An Open Letter to Messianic Jewish Leaders and Congregants

I've never written a letter like this, but I believe this correspondence is a dire necessity.

I've been involved in the messianic movement since the early 70s. I've served as a messianic pastor for over twenty five years, founded and headed a messianic organization and written numerous articles and blogs on the messianic movement.  I've happily observed the messianic movement grow - sometimes to the joy of the evangelical church and other times to their chagrin.

Throughout the years I noticed the messianic movement split into two entities:  the messianic congregational wing and the "missionary" model perpetrated by Chosen People Ministries, Jews for Jesus and other lesser known organizations.  In light of this duality within the messianic movement we ended up with one segment distancing itself from the evangelical church while the other side remained within the churches to collect contributions to help further their efforts to bringing the gospel to Jewish people.

The bottom line is that the messianic movement has not had the best relationship with the evangelical church.  In the midst of this messianic two-headed whatchamacallit , the Christian Zionist movement grew its own head, wanting nothing to do with messianic Jews but instead reaching out to the Jewish community with their overwhelming love for the people and land of Israel.  Of course, many of our Christian Zionist brothers and sisters keep the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation "to the Jew first" hidden behind their backs to make their Jewish guests and dignitaries feel comfortable.

This synopsis of the messianic movement and the growing Christian Zionist community forms a necessary background to what I want to say.

Brothers and sisters -Jews and Gentile followers of Yeshua - we are in the midst of a full on effort by many of our evangelical brothers and sisters to bring an anti-Israel message into the evangelical church.
This "Evangelical Intifada" has crept into the church through several major avenues:



*Theological anti-Israel thought.  Some of us are familiar with NT Wheaton professor Gary Burge and his well known publication Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians in which he claims modern Israel has no right to the land today.  In a September 17, 2011 article by CAMERA writer Dexter Van Zile, a strong proponent of Israel, quotes Burge:

More ominously, under Rev. Dr. Burge’s scriptural analysis, Jews who reject Christ have forfeited their land and risk their lives by attempting to live in it. For example, on page 176, Rev. Dr. Burge interprets John 15:6 as follows: “The people of Israel cannot claim to be planted as vines in the land; they cannot be rooted in the vineyard unless first they are grafted into Jesus. Branches that attempt living in the land, the vineyard, which refuse to be attached to Jesus will be cast out and burned.Clearly, under Rev. Dr. Burge’s analysis, Jews living in Israel are transgressing limits set for them by the New Testament. 

Another anti-Israel theologian is Vicar Stephen Sizer from the UK, whose writings attack Christian Zionism and Israel in favor of the Palestinians. Sizer is not only an author but an activist who has shared podiums with Holocaust deniers, pro-Hamas advocates and has spoken his anti-Israel messages in Iran.

What these evangelical theologians have in common is their dedication to use both Old and NewTestaments to demonstrate God's covenant with the Jewish people promising them the land of Israel through Abraham is discontinued and now the Lord's only covenant is with the church. Therefore, there is nothing divine about the Jewish people having returned to the land of Israel and establishing a Jewish homeland. God's only relationship with Israel is for them to accept Jesus and become Christians.

*Political anti-Israel thought. The list is rather long when it comes to the political efforts put forth by these evangelicals to support Palestinians, point out Israel's so-called injustices towards the people in the Palestinian territories, attack Israeli government policies in dealing with the terrorist threat, fail to denounce anti-Semitic rhetoric broadcasted by Hamas and Fatah and argue to discredit the validity of a "Jewish" state. I cannot do this aspect of the "Evangelical Intifada" justice.

These Christian political activists include Palestinian Christian as well as American evangelicals like Lynne Hybels, wife of mega church pastor Bill Hybels; Sami Awad, a Palestinian Christian who advocates a non-violent approach in dealing with Israeli soldiers through his organization Holy Land Trust yet his tweets point to the fact he does not support a Jewish state and British journalist anti-Zionist polemicist Ben White who is quick to label Israel as an apartheid state as he does in his book Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide (for a great response to White click here).

