Recently, a friend of mine with some influence in the pro Israel community contacted another friend of mine at a huge church in the Bible Belt. When I say huge, I mean one of the very largest congregations in the country.
Friend A asked Friend B to help set up an Israel event at the church. A couple weeks later, the latter sadly reported that the leadership wasn’t onboard, and beyond that, he could only get about two dozen people interested in showing up for the event!
This little story leaves me dismayed, because I suspect it’s not really “little,” but signals a big change in the landscape. A generation ago, thousands would have shown up for such an event.
Twenty-four people?
Look, I believe in being realistic, and also being upfront about this issue. That it leaves our ideological opponents in the church giddy does not deter me from reporting on the fact. I can accept lack of results we hope for; I cannot accept lack of effort to understand and combat this reality.
As I’ve been writing for some time, a seismic shift in attitudes about Israel hit our shores sometime back. We are only just now feeling the shockwaves and the high-point of impact is probably still to come. In short, American evangelical support for Israel is slipping.
Shane Claiborne, the leftist leader of the Simple Way, and buddy of long-time Palestinian advocate Tony Campolo, has been tweeting lately rare instances of Jewish violence towards Palestinians (or their duped friends, such as activist Rachel Corrie). Last month he tweeted about the 19th anniversary of the Baruch Goldstein-led massacre of Arabs in Hebron.
The real context of this story though is the shocking lack of cases of Jewish violence towards Arabs and its reverse: Arab Palestinian violence towards Jews is ubiquitous, gruesome, coordinated, relentless, and fiendish.
And that’s just for starters.
Why, for example, would Claiborne not tweet about the second anniversary of the slaughter of the Fogel family from Itamar? The Fogel’s youngest child was nearly decapitated by two Palestinian murderers.
Shane! Calling Shane Claiborne! I’ve asked via Twitter why he doesn’t send out these anniversary remembrances, but so far…silence.
Claiborne is but one cog in the wheel of the giant propaganda machine that is turning American Christians away from Israel. There are dozens more leaders engaged in this unholy agenda, and many thousands of operatives working behind the scenes.
Last summer I interviewed Eagles’ Wings director Robert Stearns, who has been engaged in pro Israel work for years. His organization works with churches that are pro Israel. He indicated, though, that he is also aware of this slippage in support that I mentioned.
How did this happen? A generation ago, of course, you could toss a rock and hit a pro Israel church. Today, one is virtually threatened with stoning for dreaming of such a scenario.
One of the many problems “our side” has is the lack of coordination and effort. What do I mean by this? Nothing disparaging, I can assure you.
Shane Claiborne and Lynne Hybels and Gabe Lyons and Donald Miller and Cameron Strang and John Ortberg do this for a living. They are part of organizations that have the resources to keep them pushing Palestinian propaganda. Lynne Hybels’ husband, Bill, is head of one of the largest religious organizations in all of history. That’s not hyperbole. Willow Creek Association is gigantic and entrenched.
If Lynne Hybels wants to travel to Israel (and another, mythical place called “Palestine”), she just books the trip, or an assistant does it for her. Same with those other folks. They then absorb whatever the Palestinian Authority/PLO wants them to hear, and they return to America and promote the living daylights out of it.
What are you doing? Raising a family, struggling to pay bills and taxes squeezed out of you by a government forcing you to fund the destruction of the country, and getting up the next day to do it all over again. A vacation for you is a couple nights at the Days Inn in the next county. Every few years. In general—and let me be clear again: I’m generalizing here—Bible-believing folks in the United States are working so hard to earn a living, they don’t have time for advocacy for Israel. Our opponents on the other hand have plenty of time and money.
This is their career.
While you are fighting rush-hour traffic, or taking on an extra job to send tax dollars to the Marxist Palestinian Authority, Shane Claiborne is being flown to the so-called “Christ at the Checkpoint”/Hate Israel palooza in Bethlehem.
