I will write more about this in the coming weeks, but ahead of this week’s “Israel Watch,” I feel compelled to say to those of you afraid or stressed about the world right now: Be of good cheer! Yes, things are “bad.” Since January, every day feels like waking up in some Hollywood epic thriller. But the Christian has the Blessed Hope. Since the 1st century, believers have watched for this day! We are privileged by the Lord to live when we live. Let’s encourage each other this week!
Israel’s Genius Enemies
Proof that the enemies of Israel and the Jewish people have a satanic origin is the millennia-long network that always follows the same playbook:
Delegitimize the Jews.
As I’ve written many times in the last several years, the most dismaying plan of attack against the Jews is what I call the “Israel problem” for American evangelical leaders. In the last 20 years, since many of the “icons” of Evangelicalism have passed from the scene, the Church Growth Movement gurus—men like Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Andy Stanley—have injected their models into countless congregations. Like it or not, these models have totally changed once-great denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention. And none of the men I just mentioned are pro-Israel. Far from it.
(I am SBC, so feel that I have a right to say this!)
Even Pentecostal communities, including the Assemblies of God, have been hijacked when it comes to teaching Bible prophecy and the Jews’ role in history.
Right now, the dark forces seeking to change America (including and especially the Church) are laser-focused on evangelical Millennials, even “Baby Boomers.” This is done in myriad ways, but always with a smiling, attractive face.
I recently read a piece on the Catalyst website that illustrates this, and shows clearly the connection between Marxist/totalitarian agendas and Israel-bashing. Remember, these traits perfectly rest in Barack Obama, still so popular with young audiences.
This quote comes from Brenda Salter McNeil, and it appears at Catalyst:
“So I’ve been struggling to understand that, and articulate that, and I’m beginning to understand that we tend to stay in our own silos unless something shakes us out of them. They’re catalytic moments, and whether we like the black lives matter movement or not, it is hard to dispute that it was a catalytic event in our time. That it got our national and global attention. When I was in Ferguson, I met a woman from Palestine. I was shocked that people all around the world are watching us, and wondering how we’ll respond to the unrest and the injustice that’s around us.”
Let’s break this quote down a bit. First a quote from Frontpage:
“The Michael Brown case was arguably the fruit of the poisoned tree for the Black Lives Matter movement. Its hate rallies still incorporate the spurious, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” slogan. The Brown case was so fundamentally fraudulent, built on propaganda and lies, that even the Obama DOJ ended up having to boot it and stop the persecution of a police officer whom eyewitnesses testified was clearly defending himself.”
Now, let’s look closer at McNeil’s statement.
Brenda Salter McNeil makes it clear that she aligns with the Black Lives Matter “movement.” She “went to Ferguson.” That means she went on pilgrimage to the town in Missouri where Michael Brown was killed by a police officer. Forensic evidence puts the lie to several points made by BLM activists, namely that Brown was just an innocent fellow murdered by the Establishment.
Next, McNeil oddly mentions that she “met a woman from Palestine.” You need to understand that Palestinian activists/terrorists journey to America and insert themselves into civil unrest, so as to agitate the situation. For a long time, PLO operatives have sought to get American blacks to identify with their “revolutionary” movement, ostensibly aimed at overturning “racial injustice.” Just as the Israel Defense Forces brutalize innocent Palestinians, so they say, American law enforcement is systemically involved in brutalizing minorities.
On July 31, McNeil tweeted this meme:
“I am convinced that we can no longer preach Jesus without JUSTICE.”
Of course, this is false teaching. We are to preach Christ crucified. That’s it! No tacking-on of pet issues from social justice warriors.
Among the left-wing, self-professing Christians touting McNeil are Fuller Theological Seminary President Mark Labberton, radical Shane Claiborne, Ruth Haley Barton, and Eugene Cho. She is published by mainstream Christian publishers Brazos Press and Intervarsity Press.
Point being, all these people move in circles that are anti-Israel to the core. McNeil visits “Palestine.”
Palestine hasn’t existed (even then it was a regional name, not a sovereign entity) since 1948. Why continue to call it “Palestine”? Why refer to “Palestine” as if it is a current sovereign entity?
Because leftists hope for that. They thirst for it. For them, it means the end of Israel. That is the goal.
And American evangelical celebrities are helping drive that bus.