You can tell I've quite a list that includes organizations that claim to be dedicated to peace and non-violence yet they send out daily blurbs through tweets, Facebook posts and blogs in which they do nothing but attack Israel and try to convince evangelical Christians to not support Israel. It is only a matter of time before these anti-Zionist Christians start calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. In a recent published set of seven evangelical affirmations from the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference at Bethlehem Bible College in March 2012, the seventh affirmation reads,

The Bible teaches us to pray for all in political authority. We are called to obey them, whether they are Israeli or Palestinian, as an expression of our faith in God’s sovereign rule. We are also called to be a prophetic voice, challenging injustice creatively and non-violently.

This statement clearly sets the groundwork for BDS on the part of evangelicals spearheaded by anti-Zionist evangelicals. An affirmation like this makes one wonder whether the drafters of these affirmations will ever call for boycotts against Fatah and Hamas for their terrorist attacks on Israelis.

One more examination of these affirmations will suffice. Affirmation number 6 states:

Messianic Jews are the brothers and sisters of all who follow Jesus or Yeshua. We are one family bound together in a fellowship of love. Although diversity in political opinions as well as theological emphasis inevitably exist, we refuse to allow these views to hinder our fellowship in Jesus. Messianic Jews are welcome to attend the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference as long as we can set aside our "political opinions" aka Zionism. If that is true, then why are the conference speakers allowed to speak against Christian Zionism, the Israeli aspirations for a Jewish homeland and Israel's policies towards protecting the citizens of Israel -Jewish and Arabs- against Palestinian terrorist attempts. This sixth affirmation is a call for Messianic Jews to set aside our Zionistic commitment. Yet once the CATC is over, our pro-Palestinian brothers and sisters will spread out over the globe to broadcast their anti-Israel propaganda messages. *Anti-Israel propaganda films are also being shown in churches, Bible Study groups and Christian colleges across America: Little Town of Bethlehem, featuring Sami Awad and Porter Speakman's With God on Our Side. Both films are filled with historical inaccuracies regarding the Middle East conflict, erroneous analogies comparing the Palestinian Intifada with the Civil Rights Movement in America and ignoring Islamic Palestinian terrorism aimed at Israel. Both of these films are produced with the greatest of quality but filled with the lowest of bias against Israel. When these films are shown, a panel usually follows for the sake of discussion. The two that I am aware of did not include on the panel a pro-Zionist expert. Thank the Lord we do have several websites that address the anti-Israel evangelical crowd and we should be familiar with them: HurryUpHarry, ElderofZiyon, MEMRI, SeismicShock, RoshPinaProject CAMERA, ThinkingOutsidetheBlog and many others. In light of what I've shared, ask yourself, "Can the messianic movement afford to stay away from confronting these books, individuals, blogs, articles, tweets, films and lectures by anti-Israel Christians committed to the Evangelical Intifada?" It is time for the messianic movement to end the separatism that exists between the church and messianic congregations and come alongside our Christian brothers and sisters to unmask the deception being hoisted upon them by anti-Israel evangelical proponents. Organizations already in churches presenting "Christ in the Passover" or "Israel in Prophecy" need to switch gears and go beyond prophetic messages to tickle the ears of Christians and present substantive responses to the anti-Israel advocates. I call on messianic leaders and congregants to join in this effort to not sit still while Christians once again present an anti-Jewish message from within the ranks of Christendom. This is not new to us as Jews. Christianity has presented an anti-Semitic message from the early church fathers, has purged the Holy Land of Jews during the Crusades, tortured our ancestors during the Inquisitions, preached replacement theology in modern times and now has crafted an anti-Zionist theology to once again alienate Jewish people from their own Messiah and Redeemer, Yeshua. Messianic leaders, I encourage heads of organizations to start meeting and compose plans to deal with the Evangelical Intifada. Dialogue with anti-Israel theologians at Christ at the Checkpoint may be advantageous for a few days, but the Christians messianic Jews dialogue with at CATC are activists not merely theologians. They are on the internet day and night sending out their destructive missiles to convince the church to turn its back on Israel. I am willing to work with any group to do what I can to help any effort to form a serious, relentless confrontation using scholarly materials to usurp the falsehoods being foisted by the Evangelical Intifada on unsuspecting Christians. I close with one more example. In light of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in 2017 a new website has been launched as a 5 year project. The goal of the project is to "promote a series of international conferences and cultural exchanges to enable participants to engage with empathy those who have been negatively impacted by the Balfour Declaration.” From Stephen Sizer's website it is clear from his own words that he is instrumental in the launching of this five-year project. I strongly doubt if Sizer and his cohorts will give a fair presentation of Israel's side regarding the Balfour Declaration or for that matter anything that occurred after the issuing of that document and the ensuring establishment of the State of Israel. Can we as messianic Jews afford to be silent while these events take place? Haven't we had enough silence when the church remained closed mouthed as our grandparents and great-grandparents were demonized by Hitler and his twisted theologians. I do not want to compare what is taking place today to the Holocaust and thereby trivializing the Shoah. However I do want to impress upon my readers the seriousness of sitting by and doing nothing while the church is once again duped by theologians with an agenda to place all the blame of the Middle East conflict on the Jews and to paint the Israelis as evil oppressors trampling the underdog Palestinians. Sadly, Christians fall for these kinds of comparisons and images. I trust this time we are wiser and that we will heed the call to activism. In the Messiah's grace, Louis Lapides

