The Israelis Get It
Jul 2, 2021 14:57:34 #
The Israelis Get It
Jim Fletcher
I was interviewed a couple weeks ago by a reporter with the Jewish News Syndicate, about recent polls that indicate evangelical Millennials are turning away from Israel.
Duh. I’ve been saying this for 10 years. Although I respect a number of pro Israel Christian organizations, a number of them seem to have not wanted to address this. At least not in the way I think it needs to be done, which is to say “outing” evangelical leaders embracing the Palestinian Narrative. When you confront someone like this, it is a person from your own neighborhood and community. And if you are prominent at all in evangelical circles, it can hurt your bottom-line, because at some level, cross-promotion is a thing.
Think a prominent Christian head of a pro Israel organization that also is a best-selling author and speaker. Is that person likely to confront the pro Palestinians within evangelicalism? Not bloody likely. It would be as likely as Charles Stanley admonishing his son publicly for his outrageous comments about the Bible. It just isn’t done in polite company.
If you had decided to expose Bill and Lynne Hybels’ pro Palestinian bent a decade or more ago, you would have run afoul of the vast Willow Creek network. Likewise, if you challenge Rick Warren’s dissing of Bible prophecy study, you are poking the eye of a media giant. In many cases, The Purpose Driven Life replaced actual Bible study in Southern Baptist churches. Think I’m wrong? Investigate the vast sums Zondervan Publishing put into shoving this book down the throats of SBC churches. It made Warren a multi-millionaire, among other things, and helped cement his reputation as a Church Growth Movement expert.
For so many reasons, a downturn in support for Israel in churches escalated some years ago. That’s why the recent polling data has alarmed so many people. But I’ve been contacted by a few Israelis this week and they understand it very well. Ironically, better than many American evangelical leaders.
Even with the departure (for now) of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israelis will not top cultivating relationships with Christians. They are smart to do so. If such cultivation is not maintained, it will increase the slide away from the Jewish state. From the article:
“A recent poll commissioned by two University of North Carolina at Pembroke professors—Mordechai Inbari and Kirill Bumin—showing a sharp drop in support for Israel among the younger set has raised some eyebrows.
“It found that young evangelical support for Israel had plunged to 33.6 percent from 69 percent in a 2018 poll. Those supporting the Palestinian side rose to 24.3 percent, up from 6 percent in 2018. Those supporting neither side stood at 42.2 percent.
“The poll focused on evangelicals ages 18 to 29, and was conducted between March 22 and April 2 by the Barna Group, a polling and research firm focusing on issues of faith and culture.”
Interestingly, the Barna Group is well-known among evangelicals. Awhile back, George Barna stepped away from the operation and Dave Kinnaman became president.
You should know that among Barna’s prominent clients are World Vision and Habitat for Humanity. Kinnaman himself is comfortable in what I could call center-left circles within evangelicalism.
World Vision issued a report some years ago that softened the role of Hamas in conflicts with Israel. Habitat for Humanity of course is Jimmy Carter’s endeavor and a bigger anti-Semite you’d be pressed to find.
My point is, I’m sure Barna’s polling about Israel is accurate, but they are part of the community that likes the Palestinians and the Israelis…not so much.
I know there are committed churches out there that love Israel. I know there are pastors and individual congregants that passionately love the Jewish people. But those voices aren’t heard as much as the voices of the Warrens of the world.
We must band together and get serious about Israel support in this country. The numbers don’t lie. The love of the younger generation for Israel is growing cold.
Night is approaching.
Jim Fletcher
I was interviewed a couple weeks ago by a reporter with the Jewish News Syndicate, about recent polls that indicate evangelical Millennials are turning away from Israel.
Duh. I’ve been saying this for 10 years. Although I respect a number of pro Israel Christian organizations, a number of them seem to have not wanted to address this. At least not in the way I think it needs to be done, which is to say “outing” evangelical leaders embracing the Palestinian Narrative. When you confront someone like this, it is a person from your own neighborhood and community. And if you are prominent at all in evangelical circles, it can hurt your bottom-line, because at some level, cross-promotion is a thing.
Think a prominent Christian head of a pro Israel organization that also is a best-selling author and speaker. Is that person likely to confront the pro Palestinians within evangelicalism? Not bloody likely. It would be as likely as Charles Stanley admonishing his son publicly for his outrageous comments about the Bible. It just isn’t done in polite company.
