Israel is the key to all end-time prophecy.

Keep your eye on Jerusalem  


 

Jun 9

A publishing revolution?

By Jim Fletcher  

Something has been on my mind, and I want to return to this theme.

In my opinion, for a 20-year period, Israel enjoyed tremendous successes, with regard to her American friends. The Six-Day War brought a measure of security, in the sense that buffer territory discouraged vicious enemies from massing to attack Israel again. At least the Israelis had that.

Of course, Bible believers understand that evil never rests (another opinion: in general, “good” does “rest” from time to time, giving evil an eventual toehold that can only be confronted by good rousing itself, yet again. Make sense?).

However, during this 20-year period, the seeds of compromise and capitulation were sown. “Peaceniks” like Shimon Peres, Jimmy Carter, Peace Now, along with Leftists and totalitarians, worked tirelessly to undermine Israel diplomatically, militarily, and culturally. And while pro Israel Christians did amazing things in promoting a positive message about the Jews, there were some opportunities lost, too. Not enough credible books were distributed widely enough. There was no sophisticated method of bringing large numbers of pro Israel books to the masses.

Beginning in 1987, when Hamas was born and Hezbollah grew up (emboldened by murdering 242 U.S. Marines in Beirut in 1983), Israel has been on the defensive. The handwriting has been on the wall for some time: Israel must yield territory. Israel must apologize for alleged crimes against the Palestinians. Israel must. Israel must.

Now we find ourselves in an era of increased danger to our allies and to ourselves. Last week’s rocket attack that killed an Israeli child should not be tolerated by any civilized society. This act should be condemned everywhere, continuously.

But it isn’t. In fact, we hear more often how Israel is to blame. America is to blame. Barack Obama makes this point, at least subtly, often. So does his wife. So do his advisors.

The “Blame America First” crowd is emboldened. They are arrogant.

Obama’s recent speech at the annual AIPAC convention was received enthusiastically. He declared his undying love for the Jewish state. He went John Wayne by declaring that he would stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Et cetera.

I don’t believe anything he says. For one thing, what are his real views? Those he expressed at AIPAC, or those expressed to supporters in Illinois, those who are staunchly pro Palestinian? Obama has said in the past that he can’t speak out candidly, publicly, about his thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, because his pro-Arab views would not play well with pro Israel supporters.

All this is a long-winded way of returning to a theme: there isn’t enough vocal support for Israel. In fact, there is the opposite.

Next month, I’ll attend the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), in Orlando. This is the annual book/gift/music convention, in which suppliers display new merchandise for potential customers.

Years ago, there was a solid contingent of pro Israel publishers. People like David Lewis were featured prominently. Material that was solidly biblical was the priority.

I’m going to say a hard thing: Biblical material is no longer the priority for many publishers. This is where Hamas, Obama, Carter, and the rest become important. The turning away from Israel in our wider culture has affected our church culture. What happens there trickles down to here. In other words, the Church is shaped by what happens in our culture.

And the culture is not pro Israel.

One only has to look at Bible studies based on popular TV shows, celebrity authors, and secular marketing schemes to see this. As American society goes, so goes Christendom.

That’s why one attending the ICRS show will see many, many books by Emergent Church authors. There will be tons of vapid books by vapid celebrity authors promising personal happiness.

There won’t be many books supportive of the Apple of God’s Eye. There will even be a fair number of books that bash Israel.

I won’t reveal everything I know about Christian publishing here, right now, but suffice to say there are powerful voices out there promoting an anti-Israel agenda. They do because we have reached the place in American history where a politician like Barack Obama can stand at the brink of the ultimate in personal ambition.

My dream for some time has been to create an alternative market for pro Israel books — one that does not rely on traditional sales channels (i.e., chain Christian bookstores, distribution hubs, etc.).

How do you feel about it? If solid books and DVDs supportive of Israel could be found and distributed, would you and your friends support that? Would you be interested in reading books that inform us about Islam, the place of Israel in today’s world, and credible Bible prophecy?

If you’d be interested in knowing about such materials, let me know. Because at this critical juncture in world history, Israel could use the help.