An Open Letter to Messianic Jewish Leaders and Congregants

Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 Conference Attempts Sounding Evangelical

Recently, according to Stephen Sizer, Vicar of Christ Church in the UK, the 2012 Evangelical Affirmations for the Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 Conference have been agreed upon and published. Sizer, an outspoken critic of Israel and Christian Zionism, according to his own words, is among the authors of this affirmation.

Last years drafters of the 2011 Affirmations included Paul Alexander, Christine M. Anderson, Brother Andrew, Alex Awad, Bishara Awad, Mubarak Awad, Sami Awad, Gary Burge, Tony Campolo, Steven Haas, Lynne Hybels, Manfred Kohl, Jonathan Kuttab, Paul Johnson, Salim Munayer, Stephen Sizer and producer Porter Speakman, Jr.

The affirmations for this coming year are intended to reflect the views and hopes of the organizers of the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference to be held at Bethlehem Bible College in Bethlehem March 5-9.  The participants in the conference include Palestinian Christians, messianic Jews and an assortment of evangelical speakers and writers.

These affirmations state, "As Palestinian Evangelical Christians at Bethlehem Bible College, we seek to learn, through following the example of the life and teachings of Jesus, how to honor Christ and how to honor Palestinians and Israeli Jews, by accepting them as two peoples who have the right to live in justice, peace, security and dignity."

Yet as we read through the affirmations, it is clear only one entity is to blame for the Middle East crisis and it's not the Palestinians.

Here is the text of the Christ at the Checkpoint Affirmations from their website with my comments included.

Affirmation #1: Israelis and Palestinians

We affirm that all people are created in the image of God. In turn we are called to honor the dignity of every human being and to respect their inalienable rights. We affirm that Jews and Palestinians are loved by God and capable of living together within peace, justice and security. This is God’s view toward all of humanity, residing in any political boundary and manifested through the mission of Jesus in bringing to everyone, “life to the full” (John 10:10).

Affirmation #2: Theology and Land
The New Testament clearly teaches that God continues to invite Jews and Arabs into His kingdom and in no way is finished with any people group. Further, Scripture speaks of Jesus as its ultimate fulfillment. For example, the need for animal sacrifices, Levitical priesthood, and expectation of a rebuilt Temple, find their ultimate fulfillment and completion in Jesus Christ.

I find Affirmation #2 to be written in a way that permits the leadership and participants in the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference to slip in their adherence to Replacement Theology. The second affirmation reads, "and in no way is finished with any people group."  