If you had decided to expose Bill and Lynne Hybels’ pro Palestinian bent a decade or more ago, you would have run afoul of the vast Willow Creek network. Likewise, if you challenge Rick Warren’s dissing of Bible prophecy study, you are poking the eye of a media giant. In many cases, The Purpose Driven Life replaced actual Bible study in Southern Baptist churches. Think I’m wrong? Investigate the vast sums Zondervan Publishing put into shoving this book down the throats of SBC churches. It made Warren a multi-millionaire, among other things, and helped cement his reputation as a Church Growth Movement expert.
For so many reasons, a downturn in support for Israel in churches escalated some years ago. That’s why the recent polling data has alarmed so many people. But I’ve been contacted by a few Israelis this week and they understand it very well. Ironically, better than many American evangelical leaders.
Even with the departure (for now) of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israelis will not top cultivating relationships with Christians. They are smart to do so. If such cultivation is not maintained, it will increase the slide away from the Jewish state. From the article:
“A recent poll commissioned by two University of North Carolina at Pembroke professors—Mordechai Inbari and Kirill Bumin—showing a sharp drop in support for Israel among the younger set has raised some eyebrows.
“It found that young evangelical support for Israel had plunged to 33.6 percent from 69 percent in a 2018 poll. Those supporting the Palestinian side rose to 24.3 percent, up from 6 percent in 2018. Those supporting neither side stood at 42.2 percent.
“The poll focused on evangelicals ages 18 to 29, and was conducted between March 22 and April 2 by the Barna Group, a polling and research firm focusing on issues of faith and culture.”
Interestingly, the Barna Group is well-known among evangelicals. Awhile back, George Barna stepped away from the operation and Dave Kinnaman became president.
You should know that among Barna’s prominent clients are World Vision and Habitat for Humanity. Kinnaman himself is comfortable in what I could call center-left circles within evangelicalism.
World Vision issued a report some years ago that softened the role of Hamas in conflicts with Israel. Habitat for Humanity of course is Jimmy Carter’s endeavor and a bigger anti-Semite you’d be pressed to find.
My point is, I’m sure Barna’s polling about Israel is accurate, but they are part of the community that likes the Palestinians and the Israelis…not so much.
I know there are committed churches out there that love Israel. I know there are pastors and individual congregants that passionately love the Jewish people. But those voices aren’t heard as much as the voices of the Warrens of the world.
We must band together and get serious about Israel support in this country. The numbers don’t lie. The love of the younger generation for Israel is growing cold.
Night is approaching.
Jul 3, 2021 12:13:26 #
Parky60 wrote:
b The Israelis Get It /b br i Jim Fletcher /i ... (show quote)
Perhaps they're just fed up with Israel's crimes and realize it's not an either or situation...
Jul 3, 2021 13:35:29 #
Canuckus Deploracus wrote:
Perhaps they're just fed up with Israel's crimes and realize it's not an either or situation...
So it's a crime to occupy your own land?
Jul 3, 2021 18:51:20 #
Canuckus, I must assume you speak from selective ignorance.
It IS an either/or situation... because the conversation is not about a poll among the spiritually unredeemed, or even the so-called spiritually illiterate.
Milleniums ago, God decreed it an either/or situation in His Holy word.
The poll was taken among those professing a Biblical faith, a Biblical belief.
The Bible which expresses God's will and purpose for mankind, for the church of Jesus Christ, and for the Jewish people in the land of Israel, has not changed.
God has not changed in His love and purpose for the Jewish people.
He has in no way relinquished His eternal promise to Abraham, specifically through Abraham's grandson, Jacob,
that Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) would eternally belong to Jacob's progeny.
Israel, in its laws and in its actions, is the most humane country on the face of the earth, and it is the most misunderstood country on earth.
Israel is the most unique in terms of its history, its founding, and its place in time and space.
Some 3,500 years ago, God promised to give the land to the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Jewish people as an eternal possession. The promise was unconditional. God confirmed it at least 55 times with an oath and stated at least 12 times that the covenant was everlasting.
Scripture indicates that the boundaries of the Promised Land are as follows:
From the Red Sea, in the region of Eilat today, to the Sea of the Philistines - the Mediterranean Sea near Gaza. This southern line was to a point called the River of Egypt, or the wadi of Egypt (which was certainly not the Nile River) on the Great Sea – another name for the Mediterranean. [Exodus 23:31; Ezekiel 47:19; Genesis 15:18]
Archeologists have found a treasure trove of remains and artifacts in Jerusalem associated with the first Temple, including a 2,600-year-old seal called a bulla with the Hebrew name, ‘Natan-Melech, Eved Ha’Melech,’ a name that is recorded in the 2nd book of Kings.