When you add to this the fact that seminaries churn-out unbelieving pastors and youth workers, one can begin to see why churches today aren’t interested in Israel and the Jews. (As just one example, Rob Bell graduated from both Wheaton and Fuller, and when Ed Dobson hired him at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Dobson told the board that Bell didn’t know much Bible!)
Get your mind around this: in Christian ministry today in America, there are plenty of Jew-haters. They smile, they talk about Jesus, they “do” church and ministry. And they are as clueless about the specialness of the Jews as a kindergarten teacher or plumber in 1938 Hamburg.
Is your church pro Israel? Is your pastor pro Israel? If so, I’d really like to hear from you (jim@prophecymatters.com). I’d like to get a sense of how many churches out there understand the specialness of the Jews and Israel in history. If you know of a church that is pro Israel, please let me know who they are. Send me contact info.
The silence of Shane Claiborne and Donald Miller and their friends who bash Israel is a coordinated effort to fool evangelicals, until they are clueless about Israel. This is done by promoting Palestinian stories that present Israel as an aggressor, murderer of Arabs, and colonialist power—the latter description laughable to anyone who can read a map.
In order to stem the tide of anti-Israel fervor in our churches, we are going to have to get active. You can do your part. With all the urgency I can muster, please let me hear from you.
Mar 18, 2013
In Arabic, Please
Last week, when I spoke at a conference in the Midwest, including a visit to a Big Ten campus to talk to students, I watched a fascinating exchange between an Egyptian Muslim convert to Christianity and a Syrian Muslim.
At issue was what the Koran actually says about the “infidel” (that’s you and me). The Syrian gentleman insisted—upon reading a certain passage on his phone—that the Koran does not sanction the killing of the infidel for not believing in Islam.
But, said the Egyptian, holding up another translation of the Koran, “It does say to kill the infidel…in Arabic.”
That’s the whole point, you see. The Syrian was reading an English translation on his iPhone.
Jihadists, even ones wearing suits, insist to gullible Westerners that Islam is a religion of peace and that even the word “jihad” means something like personal struggle.
It means, slaughter the infidel. This is obvious, as we’ve seen sweeping terror attacks globally since 9/11. That’s what 9/11 was.
I was somewhat surprised to see the Syrian gentleman, in the final analysis, acknowledge the fact that the Koran sanctions murder. Of course, he was saying this from the friendly confines of an American university, but still…
This little exchange came to my mind today as I noted a Twitter photo sent by a member of a “fact-finding” tour of a place called Israel/”Palestine.” Organized by Todd Deatherage’s Telos Group, the pilgrims—no doubt sincere in their efforts to engage in peacemaking—are treated to huge helpings of Palestinian propaganda. One piece of propaganda also involves language.
A poster, purportedly painted by Palestinian children, urges the use of non-violence to achieve “justice.” The photo was tweeted by one of these sincere Americans who just want the Israelis and the Palestinians to get along, darn it.
Sadly, though, the photo itself is a dead giveaway: it’s written in English.
If the sign were written in Arabic, we might be getting somewhere. The fact is, though, Palestinian children in the PA territories are steeped in murderous rhetoric that blossoms into full-scale terror attacks. They’ve been “treated” to this reality for a full two decades, ever since Yasser Arafat first put his blood-soaked hands around a child’s flower bouquet.
If you talk to these American peace activists—and I have and do—you’ll notice their apparent sincerity. But they have their talking points, passed from folks like Naim Ateek and Alex Awad, down to Sami Awad, to Lynne Hybels, Gabe Lyons, etc. That’s how American writers like Donald Miller regurgitate insane claptrap such as the Israelis controlling the diet of Gazans. Yet, recently, for example, Hamas terror chief Ismail Haniyeh was photographed buying Israeli grapes…in Gaza. Regular Gazans know this; why don’t the Americans?
Shane Claiborne can tweet about the 19th anniversary of a rare act of Palestinian murder at the hands of a lone Israeli Jew. Yet he can’t be bothered by the second anniversary of the slaughter of the Fogel family of Itamar. Three-month-old baby Hadas Fogel was virtually decapitated.