These words can be meant to say, "God is not finished with the Jewish people since He offers them salvation through their acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah."  However, the statement provides freedom to the conference participants to advocate that God is no longer committed to the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant which gives the people of Israel possession and ownership of the land of Israel.  

This covenant relationship does not eliminate the Palestinian from living in the land as over a million Arabs do today in Israel proper. However, to deny the continuance of the Abrahamic Covenant for the Jewish people today is a major bone of contention for theologians and individuals connected to the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference and the drafters of the 2011 Affirmations such as Gary Burge, Stephen Sizer and Sami Awad.  The fact the drafters of these affirmations skirt around God's continued covenant with Israel is obvious in their refusal to believe the God of Israel would allow a temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. 


Affirmation #3: The Palestinian-Israeli conflict

As followers of Jesus Christ we regret more than 60 years of conflict. We look forward to the time when the conflict will end and both peoples will enjoy genuine reconciliation. We commit ourselves to be peacemakers and to this ministry of reconciliation. As such we stand resolutely against all forms of violence and racism, regardless of the perpetrators.

Other than in words, where are any attempts on the part of Palestinian Christians to be peacemakers towards Israeli soldiers and citizens? To affirm this agreement we would need to see Palestinian Christians condemn the use of terrorism against Israelis by Palestinian Muslims.  

The terrorist Hamas group governing the Palestinian territories is committed to a doctrine in which they seek the destruction of the Jewish state and annihilation of the Jewish people.  Why aren't Palestinian Christians condemning Hamas? 

Instead, most of the Palestinian Christian groups in their literature and speeches place the responsibility of the Middle East conflict on Israel.  Having a conference where messianic Jews are invited to speak is a drop in the ocean when it comes to the reality of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Affirmation #4: The Second Coming of Christ

There are several views which Christ followers hold to explain the future. Rather than focus on the signs of the return of Christ, our reading of the New Testament indicates that our primary mandate is to proclaim the “Good News” to the entire world. 

Palestinian Christians and their supporters  do not want to focus on the Second Coming since the New Testament scriptures place the people of Israel on center stage of the events of the last days as seen in Matthew 24, Mark 14 and Luke 21.  Christ at the Checkpoint theologians do not want to consider Jesus as the Messiah of the Jewish people and returning to earth to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem to rule as the last Davidic King.  Then they would have to acknowledge the continuance of the Abrahamic covenant with the modern state of Israel.

Affirmation #5: Zionism

Modern Zionism is a political movement created to meet the aspirations of Jews around the world who longed for a homeland. It has become ethnocentric, privileging one people at the expense of others. Christianity calls believers in Jesus to focus on building God’s kingdom on earth.

It is interesting that a group consisting largely of Palestinian Christians seeks to define Zionism without consulting Jewish sources. Rather than being a "political movement . . . privileging one people at the expense of others", the Encyclopedia Britannica defines Zionism, 

Zionism is a movement of national liberation, seeking self-determination for the Jewish people within a sovereign Jewish nation located in their ancient homeland. Zionism is a direct continuation of the Biblical religious attachment of the Jews and Judaism to this specific historic holy land. Zionism is non-partisan, trans-denominational, and not related to the policies of any Israeli government.

Affirmation #6: Messianic Jews

Messianic Jews are the brothers and sisters of all who follow Jesus or Yeshua. We are one family bound together in a fellowship of love. Although diversity in political opinions as well as theological emphasis inevitably exist, we refuse to allow these views to hinder our fellowship in Jesus.

I find this affirmation hard to swallow. Vicar StephenSizer in a recent blog condemns the human rights violation by Israel towards Palestinians without placing any responsibility on Palestinian terrorists. I would have liked to see Sizer condemn the brutal attack on the Israeli family who had their throats cut in the middle of the night in the Ithamar back in March 2011. While they were sleeping Palestinian terrorists stole into the settlement, killing a husband and wife, and an 11-year-old, a 3-year-old and a baby girl. Where is Rev. Sizer's condemnation of such atrocities committed by Palestinians? 

