What We Don't Think About When We Think Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict...

 There is a lot of ignorace in the West today about, well, a lot of what goes on in the world around us. We have much more information than we've ever had at our finger tips, yet we still choose to keep ourselves in the dark about much of what we've been taught throughout the years. Some of us don't have the time, some of us only read articles online that affirm what we already believe, and others of us would rather keep ourselves numb and entertained with the myriad of screens that soothe our brains to sleep.

I would challenge you, especially if you are a Christian in the West, to spend a good amount of time researching the reality of one piece of the United State's foreign policy, involving our relationship with Israel. 

 Many Christians automatically toe the party line when it comes to our support of Israel. We believe all of the Zionist propaganda and don't take the time to study the parts of the Bible used (or misused) to back up that propaganda. The reality that we either do not know, or choose to ignore, is that our support actually helps persecute and kill our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Christ. Now, that's not to say that we should therefore support the PLO or Islamic groups that have killed many civilians. It just seems necessary to me, that if we are going to support a country without questioning it's actions, we should at least know the whole truth about those actions. Also, we have to ask ourselves how God views this support? What does He think about our inolvement in the oppression of those He bought with His blood, who love and serve Jesus, who are actively working in awful conditions to try and bring peace to their land? 

 If you are up to the challenge, I would highly recommend three books to get you started:

 "Blood Brothers: The Dramatic Story of a Palestinian Christian Working for Peace in Israel" by Elias Chacour

 "Light Force: A Stirring Account of the Church Caught in the Middle East Crossfire" by Brother Andrew and Al Janssen

 "Son of Hamas" by Mosab Hassan Yousef

Here is an excerpt from "Light Force" to get you started. This is the conversation between a Dutch Christian and a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member:

"'Now I would like to ask you some questions.'

 'What sort of questions?' I asked him.

 'About Christianity and the Bible,' he replied. 'I have spent nineteen years in prison. I was first arrested in 1971. I was freed in 1985 as part of a prisoner exchange. I was arrested again in 1988 and several more times since. When you spend that much time in prison, you have a lot of time to think.'

 I wondered if Abdul had been imprisoned for terrorist activities. Or was he kept in administrative detention, as I knew thousands of Palestinians were? Regardless, prisoners had little physical activity, which, unless they were determined to use their time productively, provided opportunity for their hatred to fester and grow. 

 Abdul leaned forward to say, 'You talk about the future of peace. The solution is Islam! I reached that conclusion in prison.' He leaned back, lit his cigarette, and added, 'I read the Bible in prison. I also read the Quran and that's when I decided to become a Muslim.' '

 'You were not a Muslim already?'

 'Culturally, I was a Muslim. Not intellectually. However, I have questions about the Bible and Christianity, and maybe you can answer them.'

 I opened my hands on the table, inviting him to ask whatever he wished. 

 He didn't ask anything at first but rather launched into a passionate speech....'That's right. We revere Jesus. He was a great prophet. But the Jews didn't listen to Him. Jesus symbolized for us our struggles. When I read the Injil  [Arab word for Gospel, used for the New Testament], I identified with Jesus. My problem is with the Old Testament. For example, in the book of Joshua, how could God order the Jews to go into Jericho and kill every living person, including women and children and all the animals? And yet we are condemned if one of our people, fighting for our land that was taken from us, kills a few civilians. Can you explain to me the difference?''

 My friends and I were surprised by the intensity of Abdul's words. More calmly than I felt, I tried to answer his question. 'You have to understand the context,' I explained, choosing my words carefully. 'The people living in the land then were idol worshipers who practiced child sacrifice among their many wicked acts. God gave them four hundred years to change their ways. When they didn't, being God, He had the right to wipe them out and replace them with the people of His choosing.'

 'But that is not the situation today,' Abdul said. 'We are not pagans.'

 'You are correct that this is not the same situation. The orders God gave Joshua were unique.'

 Abdul crushed the remainder of his cigarette and lit another. 'Maybe you can explain this to me. Why do the Christian Zionists support Israel so strongly? I would like to understand.' 