Why doesn’t Shane Claiborne tweet about that?
Mar 11, 2013
Infiltration
It was fascinating watching a bit of the AIPAC speeches earlier this week. The group, dedicated to strengthening relations between the U.S. and Israel, had an eclectic group of speakers, including Vice President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The often-hapless Biden, who never misses an opportunity to tell Jewish audiences that he and Bibi go way back (one half-expects him to claim they raced go carts as youth in Jerusalem’s Talpiot neighborhood), gave a run-of-the-mill stump speech designed to shore-up the base.
The Obama administration, openly hostile to the Jewish state, sounds positively Zionist according to the AIPAC event. AIPAC President Michael Kassen, when introducing Biden, kept a straight face when he said:
“We know we have an administration committed to Israel.”
For his part, the Orator from Delaware whipped himself into a frenzy by referencing the infamous 2001 Durban conference:
“That’s why we rejected anti-Semitic rhetoric from any quarter…” he said, then adding, “You’re going to like Kerry.”
No, Israel won’t like new American secretary of state John Kerry, any more than they’ve liked, well, most of them.
It was left to Netanyahu to once again inject some reality into the Arab-Israeli conflict. Addressing the AIPAC crowd via satellite:
“We gave up territory. We got terror,” the premier said.
Netanyahu knows what he’s up against in Washington, so all the polite accolades between public friends are so much cotton candy: sweet, very temporary, and ultimately bad for you.
As the world closes-in on Israel, those of us who follow Bible prophecy brace ourselves when thinking of Zechariah. The prophet warned late that in the last days, ALL the nations would gather against Jerusalem.
In the shadow of AIPAC, Palestinian terror chief Mahmoud Abbas said—also with a straight face—that Israel was guilty of “using the ugliest and most dangerous means to implement plans to erase and remove the Arab-Islamic and the Christian character of east Jerusalem.”
This ridiculous charge is actually an inversion of the truth, especially since the Palestinians have hollowed-out the Temple Mount in order to build two underground mosques. They never tire and never cease from efforts to remove Jewish history via archaeological sites, including and especially the Temple Mount.
Abbas made his claims at last week’s Arab League-sponsored Jerusalem International Conference in Doha, Qatar.
Presumably, Joe Biden will reject that anti-Semitic gathering. Won’t he?
According to a report by Arutz Sheva, Abbas is coordinating an effort to “go up to Jerusalem,” and not in a Scriptural way:
“He charged that Israel’s alleged apartheid wall has isolated Arabs from Jerusalem and said that Arabs find it ‘almost impossible’ to enter because of the lack of permits. In fact, thousands of Arabs from Judea and Samaria enter Jerusalem every day.
“Abbas’s call for an Arab march on Jerusalem follows a campaign the past several years of trying to remove artifacts that would show the origins of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, as recorded in the Bible.
“Dozens of Palestinian Authority clerics have denied any Jewish connection to the holy site, and the Muslim custodians at the Temple Mount have used backhoes and tractors tor remove tons of dirt that might contain Jewish artifacts.
“Abbas said, ‘Jerusalem belongs to all of us and no one can stop us from accessing it.’”
This, you see, will be the flashpoint for a final confrontation, one that will be joined by the United States. Quite interestingly, as I’ve been reporting for some months, this effort has moved far beyond the political level.
As I write this, Telos Group founder Todd Deatherage is once again joining friends like Lynne Hybels in a place they call Israel/”Palestine” to advocate for peace.
It is an effort that highlights sincerity and naiveté at the same time.
However, that isn’t the most interesting thing about the latest Telos tour (many are staying at the famed American Colony Hotel, too rich for most evangelicals’ blood). No, what makes this report from Telos, via Twitter and other social media, most significant is that Deatherage & Friends have brought along members of RockHarbor Church.
The Southern California-based megachurch is near Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I’m getting to the point.
In 2009, CC Costa Mesa invited Mike Erre, former lead teaching pastor at RockHarbor, to address the Movement 2009 event. Erre promotes contemplative spirituality, and cites such writers as Brian McLaren, Marcus Borg, and Rob Bell.