Does Sizer think this affirmation is going to smooth over the differences between messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians? Does he think messianic Jews are going to sit by in silence while any Israeli retaliation to Palestinian acts of terrorism are condemned by Palestinian followers of Christ?  

In his blog Stephen Sizer quotes theologian John Stott who says of Zionism, "I myself believe that Zionism, both political and Christian, is incompatible with biblical truth." Sizer thinks he can embrace messianic Jews as brothers in the Lord while stabbing us in the back with his condemnation of Zionism - Christian and Jewish.  

Affirmation #7: Palestinian and Israeli Authority
The Bible teaches us to pray for all in political authority. We are called to obey them, whether they are Israeli or Palestinian, as an expression of our faith in God’s sovereign rule. We are also called to be a prophetic voice, challenging injustice creatively and non-violently.

As I stated above, I am waiting for a prophetic voice to come from the Palestinian Christians pointing out  the evils committed by their Palestinian brothers in their terrorist attacks on Israel and stop placing all the blame on the Israelis.  

Will Palestinian Christians obey Hamas in desiring the destruction of the Jewish state and the annihilation of the Jewish people in Israel?  I'm anxious to hear an affirmation from the Christ at the Checkpoint leadership in which they condemn the evil goals of their own government.  Until these affirmations are just empty words. 

Rather than seeking true  peace with Israel, many in the Palestinian leadership of the Christ at the Checkpoint are mostly dedicated to bringing young American evangelicals to live among Palestinian families to indoctrinate them against Israel, produce propaganda films such as With God on Our Side to show in evangelical churches to turn Christians against Israel and produce books that attack Christian Zionism and advocate replacement theology. 

Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 Conference Attempts Sounding Evangelical

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Arafat Attempted to Free Murderer of RFK

In 1994 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East".  However, let me share a little known fact about the PLO leader that deeply affects our country.

On June 5, 1968 Palestinian Christian Sirhan Sirhan shot and ended the life of democratic presidential hopeful Senator Robert F. Kennedy in the ballroom at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.

Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian-born Jordanian, opened fire with a .22-caliber revolver. Kennedy was hit three times and five other people also were wounded.

Sirhan was sentenced to life imprisonment and is currently serving his term in solitary confinement at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.

Let it not be forgotten that Sirhan shot RFK during the one year anniversary of the Six Day War involving the Arab nations of Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq against the nation of Israel. Due to his hatred of Israel and RFK's strong support of Israel, many historians have concluded Sirhan's motives are found in his anti-Israel sentiments.

What's most astounding is that according to Mel Ayton's book The Forgotten Terrorist, he records that in 1973 Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat and soon to be named Nobel Peace Prize winner, ordered the kidnapping of three American diplomats.  Arafat offered them in exchange for Sirhan, the murderer of a potential American president!

When President Nixon refused the offer, according to Ayton, the PLO leader ordered the diplomats be tortured and then murdered. During a private dinner with Romanian President Nicolai Ceausescu, Arafat took credit for the slayings of the three U.S. diplomats.

One cannot ignore Arafat's response to the cold blooded murder of pro-Israel presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, was to free the murderer. When his offer for a prisoner exchanged was refused by an American president, this "man of peace" murdered three of our diplomats.

The stance of the Palestinian Authority today has not changed since the days of Yassar Arafat.  Their stated goal is to deny the legitimacy and destruction of the Jewish state and to reject any diplomat's efforts to persuade the Palestinian governing authority to recognize the state of Israel.

As Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas plead this week before the U.N. for the acceptance of Palestinian statehood without the Palestinian recognition of the legitimacy of Israel, I could not erase the memory of the bloody roots of this would-be nation; a nation founded by a gun-toting terrorist, Yassar Arafat, and presently ruled in part by the terrorist regime of Israel-hating Hamas.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Arafat Attempted to Free Murderer of RFK

How are Christians Living in the Palestinian Territories Treated?