 'You ask me the hard questions!' I laughed and for the first time Abdul smiled for an instant. 'Let me first say that not all Christians are Zionists. There are two factors at work for many Christians. One is guilt.' Here I briefly explained how, for the most part, the Christians in the West didn't rise up and protest the killing of Jews during the Holocaust. 'After the war, many Christians believed that it was necessary to give the Jews a place of their own so that they would no longer be at the mercy of a ruthless tyrant like Hitler. 

 'The second factor concerns theology. There are many Christians who believe that God is preparing the world for the end times and that the nation of Israel is the fulfillment of many prophecies. They conclude that if they don't support Israel, they are resisting God's plans.' 

 'I have heard that in the book of Zechariah the last two chapters are being fulfilled today. Do you believe that?'

 Obviously Abdul had read the Minor Prophets. 'Now you ask me to explain one of the toughest passages in the Bible. Those chapters are indeed about the last days. We believe that Jesus will rule over all the earth, as it says in Zechariah 14:9. I don't need to remind you that Muslims believe this as well. But whether the present state of Israel is referenced in these verses, well, Christians do not agree on that.'....

[After Abdul left]...Al and the Palestinian Pastor sat in stunned silence. Finally, Al commented that he was amazed at the man's openness. 

 'Why?' I asked.

 'He's a thinker. He seems to be genuinely searching.'

 'You are surprised that he is a human being like you and me? Perhaps it is easier to think of him as mindless terrorist. That will do nothing to help solve the problems of the Middle East.'

 Later as I lay on my bed, a ceiling fan trying listlessly to move the hot, humid air in my stuffy room, I thought about how Al's response was typical of many Western Christians. The news media rarely put a face on Islamic fundamentalist groups in Gaza and West Bank. Therefore few people stopped to think that these men, like people everywhere, had families, dreams, and fears. Abdul was married, and he'd told us that he had seven young children. I could imagine him at home, sitting on his sofa with a toddler snuggled up to him on each side. This wasn't how most of us chose to think of a senior member of Islamic Jihad. I wondered how many of his colleagues were also struggling to figure out the meaning of life. For many, their only source of enlightenment was Islam."

- Brother Andrew

from: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Force-Stirring-Account-Crossfire/dp/0800731042/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387132651&sr=1-1&keywords=light+force

Pride & Pity

In the late 60's as a white woman who darkened her skin, Grace Halsell moved into Harlem and then down South in order to understand a tiny piece of what it was like to live as a black person in that time. The honesty about her transformation ideologically, emotionally, physically, and spiritually is grating but so necessary.

I read this book a couple of months ago and there were so many parts that hit me square in the chest. The reality that a lot of what she experienced has not changed, or has just morphed into some other equally terrible existence quite frankly buried me in feelings of powerlessness. Besides praying, I'm still figuring out what to do with it.

I woke up today, thinking about this one theme that the author kept running into during her experience, the tendency for those in the majority or in power or with means, to enjoy holding the ability to help others above those whom we see as below us. And what it's like to be on the other end. 

"April 17, 1968

 I drove to Virginia to meet Sarah Patton Boyle, who lives alone in a small apartment. In her Desegregated Heart, she writes of being a well-bred, gentile, Southern white who took on the mass of Negro people to love, and of her disillusionment in learning that for all of her ideals, her aspirations, and fondest hopes she attained little satisfaction or spiritual sustenance. 

 Her experience was somewhat similar to one that I had in Korea. My heart had bled for the mass of Koreans. Later I saw that I could not love 'a people' out of my egotistical 'pity' for their poverty or their plight. But I have never felt that I loved the mass of black people, or the mass of white people, nor have I ever been an activist, a do-gooder. And I am not my brother's keeper. 

 Since I chanced to think how I would be treated, if I were black, I have begun to change. I see fat, rich women in the Watergate Health Club who pay hundreds of dollars to lose one pound, contrasted vividly with Rebecca, the black cleanup woman, who holds down two jobs, gets her exercise naturally and probably has the best figure in the spa. 

 I began to see how hard most black women like Rebecca must work. And then I began to fear: can I stand up to that kind of pace? How many hours will I have to work? If I used my status as a white and became a cash-stand operator or a telephone operator I'd be a slow learner. I have learned most everything in life slowly, but because I functioned as a white, others have great patience with me. My slow speech, my slow motions are considered quite charming. But as a black girl will I be considered 'just a little dumb'?..."  pgs 19-20

"Harlem....

