I am that I can help move a nation toward God and be part of grafting the Israelites back into their olive tree (Romans11:17-24)! I did not share any of my feelings with my wife and, feeling quite low, fell asleep.

The following morning, Carolyn had been up early and came anxiously to the bedroom saying “wake up, wake up”! As I slowly gained consciousness she said that last night while I slept (remember she did not have any clue that I gone to bed doubting and a little depressed last night) she had picked up a book called ‘Biblical Mathematics’ and looked up what my name meant.

According to the numbers of my name (these numbers are meant to work for the Hebrew and Greek alphabets, but by some miraculous reason it provided the message I needed using the English alphabet) it revealed that Barton (my full first name) meant “Universality – Israel and Her Restoration”! Wow, what a sign! “Lord, forgive me for doubting and help me to overcome my unbelief”! Now I understood that I must continue forward.

We attended a four-day worship meeting in Moravian Falls lead by Coach Mike Gottfried and his wife Mickey. We worshipped day and night. By the last night, the Spirit of the Lord was so prominent in the room that we could hardly do anything without weeping or feeling like weeping for the Joy present. Just before dinner a man and his wife entered and joined us in worship, prayer, and dinner. We quickly found out that this was Earl Cox, Israel’s Goodwill Ambassador under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his lovely wife Kathleen!

My heart leaped within me for I somehow knew that, among other reasons, the Lord sent them to me!

I don’t normally impose myself on others, particularly strangers, but I took this opportunity by taking a seat beside Earl (Mike Gottfried and God helped arrange this) and shared the ‘It Is Time’ project with him while he attempted to eat dinner. Earl was so gracious and kind as he patiently sat, taking in little bites of food when he could, and listened. We later became close friends and I have become aware that the Cox’s, not only look like Ambassadors but are very warm and lovely people who are walking in God’s Messiah’s Love and Vision to help bring Israel into her own in these last days!

Earl, whose office in Jerusalem is close to the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, delivered the project for me! I believe that this was also God’s timing!

Now we know to continue moving forward as God opens and closes doors per His perfect timeline.

Finally, we came to believe that the ‘It Is Time’ project was transitional to the creation of the ‘It Is Time Israel’ ministry.

As I searched for a web domain for the phrase ‘It Is Time’ I could not find one. Who, besides me would ever choose that for a domain name? God gave that name to me! Not quite. Again, not unlike the way God caused the phrase ‘It Is Time’ to be added to the logo without asking me, now He seems to have put the finishing touch on the ministry name too. When I realized that by adding ‘Israel’ to the phrase ‘It Is Time’, then I could acquire the web domain. ‘It Is Time’ now became ‘It is Time Israel’!

We conducted our kickoff board meeting near Topsail Island, North Carolina. In planning this meeting we were unaware that the chosen time also brought a profound prophetic message for the new ministry.

Our meeting began at 11 AM on 8/8/13 and the following was pointed out by one of the board members: 8th month = 8 represent new beginnings

8th day = same as above
13th year = Year of Love, 1Corin13
11AM = Eleventh hour

*Also, it was the birthday of the owner of the building where we met = new birth
So, our new ministry was prophetically birthed in new beginnings at the 11th hour in Yeshua’s Love!

Love given to Israel in new ways during the 11th hour will help graft the Jewish people back to their own God in Yeshua and bring Israel into her last day’s prophetic destiny when the clock strikes 12!

We are now stepping out to be sent by Him, our Wonderful Lord, to help Israel come into her own in these last days. What a blessing to be part of this!

God’s Word to Abram (later called Abraham) is surely true:

Gen 12:1-3
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Lord send me!