Now, so that I’m clear, I believe Calvary Chapel as a movement is a seawall against the flood of heretical/apostate teaching that has submerged much of the American church. However, that is also the point.
Change agents in the evangelical church will infiltrate any good institution, and there are efforts underway now to compromise the biblically based model of Calvary Chapel. Needless to say, the Arab-Israeli conflict is also part of this mix.
Deatherage—whom I spoke to some months ago and found to be a thoughtful fellow—believes that peacemaking involves engaging the Palestinian leadership. Here I am talking about Palestinian Christian pastor Sami Awad of Bethlehem. I find it fascinating that Awad, ostensibly fronting a movement of spiritual peacemaking, would have the same view as the PLO.
Read again Abbas’s words:
“He charged that Israel’s alleged apartheid wall has isolated Arabs from Jerusalem and said that Arabs find it ‘almost impossible’ to enter because of the lack of permits. In fact, thousands of Arabs from Judea and Samaria enter Jerusalem every day.”
This is exactly the message of Sami Awad. This message will now envelope the folks at RockHarbor. And the relentless efforts to infiltrate Calvary Chapel will find expression there, as well, at some point.
(Only days ago, Rick Warren crashed Chuck Smith’s “Word for Today” radio program party, in an attempt to make it appear the two are close chums. More on this in the coming weeks.)
On the blog of Matt Graza, a member of RockHarbor, we read:
“RockHarbor, my home church, in partnership with The Telos Group (www.telosgroup.org) is equipping me and my team for this trip. We will be the second wave of peace-exploring pilgrims from RockHarbor to travel to the Middle East.”
Deatherage is tweeting updates from the trip now, and the Telos website has posted a picture with the caption:
“A Jewish-Israeli family shares stories and personal perspectives with women on tour with Telos.”
Of course they are sharing stories. That’s the aim. Story. Narrative. Lack of emphasis on facts and Israel’s precarious position. Members of Christian peacemaking teams that return to the U.S. come back imbued with a sense that Israel is a big part of the problem. The classic PLO line is repeated constantly.
Our government was infiltrated by diabolical change agents decades ago.
It’s now the Church’s turn.
Mar 4, 2013
Glocal
Bob Roberts Jr., pastor of NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas, is a man blessed with a big skill-set. Besides pastoring a large church, he is a master networker and his blog, “Glocalnet,” is a clever concept: Christians should be engaged both at the local and global levels.
Roberts certainly is.
One of the more intriguing efforts Roberts engages in is his attempt at rapprochement with Muslims. And not any Muslims. Roberts rubs elbows with jihadists.
Witness his chance (?) meeting in New York City, which he blogged about on September 25, 2012. You can read about it here: http://www.glocal.net/blog/comments/my-meeting-with-president-morsi-of-egypt-last-night/
Deep into the blog, Roberts wrote this:
“I then asked him, ‘Would you be willing to connect and build a relationship between our peoples?’ He said yes. I then asked, ‘so as President, what are you doing to protect the religious freedom of the Copts and others that are Christians?’ He told me there were incidents, but it isn’t like what is portrayed on the news. He once again told me to come and see for myself. He told me being the President requires him to do so and being a good Muslim does as well. He said he wouldn’t be a good President if he didn’t. He seemed passionate in his answer. I thanked him for committing to protect Christians - I asked him how I could help him as well.”
Look, I have no personal beef with Roberts, but I think his approach—sincere as he may be—is dangerous.
Certainly, Morsi wants to build bridges with the American people, particularly young evangelical leaders. It’s a tactic and strategy of war. It is especially a vital link for Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Keep in mind, the Brotherhood, started in Egypt in 1928, is the ideological forefather of Al Qaida.
The Muslim Brotherhood now controls Egypt. That is a fact. Morsi is but one member of this clever, visibly urbane group that still wants to destroy the West.