Moore is a totally black Negro: not one of the modern pretty boys, but Negroid all the way, the lips, the nose, and the eyes. He is about forty-five years old, rather short, balding, study, almost pudgy.

 'You can't walk there, with those feet,' he tells me when he learns I am on the way to Harlem Hospital. He goes for his car while I pay my bill. I hobble out to find him sitting in a robin's-egg blue, late-model Cadillac convertible. I sit silently as he drives down St. Nicholas Avenue. At the red light on 135th, he studies me, and senses my aloneness. He knows I am in need, although he cannot immediately pinpoint what my needs are. 

 The red light is brief, but it is long enough for his words: 'I will help you.'

 The words are so simple, somehow so sharp-edged--for the good can hurt as much as the bad, sometimes more--that I want to shout, that is not fair! I came here to know you for what you are, you beast, you black, black, black man! And you are ugly to me. You are a nigger. And you feel sorry for me. You are pitying me, you are, Christ in heaven, you are loving me! It's not supposed to be like that! You're telling me you don't care if you ever see me again, but that you will help me, that you will help me no matter what my trouble, no matter what I've done. You are my friend? God, how I need you, how I want you. 

 My face is buried in my hands; the tears are coming. And I feel helpless and stripped naked, stripped bare of those myths I've worn like crown jewels--that white is right, that black is wrong. Moore takes the scales away, he alone, and he does it with four words: I will help you. Help me? How often can one help another? How often does one try? 

 'It's nothing to be ashamed of to run out of money...,' he tells me, presuming that I need money (or might need money before I find a job). He will loan me money, he wants to see me out of my dark miserable hotel room, and he offers to help me find an apartment! No talk of my snooping around in closets, looking for untruths ! 'I'm not including myself in any of this,' he makes plain. He is doing it simply because he wants to help me, 'whether I ever see you again or not, it doesn't matter.' 

 I have opened the car door to get out and go into the hospital. 'But why? Why? Why would you do this? Why would you want to help me this way?'

 'I can't explain it myself,' he says, adding: 'But you must have done something right--someplace, sometime.'"

 pgs 63-64

- Grace Halsell

from: http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Sister-Anniversary-Grace-Halsell/dp/0967401305/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386791433&sr=1-2&keywords=soul+sister

Halsel, Grace. Soul Sister. Washington, D.C.: Crossroads International Publishing, 1999.

Myths About Spiritual Gifts

I am a non-cessationist, meaning I believe that the gifts given to the Church in the New Testament by the Holy Spirit are still in action and that they never ceased. I believe that the Church in the West is still in dire need of these gifts and that to ignore them is to cut off a big chunk of life as a Christian. I can go into the whole mess of the effects of Naturalism and Deism on the Christian faith at another time, but I believe that both of those things are a huge reason (along with the abuses of supposed "spiritual gifts" by certain denominations and Church movements) as to why we don't actively welcome the Holy Spirit's leading in our churches, and cultivate the gifts that are laid out in the New Testament.

I also think that ignorance about the gifts stunts our relationship with God. In following these beliefs, I've been reading and listening to various teachings over the years about the Holy Spirit, and the gifts. During my questioning and learning, I've come across a teacher with a lot of good things to say about both subjects. Right now I'm reading his "Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Gifts". It has been very encouraging reading and listening to Dr. Sam Storms because he has such a balanced approach to the subject. He has re-iterated and addressed a lot of the things I've wondered myself, such as why the abuse of a spiritual gift must automatically mean that it shouldn't be used? I would definitely recommend that anyone who is curious or in need of being taught about the gifts, check out Dr. Storms sermon series on the gifts here: http://www.bridgewaychurch.com/sermons#series_8

And that you also check out his book. Here is an excerpt:

"Myth # 5: If people abuse spiritual gifts, they should cease to use spiritual gifts. Right? Wrong!

 I find it nothing short of remarkable that to a church obsessed and glutted with spiritual gifts, to a church awash in spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 1:5-7), indeed to a church that had abused spiritual gifts, Paul wrote: 'Earnestly desire spiritual gifts' (1 Corinthians 14:1)! This is stunning, if only because it is so different from the sort of counsel we might have given the Corinthians.

