Posted on 09/25/2011 8:06:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
This week at the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has promised to ask for recognition of a Palestinian state. If he does, the United States will veto. Why?
Largely because of something we'll call Christian Zionism, an American theological movement that preaches a Christian obligation to help Jews reclaim the biblical Promised Land.
I travel constantly, speaking about the Middle East to evangelical Christians across America and Europe. I lived in Lebanon for 12 years and churches invite me to talk about how to love their Muslim neighbors.
Often before I get invited to speak at churches and Christian conferences, I go through an awkward period of questioning, an interview that feels more like an interrogation.
Pastors and conference leaders want to size me up to make sure I’m “safe” for Christian audiences. The interrogation usually goes something like this:
“Carl, we love your books and your message. You have a lot of insight on how Christians can be more Jesus-like to our Middle Eastern neighbors. We hope you’ll talk a lot about that!”
Translation: Please, for the love of God, don’t say anything controversial about Israel or the Palestinians.
Though they are too polite to ask, what those pastors and conference leaders want to know is what is my position on Israel. For them, the modern Jewish state is a direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy, the catalyst for a series of events that will culminate in the return of Jesus.
As the Palestinians press ahead in their bid for statehood, prepare to hear from this crowd.
(Excerpt) Read more at religion.blogs.cnn.com ...
Carl Medearis is an international expert in Arab-American and Muslim-Christian relations and is author of the book Speaking of Jesus: The Art of Not-Evangelism.
Well as long as he’s an expert.
Wouldn't it be better if he spoke in mosques about how to get muslims to accept their neighbours?
Presuming to speak for Jesus... you’d better know Him first, then you’d better understand God’s plan for the temporal world and beyond. Israel is the apple of His eye. Be careful with dictates and proclamations concerning her, particularly in these last days.
Jesus would never go against His Father. He would never agree.
God gave Israel to the Israelis with the command that they not give-up one shred of the Promised Land or His hand would be removed and they will be unprotected. Israel must take back ALL of the land given to them, not the Palestinians.
If Jesus were here the government would be in His own hands. So no problem. No Islam and no apostasy in Judaism.
That's not an invitation to be someones carpet.
Jesus also said this:
Matthew 10:34
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Hm. I might have to re-think my position.
No one knows what Jesus would do or say.
To invoke Jesus in this discussion of WWJD concerning Palestine is utter BS and a logical fallacy given NO ONE KNOWS WHAT JESUS WOULD DO! =.=
Because when Jesus said “Love thy neighbor” he didn’t mean the Jews next door.
Where’s the barf alert?
“What if evangelicals today, instead of focusing on “evangelizing” and “converting” people, were to begin to think of Jesus not as starting a new religion, but as the central figure of a movement that transcends religious distinctions and identities?
Jesus the uniter of humanity, not Jesus the divider. How might that change the way we look at others?” Carl Medearis
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/24/my-take-why-evangelicals-should-stop-evangelizing-2/
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. “
Jesus Christ, Matthew 10:34-39
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” 2 Timothy 4:3
Carl, you need to get away from the Church of Barney, the Purple Dinosaur, and get back to studying the Bible.
Guess it is easy for some to get the Koran and the Bible mixed up at times, especially at CNN....
I’m thinking he’d say “Your ancestors should have listened to Dad in the first place.”
This “expert” doesn’t believe the Bible and he mocks those who do, why would Christians invite him to talk to them about anything? Carl, the next time Christ makes an appearance he’s not going to be very Christ-like. At least not to your understanding.
The gist of this guys article is the same as it ever was.
Moral equivalence. Sure there are parts of the Arab world that don’t want peace. But so is there on the Israeli side.
Straw man arguementationlizing.
Declare that any one who strongly supports Israel says they can do nothing wrong.
His target in this particular article is Christians.
He’ll deal with the Jews he doesn’t like later. You know. Those “settlers”.
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