In that book of 2nd Kings, there is ancient drama, relating historical power struggles, wars, torrid sex, and bloodshed, for a Jewish state existed as the United Israelite Monarchy ca 3,000 years ago before separating into the two separate Jewish states of Israel (the northern kingdom), and Judea (the southern kingdom). These ancient events occured on the exact same land that sovereign Israel possesses today, but there is additional land promised them by God, but not yet in their possession, which will be theirs soon.
Those who claim to be redeemed members of the Bible believing body of Christ are without excuse for not knowing this truth.
THE WORD OF THE LORD:
Isaiah 41:20
"That they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it."
2 Chronicles 6:6"
"but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel."
Deuteronomy 7:7
"The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples,"
Jeremiah 31:31
"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,"
Jeremiah 33:7
"I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first."
Romans 11:26
"and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
'The Deliverer will come from Zion,
He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.'"
Isaiah 45:17
"Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an everlasting salvation;
You will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity."
Psalm 147:2
"The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers the outcasts of Israel."
Jeremiah 31:37
"Thus says the Lord,
'If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,' declares the Lord."
Amos 9:15
"'I will also plant them on their land,
And they will not again be rooted out from their land
Which I have given them,'
Says the Lord your God."
It IS an either/or situation... because the conversation is not about a poll among the spiritually unredeemed, or even the so-called spiritually illiterate.
Milleniums ago, God decreed it an either/or situation in His Holy word.
The poll was taken among those professing a Biblical faith, a Biblical belief.
The Bible which expresses God's will and purpose for mankind, for the church of Jesus Christ, and for the Jewish people in the land of Israel, has not changed.
God has not changed in His love and purpose for the Jewish people.
He has in no way relinquished His eternal promise to Abraham, specifically through Abraham's grandson, Jacob,
that Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) would eternally belong to Jacob's progeny.
Israel, in its laws and in its actions, is the most humane country on the face of the earth, and it is the most misunderstood country on earth.
Israel is the most unique in terms of its history, its founding, and its place in time and space.
Some 3,500 years ago, God promised to give the land to the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Jewish people as an eternal possession. The promise was unconditional. God confirmed it at least 55 times with an oath and stated at least 12 times that the covenant was everlasting.
Scripture indicates that the boundaries of the Promised Land are as follows:
From the Red Sea, in the region of Eilat today, to the Sea of the Philistines - the Mediterranean Sea near Gaza. This southern line was to a point called the River of Egypt, or the wadi of Egypt (which was certainly not the Nile River) on the Great Sea – another name for the Mediterranean. [Exodus 23:31; Ezekiel 47:19; Genesis 15:18]
Archeologists have found a treasure trove of remains and artifacts in Jerusalem associated with the first Temple, including a 2,600-year-old seal called a bulla with the Hebrew name, ‘Natan-Melech, Eved Ha’Melech,’ a name that is recorded in the 2nd book of Kings.
In that book of 2nd Kings, there is ancient drama, relating historical power struggles, wars, torrid sex, and bloodshed, for a Jewish state existed as the United Israelite Monarchy ca 3,000 years ago before separating into the two separate Jewish states of Israel (the northern kingdom), and Judea (the southern kingdom). These ancient events occured on the exact same land that sovereign Israel possesses today, but there is additional land promised them by God, but not yet in their possession, which will be theirs soon.
Those who claim to be redeemed members of the Bible believing body of Christ are without excuse for not knowing this truth.
THE WORD OF THE LORD:
Isaiah 41:20
"That they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it."
2 Chronicles 6:6"
"but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel."
Deuteronomy 7:7
"The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples,"
Jeremiah 31:31
"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,"
Jeremiah 33:7
"I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first."
Romans 11:26
"and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
'The Deliverer will come from Zion,
He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.'"
Isaiah 45:17
"Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an everlasting salvation;
You will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity."
Psalm 147:2
"The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers the outcasts of Israel."
Jeremiah 31:37
"Thus says the Lord,
'If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,' declares the Lord."
Amos 9:15
"'I will also plant them on their land,
And they will not again be rooted out from their land
Which I have given them,'
Says the Lord your God."
Canuckus Deploracus wrote:
Perhaps they're just fed up with Israel's crimes and realize it's not an either or situation...
Israel will soon possess all the land God promised.
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