What about the fate of Christians living under the rule of the Palestinian Authority?

At a 2009 Vineyard National Leadership Conference in Galveston, Texas, Palestinian Christian Sami Awad, founder of the Holy Land Trust told his evangelical audience the Christian population in the Palestinian territories is shrinking. 

In the area governed by the PA, 27,000 Christians live among 3 million Muslims. Mitchell Bard in his book Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict, agrees with Sami Awad that the "proportion of Christians in the Palestinian territories has dropped from 15 percent of the Arab population in 1950 to less than 1 percent today."

Sami Awad, in his Vineyard speech did not qualify why the Palestinian Christian population is dwindling.  He leaves his hearers with the implication the Israeli soldiers bear the brunt of the blame.

Sami seems to forget that when Muslim authorities have control in whatever Arab country they reside, Christians do not always fair well. So tell me, Sami, how is it the Christian population in Israel proper is growing if the "Israelis are to blame for the shrinking Palestinian Christian population?" 

The Christian population declined 29 percent in the West Bank and 20 percent in the Gaza Strip from 1997. Does it have anything to do with the fact Christians are generally unwelcome in Arab countries dominated by Muslims.  Even today Islamic extremists are burning Coptic churches in Egypt as a sign of their disgust towards Christianity.

A 2004 NY Times article reported how Palestinian Christians were leaving Bethlehem and other historically Christian towns in the West Bank. Unsurprisingly, the article pinned the blame for the Christian exodus on the Israelis:

Four years of violence, an economic free fall and the Israeli separation barrier have all contributed to the hardships facing Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem, one of the largest concentrations of Christians in the region.

The Times piece failed to give the real reason for the Christian migration - official and unofficial Muslim discrimination against Arab Christians, amid a rising tide of Islamism in the Palestinian territories. Sure, it's possible the economic problems in the West Bank and the Israeli security wall  have contributed to Christians leaving the Palestinian territories. Yet it must be noted the Christian population is dwindling in the rest of the  Islamic world as well.

Like Sami Awad the NY Times article did not mention the Christian population within Israel's borders is growing. In the period 1995 – 2003 Israel’s Arab Christian population grew from 101,400 to 115,700, a growth rate of 14.1 percent.  Today there are 145,000 followers of Christ living in Israel!

Sticking out like a sore thumb Palestinian Christians like Sami Awad do not want to treat is the fact Palestinian Christians are the victims of Islamic violence in the PA.  A 2002 Boston Globe article underscored the fact Christians in the Palestinian territories are not safe:

... details were emerging of a rampage of Palestinian Muslims against Christian shops and churches in Ramallah after a road-rage slaying last Thursday. 

... police made no attempt to stop the mob, which besieged and damaged a widely respected youth center associated with the Boy Scouts of America after torching the Christian properties. Palestinian police and security agencies finally stepped in when the rioters moved on local churches. 

... "The truth is this is a problem between Christians and Muslims," said one Christian businessman. "There is no security for us. Everyone is taking the law in his own hands. 

... "This [accused] man's brother, they burned his house, his shops, his cars, and the police of Ramallah stood by and watched. This is the democracy of Palestine?" .. "The chief of security at Kalandia was in charge of this rampage," said a Muslim shopkeeper. "The mayor of Ramallah came, saw what was happening, and withdrew. I am a Muslim, but I condemn this. These are savage people." 

"We do not have democracy; we do not have security," he said. "The fault is with our leaders and our society. We need to clean up our society."

Additional information on how Palestiniann Christians are treated in Palestinian controlled areas is found in a report compiled by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs written by David Raab entitled The Beleaguered Christians of Palestine Controlled Areas.

Sami Awad must be asleep when he points his finger at Israelis for causing the migration of Palestinian Christians from the territories. Awad has a lot of explaining to do when he trashes the Israeli military for treating his people so poorly when Palestinian Muslim vigilantes are taking the law into their own hands and heaping havoc on the Christians.  Sami would rather make the IDF the culprit for their problems since they are an easier target.  Do you blame him?

