STEVE7150,
Please forgive me. I did not mean to offend you in any way. My Intent, was to draw attention to the fellow christians who happen to live in Gaza, and Israel. It seems, and in my church especially, that there is absolutely no regard for those who are believers and those who need to be evangelized who live in Israel and are of Arab decent.
I actually am glad that there is a political nation of Israel today. They have defended themselves successfully on many occasions and have protected those within their boarders. Politcally speaking, I think that the Gaza pullout was a horrible idea and now I am afraid that will be the future of the West Bank right now.
In retrospect, that probably was not the best article to post to convey the message that I wanted to. I probably should have just stated what I was thinking rather than try to quickly gather up some support. My overall point was to say that our Christian brothers and sisters may be whom we consider the enemy. God makes no racial distinction and we must not forget about them in our sometimes overly politicized theology.
Again STEVE7150, I truely am sorry.
Promises only for Israel
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_STEVE7150
- Posts: 894
- Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 8:38 pm
Dolphin, Thanks for your response, i appreciate it very much. I was'nt personally offended i just have difficulty understanding how Israel is sometimes portrayed as an international criminal for doing things like building a wall to protect women and children from suicide bombers. How many is the politically correct number that have to die before the world approves. I love all fellow christians and it's painful to see any suffer for any reason but we know that God will give true believers the strength to perservere.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
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I say this as somebody who is part Arab and in way dislikes Jewish people or any other people group.
I think Christians have a responsibility to help take care of each other, regardless of our respective ethnicities. In fact, this responsiblity may even take precedence over our charity to unbelievers.
Galations 6:10: "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us all do good, especially to those who are of the houseghold of faith."
What a shame it is that many Christians lose sight of the basic principles of how we are to treat our brethren by becoming swept up in geopolitical matters, that according to God, are not primarily of the church's scope or concern. It is probably a good thing that the USA has a relationship with Israel, because in general, they are a moral nation and can be trusted more so than many of the surrounding Arab nations. While they in large part reject Jesus, so do many other countries that we help and support as a nation. Yet, by comparison, Israel does not seem to participate in practices that we find barbaric such as suicide bombing. Israel, politically, represents a more moral and stable country than the surrounding countries in the Middle East.
However, as a Christian, none of those things are my primary concern. The rising and falling of nations is really in the hands of the Lord, and I do not feel compelled to be involved in a bloody land dispute about the borders of two countries who largely reject Christ. More so, for Christians who are to be looking towards the New Heavens and New Earth, to use our religion to justify or fuel this battle is, in my opinion, insane. How many unsaved souls have been dispatched to hell over this earthly battle? Some Christians, though well meaning, help support this battle due to their eschatology and their belief in a future temple or in a divine right to to the land by Israel. What we should be doing is praying for peace by any peaceable means, whether Israel or Palestine gain more land (it doesn't matter). We should be more concerned with preaching the gospel than raising money to fly Jewish people back to Israel (I have no problem with being charitable and helping a family in need, but to purchase plane tickets for Jews to fly to a dangerous part of the world because of dispensational eschatology is a different matter altogether).
The Arab who is a believer is more my brother than the Jew who rejects Christ. The Jew who loves Jesus is more my brother than the Arab or the American who do not call Him Lord. This should be our focus. This response is not to anyone in this forum, but rather a statement about where I think many believers go wrong in how how they deal with Jewish and Arab people. In an attempt to help bring about the "regathering of Israel" or "the new temple", we spend more time focusing on Israel's governement and how many Jews are living in Israel rather than the state of their souls. We do this in the name of love, but unfortunately, we might be loving many Jewish people straight to hell.
I think Christians have a responsibility to help take care of each other, regardless of our respective ethnicities. In fact, this responsiblity may even take precedence over our charity to unbelievers.
Galations 6:10: "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us all do good, especially to those who are of the houseghold of faith."
What a shame it is that many Christians lose sight of the basic principles of how we are to treat our brethren by becoming swept up in geopolitical matters, that according to God, are not primarily of the church's scope or concern. It is probably a good thing that the USA has a relationship with Israel, because in general, they are a moral nation and can be trusted more so than many of the surrounding Arab nations. While they in large part reject Jesus, so do many other countries that we help and support as a nation. Yet, by comparison, Israel does not seem to participate in practices that we find barbaric such as suicide bombing. Israel, politically, represents a more moral and stable country than the surrounding countries in the Middle East.
However, as a Christian, none of those things are my primary concern. The rising and falling of nations is really in the hands of the Lord, and I do not feel compelled to be involved in a bloody land dispute about the borders of two countries who largely reject Christ. More so, for Christians who are to be looking towards the New Heavens and New Earth, to use our religion to justify or fuel this battle is, in my opinion, insane. How many unsaved souls have been dispatched to hell over this earthly battle? Some Christians, though well meaning, help support this battle due to their eschatology and their belief in a future temple or in a divine right to to the land by Israel. What we should be doing is praying for peace by any peaceable means, whether Israel or Palestine gain more land (it doesn't matter). We should be more concerned with preaching the gospel than raising money to fly Jewish people back to Israel (I have no problem with being charitable and helping a family in need, but to purchase plane tickets for Jews to fly to a dangerous part of the world because of dispensational eschatology is a different matter altogether).
The Arab who is a believer is more my brother than the Jew who rejects Christ. The Jew who loves Jesus is more my brother than the Arab or the American who do not call Him Lord. This should be our focus. This response is not to anyone in this forum, but rather a statement about where I think many believers go wrong in how how they deal with Jewish and Arab people. In an attempt to help bring about the "regathering of Israel" or "the new temple", we spend more time focusing on Israel's governement and how many Jews are living in Israel rather than the state of their souls. We do this in the name of love, but unfortunately, we might be loving many Jewish people straight to hell.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
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In Christ,
David
David
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_Mort_Coyle
- Posts: 239
- Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 12:28 am
- Location: Seattle, WA
Two excellent books I've recently read on the subject of the land of Israel/Palestine are "Whose Promised Land?" by Colin Chapman and "Light Force" by Brother Andrew. Brother Andrew in particular highlights the plight of the Palestinian Christians.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
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