Category Archives: Holocaust/Antisemitism

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Truth Must Prevail: An Arab Christian Sets the Record Straight

Breaking My Silence: An Arab Christian Speaks Out

Yesterday we focused on God’s grace in bringing an Iranian Muslim to saving faith in Jesus.  The power of Jesus Christ is also alive in the life of an Arab Israeli determined to spread truth.  His name is Yoseph Haddad, and he needs our prayers this week!

There are movements across American college campuses and elsewhere to promote anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism.  The BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) Movement is most prominent, as attempts are made to isolate Israel.  However, movements such as Breaking the Silence are spreading blatant lies about Israel in general, and specifically the IDF, and they are converging on Harvard University this coming week.

In the midst of it all, an Arab Israeli Christian is setting the record straight!  An IDF veteran who fought in the Second Intifada and the Second Lebanon War, sustaining life-threatening injuries, Yoseph is breaking his silence!  He, too, will speak at Harvard this week.

Read Breaking My Silence: An Arab Christian Speaks Out.  (You can also see an interview with him on Israeli TV here.)  More importantly, please pray for Yoseph Haddad as he speaks truth on one of America’s most prestigious universities this week.  Ask the Lord to fill the venue, and for Yoseph’s message to go out clear and strong.  May this man bring glory to God as he speaks the truth in a very secular setting.

I’m praying….will you join me?

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“We are All Jews Here!”

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Master Sgt Roddie Edmonds – Righteous Among the Nations

In December 2015 I attended a Christian Leaders Seminar at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and Research Center in Jerusalem.  In my class was a pastor from Tennessee named Chris Edmonds,  and little did we know what excitement we would experience over the course of those 8 days at Yad Vashem.

We learned early on that Chris’ dad, Master Sgt Roddie Edmonds, had saved the lives of over 200 Jewish-American soldiers in WW2, and that Yad Vashem was nearing completion of the long process of confirming those facts.  While in class one day, word came that it was official: Master Sgt Roddie Edmonds was posthumously designated by Yad Vashem as “Righteous Among the Nations,” Israel’s highest honor given to non-Jews who risked their own lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

The media circus started that day, as Edmonds became one of only a very few Americans to be so honored by Yad Vashem.  Chris was immediately bombarded by media requests, the honoring ceremony happened on January 27 (Holocaust Remembrance Day) in 2016, Chris was invited to share his dad’s story at AIPAC 2016, and attempts to garner a Congressional Medal of Honor ensued.  Most recently, a movie has been produced about Edmonds’ heroism.  Indeed, it is a very fascinating story.

AISH.com just released the 2-minute version (below) of the story.  Click the links above to hear more of the fascinating story!  (My favorite is the AIPAC 2016 video!)  Enjoy!

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“Saturday People, Sunday People”: A Look at the Islamic Agenda

Image result for saturday people sunday peopleLela Gilbert went to Israel for a visit…and stayed for 6 years.  Her fascination with the land and with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic conflict led to her recently released book, Saturday People, Sunday People.

The premise is one I wrote about in 2015 (When Saturday is Gone, One will find Sunday), and it goes like this: the Islamic agenda is to wipe out Jews (“Saturday people”) first, then Christians (“Sunday people”).  Indeed, we are seeing that agenda push forward as radicals take aim at destroying both Judaism and Christianity in efforts to spread Islam.

Lela Gilbert sat down for an interview with CBN in Jerusalem, and you can find that interesting 6-minute interview at Islamist Assault: ‘Saturday Kill Jews, Sunday Kill Christians.’

Take a few minutes to watch, then pray for persecuted Jews and Christians throughout the Middle East.

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Reflection on Israel’s Role

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Welcome back to the study table, friends.  This week’s focus is the parting of ways of Jewish and Gentile believers, and yesterday we ended our session with a list of ways this has played out over the years.  The Jewish people (both believing and unbelieving) experienced great persecution through major world events such as the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Reformation and the Holocaust…all in the name of Christianity.

Is it any wonder, then, that a chasm in relationship occurred between Jews and Gentiles?

Over centuries, the split led to Judaism without the Messiah and Christianity without Jewish roots.  What a sad result.  However, what amazing wisdom God provided Paul in writing Romans 9-11, the blueprint for reconciliation.  I wonder if Paul knew how greatly it would be needed in the 20th and 21st centuries!

But, let’s turn our focus back to Israel for today, and let’s review some key points we have already talked about in this study:

  • Israel was chosen by God for a specific purpose.  Do you remember what it is?  To be the vehicle of world redemption.  Genesis 12:3c  (The blessing is salvation!)
  • God’s covenant with Abraham was an everlasting covenant, promising land and descendants.
  • Vultures will attack!  (If you don’t know what that’s all about, check out The Suffering Call.)  Spiritual battle rages over Israel.
  • God guarantees Israel’s survival!  God’s promise to Abraham was an everlasting promise.  Therefore, if God’s promise to Israel fails, God fails.  Impossible!

But now an interesting question: are God’s promises conditional or unconditional?  In our live class on Sunday morning, the best answer was: “It depends on which promise!”  Indeed, it does!  God put Abraham to sleep to make covenant with him.  Thus, God depended upon Abraham for nothing.  That is unconditional.

However, in other places, God’s promises are conditional.  While land and descendants are non-negotiable, Israel’s blessings are fully conditional!  Need to see it with your own eyes?  Read Deuteronomy 29:10-13, 26-28.  There, we find God drawing the Israelites into covenant with him (verses 10-13), yet making it very conditional upon their faithfulness to God (verses 26-28).

God often demonstrated it in Scripture, such as in Isaiah 11:11-12 where He talked about regathering His people a “second time” (meaning, there was also a first time)!  Twice He allowed Israel to go into captivity (to Babylon in the 6th century BC, to the 4 corners of the world in 70 AD), yet twice He brought them out!  (I have never found anything about a third exile and return.  Thus, if Israel is disobedient now, I believe God will do a new thing…He will save His people!)

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 sums it up nicely as God lays out two options for His people: blessings or curses.  Life or death.  They may have either, and they get to choose by the way they honor God!

Tomorrow we’ll continue our focus on Israel as we talk about four Biblical principles concerning God’s dealing with Israel and the nations.  What does God have to say about choosing blessings or curses, life or death?  We’ll dive into it tomorrow, so check back then!