Knowing this information, we see how bad Palestinian Christians look when they attempt to pin all the blame for their problems on the Israelis. They are even willing to buy into the thinking that says the Palestinians are victims of the Jewish state "much like Jesus Himself."
 Even PLO leader Yasser Arafat tried to do a makeover on the historical Jesus to transform Him into the first radical Palestinian armed freedom fighter or fedayeen.

Today Bethlehem Bible College is calling their 2012 conference Christ at the Checkpoint: Hope in the Midst of Conflict. The name of the conference Christ at the Checkpoint depicts the Jewish Jesus as a Palestinian under scrutiny at an Israeli IDF checkpoint.  How absurd! Jesus was never scrutinized by military authorities in his day for carrying weapons or having a bomb strapped to His back. What a slap in the face to Christianity and the biblical significance of Christ.

Don't forget the official religion of the PA is Islam.  The PA has not stopped Islamic clerics giving speeches in mosques in the Palestinian territory in which they brand Christians (and Jews) as infidels. What comfort does a Palestinian Christian have listening to the violent military Islamic rhetoric and actions of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbolleh?

I doubt if Sami Awad would go around to pastors conferences in the U.S. complaining about the Muslim's treatment of Palestinian Christians for fear of retaliation.  Mum is the word for Sami when it comes to the harassment Palestinian Christians experience from the Isalmic thugs who plunder the property of Christians under the watchful eye of the PA (Maariv, 12/24/01). 

Sami failed to tell his gullible Christian audience that when the Palestinian War started in 2000 Palestinian Muslims attacked Palestinian Christians in Gaza. Many Muslims at that time viewed the Palestinian Christians as a fifth column for Israel.  Christians are not treated so great in Palestine - a fact Sami Awad does not want to speak of lest he stir American Christian animosity towards Muslims.  

Why didn't Awad speak of the anti-Christian graffiti found in Bethlehem claiming, "First the Saturday people (the Jews) then the Sunday people (Christians)." Christian cemeteries have been defaced, monasteries have had their phone lines cut and break-ins at convents have occurred in the PA territories. Palestinians Christians live under pressure from Islamic extremists to swear loyalty to the PA and to support the attacks against Israel.  

Awad preaches to the Vineyard crowd that as a Christian he is to "love his enemies", the Israeli soldiers.  He never actually tells how he shows love to Israeli soldiers patrolling in the Palestinian territories.  In light of the injustices shown by Muslims towards Christians, Sami and the non-violent evangelicals need to show the love to the radicals in his own Islamic backyard of three million Palestinian Muslims. 

Perhaps the reason why Sami Awad does not speak out against mistreatment committed by Islamic activists against Christians is that he does not possess the freedom to do so? Sami and his Palestinian Christian brothers do not enjoy the freedom enjoyed by Christians who live in Israel and therein lies the great contradiction fostered by those like Lynne Hybels, Dr. Gary Burge, Colin Chapman, Don Wagner and so many other evangelicals who foster theological hostility towards Israel.  

How are Christians Living in the Palestinian Territories Treated?

Are Evangelicals Pulling The Plug on Supporting Israel?

Ever since I've been a follower of Jesus, life has been one long battle in standing for the truth. Over the years I've stopped trying to end the combative lifestyle I find myself in and have accepted the fact conflict comes with the territory of defending God's word against those who would try to corrupt it and deny its truths.

In my 20s  I enrolled in Dallas Baptist University as a religion major,  There I discovered my professors were all replacement theologians who believed the Church had replaced Israel and now all the promises made to Israel in the Jewish Scriptures are fulfilled in the Body of Christ.

I was confused, angry and felt as a Jewish person I had been duped into believing in a faith that caused me to mistrust God's word and those who interpreted it. How could God promise Abraham a geographical territory known as Israel, but later on reveal that His land promise was not to be taken seriously? Now the land of Israel, as I was taught, has been replaced with heaven, the true territorial goal of the Christian.