 The Corinthian believers came in second to no one in the charismatic race. Yet they had seriously misunderstood and abused these gifts. My first response is to assume that Paul would tell them to slow down, if not declare a temporary moratorium, on the exercise of these gifts. At the very least he should have told them to stop praying for and seeking after such miraculous phenomena as tongues and prophecy. So much for my wisdom!

 What he told them to do is really quite amazing. To a church aflame with charismata, Paul commanded the people to earnestly seek for more (1 Corinthians 12:31; 14:1, 39)! Whereas we might have doused their zeal with water, Paul appears to pour gasoline on the fire. The point is this: The solution to the abuse of spiritual gifts is not prohibition, but correction. Paul simply told them, 'Do it right!' In other words, 'Don't do it less. Just do it better!'

 I could understand if Paul issued such counsel to a church with great character and little power. But Corinth was a church with little character and great power. This counsel strikes some as unwise, if not dangerous, like throwing a life jacket filled with lead to a drowning man, or saying to a recovering alcoholic, 'Hey buddy, let's go get a drink!' Yet, to the very people guilty of elitism and fanaticism, Paul said, 'Be eager and zealous for more gifts than you've already got.' We, on the other hand, would most likely have said: 'Cool it, Corinthians! Settle down. Forget about gifts. Your spiritual focus is way out of balance. Don't you realize that spiritual gifts are what got you in trouble in the first place!' But, of course, the problem was not spiritual gifts. The problem was immature and unspiritual people. The point is that suppression of spiritual zeal is never the answer. The solution to abuse is not disuse but proper use.

 Recently, a man who had been raised in a charistmatic church wrote to me of his decision to leave it. He had become disillusioned with what he believed were counterfeit gifts and people feigning spiritual manifestations. I'm saddened when I hear stories like this. As hard as it may be for us, we must remember that the existence of fake is not proof of the nonexistence of the real. I'm amazed at how many Christians subconsciously formulate their theological beliefs based not on the beauty of what the Bible describes but in reaction to the ugliness of what they have seen in others who have fabricated an experience or abused some good gift of God.

 Be careful that you do not develop unreasonable expectations of anyone who has any particular gift. After all, no matter how spectacular the gift, no matter how marvelous the manifestation of the Spirit, we are but 'earthen vessels' (2 Corinthians 4:7).


Myth #6: If you ever used a spiritual gift, you can always use it. Right? Wrong!

 Many mistakenly believe that if you have prophesied once, you can prophesy at will, or if you have ever prayed and someone is healed, you can heal at will. The issue at stake here is whether spiritual gifts are permanent (what some have called 'residential') or occasional and circumstantial. Can we legitimately say a person has a gift, or does one simply use a gift? For example, is it possible that someone may on occasion perform a miracle without having the gift of miracles?

 There are several factors that support the notion of permanency, not least of which are the texts that speak of one 'having' a spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 13:2; Romans 12:6). In 1 Corinthians 14:28 Paul seemed to envision the possibility of knowing whether or not one with the gift of interpretation is present in the meeting. Paul exhorted Timothy not to neglect 'the spiritual gift within you ' (1 Timothy 4:14). Paul also said some people have titles that describe a continuing function, such as 'teachers,' 'evangelists,' or 'prophets' (Ephesians 4:11). And in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 Paul clearly affirmed that, notwithstanding neglect and disuse, one's gift (at least Timothy's) can remain. We can't appeal to Romans 11:29 to answer this question, for there the 'gifts' of God refer to covenantal blessing bestowed on national Israel.

 On the other hand, Paul consistently used the present tense in his discussion of the gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11), as if to suggest that gifts are bestowed to meet the need of the moment. Prophecy, for example, is dependent on the spontaneity of revelation (1 Corinthians 14:30) and evidently cannot be exercised at will. Healing, too, is always subject to the sovereign will of God. We'll see this more clearly later on. 

 Perhaps the best answer is to say that some gifts, such as teaching, leadership, tongues, mercy, and so on are more likely permanent and can be exercised at will, whereas others such as prophecy, healing, and miracles are always subject to the sovereign purpose and timing of the Spirit."

- Dr. Sam Storms

from : http://www.amazon.com/The-Beginners-Guide-Spiritual-Gifts/dp/0830746501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386536982&sr=8-1&keywords=the+beginner%27s+guide+to+spiritual+gifts