No one that I’m aware of questions Bob Roberts’ sincerity. I do question his methods—vigorously—but here is an item I want you to meditate on:
My numerous requests for an interview have been stonewalled by Roberts’ “people.” I have also been blocked from his Twitter account.
We have a right to question when a member of the evangelical community reaches out to men like Morsi and purports to speak for many of us. Of course, Roberts would say that he didn’t speak for others, but we all know that leaders like Morsi recognize very clearly that Christian leaders in America hold sway over, as Roberts likes to say, their “tribe.”
I would not have been invited to meet Morsi in New York City. That is a high-level meeting and not by chance. The question we need to ask is, why was Bob Roberts Jr. invited? I will give you my humble opinion: the Muslim Brotherhood, like the PLO, knows a dupe when they see one.
Roberts would probably answer (I’m admittedly reaching here, but have to speculate because he refuses to clarify his statements) that he doesn’t mind, as a Christian leader, being a fool for Christ. That, however, would not be my point.
My question is why Roberts would reach out to a sworn enemy of the United States? Why are we seeing growing efforts by American Christian leaders to reach out to Muslims and at the same time marginalize Israel?
To date, Mart Green (president of Hobby Lobby), Bob Roberts Jr., and Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz author) have specifically refused a conversation with me. Perhaps some of you can have better luck.
When I shared my concerns about Roberts’ Muslim outreach with a mega-church pastor included in his network, I was politely told to drop dead and stand-down.
We have certainly a fascinating “Glocal” situation regarding how the Church today sees Israel and her history. Included in this is how these change-agent evangelical leaders view Bible prophecy.
(I mention Bible prophecy because—for my secular readers, or those of another faith who find this weird—denigrating the Bible’s predictive prophecy, which is so thoroughly Jewish, helps mightily in prying-away the next generation of evangelical leaders from Israel’s side.)
What I mean by this is, we see international leaders like Desmond Tutu, Stephen Sizer, Ben White and Sami Awad changing perceptions about the Jewish state. When you factor-in a network of American leaders like Gary DeMar, Gary Burge, Richard Mouw, Mart Green, Lynne Hybels and many others…it’s easy to see what the future looks like for pro Israel support.
In conclusion for this week, let me give you one more example of the labyrinthian network set up by the Palestinians to take-down Israel’s evangelical support. Unfortunately, there are almost countless other examples, but here goes:
Brad Lomenick, director of Catalyst (Mr. Lomenick also refused to answer my question about why the organization would invite a leftist like Cornel West to speak), each month selects his list of “Young Influencers.”
For February, Jarrod McKenna made the list.
On his Twitter page, McKenna describes himself as (among other things) an “[eco]evangelist.” While Israel might not be the top thing on McKenna’s list, he is still an influencer among Millennials, and we need to understand the breadth of his network.
For example, McKenna (who could pass for Shane Claiborne’s twin) is endorsed by Brian McLaren and Rob Bell. Those on the left who McKenna follows on Twitter include: Paul Raushenbush (editor, Huffington Post); World Vision Australia; Naomi Klein; Jay Bakker; Sojourners; and Cornel West.
Several of those people are no friends of Israel.
“When that Israeli bulldozer driver looked at Corrie's orange jacket and pressed the accelerator, her strategy failed. It turns out that the lives of some US citizens — even beautiful, young, white women — are valued more than others. And nothing demonstrates this more starkly than the opposing responses to Rachel Corrie and Private Jessica Lynch.”
Rachel Corrie of course has become a martyr of the left. She placed herself in danger by standing in front of a bulldozer during a home demolition. Corrie was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
Notice that Klein accuses the bulldozer operator of murder in the first degree. She also has not a shred of evidence for this.
I cite all this to show you the vast network linking overtly hostile anti-Israel leaders with readily acceptable American evangelicals.
While Shane Claiborne and his friends are currently and literally making guns into “plowshares” at the Justice Conference in Philadelphia (I find that level of gullibility breathtaking), Muhammad Morsi and his minions are licking their chops in advance of a frontal assault on America.
Consider yourselves warned.
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