For the next few years I familiarized myself with books written by Covenant and Reformed theologians, amillennialists, post-millennialists and historic pre-millennialists (George Ladd).  During college and seminar I wrote papers disputing the replacement theological system and in the process became stronger in my belief that the New Testament makes a clear distinction between the Church and Israel, and that Israel is never replaced by the Church.

My break through came in an hermeneutics (science of biblical interpretation) class taught by Dr. Bell, a renegade graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary.  When Dr. Bell pronounced he was a "true Jew" and that Jewish people were no longer God's chosen people, I almost fell out of my chair.  I responded, "Dr. Bell, I perceive the weakness of your theology is that you totally disregard 1000s of passages in the Old Testament describing God's plan for Israel and it's those very passages that dismantle your theology.  It's as if you have a theological filter through which you interpret the Jewish scriptures that fit your theology but the passages that won't pass through your pre-conceived filter are ignored."

I made an "A" in Dr. Bell's class, God rest his theologically incorrect soul.

Today a  new element has been added to replacement theology. No longer is replacement theology or Reformed beliefs (it's all the same Israel denying theology) just a theological system but it has taken on a political dimension.

Replacement theology and their theologians such as Dr. Gary Burge, Wheaton College New Testament professor,  has now formed a clear merger with Palestinian Christians who are dead set on promoting an anti-Israel perspective in evangelical churches.

Already several Christian leaders have drunk the Palestinian Christian Kool-Aid such as Lynne Hybels, wife of mega church leader, Bill Hybels (Willow Creek Church), Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Tony Campolo and others who appear on the docket at the 2012 pro Palestinian Christians Christ at the Checkpoint Conference at Bethlehem Bible College in the West Bank.

These theologians and activists claim to be non-violent in their stance against Israel, yet they all share the common goal of distorting the history of the Middle East to make Israel the sole culprit of perpetrator of all of Palestinian ills. Sami Awad, in a lecture given at the Arvada, Colorado Vineyard, complains that the Palestinian Christian community has shrunk from 30% to 3%.  Yet he fails to go through the sequence of historical events in which the Palestinian Authority disrespectfully destroyed Christian churches and took over these holy sites as locations to engage the Israelis in battle.  Did Sami ever ponder the fact that Christians are leaving the disputed territories due to the mistreatment of his fellow Christians by Palestinians Muslims?  Oddly, the Christian population in Israel is increasing.

Bottom line: Evangelicals are being taken on a wild ride by these anti-Christian Zionists and Palestinian Christians who distort facts about Israel's involvement in the ME conflict, misuse biblical passages about God's promises to the Jewish people, claim to advocate non-violence while refusing to condemn the PLO or Hamas and focus only on Israeli soldiers and appeal to the evangelical concern for the underdog to persuade followers of Christ to play into the hands of these double tongued leaders who come "bearing words of peace."

What can be done?  If you are an evangelical -Jewish or Gentile - I appeal to you to share the blogs you find on Thinking Outside the Blog about the Palestinian Christian issue.  Read other blogs such as seismic-shock.com and ElderofZyon.blogspot and a messianic Jewish blog roshpinaproject.com. Share the articles you find on these blogs on your Facebook page.  Tweet the articles you find on my blog and others.

The underhanded work of Palestinian Christians in America's evangelical churches must be stopped. Do not be fooled by their words of reconciliation, "just cause" and non-violence.  Most of these groups such as Sami Awad's Holy Land Trust align themselves with Israel hating groups involved in divestment, boycott and sanctions against Israel and do all they can to foster an anti-Israel theology in the evangelical church.

I admonish my readers to start reading books on Middle East history so you can respond to the twisted lies perpetrated by these leaders who speak to unknowledgeable Christians regarding the recent history of Israel.  Go out and purchase Mitchell Bard's Idiot's Guide to the Middle East Conflict for starters.

Are Evangelicals Pulling The Plug on Supporting Israel?